Mysterious ways

I dropped my mom and Rachel off at the mall on Monday night. I headed to Target to return something and then was going to pick them back up and meet the guys for our annual Tolley family bowling night. I was in the store about five minutes, came back out and the Jeep wouldn't start. And when I say wouldn't start, I mean it did nothing.

As luck would have it, my cell phone battery was dead. So I gathered up a bunch of nickels from the car that I had "won" from one of Rachel's ingenious games we played to kill time on the way back to Illinois and went in search of a pay phone. (With the amount of nickels I had, I could have called about everyone I know.)

Wouldn't you know that in this technologically-advanced day and age, Target got rid of their pay phone. They let me use one of the phones in the store but it was only for local calls. The only cell phone number I had memorized was my dad's and he didn't bring it with him.

Cursing my stupidity, I went back out to the car and found a sliver of juice left in my cell. I sent a message saying something along the lines of, "Someone please come to Target. Jeep won't start. Cell is dead." to all the bowlers. Then I waited. It was cold.

About ten minutes later I had the brilliant idea to go into Target to buy a car charger for my phone. The car wouldn't start but the battery was fine. (This was the first of several purchases they saw from this whole escapade as we went in later to buy jumper cables, which didn't do a bit of good.)

When I came out of the store with my purchase, my dad and Chad were pulling up...and someone had called mom and Rachel at the mall, who were starting to wonder where on earth I was. It's not like Galesburg is a tough place to navigate.

To sum up the ensuing events, the Jeep was towed and needed a new starter and a new battery. Dad suggested we get it towed to a place that could get it fixed first thing in the morning (and placed a call to the owner when they opened to express the urgency--thanks, Dad!). We were only about five hours late heading back to DC and got home at 4:30 a.m. this morning instead of our planned midnight arrival. All in all, not so bad.

While this whole experience was an inconvenience and definitely threw a wrench into our plans, I was constantly reminding myself that this was by no means a worst-case scenario. The Lord works in mysterious ways, I guess, because this did not happen:

• When three girls and a dog were heading back to Illinois in the middle of the night with a bunch of Christmas presents and a hitch full of luggage
• When it was 18 below zero (last week) and icy
  
• When we were returning to DC through one of several areas with no cell reception, let alone auto shops or tow trucks
• When we absolutely, positively needed to be somewhere else by a certain time
  

So, mental note: If you're going to get stranded, be thankful if you're not in the middle of West Virginia at 2 a.m. with a dog and a car full of stuff. Any other situation should be a reminder that it really could have been worse.

Getting stuck in the Target parking lot--one of my favorite places on the planet--is just an extra bonus. And having the car fixed in Galesburg versus DC saved us a few hundred bucks on parts and labor, too.

Sometimes it really is all a matter of perspective.

My Grown-Up Christmas List

I'd like peace for all on earth just like the next guy, but I also got some great tangible Christmas gifts too. Among them:

• A box of eight "trendy" mini-perfumes from Sephora. Once I figure out which I like best, there's a certificate in there for a full-size bottle of any one I choose. I love this idea because it lets me pick out my favorite scent...and the little sample perfumes will be great when I travel!
• A purse hook, which I can't wait to try out (and figure out). Why buy a nice purse if it's going to sit on the floor at a restaurant? And speaking of "nice purse"...thanks for mine, Chad!
  
• A Topsy Turvy tomato planter, which I am very excited to experiment with on our back fence this spring. We'll have to grow green peppers, though, because Chad doesn't like tomatoes and if this thing works as well as it's supposed to, there will be more tomatoes than I can eat myself!
• A buffet server to keep food hot when we entertain. I usually make a lot of cold dips and finger foods, so this opens up a whole new world.
• Some antique salt-and-pepper shakers from Chad's grandpa. A few antiques here and there really complement a lot of the more contemporary, new stuff we have. Hand-me-downs from previous generations are one of my favorite Christmas gifts. How can you put a price-tag on something like that?
• A shirt from Banana Republic that goes with everything, great sheets, warm socks, quite a few books about teaching your dog tricks (which unfortunately did not come with patience pills), and a bunch of other fabulous things.

I really try hard to buy good Christmas presents, but I'm afraid this year my creativity didn't come close to others!

Christmas chaos

I feel really behind this year and think I will blame the five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas that I've been talking about all season long. After all, it can't be because I've procrastinated or been too busy with other holiday festivities to get my act together. That doesn't sound like me at all!

So it's the day before Christmas Eve and I've spent nearly all of my waking hours finishing up my shopping and wrapping presents. All was going along quite swimmingly until I opened a box of gifts I had ordered and had shipped to my parents. I do this on occasion when I buy online because if it's going to be given in Illinois I might as well not schlep it here from Virginia.

In the box were three items...instead of four. I hurriedly looked for my shipping label, thinking perhaps the gift was coming in a separate order that was on its way--after all, they promised delivery by Christmas. Instead, I found a note saying something like this: "the item that you ordered is currently out of stock and will be shipped when available." Great.

Now look, if you have a few things that are back ordered because there's been a huge surge in demand, fine. And if you can't get your act together enough to have any real-time inventory system on your website so that I couldn't have ordered it in the first place, I understand that too. But at least send me an email instead of just telling me when I get the rest of the order. Don't make me wait until two days before Christmas to learn that I'm even more behind than I thought!

Fortunately, it's a really small gift and somewhat easy to recreate. (And it was from Stupid.com--the irony is not lost on me.) But it's no wonder why people go crazy at this time of year. Even if you think you're in good shape, you're not.

