The demonic holiday

We have declared our holiday of 2010 the Demonic Holiday.  This is all from the time we got back from Minnesota to the time we had to leave for Wisconsin.  So over a span of 3 weeks.  It was one crazed event after another.  Here's the short-short version in no particular order:

When we went to finally get our Yule tree it was to a new farm we hadn't been to.  It was cold, very windy, and farther away than last year's farm.  Adam and I hadn't been communicating well and it continued to the day.  Everyone was cranky and the tramping around in bad weather and an unfamiliar place with no guidance didn't help.  I ended up sending Adam and Kara to the car while I found and tried to cut down the tree on my own, with Rowan strapped to me.  Someone else had to finish cutting it down.  Then I had to haul it to the car on my own.  At least Adam managed to get it on the car.  When we got home, Adam was sick.  And I mean sick.  After everyone but I took naps I went to get the tree off the car and inside.  Adam tried to help me get it up but while he was holding it and I was on the floor tightening the stand he had to let go and throw up.  So while I held the tree up while I sat on the floor I managed to call a friend to come help get the tree up.  Before you ask- if I had let go of the tree it would have fallen on Kara and Rowan (who, by the way, were not happy and crying).


Kara had just gotten over being stomach sick and now Adam had it.  Then Kara was sick right away again, this time with an ear infection, then Adam got sick again (just a basic cold, but a doozy of one), then Rowan got it, then I got it. Then we were ALL sick, at the same time. Right before Yule and our trip to Wisconsin.  Kara managed to get all of her energy back when the rest of us were totally laid up.

We almost didn't get the tree decorated or anything done and ready for our Wisconsin trip.  Adam barely got done shopping for gifts for me.  As it was, I think he went shopping the day before Yule. And yes, we had to have the tree. We were home for Yule and it meant a lot to me.  It would have made me even sadder to not have it at all. We got most of the ornaments up, not all, but most.

The car got a flat tire twice, it was the same tire both times too. The turn signal on the car also had to be repaired twice.

One night we decided to make pizza for dinner. As Adam went to get it out of the over it flipped upside down while part way in the oven.  There was cheese everywhere inside the oven!  Then Kara didn't want to eat it because it was all wrong.

I made cookies for a cookie swap that didn't turn out all fluffy like they should have been, and the peppermint was so strong that it gave me heartburn.  The exchange then got canceled.  Anyone want a bunch of flat really strong peppermint meringue cookies?

Adam almost had to return a day early for a meeting.  He would have had to buy a round trip ticket the day before we were to return, then get back to me in order to get all our bags and all of us home.  No way in hell was I going to try and fly with a connection in O'Hare with 2 kids.  Not yet anyway. Thankfully the meeting got rescheduled.

2 of the gifts we ordered for each other hadn't arrived by the time we left for Wisconsin. Note to self- check on the one that STILL isn't here.


I ordered 3 items on-line from a marketplace for my sister-in-law.  I was then told that one of them was no longer available, didn't get responses on how much to send for two other attempts to get things, and one of the things I ordered was not the same as it was listed.  Thankfully I did manage to get her 2 of the 3 items we wanted.  Note to self- order the 3rd item and get it sent to her.

I planned on getting the gutters cleaned before we left.  They had to reschedule it because they messed up on their schedules.  Of course it snowed before they came out and the gutters were then clogged with ice.  Thankfully they did still get them cleaned.

We had a 6 am flight out of Baltimore to O'Hare with an hour and a half to make our connection.  That actually wasn't too bad. We got a hotel room in Baltimore the night before, we all managed to get decent amounts of sleep (I slept in a bed with Kara, Adam in a bed with Rowan or she would have been trying to nurse all night).   We got through security fine. As we were getting all of our things back together a guy who was high on something (and not life) looked at us, pulled a beat up $20 out of his wallet and said "get something for the kid".  He threw it at the car seat and walked off talking to himself and anyone else he could.  Kara cringed every time he talked, and that's saying a lot! Making the connection wasn't too bad, we did have to walk quickly.  Returning was a different story.  Our first flight was late, then landed at O'Hare at the furthest runway.  We then had about 20 minutes to get to the other side of the airport before the next flight was supposed to depart.  We were told to take a shuttle. After waiting in line for the shuttle for 5 minutes they told us it was a 15 minute walk to our gate and the shuttle was packed so walk it.  We RAN and almost didn't make it.  Adam got there before I did and the door was closed. THANKFULLY they were still loading bags and waiting on more (from our flight I suspect) so they let us and 2 others on. We then sat there for another 10-15 minutes as they loaded bags.  And yes, our bags did all make it back with us (phew!).

