Whew!

Busy busy busy!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We went to my sister's house in eastern Oregon for a few days, which was a lot of fun but a LONG trip. It took us 7 hours to drive there, which wasn't so bad because we drove at night and Malcom slept the whole way. The way back however is a completely different story- we left about noon and the poor kid had some crazy cabin-fever. The manchild was not happy. We had to stop a lot and in the end, it took us nearly 4 hours longer on the trip back home. So tired. Currently I'm having to do some re-night-training as his sleep routine went out the window for the trip... not so fun. In fact, I have the privilege of hearing him scream himself to sleep right now. He is actually really good at getting himself to sleep normally, but wow... Let's hope he goes back to the old ways soon! I hate to hear him cry.

On another note, which may very well be related, the little man's FIRST TOOTH is finally beginning to show! Malcom's been teething for months, so we've been expecting one to pop up for a while now. It doesn't seem to be bothering him at all actually, so that's a neat surprise. I guess once it's erupted it's not as much pressure to deal with. Once it fully debuts I will definitely post lots of adorable toothy-grin pics!

Also while we were gone we found out that Ben's Grandma Matheson passed away. It was sad, but at least she had led a very long and full life. I was lucky enough to meet her a year and half ago on Memorial Day. Ben introduced me as his wife and she said, "Oh! I thought you were a boy!" Awkward way to meet anyone, so I tried to lessen the awkwardness and lightly chuckled, "Oh, it's okay... I guess my hair's tied back...It's kind of funny..." and I stammered off hoping that someone would change the subject or something. She just looked at me all confused and said, "No, it's not." And that was followed by silent smirks all around by the Mathesons, who as nice as they are, never pass up a moment to laugh at each other. Endearing, really.

But she was a very sweet lady. I loved watching Ben's Grandpa with her. He was so gentle and patient, he took care of all of her needs and never complained. It opened my eyes and made me contemplate really growing old with someone, what happens when one of you succumbs faster than the other to old age and senility. Years of caring for another human while not getting much in return... it's beautiful, inspiring, and even romantic in a way. I think that it's the ultimate show of loyalty and unconditional love.

And you know, I could see similarities between him and Ben. My Ben has had some wonderful examples growing up, for which I am so very grateful. One thing is for certain, and that is that all the people who helped raise him did a good job of it. I can tell that from the stories of his childhood that he was not always an "angel child"- or ever- so I'm thankful for all those who helped steer him in the right direction so that he could come find me. :)

Enough of that. On to other news- we're MOVING! It's official! We're moving across the parking lot to #120, so we will stay in the same ward and everything. Easiest move ever. The new apartment will have TWO BEDROOMS! 'Bout time for it too. I'm not sure which day yet, possibly Thursday or Saturday... so if anyone wants to help move stuff across the parking lot, or entertain a silly little man (Malcom, not Ben.. haha, couldn't resist), then your help would be appreciated! My manager Jessica (who is pretty much the most amazing manager you could ever hope to have) warned me that we're moving underneath a family with a few kids and that there has been some noise-level complaints going to and from the apartment. Hopefully things work out just fine.

Is that all? I can't think of anything else. Oh! We got Christmas cards to send out this year! Thanks to Lois for the free Christmas card tip. I'm lazy, so here's a link to her post about how to get the 50 free cards. (I hope you don't mind Lois!) I had to pay $3 in shipping, but that was all. It only took a week to get, they came with free envelopes and the cards look pretty good. So kids, if you want a card, I need an address! You can email/facebook/call me because we have a lot to give away. :)

And that is all. Whew! Happy December everyone! Now to get busy cleaning, organizing and packing! :D