A Christmas Meme

I will not tag anyone specifically with this meme--everyone reading this can consider themselves tagged!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Definitely hot chocolate—egg nog is ‘ewwie!’

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Presents are ALWAYS wrapped.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No

5. When do you put your decorations up? I have always tried to get them up on Thanksgiving weekend—that way I could take them down on December 26 without any guilt!

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? We never have had a traditional Christmas meal---not our thing.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child. I don’t have many Christmas memories from my childhood—so, no, there isn’t a favorite memory. My LEAST favorite memory goes like this: I ALWAYS searched for my Christmas presents. The Mother always hid them in their closet and I would look for them whenever they left the house. AND it didn’t matter if they were wrapped or not! I became an expert at unwrapping and rewrapping without anyone knowing the difference. So, anyway, this one year I found and unwrapped EVERY present that was mine, so that, on Christmas, there were NO surprises left. That was the last year I searched for my gifts.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? The year I couldn’t get to sleep and I heard The Parents putting the gifts under the tree. It had to have been when I was in fourth or fifth grade.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Ever since the girls were old enough to not believe anymore, we have opened all of our gifts on Christmas Eve.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Basically in white with white lights—everything on the tree (except for the lights and garland) I made.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Don’t really mind it—especially since I usually don’t HAVE to leave the house.

12. Can you ice skate? I used to—haven’t been for many, many years.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I think it was my three-stone diamond necklace from K. It was a hard holiday—on the outs with The Family as well as with at least one of the girls. The love it conveyed meant more to me than words can say.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?! I’m sorry to put it this way but, the most important thing to me is that they will be over soon and I can get on with my life. I HATE the holidays.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Cranberry bread—which I haven’t made in toooo long of a time.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? I always loved being in church on Christmas Eve for the candlelight service—something we haven’t done in far too long. My other favorite tradition is spending Christmas Eve at our friends’ house—we didn’t make it one year and it just didn’t seem as if the season was complete!

17. What tops your tree? An angel—which I made quite a few years ago.

18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? I love to give and always wish I could give more. Nothing would make me happier than to be able to spend, without limit, on those I love. But it is also VERY much fun to receive!

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? I don’t believe I have a favorite—I love all of the Christmas hymns—especially sung during a candlelight service.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? ! I don’t particularly care one way or another.

21. Favorite Christmas Show? I DO enjoy ‘A Christmas Story.’ I have seen it so many times that I can quote lines from it and laugh! ‘Fragile! Must be Italian!’ ‘You’ll shoot your eye out!’ Funny, funny movie.

22. Saddest Christmas Song? Most Christmas songs that AREN’T ‘Jingle Bell Rock’—or anything like it—have the tendency to make me melancholy. So, any of the traditional ones can make me sad. But, then, that is what the holidays are about to me: sadness. (Sorry for being such a downer!) :)

Blogger, JibJab, and Geico--and, Of Course, Hockey

I just found out from reading Cindi's blog (Somewhere Over The Rainbow) that she has been having some problems posting comments here. Hmm. Is anyone else having problems these days? I guess if you can't leave a comment, just email me at outofmymind.cmk@gmail.com. Don't know what could be wrong OR how to fix it. If it is a big problem maybe someone could let Blogger know?!?! This just may be my incentive to switch to Haloscan for my comments. I'll have to give it some more thought and probably change after the first of the year.

JibJab has put up their newest video--a review of the year 2006 (Nuckin' Futs). It is pretty good--I usually laugh at whatever they do. Their 'Deck the Halls' is good for a chuckle, too.

I'm sure everyone has (or is it 'have'?) seen the Geico commercials with the 'real' people and the celebrities--well, it turns out that the 'real' people ARE actually real! mental_floss commented on this today and here is the story.

The weather continues to be warm here--again it was in the 40s. It is so strange to have it be this warm AND have it rain. The temp won't be going down too much over the next five days or so. If we don't get any snow, Santa won't have a place to land his sleigh!

I have been watching as much hockey as I can--about three games a week. The Wings lost tonight, but they made a valiant effort: they were losing 3-0 and came back to end the game at 3-2. Not too bad--could have been better and definitely could have been worse. They now have a streak of 140 some odd games without being shut out--not too shabby. I think they finally are getting their act together and are being a bit more consistent with their play--I think they will do well in the standings at the end of the season.

On the hockey topic: I lost my 'hockey' necklace last week and can't figure out how or where. It was a gold chain with a Red Wing emblem/pendant on it. I am absolutely devastated--K gave them to me and I hate to lose anything he gives me--not to mention how much he spent on the darn things! I just keep hoping that, somehow, it will miraculously show up one of these days.

Moving On Along

Two weeks till Christmas and we continue with the doctor's appointments. K went in for the physical with the internist today and came out with an okay report. The doc said everything is looking pretty good, but he still will be doing a number of tests. I really think 2007 will be the year of medical appointments for K--and he only has himself to blame! (I hope that doesn't sound too harsh--I didn't mean it to!) Anyway, K will be having an ultrasound on Wednesday to look for peripheral artery disease--NOT because he has any symptoms but because two of his siblings have it. He also has to have a stress test next month--mostly as a follow-up to the LAST one he had eight years ago. He never had the second one like the doctor wanted, so he has to do it now. Also, the doc said a colonoscopy is on the list to be done--but probably won't happen for a few months, at least. Tomorrow he goes for the entire spectrum of usual blood tests and then gets to see the internist in a month to go over all of the results. Until all tests are completed and everything going on with him is stabilized, I think he will be having monthly appointments, if not more often.

I want to thank everyone for their well wishes--we appreciate all of the prayers and good thoughts. Leazwell asked if K will have to go on dialysis, but I don't think that is in consideration right now. The nephrologist seemed to be pretty certain that some of the kidney function will be able to be restored--just not all of it. And he still seemed to be thinking that the damage was done from high blood pressure--and now that K has that under control, no more damage should be done. At least, I HOPE this is the case. We just have to wait and see. And, really, the strangest thing about all of this is the fact that K never felt sick or bad in any way. I guess that just goes to show that high blood pressure really IS a silent killer!

On to other things. I finally got all of the Christmas decorating done. I put up the tree and decorated it tonight, so that is finished. I usually don't go this long before finishing, but this has been a strange year. I'll try to remember to take a picture of the tree and post it.

The weather has been really nice here for the past few days. The temps have been in the 40s and the snow is melting like crazy. I like having this weather when I have to go out and do shopping, but the ski hills and the people who depend on snowmobilers and other winter recreation tourists aren't very happy. I don't mind if it doesn't snow till Christmas Eve.

Today I was talking to C and she was telling me how she has to study up on how to use the remote control for the cable box. She has to set the parental controls because the 2-year-old ordered a movie the other day--AND he recorded it on the digital recorder! She doesn't know HOW he did it, because she said neither her nor her husband have a clue how to do it! I just don't know why she isn't gray and why she hasn't gone completely insane.

It seems as if a gray squirrel has decided to make our attic its home for the winter. We have been hearing the scratching for awhile and K finally went in the attic and saw it. We have to figure out how it got in, trap it, and then block off the entry. I wonder if this means I can't feed the squirrels anymore?

A couple of days ago one of the guys that K and I graduated with, died. Now, we hadn't seen him since we graduated, but it kind of affected us as he is the first of our class to die. (Actually, he is the SECOND--K's twin brother died as the result of a motorcycle/car accident when he was 21. A bit different than natural causes or age-related.) I'm not sure WHAT he died of (it WASN'T an accident), but it really brought our mortality to mind--this on top of all of the medical things happening. The doctor told K today, "I guess if you would have known you were going to live this long you would have taken better care of yourself, huh?" This he said with a smile. Of course, no truer words could have been spoken. (And, yes, it is an old joke.) :)

Crazy Tired

I know this is going to sound SOOOOOO selfish and self-centered, but K's stay in the hospital yesterday has made me absolutely exhausted! Sometimes I think a hospital visit is as hard on the family as it is on the person who actually is there for a reason! Anyway, here is the run-down of yesterday:

We got to the hospital before 5:30am, as we were told to. (Of course, this meant I had to get up by 4:00 in order to be ready in time!) We were sent to a room where blood was drawn and all of the preliminaries took place--all of which took about a half hour--and then we sat and waited beginning at about 6:00. Every so often--take that as reading 'once or twice'--a nurse would show up and do a blood pressure reading, but other than that, we sat and stared at the ceiling, the TV, out the window at the cold, dark world, or each other. FINALLY, at shortly after 9:00, they came to get K to go for his procedure. He was scheduled for the biopsy to be done at 8:30, but I don't think ANYONE knows how to tell time in that place! While I was expecting K to be brought into an operating room, we were, instead, brought to the ultrasound lab and put in a procedure room. (I keep using the word procedure because this illustrates just how trivial everyone seemed to think this biopsy was! And I don't mean to imply that anyone thought it wasn't serious, it's just that they seemed to feel, in the whole scheme of things, that a biopsy is quite routine and not to be considered a major thing.) Once he was settled into the room, we had to wait for them to find a nurse to assist the doctor! Unbelievable! Anyway, the doctor, nurse, and ultrasound technician--this was called an 'ultrasound guided biopsy'--came in and started to get things ready. All this time, I was standing there and NO ONE ASKED ME TO LEAVE THE ROOM! I believe I would have been allowed to stay, but I quickly removed myself--I don't need to see anyone stick a long needle into my husband's back--EVER! So, the procedure took less than thirty minutes, went well, and we were back in the hospital room shortly after 10:00. And then the LONG wait began! We finally left the hospital around 6:00pm--and THAT almost didn't happen because K's hemoglobin had gone down too much when they did his noontime blood work. Thankfully, the count was up slightly at 5:00 when they drew blood--otherwise, he would have wound up staying the night! He was more than thrilled to be able to sleep in his own house last night.

