Christmas in a Hotel Room

We planned to bring our little tree, but we forgot it at home. It's probably a good thing, because our hotel room was tiny! In Williams we had a nice size room with two queen beds, a little dining table, a couple of chairs and a dresser with a tv on it. Of course the remote wasn't the right one for the tv so the xbox and the dvd player wouldn't work and the beds sunk down in the middle... but we could move and walk around.

Hotel Room in Williams

The hotel in Prescott? It was a teeny tiny hole in the wall. It had two full size beds. One bed was up against the window, the other bed was up against the wall. We had to push the beds closer together in the middle so that I could get out of the bed without climbing over hubby. There was no table. I think there was one chair. Once we unloaded the stuff from the car it was packed! We didn't even let the maid clean the room. We figured we wouldn't put her through that torture.

So this is what it looks like when you have Christmas in a teeny tiny hotel room.

Back to Williams

Bye Bye Grand Canyon

We stopped at the Imax theater just outside the Grand Canyon and watched the Discovery Channel movie. The dialogue was pretty boring, but the scenery was great. You really felt like you were flying above the canyon and riding down the rapids. I think going down the rapids will have to be on my list of things I need to do. It looked like fun!

Downtown Williams

There may not be any snow on the ground, but let me tell you, this California girl was freezing!

This is exactly what it was like during our entire trip. It was crisp, cool and perfectly clear. We couldn't have asked for better weather.

A good night's sleep

Ahhh... just what the doctor ordered. A good night's sleep. Hubby and son are at varying stages of the "I just got back from vacation cold," which works for them since neither of them have anyplace they have to go, or anything they have to do. Me? I have to work, so I'm not wanting to share this particular journey with them.

So last night they took over the living room and I took over the bedroom. I climbed into bed at 8pm. I think I fell asleep around 9:30. And while I woke up a few times early this morning, I convinced myself that sleeping in a king size bed, all by myself, with no snoring and no cpap machine noises was something not to be wasted. And so I slept. Ahhhhh.......

I woke refreshed and ready to start the day. I even did my walking tape.

So now let's finish the vacation recap.

The pictures are beautiful, but they just can't capture the true "awe" that you feel when you look across this great canyon. While the canyon is full of life and energy, when I look at it I feel a sense of peace and calm. I feel like time is standing still.

Fun for the Holidays

We hit the road on December 22 after I got off work and we got to Williams, Arizona around 2:30 in the morning, unloaded the car, slept for a few hours and then headed on to the Grand Canyon.

This is the road up to the Grand Canyon.

We started out at the Desert View area, where we got to go inside the Watchtower. The Watchtower was built in 1932 and is a re-creation of prehistoric towers that were found scattered around the Southwest.

And now we get to interupt this blog posting so that I can go pick up pizza. Apparently I have a "starving" child at home.

Stay tuned for more fun holiday/vacation pictures

Sigh of Relief

It's been one of those crazy days. The kind where you don't even realize how stressed out you were until it's all over and all you want to do is go to sleep.

Today was hubby's monthly doctor appointment. Last month I guess they kind of mentioned that he's been out a bit long for the type of injury he has. Gee, you think? Try living on disability for 14 months. It feels even longer when you're the one looking at the pay stub... but I digress. I guess that combined with the fact that we actually had travel plans, made us think they would send him back to work this week for sure. I think I've been holding my breath all week long. I want him to get better, but he isn't. I want him to go back to work, but I know he's not ready. I want to go away for the holiday, but I want our lives to get back to normal too. I want my husband to be able to put his arm around me without being in pain. I want him to be able to horse around with Joshua. I want him to be able to do the simple things like pull off a pair of gloves without experiencing pain. I think that if they sent him back to work now, it would be like admitting that this is it. This is as good as it gets. And for his sake, I hope there's still more to look forward to.

