I wasn't intending to take the kids to visit Santa Claus but there we were at the mall and they were getting tired of being dragged from store to store and I thought a little diversion might be needed. The plan was for Joe and I to meet up with Chris and Pam and for all four parents to go with all the kids. That way no one was left out and everyone had the chance to witness the momentous occassion.

Lily asked first, reminding me it was almost Christmas and she still hadn't told Santa what she wanted. I reminded her that they'd all written letters to Santa with Chris at the beginning of the month but that wasn't good enough for her. And when she gets back up from her younger brother, look out Mommy!

Especially when Conn points out the obvious. "Mommy, Bella doesn't remember sitting on Santa's knee last year cause she was still little." Bella perked right up at that.

A quick call to Joe and I'm asking if he minds being present when his two see Santa. He hems and haws and finally aquieses when I promises photos galore. Then its into the line and a quick prayer to the elves or Mrs. Claus or whoever's in charge around here, that we make it through to see the big guy without any tears or tantrums.

Okay I admit there are some benefits to having kids with your ex. There are weekends when the rugrats are with him and you get to spend a relaxing day doing whatever the heck you want to, whenever the heck you want to do it!

Take today for example. Chris and I slept in until a deliciously late 10:30 but..ahem...by the time we actually rolled out of bed it was closer to 11:30 (but we won't offer up any further details - wink!) It took us another hour to decide to go to a movie at 4 so that left the afternoon free.

I managed to get my hair washed but I spent another two hours wandering around the house in PJ bottoms and a bra, with Chris commenting I should wear that kind of outfit more often. (he's incorrigable ain't he!)

It was a toss up between seeing Casino Royale (Chris' choice) or The Queen (my choice). Guess who won?

The elementary school Christmas program was today and of course there was a moment of sheer panic. At breakfast this morning Lily mentioned something about an elf costume and Connor started looking very sheepish.

You got it! This was the first I'd heard about him needing a costume! A flurry of phone calls to Louise and then to Pam solved everything. Luckily Pam knew about the costume and was already prepared but I had to remind Connor that its always nice for Mommy to know what he needs too.

But one thing none of the kids could complain about was lack of support. They had a whole row of family cheering them on tonight. Hank, Louise, Logan and his new girlfriend and Craig joined me, Chris, Bella and Joe and Pam. We were like the press corp covering one of Chris' premieres with all the cameras and camcorders.

All of the performances went off without a hitch and it was adorable to look over at Chris during Connor's class' song and see him leaning forward, eyes fixed on Connor, mouthing the words to the song as he sang his heart out. His class performed to Harry Connick's 'The Happy Elf' and I swear I'm going to have that song running through my head for a few more days.

Lily's class sang 'Jingle Bell Rock' complete with a little routine. She's getting to be quite the little ham - must be all the time she spends with Chris. There's a born performer in that girl.

Katy's group sang a couple of Christmas classics and I admit I wonder how Mel can miss moment's like this in her daughter's life, but she's trying very hard not to make it too confusing for Katy and there's no denying that Katy couldn't love Pam any more even if she was her birth mother. The cynical part of me wonders if things will stay the same once Pam's baby arrives but that's a thought for another time.

Right now its time to go listen to Lily and Connor run through their songs once more before bed. They're convinced Isabella wants to hear them again.

And there's more congratulations for Chris - the Golden Globe nominations came out this morning and we got a call at 5:45 from Simon. Chris is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for 'Comedy of Errors'. Wow, I'm so proud of him!

I had an interesting conversation today - with my mother-in-law. I finally couldn't resist the urge to call her, even though Chris kept hinting I should wait for her to call us. But I wanted to know how she was doing.

And it turns out she's doing just fine. I tried hard not to pry but one thing that's become clear is that her and Roger were living two separate lives. He had his interests, she had hers, they really didn't even share the same circle of friends and as a result always seemed to be away from one another. She told me she will always value him as a friend but a platonic relationship just seems to be best for them. One comment she made caught me completely by surprise. She said Roger was never going to be a grand passion from her and that at her age, she probably should probably be looking for companionship instead of the new love of her life. Then she said that was hard to settle for whenever she was around me and Chris.

