December

December came in like a lion, and has kept roaring since its arrival.
The month started off with me getting to know the car in front of me, and saying a temporary good-bye to a loved one. (my auto)

Then to add insult to injury, the stomach flu came to my house and stayed a bit. (why is it someone in my family has to puke for Christmas?)
There are only a handful of times per year someone in my house either vomits, or has some sort of accident. It is either for Christmas, or 2 days after my mother has left the country for 6 weeks.
[Example October 1999. My mother leaves the country, Ben who is 5 months old, gets the flu. Then I get the flu.....then KC gets the flu, passes out in the bathroom, falls and hits his head on the toilet, and has to be taken by ambulance to the hospital.
Worried that my dear husband has some sort of Cerebral Hemorrhage, I call my moms friend who kindly came and watched puke boy so I could rush to the hospital to be ill by my husbands bedside.
Luckily it was only a MINOR flesh wound, but my time of being able to be ill lasted about 4 hours. So puke and feverish, I take my poor man home, put him to bed, feed the boy, put him to bed, and I slept on the couch with a bucket. Who ever coined the phrase, "mothers are never allowed to be ill" was a freaking genius.]
So after the illness that struck Ben and I, completely missing Sarah and KC, it snowed. Not the cute "oh its snowing" kind of snow. Oh NO it had to be the city crippling kind. The kind of snow that cancels the last week of school before the winter 2 week break. THANK YOU MOTHER NATURE! YOU ARE A BITCH! I am happy that I am overly organized and had all of the shopping done by Halloween. If I hadn't have been like that I would have been screwed. Because I unlike many people here in Oregon, know my limitations when driving. I lived through a winter in Provo Utah. I can drive in snow. I had to. I can put my chains on, and can slowly get to where I am going if I absolutely need to. If you can drive in Utah, you can drive anywhere.....You haven't lived until you have driven there....There is really no way to put it other than, Picture it an old VW micro bus with 9 kids in it on Sunday LATE for church. I'd take snow any day over the bus. When a Mormon is late for church you'd be better off putting your car into the ditch yourself....Sorry to offend the Koreans, but you have nothing on a Mormon. Sorry. I'd actually prefer the scary ride with the Korean than a late Mormon. I know I am digressing, but bear with me. There is a thing we used to call the Mormon miracle...Church started at 9am. When church started there were a few families that made it on time. The singles that made it on time, and the Senior that made it on time. The Mormon miracle was that after you opened your eyes after the prayer (at 9:05) the sanctuary was FULL.
So back to December. By the 22ND I had cabin fever. I couldn't take it anymore. Neither could my friend Steph. She and her hubby Kevin, went Christmas shopping and left their kids with me. Oddly with 4 kids in the house, it got considerably quieter. She took my kids home with her that night and they all had a sleep over. KC got up on the 23rd and went to work, so that left me ALONE in my house.......which I spent cleaning. After a bit Kevin came to get me in my snow filled cul-de-sac with his little Honda Civic. Poor car is still at my house. When Kevin and I got stuck, the only thing that went through my mind was OH MY GOD Steph is going to KILL us if we don't make it back and she would be alone with 4 kids. My super hero neighbor saved us though and with his 4wd, got us where we needed to be.
The 24Th came and went without incident or travel. (for me. KC went to the Chinese place and got us yummy food that I didn't have to cook.) Kids started bugging us to open presents at noon, and it kept up most of the day. I spent alot of time humming LALALALALALALA I can't hear you.
Christmas day was really nice. My parents came over for breakfast, after we had opened our gifts, which were a total hit. Lots of screaming and yelling, "that's exactly what I wanted!" I am doing the same thing next year. When the toys r us catalogue comes out I am giving the kids sharpie pens, they circle what they want, and I get what fits in the budget from that. We then made the 1/2 mile trek to my brothers house for a really nice really fun dinner and karaoke. We heard alot of "this was the best Christmas ever" from young and OLD.
So now, the 29Th day of what feels like the longest month of my life is here. I am finally able to get out of the house without the fear that some "A"hole with 4wd and no chains on and going 50mph is going to hit me. (why do people assume that they are safe with 4wd? To me that just means all 4 tires skid when you hit ice.) The lion is starting to slip off into slumber land, I am beginning to feel like a human again and not the domestic.
The insurance company ass/u/r/es** me that my car will be done by the 31st of this month. I say BAH Humbug. Not going to happen. I really want my shinny red sleigh back, but I will be the last person to hold my breath.
(I lived through a house remodel, I know that 3 weeks means 6 and by my math I have 2 1/2 weeks to go.)
Anyway to sum it up, the last month of the year has me completely ready for 2009. I am still committed to being a recovering smoker, although every day I dream of lighting something on fire and sticking it in my mouth. I am continuing my goal of feeding my family mostly home made and all organic foods.
I am excited that 24 is starting up again after our brief teaser, I am happy knowing that I will get to hold 2 new born babies this year that AREN'T mine.
I have friends, I have my health, I have my family, and still with that some days I actually have SANITY!