Christmas arrived early.

Although I was feeling lousy, the stupid in me decided to brave the crowds yesterday, instead of waiting for a very tired JJ or P to come home. Only the insane or the procrastinator would set foot in a store this time of the year. But as horrible as I was feeling, JJ's impending arrival gave me the push I needed. When we arrived at Costco SS gave me a good laugh. At the entrance was a young man giving out coupons. He was very young and I had not seen him before (our Costco has a scary turn over rate). SS reached out her arms to him, flashing her million dollar smile, and of course the young man responded in kind. Then SS squealed with delight "YEAH ALCOHOL!" The look on the guy's face was priceless. SS really wanted her coupons so she could get her drink on. After all 'tis the season. He had his hand half way through then pulled it back, much to SS's annoyance. Dude did not know what to do after SS's outburst. I smiled at him and reassured him "It's OK, she is a heck of a lot older than she looks."

Laughing is something that hurts these days but I could not help but do just that. It got worse when I called P to congratulate him on being the father of a three year old alcoholic. BTW, P asked me where SS got the alcohol part from. The lady that was handing out the coupons last week said "alcohol?" as she offered them. Things got better when we passed the booze aisle as SS quickly recognized the blue gin bottle and begged "Mama please, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese, that one, let's get that one." We got a lot of looks. Since I was on a roll I told SS that she darn well knows we are not gin drinkers, we are whiskey drinkers.

If SS was not enough to keep my hands full, P was doing his darndest to get to the top of the naughty list. Silly guy, he should know by now that he eternally holds the number one spot. P knows how much I hate crowds, and also knows that my current discomfort has shortened my already short fuse. I am making SS walk more because I can't pick her up all the time like she wants. This is very difficult for me, because I feel that she is being punished for something she can't understand. P is doing his part to keep me smiling by sending me inappropriate text messages. He managed to top himself yesterday.

When we finally made it home JJ had just arrived. Oh joy! Christmas arrived early for SS in the form of her brother. She stuck by his side like a barnacle on a whale's ass, a privilege usually reserved for her Mama. We took advantage of the extra pair of hands and got busy in the kitchen. It was so good to get around our business without a tiny person underfoot. The sound of SS's laughter and JJ's presence really made our day. We have been in such a funk, we really needed the family time. So Christmas arrived early for us as well.

When we realized that we needed a few items for dinner we asked JJ to stay with SS. SS wanted to join us but we said she was going to stay home with her brother. That is when SS cracked us up by immediately turning to her brother and saying "Bye JJ!" The little traitor dropped him like a bad habit. SS did stay home and had a great time with her brother.

Towards the end of the video SS actually threatened to "take" JJ's finger off. She is small but terrifyingly violent.