Six Days of School, Seven Days of Work, and the slow March Toward Christmas

Some weeks feel like they’re stitched together with nothing but grit, coffee, and whatever is left in the bottom of the laundry basket—and friends, this was one of those weeks.

The teenage boys trudged through school and afterschool obligations, their backpacks somehow heavier, their appetites somehow doubled, and their energy… well, questionable at best. I swear teenage boys live on equal parts humor, chaos, and carbs. Every morning felt like a mini-marathon of reminders:

“Did you charge your Chromebook?”

“Where’s your water bottle?”

“No, seriously, where is it? Didn’t we just buy that last week?”

By the time the house finally exhaled into quiet, I was already headed out the door to address the next  seven days of my own work—the kind that doesn’t politely stop just because my brain wants to. Somehow, we push through, day after day, fueled by purpose and the promise of  returning home and bedtime.

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The Christmas Countdown Begins

Meanwhile, Christmas is peeking around the corner like a mischievous elf whispering, “Have you started yet? You haven’t, have you?”

The bins of ornaments  have made their annual migration from the attic, shedding pine needles from years past as if to shame me into decorating faster. There’s a certain magic in stringing lights when the world outside feels heavy—tiny reminders that joy doesn’t need to shout; sometimes it just twinkles softly.

Between work emails and school drop-offs, I’ve been:

• Making lists (and rewriting them when I lose them)

• Hiding online orders from the boys (they notice everything and well sometimes snoop)

• Attempting to plan meals (why does December make everyone hungrier?)

• And lighting enough candles to make the house smell like a cross between a forest and a bakery

Though I have minimally decorated, the house still feels chaotic and I look forward to the early mornings when our dog Aspen wakes me to do her morning business and eat, so that I can drink a cup of coffee in the quiet with the Christmas tree glowing in our living room. It is a softer and quiet time that helps balance the chaos out.

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Appointments, Waiting Rooms, and the Road to Surgery

This season isn’t just about Christmas, though. It’s about holding things together as my husband moves toward his next hip surgery. The calendar is packed tighter than a stocking on Christmas Eve with appointments, check-ups, pre-op paperwork, and the kind of waiting-room worries only a spouse understands.

There’s a unique emotional juggling act in being both the one who waits and the one who keeps the household gears turning. The boys still need rides, reminders and approvals. Homework still needs checking. Work still demands what it demands. Dinner still needs to happen (even if dinner is cereal… sprinkled with grace).

And through it all, we’re preparing—day by day—for surgery No. 2.

It’s amazing how strength grows in the small moments:
In the car ride to an appointment.
In shared glances that say “We’ll get through this.”
In the quiet resilience of doing the next right thing.

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Daily Obligations, Wrapped in Real Life

Some nights, I collapse into bed wondering how so many tasks can fit into one family’s week. And then the morning comes, and somehow we do it all again:

• The lunches

• The laundry

• The logistics

• The mental load that could fill Santa’s sleigh

But buried in the chaos are flickers of beauty—a laugh from the boys, a warm cup of coffee, the glow of the Christmas tree, the feeling of being exactly where I’m meant to be, even when the road feels long.

This season might not be tidy. It might not be calm. But it’s ours.
And right now, that’s more than enough.