Second Annual Holiday "Brew"haha

I apologize beforehand for a boring post.  I don't know, maybe some of you will find the tedium of my life entertaining.

We had quite a productive day today.  I'm having a Christmas party at my house this Friday, so I'm trying to get things in line early in the week so that I'm not going crazy the day of.  The party was quite a hit last year (10 person pyramid in the living room) and 23 people have already confirmed on Facebook (I also expect some non-facebookers).  So not surprisingly, I'm highly concerned about getting everything in place before the party.  

I'm definitely starting a fire in the fire pit out back the day of the party, I plan on keeping the back devoid of doggie pleasantries this week, and I bought a small fire pit last week for the patio at the side of the house (technically it's the front--living in the mountains complicates things); my house is only 960 sq ft, so I have to have other areas available for people to escape to.  The fire pit on the patio is intended to draw people out there.  The patio hasn't proven to be a popular spot in the past.  I also need to make sure the house is free of pet hair.  Easier said than done.  It's actually not that bad but I go a little obsessive-compulsive when I have people over.

Today we strung lights around the roof which was a heck of a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.  It actually took me longer to poop-scoop than my boyfriend to hang the lights.  

I strung lights on two trees and also mowed.  I know it's weird to mow when it's cold, but I needed to get the leaves mulched.  

We picked up my big "party table" from my friend who was going to use it but never did.  I moved my regular dining table out to the shed and set up the party table in its place.  

I cleaned my vacuum (rinsed the filter and such) and realized I need a vacuum for my vacuum.  Haha!  I then vacuumed and my boyfriend Rug Doctored the carpets.  It's awesome.  Nothing makes me feel better than clean carpets.  And my carpets were diiiiirteeee!  We have that really awful red dirt here and the dogs track it in like crazy.  I'm going to have a really hard time letting them back in the house.  I'd never used a Rug Doctor before and I am thoroughly impressed.  It only cost $27 to rent; well worth the price. 

Let's see...we also dropped some items off at the thrift store, put the small fire pit together, and I even made a dinner of breaded pork chops, biscuits, and garlic sugar snap peas.  I generally enjoy cooking dinner, but I haven't been in the mood these past couple of weeks so tonight's dinner was a special treat. 

My to-do list for this week:

Clean (inside & out)

Figure out what the heck I can use in posole instead of frozen red chile!!!!  (A major concern of mine right now.)  If you can believe it, none of the stores here (even the two Mexican grocery stores in town) carry frozen red chile.  :oP

Buy rum.  Lots of it.  Oh yeah.  It's that kind of party.  

Pray it doesn't rain or snow on Friday.