At lunch time I drove out to the hospital to be with my friend as her son went through brain surgery for the second time in his life. Turns out they moved the surgery up a few hours and by the time I got there he was out and the news was good!!! At this point they don't think it is cancerous.... which means no chemo. I even got to go in and see him and he was doing great. He was even goofing around pretending he didn't know who we were. Dork! I could see him forgetting me, but his sister? I guess it's a good thing his nurse has a good sense of humor because she's got her hands full with him.

They tell us to make sure we're quiet and we talk softly etc, and then we get in the room and he eggs us on. I guess they didn't damage anything when they were hanging out in his brain, because he hasn't changed a bit.

Now I feel like we can really look forward to the holidays and plan to have some fun!!!

Best Line of the Week

Joshua text messaged hubby and asked

"Do you have a hitchhiker's thumb?"

Hubby wrote back and asked what he was talking about.

Josh said "Nevermind."

Hubby said "Do you just send me random messages and then say "nevermind" just to drive me insane?"

Joshua's response......

You're already insane. I just shuttled you from your car to the front gate.

That job is mine

In the big bad world of taxes. I am the low man on the totem pole. I have various job titles, which would lead a person to think I was somewhat important, but they would be mistaken. The only thing those job titles do for me is make me busy, when no one else is.... so apparently, one would think I have a ton of spare time on my hands and can handle any and all new jobs that come up.

I am the...
Admin Asst. who works for men that still call them secretaries. I am soooo not a secretary.

I am the...
Computer fix-it-all person who doesn't really know anything except how to type errors in to google. Thus I look smart and learn as I go. Which means that when they come up with these freakishly bizarre problems, it takes me a long time to figure it out. Which ends up meaning that over time, I really do know what I'm doing, which means I get asked to do more.....

I am the....
talk to contractors during remodel girl. Also known as the "gee, I'm high from paint fumes." and the "what, I can't hear you there's a jackhammer here." Girl.

I am the....
bookkeeper who has several client's work sitting here that needs to be done...

and....

I am girl who is supposed to be the gearing up for tax season. You know, the one who licks and sticks all the envelopes, sets the appointments, matches the labels with the mailings that go out to clients, orders supplies, prints off fancy smancy labels that say "Open me now or suffer the consequences, get your taxes in early," order postage, toner, paper - Oh my!, print out and bind new client directories, and I'm sure I've forgotten a few million other things girl

but today... no..... today I'm a paint sniffing, jackhammer listening, photo printing (for boss' special project that has nothing to do with my job, but is pretty fun), contractor talking girl who is freaking out, wondering when in the world she's going to get all the other stuff done.

Piano Recital

Ok, so we're halfway through my crazy week and I'm still breathing. Today I just need to work, hope my package from UPS beats me home, pull the contents out of the package and create a gift basket with them and get to the meeting by 6:30. Oh and sometime between now and then I have to think of what to do take for the potluck. Anyone want to take bets as to whether I make it on time?

After a little recital hiatus caused by illnesses, broken fingers and summer camp, Joshua finally performed at the piano recital. I have to admit I thought it was pretty cute when we walked in the door and two or three girls uttered a shocked "Josh?!" Apparently they didn't know he played the piano. And since they were all in a play and had to leave early, I suppose they still don't know that he can play the piano.

The recital was interesting. I don't think I really noticed the difference in the music he plays, compared with the other students, as much as I did last night. First of all, he was one of two boys. The other, much younger boy, played March Militaire. A very strong, boyish piece of music that Josh played a few years ago. The girls played all of these light, peaceful songs, filled with parts where they used the pedals; and then there was Josh. He played a waltz, Good King Wencelas and Pink Panther. The music thundered through the room. He has gotten more mature with his playing and he fluctuates through his "pianissimo" and "forte," but still it thunders. It is all boy. It is masculine. The teacher does a beautiful job of picking music that suits the student.

