Let's see, three weeks ago I was busy juggling family and studying fo my nursing final. When my final was over I began Christmas shopping and finished decorating the house. I started cleaning all the parts of the house that were neglected during my weeks of school and made a lame attempt to catch up with my never ending laundry. Then there was more shopping and then even more shopping as I would think of people that I had initially left off of my list. Then there was a hockey game here and another one there, and when was I going to take Garrett to see Santa? Lucky for me, Santa made a surprise appearance at his pre-school. Then there was all the wrapping of the aforementioned presents. I was also busy planning a party for Greg's 19th birthday and then Mark asked me to help him plan a surprise going away party for his girlfriend the night before Greg's party. And what about the Christmas cards??? I was much more organized this year and ordered them weeks ahead of time and picked them up as soon as they were ready. Then they sat on my desk and patiently waited while I collected stamps and lost addresses and toyed with the idea of a Christmas letter to accompany the picture card.
The parties were a lot of fun and two days later I was back at the mall for more shopping of course! Then there was the baking of the goodies and last minute preparations on Christmas Eve. We spent that evening at my mom's and enjoyed wonderful chicken gumbo and then the blessed day finally arrived. Most of the kids were happy. One child who shall remain nameless was quite upset that Santa had screwed up one of his presents. But all in all it was a pleasant laid back afternoon. Then came the mad dash to get 8 people ready for our trip to Louisiana. There was tons more laundry to tackle and suitcases to pack. My poor washer and dryer got a workout that night and into the wee hours of the morning, as the kids realized that they needed this shirt clean and these pants washed! We traveled the 12 hours in two cars with Michael and I in one car with a couple of kids and all the teens in another car. That made for a nice change!
Throughout these couple of weeks, I was tired and crabby and frustrated and overwhelmed by all the things that had to get accomplished in such a short time! I was so looking forward to some time away - a respite from the chaos of my hectic life!
We've been here for 3 days now. Michael's parents live in the country, about a 30 minute drive from Baton Rouge. It is quiet and warm enough to go outside. (Garrett and I spent some time the other day in a hammock under the gazebo). There was nothing pressing for me to do, no laundry to wash, no dishes piling in the sink. The kids spent most of the weekend on the computer and playing their video games. There can be no vacation from the video games!!! All three game systems made the trip with us! Greg's watching football, Lindsay's reading her latest in the Twilight series, Mark spends too much time on the cell phone talking to his girlfriend who is now moved away and Garrett totally plays with his presents from Santa ( What would we do without Batman?) There's little fighting overall. The rain falling on the tin roof is quite calming. I've caught up on all the lost sleep and had time to start reading Twilight ( I put it off till now because I knew I would never be able to read it while still in nursing school.) And lo and behold I have actually started writing on this blog, which I created like 5 months ago!
So with all this peace and serenity and almost boredom - how did I spend my day today? Why I took that 30 minute drive into Baton Rouge and found the Mall of Louisiana for more shopping of course! My addled brain cannot handle exess amounts of relaxation and sleep! So Lindsay and I set off and I paid the price, I am afraid. I was assaulted with tons of noise and Oh my gosh - the smells - candles and perfumes and Hollister. Need I say more? After four hours a full blown migraine had overcome me and I made haste to return to the tranquility of the country. And then there was the traffic- apparently I was not the only one wishing to get home. But here I sit typing away, grateful for the time to have started this post and wondering how long before I seek to challenge the peace and quiet - the irony of it all!
The parties were a lot of fun and two days later I was back at the mall for more shopping of course! Then there was the baking of the goodies and last minute preparations on Christmas Eve. We spent that evening at my mom's and enjoyed wonderful chicken gumbo and then the blessed day finally arrived. Most of the kids were happy. One child who shall remain nameless was quite upset that Santa had screwed up one of his presents. But all in all it was a pleasant laid back afternoon. Then came the mad dash to get 8 people ready for our trip to Louisiana. There was tons more laundry to tackle and suitcases to pack. My poor washer and dryer got a workout that night and into the wee hours of the morning, as the kids realized that they needed this shirt clean and these pants washed! We traveled the 12 hours in two cars with Michael and I in one car with a couple of kids and all the teens in another car. That made for a nice change!
Throughout these couple of weeks, I was tired and crabby and frustrated and overwhelmed by all the things that had to get accomplished in such a short time! I was so looking forward to some time away - a respite from the chaos of my hectic life!
We've been here for 3 days now. Michael's parents live in the country, about a 30 minute drive from Baton Rouge. It is quiet and warm enough to go outside. (Garrett and I spent some time the other day in a hammock under the gazebo). There was nothing pressing for me to do, no laundry to wash, no dishes piling in the sink. The kids spent most of the weekend on the computer and playing their video games. There can be no vacation from the video games!!! All three game systems made the trip with us! Greg's watching football, Lindsay's reading her latest in the Twilight series, Mark spends too much time on the cell phone talking to his girlfriend who is now moved away and Garrett totally plays with his presents from Santa ( What would we do without Batman?) There's little fighting overall. The rain falling on the tin roof is quite calming. I've caught up on all the lost sleep and had time to start reading Twilight ( I put it off till now because I knew I would never be able to read it while still in nursing school.) And lo and behold I have actually started writing on this blog, which I created like 5 months ago!
So with all this peace and serenity and almost boredom - how did I spend my day today? Why I took that 30 minute drive into Baton Rouge and found the Mall of Louisiana for more shopping of course! My addled brain cannot handle exess amounts of relaxation and sleep! So Lindsay and I set off and I paid the price, I am afraid. I was assaulted with tons of noise and Oh my gosh - the smells - candles and perfumes and Hollister. Need I say more? After four hours a full blown migraine had overcome me and I made haste to return to the tranquility of the country. And then there was the traffic- apparently I was not the only one wishing to get home. But here I sit typing away, grateful for the time to have started this post and wondering how long before I seek to challenge the peace and quiet - the irony of it all!
1 comment:
It was so fun to read about you family Gracie! Congrats on nursing school.
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