The BEST Holiday

Taking a break from editing and wondering what my requested publisher thinks of my query was exactly what the doctor ordered. So much so that I'm not sure I want to come back to my real life. :)

But--having no choice in the matter--here I am. While I'm excited for the possiblities provided by the BEST PRESENT EVER (a sewing machine!) and looking forward to dreaming of a new habitat a year from now AND the thought that said publisher might want to sell my book, I'm taking a moment to relish in the past vacation of near perfection.

Love and I left last Thursday to travel up to my hometown of Greenwood, Arkansas. He drove for the first time and was able to fully experience first hand the glorious occurance of holiday travel. For me, to say I was looking forward to the vacation would be an understatement. We had bought/made presents for a couple weeks and I was more than ready to celebrate our perfect choices.

  

The scarf I made for Katie, my stepsister.



The scarf I made for my sister.



Holding down the backseat in the car was our furry son, Fezzik, who pretty much blocked the rearview when he sat up. To give you an idea of how big he is, here he is with my sister:

Suffice it to say he was definitely happy that we left his sisters back home with some good friends!

We arrived cheerily around midnight and Fezzik soon learned that old house rules didn't apply: he jumped and sat by my mom on her couch, roamed freely wherever he found a nook or cranny, and hoovered the kitchen floor after my niece had eaten (or while she ate). He was on a vacation as much as we were!

Friday morning brought a lot of nothing. Mom had to go run errands, Sister had to work, and my nephew Coleton requested a hiking expedition with Love. So, I got to spend the day with my two nieces, my furry son, and my working Step-dad although we did end the day making cookies!

When Saturday boiled around, I was super stoked. Our ORIGINAL plan was as follows: Love and I were to drop by my BFF's house to see her and my second family, then we were off to my father's house in Oklahoma for a turkey lunch and presents. All was well through the visit with BFF until we were saying our goodbyes. I had two missed calls from my father and one from my sister along with a text message from my mother to call my sister ASAP: Not good.

After making the appropriate calls, I found out that my father had been taken to the emergency room with severe abdominal pains. (Long story short: he's had pains for a while and had his gallbladder removed a month ago to fix it.) So, Christmas Eve was spent in the ER at Sequoyah Memorial Hospital: trying to break hospital rules, talking to my dad one at a time, waiting on test results, and keeping the kiddos from bouncing off the walls. After a couple of hours inhabiting the place, we left to get food.

The look on his face is priceless!

We ate at our second choice (KFC/Taco Bell) because we arrived ten minutes before Hardees was closing. Go figure!

Food in stomach, we drove back to the hospital to learn that the doctors thought dad had a blockage, performed a CT scan and...well, that was it. But, at the very least he was comfortable...and he was staying...the night. :(

Since we had to get the kids to church early, we reluctantly left our sick father and worried Step-mother and headed back to Arkansas. Church was great, except that our family was pretty much the entertainment: Coleton and Katie played chimes and sang, Lilly cried, I stepped out to swap places with my sister(so she could see the chimes), Love followed with a mischevious Ellie. By the time communion was over, my sister was the only remaining member of our family holding down the pew. I felt bad, but I had to plate some cookies and help mom with a punch bowl.

Christmas Eve is always fun for us because we get to hang out in our new pjs (from mom) and munch on finger foods and pretty much goof around with tv, the kids, and eat cookies. Mom, Step-dad and Katie stayed behind (Step-dad sang in the midnight service).

Christmas morning came with lots of presents and laughs. I got my first sewing machine, a mending kit, some jewelry, and a Victoria Secret fragrance set. We had our traditional breakfast casarole and learned shortly thereafter that dad was finally out of the hospital. Sounding more tired than ever, I told him to take the day to rest and we'd have a Christmas do-over the next day. (Unfortunately, that kept me from seeing some old school friends--you know who you are--which I was sore about. Next year, I swear!)

As promised, Dad was well enough Monday for us to redo our Christmas with him. We met at his house early with some breakfast and then opened presents before a lunch of pizza and chocolate cake with ice cream. After all was said and done, we sat down to watch Willow (which I had never seen) and talked and played with the kiddos new toys.

Lilly got stuck underneath Dad's side table. Too cute.

 After saying goodbye, we headed back in the early evening to spend our last night at mom's house. Fezzik was in good spirits, running around and barking at my step-dad. Ellie and I took some time to bond again when she decided for the second time to play with my hair, but then had the marvelous thought to do my make up!

My makeup artist and stylist! :)

We capped off the evening with football before my sister and I shared a laughing exercise with my mother while I raided her closet. Moments like those are some of my favorite memories.

We got back yesterday to little fanfare besides a movie and research on my first sewing projects. I'm sad to report that my little Marlee decided to stay with the family who kept her and Keeley over our break. She got quite attached to them and, frankly, her happiness is all that matters to me. (As long as I get to go visit her! I already miss her!) Other than that, I'm more anxious than ever to move back home (hopefully!) and be around the kiddos more. I never get a grasp on how much I miss them until I'm back home away from their noise. For dad's part, he has a doctor's appointment with his PCP and then the ER doc recommended he see a cardiologist (he thinks the artery to his stomach is blocked) so there might be a surgery there. :(

All in all, it was a good vacation. I feel rested and blessed and sad that I'm back, but I hold on to the feeling of our family together until we can take the trip again!



*Kayla*