Out of Service

**Disclaimer: this is a long post! Consider yourself warned.**

Sorry I've been out of service the last week or two, but I have been basking in Christmas glory. My mom and brother joined us for our first Christmas (in five years) in our own home. We had a LOVELY time. Highlights include:

1.) Visiting the Temple lights. SLC has nothing on Mesa.

2.) Watching our traditional Christmas movies:





"I lost mine" [giggles every time]

3.) Stuffing our faces with all kinds of good food like Costco ham, spritz cookies, buckeye balls, cherry chocolate bites, mustard green beans, cranberry cider, oh etc. etc.

4.) Receiving some very thoughtful gifts such as new cowboy boots, a camera (so nice!) from my brother, great cooking equipment/books from my mom (especially some Penzey Spices....mmmmm, mmmmm), food storage from Ryan's parents (thank you! saving me the stress is a greater present than you'll ever know!) and Guitar Hero from Ryan.

5.) Making my mom play said Guitar Hero. She did quite well and hardly complained when we made her play the Metallica Guitar Hero.

6.) Playing Cranium, where my mom made a clean sweep of us all.

7.) Watching the cute new Disney movie.

8.) Hiking in the intriguing Usery Mountains.


9.) Snuggling with our poodle visitor.

10.) Celebrating the birth of our Savior.

Creepy Christmas

The most disturbing thing happened today. My boss gave me a box of fudge yesterday (somebody gave it to him, but he didn't want it), so I left it on my desk last night. I'd had a couple of pieces but somehow managed enough self control to save some for the rest of the week. Just before lunch I got a hankering and opened the box.

I was horrified to find one piece had a bite taken out!!! Who does that?? My coworker pointed out that it must be someone deranged. I felt like someone left a knifed jack-o-lantern on my doorstep with a note that says "You." Seriously though. A mere petty thief would've taken the whole piece or maybe even the whole box. But who takes one bite and put it back?

Obviously someone is trying to mess with my head. And it's working. Merry Christmas indeed.

You Better Watch Out

Santa isn't the only one watching . . .

No Mercy . . .

Um, "Sam" is no longer with the company, as of yesterday. Do you think somebody at work read my blog??? Somehow I feel a little guilt.

A Little Mercy

So there are two opposing forces in justice and mercy. I feel like most people may respect one but tend to lean toward the other. Ryan leans a bit to the mercy side, and I probably lean a bit toward justice.

My coworker "Sam" CLINGS to justice. She works in internal audit, so her job is literally to judge the processes and controls of everyone else in the company. Perfect role for her personality, but it sure stresses out the rest of us.

She performed an audit on the department I support and wanted my input on her results. She was harsh, surprisingly so even for her. I kept delicately trying to show her how her numbers were exaggerated and overly dramatic. Finally she blurted out:

"Christie, you're younger than I am, so you just haven't learned yet. You need to make the data look as bad as possible. That's the way you get them in the most trouble."

Suddenly the idea of justice without mercy hit home. I decided I was awfully glad "Sam" would not be my judge in Heaven. Hopefully this will help me to remember to show a little more mercy to others myself.

Lastly, I take offense to the "younger" reference. What in sam hill (pun intended) does that have to do with the price of beans?

Comeuppance

I always tell Ryan he'll get comeuppance for his misdeeds. Sadly, I got a taste of my own medicine. Literally.

I bought this sweet little item while in New Mexico.

When Ryan was carrying it into the house, the bottom of the bag broke. Just like my heart when he told me. Wouldn't you know, the jar didn't shatter though. The bottom just fell off. So Ryan, trying to console me, explains that it's salvageable. He scooped off the top layer in case it had any stray glass. Then he put it in tupperware.

I've been enjoying this raspberry goodness almost every day since Thanksgiving. Yesterday I realized it was almost empty. A few bites into my toast, I felt horrible stabbing pain in my gum. Obviously, I found a glass shard. I was able to extract it myself without any long term damage.

Ryan obviously felt terrible and kept apologizing. Then he remembered I'd made him a PB&J sandwich for lunch. "Oh no!" he said. "I guess I better not eat my sandwich."

Sheepishly I looked at the ground. Taking a deep breath I said, "I have a confession. I've been eating the good stuff . . . sigh . . . and giving you the cheapy store brand. Your sandwich is safe." Suddenly his guilt fled. He realized it wasn't his fault I almost swallowed sharp glass; it was fate. I was just getting my comeuppance.

How Embarrassing

I can't believe it's the 6th, and I just realized I still had a Thanksgiving background. Oops. By the way, I'm not really getting this for Christmas. In case anybody thought I was serious. That would be embarrassing too.

Treat Advice

Okay. I am thinking I'd like to try some new things for our Christmas goodies this year. What's coming out of your kitchen?

Need a Christmas Gift Idea?

This is what I'm getting Ryan: