Santa is almost here!!

Christmas is almost here! Are you ready?? I am all excited cause it's been two years since we've done Christmas here at home. Remember, last year we did Christmas in Caseville. So this year we're 'Home for the Holidays'. I love being in Caseville for Christmas, but I also love being home and seeing the kids and doing all the gift exchanging. That's why alternating our Christmases between home and Caseville seems to work the best.

Last year we put up minimal decorations at home because we were going to Caseville anyway....most of my stuff stayed up in the attic. This year we got it all down and did up the whole house, inside and out.

When we're in Caseville, we still decorate but not nearly as much....and we only buy gifts for each other. We send the kids money and gift cards. It's a much simpler, quieter and stress-free Christmas.

Instead of dreading the season, now I look forward to the hustle and bustle and all the decorating, cookie making, gift buying, etc.

And gift buying I did! I've been wrapping all the gifts I bought for everybody and I think I've got about 60 wrapped gifts in my bedroom! I think almost 20 of them are for hubby. We buy each other alot of gifts every year....whether we're home or in Caseville. It takes us all day to open them. We spend Christmas Day just the two of us. We'll get together with the kids sometime between Christmas and New Year's. They're busy with the 'other family' now that they are both with someone. And we like it that way. I love spending a quiet Christmas day alone with my husband taking our time opening our gifts.....and I'll make a ham for our dinner and lots of wine!

I hope everybody has a great Christmas!!

MY CLEVELAND ADVENTURE/MISHAP

I finally returned from Cleveland yesterday. I left last Friday and was suppose to stay 3 nights at the Comfort Inn in Middleberg Heights and return by Monday. However, due to a mishap on my part, I had to extend my 'vacation' an extra couple nights.

The beginning of my trip was GREAT!....(before it turned into the trip from fuckin' hell) I got into town Friday about 4ish and got settled in my room. Didn't do a whole lot except pick up some take-out and watch TV. Saturday I was so excited to go see the actual CHRISTMAS STORY HOUSE! The exit that I had to take off the freeway is a little confusing and I was in the right lane and ended up going the wrong way which bascially brought me back to the other side of the expressway. I am so bad when it comes to directions....but I found my way back to the street that I was looking for and I was on my way to see THE HOUSE. As I'm driving down 11th Street I could see all these people gathered at the house and I knew I was there. And there it was!! Looking exactly like the movie. I found a place to park and first went inside the gift shop where it was crammed with people. I decided to shop later cause I wanted to get my ticket and go inside the house. It was so awesome. I took alot of pictures. I had someone take a picture of me standing next to the Leg Lamp in the window of the living room. The guy who bought the house did a great job of recreating the house interior. See, only the outside exteriour shots and one interior scene was actually shot at the house.....and scenes in downtown Cleveland and the department store, Higbees. The actual interior scenes were shot on sets that were located in Canada. The actor who played little brother, Randy, was there signing pictures for $10....but I didn't get one. But I talked to him. Then I went over to the museum across the street where the lady who played the 'elf from hell' was there talking to people and signing pictures and also the man who delivered the 'leg lamp crate' was there. He is actually is a neighbor who lives down the street. He said he was "in the right bar at the right time", when he got the small part in the movie...LOL After I left the museum I got in my car and left to go back to the hotel. Then I remembered that I forgot to go back into the gift shop where I wanted to buy a few things. No problem....I'll just stop there on Sunday on my way to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and do it.

Yeah...no problem...