The other thing that stood out for me was the level of difficulty of the music. I love to look at the music as the students place it on the piano. I am often surprised by how a simple arrangement sounds so beautiful. Every student shined because they were able to master the level of music they played. I was also shocked to realize that Joshua played some of the more difficult pieces. The teacher has told him over and over throughout the years that he has incredible talent.... if only he would practice. I think he finally understood that for the first time last night. One can only hope that that realization will translate into more practice.

Another Blog, Another Life

I think I started blogging about 4 1/2 years ago. It was a hard time in my life. I was angry and I was hurt and I needed a place where I could vent. I was afraid to keep a written journal. I was afraid that something would happen to me and those who love me would find those angry words and think that was all there was. And so I guess I was searching for a place to vent. I wanted to be heard and yet I didn't.

I created a place for myself, a place where I was anonymous, and it was safe, and I could scream and yell and cry and heal.

I didn't realize that I would end up connecting with other bloggers and how much their comments and their blogs would impact me. I laughed with them. I cried with them. I disagreed with them and somehow my world became a little bigger.

As I began to heal and to leave behind the hurt child that was inside me, I started to notice that my old diary didn't fit anymore. I wasn't the only one. My diary friends all went through some changes. Some stopped writing. Some moved their blogs. Some wrote less often. There were some that I simply drifted away from and some that I missed terribly.

Today I reconnected with a favorite of mine. As I read her words again I was reminded of all the great entries I've read in the past. It was as if no time passed. I recognized the main characters. I recognized the style. And I laughed when I realized how close she had been all the time. I should have known that she would've been reading and loving the writing style of one of my favorite bloggers.

Thank you my friend!! Reconnecting with you gave me pause to reflect on all that has happened in the last few years; and in some strange way, it has kind of opened up the writer inside of me. I have struggled to make blogger my home. I write here and I share what's going on, but it's not the kind of writing I did in the past. I guess it lacks the pain. But today... today I feel like writing.

Laugh at Yourself

It's tough being related to a "blogger." Because suddenly, everything in life becomes a "bloggable moment." Of course the people in my life are often protected from this problem because I usually end up being too busy to actually blog it... but this one...oh this one I won't forget..

I will protect the identities of the guilty parties. I was given permission to write it, as long as I didn't say who did it.

Some teenagers were sitting around talking about the latest controversy - to say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays." Now anyone who thinks that teenagers only talk about fashion, or ipods, or music, or how much they hate their parents....hasn't really listened to teenagers recently. Sometimes they actually have some very thoughtful and intellectual conversations. They are finding themselves. They are figuring out what they believe and they often discuss/debate things....

and so.....

they were discussing

"Merry Christmas"

or

"Happy Holidays"

and the discussion turned to how people have distorted the Christian holidays. Who is that fat man Santa? and what does he have to do with Christmas? And what about that Easter Bunny? Was he visiting at the cross? and then someone said... "And what's the deal with a bunny and eggs. Bunnys don't even lay eggs."

"They don't?" uttered one teenager

"Are you serious? Don't tell me you thought they laid eggs." said another teenager

Then, in a sheepish, oh I'm never going to live this down tone... the first teenager said "Unfortunately, I did."

I laughed until I cried. I don't know what's funnier. The fact they he/she believed it or the fact that he/she owned up to it and then told me about it.

In between laughs I figured we'd better make sure he/she had other things figured out.

"ok, so do you know what a reptile is?"

"birds?"

"the definition of a mammal."

Thank goodness he/she has a great sense of humor. There's nothing better than someone who can laugh at themselves.

The Schedule

In case you're wondering if I'm busy... I present the schedule for the week.

Monday - Work, finish the recharter for the boy scouts, take the boy Christmas present shopping, finish up some of our shopping

Tuesday - work, knitting class

Wednesday - work, piano recital

Thursday - work, team meeting/holiday party

Friday - work, book club/Traditions of Christmas play

Saturday - Decorate the tree/house, work on the quilt and various other presents

Sunday - church and rest because it is the Sabbath and man....I'll need it this week.