Christmas 2009

After three freezing Christmas's in New York, we were happy to leave a White Christmas behind and head south on December 23rd for a Tender Tennessee Christmas with my sister Candice (who found out over Christmas that she loves playing the Wii and as a beginner can beat us all) her husband Peter ( who is the worst monotone narrator ever for a Christmas pageant and actually skipped half the dialogue to get it over with ) and Baby Laura (who got a new pig for Christmas thanks to her crafty cousin Savannah)

Isn't that the biggest baldest head you've ever seen off to the left?

They all live in Nashville so Peter can attend Vanderbilt Law School. As we drove south and things just got greener AND WARMER we made up our minds that we are done with Buffalo Winters.

Getting off wasn't easy. I could hardly sleep the previous night. I had a lot on my mind. I was sure that I had thrown our video camera in the Home Depot Garbage across town. While waiting for Brent earlier in the day while he shopped I cleaned out the car. One grocery bag full of garbage and another bag of items to take into the house. I remembered putting the camera and video camera into one of the bags. Once the car was clean I threw the trash bag out into the large can near the Home Depot entrance. Later, when the video camera was missing it was pretty easy to conclude where it had gone. I was too scared to say anything though and just went to bed and tried to sleep. By 5:00 a.m I was wide awake and Brent heard me leaving the bedroom. He asked what was up and I told him that I couldn't sleep because I had too many worries.

"Like what?"

"Well, . . . I think I threw our video camera away"

I had made up my mind to drive to Home Depot and search the trash. Brent insisted on coming with me though we both figured that a day later searching a parking lot garbage was futile. Twenty minutes later I found the exact can and it was still full. I started digging under the trash mostly consisting of stinky coffee cups which I was throwing all over myself like it was a race or something. But it was worth it because underneath those drippy coffee cups, I found my BAG! I searched the contents twice, just to be sure. But no video camera. After that, we drove home and I felt so much better. The camera was missing. But I hadn't thrown it away. I didn't look for it once we got home. Just loaded up the car and off we went without it. (Later, I found it in Nashville among the stuff I had already packed I was glad of course, but I can't help but wonder if I am losing it.)

We convinced the kids to let us just have a little Christmas in Nashville. One present each. It is so hard to fit 7 people and all their suitcases in our van, let alone presents. Caroline was determined to bring a stuffed animal although we outlawed any such personal items. She came out wearing this elephant and said that we couldn't stop her because it wouldn't take up any extra room because it was a hat and she would wear it the whole trip.

We spent our first night with Brent's cousin Dale and his family in Delaware, Ohio. They have 2 girls which we all fight over and one son that cried before going to bed because he wanted to have a sleepover in his room with Marcus. Dale is a real dentist and had lots of good advice for the future dentist. After family prayer Brent pounced on Dale and before long all the girls were wrestling away trying to help out their own Dad. We finally got Brent down and I snapped a rare picture of Brent on the bottom of the pile.
I feel like I am going backwards here. OK, first was the trash digging, second the wrestling match, third our arrival in Nashville Christmas Eve just in time for a mexican dinner prepared by Candice, a very boring nativity pageant we found in the Friend narrated by Peter wearing toule, and the opening of our new jammies. The fourth thing that happened on the trip was was all Brent's fault. After unpacking the gifts later Christmas Eve he realized he had left something we needed to operate the Wii. It was almost 10 p.m. when we raced off to Wall Mart only to find it closed and not opening up again until the day after Christmas. I argued with the guy blocking the door for awhile telling him that our Christmas was going to be ruined if he didn't let me in. We had a new game (Outdoor Challenge) and we had planned to play all day so they wouldn't miss their presents we had left at home. But just like the Who's, Christmas went on just the same. Candice had made all of the kids homemade presents like monogrammed pillows, purses, dolls, and aprons and they didn't even notice that they had been jipped. And instead of playing Wii all day they crafted all day with Candice in her craft room, and had no time to be bored. The day after Christmas we made it to Wall Mart and came home and let them open the Christmas present we had saved. It really was as fun as we had hoped though I am just as bad at it as I am at Wii sport. Candice on the other like I said, was pretty amazing. Peter couldn't handle having his wife beat him and was sure the mat was not working correctly on the left side.

