Both Sides

I guess in every instance of occurrences, you get the good and the bad. Or the bad and the bad. But rarely, it seems, the good with the good. If you always got good with good, the figurative coin wouldn't really be spinning, and gravity wouldn't exist, and the coin would just keep heading straight upwards. Anyway, not trying to be all philosophical here.

December is my most hectic month of the year. "But JJ, it is for everyone," you may say. Yes, I concur, but in addition to the usual holiday uproar, I add 3 family birthdays to the mix, all right in the nick of Christmas. Easton turns 1 this Friday, and then is my brother's, on the 16th. To conclude the Crazy Month of Birthdays and Holiday Mayhem, mine is the 19th. Yes, it's a good thing to have a birthday. It means you were born. But my brother is now back in rehab, having relapsed at Thanksgiving-ish. So not only will he miss his birthday with his family (no biggie, there's always next year), but he'll be missing all the holidays this season. It's a hard pill to swallow (no pun intended for his recovery), especially for the 2 little boys that won't get to see their daddy for months. Another bad with the bad? Swine flu. No, I'm not being funny. Since the outbreak, the facility my brother is staying in won't let children in for visitation. Not even on the holiday. Normally, they could go up once a week, family day on Sundays. If that weren't hard enough, they can't see him at all. Until release date (which is unknown).

Yes, there is a good side to this coin: my brother is actively seeking recovery. In the end, my nephews will have a father, and that is the most important thing. And they are young, so we're hoping this holiday season will be the forgotten one. Plus, my mom is going to try and bring the boys down here a lot to fill the void with lots of busy activities. But I'm having a hard time with this one.

On the good side of some other coins (I know, enough with the stupid coin reference), I am mostly done shopping for the kids, I'm hand sewing the last of the binding for a Christmas gift quilt, Easton took 3 steps unassisted last night, followed by 2 more (we're in for it now) and we got the loveliest, most yummy smelling tree this weekend.

But the tree is Easton's new favorite target. Eeeeeek!