Okay, well.

I've kind of recovered a little from my busy week and my lack of sleep on Saturday.   I didn't do much of anything all day long and that helped.   Today, I've got Mom's Day Out with the homeschool group.  We go shopping and eat lunch and have dessert someplace and the dues that we pay to the group pay for it, so it feels like a free day out.  We go to Bath and Body Works and Hobby Lobby and the salvage store and a few other carefully chosen places, with coupons, and generally have a good old time.  I cleaned out my car last night so I could drive.  It gradually accumulates junk if I don't watch it.  Not as bad as when the kids were little, but still, we go and do so much that sometimes we just want to leave the stuff in the car and be done with it.  So that's the plan for today.  The older boy is safely back in Mississippi and starting classes today and the younger 2 are starting back to homeschool today.

My only drawback about today is that I won't get to go to the children's hospital and hold the babies.  :-(  

Summary of our week.

From last Friday at midnight when my son arrived home until this Saturday at 4:00 a.m.when he got on the plane to go back, so a little tiny bit over a week, we had church, choir practice, a harvest party, my regular 4 hour shift volunteering at the children's hospital, 3 visits with grandma, about 4 shopping trips (because son needed a new wardrobe and kept buying the wrong sizes because, as he says, he's used to everything being baggy), 4H* with dinner with the homeschool crowd and two Thanksgiving celebrations.  On top of that, my husband and I had to work our regular schedules, we had to get groceries, do all that cooking and I had to go to the doctor for a recheck one of those days.  It was not my imagination that it was a crazy, busy week, was it?

Whew.  It was a good one though.  :-)

Now, on to the Christmas season ....

*Also, I had to plan and do the 4H craft lesson because no one else had time.

He's going back.

My son is flying out to Mississippi this morning to resume his second trimester.  He is going to get to come back home at Christmas, thank goodness.  This week seemed really short and really busy.  Next time he's home, I hope we just get some free don't-have-to-go-anyplace time, but it will be Christmas and New Years, so that may just be a dream. 

It's Thanksgiving again ...

A few years back, my family and I would celebrate Thanksgiving twice on Thanksgiving day.  One meal was supposed to be at noon and the other was supposed to be at 5 o'clock.  However, my mother-in-law's meal was always on the table late and my mom's meal was always on the table early.  So one year, we were trying to show enthusiasm for a big turkey and dressing and mashed potatoes spread a mere 2 1/2 hours after we had just finished one, we decided we'd had enough and asked that my mom, who had fewer people to accommodate, would please have her dinner on either Friday, Saturday or Sunday.  She agreed and that's been the tradition ever since.  So this year, since my son has to go back to Mississippi tomorrow (we couldn't get a plane ticket for Sunday :-( )  and my husband and I both have to work today, we're having a Thanksgiving dinner this evening.  

Last night, my oldest son and I ventured to Wal-mart, just before the madness started, to return some of his pants.  He's lost 100 pounds and can't get used to his new size.  On Tuesday, we went and got him 4 shirts and 3 pairs of pants and then after he got home, he decided that all the shirts were really too big and went and got different shirts and then last night, he had decided that 2 of the pants were really too baggy also, so we went and exchanged those for smaller sizes as well.    Everyone was lining up for the bargains and we escaped.  :-)   It's not my style right now.  I'm not ruling it out for the future, because I might enjoy the adventure.  Last night I was aware this was really my son's last evening at home until Christmas, since we're going to Mom's tonight and so I wanted to go home and enjoy it.  We kicked off our holiday movie viewing with Home Alone.  We'll have to watch it again, because my husband had to go to bed, but we'll manage.  :-) 

Today, my youngest has planned to put up the Christmas tree and he has made an MP3 music list for the occasion.  I'm actually in the Christmas spirit this year, ya'll, not my usual mood, which is kind of like this guy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a wonderful day.  Remember to pause and be thankful. 

Fast Forward.

That's what it feels like.  We've been busy.  Yesterday, I worked all day here and then went to the children's hospital for my therapy time.  I get to hold the babies and they get to be held and comforted.  It's a win-win.  Afterwards, I had a great Rockband session with my 2 oldest kids.  Then today I had work and 4H and eating out with the homeschool group and then we went shopping with the oldest who has discovered fashion at college  :-P and now we are getting ready to go see grandma for a little while.  After that, I've got more medical transcription to do, a couple more hours worth.  So it's going to be a long day, but so far, it's been a pretty good day. 

Another busy one.

We've got another busy one planned today.  We had a great time at the Harvest Party last night with the homeschool group.  Some years back, we decided to do soup and sandwiches for our Harvest Party meal and we eat wonderful soups and then play games, which is always very nice and relaxing.  The kids in our homeschool group are almost all teens now and they played pool and basketball and something that involved a lot of running and yelling.  I don't know what that was.  The adults played a sedate game of trivial pursuit.  What a way to make yourselves feel not-to-smart, really.   I wish there were more general knowledge questions.  Anyway, today we're going to church and then to grandmas.  She got to see the boy briefly yesterday but not very long because work yesterday took a lot longer for me than I wanted it to and I wanted to go over there with him.  Anyway, off to enjoy today. ...

Now that he's home.

We're trying to fatten him up.  We've already introduced him to gluten free cinnamon roll pancakes.   He said that he couldn't wait to come home and eat real food, not cafeteria food.  We've got a busy, busy, busy 9 days while he's home.  We've got 2 Thanksgiving celebrations, a harvest party, 4H and some other things that I can't remember right now and we also need to take him shopping and possibly buy him a car and if not, get him a plane ticket back and also just enjoy visiting with him.  Meanwhile, his Dad and I both have to work this week.  In both of our professions, Thanksgiving is not the best time to get time off.