Vinyl, feeling blessed (again) and Santa

You know when you get something new (a car, bike, house, fill in the blank) and you want to keep it nice and perfect for as long as you can? And that first ding or scratch or what have you just makes you want to cry, but then you think to yourself, it had to happen sometime. Well, our house had its first big bump last week. We've had a few dings in doorways (who can get through a move with the elders helping and not bang the door frame?) as well as one major issue going down the stairs (but since no one but us goes down there no one sees it) but I did the big one - the one I don't know how to fix.

I had just made a late supper of scrambled eggs with homemade turkey sausage and was taking it to eat while I watched tv, with a detour to the front door to make sure it was locked. Well, as I shifted my hands to turn off lights, I dropped the bowl. Glass shards and scrambled eggs everywhere and a nice little rip in the vinyl. Glass went under it. Charles helped me clean up and stay calm, but when I saw that bump I got pretty upset. Charles pushed the glass out and got rid of the bump and its not too noticable, but I'm worried about wear and tear and it getting worse. But its okay. At least I didnt' set the kitchen on fire or something.

Last night a friend from the ward came over with a holiday treat and we showed her the house. She just kept saying over and over how beautiful and big it was. They just moved in down the street with a different builder and she thinks its a 1600 square foot rambler, but it has 3 bedrooms on the main level, so our home of 1400 square feet and 1 bedroom seems so large. She loved all our fun choices, the big bathtub, the huge closets and laundry room, and the incredibly spacious basement. After she left Charles and I both just felt so warm and fuzzy about our home. We are so blessed and feel we made a great decision on our home plan and the care in our selection of colors and other choices. We feel so blessed to have been able to build our own home and also where we decided to build. We are gaining many good friends here in our neighborhood and don't even mind the commute to work..

Finally, today was my ballroom class Christmas/parents party. All three classes from my school joined together for a crazy afternoon after school and we perfomed all our dances for the parents and shared what we have been learning all year. It was very fun, and from what I've been told, very successful (I was in the hall the whole time). And then Santa came!! All the kids got to report to him on an etiquette challenge they had to do and then tell him what they wanted for Christmas. Mom and Dad both came to watch the dancing and then Dad slipped out to change. He is the best Santa. I was talking to one of the other teachers when I first arrived and she had said she was having a really good day and to top it off, she had seen a santa on a Harley Davidson on the way over, and I said, thats my dad, too! It was very fun for everyone and I am so proud of my class. They did a really great job. And Thanks, Dad, for spending so much time there. There were a lot of kids!

Speaking of Santa/Dad - Last year he posed for Greg Olsen and his painting is now available! Go to www.gregolsenart.com to see it. My sister said on her blog that there is a poem to go with it, and that is found on Greg Olsen's blog and there is a link on the web page. Such a beautiful painting. Looks just like Daddy!