Having Company

I've got a few moments of quiet to put some thoughts down in words. Ah. . . a little slice of peace.

My dad and my brother flew in on Sunday to visit. Our whole day was spent getting the house ready and tracking the flights to know when to pick them up. Dad flew in to SFO and S flew in to San Jose. Since then, it's been a flurry of shopping, cooking, eating, cleaning and visiting. The apartment is cleaner than it's been in months and yet I still feel that I have a million things to do before Christmas.

I celebrated my 26th birthday on Tuesday. My wonderful hubby made me a yummy birthday breakfast before we all went Christmas shopping at the mall. I normally hate the mall, but it seemed a necessary evil this week. We took the baby to see Santa Claus, and hubby and I knocked out quite a bit of our shopping list. For dinner, we met my mom for dinner at Benihanna's. It's the first time I've had dinner with both my parents in a long while. Seeing as how they have been divorced for almost 8 years and my dad lives in Iowa, the opportunity rarely presents to have a meal with them. They managed to stay civil for the duration. I enjoyed some sushi and had my favorite: steak and shrimp. All in all, it was a good day.

Yesterday was hellish. There really isn't any other word for it. I was a stress case from beginning to end. First, I couldn't find my bank statement to balance my check book. Not a huge deal, because I could print it off the internet, but hello! Where could it be? If I didn't accidentally shred it (highly unlikely) than it's somewhere it shouldn't be and that makes me nervous. Then, as I was getting ready to take my dad, brother, baby and laundry over to my grandma's house, I couldn't find the house keys. I looked high and low for 15 minutes, all the while the baby's getting upset because we interrupted her nap. Finally, I just locked the doorknob and left. Turns out, hubby took both sets to work by accident. Lovely. Once we got settled at Tata's house, the baby started freaking out. Big time. By the time bedtime rolled around, she'd been crying for an hour. Nothing was working. She kept crying for two more hours, and I was getting more and more tense because I couldn't take her home. Remember, no house keys till hubby got home at 11pm! I called the doctor's office because Kirsten was really working herself up and nothing I was doing was helping. So not normal for my kid. Because of certain factors, the nurse wanted me to take K to the ER to be evaluated for some intestinal problem. I load everybody and the laundry back into the car and head to the hospital. I'm not really panicked, but I have my brother drive anyway while I chill in the back seat with the Baby. Of course, she falls asleep as soon as we get moving. At the hospital, she woke up and starts smiling. Yes, that's right, smiling. I felt like a complete moron. Here I was, really nervous that something was really wrong with my baby. The nurse took one look at K and asked if I really thought she needed to be seen. By then, K was smiling and happily babbling to anyone who even looked in her direction. I didn't even bother doing the intake paperwork. We took her home and she slept the whole way. Ugh.

She's sleeping now, and has been for almost 3 hours. I LOVE our baby swing. Somedays, it's truly a lifesaver. After fighting her naps for almost a week now, she's getting a solid nap. I'm happy.

My aunt and uncle are on their way for a visit as I type. They should be crossing the Bay Bridge if traffic is ok out there. I spent my morning running around, cleaning the house for their visit. It's one thing having my dad over. It's a whole other ball of wax having extended family over. A whole new level of clean :) Maybe I'm neurotic, but whatever. Thankfully, they left Sacramento late, so I've had time to relax and catch my breath.

Speaking of running, hubby got me out of the house this morning for my walk/run. I ran for 3 minutes, twice, as part of today's scheduled workout. It felt great!!! I remember why I loved running when I did it. I definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys solitude.

Ok, my deli sandwich has arrived, so I must go.