Here's To You

In a little less than 9 hours I will be with friends ringing in the New Year. This is if I survive the "Drinko" game that someone is bringing. The past few New Year's celebrations have been mild. I guess I can contribute that to getting older and a little more sensible. I can also say a big part of it is when we have to drive home on New Years Eve, we tend to take it a little easier.

In the past we used to head up to Door County for New Years Eve/Day and seeing that there was no driving involved we would not worry to much about the drinking part. We had stayed in a Condo a few years in a row and walking from the "Party Room" to our condo usually was without incident unless of course we count the time that A took everyone on the lakefront tour back to the condo. Or the time my brothers though giving their sister a 1 am face wash in the snow covered parking lot would be funny.

Most of my funny New Years involve my husband. A few years ago we stayed home New Years Eve for a party at the bar but headed up to Green Bay the next morning. A was in rough shape and sat in the passenger seat moaning most of the way. We are no longer welcome in the Manitowoc Hardees due to him overflowing their toilet.

Then there's the New Years from Hell when we were in Door County on the Eve and headed to Green Bay the next morning. To kill time we stopped at a Winery for some tasting and a little purchase of wine (5.99). We left only to find that we we're leaving. One dead truck. One very expensive weekend. The guys got the truck running the next morning only to find out the freeways were closed due to a massive snow storm and we weren't going anywhere. All totaled my $5.99 bottle of wine cost us over $600.00. We must also include my loss of Holiday pay for being stranded.

How about the New Years in Reedsburg where J cleared the gift shop of any unwanted riff-raff ( and us) and Randy made some new friends that could win the "wierd couple of the year award". The totally drunken Packer Game at the bowling alley next door to the hotel, followed by a dinner of chared Ribeye steak. The one bite almost ruined my taste for Ribeye's forever.

All in all there have been some great New Years Celebrations. Barring a few minor issues this has been a good year. I feel fortunate that all my friends and family are safe and in good health.

Here's to wishing you all a Safe and Happy New Year.

Now What?

Last night K&J and A& I were able to take our parents out to dinner. We were able to pre-arrange the bill to be given to us and pay it, rather than them. There was the usual bickering over the fact that they should pay but in the end the kids won the battle. This should be a noted date on my calendar as we usually loose. I don't think Pop's was on the ball last night. He will usually fake a bathroom trip and seek out the waitress.

We then went back to our house for a few hours of Poker. Connie took all our money! A gave her one tough battle but she held on. I am done playing Hold em with my husband. I have discovered that if he has "the Hand" that will beat me, he has this shifty eye thing going on. Ken has the quiver lip and A has the shifty eye. Pocket Aces mean squat to me when playing with him.

Mom & Dad caught their flight home at 730 this morning. It was nice to have them home and once again sad to see them go. As I walked around my house last night looking at all the preparations made for the holiday, I got a little sad as it's all over to quick. Sure, there's New Years Eve left but that's been low key for us for a few years. I'm not ready to pack it all up yet, so little by little I'll work on it.

Every year after Christmas I get this doom and gloom feeling that we are now entering the loonnngg winter. I'll be going to Arizona in April but that's still 4 months away. Camping is 5-6 months away. I have come to the conclusion that I need a hobby. So for the next several weeks I will be looking into several options. Who knows, by next year for Christmas everyone could receive a special gift crafted by me.

1 More Day

Why is it that when you have a short week at work it seems to take longer than working a normal work week? I'm working 5am-1pm this week and it's just dragging. We're all trying to make the best of it as it's pretty clear that it is the calm before the storm. Our new line is set to start up around the 3rd week in January. We had a little meeting the other day where the entire year was mapped out. It always looks good on paper. The problem is we are about 12 people short. By June or so they want to be on 3 shifts. Being one of the lowest in seniority I see myself once again going to an off shift. Hopefully the training of the new employees will go smoothly enough to be back to first shift within a few months. While my wonderful boss was explaining all this to me I could only let my mind wander back to my former employeer and how I asked for so many years to get off 3rd shift. It took quitting to get to first. I've become very comfortable where I am now and don't mind working an off shift once in awhile. I like the people I work with. At my former place there weren't to many people I liked. It was very political there. "Each for his own" would describe it perfectly.
At some point today I may venture out to Kohls to return someting. I've been told the stores are not bad. Right now I'm waiting for the receipt which boarder brother has. Something tells me that it may be lost and gone forever which sucks. I'm holding out for the weekend for the grocery store. I just need to get some things for New Years. I sent A for the shrimp today so hopefully that won't be gone by NYE. Speaking of fishy....I work right down the street from Empire Fish. These people need to resturcture their parking lot enterance situation. Trying to get across Watertown Plank Road when these fools are all flocking the store for the "King Crab legs or Catfish" is crazy. I don't think they're open on Saturday so by 1pm tomorrow they'll probably have the Wauwatosa Police Dept. out there directing traffic. I may take my video camera along tomorrow to get a shot at this cluster crazies.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho!