I almost laughed and reminded her of all the fights Chris and I have had in the past twelve months, but before I could respond Chris walked into the room. And I admit the minute I saw him I felt that familiar little tingle I always feel when I look at him. We might fight, we might disagree, we might get on each other's nerves, but we love one another. And I can't imagine life without him. If the last year has taught me anything, its reminded me how much this man means to me.

And how much I want to keep him in my life.

Mr. Grinch.

Yes, tonight was a chance to watch The Who's in Whoville and that green mean Grinch. It was the original cartoon, not the movie. Dinner was finger food and the kids thought that was the greatest, especially since we ate in front of the television. We piled blankets and pillows on the floor in the living room and turned all the lights off except for the ones on the Christmas tree and on the garland around the fireplace. Chris started a fire while I was slicing pepperoni sticks and cheese and pickles and rye bread so it was nice and cozy and very very relaxing. Something we seem to have forgotten about over the past forty-eight hours.

Chris and I had quite the talk last night, both of us were pretty floored by his mother's announcement but we both realize we can't let it affect our relationship. Her and Roger might be getting a divorce but we aren't.

Chris tells me he has just the solution to get the holiday back on track but he won't tell me until tomorrow. Looks like I'm going to spend another night wondering what's going on. But I have a feeling I'm going to like what I hear this time.

We got a call tonight.

Chris' mom called from California to tell us her and Roger have separated. The news came as a total shock and hit me like a ton of bricks.

Chris too. Obviously.

He loves and respects his step dad and the thought of Carolyn and Roger not being able to work out whatever it is tearing them apart....

Lets just say it scared.....scares both of us.

Our own marriage hasn't exactly been on rock solid ground for the past year. And an announcement like this just makes you wonder. Wonder if despite everything you're destined to wind up the same way.

I'd like to say something positive and try to put this all into perspective but its a little too early for that tonight.....

I think I know now why I'm not a vet.

Since the kids weren't home and there was a hope I could get Indy to cooperate, I decided to trim his nails. The actual nail clipping went well, he was pissed off but for once he didn't try to leap away as I trimmed. But oops, I trimmed a couple of them a little too short and of course they bled.

The dog really was being generous to me today. He actually stayed still until the bleeding stopped and everything was fine and dandy until the afternoon when Chris let him out in the yard. He came back in a little while later and kept doing laps around the kitchen -I was making lunch and he was looking for a handout. When I glanced down at the floor I almost had a heart attack.

Everywhere the dog had stepped there was blood. Guess the snow and all the romping around made his nails start bleeding again. Chris corralled the dog and got him to lay down on an old blanket giving me the evil eye the whole time, while I mopped the floor.

That'll teach me - next time Indy is going to the vet and he can be the one giving me the evil eye.

With Pam practically due any day her and Joe are trying to spend as much time as they can with Lily and Connor before the baby arrives. So I dropped the two of them off early this afternoon, school was out early today for an inservice. Bella was supposed to stay home with Chris and me but she pitched such a fit when I told her it was time to go home, that Pam wound up offering to keep her for the weekend as well.

To any outsider we must have the craziest mixed up family ties ever but it works for us. And I bet anything once Pam and Joe's soon-to-be arrival will be spending just as much time at our house as Bella does at their house.

Back at home I was even able to fit in a short nap before Chris showed up, then it was out to dinner with Clay. We'd promised to treat him and I bet he was expecting us to take him somewhere a whole lot more exotic than Olive Garden. What can I say? They make great breadsticks and minestrone soup. But we should have known better than to try to get in quickly at 6 pm on a Friday. Especially when there's just over two weeks until Christmas.

The place was packed and we were quoted a wait time of at least 45 mins. But luck was on our side and we got a table within 25. Of course then it took almost an hour to get our meal - and Chris lucked out (as usual). The kitchen burned the chicken for his Italian Feast so the waitress took the whole meal off the bill. And because we'd all eaten too many breadsticks, soup and salad while waiting for our entrees, I think we each ate about a third and wound up getting the rest to go.

But the waitress was a hoot and Chris, Clay and I had a great time as we always do together. It was an evening filled with lots of laughter and stories. And when we finally made it home, Chris and I had the place to ourselves. Santa better not hold that little bit of naughtiness against us!

