Surviving and Thriving

Well, Pamela has been gone for 4 nights so far, and tonight will be five. How am I holding up? VERY WELL THANK YOU! In fact, up to last night, I'd say it all went swimmingly: Isaac had only one wake up each night, Bella slept well in my bed, I turned in early to get extra rest. Bella's sick stomach did not return thankfully, and Isaac's cold and coughing took a break as well: The kids were healthy and well rested, as was I.

Last night, three things changed:
1) Bella was out late to see Jenny's Xmas pageant and came home over 2 hours past her bedtime. The poor girl was nearly unconscious, and was fast asleep within 10 minutes.
2) Isaac was off by a few hours, had his wakeups at different times, and was up by 4 this morning and couldn't get back asleep...
3) I had the Ant and Chicken over for some Scotch and watched Die Hard (they had never see this Christmas Classic)... and didn't get to bed before 1am.

So all three conspired to put us all "off" today, though a late morning nap for Isaac and I helped restore some equilibrium. Bella was just a bit brittle all day, but she had some good playtime with George up the block. Dad had us over for pot-roast dinner (and tortellini for Bella - a new "food that works") and an unexpected surprise of Cranberry Steam Pudding. Grandma kept Isaac and Bella good and occupied so I got to catch up with Dad. It was a great treat.

At the end of the day, as I was to put Isaac to sleep I didn't want Bella to watch another show (a Scooby before bedtime equals strange energy sometimes), so I suggested she do some artwork - perhaps a picture for Mommy?

She got good and mad (as she will when she is overtired) and grabbed a red pen and a piece of paper: She drew a sad little girl face with tears streaming, and said "LOOK: THIS IS ME. I AM SAD AND MAD".

I took the hint and spent a few extra minutes getting her started on a nice picture for mommy, setting her up in front of the fireplace. Later after Issac was asleep, we played three games of "go fish" in front of the fire (real Go Fish with playing cards, not the animal verson). She was so cuddly and close it was all but impossible to not see her cards... But even so, and with my every effort not to win, I won the first two games, which brought tears to the brims of her eyes. Fortunately the third game went all the way to the last card in the deck, and only by palming the last card was I able to "throw" the game, which made her evening. Then we read the fine Japanese trilogy about Feet, Scabs, and Poop, and she dropped off quickly.

Pamela comes home tomorrow and I will be happy to see her: I handled the house pretty well (especially with a little babysitting help!), but I miss having my best friend around. She's called every day and it sounds like she's having a wonderful time!

So that's the update: All is well!