Blessings

Ahhhhhh, the joys of the holidays, slower schedules . . . and . . . . my mother-in-law!!!!

Yes, you heard me right, my mother-in-law. She has only been here a week, but ever since she arrived, I feel my inner peace settling in. Some of you may totally know where I'm coming from, whereas others might have no idea what I'm talking about. But for everyone, I will shed some light.

My kids are completely crazy about their "Grammy Buv" (her name is really "Bev" but they have always said "Buv" for some reason). She is an awesome Grammy who helps them with everything from getting dressed, to making breakfast, to wiping butts . . . and those are only the every day things. When she's not doing those things, she is taking them for walks, playing games, throwing balls, or helping them ride their bikes. And when she's not doing that, she's reading to them, playing letter and number games with them, and using her thirty years of teaching experience to help them learn new things. She sings with them, laughs with them, and tells them when they are out of line. And that's just the stuff she does for them.

For us, she helps me shop, babysits whenever we need her to, helps me with meals, cleaning, laundry, and any other household chores, and she keeps us company. She does whatever needs to be done so that I can read my book, take a nap, sleep in, go out late, and run errands all by myself. Essentially, for the time that she's here, she provides me with a sense of freedom that I otherwise do not get to enjoy very often.

So Grammy Buv is here for a whole month, and we plan on enjoying every minute of it. So far, we've all been to the movies, watched the kids' Christmas program, went to the museum, spent the day at the beach, and ate out a few times. In the weeks ahead, we have Brian's Christmas party downtown (and we get to spend the night this year with NO KIDS!!), Charley's princess birthday party, Christmas Eve and Christmas of course, and then Brian and I are going to sneak away to Kauai for a couple days ALL BY OURSELVES. Talk about a fun holiday season.

The past few weeks were stressful for me (for various reasons that I dare not bore you with), but slowly, I feel the stress melting away . . . a little me time, a little Brian time, and of course that massage at the spa that I'm getting on Sunday won't hurt either.

Thanks Grammy Buv for helping us make this an awesome holiday season . . . you are a blessing.