The turtle slowly, steadily, but surely, pokes his head out
of his shell, and says to the world…Hello!
It’s been a while since we last talked, hasn’t it? Lori informed me last night that it’s been
over a month. I’d say she’s wrong, but I
don’t think I want to check myself, I may disappoint. I did say a while back that I wasn’t going to
apologize for any lack of blogging, but I do want to let you guys know what’s
been going on lately. For the past week and a half, I’ve had a
virus. At least that’s what the ‘doc in
a box’ told me at the Immediate Care Center. I’ve been drowsy, short of breath, hoarse,
and hacking my head off since last Sunday morning. I’ve been going to work, coming home and
doing my routine chores (barely), and then hitting the couch. I’m still not up to 100%, the cough won’t
seem to go away, but I feel much better now, thanks for asking. Also, Carrie did a great job on the last two
posts, so I was hoping she would volunteer for another couple, but the offer
never presented itself.
In addition, Cooper had pinkeye last Monday, so Carrie and
took turns staying home with him on Monday and Tuesday until it cleared up,
then when we got up Wednesday, it had moved to the other eye. So, we split the day with him again. Fun times. Thursday and Friday were just about back to normal I think, from what
little of them I remember.
Saturday was my office Christmas party. Carrie and I got all dressed up and left
Cooper with a babysitter for the evening. It was his first time that he had been babysat by someone other than a
family member of some sort. Needless to say,
he never even cried when we left, and the whole ordeal was much more traumatic
for his mother than it was for him. We understand
that he and Jackie had a blast, which is good, because Carrie and I actually
did as well. We had a really nice night
out, and I even ended up winning a nice gift at the party. It’s hard to beat parties and presents, isn’t
it?
What else has been going on…well, let’s see. Oh, I know. Did you guys know that it’s almost Christmas? You did? Dang. You could have warned
me. It’s snuck right up on me
again. Kind of. Actually, I have most of my shopping already
done, I just have a few little things that I need to take care of. Even with the shopping out of the way though,
it just seems as if November was a fleeting vision; we were all just stuffing
our faces with turkey last Thursday, weren’t we? It’s fun though. We’ve had cold weather, snow, sleet, and ice
already, so I know we are close, I’m just not quite ready for it yet.
How many of you have already checked the “Cooper Pics” page
out? Yeah, I figured you had. Well, just in case you haven’t, now might be
a good time to take a break from this bit of prose to go take a gander at
it. We’ve added lots of new snapshots, I’m
sure you’ll find one or two you’ll like. There’s a few in there that don’t have Cooper in them at all, by the
way. I don’t usually do that, but Carrie
is proud of her new window treatments, so I thought I’d show them off for
her. I don’t think they excite Cooper
and me as much as they do her, but hey, as long as momma’s happy, right?
Speaking of Cooper and Christmas, I can tell you that he’s
fully in the Christmas Spirit lately. Apparently, when he spent an extended Thanksgiving with his Mim, he learned a new phrase. Now, not only can he tell you that a cow goes
‘moo’, and a duck goes ‘quack’, but he can also tell you that Santa goes ‘Ho Ho
Ho!’. And boy can he tell you. If he sees a statue, or picture, or movie, or
plate, or whatever, that even resembles Santa, you just about have to
physically remove either Cooper or the Santa to get him to be quiet about
it. I keep taking him to the nativity
set and pointing at the manger and saying “Baby Jesus”, but Cooper just points
at the Santa doll that sits next to it and says “Ho Ho Ho!”
I’ve been scolded and made fun of and reprimanded by family members,
co-workers, and others lately for my “weird views on Christmas”, but I think
this proves my point quite well. Say
what you want about making sure that your kids know the true meaning of Christmas,
when it comes right down to it, it’s inescapable. We have one baby Jesus in our living room
right now, in the nativity set, that’s on TOP of the mantle, and we have nearly
a dozen decorations featuring a jolly old elf. What does this say to Cooper about what we value during this
season? Is it about Christ being born
into this world, or is it about a guy in a red suit? I’m not saying we have to have one or the
other, I think they can peacefully coexist, but which one do your kids see you
get the most excited about? Do your
Christmas decorations reflect that same intensity? Does what you talk about with them when it
comes to Christmas slant more one way than another? Carrie and I have talked about this on more
than one occasion. This year, we aren’t
changing anything, but next year, and the following years, I think there are
going to be some differences in the way we “do Christmas.” Some may be subtle, some may be a little
dramatic, but we are definitely going to do it differently. We’ve already got some great ideas, and we
are going to come up with some more. Christmas is a special time, and we plan on keeping it that way, but neither
of us feel that this means we have to do it the same way as everyone else, or
even the same way we’ve always done it ourselves.
It’s getting late, so I’m going to cut this off now, but
check back soon. I’m back in the saddle,
feeling better, and my fingers are ready to rat-a-tat-tat at this ol’ keyboard
some more soon!
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