Now, for the results: NONE!!!! And we won't know anything for at least two weeks! The doctor is hoping the holidays won't interfere with getting results back, but he's not counting on it. What we DO know: K's kidneys are only working at 30%--not 70% as we thought. There definitely is damage and the doctor is pretty sure it is from uncontrolled high blood pressure. He also is sure there is permanent damage, although he thinks some of it CAN be reversed. As to how much might be able to be reversed, we won't know till POSSIBLY after the results come back. So, right now I'm going with the good thoughts: there is nothing other than high blood pressure that caused any damage and keeping the BP under control will keep any more damage from happening. I think K realizes that WE will have to undergo a drastic--though gradual--lifestyle change. I almost think this might be harder on me than it is on him, as I have to do the food prep, but it is something we have to do. We have our work cut out for us and the next few months will be very interesting.

Today, K is still doing a lot of sleeping. They only gave him a mild sedative and pain meds for the biopsy, but the emotional beating he took has him unbelievably tired. He also feels as if George Foreman punched him as hard as he could in the left kidney--it is quite difficult for him to get around very easily. But he should be fine by the time he has to go back to work on Thursday. He doesn't have to see the nephrologist on Monday as was scheduled, because there just won't be anything for him to tell. K does still have to go for his physical appointment with the internist on Monday and the nephrologist will be there in the office also, in case the internist needs to talk to him. It all just seems too complicated. I have a feeling K will be coming home with at least one more test scheduled: a colonoscopy! He is NOT going to be a happy camper.

Talking Geek With A Gynecologist

Well, I had my annual tech talk/gynecological exam today and everything is about where it belongs--that is, everything on/in my body--except everything is a bit more south this year than it was last year. The passing of time has the tendency to do that. It always amazes me that I have my longest and most interesting geek conversations with my GYN. He is trying to convince me to build my own computer--he built his a couple of years ago--and I truly think he would be disappointed if I go back next year and haven't done it. Something for me to think about, for sure.

Only a day plus a few hours and K and I will be at the hospital for his kidney biopsy. I hope they get to him on time--which will be 8:30 am--so that there will be no reason for him to stay overnight. He has never been in the hospital, so I don't think he would be too happy about staying. Besides, it is always better to be in your own bed whenever possible.

The snow just keeps right on a-coming here. We are under a snow and blowing snow advisory right now. There are predictions of up to 8 more inches through tomorrow. I hope it stops because K is already worried about what will happen if he can't take care of the driveway. Things should start slowing down by Friday, however.

I STILL haven't gotten much further with my decorating. It just seems to be such a chore--especially with all I have on my mind. I'm pretty sure I will be done by the weekend, though.

And, finally, for those who haven't heard: Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn have broken up. Can we all say a collective "Who gives a damn!"? I can't believe this made headlines!

All The Craziness

Yes, people, I am still here. Quite a few things have been going on, but I think what has been keeping me occupied so much lately is what is GOING to happen. It is amazing just how inactive physically we can become (well, me, anyway) when we have a lot on our minds--especially things that can be frightening. So, to explain a little about that truly strange statement, here we go!

K got a call from the nephrologist last week and he is going to have to undergo a kidney biopsy this Friday. His kidneys are working at only 70%, so the doctor wants to go in and see if he can figure out the cause. K has been through all of the blood and urine tests and ultrasound, so the next thing to do is this. Of course, being the stoic and stubborn Finn that he is, we don't share too much in the talking department. (And I don't bring up upsetting topics because I don't want to cause/have any angry confrontations. Not good.) Communication about very important and frightening things has never been one of the better aspects of our marriage and we are not doing much better in that department as of late. One of the good things about being married as long as we have is the fact that I can read him pretty well most of the time, so I know he is concerned. He IS having some difficulty sleeping--has the tendency to wake up and not get back to sleep--and he actually HAS made some off-hand remarks about 'waiting' till all of this is over. So far, there is NO indication that his problems are diabetes-related at all--something I have been concerned about because his mother had very bad Type-II diabetes. The doctor is concerned that K has had untreated high blood pressure for long enough that it caused some kidney damage. Well, if there are no answers on Friday, K has to see both the internist AND nephrologist on Monday, so I am hoping they can give some then. If nothing else, this whole thing has been a good lesson in how important it is to have a primary care physician and to see him/her on a regular basis.

Saw my PCP last Monday and I am back on blood pressure meds for the duration. I really think I finally have to realize that I will never get off of them--and that isn't too bad cause it COULD be much worse. My anemia has reared its ugly head again, so I probably will be on iron pills for always, too. Again, it COULD be much worse. I get to have more blood work right after Christmas--have to check on that pesky old thyroid--and then I will see him again in three months. I can handle three-month visits--just don't care for the monthly ones.

So, I had a birthday on Tuesday--and that is about how exciting the day was! :) Although, I received MORE cards and well-wishes this year than I have gotten for quite a while--and I TRULY appreciated it. K bought me a new white-gold chain--needed a shorter length for some of my pendants--and C and her family sent me flowers. A dear friend made me two evergreen sprays for the front and back doors and another friend gave me some wonderful gifts, one of which was an antique cookie cutter for my kitchen-utensil collection! I also got cards and a phone call from the youngest daughter--who sang 'Happy Birthday' to me. All in all, a low-key day, but happy nonetheless. Now I'm done for another year.

K and I went out one day last week and did at least 75% of our Christmas shopping. With all of the medical things going on, we will not be able to get out of town to shop, so we had to do it locally. I am happy to say that I have only a little more shopping to do and then I am done. It REALLY helped this year for us to decide that the grandkids are getting money for their savings accounts and books as gifts--no more of all that other 'crap' that they will never play with or break before the New Year. C is absolutely thrilled with our decision as she just doesn't have room for more stuff for six kids! I probably will have to do a little online shopping--which I should get done tonight--and that will be that! Hooray!

I am plodding along with my Christmas decorating. I usually am all done with it by this time--I try to have it done during the Thanksgiving weekend--but just can't get myself in gear this year. Again, I am waiting for everything to be over with so that I can get out of this funk. I should be able to get most of it done today.

We now have winter. Over the weekend we got six to ten inches here in the city and I have no doubt that it is here to stay. I was hoping it would hold off for another week or two, but it didn't. While I don't mind the snow, I don't particularly like driving in it. But, of course, it IS much better with the four-wheel drive than without, so it isn't too bad for most of the winter. There really are very few days during the year that are iffy when it comes to driving, and I usually don't have to go anywhere then. I STILL can't believe we went for so many years without an SUV--what fools we were!

K's brother was in town last week to have surgery for peripheral artery disease. K had to bring him home the following day, so his days off were pretty well filled with hospitals and driving. While he doesn't mind the driving in the least, I'm sure he didn't need the reminder that he will be in the hospital himself THIS week.

I have my annual GYN appointment this week and THAT is always good for a few laughs! After all, what woman DOESN'T like having a strange man look at, and feel, parts of her body that neither her husband or HERSELF have ever seen or touched! That appointment is ALWAYS the high-light of my year! Thank goodness I like my doctor so much, or I don't know if I would EVER go to the appointment without first taking a massive dose of Xanax.

And, finally, C called the other night when she got home from the emergency room. Yes, the two-year-old boy had to be taken in because he shoved a popcorn kernel up his nose and she couldn't get it out. I am trying to understand WHAT is is about males that they are CONSTANTLY thinking about only one thing: sticking something into body orifices! (And, yes, that is a VERY dirty reference!) :D

And Is MY Face Red!!!!

I don't usually pass on stories or 'facts' that I get by email until I verify them by going to Snopes or other sources. That is why I am totally embarrassed by my last post: Red pointed out that none of the 'cases' sited in the post were true. I hadn't bothered to look them up before passing them along--sorry everyone! So, to make up for my last post, I will offer the winners of the 2005 Stella Awards--THE REAL ONES! They are just as ridiculous and outrageous as the made-up ones. Enjoy and get mad. :

The TRUE Stella Awards -- 2005 Winners
by Randy Cassingham
Issued 31 January 2006

Unlike the FAKE cases that have been highly circulated online for the
last several years (see http://www.StellaAwards.com/bogus.html for
details), the following cases have been researched from public sources
and are confirmed TRUE by the ONLY legitimate source for the Stella
Awards: www.StellaAwards.com . To confirm this copy is legitimate, see
http://www.StellaAwards.com/2005.html

-v-

2005 Runners-Up and Winner:

#7: Bob Dougherty. A prankster smeared glue on the toilet seat at the
Home Depot store in Louisville, Colo., causing Dougherty to stick to
it when he sat down. "This is not Home Depot's fault," he proclaimed,
yet the store graciously offered him $2,000 anyway. Dougherty
complained that offer is "insulting" and filed suit demanding $3
million.

