Frog Tent in my Throat, Honda Deal, & Daughters

I woke around 7:30am. I hurried through the process of brushing my teeth in an attempt to get downstairs, make coffee, exercise, and walk Ykraps before Landon and Rocky were awake. I was successful. The temperature was 40 degrees and there were large puddles of rain in the middle back yard. And no surprise, the pond was up too. We must’ve gotten about an inch of rain. Even though the temperature was mild, there were several large patches of ice remaining on the walks and roads. Footing was treacherous.

Safely back at home, I scrambled to put something, anything into the magic box. I decided on a can of pears. That would almost certainly please the ‘Rockster’.

Meanwhile, Landon had an incredibly bad diaper – I was overwhelmed with the damage. It was so full of crap that it managed to explode outside his diaper and onto his previously clean and fluffy pj’s. Somehow I managed.

All of us were downstairs around 8am enjoying our breakfasts. Rocky & Landon ate pop-tarts while Mindy & I sipped coffee. The weather was deplorable - rain, ice & wind. The only bonus was the temperature – now hovering around 43 degrees. I dressed and left for a run around 9am. I had to be extra careful running on the slippery roads. I didn’t dare try the walks. They’re almost always worse. Like last week, I ran on the crown of the road where ever possible. That strategy served me well. The only real peril I found myself in was at the three mile marker where the roads were much slicker than elsewhere. That also is the lowest point along my run – I wouldn’t think it a coincidence. I managed to remain fleet afoot.

Back at home I sipped more coffee before getting a shower and preparing to meet Tony at the Honda dealership. I left the house around 10:40am with trips to Hugh White Honda & Target planned. I decided to stop at Targhetto (west broad st store) first. There’s no denying the difference in clientele from one Target to another. Still, they had what I needed; a photo album for Courtney, HP printer ink, and the frog tent Rocky wanted. I could’ve bought the two print cartridges I needed in a combo pack for $54, or the two print cartridges along with 100 4x6” photo sheets for $42. Hmmm? That made little sense. I bought the latter.

I called Tony from Target’s parking lot. We agreed to meet at the dealership in a few short minutes. I arrived first. Everyone at the dealership was in fantastic, Xmas Eve-type mood. Xmas carols abound! Tony came barreling up in his sporty new red Honda Accord Sport Coupe. Nice! He produced the deal in writing and then took me out into the lot to see the premium running boards installed on another new Pilot to make sure that we were on the same page. The only surprise was the $250 ‘documentation fee’ on the deal. I didn’t gripe too much. From past experience, it’s pretty standard stuff. I wrote him the refundable deposit check. That will get the ball rolling for the dealer vehicle exchange. Said ours will be in by Friday. I reiterated that we are not interested in picking it up until all the extra accessories are installed. I made that mistake in ’00 with my Trooper. I had to go back twice to get my luggage rack installed. Nightmare! That, he thought, could drag out delivery until Monday. I was OK with that.

I wasn’t there long, but did meet his daughter, Victoria, who is 12 years old and spending Xmas with her daddy. She was cute.

I headed home in the steady rain, the temperature now about 45 degrees. We were expecting Joe & Camilla to stop by to edit some photos for a Xmas gift project. We let them know that our printer was out of ink. I still wanted to help with the editing, however. They showed up around 12:30pm. Sadly, Camilla forgot her camera’s interface cable and could only download photos via the removable memory card. My HP printer has a card reader included on board. I was certain her card would fit, but sadly it wouldn’t. I tried both of my interface cables but the camera’s interface connector was different than both. We were SOL. I suggested Cord camera. They visited for a while longer but left around 1:15pm. Meanwhile, we had just a little window of time before my girls would be over to Xmas with us. We were expecting them at 2:30pm. At 1:45pm Ashley, Stephen, Lindsey & Olivia arrived. We were surprised they were so early, but we were well on our way to being ready. We began Christmasing right then. Courtney arrived around 2pm.

