Christmas Wrap-Up

Would you look at that. ?Nary a Christmas letter to be found around here. ?I’m rather disappointed in myself about it. ?Um, not really.

The whole trusty family arrived in Washington on the 22nd and we have been on the go ever since. ?We haul the dog with us (she’s finally getting adjusted to riding in the car) and between her and the no-nap-kid it’s pretty much been a whine fest around these parts. ?This week isn’t looking much better.

So that whole Christmas wrap-up thing.

Visited the old people (my grandparents). ?We spent Christmas Eve at the trusty in-law’s house. ?We ate food and opened gifts. ?I think the boy was a little confused that his cousin received more gifts than he did. ?What he didn’t realize is that she got all of her gifts from her parents in addition to the stuff from the aunts and uncle and grandparents. ?The boy also didn’t take into account that his biggest Christmas gift was laying on the floor next to him snoring.

On Christmas Day we went to my parent’s house. ?Talk about the best Christmas ever. ?For the first time all three of my parent’s kids were in the same room. ?Little, Leo and Brian came. ?My step-brother Zac showed up and it was like we were a real family. ?Ok, we are a real family, but one that is so mixed. ?I think Zac got a kick out of these “new” sisters of his. ?Zac and I have been together at Christmas for the past 7 years or so, but this is the first time he’s seen Little and I together. ?What a riot. ?The old people joined us for dinner and I had the best time.

Christmas morning was quite magical for the boy. ?Amazingly, he slept until 7:20. ?The dog was up earlier than he was. ?We heard his bedroom door open and then feet running down to the family room. ?A few minutes later the running was coming back to us and he ran into our room and said, “MOM DAD! Santa brought me a new scooter!” ?Best Christmas moment evah. ?Especially since I had forgotten to put the scooter out the night before and did it when I put the dog out at 6:00. ?Santa also brought the boy a new guitar so he and daddy can jam. ?Derek and the boy gave me a new scarf, a sherpa hat and the third season of The Tudors. ?There was also a gift for me from Santa. ?The envelope said:

To Lisa:

For all your hard work to help those who have none. ?Thanks for working in my spirit.

All my best, Santa

I cried. ?Not because of what was inside, but because I spend so much time to raise all of this money for children who have nothing and I don’t ask for anything in return. ?This year I have felt like such a failure. ?I had planned on sending the money to Russia on the 18th or 19th of December. ?As of this moment, it still isn’t sent. ?I have never had such an issue with trying to give away money. ?The bank has given me problems, paypal wouldn’t confirm our account and when we tried to transfer the money into our personal account it took almost a week. ?The good news is the money is now accessible and we will go to transfer it this afternoon. ?I only hope that it will get there in time for the children to have a good New Year.

So what was inside the envelope? ?Tickets to the Cake concert on New Years Eve.