Thanksgiving 2011

I guess Thanksgiving is quickly over and we are headed into the Christmas season very rapidly.  It is hard to believe that there is only 5 weeks left in this year.  I have to say this holiday season is a bit different in lots of ways.  Not only are we living in a different state and part of the country, but we are also missing someone so dear to us.  I didn't really anticipate the feelings that started to flood over me on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.  All I could think about was the all the years that dad was here and it seemed like he was going to walk through the door at any moment.  When I went the airport to pick up mom, I have to admit that seeing her standing there alone was like a knife in my heart realizing that he wasn't right there with her.  Sometimes, like Madelyn says a lot, I feel like we are going back to South Carolina and he will be all better and be there!  (She mentions this quite often.)  So when I finally step back, take a deep breath and realize that this IS reality then my mind floods with all the wonderful memories we share with daddy.
We had a great time with mom.  She flew in on Wednesday afternoon and left this morning.  We didn't do a lot of running.  Basically we did some Christmas shopping for the kiddos, since she will be in TX with my brother and sister in law.  I did cook my first turkey and meal pretty much all by myself.  Overall we had a great long weekend.  Sam was home all weekend and had no responsibilities so that was a nice break for him.  The kids have 3 weeks of school left before Christmas break.  We will then transition to homeschooling again for now.