Bring on the fam!

I am so, so, so, so, so excited for our Christmas travels!! I have been counting down the days until we get to leave. I am excited for the drive, the food and the hugs. Yeah, the presents will be nice, I guess, but I just want my family.
I get a little "girl time" tomorrow with Molly before we have Matt's concert and then the travels begin. I hope the roads stay clear and our travel goes quickly (and that my patience holds out until we do get there).

Update

I haven't written in forever, yet I feel like I've had so much going on in my head that I wanted to write about. I'm completely smitten with my girl, which I guess any mother should be. The transition back to work has been challenging at times, but has gotten better. There are still a few frustrations that I thought would be gone when students left, but they have managed to stick around and make me a little more nuts than I should let them. Still, they'll be over soon enough...I hope. I am excited that I get to see my girl every day and that makes it easier for me to do the full-time gig. Time is really flying by for me. It's hard to believe that a year ago today Matt and I found out Neala was coming. It seems like it wasn't that long ago.
Now I have a list in my head of things I can do one-handed and/or while holding/feeding a baby:
1. send an email
2. browse the internet (with my toes, actually)
3. brush my hair
4. brush my teeth (spitting out the toothpaste without hitting her is the hard part)
5. slice a tomato
6. make sandwich out of aforementioned tomato
7. make a bottle (formula or factory)
8. carve a pumpkin
I know there are more, but that's all I can remember for now. I'm sure I'll update this list as time goes by.
The two of us travelled to St. Louis. I knew it was going to be a test of either stupidity or craziness. Luckily for me, it was the latter. She rode the whole way without any fussiness and was a huge hit with all the ladies in attendance and got lots of love. Even the employees in the hotel restaurant wanted to take turns holding her. Not such a bad thing when they only option is a buffet. I haven't been able to add that to my list of one-handed tricks...yet.
My brain has stopped functioning. Time for bed (yes, it's early).
Blessings to you all!
gin

another avenue for my ocd-ness

Since moving to IC I have developed a few different ways to channel my OCD. First, I was crocheting--mostly scarves--which served me well since it was so freakin' cold compared to what we were used to winters feeling like. Then 2 years later, I transitioned to cross-stitch, which I still enjoy, especially for making Christmas stockings for friends and family. They are gifts that can last for much longer than a scarf.

Last Thursday I went to a beginning scrapbookers class. I have never been to a class and always figured it would be much more difficult, so I thought I would give it a try. The main purpose to make Neala's baby book be not boring. The problem is, I enjoyed it more than I thought and have decided to expand my page making past the 2 from the class and may have gone a little overboard. I bought 2 albums (1 for the cards we received for Neala and 1 for the actual pictures of Neala), 1 pack of paper, 2 packs of cardstock, extra page protectors, and a die cutting machine. Yes, I'm a dork, but at least I'm a creative dork. In the mean time I still need to finish 3 stockings for friends (hopefully getting at least one of them done by Christmas--maybe if I got off the computer while Neala was sleeping...).

Off to be crafty...

I could cry...

and probably should. Part of it is sleep deprivation, part is hormones, and part is stress. This I know.
Last night I got a little over 4 hours of sleep. Hormones are a given for me right now.
The stress is the only thing I wish were absent, rather the cause of the stress. Gma-Hoof (as I lovingly refer to her, for her ability to insult anyone, anywhere, at any time and not even realize it) has been having what we believe to be mini-strokes. Several times she's had CTs and yesterday an MRI. Each time the doctors are able to find nothing. Basically, we have to wait for her to have a full-on stroke with who knows what end result. While I realize she is going to be 91 on December 1, the waiting game seems so very hard for me. Afterall, she is the only "original" grandparent I have left and, despite her ability to crush my ego with the fewest of words, I love her so very, very much.
So while I could blame it all on hormones, it really is the sound of my heart breaking that is making me cry.

Oh what a beautiful morning

My morning, thus far...

It was nice while it lasted.

