Well we survived Christmas without me having a complete breakdown over missing my kids. We actually did a lot of work around the house over the weekend. Matt pulled the carpet out of the living room last week so we can see what will need to be done to the existing concrete to do the stained concrete tile thing later. This took care of some of the territorial "issues" the cats have left us. We bought a cool area rug from Ikea, and we got the couch I have wanted, though we ended up with the tan color cover instead of the green. With the changeable covers, though, we can get the green one when it comes back in stock and be able to switch them as needed to repair any "catcidents." We also added another chair that can be moved around the house as needed. The living room is a bit crowded now, but once the tree is gone, I think it will be better. The best part is, I can now curl up with Matt and watch a movie instead of sitting in our office chairs! YAY!
We were also able to move the foster kittens into their own foster room on Saturday. The ferals were not too happy, but the little ones seem to love it. It will be nice for the kids to have their rooms in peace again, and for Sable to be able to retreat to Toni's room when she is feeling stressed out. I will post pictures later when I upload them from my camera. Now we just need to get the bookshelves out of there and into the kid's rooms and/or garage and start putting up cat walks and ledges. Cat haven is on the way! Hmmm...maybe I need to name it something more fun than the foster room...
Christmas Eve was pretty fun at my aunt and uncle's house. Dinner was excellent, the gift exchange was ok - I don't like White Elephant exchanges, but it was not dreadful. There was a lot of discussion about various pieces of jewelry each of the girls has inherited from my mother's mother. That was a bit awkward for me since she has nothing to do with me and my kids, but I survived it. My nanny Elfie was there and it was great to see her. Mom kept on about the kid situation until I flat out said "This is Christmas Eve and I do NOT want to talk about this," again. That passed though, and we ended up having a pretty good time. We ended the night with a not-so-rousing game of Apples-to-Apples. When Matt and I left, we ended up in a discussion about the kids again, and I got pretty teary, but that forced me to really think about solutions for the future. (more on this in a bit)
Monday morning we got up, finished straightening the house and started lunch. Mom came over and we had Christmas with just the 3 of us. We are saving stockings and kid-gifts until they get here of course. Matt loved his new "lounge" pants from my mom - especially the ones with Grumpy the dwarf all over them! Heh heh! She also gave him a carving set that belonged to my great-grandfather. How cool is that? Mom surprised me with an Anti Miettinen practice stick! I got the coat I knew I was getting, of course, and the 3 Harry Potter books on CD I needed to round out my collection of what is currently out. Now the kids and I can stop listening to the first 3 over and over on our trips. I have read them all, of course, but the CD's are a whole new experience! Matt also got a new video card so he can play Neverwinter Nights 2, finally. Our friends Randy and Angie sent us starter packs for the WoW trading card game - a warrior for Matt of course and a druid for me! Looks like fun! :)
Matt and I finished out the evening sitting together with a small pile of animals on our new couch finally watching Firefly episodes. We are so happy to have "reclaimed our living room" as Matt put it!

Solutions:
So after spending most of this holiday time hiding tears behind a thin veneer of happiness, I finally arrived at a solution for future years and the kid conflict. We have decided to start our own family celebration of New Year's. If the kids come for Christmas, great, we will go visit family we don't usually see, and likely open a small token gift, but we will focus our larger celebration on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Mom and I have been going to the Stars game on New Year's Eve for several years now. We will continue that and just get more tickets for Matt and the kids. We will have a meal - likely New Years Day lunch, and open gifts then as well. I will fine-tune more details over the coming year. This way if the kids stay in west Texas for Christmas, we will not miss having them at our main celebration. A nice side-perk is the availability of post-Christmas sales!! Yippee! I am still sad about this year, but I do not feel as helpless about future years any longer. Mom will always be home from Montana in time for New Years, so coordinating around that is no longer an issue either.