Ice, Ice, Baby

We made it back to Illinois in a relatively uneventful drive yesterday afternoon. Fortunately, we were on the heel of one storm and the tail of another. The roads were dry and the company was enjoyable, meaning the 14 hours or so passed quickly. As quickly as 14 hours can pass, that is.

There’s a crazy combination here of snow, then ice, then more snow, and it’s hilarious to watch Lucy try to chase her buddy Otis (Daniel’s dog). She can’t get her footing and keeps sliding around.

Even though it’s 20 below, she loves going outside. This morning, Lucy woke up when the sun rose at 6:40 and had no interest in going back to sleep. At one point, she was out so long and was eating so much snow and ice, she had an interesting beard of sorts when she came inside. But once she warms up, she's ready to go back out again!

How rude

Frosty, I am appalled.

A holiday tradition

For the last seven years, six of which I have been a part, our friends Mark and Brigid have thrown the most fabulous holiday party. It started out with five or six people and has morphed into a gathering of more than 30 of us. Each year, there are some old faces, some new faces and, this year, some really new faces.

Begun with the idea that we really don't need to give each other any more stuff (or at least that's how I imagine this began), Mark and Brigid a started different kind of secret santa gift exchange among our group of friends. We pull the name of another person who will be at the party, but instead of buying the person something small for themselves, we buy a toy that reminds us of them. This is a no-holds-barred gift exchange where you can spend $15 or $50 because it's really the thought that counts. And for those of us who don't get to shop much for toys, it's a lot of fun to wander the toy aisles!

This year, a friend who loves to bake opened an Easy Bake Oven, our soccer-playing friend got a blow-up miniature soccer ball field with balls, and Chad gave Brigid one of those creepy "Fur Real" cats that purrs and moves its head. (Lucy growled at it the whole time we were wrapping the gift.)

At the end of the night, we load up all the toys and donate them to Toys for Tots so that children in our area who might not otherwise get much will have something to open on Christmas Day. This year, two Marines joined us for the party and they took the toys with them.

We've told many others about this party who have started doing something similar among their friends or family. It's a great way to spend time with people we don't get to see as often as we'd like and make someone else's Christmas just a little bit better. That's what this is all about, right?

Presents under the tree

A huge holiday feast (with Brigid's specialty, seafood pie)

Paul's fancy Christmas sweater
(there is a long story behind this but let's just say it was
lovingly cross-stitched by his mother-in-law)

Janice and Nick all decked out

The wrapping is more fun than the present when you're one year old

The littlest guest (just three weeks old!)

Packing up all the presents

Letters to God

I got this email with children's letters to God today. It was so good, I'm posting my favorites:

Fair trade

This whole Blagojevich thing just baffles me. I don't have enough time or space to pontificate on it tonight, but wanted to include this great cartoon from the Chicago Tribune to sum things up.

What an idiot.

Copy that

A co-worker today sent around a great initiative by Xerox (yes, the copy company). They have created a website where people can select a thank-you card to send to the troops. Xerox will print it and send it to a soldier currently serving in Iraq.

It's free and it takes about 30 seconds. You select a card design, then choose the message you want or create your own message. The only personal information you include is your name, city and state so the soldiers get an idea of all the people who are thinking about them.

Please take the time to do this and encourage others to do this if you can. I hope we flood their mailboxes. We can never say enough thank you's to these guys.

Perfect timing

Sometimes, we manage to have positively perfect timing.

We've had plans to head back home for a good friend's wedding and got to add to the trip by meeting our brand-new niece! She was born the day we flew home.

It was great to see baby Abby at the hospital and spend a little time with both sets of families. Then on Saturday night, we saw a lot of Chad's friends, some he hadn't seen since high school. We even managed to get a picture of the two of us that will be our Christmas card (yes, we were getting down to the wire).

It was a short trip, but we crammed in a lot and can't wait to see everyone again when we're back in two weeks!

Two nieces made for spoiling

Chad & big sister Miriam

Holy smokes

Let me preface this by saying that Chad is a very good cook. His specialties include breakfast, grilling, chili and seafood. He loves to try new recipes (unlike me, who tends to be a tried-it-and-liked-it-so-plan-on-it-every-other-week kind of cook) and everything he makes turns out well.

Except for the other night.

Chad brought home tuna from the store, which we make on occasion. A new recipe he found called for both butter and olive oil to saute the meat. I don't know what they were smoking--maybe literally--but that combination caused one holy mess.

As soon as the butter and olive oil went in the hot pan, rolls and rolls of smoke began escaping the kitchen. We had every window in the downstairs open, plus the ceiling fan going at full blast, and still could barely see (or breathe). Lucy escaped to the basement to wait it all out. The tuna turned out really well, but it took hours for the smell to subside.

We also learned that we need a new smoke detector. It didn't go off.

Live from DC (again)

I completely forgot that I promised to do this interview on CNBC Monday night. They called at 3 p.m. to confirm and my mind was totally blank. After being at work for almost 15 hours, I assure you that I was running on pure adrenaline.

Prior to the interview, they told me to be "high energy" and I laughed out loud. I tried, though! (And no hair-flicking this time!)

Our favorite ad

No matter how often we TiVo past this ad, we have to rewind to watch it. It is just that funny.

I don't see Chad roll with laughter very often, but watching this ad is about as good as it gets!

And in case you haven't gotten enough of him, here is our little friend on the Ellen DeGeneres show as well.

Where the deals are...

Today, CyberMonday.com was named the #1 website to visit on Cyber Monday by Time magazine.

This. Was. So. Cool.

If you haven't had a chance to shop, check it out!