Most Certainly Not

Christmas Clean Up

The girls spent the night at my folks' last night while I came home so the dogs could be fed and let outdoors.  Today, I headed back to my hometown to pick them up and take them the my husband's mom's Christmas dinner. 

I stayed up entirely too late (a trend) to see if my husband would log on and when he did, it was very worth the yawning.  As he is headed on a 'business trip' soon and will be without access to phone and things, I'm glad we had a chance to chat.

This morning, I slept in and then went for a run in my new gear.  It was nice.  Although it was sunny, it was only around 35-degrees.  But, with the new gear, I actually felt quite warm.  Good to know as winter is underway and I'm still not really enjoying the idea of running on a treadmill. 

Now that I  know when my husband is due home, I need to start working in the ab work soon.  Probably a good idea to wait until the Christmas tree is at the curb--no use knocking it over while trying to use the stability ball!  It isn't like it doesn't come back pretty quickly, but I haven't used it in awhile.  That means that ball will be all OVER the place and me along with it.  It's pretty comical and enough reason to keep the blinds pulled!

I keep forgetting what day of the week it is!

Tomorrow is Sunday which means church in the morning.  I really want to be up in time for 9:00 service.  However, as I just remembered this about five minutes ago and it is late, I may be dragging.

I'm really hoping the girls will want to play with their new toys.  This will mean 1) time and space for me to get some cleaning done and 2) a way to encourage them to clean their rooms up some to fit in their new things.

I've been doing so well with the dogs and their STUPID muddy paws.  One of them (probably Henry because his are never dirty) made it past me with a muddy paw, though, and then trampled all around the living room.  I may just get out the carpet shampoo machine tomorrow and clean that up.  No desire to get on my hands and knees with baby wipes.  SRSLY.

We had a lot of fun with Brian's mom tonight.  We were at Brian's aunt's house with various cousins and such.  Great food and the girls really liked their gifts--especially M2's tool set.  Very big hit.  I'm sure she'll be trying to use it to help me put together her doll crib tomorrow.  Yikes.  Hope I can do it.  It will be good practice for when I assemble the little girls' bunk beds all by myself.  KIDDING!

Hoping to get lots of work done this week in advance of the semester starting.  Will be very busy in the first couple months as I'm working to 1) prep February bar exam takers, 2) work with 3Ls in the bar prep class and 3) grade essays for academic support students.  And, at some point, I have to figure out what I'm doing for my first court appearances in early February--domestic relations court, here I come!

Okay.  Off to bed.  Church then laundry, cleaning and Christmas cards!  I need to get those things in the mail before New Year's.

Santa is a Softie

As much as I'd thought (dreamed, hoped, encouraged) Santa to do a fly-by this year, he didn't.  In fact, he dropped quite a parcel of presents under our tree.

Here is M2 with her favorite things.

A Bengals uniform complete with a plastic helmet.

A jogging stroller for her doll babies.

A crib for her doll babies.

A Zhu Zhu pet--a hamster toy that looks and acts like a real hamster.  I'm thinking this is also a toy for the dogs if we aren't careful.

Lots of excitement over each of these gifts as they were unwrapped.

M2 was not the only one Santa was very good to this year.  M1 also received a Zhu Zhu Pet, which she requested from the Big Guy.  

M1 asked for an American Girl "Just Like Me" doll and Santa delivered.

"Jennifer", as she has been named, does look like M1.  She even has pierced ears.

She really is a beautiful doll, well made and nicely packaged so as to reduce wear and tear on the doll. 

She even has a special hairbrush for use on her hair.

Santa even brought me a few things which was very nice.

And, in a package from Brian that I thought I knew what was in it, there was a little something extra.  In addition to my new, reflective running jacket, there was a nice tech shirt for running.  Thanks, hon!

Christmas Comes But Once A Year

Thank the good Lord in His divine providence.

