I've got nothing left but menus. I've been useless at work (well, almost useless - I did schedule a meeting today about an upcoming infographic - doesn't that sound fun??), and even more useless at home (has anything been cleaned yet or prepped or baked? nope). But I think I know what my menu plans are -- knowing that it's fine if plans change, there is no such thing as a perfect Christmas -- for the nights when my parents and sister are here:
I'll back it up to this week's menus, just for kicks.
M (last night) - I got a last-minute invitation to dinner with my girlfriends, at a steakhouse that Shawn and I had just decided we wanted to try sometime soon. Sorry honey, that I had to go without you. It WAS good enough to go there again, so now I"m looking forward to Valentine's Day. Shawn, BLESS HIM, offered to take the kids out, too, which stopped the figurative bleeding of my injurious decision to leave Kate on a weeknight. How dare I?! She told me in high decibels that "whenever they invite you, you GO! Every DAY!" Also, I'm The Worst. But as soon as Shawn mentioned Waffle House, guess what? The wailing stopped on a dime. I may never understand her but I do appreciate the humor (!!) she brings to the family.
T - We'll either have soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, or Omaha Steaks hamburgers, a gift we received last week from Shawn's Mom. Either way, YUM. Also, our first non-restaurant Tuesday meal since October!
W - Tacos. Alex already spied the Old El Paso box in the pantry and he can't wait.
Th - I do have to go to the last choir rehearsal before Christmas (boo), so we'll eat something quickly at home. Maybe pizza, maybe the other option from Tuesday, either burgers or soup and grilled cheese.
F - The day everyone arrives!! I plan on Happy Hour first, of course, and then if I can swing it, our turkey breast and dressing dinner, with salad and cranberry sauce (jelly), and rolls. Aunt Jilly didn't have our family's special dressing on her Thanksgiving, so she requested it.
S (Christmas Eve) - I'm torn. Last year we went to Bahama Breeze after Kate's early church service, and it was really nice. Cozy, no cooking required... I'm considering that again. OR I'll make potato soup in the crock pot. We'll see how everyone feels ("oh, whatever you want to do, Lee...")
S (Christmas Day!) - for Breakfast, we'll have crepes. I had an egg casserole on my list of possibilities, but yesterday one of the kids mentioned crepes. Yay! I've made a tradition that they ask for! So I'll make those while they're playing with their new presents and the Christmas carols are playing on Pandora, and I'll have my Christmas morning punch in-hand, and it will all be lovely! Then for late lunch/early dinner, Lasagna! With some kind of festive salad (maybe the one R. mentioned in her Christmas menu: Mandarin Orange Salad with leafy lettuce, green onion, cilantro, cucumber, mandarin orange slices + red wine vinegar dressing)... and garlic bread. And I'm planning on Cherries Jubilee for dessert after a long, lazy, wonderful day with family and food and presents and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and other merriment. It's supposed to be rainy, which is just FINE with me.
For the following two days, we'll wing it a little, but a Snacky Dinner is a possibility, as well as taking everyone to one of our favorite restaurants, Fish Thyme.Or some good Georgia BBQ, maybe. Lots to choose from. Here's to your menus! Stay present and calm.
Tuesday, December 20
Tuesday, December 13
Mid-December update
I feel like I'm forgetting to just observe my mind and not believe everything. My mind is trying to tell me that there's a lot to do, "and you still haven't started this and that and the other, and you need to have it all planned to the minute and get another gift for X person and hurry hurry don't forget!!" But not all of that is true. I need to breathe. (I need to take 15 minutes and close my eyes to breathe, I mean. Every day. How is it that all my coping mechanisms have gone out the window, when I was just here, proclaiming that they're how I cope so well!?)
We have done some festive baking, without too much hurry or stress. Sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles, an easy "funfetti" cookie with M&Ms, and the first batch of peanut clusters last night. (It just isn't Christmas without them.) Kate's been dying to bake and bake and bake. When I'm not rolling my eyes as she explodes eggs into the batter instead of gently cracking them, I think she enjoys herself. Bless it. There's no other way for them to practice, I guess, than to make messes. And I know that in the long run, letting her spill and stir and help clean up teaches her confidence, and that I trust her and love being/doing with her, no matter what mistakes she makes. Important! (But it is a little test for me to stay patient.) I want to get Alex involved, too, but he manages to always be working on something else when we're in the kitchen.
The last 2 weekends have been easy, with very few plans or commitments. I'm grateful. We ordered Chinese food one Friday night, went to a cozy pizza place for dinner early last Saturday, then came home and watched Christmas movies all piled up on the couch. We've had our typical chores and errands, but nothing much additional. No choir party this year... no extra birthday parties, somehow... no need for dressing up or getting a babysitter. It's good. Although I'd really like to go to some kind of Christmas concert (or the Nutcracker) at some point while the kids are young, I'm glad we haven't had to work it into our calendar right now. Maybe there will be one at a church this weekend.
I wonder if my working hard to stay calm is what's also slowing me down at work. I just don't have any drive. Or is this time of year is always quiet at work (something I should certainly be grateful for)? I'm unsure. None of my projects interest me. Some are writing projects, but those are hard to start. And I often feel like I work in a vacuum: my closest team members now are in the UK and Germany. There's not enough idea-bouncing. Or something. New for me this year, I'm planning content months in advance. It's really hard to be interested when the deadline isn't until March or April. Ah, well. I did get a raise, thanks to Shan's kind negotiating it. Not a huge raise, and it sounds like she really had to push our grouchy German head of HR to get even that, but I'm grateful.
So I guess the tl;dr is that we're having a fairly quiet Advent, when I manage to turn off the voices in my head. :) I'm lighting candles nearly every night, and waiting for Christmas to come.
