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When I think about the holidays, what comes to mind is winter. I don’t know why, considering this is Houston and half the time we can wear t-shirts on Christmas Day, but regardless, sometime around the holidays we usually get a few weeks of coldness. And since I prefer my t-shirt weather, when I think of comfort I think of WARM. So this is what I do to make it through the “winter” holidays:
>Put the quilt on the bed. Most of the year we sleep with a sheet and a light blanket, but it’s always kind of fun to break out our beautiful handmade quilt (a wedding gift from David’s boss) and snuggle up. And speaking of beds, I have no problem with this post being sponsored by Tempur-Pedic because we have one of their mattresses and pillows, and I am telling you it is my favorite thing we own and worth every penny.
>Don my fuzzy socks. I have so many pairs of these, yet I seem to always need more. When I take off my work shoes and put them on in the evening my body instantly relaxes.
>Turn on the fire. We have a gas fireplace which makes it SO easy to get a nice warm fire going. It really does heat up the entire house, much to my husband’s chagrin. (We may have different opinions on how warm is too warm.)
>Make hot drinks. Hot chocolate is the easiest and a classic favorite, but this year I really want to learn to make my own apple cider. Mmm.
What comes to mind when you think of holiday comfort?
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This really should be broken up into two or three posts, but since time to blog is hard to come by these days I’m smashing it all together here. So, onward:
The long Thanksgiving weekend was wonderful. So much time spent with the family, especially quality time with Meredith. By the end of the weekend I really felt connected to her again. And she saw Santa:
It was kind of impromptu. We were visiting a Christmas tree farm with David’s family, even though we didn’t get a tree (we’re getting a secondhand fake one this year). But we wanted to go to hang out with them and see our nephews, plus we wanted to get into the spirit of things. It was actually cold out, I drank an apple cider, bought an ornament, and Santa was there. Meredith told him that she wants new carpet in the house before she learns to crawl.
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Oh, so anyway, the long weekend was awesome but going back to work/daycare has been ROUGH. Meredith was fussy at daycare for three days and isn’t napping as well, and at home with us at night she wants to be held constantly. As for me, I’m back to nearly crying when I drop her off, and if I’m late getting home I feel sick about it.
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For Thanksgiving I contributed one dish to each family dinner. For my family I baked macaroni and cheese. My greedy little brothers took all the leftovers home with them and left us with none. For my husband’s side, I made a chocolate sheet cake, mostly because I wanted to eat it. I guess that’s how everyone felt about dessert though, because there was a lot of it. Most of my sheet cake was left, so I just had it sitting at home in the kitchen all weekend. WAY too easy to just eat a few bites every time I walked by it. By Monday, I was kind of disgusted by myself. It took much willpower, but I threw the rest away. And I’ve been eating less this week, and hardly any sweets because I’ve GOT to shake these cravings. I’m sick of not fitting in all of my clothes. Next step is to break out the 30-day Shred.
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Here’s another video I took of Meredith over the weekend:
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Now for some good things that happened in November. Because it’s DECEMBER now!
1 – Watching GG (David’s grandmother) hold Meredith.
Every year my family is supposed to finalize our Christmas lists by Thanksgiving. When I was coming up with mine, this is what came to mind:
New tires for my car
Our carpet replaced
Hire me an electrician to fix the broken outlets in our house
New blinds in our bedroom
Exterminator services
Cloth diapers
But since that’s completely unsatisfying for the giver and receiver, instead I’m asking for these things:
Keurig Elite – as much as I love my French Press regular coffee, I think I’d love the Keurig to save me time and give me more options.
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides – It’s the next book for #twookclub, too popular to get from the library in time, and since it’s by one of my favorite authors I know I’ll want to own it anyway.
Tech Candy iPhone case – mine is chipped and this is the cutest, most versatile case I’ve seen.
LUSH Alkmaar soap – these soaps are perfect, except that they’re a little pricey and melt kinda fast so I never buy them for myself.
Earrings – I wear the same two pairs of stud earrings all the time, so I want to expand my collection.
Cloth diapers – so what if I left them on the list…for “Meredith”?
Also on Meredith’s list are classic children’s books, Robeez socks, and baby leg warmers. What’s on your Christmas list?
5:00 AM – My alarm goes off. Meredith nurses again and I press snooze a few times.
5:27 AM – Time to get out of bed & get ready! Meredith is still sleeping so I get dressed and get breakfast prepared.
5:50 AM – Get Meredith up and dressed.
6:00 AM – Say goodbye to David and make sure he gets out of bed.
6:07 AM – Leave the house!
6:10 AM – Drop Meredith at daycare and linger for a few minutes.
6:14 AM – Leave daycare and start the drive to work.
6:56 AM – Park at the remote lot and get on the train.7:08 AM – The train drops me off.
7:14 AM – Arrive at work too early to clock in. Put things away in my locker and go get my patient assignment.
7:23 AM – Clock in on the computer and start getting things ready for patients to arrive. 7:45 AM – My first patient arrives. 8:20 AM – Start the infusion & go pump.
8:40 AM – Back at my desk I chart, check work email, and do open enrollment.
9:29 AM – Discharge patient 1.
9:35 AM – Patient 2 arrives.
10:10 AM – Discover one of my patients is in the hospital.
10:18 AM – There is a delay with patient 2 due to order clarification so I start on chart audits.
10:27 AM – My dad visits Meredith at daycare and sends me pictures!11:05 AM – Infusion started on patient 2.
11:20 AM – Patient 3 arrives.
12:00 PM – Discharge patient 2.
12:15 PM – Patient 4 arrives.
12:37 PM – Start patient 4’s infusion.
1:04 PM – Start patient 3’s infusion (are you confused yet?).
1:05 PM – Pumping again! 1:25 PM – Eat lunch & read2:00 PM – Discharge patient 3. Chart & continue audits.
2:46 PM – Start second infusion on patient 4.
4:00 PM – Pass off the patient to another nurse and pump one last time.
4:13 PM – Clock out!
4:25 PM – Back on the train.
4:35 PM – In my car, headed a different route home due to traffic.5:27 PM – Arrive at daycare to pick Meredith up. Have a conversation with the afternoon worker about her cloth diaper sizes. (The afternoon lady has OPINIONS.)
5:36 PM – Finally home. Do chores to prepare for tomorrow while Meredith sits in her Bumbo.
6:00 PM – Diaper change o’clock.
6:10 PM – I have some cereal for dinner while I nurse Meredith because we’re both starving!
6:25 PM – Do some reading on the couch.
7:00 PM – Go to La Leche League. I bring Meredith and she nurses & sleeps. (On other days during this time I’d either be reading, watching TV, or at a family member’s house for dinner.)
8:10 PM – After the meeting I talk with my friend Sara for awhile.
9:00 PM – Home again. Put the diapers into the wash (oops, forgot about this earlier) & nurse Meredith while David takes my car to get gas.
9:17 PM – Give Meredith a bath.
9:30 PM – Diaper, dress, and nurse Meredith. We’re running behind because of the meeting, so I seriously consider skipping my shower.
9:42 PM – Put the diapers into the dryer, then take a shower (mostly because I knew I was recording this day), and David hangs out with Meredith.
10:00 PM – Blow-dry my hair (hate).
10:17 PM – Get in bed and nurse Meredith to sleep!This was a fairly typical day, except that I’m usually in bed around 8 or 9. It’s manageable, but by Friday I’m certainly ready for the weekend!
