Holidays are supposed to be a time to relax. Mine are chances to catch up on things that I’ve been neglecting.
I spent a good bit of time Wednesday tidying up my home office desk. I was facing a long wait at DMV to get a duplicate title for our Volvo. I decided if I’m going to waste an hour, I might as well do it searching for the original title. Sure enough it turned up, only Kelly found it, having been inspired by my searching.
We spent Thanksgiving morning playing in Durant Nature Park. The afternoon was spent giving the house a much-needed cleaning, top to bottom. After the kids napped, we headed over to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving proper.
The house was just as we imagined it to be: full of joyfully noisy kids! My sister’s family was there as was my Aunt Nancy, visiting from Tallahassee. Travis and Hallie were gleefully spinning around the whole night. It was a hoot!
After the kids’ bedtime, I headed back over to get in a game of Hearts with the boys. Reid was the reigning champion and it was time for a rematch! Scott was there suddenly got sleepy after I socked him with the queen of spades. Hmm! It was fun playing, though.
The next day, we returned in the late morning for more visiting. After a terrific lunch of red beans and rice, the men suited up and spent the next 90 minutes spreading a vapor barrier under my parents’ house. It turned out to be pretty fun as far as those things go. We did a super job.
Saturday morning, Aunt Nancy spent a few hours at our house for a little one-on-four time. Hallie wowed Aunt Nancy with her amazing mind while Travis gleefully marched all around the house, cackling as he went. It was quite a show for Aunt Nancy – one she really appreciated.
N.C. State began their game against Maryland around noon, so we had that tuned in on the radio. I was quite happy when State won the game, as it clears the way for a bowl game.
Aunt Nancy left in time to watch the FSU-Florida game at my parents’ house. Unfortunately, it was not a good game for the Seminoles. FSU barely avoided a shutout in the suprisingly lopsided game. The Noles don’t stay down for long, though, so don’t worry.
Sunday, Kelly came up to me with a gleam in her eye. “Do you know what I really want for my birthday?” she asked.
“What’s that, honey?”
“I’d love to get some rooms painted!”
I couldn’t resist a pitch like that. So it was off to Lowe’s to buy paint and supplies. By 4 PM, we had a newly-painted fireplace wall in our den. Only took us a year to make up our minds, but it looks great!
There was no stopping Kelly’s ambition, however. She immediately began work on painting our downstairs bathroom. I helped with taking fixtures off the walls, but she did the patching, sanding, and painting. It just got finished tonight. Like the other paint job, it looks fantastic.
I had an early appointment this morning which got me out of the house before the kids woke. I got a phone call from Hallie a bit later that reminded me of the powerful role I play as Daddy. I posted a quick account on the Hallie and Travis page.
I’m in need of some quality sleep, so I’ll stop blabbering now. Thanks for reading!
