The Aftermath...
December 26th. I need a holiday from the holidays.
All told, everything came together in rather fantastic fashion, although it got down to the wire there at the very end. For those not keeping score on the latest saga:
- After Hurrican Junior took out power to over a million homes in the greater Seattle metropolis, Amy was one of the lucky few to continue NOT having power several days later. Once the power was restored roughly around last Tuesday, her brilliant neighbors decided that there was some ground to be made up in the power-consumption arena - by "brilliant" I mean fucking retarded - and turned every goddamned thing on at the same time, thus killing the power to only HER building by way of knocking out an underground fuse or somesuch...sorry we have no ETA on when it will be fixed, ma'am.
So. Not only were we in the midst of one of the single most stressful times of the year, coupled with some already-troubling issues of her own accord in dealing with trust, promises being kept, and most importanly, her kids being happy...now she and her little family had become refugees, alternating between my house and her mom's place to keep warm and functioning.
A small emotional break-down, a giving up almost entirely on Christmas, life, God and everything inbetween, things were not looking good on the Eve of Christmas Eve.
But then....
Amy's brother Josh was flying in from New York as a surprise. Yay!
I was doing my very best to keep her spirits up, and did everything in my power to prove to her that Christmas was not lost, not on my fucking watch. Yay!
And eventually - Power was restored. Yay!
And by the time it was all said and done...everything worked out wonderfully.
- Friday evening Amy and the kids came over (this was pre-power back on, mind you), and Amy all but twisted my arm to open my gifts then and there. She got me a fantastic book that she's been telling me about for months, Life of Pi, and Olivia picked out this amazing candleholder piece with a really awesome vanilla candle...I dunno how that kid just knew that was for me, but we set it up next to the bed with my little bamboo plant, and it's like my own little corner of Zen.
I didn't have words to express how pleased I was, and it wasn't so much the gifts themselves, but the thoughtfulness and love behind them. I'll carry that candle around with me for the rest of my days.
- Saturday, Amy & kids headed out to help her mom prep for family events, and Taylor and I went to my mom's for dinner and to exchange gifts. My grandfather was there, and it was an absolute joy to just get to spend some time with him. He's pushing 95 now, and has varied health problems, so I know our time is limited. Just getting the chance to let him see Taylor, watch her play and to see him smile and laugh with her was wonderful.
Got back home, and the kids got to have Christmas, Act One together, gleefully tearing wrapping paper up and bouncing around having a grand time annoying my downstairs neighbor. Taylor (and her mom) were very sweet and got me a really nifty set of emergency tools for the car, some really nice sandalwood soap, and Resevoir Dogs, which, if you know me at all, you know that movies are the true way to my heart, especially violent badass-ery courtesy of Quinten Tarantino.
As mon a'mour and I finalized wrapping of presents for varied family members and friends, it seemed as though a weight had been lifted from her very-tired shoulders. So much stress, so much emotional asskicking the past couple of weeks had taken its toll on her. It was good to see her smiling and laughing again, like small little streaks of sunlight shoving their way through the clouds after a rainstorm.
With Christmas Eve now upon us, we girded loins for the final push, the rally of presents, food, family and stress. The power finally being restored to her place, we hauled stuff back over to the house for final wrapping and prep. Up until that very day, the Christmas Plan B was established at her mom's house, and that was continuing forth, but the kids could have Christmas Part Three later in the afternoon Xmas day...so we stocked the tree with phat loots, had a drink and enjoyed the warmth and glow of power restoration.
It was both joyful and triumphant.
Quite an adventure, these past few weeks. Kids are happy. Moms and dads are exhausted. And I hope, above all else, that some faith and trust was restored.
Love isn't just about all the happy fun stuff...the true test is getting through the hard parts in one piece, and most importantly, never losing sight of what that love is, and what it means to your life and happiness.
Strength and patience.
Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday.
//end.
All told, everything came together in rather fantastic fashion, although it got down to the wire there at the very end. For those not keeping score on the latest saga:
- After Hurrican Junior took out power to over a million homes in the greater Seattle metropolis, Amy was one of the lucky few to continue NOT having power several days later. Once the power was restored roughly around last Tuesday, her brilliant neighbors decided that there was some ground to be made up in the power-consumption arena - by "brilliant" I mean fucking retarded - and turned every goddamned thing on at the same time, thus killing the power to only HER building by way of knocking out an underground fuse or somesuch...sorry we have no ETA on when it will be fixed, ma'am.
So. Not only were we in the midst of one of the single most stressful times of the year, coupled with some already-troubling issues of her own accord in dealing with trust, promises being kept, and most importanly, her kids being happy...now she and her little family had become refugees, alternating between my house and her mom's place to keep warm and functioning.
A small emotional break-down, a giving up almost entirely on Christmas, life, God and everything inbetween, things were not looking good on the Eve of Christmas Eve.
But then....
Amy's brother Josh was flying in from New York as a surprise. Yay!
I was doing my very best to keep her spirits up, and did everything in my power to prove to her that Christmas was not lost, not on my fucking watch. Yay!
And eventually - Power was restored. Yay!
And by the time it was all said and done...everything worked out wonderfully.
- Friday evening Amy and the kids came over (this was pre-power back on, mind you), and Amy all but twisted my arm to open my gifts then and there. She got me a fantastic book that she's been telling me about for months, Life of Pi, and Olivia picked out this amazing candleholder piece with a really awesome vanilla candle...I dunno how that kid just knew that was for me, but we set it up next to the bed with my little bamboo plant, and it's like my own little corner of Zen.
I didn't have words to express how pleased I was, and it wasn't so much the gifts themselves, but the thoughtfulness and love behind them. I'll carry that candle around with me for the rest of my days.
- Saturday, Amy & kids headed out to help her mom prep for family events, and Taylor and I went to my mom's for dinner and to exchange gifts. My grandfather was there, and it was an absolute joy to just get to spend some time with him. He's pushing 95 now, and has varied health problems, so I know our time is limited. Just getting the chance to let him see Taylor, watch her play and to see him smile and laugh with her was wonderful.
Got back home, and the kids got to have Christmas, Act One together, gleefully tearing wrapping paper up and bouncing around having a grand time annoying my downstairs neighbor. Taylor (and her mom) were very sweet and got me a really nifty set of emergency tools for the car, some really nice sandalwood soap, and Resevoir Dogs, which, if you know me at all, you know that movies are the true way to my heart, especially violent badass-ery courtesy of Quinten Tarantino.
As mon a'mour and I finalized wrapping of presents for varied family members and friends, it seemed as though a weight had been lifted from her very-tired shoulders. So much stress, so much emotional asskicking the past couple of weeks had taken its toll on her. It was good to see her smiling and laughing again, like small little streaks of sunlight shoving their way through the clouds after a rainstorm.
With Christmas Eve now upon us, we girded loins for the final push, the rally of presents, food, family and stress. The power finally being restored to her place, we hauled stuff back over to the house for final wrapping and prep. Up until that very day, the Christmas Plan B was established at her mom's house, and that was continuing forth, but the kids could have Christmas Part Three later in the afternoon Xmas day...so we stocked the tree with phat loots, had a drink and enjoyed the warmth and glow of power restoration.
It was both joyful and triumphant.
Quite an adventure, these past few weeks. Kids are happy. Moms and dads are exhausted. And I hope, above all else, that some faith and trust was restored.
Love isn't just about all the happy fun stuff...the true test is getting through the hard parts in one piece, and most importantly, never losing sight of what that love is, and what it means to your life and happiness.
Strength and patience.
Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday.
//end.
posted by Andrew at 10:59 AM
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