Blessings

Last Friday 2Bit and I went to the mall to, um, "walk around." There was a bit of shopping to be done, but nothing too damaging to our bank accounts. While we were walking through JC Penney, Neala started fussing a bit so I picked her up. As we left the Baby section to scout out a feeding location, a sweet lady walked by and said "Oh, that's a new baby." I responded and we talked for a few minutes while the lady admired my little one. As we ended our brief conversation, instead of saying "Have a nice day" or some other typical concluding statement she said "Blessings."
That struck me as a wonderful thing to say. I think I'll keep that in my vernacular for future baby interactions or, for any conversation.

Blessings!

almost a month

With 3 1/2 weeks down, my little one has kept me busy with some freaking out here and there. After spending time in the NICU and learning more than I cared to know, I think we've finally got it figured out. "They" say breastfeeding is natural. Yeah, it's not; "they" are wrong. The act of the body producing milk for breastfeeding: Yes, that's natural. The transfer from mother to baby: not so much. Still I think we've figured it out...finally.

Anyway, the purpose of this post is share pure cuteness. Little Miss Neala apparently loves her new bear and one afternoon last week, after a lovely nap, decided to talk to her. So enjoy the cuteness.

She's here! She's here!

My beautiful baby girl, Neala Kathleen, arrived one week ago today. It's hard to believe it has already been a week. Time has flown by.
She is such a beautiful, sweet baby with my temper (watch out world) and the ability to scream like a banshee. She's learning to sleep more at night, which I greatly appreciate, but prefers to cuddle.
Matt is adjusting very well and quickly. I didn't think it would be possible, but the first time I saw him hold our daughter in his arms, I loved him so much more. I really thought my heart would burst. Just the thought of that moment makes me emotional. I'll blame part of that on hormones.

The family is/was a huge help. Matt's folks started driving from AL as soon as they knew the hospital was keeping me. They arrived shortly before lunch on Friday, having stopped in St. Louis after 11 hours of driving. Mom was initially accepting of the fact that she would not be there for the birth, but somehow between the phone call to tell her we were going to the hospital and Matt's trip to get our stuff out of the car, she managed to get her flight changed and arrived by 6 o'clock that night, still worried she would miss the big event. Luckily, Miss Neala is all about timing and gave Grandma C 6 extra hours of waiting. My dad will be coming in next weekend and my sister will follow on Labor Day. Matt's brother may come another weekend after that. I'm pretty sure it will all be a blur, but a happy blur.

4 days to go...

I'm very excited to finally meet the munchkin that has been beating me from the inside-out, but I'm a little apprehensive about what is going to happen once s/he arrives. I really have enjoyed being pregnant. I don't have any real complaints about any of my experiences. Yes, some have been unpleasant at times, but they were so temporary. My greatest source of excitement, besides seeing what this little one looks like and who s/he resembles, is for Matt to get to hold this baby in his arms. I want to see the look on his face when he holds him/her for the first time.
I feel like I've been experiencing all the fun; interacting with kicks and pushes. So I can't wait to see what happens once he gets to interact, too.

This past weekend, we had a lot of fun. Matt's friend, Josh, was in town travelling from Chicago back to Arkansas. We had dinner with him two nights with the typical conversations (conversation was mostly trombone--okay, it was almost all trombone). Sunday my sweet, brilliant friend BB came into town, which was celebrated with a potluck and Beth & Drew's. It was a wonderful time with a house full of equally wonderful people.

Saturday morning, my buddy Brian took some pictures of me and Matt at the park. I wanted a few "belly pictures" (covered with clothing, though). The pictures turned out really well, even though I didn't like my puffy face in a few. Still, there are some real winners and I fully intend to have them framed in my house.

I have good friends. :-)

It's that time again...JibJab is baaack!

Hooray for JibJab and their newest contribution to the upcoming election. I can't wait to see what's next. 'Cause Times, they are a changing. :-) I heart JibJab!

1 month to go...