#6: Barbara Connors of Medfield, Mass. Connors was riding in a car driven
by her 70-year-old(!) son-in-law when they crashed into the
Connecticut River, and Connors sank with the car. Rescue divers
arrived within minutes and got her out alive, but Connors suffered
brain damage from her near-drowning. Sue the driver? Sure, we guess
that's reasonable. But she also sued the brave rescue workers who
risked their lives to save hers.

#5: Michelle Knepper of Vancouver, Wash. Knepper picked a doctor out of
the phone book to do her liposuction, and went ahead with the
procedure even though the doctor was only a dermatologist, not a
plastic surgeon. After having complications, she complained she never
would have chosen that doctor had she known he wasn't Board Certified
in the procedure. (She relied on the phonebook listing over asking the
doctor, or looking for a certificate on his wall?!) So she sued ...the
phone company! She won $1.2 million PLUS $375,000 for her husband for
"loss of spousal services and companionship."

#4: Rhonda Nichols. She says a wild bird "attacked" her outside a home
improvement store in Fairview Heights, Ill., causing head injuries.
That's right: OUTSIDE the store. Yet Nichols still held the Lowe's
store responsible for "allowing" wild birds to fly around free in the
air. She never reported the incident to the store, but still sued for
"at least" $100,000 in damages. In January 2006, the case was thrown
out of court.

#3: Barnard Lorence of Stuart, Fla. Lorence managed to overdraw his own
bank account. When the bank charged him a service fee for the
overdraft, he filed suit over his "stress and pain" and loss of sleep
over the fee. A few hundred thousand bucks, he says, will only amount
to a "slap on the wrist", whereas the $2 million he's suing for is
more like being "paddled". Kinky!

#2: Wanita "Renea" Young of Durango, Colo. Two neighborhood teens baked
cookies for their neighbors as an anonymous gesture of good will, but
Young got scared when she heard them on her front porch. They
apologized, in writing, but Young sued them anyway for causing her
distress, demanding $3,000. When she won(!!) $900, she crowed about it
in the newspaper and on national TV. Now, she's shocked (shocked!)
that everyone in town hates her for her spite, and is afraid she may
have to move. But hey: she won.

AND THE WINNER of the 2005 Stella Award: Christopher Roller of
Burnsville, Minn. Roller is mystified by professional magicians, so he
sued David Blaine and David Copperfield to demand they reveal their
secrets to him -- or else pay him 10 percent of their lifelong
earnings, which he figures amounts to $50 million for Copperfield and
$2 million for Blaine. The basis for his suit: Roller claims that the
magicians defy the laws of physics, and thus must be using "godly
powers" -- and since ROLLER is god (according to him), they're
"somehow" stealing that power from him.

TO CONFIRM THE VALIDITY OF THESE CASES, get more information on the True Stella Awards, or sign up for a free e-mail subscription to new cases
as they are issued, see http://www.StellaAwards.com/2005.html

Copyright 2006 www.StellaAwards.com . This message may be forwarded as
long as it remains complete and unaltered.

Some People Shouldn't Reproduce

NOTICE: None of these stories are true. To read my apology, explanation, and retraction, see the post on 26 November 2006. Here is the link.

To read my reply to the commentator 'never forward a chain letter,' you will find the post here.

Here is my original post:


Not only should these 'winners' not be allowed to reproduce, the lawyers and juries should be sterilized, also. I give to you, the "Stella Awards":



Time once again to review the winners of the Annual "Stella Awards." The Stella Awards are named after 81 year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's (in NM). That case inspired the Stella Awards for the most frivolous, ridiculous, successful lawsuits in the United States.

Here are this year's winners:

5th Place (tie):
Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving little toddler was Ms. Robertson's son.

5th Place (tie):
19-year-old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000 and medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Mr. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps.

5th Place (tie):
Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania, was leaving a house he had just finished robbing by way of the garage. He was not able to get the garage door to go up since the automatic door opener was malfunctioning. He couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the house and garage locked when he pulled it shut. The family was on vacation, and Mr. Dickson found himself locked in the garage for eight days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi he found, and a large bag of dry dog food. He sued the homeowner's insurance claiming the situation caused him undue mental anguish. The jury agreed, to the tune of $500,000.

4th Place:
Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded $14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next door neighbor's beagle. The beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. The award was less than sought because the jury felt the dog might have been just a little provoked at the time by Mr. Williams who had climbed over the fence into the yard and was shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun.

3rd Place:
A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, $113,500. She slipped on a soft drink and broke her coccyx (tailbone). The beverage was on the floor because Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.

2ndPlace:
Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware, successfully sued the owner of a night club in a neighboring city when she fell from the bathroom window to the floor and knocked out her two front teeth. This occurred while Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the window in the ladies room to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental expenses.

1st Place:
This year's runaway winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mrs. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, (from an OU football game), having driven onto the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go into the back & make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the RV left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mrs.Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising her in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually do this. The jury awarded her $1,750,000 plus a new motor home. The company actually changed their manuals on the basis of this suit, just in case there were any other complete morons around.

Black Friday

I still am among the living--despite my lack of posts. We managed to eat ourselves into oblivion the last few days and it just continues: leftovers again tonight! Instead of the traditional Thursday meal, I cooked on Wednesday. It was so nice to be all done with the cooking and clean-up before everyone else had even STARTED to cook! I got to relax and do nothing yesterday as K relaxed and watched football--surprisingly, not a much different day than any others we have around here. :)

Today, as everyone knows, is Black Friday--the busiest shopping day of the year. The last time I went out shopping on Black Friday was five years ago. Youngest daughter and I figured we would give it a go and wound up shopping our little hearts out. She really got into the spirit of the day--she ran, sprinted, and elbowed others out of her way in pursuit of the almighty gifts we were hunting down. We had an absolute great time that day. That was only the second time I have faced the early-morning crowds and it just probably is my last. I checked out the ads this year and didn't really find much of anything I was interested it. I couldn't justify standing in a line at 4:30am just to get something I didn't really need and wasn't going to give as a gift. Oh, well, I guess I'm not all that much of a bargain hunter. Besides, five years ago was the last time I gave gifts to The Family--why give gifts to people who you don't see and don't talk to, right?

Speaking of gifts, I pretty much am sure what we're giving this year--and it isn't all that hard to figure out as we have a VERY short list. We only give to our children, grandchildren, goddaughter, and a couple of close friends--makes for an easy shopping experience! Anyway, we are giving money and books to the grandchildren, money and something little to the girls, and will save the special shopping for our friends. The grandkids don't need any more toys--and there isn't anything they want really badly--and the girls can always use the money, so we figured we would keep it easy and simple this year. And that's fine by me. I can actually do most, if not all, of my shopping online--which is ALSO fine with me! However, we WILL be doing a couple of road trips--a day run to Milwaukee and an over-nighter to Appleton. I can't stay away from Barnes & Noble at Christmastime!

During the month of May 2007, The Lion King will be playing at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in Appleton--AND WE GOT TICKETS! Our friends, her sister and husband, and we will be there watching the spectacle that is The Lion King the end of May--I can't wait. Youngest daughter saw the play in Toronto a few years back and STILL can't stop talking about how amazing it was. This should be a lot of fun--shopping AND a play all in the same trip! Who could ask for anything more!

Not much to report on the health front with K or me. My dr took me off of the blood pressure meds that were causing me to be sick--thank goodness--and I see him on Monday to discuss where we go from here. K is still going through testing in anticipation of his appointments on the 11th of December--he sees the internist at 8:00am and the nephrologist at 9:15--so I'm hoping we will then have some solid answers about his health. I'm not too worried--he says he is feeling very well and better than he did when all of this started.

I am feeling my old 'scrinchiness'*coming over me. I should really begin the Christmas decorating and I just don't feel like it. I probably WON'T, but I sure feel like not doing a damn bit of decorating at all this year--it just doesn't seem worth it. We'll see if I can get myself out of this funk--yeah, right--and get it together. I really haven't felt THIS 'scrinchy' in several years--I have to try and figure out WHY and then, maybe, I can work my way out of it.

Tomorrow night a very good friend of mine is taking me out for dinner in celebration of my birthday--even though my birthday isn't for a few more days. It is kind of a tradition between us--we take the other out every year for a birthday dinner. It will be nice to eat something besides turkey, already.

Tonight AND tomorrow night I get to watch the Wings play--they played on Wednesday night and lost, again. I won't even discuss Wednesday's game--let's just say they screwed themselves out of a win and leave it at that. I hope they can pull themselves together tonight and play like they were playing a week ago! Only time will tell.


*Scrinchy: a cross between Scrooge and the Grinch.

Things ARE Getting Better

Just a few updates:

--The guy just came to pick up the snow blower. Now we just have to wait for him to get around to checking everything out and fixing what needs to be fixed. All this could take a week or so. Hopefully, we won't have any storms so that the damn thing will actually be NEEDED before we get it back! I guess K will just have to take care of the thing earlier next year--after all, it isn't as if we are SURPRISED that we get snow every year. I don't know why this is one of those things that gets put off till the last minute--kind of like Christmas shopping.

