December 12x12

1 shopping for Ted. i loved these bobble heads. ted is obsessed with all things dc comics these days! 2 we stayed in a hotel last night due to plumbing issues at our house. the plumber was able to get it fixed within an hour, but he didn't return our call until much later in the afternoon and by then we were panicking about not having a working bathroom. we made arrangements on priceline for a night at a local hotel and 5 minutes later the plumber called. Unfortunately we couldn't get our money back, so we just went and stayed at the hotel. the kids thought it was awesome. me.. i was just mad it was all so unnecessary, but at the same time worth every penny for how much the kids loved the adventure. the photo of all of us at the hotel. the kids were very impressed with the fancy bathroom. 3 i've saved all the Christmas cards we have received throughout the years. i love getting caught up on our friends lives, especially those that we don't keep in regular contact. a few years ago we met one of adam's medical school classmates and his family for dinner in san diego. the four of us had become good friends and it was fun catching up. while we were there we chatted about how much we all wished we stayed in better contact, but that our lives were busy and we were content with the yearly updates via Christmas cards. we got their card this week and it recounted the last year which has found him as the chief medical officer aboard a naval boat and her home caring for their 4 children the last 300+ days. reading the family Christmas card made me cry. his wife is a rockstar! it reminded me of the previous conversation and how much i adore both of them and how happy i am that i still get a quick glimpse into their lives. 4 picking Lulu up from after school care. we went Christmas shopping for her gift for Ted. she got him a cute batman stuffed animal. 5 buying the items for the Ronald McDonald House tree at Lulu's school. toiletries, movie tickets, copy paper and cascade. quite a versatile list if i do say so myself. 6 i had to serve jury duty today. i actually deferred a few months back and couldn't pass up the opportunity to have my jury duty included in my 12x12, so when i saw it was one of the rescheduling options, i took it! 7 i played angry birds while i waited my turn. thankfully i wasn't selected. 8 some of the residents of our fair city go all out with Christmas decorations. this is just one small representation of one of my favorite houses. 9 because it was so cheap we ended up staying at a 4 star hotel last night. again- not happy about wasting the money, but man was it a nice hotel! 10 our elf on the shelf- Jingle Bells. the kids anxiously get up every morning to see where he has moved to. lulu made him the crown. this baby works wonders at this time of year. 11 lulu has taken to making up crazy dances. i tried to get a snapshot of her busting a groove. 12 a girlfriend asked me to help her make gingerbread houses for her daughters class. even though i've made them a number of times, i always feel like i have a learning curve for a bit when i make these. not sure why.

I always love it when someone comments on my photo taking. We got dinner at Chipotle and someone asked me it I was a photographer. I said no and then realized she asked because of my camera. I went on to explain what I was doing and she (like so many before) commented on what a great idea it was to document a whole day every month. I quite agree.