Granted, as of today, it's the month of February (not on a leap year). I can't believe it's gone this quickly and, somewhat surprisingly, I'm in no hurry for it to end any time soon. Yes, I am excited to meet BabyD and learn about him/her but right now Matt is in California for a Brass Workshop--or I have been calling it: band camp. He has been gone since Monday night and will not return until next Sunday (for a total of 12 days), which has been a cause for a little anxiety for both of us. Of course, I do get tickled when he asks me how the baby's doing every time he calls. In my head I'm thinking, "wiggling around, right where you left him/her." I still enjoy knowing that my baby is tucked safely away and I really don't feel that greedy about keeping all that kicking, turning and wiggling to myself...at least not yet.

Sydne is doing better. Her knee is healing really well and the fur is starting to grow back, but the shaved leg is still quite obvious. We are still having to limit her activities, so she's been trapped in the "den" of our house, especially since she believes herself to be back to full capacity. As a result, Matt and I have been sleeping downstairs. In the past week, I have been alternating between the floor and the couch (depending on thunderstorms) so that she won't try to venture up the stairs and so she doesn't have to sleep in her crate.

Today I am having a surprise wedding shower for two of our friends who are getting married in Hawaii. Casey, Matt's buddy, and I are collaborating on it. He's in charge of the grill and I'm doing everything else, which is perfectly fine with me. Of course, I'm not currently on schedule because I only did the grocery shopping yesterday and didn't clean anything in the house that I wanted to. Instead, I spent several hours trying to convince myself that I wanted to cook, clean, shop, etc. And, of course, now I'm writing rather than doing any of those things. Still, I have about 4-5 hours, so I should be fine. The house isn't a complete mess and the things I have to do won't take that long.

IC is slowly coming back following the flood. The clean-up is obvious everywhere but no one is sure which businesses will be coming back and which have been close indefinitely. The School of Music is closed for the year, the Art Museum is going to move to a new location, and the entire arts campus will be spread across the whole of the city: arts studios at the old Menards, music classes in every church in the city, and lessons in professors' homes. It will definitely be an interesting year.

oh my, to catch up...

So many things have happened and I have so much to share...
I am now up to week 33, which is pretty darn good and, yes, I'm getting big. As the floating baby (which totally freaks Megs out--teehee) shows, I have less than 50 days to go until the kiddo gets here and I keep getting bigger. This is probably one of the few times in my life in which I won't complain about an expanding waistline.

Two weeks ago, IC was hit with horrible, horrible rain and flooding. As a result, I spent that Monday moving musical instruments from the MT "closet" to the offices of Drs. A & G. The ironic part of it is that we were told it would most likely not be necessary to do only to be notified 3 days later that everything in the music building needed to be moved due to fear of 4.5 feet of water on the first floor, 4.5 FEET! So it was another time in my life that I'm glad I didn't listen to someone who was in charge because they would have been very wrong and it would have been a very expensive "learning experience" (as Dr A calls them). So we moved almost every single musical instrument out of that closet (except a few plastic things that would not be affected by water and could be cleaned with clorox) on a giant percussion cart, in about 5 loads via the freight elevator. We did sacrifice one guitar to the River Gods, but only because it was really broken and needed lots of work.

Thursday of that week I trekked down to Charleston, SC for a girls' weekend we had planned for months. The timing was just amazing. I left Thursday (they closed the interstate on Friday) and got to spend some great quality time with Bev and Amy. Friday we slept late, ate at IHOP, got massages and facials (oh, the happy memory), went on a Ghost Tour of the Charleston jail on Friday, the 13th mind you and ate yummy, yummy food. Saturday we went to see Sex and the City: The Movie. Though I never watched the show, I did enjoy the movie. Of course, it could have partly been the hormones, but I kinda wept through the second half of the movie. This is where the plans changed...

