No Sleep Weekend All Around

Rick and I thought it would be better to ship the kids to Grandma DD and Grandma Ba's houses for the weekend than spend a fortune on sitters so we could partake in a few holiday parties this season. It seemed like a good plan at the time, and could have been awesome under better circumstances. The reality was a bit more than we bargained for.

Friday, our neighbor Krissie accompanied me out to Huntley where we enjoyed lunch, switched cars and give Grandma DD the kids. The transfer went well and Krissie and I had a blast on the ride home. The highlight was seeing a motorcyclist wearing a furry hat with a coyote or a fox head on top, and the animal's tail and hind legs blowing in the wind behind him. It was quite the sight to see. Our spirits were high until I parked my mom's car on our street and heard my cell phone quietly summoning me from my purse. It was my brother calling to ask what tricks they could try to get Iain to calm down since nothing they did was working. Instead of making my mom suffer, I called Grandma Ba to go to my mom's aid. Ba is a baby whisperer of sorts and was all too happy to help. My mom ended up giving Iain to Grandma Ba for the rest of the night and kept Ada. Both kids had a cold and I was not sure my mom knew what I had volunteered her for. Divide and conquer works on grand kids too.

Ada ended up getting sick that night. Pretty much all of that night. Bobpa was up until one in the morning doing laundry since she threw up everywhere, numerous times. Not what any of us had hoped for. And it was a good thing Iain wasn't around waking my parents up in the night between Ada's coughing fits and throwing up. Yikes. That would have been like what we deal with and we know that isn't fun.

While Ada was throwing up, I was busy spilling wine at Rick's holiday party. The first glass spilled on the table top because I was talking and waving my hands with my glass too close to me. The second glass I spilled sprayed the woman next to me as I ripped apart a piece of bread and, when it gave way, my hand flew into the glass and sent it flying toward my neighbor. Not the best way to make friends. Sad part was that she and her husband witnessed the first glass get spilled too. I wasn't even intoxicated and was already cut off. Her husband felt bad for me and got me wine in a tumbler the next time he got up. What a sweetheart. At least she was a good sport about it. Unfortunately, Rick and I didn't get to bed until two in the morning.

I woke up Saturday morning to learn that Ada was a hot mess at DD's house, I had lost feeling in two toes from the four-inch heels I was partying in for six hours, and our friends coming from Minneapolis to visit us cancelled their trip. Oh, and a big storm was headed right for us. Good morning Amanda!

While Ada was decorating Granny's Christmas tree back in Sycamore, and Iain was theoretically being good (I never got a bad report from Grandma Ba so I'm making a big assumption here), I was napping in my bed to get rid of the wine headache I acquired the previous evening even though I wasn't ever intoxicated. Not fair at all. Really not fair since this was my day to get so much accomplished without having the kids around to distract me. Bummer.

Rick and I got ready for Holiday Party #2 and went to Five Guys for a quick dinner since we were running late. Apparently, it took me a long time to get ready since I only did it four times a year and needed to enlist my neighbors' help to look anywhere near decent. The party was so fun that we didn't get home until two in the morning. (Two times does not a trend make.)

With the storm fast approaching, we woke up a little after eight, grabbed bagel sandwiches from The Bagel restaurant up the street, brushed off the car and began the trek to retrieve our little monsters.  Rick's parents agreed to meet us in Huntley and had quite the time getting there since the roads were being attacked by blowing snow. At one point, they were driving with their blinkers on and aiming between the telephone poles since they couldn't see the road. That's always fun. Luckily we didn't have any trouble on the expressways. We made the transfer and again switched cars. Grandpa Rich got Good Samaritan points for helping to push two cars out of the ditch on his way home and calling the police to report a third. Fortunately, we all made it home safely and in time to watch the Bears game. Unfortunately, the Bears didn't play so well.

We rounded out the weekend with yet another impromptu gathering of neighbors upstairs at Kelly's house for some delicious white chicken chili and a tree decorating party. After a wonderful night spent with friends, we realized that maybe we really did need sleep and made it to bed around eleven.

Moral of the story: Holiday parties can be fun. Try to remember that sleep is important for the whole family. And do your best to make time to recuperate.