The girls were WILD for a better portion of the day.  I listened to the bickering from the moment it woke me up at 7 a.m. until around 11:15.  I had tried speaking with the girls about it, but it would only quell the bad behavior for a few moments at a time.  Around 11:15, I blew my stack.  I put them both in their rooms with the doors shut and told them not to come out until further notice.

They were apart about an hour.  It slowed things down for a bit.  In between sessions of screaming and fighting, they were able to play a game of Monopoly Jr., play Urgent Care together, wrap a pile of presents, take showers, go to church, and then make Chex Mix.  At least they behaved when we went to a friend's house for dinner tonight.  I would have hated to have to jack them up in front of friends.

By the time our departure for our friends' was due, I was wiped.  My Christmas spirit was more than a little soured by the routine behavior.  It's hard to feel like a day is special if you were already behind the 8-ball to begin with and the kids treat it like any other day anyhow.

I couldn't muster a happy-go-lucky tone of voice and I'm sure I sounded perturbed when the phone call I'd waited the ENTIRE day for finally came.  But, I wasn't a raving and ranting lunatic either.  I just wasn't happy, so I didn't sound happy.  Which is odd, don't you think?  I mean let's list all the tremendously terrific things that would make me happy today...

My kids behaved like angels and looked for ways to make my day easier.  Oh, no, wait.  That didn't happen.

My husband is here to celebrate Christmas with me, drive us to his family's various celebrations and carry all the bags of presents.  Whoops.  Nope.  Not that one either.

We have a day coming soon where we know for certain when M3 will be here as a part of our family.  What?  No?  Not that either?

Hm.

Well, then.  I'm fresh out.

At least A Christmas Story is on TBS for 24 hours straight.  You can't beat that with a stick.  And, who knows?  Maybe it will put the lilt back in my voice necessary to be tolerable.  A Christmas miracle in the  making.

A Shot in the Arm

Or four.

For someone who, literally, had to be held down for shots in the past, I'm quite a trooper nowadays.  Funny what delivering two babies without any medication will do for your relative definition of what "pain" is.  Not only will that affect how you look at pain, but it will also change what you find as "scary."  Once you look unmedicated birth in the eye, I think you can take on just about anything.

What I was not prepared for was the over 90 minute wait in the lobby of the county health district.  Good gravy.  I watched the inhabitants of the waiting room turn over at least once.  People in and out all while we sat.  I also was not very impressed when I was told today that 'they are already writing down appointments for afternoon' when it is a WALK-IN clinic.  I walked in last Friday not during the magic travel immunization time frame and was not told about a waiting list/appointment time whatever.  Ridiculous.  Although everyone was very nice, I have less than zero interest in government healthcare, thank you very much buh-bye. 

I constantly was telling M2--don't touch that, don't touch your shoe, keep your hand away from your eyes/mouth/nose, don't let your head rest on the chair.  Seriously.  They need those light up, vibrating beepers so you can walk around the halls until your number is called.  Ick City.  And people bringing BABIES in that joint for shots.  Hoooly Moses.

I fretted about my 75 minute parking meter expiring and me having a ticket on my window while I sat in the lobby.  Of course, I reminded myself, the cop would have to arrest the guy sitting in his car smoking marijuana before writing the ticket.  The car, parked directly in front of me, practically gave me a contact buzz as I put my quarters in the meter.  For heaven's sake.  It must have been his lunch break.  I cannot imagine.  Is it any wonder NO ONE wants to go downtown anymore? 

I had to have four shots--yellow fever, typhoid, meningitis, and a polio booster.  Two in each arm and I can guarantee you that I will not be able to move them in the morning.  I plan to take an Aleve before I go to bed in a few minutes, but they ache.  Very much bad.

M2 was the perfect little sidekick today.  She didn't cause a scene while we waited with nothing to distract us at the health district.  She played and kept herself busy at the office.  She wrote out our grocery list and helped at the store.  She ate a good dinner and went to bed without complaining too much.  She even talked on the phone with my mom for a LONG time.

