Post-Christmas rambling

Well...

It's been awhile and since I sent out this blog address on our Christmas letter, it seems like a good idea to update it and perhaps even consider keeping it current. Ahem.

I am very glad Christmas is over. It is my favorite holiday, but it kinda reminds me of college: a whole bunch of good times and interesting stuff all squished together so there's not really enough time to savor anything and it's exhausting experiencing everything.

Cliff's still happy cuz he's not going back to work until January 7th. Yahoo! This morning he and Dad actually planted stuff in the dirt in the front yard!!! We are all so tired of all the dirt everywhere. The kids love the mud and this makes me love the mud even less since I am cleaning it off of clothes, off of shoes, off of the floor, off of furniture, etc etc. Sigh. So Cliff and Dad planted mock oranges and lavender in the front yard. Oh, and one Indian Hawthorne. So we'll see if they live. I hope so. Our water is so unfriendly.

We're getting ready to take Rayne back to school. The weather looks good, so it won't be nasty like it was last year--rain and snow all the way. She's SO ready to be done working full time and she's done being subject to the rule of Mom. Not like I'm a heavy handed ruler, but it seems that any authority is unwelcome. I understand but I'd love the refrigerator cleaned by her just once! Just once in 5 1/2 months, that's all I ask! Anyway, her boss at Nordstrom loves her and says she'll hire her back again when she comes home in the summer. Yay! She's made lots of lovely money there these last months and she's showered gifts on us all. And I love all the clothes she's purchased for herself.

So I'm looking forward to the drive with Cliff. We haven't spent time away together for many months and I miss it! So, it's only a bunch of driving, but I'm still looking forward to it.

Chase and Cliff are working on Chase's car. The junkyard has 50% off all parts on the 31st and they've found what they want there... now they are just waiting for the sale. It looks like they'll have the car back on the road and mostly intact in a few weeks. Then he'll just have a bit of body work left and probably a paint job in the future too. Our neighbor lent us some cool tools for them to use. Chase is actually feeling pretty good about the whole thing. After the despair he felt at the beginning, his enjoyment of the fixing-up process is a very happy thing. FYI, he was sideswiped on the way to seminary at the beginning of December. Augh!

So my house is messy and I am tired, but we still have another week of vacation and it's all okay. Allegra and Isaiah are spending the night tonight at their cousins' and then they all come here tomorrow night (and they were here last night and a few nights last week too). Vacations are so great! The 4 of them: Scott and James Galbraith (Reed's 2 eldest) and Ally and Zay have created some sort of hideout down at the base of the property among the blackberry bushes. So when they are all together here they spend a lot of time down there. And playing games in the house too, of course. On Christmas Eve, after dinner, I came down the stairs to find the children all on the front room couches squished together playing DS's and Gameboys. Wrong in a way, but cool too cuz they were all together.

Kay. I'm done for tonight. More later.