?>

Thanksgiving Miracles

I don’t know about all of you, but after having 4 straight days of literally doing nothing, I actually felt somewhat refreshed and ready for work. I haven’t felt that way in a while and it.felt.great.

On Thursday we hung out at home for a while, Cooper got a good nap, and then we went to our friends’ place for dinner (I lucked out and only had to handle pies…pumpkin, chocolate swirl, and my almost-famous apple pie). Just as we were getting ourselves ready to go to their place, we got a call that the other little guy, Peyton, had puked and we were to enter at our own risk, and wouldn’t be looked down upon if we ran in, grabbed some “take-out”, and left some pie in our wake. Well, since we’re crazy, stupid, and felt we already met our Pre-Christmas viral quota, we went over there. Dinner was fabulous, but poor Peyton continued to get sick, and Andrea and Eric took him home shortly after dinner. The three remaining kids (ours and Ainsley) played together happily while we ate pie, sipped wine, and chatted. At nine we left and had the kids tucked in bed by nine-thirty.

Friday I ran out shopping. I returned three hours later and was nearly done with all my Christmas shopping…helps that we’re on a super-strict budget this year…amazing how “no more money” helps you decide easier. All I have left is my godson’s birthday and the rest of Cooper’s Christmas gift. Such a sense of accomplishment!

The rest of the weekend we literally sat around the house and did nothing. Justin was studying for yet another test since he’s got more training this week, and I tried to entertain the kids. On one of those days…maybe Saturday?…Justin and the boys played in the leaves. He got some wonderful pictures, hopefully he’ll be posting them soon (oops, they’re already posted). I also got my dress for Justin’s company holiday party, got the tree up, and started decorating the house for Christmas. Throughout all four days I only got stuck working for one little hour. Like I said it was great.

I got to work this morning and only had one legit email in my inbox. I tried chasing down a few folks that were out last week and they still seemed to be out (or busy catching up). The test servers were on the fritz so it made getting some of my testing done difficult. But really, it just amounted to a quiet day. I did find out, however, that it seems I may not need to work at night at all this week. That in itself was a huge weight off my shoulders. So since I was anticipating the kids being in foul moods when I picked them up (as they are prone to be in the evenings, especially when Daddy is out of town), I left my computer at the office and left a little early.

When I picked them up, I was beyond tickled to find that they were both in excellent moods. EX-CELL-LENT. Like laughing and squealing and giggling. I was so happy and relieved that I nearly cried. We got home, I made a quick, barely nutritious dinner of smoked sausage, instant garlic mashed potatoes, corn, and bread from a can. Oh, and milk. Always milk. We go through three gallons of milk a week…does that seem like a lot for our little family?

So anyways, we ate our sodium-packed meal while boogeying to songs on the radio. Gavin ate like a champ. I think I told him once to eat. Just once. Most nights it’s like five times before I pull out the kitchen timer and ultimatum. So yes…excellent dinner and we ran off to get bathed and jumped in bed. Oh, and we had this…while I was cooking, I heard my sweet, silly boy, not yet old enough to read, and fighting with auditory and speech delays, “reading” Goodnight Gorilla to Cooper (it’s Cooper’s favorite book). At that point, I did cry.


Gavin Reads to Cooper from Colleen Rummel on Vimeo.

************************************

Don’t forget my fundraiser is still going on!!! I know a few of you have already donated directly to St. Jude’s and I have a couple pending orders…thank you from the bottom of my heart. For the rest of you out there, you have 2 weeks from today!

About the Author

Colleen

This is a blog where I will share my adventures and mundane tasks as a work-out-of-home-mom. I now have 2 kids and my wonderful husband, so the juggling has gotten a little bit more tricky (man-on-man defense). We also have 2 dogs and 3 cats (we used to have 4) so as you can imagine, our household is pretty busy. Since I never feel like I'm being listened to, I figured I'll just start talking at the general Internet community and see what happens.

6 Comments

jen

Your dinner is still more nutritious than mine last night: polish sausage (instead of your smoked) with Mac n’ cheese (not a veggie in sight).

Reply
calicobebop

I’m so glad to hear that I’m not the only one who has to pull out the kitchen timer at dinner! What is with these kids? Nobody ever had to tell ME to eat! 🙂

Glad you had a wonderful relaxing holiday – and early week too!

Reply
LL

Too cute!! I’m glad you’ve had a relaxing few days, I want another holiday weekend without the in-laws so I can feel relaxed too!

Reply
Tootsie Farklepants

I hate that my youngest son’s birthday is in two weeks. I’m always busy shopping and planning for Christmas that I’m jolted when I suddenly remember that I need to get his birthday gift and call his friend’s mom to see if he can go to Magic Mountain with us…and on that note, I have a call to make.

Reply

Leave a Reply