Christmas Part II

This year Christmas involved a lot of coughing, sneezing, snorting, whining, and crying. And that was just from me -- and my nieces and nephew. For Christmas this year I received a cold that we have traced back to one of the neighbor boys. This is the cold that sucked all my energy on Wednesday and turned me into a whiny baby. Just ask my mom. Thursday morning I woke up with no voice. By Thursday night I was all flemy and really gross. Today I am not as flemy and gross but my head hurts and all I want to do is sleep.

The week has gone down like this:

Saturday: Arrived. Met by my nephew jumping up and down in his orange Columbia jacket, saying "I feel like Rudolph!" I don't know why. Two nieces were off to the side along with my brother. At one point I held my nephew upside down. Get to house. Meet new baby niece. For a few minutes I thought: "Maybe I need to get one of these." Then kid number one screamed which made kid number two scream and it all went downhill from there. I will say, though, after a week with the kids I have a much higher tolerance for children in public places. "Higher tolerance" in that I barely notice them anymore.

Sunday: Christmas Eve. Lots of tearing of the paper, lots of screaming and some crying. From the kids. The adults just sat around, watching.

Monday: Christmas. Morning with the family, afternoon in the IC with Mom. It was a rough afternoon. I won't go into details.

At some point my mom and I had an in-depth conversation about Jello salad and all the different things Midwesterners can do with Jello. I'm not sure if that was Monday or Tuesday. [Link of interest: Fun with Knox Gelatin here.]

Tuesday: Shopping. It was crazy, but I knew what I needed so we were able to get in and out of the mall and Target without me trying to murder someone for getting in my way or for being an idiot. That night I ordered a taco pizza from Happy Joes. Mmmmmm.... Taco Pizza. Then Mom's dog decided to sit next to me and lick my arm. A lot. It was gross.

Wednesday: Sick day. I slept like crap and woke up feeling worse. We had Thai food for lunch and it was good and I was hungry but I still didn't eat that much. And later I had to throw out the left-over Pad Thai because the smell made me nauseous. A bit more shopping but I kept getting increasingly more tired and more whiny as the day went on. Slept on trip back to brother's. That night went to a neighborhood party with my brother, et all. Lots of children, lots of adults drinking wine. I had some wine from the ginormous bottle of white Riesling my brother bought at Sam's Club. Then I switched to water. I was still feeling shitty. I know nothing about wine. Nothing. It's red or it's white. Other than that, it all pretty much tastes the same. I drink beer. And a few mixed drinks. But wine? It just seems so damn snooty to me. As my brother said, he lives in a wine neighborhood. He drinks beer so it all seems strange to him, too. That night? Slumber Party. I was so tired I was asleep long before the kids.

Thursday: I wake up with no voice. But after some throat lozenges and liquid, it comes back. But the coughing, sneezing, and general flemy grossness doesn't. We go to the Children's Museum (or "You-See-Um" as my niece called it). The museum was cool but we were there for, like, four hours. I had to find a place to sit down and wait. After an hour and a half of following my nephew around, I was worn out. That night I tried to teach my sister-in-law how to knit, but it was kind of a comedy of errors because I can't show someone how to knit when everything they are doing looks backwards to me. I finished the scarf I was working on. It looked nice until I worked the ends in. I fuck things up every damn time when I try to work in the ends.

Friday: Christmas with stepmom and one stepbrother. More presents. Leftovers. As I am telling the kids I am leaving, my nephew says, "You're leaving already?" My response: "I've been here for six days." I am currently in the airport, listening to John Hodgman's audio book trying not to think about how much this flight is going to make my head/sinuses hurt..... And hoping that MT will be at the airport to pick me up.

When I get home I should have a couple of things either waiting for me or on the way: A Best of 2006 CD from Jason. The K-Tel Knitter book I ordered. And a copy of Washington Goes to War by David Brinkley. I read Washington Goes to War in a military history class as an undergrad. It's a great book. I recommended it to a friend, and the more I thought about it the more I thought I should re-read it. Until I realized I didn't have my copy anymore. It's out of print so I found a used/remaindered copy online.

The boys should be there, lonely. And my bed. My sweet bed. I cannot wait to sleep in my own bed...

edit: I'm home. The boys missed me and are very, very happy to see me. I am going to be like an old lady and go to bed very soon. I am exhausted. Tomorrow: Iowa-UT football in the Alamo Bowl. And lots of lounging on the sofa.