All Good Things...

Must come to an end.

It's been five days now since mom left and the house feels empty. Empty even though life goes on without missing a beat.

We had a wonderful Christmas. And yes, for those of you wondering, two US Marines did come over for a Christmas Eve dinner. We spent Christmas day with an Anglo-American family and wore plastic crowns on our heads and popped Christmas poppers in pure English fashion. Their family also had a grandmother in town for the holidays and my mom got a chance to make a new friend.

Gusi handled Christmas morning quite well. We decided not to wrap all the presents, so he got to see lots of them sitting next to the Christmas tree. The tricycle was a huge hit as was the tracker-ball game. And after all the excitement of that morning it was tough to get him to wind down. The only way he relented to a nap was with the promise of napping with his grandma. It was really cute. He ended up napping in his grandmother's bed quite a bit while she was here. How could I deny him that pleasure when many of my own happy memories are of doing the same wrapped up in my own grandmother's arms?

Having my mom here was just about the most enjoyable time I've had here so far. I'm not sure why I let her leave but I know that we'll see her again soon. In the meantime I'm awaiting a few other visitors. A good friend from college will be coming to visit in February and two days after he leaves my parents-in-law will be coming for a month with a week-long visit from one of my sisters-in-law thrown in. When I wrote my Christmas (e)cards giving an update of our lives so far, I got several responses from friends telling me how could I be with my in-laws for a whole month! I responded to them that my parents-in-law will be Gusi's best entertainment; who better than a grandparent to play with? Poor folks, I think they think they're coming for a vacation...little do the know. Grandma and Grandpa, if you're reading this, bring energy drinks with you because the same little boy you saw last summer has grown into an adventure seeking young lad. And he is quick to boot. But I won't let them suffer too much, they will be allowed to go golfing at the nearby fancy hotel every now and then...during nap time :)