Christmas 2021 and the aftermath

 Hello!  We made it to the other side; to that weird, quiet period between Christmas and New Year's.

I hope you (if you celebrate) had a wonderful Christmas.  Ours was wonderful.  We had Man-Child and his girlfriend for Christmas Eve AND Christmas morning.  Our friends, two doors down, joined us for a full on seafood feast that The Husband presented us - and it was perfect and delightful.  

The littlest of our guests was delighted when he discovered the exact Transformer he wanted was under our tree - watching the delight on a child's faces as they open a gift that they had their little heart set on is the best gift ever, don't you think?

Since Christmas Eve was a late one; we got off to a slow start on Christmas morning.  But, in the end, we were all ridiculously spoiled and felt very blessed.  I did feel a bit bereft after the kids hurried out the door to the girlfriend's parents but I also understood - I know how stressful it can be for them to balance the "important events" between her parents and his - it's just life.  And I am grateful for every minute we had with them.

After Christmas, my mind then turned to the issue I had been avoiding thinking about...Man-Child had surgery scheduled for the 27th.  Back surgery.

Yes, it was an out-patient surgery but still...a mother worries.  

It was scheduled to begin at 5:45 pm on Monday.  All of Monday had me in a snit due to my nervousness.  His pre-op was scheduled for 3:45 pm - that's when the anxiety really began to ratchet up.  We were not able to be at the hospital, as they only allowed one guest in and he chose, you guessed it, his girlfriend.  Luckily, she agreed to keep us updated and let us know when he was discharged so that we could meet them at the apartment to see him for ourselves and, more importantly, help get him up the steep stairs that leads to his apartment.  The surgery was then pushed back to around 7:15 pm due to a prior surgery going longer than expected.  Which made me wonder...when is it too late for a surgeon to operate after a full day?!  They finally arrived at the apartment around 11 pm, we got him up the stairs somehow (we were all in a row, clutching the stair rails hoping he didn't fall - he didn't).

The surgeon said that everything went really well and our fingers are crossed that this surgery will give him some much needed relief.  In the meantime, I'm happy to report, he is recuperating well.

New Year's Eve was a quiet one here.  The Husband created a beautiful, tasty (although too large for just the two of us) charcuterie board to give us some nibbles.

That will be (one) of his challenges as we move into the new year; learning how to scale DOWN in regards to food.  As I expected, we still have more nibbles for the next few days.

I went back into the archives to see what I had to say at this time last year - and I'd have to say it pretty much still rings true.  Yes, this was another hard year.  But, we have each other to lean on as needed; and that is a true blessing. 

Happy New Year, my friends.  Let's face it together. xo