Christmas Revisted...a liar and a thief

Running stats.....in case you were wondering.  

Total miles today: 4.2

Total miles run hurting: 3.2 (Something going on with my left knee and hip. Need to figure it out....don't want to be sidelined.)

Total miles walked: 1 (trying to recover from the pain)

Ran with: Whitney (Priceless)

Run route: The track at my old Alma Mater...Andrews High School

 

This is my daddy. This makes the 5th year that he has spent Christmas in Heaven. And this Christmas, he may have turned over in his grave. Because...................

It's official. I'm a liar and a thief. All I can say about that is that drastic times requires drastic measures.

It all began three weeks ago, when we found out that my daughter, Whitney, was able to come home for Christmas, after all. She wanted to surprise her grandmothers, so she asked us not to tell them she was coming. I had to shush Cliff a couple of times. He almost let the cat out of the bag, but not me.....I lied like the best of them. When Mama and Mrs. Wanda asked if Whitney was coming home, I told them no because her husband had to work and she didn't want to leave him alone. They said things like..."I am going to miss Whitney this year, I sure wish she and Jason could come home for Christmas." I tried to console them as best as I could...while lying through my teeth. I really started to feel bad for them; they were genuinely sad that they were not going to see Whitney and Jason this year.

Christmas Eve, Whitney was scheduled to leave Denver at 5:10 pm. I had already been glued to the Weather Channel to follow the news of the snow in the Midwest and the rain and tornado warnings in the east. I was concerned about the weather causing delays or even cancelling flights altogether. And, as luck would have it....her flight out of Denver was delayed. Now, she had a connecting flight in Chicago that was scheduled to leave at 8:55 pm. But because Denver's flight was delayed by 50 minutes meant that she was going to have only 5 minutes to change planes. It was down to the wire. She arrived in Chicago at 8:50 pm. For some reason, the flight leaving for Charleston was being delayed by another 5 minutes....so she had a slither of hope to make the connection. She said she came off the plane with about 15 more people RUNNING. An airport employee asked Whitney if she was running to catch the flight to Charleston and she said, "Yes". The employee told her that they were holding the plane for them. Thank heavens for Christmas miracles. She made the flight with no time to spare.

Christmas Eve dinner is always spent with my side of the family. And then my children always spend Christmas Eve night with us and even Santa Claus visits my grandchildren on Christmas Eve at my house. So....I was busy all day Monday cleaning, making the beds with fresh linens, baking and cooking the dishes I was taking to mama's that night and wrapping last minute gifts that FedEx had delivered that day. I did not stop to take note of the toilet paper inventory. And, as luck would have it.......I ran completely out. I didn't have time to go to the grocery store to buy more....I had too much to do. Aha, found a box of Puff's Tissue that would work until I could get to the store.  OMG! These tissues have Vicks Rub in them. Well....we'll just have to grin and bear it. Drastic measures!!

So, off to dinner at mama's with all my family. We visited and caught up with each other, ate and opened gifts. Cliff and I had to excuse ourselves a little early, but couldn't say why. I lied again, making up some kind of story. All the while, Cliff was tracking flight times on Southwest Airlines from his phone. So off to the airport we go. I was so excited that I nearly forgot about the toilet paper emergency. We stopped at two stores on the way to the airport and both were closed. OK, so what now? I sure hoped the Puff's Tissue, albeit a little infused with Vicks, would last through the night. We got to the airport with less than 10 minutes to spare before Whitney's arrival. So, I made a quick potty break, which reminded me once again of the lack of toilet paper back at my house. I never saw it coming, but right there, at 11:50 pm on Christmas Eve, in the Charleston International Airport bathroom, I made the decision that would forever label me as a toilet paper thief. I roped off  three or four feet of airport toilet paper and stuck in my pocketbook. I was desperate and it was so easy. I walked to the gate to meet Whitney and no one was the wiser.

Christmas morning....that toilet paper came in mighty handy. Emily never knew the difference. Holla!!  My grandchildren were surprised by Whitney. We told them she hitched a ride with Santa. Whitney also surprised her grandmother's. They both were so shocked. I don't think I've ever seen Mrs. Wanda jump up out of a chair as fast as she did, when she saw Whitney walk into the room. And the next day, when we visited my mama, she looked like she was going to faint..like she had seen a ghost or something. It sure was a successful Christmas this year. We pulled off three great surprises and a major toilet paper emergency was averted. I spent awhile trying to regain my status as a "truth teller" and begging forgiveness for taking such drastic measures as stealing toilet paper from the airport bathroom.

I'm wondering if I need therapy.

Time will tell.

How was your Christmas this year? Did anything exciting happen at your house? Tell me about it in the comments below.

Hallelujah! I have been reformed,

Laurie