Today is my last day off of work for the Holiday Season. 61/2 days flew by way to quick for me. We're only working 8 hours the rest of the week so it shouldn't be to bad. After work it's back to the doctor for the toe check. Look's fine to me but I guess they need to get another $20.00 co-pay out of me.
Isn't today "Boxing Day". I spent my day cleaning up a lot of stuff. I always like the day after Christmas as it prompts some good cleaning to get the new stuff in. This prompts a box to start for Goodwill or a hope chest for boarder brother. Since he lost just about every household item he had in the storage locker heist I started a pile for him. I got new dishes for Christmas, he got my old ones. I got new coffee cups, he got the old ones. I feel a little bad as there was quite a bit taken. I may start to stock up on some t.p., paper towels and things like that for him. Everything I buy may bring him one step closer to moving. A lottery windfall could be just the right answer now.
So, in all honesty I want to know what is the funkiest gift you received? And what is the best gift you received. Beside the fact that my family was all here, which was the best gift.....I received a beautiful "A" ornament from J which she has hidden on my tree. Eventually I will find it. I think she may have been upset that I was going to wear it on my shirt like Laverne.

Tonight is off to celebrate the birthday of A's neice who was born the day after Christmas. His sister managed to keep her pregnancy a secret right up until she went into labor and didn't make it to the hospital. She turns 13 today. Seems like yesterday when I got a phone call at 6am the day after Christmas from the sister-in-law who delivered her. Never a dull moment I tell you.

It was A good Day

The day was good. We started out with our kids and grandkids and a huge pile of gifts, some happy kids and nothing that has to go back. My son had put a guitar on his list and although I thought he was joking I did buy him one. There was a confused look on his face when he opened it, however when I gave him the receipt he didn't take it, saying he was going to watch the instructional tape that came with it and check it out. Maybe by next year him and A can have some little keyboard, guitar concert. We had gotten Dylan a hover craft that is supposed to work in the snow. I bought it when we had the blizzard thinking that it'd be fun on Christmas Day to take it outside, but being the dork I am I forgot to charge the battery. My dad played Santa and did a good job of fooling the little ones. There were doubts from the 8 and over kids. I think he may have had J fooled for a second or two.
There was way to much food and about 100 desserts. I'm pretty sure the rumbling stomachs came from the Polish Sausage and baked beans. It was really good to have my parents here, but hard to keep mom out of the kitchen so she could visit with her family. Thanks to J my dishes were done,and you'll all be happy to know that she did eat first. I'm just so glad that all went well and everyone left full and happy.
I need to mention that I did not get the Magic Bullet......I got the Rocket. Not the bullet from the sex party...the one from television that makes the smoothies and sauces. Boarder brother was eyeing it up thinking that he's going to create all kinds of smoothies and shakes when I'm not home.
Hope everyone had a joyous Christmas. I'm just so happy that I do not need to hit a store for returns or exchanges.

Merry Christmas

The Eve of Christmas was good. After a full day of preparing food for tomorrow we went to A's sister's house for their family Christmas. It was a nice time. She makes some kick butt cookies which I received a plate of and will be serving tomorrow. I don't think I'll be able to pass them off as mine. Stopped at the bar for a cocktail which is a first for us. There was quite a crowd there. We had to leave as A had polish sausage belly. I'm thinking he didn't want to pull a fast one and leave his deposit in the bar restroom.
So I'm off to bed so I can awaken early and start all over again. Tomorrow will be a full day.

Merry Christmas to everyone! stb please don't forget to leave Pumpkin well stocked on food. Just in case. We'll be checking on you tomorrow.

