Adventures of a Relentless Dreamer: Santa Claus Came to Town

I've missed writing SO much the last couple of weeks! Just when I thought life was going to slow down and give me nothing but time to write, read, cook and relax, everything got flipped upside down. Such is life, huh? At any rate, I’m back and very excited to begin sharing with you once more.

The entire week leading up to Christmas and the week that followed are a blur for me. My grampa suddenly went back to the hospital and was released to the nursing home. Just as he was getting settled back in at home, his health took another dive. That certainly shook up Christmas plans a bit, but it certainly didn't ruin anything. My wonderful family adjusted their plans and made sure we were all together and that grampa got to see everyone.

A few days before Christmas, my mom and dad came to town and stayed at my house for a night. We had a blast. It’s the first time they've stayed at my house since I moved away eight years ago, so it was super special. They also spent a night at each grandparent’s house while they were in town. We had a great time together, telling stories, eating great food, visiting with relatives… all the things that make it feel like Christmas time.

One of my favorite activities that I got to share with them was shooting. A few firearms, LOTS of ammunition, and my Halloween pumpkins made for great fun at the lake. I bought myself a new gun for Christmas so I was dying to play with it and share it with anyone who wanted to fire it. Mom didn't think she would enjoy shooting at all, but she was the one who couldn't wait for me to reload the magazine and hand it back to her.

On Christmas Eve, I went to see grampa at the nursing home and brought him his gift. He’s carried a knife everywhere he’s gone for most of his life. Many of his knives were sold in the auction earlier this year and his normal pocket knife has become very dull. Knowing this, I ordered him a great new SOG knife. He liked it right away and got in some good therapy for his hands learning to unfold and re-fold it. It’s quite a challenge for his weak, numb fingers, but after a few times, he was opening and closing it almost with ease.

It was great to see him with a knife and I knew he would have ten uses for it within the next day. In fact, he found a use for it immediately. Someone had brought him a jar of pickled eggs (gag!) for Christmas, but he didn’t have any silverware in his nursing home room to fish them out with. Before I knew it, he had that new knife submerged in the pickled egg jar and was stabbing at eggs. He ate one and then carefully cleaned and dried the new knife. It brought new meaning to the saying, “Where there’s a will there’s a way.”

Later that evening I got to go over to my aunt and uncle’s house and visit with the cousins for a while. One of my cousins is in the Navy and currently in Africa, but her husband and two little girls were in town. It was the next best thing to having her there with us. I don’t typically know what to do with kids (I think I’m missing that maternal gene to some degree), but with those two, I always have the time of my life. They are so happy and friendly. They melt my heart with their innocence and beauty. I can’t get enough of hugging them and playing with them. Having them around was a great Christmas gift in itself.

Here are a few fun pictures from Christmas weekend in my world. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a fantastic new year in 2013!