Update, part 2

Back to your regularly scheduled update.......

Thanksgiving was a little weird, since we arrived home late on Wednesday night. It was quite the shock to return from the beautiful weather in Florida (it was 85 degrees when we left) and land here in Salt Lake were it was only 12. Weather whiplash!

So, Thursday, we went to the church for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a potluck, with turkey and side dishes. I made gluten-free gravy so Shannon would have some for her potatoes. I also made devilled eggs because Alana loves them, and then brought some mashed potatoes from Dream Dinners. The meal was good, but it was over quite quickly, without a lot of conversation or hanging out or whatever. It just didn’t feel like Thanksgiving.

December, truly, was a blur. There were concerts for the kids, church programs, shopping, wrapping and mailing. I did two gift cards for family members and neither one of them arrived when they were supposed to. That was annoying, to say the least. My sister and I exchanged stockings, like we usually do, and that is always fun. My “big” gift was a new digital camera and I’m having fun with that. Tristan got an iPod. Shannon got a new viola case, and Alana got an American Girl Doll bed (well, the Target knock-off, anyway) and some pink Legos. The girls also got AG tents and some clothing for their dolls too. The kids all got clothes, too, and for the first time, opening boxes of new clothing was NOT a disappointment.

Christmas really brought it home that Shannon is not in any hurry to grow up. She asked for American Girl Doll things and those were her favorite presents. My mom got her a make-up bag full of make-up, which she experimented with, but promptly put away (tossed under the sink is more accurate). She’s now saving her money to buy another Webkinz, for instance, when most of her friends have completely outgrown such toys. I suppose, as much as Shannon is leading Alana into more grown-up things, perhaps Alana is holding Shannon back in her childhood. I can’t say that I’m sad about that.

I got Bruce a nice overcoat for church that he’s never worn. *sigh* And, of course, I have no idea if he likes it or not, and it’s now hanging in our closet. The return policy at the store was only 30 days, so I can’t return it. Shopping for him is such a challenge!

My parents came for a visit in the week between Christmas and New Year’s. It was a rather boring visit, sadly. The weather was our typical freezing cold, which left us not wanting to go anywhere. We did some shopping, but the weather forced us out of that as well. And, of course, mom drove me nuts more than once. She’s a challenge to shop with, for starters. When she’s finished shopping, it’s time to go, regardless of whether or not I’m finished. Then, at Shopko, we tried a few things on. She got to the dressing room before I did, and therefore was finished before I was. So, rather than wait a couple of minutes for me, she went off to shoes. I followed and found some shoes on sale (really cute sandals!). But, by then, Mom was done so she went on to housewares….and so forth. It was enough to make me want to shoot her!

The worst from that visit was a comment she made about my sister. But, I’m getting off-track with the synopsis, and this story actually leads to some pretty interesting revelations that I’ve been pondering and trying to solve so I’ll save it for later.

January arrived, cold and icky. Salt Lake, by some geographical coincidence or accident or perhaps just poor planning, is nestled at the base of a mountain range. When the weather is clear for too long, be it winter or summer, we get into some nasty air issues because all of the pollution settles against the mountains. There’s really no place for it to go, making our air some of the worst in the nation at times. It happens in other cities around the world in similar geographic locations. So it’s cold, the days are short, and the sky is hazy. I often joke that the air is so thick we can chew it.

In the midst of this nastiness, Bruce went to Guam on a business trip. He was gone for 12 days. Now, the trip was not a picnic for him, in many ways, but juggling my two-parent/two-drivers life as just one person about made me crazy! Bruce had to travel 25 hours each direction, and he wound up working nights while he was over there too. It was exhausting for him. But he also had time to enjoy local cuisine, like fresh fish, as in “it’ll be a few minutes, we’re still cleaning the Catch of the Day.” He brought us home lots of goodies, including some beautiful jewelry for me and several t-shirts for all of us.

Prior to Bruce’s trip, I spent the weekend with a friend (hi again, Trish!), helping her get things going for her upcoming wedding. It was lots of fun to spend time with my dearest friend, go fabric shopping, give my opinion on hair styles and sparkly things, and so forth. It was also pure joy to have a hotel room all to myself! On Sunday, I slept until 11:00 am and then took myself to Sonic for breakfast. Such luxury!

With my travel and his travel and our crazy schedules, Bruce and I barely see each other. He got home on a Friday morning, so we were able to spend part of that day together, and we’re really coming to treasure his Fridays off (he has every other Friday off) because we can spend some time together without being interrupted constantly by children and their needs, their stories, their fighting! However, the writing’s on the wall, and I won’t be surprised when things at work get busy again and he needs to go to work on those days too. The overtime pay is nice, don’t get me wrong, but I miss my husband!

Okay, so now we’re into February. Life really is good, mostly. It’s that time of the year when I want to hibernate, though I am noticing that the days are getting longer. It’s no longer full-on dark when I take the junior high kids to school at 7:20 every morning. It’s still cold, though, and I am *always* cold. Give me a cup of tea and my Snuggie (a Christmas present), plus my space heater and my laptop and I may never come out! Too bad there are short people around who need rides and food and such.

In other kid news, Tristan is now shaving. He came home from the youth retreat last weekend and asked his dad to show him how. When I started taking pictures, I was specifically told that I was NOT to put them in any scrapbook or send them to the grandparents (either set) or…..well, you get the idea. I did take one photo with my cell phone, which again earned me the litany of people I would NOT be sharing it with. He was okay with me sending it to Aunt Melly, though.

Tristan is also now working, at a REAL job. He’s working with me at Dream Dinners, mostly washing dishes. He’ll get his Food Handler’s Permit on Monday and then he’ll be doing some of the food prep. It’ll be a while before he feels comfortable with customers, and that’s okay. There are PLENTY of dishes for him to wash. He had to interview with my boss, and when she asked him why he wanted to work there, he said “Because my mom works here, and it seems like a nice place to be.” Oh, and he “likes food.” I told him that, in his next interview, he probably shouldn’t mention his mother, but it was cute. I was fully expecting my mother to get all weird about this and how he’s just a kid, but she didn’t. Really, that woman is hard to figure out. He’s too young to be left home while Bruce and I go on a date, but he’s apparently old enough to be paying into FICA. Okey-dokey mom. I suppose I’ll be happier when I stop trying to figure her out.

So there you have it. The last 4 months of my life, summed up in two very long-winded posts. I still have several posts I'm working on in my head, about my crazy life, my crazy mother, and my crazy spending habits. Hopefully, those will be a bit more interesting than this was! :-)