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December 15, 2001
December 15:
Well, I am feeling very blessed today. To my surprise, my Christmas bonus check came in the mail today. I was very excited and thankful! My boss has always been good to me over the past 11+ years, but I wasn’t sure if my long maternity leave would affect my year-end bonus. It didn’t. I went to the office Christmas party on Friday. For the past 18 years, the party has been held at Maxim’s. But Maxim’s closed last year after it was sold. It has not yet reopened, so this year we had to move the party. It was held at the Briar Club. It was fun to see everyone and wear professional clothing again. No spit up on my shoulder today! A few glasses of wine, a great meal, and adult conversation! I went shopping last week and it was fun to try things on and buy new things. I have never really had a problem with my weight. I actually weigh 2 pounds less than when I first became PG with Rachel. But, my body has changed since having two kids. That’s life!
We put up the Christmas tree on Sunday. It’s not as tall as last year’s but it looks and smells great. Jerry and I were each raised in the north where we not only had real trees, but went out in the snow and cut them down. In fact, all of our Christmas trees came from our family farm. So, a “live” fir is a “must” for this family! Jerry took Rachel to the movies (Monsters, Inc.—her third trip). I put lights and decorations on the tree while Mitch watched. I put a holiday wreath on the front door. I used live pine wrapped with white lights on the banisters up the stairs and along the railing that overlooks the front foyer. I got everything decorated before they got home. The yard is Jerry’s territory. He decorated with some displays in the front and side yards (we have a corner lot). We used tall lollipops (covered with brightly colored cellophane) to decorate/border our home (down the front walkway all around the front and sides of the house). They were joined together with strands of colored lights. I’ve seen several houses do this using candy canes, but I’ve always wanted to use lollipops. Rachel loves walking up and down the sidewalk touching and counting the lollipops. I put all the gifts under the tree (sent by grandparents and family) and started wrapping our own gifts. It’s really fun to enjoy the holidays and not be “stressed out” having to work and manage everything else in the evenings and weekends.
I received word from John who is now in the middle east. He flew out of Ft. Bragg, NC, to Germany, to Turkey, and then to Uzbekistan. He said it is very cold there at nights, getting down into the teens. They are sleeping in tents with 10-12 men per tent. They sleep on cots and each man has two foot lockers at the base of his cot. After many days of no restroom facilities, they now have 5 latrines which are used by 3,000 people!! He has to hike across the whole camp in the middle of the night to use the restroom. He said whoever designed the outhouses had no idea what the “average” size of an American solider is. While seated on the toilets, they can’t close the doors! His tent is at the bottom of a hill. Of course it snowed for several days in a row and then one morning the sun came up and melted the snow. When he returned from his shift, he found his shoes floating around in the tent. He is laying the electrical lines which support the base. He said he is always busy because something is always breaking down. He works 12-hour shifts every day. No days off. He is glad because he said there is not much to do except work. He has a digital camera with him and said he will send a CD of pictures soon. He said there is a small store which sells tobacco and small supplies. Not much though! There is a local store just outside the gates. The owner offered John everything in his store in exchange for his digital camera. John said “no deal!” I felt like mailing my digital camera along with the care package we sent to John. I just hope he receives it before Christmas. It’s a pain to mail to an APO (Army Post Office). With all of the security restrictions, it has to also clear customs, so I have to write down every single item being sent, etc.
Santa is busy shopping for the kids. We took the kids to Katy Mills mall to see Santa and do some family shopping. We were shocked that Rachel eagerly climbed onto Santa’s lap and had no trouble telling him that she wanted a Boo doll! Then she was off and gone! Outta there! Only a Boo doll! Kids!
Megan
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