--K had his appointment with the nephrologist on Monday. The guy said--what we kind of were thinking ourselves--that the kidney-thing was probably due to the fact that K was sick at the time of the blood work. That being said, he still wanted to do more tests just to be sure--after all, it HAS been 8 years since K has been to see the doc, so there is no way of knowing how long his blood pressure has been high. And high blood pressure can cause kidney damage--something I didn't know. Anyway, K had an ultrasound of his kidneys this morning and will see the nephrologist in about a month--that is, as long as the ultrasound doesn't show anything major going on. So, again, it is a wait-and-see sort of thing. I'm not as upset about the waiting anymore--I figure if there was something the drs were REALLY concerned about--something that would be considered life-or-death--they would be hauling K into the office IMMEDIATELY!

--The dr took me off of the blood pressure med because of the side-effects I was having--THANK GOODNESS! I am feeling MUCH better since going off and I hope he won't put me on anything else--or, if he has to, I want to go back on what I was on a year ago. I REALLY don't think I need anything, as my numbers have been okay, except for the spikes--small AND large--I get during times of stress. I've been doing quite well for the last week without anything.

--The oldest daughter decided to bring home a 10-week-old puppy last Friday. Into a house with: two adults, five kids, one half-time kid, and a full-grown dog. The puppy only visited for the weekend, because she was told by her husband--in NO uncertain terms--that she WOULD bring the puppy back on Monday. She is royally pissed. I agree with her husband: they didn't need to have anything else brought into their lives at this point!

--The youngest daughter and her husband have decided to keep the kitten she took in to foster. They now have two dogs--60 pounds each--two full-grown cats, and the kitten. All I can hope is that she doesn't become pregnant any time soon--there would no place for them to put a baby!

--STILL haven't figured out what is going on for Thanksgiving. All I know is that we WILL be here in town for the day and that I will cook. I just don't know if I will be cooking on Wednesday or Thursday--and I don't know if K will be working or not. He hasn't decided if he wants to take the vacation day or carry it over till next year. Doesn't matter to me either way.

Snowblowers, Escondido, Innocent Man, AND Hockey

--K has waited for the last two days for the snow blower to be picked up for servicing. It is still sitting outside and we have YET to hear from the guy as to why he hasn't been here. I don't understand why some people in business can't even do the barest minimum of customer service--such as calling and saying they are sorry, but something came up! We might not be happy that the service wasn't being provided in the timely matter we wanted, but at least we would know that they still wanted our business! K is STILL waiting for a guy to come and give us an estimate for a new driveway--FIVE YEARS AFTER THE FACT! I don't think he is coming.

--On Tuesday the new CD by Eric Clapton and JJ Cale came out and I LOVE it! (But, as I have said before, I would love listening to EC sing the damn phone book!) It is called The Road to Escondido and it is a bit hard to explain--it's a nice blend of blues, jazz, country, rock. Cale wrote 11 of the songs and they both sing and play--along with a roster of some great musicians. Nice music.

--I'm reading the new book by John Grisham, An Innocent Man. This is his first non-fiction book and it is really good--has the tendency to read like a novel. I hope it continues to be as good--I'm not quite halfway through. But like my love for anything EC does, I love Grisham's writing and will read anything he does.

--On Wednesday, the fall 'season' of Lost ended with a cliffhanger--DUH! The show will take a break until February when it will have 16 more episodes. I'm not too sure if this whole idea is a good thing. I'm really rather disappointed in the season so far. I think the show is being dragged out way too much and I'm getting too impatient to sit through the same storyline over and over and over again. Let's get some things going and then I will be more enthused about coming back to the show in February! But then, something may come on that interests me more and I may NOT be back watching the show. Hmmm.

--Speaking of shows that have been disappointing lately, I have to add Gilmore Girls in the mix. If the show doesn't get any better pretty darn soon, I may have to stop watching. And if I stop watching in the middle of the season, you can bet I WON'T be buying the DVD when it comes out! I keep hoping that the ones in charge know what they are doing and that things will work out in the end. Just have to wait and see.

--The Red Wings player that got hurt the other night, Jason Williams, WAS knocked unconscious for a moment or two when he hit the ice. He suffered a concussion and received 30 stitches. What a way to make a living!

--And finally, the Wings won again last night--their eighth straight win! They are doing quite well--something I didn't think was going to happen by the way the season started. One of the reasons they are doing so well is that they are leading the NHL with allowing the fewest shots--after all, if the opposing team can't shoot at the goal, they can't score. :)

Owie!

Last night while watching the Red Wings play--they won their seventh straight game!--I saw something that I had never seen in all the years I have been following hockey. In the second period, one of the Wings' players, Jason Williams, was coming around the back of the Oilers' net, trying to score. He was watching one of the Oilers and didn't see another one coming at him. The player he didn't see, came in and hit him in the face with his shoulder--it was a legal check--and Williams went flying through the air and landed on his face onto the ice. And he just laid there on the ice, not moving. Then, of course, all hell broke loose as doctors, trainers, medics, etc, went to see how badly he was injured. There was quite a bit of blood on the ice, but all that could be seen were the people surrounding him. It was quite scary and tense for several minutes. After the stretcher was brought out, the camera managed to show him moving his left foot--at least this proved he wasn't paralyzed and was conscious. An ambulance was brought right up to the ice and they took him off with the stretcher. As they were moving toward the ambulance, he waved to the crowd, indicating that he wasn't as bad as it looked. He was brought to a hospital for some tests and stitches and he will be fine. He is expected to miss a couple of games before returning to play.

As I said, I am so surprised that this is the first time I have seen anything so frightening while watching a game. I started watching hockey before the rule changes--back when a 'good' hockey game included at least one fight...WITH blood. The game today is so much less aggressive--but, then, the whole incident had absolutely nothing to do with a fight or any wrong-doing on anyone's part. Even though I don't in any way believe that athletes are worth the enormous salaries they get, I guess there just is no amount of money that is worth the kind of injury this player could have sustained in last night's game. Jason Williams is only 26 years old.

Thought It Would Happen Sooner

Yes, I know, I'm jumping on the bandwagon with every other gossip rag and news source, but I just HAD to announce the news: Britney has filed papers to divorce K-Fed! Oh, what a tragedy!

As if everyone didn't see this coming from the first time the news reported on them. I REALLY feel so sorry for the children. Those two pieces of white-trash were made for each other--too bad they reproduced. Oh, well, it will be interesting to see what produces more headlines--Britney and K-Fed or the election! (Now all we have to do is wait for the inevitable break-up of Brangelina.)

Thanks

Thanks to all for the well-wishes and concern. I know all will turn out right and not be as serious as I worry it will be. I will keep everyone informed as to what is going on. Have a good week!

The Long, Boring Story

Here is what has been happening around here, in chronological order:

--A week ago Thursday, K went to the walk-in clinic to be checked out because of his cough.

--He was told he had a viral-thing that is going around and it will go away on its own.

--He ALSO was told his blood pressure was VERY high and needed to see a primary care physician ASAP. He hasn't seen his PCP--who is also MY PCP--in eight years. The physician's assistant gave him a prescription for BP meds.

--Friday at 7:30am I called the dr's office to set up an appointment for him--NOT because he couldn't do it himself, but because I was awake! :) They said the dr would be given the notes and reports from the walk-in clinic and decide from there what is to be done.

--At 9:00am the PA called from the walk-in clinic to say the lab results showed some possible kidney problem and he needed to be seen right away by a PCP. He said he would call the dr's office and get them moving along.

--At 2:30pm, a half hour before the dr's office closes for the weekend, the PA called to say that K needed to come in and sign papers so that his reports could be sent to the dr's office.

--Not realizing that the dr's office closed early on Friday, K didn't go to sign the papers until 3:30--not that it would have made any difference if he went any earlier, I believe.

--Through the weekend, I monitored his BP and the meds were helping--his pressure was elevated but not at the terribly high levels they had been. His pulse rate came down, also.

--HOWEVER, MY pressures went up--higher than they had ever been--because of the stress.

--I went for my physical on Monday and the second the nurse saw me, she began explaining what was going on. The dr wanted K to see a nephrologist first to see what was going on with his kidneys and THEN he would see K and do a complete physical to rule out any other problems. She told me to make the appointments on the way out and she would tell them at the appointment desk that I would do so.

--My physical went about the way I expected: I'm fairly healthy despite the chronic problems I have--blood pressure, thyroid, weight issues. I got the same old, same old 'diet and exercise' routine, which I was expecting. I will be having more lab work in two weeks to look at my thyroid and make sure my anemia is fine. Of course, he went crazy when he saw my BP--and I let him know it was because of the stress I was under because of K's health. I needed him to know that I wasn't happy over the lack of progress in getting appointments for him. (I don't believe the dr had a clue that there weren't appointments in place.) He prescribed a BP med--an ACE-inhibitor. A year ago I went off--with his okay--of the beta-blocker I had been on for years, and I had been doing VERY well until this stress-induced problem. He wanted me to try this 'new' (for me) drug.

--To make sure things get even MORE screwed up, when the nurse came in to give me my flu shot, she told me the nephrologist in the office who is actually taking new patients wouldn't be able to see K for two weeks, so she would talk to the dr and see if he could move things along, so I didn't need to make appointments--they would call me.