But first off, lets just say I overreact. Alot. And the homework I was whining about last night? We didn't even use it during the training. It was just 'to get us in the right frame of mind'! I should have let Chris chuck it out when he made the attempt!

But seriously it wasn't as bad as I expected. (of course these sort of things never are, I just seem to love to get myself all worked up for nothing). I can honestly say I had some fun throughout. The afternoon dragged a little (okay alot) but its over and done with and thats the main thing.

Everyone else was going for dinner afterwards and not wanting to be a party pooper I decided to go along. We tried out a new Mediterranean restaurant in town called Diva and I'll have to tell Clay he might have a little competition. As fussy as I am I managed to find something to eat (without too many deletions in ingredients LOL) and it seems pretty popular too. There was a twenty minute wait for the dining room, so we ate in the lounge.

Couldn't complain about the service, the food was good and the conversation was interesting. I have to confess I've been a little leery of hanging out with the other moms too frequently. It can get awkward if questions about Chris come too fast and furious. But tonight he managed to stay off the topic list.

Until I got back home of course. Then I discovered his good news. He got a Grammy nomination today for the first single off the new CD. Congratulations baby, you deserve it!

Yes it would be totally understandable for me to hate homework, after all I do have two school-aged children. Only one problem - the homework I hate right now is mine!

I've been struggling through the pre-work assignment for tomorrow's seminar. Yeah, you heard me right. Assignment. I guess I've been complaining about it just a little too much. One minute I'm sitting at the table, staring at the same question I've been struggling to answer for the past hour, the next minute, I'm watching as the stack of papers is suddenly flying into the air.

"What are you doing?" I say in shock as Chris strides across the kitchen.

"I'm getting rid of the headache." He stops in front of the trash can.

"You can't do that. I have to have the done for tomorrow."

He narrows his eyes. "Why? You obviously don't want to go."

"Yeah but I have to."

"Why?"

I hate when he's logical. Narrowing my own eyes, I wonder why he's not in the den working on the song that's been bugging him for the past two days. He's got the first verse but he's been struggling to come up with a good chorus. And when that happens it tends to drive him nuts enough to do nothing but try to come up with something.

"Because," I test that out for an answer but I should have known he wouldn't buy it.

"Bullshit." (He can be pretty blunt, can't he? Maybe he's just really frustrated with the song. Maybe I should distract him and ask him how its coming along)

Instead I point to the half full jar on the counter. "Better stuff a dollar in before eagle ear Lily catches you." We dont have to give the kids allowance, the 'curse' jar keeps them pretty well off.

"Morgan, you've been complaining about tomorrow all week. Why are you going? No one is forcing you."

Rats, he's in one of those moods and he's not going to give up until I answer. To tell the truth I don't know why I'll go to the seminar tomorrow. I hate that sort of thing but I guess I'm too damn stubborn to get out of it.

And I love my daughter enough to do whatever it takes to set a good example and not give up just because something's a little challenging. I love being one of the classroom moms and I want to continue that little job.

The temperature actually zipped up today and some of the snow melted. There's still plenty to give us hopes of a White Christmas but at least the roads and sidewalks aren't quite as covered any more. There's a family of snowmen out in the front yard that the kids made when they got home from school this afternoon. Good thing I had a bag of carrots on hand and we're a few scarves short but I think we'll manage. There's even one little snow girl just about Bella's size. Mommy gave her a little help on that one, she was really much more interested in scooping the snow from one mitten to the other.

Chris spent the day at Garth's studio but got home just in time for tacos and 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town'. When you've got three wee ones there's no way you can miss any of the festive cartoons. Lily and Connor got quite a kick out of the fact Santa's 'original' name was Kris Kringle. Poor Chris, he got teased about that all the way through story time. Bet he was glad when they were finally asleep

NOT!

Found out today that I'm busy on Thursday. For eight hours. With a survey and a pre-work assignment to complete.

No, I haven't gone back to school. I'm merely trying to be a classroom mom for my daughter's class. Keep in mind I've gone through a criminal record check and filled out a lengthy questionaire to become one. There was a 4 hour seminar on 'Classroom Sensitivity' back in mid November and now we're scheduled to spend 8 hours on 'Political Correctness in the Classroom'.

