A Big, Fat Case of The Mondays

I've got a very serious and unfortunate case of the Mondays.

My heart is telling me to mainline some sort of sedative, but my head is telling me to drink a large dose of caffeine and put on my big girl panties. Everybody's sick (including me), nobody slept well (least of all me), everybody's crying (I'm crying inside), I've got a hundred thousand things I need to do, and my house looks like this:

And this is the more flattering, less-stressful area of the house.

You know what's more stressful than taking kids on vacation? Coming home from vacation. Holy. Crap. My house threw up its innards in every room. Plus, there's laundry. Plus, we left in a rush, so I didn't leave it especially clean to begin with (there's nothing better than walking into a clean house after a vacation). Plus, I had the bright idea to pull out all the Christmas decor yesterday. So between the Christmas stuff, the fall decor bagged up, the laundry, the miscellaneous crap that nobody can identify, and the diapers galore, my minor case of OCD is causing me to wind up awfully tight. There is no place of sanctuary.

Hopefully things will start shaping up here by Friday. 

In the meantime, we are trying to get in the Christmas spirit, despite our maladies and bad attitudes.

We had a great weekend, at least. Alex's father is friends with the legendary Coach Vince Dooley, and we joined him and his lovely wife, Barbara, in their box at the UGA vs. GA Tech game on Saturday. There's truly nothing like a fall Saturday in Athens. 

It's crisp and loud and bright and magical. I miss it so. It's a part of my life that I love and occasionally ache to relive, but I would never, ever want to actually go and do it all over again. Every time Alex and I go back to Athens, we feel older and older. Things have changed. There are new buildings that are called new things (when did the SLC become the MLC, may I ask? Rude). There are even more new awesome restaurants and hotels. And can we just talk a minute about how the girls are somehow even prettier than they were when I was in school? Like significantly. I thought we were all hot stuff in college, but this is otherworldly. I don't get what is happening. 

He physically cannot help himself.

One of my favorite things about Gameday at UGA is the fashion. It's a fashion show, and it never disappoints. I always find it remarkable how 50,000 women can take the same two colors and come up with 50,000 completely different outfits. Red and black are good colors, though :)

The game itself was one of THE weirdest football games I've ever watched. It's not even worth recapping. But spending time with the Dooleys was great. He's a doll, and Barbara is an absolute riot. She's also an accomplished Gameday driver. She casually reapplied her bright red lipstick, put her hands at 10 and 2, and gave the athletic van the gas, parting through the sea of red and black. She laid on the horn and turned her head back a second at us, explaining in her syrupy Southern accent, "You have to be aggressive as hell and pray to God that you don't hit anybody." She's who I aspire to be when I grow up.

We pulled out of Atlanta yesterday morning, embarking on the 6 hour drive back home to Florida, and I have never wanted something to be over so badly. It was the trip that wouldn't end.

At least 3 hours of this.

 At one point, Bob and Viv were having a who-can-cry-the-loudest contest. Bob wins that one every time. He fussed the last 2/3 of the trip, and I prayed for self-control most of the way.

Do any of you notice significantly worse, clingier, whinier, more demanding behavior from your babies and tots after a vacation with grandparents and family? Vivi has NEVER been a fussy baby in the least. She is the most laid back, happy, relaxed person I've ever met. But I've noticed that she wants to be held all the time now and protests heavily when I put her down. I think our family has spoiled her rotten, plus she's still really sick.

Or it could be the hat..

 I hate to put her down, but I've got to clean this Pit of Despair and put up Christmas decorations. Or maybe I'll just let it sit and wait til tomorrow.

Keep on keepin' on!

-Annette