--The nurse called me at 5:30--the office staff had already left--and said the dr said to get the earliest appointments possible: he would see K first and get started on the lab work, etc, that the nephrologist would need. The scheduler would call me the next day as the computers were off for the night.

--Tuesday at 9:00am, the scheduler called and told K--he answered the phone--that his appointments were this: nephrologist on November 13 and PCP on December 7. EXCUSE ME! THIS is getting him in to see someone ASAP!!!!

--Tuesday afternoon I called and spoke to the nurse and asked WHAT WERE WE TO DO NOW! She said she would get back to me after talking to the dr.

--After 15 minutes--they are getting back to me sooner--she said the dr wanted K to keep the scheduled appointments and to have his BP checked in the office before he came in to see the nephrologist. I guess they figured he wasn't dying by looking over his numbers that I gave them. And, yes, the meds seem to be doing their job very well--his BP is in perfectly acceptable levels. Okay, so that is taken care of--NOT to my satisfaction, but what can I do?

--Then, of course, on Wednesday night, I begin to feel as if I have a stomach bug. This continued through Thursday. I slept for most of the day--except for the trips to the bathroom. Couldn't eat much because of the stomach pains and I was completely exhausted.

--Friday I put my game-face--or mother-face--on and pulled myself up by my bootstraps and willed myself to do the laundry and cleaning that needed doing. As a mother, I learned early on that I could only wallow in an illness for only so long. I got through Friday with a lot of help from Pepto-Bismol tablets! :) I was pretty sure I had gotten over the worst of the stomach bug.

--Woke up today and guess what? I'm STILL feeling just as lousy! So, I figured I better investigate. I now am pretty sure I DON'T have a bug, but what I am experiencing is side-effects of the BP meds. Oh happy day. Now I have to call the dr's office on Monday morning and see if he will change my prescription--I just hope he won't tell me that these are symptoms that will pass in time and that I just need to hang in there! I think the office will be installing caller-ID just so they can screen for MY phone calls.

So there is the long story made even longer. Boring, I know.

Now, as for what is going on in the dr's office: I don't think it is my PCP's fault. Several years back, he and his partners sold their practice to the local hospital, so they are now employees of the practice. Granted, they are very high level employees, but I don't think they have nearly as much say-so in how the practice is run as some people would think. (I mentioned something to my dr about the office not faxing a prescription for me--against office policy--and he was shocked that that was the case!) So, I really believe he has very little say-so in the scheduling of appointments. My guess is that the office personnel want to leave AT 5:00pm and not a minute later--they probably don't get over-time pay. I came to this conclusion the last time I tried to pay my co-pay on the way out of the office: it was 5:15pm, the receptionist was sitting at the desk with her coat on, and she told me to forget paying, that they would bill me. I have let them bill me ever since. SOOOOOO, I guess appointments are never made that could possibly go beyond 5:00pm.

The other problem we have here is this: we have only two internal medicine practices in town. If you leave one practice and are not happy with the other one, you are left with the Family Care doctors--who happen to be residents that leave the area after their two year rotations! Not exactly good for someone--like me--who takes a long time to get used to a new doctor! So until something VERY HORRIBLE goes on with our dr, I guess we will keep on keeping on. It just isn't good for my stress level!

I worry about K's health, of course, but NOT because he has had problems in the past! My worry comes from the fact that he is no longer 25 (or 30 or 35...) and he has a family history--mother and father--of diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, early heart attack, and heart-related problems. I know he doesn't want to face these facts, but I am not going to let him ignore the facts any longer. However, he IS feeling very well, so I am trying not to worry too much.

MIA

Sorry I haven't been posting--we have had a few medical issues going on here and I just haven't felt much like writing. I WILL get to posting about what has been going on soon. Hang in their, people, and you will be able to read a very uninteresting account of what has been happening in my life!

Being Pissy

Yeah, I know my last post had my mis-adventures while peeing in a cup, but this is a different kind of pissy. I have really been in a lousy mood lately--not so much that I'm crabby, just that anything can set me off at any time. And of course, the only one I can go off on is K. (Well, I can get pissed off at the cat, but she just gives me a withering look and turns her back on me.) And, for the most part, he doesn't deserve my moodiness. It isn't so much that I will SAY anything to him, it is just my general lousy attitude right now. Not sure what is going on.

I guess I can put the blame on the time of year. Yes, people, we are coming into that wonderful time called the 'holiday season.' Oh, yay. I have gone on and on at different times about how much I hate the holidays, so I won't do so and bore everyone again. I DO know that part of my problem is the fact that the holidays are supposed to be for family time--and I don't have family to share the season with. And I definitely DO know it is my own fault--I could be with my family any time I wanted to, I just CAN'T. But, I then feel badly about not being with family... It is a vicious cycle and I just have to get through it best I can.

With Thanksgiving, K and I have been asked to two different places for dinner. Dear friends of ours want us to go there and C has invited us to their house. And K wants to have the meal at home so we can have left-overs--because, what is Thanksgiving WITHOUT left-overs?!?! I already told C we probably wouldn't be there--it is too worrisome to be traveling at that time of year, especially to the 'snow-belt' of Michigan. And she totally understood, thankfully. As she said, that is quite a distance to travel just to eat and turn around and go home again. What probably will happen is this: we will have Thanksgiving dinner here at home on Wednesday and then spend the following day with our friends. Good solution and the best of both worlds.

My birthday is the week after Thanksgiving and K will be working the night shift on the day. There goes any plans for ANY kind of a celebration. Not that we ever do anything that special, it just is nice to have the option--which we don't have this year.

And, of course, then comes Christmas. For years and years I worked myself ragged trying to put on the perfect Christmas for everyone around me and now I barely get the house decorated. I realized my efforts weren't really that appreciated, so I decided to scale down--a lot! And I also realized that no matter how hard I tried, I could NEVER make it a perfect Christmas. The big problem I have now is there just doesn't seem to be anything overly special about the time for me. There is no real reason for me to do any of the cooking, baking, decorating, gift-buying that I used to do, so the holidays are pretty flat for me. I am kind of thinking about putting on a Christmas party this year, though--it would give me a reason to look forward to the season. I have to think about it and talk to K and see what he has to say. It is an idea.

But anyway, I wasn't planning on going on like this. I just wanted to let everyone know that I haven't been posting as much because I have been quite pissy lately and haven't had much to say. Maybe now that I got all of this off my chest I will be better. I can only hope.

My Life--That's All

Not a whole lot to report from here--just life going on as I know it. So, here goes.

--K came home from work four hours early last night. No real explanation, just took the time off. I have a suspicion that he isn't feeling completely well--he has a bit of a cough and that may be why he came home. Of course, it isn't like you can ACTUALLY go to see a doctor if you're not feeling well--you have to wait till you get so bad that it will take twice as long for you to get better! Chances are he'll go see someone tomorrow.

--Today K decided to cook dinner--which he does every once in a while. The biggest reason he does it is so he can make ONE dish: pot roast. Now, I don't mind the meal--it IS easy to make and clean up--but if he had his way we would have it every week or two. BORING and I get very tired of the same thing, so I don't make it very often anymore. I truly appreciate it when he cooks, but I have one question: When I cook, I clean up afterwards. When K cooks I STILL have to clean up afterwards. WHY? I could never understand this.

--The temp has been in the 30s here and it snowed off and on most of the day. We had flurries, ice pellets, and 'Christmas Eve' snow at different times. I have a feeling we may get snow to stay by Halloween. I don't mind the cold, I just don't particularly like driving in the snow.

--Watched the Red Wings lose their third in a row on Saturday. They won't be playing again until Wednesday. I must say they actually were playing better on Saturday than they had the other nights--at least they got their penalty killing together. On Thursday, EVERY goal--for BOTH teams--was a power play goal. Not good. They didn't camp out in the penalty box on Saturday, either--another good thing. I don't see a great year, but I think they will do a decent job of playing once they learn to work together--after all, they have a lot to work through after losing Yzerman and Shanahan.

--Today I went for my semi-regular blood-letting--yep, it was lab work time again! I have my physical on Monday, so I had to go and be jabbed with a needle. I looked at the tech's teeth just to make sure she didn't have fangs, and she didn't, but I still think she may be a vampire. After all, the office is totally enclosed with NO outside light, so she could be out during the day. I'm fairly certain my doctor isn't a vampire--despite his absolute delight in sending me for blood-work--I did once see him at a Bat Mitzva in the middle of the day!

