I feel like taffy

Sorry, I know it has been a long time since I've written, but my crazy life has gotten a lot crazier again. The entire time Roxi and family were gone, my ribs hurt so much, I could barely get anything done at home. We did do Dad's Day with Katy at U of I,
which was a lot of fun, but I mostly just tried to heal.
We celebrated Thanksgiving here Thursday, with my folks, Rob and Katy, and were going to do round two on Saturday. Friday, we madly tried to decorate for Christmas before they got here that night. Tree up, packages for Anni wrapped, lights outside, etc. Saturday we took Anni to see Santa at Wheaton Drama where one of my best friends was playing Mrs. S. Anni had a nice time telling them in great detail everything she wanted, but sitting on the old man's lap was out of the question. We went home to await my folks arrival for the repeat dinner, when we got a call that my Mom's thought she was getting a head cold and didn't want to give it to Roxi or Anni, so they would stay home. This was disappointing since it was the first time in over two years the entire family would be together for a big meal.
Then, all hell broke lose. My Father called saying Mom had fallen taking out a pot of chili. Long story short, after cleaning up the mess, and getting her on her feet, it became apparent that she had broken her left elbow, so Katy and I took her to the ER. Our fears were realized, and she is going to have a repeat surgery next Tuesday. While we spent five hours at the hospital, my Father proceeded to down a bottle of Early Times. When I finally got Mom settled at the Johnson Center, I had a tough love fight with him, and came home.
When I called to inform Rob how Grandma was, I found out that my car, that he had borrowed to show condos in the city had been broken into, and all of his valuable stuff had been stolen!! He had a big interview on Monday, and his computer, camera, passport, credit cards, etc were all gone. When he finally got home at 2:30 am after waiting for the police report, the dogs got into a fight and woke up those who had actually fallen asleep for a few minutes.
After going to church Sunday morning and visiting Mom, we did eat our dinner, and Katy took off for school again. I had gotten a call from my Dad right before we sat down to eat, and I just let him leave a message. On hearing it, I found out that he had fallen out of his motorized chair the night before and laid on the floor, bruised, and passed out until 4:00 am, when he called the paramedics to help him get into bed. He slept most of the day, and was very sore, and sick. He needed me to come over, and we had another tough love discussion about his drinking, only this time he was sober to hear it.
The next morning he called them again to take him to the ER because his pacemaker was hurting him. After rushing to the ER again, he was fine and I brought him home. The next day after getting Mom to her surgeon and scheduling the surgery, I felt like climbing into bed for another month, and not getting out.
In twelve hours we went from Santa Claus dreams to ER and robbery nightmares. It just proves that God laughs at our best laid plans, In spite of the anxiety I was feeling, God did show me that he did not give me more than I could handle. I also met people who were dealing with far worse situations, which always makes you feel like you should not complain that you feel like you are living the life of Job. At church, we prayed for a family whose son was killed in an auto accident. I had to pick up a dog for work, because the family had to take their son who was born with cancer into the hospital for another chemo treatment. My boulders suddenly seemed like pebbles compared to others problems.
So all I want for Christmas now is that Daddy continues to stop drinking, Mom has a quick recovery after her surgery, and Roxi has a beautiful, healthy baby girl, that Roxi feels normal again soon, and Rob gets the job he wants so badly.
We had one day of fun this Saturday going down to see Katy dance at the last football game and a basketball game. It was a full day, but it was a nice distraction. Now she has finals before she can come home for Christmas.
I hope to share great pictures and happy memories of Christmas soon. But right now I am just trying to find myself after being pulled like taffy into too many directions. And I wonder why I can't make sense of my life sometimes. Maybe it's because I just feel like I'm moving from one crisis to another. You can't stop to smell the roses when you are running them over. I just want to slow down this precious time I have so I can make memories of Anni, Katy, the new baby, the holidays with family, including my parents that at times are more time consuming and trouble than a child. The only good thing this last week has brought is I lost a few pounds from being stretched like taffy!