Merry Christmas from Queens

This Christmas we didn't exactly get everything we wanted. No, Nacho had to work for four days straight this week after almost a month without a trip. Even knowing there was a good chance he'd be called on reserve, it was still a shock to hear that he was going to be gone for Christmas. The girls took it mostly in stride. Elisa was more clingy than normal his last day and it made me realize that she's aware of his absences even when she doesn't say much about them. For me, I was glad that all the shopping was done and I could pretty much pare down my schedule so I wouldn't be too overwhelmed on my own. The fact that my parents were coming to visit for the holiday and planning to stay through January made it much less depressing. At least we wouldn't be alone. But still, Christmas Eve with all its anticipation and energy came and went and going to bed alone on the couch was not my most uplifting evening of the year. I didn't make it to bed until almost 1:30 a.m. after finishing up a few things for the girls. So at 3:30 a.m. when Carolina came out of her room talking, I bolted upright and stopped her before she could enter the living room. She was babbling about waking up and I wasted no time in spinning her butt right around and marching her back to bed. She was still talking and saying something about Elisa being awake, but thankfully, she wasn't. I left the room and returned to the couch hoping that they wouldn't both come back out in a few minutes. Naturally it took me awhile to fall back asleep after that little hiccup, but by about 7:30 a.m. when I stirred on my own, I was almost rested. The girls finally woke just a little after 8:00 a.m. and I was amazed.  Having mom and dad just down the hall to come out and see them open their gifts was a real treat. The rest of the day was a blur of opening presents, throwing paper and plastic all over the apartment and building things that require more blueprints than any child's toy should. But it was also a lot of fun. Now time for bed again after such a marathon 24 hours. Merry Christmas to all and we'll have more presents (and hugs) for Nacho when he returns tomorrow.