Wow, has it really been 2 weeks since I last posted?  The holidays came and went so quickly.  Fortunately, it was filled with lots of family.  Elaine, Ed, Connor, and Helen arrived on the 22nd and was here until the 28th.  My parents, Lynette, Lee, Ashleigh, and Hollee arrived on the 28th (literally passing the others in the driveway) and stayed until the 30th.

We had an absolutely great time with all of them, celebrating Christmas and enjoying the fellowship of family.

Each time I considered sitting down and updating the blog, I found myself much more interested in something else – usually something with the kids, Linda, or other family members.  Oh – and there were all the days I had to work shifts in the ER.

A quick recap on some of the events during these past two weeks (in addition to all of the activities we did with the numerous family members):

Christmas Day found the four of us serving in Mass at our church with the Archbishop presiding over the service.  Linda played, I sang, and both girls served as alter servers.  It was quite an honor to do so.

Our beloved Wildcats played in the inaugural Pinstripe Bowl in New York City on the 30th.  It was a great game to watch – but don’t get me started on the “excessive celebration” penalty at the end of the game.  Here’s hoping we are able to continue on this winning season and maybe win the bowl game next year.

New Years Eve was a quiet one for us.  I worked all day and had to get up and work again the next morning – so no big plans were even considered.  I arrived home the evening of the 31st to find the three ladies watching TV and looking for a good movie to watch.  We settled on the 1984 classic, “The Karate Kid”.  The girls loved it.  The movie ended shortly before 11:00pm (make that 12:00am Eastern Time).  So we watched the ball drop in NYC and headed off to bed.

Happy New Year, friends and family!

A very dear friend died today.  Gayle was one of the unit clerks in my ER upon my arriving straight out of residency.  ‘Mama Gayle’  was dearly loved by all.  Health issues forced an early retirement, but she stayed in touch with us in the ER.

Back in July, the ER staff gathered together to have a proper retirement party for her.  Everyone created a square for a quilt that was presented to her.  The picture above is just after she was given the quilt.

She will be missed, but we are all smiling knowing that she’s no longer in pain.  Ya’ know – she’s smiling now too!

Goodbye, Gayle.  We love you.

We are now in the 2nd week of Advent and the spirit of Christmas has arrived.  Linda has had a rule for as long as I’ve known her – no Christmas tree until after her birthday.  We fudged on the rule a bit and put the tree up on Sunday.  Availability and scheduling trumps birthday rules!

What’s great is that Anna and Emily are able to help a lot now.  They did a great job helping me place ornaments on the tree while Linda put the rest of the decorations up around the house.

Merry Advent to all of you – prepare ye the way for the coming of our Lord!

Linda spent the past week accomplishing a goal she set for herself – to clear out the overflowing storage closets before her birthday on Monday.  These closets were filled with some junk, but mostly toys and games the girls have outgrown.

Some of the toys were recovered for the official toy repository (i.e., grandparents house), but most of it is going to be donated so that someone else can enjoy them as much as our girls once did.

Final interesting observation: the size of toys appears to be indirectly proportionate to the size of the child.  Best example – small girl and big dollhouse.  Alternate example – big girl and ipod.