M1 is at a friend's and coming home tomorrow.  I, honestly, haven't seen her for more than a few minutes since her break started.  I'm looking forward to spending time with her as well as having her help around the house.  I'm hoping having all three of us here will not end in bloodshed, tears or screaming, but you never know. 

M2 has already expressed fear about Elvis the Elf and when he will have to leave.  We decided that he'd deserve a vacation at our place once Christmas passed.  We thought maybe he'd be ready to go back to the North Pole for the rest of the year after Daddy comes home.  She, literally, carries that Elf EVERYWHERE.  He's been nice to have around.

The countdown to Christmas continues.  I can't believe it's almost here once again!

Turning a Corner?

I usually try to avoid relating too much about changes in child behavior on the positive end because invariably, it is like counting chickens before they hatch.  However, I think the talk of Daddy coming home sooner and us being able to see just how soon has helped M2 immensely.  This little realization coincides with what appears to be the end of her horrible cough, her becoming rested thanks to no school schedule interfering and the excitement of an impending Christmas.  Good times.

She finally told me today, 'I love you.'  She used to say this all the time.  Lately, I would tell her I love her and she would say, "Okay."  It didn't stop me from telling her, but it's like she just did not want to even show me that little bit of emotion.  She would pull away if I tried to hold or hug her.

Today, she held my hand going in and out of church and the restaurant without being asked or told.  She crawled into my lap several times today.  We played games, made some treats, did some housework, and watched a movie together.  Not sure if she is just feeling more like herself or what, but this is how she was a couple weeks ago before she became ill.

Maybe this illness really took it out of her?  I'm giving it a bit to see how we do.  Her pediatrician is on alert that things have been ridiculous so if I need to take another step, we can do it quickly.  However, if she's coming around on her own and willing to talk to me about things--which she did today, I'm willing to  let her give that a try too.

M1 decided to spend another night at her dad's.  Tomorrow, I need to go make some copies at work, but then we're going to come home so I can continue to try and figure out the mess that is this house.  Only a few more gifts to pick up, in the form of gift cards, I think, so I'm good.  Then comes the wrapping which I don't care for in the least.

I can't believe I'm still wide awake.  Ethiopian coffee is the shizz except if you drink the whole pot yourself over the course of a few hours.  Then, it's just stimulant.

Surfacing

I just can't write anymore about yet another unsuccessful court date.  Sufficed to say, the Ministry of Women's Affairs dropped the ball yet again and we are rescheduled at the end of the line again--January 12.  The one good thing is M3's mother came to court and did her part and another appearance will not be necessary for her.  The adoption blog always has a more detailed account of the adoption happenings, but this is the nutshell that is enough of a kick in the pants.

Friday night, M2 and I just hung out while M1 went for pizza and a movie with friends to celebrate a classmate's birthday.  M2 and I went to a favorite pizza place right after school.  We needed to refuel after all the excitement that was her Christmas party--I was likely not in my right mind to be doing a party given our devastatingly disappointing day.  I only took a tone with two kids--one who would NOT patiently wait for me to come glue her crap on her craft and another who kept trying to draw a card during a game when it was NOT our team's turn.  Sheesh.  BE PATIENT.

We went to Starbucks on the way home and a peppermint mocha almost hit the spot.  ELF came on at 7:00 so we watched it.  Not long after it ended, M1 came home and I chased the girls to bed.  I finished putting the new set of lights on the tree and sat down to read more of my new book.  It is really, really good!  I know a biographical treatise on John Adams may not sound all that interesting, but he was an interesting guy.  It won a Pulitzer so the author is no slouch.

Today, M2 attended a craft camp at church from 11-2.  M1 had a ballgame.  Her dad took her to the game and I went to Target to try and desperately gather up odds and ends without having to drag the girls along.  It was not as horrific an experience as I had imagined it would be.  So, I decided to brave the outlet mall if time permitted.  With an invitation to a sleepover by the neighbor's granddaughter, I had the opportunity.

