Sunday, December 26, 2010

Christmas, and My Daughter Turned 8!

I am thankful that we are now fully on the downhill side of the holidays... because I am DONE, people. That being said, though, overall I was satisfied with how things went. I mean, every year there's going to be at least one thing/event that sort of goes down the crapper (this time it was Coralie's party at my in-laws), so I expect that. Christmas will never be, for me, the satisfying, energy replenishing time of year that it is for some. I'm just not that social a person, so being at parties takes my energy, big time. Last year, I was still studying with the Jehovah's Witnesses, and so took steps to separate myself (as much as was feasible) from the Christmas festivities. But after it was all over, I didn't feel good. It didn't feel right, and I felt left out. So, recently, I finally disconnected myself from the JW's. It was a hard and painful thing to do, but I knew there were some things that I was not going to give up, so continuing on with them just made me a hypocrite. So, I was back in the game this year. I tried really, really hard to not get myself into situations that were going to send my stress level through the roof. I did most of my shopping online, and made just one trip to Target. The Husband did the rest. I decided to put my own family first, for a change, and decided that they would be our first destination on Christmas day. I told The Hubster that I was only going to attend ONE other family function on Christmas, be it his parents, or his grandfather's. As it turns out, there was just one to-do, at his grandfather's house. AND we made it out by 7 PM. SNAP. We still ended up doing more than I personally wanted to do, but sometimes there's no way out of it... it was grandpa's Thursday, in-laws Friday, my parents and his grandpa's Saturday, in-laws Sunday. Unfortunately for me, after passing out at 8:30 PM Christmas night, I was wide awake at midnight. I was still awake when Keelan came in at 4, and was also awake when Coralie came in at 8. I knew that right there was going to make for a bit of a shitty day.
My mother-in-law likes to have a party for Coralie *on* her birthday (I relinquished ownership of that insanity a few years ago). So, we did that today. As it happened, Keelan had a nightmare last night, and showed up in my bed at 4 AM. So, not a good night's sleep for him. By the time Coralie's party came around, he really did *not* react well to a house full of people. He hid in his bed there, and cried for well over an hour. He was totally inconsolable. Unfortunately, we had my husbands car, which I can't drive (manual). Otherwise, I would have taken him home. Eventually, some friends of ours who live out of town showed up, and their 15 year old daughter somehow managed to bring Keelan back down to earth. Even Coralie was a little subdued, probably worn out from all the previous days' festivities.
So, right now, Keelan is passed out in bed, Coralie's at the movies (Voyage of the Dawn Treader), and I'm getting ready to have some tea. Tomorrow, we will visit friends. I am sorely in need of some non-family/what-to-bring-to-dinner conversation, let me tell you.

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