Thirteen Reasons I Haven’t Written Lately

1. Thanksgiving preparation. It wasn’t like I had everyone here or anything. It was just the baking of the pie and the rolls to take to my Mom’s. I had all three kids that day, because Anakin didn’t have school.
   
2. Thanksgiving Day. We had a great time with Mom and Dad, my sis and her husband, my daughter, husband, and 2 of the kids (the other was with his mother), my son and his wife, my nephew and his wife and 2 kids, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and brother-in-law, and a niece and her husband who stopped by for awhile on their way to somewhere else for dinner. It was a smaller crowd than sometimes, but plenty of commotion and enjoyment – and food. But not many left-overs.
   
3. Friday after Thanksgiving. We just took it easy and had a good time being off work.
   
4. Saturday after Thanksgiving. DC put up the Christmas lights outside, because it was such a nice warm day. I can’t remember anything else, but I know I didn’t get on the computer much.
   
5. Sunday. Church, Sunday School, Church. But the big thing for me was that I couldn’t eat anything after an early breakfast. I had to fast for the big procedure coming up on Monday morning at 10:30.
   
6. I had to start taking the yucky bitter water mixture at 7:00 p.m. I am a real wuss at drinking stuff that doesn’t taste good. I didn’t do a very good job of it. I was up most of the night, netting about two hours of sleep.
   
7. The Procedure! It was a piece of cake compared to the preparation. If you have to get a colonoscopy, there’s nothing to fear once you get to the medical facility. It’s that terrible prep time! (Update: I had a polyp that they removed - I was hoping for none).
   
8. The Aftermath. I was awake and ready to leave at 1:30. My mom’s house has become “The Recovery Center” for the family. I slept on her couch most of the afternoon, and then she kindly fixed dinner for us.
   
9. I crashed as soon as I got home, making up for the lost night before, and sleeping off the remnants of the anesthesia.
   
10. Work. Yes, I had to go back on Tuesday morning. I had over 300 junk mails in the Junk Mail official folder, plus about 75 in my regular e-mail. Not to mention the real messages I had to answer, plus the phone messages, plus the snail mail (which I never got to).
    
11. The Meeting. When I got to work, my calendar reminded me that I had a two-hour meeting. Since I only work 4 hours on Tuesday, that didn’t give me much time for the e-mail, voice mail, and snail mail. Not to mention that the meeting outlined all sorts of changes that are coming that affect me very directly. I think I’m ready to retire. Too many changes.
    
12. Christmas. I’m finally getting in the mood and mode. Tuesday after I got off work and got Care Bear to preschool, Feisty and I did a bit of shopping. She’s fun to take shopping, because she doesn’t ask for everything she sees (yet). She’s content to look and hold and feel. I have been preparing a box to send to New Guinea to a missionary family that our church is taking care of for two years with gifts, messages, prayer, encouragement. It has been fun, but time consuming. The girls each picked out some of their stuffed animals to send to the 3 little girls so far away. I was also preparing a basket for one of my profs who is taking a new position at the end of this semester. We’ve been good friends and I’ll miss her. She stops by often for a piece of dark chocolate and a chat. I bought enough pieces of dark chocolate to last her the first semester of her new job – she’s allowed one each day and she has to think of me when she eats it.
    
13. The Tree. I finally bit the bullet and got an artificial tree today. I have one already, which I decorate as my “designer tree.” But we’ve always had a real tree. I love the aroma when I walk in the door. I don’t love the complaining DC does every year as he struggles under the tree to get it standing straight and securely, or the fact that it never drinks any water, or that it sheds needles everywhere and is bone dry within a week. I’ll miss a real tree. But practicality has taken over. This will be the one with the hodge podge of memories on it. Anakin helped me put it together, I got the lights on in between crises, and I had more help than I can remember in decorating a tree since my kids were little. Total chaos, but lots of fun to watch them enjoying my collection of ornaments. We also need to make some gingerbread men and some sugar cookies. I also got my Christmas letter composed, and that feels really good. So – not much time for thinking and writing. But I have thought of all of you often. I hope to catch up soon!