Our Christmas—In Numbers

Posted On December 27, 2009

I MEANT to post before Christmas to send you all out a nice little Merry Christmas greeting. Well, that idea failed, right along with my idea to send out my Christmas cards BEFORE Christmas this year. (And I even had them ordered and back the first week in December. And no, they’re still not sent.)

Then I MEANT to post some of our Christmas photos this weekend and give you a recap of our holiday festivities. Unfortunately, the cord I need to upload my photos to my computer is missing, likely lying underneath a stack of Christmas cards that still need to be sent.

So INSTEAD I’m giving you a little glimpse of our Christmas vacation (Well, I guess everyone in my family is STILL on vacation but me…) thus far, and in honor of the math geeks in my family, I’m letting the numbers tell the story.

20 — the maximum speed we could travel on the Interstate on Christmas Eve night to get back home from our parents’ homes so Santa could come
3 — the number of hours of sleep I got on Christmas Eve
7000 — the number of calories I think I ingested in two days
19 — the number of photo charms for my mother-in-law I messed up in my quest to be crafty before sort of getting 6 right—sort of
4 — the number of pajamas I received from Husband after telling him that I needed a new pair (But I really do love them all. Just didn’t expect four! 🙂
37 — the number of times my voice got really high-pitched and whiny with a just a tinge of “crazy” on December 23 as I tried to finish making gifts, wrapping gifts, and cleaning the house
2/3 — the fraction of toilets in my house that were plugged at any given time
35 — the balance left in my savings account after Christmas. And that’s cents, by the way.
1 — the batches of Christmas cookies I managed to make. And I managed to even mess those up.
.03 — my TSH level (normal is between .3 and 3), confirming that I’ve been lugging around an overactive thyroid for a few months (and also explaining my raging anxiety, propensity to sweat like a pig in August, and sadly, my recent weight loss). Curse you, you evil little gland!
79 — the number of minutes spent frantically searching for a misplaced Christmas gift for Boy #2 on Christmas Eve, which was finally found—of course—under a pile of clothes in the laundry room (Duh, where else would it be?)
4 — the hour that Boy #2 came into our room on Christmas morning and asked if we could open gifts (after I’d finally collapsed into bed at 1)
5 — the hour Husband and I finally gave in and dragged ourselves downstairs so the kids could see what Santa brought and open gifts
12 — the number of pieces of bacon I suspect that I ate at the Christmas Eve brunch at my parents’ house
1 million — the number of times I could listen to my nephew ask, “My fresent?” and still think it’s stinkin’ cute
4 — the number of Granny’s famous ham balls I ate on Christmas, despite the fact that Granny fell asleep while baking them and burnt the tops. (And it’s come to my attention that people in certain parts of the country have never experienced ham balls. Oh. My. Gosh. Believe me, you want the recipe. Email me.)

Despite my feeding frenzy and several minor mishaps and meltdowns, we had an amazing Christmas, the best part being that our whole family, including all of our siblings and their families, were able to spend some significant time together. We are truly blessed!

Photo courtesy of lusi