Instead of coming back to IC on Sunday and spending Saturday afternoon at the beach, I was stuck in the South for a bit longer. (Now, that's not such a bad thing and AirTran was super-fantastic about helping me get my tickets rearranged.) Because of the flooding, the interstate from the airport to IC was closed, which meant that I could either fly home on Sunday at my designated time and spend who knows how many days in a hotel until the road was opened or change my ticket. So after explaining the situation to the airline associate and stating I'd have to charter a boat to get home from the airport the same day as my arrival, my flight was changed to the following Saturday and I had to figure out what to do for the next 6 or so days. Luckily, Amy still lives in our hometown so after the movie, and a bit of shopping, we hopped in the car and headed to her in-laws home in Holden Beach to meet up with her cutie-patootie husband and little boy. We headed out of Holden at 3 a.m. for the drive home and 5 hours later rolled into town with a very unhappy 13-month old (he was ready to be out of the car). From there on, it was a week of quality time with Mom, Dad & Jo, Marc, Challen and Maddox, and other friends from home I have missed dearly.

Meanwhile, on the homefront, the flooding continuously got worse. My beloved IC and C'ville strip became a river, destroying many businesses that may not come back and university buildings that will needs months to be repaired. The pictures I was able to find online paled in comparison to the reality my friends back here were experiencing. I know that I will never truly understand how completely horrific it was because I was in NC and only had the "virtual" experience. In addition, my sweet, sweet Sydne tore her doggie ACL and had to have surgery to repair the damage, which sent pangs of guilt through my heart because I was so far away and unable, once again, to do anything.

This past Saturday, I finally got home. It has been surreal to see all the various businesses closed and muddied, to try to traverse the roads to work, to get everything else caught up, and take care of my husband and puppy. Syd-dog is slowly getting better. She has more energy, which means we have to encourage her to lay down and stay calm. Ice cream has been a good incentive. Dad and Jo are coming in for a baby shower this weekend so they'll get to see some of the remnants first-hand. It should be a good time especially when they haven't been here since 2006.

We also started our MT sessions with the kiddos at the Speech and Hearing Center today, which was fantastic! I love working with them and seeing all the progress they make over the course of 6 weeks working with us and the SLP students. It's a busy, busy time and I'm loving every minute.

When Momma C comes to visit...

Things get done! In a hurry!

Mom came to visit last Thursday, our first visit since she game in Dec '06. It was the first time she got the see the house and first time she'd seen us since Christmas. Needless to say, there were some slight changes in my figure and other fun things.
Mom got here Thursday night when we joined miss Molly on her 25th birthday. We had an excellent dinner of yummy Japanese food followed by chill time for Mom and me and then some emptying of the nursery, which more closely resembled a room struck by a tornado. Friday, the three of us (or four, if you count BabyD) went for my doctor's visit and then went out to lunch. When we got home, our changing table had arrived (woohoo!) and then a trip to Lowe's to pick out paint and all the necessities. When we got home from Lowe's, the crib and mattress had arrived, making it a wonderful present day. That created even more urgency for me to have the nursery set up. The taping and painting began, which resulted in my prompt removal from the room. At the end of day one (Friday), it looked like this:

Saturday morning, we went to the Oto baby shower. Mom got to meet the great ladies I work with, which was a wonderful time for both of us. I got wonderful gifts from my coworkers and friends. Mom displayed yet another talent and excitement about the new BabyD with another display of her knitting prowess. It was too cute.

After the shower, it was back to work. I grabbed a blade and started taking the extra paint off the baseboards; Mom grabbed a paint brush. After dinner, it was crib assembly time, then off to bed.

Sunday we took Mom out for breakfast and then came home to give the room it's finishing touches. By Sunday afternoon, the nursery was finished, at least as much as we have right now.

As Matt put it when talking to one of our friends, she "cracked the whip." I love it when she does that. :-)

Can't believe there's only 80 days (or so) to go until BabyD gets here! I feel like I have so much more to write, but the cold I caught has decreased my verbal skills, at least for now.

peace, love, happiness!

