Another one for the books!

I am back from a much needed hiatus. I had to recharge the creative juices there for a bit, and with the chaos of the holidays I lost track of time. So Happy New Year!!!!! 2011 is shaping up to be a good year so far for us, and hopefully for you all as well.  New Years Eve was really interesting for us, and a very fitting way to say goodbye to 2010. Considering we started 2010 with a road trip to Muncie, Indiana, it only seemed appropriate to be doing the drive from Muncie to Virginia. It wasn't technically planned that way, we just wanted to give ourselves a couple of days at home before we started back to work. The drive was filled with laughter, frustration, road trip snack, amazing scenery and a view of Americana that neither one of us had ever seen before.

We left Virginia at 3am. It's a good 12 hour drive by the time you stop and fuel up and breaks. We were both anxious to get there and wanted to be sure to arrive before it got dark. Storms had hit the mid-west days before we got there and they were predicting they were coming straight for us. In my gut I knew we would be okay but between my clients freaking out about the snow and making it sound like we were about to be in a massive white out, I started to panic. Needless to say for no reason. Nobody was on the road at that time of night and it was two days before Christmas Eve. Houses were lit up with twinkling lights you could smell wood stoves burning as we drove by little mountain villages. The first four hours of the drive we were in complete darkness. When we finally stopped at 7am for breakfast and gas, we had no idea were we were. Everything looks different at night. The sky was starting to light up our path. We were in the middle of the mountains in West Virginia. It was starting to flurry and not a soul was around except those who had stopped for coffee at the McDonalds on their way to work. Aside from the gas station there was nothing else around us. Paul being the excellent co-pilot that he is, hopped out and started to fill our tank. 15 minutes had passed and I was wondering what was taking so long. Apparently we picked the slowest pump in West Virginia to fill up with. After all that it had only pumped 5 gallons. I finally said to Paul who was forming icicles in his goatee to just get in and we would drive until that next fuel station which we would be fine if it was another 3- 4 hours away. (Thank goodness for our fuel economy car!) Up and down and around the mountains we went. Turns out we didn't need chains as many of my clients kept saying we would need. LOL! In all fairness though when it snows here they really don't plow or do what we are use to in the rest of the country or Canada. Because normally they don't get much more that a dusting. So one night when it snowed an inch the whole city shut down, Paul was sent home from work early and given a 2 hour start delay the next day. I could get use to that. I haven't had a snow day since grade 6!

Our Christmas tree. As you can tell we like the lights! 

Finally we hit Ohio, in the home stretch only 4 hours to go before we hit Muncie. It was time to stop again, I was getting a little woozy from the road. My co-pilot was too tired to keep my awake as he had less sleep than I the night before. We kept seeing signs for Cracker Barrel which when you are on the road seems like a great idea. So we pulled over and tried to order breakfast. Now Cracker Barrel is some kind of phenomenon in and of itself. Totally caters to tourists you walk in and there are rockers on the porch you walk through a gigantic gift shop to get to the hostess stand, then you are escorted past a humongous fireplace, and seated next to the drafty windows. The food is crap but it sounds good after not eating since 7am, and that wasn't great either. We walked around the gift shop to stretch our legs and makes sure we weren't going to be sick as breakfast wasn't sitting well with either one of us. LOL! We got the all clear climbed back into our little car and away we went. Next stop Mama Butler's work! As we realized back in Ohio that Paul forgot his key to her house. That was fine if that was all we forgot. It felt good to be back in the mid-west again. That night all the kids came over to see us except for Maya who was not well. It was good to get lots of hugs and have Maran (2years old) walk in the door asking where (Aunt Shannon was). I come around the corner her face lit up and she held her arms out and came running down the hall to give me a great big hug. It was good to be back. She and I coloured and drew pictures for Uncle Paul and Grandma. Before we were done we had portfolio of her art work as thick as the Sears Wish Book. It was a lot of fun. Ruby Mama B's dog was even more excited to see us. She kept running from lap to lap and would go out and come back in and start all over again. You always worry whether or not the littler kids will remember you and the dog will be scared of you, and then when they do remember you and act like you never left, it reminds you that you can always go back home and that my family is not just in Halifax and Canmore, I got family here too which means the world to me. I am so fortunate.

The Kids! Jake (9), Luke(7), Maran(2) and Maya(7)

Christmas Eve came and it was awesome. Maya was feeling much better and was in full spirit, Maran as well both wearing their special Christmas pajamas. Checking under the tree for presents. Jake and Luke arrive shortly after them. Luke was so excited about Santa coming that he made up a dance and all. LOL! I asked him how much sugar he had that day cause he was wired for sound. Screaming at me that he was "So excited! Aunt Shannon it's Christmas Eve! Santa is coming!" I calmly tried to get him to sit with me, as we took deep breaths together...lol, so I could get the ringing to stop in my ears. He asked me to write him a note in print not script to remind him not to go downstairs before 7am, so that Santa wouldn't take back his presents. Then came the questions. Those how do you reply questions. 

Luke to me: What if Santa forgets to come?

ME: He won't, he has a list, he's very organized this is his job.

Luke: What if Santa dies?!

Me: Santa isn't going to die. He is the only human who doesn't die, he is magical that way.

Luke: And Jesus doesn't die! 

Me: right Jesus doesn't die either.

Luke: And Angels!

Me: Right again. They are all very special beings. 

Then from across the room my sister in laws husband asks: What about cupid? 

Thanks for the help. lol. He falls under Angel categories.

We had a blast watching the kids open their gifts, paper flying everywhere it was mayhem. But the good kind. Luke turned 7 while we were there as well, so we got to spend a couple of hours with him on his birthday which was awesome. Something that normally we miss. Paul found a birthday card that was actually a whoopi cushion and we brought him cupcakes and a balloon and he loved it! He had so much fun pranking his Mom with the whoopi cushion, until it broke when he got his Dad with it. He still thought that was hilarious. Oh to be seven again.

Also while on Christmas vacation we discovered Paul has hidden drumming talents. Jake and Luke got the new drum kit to go with their Wii station. One afternoon Mama B, Paul and myself went over for a quick visit and ended up staying for dinner. The whole family got caught up in playing their country guitar hero game we all lost track of time. It was a blast thought. I am not a country music lover but found myself belting out the Shania Twain song and Dixie Chicks while Mama B got on the Road again with Willy Nelson. Jake sang "She thinks my tractors sexy" which was hilarious. Good ol' fashion family fun.

Mama B on the Road Again

Me and the Boys, Luke was my backup singer, Jake on drums. Helping me make Shania sound good.

It was a Christmas to remember that is for certain.