It was more aqua than blue.

This has nothing to do with the post, but pictures like this remind me why I keep the kids around. I have no idea how she can sleep like that, but I find it adorable.

So, in between napping and reading and napping and eating cinnamon M&M's (Holy crap, people. Have you tried these?) and taking down Christmas decorations (Does your house look completely bare--like you're in the middle of moving--for about a week after you take down your tree? Or is it just mine?) and napping and making Nutella crepes (FYI: The cost of peanut butter has skyrocketed so much in the past couple of months that it's now cheaper per ounce to buy Nutella than Jif. Who am I to waste money?) and napping, I kept getting a nagging feeling that I was forgetting something.

And this morning as I was about to take an after breakfast nap, it came to me. "Uh, hey. You have a blog. You should probably write something before someone starts an internet rumor that you're dead, and then you'll have to go on Facebook and Twitter and post proof-of-life pictures." You know how I hate pictures of myself, so here I am.

Christmas was as good as it could be with Will in Afghanistan and no friends or family close by to hang out with. We've been without Will on Christmas before, but this is the first where we were completely alone, just the kids and myself. To be honest, it really didn't feel like Christmas. It felt like a regular Sunday, except that the kids got a bunch of crap.

We ate Chinese food for four days. Lunch and dinner.

We watched a lot of Redbox movies.

I did a lot of napping.

We're entering into week two of school vacation, and I'm about to lose my mind. I try to keep them entertained, I really do. It's not working. So, I nap. With headphones. I figure they'll either work it out and entertain themselves, or their incessant bickering will escalate to the point that they'll stop speaking to each other (or kill each other). Either way--eventual peace and quiet for me.

But!!! There is a bright side to all this. We're now in the home stretch of this deployment. We're down to less than three weeks. I can't be more specific because there are probably terrorists who read this blog. They've heard my kids have some excellent tactics. Also, I don't know a specific date. I know the date he'll leave Afghanistan, but then they have to spend a few days in Kyrgyzstan getting all their "don't kill your family" briefings while waiting on open flights. Could be three days. Could be a week. For those who have seen my countdown on Facebook, it's more of an estimation.

The past couple of months have been all, "I need to do X, Y and Z before Christmas." But now we've moved into, "I need to do X, Y and Z before Will gets home." I try to save some projects like cleaning out my closet, organizing the junk drawers, and straightening out the garage--stuff that I usually only do once a year--for the last couple of weeks to make the time pass a little faster. Except the last couple of weeks of a deployment are a lot like the last couple weeks of a pregnancy. They become the longest weeks of your life and you suddenly become speedy and efficient and finish all the projects in three hours, leaving yourself nothing to do but wait.

So anyway, internets, how was your holiday? Let me live vicariously through you. Did you do something fun? Go on vacation? Did one of your friends decide to lose her virginity at 38 years old on Christmas Eve and then post a play by play of the preparations on Facebook? (I so wish I was making that up.) C'mon, spill it. I want to hear.

Again, nothing to do with the post, but Amelia got this doll for Christmas. I'm not usually creeped out by dolls, but I'm pretty sure this one is going to kill me in my sleep.