the holidays

Skipping from one holiday to the next two. Christmas in NE Iowa was a fine time. My sister and her family stayed with us Friday night on their way through the state. Ironically enough, of all my family they live the furthest away but have been to our home more than any of the rest. We caravanned to mom and dad’s with them Saturday morning and spent the day sledding, which is much easier now-a-days with atvs to pull you around. Even took a little trip to the infamous Osborne hill.

Thanks to the lovely winter weather we were snowed in on Sunday. In a feeble attempt to go into town to save his sanity Ryan thought our pick-up would make it. He was sadly mistaken. After several phone calls one neighbor said they’d rather not because we could sue them. Honestly!? I’ve known this family my whole life and was their regular babysitter once upon a time. Whatever dude. Many thanks to my uncle Mark who successfully rescued my husband and my uncle Terry who offered.

By the morning of Christmas Eve the county crew had plowed a single lane along our gravel road north to the highway providing passage for the rest of our family to get to mom and dad’s. Laura and Adam decided to open the envelope containing the sex of their baby that morning. We were delighted to find out a niece will be joining our family in May. After lunch had been eaten and the presents had been opened it was off to Christmas Eve mass where we sat in the basement and watched the service over closed circuit TV. Which was immediately followed by the celebration at Grandma and Grandpa’s with the whole extended family.

We tried to visit my other Grandma in Dubuque on Christmas day but she already had plans. So we ate a quick lunch with the Tucker clan and headed home. I had the rest of the week off and spent three glorious days watching the Today show in my pajamas.

Our New Year’s was a rather quiet one. We invited our good friends over to celebrate with us at home. We popped open a bottle of wine, a couple of beers and some sparkling grape juice for Stefany who’s pregers. Enjoyed three rousing games of a “battle of the sexes” version of Scene It. They headed home shortly after midnight and we were in bed by 1 a.m. Like I said – pretty low key but it was fun. My cousin and her bf from Cedar Rapids crashed at our place after attending a party in the DSM area. So we were able to hang out with them for awhile on Monday.

My Christmas decorations are all packed. It’s all over. I’m obviously having trouble getting back into the groove at work after 11 days off seeing as how drafting an entry for my blog has risen to the top of my priority list today. My New Year’s Resolution – be more productive at work…. Starting tomorrow.