Less than a week....

There's only 6 days left until Christmas! I wish I could find time to just sit down and reflect on the spirit of the season, but I haven't found a chance. Writing this post may be the closest that I get. I spent three hours yesterday seeking out and sorting all the things I've been stashing away. I hope I found them all. Invariably, there are a few things I'll probably find in January that should have been wrapped and given at Christmas. This year Jared found a lip gloss in his stocking when we got out the Christmas decorations that he hadn't retrieved last year.

The water heater repairman just left. Not having reliable hot water makes you realize just how lucky we are. One of my ancestors who helped to settle Randolph, UT (easily the coldest place I can think of) wrote in her journal, "It's hard to keep the wagon warm sometimes." Yikes, and I'm complaining about intermittent hot water. It's good to keep things in perspective. Maybe I can catch up on washing all the wet sheets we've been stocking up on, thanks to Miss Maren. She's trying so hard. I'm really proud of her. I know I blog all my negative feelings, but she's awesome. She was playing with her dolly the other day and said, "You not need diaper. You use potty. You not baby!" Then she made the doll sit on the potty chair for a long time, just like I make her. The poor girl is so excited for Christmas, just to have a focus beyond the bathroom.

I did get all the Christmas cards in the mail last night. THANK YOU to my sister, Carol, who designed and produced them for me, even though I'm such a slacker and forgot to call her husband and her son on both of their birthdays this month. This is an official blogapology. She's a great sister and I rely on her for most of my emotional sanity.

I got some great news this week. I get to join a craniofacial team (in my speech therapist role) headed to Guatamala in February for 10 days. I don't think it's really sunk in yet that I'm actually going, but I'm so excited. I'm still collecting all the details, but there are three surgeons going and the goal is to complete 50-60 cleft lip and palate surgeries during the week. My job will be to teach the parents strategies to improve their speech post surgery. I'm a lucky gal. I have hot water, Christmas to enjoy, a great sister, an 80% potty trained toddler, and a trip to Central America right during the winter slump!