Where has December gone?

Seriously.   I can't believe it's the 18th already.  CRAZINESS!

In the spirit of the holidays, I have done my Christmas shopping late.  And online.  I hate the hustle and bustle and crowd of holiday shopping.  So, me and my amigos the keyboard and the mouse have been motoring around Cyberland, trying to find the right gifts.  I made my list, checked it twice, and proceeded to click away.  I'm almost done.  I have found but yet to order gifts for one person, and that just leaves two birthdays and something for our gift exchange on Nick's side to find.  I'll be a little less tense when it's all said, bought, wrapped and done.

Eliza is walking now.  She still crawls when she wants to go fast, but we find her walking from place to place, even without holding on, more and more.  Which means she's getting into everything more and more.  Our bedroom is now the irresistible delight that we have to watch.  If the apartment seems to quiet, it's a good bet that she's found her way into our room.  The unfortunate thing is that one of the quirks of this house is our bedroom door: it hangs at an angle to the door frame and cannot shut.  Nick says it's the frame that's off, but I would swear it's the door.  (Since he's far more knowledgeable in these sorts of things, though, I take him at his word.)  No latchable door means no way to bar the little girl from getting in now that she's figured out how to work doors.  Oh, yes, doors are another delight.  She's closed herself in the bathroom and in her bedroom numerous times now and neither time seems too particularly concerned that she can't get herself out again.  She just stands there and jabbers to the door while she meddles with the doorknob.  Such fun!

In other news, we're on the hunt for a new car.  My GMC Jimmy is just about to bite the dust.  At least, it's certainly outlived it's usefulness to me.  Nick thinks he might take it over as a beater to drive to his various things (since he doesn't need to get into the various doors and hatches as much as I do...).  It's come a little sooner than we had hoped, but we'll cope.  We'll just keep praying for the Lord to provide.

I have oodles of things that I had thought about writing the past few days, but by the time I had a chance to sit down and do it, Little Girl was up and into something.  Maybe I'll get the chance to sometime soon.

(P.S. There's an old tradition between my uncle and my dad at Christmas and birthdays.  Often, they bought each other books as gifts, and just as often the giver read the gift before handing it on.  It might sound not the thing, but it's always a been a bit of a laugh in our family.  I'm so tempted to read all these good kid's books I got for my nieces and nephews for Christmas!  Do you think they'll notice?)