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Christmas celebrated with the kids last night. Grocery dinner was only okay. It wasn't mama's cooking but mama didn't need to do much more than warm it up! Presents were opened, games were played, it was fun.

DSD didn't end up staying at our Air Bnb after all but came over for the Christmas festivities. At least she wasn't pissy! She invited a friend to join in which was fine. Got to meet DS2s boyfriend. Seems like a nice chap.

Laundry done and bags mostly packed. We will go out for pizza tonight with DSD. DS2 and DS3 are already gone, DC1 still hanging out with us but won't do pizza with us because unfortunately DSDs aunt and uncle will be joining us and she talks nonstop and is just a lot!

Will go to bed early with a 5am departure planned. 13 plus hours to our first stop which is Chattanooga. Looking forward to being back in FL. Thankfully we should miss the snow that is supposed to start Sunday.

It sounds like a lovely low drama day at your parent's home yesterday. I think you all needed that. And I agree, hosting is exhausting. Best to pass it to our children if/when we can or figure out how to lighten the load as Paula did.

It will all work out - you will see! (Says she who never sleeps the night before a trip ;))

I sympathize with the issue of finding shoes that work, but I had to laugh as I imagined you gluing your shoes back together. DH has done that, and looked at me and said not only am I a teller of stories, I am a cobbler. Now I will think of you Diane as not only an artist and fancy liver pate maker, but also a cobbler. I hope you find some good comfortable shoes to replace the Rebooks, so you can put your glue away.

I too have to chime in about how much I love our family here. I cherish the support and kindness, and the comfort of being with people who understand your struggles. I welcome the breadth of knowledge and experience everyone brings from their own lives that helps me gain clarity. I so appreciate how everyone to a person can tell you a truth you might need to hear, but offers it in the most caring and unjudgemental way.

I was caught by surprise how much work it still was when the final hosting push came. I had shopped meticulously, pulled out pans and baking dishes and sorted ingredients into them a few days ahead. For example in the pan I was using to make the stuffing, I put the stuffing mix, the carton of vegetable broth, an onion, an apple, two ribs of celery so all I had to do was grab the pan and the perishable ingredients from the fridge and get to work. It was still overwhelming. In reflection, a lot of women my age are being hosted by their children. I'm still making Christmas happen at our house and transporting the food and goodies to make Christmas happen at my parents. I might need to cut back on one in the future.

Other people did lots of work too. My brother cleared out all the junk from my parents dining room. He brought all the boxes that were in the corners, on chairs, under the table upstairs to my parents vacant master bedroom, and lined them up in a row. Maybe they will get sorted through some day by my parents, or maybe they will sit there until the day my brother and I have to clean out the house. At least the downstairs where they live now is more useable. It actually felt more like a normal Christmas than in many years, because we ate in the dining room and opened presents in the living room. My Mom crossed the house in a wheelchair, and actually transferred to sit in one of the livingroom chairs. I can't remember the last time I saw my Mom sitting in any setting besides her recliner in the family room. It may be her last Christmas, so I've thanked my brother a number of times for making it more normal. And it was nice that DS's girlfriend saw at least the shadows of what the house and my parents once were, and not the full on dysfunction sometimes on display.

Today I will try to put the house back in order. Tonight we are going to a show called Luminesence at the Basilica in Minneapolis. It's a light show projected in the sanctuary along with a live orchestra. Seemed like a unique performance experience we all could enjoy.

Despite lots of treats, my weight is pretty much unchanged. A Christmas miracle.