I'm 73 today

According to our new Wii. I've found a new fitness routine and the Wii says I can boogie like I'm 73. My goal is to at least get that thing down to my REAL age of 30! Geesh!

I've decided it's my new morning routine.

Our Christmas was just an onslaught of wrapping paper and shiny new objects. My children have so many new toys they still have things they haven't opened. I think I could probably wrap some of the stuff up for next year and they'd probably only have slight deja vu when they opened them up again.

It all started on the 22nd. The Man's cousin has three kids as well and is divorced from their father who got to have the kids this Christmas. So we had a kid Christmas on the 22nd for her kids and our kids. We all piled up and went to The Man's aunt's house with our sacks of goodies and had lasagne and watched the kids tear into brightly colored packages for the first time of the season.

Just this one escapade filled the back of our minivan. And it was only the beginning!

On the 23rd I went to my mom's house to help her prepare for what would be our family Christmas dinner as my poor mother had to be admitted into the hospital in Miami on Christmas Eve for brain surgery!

Side note: my mom has Parkinson's disease and has had a Deep Brain Stimulation surgery in the past which was successful. Unfortunately the sensor in her head had malfunctioned and it needed to be replaced. So it was scheduled for Christmas Eve morning at 6 AM.

After making the killer potatoes that we only dare to eat once a year (boiled in Heavy Cream and garlic - OMGosh) so they'd be ready to put in the oven on Christmas, setting the table, polishing silver, and making sure the presents were under the tree just so, I went home to bake Christmas cookies for Santa.

I wish I had taken a picture of the decorated cookies. They were.... ahem.... um.... beautiful.

I went to bed around 1 AM and woke up at 4 AM and The Man drove me over to my sister's so we could head down to Miami. After much emotional break down in the hospital on my sister's part, my mother was admitted, operated on, and out with flying colors. When the surgeon came down to tell us she was great I lit up with joy and my sister burst into tears. Ah, emotional stress coupled with the holidays.

Sis and I drove back to her house where I drank a glass of Merlot and promptly fell asleep while waiting for The Man and the munchkins to pick me up on their way to The Man's dad's house for our Christmas Eve festivities.

I'm not sure how I made it through that evening. I was like a zombie the whole night. The kids tore into more presents... Bratz dolls, Legos, Hot Wheels... it was the theme of Christmas this year.

I got a very cool pink ceramic knife from The Man's brother. More information about it can be found here. Proceeds from it's sale is donated to the Susan G Komen foundation. He was actually looking to buy a ceramic knife for The Man but since it was pink it went to me. ;)

He describes the conversation with the sales girl like this:

Bro: Do you have any ceramic knives?
SG: We have this one, the proceed benefit the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
Bro: But it's pink... he's a guy.
SG: But wouldn't he want to help cure Breast Cancer?
Bro: Well.... he does like breasts....

And so it came to be that I would possess the knife. It is super sharp and very pretty.

That night Santa came and delivered the motherload to our tree. And I really didn't think my kids were all THAT good this year. Sheesh!

I fell asleep as though knocked bluntly over the head around midnight.

At FIVE AM we heard them. Trying deseperately to be quiet, bless their little hearts. So up we got and the violent unwrapping of presents ensued. Bratz dolls, Legos, Hot Wheels, OH MY!

The Man gave me many lovely gifts but shockingly my favorite is probably the 12 Cube World stick figures I received. They're so darned cute!

At 6:30 I fell BACK asleep while the kids played with their loot. At 2:00 we were off to The Man's aunts house again for the official Christmas celebration where the kids again tore into gifts with reckless abandon.

The back of the van was loaded heavy with toys as we ventured to my parents house. My mother sat tiredly at the couch, my neice squeeled with delight upon seeing the munchkins, my dad handed out glasses of Crown Royal. (Which, btw, is just plain heavenly in Diet Coke.)

Our family received a Wii and the kids received numerous other gifts, big and small. Among them is a train set with probably 300 pieces, a HUGE Bratz party bus, and a Robo Quad. Yowza.

Yesterday was spent trying to find my house under all the stuff we got. I still haven't found it and I'm hoping the task can be done by next year. :)

Injustice

I was reading Julian's Care Page today and I'm having such a hard time with the injustice of the world. Why should a beautiful little boy like Julian have to endure so much suffering? What is the purpose? Is there a purpose? Is it to teach us a lesson? Is it because Julian himself has done something to deserve such suffering (surely that can't be the case)? Maybe those who love and are close to Julian have some lesson to learn?

But why should such a lesson be taught through an innocent little boy?

And why should I be so lucky to have three amazingly beautiful children who are healthy and active and have no problems at all? It's incredibly unfair... but then again, life isn't fair. Is it?

I don't read Julian's page every time it's updated because I can't control my tears. I can't keep myself together when I think about it. I wish there was something I could do... for Julian, for his family, for all the children suffering in the world. But I sit here feeling helpless. We don't have a ton of extra money to donate, we don't have a ton of extra time.

But my children do have a Christmas tree loaded with presents under it and they'll have a wonderful Christmas... just the sort of Christmas I want to provide for them... just the sort of Christmas I always had as a child. I can't shake the terrible guilt I feel for giving my children such a wonderful experience when there are so many children who are sick or living in poverty or living in abusive situations.

I feel helpless and I'm not sure what steps to take. And I wonder what good I could really do? And to what expense to my own children?

Bug made a difference this Christmas. He donates his Club Penguin coins to help sick children every day. I knew nothing about it but when he told me he was doing it last night I looked into it. I'm so proud of him for caring. I'm so proud that he is so willing to give.

Here's our Christmas picture this year. I'm so proud of my 3 little munchkins.



(To read about Julian, go to www.carepages.com and set up an account - you have to have one to view his page - and type in juliansworld in the search... and get a box of tissues.)