Monday, January 12th.

Well, yesterday turned out to be a very busy day!! I have a travel voucher from American Airlines that expires on the 15th, so I had to drive to O'Hare to cash it in on tickets. Celia and I are visiting our friend Mindy in May. It turned out to be the tiniest bit of a hassle, but in the end, we are only spending 90.00 each on our ticket. The price that was quoted me was 117.00 and that's what we paid, but there was tax and a ticketing fee because I went to the airport to do it. I parked in the 2.00 garage, meaning that if you are only there for an hour, you pay 2.00. Well, the last thing I did was to use the bathroom, so when I paid for parking, I was 3 minutes over an hour and had to pay 4.00. If only I hadn't used the restroom!!! I guess it is worth it to see our friend, who we sorely miss. (by the way, the above picture was an inspiration from Becky Higgins, my scrap booking superhero, but the set up of this shot was very tricky because the camera is at a different angle than what I can see in the mirror. Don't worry, I was stopped at a red light while doing it)
The other thing about yesterday is that it was my hubby's birthday!!! I really wanted to have people over for dinner on Sunday night, but he likes a very quiet birthday, with no fanfare. Heck, can we be any more opposite? I want bells whistles and a 60 piece orchestra!!!
I made a favorite of ours from way back. This was our traditional Christmas Eve meal when we were first married, but after having kids and their hatred of seafood, it fell by the wayside.
I splurged and made scallops, fresh green beans and spinach salad. Boy did that bring back memories. Yummy!!
Then he opened his gift from me, because the girl's gifts haven't arrived yet:
(yes, that is his best attempt at a smile. He told me last night that he regrets buying this camera for me, because I am always taking his picture)
Well, he was pretty shocked. I bought him the start of an HO train set, which he has talked about for years. He had a board meeting at church last night so didn't get to play with it, but as soon as he got home, he completely unwrapped it and looked at it. He is like a little boy right now!!
His next step is to clean out the garage and the basement to start to make room for a table. I know he is going to enjoy this new hobby, because he loves to build things.
After he left for his meeting, I did some playing of my own. Michael's has all of their scrap booking storage at 40% off right now and I have been looking at it. If the supplies are right in front of me, I know I will be more inspired:
I loaded it with my punches, my stamp pads and a little (emphasis on little) of my ribbon. I also added glitter to give it a little glitz.
Today, I have to clean the house and then I am off to work for three nights in a row.