Ho, Ho, Humph!

I'm not sure where to start this entry except to say that it took us only 5 short days to set up and decorate our Christmas tree, and since this is something that I thoroughly enjoy and make an event of every year, the fact that it took us so darned long to get it done really bummed me out. We haven't done any shopping yet for various reasons, and since money is kind of tight this year, I just haven't had much of an excitement for that one day that lies only 14 short days away! I've been searching for that child-like excitment that my kiddos have, but it seems to be eluding me at every turn. No sooner do I start to feel a twinge of excitement, than something comes crashing down and smothers it once again! Not only am I not feeling excited about Christmas, but I'm actually starting to dread it! I can't believe that statement actually left my mouth, but it's true! There's just something wrong with me and I need to figure out what it is so that I can fix it, or get it fixed.

Yesterday, I thought that I might finally, at last, find something to excite me, but things didn't quite pan out like I'd hoped. Let me back up by telling you all that since I am no longer working as a wedding and event coordinator every weekend, Michael & I decided that we'd take the day to have 'family time'. I don't know what exactly possessed us to do so, but we decided to go play in the snow. Snow, you ask? Well, yes, sort of. It didn't actually snow here in our lovely city, but someone brought the snow to us. Earlier in the week, we received an email from the Museum of Natural Science stating that they were going to have a FREE snow flurry day. They had several other activities going on there as well, but the idea of playing in the snow just sounded too good to pass up. Apparently, exactly 1/3 of our city's population thought the exact same thing because when we we arrived, the mob of people we encountered brought a shiver to my spine. We couldn't find a parking spot even remotely close to the museum., so we ended up parking and walking about 1/2 a mile to the place where all of the special holiday fun was taking place.

When we got to the 'spot', we found the line of people that were patiently waiting to enter the snow-laden grounds, but we couldn't find the end of it. So, we did what any normal, clear-thinking parents would have done. I stood by the stroller while Michael took Alex, a friend, and Morgann through the shrubs into the throng of snow-ball throwing children. Thankfully Michael's parents & sister came with us, so while Aunt Carrie crawled through a different set of shrubbery to find & help Michael with the 3 kids, Michael's mom stood on a block of marble (that is normally used for sitting) looking for the happy four-some to take a few pictures. It was ridiculous to think that we'd be able to see them in & amongst the other children (and by children, I mean any human being between the ages of 1 and 65), but I was determined to get a few pictures of my children playing in the snow with their father. After all, this was a once-in-a-lifetime Kodak moment that I just didn't want to miss. I just knew that we'd capture that one specific special moment on film and my Christmas spirit would suddenly appear, angels would begin singing the Hallelujah Chorus, and I'd be happy and excited once again. But, alas, we couldn't even find the top of Michael's hat, much less see our 3 small children playing and having the time of their lives.

When Michael's father finally reappeared after a brief absence, he informed me that Michael had taken Morgann over to a different area designated for smaller children, so I'd probably have more luck at geting my coveted picture over there. So, off I went, camera in hand, on a true, life threatening adventure. I don't think I've ever been as crushed as I was trying to maneuver through the throngs of happy, angry, and even violent holiday-fun seekers. It was a mad-house and I was stuck in the middle of it!!! But, I was on a mission. I absolutely had to find my husband and daughter, and capture that special moment on film, at all costs. So, onward I pushed (and shoved) until I found several new lines of parents & kids. It took me a while to figure it all out, since there was absolutely no organization to this very big mistake of a day, but there was 1 line snaking around for the snow-grounds for the older group, which we'd already snuck into, one line for the snow-grounds for children aged 1-4, one line of parents & children waiting to visit with Santa & his reindeer Comet, and one line of people of various ages waiting to play some kind of game with a local radio station that had set-up a tent right smack in the middle of the action. I decided that my best bet would be to follow the line for the 1-4 age group, which eventually led me right to hubby & child. Ok, now that I've found them, I had to somehow attract Michael's attention so that he'd get to the edge of the snow-ground so that I could capture my special moment. He eventually saw me waving & screaming like a maniac and made his way to a small 2x2 clearing where he could set Morgann down safely. I was able to snap off a few pictures, but thanks to several other fun-seekers, I never did quite get that special shot. (I love digital cameras because you can see your pictures right away!) Most of the pictures that I snapped off were of other children that felt the need to walk right in front of my husband & child at the exact moment I pressed the button! The nerve of them!!! But, not one to be detered from my mission, I kept snapping and eventually got several fairly-decent pics, but not the ONE that I'd hoped for.

It was at this moment that another clever thought entered my mind. Leaving Michael & Morgann behind, I decided to go ask a few of the parents standing in line to see Santa & Comet about how long they'd been standing there. I found a nice looking couple close to the front to ask and was happily surprised when they said they'd only been standing there for about 5 minutes. I thought my ears deceived me, so I asked them to clarify. Again, they said about 5 minutes. I could hardly believe it! So, heart pounding, I raced back over to the smaller snow area and told Michael that he absolutely had to bring Morgann out, and that he had to, at all costs, find Aunt Carrie, Alex & friend. I just knew this would be THE picture I was hoping for. After all, what better way to get into the Christmas spirit than to sit & chat with Santa for a few minutes? Once the 'group' was back together, we found the end of the Santa line and began our wait...35 minutes later, I was asked by a rather cranky hubby why exactly I wanted to stand around in this line? It was all I could do to contain some kind of civility as I answered, "Because you're going to take a picture of the kids with Santa, that's why!" I could see that he wasn't very happy with that answer, but it just didn't matter to me at that point. We'd been standing there with 4 children (Ian was back with us by this point) and, by golly, we weren't about to vacate our place in line now!!! This is Christmas and, gosh darn-it, we're going to have fun and wait in this supid line if it takes the entire day to do so!!! It didn't, but about 45 minutes after beginning our 5-minute wait, it was our turn.

While I carefully handed Santa my precious children, I instructed Michael to stand in front of the sleigh so that when I was safely out of the camera's eye, he could capture this special moment that would last forever. Alex was the first one up, and decided that he'd sit on Santa's right knee. Ian was carefully placed on Santa's left knee, and promptly began screaming at the top of his lungs. Finally, Morgann was hoisted up onto Santa's right knee (after Alex was instructed to sit next to Santa), and she decided that what Ian was doing looked like fun, so she joined in. Michael snapped off the picture from the side of the sleigh, shook his head in disgust, and Santa quickly handed back the screaming children to me. Alex quickly gave Santa his 2 biggest requests, and jumped down. Finally, our task was complete, the picture had been taken, and I just knew my Christmas spirit was only moments away.

We found grandpa and decided that we'd had enough of the fun-filled holiday festivities. It was time to leave, but not before I looked at THE PERFECT picture of my kids with Santa. Here it is, reindeer antlers and all. To bad he didn't stand in front of the sleigh, away from those God-blessed antlers...