Christmas

So our Christmas officially started on Friday evening with happy hour---unless you count the luncheon I had for the girls (and Butch) on Thursday, or our mother/daughter lunch at The Palm on Friday. It was a fun and busy weekend.

As for Christmas Day, it was a bit unusual---with family members going in different directions. Poor Justin--he's a late sleeper married to a morning person. He doesn't stand a chance! Mindy woke him up with "It's Christmas!" He replied, "It's too many Christmases!"

Anyway, Butch, Justin, Mindy and I watched the Disney Christmas parade and special. The plan was to have dinner at 1 p.m. when Stephanie and Nicky got back from his mom's. Everything went off with out a hitch. As soon as dinner was over, I was ready for the "kids" to load up their cars and head out. Butch and I had work plans for the afternoon. He was leaving for Belize with Mitchell the next day (today). I wanted to get all of the Christmas stuff down. Plus, what I had planned to reveal today was the beginning of our renovations.

We worked our tails off to get everything ready. We got all of the Christmas stuff down, tree out the door, refrigerator cleaned out, laundry started AND, the powder room cleared out for stage one of the reno.

Well, the details of the renovations are going to have to wait in lieu of what happened last night. We got up at 2 a.m. since Butch had a 5 a.m. flight. That really isn't a problem for me. I took it as a chance to get my day started. We left for the airport around 2:45 and I was back home by 3:30 a.m. I did a few things and decided to go back to bed with my book. Just about the time I was dozing off, the door alarm to the house went off.

When we moved in to this house nearly 22 years ago, we decided that along with our alarm system, we needed to have door alarms installed because of the pool. I needed to know if someone went outside because the grands were little and we didn't want to worry about them falling in the pool. We have a lot of doors to the outside in this house: 10 sets of French doors, 3 regular doors and the door to the garage. My friend, Nancy asked me once, years ago if I was scared about the number of ways someone could get in my house. I said, "well, NO, I never really thought about it---but I will now! Thanks a lot!"

So, just as I was dozing off, the door alarm sounded---meaning someone came IN the house. Now I'm pretty freaked. I hear it again and then a third time. I'm waiting for someone to call out. I listened for footsteps. Finally, I overcome my fear and tiptoe out of the bedroom, through to the library and in to the living room to peek out the window. No cars. I go to the front door to find it unlocked. Why am I not surprised? I've always said you can find door unlocked just about all the time. I'm the only one who locks doors behind me. I went ahead and locked the front door--thinking that now I have possibly locked someone IN the house with me. Flashes of all kinds of slasher movies cross my mind.

I didn't go upstairs, but didn't see anything amiss, so I went back to bed and reading. Within a half hour, the same thing happened. I decided to try setting the alarm to see if that would stop it. Instead, that set the alarm off! I immediately disarmed it, but now I had to find the number of the security company to have them "call off" the police. While I had them on the phone, I asked if they could solve my door problem as now it was going constantly. They said they'd have a technician call me. In the mean time, I checked the other doors. I found that the door to the pool bath was also unlocked. Nothing like feeling safe and secure in your own home!

The company called and helped me make the doors stop beeping. I'll be scheduling a service call today. Our system is so old that I guess it's about time to update it.

It's going to be a tiring day. I've "hired" Jordan to come over at 9 a.m. to do all the hauling up to the Christmas closet. I'm leaving for St. Louis on Wednesday for a few days with my sisters who are all going to be there. I'm flying. With Butch in Belize, I knew the week would seem so long. St. Louis for a few days with my sisters is the perfect solution! I want everything done  before I go. Otherwise, I won't be able to enjoy myself knowing I have work to do when I get home.

Tomorrow, I'll unveil our renovation plans!