We’re finally home.  We took the red-eye home last night.

Oh, speaking of red eyes, mine don’t get any redder.  Yep, for the first time in my life I have Pink Eye.

Please note, no color was added to my eye or the surrounding skin.  It just looked like that.

This is just baffling to me.  I mean, I even survived the great Kingswood Elementary Pink Eye outbreak of ’89 with my whites still their whitest.  You can imagine my surprise at waking up Christmas morning with one eye gooped shut.  I thought it was just a “cold in my eye” since I had been battling a fever and stuffy nose.

Then the 26th the other eye was even more crusty.  That’s when I ditched the contacts and praised my sister-in-law for keeping a stash of prescription drops at her house.  I toured the Denver Downtown Aquarium with glasses and prayed my baby, my niece, nor my nephew would get anywhere near my eyes.  Why would they?  I looked like the Black Swan, you know, when Natalie Portman started to come unhinged.

So, fever, stuffy nose, scratchy throat, and pink eye.  Oh, and I have my first cracked heel because of the dry Colorado air.  I think my vacation is going to kill me.

Phew!  We made it to Colorado with  only two mid-airport meltdowns.  (Charlotte, not Greyson.) Of course I then woke up yesterday morning at 2:00am with a fever because I’m the kind of chump who only gets sick on vacation.  So yesterday we trekked through the snow to Urgent Care.  I’m fine now.

I’m sitting here in the silence of my in-laws’ kitchen, waiting for everyone else to wake up.  I got to thinking about what I really want for Christmas this year.

• More blog traffic– Don’t act like you haven’t thought of asking Santa for that, other bloggers.  We all have!
• To be in a flash mob– This is one of my goals for 2012.  Don’t hate.  
• An iPhone I never have to charge–  Do they make those?
• One good picture of my niece, nephew, and daughter in the matching pajamas I bought them–  Wish us luck.  I’m counting on the 5-year-old to reign in the little ones.  
• The Sinus Relief System from Hammacher Schlemmer– So I had a little time to peruse the SkyMall as I started to come down something.  Don’t judge!  The Neti pot is okay, but look at this thing!  Alas, it is a little late to tell my family about this one.  
• The thing I ordered for Greyson’s stocking that hasn’t come yet– I’m not holding my breath for a FedEx delivery on Christmas Eve.  
• More time to blog in 2012
• A terrific Christmas morning–  I can’t WAIT for Charlotte to see what Santa brought!  
• A clean bill of health after colon cancer surgery for my Mother-in-Law
• A clean bill of health for my Dad this year after years of suffering 
• Some time with my grandparents who aren’t doing too well
• Another year with a healthy, growing baby
• An awesome, supportive husband I’ve already got that.
• A white Christmas I got that too.  

Oh dear God!  Is it Christmas yet?  I’m counting down the days until vacation, and even the thought of that is daunting since we have to pack to tote our baby nearly across the country.  Nevermind we have to find time to do Christmas with all the families.  It’s a blessing, no doubt, but a tiring blessing.

Meanwhile, Charlotte is moving up in the world.  She is no longer in the Older Infant class at her preschool, but in the Waddler room.  Apparently “Waddlers” are young Toddlers.  Not if I have anything to say about it.  I still have a baby, thank you very much.

Anyway, after her big transition week to the Waddler room, they had a Christmas gathering with the parents.  The tiniest tables you’ve ever seen were covered with paper declaring “Happy Holidays”.  The little ones sat in the subsequent tiniest chairs you’ve ever seen.

Before serving them snacks, all the children sat around the tables not touching the paper, except for Charlotte. She tore it up.

Included in the snacks were cupcakes cut in half.  All the other kids picked at their plates, naturally getting  a little glob of icing here or there, except for Charlotte.  She dove in.