Lots of breathing

Today required a lot of breathing, some to relax and some of relief, all to do with work.
With the end of the semester quickly approaching I have been working on everyone's schedules, including my own, trying to make sure everything is lined-out and ready to go. Planning for the summer has been interesting. With the smaller patient load this year, there have been fewer patients to test. Yet, as the summer approaches, many different programs always appear to pick up. Until this afternoon, we had one potential student who wanted to work and even then I wasn't sure that would work. Now we have two other potential students to work, both of whom will need to be trained on how to do everything on our team--for a month. The only real bonus for me is that one of them has completed all of her practical experience which will help in our summer kiddo program and planning. (deep breath)
Then there's the thorn in my side (but only for 5 more weeks). I simply don't know what to do. I feel like I'm doing so much for her that I don't want to help her anymore. But in the same respect, I want her done and gone. Now, with a month before she's really gone, nothing is done compared to what needs to be completed. And now she's expected to do nothing else at work, but try to accomplish the impossible, which means her duties will passed on to me. This wouldn't be so bad if she didn't have almost every hour of work time available for just that. (another deep breath).
A good thing is that we finally got our galley proofs, the ones that should have been here in December. The only problem is that, despite the fact they arrived, 5 months late, we have until Monday to go through them and get them returned. And I'm the one who gets to read through the galleys first to look for the errors all while doing other short-notice errands that must be done in 30 seconds.
But my breath of relaxation came from looking at my current vacation and sick time I've built up and realizing I have saved enough time to cover my leave in August. Talk about a sigh of relief.
Okay, enough fussing and whining...
BabyD is getting bigger, which means so am I. To quote Dr G, I'm "getting more pregnant every day" which is funny because I hope I am. :-)
That's all. Real update to come!

Oh, baby

Last week we reached our half-way point for BabyD to make his/her arrival. We had our ultrasound and aside from my child being less than cooperative, things were once again "perfect" (not my term, but that's what the pros said). All appears to be going well in the baby-cooking department. And, no, we didn't find out boy or girl, just that there is a shy baby with a beautiful spine a-growin'. We weren't able to get a profile shot of the kiddo, per the previously mentioned lack of cooperation. Instead, we have a full-on face shot, which I think looks a little like Skeletor (only cuter, 'cause it's my kid).

In the past week I've had much more fun getting kicked, which brightens my day. And I'm preparing for 2 weeks of conferences. Tomorrow, I head to Chicago for the MT conference and Wednesday of next week I'm off to sunny San Diego for a CI conference. I'm actually looking forward to both, but for different reasons. I want to go to Chicago to see friends I haven't seen in quite a while; not that thrilled about the actual MT sessions and such. For San Diego, well, it's San Diego--filled with fun parties and an ocean view. Then there's the professional stuff, which seems more intellectually appealing than Chicago (not good considering my profession is MT--oh well, I always enjoy Nationals more anyway).

On a happy note, Spring has finally arrived and by "Spring" I mean consecutive days above 40 degrees and thunderstorms. Oh, how I love thunderstorms. Something about the rumbles of thunder, flashes of lightening, and torrential downpours soothes me. All I need is a tin roof next to a window and I could sleep/relax for hours. I do love the sunshine of spring, though, so maybe we could have the thunderstorms in the evening and the sun during the day... just not every day. Now to see if any of my tulips have survived the move...

-peace and love!

(insert witty title here)

So apparently, Spring does not want to come to the Midwest in any sort of speedy fashion. We got yet more snow last night with a little more predicted on Sunday (and freezing rain tomorrow morning, oh joy). As a result things in our house are pretty much the status quo. I have started to get more energy. I'm cleaning more often, which amazing Matt undoes in record time. I spent 2 hours at the mall on Sunday and didn't need a nap when I got home, which is a huge accomplishment (and a rather sad commentary on my current level of endurance). Of course, this morning, while in the shower, I felt the need to encourage the sweet hubby to purchase toilet wands because I obviously feel the need to clean the bathrooms this weekend, top to bottom.

On a funny note, one day this week one of the ladies I work with was chatting with me, when she made an excited statement about the fact that not only is my belly getting larger, but apparently my "endowment fund" has also increased (she actually said they had gotten huge). It made me a little self-conscious for the moment, but then when I looked at a picture Matt took of me last week, I think she might be right. I look like I'm just busting out all over, not that I mind. It's just a new development--no pun intended. Of course, Matt isn't going to complain. What man would?