Picked up some cute kids' clothes for my nephews and for M2.  I also picked up an adorable outfit for M3 and I'll post a photo once I can snap some.  I'm planning to send it along with my friend when she goes to pick up her son in either mid-January or early February.  It is so cute and she will look like a doll baby in it. 

I also purchased myself a Christmas present.  I felt a little guilty about it at first because I could have one hundred other ways to use the money I used to buy it. 

I know I will use it and have it forever. 

My guilt was greatly assuaged, however, when my mother told me she was giving me Christmas money in the amount of half of what I spent.  And, in addition, my mom insists we spend our Christmas money on an actual something.  Plus, my husband and I did not spend nearly anything on each other this year (unless you count the shipping and decorations as 'gifts' and I don't), so it pans out.

I've never owned a designer handbag by any stretch of the imagination.  They are kind of against my religion.  I have a lovely, more straight laced black leather shoulder bag from Talbot's that is gorgeous, but even that was a gift from my first mother-in-law.  I have had it for years and use it as my go-to bag for nearly every occasion that Vera Bradley will not suit. 

The Coach bag I picked up tonight was a nearly $400 bag.  I don't believe in $400 bags.  SRSLY.  Is it a magic bag?  Is it made of spun gold?  Will it give me time off and watch my kids?  No?  Then it is not worth $400. 

This bag was marked down to $129 and then there was an in-store coupon for 20% off.  I love the legacy stripe interior of this bag and the zipper that can be completely unzipped so the bag can be opened really wide. 

So, after walking around the store holding it, I carried the darn thing to the counter and bought it.  And then immediately called my mom.  Notice, I did not immediately call my husband, however, when I did speak with him, he was excited for my purchase.  My sister owns a few and he always asked why I never went ahead and bought one too.  This question was usually followed by my making fun of designer bags.  Oops.

When I told my husband I'd bought myself a purse, he said, "Is it a Dooney and Bourke?"  Ha!  "No, babe, they don't have a Dooney and Bourke at the outlet mall...just a Coach store." 

I guess I'll have to wrap it up?  That only seems fair...

Retail therapy at its finest, I suppose.

Elvis in Da Hizzouse

(For those of you who asked, yes I did remove a post.  Not because I no longer feel that way, but because when read in isolation--as I'm sure it could be--it could be taken wrongly and be hurtful.  So, it's unpublished until maybe later.  But THANK YOU for commenting, e-mailing, etc.  It is appreciated).

Meet Elvis.

He is a Shelf Elf.

His job is to hang out, observe, and record the happenings of a household during the days before Christmas.

During the night, he makes a trip to the North Pole and, in the morning, he returns and places himself somewhere new in the house.

It's up to the kids in the house to find the elf in the morning and then to remember that he is always watching.

My boss at the law school procured this elf for my household after I mentioned I may need some reinforcements for Christmas behavior this year.  There are smaller versions (more like figurines), but she found them "creepy" and liked this version because he is soft and squeezable. 

She sent him home with me today in a zippered bag.  I didn't say anything to the girls about him, but during our visit to the doctor's office with M2, he decided he'd better get to work.  When we left the car, he was still in his bag.  Even when I went to the car to retrieve the cell phone I'd inadvertently left in the car, he was still in his bag.  However, when we left the doctor's, there he was, sitting smack in the middle of the backseat...waiting.

M2 took to him IMMEDIATELY.  It was not two seconds and he was named.  M1 offered "Elfis", but M2 decided "Elvis" was better.

Elvis joined us at M1's band concert.  M2 regaled her classmate with the story of her new elf friend.  And, even was so thoughtful as to take an extra Rice Krispie treat for Elvis when we left the house for the concert.  He must have eaten it because there was not a spare when we arrived at the school.

