On the twelfth (aw, come on!) day of December `The Crazy Life' gave to me:

3 loads of laundry, 6 gifts purchased, 10 different stores, 2.5 hours shopping, $25 won on the radio, and 12 leftover food containers emptied.

I picked up the kids today after school. I thought I had enough hours worked yesterday to warrant leaving the office to spend time with my family. All that so I wouldn't spend time with my wife who went into town shopping for the last gifts. Or should I say, the last gifts for everyone but each other. We suck.

This morning after I dropped off the kids I was listening to Shine FM and dialed the number (very delayed). Sure enough, I won a $25 certificate for Giovanni Music in Edmonton. I need new strings for my guitars anyways - I snapped the G-string on Friday while practicing, and the other guitar is missing some of its brightness.

We've been eating well. We just can't seem to eat it all. So tonight I just pulled out leftovers from the nights previous to serve - Judah had "monkey brains" (mac & cheese with hot dogs; at least they might be the brains of a different critter with the hot dogs in there), Aslynn had Tuna Noodle Casserole, Micah had Sweet & Sour Chicken on Rice, I had Butternut Squash Ravioli and Garlic Buns, Faith and I later shared some crackers, cheese, and summer sausage paired with spinach dip and bread, and this afternoon Faith had appetizers and I ate the last of the Hamburger Soup. Okay, so maybe I messed up the numbers - there were a lot of leftovers! And my tummy is satisfied. I say, "Good enough!"