We also got to hear bambino's heartbeat again this week. It was a "perfect" 159 according to our midwife. And, in my normal preparatory manner, I asked what to expect for our next visit and when I'd get to see the smiling face of the miniDrisc. So next visit, March 24, we get to have a sonagram to check out the development and see the bambino in black and white. What a fun time that will be!

Ahh-lastic

Five years ago, the thought of elastic waistbands were reserved for my various athletic activities. If the word "ball" wasn't included in the title (volleyball, softball, football, etc.), elastic was not part of my wardrobe. I would even turn my nose up at pretty pants because, ugh, they had elastic on the back waistband. Hear that sound? That is the sound of Ginny changing her tune...lah-lah-laaaaah!

Saturday, wonderful Jana brought 2 16-gallon tubs of maternity clothes and I had a grand time washing many loads of clothes. (She has wonderful taste.) Yesterday, I received 2 new pairs of pants I ordered online. And now that my waist is expanding (no, it doesn't have to do with sour cream and onion dip---entirely), I am enjoying the gifted and purchased clothes. Not until Sunday did I realize how much I now love elastic waistbands. They truly make me smile. The only thing I have to get used to is the absence of belt loops, which I know are completely unnecessary for elastic pants, but the perfect spot for hanging my keys when I'm at work. A small price to pay for amazing, and cute, comfort.

Baby's first booties

No. My mom isn't excited about being a grandmother at all. In fact, she's so unenthused, she made the baby some booties. Poor baby.

The Spoils of Baby-dom

I am so excited about Bambino Drisc! And that was before I started getting fun goodies. This weekend sweet, sweet Molly and Rachel gave us a Diaper Champ. Matt was so excited he joked about trying it out. Today, I got my diaper bag, made with love by Mary (our departmental quilting guru). I was so excited I ran around the department to show it off. And tonight, it got the "wag" of approval from my puppy. I have such good friends!

Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop!

It is snowing...again. Or maybe I should say...still. As of 11-ish this morning, we had 7.3 inches and it's been coming down in a horizontal manner. I mean, I love snow. It usually makes me smile. But multiple feet of snow for multiple days is more than I can handle and while I could conceivable try get to work, I really don't want to risk the frustration or danger of driving on the roads. Our streets haven't even been plowed since before dawn. Matt has plowed our driveway twice and you can't even tell.

He did earn some super brownie points by helping one of our new neighbors clear off their driveway this morning. The neighbors moved in a few weeks after we did and are both 80+ years old. He's such a good boy.

Still, the snow can stop now. Seriously, it can stop. I mean it!
I'm done whining now. Hope you're enjoying 60+ degrees and sun!

Stupid Whistlepig!

Once again, Punxsutawney Phil crept from his hole and saw his shadow. This almost immediately had an effect in the ole' Midwest. Yesterday, in a 4-hour span, we got 8 inches of snow. EIGHT! C'mon, Phil! Don't you think we've had enough?!
This wouldn't be so bad, I'm sure, if I weren't missing the sun and it's magnificent rays. Alas, they are to be hidden until Friday (or so). Granted, it is not frigidly cold outside; it is 2 degrees above freezing. Yet, that isn't enough to quelch my desire for Spring. I want to be able to open the windows in my home and feel the beautiful calming breeze of Spring.
Yet the whistlepig (my mother's name for groundhog) could not deliver. Wonder if he (or his handlers) accept bribery for next year's prediction. Hey, it's worth a shot!

Gushing

I have the need to gush. I have been biding my time, trying oh-so-hard to keep my mouth shut (not doing a really good job of it), but today was a great day and I want to gush. So I'm gonna!

Today I got to hear my baby's heartbeat. It was a wonderful 163, which I was told is good. If only there had been a video camera in the room to capture my response. I think it could be likened to the 3 or 4-year-old who experiences a surprise from Santa. It was classic. Matt's response was great, too. He couldn't believe how quickly the midwife found the heartbeat and admitted in the hallway that what he really wanted to do was exclaim "Holy Shit!" He's got such great sentiments.

