Blogging instead of Christmas shopping

It seems like forever since I have blogged and I really miss it. I am officially on Winter Break now and it is great to be able to concentrate on getting ready for Christmas. Sally got home on Thursday night and Wayne is due h0me tomorrow night. We are making good progress on our Christmas preparations and I am getting in the holiday spirit.

One of the big happenings from last week was my goddaughter Grace's 18th birthday. I really want to do a whole post about this big day and so I will leave it at that...for now, that is. Just wait!

Another big event from last week was our holiday celebration at school. How cute are kids around this time of year? SO cute and so earnest. I wish there were not confidentiality issues because otherwise I would share with you some of the most adorable videos ever! Santa called our classroom and talked over the speakerphone with the kids. It was amazing, all the details he knew...everyone's names, everything the kids wanted! And he sounded just like Jack! Imagine that.

Another highlight from last week was the Mad Men Christmas party that Jack and I were invited to. Oh my gosh! I have some very creative friends. We were supposed to dress up as if we were in the Mad Men era/show. Jack came as Father Gill and I was Peggy Olson-ish. It turned out to be a progressive dinner, with cocktails at one house, dinner at another and then dessert at the last house. It was so much fun!! Below are some pictures from the night. I have to mention that Jack brought Camels, L&Ms, Parliaments, and Pall Malls as props since we were in the early 60's genre, before the Surgeon General's warning. We were all saying that it would have been hard to imagine everyone really smoking the cigarettes in the house. So when you look at these pictures, know that no one was really smoking. Well, until we got to the last house, Eileen and Scott's where they just happened to have the most incredible outdoor heated area that was perfect for a little cigar smoking.

The first picture is of me and Don Draper and Bert Cooper. As you can tell from picture after that, someone was a bit jealous of me. Hussy :) Her, not me of course.





Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.

Sitting outside with Joan, the office manager.

The whole night was so creative and fun. Our hosts hired a young woman who was an actress/helper who functioned as our receptionist, chauffer (to drive us in shifts from house to house) and cigarette girl, complete with the costumes. Do you want to know how fun it was? We did not get home until 2 am!