Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

Sorry I've been slacking on the blogging lately. This time of year is always difficult to keep up with things. But this year it's been particularly hard. Starting with the weather. It's been an unusually cold and snowy December (it feels more like late January) and the bands of snow and artic temps keep coming. Another round is due tomorrow. Bad weather means you need to add at least an hour or more on to your day. More time to shovel driveways, scrape windshield ice, sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic and deal with a little guy who refuses to put on his snow pants, boots, hat, mittens and jacket (even if it is 20º below). Then there's holiday shopping, which I'm SO way behind on (unfortunately, most of our out-of-town family will be getting Happy New Year's gifts, not Christmas presents), holiday cards (done), tree decorating (not done), etc., etc. So here's a shot of our sad, little fake tree with lights and no ornaments. Happily, Garrett doesn't know the difference.He also hasn't seen or met Santa Claus, because when I asked who Santa was, his reply was "Ms. Scott." (That's his Kindergarten teacher.) When asked again, he said, "Mommy." Smart boy. We decided to give him his pre-Christmas gift, a little boom box to play all his nursery rhymes. He loved it so much, he poured bubbles into the CD player. So now all that's working is the radio and tape deck. (It took him only 6 days to break it.)

Another fun first: Garrett and papa went to the sliding hill. (Mommy couldn't participate due to the bum shoulder.)While there haven't been any Santa or reindeer sightings, Superman did make a brief appearance last Sunday. I think Superman would make a great Santa's helper, don't you?

Another first: we missed Sharon's annual holiday party (the first one in 14 years). We were all set to go, but Garrett was tuckered out from sledding and asleep by 7:30 p.m. (I definitely felt like a mother and not a carefree, single woman that night.) More firsts: Bob's daughter Susie is graduating with a Master's Degree this Friday. Bob is flying down to Lincoln tomorrow to attend the ceremony at the University of Nebraska at Kearney along with his son Ryan. Congrats Susie—we're thrilled about your big accomplishment. Then on Monday, Bob is scheduled for toe surgery. Something about bone spurs, unrelenting pain, arthritis and spending the balance of his Flex plan. So as you can see, we're having a great time doing absolutely nothing holiday related. (There isn't even a holiday program at Garrett's school—what's up with that?) Oh well, If only we we could muster up the energy to decorate the tree. Wish us luck.