Okay, so I'm done gushing. Everybody who reads my blog already knows, but it feels great to gush.
Now to tell Dr G.....

Life is good

Catching up on the remainder of the Christmas gatherings...

It is safe to say a good time was had by all. While we didn't have the family "Guesstures" tournament of years past, we still managed to have a very good time. Because this was the first Christmas for Laura and Chris as married folk, we had to rearrange how things were done. Matt and I kept up the same routine we've done, but had to adapt to the new family schedules. I thought we handled it pretty well, for the most part. Marc and Challen came down to the KM family gathering and brought Mad-dog (my dad's nickname for Maddox). We had a delicious lunch and our family Gift Game where more presents were worth fighting over than in years gone by. My dad actually brought a belly-dancing book/CD as his contribution and almost ended up taking it home. After 3 hours of KM fun (2 hours longer than normal), we went to Marc and Challen's house to share their presents since they weren't up for trips all around NC. After the giftage, we to Dad and Jo's for further indulgences. Once there we got to meet up with Laura and Chris for more family fun. Each couple got their Yellowstone picture and, of course, Dad really wants a copy of Marc and Challen's so I'll have to look and see what size looks best (he, of course, wants a HUGE copy).

Happy/sad report

Happy in a selfish way; sad for the rest of the IC world who will never know the joy.
http://www.dreamcoatcakes.com/

Catching up

I am so woefully behind in blogging, but most likely because so much has been going on. (the excitement of the holidays).
Matt and I added yet another nephew to our mix on December 11. Of course, both families are completely ga-ga over their respective new members. Who could really blame them, right?
Our Christmas "vacation" began on the 21st with a 10 1/2 hour drive to Tennessee to see Matt's Grandma. The best part was the drive occurred sans music/radio.
Back story: I have a Theftlock system on my car, which means if anyone should choose to steal my radio and put it into another vehicle, it wouldn't work without the unlock code. This tool also goes into action in the event the battery is disconnected and/or dies. Well, my car had to have a new multi-sensor put in, which resulted in the battery being disconnected from the radio and, being that I programmed the code into the car 4+ years ago, I didn't remember the code. Thus, the radio, CD player or anything hooked up to the speakers in my car would not work.
The drive to TN wasn't so bad for me, mostly because I slept most of it and because we got pretty punchy at times and made up songs about the towns we were in. My favorite was for Paducah, but I couldn't tell you what it is now. Saturday we headed to TN to see the Fam-in-laws; 5 hours later, we arrived (still no music)--again I slept. (I love the relief of vacation, even in a car.) We spent two great days with Matt's family and sang Jingle Bells about 400 times for Callie and got pee-ed on by Bryce (a true sign of love).













Next, we headed out to Hickory. We got to Mom's on Christmas Eve around 4, but still needed to run a few errands so Matt and I headed out to Target. Once there, we wrapped up our last-minute needs, hopped in the car, turned the key--nothing happened. From there I realized that I both love the South more than I dislike it. Afterall, we had almost a dozen people offer to jump my car (didn't work), one lady even gave us a card for a tow truck, and only one person gave me an ugly look for my car taking up two spaces. You see, we had to push my car out of the space to try to jump it because my cables were too short to stretch from my battery to the car next to me (opposite sides). Once we pushed it back in, I ended up straddling two parking spaces, prime spots for the Target entrance at 5 pm on Christmas Eve. Excellent. So step-daddy came to the rescue. We emptied everything from the Grand Prix into the truck after he affirmed that my battery was infact completely dead. (Good thing I didn't unlock the radio, huh?) Off we ran to get a new battery at 5:45 on Christmas Eve. We ran into our second auto parts store at 5:53 (they closed at 6) and bought the battery. Then off to Mom's for dinner because it was too dark to put the battery in now. After dinner, we had presents. The highlight of every year is Abby's Christmas present. Every year it's a ball and every year my mom gives great play-by-play. Followed by dessert...mmmm...chocolate.



Darnell, McRee, Brake Christmas update still to go...