Elvis enjoyed the concert.  M2 then insisted on taking him to bed with her.  She figured he could stick around until he had to report back to the Big Guy at the North Pole.  She is looking forward to seeking him out tomorrow.  I warned Elvis this evening that he may wish to seek a high post as the dogs may become a little to interested in him if he settles himself too low to the ground.

Of course, you need to keep this a secret because M2 does not want anyone but Daddy, Mommy, and M1 to know right now.  She is very excited about having this magical secret and, although she may share it at a later date, she likes the idea of Elvis being her own, personal elf.

This is very fun and her caretaking of Elvis is adorable.

MacArthur Park

Remember that song about a cake in the rain with green icing and being upset because you might never have the recipe again?  Sometimes, cakes are like that.  So glorious and then, they just aren't because it rains...or you drop it on the floor.  Either way, stink-o.

M1 had her birthday party Saturday evening.  The girls had a great time.

We had 8 total party goers who each decorated their round cake.  They had all kinds of icings and decorator tips to choose from and received some tips from a caketician after they had a chance to fill their bellies with pizza.

M1, in her very perfectionist fashion (where does she get it?) made and then corrected something that took her cake decoration outside the 'vision' she imagined in her mind.

You can't even see the flub, but it involved the section of her cake where the lime green star is outlined.  Her cake turned out great, as did the cakes of her friends.

One cake in particular could have been taken from the party room and put into the case in the front of the bakery and sold for a good price.  The little girl who made it was very deliberate and quick in her work. 

She was on an abbreviated party schedule as she was a part of the cast in a local production of The Nutcracker.  She came in full make-up and partial costume.  I was so glad that she had a chance to eat pizza and finish decorating her cake before she had to leave.  We even had a chance for M1 to open her present which was very fun--a dessert book with little implements to help make the recipes.  Can't wait to give some of those a try over Christmas break!

M2's experience at the party kind of symbolizes our day-to-day experiences.  She was very excited about the party. 

She told me exactly what she planned to put on the cake and I only noticed slight modifications to fit in some of the cool things that the cake decorator showed them at the start of the party.

She wasted no time getting started.  She was very quiet while working.  She didn't want any help. 

She wanted to do it all by herself.  Some of the piping bags were huge so I  would hold it up lightly while she handled the business end of the piping bag with her two, little hands.  On the smaller ones, though, she could maneuver things all by herself and put the icing exactly where she wanted it to be.

Her design started to take shape pretty quickly.  She had made a house with windows and a chimney with smoke coming from it. 

She put a Christmas tree on the side and then piped in decorations on it.  There were snowflakes in the sky and a star or the moon (I was afraid to ask) in the sky too. 

She also paid very close attention to the cake decorator's demonstration of how to make a penguin.  She made her own penguin on the top of her cake and put a pink bow on its head.

While the older girls slowed down, finished their cakes and moved on to the cake eating, present opening and giggling, M2 just kept working.  Very diligently she made more decorations, told me what she was doing as far as her design, and then would shyly accept the comments from the older girls, me and M1's dad.  She was a very busy kid.

Finally, she finished and her cake was amazing.  A true representation of how M2 thinks--brilliant  colors, layers of images, a complete story.

Just look at the edge of her cake. 

She meticulously dotted icing around that cake's entire edge. 

Not only did she make a border, but she dotted the side of the cake as well.

Once she finished, she joined the older girls at the 'eating table' and had a little cup of ice cream. 

She did not eat her piece of birthday cake, but we sent that home with M1's dad as a consolation prize for not being able to take home a fully sized masterpiece from the evening's event.  She was so proud of herself and her cake.  She asked me if she could send a piece to her Daddy.  I, of course, said "Yes."

The party assistant dutifully boxed up the cakes and stacked them on a counter alongside the far wall of the room.  The older girls went outside to look at wedding cake samples.  M2 and her friend remained in the party room and became a little rambunctious.  I had settled them down and then started puttering around with packing up presents, etc.

