Deer Park Farms: The Day in Photos

My Paper Whites are blooming and smell amazing!

SCHEDULE FROM TODAY

Start day by feeding the dogs, feeding the horses, feeding the baby, and forget to feed yourself.

Then...........

1. Finish wrapping 10 gifts for vet and assistants.

2. Search for a hard to find gift for Victor. Drive all the way to the airport to pick it up, only to find they don't carry them anymore.

3. Go to Home Goods and have 18 month old daughter have a meltdown because she's not allowed to hold a glass. Leave Home Goods without purchasing anything.

4. Meet up with friend Sufia to deliver gift baskets: the one easy, quick and enjoyable task of the day.

5. Head to Coastal Ranch and Farm Supply, discover they don't have the correct size in the afore mentioned gift for Victor, and again have daughter have a meltdown - this time because she wants to keep the bridle she's found. See Fisherman's Supply store, and finally find Victor's gift.

6. Try to leave the parking lot. Drive in circles for 15 minutes while daughter screams.

7. Pass freeway on ramp, but find short cut that turns into a long cut that turns into "SHIT! I'm LOST." Use the OnStar button and discover that dealing with a person beats dealing with a GPS - become a believer in OnStar.

8. Finally get home with exhausted, hungry baby. Try to feed her. Put her down for a nap.

9. Work on finishing Christmas projects that will hopefully one day be presentable enough for gifts.

10. Head to vet for acupuncture for dog. Spend way too long waiting, chatting, and dealing with a shaking, clingy dog.

11. Return home, but first drive to the barn to feed horses their dinner...on the drive talk to different barn managers to set up appointments to view new homes for horses.

12. Reschedule dental appointment until next year in order to get the full benefit of insurance.

13. Try to smile.

14. Take a 2 minute shower while creating a mental list of everything that needs to be done in the next few days.

15. Drive into town to drop Victor and Lorena off, then head to Costco to buy rags and a gift for someone. Leave Costco because the baby wants to pull everything off the shelves.

16. Try to feed baby, but fail. Give up, turn the TV on (can you believe it?!?! That's a rarity in my house), start putting lights on the tree.

17. Three hours later with the tree covered in lights, discover that it's almost 9:30, and the baby is still playing and running around - way past her bedtime...have a slight panic attack that she still hasn't eaten anything. Give her banana which she gives to the dogs. Put her in her crib WITH her sippy cup of milk (again, WTF is wrong with me?!?!).

18. Return to the living room only to find that the tree lights are no longer working. Remember that it's only possible to connect a small number of light strands, discover the fuses blew. Attempt to change the teeny, tiny, itsy, bitsy fuses on the Christmas lights. Spend an hour trying that, only to have my hand cramp before said fuses are replaced. Seriously - those damn things are HARD to change!!! Finally get the tree glowing again.

19. Fulfill special order baskets. Take photos of random things around the house.

20. Stumble into bed, and...........blog.