Christmas, Cruise, and Crazy-Cute Nephews
This holiday was a different. Some differences were delightfully anticipated with darling Max, and others were easily expected--but much less enjoyable.
It started with the same vigor and rush at the end of school, with a quick turn-around for me to head down to Virginia (the same as ever!). I took an uber to the bus, which was an experiment to see if it would be more cost/time efficient than taking the train (which involves taking the metro north to the subway/mile-long-walk/uber to Penn station to take another train to DC and then either metro out or get picked up in DC #logisiticallyannoying).
The bus ticket was super cheap ~$30 (less than tolls when driving) and the Uber turned out to be much more expensive than anticipated because of traffic ~$100 (it was reserved for ~$65). For $130, I didn't have to drive, and it took about 6 hours, which is on par with taking my own car.
The bus took me to the Vienna Metro which is only a few minutes from the Wiseman's Acorn Manor. Kenny and Richard picked me up-- a late night for the nearly-4-year-old! The next morning, I did my best Aunty Maz and helped Kelly honor Kenny's request for reindeer pancakes!
Then, we all traveled south together to meet Max and visit with his lovely parents. The car was packed, but as Lanie noted--the Three Wisemen always come bearing gifts. Nothing is more true of these particular Wisemans.
The LeTard/Wiseman clan spent the 21st celebrating December birthdays: Max, Chris, Lanie, Beau, and Jesus (duh). We all enjoyed meeting Max, but Kenny showed his delight in the best way. When I asked him if he was happy to meet Max, he jumped up, clapped a few times, and then did a somersault! I think he is happy with his new cousin. He also went home and added "puzzles for Max" to the Alexa shopping list.
Chris drove down to Richmond the next day, and we got to spend a few more quiet days with BeLanie and Max. There were many highlights including that I got to give Max his first bottle ever! AND we went to Costco. Hard to say which was more exciting. ;)
Chris and I drove back up to Oakton on the evening of the 23rd for the Christmas festivities. We visited with The Jones before heading to Grace Church for Christmas Eve services with Lynn. This was a huge change-- usually, we would go to Emmanuel with the fam. This year, the three Wiseman wanted to spend the afternoon baking cookies for Santa and preparing for Christmas Eve dinner and not running back and forth to Fauquier. Chris suggested joining Lynn for services at Grace in The Plains. He liked the priest there, and we have strong memories of going with Lynn after Jim died. We missed our Emmanuel family, but joining Lynn meant a lot. We will be back at Emmanuel for Easter, I'm sure!
We enjoyed our tradition of reading The Night before Christmas and the Cajun Night before Christmas all together-- face-timing BeLanie and Max. Kenny put out cookies for Santa, carrots for reindeer, including a special purple carrot for Prancer at the suggestion of Uncle Loomy. (We are all taking bets if Kenny remembers this and Chris is sent out to the grocery store on Christmas Eve next year to buy purple carrots!)
This Christmas (and December, in general) I was the laziest I've ever been. I did not bake a single cookie, and Amazon provided most gifts. I barely put together a Christmas card at the last minute. I also was not helping much at Kelly's, I was just super tired. I also experienced several episodes of no-fun stomach distress. My back hurt and the sores in my throat made me super-uncomfortable and hard to eat.
I got so fed up with the side effects that I started a planned "medication holiday" a bit earlier. I took a brief break for 5 doses just to enjoy Christmas a little more. It helped tremendously. I was able to eat without pain, and had just a little bit more energy. This made Christmas day much more pleasant! We enjoyed a smaller-than-usual event, the Three Wisemans, us, and Dad. A smaller fete did not dampen the mood at all. Kenny's bright enthusiasm was everything a Christmas morning needed! We spent the day reading Mo Willems books, playing with Lego, napping, and enjoying all of the tasty treats Kelly and Richard prepared.
The day after Christmas, Kelly invited some of the SBs (Sarah & Steph) over for heavy apps and cocktails. It was so lovely to be with friends! I am so lucky to have a sister who knows this and is kind enough to organize it all for me! There are serious perks to sharing friends!
