My ex-wife, Maribeth, told me that she would have to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas. I worked on Dec 23 and the first 7 1/2 hrs of Christmas Eve, but had the next 3 days off by request. This was the perfect opportunity to go to Wisconsin with my 3 kids: Andy, Ted, and Bri!!! What made it even better was that my fiance', Pat was going, too! I was in pretty bad shape for the 240 mile trip going NW of our hometown & leaving suburban Chicago. I worked Dec 23-24. I didn't get home until about 8 am, Christmas Eve.
Then I thought, "do I really want to go to sleep knowing how much I have to do before starting the big trip to Wisconsin to see my brother??"
"NO" was the answer.
So, I made some money giving plasma to CSL.
I called my kids to reiterate the importance of getting out of town by 2:30. I didn't like the way my condo looked so I spent some time throwing stuff away, sweeping, spot-mopping, washing dishes, sinks and toilet. & of course, I'm usually a day late changing my dear cat's litter, so I made sure to change that. I packed the car with what I had, when Pat needed and took out some car supplies to make room for Andy, Ted & Bri's luggage.
The first part of the trip was awesome. The 3 kids and I were in the spirit of Christmas and we were laughing and joking about funny memories as we sometimes do. Bri was doing a very good job driving to pick up Pat and Ted was riding shotgun alongside her.
Pat had worked from 7am to 3:30 at Loyola Univ Med Ctr doing the same job as I cardiac monitor technician. I work at Palos which is a lot easier commute. Pat was tired from her shift. It's not easy to get up before 5am (yes, I know millions do this, just not me!). My one regret was that I did not insist on Pat sitting in front as she would get sore (due to her recovering from cancer), but she insisted on sitting in the back, and Bri insisted on sitting in the front. That mistake will never happen again!!
We got to Richland Center, Wisconsin to a hotel. The "big brother" surveillance cameras caught me fudging on how many people were in our hotel room. I wanted to save money and say there were 3 of us, when there were actually 5 of us. So I paid $22 extra and considered myself lucky. We enjoyed the hot tub and swimming pool. I talked to Ted and Bri about subjects, important subjects, that I never get a chance to talk to them about because we don't live together anymore. It felt very good telling them how I felt. Their comments were helpful. My other son, Andy, is more close, because he comes to my condo a lot more to see Pat & I.
Then Bri asked later if Ted and she could go to WalMart, and if that was closed, the gas station still open the night before Christmas. I said I wanted to go along. Bri said, "No, Dad. I just want to go with Ted!" Oh all right. Maybe they needed some more bonding time.
from left to right, youngest to oldest Bri, Ted & Andy
That night before Christmas, we opened up Christmas presents, and all of us were pleased that we were in a generous loving family. Out of exhaustion from being up over 32 consecutive hours, I fell asleep before some of my kids.
The next morning was one of bitter disappointment. The first thing was Bri angrily telling me that she had a hard time staying asleep with my snoring. I looked at my watch, and to my horror, it was 10:05. The whole point was for us all to go to a nearby Church. But here I was just getting up and Ted still fast asleep!!!!!!!! Church started at 10am, we were already 5 min late and neither Ted nor I were dressed!!! UGH!!!!!!!!!!! & we resigned ourselves to the idea that no one wanted to disrupt parishoners' Christmas with a bunch strangers coming into a Christmas Mass about a 1/2 hour late!!
What made it so disappointing was that I really wanted Ted and Bri to go to Church with Andy, Pat and I. Ted & Bri stopped going to Church during 2019 to my chagrin and disappointment. As a parent, it was partially my fault they stopped going even though I no longer was a parent who lived with them anymore. Yes, I love being only a 1/2 mile away from them, but sometimes, it seems like it might as well be 1/2 a world away!! It wasn't good enough to be a good example by going to Church every week. Somehow, I needed to work more on their affective/emotional domains and have them learn why going to Church is GOOD. I didn't. I may have, but it wasn't enough.
We ate a free breakfast and packed our car. We visited my brother, Bill (shown below with me on the left). Bill was his benevolent, generous self and spent way over $100 on the 5 of us. Bri, Ted & I went down to his basement where Bri beat both her Dad and Ted. Then we watched the 2nd to last most recent Star Wars movie. Bill enjoyed his gifts from us.
Before we knew it, it was time to leave. Actually, Bri was tired so she left Bill's house and slept in the car. When Bill came out, I was impressed with Bri's humility and social skills and apologized to Bill for leaving early; she said, "sorry for being a crybaby." She didn't cry, but Bill's skills were equally adept as he smiled at her and said, "well, Bri, sometimes I'm a crybaby, too." We all gave out hugs and love to Bill and left Wisconsin.
We looked forward to the next part of the trip which was going to Pat's daughter, Nikki, She had hosted a big Christmas party the night before, and she was happy to see us a day later. Numerous humorous memories were laughed about including my parsimony and Pat's giant bedroom TV.
Bri had a blast with Nikki's kids (as shown by pictures below) ! !
Tia, Pat, Tia's baby, Andy, Bri
Pat, Tia's daughter, Bri; Andy in background
In spite missing Church, (which I concluded later wasn't a sin, b/c my son and Pat were afraid to wake me, so I didn't willfully decide not to go), we had a great time as a family. I'm happy I have the pictures to show the world, but the memories deep in our being count even more!!
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