Political Correctness? Guess this is where they try to teach me its wrong to wish the other parents and kids Merry Christmas at this time of year. Well good luck, I say! I've spent over 30 years of my life celebrating Christmas and I'm not about to change what I say.

I got one of those joke emails you find in your Inbox all the time and usually just delete. But this one caught my eye - it was about all the things we did when we were kids that just aren't right in this day and age. I have to admit there are things I don't let my kids do like ride their bikes with helmets, or ride in the car without seatbelts on. But I can't ban them from doing everything for fear they might get hurt. Sometimes they just need to learn those lessons on their own. Within reason of course.

Same thing goes if they want to say Merry Christmas to a classmate. Or if they want to refer to the guy who delivers the mail as a mailMAN (he is after all LOL).

Sigh....why do I have the feeling Thursday is going to be a very long day? And why do I get the feeling I'm gonna be the one who doesn't wind up teacher's pet?

Joe and Pam have an Open House to go to this afternoon so Chris and I picked up Katy and took her along with the rest of the tribe to the Festival Of Trees. This is the 21st year its been held at the Philbrick and we've just made it in under the wire. Today is the last day for the displays.

We spend over an hour wandering around looking at all the decorated trees, the gingerbread houses and the wreaths. Everyone has their favorites and of course Chris' is the tree decorated with small records and sheet music. Connor has the comment of the day when he exclaims "Look! Almost as many trees as we have at our house!"

Okay we have a lot, I admit. But nowhere near the amount at the Festival. We have a big tree in the living room and then one in each of the kid's rooms. Okay and there's one in our bedroom too. Ummm, and a little one in the kitchen. Oh heck, Christmas only comes once a year, right?
Its worth overdoing.

There's one display with a fireplace and a couple big armchairs looking like they are waiting for Santa to appear. Of course all the kids want to take turns getting their picture taken there. Which reminds me - I'm going to have to check with Joe and see if he wants to take Connor and Lily to see Santa together, or if we're going to pull straws to see who gets the honor.

I did something different this morning. Instead of spending hours in the kitchen trying to come up with a couple batches of different cookies for Christmas (or trying to convince Clay to bake some), Lily and I went to a Cookie Walk at the church.

For $15 we got a 4 litre ice cream pail to fill with as many cookies would fit. There was table after table of all different varieties. Chocolate chip, oatmeal, candy cane cookies, shortbread, sugar. There was something for everyone. In fact halfway through the selections, Lily and I decided to fill another pail for Pam, Katy and Joe. With Pam being nine months pregnant, I doubt she's going to find the time to hang out in the kitchen.

From the amount of people filing into the church hall to purchase their own buckets full, I'd say the church would call it a success. And from the way everyone dove in to find their favorites once we got home, I'd call it a success too.

I may never have to bake cookies at Christmas again.

Hey its good to be back home again

Okay so maybe it would be better if there wasn't over a foot of snow on the ground and temperatures in the low 20's tonight. But I can't complain too much, especially when it means I get to see Chris and the kids. And I get to sleep in my own bed.

But first things first. We need to dig out way to Joe's truck. The runway was clear but once we came off the plane and made our way to the hangar we realized we were going to have shovel if we wanted to get from the hangar to the vehicle. But Joe's prepared. Takes him a few minutes to get the hangar door open but there's a couple of shovels just inside and he brings them both out, leaning one against the building as he starts to clear snow.

I watch for a few minutes then decide its ridiculous to make him do all the work himself, especially when there's more than one shovel. And I'm definitely not an invalid. Between the two of us we clear a narrow path most of the way to the truck. There's only about a yard of snow left when I realize there's no way I'm going to be able to resist having just a little fun. I wait until Joe's back is turned then I bend down and fill the shovel with a pile of snow and instantly lob it right at him.

He straightens up in a hurry as snow rains down over his head and shoulders, turning with a furious glare at me. "What the hell are you doing?" he sputters.

I just give him a grin.

Maybe that was my big mistake. I should have known he wouldn't just waggle a finger at me and get back to work. Instead as I'm about to go back to shovelling myself, he's reaching down and grabbing a handful of snow and immediately hauls off and throws it at me.

Five minutes later we're both giggling like fiends, we're covered in snow and freezing.

But there's a clear path to the truck and we're finally making our way back home.

Hey its good to be back home again.