Christmas

My professor declined to attend our first 8:30 class of the
semester, and I am left with a free hour before my next class.  I have no syllabi for my classes yet, so I
cannot read ahead.  The one assignment I
do have is in a book I left at home.  Ergo, it’s a stolen hour to write about our
Christmas.

Let’s begin with the beginning – mid December, and a trip to
Tennessee on a plane.  Short though the flight was, I came prepared
for an hour with a trapped, wide awake toddler. 
There were grapes.  There was PB
and J.  There was a new Lightning McQueen
toy, a new book, an old favorite blanket, crackers, yogurt, juice, milk, toys, and
if all else failed, my cell phone, which I had to keep him from turning
on.  He did well – it was a bit turbulent,
and I have to say I wasn’t entirely comfortable with holding him in my lap
while we bounced all over the place. 
Next time, we may spring for the extra seat so I can strap him into his
carseat.  I was terrified we’d have one
of those huge elevation changes and he’d go flying out of my arms.

He cried on the descent, because of his ears, and that was
all.  Otherwise, he flirted with other
passengers, and climbed all over us – luckily his feet were too short to kick
the seat in front of us, so I don’t think he was too disturbing to our
neighbors.  We met my parents at the
airport, and handed over his enormous suitcase and other bags, before kissing
him good-bye and heading in a separate direction.  We wouldn’t see him for a week.  He was spending the week with Nana and
Grandpa Doc, and we were going to a job interview a couple of hours away.  From what I hear, he didn’t even miss us,
except maybe at bath time.  They took him
all over town – my dad even took the week off.

The interview went well, though we haven’t heard.  It’s a lovely school, small and financially
sound, and we would love to be there. 
Stay tuned, we hope to hear soon. 
Anyway, after three days of eating at every restaurant this tiny place
had to offer and trying to be as winning and delightful as possible, we flew
home for two days so I could take my last two exams, and then drove back up to
the exact same place from which we’d flown. 
It felt silly, but it’s how it had to work out.

Back in Nashville
with my family, we added our gifts to the massive pile under the tree.  I went last minute shopping with my last
minute sister.  We watched football,
wrapped gifts, ate too much.  Two days
after our arrival, we loaded the car once more to head north, to Indiana,
for a whirlwind trip to Patrick’s side of the family.  We spend as much time as we can with his
aging grandparents, a lovely pair with whom Patrick has spent half of his
childhood Christmases.  It was lots of
fun to play in the snow, and visit, and exchange gifts, and two days later we
were heading back south to Nashville
after tearful good-byes.

We had five travel free days after that, and were able to
enjoy a whole lot of doing nothing at all. 
Christmas itself was lovely – cinnamon rolls in the morning, an Ipod
Touch, new drinking glasses, and an external hard drive for me (alas, alas),
Ken Burns National Parks DVD and a book of National Park maps for Patrick
(heaven), and piles of new toys and clothes for Jack.  My sister got a vacuum, coffee maker, and
microwave.  We’re getting old, eh?

We drove home on the 28^th, and the next day
welcomed dear friends who were coming to help us ring in the New Year.  Patrick, Jack, and I saw more of the city
than we had since moving here, and ate more delicious restaurant Creole food
than I ever thought we would.  It’s
wonderful to see your newly adopted city through tourist eyes – we’ve been
focusing on making it small, making it home, but they opened it up again for
us.  New Years Eve they went out to a
local bar for some drinks and the countdown, and I stayed home with Jack.  Pregnant, sleepy, somehow despite my
predictions I made it to midnight and
kissed my sleeping baby’s cheek to ring in the new year.  Everyone returned shortly after the ball
dropped on tv, and we stayed up talking too late, too late.

Now they are all gone, and I am back to the routine.  The cycle to school this morning at 7:45 am was cold, cold.  Our house stays pretty chilly.  We are eating well this winter.

Let’s hope my professor shows up for the 10:00 class today.