Somewhat surprisingly, Landon would have absolutely nothing to do with his mommy. He wanted me – ‘Pi-Paw’. Meanwhile, Lil’ Rocky was torn. He had good moments and bad. He let his anger get the best of him more than a time or two. But if you think about it, what a terrible thing for a 5 year old to experience. One minute he was fine and playing with his momma and then the next, throwing a fit, crying profusely, kicking, screaming, and throwing things. This was behavior we’ve never seen before. Mindy had a one on one discussion with him to calm his emotions. However, the last thing we wanted to do was to not allow him to express himself. In the end, both Mindy & I felt it good for him to let it out. We surmised that much of this had been building for some length of time. Honestly, I found myself a little concerned for Lindsey, too. I worried how she might process these emotions. Would it put her over the edge? She seemed heart broken but held up pretty well, in the end.

Lucky for all of us, Rocky eventually calmed and began interacting with his momma in an usually loving manner. In fact, he was almost over-the-top loving to everyone from that point forward. I suspect our hunch was correct .He needed to vent. While Rocky was dealing with his own pain, Olivia was testing Ashley. She’d scream at the top of her little lungs to get her way. It obviously works. Mindy & I pulled Olivia aside to calm her. That was far easier. Once she realized that we meant business she was much better behaved. Ashley needs to be incharge.

We had food laid out buffet style. Everyone partook as they saw fit. Our gift ‘exchange’ was next. That went well. The kids loved it. My girls got Mindy & I nothing, not even a card or a note. I only mention this, not because I want ‘things’. Instead, it’s because I am troubled by their ongoing lack of givingness - to anyone. They’ve been allowed to exist like this for years. They had there fill of Xmas and left around 4-4:30pm. Rocky was very loving to his mother at departure time. We weren’t sure how that would go. Landon was unfazed. I asked Ashley about her Xmas tree and gifts for Olivia. She intimated that they had none – not even a tree up. Mindy mentioned later what the money she spends on cigarettes might’ve bought. Good point!

Landon took a nap after the girls left. Rocky & I played Wii. We had a nice time hanging out. We readied for Xmas Eve mass around 6:15pm. Rocky walked Ykraps with me too. It was cooling off once more. Our earlier highs in the mid 40’s were fading fast. We left for mass early – around 6:45pm. Just before hand , I fixed Mindy’s burnt out brake light, which the Valleyview police so kindly pointed it out to Mindy a couple days prior. They didn’t cite her, however. They didn’t want to spoil her otherwise perfect driving record. Funny, I think they ruined mine when I was only 18. J

We arrived at church early and saved an entire pew for the family. Jimaken would be dropping Jacob & Bella off to us at mass. Mindy’s family arrived around 7:15pm. We had already placed Landon in the church nursery. Rocky would be hanging with us for a while through children’s time. He was squirming & talking a lot. After children’s time we’d sent him to the nursery, too.

Jacob & Bella arrived mid-way through mass and joined us in the sanctuary. It was a long mass complete with caroling and the story behind each one we sang. For those that weren’t sure, they were told that they could find the words to the carols in the U-n-i-t-e-d M-e-t-h-o-d-i-s-t H-y-m-n-a-l. Towards the end we took holy communion. That took awhile. After mass, there was a Xmas reception in the fellowship hall – a Crossroads tradition. I’ve attended it each of the last four years. There was more Xmas music played by two choir members (flute, electric guitar, saxophone, and vocals). More importantly, there were lots of Xmas treats for us to devour. We stayed until just before 10pm. I was shocked that it was that late.

The lot was icy as we made our way to the minivan afterwards. We all enjoyed the drive north on Hague avenue admiring the over-the-top Xmas displays along the way. As soon as we were home we got the kids settled into their pj’s and beds. That took a while. I brought the bottle of Asti we had setting on the deck inside. I put it out there after leaving it in the freezer too long earlier in the afternoon. While placing the gifts around the tree we drank Spumante. Finally, all the work was done. We sat, talked, and sipped more spumante before heading to bed ourselves. From our bed, I tuned the TV to Xmas with the Pope, live from the Vatican. He always puts on a grand show. Plus, all of his peeps dress like Santa. Merry Xmas to all, and to all a good night!