Home for the Holidays

Being on vacation, it's easy to lose track of what day of the week it is today. Kathleen & I flew out of Idaho Falls last Saturday morning. There was a 40 minute delay and once we finally got on the plane, we were told that the Minneapolis airport was closed to incoming flights and it would be another 20 minutes, at least, before they could find out when/if we would be taking off. Truth be told, it had been such a busy, rushing week, that if they had canceled our flight that day, I would've been just fine calling Connie to come and pick us up again so we could have some more time at home in our apartment to relax. The pilot came right back, however, and informed us that we had been cleared for take-off in the next 7 minutes! Alright!

The man sitting next to me graciously moved up to the one empty seat in the front so that I could at least spread out with K on the plane. She never really sat in the seat but it did give us a chance to let her move more. She enjoyed her books and someone across the aisle lent us a ballpoint pen so she could 'write'. It was still a long flight though -- and it was only 2 - 2.5 hours. No crying, screaming or melt downs this time though. (Last time, the end of September, she had hand-foot-and-mouth disease and it was a NIGHTMARE flying with her!)

We spent Saturday and early Sunday at my mom & stepfather's house in Bloomington. To our absolute SHOCK, they actually subscribed to cable and bought flat-screen LCD tv's! Will wonders never cease! K slept on a blanket in the living room (on the floor), which she seemed to enjoy. Her highlights were running/skipping around the house, looking for 'grandma' (whom she calls 'grandpa'??) and playing the piano while sitting on grandma's lap. Too cute. Actually, she would sing and play piano. Adorable. :)

We had brunch with my dad & stepmom at Perkin's on Sunday. Took K a while to warm up because she was so tired and out of her routine. Our car (ie my Honda Civic EX that Todd has been driving) died on our way to Perkins. ARGH. Of course, it was -33 windchill outside, so we're hoping THAT was the main reason for the problem. We went to Q.Cumbers for supper with mom & Dewey on Sunday evening. Always really good food & tons of fresh veggies & fruit for Todd to pick from. Yea!

We spent Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday at my in-laws' house. We finally got to meet Todd's niece, Sophia, who is now 2 months old. She is adorable. I can't decide -- sometimes she looks like mommy, sometimes like her daddy. She is a very sweet baby. K didn't find her so adorable, especially when mommy was paying attention to her. Yikes! But she didn't seem too bothered to be sharing grandma and grandpa with Sophie. She was very entertaining and kept saying, "grandpa...grandpa..." and, of course, if grandpa didn't respond, she'd say "grandpa!" louder! Toooooo cute! We played many different games on the "Wii", with me finally able to win one or two games of bowling and my mother-in-law winning one too. The final verdict -- bowling is fun, tennis is too confusing (but fun), lawn darts/horseshoes/darts were just TOO different from real life to be easy to play. I also did some of the Wii Fit & that was a fun change of pace. Maybe I'll stick to my treadmill work out though...

We met my brother at Joe Senser's in Bloomington on the 23rd. Some people from my graduating class were supposed to meet there but I think it was almost all guys -- and no offense, but I didn't recognize ANY of them! Even from their pictures on Facebook! So we just decided to have supper with Ken and have a good time while my in-law's had quality time with K at their home. Ahhhh, relaxing! I highly recommend the black & blue tenderloin (Ken had that) and a Purple People Drinker (aka "Purple Rain" at Garcia's for all my Idaho friends) -- yum!

We drove back home to Appleton on Christmas Eve. The roads were bad and the snow was light but consistent. Ugh. We still made pretty decent time though. There was a mountain of snow in our driveway when we got back. We're SO thankful to have a new snowblower! Todd would STILL be out there shoveling if we didn't!! K & I ran to get groceries while Todd got rid of the snow on the driveway. Once we had everything we needed, we got dressed & drove an hour up to St. Paul's in Luxemburg for the Christmas eve service. It was neat to see the progress on the new school and to see my former students, some of the parents and my former co-workers. How fun! Those types of 'mini-reunions' always make me think it is a preview of heaven -- so happy to see each other again. The service was missing about half the school; perhaps they will finally see that holding the service on Christmas Eve just isn't a good option anymore when more & more of the school kids aren't members at that church. You never know.

Being home again has been bittersweet. It has felt really great to be 'home'. It has made me realize just how much Kathleen has grown to see her walking, talking and getting into everything around the house. It's a little surreal. She seems like such a 'big girl' now!

We slept in on Christmas morning and then Todd & I worked hard to make a homemade meal while K napped on Christmas day. It was WONDERFUL and very delicious. I also ran out to the storage unit to look for my old winter jacket and boots. I found the coffee maker (Todd wanted that), found the small saute pan -- the handle had cracked on it! It's an expensive one from Pampered Chef...so glad they have a "Lifetime Guarantee" on that! I'll be sending that back for a new one! And, sadly, our beautiful Longaberger Pasta bowl was broken as well! I don't know what happened -- if something heavy was set on that box or if it was broken on the trip out to storage. ARGH. I have learned, though, that's life and there's no use being upset or angry about it. It happens. We'll just have to save up for a replacement someday. I'm sad that it was the Eggplant (purple) color that's discontinued...but it happens. After spending an hour or so going through almost EVERY box in storage, I finally came home (with some items that I planned to mail to myself in Idaho). There was a big box in the garage. I started digging through it and TA-DA! THERE were my boots and jacket! I knew I had put them in a box in the garage so they'd be easy for Todd to find if I needed them! Doh! I guess he didn't really dig through that box. Oh well. The lost has been found! And it's on the way to Idaho as we speak! :)

As nice as it's been to be 'home' again -- I am still anxious for the house to sell. It would be a huge burden off of us. It would be strange not to be able to come "home" to Appleton because I really have missed it... but at the same time, I'm really missing Idaho Falls as well. My brother said, "If I win the lottery, you can quit your jobs and move back home to Minnesota." Todd was fully in favor of that. I was more hesitant because I really love my job and like being in Idaho. Yes, not that convenient to have no family out there -- but new friends have gone above and beyond and it's feeling like home there too. I'm anxious for Todd to get out there, find a job and really start feeling like it's 'home' for him too. One day at a time though. :)

- Tanya