Merry Christmas!

Since my last post, "The Demanding Diva," I have been handling my 2 year old much better and able to set parameters for behavior a little more clearly. Thus, she has been less of a diva, less demanding, and even a joy to be around. I have had some general queasiness to deal with due to being pregnant, and some nights I go to bed feeling sick and wake up not too much better off.

Today I felt generally okay. A mild unsettled feeling in my tummy seemed to be hanging around all day, but food didn't put me off and I partook in many of the Christmas sweets that were hanging around my Aunt's house. Some treats were given as a gift and made their way home with me, thankfully I have pregnancy as an excuse to eat what would normally be off my diet. I like that excuse.

I was very happy to go to my Aunt's house and see how she is currently doing, she was in an accident on the last day of March and in the hospital from April to early December. Even though my husband is out of the country, and this being the first Christmas without my Mom, I think the visit went rather well. My Uncles were all very sociable and even interacted with my daughter a bit. That was pleasant. To explain that comment a bit...

One of my Uncles is not married and loves math and is very analytical, and makes you realize why no woman has wanted to marry him. He is just too... logical and not as sensitive as a woman would like a husband to be. But since the passing of my Mom (his sister) he has been talking to me more and engaging me in conversation, and even if it is about math half the time it has been nice. The other Uncle is severely bi-polar and was treated for schizophrenia for many years until they figured out he was being treated for the wrong mental disorder (this is greatly due to the successful treatment of my Mom for bi-polar and her Doctor saying it was very unlikely for her to have a brother with a completely different mental disorder). My Uncle lived with his Mom until she passed away and has lived across from my Aunt and her husband since then. He had almost no personality most of my life growing up, the schizophrenia medication tends to subdue one's personality. Very sad. But now every time I see him he seems to have come out of his shell a little more. He use to be very antisocial and stay at his house across the way and only visit for a few minutes at a time. But this visit he chatted away with everyone and even asked about KD and what words she was saying and asked about her general development. His face was very animated and he smiled a lot, not the Uncle I remember as a little girl. So this was very good to see.

My Aunt and her husband are very normal and loving people (nice to have SOME normal relatives). She and my Mom were very close and my Aunt is someone I have always looked up to and wanted to imitate her hospitality to family and friends and general kind and loving demeanor. I always thought she was a very special person. Even KD gravitates toward her. Even with my Aunt sitting in a wheel chair and half her teeth missing and her hair all chopped off and her voice sounding a bit strange (from having a tracheotomy done on her throat) KD wanted to go over to her and sit in her lap and play. Children can sense goodness in people, and my Aunt has a LOT of goodness in her. That warmed my heart to see them interacting together. My Aunt also was there when KD was born and practically delivered her! My Aunt was a labor and delivery nurse for over 22 years and when she came to the hospital the day I was delivering KD the Doctor didn't make it in time for KD's arrival. My Aunt and the nurse from the hospital were the ones that handled the whole thing!

I told my Aunt that she needs to get well enough for a repeat performance in August. And she said, "Definitely!" I told her how much she helped me out, with my breathing, and keeping me calm, and just that she was there when the Doctor wasn't I am sure helped out that nurse attending to me! She was glad she helped me out so much. And I truly do hope she is capable of doing the same thing when August rolls around. I can't imagine going through that without her the next time! I am sure I would be fine, but I would rather her be there. She was such a great coach!

My Aunt and Unlce's kids came and went. At the middle of my visit my Cousin and his wife were there to exchange gifts and have some lunch. They are fun people. Very animated in the way they talk and have a lot of things to chat with you about. No lack of conversation when they are around. And later in the evening my other Cousin came with her gifts to exchange, but most of the family had made their exit by then. Her kids weren't with her, but it was good to see her at least. She played with KD and I had a chance to play the piano for my Aunt. My Aunt always asks me to play her baby grand piano for her when I visit, and I gladly oblige. The TV was even muted for me as my Uncle, Aunt, and Cousin all listened and enjoyed. It was a small gathering of family, but it didn't feel like Christmas until I did that. They even said the same. The only thing that was missing was my Mom standing beside the piano singing along with the Christmas carols and my Aunt joining in on the alto in harmony. (My Aunt can't very well sing right now.) But the nostalgia was still felt as I sat there and played in the dimly lit room where the Christmas tree was lit and the piano sits waiting for someone to come along and tickle it's ivory keys. Poor lonely piano. My Aunt was learning how to play but never got to be that proficient in it. My Mom was the pianist of her family and then I took it up when I was 6 and took lessons all the way into my college years. So then I became the pianist of the family. It's nice to be that person, the one that plays the Christmas carols as family gathers around and sings along. I would have played earlier when my Uncles were still there, but KD was napping and so was my Aunt at one point. So I didn't want to wake anyone.

Overall I would say I am very blessed to have my family to visit and spend time with this Christmas and I hope everyone else had a very Merry Christmas as well. God bless!