sorry for the long silence. holidays with family visiting have kept us a little busy. contrary to logic, having company does not lead to more time for blogging. instead, in my own scheming way, i devise lists of things for us to do once the families arrive. not that we deprive the children of experiences during the school year, but it is harder to do any thing for ourselves or the house once the semester begins. this end of the semester was no exception. there were several weeks of late nights and i did not get my grades in until dec. 23, the latest ever.
this year i had quite a list of things i wanted the children to experience -- the holidazzle parade (luckily we did that one during thanksgiving before frigid december arrived), macy's holiday display, the holiday lights in phalen park, the bakken museum, the bell museum, riding the polar express-zephyr in stillwater, baking cookies, and making presents for family members. we were able to accomplish quite a few of these when family arrived.
the week prior to christmas, sue and james arrived. we kept them fairly busy throughout their visit. saturday the 20th was one of our busiest days. i had not had a chance to shop at all for presents, plus dad was working and k had a rough night. so we kept grandma sue at home with ms. k, and james came along to ice skating. mira and r had a fun time. it is clear that r does not have the strength or motivation of the other children when out on the ice; hopefully this will steadily improve. he still seems to see the experience positively and enjoys his time. his playing with mira did not end after the lesson. after a quick warm up and snack at home, he headed out with his dad to go sledding. i believe he and mira had a terrific afternoon and dad came home sore. after another snack, we headed out in a blizzard to see auntie hot hot who insisted that we come over and make cookies despite the weather and the fact that she was leaving the next day for paris. apparently, i am pretty gullible as i did not think a thing about it. i ran around and purchased presents while everyone else visited auntie. when we got home, i was quite shocked as dad and seema threw me a surprise birthday party. it was a wonderful present and probably one of the best ways to help celebrate turning 40. seema was especially a terrific sport as she was still finishing her finals for the semester! and i do not know how dad planned it at the end of the semester with all the regular craziness, illness, and holidays. i was quite astounded and overwhelmed by both of their generosity. and apparently, i finally know what sue and james were up to as well! let's hope that 40 brings more time with family and friends.
the rest of the week was a blur. we managed to do everything on the list, host families, cook and bake, shop and wrap, and get ready for a family gathering. (with much assistance from seema, tom, sue, and james.) on christmas day, the kids unwrapped all the goodies from santa and grandma. they spend the day playing with new toys as new guests trickled in. the rest of my family arrived from atlanta and las vegas that day as well. we (all 11 of us) sat down to dinner for a huge meal. it was actually lovely. tom made another turkey and seema some delicious stuffing and gravy. dad finds peace in the kitchen and spent two days making sides -- mashed potatoes, squash soup, green bean casserole, and cornbread. there was a little more present opening in the form of a yankee swap. and then everyone fell asleep in a stupor of fatigue.
somehow the time never seems long enough. it felt like the kids hardly had time with sue and james or that we hardly had a minute to talk. it is hard to believe how busy the kids and holidays keep us. it would be lovely to have more time to talk and connect. we see each other so infrequently and it is hard to have meaningful and important conversations that are constantly interrupted by the children or needing to cook, clean, etc. it is wonderful to have everyone there, i just wish we could spend more time connecting.
sue and james left the next day and made it home safely. as usual, they caught something from the kids and were sick with colds. sue also had complications with her furnace and has ill family members. the stress of juggling so much is taxing. sometimes i wonder how we all deal with so much stress! members of my family are also stressed this year. due to the economy and health. i can feel myself getting less healthy (more stagnant) these days and see others aging as well. rakesh is clearly hurt most by the economy as his work is free-lance. his left eye has complications that make it hard for him to see out of it. we are all concerned.
the visit with my family was quite busy as well. the kids have been spoiled having so many people to play with. r chose his nana to read with for several nights. and rocky mama was critical to several toy adventures. k made friends with her nani right away and wanted a lot of contact with rocky mama as well. since he recently visited, he is able to play with them both simultaneously and single handed.
we celebrated diwali with the desais and the kids were spoiled even more if possible. we went to several museums that were small and manageable. they were great fun. one involved hands on electricity exhibits that were fun for ages 2-66. and then we went to the bell museum which is right on campus and have not made it inside for some reason. it has a terrific touch room for kids with live and dead animals and knowledgeable staff. one night the family watched the kids and dad and i were able to sneak out. it was quite luxurious and we used it to recover and check in with each other. my sister and parents also took me shopping for my semester at harvard. since i have few clothes that have been purchased since R's birth, a couple of items were in order. everyone was amazing and supportive. the stamina required to shop is not something i have anymore. it was painful. but so many helping hands (including ms. k) were very helpful.
new year's eve was a pleasant and celebratory. seema and tom took nana, nani, and rakesh to a live comedy show. dad, the kids and i went to a friend's house so that the kids could hang out. it was a very fun evening. we had good luck food from various traditions (black eye peas, 8 treasures, and tamales), great conversation, hyper children, and a viewing of mary poppins. what more can we ask for? we finally got to play games when we got home. it was finally a chance for everyone to relax and play together. we stayed up quite late and got up tired, but had no regrets whatsoever.
the kids enjoyed their time with family immensely. k cried when we dropped nana, nani, and rocky mama at the airport. she wanted to go with them. she also told grandma sue to come back tomorrow. that would be wonderful. so far it feels very quiet. we spent the first day recovering and missing everyone. happy 2009 everyone. may we find strength in ourselves and each other, joy in small moments and satisfaction in our achievements. may good health and spirits be with you all.
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