The holidays. It is a beautiful thing to have your family around you. To have a good excuse to crack that fantastic bottle of wine you’ve been hoarding. To laugh and celebrate with dear friends. It’s also completely exhausting.

This Christmas season was special because Tatertot and family trekked North. The boys had a full-blown cousin-palooza.

Every Christmas Eve, my extended family comes together to celebrate with obscene amounts of (delicious) Polish-American food and beverages of multiple nationalities. But, the highlight every year is our visit from Santa. We’re pretty connected, and Santa has made our party his first Midwest stop since my Dad was a kid. Thankfully, Bambino/Hushpuppy and Tot were on the Good List.

Christmas morning was filled with books, music, and shredded wrapping paper. Bambino received a ukelele from Santa this year. A microphone and drum pad also appeared under various trees. He officially considers himself a rock star.

Unfortunately, he’s been living the toddler rock star lifestyle. This involves prodigious amounts of sugar and limited sleep. We sent him to Nonna’s to detox. (Which, on second thought, may not be the best place to fight a sugar addiction…)

While Bambino fought the sugar bugs, his ever-responsible parents hopped a plane to Las Vegas. Il Marito had to go for work, and we both needed a vacation.

We met my cousin’s sweetheart and her charming family for a happy hour. A fantastic dinner followed. Unfortunately, food poisoning was next up. We spent 24 hours in bed.

Lesson learned– sometimes you get what you need, instead of what you want. We missed some fantastic dinner reservations. We did not skate on the Cosmopolitan’s pools. But, I got a lot of sleep. And, more importantly, I spent a lot of uninterrupted time talking to my husband. I missed talking- really talking- to that guy. So, Vegas was a weird success.

By the way, the Aria is fabulous. Next time, I’ll hopefully eat more than saltine crackers. 😉

Until next time…

It’s unusual for both il Marito and I to be simultaneously bogged down and overwhelmed. Lately, there hasn’t been much work-life balance. At best, we’re having a work-parent-sleep battle. Ugh.

There’s been a lot of good, productive stuff going on. We’ve painted, redecorated, and dealt with contractor-related shenanigans. But, writing went on the back burner, and I even failed to write about a fantastic little trip we made. Life happens.

But, today is Kate’s birthday.

Kate and I were friends in high school. We drifted apart, as many of us do over time. But, looking back, she was a big part of my adolescence. We lived in the same neighborhood. I drive by her childhood street every time I visit my parents. One of my most memorable childhood vacations was at her uncle’s home in Virginia. We survived high school together. We shared our first job, cashiering at a tiny, local grocery store.

As adults, I loved following her life via Facebook. She had a spunky rescue dog, who seems to kindred spirits with il Cane. She worked with a similar population to me– but did more good. She married her sweetheart. She had a precious little boy about a year ago. She was a beautiful light.

It hurts so much to say “was.”

Kate died in a car accident a week ago. As her grandfather reminded us at her funeral, she will never leave us. Her Facebook page is a heartbreaking testament to how much Good (with a proper capital G) she did. She has indelibly touched everyone who knew her. I still can’t wrap my head around how this happened. I hope that she knew how cherished she was.

I cursed Facebook when its stupid algorithm reminded me that it was Kate’s birthday. But, birthdays should be celebrations. They mark the beginning of our remarkable stories. Birthdays are forever, and that’s pretty cool.

It also happens to be my Dad’s birthday. Really amazing people are born on 11/18. More on that later….

To celebrate these birthdays, Mother Nature buried us in a foot of snow. We all had a snow day. I got to spend extra time with my boys. We worked a little, laughed a lot, and listened to “Alice the Camel” on Spotify tooooooooo many times. An epic drum solo happened. It was a day that Kate would have approved of. It was silly, sweet, and slow.

Today, and everyday, be kind to those around you. Embrace the little moments. Take the long way home. And, please, please, please know that you are loved.