Christmas blessings

Yesterday was kind of a hard day. Nothing big or horrible happened, just a lot of little things that made the day long and arduous. I had my glucose test in the morning. There was an hour wait at the lab. The test takes an hour. I don't know if you've ever had one of those but the stuff they give you to drink tastes like sugar-infused, lemon-lime sludge. The bottle said: Serve cold for optimal flavor. Um yeah, maybe we should tone down the flavor.

I got through that, donated my 6 vials of blood and walked out to my car. To discover, for the first time in my life, I'd locked my keys in the car.  The spare set was downtown with my husband. I called my oldest daughter and she said she'd pick me up. I'd been texting another friend too who said she could be there for me. I felt loved.

So I stood, waiting. Did I mention my back has really hurt lately? The only place to sit?  The very cold curb or the lab which smelled pretty dang awful. My legs were shaking and my stomach kinda upset from the lemon-lime slime.  Thankfully, my husband had reminded me to pack something to eat. The banana really helped. As I'm waiting I realize my house key is also in the car. Driving downtown is looking more and more likely.

45 minutes later, I find out something that is actually pretty assuring. My house is not so easy to break into. My kids have been listening and shutting their windows all the way. So my daughter drives me downtown, we pick up the key from my dear husband and head back to the car. My daughter says, you know. This gas situation is starting to worry me. Sure enough, she's on E. We decide we've had enough adventure for one day and stop to get some gas.

I get home around 1:45. About 5 hours later. I'd planned on decorating cookies with the kids. You know, in a clean kitchen with everything laid out. Cookies ready to decorate. Organized. Timely. Nope. They get out at 2:35, the dough needs 1 hour to chill and I hadn't even made it yet. So I make the dough, put it in the refrigerator and speed clean the table. You see, I'd asked my step-son's mom if I could take him for an hour after school so he could help us decorate cookies. She said yes. This is such a rare thing that I did not want anything to go wrong. Then I remembered I'd only eaten a banana and maybe that's why I was feeling dizzy.

I quickly cut a batch of un-chilled cookies, put them in the oven, heated up some left overs, and sat down to eat. I ran to the school, got the kids home and proceeded in a very messy, unorganized cookie baking and decorating session. Yeah. It was fun. ; )

I'm still not sure after baking 8 dozen cookies, there are only 5 dozen or so in containers this morning. I mean there wasn't that many broken cookies.

Baby boy's mom came to pick him up late so he was able to finish with us and then. Then clean-up. At 4:30, just after my husband got home, exhaustion hit. I could not move. The bed looked pretty darn good. Then my 17 yo reminded me I'd promised to take her shopping after dinner. o_O Dinner? Shopping?

Then my son brought two packages and the mail into the bedroom. Amid the bills, there was a Christmas card that brought a smile to my lips. I opened the packages to find Christmas presents from friends who live far away, one of which I've never met in person--but I swear we were separated at birth. HC Palmquist sent me a hardcover book! Perfect for relaxing on the couch under a warm blanket, and Crystal sent me this: If any one you remember my Twittter avatars for the last 2 years, you'll know how absolutely perfect this ornament is for me.

And suddenly, the day is perfect and my heart is light. I am so truly blessed to have such wonderful friends in my life.





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