It was then that I heard a huge THUD.

I whirled around to see M2 standing next to the counter where the cakes were stacked and her cake upside down on the floor, half out of its box.  Apparently, she wanted to gaze upon its loveliness again and, in doing so, had pulled the cake too close to the counter's edge.  This caused the cake's weight to shift in the box and it shot out the unsecured side of the cake box.

M2 crouched to survey the damage.  She tried to convince me that it was 'okay.'  I told her that the 5 second rule doesn't work when you aren't at home and we'd need to leave the cake at the bakery.  Her face was very red.  She didn't cry.  She didn't yell. 

She just swallowed it.

Like she's been swallowing everything for six months.

But, just like her cake, the cracks are starting to show.  Crumbs are falling off.  Pretty little things are being smashed and distorted from the force of the fall.  She is spending a great deal of her day on the verge of or recovering from a come apart.

Tonight was one of the very worst.  I will spare you the gory details.  Sufficed to say, she scared me.  She made me mad.  She made me sad.  And, she threatened the Mac.  These are all things we do not do.  She also asked that she be able to take her bath in the morning because she wanted to go to bed--7:15 p.m.  I obliged and I pray that tomorrow is better.

I'm calling the pediatrician in the morning.  She has had a nagging cough for some time and nothing I'm doing seems to help.  No other symptoms.  No one else has caught it.  I also want to have some tests run to see if her blood levels, etc. are okay.  Then, we may need to see if there is someone who works with little kids whose parents are deployed so that she can have someone to talk to on the regular. 

Because she isn't talking to me.

Thou Shalt Not

Last night as I was attempting to fall asleep after staying up entirely too late (somehow I think sleeping for a nearly entire 24-hour period didn't help) and caught a show on History International on the Ten Commandments.  Did anyone else's childhood understanding of the Ten Commandments involve a distilling of "Thou shalt not bear false witness..." into "Don't lie.  Ever."

Maybe my family was alone in that, but no lying was a pretty big thing.  It is not to say that we didn't' try.  Maybe once.  It's not to say that we didn't crank out some fantastical stories about mythical adventures when we were preschoolers.  However, lying was not cool.  Lying by omission, though we aren't Catholic, not cool either.  Full disclosure was a good rule.  Avoiding things you'd have to fully disclose, though, much better.

Last night, I received an e-mail from M2's teacher.  This is the first actual written account of bad behavior I've received even though she has had a couple days where she has been on yellow rather than green.

And, no, I was not pleased to read that she has been talking when she shouldn't, that the chattiness prevents her from finishing her work as she should, that she has been mouthy in class and that she had to have her desk moved completely out of chatty range to remain on green yesterday.

But, the part that bothered me most involved something that happened earlier in the week.  I only found out about this because the events of the day ended with her being on yellow.  And, when I questioned her about the yellow calendar day, she told me.  Without the yellow, though, I would not have known.

Basically, M2 had something in her possession that I didn't think was a good idea.  She had a small, bound notebook in which she's drawn pictures, but had also written sentences.  Some were fine.  Others involved her classmates' names.  Nothing bad just things like Janey loves Jack.  When she showed the book to me, I asked her if she'd had that at school before and she told me she had.  I told her not to take it to school because if someone found it and read it, she'd be embarrassed and would get in trouble.

"But, it's my private journal," she said.  My response?  "So?"  And then I went on to tell her that if someone found it, they would read it and then all the bad consequences were a given.

Perhaps I was having flashbacks to my own first grade class.  I had the cutest little notepad as a kid.  It had a big, red truck at the top.  I had written on one of those sheets of paper that I loved a particular boy who was older than me, but whose brother was in my class.  I folded the paper and used it as a bookmark and then promptly forgot about it.  I took that book to school one day when the teacher said she would read some of our books.  When she opened mine, the paper fell into her lap.  "What's this?" she said.

