'Twas the Night Before Christmas...Ryan Family Style

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the Ryan house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse the cats;

The stockings were hung by the chimney on the wall with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums cookies danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief pajamas, and I in my cap shorts,

Had just settled down for a long winter's nap game of Wii,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed couch to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen blown snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney Through the front door St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot mud and dirt;
A bundle couple of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all two of the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose through the front door he went;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, as he drove out of sight,

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

Surprise!!!

Or not. If you know me very well at all, you know that I CAN NOT plan anything for Justin. I always tell him what he's getting for Christmas (usually by making him open is presents early), etc. Well, the same is true for his birthday, and this year is no exception. I have been planning a surprise party for him for about a month now. I bought invitations, snuck around to get addresses, and even handed out invitations when him and I went places, all without him knowing. I thought for sure he had seen me hand them out, or had heard me talking about it with the would be guests. Well, it's no longer a surprise. I'm me, and me being me, opened my mouth. I have this worry that even though I invited around 30 people, and even more by e-mail/verbal invite, no one will show. Horrid flashbacks of our attempted Halloween party keep going through my mind. This fear got the best of me last night. I was being quiet, which is somewhat unusual, and Justin kept asking me what was wrong. I denied that anything was wrong for a bit, but I broke down. My defenses were down, I was down, and I caved. I told him. I told him about the party and about my fears. I told him about all my plans and how I had been sneaking the invites, hiding food that was to be prepared, and how his dad was going to get him out of the house. So, in true Janae fashion, I ruined the surprise. The party will still be a blast, and I'm hopeful that more people will actually come this time. I'm actually quite proud that I was able to keep it from him for a month. I mean, really, I'm the girl that shows up with his Christmas present in the trunk, vowing to not say a word, only to pull in the driveway and drag him out of the house to see it. I'm the girl that last Christmas, stuffed stockings 2 weeks early, and then begged him to empty his a day later. I'm that girl. After I told him, I laid in bed and thought about how the events of the evening unfolded. I remember that one of the things on my list is to surprise Justin. This made me regret telling him...but only for a split second, because I then remembered that I have already surprised him! That's right, my big mouth self surprised Justin. Here's the story. Last audit season was hard on me, being pregnant and all. One evening, my grandma offered to keep Kendra, so I took her up on it. Justin was in Goodland, and I decided to drive down and see him. So, after work, I dropped Kendra off, filled the tank with gas, and headed out. I called one of his co-workers and got his room number. I talked to him on the phone as if it were any normal day. I was even on the phone with him when I pulled into the hotel parking lot. So, I told him I had another call, hung up, and ventured up to his room...and he truly was surprised to see me. Mark that one off the list. So, even though this surprise is ruined, I have proven that I can do it...as long as I don't plan ahead too much!!

PS - He had a pretty good idea what was going on. He saw me talking to people after he would walk away, and over heard a potential guest on Saturday talking to me. So, see, it's not all my fault!