My holiday break is winding down after two weeks that, wow, were quite a lot of things both bad and good.
First, the bad: Jose lost a family member to cancer earlier in the month. Those details are not mine to share, but of course it was a very sad event for the family and has been on our minds in the weeks since her passing.
And then, after kicking off the break with a few fun things (kid birthday party, a holiday party with friends), I caught what turned out to be “only” an extremely nasty stomach bug. But I didn’t know that at the time! At 5pm on December 18 I was feeling totally fine, and by 11pm I was dealing with severe stomach cramps and vomiting. It came on fast and I felt awful, so Jose took me to the ER. They quickly ruled out appendicitis, but scans showed small bowel inflammation (lovely) and some of my bloodwork numbers were off, so they ended up keeping me for observation. I spent 36 hours in the hospital which was certainly NOT how I wanted to begin the holiday break.
Fortunately, after IV fluids and a clear liquid diet, my GI tract looked better and my bloodwork was back to normal, and I was released before lunchtime on the 20th. I was so incredibly relieved to be feeling better, and to NOT have had emergency surgery right before Christmas (I was mentally preparing myself for appendicitis when we went to the ER).
Because of my unexpected hospital stay, Jose wasn’t able to go to Corpus Christi for his family member’s funeral. That was disappointing, but we were able to watch a recording of the service and I am thankful we were able to see that.
If there was a silver lining to all of this, it’s that 1) we were reminded that we have an incredible neighbor-friend who we were able to call for help with the girls when we needed it and 2) it forced me to slow down, abandon trying to do everything, and focus on what was really important leading into Christmas.
Now, on to the good!
Two days after my stomach flu hospital adventure, we were able to go ahead with our plan to see the TUTS performance of Mary Poppins! They usually do a family-friendly show in December and we all enjoyed it.
We had a very nice holiday with just the four of us this year. Charlotte made this cute list of things to do to help pass the time on the 23rd and 24th — remember how the days before Christmas felt sooooo long when you were a kid? We made an Oreo cookie house, worked on Kiwi Crates, made hot chocolate bombs and brownies for Santa, and played games. On Christmas morning, the girls were up bright and early and we had a perfectly cozy day opening presents, eating treats, and enjoying each others’ company.
Jose got me a new puzzle featuring posts of all 63 national parks. We started it on Christmas day and finished it 24 hours later! It was a good one that I’ll probably do again at some point. Everyone in the family received at least one Lego set, so there was a lot of Lego building and art kits and playing with new toys.
For New Year’s Eve, we had promised the girls a trip to Dave & Busters and that was a fun way to spend 3 hours closing out the year. We were home by 9pm and relaxed as a family until midnight arrived. Emma made it all the way to the new year, but Charlotte fell asleep shortly after 11. We woke her up briefly to wish her a happy new year, and then she was more than happy to go back to bed.
Since I didn’t commit to daily blogging in December, I’ve got at least 9 (!) posts that I hope to get done in the next few weeks. I want to write my annual wrap-up (which I do purely for my own benefit) first. Then I’ve got my 2022 income report half done, plus posts on several finishes from the end of the year — my Moon Lights quilt, my girls’ QuiltCon entries, my cross stitch piece, my guild’s community outreach quilt, and all of the Quilts Unscripted bee blocks I made in 2022. And then finally, my quarterly goals post to plot out what I’ll be working on for the new few months.
And so we head into 2023! No doubt there will be some bad, but also a whole lot of good, and I look forward to seeing what it brings.
I’m so glad that you were able to rally back after your illness so you could enjoy your family time over the holidays.
Happy New Year!
Emily
Oh, goodness. I’m so glad it wasn’t appendicitis. I hope that there is more good than bad on balance in the year ahead. And if you are looking for another fun parks puzzle, I recommend the SubPar Parks puzzle (posters made up for parks based on one star revieww); it was super fun to put together!!
Oof, sorry y’all both started off the holidays with odd footing and my condolences to Jose’s extended family member.
Having the week off after Christmas was great and if I can swing the week before next year I may try it. Something magical about having this time off with kids! Happy New Year!
Gosh you look so good two days after the hospital! I am very happy you did not have anything beyond what you were diagnosed with! My family and I are also looking forward to this year after an end of the year shattered Achilles and a total loss after hitting a deer. CHEERS to 2023!!!!