We had Rachel with us since last Thursday. Apparently it hit her hard on Christmas Eve to realize that Analiese would not be around for the next Christmas. She was supposed to spend several days at Grandma's since her parents were going out of town, but I asked to take her instead. She would have been bored at their house, anyway, and Analiese was excited to have a playmate! It also meant that she wouldn't have lessons, either, which I think she did not mourn.
We started off our CA New Year with a NYE dinner with the sister missionaries and Carrie, a new ward member. I completely went against the "rules" and made a new recipe for dinner - we had a crepes buffet! I had all kinds of fillings to go into them - chicken, ham, bacon, broccoli, scallions, mushrooms, cheddar cheese & parmesan as well as a white sauce to add on if they wanted it. Actually, it was really tasty and everyone enjoyed it (except Jonathan, who spent the evening at a friend's). If I was going to do something different, though, I would do the crepes in advance and reheat them just before dinner. That would have been easier than standing in front of the stove cooking the whole time. I made a luscious cranberry cake with brown sugar-pecan topping for dessert and - of course - we had sparkling cider.
Even though we are not late night partiers, Jonathan was out late and I didn't sleep well until he got home. So we slept in and, for the first time in my life, we did not watch the Rose Parade. My friends wanted to go up to Pasadena and see it live (since we never have) but a) I would have had to get up really early - ugh! - b) it would be cold, c) it would be a long drive and d) you see it better on TV anyway. But the parade didn't stream well on the computer or my iPad, so we ended up not bothering.
Rachel went home the next day and the kids and I spent the rest of the week cleaning the house really well. During Christmas, I was so busy with baking and doing things, that the house had only cursory cleaning and needed a deeper cleansing. Worst of all was the fridge - the great procrasinating agent in my mind. I had made jigglers for the family game day in November (yes, I know, gross) and spilled jello in the BACK of my fridge. So this big red stain kept staring me in the face. I can't tell you how relieved I was to rid myself of it. The kids were great to help, too, with Analiese washing drawers in the bathtub (only place big enough for them to fit) and Jonathan scrubbing the fridge.
Oh! And Jonathan got the casts/molds made for his orthotics on Friday. It's the first step in getting them made. Once he has them, the doctor okays him to go, and we get his Eagle Project done, we are pretty much free to go to OK!
Which leaves...the house. Sunday was the first time since the first part of November that we had anyone look at the house. I haven't heard anything back, but maybe things will pick up now that the new year has begun.
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