Three doctor appointments Thurs and Fri on top of trying to do school resulted in our getting behind. Nevertheless, the kids and I went outback Fri afternoon to prune and bag last years plants, to prepare the garden for winter rest. We came close to a freeze the weekend before which has turned our leaves a lovely range of orange, red and yellow. We moved mulch out of the way in a couple of beds to lay down columbine and bluebonnet seeds in hopes of a gorgeous spring. I was e-x-h-a-u-s-t-e-d! My muscles a-c-h-e-d!

Sat morning dh and the kids got to work on decorating the outdoors with Christmas lights, while I returned all the medieval feast and bathroom remodel items that weren’t needed. Then I attempted to conquer my Christmas shopping. By 4pm I came home wiped out! I went upstairs, laid down and fell asleep! Later, DH woke me up to ask about dinner and I told him and the kids to go on out and enjoy themselves. Having woken me up from a wonderful slumber, I laid on the couch with the cat and caught up on reading for next week’s school. When the family came home, we snuggled in for a Christmas movie.

I bought this movie a few months ago, mainly because our church adult, teen and children’s choirs joined with the dramatic team to do "Christmas Shoes". We were all involved. My children sang and did some bells. I sang and helped with costumes and administration, mainly with the children’s choir. My husband did the sound booth. I don’t listen to the radio much (not since my volumnous son entered my life) but when I first heard the song for this play, like everyone else, I cried. I had no idea how we’d get through the program with dry eyes. It took weeks and will power to get through the music. Well, last night we settled down to watch the movie and before long my husband was running to get the kleenex for us! After the movie we were talking about the beautiful message of love and family. Meaningful thoughts were swirling in my brain; I was planning to blog about profound things!. However, little did I know something was about to happen…

Shortly after we got the kids to bed, our neighbor rang the doorbell at 10pm. There was a rattlesnake in our yard. DH joined 2 other men to conquer the snake. If I wasn’t so petrified, I might have enjoyed watching them from the upstairs window. Our yard was lit up with Christmas lights. Our neighbor turned his headlights onto our yard. DH set out his flood-lights. Then they used their long rakes and brooms to flush out the snake. A while later they came in, never having found it. Our neighbor decided he would not decorate the outdoors for Christmas with that snake on the loose! I couldn’t blame him. Personally, I decided that my gardening days were over. I was ready to hang up my rake for good! In fact, I was prepared to spend the rest of my living days inside the house! Earlier I had been trying to talk myself into going outside to bring in the Christmas packages from the van, from shopping earlier. I was thankful I had been too tired to do that!

I’m not sure what I dreamed last night, but it wasn’t exactly serene. I managed to force myself into the garage to get into the van for church…I didn’t hear any rattles. After church and lunch I barely managed to stay awake and took a nap. When I woke up, I saw our neighbors out putting Christmas decorations out. I figured between sunlight and safety in numbers, I had hope. I safely managed to switch a couple of wreaths, put twittering birds on our front door wreath, and lugged in the Christmas packages from shopping yesterday. A gardening friend at church assured me that more than likely, I won’t have a problem. A few other friends mentioned the same.

So that was my weekend. My muscles are wiped out! I did a lot of sleeping. I did a lot of hiding! Strangely enough, my kids spent a lot of time outdoors today, hich is highly unusual for them. I guess I am the only one who is really rattled!