22 Days until Christmas

And the munchkins can't wait.
I took my dad to the Christmas Parade this weekend. It's a tradition for us and we had a great time. Usually I have 5 kids, a dog and my Dad all in tow but this year it was just he and I and Janice. All the kids jumped ship in favor of other pursuits. It was great watching the people, the parade and spending the day with him. After returning him home I laid down for a 3 hour nap. We wrapped presents and watched movies, all while sleeping off and on until the next morning. I had no idea I was so tired. Which explains why I missed the grand illumination, dinner in the bottom and my friend's band, Jubeus, playing at Sine's. I haven't seen Eric in a while and miss him. They were shooting their 1st video here in Richmond this week...You can find them online at www.Jubeus.com
The kids were thrilled to see so many wrapped presents under the tree and KJ wanted to check them out and manhandle them almost as much as Sprout did. Z was only interested in when she might get to open them. They assumed Santa had been by and they'd missed him, not that Mom and J actually wrapped presents. I showed them the calendar and we crossed out the 2 days that had passed so they could count how many days of waiting lay ahead. Then we counted the remaining school days until vacation. Z was very interested but promptly asked if it was Christmas yet this morning.
Chantal is 18. Every day. This weekend she tried to spend as much time away from the family and with her friends as possible. She then wanted me to take her to work and pick her up on Sunday. She couldn't understand why I didn't want to drive back and forth twice in the name of her schedule. She didn't feel any need to do her chores either. She has been acting quite selfishly lately and frankly I'm more than a bit tired of it. She's wavering on the school subject and reminding me daily that she doesn't have to go to college to be successful and can't understand that while I'm ok with the idea of her working retail "forever" I'd rather it be a choice rather than her only option. I want to see her go to school for a year or 2 and come out with a marketable trade that allows her a better income, benefits and schedule. Some days it's just no fun having a teenager. :)-