This has been an unusually busy Christmas season for me this year. Happily, most of the things that kept me busy were good things. :-)
Originally a bunch of us were going to gather in Boerne to spend Christmas with the Grandparents. But at the last minute it was decided that the logistics of having everyone there, especially with Grandpa being in such delicate health, were just going to be too much. So we all changed plans to have Christmas in Salt Lake City instead. The original plan also called for me picking up the kids the weekend that they got out of school for the holidays, but that plan also had to change. About a week before the kids got out of school one of Debbie's eyes suddenly swelled up to the size of a golf ball. She was rushed in to the hospital, where it was determined that she had a cyst behind her eyeball. She needed to go in for a very dangerous emergency surgery to remove the cyst, because it was very possible that the infection would spread to her brain. For a few days it looked very likely that we might lose her. As soon as all of this started up I packed up and headed up to Broken Arrow. I kept the kids in a hotel so that Debbie could recover in peace and quiet and without germs. I was again amazed with the concern of the Lord in this matter. Before I even knew any of this was going to happen, I randomly felt inspired to clean up my entire apartment (like I normally do for a trip) and then to take a nap. Thanks to these preparations that I made that morning, I was able to quickly pack up and leave that afternoon when I found out about what was going on.
Happily, Debbie's surgery went well, and she is now pretty much back to normal. While the kids were in school that last week I was also able to help out a little in getting the house ready for Jenny and the kids to move in. Okay, all I really did was set up the playscape that I had built for the kids a few years ago in Leander, but still, it felt good to be helping in a small way. And while working on it I was able to spend a nice morning with Bill, which is always fun.
Oddly, I didn't get much done on my dissertation during the rest of the free time that I had. But I did make a little progress. However, since the kids got out of school at the end of that week I haven't gotten any more work done on it. I plan to get to back to work tomorrow.
The day before we left Broken Arrow for Salt Lake City the kids had their Christmas with the Steens. I don't remember what all they got, but I do remember that they were all very, very excited and happy with what they got! Jenny was gracious enough to invite me, to my surprise, so I was able to see the kids open their presents and jump around and play with their new toys. It was very nice to be there!
The next day we left for Albuquerque. A bit of a drive. But happily between the kids' new Kindles, LeapPad, and DS they were very well behaved pretty much the whole way there! The next day we made the drive to Salt Lake City, and again the kids were very, very well behaved.
Christmas in Salt Lake City was amazing! Jessica, Emma, Anna and Connie all live there anyway, and then I showed up with my kids and Sarah flew in, so we had a very nice group! The cousins had a blast making lots and lots of noise the whole week+ that we were there, and us adults had a blast talking, eating and playing lots of board games! And we all had a blast going to the local amusement center Trafalga! By far the most fun I had there was with the Laser Tag and Rock Climbing! Actually, everyone really seemed to enjoy the Laser Tag! Even little Carly, only 5 years old, was very excited whenever we went in there! After the safety video she would run to our section in the armory, and then stand there patiently waiting for me saying: "Dad, put it [the vest] on really tight!" Then I would tell her what her ID was for that match, and off she would go! She was so adorable! I remember enjoying all of the Laser Tag battles, but the only specifics I really remember are from the last two battles, in which we finally challenged the teams who had holled themselves up in the tower. That didn't make us very popular, but it did make for very high scores! One time we even teamed up with a second (enemy) team to take on those on the tower. That really got their goat!
I've never done a real climbing wall before, so I was a little worried that I would make a fool of myself, but eventually I got up the nerve to give it a go. It's something I've always wanted to do. It was a lot of fun! I'm glad that I did it! I did have a little mishap coming down the first time. When I let go of the holds to start coming down I was surprised by how fast I started coming down. Instead of bouncing off the wall with my feet like I was supposed to, I tried to slow myself down with my hands. Bad idea. My wedding ring got caught on one of the holds. At first I was worried that my finger was broken or otherwise severely damaged because it hurt pretty bad (it still hurts a little), and it had gone dead white, but luckily it seems to be fine. I could still move it right away without any difficulty, so I pulled off my wedding ring (in case there was going to be any swelling) and climbed the wall again (this time using my feet on the descent).
I have not put my wedding ring back on. My finger still hurt and did swell and bruise for several days, so I didn't want to put it on while I was still in Salt Lake City. Then, on the drive back to Albuquerque at the end of the trip, I got a text from Jenny informing me that the divorce had been officially finalized.
Jenny picked up the kids the day after we got back to Austin.
You would think that this blog entry would end here, but it doesn't.
That afternoon I discovered that when I washed the dishes, sewage backed up in the bathtub. Not exactly ideal. I tried to remedy the situation myself with drain de-clogger and a plunger, but to no avail. Also at that point I found out that the toilet was in on it too. So I placed a work order, and happily the maintenance guy was able to take care of it the next day (I didn't put in the maintenance request until after business hours the preceding day, so you couldn't really expect them to get there any faster than they did.) They are very good about doing the maintenance in a very timely manner here, so that is really nice.
Two more things that I haven't mentioned yet that bear mentioning are that during this trip the boys, Brandon, and even Cassidy, and myself, played a LOT of Minecraft! Heck, Cassidy, who had never even played the game before, liked it so much that he even went out and got his own copy! It was especially fun to play it on the Oliveira's XBox 360, because four of us could play at the same time! The other final note was that one thing that I did forget to bring with me on the trip when I was hurrying up to Broken Arrow a week early was my anti-depressants. Happily, things went so well and we were all having such a good time together, that I don't think that it mattered too much. When I got back though I definitely noticed the difference! The past few days I've had a hard time getting myself to do anything other than watch tv and play Minecraft and Angry Birds. I do feel much better this morning, and I think that I can just attribute that to being back on my medication, having working plumbing, fasting yesterday, and getting ready for Church this morning. I'm also looking forward to church in a few hours.
You know, things don't always go your way, but life is still good!
