Around 8:30 am the fire station around the corner set its whistle off at full blast. I heard fire trucks, sirens, all sorts of noise. It got me out of bed, thinking "Jebus. That must be a heck of a fire... wonder where it is?" I considered turning on the police scanner. Then... I remembered.
Two Sundays before Christmas the local firemen drive around with a "Santa" on board and they cruise through all the neighborhoods, past all the houses with the siren wailing. So for over an hour we could hear him in the distance. Just when we thought he was coming down our street he turned somewhere else. I was afraid we'd miss him. Geoff was all excited and bouncing off the walls. He ran outside in his stocking feet to see if he could see the firetruck... but it wasn't there.
Eventually, Santa and his "sleigh" rounded the corner and we got him.
And there he goes. See him up there?
Geoff was thrilled. And he is now officially out of friggin' control.
His listening skills have been all out of whack lately, and he is incredibly disobedient. Possibly the overstimulation of the holiday season... but we keep it pretty darn low key here and he's been unhinged for weeks.
We don't even have a tree yet. Haven't put any lights up. Nothing. We wait until it is much closer to Christmas because he is just a force that cannot be contained and he becomes the living breathing embodiment of Human Pain In The Ass.
He can't sit still, he can't follow any instructions, he cannot accept that Christmas isn't this morning.
To try and show him visually where we are, Doug put up a calendar so he can mark the days off. I caught him this morning trying to mark the days off for tomorrow and Tuesday. As if that will make it a reality and bring Christmas closer.
And for this to be the best one, you can imagine how crappy the others must have been. Jessie was ready to kill him after about 10 minutes, and I was ready to have his picture taken as I dropped his ass off at an orphanage. "Uh, hi. This here kid has no family. Someone take care of him, m'kay?"
Looking at it more closely, this picture isn't so bad. It's funny as hell. I love the look on her face. I would have used it but it came out all blurry, as did the other five pictures I took today. I have no idea why. Someone must have adjusted something somewhere because I have this little tulip symbol up in the top right corner of the display now and I can't get rid of it. I have to dig out the book and find out "WhaFuh" is up with the tulip thingie.
Not all was lost. There is a Christmas card picture going out. I ended up using one that I took in the snow the other day up on Solstice Hill. It's crystal clear, but he's making a ridiculous face. I wanted to throttle him.
God give me strength...
My inlaws called last night and they will be joining us for Christmas this year. Which is very exciting. They haven't done Christmas here with us yet, not that it is some sort of awesome experience, but it'll be nice to have them for a change. They will arrive during the day on Christmas Eve and are staying until Friday. This could all change based on the weather of course, but for now it looks like a plan. Geoff may or may not participate in the pageant this year. He didn't want to walk up on cue, he didn't want to stand still, he kept trying to tell "Squirrel Jokes" like Sponge Bob (damn you, Sponge Bob! Why'd you have to be so funny!) and so the Sunday School director asked me to just take him and go sit down. He's supposed to be a shepherd. He's going to be an audience member instead, methinks.
Sigh.
Doug did all our Christmas shopping for the kids online. We spent less than we usually do. Money notwithstanding, there isn't a lot that they want. Especially Jessica. She's the least commercially impacted person I know.
Me: Uh, hey. What do you want for Christmas this year? Auntie Lee Lee and Grandma were asking what to get you.
Jess: Uh, I don't know. A CD?
Me: Just one? By whom?
Jess: Um, that guy who sings that song...? You know. Him.
Really.
Last year I had ideas. I had plans. They got cool stuff. I had fun shopping. This year I just don't know what to get them. I don't want to get him something he isn't going to clean up after he's finished playing with, and I don't want to get her something that is going to sit on a shelf somewhere. They have stuff they got last year that they never touch. It kind of bugs me. They both want books, so tomorrow afternoon I'll take a ride over to B&N and pick up some good stuff for them. Gotta keep the literature supply flowing.
Anyway. I've got a ton of stuff to get done for Cateringman... menus and print collateral. I still have other things I need to finish for CM. Life is just getting by me these days. Have a super rest of your weekend if you're checking in. Otherwise -- more next week
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