A long December

I don't remember December being this crazy.

Of course, when I was young, December wasn't crazy. It dragged as Christmas approached. As a high schooler, I was in between cross country and track seasons and never had much to do in December. In college, after finals ended (around mid-December), I had a whole month, either at home or in Milwaukee, and even though I worked, December was time off. After college, December was a mildly busy time at work, and we might travel for Christmas for a couple days, but that was it.

Then I had children. December has never been the same.

Possibly it's just crazier because we have a son whose birthday is in December and we have to plan that as well as Christmas. Perhaps it's just nuttier because we have a puppy and technically still a kitten who need attention. Maybe it's because Lori has blasted through a busy month at work and I've had freelance projects all month.

The boys have been off school all week (their break started rather early), and I hoped this would mean life would settle down a little. Nope. Starting the week off with a cold didn't help, but I got over it quickly. All the Christmas shopping and grocery shopping and work and errands are done. It only took all week.

We did have fun this week, visiting Santa, seeing "Arthur Christmas," taking Popcorn for a long hike and looking at Christmas lights. The inversion that has been polluting the Salt Lake Valley finally cleared out, giving me a little more incentive to get out. And all the preparations this month, for Michael's birthday and for Christmas, has and will be worth it. It's just been so tiring. Were my parents this tired every December? I can remember the joy in their faces every Christmas morning as we opened our presents; what was the rest of the month like?

It could have been worse. For December, we've barely dealt with any snow.

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