--As for the rest of my labs, I also had to give a urine sample. Now, with men, it is a very easy situation. Plain, simple, pee in a cup. For women, it is a production. First, you must settle yourself on the toilet so that you can place your arm, WHILE holding a cup, between your legs and under your bottom. Next you have to clean yourself in order to give a sterile sample. THEN you must start peeing--NOT TOO MUCH--and stop, so that the urine is sterile. FINALLY, you have to place a cup--which has an opening the size of a Coke bottle--in the proper spot so that you can direct a few drops of urine into it. Of course, it doesn't work that well. To begin with, there are no mirrors. Let's face it, if there WAS a mirror, positioning the cup would be much easier--at least you could see WHERE the cup should be placed. So, this is all a guessing game. Place the cup, start peeing. Pee on hand, move the cup. Pee in toilet, move the cup. Pee on hand once more, move the cup. Pee on arm, move the cup. By the time the cup is where it should be, you are lucky to have enough urine left for them to test! And, of course, the whole while you are trying to 'catch' a sample, you are also aware of the fact that you could, very easily, miss everything and pee on your clothes. Once you have a sample, you must decide where this pee-soaked cup must be placed by your pee-soaked hand. Then you must decide how to wipe and pull your pants up with your pee-soaked hand. This leads to the scrubbing of the hands and arms--all the way to the shoulders--in order to make sure no stray drops of pee are left anywhere they are not supposed to be. As I said, it is quite a production and not at all fun. The only thing I can figure out is this: a man must have decided this would be funny!

Smiles All Around

Today I got phone calls from BOTH of the girls--and it sure was nice.

First off, the youngest daughter called to tell me about two of the patients she had a chance to meet today. As anyone knows who has been reading this blog for awhile, she works at a vet clinic--actually, she now works at TWO clinics, both part time--so the patients we are talking about are animals. Now, before I go any further I have to say this, I am a BIG fan of the sitcom 'Newhart'--the one where Bob Newhart is the owner of an inn in Vermont--and my favorite characters in the show were the brothers Larry, Darryl, and Darryl. I won't go into the show or the characters, so if you have never seen 'Newhart,' you won't have a clue as to what I will be talking about. Sorry. Anyway, YD got to meet Larry and Darryl today: two twenty pound cats. She said they were EXACTLY like the characters from the show: Larry wouldn't stop 'talking' and Darryl--according to his people--has NEVER said a word! She said their personalities fit their names, also: Larry is very gregarious and Darryl has nervousness issues. She said the people are on the hunt for one more cat, another Darryl! Too funny.

The oldest daughter called a short while after I talk to YD and had this story to tell me. Seems as if the 2-year-old, the boy, got into the pantry and took a can of powdered baby formula. He proceeded to dump it on the floor. He got punished. OD started cleaning up the mess and when she got the formula into a pile, the boy walked into the room, looked at the mess, put his hand on his head and said, "Oh, shit. Oh, shit. What happened?" At this point, OD said she realizes why some animals eat their young! Of course, by the time she called me, she couldn't stop from laughing, but she said it definitely wasn't funny at the time! I told her that this is probably a good time for her to start cleaning up her language or she WILL be embarrassed by one of her children saying something improper at a most inopportune time--like SHE did! I fixed MY language mighty quick. :)

I Came Back!

I have been AWOL the last few days, as my loyal readers know. (And that is all three of you? :D) Anyway, here is an update on what's been happening.

First off, we went on another one of our road trips on Monday morning--so, of course, my Sunday was all about getting ready to go. While I very much appreciate the fact that K does ALL of the driving whenever we go anywhere, I still cannot understand why EVERYTHING else connected to a trip remains MY job. This includes packing, doing the laundry, cleaning up the house, garbage, feeding the cat, opening/closing the blinds, filling the humidifiers/emptying the dehumidifier, hotel reservations, etc, etc, etc. I guess it goes back to many, many, MANY years ago when the girls were young: I would get everything ready for us to leave right at the time he would come home from day shift. My life, it could be MUCH worse. :)

While I LOVE getting together with our friends and having dinner and visiting, every once in a while it is nice to have the time just for ourselves--and this is what happened this trip. Our friends had plans on Monday evening, so K and I had NO time problems and got all of our shopping done on Monday--with the exception of Sam's Club. We were able to have an early dinner at Outback--mmmmmmmm, Walkabout Soup--and get to sleep early that night. After breakfast on Tuesday morning, we did our Sam's shopping and headed home. I STILL can't figure out WHY it takes us so long to go through Sam's--it isn't as if we needed that much stuff this time--heck, we JUST were there a week and a half ago! But, we go through those doors and it's as if time speeds up or something--and before you know it, two hours have passed and you're rushing to get out of there!

We found a new place that will be a must-stop-at every time we are in Appleton: the Breadsmith. Oh, my gosh! As if I need another place to buy food! The stuff they have there is absolutely amazing! I loved the cranberry/orange scones and the chocolate chocolate chip muffins are to die for. We brought home the cranberry/orange bread and have been eating it toasted with butter on top. Mmmmmmmmm. There comes another five pounds onto this short, stubby body of mine.

So, anyway, we get home. You know how you can walk into a room and SOMETHING just doesn't feel right? You can't put your finger on it at first, but you just KNOW something is wrong? Well, that is exactly what it was like when I walked into the house. The first thing I do when I get home is to walk through all of the rooms to see if the cat hacked up a hairball while we were gone--gross, I know, but that is one of the joys of having a long-haired cat. As I was walking through the house, I was seeing white spots on the floor no bigger than about the size of a quarter. Well, this was something new and I was SURE the cat was dying of some horrid disease! Then I noticed a few of the spots on the recliner and sofa--and the mini-blinds were all whacko! About this time I realized it COULDN'T have been the cat because she just can't jump and reach the TOP of the windows--and it hit me, there had been/was a bird in the house. There was bird crap on the mini-blinds and window sills and all of the blinds looked as if the bird had tried going THROUGH them. So, the search was on. K went through the upstairs room, the basement, and the main floor--finally we found the culprit. There, in all it's nervousness, was a starling sitting on top of the books on the top shelf of the living room bookshelf. K opened the front door and after a few minutes, the bird flew out. Thank goodness.

I don't know what is going on with our house--it is as if we cut a hole in the wall and put up a sign saying 'Accommodations Here--ALL Wildlife Welcome.' This has been SUCH a strange year for us with wildlife getting into our house--and for the most part, we can't figure out HOW the damn stuff gets in! This bird just REALLY baffles me. Chipmunks, and even the raccoon, I understand, but a BIRD! Oh, well, I just hope it stops soon.

Just A Meme

Cindi at Somewhere Over the Rainbow tagged me, so here goes another meme. Just wanted to warn people before they got too far! :)

***FOOD***
What is your salad dressing of choice? Honey mustard, French, or the house dressing. Depends on the mood.
What is your favorite fast food restaurant? McDonald’s? Burger King? Any pizza joint? Ah, hell, I just like food that’s not good for me.
What is your favorite sit down restaurant? Possibly Outback. I also like Casa Calabria, Bonanza, Texas Roadhouse--I just like food!
On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant? At the very least, 15%--usually 20% or more.
What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? beef—prepared in various ways.
What are your pizza toppings of choice? I do like onions, sausage, ham, and sometimes pineapple, but I really prefer thin-crust cheese pizzas.
What do you like to put on your toast? butter and jam or jelly
What is your favorite type of gum? Altoids peppermint (sugarless)

**TECHNOLOGY**
Number of contacts in your cell phone? Around 40. But that really is misleading as I have restaurants and doctors listed—and I have multiple listings for the same people; home phone AND cell phone, etc. I also have the hubby and both girls listed as my ICE contacts; ALL of their phone numbers.
Number of contacts in your email address book? 23—and at least 6 of them are MY OWN addresses!
What is your wallpaper on your computer? The Detroit Red Wings logo—after all, it IS hockey season!
What is your screensaver on your computer? Not too sure—I have the computer set to power down after so long being idle, so the screensaver doesn’t come up too often.
How many televisions are in your house? five
What kitchen appliance do you use the least? bread machine
What is the radio station you listen to the most? 99.5 (classic rock)? Don’t listen to the radio all that often. (That's what MP3 players are for!)

***BIOLOGY***
What do you consider to be your best physical attribute? not really sure—doesn’t help that I’m neurotic and have low self-esteem, so I don’t think along the lines of my ‘what’s best about me.’ :D
Are you right handed or left handed? right-handed, but I THINK like a lefty. As far as I know, I was supposed to be left-handed, but The Mother rather forced me to use my right—to make it ‘easier’ on me in school.
Do you like your smile? I guess—especially since I had braces! (Better like the smile after all of the money we spent! :D)
Have you ever had anything removed from your body? Various organs and moles—and, as Cindi said, two babies!
Would you like to have something removed from your body? FAT!
Do you prefer to read when you go to the bathroom? Of course—why else would I have a subscription to People magazine!
Which of your five senses do you think is keenest? Probably smell—according to the hubby, I smell things that aren’t even there. :)
When was the last time you had a cavity? So many years ago I can’t even remember.
What is the heaviest item you lift regularly? My fat ass?
Have you ever been knocked unconscious? Other than being knocked unconscious for surgeries or other medical procedures, no.

**A bunch of stuff-OLOGY**
If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? Don’t think so.
If you could change your first name, what would you change it to? Don’t really have an opinion—what I have is fine.
How do you express your artistic side? sewing, beading (jewelry making), flower arranging, baking, decorating cakes (rarely, anymore)—I used to do a lot of crocheting, but my hands hurt too much these days. (I think I’m getting arthritis—damn.)
What color do you think you look best in? blue—mostly peacock blue
How long do you think you could last in a medium security prison? Probably not very long—I’d either have a nervous break-down or piss someone off and get beat.
Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake? Being born and raised where the state bird is a mosquito, OF COURSE! (The mosquito-thing is a joke, in case you can’t figure that out.)
If we weren't bound by society's conventions, do you have a relative you would make a pass at? Are you kidding? I don’t even LIKE most of my relatives!
How often do you go to church? I used to be a regular and EXTREMELY involved in every aspect of our church, but got a bit disillusioned with the pastor and some of the people a few years ago, so I stopped going. I DID go a few times around Easter and will be going back soon—I just haven’t made up my mind how involved I’m going to get again.
Have you ever saved someone’s life? No.
Has someone ever saved yours? Not really.

