Christmas Eve Eve Eve

For the last week we've just taken an Eve off every day. Monday was pretty confusing, what with it being Christmas Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve and all. I'll be glad when my children outgrow this phase.

And just for the record, if some little girl type child on your Christmas list wanted Polly Pockets for Christmas this year and you can't find any, it's because we now own more Polly Pockets than God. Yes, really. Even God can't possibly need this many small plastic dolls with microscopic shoes. We haven't even had Christmas yet. I will never be able to vacuum again for fear of sucking up a pair of tiny yellow pumps, infinitesimal pink ballet slippers or minute chunky orange clogs.

We had the Glenn Family Festivus Tacky Gift Exchange last Sunday. I have taken pictures and notes and will post a long to-do about it when I find some time. Let me just say this, though, I am related to some of the most hilarious tacky Democrats in Oklahoma. And I love them all.

Tuesday night Sam had his first basketball scrimage. He did pretty darn good. He rebounded and shot once and then managed to shoot once when he got the ball. He's still having a hard time understanding this Offense/Defense business, but we're working on it. He has a scrimage next week, too, then real games start Jan. 2. That is the date that we will just move into the gymnasium. What with games one or two nights a week, plus practices who knows how many nights a week......I'm looking into having my mail forwarded there, too.

Tuesday night after the scrimage, I sponge-rolled Addison's hair because Tater had her office Christmas party that night. By the time everyone got bathed, curled and bedded, it was 10:30. I still had candy to make for 3 teachers and Kady's birthday presents to wrap. I made candy until 1am, then cleaned up, wrapped gifts and collapsed onto the bed at 1:40am. I love the holiday exhaustion. Paul and I coined a phrase years ago - Christmas Tired. There is no exhaustion quite like the exhaustion you feel after running around to every dysfunctional family member's home for a solid week, then waiting until the kids are good and asleep before you can start putting stickers on Hot Wheels tracks, stuffing batteries into baby dolls and then disposing of every box, tag and piece of plastic before you finally fall into bed so tired you can hardly move. Well, I was Christmas Tired on Tuesday and Christmas was 6 days away.

Kady's birthday was Wednesday - Mom got her a Baby Alive. Of course, we had to feed her immediately. I held the doll on my lap because we were lacking a doll-sized high chair at that moment and Kady fed her. Then the doll proceded to shit on my leg. Dolly poo on your leg is not all you might think it's cracked up to be. Trust me on this one.

Wednesday Kady and I went to the kids' Christmas parties at school. Sam's class sang Happy Birthday to Kady, which I thought was sweet. Abby got some lip gloss and a maze book. Sam got a monster truck and a couple of other Hot Wheels. Their teachers and Sam's student teacher got candy. I got more tired from running back and forth across the hall to divide my time equally between both kids. Next year I'll add another entire building to have to visit. Paul was supposed to go, but he's got a horrible chest cold/bronchitis/typhoid and pulled some muscles around his ribs and could hardly move. Lucky booger.

Yesterday we went to Tulsa for Abby's orthodontist appointment. We drove an hour and a half, took them cookies and candy, the assistants and hygienists played with Kady's Baby Alive for 10 minutes then we headed back home. If I didn't love that dentist and his staff so much there is no way we'd drive to Tulsa once a month for a 5 minute appointment.

When we got home from Tulsa, I crashed on the couch for an hour while the kids watched TV, then we watched Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Awesome, awesome movie. We'll definitely be buying it. Paul had watched it the night before to make sure it wasn't too scary for the kids, so he slept through it. After that, the kids watched the Grinch in my room while I watched The Devil Wears Prada. And just for the record, the book is much better. The movie wasn't bad, but the book was just better. Paul watched the last 3/4 of it with me. If I had asked him to watch a movie of that nature with me, he'd have dug in his heels and flatly refused, but catching him fresh from a nap, he watched it and liked it. Then finally, because our brains hadn't flatlined enough from gratuitous movie-watching, we put in You, Me and Dupree. Paul woke me up several times laughing out loud, but I thought it was a boring, droll movie. I didn't like what I watched of it, which was like 30 minutes.

Today I laid on the couch until 10:30 and only got up then because I knew the house HAD to be cleaned today because starting tonight we have a family gathering every night until Christmas. Okay, so it's only 3 days, but still.....I was afraid it would get away from us what with bringing in toys every day. The kids and I cleaned the kitchen and living room, I've done some laundry and now we're just waiting until The Princess and her brother get here. (The Queen and King are going to his office Christmas party and we get to watch the royal children overnight. The kids are ecstatic.)

Oh, and for those who have asked or are wondering:

This semester at NEO I'm taking 13 hours. 12 of those hours are online - Intermediate Algebra, American History from 1865, English Comp II and General Psychology. One hour a week I have to, by arrangement with my advisor, work on the campus newspaper. Being a Mass Communications Major requires it. I have mixed emotions about it. I'm really not in Mass Comm. because I want to be a reporter, per se, but I may get in there and love it. And before it's all said and done, I may switch my major to something more along the lines of English instead of Journalism, but we'll see. Right now I'm just trying to get an Associates of Something.

So now you know.

Happy Christmas Eve Eve Eve, everyone!