Friday, December 26, 2008

A Very Fine Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas Day.

I think I was in my pjs and cuddling under a blanket by 3pm yesterday. That, to me, is the mark of a good day. We woke early for a family with two teens. They were so excited to rip into the gifts. The excitement surrounding the holiday was not as palpable for us this year. My recent setback and the resulting fatigue made it hard for me to get excited and I think it was hard for Richie and the kids to find their spirit in the face of hospitalization and surgery. But find our spirit we did. We were able to keep their gifts in the surprise category. They had asked for things, but we did say it would be a rather lean Christmas. And it was. We really didn't go too crazy, but Santa did.

So we opened gifts, then lounged, then ate, then slept, then ate, then lounged. Finally, we played Trivial Pursuit. That was the one thing I had really wanted to do this Christmas, and we did. As a matter of fact, we are still playing. I was good for about 5 rounds. We will pick it up tomorrow.

Right now, the surgery is set for Jan. 2. I think this is a tremendously long time from now and Richie was not happy to hear that date. We are hoping Dr. Chapman will be able to find time to put me in before that. We will keep everyone up to date to let you know as we find out more about these details.

Tonight the house is quiet. Charlie is on a sleepover, Madeline is working and Richie is putting a new window in Madeline's room. It is days like today that I feel the most content. I am in my favorite place in the world and all the troops are accounted for.

2 comments:

nat said...

I hope that they can move your surgery up too. That is a long time to maintain a liquid diet! :(

Your Christmas day sounds just perfect - especially if you are winning Trivial Pursuit!

Take care

Mom said...

It was so good to have most of my family with me last night. Chris, Chris and 3 of their chickens were here (Pete was at work), Kaki, of course, TJ, Kathy, Bri and Sean, John with all four of his (Linda had to work) and Mary and her giggle - all were here. Jim and Anne had a coughing child and weren't too happy to drive in the awful rainy night so they missed it. I raised a glass of wine in your honor (OK maybe 3 glasses) and we talked about Lindell and Westmoreland and listened to the kids talk about their lives - so much more involved than mine has ever been! Enjoy your wonderful family, Mag, and let them do things for you this week. Let Rich fight for a date sooner than the 5th but remind him that you will do whatever you need to do - not always with a smile either - you can be grumpy if you feel like it. There's a whole lot of love that comes your way from St. Louis, every day. Capture it and hold it close. Mom