I consciously decided to simplify this Christmas season by doing and buying less. Which is why it was distressing to have spent two days this past week feeling completely frazzled. Wednesday David and Brett had a holiday party at their preschool. So at 5:15 am, after saying good bye to Scott, I found myself dipping 60 balls of dough into melted semi sweet chocolate to make Cookie Dough Truffles (a delicious egg-free recipe if anyone is interested). A bit decadent for kids this was actually not for the children but for their teachers. I happened to be snack mom that day as well so in between dipping I was cooking quesadillas, peeling a dozen oranges and making my own lunch as I would be gone all morning. We arrived home in the late afternoon to chaos in the kitchen and utter disarray elsewhere in the house. Not exactly a pleasant homecoming!
Chad in his classroom at school
I thought Thursday would be better but it actually turned out worse. After we rode Chad to school and went to the gym I needed to get some paperwork signed at our bank. For the second time in two days I had to drag David and Brett into a place that is normally to be avoided like the plague with children in tow. But Wednesday I did not have my passport (having misplaced by CA drivers license in the move) and my Swiss drivers license was apparently not going to cut it. Today there was another hold up but the branch manager kindly processed my request with the caveat that I must call him that afternoon with some particulars I did not have on me at the time. Next stop Sam's Cub where I discovered that I left my purse inside the bank. And this is always the sign that I am trying to do too much – my brain becomes overwrought and I start to lose things. But I happened to have my check book and passport in the car so I was able to get a temporary membership so I could buy the veggie tray I needed for Chad's class party later that afternoon. After driving back to the bank to pick up my purse and then to drop the veggie platter off at Chad's school it was 12:30 pm before we arrived back home. Chad's class party and program started at 2:15 so we needed to leave by 2 pm in order to be on time. Between showering and food prep I needed to e-mail the bank with information I was unable to find on either of our computers. Scott reminded me that our old filing cabinet was out in the garage and luckily I was able to procure a phone number which ultimately led to a positive result. Bank was e-mailed and whew! Mr. Matt MCaffrey of Wells Fargo Bank would not lose his job when his books are audited in three months. At 1:53 pm I opened my pantry door to grab movie tickets for Chad's teacher. I have only seem them a million times sitting on a shelf in plain view since I bought them from Costco ages ago. But yesterday they were seemingly swallowed up in the dismal abyss of our day. I searched high and searched low but to no avail. Finally at 2 pm I cut my losses. The boys still needed shoes on their feet and that is always a five minute process. We left the house by 2:11 and David, bless his heart, rose up and biked his little heart out. Nonetheless we walked into Chad's classroom just seconds after the obviously very short program ended. The children looked like red and green angels at the front of a classroom filled with beaming parents sitting at undersized desks in miniature chairs. The minute Chad saw me his eyes filled with tears and he hurled himself at me and cried for the next ten minutes. It was pretty intense. And I felt so badly that we missed his program but at least I knew in my heart we had done our best to get there on time. I am really so careful about how much we do each day but during this season of joy and gladness there are always a few crazy days that leave you wondering about the true meaning of Christmas!
Chad and his wonderful first grade teacher Mrs. Maxwell
In the end the party was great. The boys really enjoyed dipping marshmellows and graham crackers into the chocolate fountain brought by one of the parents. I was really nervous Brett would be obnoxious but he liked the food and he and David found some toys to play with and were quite content, especially David who wanted nothing more than to sit at Chad's desk when we first arrived.
Yesterday in the late afternoon we drove to Victorville to take Scott's grandfather out to dinner. Since it was Christmas we decided to splurge on...Carl's Junior! We even treated Grandpa to a strawberry milk shake with his Classic Star combo (although later he had to loan me $3 to buy Brett a milkshake for dessert as I was out of cash!). The decidedly low brow cuisine actually tasted good to everyone and we had a fun visit with Grandpa singing Christmas carols and just enjoying his tender spirit.
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