Friday, December 26, 2008

Christmas Wrap-Up


We had a nice Christmas around here. Christmas Eve, we did some cleaning, did some resting, then had a yummy dinner. Afterward, we went driving around to look at lights, then came home and watched The Polar Express. Zachary finally went to bed at midnight, then Santa came and delivered presents to Zach and Zoe.

Yesterday morning, Zoe woke up around 7:30 (or maybe Mommy woke up first), and we woke Zachary up around 8:30. We went downstairs to see what Santa brought, then leisurely opened all of our gifts. Zachary was so excited to receive a Nintendo DS and skateboard, and I got a nice little camera that takes video.

We had breakfast around 11:30, cleaned up a bit, and got dressed to head to Galveston. I don't know where the time went; we didn't leave until 2:15. It was really foggy driving in, so we really didn't get to see much of the damage from Hurricane Ike. We arrived at Darren's dad's around 3:30, and Sean and his family, as well as Darren's brother Mike and his family were there. We ate for what seemed like hours, hung out for a bit, and headed home around 7:30. We put Zoe to bed when we got home, Darren watched TV, and I played on the computer. Zach stayed up until 1:30, creating a mural for his room of Anakin Skywalker.

Today we are doing something very rare in our house: nothing at all. We have watched TV all day while the kids have played with their new toys. I did venture out to the grocery store to get supplies to make cheese fries, but besides that, we haven't left the house. We talked about going to the mall tonight, but I don't think anyone feels like going anywhere. It's so unusual for us to have nothing planned, and we are all enjoying it. I guess it's back to reality tomorrow.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

And I'm Back!


My sweet girl!

Sitting on Santa's lap at Zach's Breakfast with Santa

The past two weeks have been crazy, and I am looking forward to some downtime with the family. I finished my semester of school with a 3.5, and am getting ready to start studying for the nursing school entrance exam. I can apply for the LVN program now, and will apply for the RN program at school in the next few weeks. I still have a couple of Hepatitis B shots to get, but that's about it. It's a nice feeling! School starts back up January 12th. I am going to have a light semester; I'm taking Microbiology on campus and Pharmacology online. I've heard they are both work-intensive, so we'll see what happens. I'll have to fork over the money for books soon; they are more expensive than my tuition!

Besides school, work is over until January 7th. We made Christmas crafts galore, which was so much fun! We also had a program for the parents, and my class sang "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". They were so cute! I am looking forward to snowmen and mittens in January with them. Of course, the first week will be rough, because we'll have to retrain everyone, but it will be smooth sailing after that, I hope. My assistant is going through a rough time with her mom, but hopefully she'll be able to come to school most days. The kids really love her, and I depend on her to keep me sane.

My big Cub Scout duties are over for a while, and that is such a relief! Paperwork has been turned in, and popcorn has been delivered. I still can't find volunteers for the Pinewood Derby, but from here on out, whatever events we don't get volunteers for just won't happen. I am not taking on anything else this year.

We've been stricken with the crud this week at our house. Zoe has a yellow runny nose, but she is also cutting molars. That would put anyone in a bad mood! She's still not walking, but can manage to do some damage around the house anyway. We have a lovely cardboard fence around our Christmas tree right now, because she discovered the tissue paper in the bags very quickly. I can't wait to celebrate Christmas with her this year!

Darren and I are working on reclaiming the house from the filth right now. This is really my first break from school since June, and he didn't take much vacation this year. I would love to park a dumpster on my driveway and just toss stuff out the windows, but I don't think that would happen. We are going to redo Zach's room, hopefully giving him more space, and getting some of his junk from elsewhere in the house. We bought a loft bed for him today, and his art desk is leaving my dining room. It currently has a card table and two dining room chairs in front of it, because Zoe discovered it. Another goal that we have is to finally finish the laundry. It's not fun to have to forage for socks every morning from one of the various baskets in my bedroom!

We are going to have kind of a quiet Christmas here this year. Mom and Dad are headed to South Carolina to see Natalie, so we are going to stay home. We're planning to go to Galveston for the day to see Darren's dad, but his stepmom is working like crazy, so there might not be too much going on there. Her hospital has laid off almost all the other people who work in her position, so she is having to take up the slack. It will be nice to hang out here and not have anything that we have to go and do. We are looking forward to movie night on Christmas Eve with Zach and Zoe.

I guess that's about all I have right now. I still have presents to wrap, and will possibly attempt to send out a few Christmas cards this year. We'll see if that happens or not...We are also having our annual kid-friendly New Year's Eve party, and as usual, I'm worried that no one will show up. I am sure we'll have a great time with whoever comes.

More pictures to come soon...

Friday, December 05, 2008

I'm having a hard time getting into the holiday spirit this year. I'm overwhelmed by schoolwork and Cub Scout duties, and haven't even had time to think about decorating. All of the fall things have been taken down and piled on the dining room table, but that's as far as I've gotten. We took down the Halloween lights last Saturday after many comments from several people. My house is not just dirty, it's unsanitary. The only reason I've done any Christmas shopping is because I did it online.

Here's what my next week looks like:

Tomorrow--staff development for work from 8:30-3:30, maybe put up some Christmas decorations and keep Zoe from destroying them
Sunday or Monday--take a test on the digestive and urinary system, and have some work due for my online psychology class Sunday at 11:00pm
Monday--work, then study
Tuesday--comprehensive final in Anatomy and Physiology, then CPR training from 6:30-10:00
Wednesday--work; it's our holiday program and I have to get 10 3-year-olds to cooperate and sing Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Thursday--lab practical on the digestive system, 3 chapters due for my online communication class, meeting to turn in all of my Cub Scout paperwork that I have to complete in the next week
Friday--Mom and Dad arrive to celebrate Christmas with them. I have to buy them gifts before then, and clean my disgusting house.
Saturday--pick up more popcorn than will fit in my car, and somehow convince everyone to come and pick it up from me, Santa breakfast at Zach's school

Did I mention that I have to make an A in my Anatomy and Physiology class to get into nursing school, and that I have three tests in that class between now and next Thursday? I'll be the one curled up in the corner, rocking and humming.

So, you know, a slow week.