I’ve read that when a tree is chopped down, its age can be determined by the number of rings in the cross section of the trunk. I also understand that the worse a particular year was for said tree, the thicker the corresponding ring appears. If our family tree ever gets chopped down and the cross section of our trunk examined, the ring for the Christmas Drive 2007 will appear particularly thick.
Following are the highs and lows of our Christmas Vacation. I’ll allow you, the reader, to determine which is which.
- Four in the morning, in the Middle of Nowhere, NE, and the words from Husbands mouth are “Uh oh, we are having some major car problems.”
- Waiting 1 1/2 hours for the tow truck to arrive, and our subsequent ride in the police cruiser back to the nearest town.
- 2 1/2 days in the Middle of Nowhere, NE waiting for our car to be repaired
- On the road again! The sweet sound of our car starting!
- Laramie, WY: I-80 and I-30 both closed due to inclement weather
- Another night in a hotel. If you are counting, that is night number four spent in a hotel.
- The next morning, we are on the road again, when traffic stops because of a jack-knifed semi a quarter of a mile ahead. We spend just over three hours with our car in “park” on the I-80 outside of Rawlins, WY.
- Fresh baked sugar cookies, mint brownies, honey almond bars, homemade soup and rolls and hugs and smiles from my brothers and sister.
- Two words: Christmas Elves (Hi Sara! Hi Scott! Hi Ed! Hi Ryan! Hi April!)
- Finally, a decent haircut for the Husband!
- Reconnecting with old friends as though no time at all had passed since we last saw each other. (Hi Dallas! Hi Shannon! Hi Kate! Hi Linette, Doug, et al!)
- Sunday dinner at Kim’s!
- People seem genuinely happy to see us . . .
- We met our new nephew and nieces!
- Stella learned to fly from her daddy’s arms to her uncle’s arms and back again. Seriously fly across the room.
- Extreme and unexpected generosity of family. We are still in a bit of shock.
- When we asked the boys what was the best part of their Christmas, they exclaimed without hesitation “Tubing with Uncle Rhett!”
- Jazz 98, Mavericks 90 (Hi Dallas!)
- XBOX update (Hi Again!)
- M 16, fully automatic. Super fun. Police training simulations. I could have stayed there all night.
- Games, games, and more games. Celebrity challenge, Settlers of Cataan, Dominos, and Cranium, just to name a few. Ah, the games.
- Professional eyebrow wax.
- A delicious treat consisting of orange segments, a fistful of peanut M&M’s, a handful of Oreos, and Gatorade.
- Time, not enough time
Good-bye
If you are still reading, you are about to get a Parenting Nugget of Wisdom. On the way home, certain children (who shall remain nameless) were fighting and punching and screaming at each other. Their father pulled the car to the side of the freeway, yanked the worst offender out of the car and into the blowing snow, and and offered to allow said offender to live in the ditch if he/she did not enjoy our family. The child made the wise decision to remain a part of our family, and now we all talk about how great it would be to live in a ditch out by the highway. Unless you want to get teased and teased, you should never parent while you are in a highly emotional state. You will inevitably say or do something silly, or at least say or do something to merit you’re being teased and teased.
So the good news is that even after cramming our family of five into our five seater and spending seven out of the last thirteen days stuck in said car or waiting for said car to be repaired, we arrived home without incident and Husband and Wife continue to be madly in love with each other and totally enamored with the kids. We even got in one more game of Cranium before sending the rugrats off to bed.
Love to all and good night . . .