**DARE-OLOGY**
Would you walk naked for a half mile down a public street for $100,000? $100,000 might not be enough—however, NO ONE could afford the amount that would have to be paid to anyone who might SEE me walking naked down the street.
Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100? Who is being so stingy with the imaginary money? MAYBE a quick closed-mouth peck.
Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000? Don’t think so!
Would you never blog again for $50,000? THAT I could do—anyone offering?
Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000? No.
Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? No—can’t imagine WHAT that would do to my gastric-reflux. {shudder}
Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000? Can’t imagine I could do that.
Would you shave your head and get your entire body waxed for $5000? I would have NO PROBLEM doing this, BUT, $5000 is not nearly enough money! (I know, I’m greedy.)
Would you give up watching television for a year for $25,000? You betcha!

You Might Be a Yooper!

Enjoy this list of things that make us Yoopers who we are--surprisingly, many of these are very, very true! :)
(I compiled this list and have lost the original author's names--I apologize to the very witty people who wrote the lists I took these from.)

If your snowmobile costs more than your kid's college education, you might be a Yooper!

If you install your snow tires in early September, you might be a Yooper!

If your best clothes are reversible; Blaze Orange to Camouflage, you might be a Yooper!

If you think the expression "to open a can of worms" means " to go fishing", you might be a Yooper!

If people in Wisconsin act superior to you, you might be a Yooper!

If you only know Ted Nugent for his archery equipment, you might be a Yooper!

If you saw a sign that said "Drink Canada Dry" and you've been trying ever since, you might be a Yooper!

If you can ice fish 9 months of the year, you might be a Yooper!

If your summer shirts are plaid wool (same as your winter shirts), you might be a Yooper!

If your ice fishing shanty is better furnished than your house, you might be a Yooper!

If your favorite bar plays both kinds of music, Country AND Western, you might be a Yooper!

If you refer to winter mittens and hat as "choppers" and a "chook", respectively, you might be a Yooper!

If you can spell Ahmeek, know what Ahmeek means, and know where it is, you might be a Yooper!

If your bitter family feud comes to a head over the annual Lions-Packers game, you might be a Yooper!

If you've ever had a snowday after Mother's Day, you might be a Yooper!

If your county spends more time and money on the snowmobile trails than they do the state highways, you might be a Yooper!

If you've been to Holiday and ShopKo more times than you care to count, but you've never been to Dunkin Donuts or a 7-11, you might be a Yooper!

If your basic vehicle survival kit consists of blankets, pillows, a shovel, and rock salt, you might be a Yooper!

If you have a bumper sticker that says "Say Ya To Da UP," you might be a Yooper!

If you plan your vacation around deer season, you might be a Yooper!

If you use venison hamburger to make chili, you might be a Yooper!

If going up north means a hunting trip to Canada, you might be a Yooper!

If you only own three spices - salt, pepper and ketchup, you might be a Yooper!

If you design your Halloween costumes to fit over a snowsuit, you might be a Yooper!

If you have more miles on your snowblower than your car, you might be a Yooper!

If you have 10 favorite recipes for venison, you might be a Yooper!

If your TrueValue Hardware on any Saturday is busier than the toy stores at Christmas, you might be a Yooper!

If you've taken your kids trick-or-treating in a blizzard, you might be a Yooper!

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes get filled with snow, you might be a Yooper!

If you think everyone from the city has an accent, you might be a Yooper!

If you think sexy lingerie is tube socks and a flannel nightie with only 8 buttons, you might be a Yooper!

If you owe more money on your snowmobile than your car, you might be a Yooper!

If the local paper covers national and international headlines on l/4 page, but requires 6 pages for sports, you might be a Yooper!

If your snowblower gets stuck on the roof, you might be a Yooper!

If you think the start of deer hunting season is a national holiday, you might be a Yooper!

If summer takes place the second week of July (and it still rains!!), you might be a Yooper!

If you find -20°F a little chilly, you might be a Yooper!

If you’ve attended a formal event in your best clothes, your finest jewelry, and your snowmobile boots, you might be a Yooper!

If you know the four seasons: Winter, Still Winter, Almost Winter, and Construction, you might be a Yooper!

If the municipality buys a Zamboni before a bus, you might be a Yooper!

If you have a "camp," not a "cottage," you might be a Yooper!

If you define Summer as three months of bad sledding, you might be a Yooper!

If snow tires come standard on all your cars, you might be a Yooper!

If you have ever gotten frostbitten and sunburned in the same week, you might be a Yooper!

If you think Alkaline batteries were named after a Tiger outfielder, you might be a Yooper!

If octopus and hockey go together as naturally as hot dogs and baseball, you might be a Yooper!

If a Big Mac is something you can drive across, you might be a Yooper!

If your kid's baseball and softball games have ever been snowed out, you might be a Yooper!

If you bake with "soda" and drink "pop", you might be a Yooper!

If you know what a pasty is, you might be a Yooper!

If your favorite hockey team's mascot is an octopus, you might be a Yooper!

If you have a favorite hockey team, you might be a Yooper!

If you don't have a coughing fit from one sip of Vernor's, you might be a Yooper!

If you know what a Vernor's is, you might be a Yooper!

If your car rusts out before the brakes wear out, you might be a Yooper!

If your favorite holidays are Christmas, Thanksgiving, and the first day of deer season, you might be a Yooper!

If there are really only TWO seasons: hockey season and off-season (or hunting season and construction season), you might be a Yooper!

If you know all the words to Gordon Lightfoot's classic ballad, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," you might be a Yooper!

If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 18 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by, you might be a Yooper!

If you're proud that your state makes the national news 96 nights each year because Houghton/Hancock has the most snow in the nation, you might be a Yooper!

If you think a basketball team consists of twelve white boys, you might be a Yooper!

If you have ever experienced "squeaky" snow, you might be a Yooper!

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from November through March, you might be a Yooper!

If you have ever snow shoed or been to camp, you might be a Yooper!

If you instinctively walk like a penguin for five months out of the year, you might be a Yooper!

If you have ever seen the Northern Lights and / or the Milky Way, you might be a Yooper!

If you have apologized to a telemarketer, you might be a Yooper!

If you think shoveling snow is fun, you might be a Yooper!

If you ever referred to where you live as "God’s Country", you might be a Yooper!

If you ever took a sauna when it was 85 degrees F outside, you might be a Yooper!

If you ever used the expression "Holy Wah!", you might be a Yooper!

If you think that the 15th of November is (or should be) a national holiday, you might be a Yooper!

If you know how to make or pronounce "pasty", you might be a Yooper!

If you have worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you might be a Yooper!

If your town has an equal number of bars and churches, you might be a Yooper!

If you have had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you might be a Yooper!

If you know how to say Ontonagon, Lanse, Baraga, Bessemer, Ishpeming, Negaunee, da Sault, and Toivola, you might be a Yooper!

If you grew up thinking rice was only for dessert, you might be a Yooper!

If every time you see moonlight on a lake, you think of a dancing bear, and you sing gently, "From the land of sky-blue waters, ..."Hamm's the beer refreshing", you might be a Yooper!


I will be glad to explain any of the above items to anyone who is not a Yooper--at least as well as I am able! :)

What's Happening

The snow came...at least for parts of the UP. Over 8 inches of snow dumped on the part of the UP where K and I grew up--and it is calling for another 8-15 inches through tomorrow. I talked to C tonight and she said school, as well as other activities, were canceled today and tonight. Because of teacher inservices tomorrow, school doesn't need canceling--which is a good thing as there are only a limited amount of 'snow days' available before school districts have to make the days up at the end of the year. Here in the town where we live, everything was white when we woke up, but all of the snow melted during the day. We had quite a wind and that really made it feel very cold--and the wind is supposed to continue through tomorrow. Oh, well, just the beginning of the winter. :)

Watched the hockey game last night and was blown away by the Wings' 9-2 win over Phoenix! They played a good game, but Phoenix isn't exactly the greatest team, so...it was a good game, nonetheless.

Cindi over at Somewhere Over the Rainbow has tagged me to do a new meme, so, for those who are interested, watch for me to post my answers in the next few days. I don't know about anyone else, but I find it absolutely fascinating to read other people's answers to these things!

Did a long-overdue computer maintenance here this afternoon. I have really not been happy with my McAfee security for quite a long time and today I finally got rid of it. I found it to be too expensive and there were too many problems for me to want to keep it. So, I decided to go with a free firewall and free anti-virus--Zonealarm by Zone Labs and AVG Anti-Virus by Grisoft. I'm sure I will be happy with the programs as they have been praised by many, including Maximum PC magazine.

Getting Ready...

