Ho Ho Humbug

I really hate the end of Christmas. It’s such a let-down. You spend a month getting all ready for fun and merry-making and then it’s all over in a day.

We had a great time. I loved how our trip turned out. Here are the highlights:

• We had snow on our drive up to Tulsa. Not a lot, but snow is still snow.
• Bridget woke up with a cold (or snot anyway) on Saturday, the day we left for Tulsa, and it’s still lingering.
• Booking the hotel was the best thing we could have done. The apartment Jake’s parents have rented in Tulsa (for many reasons too long to get into here) is nice but would never have fit all 10 of us for four days. We were cramped all being in the same place just for the 12 hours of Christmas Day. And the hotel set up was perfect. We did miss some fun because we had to take Bridget home to bed but her sleeping was especially important since she was sick.
• I sat parked in a no-parking zone at the Tulsa airport for easily half an hour on Sunday while Jake helped his grandparents get situated. No less than four TSA agents walked by me and no one gave me a second glance. What does that tell you about security there?
• I learned to make a green bean casserole that kicks the ass of the recipe on the can of fried onions. You’d like me to share it with you and I might. Or I might not. I have never been a fan of green bean casserole - it was never one of the dishes that my family ate on holidays. Recently I’ve had it and it’s been ok, even pretty good in some cases. But the dish I slapped together with Jake’s mom’s direction was to die for. I ate seconds and thirds of it and wished I had made a bigger dish of it.
• Bridget was wholly unimpressed with Christmas. She didn’t want to sit still to open any gifts and she didn’t want to make it easy for any of us to do so either.
• Did I mention that on Christmas Day I found Bridget with a knife in her mouth one time and a screwdriver another time? This is top-notch parenting right here, folks. I should write a book.
• Santa was very good to me. He listened when I said I wanted a spa day. And so very soon, I will find myself at the Nordstrom spa for a six hour stretch of massage, facial, either a body wrap or a hydrotherapy bath, manicure, pedicure and lunch. I also got some fun gift cards, and other lovely things I can’t think of at the moment but I have written down so I can write my thank you notes very soon.
• While we had a good time, it really caused us to think about how we are going to do Christmas for the next several years, now that we have a child to think about. I think our days of traveling for Christmas are over for a while. We really want Bridget to have the experiences we have had of waking up in her house on Christmas morning and all that. The being away from home while trying to maintain some sense of normalcy in a crazy, fun, sugar and attention filled season is only going to get harder as she gets older. At least until the Santa phase is over. Schlepping gifts (wrapped up and hidden one way, unwrapped and possibly already destroyed the other way) all over the United States is just not doable for us. What about the year she gets a bike or a Barbie house? So I think from here on out, we will take the stance that our Christmas morning is at our house and everyone is welcome to join us. Hi Mom! If you are reading this, we’ll talk in July or so about Christmases future. Don’t stress now. Love you!

So tell me, all my internet friends, did you have a wonderful holiday? I sure hope so. And I hope that your New Year’s is full of fun, but stay safe, ok?

I’ll probably be sparse on the blogging for the next few days. I have committed to doing Blog 365 and I need to save my strength for that.

Filed under Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland |