First: We're headed back out to Cupertino again. MacTroll has a project he has to work on for two weeks. We'll be getting some kind of corporate apartment and X-man and I will be out for a week, and then will head home so we don't miss our first week of my volleyball league and X-man's first week of sports class at Little Gym. Neighborhoods that I've been told to check out include areas of the East Bay, which I think is too far, Mountainview, Willow Glen area of San José and Sunnyvale.
Second: The Loosey-Room of One's Own finally got the right floor. Flooring America next to Meijer ordered the wrong one, and then I didn't see that it was the wrong floor until it was almost done. So, the poor installers had to remove it and then the sales people had to reorder the right one. My painters come back next week to finish the trim and do another coat on the walls, so I'll post a photo about that then.
Third: In September, we put in the application to see if X-man could get into Next Generation for Primary School. He didn't get accepted. He got waitlisted. So, we'll be doing the Unit 4 School of Choice and I'm rooting hard for Carrie Busey. The trick to this is that since he's on the wait list, if they contact us with a spot and we say no -- they keep our application fee of $500. If there isn't a spot then they refund it to us. At some point, people will start asking X-man where he's going. And doing a "change-a-roo" on him would be weird, he's kind of sensitive. I'm also not sure which he'll be more twisted up about -- not going to a school where 1/2 of his neighborhood will likely go OR not continuing at the school he's known forever. Me -- I love the idea of both schools. And how many parents say that about choosing their child's school?
Fourth: The Christmas Tree. Since Jarling's is open longer this year (until December 11), we couldn't go there to get our Christmas tree this year. Preston's, the tree guy from Michigan that used to sell there, sold the business down here to someone new and moved it to the parking lot of Danville Gardens, Too. On the way home from Meijer the other day, I saw a sign for Moore's Tree Farm. This morning after we cleared the 5 inches of snow from our drive and walk, we drove over there. It's about 15 minutes from our house at 30 mph with all the snow on country roads, so it's not too far. I'd ridden my bike by it in the summer. Head East on Church Street in Savoy. Go past Philo Rd, and you'll see Christmas tree signs to make your next right. Then 1/2 mile down the road is the farm on your left.
We pulled up, got the shpeel and headed down to the far end of the farm to cut a tree. X-man picked a 6' tree. I cut it down and put it on a cool wagon and then MacTroll hauled it back. It is about 2' shorter than we normally get, but it was 50 percent less. The college kid who welcomed us was awesome. He and X-man were little chatterboxes. We hiked out into the "medium" sized trees (5-7') and X-man chose our tree.
Afterward, there was free coffee and hot chocolate in their barn, which X-man really liked. The weird part, should you choose to go and one of the owners invites your child to take a tree from the corner -- just skip it. I thought it was a potted tree that they didn't get int the ground or something before the ground fell. I took it out to the car in it's pot, where the guy stopped me and said, "Oh, I just meant the tree." And I'm thinking, "What?" And he plucked the tree from the pot (there were no roots, it was just a trimming from some other tree) and handed it too me and then took his pot back to the barn. --- MacTroll and I raised our eyebrows and spoke our amusement and horror through telepathy while X-man jabbered away, sugar cookie in hand.
When we got home, we put up the tree and decorated it while listening to Christmas music. X-man requires that all Christmas music have words he can understand. :-)
Fifth: The clean up. I took a carload of toys and household items we no longer needed to Goodwill on Thursday. Freak also came and took our basement cat tree. One of X-man's Turtle teachers came and took home MacTroll's elliptical. He spent six months on it the first year he bought it and then it's just been carried around with us ever since. We have a Savoy Recreation Center membership, so there's really no need for things in the house. After shoveling, getting a tree, putting up a tree and hauling the elliptical upstairs, my husband has hidden away. Apparently, he was hoping for a Saturday where we sat around on our asses on the couch.
Sixth: Last night KTDID and I took X-man to the Tolono Public Library. I collected nearly 40 signatures for my petition to run for the library board. I'll be stopping by some friends houses tomorrow night to see about the last handful that I need. X-man met Santa for the first time since he was 1. He freaked out a little like the boy in the Christmas Story when Santa asked him what he wanted, but he didn't lose it or cry. :-)
Sixth: Tonight we're headed downtown to do dinner at Farren's and then go to the Parade of Lights. If X-man holds it together long enough, we'll stop by the Orpheum Children's Museum afterwards.
Seventh: Tomorrow we've got to get up early and head out to Monticello for Santa on the Train. It's Christmas all weekend around here. It also looks like we won't get to putting up Christmas lights until tomorrow.
Tis the season to be crazy busy, I guess.
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