Community Nutcracker

The same weekend of the Christmas parade I went to the Community Nutcracker at The Florida Theater in Jacksonville. My friend's niece was in it. I remember going to the nutcracker when I was in elementary school with my mom and aunts. I never liked the nutcracker guy because he looked creepy.

The husband was a good sport about attending his first ever ballet. He liked the Florida Theater. I have always loved that old theater. Next time he wants to sit in the balcony. I have been trying to get him to see the old summer movies they show there for years. Unfortunately they conflict with Nascar's schedule. Fortunately my friends said they were interested. Hello busy social calendar.

It was a great performance. Her niece is already picking out what to audition for next year.

Christmas Float Finale

The parade float was weeks ago. The only excuse I can give is I was sick last week.

I learned a few things while doing the float.

1. The husband is good at designing and finding all the parts for the float. I didn't do too bad myself. We found most of the parts in the first weekend.

2. I am a horrible procrastinator still. We spend most of the day of putting the float together. The weather report said rain on the day before the parade. It didn't rain until the day of.

3. You really need a place to keep the float covered so you can work on it ahead.

4. I give up easy and the husband does not. I was ready to throw in the towel. He worked hard to get the truck that pulled the float back on the road. He kept working on the float down to the last minute. We actually made it there on time. There were people showing up after us.

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5. Of course the judging is rigged. We don't know who won the competition. The photos were in the paper but nothing about who won. We still think we were in the top 5. I saw judges checking us out. I know they were thinking, how did they do that.

I mentioned to some friends about the float and I think they would want to work on one next year. I think with more people it would get done quicker and of course to start on it sooner.

Overall it was interesting. I found out I am good with a air staple gun. The husband was the belle of the parade with his light up hat. Overall it was fun.

And finally, here are some pictures, Remember this is a first time float and we took on a tough theme: A Christmas Story. Only a couple floats even had it on theirs.

Daytona Turkey Rod Run

I know, I have been on a car show trend lately. The husband seems to be checking out every car show in North Florida.


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The weekend after Thanksgiving we had planned for a while to check out the Turkey Rod Run in Daytona. It takes place inside the Daytona speedway. Of course that makes for a HUGE. When we got there we saw a ton of people on sccoters. After walking for an hour and only getting 1/8 around the track we knew why.

We wandered around oohhing and aaahhhing all along. I killed the camera batteries early on. We also have a thing where the husband and the father in-law tell me they had that car and how little they paid. I keep telling them they are pissing me up.

Here are some of the highlights of what seemed like a 100 mile walk.

Next time a scooter and a wagon full of goodies. 

13 in 13: November Update

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1. Sell 150 items: 
59, another non-payment and  broken product.

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2. Weekly Blog Posts: 
I was not a weekly contributor.

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3. Read a Book Per Month: 

none

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4. Track my Food to Lose Weight: 
Still the same. No real effort :(

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5. Monthly Adventures: 
Pumpkin Run


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6. Get serious about starting a family: 
The husband has been sick :(

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7. Save Money: 
I have saved over $1000. This month I received my work money from the change in companies and paid off my car.

      

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8. Watch More Movies:

A Christmas Story
A Haunted House



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9. Improve at Work: 
I have been dealing with a difficult coworker. Again. I have been trying to avoid her since she is temporary. She has been going around saying that I don't like her. How immature.

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10. Take a Real Vacation: 
That was in October. Always planning the next one.

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11. Try Something New: 

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12. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: 
Donated a bunch of books and unsold stuff. I continue to recycle.


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13. More home improvement: 
Nothing new this month. 

Our Christmas Parade Float - The Beginning

I am finally working on a crazy idea I had a while back. We are creating our own Christmas parade float.


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I have had the idea for a while. I just think it is so cool to watch a parade and started wondering what it would be like to be in a parade and that led to creating a float.


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The local Christmas parade is free to enter. We watched the parade last year and thought we could definitely do this.

I put out feelers for any friends who wanted to help out or be on the float. No serious takers.

The husband and the father in-law have been on board for the preparation. The husband came up with the design once we found out the theme. I must admit is it very creative and sticks completely with the theme. Last year's floats did not stick with the theme. The husband is playing to win in the competition.


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Some amazing things have already happened in our quest for parts to the float. The weekend following when we found out the theme the husband designed the float. The next day we went thrifting and found the majority of the parts. It all just came together. Last weekend we went in search of a few more parts. The local thrift just gave us the parts after we dropped off our donation. They told us they are doing a float too. I can't wait to see theirs.


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Now we only have a couple little things for the float. The husband already put together a few parts. I have to hot glue some things. Then in a couple weeks we put together the main parts. Then a couple days before we put the lights on the float. It should all come together in time and without a rush, hopefully.


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I don't feel like I contributed much to the design, but I will help with putting it together. The husband and father in-law are very handy. For them I hope we win something. I will be happy if it goes of without a hitch.