Stuart had left shortly after I left for brunch. Once I was home, the kids made their gingerbread houses from Elfvis. Millie had sorted out her closet for the first time since she moved into that room nearly a year ago. She found some craft projects she got for Christmas last year and started in on those later in the day. I feel asleep around 7 pm and was dead to the world until about 11 when Millie woke me up. It was the craziest thing. Then, of course, I couldn't go back to sleep. Ugh!
Monday morning, I had forgotten to move Elfvis, our elf on the shelf. It was going to be a long month of that stupid little elf. Millie will not admit she doesn't believe in Santa any longer, which is fine, but it is getting harder to keep the magic alive. Jack barely plays along. He's a turd. The morning ran as usual, we were up and out. I actually got a planning period on Monday. The first one of the year. It's a long story, and I actually did agree to it, but it is nice to have that 30 minutes back.
After school I took Millie to gymnastics. I came back by the grocery store and got snacks to send with Jack and the volleyball boys. I wasn't driving, but Coach Meyn was doing everyone a favor and taking the boys to practice. I felt it was the least I could do to help out. When I picked Millie up, I got McDonald's as I actually shopped from the time I left Jack at Gavin's house until I picked her up from gym. She ate in the car, as usually, and we got home and she showered. When she was in bed, I headed to collect Jack.
Tuesday was just more of the same. I dropped Millie at gymnastics. Jack had gone home with Gavin in order to, again, ride with the Meyns to practice. I came home and made pasta for Millie and had it when I picked her up. Jack came home to spaghetti and meatballs.
Wednesday Millie was instructed to clean her bathroom, which she did a half ass job with, and then pack her bag for the SoCal volleyball tournament we would be going to at the weekend. She didn't really follow directions, which was irritating to say the least. Stuart got home around 7:30 so we went to Uncle Bear's for a beer and a bite to eat. The kids stayed home because they didn't want to go.
Thursday I took Jack to school and then headed to school myself. Because Stuart was home, he got Millie up and took her to school. After school we got ready to fly to LA. Stuart found some points and booked tickets for us at the last minute. Whew! The thought of driving was a lot. We left the car at the airport. We got to LA around 10 pm and took a Uber to the hotel. We got into the room and Millie lost her shit over which bed she was going to sleep in. She was tired and hadn't taken her afternoon medicine, so that was kind of my fault. She was a nightmare and that determined that she would be staying with Grammie and Pop for the tournament in January.
Friday was the first tournament day and it didn't end very well. They ended with a 1-2 record. That was a bummer because that meant they went down in the ranks and would not even be able to medal for the weekend. Jack was really disappointed. He was told by Coach Kendall, in front of the entire team, that he and his teammate Carter were the only two that showed they wanted to win while on the court. I told him he could only control his play and no one else.
Saturday they won all of their matches, which was great, but no chance of medaling made it difficult for them to keep fighting. They really have to show up strong in the first day or it is a bit of a waste. We ended up going to eat as a team on Saturday evening. It was a lot of fun. When we got back to the hotel, we had a few beverages in the bar and then headed upstairs to the room. The rooms at this hotel by the convention center are so tiny, so not having Millie in January will be nice, plus, she's bored!
Sunday they won all of their matches as well so were considered the winners of Flight 1, which basically means they are the best of the worst teams. Oh well! I feel tournaments this year will be a learning curve for these boys. During play on Sunday, Jack's coach (Kendall, my friend Elisa's daughter in law) came up to me and asked me what Jack's GPA was. Then she proceeded to tell me Jack needed to attend a volleyball camp at Stanford this summer. What? She said one of the coaches, whom she knows, would be able to give an assessment to see if Jack had Division 1 potential. Crazy! We decided to keep this from Jack for a while. Unfortunately, he is the kid that would become fixated on Stanford if we told him this information.
Number 6 is our man child.
Our flight home was uneventful, but we didn't get home until nearly 1 am. This made Monday morning a dread for all of us. Stuart got up at 5:30 AM to leave for Gallup. I woke Jack up at 6:15 AM and he said he didn't feel well and didn't wanna go to school. I quickly told him that was not how this happens, and that he had already missed Friday from school. I told him I realized he was tired, but he needed to get up and take an ibuprofen, and suck it up! So as much as he kept complaining, he finally got up and I took him to school. I came back to get Millie and we headed to school. I took off another piece of paper on my paper chain, that resulted in me realizing I only had 20 weeks of school left before I retired. Monday after school I ran Millie to gymnastics and then headed home to check in on Jack. I made him spaghetti and meatballs and then packed up some pasta and butter for Millie. I picked Millie up around 8 PM and both kids were in bed by 9:30 PM.
Tuesday morning I got up and took Jack to school and came back to get Millie. As we were walking out the door she reminded me that she had an orthodontics appointment. That meant I could leave her at home until Grammie came to pick her up at 8:30. Once I was at school, Millie messaged me at 8:41 and asked me if Grammie was coming to get her. I then called my Mom and Dad and asked if Grammie was going to get her. Grammie had a little bit of a coughing episode the previous night and didn't wake up. So Pop jumped in the car and to the rescue, took Millie to the orthodontist and brought her back to school. During the school day I was covered so that I could go and observe another teacher. I still am not really sure why I am being asked to observe other teachers at this stage in the game, but I will do what I'm told to do. I feel like our time would be better used if we all brought some ideas to a meeting and shared them with each other. However, I am not charge, so I do not care.
