A Mommy Story

I can’t believe Christmas is over already. This year seemed to go by faster than it usually does. I spent the two days before Christmas cleaning out house to prepare for visitors, and also repeatedly checking my list to make sure we had gifts for everyone. One of my grandmothers has to use a walker all the time now, so it was vital to make sure the house was free of any floor clutter that could hinder her movement or trip her. Or me, for that matter, since my right foot is still in a walking boot until mid-January for tendonitis. Cleaning and shopping both took about 4x as long as usual due to the boot slowing me down and wearing me out. No one prepares you for how heavy the boot is – it’s exhausting to drag it along with every step.

Then on Christmas Eve, after the kids were asleep (which was later than their normal bedtime), Aaron and I stayed up until 1am wrapping gifts for the kids. There were no big surprises like last year, when we had the big reveal that we were going to Walt Disney World. They already know we’re going this year, since they’ve been training for their own 1 mile Kids Race for the Princess Half Marathon Weekend. Still, there were a few items they were really hoping to get, and we didn’t disappoint.

Santa got all the credit for the cool gifts this year: Mira’s gift was Disney Infinity 2.0 (she wanted it primarily to play as Stitch), and Cordy’s gift was the Nightmare Express expansion pack for Skylanders Trap Team.

It was still a very Disney Christmas, though. They both received Disney t-shirts (Stitch for Mira, Big Hero 6 for Cordy), Mira got a Honey Lemon doll from Big Hero 6, both received Disney sticker books and Disney puzzles, and they both were given Disney gift cards to use at Walt Disney World.

On the other hand, it was a very running-based Christmas for Aaron and I. His gift was a medal holder rack so he can display the running medals he earns. (He also had an early Christmas gift of an iPad.) My gift was a Garmin Forerunner 620 GPS watch – basically the king of GPS watches. It can track your route and pace, set intervals for you, track your cadence, and provide feedback on how to improve your running. It can basically do everything except get you out the door to go run. I’m still waiting on that feature.

I’m looking forward to using the watch once I’m cleared to run again.

Cosmo enjoyed hanging out in his ugly Christmas sweater.

It was great to see family and Christmas Day was just perfect. We had a lovely meal, followed by games and then dessert. Once everyone had left, the four of us played a board game in the evening. I was utterly exhausted the next day, though, and spent most of this weekend wanting to sit on the couch and be lazy.

I’m off work for most of this week, which is great since the kids are still out of school, too. I’m looking forward to playing games and relaxing together, as well as hopefully boxing up a bunch of stuff we don’t need and sending it off to Goodwill before the new year.

I’m thankful for having this quiet time with family before we start 2015.