My week long hiatus in Austin is now over, and on the four hour drive home I was able to reflect on how interesting of a week it was. Here are the highlights of my reflections:
* I was able to keep my insecurities and sadness in check (for the most part) so that I wouldn't ruin the kids' day. Christmas is one of those holidays that is just downright hard for me. Of course, it was Jason's MOST favorite holiday. So much so, that you could gauge how his year was going by when he started listening to Christmas music...Stressful - before Halloween; Not too stressful-after Halloween. I've decorated the house more with the help of the kids, and didn't cry at too many Christmas songs either. The churchy ones usually get me though, and I've never figured that one out. I'm sure if I went to counseling more we could delve into that one. Needless to say, I was relieved when it was over. I know that's quite sad to admit, but if you've ever lost a loved one whom you were extremely close to (and it doesn't have to be at Christmas) this is one of the harder holidays.
* Caroline didn't want to go to Austin, but Jack was beside himself with joy to go. By the end of the visit, Caroline didn't want to go, but Jack was chomping at the bit to get home. 8 days without his friends was enough. Caroline on the other hand made friends, but it was the next to the last day that we were there. I swear, the girls came at 12 noon yesterday and she played with them until 6:30. Kevin and I went over to couple's apartment for New Year's Eve and took Caroline with us because the couple have three girls ages 8, 5, and 3. The two older ones and Caroline got along swimmingly, that is after the standard 30 minute "this-is-awkward" waiting period. Finally, the dad took them back to the girls' room and showed Caroline all the toys they had to play with and that was it. They were inseparable until it was time to go back to Kevin's. Caroline even got invited to the little girl's birthday party in 2 weeks, so we are going to go. Caroline is going to start writing letters to the two girls that are her age that she became friends with. It'll serve several purposes, one of which will hopefully get the other girls to write so Caroline will get mail (which she always wants but never gets).
* I was VERY glad I got the flu shot. When we got down to Austin on Wednesday, Kevin wasn't feeling well. After a trip to the ER it was discovered that he had influenza A. The bad part was that he didn't get a flu shot this year. It's been 8 days and he still feels like crud but had to go to work today. :-(. On Friday, I came down with the flu, but was better by Sunday. So, even though I do not like shots, and I detest the flu shot because it HURTS, I will always get a flu shot from now on. Hopefully what we are immunized against will be the strand I get, if I get it, because three days compared to 8 and counting is just not fun!
* However, Sunday night I'm not sure how I did it, but I ended up pinching a nerve in my lower back/hip area. Boy that hurt, and it was a little embarrassing because I couldn't turn over in bed (it hurt that much) and had to be helped to the bathroom. It reminded me a little bit of when I'd been in labor with Jack. If you've been keeping up with the blog, and even Jason's, you'd know the story about the epidural that deadened the pain on one side of my body. When the anesthesiologist increased the dosage to get the deadening to be on both sides, it caused me to not be able to move the left side of my body AT ALL. So now, I have an appointment with my doctor on Friday to see what I need to do to fix the pinched nerve. Fun!
* I've resolved to not make resolutions this year. I have some things I'm going to work on, but having the pressure of a "resolution" will not be present.
* One of the things I'm going to start working on is taking my family back. I know that sound weird, but it's like this... The good thing about living in the same city as your entire family (immediate and in-laws) is that you have at least one person to call on if something should come up and you need help. The bad thing about living in the same city as your entire family is that sometimes they think because they're "helping" you they can have a say in how your family is run. So, I'm going to work to change that perception. It'll be easier with some than others, but it's important. To me at least.
Since the end of the world didn't happen, I guess I'd better get to work.
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