Saturday, December 29, 2012

How I Spent My Christmas Vacation

When I last posted I had no intention of taking so much time off.  While in PA I was unable to log onto the internet at my sister's house (the mother of all firewalls) and decided it would be easier to take a break until our return to Florida.  What transpired after that post goes a little something like this:

Three days after my Mom was admitted into Golden Hills my mother-in-law was hospitalized.  Long story short she spent Thanksgiving recuperating from pneumonia and the process began anew to find a long term care facility for her.  In between hospital visits The Kid and I attempted to empty the cottage of its contents.  Construction is ready to move indoors; we needed to move out.  We extended our stay for several days until everyone was settled and the cottage empty.  After all, we had a date to keep with a little ballerina on December 3rd and needed to get on the road.

That's when the flu bug struck.  I spent the day of the Nutcracker in bed with a wicked stomach virus and missed our little princesses' debut.  (Color me sad.)  Two days later on the drive back to Florida volume two of the flu got a foothold in my chest and wouldn't let go.  There was coughing and snorting and wheezing the likes of which you don't want to experience.  And it  Would.  Not.  Go. Away.  At the end of two weeks I was beginning to feel like myself again when the phone rang.  It was Stephen asking if we might be able to make the trip back to NC a little sooner than planned.  B's grandmother was gravely ill and B wanted to see her one last time.

We packed the car and headed back up I75 praying that B would arrive home in time to see Grandma Dot  before she passed.  She did.  And we spent a wonderful unscheduled week with the grands.  After all it was Christmas, excitement was in the air and silliness abounded.

wList_for_santa

Later in the week Uncle Chris joined us and we spent Christmas with the grands for the first time ever.  The giggles and chaos of Christmas morning are memories I will treasure forever.  Thanks to Bethany and Stephen and Pop and Maw Maw for changing it up this one time.  We know it wasn't easy but we are truly grateful.

We arrived home late on the 26h after the trip from hell.  I kid you not.  Between the traffic and the weather the 13 hour drive took 16.  Can you say tired?

I would like to state that I'm back in the saddle and ready to blog.  We'll see.  I haven't taken more than a handful of photos since before Thanksgiving.  I blew my 365 project with less than 40 days to go.  Should I give it another go in 2013?  Something to ponder.

I hope your Christmas was merry,
that your New Year will be bright.
That I'll be back tomorrow,
and have the energy to write.



2 comments:

Judy H. said...

You have certainly had a time of it. Hopefully 2013 will be a peaceful and healthy year.

Marcie said...

Sounds like a wild couple of months!! And - yes - you should begin again in 2013!!!