Quick! Before we leave town!

 I am up to my ears in actual work and also in adjunct work and then again in family work. OUR DISHWASHER IS BROKEN, and this is TERRIBLE.

I don’t know if you remember our dishwasher debacle— the one we installed when we built the house caught on fire in the middle of the night and GE recalled the entire line of them (yikes!) based on our case and also gave us a free top of the line replacement THAT HAS BEEN AN AWFUL MACHINE. We have had to have the sensor panel replaced TWICE because it just FELL OFF, and the DOOR BROKE once. Every time something goes wrong, we have to go through the GE warranty company, which is not the most expedient way to get it fixed. Basically, we are ready to junk this deluxe appliance in favor of the bottom-of-the-line sub-$500 Best Buy Black Friday model from a different manufacturer. But! Because we never ever make good decisions with our money, first we called our very favorite appliance repair guy, who comes over the literal day we call. Well, the asshole dishwasher WORKED JUST FINE for him. But then it broke again, so he came back and cleaned a valve and told us we should be fine, since the diagnostic he ran said everything was great. BUT THEN IT BROKE AGAIN after working 3 times just fine. So he came back and said he thinks it is a sensor problem (even though the diagnostic was again clear) Soooooooo, he ordered a sensor, and we are washing one thousand dishes 6 times a day. Also, the warranty people are coming out when we get back from Disney. We are spending money on a repair, waiting for a hopefully free fix, and also spending tons of money on paper dishes and takeout and tons of time washing things. COSTLY IN EVERY WAY.

Have I even mentioned that we are going to Disney?! Maybe not because even though we are SO excited, we are also so behind in all areas of life that even thinking about travel is stressful.

The other day, Ben said it would be awesome if he took the kids to fill up the car the morning we leave and I got our Elf on the Shelf out and had him decorate the living room for Christmas so that when we get home the decorations are up, and I broke out in instant hives because the thought of that was so anxiety fueling. (Like, instant hives up and down my arms).

I need to concentrate on being happy and tying up loose ends like Minnie is concentrating on her frozen bubbles.

How could I be anything but happy with my excellent shopping partner

AND a winter pedicure?

In other news, we got stroller hating Minnie a cheapie umbrella ride for Disney

Jack had his first speech tournament

Minnie got some hilarious new boots

And! We realized that baking will cure any bad mood.

Dorothy had a friend come over and they made cupcakes and pizzas. Minnie was ALL IN

She is going to LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas cookies.

This was her very first sprinkles experience. I have a feeling it will not be her last.

We had our first Christmas family movie night of the season (Spirited— we liked it a lot but everyone agreed it was way too long). You should really think about putting peppermint Rum Chata in your Swiss Miss.

Beatrix helped herself to a non-alcoholic cup

Cooper’s, clearly.

And! We almost cancelled because we are just hemorrhaging money and we haven’t even GOTTEN to the Most Expensive Place on Earth yet, but we went out for our monthly fancy dinner with our favorite foodie friends and ordered so much sushi I may never eat sushi again. But I mean, of course I will because SUSHI.