So. Christmas happened. Here’s what we did with that whole thing.
First, some bowling on Christmas Eve.
Once he got used to the weight of the ball and the fact that the shoes were two size too big (my kid has tiny feet, so we had to deal) he was doing just fine. We ended up playing 2 games, that was juuuuust enough.
After bowling we headed to church, to take in a Christmas pageant and then Mass. Then home, to get into our PJs and watch Polar Express (and get alllll ready for Santa). Scott made a giant pot of soup so we had a nice, laid back dinner and a quiet evening. Apparently the bowling and pageant was exhausting, because as excited as Pete was for Santa’s imminent visit, he zonked out immediately that night. Most nights he comes out to use the bathroom or ‘tell us something he forgot to tell us before’ about 872 times.
Early the next morning you will NEVER GUESS who woke us up, to let us know that Santa had indeed paid us a visit.
I had sent my bud Nikki a Very Special Gift this year, so we were sure to each take a photo first thing and post them to Facebook for each other. BFF for Life, yo!
The rest of the day was fueled by coffee, chocolate treats, and nonstop holiday excitement. We had the fire going all day, popped open some wine around noon to have with our cheese tray (and sparkling cider for the little guy, both kept chilled in the snow and then retrieved from the snow kinda early because THINGS WERE FREEZING OMG IT IS TOTALLY COLD HERE NOW), and just kinda played with all our new toys all day. It was a little lonely but still lots of fun. Also Pete’s cat collection DOUBLED this holiday. He carts all six along throughout the house. Plus his billy. It’s quite the menagerie.
That moose ball-popper thing is total kid crack. He played with it ALL DAY.
One of Pete’s gifts from my parents was a Home Depot paint can. Full of cookies. The spirit of the gift was not lost on us, however, so we took these photos of Pete reenacting his infamous spill down their stairs with a full can of paint.
By the time Scott got to work on dinner, we had full blown cabin fever, so Pete and I did a few weird things. Like play baseball with a diahrrea plush and baton twirling with the brussels-sprout stalk. Pete also chewed on it. Because he’s super weird and also because lately he likes to pretend he is a dog named Woofie.
Dinner time! Porchetta, roasted fingerlings, sauteed brussels sprouts, and balsamic glazed onions. This photo is for my Beah. Also I got really excited and set out the cute chargers and put on the pretty table runner, but then got too lazy to dig out the nice wine glasses and napkins. So excuse that whole bit. At least Pete got a real champagne flute for his cider.
And that about sums things up. It was a crazy week from there on out, so the camera didn’t come out too much. Pete’s preschool was closed so we were home but I was still working, that wasn’t fun. Then he got sick, so there was more staying-home going on. At least he did get part of a day at school last week, enough to learn about Kwanzaa. They made Kwanzaa necklaces and he loves it so much that it rarely leaves his body.
And yes, I pretty much took that photo so I have one of that shirt, which I adored and totally begged Santa to bring to him and he did and OMG IT DOESN’T FIT. Well, barely fits. It’s kinda tight. I am pretty sure it’s a girl size 3T, the sleeves are short and the fit is really close to the body (but is long-ish?). Stupid company and your lies about your ‘unisex’ shirts (for the record, he fits his other 3Ts from them just fine, but they are clearly boy or unisex book-print shirts. Gah. GAH). Hey, boys like cats too you know! TOTALLY SHAKING MY FIST AT YOU, T-SHIRT COMPANY!
Saturday I was stressed so treated myself to a movie first thing. I think I might make this a regular thing, at least until the Oscars so I can get some movies in. The theater down the street has 10am movie showtimes, and they are only five bucks. It’s awesome. So Saturday I took in The Silver Linings Playbook, I love David O. Russell’s films and this one didn’t disappoint. The storyline kinda bugged, how everything was neatly tied up all sweetly at the end, but then again I think this was his interpretation of a classic screwball comedy, so I’m letting it go.
