Urgroßmutter

I'm feeling a little better about my to-do list today, after an extremely productive evening yesterday. I'm starting to move toward the part where I'm actually excited about our trip (two days away!), which is a nice feeling after months of almost forgetting that we're actually going to Europe.

I'm very excited about the whole trip, but I think the thing that I'm happiest about is that Callum will get to meet Torsten's grandmother. She is 94 years old--she was born three days after World War I ended--and her health has been failing for awhile. She's fallen and broken bones in her leg a couple times, and required surgery after both incidents, and though she's recovered remarkably well for her age, the anesthesia from the second surgery seems to have had some long-term effects. She's not well enough to travel and for awhile we weren't sure when we would first have an opportunity to take Callum to Germany. But now it's happening and they'll get to meet, so I'm really happy about that and I know Torsten and his family are as well.

On a lighter note, I took Callum to visit Santa last night (at 9 p.m., which I highly recommend because there was literally no wait at all) and for the second year in a row, we've achieved a semi-tragic, semi-hilarious sobbing photo:

Maybe next year he won't cry. Or we'll achieve a trifecta.

Happy holidays, everyone!