Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! Since I don’t qualify for time off from my base job until mid-Jan (and my boss already gave me some over Thanksgiving, since we had my brother visiting), and my local clinic flex nurse job was pursued with the intent to work mainly weekend/holiday shifts, I haven’t had a lot of R&R yet. This week, I work at one or both jobs every day except Christmas, however New Year’s weekend thus far is looking to be an actual 4-day!
Two nice scheduling things about this week, though, are: Matt will be off (free leave, as long as we stay in the local area!) to be with the girls every day I work my offbase clinic shifts—and my on-base job has let me bring the girls along to hang out in my office while I work for the week! So it definitely still has the vacation/extra family time feel to it. And, let’s face it, no matter how great the amount of time I have off, I usually end up crazy-busy and slightly sleep-deprived regardless. My biggest resolution for the new year is go to bed at a decent hour…as I have become increasingly dependent on my morning cup of coffee and Excedrin.
The girls were in a cute little Christmas story in church this week..as angels. My oldest said to me, "Mom, you always are calling us angels, and now we have become angels. You never call us 'Mary'" (a reference to a different potential pageant role, lol).
We have also been spending a LOT of time spinning Matt (almost daily) as the weather and time off have grounded most flights. Dangerous though it may appear, we found a great pastime for the girls while he spins. Gets them some exercise, makes it more fun, and is probably safer than letting them around any of the other weight equipment.
This week, on top of work, I also got all our family presents mailed out (the annual trip to the post office is usually my least favorite part of the season), baked dinner for an out-of-commission family in my squadron, held my first Daisy Scout meeting (LOOOOOVED it!!!!), and baked about 8 dozen cookies for some care packages we are putting together for the single guys/gals in Matt’s flight so they can enjoy the home-baked holiday goodness that all the married guys get this time of year.
Our contribution: These two cookies (4 dozen each), plus candy canes.
Left: Peanut Butter Cup Bites & Right: Bacon Brownie Cookies (both are gluten-free).
Worthy of note: Back when we lived in OKC, Matt and I visited a great raw food, vegan, and gluten-free restaurant a couple of times (back when we used to have regular date nights, lol) and always thought it was interesting how the chef there made very tasty and convincing bacon out of coconut. Wouldn't think the two could ever taste that similar. Well, in our bacon brownie bites, you would never guess [caramelized] bacon is in there! In my opinion, they taste a lot like Girl Scout Samoas, and are very yummy, caramely, and coconutty (despite no coconut in the recipe).
Considering how stressful I found Sunday School teaching to be, I was thrilled and loving every minute of Daisy Scout leading. I have a terrific co-leader who complements me very well (she prefers admin and parent interaction, while I love getting hands-on with the kids). For the first time in awhile, I correctly selected an age-appropriate craft for the girls to participate in, snack was a hit (“Christmas yogurt parfaits”: vanilla yogurt with strawberries and red/white/green chocolate chips that the kids assembled themselves). We meet twice a month, which is a waaay better schedule for busy me than every week, and next month we will take our first field trip (to a fire station!). I love that the scouting activities are things that I would want to do with the girls anyway, and are so so so geared to cultural and community involvement, introducing new experiences, and building confidence.
Looking forward to one more day of regular work this week, then some shifts at the clinics (I think flex nursing is sooo fun)—and family time! The girls are in for a wonderful Christmas.
The sweeties enjoying their break:
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