I think the next few days around here will be fun...NOT!! We are under a snow and blowing snow advisory for tonight and tomorrow and then it turns into an winter storm warning sometime tomorrow afternoon. They are predicting from 8-10 inches of snow 1oo miles north of us--where my oldest daughter lives. I really don't think it should be so bad in our city--I hope--because we live on the shore of Lake Superior and it tends to protect us from some of the storms. We'll just have to wait and see.

I have to get up from here shortly and start the day. First, I have an appointment with the orthodontist. He STILL wants to see me every 1-3 months--this after having the braces off for well over a year. I think he just likes to look at the teeth and pat himself on the back--after all, he NEVER expected such good results! Then, it is off to the grocery store and Wal Mart--if we are getting a storm, I have to lay in supplies. For some reason or other, I have a NEED to get to the grocery store every time there is a winter storm warning--as if we will DIE of starvation before we can leave the house again. Actually, both K and I could live off of our respective fat reserves for many days and still have only wasted away to normal before we eat again! Oh well, just another one of my crazy quirks. I think it probably stems from the days I was a smoker--heaven FORBID I ran out of cigs during a snow storm! There would have been hell to pay. :)

I'm A Horrible Person :)

Last week I was talking to C when she mentioned the baby's first birthday. EXCUSE ME!?!?!? WHEN is her birthday???? Turns out, Gracie is a one-year-old this Thursday. Now, I went to ALL of my calendars, my PDA, EVERYWHERE, and there is no mention of when Gracie was born. (I DID post on this blog when she was birthed, but I HARDLY EVER read my own blog. :)) What a horrible grandmother I am. But then, in my defense, I DO have five grandchildren and I can't be expected to remember them all equally, can I? ;) I DO remember visiting C night after night the month she was here in the hospital. I DO remember when Gracie was born. I DO remember going to see Gracie while she was here in the hospital for three weeks after she was born. I DO remember when Gracie went home on Halloween. I just don't remember the number of the day she was born! Thank goodness I found out in plenty of time to get her birthday gift. Now, the only problem: how many days AFTER her birthday will it be before she finally GETS her gift from us?

Nothing Interesting

Well, we got home on Friday--late afternoon. I got all of the shopping done that I wanted to do and I must say, I did well for myself! This trip, I found THREE pairs of shoes to buy--doesn't happen often that I find shoes I like AND fit my feet, so I had to buy all three pair. If I keep this up, I'll be getting into Imelda Marcos territory. I also got a couple of Christmas gifts--I wasn't planning on doing Christmas shopping, but when you see something you just MUST buy it because it won't be there the next time! K wants to go back next week Monday or Tuesday--we'll see if it happens.

We were gone for a day and a half and K's work called FOUR times to ask him to do overtime--they even wanted him to do an 18 hour shift today. I can't wait to find out what is going on out at the plant. K IS working today, but just his regular shift. This is the second or third time the plant has called while we have been out of town--I set our home phone to call-forwarding and get the calls on my cell. I am amazed that these people--the bosses--at K's work have NO IDEA what call-forwarding is. They just seem to be all amazed that this is possible.

This is the first time in quite awhile--maybe EVER--that we didn't celebrate our anniversary at all. Our anniversary was on Friday and we did nothing for it. Of course, we weren't home early enough for me to do my usual: make K a special dinner and dessert. I did manage to get a card for him, but he didn't even do that. He better make up for this on my birthday and Christmas--I am expecting GOOD things this year, as usual! :) I guess our anniversary day REALLY isn't any more special than any other day is--after all, we've been together this long, so every day is exceptionally special!

C had the three-year-old in to see the ENT on Friday and they have determined that the little one has a milk allergy! Now, we are not talking lactose intolerance, but a full-fledged, absolutely-NO-milk-products-being-consumed, allergy. She is kind of beside herself as her kids LOVE yogurt, cheese, milk, etc. AND she cooks with cheese, etc, a lot! C is probably going to see a dietician so she can get some help in meal planning--it is REALLY going to be a pain in the ass for her. Thankfully, the doctor said this is the kind of allergy kids usually grow out of--let's hope so.

AND, I'm so happy that I got to see the Red Wings play last night. We missed the season opener because we were not at home, so I especially was glad to watch last night. They lost the game on Thursday, but won against the Penguins last night, 2-0. They played pretty well. I'm a happy camper! :)

Road Trip

We will be leaving in the morning for one of our road trips. Good grief, driving three and a half hours to, basically, go to eat dinner with friends! But, I get to see what is at the stores and--possibly--get an idea for Christmas shopping, so the trip is more than worthwhile. Don't know if I will be posting from the road, so have a great weekend!

What We Prefer

From mental_floss:

More Women Prefer Dogs Over Husbands: An online poll released by DogCatRadio.com, shows more women would rather have a pet than a husband.
(Not a surprise! Dogs give unconditional love—and don’t watch football!)

More Women Prefer Looks Over Money: The more money a woman earns, the more likely she is to prefer good looks to money in her man, a new survey reveals.
(Um, if a woman has money of her own, why wouldn’t she go for the eye candy?)

More women prefer clean-shaven men (70% of women prefer a clean shave, 20% prefer a goatee, 7% prefer a full beard, 3% do not care about facial hair).
(Can anyone say whisker/stubble burn?)

More women prefer shopping for their children than for their spouse (71% compared to 67% for women aged 16-55).
(The kids will at least WEAR the stuff—well, if they are young enough, that is.)

Cable TV’s Oxygen Network recently released a report suggesting that technology advertisers are missing out on a large market share by not marketing to women. The survey found that more and more women prefer technological gadgets to jewelry, clothes and shoes, nearly closing the gap between women and men and their technology needs and uses.
(And why SHOULDN’T women like tech gadgets just as much as men?)

Given the option, more and more women prefer Caesarean section to natural birth.
(Especially if you can have a tummy tuck at the same time! JUST JOKING!)

More women prefer blue eyes (36 percent) to brown or dark eyes (30 percent).
(Ooookaaaay.)

When it comes to having their private parts examined, more women prefer a physician of their own sex. But for treating a broken leg, women don’t seem to give physician sex a second thought, according to a Norwegian study of women aged 36 to 55.
(Who comes up with these questions—and who pays them to ask them?!)

According to a Lifetime Women’s Pulse Poll, three times more women prefer to work for a man, with Bill Gates topping the list of ideal male bosses at 38%. But despite this preference for men, the #1 ideal boss is Oprah Winfrey with 58% of the vote.
(If you say so.)

And now for the men:

More Men Prefer Marriage Over Women: A new study that provides the first inclusive look into the male consciousness found that men are more likely to prefer marriage to single life than women.
(Hello! Especially if the wife does the laundry, right?!)

When it comes time for bottoms up, more men prefer beer and women prefer wine.
(And this is surprising, why?)

More and more men prefer Laser Hair Removal for the most sensitive parts of their bodies. Did you know that 30% of spa visitors are men?
(More info than I needed to know!)

More men prefer Cialis to Viagra.
(Again, more info than I needed to know!)

A survey from Ontrack, a disaster recovery company, claims that more men prefer to try and fix a PC problem themselves.
(But the question is, do they ACTUALLY know WHAT they are doing?)

Although monarch sheets are available in a variety of colors, most men prefer ecru or white.
(Excuse me! And this is relevant, why?)

Researchers say most men prefer women with medium-sized breasts. And 13% have admitted trying on a bra, mostly for fancy dress or a dare, but some for curiosity or pleasure. Most say they found it uncomfortable. 81% of men surveyed say they would have medium-sized breasts if they were women.
(Words fail…)

Fall

Even though the picture I have here ISN'T one I took, it certainly represents fall in the UP. It is a most glorious time of year here--my favorite season. It is just too bad I am so very conflicted at this time of year.

As I said, I love fall. BUT the fall just rolls into 'The Holiday Season'--my WORST time of year. I have always wished I could go to sleep sometime in November--as early in the month as possible, but no later than the day before Thanksgiving--and wake up on January 2nd (even if it DOES mean that I miss my birthday :)). I don't especially remember any wonderful holidays when I was growing up--they weren't actually TERRIBLE for the most part, just not wonderful. The really lousy times started after I got married. The Mother wanted me, K, and the kids with her every minute of the holiday season--NO SHARING AT ALL. This was a bit difficult because K's family lived less than 5 miles from The Parents and they wanted us to spend some time with them, too. The Mother didn't want me to enjoy myself with K's family and would pout if I said I had a nice time. I finally got so fed up with the whole thing that I refused to spend any time outside of our home for the holidays. And that is what happened: we spent the holidays by ourselves with no family around. This, of course, caused everyone to blame me for not spending time with family for the holidays--AND depriving K and the kids from bonding with the families and having wonderful traditions. It was NOT fun. I'm so sorry that I never got to talk to K's mother about this whole thing before she died--I would have wanted to explain things to her. I WON'T even try to explain things to The Mother because she has NEVER done anything that I remember her doing--at least as far as SHE remembers--so why bother.

It would be nice to spend the holidays with our girls and their families, but they spend the time with The Parents and The Brother and his family. C lives there and A travels to spend the time with The Family and probably will again this year--as she has done every year since she left home. That is their choice--one I WILL NOT try to influence in any way. After all, I KNOW what it is like to be told what you HAVE to do--and you have to be strong and have age on your side to defy The Mother.