Catch Up

The last few weeks since Thanksgiving have been a whirlwind. I never realized how much free time I had working on the weekends, until I no longer have that time. I used to have plenty of kid-free time with which I could decorate the house, shop, wrap, and in general prepare for the holidays. This year, I spend much of my kid-free time asleep, so I now have to work harder to find time to do my pre-holiday prep; either that, or I have to be a lot sneakier about it. I also have to be more organized, which is challenging, since I already considered myself to be a pretty organized person. In addition, we have more activities going on this holiday season than we have in the past, so we have to account for those as well. Time is flying by! Since my last post, we have been busy almost every single day.

The first part of the first week of December was pretty routine: School, Dance, Work. Phillip was working long hours preparing for his company's Christmas party, which he was in charge of organizing. And it's not as if it was just a small luncheon, or even a dinner party here in Little Rock. Last year after Christmas, his boss set him the task of planning a huge party at Sam's Town casino in Shreveport, Louisiana. The company has apartments in that area, and the Boss thought it would be fun to have all the company employees travel there, have a dinner, gamble in the casino a bit, and stay overnight in the hotel. So, Phil has been stressed beyond belief trying to get all this lined out, details managed, menu picked, decorations chosen, accommodations arranged, etc, etc, etc...oh and don't forget, he still has to continue on with his regular responsibilities of interviewing, hiring, orienting, payroll, and so on and so forth. As a matter of fact, the week prior to the party was a payroll week, so he not only had to finalize the details of the party, but he also had to get everyone their paycheck! We didn't see much of him that week. Anyway, it all paid off beautifully the weekend of December 4th and 5th. He and I drove the kids to his Mom and Dad's house and then continued on to Shreveport. The hotel was very nice, the party turned out fantastically, and everyone had a great time. He did such a great job! Incidentally, they give out awards every year at the Christmas party, and Phillip won an award voted on by his peers: Outstanding Team Member. I am so proud of him! He and I stayed in town Saturday the 5th and tried to do a little Christmas shopping, but our day was overshadowed by worrying about Alison, who had woken up that morning with severe abdominal pain and ended up going to the ER. Several hours and a CT scan later, she was diagnosed with a non-specific mass, and had an order to call her GYN for an appointment ASAP. Things were complicated even further on Sunday, when her right calf started hurting. She went back to the ER that evening, where they did an ultrasound and found a clot in one of her more superficial veins. Fortunately, this is not the life-threatening kind, and the doc told her to treat it with heat and aspirin and it would dissolve on its own. And, if she hadn't given the ER enough business, Phil's brother Kevin's son had an accident Saturday night and hit his head really hard. They took him to the ER to have him checked out because he wasn't acting right, and he was diagnosed with a concussion and a small skull fracture! They transferred Blake to Children's, where they kept him for two nights for observation. He was having a lot of trouble with nausea and vomiting, so they didn't release him until he was able to eat and keep food down. He is fine now, but they have to try to keep him calmer than usual for the next few weeks until his skull heals. He is very energetic, as most four-year-olds are, so this is a challenge, but he is doing ok so far.

SO...the kids and I came back from El Dorado on Sunday afternoon, the 6th, and Phil stayed behind so that on Monday he could go BACK to Shreveport, then over to Longview, Texas for 401k enrollment meetings, and then finally back home. Tuesday, he drove to Blytheville, Arkansas and back (seven hours in the car with strangers), and then Wednesday, he flew to Houston and back, all for these 401k meetings. Thursday night I worked, but I took Friday night off for Amy's school Christmas program. Her class dressed as reindeer and sang "Rudolph." Or, at least, they were supposed to be singing. I think maybe two or three kids out of the 9 or so that were there actually sang. Amy was not one of them. She did, however, make sure everyone knew that Santa was in the building. Regardless, they were ADORABLE!

Oh, yeah. On Wednesday of that week, Alison had an appointment for an ultrasound of her abdomen to try and determine what her mass was, so I drove her over to the hospital and Mom met us there. She and I waited while Alison had her test, and then we went to lunch. Fortunately, Alison was having almost no more abdominal pain, and her leg was feeling a lot better by then. From what she described seeing on the ultrasound screen, it sounded to me like a fluid-filled cyst, which was later confirmed by her doctor. He wants to see her next month unless she has more trouble before then. He didn't seem too worried about it. Anyway, after that, she and I did a little Christmas shopping for the kids, and got to spend some much-needed girl time together, and then we went to get the kids from school.

On this past Saturday, Mom, Alison, the kids, and I went to a pancake breakfast at our church and also got to see Santa and Mrs. Claus. Both boys hopped up on Santa's lap like pros, but both girls needed a little coaxing. Eventually, we got all of the kids up there. They also each made an ornament for the tree. We came home and got the house cleaned up, and then I went to work while they went to a Christmas party. Sunday was a day of rest, for all of us. Sunday evening, we decorated a few sugar cookies. Nate thinks they are for Santa, but I have news for him. Santa is gonna have to come pretty early if wants any of those cookies. Cookies don't last eleven days in this house.

Monday the 14th, Phil was able to take off work so we could go shopping together. We like to do it this way, because we don't have to deal with the weekend crowds, and we can also take the kids to school and we don't have to find a babysitter. We started immediately after dropping them off and got 98% of our shopping done before lunch. I had to go out today to finish up, because I couldn't very well shop for him with him there!

I was scheduled to work Tuesday and Wednesday nights, but ended up getting called off for low census on Wednesday night after I slept ALL DAY LONG. I am trying to get straightened back out, but here it is, midnight, and I am just not tired yet. That is unfortunate, since I have a gift wrapping marathon planned for tomorrow while the kids are at school, so I can't really sleep all day. The nice part is that I was able to go to Nathan's Christmas party at school this afternoon, and I wasn't exhausted or just rolling out of bed. Amy's party is tomorrow afternoon, so I plan on going to that one too.

This weekend begins our Christmas Break, sort of. It's a break for the kids, but for Mom and Dad? Not so much. I am working Saturday night (again!), Sunday is Amy's Winter Dance show, and then the kids are headed to MeMe and Papaw's until Wednesday. After they leave, Phil and I are taking Mom and Dad out for Mom's 60th birthday, and then going to come home and "chill" (as Phil puts it) and we will probably watch "Christmas Vacation." Back to work Monday and Tuesday for both of us, and Wednesday for him. He is taking off Christmas Eve, but I am scheduled to work. I haven't worked a Christmas since 2005, so I guess it's my turn. However, we have waaaaay more staff scheduled than we will possibly need, so I won't be heartbroken if they pull my name out of the hat for the night off.

Like I said, time is flying by. This Christmas season seems a lot shorter than in years past. I know Thanksgiving was a little later this year, but it still seems like we should have lots more time until Christmas is here. I am hoping I can get my stuff together over the weekend, and get all these gifts wrapped tomorrow. But I am left wondering, when am I going to clean my house?? I may need help with that one.