December

Thursday the 5th Jill took Nina to the German market. On Friday I had to give points to my sister for getting us gifts early. Negative points to Target for letting certain people know what’s in the box. I made sure “Hugs’N’Ho” is an abbreviation, or she wasn’t going to get it.

box

Later on Friday it was concert #49: Ronnie Spector & The Ronettes at The Barns at Wolf Trap. A living legend who’s still got that voice put on a great show with Ronettes and Christmas classics. Saturday our neighbor had a holiday party we had a good time at, then Sunday we went to visit my dad for a delayed Thanksgiving lunch with him. Jill said on Wednesday “As an adult during the week with lots to do, the best snow scenario: a powdery coating just to get into the festive holiday mood. As a kid, rather disappointing. N was shuffled out the door this morning on time, thank you very much”.

Jill Nina

Thursday the 12th I went to concert #50: Josh Rouse with Joe Pisapia at Jammin’ Java. Also a mix of originals and Christmas songs, but not classics as he’s just put out an album of original Christmas songs. The show sounded great, as you might expect with 2 of his producers on stage in the band. Best part was getting an upgrade after I bought a GA ticket, then a lady said her husband hurt his hip and they couldn’t get into their seats next to the stage and i could have one if I wanted it. Spoiler alert: I did. Friday Nina had a birthday party and Jill and I had dinner at Mama Chang with a delicious mix of small plates, followed by some Wizards Unite action. Saturday was our annual holiday party, including friends that came from long way away. Sunday was nice and Jill said “Ahh yesterday, when it was 50+ degrees and we had some sunny outdoors time. This morning, it’s a little different #hellosleet”.

Kerry Nina Jill

While watching this, I nearly did a spit take with egg nog – for all my fellow parents. Monday I had a work party at the Bungalow Lakehouse, and got to play pool for a couple hours. Friday the 20th should have been Nina’s last day of school before Winter Break, but she had a fever in the morning. Surprisingly with widespread flu at school she was positive for strep. So I thought it would be a good idea when waiting in CVS for her prescription to get some cards for family and then get them ready to mail at home. This was the card when I asked her every time, from purchase to completion, “Are you sure?” Some lucky relative got this.

card

I stayed home, then went to work when Jill got home, who said “Early Christmas present: New Mantel shelves!!! I’m finally able to hang stockings by the fire and unpack some boxes! Yay!!” The next day Nina’s fever got worse, and eventually we took her to PM Pediatrics where we found out she had the flu (B strain) also. She started taking Tamiflu in addition to the antibiotics she had for strep (she hated both medicines). The next morning, after an achy night, I had a fever too, so went to my practice’s urgent care and got Tamiflu as well (of course we’d all been vaccinated). We had been planning to go to Christmas concerts that night and Monday, but managed to resell the tickets. Jill said “When there’s flu at your house and you’re the only one who’s still healthy. Mince pies and coffee for strength and sweetness please!”

Nina

By Monday night the 23rd we were feeling better, so we kept our tickets to Enchant DC. Seeing Nats Park lit up was picturesque, and the maze was nice. The food was the best part: I had a crepe, Jill had Ben’s chili fries and Nina had chicken noodle soup. Of course by Christmas Eve day Jill caught bronchitis, and said “Well, this Christmas certainly has not gone to plan, but we are blessed none the less.” On Christmas we opened our stockings and gifts, then went out to dinner at Founding Farmers. We were able to get back to camp and work the next day.

Nina Kerry

Friday the 27th Jill’s dad and his wife came to visit. Jill and Nina went with them to DC to eat Italian and go see Christmas Carol at Ford’s Theatre. Meanwhile I went to Ono Brewing Company after working an extra long day to make up hours, and enjoyed their beer and the brisket from Odd BBQ inside. Saturday I made these delicious cream cheese cinnamon rolls when we had them over for brunch; in the afternoon they took Nina to pick out her presents at the Lego store while I got in a couple hours at work.

presents

We were supposed to see the new Star Wars movie on the 20th, but fell into the multiple illness vortex, with lots of cancelled plans. Jill also wanted to see Little Women, but not on the 29th, so Nina and I ended up at the 5PM showing at Udvar Hazy. Which was fortuitous, as we saw Lorna & Dave, who kindly saved us a nice pair of seats as we were way back in line. No spoilers, but we enjoyed it and somebody wanted a lightsaber battle as soon as we got home. I worked super long on Monday to hit 16 hours worked as camp was closed on New Year’s Eve and Jill had to work, and I was able to stay home that day instead. We had a quiet evening at home that night playing board games (Throw Throw Burrito was the crowd favorite) before watching the ball drop.

Nina