Semi-sane Christmas

It's mid-afternoon on New Year's Eve - and I'm sitting in my parent's basement wearing noise-canceling headphones. Why, you ask? Well, I'll tell you.

This final weekend of 2005 was to be the 2nd half of our family Christmas....a time of celebration and relaxation with the folks....except that it decided to rain in the biblical sense yesterday, and now their basement is leaking water. So, there are three rather loud wet-dry vacs sucking away the carpets - and thus - I am trying to save my hearing while attempting to beat back the H20. I've been trading water-sucking shifts with my folks for the past 15 hours - and expect to be doing the same until we leave on Sunday. Happy New Year everyone! When it rains it pours...heh.

Thankfully, the downpour has abated somewhat...and the leaking has dried up a little and been isolated to three areas. I can only pray that things continue to improve waterwise before we leave.

++ UPDATE ++

Water eventually dried up after we left and everything turned out ok. Thankfully, I was up late watching a movie that particular night when the leakage commenced...otherwise things could have been a lot worse.

++ BACK TO CHRISTMAS ++

Overall, it was pretty low-impact up at the Crumps in Olympia. Plenty of eating, drinking and laying around. Greer was good for almost being two years old...and the grandparents got plenty of face time with him. The spectre of unemployment and uncertainty hung over me like a little dark cloud, but thankfully there were plenty of distractions. Good Christmas....all in all.

As noted above, we headed over to The Dalles the following weekend to celebrate the holidays with my folks. Aside from the basement leak throwing things into chaos prior to New Years, the parents took good care of us and Alex and I were able to get out to catch "Narnia" while they looked after the boy.

I'll be home for the holidays....

Sad to say, but last Friday saw me enter the ranks of the newly jobless. After 13 months of working to fit in at CMA, time and patience finally ran out. I tried to make it work, but it was just too much.

As Han Solo would say...."Here's where the fun begins."

This past week has been a real emotional rollercoaster of sorts. I've been doing my best to stay busy (holidays take care of that) and try not to dwell on the monster decisions that are looming. There is a good chance that this blog may be forced into retirement in the coming months, as we make adjustments and begin financial juggling. Thankfully, my family is very supportive and doing everything to keep us grounded given the circumstances. Greer will probably stay in daycare for a bit until we get a better idea how things will shake down, but eventually he'll be home with me. I'm hoping to work from home on a few side projects, but it's been a while - and back then I didn't have the same familial obligations that are on the horizon. I can honestly say, that this is the biggest challenge I've ever faced. I just hope I have the strength and perserverance (with God's help) to keep things together.

Thanks to everyone who has offered support and good wishes.

In other news...

The twins are doing well! Alex had a very positive visit to the M.D. this morning - and everything looks 5 by 5. Hopefully, she will have the energy to continue working as we get further along. As it stands now, she needs the rest whenever she can get it....thankfully, my current status allows me to cover many of the housekeeping issues and support her needs. We're going to have to get pretty creative in the coming days....

Just in time for Christmas...

In the whirlwind that has been the last month or so, much has been lost in the shuffle. Good times and various shades of grey have marked my moods, so much so that I've lost track of this blog. Well, I'm going to take (yet another) stab at keeping this thing going. It's not like I don't have anything to talk about...heh.

Speaking of which, Alex and I receieved some good news yesterday about our latest addition to the family. Our twin girls are doing well, and more importantly, are not monoamneotic as previously thought. This means that the risks are considerably diminished - and we don't have to worry quite so much about extended hosptialization and monitoring. There's still plenty to plan for, but it takes a little of the weight off our shoulders.

Beyond that excellent news, we are actively talking to family, thinking about names and trying to prepare for their arrival in spring.

In other news....I'm putting together another Martin Luther King Jr. tribute at the Clinton next month. I'll be screening two 16mm films - and am really looking forward to getting behind the projector again. Hopefully, folks will respond like they did last year.