Different stress, better stress.

It's kind of funny how you'll have a big party and feel like that's Christmas and so you throw all your organizational skills at it and then, blam-o, it's the week before Christmas and you're scrambling to put together something reasonably magical for your kids.

It's especially great to do that during a week when the school needs lots of help and you bash your car into the garage.

TIP: If you hit the side of your car on the garage door opening, don't think to yourself, "Well, I already hit it, I'll just finish it up real fast."

Because then you won't just scratch your paint to hell, you'll also pull the bumper up making the passenger door inoperable. You will also waste the rest of your week saying things like, "What are you? A Moron?"

And you're talking to yourself.

The funniest part though is the part where you save 75% of your Christmas preparations for the last day of school before break and then your daughter wakes up throwing up all over the house.

Oh life, you're tickling my funny bone today.

I did get somethings done this week, like making candy balls with the kids on their (lame!) snow day Monday and I put together 12 boxes of homemade peppermint bark. The peppermint bark was very simple, so simple I could do it while berating myself for driving the car into the garage.

I was wondering if I was this stressed out last year and I suppose I was, but it was covered up by other stressors. Like the Long Haired Swinger* on the playground at Max's school.

Suddenly I'm glad I'm stressed about Christmas.

*I saw Freaky Long Haired Swinger making a woman uncomfortable at the bottle return of my local market.  Predator.

Comments

[bigpikchur]

Your tip about the garage door incident made me think of the time I attempted to cut my own hair in college. I was a typical college student (broke as hell, and every cent I had went towards quarter tapper night) and thought it would be a good idea to save $20 and do the deed myself. Turns out you actually REALLY need training to make my hair look good; and that whole mirror thing, that is actually the reverse of reality? It's hard to wrap your brain around when you have sharp scissors in one hand and an unfortunately large clump of your previously-connected-hair in the other.
Hope your car isn't too bad off!
Jules
House of Jules

[Peeved Michelle]

I did that to my husband's car once when we lived with an incredibly tight two-car garage into which we crammed two cars and two motorcycles and some junk. Once I realized that the car was making contact with the doorway, I put it in park and went into the house and confessed my sins and let my husband handle the rest. The only good thing about that stupid Saturn was the dent-resistant doors.

[LuLu]

Sounds like you are ahead of the person who posted this ad on Craigslist yesterday:

Chrismas Play Costumes Needed TONIGHT
Date: 2007-12-20, 8:19AM PST

I need a Joseph, Mary and Angel costume for my son's play tonight. If you have anything I can borrow or purchase, it would be great. Thanks.

[Shelli]

Creepy swingerguy is still stalking the halls at school but he stays far far away from the 1st grader parents. We have his number and i yelled at him last year so he hates me! YAY!

[dana]

I've also hit my car while backing into our garage. Twice. In my defense, I was trying to drive a minivan in a city alley. Though I've also hit my own car in my own driveway. I hope my blockheadedness makes you feel better!

[momjeans]

I have hit my garage backing out twice. When we bought our minivan we made the decision just not to garage it.

That didn't fix it though. Last week I hit my husbands car in the driveway and scratched the crap out of the van and knocked his rear veiw mirror off. I am pretty sure if he could he would take my keys and license.

[Carolyn]

Well, it's nice to know I'm not the only one who does stuff like that. I crumpled the bumper on my minivan last week. I went past all the open spots on the street, so I backed up to parallel park in the last open spot. Unfortunately, I started to turn into the spot a wee bit too soon, and hit the middle of a parked car (yup, I wasn't even close because I didn't see the car). I was yakking with my kids, backing up, and hitting a car, all at once. That's my version of multitasking.

And I've knocked the sideview mirror off my husband's car and I once forgot to open the garage door and backed into it (a brand-new $800 garage door, I might add).

[lousoz]

was he hanging by the front or the back bottle return?

Just so I know what door to use in the future. ( if I'm even thinking of the right store)

[Mrs. Kennedy]

*AHEM* Which car has the scrape on it?

[nancy]

Hit the house. multiple times. I agree with the sentiment, don't just think if you go faster it will be done with sooner, stop, and back up moron would be correct.
On the magical Christmas part. How about making reindeer food which I learned from a teacher I work with

"Be sure to take this magic food and sprinkle on the lawn,
On Christmas, Santa's reindeer travel miles before the dawn.
The smell of oats and glitter path will guide them on their way
And you'll wake up to Santa's gifts next morn on Christmas Day!"

we do glitter and oats but the website I just found says that glitter makes small animals sick and to use shiny sugar crystals. http://organizedchristmas.com/magic-reindeer-food

Well it is cute and fast and even fun for that waffeley time when Santa is seeming less real.

[jkopftwins]

My husband's family still laughs about the time one of his brothers completely rammed into the garage while learning to drive.

Something makes me willing to bet lots of money they didn't laugh at the time.

Then there's the time he backed our new car directly. into. a. tree. that was standing in the middle of the field, right in the middle of the rearview mirror's field of vision. And I left our car in neutral to run back into the house, only to watch it drift down the driveway and smack (thank god) into the mailbox we'd just installed at the bottom, thereby stopping the car before it crossed the road into our neighbors' home.

It's a very special club; don't feel too badly!

[Jen]

I just loved the recipe for peppermint bark. It looks amazing. I haven't had good peppermint bark in such a long time. :-)Also, for backing into things? I once backed into the neighbor's car across the street when I was sixteen because my back window was all fogged up. I still curse myself for letting that one happen.

P.S. I am glad someone else in the world loves Martha Stewart as much as I do...my husband mocks me for it.