A Few Words of Thanks

I know I said thank you to my friends and family that helped me purge the house but I want to do a final thank you to Kathy and Jen for helping me with the kitchen so that all there is left to do is a buy a few things (which I love) like rugs and lamps and decorate for Christmas. I want to thank Kathy, Jen and Kim for helping me with the bulk of the house. I couldn't have done it without your help. I want to thank Gina, Chrissy, Nikki, Rochelle, Pam and my mom for carving out some time in their day to help me as well. Lee, I know you would have if you didn't just have a baby and thanks for coming over that day and giving me a break from it. Frankie on the table still makes me laugh. I need to thank Jim, Dan and Norm for helping with the deck and rearrange furniture. I know it wasn't easy but it means a lot. Nico and his friends also helped take down the deck and throw some stuff out. It was nice having them help clean the mess instead of just make the mess. Clean-up 2011 is officially done and it feels great. I feel lighter and for about three days, my head felt clearer. Which leads me to....

I am sick. I have a sinus infection that got so bad (I lived in denial while Leo was away because what choice did I have) that I went to the doctor on Saturday and am now on antibiotics. I took the meds last night and immediately felt funny. My hands started to itch and then my head started to itch and I kept feeling like the room was spinning. I spent the rest of the night either coughing or worrying that I was having an allergic reaction. Can't I even be sick normally?

Other than being sick, it was a good weekend. Thanks to my sister, Gina and brother-in-law, Deo for hosting a mini-reunion with some friends we hadn't seen in a very long time. It was a lot of fun catching up and seeing our kids interact with each other. It just reiterates what great friends I have. Leo and I seemed to  have communication breakdowns all weekend. I told him that we had to be at Gina's by 4:00. I tried waking him up several times and he finally got in the shower at 3:55 saying he thought we had to leave at 4:00. I told him we had family pictures at 10:30 on Sunday and he scheduled a practice at 11:00. He changed that one but not without an argument before. Leaving the house with my family is now my least favorite thing to do beating out having to wake Nico up 27 times before he actually gets up to go to school.

Thanks to Jody Byas for coming yesterday to take our pictures. She made what is normally very stressful seem very easy. More information about Jody and pictures to follow. She is one to keep an eye out for. She takes great pictures and I can't wait for her website to be up and running. I have absolutely no idea how she got Gia to smile and even pose but she did. I want to kiss and hug her because it means I don't ever have to go back to Sears and the nightmare getting those pictures were. She doesn't know it but she actually gave me some hope that the Gia I have been seeing is just a phase and that she does have it in her to be sweet.

The hope was short lived since we had Tommy's football party and she pulled a "Gia" where she wanted to bowl with the kids. Well, she didn't actually want to bowl as much as she wanted to run down the lanes to get the pins. The nice, elderly man working there tried to make her laugh and I swear she turned on him with red eyes blazing and a scream that made his white hair turn whiter. I know this is all normal behavior for an almost two year old but it doesn't make it any easier.

I have to mention here that Tommy's football season this year was a great one. He had great coaches and great kids that he played with. He has always had this but this year, he played with kids his own age and it really made a big difference in how he played. There were a lot of really good athletes on his team and the families on this team were all so nice and grounded that it made going to games a lot of fun. One of the older sisters of one of the players made a video of the highlights of the season and it was awesome! What an invaluable gift that is to give to us parents and those players. It will be a season that they will never forget so thank you to all that contributed to that (Coach Sparks, Coach Kiehn, Coach Cook and Coach Haney, Sydney and Sybil (team moms), Beth (for the awesome pics) and Melissa (great video)!

Coming up this week: Cat scans and physicals for Nico's upcoming surgery, basketball games (2), art classes (Thank you so much Jennifer for bringing Belle home, it helps a lot!), practices, cookie exchange, and my very favorite event of the year: The Christmas Tea and craft fair at Drury Lane! Somewhere in there I need to get back to JoAnn Fabrics and Christmas shop. Let the chaos continue!