and the holidays begin......

this weekend is my first (of many) holiday party. the university friends and i always get together surrounding the Christmas and Hannukah holiday season, and spend almost the weekend together. it always involves a huge meal, snacks, dance parties, matching outfits, and other wonderous things that are traditional and consistant. and likely, the reason we're all friends - because we all share the love of all things food and dance party.
and though i'm not one for holidays before December 1st, for this, i'll make an exception... and i'll put myself in the spirit.

happy weekend to all, and to all a good night.

my weekend in summary

this weekend was a nice break - and still filled with great stuff.
cupcake wars prizes for winners; the tables set, and ready to go; shower gifts; kim writing inappropriate baby shower card jokes; power lines outside of jake's work; kim and i by the niagara power plant (jake's work); decorations for the shower; caught in a welcome hug with the mom-to-be (photographers everywhere!); baby shower food; me, winning the blindfolded diaper changing game (inTENSE concentration); bri opening gifts with her sister in law; shower craziness; nater (dad-to-be) in realization; the most important gift - the stroller for running; family helping with shower tasks; bri's mom, nater and bri (a dashing pregnant woman).
(and sorry.... as you can tell from the fact that i'm writing this entry on a thursday, life is crazy right now.... so this will be short and sweet). 
friday: as i'm sitting on the united way board for our work campus of 1000 people, my event this year was cupcake wars. it was great - 24 entries, 4 amazing judges, and almost $1000 raised from the event alone. it made for a long/busy day, but a short day in the office. then i was off to court (ha!) to fight my parking ticket (thrown out, nbd), and then back home to work, and nap off my migraine that i immediately came down with when i was done. slept with just enough time to awake for jeff, and some friends ryan and heidi to arrive for dinner, before heading out to another friend's place for a birthday celebration. we took off back to ancaster at about midnight. exhausted. straight to bed.
saturday: woke up fairly early, and after a hashbrown stop at macdonalds, we hit the road for niagara. had a visit with jake and kim, wrapping presents, and eating some breakfast/brunch (but MUCH more healthy than hashbrowns) and then a tour at jake's work place. then, the three of us headed out to the baby shower, where jake got to drink beer and hang with guys watching football, and kim and i sat in a church with loads of woman. LUCKILY, brianne's family makes everything fun, AND kim and i are winners. we successfully won the baby shower (seriously - there were prizes and everything), and watched bri open gifts, and ate lots. and lots. when nate arrived, presents were opened, and people started heading out, jeff came to pick me up, and we drove back to ancaster. and spent the night eating, drinking beer, and watching movies. and slept early. very early.
sunday: i slept in, and we woke up and had a big breakfast, and then hung around a bit before venturing out to the movie theatre to see the new james bond movie. then, after tons of popcorn, skittles, and a long movie, we stopped at a sale at sport check, and then went home for some homemade dinner. early night filled with tv watching. it was marvelous.
i hope everyone's weekend was great, and their weekends have been productive and marvelous.
and please - for those of you in the US, can you spend your friday with family, instead of buying more THINGS? pretty please?
with thanks....
(the last 11 photos are courtesy of bri)

thank goodness

..... it's friday.
rarely do i flat out say it, but i'm stressed. it's been a stressful week (nay, month), and the next week is going to be insane as well. BUT with that being said, i finished a HUGE event that i was in charge of for our office campus today, and a huge client event thursday. i should be relieved, but instead my stress is coming out in headache form and, 'i'm finding reasons to be mad at everyone' form. hey. at least i acknowledge my weaknesses.
it's funny how blogs show a specific side of people. i like to think that on my blog, i share all that's going on in my life - good, bad, hilarious, horrible. i think it's important for people to know that everyone is real. everyone has bad days. everyone gets stressed. everyone gets insecure. everyone says things they don't mean. everyone just wants to stay in bed.
BUT. everyone also has friends to lean on, and people who don't bail even when times get tough.
so with that being said, i get to spend the weekend with some of those people. a long overdue trip to see jake, kim, and special guest josh.... then a baby shower for one of my favourite mom's-to-be (wait - maybe my ONLY mom to be at this time) brianne. then.... maybe.... some relaxing.
from pinterest (original source unknown)

hope everyone has a good weekend. and hey - if you're stressed too, then allow yourself to be. i'm just going with it.