Tieing up some loose ends

Ok I admit it...it has been a week or so since I've written. The snow and a head cold coupled with sales conference have sucked up the oxygen in my life lately. So today I thought I would give you an update on some past posts and tie up some loose ends.
The science fair project came to an end with my son Peyton and I creatively decorating the big tri-fold poster board thingy that everyone has to use. My son had taken pictures of the different houses sitting in my tub getting wet and we taped them to the board and added a border. Done. Complete. Finished. Not so fast...he got an A and is now on his way to the city-wide competition?!? I'll keep you posted.
Regarding the lay-z-boy...for those of you following me on facebook, you know that we spent an entire weekend searching for the replacement. We went to four furniture stores and sat in every recliner they had available. But the recliners had to meet very stringent requirements. The foot rest had to come up part way and stop so that my husband can sit with knees slightly bent to support a popcorn bowl for movie night. The back had to lay all the way down for Sunday afternoon naps. the arm rests had to be at the right height for elbows supporting a newspaper and the seat needed to be wide enough to comfortably fit a wider girth.
Add to that the "lap board" he built with cup holder and mouse so that he can sit in his chair and play Farmville on his laptop.
We found the perfect chair and it was the lay-z-boy store...hidden in a far corner with a dim bulb overhead (think the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree) was the chair. And lo and behold it was the same chair...but worse fabric. My opportunity to finally be rid of the brown corduroy chair has just gone south. The opportunity to instill some sense of grace and style into or living room...gone forever.
It arrives in less than 2 weeks.

I need to be needed...does that make me needy?

So I spent yesterday wallowing in self-pity and melancholy because my baby was turning 11. She is but a driver's license away from total independence. She has even figured out how to make her own instant Mac-n-Cheese. I am nearly obsolete. Then this morning, from the dim light of the kid's bathroom I hear..."mommy." I brace myself for whatever might be spewing from whatever opening and find my son sitting on the side of the tub with a nosebleed.

So he jumps in the shower and I have my arm in there with him, pinching the bridge of his nose while he shampoos and washes. Then he takes over pinching while I dry him off and we move to his bedroom to tilt his head back onhis pillow. I pick out his clothes for school (which I haven't done in years) and dress him while he lays on his back waiting for the bleeding to stop. Sheer bliss!

So while I am worried about the bloody nose, I am happy, at peace almost, to know that I am still needed.

The Leftovers that Saved Christmas

My daughter said she felt queasy Christmas eve. Being the mom (and cook) I immediately poll the rest of the family to make sure it wasn't my cooking. Christmas morning, we awoke to the sounds of my daughter throwing up. And she had a fever. We all went downstairs to open presents and she laid on the couch and said she was too sick to open gifts.

We typically go to my husband's family for the noon meal Christmas day. But decided not to go. We didn't want to risk getting others sick.

So my husband and I are sitting in our chairs. The fire is going. My son is off playing with his new X-Box and my daughter is asleep on my lap. It just didn't feel like Christmas.

Later that afternoon, the doorbell rang. It was my husband's brother. He had leftovers from the family meal. So as I began unwrapping the ham, turkey, green beans with the little bits of ham, sweet potato cassarole with the praline topping and my sister-in-law's pretzel salad...my daughter walked into the kitchen and said it smelled good and that she thought she could eat. Finally...it finally felt like the holiday.