Brent discovered after unpacking the first night that he had forgotten his socks. . his belt. . . and his dress pants. . . and as usual only brought one shirt that we all would have to endure the entire trip. I remember listening to him while he was packing and he was really concerned about what shoes to bring for his interviews and how these shoes were taking up his whole bag. . . and I guess he just got sidetracked and never got passed the shoes. He ended up packing an entire suitcase of shoes. . . and nothing to go with them. I couldn't believe it. It worked out nicely for him, in the end. We stopped off at a mall and got him new stuff, which in reality he needed a wardrobe update anyway.

Brent had a couple interviews lined up on the way home in Eastern Pennsylvania so we had a drive ahead of us. On the way home I started counting up the number of states we would drive through (7 on this trip) and that got us talking about how very few states we had left before we hit ALL 50. Brent has been to two more than me, Alaska and New Mexico. But besides that we just have to plan a trip to Maine, Alabama, Louisana, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas and he will have hit all 50. How many people can say that they have passed through all 50 states? So much for Brent being behind in the game.

This is too hard for me to organize and is already taking too long. So I give up.

One afternoon at Candice's I lay Marcus down for a nap and he started hollering a few minutes later about something. Brent went in and tucked him back in. I asked him what he had been saying and he said, "Pfff, I don't know."
A few minutes later he was still yelling something out so I went and listened next to the door and very clearly heard,
"I have a owie" over and over again. I went in and found the kid dripping in blood. He had jumped out, got in Brent's shaving kit. I couldn't even tell where the cut was. It was all over the bed, and his face and hands were just dripping. I thought for sure he had multiple contusions but after washing him all up we just found a really bad one on his thumb and a little one on his neck. Kennon and Brent really got after me that I started cleaning him up immediately and neglected to take a "bloody shot". He never really cried in pain, just wanted some help cleaning up since he hardly wanted to go to sleep all bloody. Once cleaned and bandaided he went right to sleep and I am hoping he won't been shaving again for several years.

The drive home was wonderful. I love road trips. Brent drives the entire way and I just keep the food and conversation going. It's the best.

My favorite section of the country we visited was Northeast Tennessee. We are toying around with the idea of living there (among other places). The funny thing is that we would be moving to the Tri-cities. That's what it's called, just like our former home in Washington. Somehow I don't think our family will appreciate the joke if we tell them we are moving to the Tri-cities and then we mention the word Tennessee.

The thing is that we can look for perfect places to live as far as climate, beauty, economy but it comes down to finding a job for Brent. We don't have any prospects so far in either of the Tri-cities -East or West. Lots of opportunities elsewhere though providing they like Brent, but we just need to make up our minds which is the part we aren't so good at. They all sound good to me. Why do we have to choose?
By Pennsylvania it was freezing again and I wasn't looking forward to going farther north. We were driving right by so what the heck let's delay it for just an hour and take the kids to Hershey, PA to their favorite chocolate factory. It was such a short time ago we were there that we still had the "It's the milk chocolate" song stuck in our heads and we sang right along with the mechanical cows. Marcus enjoyed the ride and the free chocolate at the end.

We didn't get home until 8:30 p.m. on the 30th and we still had to have our traditional Christmas eve so nobody felt jipped. Brent and the kids are stuck on a Chinese takeout tradition, that I fight because it goes against all Fielding tradition, but I have to admit the cleanup is so much nicer than than all the cooking Mom used to do. The next morning the kids seemed a little disappointed because it's hard to separate Christmas into two and still make each one seem like a big deal. Their big present this time was a good one though that will be enjoyed every single night for at least 4 or 5 more winter months here - an electric blanket each.

Oh, and Brent surprised me with my very first cell phone Christmas morning. I have started complaining the last 5 or 6 years that I needed one and I guess I finally earned one on account of good behavior. Brent wanted to know how many people I was going to tell my number to and then reminded me that I only have 3 MINUTES A DAY. I told him I was going to write it on my blog. Here it is XXX XXXX. I get 3 one minute calls a day. If you email me we can make up a schedule and maybe by the end of the decade I can manage to have a one minute conversation with each of you.

We spent New Year's Day working all day, rearranging bedroom furniture to try to keep all of our children happy and somehow solve the fighting problems. Kennon and Savannah are now back to single twin beds. We have our fingers crossed that not forcing them to sleep together will do wonders for the relationship. Caroline and Camille who now have the queen bed again are so happy to be be able to snuggle once more. For some reason there is always peace in two rooms in our house and no peace in another. Brent spent all day moving things where I told him too.

Once done he let us know that this was the last time the furniture would be rearranged until he was arranging it into the moving truck, which will be here before we know it. Four more months of dental school, a house to sell, and a job to find and we are out a' here.