A Cold, Blustery, and Busy Weekend

I really have to back up to Friday to tell you about the weekend, because Friday was the Christmas party for the consumers at work. I don't have any pictures to share, Hippa privacy laws and all that, but it was a wonderful day and everyone had a great time. Those with intellectual disabilities are real party animals!

We enjoyed a meal of Italian roast beef sandwiches, chicken tenders, parsley potatoes, pasta salad, and cake. Many of our consumers entertained us with their singing talent...everything from an incredible doo-wop version of White Christmas to the longest rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas I've ever heard. They talked, laughed, passed cards and gifts to friends and staff and then...we had a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus who passed out gifts to each consumer. Then we did karaoke and a dance party until the vans came to take them home.

One thing that did not happen was the announcement of which team won the contest for the best decorated column in the dining room. That will finally be announced on Monday. Keep your fingers crossed for my team.

I didn't sleep well at all Friday night. Lots of cramps in my feet, shins, and calves. So, when Tim got up at 3:30 I did, too. I may have finally dozed a bit on the sofa, but not for long and I was dressed (in many layers because it was COLD and windy) and out the door to finally do the bulk of the Christmas shopping by 7:00 that morning. It was a marathon day and my feet were killing me, but I got all but a couple of things I needed and made it home in time to carry everything inside and drive our daughter to work. No small feat as it was CRAZY out there! So many people and nearly all of them in miserable, grouchy, me-first moods. I was kind of over people by the time I got home.

Saturday evening Tim and I opted to get Chinese take-out for dinner and enjoyed it on the sofa watching television.

Today we woke up slowly and to the first real snow of the winter, but we were still out the door by 10:30 to go to a couple of local stores where I might need Tim's extra muscle. 

One of the things I was searching for was cushions for the dining chairs. At Thanksgiving my stepdad complained the chairs were low and hard. It's more that his butt is 80 years old and used to his huge overstuffed recliner, but I want him to be comfortable while he's here. I've been looking online for a couple of weeks and the cushions I've found have been so expensive and/or will take weeks to arrive. Oh, I could get cheap, thin ones quickly enough, but I wanted nice thick ones that will be soft and give you a little boost. Anyway, I finally found 6 at Walmart, but I had to settle for 3 each of two coordinating colors to get the six I wanted. Not perfect, but they will do. Who would have thought chair cushions would be so hard to get?

We wrapped all the gifts this afternoon and I can't even tell you how much that has improved my Christmas spirit. We both hate the job and tend to procrastinate to the point we find ourselves doing it on Christmas Eve, which totally stinks, and yet every year... Anyway, it is such a relief to have it done a week ahead of time.

We had planned to take Colton and Leah out for a drive to look at Christmas lights once it got dark but Colton ended up going to Med Express to have his finger checked out. Another kid stepped on it at school Friday (accidently or not is unknown) and it didn't look great right from the start, but today it was all swollen and red. It's infected and our guy is now on yet another round of antibiotics for that. It was kind of later in the day when he went and then Cody took him and Leah shopping for their mommy's gift so we will just take them out another evening. We might have them tomorrow for a little even though it's Tim's birthday and we will definitely have them Thursday evening.

Happy Christmas week!