Wake up to a lovely cup of coffee. Get B off to school with a belly full of nutrition and a heart full of love. Dress E and me so that we are perfectly darling for our date with our friends. Complete the meal plan for the week as well as the grocery shopping. Enjoy a delightful break with friends ~ drinking in their wonderfulness and love. Clean the house when we get home ~ during E's 3 hour afternoon nap. Watch an episode of The Kennedys from the dvr. Leave the house at 4pm sharp with entire family in the mindset to support B for his jump rope performance at Metro State. Drive by the City and County building on our way home to experience the beautiful lights ~ and to mark off one more Christmas evening activity. whew!
Here's a more accurate description of how my day actually played itself out...
Wake up to E chanting 'Mama! Maaaamaaaa!' Silently grumbling while remembering the many months I yearned to hear my daughter say anything other than 'dat dats', 'Bubba' or 'Dada'...
Called Mr. to find out what time he thought he'd be home. Found out that his shower was 'lukewarm' this morning and he asked if I could be home when the plumber came by to figure out what was wrong with the hot water heater. Spent the next few minutes imagining our house being flooded by the water in the heater ~ right after it had been destroyed by the gas explosion. Recovered from that by considering what we could do without during this holiday season. I say holiday season because we have a birthday coming up for someone, too. Did I mention that already....?
Ran B through his morning routine and decided on letting him have school lunch because I was too lazy to prepare more than one nutritious meal for one of my most favorite people.
Got dressed and cleaned up E ~ while she cried and threw herself down in fits. Great time to practice being 2, darling.
Called our host to let her know that while I would much rather be at her house playing, I needed to be at my house to see what I could do about having hot water in the future. Was informed that I'd have other opportunities to see her new dishes. Silently, yet no less dramatically, wondered if we'd ever have new dishes again. Not that I even want new dishes. But still...
Rounded up my grocery list and lovingly placed (or threw) E into her carseat. I still had 40 minutes before the plumber was scheduled to arrive. 'I'm sure I can make it through at least one of the stores before I need to be home,' I deluded myself... Called Mr. to let him know that I had it all under control. Or that I was about to fall apart... I'm sure that's super helpful to do when he's at work.... Vented for a few minutes about how frustrated I was right up until I realize that I left the 'grocery' envelope at home. Broke down in tears and got off the phone with Mr. I'm sure he felt better at that point.
Returned home. Retrieved cash. Hurried to store. Obtained sustenance. Received call from school nurse. Panicked. Declined school nurse's invitation to volunteer at hearing testing next week. Blamed it on the 2-year-old. Paid for sustenance. Loaded car. Received call from plumber that he was on his way. 'Me too!' I thought. Finally, something's going as planned.
Plumber inspects hot water heater and lets me know what the problem is. He even provided me with options for repair vs. replacement. I opt for repair. I figure we're not planning on being in this house for more than another year or two. Nothing else can go wrong, right? Hello... right?
E surprisingly does take a nap. Even while the plumber is replacing our thermo couple and the burner. Even though a friend and her niece stop by for a visit. Can anyone explain why she wakes up on a typical day if I answer my phone?
Mr. makes it home early, as planned. There's enough hot water for me to clean myself up. Mr. makes our portable dinner so that we are ready to go as soon as B gets home from school. We even get in the car and head downtown at the time we planned. Then we hit traffic. In Denver? Weird. We are such suburbanites...
We do make it to the performance in time. We get to watch the Metro State women's basketball team beat Highlands. We get to see two performances by the Soaring Hawks. And we get to see half of the men's game. And apparently I need a better camera. B suggested that I get a video next time. Maybe of his cartwheel.
Then we decide we might as well try to drive by the City and County building. The Parade of Lights was probably done by 8ish. Right? Not so right. We did get to spend some quality family time sitting in traffic on Speer. And we did catch a glimpse of the top of the building ~ lit beautifully, I might add. And E did fall asleep in the car as we had hoped.
On the way home B asked what our advent activity would be tonight. I said we were scheduled to make crowns. He said, 'Maybe we should just do two tomorrow, Mama.' I kinda love that kidlet a lot.
So that brings me to the Being Thankful part of my day. Here's my list of gratitude for today...
- A roof over our head and warm water at the tap ~ usually
- A husband who loves me and answers my calls ~ almost every time
- A son who has the most amazing heart of anyone I've ever met. He's taught me more about love and grace than I care to admit at times.
- A daughter who is exactly who she is and exactly who she is supposed to be. At exactly the right time. She is a blessing and a gift. Pure and simple.
- A circle of friends who amaze me. Women who are real, loving, working, making mistakes, trying their best, and holding it together. Women who are married or not, have children or not, work outside the home or not.
- Our 'Emergency Fund' that I had forgotten about ~ but Mr. had not ~ that will cover the expense of the repair.
- Hershey's kisses and family kisses