Countdown

48 hours from now my house will be filled to the brim with my family. There will be two people missing, both nieces. Otherwise it would have been kind of fun to get a full group photo. The problem is I think we would have had to stand outside in the driveway to get everyone in. There will be the usual loud screeching of the kids when opening their gifts, (some adults also). My parents may have to step upstairs and it's been a few years since they have witnessed the craziness involved in the gift opening. Of course we'll have to keep the wrapping paper garbage for a few days for those lost gift cards and small peices of something or other. The preparation of some of the food has started. I somehow have to keep the nibbling of the Polish Sausage by A and brother under control.
Tomorrow night my husbands family is having a little get together. We really haven't had anything with them all together for a few years now. It was getting kind of rough on me to have one family one day and one the next. No one in his family seems to want to have Christmas. It's hard for his Mom to do it alone and things haven't been to well over at their house, so it'll be nice to see everyone at his sisters house this year.
I am finally starting to see the light. Gifts are all wrapped, food is bought, basement is cleaned and waiting. I was listening to some dumb lady on the radio yesterday who said that it's not necessary to clean your house for Christmas guest. They are interested in the food and gifts and company only, not what your home looks like. I wonder how they'd feel about peeing in some gross toilet or trying to find an uncluttered spot to sit in your living room or having to dig through a pile of dirty dishes to find a plate to eat on. Hmmm. What was she thinking? Not that you need to call in the Merry Maids or something but one could at least put forth some effort to make sure the dirty underwear are not laying on the bathroom floor or the garbage is not overflowing.
Tonight is out with friends. Should be a good time. I'm glad I got a lot of this stuff done ahead of time. I may want to sleep in tomorrow.

Ouch

The past few weeks I've noticed that my big toe seemed to be a little tender and hurt upon touch. In looking at it I couldn't see anything. There was no discoloration or marks of anything. At first I just thought it was from my steel-toed shoes. I looked on MD online and it didn't look anything like the ingrown toenail pictures they show in the pictures. But I thought I'd get it checked out. So I went to Dr. Louie Lapow my favorite doctor. Had to prepare myself mentally for this as I hate feet and I hate people touching my feet, but he's a good doctor and has some humor. I went yesterday. Dr. Louie confirmed that it was indeed an ingrown and prepared to "fix" it. The worst part was the numbing of the toe. I had to sit there for a few minutes to allow the shot to take effect and found it humerous that almost all his patients are 80 and over, coming in just to get their toenails cut. Apparently Medicare covers a once a month visit for that. I must keep that in mind for the future.
As the numbing was taking place the nurse was setting out several instruments. I still was not to nervouse. How much could this hurt? They kept my foot covered up while performing this simple procedure and I could feel a little pressure. Everything was going well until Dr. Louie held up this chunk of ugly nail and said "That was a nice sized chunk stuck in there". Blahhhh. I almost lost my orange I had for breakfast. He then wrapped this toe up and wrapped what looked like 50 feet of guaze on it. He was explaining that I'd need to soak it twice a day which brought me to laughter. He wanted an explaination on the laughter. I had to tell him that a few years back K & J's daughter had a boyfriend that was not quite right. He was soaking his feet for some reason and they discovered after he had done it a few times that he was using their dishpan. It's been a little standing joke for a few years. K will cringe when we mention it. So Dr. Louie had completed his procedure and asked me if I was going right home. I told him I had to run to Target and get a soaking bucket and he said "Just ask your brother if you can use his". Funny man I tell you. He assured me that I'd be okay but just to eleavate my foot for an hour or so when I got home. I did my Target thing and got home, took my shoe off to find the entire toe section of my sock a little soaked with blood. I may have spent a little more time at Target then he mentioned spending. There was a little cleanup needed.
By 4pm yesterday the numbing med's wore off and I was blessed with a throbbing member. Not like one in a romance novel. I guess I should say throbbing digit instead. Today the bandaid comes off and the soaking begins. I am remaining with my thoughts all along. "Feet are gross".

