Presents Under the Tree

The tree is up and the presents are wrapped. My Christmas shopping is complete and today the doorbell keeps chiming with deliveries which means the dogs are constantly howling.

The kids were very helpful this year. Chloe decorated the tree and I um, realigned some of the ornaments that seemed to be clustered in one area after she went to bed. The kids also put the presents under the tree and in doing so found out that one of the presents is a Buzz Lightyear--he wouldn't shut his trap! The gift is for Oliver which led to lots of whining on the part of Chloe because she requested a Buzz Lightyear too. Of course, I let her whine and complain because I know that BeBe got her one and its waiting for her in Dallas.

Matt pretty much knows the contents of all his presents. Its not easy keeping things a secret when your spouse can see where you've been spending money when they log in to the bank account. We decided this year we were going to get fit. We both have gym memberships and rarely use them. I belong to a gym that has childcare but I hate going. Matt works out at his gym, the YMCA,  on the weekends when Chloe is at swim practice but its difficult to make it to the gym during the work week. So, we're making space in the basement to include an exercise machine and Matt has been talking about getting a weight bench.

I thought it was perfect timing when I came across a fantastic Cyber-Monday deal on a home gym and that I was so sly buying it until he told me he saw online that I bought him said home gym. Yes, he could have pretended he didn't see it and played along but he enjoys finding out what presents he got in advance.

Besides, its kind of enormous. Many heavy boxes were delivered this morning and our house isn't big enough to conceal that many boxes. And, after Matt looked online at what I bought, we kind of found out we have a problem....

it doesn't fit in our basement exercise area. In my excitement to get a super Cyber-Monday steal on this home gym, I didn't read the specifications--especially the measurements. Seems this gym is a little too tall for our low-ceiling basement. We're keeping the gym because it WAS such a deal (65% off) but are having to get creative in where we put it---the unfinished part of our basement. It's really the only option unless we want to start knocking out the ceiling. The ceiling is higher in the unfinished part but that means I have to clear out a lot of items stored in there. I've donated some items in my pre-Christmas purge and am in the process of moving them to the attic---up three flights of stairs. Its a workout, especially maneuvering around a two year old and a lazy 108 lb. dog that insists on laying right where you need to walk.

I'll be busy clearing out the next few days and then Matt will have a major project to assemble.