Almost Christmas!

This is going to kill me! Only two more days til Christmas but it seems like this day is going on forever! The teacher is still up there and her mouth is moving, but all I hear is a whole bunch of clicking sounds and, "wuhh wuhh, wuhh wuhh, wuhh wuhhhhh!" Actually, I am staring at the clock and the second hand must be broken because it is moving wayyyy to slow today. Twenty three after one...

When will it end?! Even recess seemed longer than usual and we even got to pick on Joann then play army man on the hill - you know... "BAMM!" "Ahhh, you got me!" [Dramatically fall to the ground and roll down the hill, all the way to the bottom. Get up and run to the top of the hill just to do it again!] The competition is on to see who can act like they were really shot. Yeh, it was a fun recess...

What time is it now... What?! Only twenty four after one! There must be something wrong with that clock!

"Mr. Peters, stop tapping on that desk!"

"Sorry, Mrs. Cook, I'll stop."

Hey, it sounds like someone is coming down the hall. Maybe they are going to feel sorry for all of us and let us out early. Yah, that is it, "Mercy for the prisoners!" "Have mercy on us, please!" "For goodness sake, it is two days before Christmas and it's...," what time is it now... twenty six minutes after one! Mercy! Please have mercy on the prisoners!

Who cares if we get out early? They certainly don't seem to care! After all, we are innocent of all charges, all of us! We don't deserve this life sentence that we are serving! Twenty seven minutes after one or thirty five after two... what is the difference? Mrs. Cook lives here under her desk anyhow, so what does she care if we are here or not? "Let us go!" "Let us go!" "Let us go!"

"Mr. Peters, if I have to tell you to quit tapping that pencil one more time, I will get my ruler out! Would you like that?"

"No ma'am. I'm sorry."

What time is it now?...

Then Christmas Eve came and, it too, seemed to absorb all of eternity. All day long seemed to drag on and on and on and on. Did I mention, on and on?! The party at Grandma and Grandpa's house during the evening was always fun - a boat load of kids running all over the house making more noise than I could probably stand hearing today really was a lot of fun. Looking back on it, I don't know how the adults could take the yelling and banging and running, but at that time, I didn't really care because no one was yelling at me - must have been the Christmas spirit and all.

Then Grandpa would read the entire Christmas story and we would sit around at his feet with only half our attention on him and the other half (or maybe more than half) on the presents under the tree... Hmmm, I wonder which one is mine. That giant one looks really cool! I wish I knew who had my name this year.

"And Mary wrapped him in swaddling clothes..." Swaddling clothes. Is that something that you go out swaddling around in? Maybe for playing in mud puddles or something? Naw. It must have something to do with the snow 'cause it's winter... I don't know - who cares!

"Grandpa, can we open the gifts now?!" Karen says.

So, one at a time Grandpa calls out the names on the gifts. We all scramble to be Santa's helpers and hand him the gifts, telling him the names on it because somehow that makes it go faster; but man! does he ever read those names slow! He acts like he can't read them so we have to tell him three or four times - maybe take your eye out and wipe it off or something if you are having that hard of a time seeing! [Okay, you need to know that Grandpa really did have a glass eye and he would pop it out right in front of us to clean it with his hanky. I think that was one of the ways he would try to freak us out and it usually worked!] If they gave me the job of handing out presents, I could have them all out to their rightful owners by now!

As the party winds to a close, it is time for midnight mass. Okay, if we have to we'll go. After all, that means we don't have to go to mass in the morning in the middle of playing with all that cool stuff Santa is going to bring! The mass is special. Somehow it is more magical, or mystical, or something; it does find a way into my spirit and warms my heart - that is, just before I fall asleep. I sort of wake up as Dad carries me to the car but it is too much like a dream to be sure. Next thing I know, we are at home and it is time for bed.

Like I can sleep now! I know that Santa came by now, I am sure of it! What time is it anyway?!

Well, that was then and this is now... Only eighteen days left before the Great Adventure and Dawn is starting to feel the excitement build like those last couple days before Christmas went for me. Honestly, she is feeling some anxiety due to the unknown elements of the trip and a great deal of excitement in anticipation of five weeks away from all of our daily responsibilities. Kind of like looking at all the presents under the tree. But, you see, Dawn is a planner and finds great comfort in knowing what each day is supposed to bring, comfort in knowing ahead of time how long we will be on the road any given day, comfort in knowing where we plan to sleep for the night, comfort... well, you get the idea. This trip is kind of like the wrapped presents under the tree! You can't tell what is inside the packages yet and you have to wait to open them to see!

So the plan of, "point the bike west and ride til we get too tired and decide to stop for the night," is a bit out of her comfort zone. Surprisingly, she is far more excited than she is anxious. What would inspire her to agree to go on a trip like this, you might ask? Well, I will have to expound on that in the future. For today, the short answer is love. That's right, eat your heart out - LOVE!

For some reason, we love to travel with each other and simply cannot get enough of it. Now, we will have to see if we still feel that way after the Great Adventure. Only time will tell, of course, but don't you worry, so will I - right here on this blog spot! I'll keep you posted! Kind of like a soap-opera, huh Ellen and Marsha?