Getting Back On Track

Looking back at my blog, it’s easy to see that December has been hectic, so
hectic that I’ve not only neglected to post here but haven’t had time to
read, or comment, on fellow blogs for nearly three weeks, which might be the
longest I’ve ever gone without doing so in the thirteen years since I started
blogging. Even on road trips I’ve managed to post a few times a week by stopping
at a motel where they have WiFi, but there was too much to do here at home to
even come up with an entry.

Luckily, things have mostly been hectic in a good way. After not being able to
connect with Tyson and his family since Thanksgiving, 2013, we managed to spend
nearly two weeks together in November and December, first at Thanksgiving in
Colorado, and, for the last week, here in Tacoma. It was hectic even before
they got here because Jen and the kids kept talking about Grandpa’s cookies, so
I spent hours in the kitchen baking before Christmas. I baked so much I dreamed
that I’d been demoted to chief dishwasher. Baking is the fun part of making
cookies; it’s the clean up afterwards that I dislike.

Unfortunately, doing dishes also seemed like an inevitable part of having a
houseful of people over in the last week, even though others were great at
pitching in to help out. You have to have faith in the future generation when
even grandkids remember to take their plate over to the kitchen sink and not
just leaving it on the table when they’re done eating and ready to move on to
the next adventure.

Best of all, I got to spend time with the kids as they worked on crafts I’d
gotten them for Christmas, decorate Christmas cookies, and spend hours playing
games with them and Dawn’s family. Heck, I even got to spend my 73rd Birthday
with all of them.

Of course, it hasn’t helped that this seems like a particularly bad cold/flu
season and that I managed to catch something from Leslie, my ex-wife Paula,
daughter Dawn, son-in-law Corry, grandson Kel or some complete stranger
exercising at the YMCA. It never got bad enough to send me to bed, but I have
taken more pain killers in the last week than I normally take in a year. Worse
of all, we managed to hand it off to Zoe, and the poor kid looked pretty
out-of-it as she left for Colorado at 6:30 this morning.

It will still take a few days to reorganize the house, move back into our
bedroom, and put away Christmas decorations, but I expect to be back online by
next Monday — right after my early morning workout at the Y, another thing I’ve
been neglecting the last few weeks.

4 thoughts on “Getting Back On Track”

  1. We all understand (says the erratically posting woman), and enjoyed reading about your family holiday.

    Sorry you became sick. And sorry for poor little Zoe. The flu does seem to be widespread this year.

    My excuse for not writing in my space is I’m working on one book, as I go through the editing of another. But I need to get my buns in gear and do better. You’ve inspired me to at least try.

    1. “Making a living” is probably a slightly better excuse for not posting than “having too much fun” to bother.

  2. Hope you feel better quickly. Now that we’re spending more time with the grandkids, we’re also getting sick more often. No fun at all. Take care there and happy new year!

    1. That seems particularly true when they’re under 5, doesn’t it. Guess we go “revenge” this time as we seem to have given it to the granddaughter. (I felt really bad about that.)

      Happy New Year to you, too.

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