T Minus 4 Days and Counting...

Until winter break.
For the kids, of course.  Not me.
2 weeks.
2 weeks of no school.
2 weeks of not being able to go anywhere on my own, including the grocery store. Of having to keep the kids entertained.  And fed.  And out of trouble. And trying to get them to keep their pants on.

I used to look forward to Christmas SO much!  I mean, I still do, just not with the breathless anticipation of a kid who will have no school,  some new toys, and good buddies to share them with.
(I still remember the year my parents bought toy light sabers for my brother and I.  I think those lasted about 20 minutes.  But the bruises lasted MUCH longer!  Seriously, WHAT were they thinking?!?!?!)

Hubby will be working.  I'm thinking that when he gets home, I might just have to race out the door to the nearest yoga class.
If I have any energy left.
Because my mom is coming to visit, too.  Just for a week.  But still...

I'm going to yoga this morning.  It'll probably be the last daytime class I can get to until the new year.  I have my trusty yoga DVDs, and I'm hoping I can get through them during the upcoming weeks without the kids breaking anything/getting into mischief/sitting on me.
I'm also meal planning.  Rather than going to Trader Joe's and mindlessly throwing the usual stuff in the cart (pasta, pizza, chicken, veggies, blah blah blah), I actually made a list yesterday and stuck to it!  I even got LG to eat the ground turkey I put into the spaghetti, which was a momentous occasion!
I'm trying to be a bit more organized when it comes to mealtime.  And a bit healthier, too.  I was looking at a cookbook I used to use all the time (Jamie Oliver), and I realized that I missed it. I hadn't used it in 6 years.  So I bought ingredients to make a couple of the recipes from the book. I figure we can start introducing the kids to some new flavors and textures, and then I won't have to either make the same ol' stuff every week or make 4 different dishes every night.  'Cause that way madness and boredom lie.
When we moved I ended up donating a bunch of my cookbooks to the library.  I hated doing it, but we have very little space, and I hadn't used many of them in a long while.  It still makes me kinda sad, but then I remember I can, duh, go to the library and check them out!

I'm also seriously considering hiring someone to help with the kids on a regular basis.  I'm looking at applying for a full time teaching job, so we'd definitely need someone if I were to get it.  But even if I don't, we have, I think, the resources now to hire someone at least part time.  Which would mean I could work more hours, have help when the kids are on vacation, and not have to rely on my in-laws. They already watch my niece all day, and I think, as time goes on, they'll spend more and more of the winter months in Hawaii.  Which is good for my father-in-law, with his heart condition.  He recently had a bad cough that lasted 4 months and didn't go away until they went to Hawaii for a couple of weeks.
And, to be honest, the fact that the kids have vastly different vacation schedules (other than Christmas) is a huge pain in the butt! I've spent the past decade planning what feels like troop movements on a battlefield, carting one or both kids around with me almost everywhere, making schedules that Martha Stewart would marvel at, and basically being exhausted.  I've been a one-woman childcare machine, and it's time for some reinforcements.
And maybe get a little bit of time for me.  :)

So, we'll see.
In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy these last few days of freedom.
(Which brings to mind the trailer for the new "Star Trek" film. Have you seen it?  Sooooooo excited!!!!!!)