Can't Talk - Christmas Shopping

How does this happen every year? All of a sudden it's December and I only have about three presents in the house. That's not going to cut it for the umpteen family members we'll be exchanging gifts with in a few weeks. I thought I was off to a good start with the shopping but then suddenly - December arrived.

Well, part of the problem, of course, is that I am not an organized person and I don't lead a well planned life. But there's more to it than that. It's the weather. Yep. The weather.

See, I don't remember being born here in the Golden State, or living here until I was 2. I remember 12 years in West Virginia, where although there was by no means snow every year on Christmas (only sometimes), the weather at least had the decency to be cold, consistently, at least by November - and stay that way until April or May. We had four seasons there. So ever since we moved back to the land of the fruits, nuts and flakes, as they say, it has never felt like Christmas. At this point I have even lived back in CA longer than I lived in WV, but since my childhood Christmases were spent in a place with real weather (I guess that's the reason), I cannot make myself believe it's Christmas each year. Not even on Christmas Day.

Of course, now I'm having to "make" Christmas for the kids - you know, do fun holiday things with them, sing songs, start our own family traditions. I really believed that doing that with my own children would recreate the holiday for me somehow, and help me to believe that it could possibly be Christmas here where it was raining and in the low 50s two days ago, but sunny as all get out and in the mid-60s today.

It's just not happening. I feel like I just have to fake it every year. Does anyone know how I can get over this? It's kind of annoying!

In the mean time I'm trying to figure out what people want and what we're getting for whom, while the girls continue on their antibiotics (I think we've finally turned a corner; they're both acting more like themselves finally), Slipshod gets stuck in bad weather on a business trip (no worries, really, it was a short trip and he'll be home tonight - but it's still disruptive to have him away), and I'm starting to have a bladder infection. I know you really wanted to know that last bit - but it sort of puts the icing on the cake, y'know?

And tomorrow before school we're making The Bug miss her morning naptime (she'll nap in the afternoon instead) to get her ears re-checked and to have her 18-month checkup, Saturday Sweet Pea has a birthday party to attend at the local gymnastics school, and Sunday we'll be driving a long ways to cut down our own Christmas tree in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I'm not complaining about any of that except for The Bug's appointment - she literally shakes with fear when she's being examined by doctors, and she'll be getting shots, so SUCK all around.

I just hope the bladder infection goes away quickly. Since I STILL don't have a doctor locally, I'm fighting the infection with herbs and cranberry juice. I hope they work while I'm sleeping and I feel better in the morning. I'd rather do that anyway - I hate taking antibiotics - but I'm not naive enough to think that I will definitely get through this on herbs and cranberry alone, because I think it may have taken me too long to figure out what it was and the infection may have gone too far to be treatable with the more natural and gentle options.

Send happy thoughts...