Home Alone No More

Not sure why, but I had a very slow start this morning. I let the kids fend for themselves while I took a long, hot bath. Actually, it wasn't nearly as hot as it was supposed to be and ended up being pretty chilly by the time I got out. I hate that!

We had devotions, then the kids did a little school while I worked on Ladies' Retreat stuff some more. I finally made a bunch of phone calls and wrote a bunch of e-mails. I've gotten answers from everybody except one lady who I left a message for. I'm hoping she'll call back tomorrow and then I'll have my staff all set. All those who I was able to make contact with agreed to accept the positions I was asking them to fill. I do have one rather grudging TAP leader, but she'll be just fine. ;-) So I'm all done with the staff selection part. Wa-Hoo! Well, not completely... I still need to settle on two people and two positions--just can't figure out which to put where. But I'm getting mighty close! Oh, and a fun time director. I've never been to a Ladies' Retreat that had fun time, so I keep forgetting about that one. Gotta make that phone call, too.

I had planned to do the big house cleaning thing today, but was so not in the mood for it. Katie had gotten out a 550 piece puzzle the other day, so I sat down and worked on it for a few minutes. Then I got sucked in but I knew I really ought to be cleaning house, so I called the kids in to help and told them nobody was allowed to leave until we finished the puzzle so we could put it away and clean the house. :-) I think it only took us about 15 minutes, then we went about our different duties, getting things straightened up, bathrooms cleaned, carpets vacuumed, etc. I think the only thing that didn't get done was the wood floors, but they really don't look that bad so it's no biggie. Maybe tomorrow.

Before we knew it, it was time to go pick up James from the airport. We loaded up Charlie and his dish of ice cream (!) and he did well again. Wa-Hoo! We got to the airport and (get this) I took Charlie in with us. I never would have dreamed of doing such a thing, but last time we were there I saw two other people sitting there with little dogs in their laps while they were waiting for people to arrive. I figured I'd give it a try. At worst we'd just be asked to leave, right? This dog is so much more temperamental than Hershey ever was and he gets sort of spazzed out in "new" situations, so I'm thinking he really needs to get out more, see more places, meet more people. (Yes, I'm well aware of the lunacy of what I'm saying... but you people don't have to live with this dog and I do! Ha!) I held him the whole time we were in the airport, but he was still pretty much a nervous wreck. He likes people, but acts scared to death of them. That's something I hate about poodles but have never (up to this point) owned a poodle who acted that way. I'm hoping he'll grow out of it... ???

ANYWAY, we were only there for 5 or 10 minutes when James came walking through the gate. We got his luggage and then headed out to dinner. James must have still been feeling a bit southern after his Alabama trip because he wanted Cracker Barrel for dinner. ;-) We left Charlie in the van and he did great. He cried when we left him, but was curled up asleep in his bed when we returned. It was great to have a nice, hot meal and just relax and hear all about James' trip.

On the way home Charlie started whining and getting extremely restless--and making me very nervous. I covered every inch of myself with his blanket, just in case. Ha! I found a peppermint in my purse, so I unwrapped it and let him lick it for a little while. Peppermint is supposed to settle your stomach too, right?! Ha! In any case, this is now the third trip we've taken with the dog that he has NOT gotten sick on. ~whew~ What a relief. He's a long way from being OVER the carsick thing, I can tell--but I'm rejoicing with every small victory along the way. ;-)

When we got home James hauled in his luggage and we dug out the Christmas presents from Mom. We called her up on Skype so she could watch the kids open them. :-) The boys LOVE their helicopters and Church of God sweatshirts (it'll be nice to see them in something new--they each have a favorite shirt that they like to wear every... single... day) and Katie was thrilled with her new dress and the matching one--and shoes--for her doll, Esther. Special, hand-made grandma gifts. They're the best. :-) I opened my puzzle (guess I'll have to do another one this week! Wa-hoo!), my adorable Christmas sweater (it's rotten that I have to wait 9 months before I can wear it) and the Christmassy pj's. I love them all. And I'm not waiting to wear the pj's--I have them on right now. Love 'em, Mom. :-)

I've got some laundry going and hope to finish up and do the ironing tomorrow. It's good to have James home, though he's sacked out already. Didn't have the gusto to stay up much past 10:00 tonight. Oh well, I'm not too far behind him. It's been a good day. :-)