I'm back!!

Well, we survived a week without internet, cable or a microwave. Or real beds.

It was my first Christmas Eve/Day without my parents since 2003 (my first Christmas with Mr. Curly and a choice not to be with family). This one wasn't entirely by choice, but we survived. We invited 4 friends to join us for Christmas dinner, but they ended up not being able to make it.

Which leads to the list of....

Things we learned:

DON'T:

1. Make a mashed potato bake casserole recipe that usually feeds 30 people for 2 adults and 2 kids, unless you want to be eating it for a week.
2. Bake a 10 lb ham for only 2 adults and 2 kids, unless you really really really like ham.
3. Expect dog toys to last more than an hour.
4. Cook 2 pizzas on one baking sheet if they don't completly fit on the sheet.
5. Assume the toilet flushed correctly.
6. Let your clean-aholic mom get bored.
7. Go overboard at a nice goodwill.
8. Make 50 cookies for a church party during a snow/sleet storm, unless you want to eat a lot of cookies.
9. Let dishes (even just 4 plates and a baking sheet) go overnight if you don't have a dishwasher (they multiply!!).
10. Put your 3 year old daughter down for a nap without a potty break first, no matter how hard she is crying.

DO:

1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Make "Happy Birthday, Jesus" cake.
3. Let your son play dress up.
4. Let your daughter march on her brother's car mat.
5. Save peppers and carrots for snowman faces.
6. Cut your son's hair all by yourself.
7. Let your kids enjoy all their new toys at once.
8. Let your daughter put her new make-up on you.
9. Wrestle/Dance with your kids.
10. Take pictures.
11. Let your mom clean the kids's room.
12. Shop the local Wal-mart Christmas sales multiple times.
13. Celebrate the New Year's with the East Coast (if you live in the midwest).
14. Take a nap with your daughter when she's having a hard day.

Wait for it, you'll hear most of it.