Reality Hits

When Mat came home tonight, he was so exhausted that all he could do was watch TV.  All I could do was about the same!  It stresses me out when he is so stressed out.  Christmas season burnout is upon us.  Mat has already had several concerts, Thursday he has 6!  More Friday and Saturday.  Why does he have to be so darn good at what he does??  Everybody wants his choirs to perform - ward christmas parties, nursing homes, etc. etc.  He can send the Madrigals off by themselves, but not the others.  He won't really be present at home until Christmas Eve.  See you in 20 days Mat!


This is our Christmas tree this year, the Winter Tree - blue-ish, white, twig balls and a splash of red.  I like it, I love the little owls I found at Taipan Imports for this tree!  I have driftwood stars that I bought in Plymouth Mass.  I wish I would have bought 10 more of those!  Guess I'll have to go back!

We went to Temple Square to see the lights this weekend.  Turns out, I can get pretty decent night pictures on my iPhone.  I'm kind of surprised!  One of the big pictures I have on our family picture wall in the dining room is a daytime shot of the Salt Lake Temple.  I printed it off 16x20, looks right decent!  You'll have to come see it!

This afternoon Kurt Bestor did a free concert at Huntsman, for patients, family and staff.  He is a really great performer, I need to get some of his music downloaded.  I love the John Schmidts, Kurt Bestors, Paul Cardalls of the world.  Peaceful piano/orchestration is what I listen to most of the time.  My absolute favorite song he does is Prayer for the Children.  I love that Huntsman provides these opportunities to patients and families.  It's part of the "total package" of healing, I think.

I realized after I applied and got approved for Social Security Disability (stage 4 cancer qualifies as a permanent disability) that our minor kids actually get a monetary monthly benefit as well.  I spent an hour on hold yesterday, and after finally getting through to a real person she asked for their social security numbers.  Of course those documents are somewhere in the chaos downstairs.  I managed to stall long enough to find their SS cards and give her the numbers.  They'll call me back for a phone appointment on January 26th to get it set up.  January 26th??  Not quite as efficient as when I applied online late one night, got a phone call the next day, and had my first check in less than 3 weeks.  But I'm grateful for these benefits! It means college savings for both of them.