Time Off?

It is becoming blatantly obvious that Meggan and I have differing views on what "time off" means. Today was a great example of this grotesque differential. In short, here was my list of things to do today when I woke up:

- sleep in
- play new Wii
- write
- go to the gym
- watch tv, possibly a movie
- relax

Here, apparently, was Meggan's list:

- wake up early
- create a list of chores to monopolize Randall's day
- wait until Randall settles in for relaxing day
- surprise him with list
- clean out closet that nobody uses
- decide today is the day the garage MUST be cleaned...not tomorrow...and CERTAINLY not the following day
- move all things on the left side of the garage to the right side of the garage
- move all things on the right side of the garage to the left side of the garage
- check in on husband to make sure he isn't accidentally relaxing - not on my watch
- determine despite its relatively small importance, the wrapping paper needs to be placed in a bin
- go to Target to find bins that hold wrapping paper
- curse all people who thought of these bins before they were all sold out
- ensure the majority of the relaxable portion of the day is over
- have a lovely evening with my family


*note - despite my complaining, I actually do realize Meggan is the only reason we get anything done in this house.

Just like that, Christmas has come and gone. In so many ways, it seems like Amelia just got here and now she has already celebrated her first Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, it played out much more memorably in my head than in real life. Amelia recognized that it was Christmas about as much as I notice when Meggan is wearing a new sweater or as much as Meggan notices when I cut the 5 remaining hairs on my head. She had only a very slight interest in unwrapping gifts and even less interest in playing with the gifts once they were opened. So, other than the shiny bows she repeatedly tried to eat, Christmas was just like any other day for Mia...any other day with a LOT of food and a LOT of people around. I suppose even if it didn't live up to my beyond realistic expectations, she got a little practice at opening gifts so she'll be ready when her 1st birthday rolls around in under 2 months.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all the readers of the blog! We are visiting family this weekend, so the blog was/is going to be limited. I'll leave you guys with a short snapshot from my weekend. On the way down, I had one of those moments where you feel you are actually watching the movie of your life more so than living it. I was driving, Meggan was in the back seat of the car keeping Amelia occupied in her car seat. This gave me a chance to peek in on them in the rear view mirror while they had no idea. The car was basically driving on autopilot as I watched Meggan sing the Christmas carols from the radio to Amelia. She was all smiles. It was a brilliantly satisfying few moments for me to see my beautiful wife completely immersed in joy and laughter with my daughter. I am thankful to have been lucky enough to soak in that time rather than let it pass as it so often does. It was a great reminder to me of what this whole thing is all about. I hope you all take advantage of the limited chances you get to watch and appreciate as the snippets of your story unfold for you.

All I want for Christmas

Dear Santa,
As you probably already know, I've been a good boy this year. For this, I was hoping you could bring me one present- an immune system for my daughter. I promise you no gift could be better. If this is out of the question, can you please just arrange for her current ailments to go away. This would include both ear infections, any complications from teething, a loss of appetite, a bout of pure fussiness, and today's recent development...a full body rash...Yes, a full body rash. This is SERIOUSLY getting old. If I don't get this by Christmas, Santa, I might as well start misbehaving because clearly being good hasn't done anything for me.

Sincerely,

Me

loooooong day

Well, it was confirmed by the doctor today that Amelia is suffering from ANOTHER ear infection. This time, to go all out since it is the holiday season, she has infections in BOTH ears and is starting to cut a tooth. Yeah, she's a real treat to be around. In the last 24 hours, she has decided not to eat, has thrown up, has had a constant fever, has screamed her head off, and has had almost zero sleep. I'm hoping for a better day tomorrow. If not, I may be the one screaming.

It takes all kinds

I had to sit at the car dealership for about an hour yesterday waiting on some service to be done and I'm telling you, it could not have felt more like being at the DMV. I'm not sure if I could have picked a better people watching crowd. There was:

- A man who looked to be in his mid 30s watching Home Alone on one of the TVs...and laughing hysterically.

- A lady who was at least 70 picked up the newspaper, thumbed through it, pulled out the Sports section and sat down to read it.

- The guy next to me got up 4 separate times to fill his bag of free popcorn and proceeded to crunch it loudly enough to be heard for a 15 feet radius.

- A different grown man, who spoke broken English at best when speaking to the mechanic, was watching Babar on the other TV....and laughing hysterically.

So, while I typically hate sitting in waiting rooms, I was pleased to find this one came with its own built in entertainment.

Thanks

The war in Iraq just became real to me. It crept into my home over the weekend and it will likely never leave. A few days ago, I went to see my nephew, who is being shipped over to the Middle East in the near future. While it may be a popular sentiment to question whether or not we should be fighting, nobody can dispute the fight we currently have at hand. Brave soldiers such as my nephews (another nephew leaves for Navy boot camp in January)have decided to risk the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of the greater good. On their shoulders, they have taken the burden of our freedom. In a reality of costly measures, they have offered up their livelihoods as collateral. There are not enough words to describe the gratitude every one of us should feel toward these men and women. They will face constant dangers. They will be separated from their friends and families for months, if not years at a time. And they will work tirelessly day and night. All this, to give us the opportunity to feel safe and secure, to watch our little ones joyously play, and to sleep well in our warm beds knowing they are out there protecting us. For this, I can only think to say Thank You and ask that God watches over each and every one of them.