What a month

The last month has been a busy, and stressful, month. I'm just now getting back to normal. Let me fill you in.

Christmas was fun, but busy. I was able to get all the gifts wrapped and sent to the appropriate parties with a day to spare (thank you Amazon.com). I worked Christmas Eve morning. That evening we headed to my grandparents' house for dinner and gifts. We didn't leave for Sam's mom's house until 9:30 - over an hour past Tommy's normal bedtime. Christmas morning was nice and quiet - and we had snow! After lunch we headed back home to relax. Due to the snow on Christmas and the day after, we stayed at home all weekend and just enjoyed some time together. Tommy played in the snow for a few minutes, but then he was ready to go back inside.

The Thursday after Christmas Tommy woke me up by throwing up in his crib. He had hot dogs and milk all over his bed - not a pretty site. Thank goodness it was my off day, and we stayed home all day. By evening he was back to normal and was cleared to return to daycare the next day. That was also the day that I learned my grandmother was in the hospital. She had been in ICU for 2 days, but she was feeling better. They weren't sure what was wrong, but she was hoping to go home soon.

Over New Year's I caught Tommy's stomach bug. I spent the whole weekend in bed and didn't get to eat much at all. It amazed me how much longer it took me to get better than it did Tommy. What he took 12 hours to clear took me 4 days. Guess I'm not as young as I used to be!

After New Year's my grandmother was still in the hospital. My dad and brother drove from NY to Cape Cod to visit her. She was in good spirits during their visit, but the doctors said her kidneys and heart were both failing. Two days after their visit her heart gave out while she was sleeping and my Nana was taken up to Heaven.

The services were planned for Monday and Tuesday of the next week. Because Birmingham was expecting a snow/ice storm on Sunday and Monday, I had to fly out Saturday afternoon. Sam and Tommy stayed behind and wound up riding the storm out at Sam's mom's house. School and work were both closed Monday and Tuesday. I enjoyed seeing my family. We hadn't all been together since my brother's wedding in 2006. It was a sad time, but at the same time it was a joyful time. We spent the days remembering happier times with Nana and knowing she was happy and no longer sick. We went through all the family albums and put together a bunch of pictures from her life to share with those who came to pay their respects.

My Nana was a great woman with a big heart and a wonderful sense of humor. The world is a bit sadder place now that she's gone, but I know I'll see her again some day and that helps ease the pain of losing her somewhat.

I almost had to stay in New England longer than I planned. My flight out of Boston was rescheduled and then canceled due to a big storm that was coming in on Wednesday. I wound up driving to Rochester with my parents and then catching a plane out of Buffalo instead of Boston. It was a good decision, because Boston got around 15 inches of snow that day and I wouldn't have been able to leave until Thursday if I'd stayed there. I was able to get back to Sam and Tommy on time - boy was I glad to see them! This was the first time Tommy and I had been apart overnight, and 4 days was quite a long time away for me. It was nice to get home and get back to normal - well almost. The week before I left town my back was really itchy on one side. Right before I left town I started to get some bumps that I thought were pimples because I'd been scratching so much. While I was gone the bumps started to hurt, so I went to the doctor when I got home. Turns out I had shingles! It was a fairly mild case with more itchiness than pain, but it was still irritating. The doctor said that being sick and then being stressed out about my grandmother is probably what triggered it. The bumps have all scabbed over and are just a little itchy now, thank goodness.

So, that's my month. Good times, sad times, sick times, well times - quite a month it was. I'd say the next month should be calmer, but my little Tommy has started his terrible twos this past week. That's another blog altogether!