The Calm Before The Storm

I took 1/2 day of vacation time today and the full day tomorrow. I needed to have a little time to gear up for the arrival of Mom. The parents are flying in tomorrow and will spend Christmas with us for the first time since 1993. Ever since I can remember Christmas was a big thing in our family. The only bad memory I have is being around 8 years old and getting the Barbie Doll Dream House I hoped for. I had it all set up in our downstairs rec room and was playing away when my dream was shattered. My two brothers were fighting and flipped over the couch right smack dab on top of it. It was trashed. I don't think any 8 year old child could have cried any harder. My dad then made me a wooden one. It wasn't the same, but it lasted forever. Most of my friends know that thanks to J I was presented with a replacement Dream House a few years back. I have since forgiven my brothers for this tragic day. Other than that it's only good that I remember. No family fights, no coming at a different time then someone else because you can't stand them, and only one Uncle who usually passed out on my parents bed.
Back to Mom. She is a loving caring person, if you are on her good side. She can be a bit sarcastic and overbearing. As my dad puts it "There is only Mom's way". My mom will not be able to sit down and enjoy Christmas as she should. She will be checking to see if I cooked the Polish Sausage right, and if the ham is being overcooked. She will start washing the dishes before we're done eating and want to put everything away. In my heart I know she means well and she wants to be needed. In my mind , she did her duty and should now let someone else take over. Believe me, within the next few years there will be Polish Sausage cooking training going on as I'm not cooking this stuff forever. She will also ask me for the one thing that I don't have. Last time she was here she asked if I had any orange marmalade. If I were to go to the store tomorrow and get some just in case, and I would let her know I had it she would say "What the hell do I want that crap for".
I figure if I start to pump her with wine when she gets here Christmas Day that within an hour or so she'll be pretty lit and relaxed.
Mom-in-law dropped off our annual plate of Christmas cookies tonight. Her cookies are like something out of a magazine. Being the wonderful daughter-in-law that I am, I borrowed her my cookie pans this year. Her's were shot and she wasn't paying $15.00 each for new ones. I had some that don't fit in my oven. I took them back when she was done so I can be the good daughter-in-law again next year. Now I have hidden the cookies as boarder brother will consume the entire plate if I leave them out. I have all the cookies that I baked in tins out on our screen porch. I haven't seen any lids popped open so I'm hoping he hasn't hit them yet. Imagine my shock on Christmas Day when I go to open them and find all the Peanut Butter Balls gone.

Best Buy Sucks

I left work at 3:oo today but didn't get home until 4:45. I had one gift to purchase and one other stop to make. I hope A appreciates that fact that I was stupid enough to stop at Best Buy. There is no good time to go there. Their parking lot sucks! But he want's a new video camera and some film editing software. I could find no one to help me and I could not locate the software which he swears they have. He will receive a gift card. I walked out of there at 415 and made my way to Walgreens for some cookie trays which he claims he saw there the other day. I hate that I am stupid enough to go look for things in stores that people claim they saw. I did locate 2 plate like trays of which the rim of the plates were cracked. I put them down, and was nice enough to tell the woman that picked them up after me that they were cracked. She didn't seem to care. I guess I'll splurge and take a trip to the nice dollar store tomorrow.

One of my co-workers and I were sitting in my boss's office today going through some work instructions when this guy who works for us walked by with a very girlie like Southwestern shirt on. I happened to comment to my co-worker on the shirt and got a raised eyebrow from boss man. A few minutes later another guy from a visiting company walked through and I commented that he looked like Pogo from the comic strip. So out of R's mouth comes the comment that he never is critical of others. (stop laughing now Jo). His blah, blah, comments went on for a few minutes. I had to leave for fear my feet would sink into the shit that he was trying so hard to sell to us.

I am done with work until the 27th as of 11am tomorrow morning. I am going to miss the luncheon they are getting for us on Thursday. I just need some time to chill a little before the hustle of my parents coming and Christmas comes. I need to dig out my house. I need to get to the grocery store before the mad rush of last minute shoppers arrive. On Saturday I plan to get just about everything done so Saturday night I can relax with my friends and tie one on! It's been a long time.

