Christmas Cheer

My mom and I took Em to get her first picture with Santa Claus today.  Seeing as it's her first Christmas we I was pretty excited about it.  Paul was too and asked me to call him on skype so he could watch her reaction to Santa (and he didn't want me to get an iPhone--we couldn't have done that if I hadn't had the glory that is the iPhone).  They had a sign up that said no cell phones, no personal cameras.  Santa was on his lunch break so I explained our situation to the woman working and she said as far as she was concerned it was okay, but she'd have to ask Santa.  In our 5 minute conversation I learned that the woman was from NJ, has 2 kids, is about to become a grandmother in May, and her daughter got kicked in the face by a horse 2 weeks ago (please say a prayer for the unborn baby as the mom had to have surgery to repair her jaw and she was barely out of her first trimester when this occurred plus she's lost a lot of weight from not being able to eat anything), her first husband was in the army and her current husband spent 25 years in the Coast Guard.  Um, I think that was it.  Oh, and Santa retired from the military. 

I thanked her and went over to wait with my mom and Em.  Santa was off break at 2pm and about 1:45 the woman came over to get us.  Santa had agreed to see us early so we scrambled to get Paul on skype and it was all very exciting. 

I put Em on Santa's lap and she immediately started crying.  lol  Paul and I were both laughing.  So I picked Em and then poor Santa got to have my fat ass on his lap.  You can tell by his facial expression how thrilled he is by this development.

I'm pretty sure he will need to go to the chiropractor to deal with the excess weight on his right leg.  lol 

So after we say goodbye to Paul and I climb off Santa's lap so he can massage the feeling back into his leg, I'm getting ready to pay for my photos and I hear this woman complaining.  See it's only 1:50pm and she thought it was unfair that we were allowed to have our picture taken with Santa when the sign said he wouldn't be back until 2pm.  She demanded that she be allowed to have her child's picture taken.  The woman explained that it was a special circumstance because of my husband being deployed, etc. and the woman says that her husband is in Iraq and do they want to see her military id.  Well, at this point I feel awful because I was planning on waiting until 2pm to see Santa and he had us come in early.  We profusely thank Santa and the women working and head out as people start to get in line to see Santa. 

The woman who pitched such a fit didn't even bother to stay and wait the 5 minutes it was till 2pm.  She could've been first in line.  The woman working with Santa said she did not think the woman was a military spouse because she was so unsupportive of our situation and so rude and I tend to agree.  I NEVER would've acted like that!  I love my military family.  I couldn't stop thinking about how appalling her behavior was and in front of her children, too.  Where was her Christmas spirit? 

But Paul got to see his baby see Santa for the first time (and on his birthday, too) and that is all that counts.  It made my heart sing to see him so happy on skype. 

In a totally unrelated note I decided to take a bath tonight and slipped and fell in the tub putting the bath mat down.  Luckily I caught myself and sort of slid into the tub onto my back, but I am definitely sore and going to feel it tomorrow.  Thank goodness for icy hot and Motrin and for God watching over me. 

Headed out of town for Paul's family reunion tomorrow and to see some old friends.  Very excited!  Hopefully the weather is nice.  I know it'll be nicer than what my friends in New England are experiencing. 

Merry Christmas!