funky monday

Maybe I'm pulling out of my blogging funk. It's hard to tell. I'm pretty sure my queasiness is over, and it looks like I'm pulling out of the exhaustion phase as well. That would actually be good news for my different parts of my life. Making dinner, bathing the kids, talking to Andrew...reading books, seeing friends, remembering to pay the bills...vacuuming, attending meetings, dressing my children...everybody wins when Mama can stay awake.
I'm in the hotel business center right now. I wish I had a laptop, but not bad enough to actually budget and save for one. Let's not confuse exhaustion with laziness. I have to get on my shuttle for SeaTac in about an hour, leaving me with a little time to do important things. Can't WAIT to see my family tonight! Andrew has been handling things at home with nary a complaint, as usual. I didn't have to leave a single list, instruction or sticky note. He always takes over seamlessly and with a smile. He's truly the perfect coparent and it makes being a stay-at-home mom pretty cushy! He really knows how to take care of us and never has a cross word to share with me. I married a saint. I really did.

Our trip to Port Angeles was great. We spent 3 days sitting in front of the fire, taking walks and eating. It was the perfect retreat. Grandma is looking great, even though she'll argue about that. She was full of chatter and laughter all weekend and we had a great time cooking, baking, resting, watching movies and visiting. I'd love to get back there again soon!

I'm really not sure what's in store for us next. It sounds like Andrew and I need to have a little meeting and talk about all that yucky stuff - it's getting to Christmas time and the end of the year, and that means talking about our goals for 2011 and figuring out how to pay for the holidays. We also need to figure out what we're even DOING for the holidays. I'd really like to just keep it low-key and spend it at home, just the four of us. I think we talked about using Thanksgiving weekend to get the house all decorated and ready for Advent. Last Christmas really got away from us with all of the traveling, so I think this year we're going to really do it up right with activities, crafts, baking, Christmas carols and movies. Year before last was so fun - we mapped out a different Christmas "thing" for each day of Advent and Lucy and I had a blast "doing" our way through the season. From tiny things like paper chains and ornament-making to Christmas light tours and special day trips, we filled the entire season with fun. The Advent calendar I made with activities for each year disappeared somewhere, so I'll have to start over this year, but that's okay. I'm totally psyched anyway. I may do a Christmas ornament Advent calendar and wrap each one up for the girls; they can open a new one each day, and by Christmas we'll have a beautiful tree! Boy do I thrill myself. Good thing I have the entire month of November to prepare...