Sunday, November 12, 2006

It's That Time Of Year Again!

There was lots of activity at my house this weekend. I slept in on Saturday morning as late as I could because I knew that when my granddaughter Chloe arrived there would be no rest. Eventually on Saturday afternoon Chloe and her parents finally arrived. They're never on time. Our goal for the day was to bring into the house all the Christmas decorations stored in my outdoor shed. Soon enough the inside of my house looked like a movie set from a Tim Burton film as we hauled in Christmas decorations while some Halloween decorations were still sitting around. With everyone pitching in it didn't take too long to achieve this first step in the Christmas decoration process. My granddaughter was wide eyed and excited all afternoon and night as she explored all the various Christmas items around the house.

Chloe is at the age now where she will tell you when she is ready for bed. By the time she announced it, we were all ready. Grandma's goal was to get Chloe asleep so she could get back up and have some quiet time. Chloe snuggled with me all night long. When we weren't "spooning", we were back to back or face to face on my pillow. She slept the whole night. I, however, didn't. Most of the night I was awake, sometimes hanging on to the edge of the bed, hoping I wouldn't fall out. Grandma, of course, had three fourths of the bed all to herself. At one point when I was awake and watching Chloe sleep, all of a sudden she started laughing out loud. I wondered what dream she was having that made her laugh so much? Was it about me? Our cat? A great day at school? What do two and a half year olds dream about?

On Sunday, Chloe's parents returned, bringing one of the great grandparents along, and we completed decorating the tree. Afterwards we cooked burgers out on the grill. By the time dinner was eaten and cleaned up, I was ready for some solitude and quiet. Chloe and her parents headed one way and my wife and I headed another way as we took Great Grandma back to the old folks home. Soon my wife, son, cat, and me all found a corner of the house in which to retreat and rest . Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

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