Home and back to the grind

We drove home from Tucson on Tuesday, January 2nd.  We had been there since December 23rd and I was sick every single day of it.  Spencer and Michael went in one car and Elliott, Ginger and me in another.

We stopped at Eegees to pick up some sandwiches and drinks on the way out of town. 

I was stopped at the drive-thru, not barreling down the freeway.  Promise. 

Don't leave avocados on the counter for 10 days.  Lesson learned.  

Ginger was happy/sad to be home.  Happy to be back to her routine.  Sad to have left Gramme and Grandpa. 

On Wednesday the 3rd Michael got up at 4:30 am and dragged himself back to work.  The kids and I rolled out of bed around 10:00 and dragged ourselves to Elliott's first official orthodontist appointment.  They did x-rays and took pictures and we had a consultation. 

Elliott got to play on the iPad while we waited for everything to be ready for the consultation. 

Good news.  He doesn't need any treatment yet.  We can come back in a year to see how he's doing, but for now he's doing great. 

That afternoon we met some former co-workers for lunch.  I finally got to wear my IEP shirt. 

And for dinner we went to see Blaine perform.  I texted a picture to Joni.

On Thursday Elliott and I had a god-awful 8:15 appointment at the pediatrician from his 6-year check-up.  That was hideous but then we got to spend the rest of the day at home.  

I painted this reindeer I got from my uncle. 

Before

During

After

Spencer basically locked himself in his room all day.  I tried to take a picture of him reading, but he heard me coming, and tried to escape. 

I made soup and cheese bread for dinner. 

On Friday the 5th, Spencer had an appointment with his allergist. He also got allergy shots and Xolair shots while we were there, so we were there for about 27 hours. 

We took a walk when we got home and photographed all of the trees that think it's fall in our neighborhood.  I'm actually quite concerned about this.  It's not a good sign.  It's apocalyptic global warming stuff. 

Back at home Ginger thought I should stop reading in bed and get going on the house. 

But I needed coffee and grand marnier chocolate to pep me up first. 

On Saturday the 6th Spencer and I went to Home Goods and Trader Joe's.  I wanted this dog.  It was 50% off, but still $80, so I passed. 

We also stopped at Costco to pick up pictures that I had finally ordered for our frames.

Before 

After

That night we had John and Maryellen over for dinner. It was a bit of a late New Years Celebration. 

With Southern Comfort and Nog. 

We all played with Elliott's new Magnetron set. 

And enjoyed the gold candles. 

It was around 8:00 pm when Elliott mentioned to me that I had never taken Spencer's monthly picture before he went to a friend's house for a sleepover, so I texted his friend's mom and asked her to save me from a terrible start to 2018.