Chris and I made it back up to New York on the 27th. We did some laundry and packed up for our gift to each other: a 5-night cruise to Mexico!
We embarked from New Orleans, and it was Chris' first time in The Big Easy. In our less-than-24-hour visit, we made sure to eat seafood, get caught in a parade, lose money at Harrah's (it was $6... ), enjoy benigets and chicory coffee from Cafe Du Monde, and have several daiquairis and sazeracs. Chris booked a beautiful hotel in the French Quarter (on points! my favorite way to pay!... sometimes I am my father's daughter: his favorite number is "free"). Even more delightful was the reservation at Cafe Amelie with an extremely generous gift certificate from the SB's (Sarah Buckley, Steph Bitto, and Sophia Brumby). I am the luckiest girl to have such generous, thoughtful, and amazing friends.
We weren't sure if we were cruise people, but it seemed like it was the right mix of sunny warm weather, and the option to go back to our room if I needed it, and distance. I took another medication holiday for the cruise. It was amazing. I had some energy! My body didn't hurt--I could sit up and roll on to my side easily! (I have not been able to do that in months!) There were even moments when I totally forgot that I was sick.
We bought an 'excursion' in Cozumel for a snorkel, lunch, a mini cooking lesson, and drinks at a little seaside resort. It was perfection. Chris and I enjoyed the snorkel. We saw plenty of bright fish, coral, eels, rays, starfish, and a sea snake! We learned how to make sikil p'ak a Mayan style salsa made with ground pumkin seed. We also enjoyed several fruity beverages and an outstanding lunch of Mayan fish.
When we arrived in Progreso, we were not as interested in exploring and spent some time in the shops-- we bought Chris a new wedding ring (his disappeared somewhere in Richmond) and I got a few trinkets as well. We spent the rest of the day on the ship enjoying some of the amenities while it was not as crowded-- including some VERY WINDY mini-golf.
We caught an earlier flight back to NY, which was important because Chris wanted to go and get Cinder. Cinder has not been feeling well either and went to the vet while we were away because he was not eating very much. We are hoping he will be back to his old self soon.
School starts again tomorrow and I've been back on my meds for a few days. It's a hard crash back into reality! I have an infusion on Tuesday 1/6, then a bunch of specialist appointments (ENT, Palliative Care (for pain), MRI again!) over the next three weeks.
It started with the same vigor and rush at the end of school, with a quick turn-around for me to head down to Virginia (the same as ever!). I took an uber to the bus, which was an experiment to see if it would be more cost/time efficient than taking the train (which involves taking the metro north to the subway/mile-long-walk/uber to Penn station to take another train to DC and then either metro out or get picked up in DC #logisiticallyannoying).
The bus ticket was super cheap ~$30 (less than tolls when driving) and the Uber turned out to be much more expensive than anticipated because of traffic ~$100 (it was reserved for ~$65). For $130, I didn't have to drive, and it took about 6 hours, which is on par with taking my own car.The bus took me to the Vienna Metro which is only a few minutes from the Wiseman's Acorn Manor. Kenny and Richard picked me up-- a late night for the nearly-4-year-old! The next morning, I did my best Aunty Maz and helped Kelly honor Kenny's request for reindeer pancakes!
Then, we all traveled south together to meet Max and visit with his lovely parents. The car was packed, but as Lanie noted--the Three Wisemen always come bearing gifts. Nothing is more true of these particular Wisemans.
The LeTard/Wiseman clan spent the 21st celebrating December birthdays: Max, Chris, Lanie, Beau, and Jesus (duh). We all enjoyed meeting Max, but Kenny showed his delight in the best way. When I asked him if he was happy to meet Max, he jumped up, clapped a few times, and then did a somersault! I think he is happy with his new cousin. He also went home and added "puzzles for Max" to the Alexa shopping list.