It took me a minute to remember what it was, but once I did, I just wanted her to put it back in the book or in the trash.  To this day, I do not know what possessed her, but my beloved first grade teacher opened that paper and read it out loud.  I, honestly, do not remember what happened, but I do remember feeling like an uncomfortably hot spotlight was shining on me and the only face I remember seeing was the horrified face of the boy whose brother's name was on that note.  My heart beats faster thinking about it even today.

So, I was determined not to allow that to happen to M2.  It was an inappropriate use of that journal to be sure, but when you're 6, it's sometimes hard to appreciate that. 

After learning what was in the book, it was the next day or the day after when we were loading up for school and I saw M2 with the book in her hands.  "What are you doing with that?  You are NOT to take that to school, remember?"

"I know!" she yelled in that tone that makes me want to swat her behind.  "I'm only taking it in the car so I can color in it!"

Off we went to school.

And, when I went to sign her calendar that night, her day was yellow.

When I asked her why, she was distractedly stringing bead necklaces with her sister and she replied, "Oh, she took a book from me."

"What book?...that book I told you NOT to take to school?  EVER?"

Yeppers.  That's the one.  Sitting on the teacher's desk ALL WEEK this week. 

I'm not sure what you do with this in a six-year-old.  If my husband were here, I can tell you what he would do.  Lying is something he simply does NOT tolerate.  He would have given her a very stern talking to, probably implemented an overly harsh punishment and looked upon her disappointingly for a week at least. 

Me?  I'm teetering between thinking the talking to I gave her last night is enough and waving Santa off when he flies over in a couple weeks.  There is probably a happy medium in there, but I'm missing it.  If she were a teenager, I know exactly what I would do.  But, it doesn't translate well to a 6-year-old level.

I don't care how sad you are that your dad is gone.  I don't care if it makes you feel all bad inside and you want to scream at the world.  You do not lie.  Ever.  Totally and completely unsat and I, for one, am damn sick and tired of dealing with this behavior by myself.

M1 is eleven.  I have not ONCE had a behavior report sent home about her.  Not once.

Dip in a new gene pool and this is what you get, I guess.  I'm just over it.  

Oh, and I should add that I did make her write an apology note to her teacher that she hand delivered this morning.

Back From the Brink

Holy Moses but yesterday was weird!  I woke up fine and took the girls to school, no problem.  By the time I arrived home, though, I had the overwhelming urge to lie down before I fell down so I did.  I thought, "Oh, I'll just rest a few minutes" and zonked out for two hours.  I woke to the ringing phone (which was one minute short of a set alarm ringing) and realized I felt like garbage, my head hurt and my body ached like no one's business.  I was upright for probably an hour total yesterday.  I went to get the kids and returned to bed.  I got up to be sure they made it to bed okay, IM'd with the husband for a few minutes and then straight back to bed.

This morning, I felt like a normal person so I took the kids to school, came home and got ready for work.  And, here I am.  Going to need to eat something in the very near future, however, as I have some catching up to do from yesterday.  Thank goodness I have chicken in the crockpot again today so I don't have to worry about cranking out the entree when I get M2 home from basketball practice at 6:30.

The weather is ridiculous today.  Wind like you wouldn't believe and a temperature so low I could freeze my face off!  Thank God we do not have the snow, however, as I am wholly unprepared for even the slightest wisp of that white stuff.  Not ready.  Not ready.  Not desirous in the LEAST. 

M1's birthday party is Saturday.  Thank goodness we planned it at a place that does everything for you.  I have to find some undivided time with the kids so we can decorate our tree finally.  I would also like to clean up my ancient trombone before I take it to my hometown on Friday night to play in my high school's alumni pep band.  That should be a riot.  My lips will probably never be the same.

We are t-minus 8 days from our court date.  The coffee fundraiser is humming along.  Hubs' care packages arrived well in advance of Christmas and with plenty of time to enjoy the little tree we sent.  He made his own star for the top.  Can't wait to show the girls the photos of it.