We had a wonderful Christmas. I was able to pull off the best Christmas present for Geoff, and it was actually a surprise. I put together cash to pay for the gift a little at a time so that he did not know how much I was spending, then took the cash to my mom, who ordered the iPod Touch 16g. I had it shipped to my office so that it never entered the house. When he would ask what he was getting for Christmas I told him that it was something electronic, but he probably wouldn’t like it, since I never seem to get the right stuff. He was surprised and thrilled when he opened it, and has not put it down since.

Aegwyn loved her Handy Manny and Cars toys, but was especially thrilled over her baby doll that took a paci. The boys liked their new games, and all of the other hundreds of gifts that they received. Graeme just liked playing with the paper and boxes.

And as for me, I absolutely love my WiiFit. I am trying to use it daily, whenever I can get the Wii away from the kids that is. I however, never want to see Christmas food and party food again.

Met my old lover in the grocery store
The snow was falling christmas eve
I stole behind her in the frozen foods
And I touched her on the sleeve

She didnt recognize the face at first
But then her eyes flew open wide
She went to hug me and she spilled her purse
And we laughed until we cried.

We took her groceries to the checkout stand
The food was totalled up and bagged
We stood there lost in our embarrassment
As the conversation dragged.

We went to have ourselves a drink or two
But couldnt find an open bar
We bought a six-pack at the liquor store
And we drank it in her car.

We drank a toast to innocence
We drank a toast to now
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness
But neither one knew how.

She said shed married her an architect
Who kept her warm and safe and dry
She would have liked to say she loved the man
But she didnt like to lie.

I said the years had been a friend to her
And that her eyes were still as blue
But in those eyes I wasnt sure if I saw
Doubt or gratitude.

She said she saw me in the record stores
And that I must be doing well
I said the audience was heavenly
But the traveling was hell.

We drank a toast to innocence
We drank a toast to now
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness
But neither one knew how.

We drank a toast to innocence
We drank a toast to time
Reliving in our eloquence
Another auld lang syne…

The beer was empty and our tongues were tired
And running out of things to say
She gave a kiss to me as I got out
And I watched her drive away.

 

Just for a moment I was back at school
And felt that old familiar pain
And as I turned to make my way back home

The snow turned into rain — Dan Fogelberg

This is one of my favorite Christmas time songs. No one ever seems to understand why. For some reason this year, this song hits home much more than usual. I guess I am just hitting an age where you start thinking of past friendships that no longer exist, and wishing to reconnect with old friends. I am sure that some of this comes from being on Facebook recently, and actually getting back in contact with people that I haven’t seen in over 15 years.

This song makes me think of of how great things used to be before I had the responsibilities of work and kids and family. Like staying up all night with the girls watching horror movies, hanging out on the weekends wondering what to do next, lying about your age to see rated R movies, and having some of the best ice cream. It seems as you get older these things lose something. Staying up all night watching movies and talking is harder to do, Disney replaces most other movies, and ice cream just isn’t as good as it once was.

Up until a few days ago, I was really looking forward to Christmas. Now, I am just trying to maintain. Hopefully, by tomorrow morning I will be back into the holiday spirit. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

First of all, why do men have to be so stubborn and pigheaded? Geoff is sick, I think it is pneumonia. His symptoms are almost exactly like what I had. He is miserable, but will he go to the doctor? or let anyone help him? NO!

The guys at work heard me on the phone with him today, and they all agreed that this was usualy behavior. Why? If you are sick and miserable why not do what you can to fix it? I just don’t get it.

I never thought that I was one of those people… you know the ones that hire a Nanny to come in take care of the babies. Well, as it turns out, I am one of those people. We officially hired a Nanny today. I have been having some issues with daycare, and Geoff is trying to work, and neither are going well.

Our daycare has always been wonderful, I have known the people that own and run it for years, but lately I have not been happy. Graeme is not getting his breathing treatments like he needs them, and there have been a few days where he has only had 1 bottle all day.

We decided to look into hiring someone to come to the house to watch Graeme and Aegwyn, and I lucked out. I found someone who will work for about the same amount that I am paying daycare, plus she will help with the housework.

So, as it turns out, I am one of those people that I used to make fun of. But as I see it, having the kids at home keeps them from being around all of the sick kids that parents insist on bringing to daycare, lets Geoff and I monitor more closely what the kids are doing, gives us some help on keeping the house up, will help us run errands, and isn’t costing us anything extra.

The new Nanny came by this afternoon to meet the kids, and I was mildly surprised that Aegwyn liked her from the very begining. I think she will work out very well for us.

We went to our Sunday School Christmas party tonight and had a wonderful time. We ended up bringing home the best present from the Dirty Santa game.

Things have been so crazy lately. I started a new job, which I LOVE!!!! The company is fantastic, the people are great, and the job itself is amazing. It has been so long since I actually enjoyed going to work, and had fun while I was there. What is the job you ask, I am the Office Manager for a major governmental construction company beginning a new project on the arsenal. We have just started with the construction phase, and I am so excited.

We have also begun basketball season, which unfortunately with Graeme and Aegwyn, we have only been to one game.

I am very proud of myself, I have almost completed my Christmas shopping. I have had my tree up since last Sunday, and all of my presents are wrapped. We, as in Micah, Noah and I, are getting ready to start baking cookies. Noah has requested sugar cookies and snickerdoodles, Geoff has requested white chocolate macadamia and mint chocolate, and I want peanut butter and chocolate. Who wins? Everyone, by the time we are through making cookies I will probably have 10 dozen cookies… hopefully those will last us until next weekend:)