Ah, Christmastime....

There are always good and bad with this time of year.
One annoying thing that turned out good: I walk dogs, as you all know, 2 days a week. But I also work in the hospital/kennel and can't just wear my boot all day, any more than I can just wear my trainers/sneakers/tennis shoes all day. Last year I wore my super delicious lace-up suede boots with the fuzzy lining. But I wasn't keen on wearing my 'good' boots to work due to all the nastiness that sometimes comes with working in a hospital setting. Nor did I enjoy taking an extra 15 minutes every time I needed to go outside and then again when I had to put my shoes back on when inside! Troublesome. This year I decided to get a cheap pair of pull-on boots. I saw the BEARPAW brand at a discount clothing store and thought that might be the way to go. Then, as if to say, 'yes...those are the boots you need for work', endless.com had a '12 days of deals' offer that they were sending to my inbox. Through the preview I could see they would be having a sale on BEARPAW, but i didn't know what the sale was, specifically. So I marked my calendar and waited. Yesterday was the day: 50% of select styles!! So I didn't waste any time buying these for work: They are as basic as can be, but with more oomph! to the soles for walking dogs!! So happy. If it doesn't snow between now and Christmas, I will just have hubby wrap them for me. I won't be surprised, but I will be excited!

We ended up getting a try when I realized I had Sunday off this past weekend. We decided to go to the CapeAbilities Farm down the road. They were a little more expensive, but the money goes to help this farm that is run, in part, by people with disabilities. We've been wanting to check it out, since it is literally down the road from us, but we just never did before now.
And, I have been doing some shopping for hubby, on line. I actually finished in a few minutes the other day. I bought most from Amazon, since the only thing he actually asked for was a couple dvds. I got those, plus a cool book about the art of How to Train your Dragon. I think he'll like it.
The major score was when I stumbled across an Etsy shop that sells framed bugs!! He bought one on our first trip to Vegas and has been wanting more ever since. They are EXPENSIVE out here. There is a Japanese store in Provincetown that has them for hundreds of dollars.
This shop on etsy (RealButterflyGifts) had such great stuff I had a hard time picking just one. I settled on this one:
but will likely be back for more in the future. The real kicker is that I just ordered mine a couple days ago, and got a message about how busy they were for the holidays and that they would ship as soon as possible. Looking back at their site today, I see that they have had to stop taking holiday orders so they can catch up!! In under the gun! Phew!

I am having the most difficult time with my secret Santa gift though! Usually we do a Yankee swap thing, so the gifts are generic. This year we drew names and I have no idea!! I actually bought something while in Vegas but each day I feel less like it is the right gift. So this morning I found something I thought might do the trick...in CHINA!! I just don't feel confident it will arrive in time.

On top of it all, I'm sick. I found someone to take my shift today, so I'm going to go get some medicine and crawl back into bed for the day. Although, I'm tempted to go to Old Navy for some 'jingle jammies' while they're on sale this weekend!