If it's not one thing, it's another!

I swear--it's always somethin'! 

It all started on Friday night with the decorating of our real tree in the family room. Butch put up a table so he could see the ornaments rather than just put them up "willy nilly."

He likes to carefully orchestrate their placement! (And he thinks I'm OCD!) We had a nice evening decorating and discussing some of the ornaments. 

These are some of my favorites---Mindy made them when she was little. I took this picture to see if she wanted them. She has most of her ornaments, but had made a comment that she thought she had more. She agreed to let me keep these on our tree! I have some other precious homemade ones from the grands too. 

The next morning, we got up early (we usually do). My first words to Butch were, "you want to put the presents under the tree? " His response, "let's just relax for awhile." After all it was 5:45 a.m. I just said, "well, I thought we might like to get the work out of the way." What was I thinking! I jinxed myself right then!

A few minutes later, he started putting some presents under the tree. I said, "oh are we doing it then?" He said, "might as well." He arranges the gifts to make it all look nice. I just bring them out of the library so he can place them.

I do not put bows on family gifts. They stack easier that way. Yeah, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it! Okay, if I'm being honest---I'm too lazy. I like to make my own bows so it's too much work. I only do bows for gifts outside of the family.

One of my prized possessions is my Christmas tree skirt that my mom made. She made one for all of us girls in the 1970's. It makes me think of her every year. She was crafty. Maybe that's where I got it.  I remember the little gifts she helped me make---matches covered in felt with glitter. I just wish I still had the stocking she made me. But, I digress...

With everything looking so festive---and I had the most amazing smelling candle burning (balsam fir from Pier One---again I digress)---we decided to start a fire. We couldn't leave well enough alone. 

It was like a scene right out of this movie! Ants started pouring out from under the mantle and bricks. I was freaking out! Hundreds---I mean it, hundreds! And they were the big ones---half inch long. Butch grabbed the dust buster. It quickly became apparent that, that wasn't going to work, there were too many and they were too fast. He got out the central vac. Me, I just stood there freaking out and yelling at him---"there's one getting away!" I started to think they were termites--because I thought they had wings. I started grabbing everything in the area to see if they had infested my magazines, needlework, etc. Luckily, they appear to be living either under the house or under the mantle. We've had a couple fires before this one, so I have no idea what stirred them up.

I put in an emergency call to our exterminator. Of course, he won't get that call until Monday. I'm going to ask him for his cell number for the future. Greg's been my guy for over 20 years. I don't think he'll mind. He knows how I am about bugs.

Once the crisis was over, I was on my way out the door for gingerbread house making with the girls. Butch promised to continue watching for the ants. When I got home, I asked him if there were any more. He said there were, but that he'd "gotten them." He said that he thought he'd gotten the queen because it was big and that it did indeed have wings.

Here's the "queen." We wanted to save it for Greg to see on Monday. I was still pretty freaked. When I slid it on to a little paper plate, it turned out to be a wasp! You know, when you are freaked out, your mind can play tricks on you.

Thank goodness Butch was there to handle that mess. Another reason "not" to be a man. You have to deal with awful stuff while your wife just freaks out! If it's not one thing, it's another! For sure!