We have done some festive baking, without too much hurry or stress. Sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles, an easy "funfetti" cookie with M&Ms, and the first batch of peanut clusters last night. (It just isn't Christmas without them.) Kate's been dying to bake and bake and bake. When I'm not rolling my eyes as she explodes eggs into the batter instead of gently cracking them, I think she enjoys herself. Bless it. There's no other way for them to practice, I guess, than to make messes. And I know that in the long run, letting her spill and stir and help clean up teaches her confidence, and that I trust her and love being/doing with her, no matter what mistakes she makes. Important! (But it is a little test for me to stay patient.) I want to get Alex involved, too, but he manages to always be working on something else when we're in the kitchen.
The last 2 weekends have been easy, with very few plans or commitments. I'm grateful. We ordered Chinese food one Friday night, went to a cozy pizza place for dinner early last Saturday, then came home and watched Christmas movies all piled up on the couch. We've had our typical chores and errands, but nothing much additional. No choir party this year... no extra birthday parties, somehow... no need for dressing up or getting a babysitter. It's good. Although I'd really like to go to some kind of Christmas concert (or the Nutcracker) at some point while the kids are young, I'm glad we haven't had to work it into our calendar right now. Maybe there will be one at a church this weekend.
I wonder if my working hard to stay calm is what's also slowing me down at work. I just don't have any drive. Or is this time of year is always quiet at work (something I should certainly be grateful for)? I'm unsure. None of my projects interest me. Some are writing projects, but those are hard to start. And I often feel like I work in a vacuum: my closest team members now are in the UK and Germany. There's not enough idea-bouncing. Or something. New for me this year, I'm planning content months in advance. It's really hard to be interested when the deadline isn't until March or April. Ah, well. I did get a raise, thanks to Shan's kind negotiating it. Not a huge raise, and it sounds like she really had to push our grouchy German head of HR to get even that, but I'm grateful.
So I guess the tl;dr is that we're having a fairly quiet Advent, when I manage to turn off the voices in my head. :) I'm lighting candles nearly every night, and waiting for Christmas to come.
Wednesday, December 7
Pushed too hard
Welp, this morning (again) she didn't want to go to school. Yesterday, of course, was her long activities day -- she had basketball at 6 and then gymnastics from 7:30-8:30. When I saw her at 4:30 she said she felt fine. But continuing on meant that she didn't get into bed until 9:30.
Glad I remembered to bring the laptop home. The bonus for me includes:
Glad I remembered to bring the laptop home. The bonus for me includes:
- coffee in a ceramic mug instead of a tumbler
- refills
- Spanish eggs for breakfast
- a candle burning all day
- sock feet and comfy pants
- Christmas tree lights for cheer
- HGTV and Food Network in my ear, instead of Customer Service Reps in the cubicles next to me
- carpool at 3:00
Tuesday, December 6
A little cold
It's been a while since I had any specific "working mom" woes. Since July, I guess, when I had to leave the country on Alex's birthday. But today Kate woke up feeling crummy, and I/we had to tell her to suck it up. Not in those words.
If I weren't working it would be so easy to let them stay home when they only feel a little bit bad. She didn't have a fever, no headache; she's just had a tight chest and sniffles for 3 days. She said, "The classroom is out of tissues and when I have to cough, it's loud," and she's felt self-conscious about it. So if I COULD stay home, gosh, wouldn't it be nice to just cuddle up with her and say, "It's okay, honey, let's just go back to sleep and stay in all day. Don't breathe on me." Especially on a day like today where it was POURING rain this morning. Sigh.
But that might not be the right call. Maybe kids need to learn that they make daytime cold medicines so we can get through days like this (a thing I actually told her this morning, to convince her to TAKE the TRIAMINIC even though she was protesting mightily). I know I've relied on DayQuil many days when I'd rather have been in bed. This is the real world, better get used to it. Toughen them up.
Ah, well. Anyway. It's fine, she'll be fine. I'm not sad over it, just thinking. She took the meds, went to school, and I trust Shawn will judge, when he picks her up, whether or not she can go to gymnastics, or if she should come home instead. I pray we didn't push too hard today. Obviously I'm taking my laptop home with me today just in case. (Maybe even hopefully.) If a fever develops, at least I'll be ready. Here, sweetie, eat an orange. Eat two. Early bedtime tonight. Feel better.
If I weren't working it would be so easy to let them stay home when they only feel a little bit bad. She didn't have a fever, no headache; she's just had a tight chest and sniffles for 3 days. She said, "The classroom is out of tissues and when I have to cough, it's loud," and she's felt self-conscious about it. So if I COULD stay home, gosh, wouldn't it be nice to just cuddle up with her and say, "It's okay, honey, let's just go back to sleep and stay in all day. Don't breathe on me." Especially on a day like today where it was POURING rain this morning. Sigh.
But that might not be the right call. Maybe kids need to learn that they make daytime cold medicines so we can get through days like this (a thing I actually told her this morning, to convince her to TAKE the TRIAMINIC even though she was protesting mightily). I know I've relied on DayQuil many days when I'd rather have been in bed. This is the real world, better get used to it. Toughen them up.
Ah, well. Anyway. It's fine, she'll be fine. I'm not sad over it, just thinking. She took the meds, went to school, and I trust Shawn will judge, when he picks her up, whether or not she can go to gymnastics, or if she should come home instead. I pray we didn't push too hard today. Obviously I'm taking my laptop home with me today just in case. (Maybe even hopefully.) If a fever develops, at least I'll be ready. Here, sweetie, eat an orange. Eat two. Early bedtime tonight. Feel better.
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