End of 2010

Christmas is over! The New Year has come and gone! I am super behind on my blog! It’s back to the real world! Well, not quite yet for me, I don’t go back to work until tomorrow. But still, it has been a crazy 2 weeks and I hate how fast it has gone by.

I’m really big on tradition, especially at Christmas. Well, in reality I just really really don’t like things to change, but I think it’s more that I like tradition (sounds better too, less crazy-person like). Christmas Eve starts with dinner at Nana’s, then Christmas Eve candlelight service at church, then back to Nana’s for dessert. Ashley and I always open one gift to each other on Christmas Eve before we leave Nana’s. Of course, this year she forgot mine (feelin’ the love, sis!). Tradition fail #1. A few years ago I started spending the night at Ashley’s house on Christmas Eve. Once I was out of college and living on my own, I would still come home to Mom and Dad’s house to spend the night Christmas Eve. Which meant that switching my routine to Ashley’s house would change 20+ years of tradition… the first year I was not sleeping in my bed on Christmas Eve. Actually I told Mom and Dad the real reason that I wasn’t staying at their house anymore was because that was the year they switched to an artificial tree. ARTIFICIAL. Yeah, so I boycotted. So now I spend Christmas Eve at Ashley’s house so that I can see the kids wake up and see what Santa brought. It’s really fun for me and I suspect Ashley doesn’t mind either, since usually she turns me into her personal Elf wrapping presents. We spent Christmas Eve late night wrapping presents, watching A Christmas Story, and drinking a little wine. One thing I tend to forget is that when I change my traditions it usually starts new ones (self-help 101). Christmas Day we wake up much earlier than I used to at my house. The kids are chomping at the bit to go downstairs and see what Santa has brought. This year they actually slept later than the last few years; normally we are done with gifts by 8am. I woke up to Sam bursting in my room, landing 2 inches from my face, and saying “IT’S 7:58!!!”. Not your traditional alarm clock but a fun way to wake up nonetheless. After presents, I head home to Mom and Dad’s for breakfast. Absolutely cannot miss breakfast, that would be a tradition fail of epic proportions. We have Granny Sarah’s breakfast casserole and it is the only day of the year that I get to have it. So naturally I make everyone wait until I get there to start breakfast (when you are as OCD as I am about tradition and most things in general, you get pretty demanding about some things). I love walking into my parents house on Christmas Day; the presents spilling out from under the tree, the stockings filling up the entire mantle, the nativity on the hearth with Joseph staring lovingly at a camel… wait what? Tradition fail #2. I always set up the nativity scene but for whatever reason this year I didn’t get the chance to do it. When I was little Ashley and I would alternate doing it each year, and one year when I was about 9 I got smart and wrote on the box “I get to do it next year”. He he, every year I would point to that and say “See? You must have done it last year. My turn!” Suckers! Anyway, see what happens when you don’t follow tradition? Your 3 year old niece sets up the nativity scene and has Joseph staring lovingly at a camel and one of the wise men in the stable with Mary and baby Jesus. I hope God has a sense of humor.

Christmas came and went much too quickly. Now it was on to Susan Claire’s birthday, 3 days after Christmas. She was so excited she could hardly stand it. I kept teasing her by telling her that we didn’t need to bring presents to her party since she just got all of those Christmas presents. She would stomp that foot, shake her finger and say “Yes you do!” I’m not exactly sure how but the older she gets the more sass she gets… and for some reason Mom keeps saying how Ashley ended up with my kids. Not sure if that is a compliment? Anyway, here are a few conversations I’ve had with her lately:

After making Christmas cookies…

Me: Ok Susan Claire, let’s wash the frosting off of your hands. Just lick those sprinkles off your fingers.

SC: I don’t like sprinkles.

Me: pause Then why did you spend the last 20 minutes decorating your cookies if you didn’t like sprinkles?

SC: pause Well why did you come over here and bring sprinkles and tell us to put them on our cookies?

After opening her birthday presents…

Me: Susan Claire, why are you rolling and throwing your new baby dolls down the stairs? Let’s don’t do that with your new toys.

SC: Well Kelly, they can’t walk. They’re babies!

It’s hard to argue with 4 year old logic. And that’s saying a lot, because I would argue with a stop sign.

After SC’s birthday came New Year’s, and then SC’s friend birthday party. Seriously? This kid now has more toys than Toys-R-Us. It was a busy week and a half filled with lots of family time. Throw in cleaning the house, undecking the halls, schoolwork, and some new furniture (more on that in a minute), and I really don’t feel like I had a vacation at all! The little time I have been home I’ve been trying to clean/organize/clean out my house. Yeah. Too bad I have ADD when it comes to projects like this and can never seem to finish one thing at a time. I go to put something away and think hmm, this needs cleaning out too. Rinse and repeat. Plus I just got new bedroom furniture (2 days before Christmas) and switched everything out with my guest room. So IN ADDITION to the normal craziness of the holidays, my house has somewhat been turned upside down. Good thing I handle change and stress well or I might be pulling my hair out. AND the cats think the new furniture is a new place climb which is stressing me OUT considering they could potentially scratch the hell out of it with their claws. Almost every morning I wake up to see one of them stretched out and snoozing on top of my chest of drawers. Yesterday I actually woke up to the two of them wrestling on top of the chest. Freak Out. So I am still working on my solution to that little problem. Suggestions welcome.

Ok 2011, let's see what you've got. Bring it on!