a much better day!

First of all: Kreativemix, who are you? Are you just a random person who commented on my blog, or do I know you? I'm intrigued.

Now, on to my day. Today has been very full and lovely. This morning, I dropped Nick off at preschool and then proceeded to my MOPS meeting. I could only stay at the meeting for a brief time, but I wanted to go anyway, since it was the last one of the year, and I wanted to wish all of my peeps a merry Christmas. Even in the brief time I was there, I had some lovely chatting with various people, and I got a compliment on my weight loss, which never gets old. :) I also got an invitation to a party on December 30, which pleases me to no end. You see, I'm one of those people that is very happy DURING the holiday season, but then comes crashing down on December 26. I always get major letdown and blues when Christmas is over, so any fun thing to look forward to after Christmas is a godsend! Thank you for the invite, Jeannie!

After wishing everyone happy holidays, I beat a hasty retreat not from my lair, but from MOPS. Knowing me, I probably DID do it with adjectives. :) On the way to Nick's preschool holiday party, I talked on the phone with my 20-year-old niece. She's having a tough time right now, and it felt great to talk to her and give her some Aunt Amy Lovin'. LOVE HER! (Love all my nieces.) I arrived at the preschool for the party, and Nick greeted me with a huge smile. I sat with the other moms while the kids sang some cute Christmas songs. Nick was one of two kids who refused to sing a single word. :) But, he did look super-cute in his little reindeer headband thingy. Then, he presented me with a glittery Christmas card and an even glitterier ornament with a photo of him in it. So cute! My first Nick-made ornament for my tree! This is what it's all about. I love my gorgeous ornaments, but I will also proudly hang any raggedy thing that Nick gives me right beside them, in a place of honor.

After the non-singing, we all sat down for some yummy cookies and punch. Santa was visiting the preschool this morning (This Santa was a FAR cry from the faboo one at the library, though - very lame beard, and sneakers! I mean, really.), and I finally got Nick to sit on his lap by bribing him with candy. For a few minutes, I really thought it was a lost cause, but I prevailed! I snapped a photo, and it's OK. I still want to try at the mall in Springfield, because this Santa was just too cut-rate to qualify for THE Santa photo of the year, you know what I mean? :)

After Santa, the kids played while the Moms talked, which was nice. I really like some of the other preschool moms, and we shared some nice chitchat. Well, while we were chatting and Nick was playing with some boys, he got bitten! Yup. The scary part is that the kid bit him through a thick fleece top, and STILL left teeth marks and scraped his skin. Can you imagine the damage that would have occurred on bare skin, or through a thin shirt? Mylanta. Thank goodness for fleece. He was pretty upset, and we got some ice to put on it. Apparently, they've had lots of problems with this kid, and this wasn't the first biting incident. When they put the kid in a time-out, he proceeded to throw a major tantrum for about 10 minutes. It was lovely. Miss Ulla (the main teacher) told me that she would watch the videotape (because of course, classrooms have cameras in every corner nowadays) and write up the "incident report" after class was over. It kills me how much CYA goes on now. It's so different from when I was a kid. I guess it's not all bad, though.

After the party, Nick went to daycare for an hour while Jutta and I went to a supremely lame craft bazaar. The lameness didn't really matter, though, because it's always nice to hang out with her and bond. It was quite bittersweet, because that was the last time I'll see her before she leaves for Germany on Sunday, and she won't be back until JANUARY 14!!! I'll simply die. To make matters worse, Rebecca is gone right now, too. I won't see her until after Christmas. Next week shall be rather lonely and uneventful.

I picked up Nick and came home, and found the most fabulous, lovely, wonderful message on my answering machine from my Patty-friend in Illinois. At first, I thought she was calling to tell me something awful had happened, because she sounded all teary. But then, I realized that she was teary in a joyful way. She had just received my Christmas package, and went on about how wonderful it is. Well, that completely made my whole day! I mean, anytime I make someone that happy, it just about knocks me over with joy. I've got a huge grin on my face just thinking about it. And if anyone deserves a delightful surprise, it's my Patty-friend. She rocks! Patty - I'm glad you love your treasures, girlfriend! It was absolutely my pleasure.

After talking some more to my niece, here I sit, typing whilst my laundry agitates. I'm feeling quite content and happy today...