Pike's Peak Monday

Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It's been (gulp) two weeks since my last blog post.

Well, if I'm really confessing, it's even worse. It's been two weeks since I did a lick of writing. (Double gulp)

I could say it was the holiday madness, the baking, the cooking, the wrapping, the sending. And it was, partly, but it was more a choice this year. Forty is just over the February hill. So, throwing my OCD caution to the wind, I decided to try and chill out a little with my family this holiday season. You know, live life on the edge. Enjoy the holidays.

It was a good first effort, I think, but it was still crazy. My youngest's seventh birthday was Monday, December 22. Which meant, while my husband was in Germany visiting his parents, I singel-handedly organized a roller skating/sleepover birthday party on Friday, December 19. Then had a signing on December 20. Thank God for concealer. I wasn't looking scary, I don't think. I still sold a few books, but people did stare at me kinda oddly.

Didn't get a chance to sleep after that either. I rolled right into frantic, last minute baking for Christmas. There was the actual second child's birthday day celebration on Monday, more cooking on Tuesday and Wednesday, Christmas Thursday (and I'm one of those adults who cannot sleep Christmas Eve. I know there's no such thing as Santa, sort of).

Complete and utter exhaustion came on Friday. Did I mention that's my mom's birthday?

We tried to get to her house, honest, but my oldest interrupted our "spontaneous" dinner outing with a violent GI bug that brought took us straight home, no detours, no birthday cake, no presents, just a cool wash cloth and another sleepless night. Saturday, I had a signing. More concealer. More hidden yawns.

Sunday was the biggest day of all, really. It was my grandparents 65th wedding anniversary. Everyone flew in, all five of my dad's siblings with families. There's the family to the right. Not bad. They're a rowdy bunch. You've gotta love them. Take a look at my grandpa there on the far left. I wanna look that good at 87.

The party was a shingdig to end all shindigs, and spilled into the better half of the beginning of the next week, right up to New Year's Eve. Which sailed by with friends, then more sleepovers for the kids, friends over, cooking, and then, finally, Friday night - blessed reprieve. My parents took the girls for a sleepover.

I went out for dinner . I got to sleep in. No signings, no gymnastics meets, no cooking, no parties, no holidays, no packing, no unpacking, no putting away. Just relaxation. It felt like the universe aligned for one brief but glorious day.

And then Sunday came with all the chore of putting away the holiday. Ugh.

Now it's Monday, and I'm back at my desk. The mountain on it is so tall, I swear there's what definitely what looks like snow accumulating on its higher peaks above my head. Are we due for an early Spring this year, I hope?

But as I tackle the slope before me, I have to say, it was worth it. Amidst all of the craziness, I got time to cuddle with my kids, play with them, go to the movies with them, talk to them. I had time to reconnect, sleep in.



And I feel...what is the word...I haven't said it in so long...
Relaxed.
Yeah, that's it. Relaxed.

So maybe climbing to the summit of neglected work won't be so bad. Maybe. I've got an oxygen mask this time, all of those memories.

And please check out these amazing reviews of Dragon Wishes:

J Aday and I talk all about Book Signings and Dragon Wishes

Brandy McDonnell the Oklahoma Daily did a great review too! Thanks Brandy.