We kicked off the month of December thinking we might dodge a bullet with Andrew not being on the go team this year. However, I told myself not to get too comfortable with the idea; I'm glad I didn't. Three days into December, he was called up to Sioux City to help out since they were hit with a snow storm. The promise was that he would be back on Monday... I have learned not to put much faith in those kind of promises. He actually returned a day early, on Sunday. He came home around 11:00 AM and by 6:00 PM he was getting the call to leave for Austin, TX the following day. My only response, "glad I started laundry". With a one way ticket in hand and no idea when he might return, I dropped him off at the airport at 4:30 the next morning. In true December fashion, Maya took it upon herself to kill a rabbit while he was gone. I'm eternally grateful for neighbors who helped me take care of said rabbit at 10:30 at night. Luckily, I caught this one before she was able to do any damage to it, so we avoided a late night trip to the vet. I didn't avoid a vet trip all together though; I did have to go get some anti nausea meds for her to make it through the rest of Andrew's trip. We have decided any time he is going to be out of town for more than a week, I'm just going to preemptively get meds for Maya.
Andrew came home from Texas long enough for us to catch Star Wars on opening night! A week before Christmas he was headed down to Cedar Rapids for work. The dogs and I packed up shop and headed down for a couple of days as well. Dogs in a hotel room aren't the best thing in the world, but it was nice to just get out of the house.
In addition to Maya's rabbit hunt, I also had the pleasure of bailing water out of our window well twice in December. Bailing freezing cold water out of a window well at 11:30 at night and then again at 8:00 in the morning wasn't exactly my idea of a good time. Several times over the course of four months, our outdoor faucet turned on. We aren't sure if it was the faucet turning itself on, or if some crazy neighbor kid thought it sounded funny to turn it on. The first time it happened was in September, when we were gone for a few days. Needless to say, I wasn't pleased to see an $80 water bill the next month. We ended up getting the faucet fixed and currently have the handle taken off of it so no one can walk buy and turn it on. At multiple points in December I accused Andrew of always perfectly timing his departure from Iowa. I know he doesn't plan it that way, but it always seems things go haywire when he is gone.
We managed through and now are on the other side of the new year! The last two years I have done an extra happy dance when we can turn the page on the new year. I continue to pass my free time at Kirkland's. It served as a good distraction during December. However, I'm reminded just how rude people get as the holidays approach. Seriously people, can't we all just get along and be nice to each other?
Before my holiday spirit was completely squashed, I did manage to get some baking done as well as get a few Christmas decorations put up. Our big tree didn't get put up this year, it just sat in the middle of the living room floor in the box. I did put up a smaller Christmas tree, however.
Nom, nom, cookies!
I may not have put any ornaments on it, but at least it was up!
The dining room was the most decorated room of the house this Christmas.
Just a few things up.
This was the only time I actually had the garland plugged in.
Here's to a new year filled with new and exciting adventures!
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