Chris drove down to Richmond the next day, and we got to spend a few more quiet days with BeLanie and Max. There were many highlights including that I got to give Max his first bottle ever! AND we went to Costco. Hard to say which was more exciting. ;)
Chris and I drove back up to Oakton on the evening of the 23rd for the Christmas festivities. We visited with The Jones before heading to Grace Church for Christmas Eve services with Lynn. This was a huge change-- usually, we would go to Emmanuel with the fam. This year, the three Wiseman wanted to spend the afternoon baking cookies for Santa and preparing for Christmas Eve dinner and not running back and forth to Fauquier. Chris suggested joining Lynn for services at Grace in The Plains. He liked the priest there, and we have strong memories of going with Lynn after Jim died. We missed our Emmanuel family, but joining Lynn meant a lot. We will be back at Emmanuel for Easter, I'm sure!
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| Dad reading the Cajun Night Before Christmas |
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| Family Christmas Photo |
I got so fed up with the side effects that I started a planned "medication holiday" a bit earlier. I took a brief break for 5 doses just to enjoy Christmas a little more. It helped tremendously. I was able to eat without pain, and had just a little bit more energy. This made Christmas day much more pleasant! We enjoyed a smaller-than-usual event, the Three Wisemans, us, and Dad. A smaller fete did not dampen the mood at all. Kenny's bright enthusiasm was everything a Christmas morning needed! We spent the day reading Mo Willems books, playing with Lego, napping, and enjoying all of the tasty treats Kelly and Richard prepared.
 |
| Shallard & Toby at the SB cocktail hour(s) |
The day after Christmas, Kelly invited some of the SBs (Sarah & Steph) over for heavy apps and cocktails. It was so lovely to be with friends! I am so lucky to have a sister who knows this and is kind enough to organize it all for me! There are serious perks to sharing friends!
Chris and I made it back up to New York on the 27th. We did some laundry and packed up for our gift to each other: a 5-night cruise to Mexico!
We embarked from New Orleans, and it was Chris' first time in The Big Easy. In our less-than-24-hour visit, we made sure to eat seafood, get caught in a parade, lose money at Harrah's (it was $6... ), enjoy benigets and chicory coffee from Cafe Du Monde, and have several daiquairis and sazeracs. Chris booked a beautiful hotel in the French Quarter (on points! my favorite way to pay!... sometimes I am my father's daughter: his favorite number is "free"). Even more delightful was the reservation at Cafe Amelie with an extremely generous gift certificate from the SB's (Sarah Buckley, Steph Bitto, and Sophia Brumby). I am the luckiest girl to have such generous, thoughtful, and amazing friends.
We weren't sure if we were cruise people, but it seemed like it was the right mix of sunny warm weather, and the option to go back to our room if I needed it, and distance. I took another medication holiday for the cruise. It was amazing. I had some energy! My body didn't hurt--I could sit up and roll on to my side easily! (I have not been able to do that in months!) There were even moments when I totally forgot that I was sick.
We bought an 'excursion' in Cozumel for a snorkel, lunch, a mini cooking lesson, and drinks at a little seaside resort. It was perfection. Chris and I enjoyed the snorkel. We saw plenty of bright fish, coral, eels, rays, starfish, and a sea snake! We learned how to make sikil p'ak a Mayan style salsa made with ground pumkin seed. We also enjoyed several fruity beverages and an outstanding lunch of Mayan fish.
When we arrived in Progreso, we were not as interested in exploring and spent some time in the shops-- we bought Chris a new wedding ring (his disappeared somewhere in Richmond) and I got a few trinkets as well. We spent the rest of the day on the ship enjoying some of the amenities while it was not as crowded-- including some VERY WINDY mini-golf.We caught an earlier flight back to NY, which was important because Chris wanted to go and get Cinder. Cinder has not been feeling well either and went to the vet while we were away because he was not eating very much. We are hoping he will be back to his old self soon.
School starts again tomorrow and I've been back on my meds for a few days. It's a hard crash back into reality! I have an infusion on Tuesday 1/6, then a bunch of specialist appointments (ENT, Palliative Care (for pain), MRI again!) over the next three weeks.
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