Also I hate Bradley Cooper. Hate him. So smug and one-note in his acting. So: whyyyyyyyyyy did he have to be so darn GOOD in this movie?? He totally knocked it out in this one. Plus maybe I had a soft-spot for the character because he vaguely looks like my brother Paulo, when Paulo wears a similar haircut. Paullllloooo! Except my brother is not bipolar, just for the record.
Nice trash bag you wore throughout the movie, by the way.
Anyway. Saturday I did a movie and we stayed in (see, again: COLD). Today we were getting a little nutty, so attempted to go over to Elver Park nearby, to check out all the winter activities and maybe join in. They have 2 really solid sledding hills, a hockey pond, a regular-skating pond, and snowshoe trails, as well as a ‘warming changing’ shelter and concessions, evening lighting, and equipment rentals. Needless to say, if we could convince our son to try some of these fun things, we’d have all sorts of activitites to choose from. But. Pete is a wimp about the snow, it’s official. He got snow on his gloves and proclaimed it was WAY TOO COLD WE NEED TO GO HOME. That, my friends, was after five minutes at the park. Yay, us. So we went home and here I am, the end. I guess it means at least our dinner is at a normal hour and also I can get this darn blog post done somewhat early.
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It would be remiss to not mention how things in my own little circle of hell have been going lately. My job has gotten pretty chaotic, lots of work being taken home to do late into the night, and all that stress, and the random crying, like the WHOLE she-bang. It’s a great society though. And they got even better in my eyes when my editor told me this week that, as part of an upcoming trip to meet with them in Orlando, they have decided to also treat my family to also come down, they will pay for extended time in Orlando for us, and also there were tickets to the Disney World parks to be had. OMG. OMG OMG OMG ALL THE HARD WORK IS PAYING OFF YOU GUYS.
And also,
So I spent like, an entire evening in a foggy sleep-deprived euphoria in-between working on goddamn proofs, thinking about how I was totally going to google the HELL out of the Disney World parks as soon as I got this work done, I mean: after I got a tiny bit of sleep and spent the entire next day caring for a sick child, working on more proofs, and training my new Intern via e-mail on his first day. Yeah. After all that.
Except. I finally finished after a loooooong day of working, dreamily (like really, dreamily, because I am EXHAUSTED YOU GUYS) mentioned something about how I should measure Pete to research what parks/rides are going to be the Awesomest on what is going to clearly be the Best of the Best of Vacations We’re Ever Going To Take, Because Disney World is Straight Up Magical To Three Year Olds, Yo. And my husband off-handedly mentions that oh, yeah, about that. He kinda can’t get off work those days, so we’re just going to have to forget about the whole thing.
Ummm.
Thank you, Ryan. That about sums things up at that moment. And then like two seconds later, after I smushed back in all my brains after they exploded everywhere:
Alas, however: yes. This was actually happening. Weeks and weeks (nay, months, let’s be honest) of toiling and things finally pay off, and my dear darling WONDERFUL FREAKING HUSBAND takes it all away from me, in one fell swoop. After that lovely little announcement he just kinda skipped upstairs to blissfully goof around on Deadspin and Reddit the rest of the night.
So, you know. That fleeting glimmer of happiness I felt in my stressful existence, it was nice while it lasted. For that whole 24 hours it was there. Thanks, husband. No, dude: really.
With a side of
Not like I’m bitter and blame my husband or anything. I mean, that doesn’t mean this thing is off, right? Hey, I mean you know, as Ryan said himself:
COME WITH US, RYAN. DISNEY WORLD TOTALLY TRUMPS DISNEYLAND. IT HAS A TRAIN AND CASTLE AND THAT FREAKING ELECTRIC WHATEVER PARADE THING.
Yeah too bad that wasn’t just an imaginary conversation that I totally had with myself.
So, hey: if you need me for anything in the next few weeks, you know what chick to look for.
Or this. I am certain I will look like this when not looking like the other:
Peace out, dudes.
Nemmie Mueller 