The Long Road to Christmas

We enjoyed Christmas this year…the actual day that is.  But I have to say that this year the road to get there was quite long.  The season began with me having a good start on gift-buying, and I was anticipating that this early finish would give me the rest of the season to just sit back…enjoy…maybe do a little baking and other fun holiday stuff.  (As you can see, the tree made it up, and there are gifts underneath.)  But The Grinch had other plans, and this year we celebrated the fact that we were able to celebrate at all.

The main culprit was illness.  Everyone was sick!  Even my computer had a virus and was out of commission until I could get it fixed (leaving me looking for a support group for those suffering from blog withdrawal).  Paisley, Mandy and Jeromy were all very, very sick, prompting  the beautiful, real tree that they had put up this year to be removed from the premises.  They were hoping that this would help with Paisley’s asthma, and while it may have helped some, their nights were still filled with administering breathing treatments and getting no sleep, all while feeling the effects of their own illnesses.  There were little respites here and there, in between bouts of illness, and the most beautiful child in the world did get to visit Santa:

Unfortunately, by the time the Lackey ornament exchange rolled around, Jeromy attended solo while Mandy stayed home with a very sick little girl.  For those of you who don’t remember the Lackey ornament exchange, it is an absolutely beautiful custom Jeromy’s family has.  (You can read more about it here.)  It makes me want to be a Lackey!  Well, this year I bought another ornament for Paisley’s stash.  I found it on eBay and it is a Peter Rabbit ornament:

This year I was all about Peter Rabbit.  I bought her a board book and a stuffed Peter (both from Amazon), and I can’t wait until she is old enough for me to read her the little set of Beatrix Potter books that I bought for us.  I hope that one day she will see her Peter Rabbit ornament hanging on her tree and tell her children about sitting with her old Lolee, reading all about the naughty little bunny!

On an unrelated note,  I found this picture of Paisley in her mother’s stash.  Not sure what that expression was all about, but I thought it was so cute!

Meanwhile, at our house, Mom and I had gone to the VA Hospital on December 8^th for a pre-op visit.  Mom was scheduled for a hernia repair on the 12^th and they wanted to do all of the blood work, x-rays and what-not.  She had been coughing (who hadn’t), but we didn’t think that much of it.  After being there for quite some time we were informed that she would not be having surgery on the 12^th, but instead was being admitted that very day due to the fact that she had pneumonia.  Talk about a surprise!  We hadn’t even packed a bag.

For the next few days, I kept the road hot between our house and the VA.  I blew down the road listening to my Stevie Nicks CD, singing along as best I could.  However, I wasn’t feeling so hot myself and as the days wore on and I grew more ill, I began to sound more and more like Stevie.  (Note to self:  Listening to Stevie, especially “Rhiannon”, makes you drive way too aggressively.  When navigating heavy traffic, you might want to consider putting in your John Denver CD.  Just sayin’…)

Anyway, I was so sick that when Mom was released, she had to go to my sister’s house for a couple of days and Robert had to go get her and bring her home.  We thought she was getting better, but the Thursday before Christmas she informed me that she just wasn’t feeling very well, so we blew back down the road to VA (listening to talk radio this time).  Sure enough, she was still suffering from pneumonia, but was sent home with some major antibiotics and instructions to do regular breathing treatments.  Since my mother is the candy-maker-in-chief, this Christmas will forever be known as “The Christmas Without Home-Made Fudge.”  Needless to say, my stuffed gingerbread dolls and my reindeer sitting in the rocking chair didn't make it out to their honorary spots in the family room, either.

Robert was able to go a day or so before Christmas and visit his mother and sister (and his sister’s family).  This is the way it has been for the last few years.  With all of the dogs (and now chickens) to take care of, he and I rarely go anywhere together if it is going to be for very long.  However, I really don’t mind.  His family is so nice, and he loves getting to see them whenever he can.  Here are pictures from his visit with “Grandma Lynda and the bunch”:

Robert had bought his sister this big old bear as a special gift because it reminded him of one she had as a little girl.  Apparently, ever-so-naughty young Robert used to taunt poor Susan by punching in her bear’s nose or using a make-shift noose to hang it from  the back of her door.  Luckily, he has grown up (at least a little) and this bear did not suffer any such torture:

The limpy-gimpies were able to put together a little Christmas Eve dinner (sandwiches on little rolls, etc.) and this was the night we would open our gifts to each other.  The most beautiful child in the world arrived and posed for a picture with her mother:

Jeromy was kind enough to be the one to pass out the gifts (this is normally Alan’s job, but he was working at Albertson’s until 9:00 p.m. and we thought Miss Lackey wouldn’t last that long!):

Everyone received wonderful things, but of course, our focus was on you-know-who.  Her Grandma Lynda crocheted  the cutest little cape and hat (ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!):

Dee Dee bought her a little rocking horse that sings and makes a “clip-clop” sound when you squeeze his ear.  Giddy-up!

And Grump-Pa surprised her with a big old bear, too!  Perfect for snuggling up with:

We were surprised that we were all still rolling when Alan came dragging in, but we were, and he was able to share in the evening after all:

This was the Christmas without a lot of our usual trappings.  There was neither fudge nor peanut clusters, no driving around looking at lights, no making cookies and such for neighbors and friends.  This year we were stripped to the very basics – faith and family.  Yet even Mandy remarked that this was one of her favorite Christmases of all.  She said that each gift was more thoughtful and she felt that each moment they spent with both our family and Jeromy’s family was even more special.  I felt the same way.  I remember that the very first Christmas came without fudge and cookies and plush gingerbread men decorations, too.  The road to Christmas may have been long, but in the end, it came… it came… it came just the same!  (And we loved it!)