In the time we had been back from Minnesota Kara had gone to school only 1 day.  So I was about ready to lose any sanity left.

Adam & I had been "fighting" for quite a few days.  In our world "fighting" is really not communicating well and then getting frustrated with each other, not talking outside of "did you get this done?  Well, why not?" and not touching.  We thankfully took some time to go over things before the stress of the flight.

While in Wisconsin Adam had the chance to play casual soccer games with the current high school soccer team.  It was a benefit for a former teacher and principal that had an accident and broke his back (he's now partially paralyzed).  Adam was the oldest person there, none of the other alumni showed up, so he was playing against kids about half his age (15-18 year olds).  He managed to hold his own, but in all that he got a foot to the ankle.  No, it's not broken.  But it swelled up and he got a massive bleeder bruise.  His foot, ankle, up his calf have been purple, black, and red for a week and a half.  He went into the doctor today.  But it meant he wasn't very mobile for most of the trip.

Neither girl slept well the entire vacation.  So neither Adam nor I slept well either.

When Adam and I went to go out for a date the movie we wanted to see, Tron Legacy, was canceled due to technical difficulties.  So we went to a restaurant where they had cheese curds Adam really liked.  Only to find out they were out of them.  Neither of us was very impressed with our meal that night.  Date night dud!

Yup.  Demonic holiday.  I'm sure I'm forgetting something in all of that.

Preparing for departure...

Oh the fun we all have around the holidays.  I don't know who thought it would be a good idea to have all these major holidays crammed into such a short space of time.  We start off with at the end of October Halloween (we call it Samhain). Less than a month later there's Thanksgiving, about a month later Yule and a week after that New Years.  Come one people is it really necessary to cram all these into such a short space and time?  This is why I prefer Pagan holidays.  Everything is evenly spaced out- 8 holidays over the year (and it would have been pretty evenly if you go by moon/sun cycles and not these random 30, 31 and 28 day months- but that's another rant).  Of course 2 of these holidays are the days we are expected to be with our family the most.  If you happen to have moved away from where your parents are, the expectation to return is even greater.  Add children to the mix and well.... yeah.  You can pull the "we want to start our own traditions" card, but they will most likely counter with the "but we want to see you for the traditions we had when you were growing up" card.  Or "but it's about being together as a family" card (I would like to point out that this is what it's become, but not necessarily the original reason for the holidays).

So, all that ranting aside.  Here we are, the Sunday before our departure for the first of 2 major trips.  We leave this week for a trip to my family in Minnesota.  We'll be gone for over a week.  Getting ready entails: all laundry being done, the house at least sort of picked up, a cat sitter arranged, packing, children prepared, and lots of logistics to be worked out.  I'm sure I'm forgetting things.  Oh yes: the fridge cleaned out and mail stopped (whew!  I did that one already).  Since weekdays leave me precious little time to get things done, we cram as much as we can into a brief 2 day weekend.  I have lists all over the place of things to get done and what to pack.  I have decided to let certain things go for the sake of everyone's sanity (if we forget something I will not freak, I will not freak, I will not freak, I will not freak.  If I say it long enough I might actually believe it!). 

We have to be sure that Kara is appropriately prepared for what's going to happen.  We'll drive to the airport, this is what security will be like, then we wait, then we get on the plane, then we wait.... then we take off, then we wait while we're flying (by the way, we can't get up and move around and we can't get off the plane).  Then we land and wait until we're allowed to get off the plane, then we walk to wait for our luggage. Note how much we have to wait?  If you have a 3 year old, you know that "wait" is not in their vocabulary.  So, we prepare ourselves with lots of fun snacks, toys, even videos.  And prayers.  Lots and lots of prayers.

We also are working out how to get 2 adults, 1 three yr old, 1 four month old, 2 car seats, 2 adult backpacks, 1 child's backpack, and 1 carry on onto the plane.  I'm not even going to think of the logistics of before we check our 2 large suitcases.  No wonder people used to live closer to their parents.


Don't get me wrong.  I am looking forward to seeing my family.  But man oh man, the things we do to travel with kids.  So, you will have to excuse this rather uninspired post- I'm now off to fold the first of 4 loads of laundry.