After school, I met Sue at Discovery Park for a walk and a little bit of a catch up. She had borrowed a hiking backpack from us a while back and just wanted to return it. I then went home and made dinner for Jack. I finished up some laundry and then headed out to pick up Millie from gymnastics.
Wednesday Elise and I went to happy hour at TC's. When we got home, Millie was at Weston's house, and then came home and had a literal meltdown. It was terribly epic to the point where she wrote a letter to me that was an apology note, and then I wrote her a letter of apology as well. I hope this subsides soon with her new little counselor, who is so adorable.
Thursday I had happy hour with Melinda and Heather. Jack didn't have volleyball practice for the week, and I took Millie to gymnastics. I got to spend some time with Heather and Melinda. I picked Millie up from gymnastics and bought McDonald's for both her and Jack.
Friday was another day of school. Stuart got home at 5 pm. The neighbors came over and Grammie and Pop picked Millie up and brought us Panda Express.
Saturday Millie had her gymnastic mock meet. She always gets so nervous about the mock meet because it's in front of her peers. She also is captain cranky pants when it comes to me doing her hair. So that was a good deal of fun around 11 o'clock. Then we couldn't find her bun maker. She started yelling at me telling me that I blamed her for everything. The question I asked was, where is your bun maker? She just gets so nervous and does not know how to process her feelings about everything. She had a very difficult meet. She actually got third place on the floor, but did not do very well on the other event. She cried on each of the other events after she was finished because she knew she hadn't done well. I'm hoping she got her jitters out and by her first meet in January she is back to top form. We are hoping she will be good to go. Something like this could derail her and she could decide that gymnastics is not for her anymore. We shall see.
Saturday after her meet, we went with the neighbors to Lights on Comstock in Gilbert. We then walked around Agritopia to look at the lights. We had made our own hot chocolate so that we didn't have to buy it from anyone. They came to our house afterwards for a little bit. We sat outside and watched Die Hard, Stuart's favorite Christmas movie. The kids were inside watching television.
Sunday we had Christmas with Grammie and Pop. Millie finally admitted she didn't believe in Santa. She was actually quite funny about it, and we all had a good laugh. The good part of that is I no longer have to move Elfvis, our elf on the shelf. The kids got a gift of a lifetime in a letter from 'Santa'. We were all upgraded to business class on the way out to the UK. The kids got more than they ever need! It's the same thing every year. I'm not sure my children will ever learn the value of money, and I totally blame myself. We had a delightful meal with my parents and Stuart headed to Gallup around 3:30 pm. It was a great day!
So fun!
Too much!
When I got to school Monday, I had a meeting with my principal regarding our organizational health quiz. She had asked us to fill out a survey about leadership in our school. On Saturday, Millie's best friends, who happened to be twins, messaged Millie to tell her that they were going to be moved into my classroom after the holidays. I found it rather strange that my principal hadn't let me know this piece of information. When I heard this news I texted their mother and asked her if this news was true. She said she thought I would've known first. So in my meeting I kind of waited for my principal to say something to me about it, but she never did. I got an email at 11:50 AM to tell me that the change was happening. How is one to respond to that? And did she not think that it would get out somehow? At any rate, at that point I knew I only had 19 weeks left, so I can get over it.
Tuesday was another day. We had our class party at school, which was fun. I took Millie to gymnastics. I then drove Jack and the boys to volleyball. I went shopping at WinCo for some last minute things I needed. Stuart got home and picked Millie up from gymnastics. Gallup schools closed for the holidays on December 19th.
Wednesday I took Jack to school. He had finals. Stuart brought Millie to school. I taught art masterpiece to my kids. I had very little to do at school. I put in comments in report cards in the morning. When I got home from school, I took kids to their med checks. Both kids were stuffy. The doctor asked about a Covid vaccine for the kids. I told her if it was going to make them feel poorly in the next day, we would need to wait until we got back from the UK. When I was home from the doctor, my friend Debi brought her yearly coffee ring for me. Ken came for a visit as well. I had dropped the kids off at my mom and dad's house to play games once they were finished at the doctor's office. This gave me time to visit with my friends. I also finished making candy for the volleyball crew (Chris and Tom, Jeremy and Christie, and Ryan and Vicki).
Thursday was our last day of school. My staff went to Creekside Taco for a celebration. Stuart picked me up at 3:30 and we took Millie to gymnastics. We then went to pick up Jack and Carter, whom Stuart dropped at KTR earlier in the afternoon. When we dropped Carter at home, we delivered the Holmes' Christmas gift. We then took the Hurleys and the Meyns their gifts. We dropped Jack at the house and went to have dinner before collecting Millie from gym.
