The Raft

We bought our first house in November of 2002. We closed on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. It was in Southington, about 2 miles away from the apartment we lived in. We loved the town so we thought we would buy there and live there forever.
The day we closed it snowed. A lot. And the lawyer representing the seller actually tried to postpone the closing. Can you imagine?
Anyway - it was a cold, snowy day and we were moving into our first home!
We loaded up the Chevy truck and the Honda Civic and moved as much of our stuff as we could. Until of course, I found Squirrel and disappeared to the vet for several hours while Jay and Rachel did the heavy lifting.
Or maybe Rach was with me at the vet.
Doesn't matter.
And the Squirrel story can wait, too... I am losing track of my point here...
My point is this - as a housewarming gift, a woman I worked with gave me a Tart Burner and a few Yankee Candle tarts.
Since then we have collected several Tarts & Tart Burners.
Today, I have made the declaration that I am officially DONE with Tarts.
I am sick of the scent wearing out and finally being gone, but wanting to be sure so I light it one more time!
I am sick of having to WAIT for my scent to kick in because the tart has to melt before it gives off scent.
I am sick of running out of tealights and having to make a special trip to Walmart or AC Moore because they are too ridiculously expensive everywhere else.
We're back to candles.
Candles are pretty. Candles have cute accessories. You can have lots of them and put their tops on, put them away and pull them out another day.
DONE with TARTS.

Tomorrow we are heading to NY for Christmas. It is our celebration with my family. I am beside myself with excitement. It is Christmas, it's all I get with my family so I look forward to it very much.
This year my brother, his fiancee and our niece will not be joining us. And my other sister (her hubby and 2 kids) won't be there, obviously. But otherwise, we'll all be there and I cannot wait!
Abby is so excited to see her "Cousin friends" and give them the Christmas presents we bought them. She also can't wait to play in the snow at Grammie's house. And while Wyatt doesn't know what's about to happen, I cannot wait to see how he is with all the gifts and excitement! He was only 2 months old last year so this is sort of his "first" and I think he's really gonna dig it.

We are hosting Christmas Eve and I just have to get through tomorrow to really focus on what's left to do for that. Not much. Let's face it, my organization skills are unparalled and I am more than prepared for this holiday season. *smirking arrogantly*
In all honesty I really am ready. I have to grocery shop (Stop & Shop and BJ's) and I will have to give the house a once-over for dust and decor but otherwise, I just have to cook and open the door! We're decorated and wrapped. What else is there?
I love the holidays!