It's not been a good "holiday" time. At least as far as accomplishing much of anything. I haven't baked anything at all. Supposedly I'll do something tonight, but I just want to curl up and nod off.

Not that I've been taking it easy or anything. I did finish an annual project I oversee every year. It seems to be getting bigger and more complicated, but I am certain that the addition of more mobile children to the mix certainly isn't helping. Neither are either one of the abscesses I've managed to develop. It's very important to me, for reasons I can't explain, I make it clear that neither one of these teeth had cavities. Which made this situation even more special. Of course, due to my life looking like it does, I only bothered to go in to the dentist after I developed a huge lump on my jaw. Nothing life waiting until the last minute has passed. And your insurance changes so that which would have cost nothing out of pocket now most definitely costs.

So this is how I found myself in Trader Joe's instantly regretting numerous life choices. The trigger for this particular moment was letting X-Man have his own child sized shopping cart. The chaos surprised even me. He wasn't interested in following me but he was more than happy to race through the aisles yelling "Guys guys with meeeeee!!!! And so I found myself chasing after X-Man, while pushing Cinco in a cart weaving through the crowds. Next stop was the Dollar Tree because I've given up and am throwing all gifts in bags. The Dollar Tree does not have little shopping carts but does have penguins. X-Man determined that penguins would be an acceptable substitute and he should hold ALL the penguins. I was of the opinion that he should hold NONE of the penguins. Epic meltdown commenced.


I have blocked most of it out, but I do distinctly remember saying "Santa does not come for young men who bite their mothers!" It did not make an impact. X-Man was so forceful in his rage that the lady ahead of me let me cut in front of her. She complimented me on my patience. I didn't tell her it was most likely the drugs due to my root canal.

And that seems to sum up how this month has been going. Found myself threatening to shoot Santa out of the sky if he ignored my instructions to stay away. Baba casually mentioned that I say that every year. I didn't remember threatening Santa's well being before, but apparently I have. Which I guess means that I'm not abnormally overwhelmed. And they're not being abnormally naughty. That's not really comforting.