Stuff Going On

Only three more sleeps until Santa comes :-)

I have a lot to accomplish this week and so far I'm right on track.

Monday was my day to finish up my Christmas shopping. I drove the children to school then came back for Ian, and the little ones and headed to the mall. I mentally prepared myself for long lineups and impatient, pushy shoppers. To my surprise I didn't encounter either.

Ian took Jordan with him and I kept Matthew with me.

He's not a huge shopper, as you can see.

I love what he's wearing. We all call it his Prison Break outfit. I don't know that any of us have even seen Prison Break, come to think of it.

All was going well as we shopped, even meeting up with Ian and Jordan so she could see Santa. I didn't think she would sit on his lap, but she did. Wouldn't say anything to him, but she got up there and was so excited when she came to see me afterwards.

Santa looked at me, winked and waved with a hearty "Ho! Ho! Ho!" and I forgot I was a forty year old mother of four and squealed "HI SANTA!" while waving like mad.

And yes, there were tears in my eyes.

Oh to be young again.

Another thing I wasn't expecting was to spot my ex-boyfriend at The Body Shop. I went in there with the stroller even though it was pretty tight between tables of products and other shoppers. But I wanted to see what they had so in we went. We'd been there for precisely three minutes when I spotted him.

I was calm. I was mature. I darted behind a large display of body wash so he wouldn't see me. Except I managed to knock the entire display down causing everyone to look at me. Oh man. Not my finest moment.

Ack!

I picked up the children after school and took them shopping to pick out their gifts for Ian. Sam shops just like his dad. In and out, no stopping. Julie and I are browsers and can spend ages in a store together.

Aside for a few small stocking stuffers, I am done.

Yesterday I went to Costco with my Mama so she could pick out the ham for Christmas Eve dinner. No ex-boyfriend sightings thank goodness. I went back to Mom's for a bit to visit with her and my aunt.

Late yesterday afternoon I started to feel sniffly, sneezy and sore. I was in bed with the lights out at 9:30 which is very unusual for me. Usually I'm watching tv and replying to emails and such until about midnight. All night I kept waking up and feeling worse and worse.

Today Ian and I are exhausted. Physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Neither of us are feeling the joyful Christmas spirit although we are putting up a pretty good front for the children. The hits keep on coming and we are feeling so broken. Today was designated for wrapping the Christmas gifts, and there we both sat all morning, me in tears, both of us silent, lost in our own thoughts while we wrapped.

Things have to change. Oh Lord, they have to change. We are rapidly approaching the point where we will have some serious decisions to make. I'm choosing to praise Him still, even though I have never felt lower.

:-(

Tonight should be fun as the children wrap their gifts for one another. I'm looking forward to that. Jordan wrapped her gifts for her siblings this morning and she was so cute. I swear I have a mild form of OCD and I'm beginning to suspect she does a bit as well, so there was some rough patches. We had to laugh when she said "That's it! I'm done with this!" and flounced off.

Gotta laugh where you can, right?

I still need to complete a couple of sewing projects, two of which Julie is giving to her friends. I saw appliqued pillowcases on Pinterest and she loved the idea and asked me to make two of them for her best girlfriends.

Thursday I'm hoping to get some baking done although I'm not in the mood. Friday is for housework so I don't have to worry about it over the weekend.

And then... lots and lots of time with the people I love the most in this world. I can't wait for that.

Ok that's it for now. I'm hearing a weird noise so I'm off to investigate then get back to my wrapping.

Happy Wednesday :-)