So Sunday I am real excited about going to the Rock and Roll H/O/F and going back to the Christmas Story gift house. As I get off the same exit off the freeway I knew I didn't want to be in the right lane again and end up going the wrong way like I did on Saturday. Now it is raining...my wipers are going....my side windows are fogging up and so is my back window. I get my defrosters going. This intersection is very confusing...it is NOT a normal intersection. Hard to even explain it. There are like three ways you can go.....an arrow on the street in the right lane shows you can veer right. An arrow in the middle lane shows you can go straight ahead on Quigley Ave. Another arrow in this left lane shows you can veer to the left to go down this sidestreet. Now there is this round tall grassy area to my left that the left lane goes around to go down this side street, 14th St. According to my map I'm thinking that I don't want to go down a sidestreet. I thought it best to stay in the middle lane and just go straight where it would take me to another street that would take me to the Christmas Story House. Now there is NO light at this intersection. I am concentrating on staying in the middle lane and I'm looking at the straight arrow on the street and I keep driving. And my visibility through my side window is zero. As I'm driving through there is a major BAM!!! into my car which pushed my car sideways facing this weird round tall grassy area, and since my foot was still on the accelerator I drove right up over the curb and into this grassy area where I finally put the brake on. I'm thinking "WTF!!!!"....I assumed that someone must have ran a light or something and ran into me. I didn't even know where he came from. I only was aware of these 3 lane options in front of me. Well, apparently cars that are coming down that sidestreet can also veer to their right and go around that weird round thing in order to bring them into the intersection which they can get to the expressway. In other words, at the end of 14th Street, it forks....it goes to the right and also a road that goes to the left so it goes around this weird round grassy area. I am not familiar with this intersection. Until last weekend I've never been there before.

Anyway, I get out of my car and the other guy is pulled over and there is another guy who witnessed everything who is also there. They are both young in their very early 20's. Very nice guys. But at this point, my car is stuck in this wet grassy area cause it's still raining. Both of the guys helped push my car out of it back onto the street. They said that I had to get my car out of there fast cause I can get a fine if a cop sees it there. The one guy told me that I had ran a stop sign. I said "What stop sign??" I never saw a stop sign. In Michigan, when you get off the expressway there is usually a light at the intersection. I saw no light....only these arrows and I was following the arrow. The other driver had damage to his left headlamp area of his car and his hood was a little off. I took a couple pictures. My car, however, didn't even have a scratch on it!...no dents, no scrapes, absolutely nothing. They couldn't figure it out. They figured that his car (a small Toyota Corolla) must have hit my back left wheel which spun me. So my rim or wheel got hit...not any part of the body of my car. Boy, was I lucky!....or so I thought. So the guy is real nice and said that we can just exchange information and not bother calling the cops cause if we did, I would get a ticket. Wow, his car is damaged because of me, and he is worried that I might get a ticket!! So no cops...no ticket...no points.

We exchanged info and are about to leave when a cop sees us and stops. OH NO! The guy told me not to worry...he'll tell the cop we are done here and everthing is okay. Which he did. And the cop was okay with it and left!! He never even talked to me. Never even asked me for my driver's license or registration. He never even asked us what happened. Just wanted to be sure that everything was okay. And he left! Cool!!

So we're done and he said he'll call me the following day to give me more info of his. He also told me to stay to the left and go down that side street and it will take me to the Christmas Story House easier. So I did. But as I'm driving I could hear this "...flap, flap, flap" sound coming from my back tire/wheel. OH NO! I'm thinking that I'm getting a flat tire. This neighborhood is not the best and I'm all alone with NO CELL PHONE CAUSE I WAS STUPID AND LEFT IT BACK AT THE HOTEL ROOM! So I pull over into this store/gas station at this corner to check my tire. It looks fine to me. So I'm thinking that maybe there is mud in it from that muddy grassy area that my car got stuck in. So I keep driving. It does not sound good and I get worried. I skip the gift shop...I skip the Rock and Roll H/O/F and I take a big chance and get back on the expressway to get back to the Hotel. I am like about 15 minutes away. I stay to the right and am driving the minimum of 40-45 miles an hour. Luckily, I get back to the hotel.

I asked someone inside to come watch my tire as I drive around the parking lot. He tells me the tire has a wobble to it. So I know that something is wrong. Maybe the rim got bent or something. The hotel tells me of a place near the hotel that is open on Sundays....Mr. Tire. I go there and explain my problem. I leave my car there and get a hotel shuttle back. He can have his mechanic look at it on Monday. I tell the hotel I need to stay another night. He calls me on Monday and tells me that my axle is bent and I also needed a rear support somethingorother...basically the whole part that connects the tires, I guess. The dealer doesn't have the axle in stock and due to the bad weather we were starting to have, he wasn't sure when the manufacturer could get one to him. Mr Tire guy calls some salvage yards and finds one that will fit my car at a lower price than the dealer....he actually got the whole rear end assembly or whatever he called it. Then he had to attach my brakes and wheels to it. Oh, also my rotor was off and he had to put a new rotor on. Anyway, he couldn't get the part from the salvage yard until Tuesday. So I tell the Hotel I will be staying ANOTHER night.

In the meantime, I have no car...and I'm stuck in a hotel room. I'm on vacation and can't do a damn thing! Luckily, the hotel is in walking distance to a K-Mart and alot of restaurants...and McD's and Burger King, etc. So I spent some time shopping at KMart and eating at McD's. Tuesday I walked to Max and Erma's for lunch. So all I could do was shop and eat.

Plus, I spent alot of time on my cell phone calling my AAA, the other driver, the Tire place and my husband. I was constantly 'waiting' for a call back from somebody.

They got my car fixed and done by 4:00 Tuesday. I left Wednesday morning and couldn't get home fast enough.

Now I'm dealing with AAA. I faxed them the bill from Mr. Tire. They have talked with the other guy. The problem is that Michigan is a 'no fault' state...Ohio is not. The other driver is a young guy with an older car and he only has Liability insurance...no collision. In Ohio if it isn't your fault, the other guy's insurance pays for your damagaes. That is not how it works in Michigan. If AAA does not pay for his damages, then I am responsible. The accident is my fault...there is no reason why it should come out of his pocket. So we are still dealing with that part of it.

I am so stressed!!!

But we went Christmas tree shopping last night and I have a real tree in my family room now. We still need to get the time to decorate it. I am so far behind in my stuff to do for Christmas. I need to get my shopping done! Good God, Christmas is almost here!!!

Christmas decorating and Car Problems...

Wow.....I know I haven't been posting since I got back from Caseville. I just keep forgetting. Got back last Thursday. We were only in Caseville for a few days...long enough to get my mums cut back and winterize a few things. I left the furnace running when we left.

I had hubby go up into the attic and get all my Christmas decorations down. I swear that I am going to start downsizing some of this Christmas stuff. I eliminated quite abit of things. I took some stuff to this consigment store. And I took another box full to the Salvation Army. And I have some stuff I'm going to sell at my next garage sale. But I still have too much stuff! I have some things I put out but I'm not packing it up again....it's going too. If I can just STOP BUYING MORE CHRISTMAS CRAP, then maybe I can get it cut down some.

Anyway, I have my house decorated and it looks so nice. Hubby still needs to do the outside lights. And we decided to get a real tree this year, so we'll go get our tree next week. I have the majority of my Christmas shopping done and I've already started wrapping some things. I'm just loving Christmas this year! Since we do Christmas at home every other year now, it's been 2 years since I went all out with the decorating, the gift buying and having the kids over. So I'm looking forward to everything instead of dreading it like I had started doing. Then next year, it will be nice and simple with us going to Caseville and getting away from it all and just shopping for the two of us. (Kids get gift cards then)

Our attic needs more insulation badly. It's been years since we put some in. So now that all the decorations are down, hubby has been busy putting in 15 rolls of insulation. He finished today and I can feel the difference. Maybe lower our heat bills..! Hope, hope...
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So last Tuesday I'm out and about and all of a sudden my windows started steaming up and I couldn't see a damn thing. I had my defroster blasting and it wasn't doing much....just getting worse. I had to pull off and wipe the windows down myself so I could see. Then I noticed smoke coming out of the vents. I turned the blower off and pulled off the road. Couldn't call hubby, cause OF COURSE MY CELL BATTERY WAS DEAD! So I let the engine cool a little and then drove home. My heater core was gone! We had to have my jeep towed to the dealership. That was Tuesday. I finally got my jeep back tonight....Thursday. Over a thousand dollars! Of which, most of it was for fuckin LABOR....I guess they had to tear the whole dashboard out to get to it...a big job.
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Tomorrow I'm going to Cleveland for a few days. You ever watch A Christmas Story? Well Cleveland is where the house is at and some guy bought it and renovated it like the movie and now does tours. There is even a museum and gift shop. Also, Ian Patrella who played the little brother, Randy, is going to be there conducting the tours. We are big fans of the movie. Every Christmas it's on TV for like 24 hours straight and we watch it over and over and over...and when it's done, I pop the DVD in and we keep watching it!!

Have a nice weekend....