Deadwood & Decorations

With the passing of the date of November 15^th (the date that my husband & I agreed) came the most joyous time of the year…Christmas decorating time!  You see, I wanted to start putting Christmas decorations out at the beginning of November.  However, my sweet Wesley told me that I should probably do justice to the Thanksgiving holiday before skipping it completely & moving straight to Christmas.  *Sigh* Ok…I’ll wait.  Until the 15^th.  And then we’ll commence with the Christmas decorating!

This past weekend Wesley and I decided we would go to Deadwood (since we couldn’t go the weekend after our wedding due to the icy roads).  We both got home Friday evening, both thought of going to Deadwood during the day without even saying a word to one another, and then both decided (rather quickly) that would head to Deadwood first thing Saturday morning!  We had SUCH a great time together, but that’s nothing new.  We always do!  Wesley was up at 5:00 AM he was so excited.  He quietly woke me up, and we were out of the house by 6:30 AM heading to South Dakota!  We dropped Jiggs off at his grandparents (i.e. the ranch with Moo Moo & David) and were on our way.  We got to Deadwood about 10:00 AM after making a quick shopping trip stop in Belle Fourche, SD.  As soon as we got there, we checked into our room, and headed straight for the slots!  We gambled, got some lunch, and gambled some more.  We headed back to the room that afternoon to take a quick nap, and change for the evening.  I got some really cute clothes down in Deadwood, so I was anxious to wear them out that evening!  We ate a nice prime rib supper at our favorite steakhouse down there (Mom & Dad – you know which one we are talking about!) then it was off to win some money!  We went to our hotel’s casino because they have “hot seat” drawings every 15 minutes from 6:00-9:00 PM.  As luck would have, BOTH Wesley & myself got drawn for the hot seats!  $30 in free play…not a bad way to start the evening!  After winning some at that casino, we headed up the street to gamble, and order our favorite brick oven pizza before heading back to the room that night.  When we arrived at that particular casino they were having a drawing for one of those money machines – you know, the ones where you get in the glass case & they turn a fan on & money blows everywhere & you have to try to get as much money as you can in a certain amount of time.  After much persuasion (no, Wesley did NOT want to do it) we finally signed up for the drawing.  And once again, we were BOTH picked to go in the glass case!  Wesley was first, and after 30 seconds came out $65 richer!  I was next, and I came out with $31!  SCORE!  We ordered our pizza, and hit the slots while it was being made.  Wesley’s little hands were H-O-T hot that night, so we decided we’d go for one of those quick hit machines (anyone who has gambled knows what I’m talking about).  He put in a $5…yes, a $5…and won $120!!  NICE!!!  He did most all of the winning that weekend, and we ended up coming home with more money than we went with…not a bad weekend for us!!!

Sunday it was CHRISTMAS decorating time!!!!!!!!  We got home, unloaded the car, and then went to the man cave to get our Christmas totes.  I was so excited.  I couldn’t wait to have all our cute decorations out in the house again!  Wesley helped me bring the boxes in the house, and as I started opening the first tote I noticed a gross smell.  Wesley came over, and discovered most ALL of our Christmas decorations had mold on them.  That’s right, mold.  One might ask how mold got in a sealed tote?  Well, I put a beautiful snow globe (that I got at the last Christmas my great Grandparents were alive) in that tote.  This snow globe has been to Lubbock, Austin, Brenham, and finally Montana with me.  Apparently the harsh winters here in Montana are too much for the snow globe because the seal broke (not the glass, just the seal) and caused water to slowly leak out into the tote, creating mold all over everything.  Our stockings, stocking holders, blankets, figurines, Gund bears, Nativity scene, and a tree skirt…all victims of the mold.  I washed everything I could, 3 times to be exact.  NO such luck.  It was ruined.  I just cried.  We had no Christmas decorations for the inside of the house!  And I was so looking forward to decorating.  Wesley comforted me & promised me we’d go shopping this weekend & find much better decorations for our house & we would decorate again together this weekend.  The thought of that dried my tears, and I was once again in the Christmas spirit.

Not only did my sweet husband tell me we would go shopping together, he took it one step further.  Without my knowledge yesterday, he went to town and  bought me new Christmas decorations for the house.  I got home before him, and I could hear him rustling with things at the back door.  He yelled to me to close my eyes, go away, and I couldn’t look until he was ready!  He set out all his little findings on our kitchen table, took me there, and said “ok, open your eyes”!  What a sight!  I had new bears, new SINGING Rudolph & Abominable Snowman (they come in a set at Wal-Mart…and are super cute), 3 new stocking holders for the 3 of us, and he told me that we are still going to go shopping this weekend together, but he figured this would give me a start on my decorating.  He is the most thoughtful person I know.  This meant so much to me, and he knew that!  I love him so much!!!! 

I can’t wait to go shopping with him for more things as we are going to get yard decorations, more house decorations, and I get a new stocking too!!  He’s my angel…and I love him so! 

I’m going to try to post once more before Thanksgiving, but if I don’t get a chance, we hope everyone has a very Blessed Thanksgiving holiday surrounded by the people they love!!