Friday morning we were up and cleaning the house. We washed all of the beds and cleaned all the bathrooms. We finished packing and took my parents to breakfast. I had found a gift card to Panera for $100 in my purse earlier in the week. I have no idea where it came from, but we gladly used it. Once we were finished with breakfast, we dropped Grammie and Pop at home and went to try to find some actual pants for Jack. He only has sweats. Reluctantly, he bought two new pair. I am not sure it is the best idea to buy pants since he now measures 6'2.5" and has grown 3.5" in the last three months, no lie.
My parents got us to the airport around 4 pm. We went to the American Airline lounge before boarding the flight and going to our seats in Business Class. Although I wasn't sure how swept the kids were with the initial giving of the gift, but when we got to our seats, their reactions nearly made me cry.
Business class may have spoiled these kids.
The flight was a bit bumpy initially. But the comfort surpassed the bumps. Because when you lay flat, your legs are under the seat, I felt a bit claustrophobic. It is just my weirdness. We arrived in the U.K. around noon and headed to get our rental car, which didn't have enough room for our luggage. They got us a different car that actually could hold all of our luggage and we were off to the south coast. We stopped at a service station and got the kids KFC, which they both said they haven't had since we lived in the Middle East. Ha! We arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's around 3 pm. We were all a bit weary from our travels, but unpacked and tried to stay up as late as we could. The kids were troopers for sure.
Christmas Eve we got up and Stuart headed to Eastbourne to get his grandmother. He and Barry took her to where Stuart's grandfather is buried. Granny wanted to put a wreath on his grave. They then came to Hastings and the kids and I went with Stuart to take Granny to Dover to spend Christmas with her sisters.
Stuart's grandmother is 93 years old and still going strong.
We stayed in Dover and visited with Stuart's great aunts. We then drove around the town so Stuart could show us where he went to boarding school. The kids finally realized that he is our version of Harry Potter. His school was like Hogwarts without the magic.
This is where Stuart went to boarding school from the age of 13.
When we got home, the kids made mince pies with Grandma.
We played games in the evening after a dinner of fish pie.
Christmas morning was a bit sad as no one was up early. In fact, we all slept until nearly 9 am. Jack woke up just after 9 and then woke Millie up. We had breakfast just before 11. Then Grandma went to get dressed. We opened presents around noon and then just chilled. Stuart and his mum continued to prep for our Christmas dinner. It was a good day. I missed a call with my family, but would catch up with them at some stage.
The kids seem thrilled, don't they?
Boxing Day we were up around 8 am and headed to the supermarket for some items needed for our meal. Barnes, Anna and the kids were coming for lunch. Barnes is Stuart's step brother. They got there around 1 pm. We had some delicious leftovers and bubble and squeak. We then got our wellies on and took a walk into the woods.
Eliza (8), Bella (14), Sophia (12), Millie (12), Jack (15), cousin time is their favorite time.
Wednesday we were up early to head to Eastbourne to a place called Ninja Warrior, which is like our version of Elevate. Barnes, Anna and the girls met us there so the cousins managed one more activity together. Once we had finished at the bounce place we headed to Grandma and Granddad's house in Maresfield. We were due to be with them until Friday morning. Once we arrived we unloaded the car, had a bite to eat and played a game of Scattagories. We walked for about 2 and a half miles.
We woke up Thursday morning and had breakfast around 10:30 am. We went for a walk in the village. It was obvious that Granddad was slowing down. It is hard to see the grandparents once in a while because it makes it more obvious when they start to age and become less mobile.
When we got home, we all sat around on our devices. Then the kids, Stuart and grandparents played another game, while I watched some latest episodes of one of my Netflix loves, Virgin River. We had dinner around 4 pm because we were due to go to an escape room at 6:30 pm.
We didn't escape the room, but we had fun trying. These grandparents are really good about buying experiences for the kids. As you can see, the theme was a plane ride.
Friday morning we got up and headed to Lullingstone Country Park to meet up with Kayleigh, Claire, Cathy and Claire's boyfriend, Rowan.
We spent about an hour walking and on our way back it started to rain. It was our sign to head to a pub. After a nice lunch, we headed toward Stowmarket to spend a few days with Clare, Scott, Henry and May, friends we knew in the UAE. We arrived at their house just after 5 pm and had a catch up with Clare. Henry was home for just a bit and then off to a football match. May was at friends for a games night and Scott was still at work. We were just glad to be at their house.
On Saturday we woke up and waited for Henry and May to get back from work and swim practice, respectively. We then headed to Bury St. Edmond's, a village up the road from Stowmarket.
We walked around the village and through the gardens. There were ruins of an Abbey that we walked through as well.
Ruins always amaze me.
Of course there was a lit package where the kids needed to take a picture.
We walked around the village for a while, trying to find a pub for lunch. We ended up having a burger at a burger joint. It was delicious! We shopped a bit and Jack bought his girlfriend a necklace with a rose gold stone. We had a nice day and ended it by having a shop at Tesco, the UK version of Target, kind of. We then headed back to the Richardson's house for the evening. The kids were happy to play a kick game with the balloons and the adults watched quiz shows on in the sitting room. For dinner we just snacked, which seems to please everyone. We called it a night just before 11 pm. We have another week in the UK. I am sure excitement is ahead.
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