A December to Remember

A December to Remember.
Well, now that the month is over, and (most of) the partying is done; I can sit still long enough to write a new blog post. To be honest, my memory isn’t quite what it used to be, so trying to recap the entire year would be an exercise in futility if ever there was one. December, however, I can remember. It started out with a trip to Memphis, Tennessee. Thanks to a small, unexpected bonus, I had a little extra cash to buy a plane ticket to Memphis to spend some time with three of my girlfriends to support the St. Jude Children’s Hospital marathon. My friend Kelly, who lives near Memphis, and my friend Carrie, who traveled from Texas, met up with me and my fabulous traveling companion, Kristin, who hails from Michigan. It’s been over a year since I’ve seen Kelly and two years since I’ve been able to meet up with Kristin and Carrie. They were truly a sight for my sore eyes! We belong to an ultra-secret society of undercover moms strategically placed throughout the United States and Canada, so making plans to get together rivals planning the international peace talks. However, I love those girls, I love to travel and I love airports too, so it’s worth every bit of effort. I adore the freedom that traveling gives me and I get a bit giddy and carefree when I feel like I’m on an adventure. Sometimes, my freedom bites me in the posterior, because this time it really made me put the hurts to the L’Occitane Boutique in the Atlanta airport. Ah well, a girl has to indulge now and then, right? Anyway, back to the trip... Kristin and Kelly, for reasons I still can’t comprehend, enjoy running and had signed up for the half-marathon in Memphis. (Carrie and I were there for moral support only, I assure you!) But, being there and observing the people who came from all walks of life to support the hospital was so awesome—really, I was amazed. Once you experience something like this event, you’d have to be pretty hard-hearted to not be changed in some way. Even though I didn’t run the race, just being there among all the people who did, and all the people who love and support the hospital and its patients, gave me a catch in my throat and a tear in my eye more than once. If there is a truly deserving charity to help, St Jude’s Hospital is definitely one of them. When the race was over and Kristin and Kelly had sufficiently recovered, it was time to do the girl-type stuff. Shopping and dining out with my pals is always on the top of my list of fun things, but since we were in Tennessee and I was feeling adventurous, we felt obligated to try some genuine Tennessee moonshine. This decision was made after two or three glasses of wine at the Olive Garden, so I'll admit that perhaps my judgement was a tad skewed. My advice? Don’t. Hooo-eee that’s some wicked stuff! Of course, I really am a bit of a light-weight in the drinking arena, but still, it was definitely something I can check off my bucket list and not go back to ever again!
Since the hubster still had to work the weekend I was gone, I left everything and everyone in the very capable hands of my friend Teresa who promised she could manage the kids, the cats, and the house, and she handled it all with grace and good humor. (Probably more grace and good humor than I can manage on any given day, but that’s for another blog post.) Nobody broke any bones, everyone was clean, fed and happy and really, that’s all I ask for when I am home—can’t ask for more than that when I’m gone. Teresa, you’re a godsend and worthy of the best chocolate money can buy!
Back at the library, things were in full Christmas swing! Once we realized that we had a record SIX special events for the Children’s Department scheduled before the Christmas holiday, we decided to downsize just a bit. We do tend to get caught up in the festivities now and then and having all that to do along with our own things was getting to be a bit more than hectic. So, we narrowed it down to a Princess Party, a visit with Santa, a family movie night and a special story time during the town’s Christmas festival. So…not much really. Ha. The princess party was an enormous hit ‘cause hey, once you have a real, live, Cinderella and Snow White at your library, you’ve pretty much hit the big time! I missed the Christmas Storytime since I was in Memphis then, (Thank you, Miss Amy!) but the Family Movie Night was loads of fun with nearly 60 people attending, and the visit with Santa seemed to bring out every pajama-clad munchkin in the entire town! I love it when a program goes well because even if all the planning makes my head spin, it does wonders for making me want to plan more things.
Christmas with the family was….. really, really good. Family and friends from all over made it in and the warmth of hearth and home made everything truly sweet. I don’t know if even going into detail could adequately describe how good life has been these past couple of months, but when people ask me how my holiday went, I can honestly say it was one of the best. I’m not saying that things haven’t gone wrong at all, because I’d be lying, but I am trying harder to not let the craziness of life bother me like it used to. Maybe it’s because I’m older or perhaps it’s because my kids are at really fun ages now, or maybe I just can’t remember all the nonsense anymore. Either way, I guess it doesn’t really matter if I can’t quite put my finger on it. I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth—I’m just going to go with the flow and enjoy it while it lasts.
While I sit here writing, I keep peeking out the window to see if the winter slop we’ve been predicted has begun yet. We’ve had such a mild winter so far and just this first week in January, it was feeling much like spring. Just a few days ago for example, it was a beautiful, sunny 48 degrees! It seemed bizarre to be putting snow books on display and learning snowy nursery rhymes during story time when the weather seemed nothing at all like winter. It really was hard to come back after my lunch break when the sun was shining and the day was so mild. Nothing makes me want to play hooky from work quite like a pretty day and a good book waiting for me. Didn’t happen, but still… Today its cloudy and cold and we’re waiting on a predicted 3-5 inches of snow along with high winds and drifting roads. I guess Mother Nature has finally decided to bring winter after all. (The old hag!) At any rate, the world keeps turning and the hubster and I keep chugging along with the kids, trying to maintain our sometimes tenuous grasp on our sense of humor along the way. In the words of my darling Bill, here’s to “a pretty darn okie dokie” 2011 and may 2012 bring adventures galore and the presence of mind to enjoy them all.