It's That Time of Year Again...

Fall is upon us (or so I hear...who would know with our crazy warm weather) and that means that the annual somewhat organized chaos we call the holidays is upon us.  Yes, we do it to ourselves.  Yes, we thrive on it.  Yes, it makes my heart skip a beat every year when I think about all that lies ahead.  So, here goes...

Did you know that Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK????  Good, I'm glad you were aware.  I, have apparently lost a week somewhere and keep thinking that Thanksgiving is in two weeks.  Clearly, I am wrong.  So, that means that this is our last weekend at home without guests until the New Year.  Don't get me wrong, I love this time of year, I just always wonder where I'm going to find time to get everything done.

Next Wednesday we will be hitting the road (along with every other Californian) and heading up for the annual Klinger Thanksgiving.  This year we are expecting about 25 people.  That spells fun and a lot of work.  I'm choosing to focus on the fun.

Once Thanksgiving is behind us, we say goodbye to Jonathan who heads out of town for a conference that doesn't end until the following Sunday morning.  My mom will be undergoing her second (and last...) back surgery on the next Friday, so Clare, Laurel, Munich and I will be heading up to mom's house on the Thursday before surgery so that we can take her to the Dr. and stay with her for a couple of days.  We will head home Saturday afternoon/evening, repack the car and as soon as Jonathan gets home on Sunday morning, we will be heading to Oma-Oma's house for our annual St. Nicholas celebration.

The following week I will be celebrating my birthday.  So, to keep with our annual tradition, we will be going out of town to "relax".  This year, a group of our friends who we try to get away with at least once per year is going up too, so there will be a caravan of 11 Southern Californians heading to Cambria, some with kids, others without, to wine taste, enjoy beach walks, and just get away.

After that, the annual Dease Family Santa Barbara trip is underway.  We will be up enjoying the sights and sounds of SB from Friday until Sunday.  Thanks to Laurel, the house will be a little fuller than it was last year (and I won't have to skip out on the wine at our family dinners).

Once home from Santa Barbara, we have our Annual Balboa Walk to prepare.  This is where we host a party that ends with the group walking along the beach in Balboa looking at all the lights.  Again, assuming my mom is feeling up to it, we will party the weekend before Christmas.  

Then, guess what...it's CHRISTMAS!!!  My mom will be staying with us until the day after Christmas (assuming all goes well with her surgery...fingers crossed).  This year I can't wait to wake up early, brew some strong coffee and watch Clare open up her gifts.  She's so excited about the holiday since she finally understands the concept behind a present.  I also can't wait to take pictures of Laurel looking cute and festive.

Despite the chaos, we wouldn't change anything.  In fact, this year we thought that we were going to have an open weekend in the middle of the month, and at first we agreed that it would be a much NEEDED break in then action.  However, as the date got closer, we agreed that the gap in our calendar was too much to handle and began making plans to go out of town.  Fortunately, it turned out that our original plans worked out.  However, I think it says a lot that the idea of staying home didn't set well with us.  It just goes to show that we feel most like ourselves when we are on the go.  

What is a post without a picture or two of beautiful Laurel???

After all of this is over, we will probably walk on an empty beach next to all of Newport's discarded Christmas trees by day and sit on the couch by night, with a dazed look on our faces as all the fun people with lot's of energy ring in the new year in an exciting, party-filled way.  Until then, though, we look forward to the many weeks of catching up with our loved ones and celebrating the holidays together.