Wishing Everyone a Merry Christmas
I was as calm as a cucumber getting ready for the holidays this year. My biggest concern was that the puppies would ruin our Christmas tree and ornaments but the children insisted we had to get a tree so the poor tree was locked in our den the whole time it was in our home. I felt sorry for all the people who were running around stressed out of their minds because of the holidays. Then we got the news the day the puppies were spayed that my suspicion was correct and that Maisie does indeed have hip dysplasia. I cried and cried and had a hard time focusing and was so worried about what to do and all of a sudden I was like all the other stressed out people at the store. Luckily a great deal of calm came over me after my dad and I took her to an veterinary orthopedic specialist and I remembered that I felt strongly that Maisie was supposed to be my dog and that I would make whatever decisions were best for her when the time came. For now, we started her on Omega 3s, bought her an orthopedic bed, don’t command her to lay down unless it is on a bed, don’t take her for runs, and we have an appointment set up for her with a physical therapist in January. She is a happy puppy and loves the extra snuggles she has been getting. I dare say she is happier than her sister Piper, who is completely healthy!
A wonderful moment around the Christmas season for us this year was watching K and M dance in their first holiday show. I have been really bad at taking pictures so you’re just going to have to trust me that my parents and Hubby and D and N and I were all there to watch and I was so proud of how hard K and M worked on their routines and how well they performed. Afterwards we celebrated by eating out at Qdoba and had the entire restaurant to ourselves. I’m already looking forward to their show in June! P.S. M was thrilled to go watch her best friend perform in the Nutcracker a few weeks later at the same venue.
Some other great memories involved D and N both receiving awards at school, N going to her new friend E’s birthday party at the rec center which included both the rock wall and the swimming pool, basketball starting for D with his dad as his coach!, M attending a Girl Scout craft extravaganza with other girls from our troop, me being able to attend the RS Christmas party at the D family’s estate, Hubby helping plan, decorate for, and mc the ward Christmas party, having a Christmas party one week and caroling another week with the Activity Day girls, D helping ring bells to raise money for charity with the Activity Days boys, K being able to pull up her grades in time for the end of the quarter even though she had been home sick and all of us except N going to see The Rise of Skywalker in the movie theater while my mom babysat our youngest. Then the boys went off to Steamboat Springs for a ski trip while us girls relaxed, finished prepping for Christmas by wrapping presents and baking cookies, got pedicures, and packed for our next adventure. The boys came back on December 23 and we celebrated Christmas with my parents on Christmas Eve with presents and a lovely, Thanksgiving type meal since we didn’t do that together in November. It was great to be together with nothing else to do that day.
As I look back on 2019 think about a cold winter and spring, Girl Scout cookies driving me crazy, a spring break cruise that taught me a whole lot, my beloved Meigo dying, going to the temple for the last time in a long time because I was so upset the last time I went, bringing home our Portuguese Water Dog puppies, Girl Scout day camp, going to western New York this summer, meeting the S family in St. George and spending a couple days in Las Vegas, plenty of trips to orthodontists and pediatricians and dentists and orthopedics, being so grateful my children like their teachers, parent teacher conferences and Thursday folders, taking N to Disneyland, spending Thanksgiving in Utah, and lots of kids home sick in December. I remember marvelous sun rises and sun sets, bike rides and walking the children to and from school and playing with the puppies, listening to good books and podcasts and keeping the house clean and finishing scrapbooks. I feel happier this winter than I did last winter for sure (even my kids have noticed I have more patience now) and simply feel grateful for the wonderful life I get to enjoy every day. I know it may not sound like the best life ever — K continually says I waste my time by doing things like cleaning the house and running errands and volunteering — but it is the life I’ve chosen for myself and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I get to live in an amazing place with great neighbors and schools, I have good food to eat and clothes to wear and feel like I’m spoiled so often. What do I want for 2020? To continue to feel the way I do now: confident that I can handle whatever comes my way.
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