My Shadow

I seem to have aquired a shadow. It's smaller than me but follows me everywhere around my house a few times a week. She's eight years old. My brother's daughter. For the first couple hours it's okay as we're usually talking about her week and school stuff. Then it starts to get annoying. I will go from one room to another and am constantly asked what I'm doing. It's become almost a game as I'll be folding laundry and she'll ask and I make up something totally off the wall. I think she's just bored. Last night I was a little short on patience and I told her a few times to go find her dad. He can't be far, our house isn't that big. I found him in the living room sleeping. In my ever patient voice I explained to him that this is not my child. Although I like to spend time with her, he needs to do something with her and not just the older one. I already had them for 4 hours yesterday at my sisters baking cookies. A and my brother went to a Bucks game last night which I had declined as I wanted to get some things done. J and I were planning on going out and meeting up with them later. Never made it. By 9 pm I got so sick of my shadow that I opted to go to bed, thinking I'd catch up on some things I taped and watch a movie that was borrowed to me months ago. Not so true. I probably was out by 930. I guess that's the reason that I was up at 530 this morning. I was at Walmart by 745. Excellent time to shop at Walmart by the way.
I got home around 9 only to have a repeat of yesterday. My shadow was awake and ready for more Auntie A tracking. The best part of the morning was when she asked me what I was going to do when her dad moved out. Trying not to laugh or jump for joy I simply said, "Well I guess I'll miss you". I told her I'd have to come and stay overnight at their new house so I wouldn't miss her so much. Going back to the mind of an eight year old I'm thinking that when the time comes I may have to make up some excuse. As much as she gets on my nerves I've always been a little partial to her as she does have some special needs. They left around 1030 this morning and then my chocolate coating helpers arrived. J provided us with musical from her rumbling tummy. If she could only get it in sync with some Christmas Music she'd be doing great.

"A Nice Family Christmas"

My parents are coming home for Christmas this year. They left for Arizona in January of 1993 and have been home for other occassions but not for Christmas. We've tried to get them to come but my mom has always said it's to cold. She must have broke down this year and finally said yes to Dad. This is a good feeling as they send the most presents and now they can witness the gift opening. The sad part about it is when I asked my Dad what made them change their minds this year he said "Well we probably don't have to many Christmas's left, so while we're still somewhat healthy and coherent we thought we'd come."
I received a card from my mom & dad yesterday and inside she wrote "Looking forward to a nice family Christmas". She underlined Nice. I tried to think back as to whether we'd ever had a "not nice" family Christmas. Couldn't think of one. As much as we may bicker about each other or have a little squabble, nothings lasted or ruined a Holiday or Birthday. We don't have any of this one person won't come if the other one's there thing going on. I'm glad for that. I know people who haven't talked to one of their siblings in years and just can't remember why because it's been so long. When my renter brother was married we weren't all that fond of his wife but we tolerated her for the kids and him. I think my lips still hurt from forcing a smile. They did fight on every Holiday. Maybe that's why he finally let the divorce thing go through. He finally saw what a Holiday was without her. So, at Mom's request we'll have a nice family Christmas. I think she may be a little shocked or overwhelmed at the gift opening. There is no structure in that. We just let them go wild. We suffer for it later hunting through all the wrapping paper for the little parts and gift cards.
I need to get moving today. I see stb is ahead of me. I have the tree up and the lights on it. Today may be the day to decorate it.

Jolly?

So I always though this time of the year was supposed to be cheerful. It's around the time of the year that you're supposed to look at those around you and give thanks for what you have , so on and so forth. Not that you shouldn't do that all year round but Christmas is supposed to bring out the best in people. Not so true. I have encountered way to many crabby people today. I may not always be the most cheerful person but I do try not to take my problems out on other people. I leave the home crap at home and leave the work crap at work. I bitch about my 25 minute ride home sometimes but if I didn't have that time to unwind poor A would take a lot more from me than he does. We had some crab ass people at work today. Then I went for gas on the way home and some crab ass guy was bitching at some woman next to him pumping gas. Then I go to the bank and some dumb broad is bitching at the teller. Went to Sentry for some "on Sale" ham only to be told that I needed to spend $25.00 to get the sale price. Doesn't say that in the ad. So the teller get's all snippy with me and calls the manager, only to find out that she was looking at the wrong ham in the ad. I shocked myself at staying calm through-out the whole thing. It was no skin off my bones. I would have put the stupid ham back and went to another store. I thought I was clear of crabbiness after that, but I did listen to A on the way home bitching about stupid people at his work. I tried to pay attention as he usually doesn't talk about work, but man he did not shut up from 76th and Rawson to 23rd and Grange.
So, I'm done with all these crab ass people. It's just not worth it to wallow in your crap and think that everyone else should join your parade.
(not that I didn't just sound like one in this post)

She Deserved A Break Today

Nope, she didn't go to McDonalds. She (J) got the best news from her doctor today!. There will be no more cutting and the tissue samples showed "squat". I knew this had been a stressful couple of weeks, but didn't catch the brunt of it until this afternoon when she broke the news to me. I have never been so happy to hear someone's voice sound so happy. I have to admit the tears started to flow. So God heard us all. What better gift could one ask for. I shall not forget to thank Him either.

Whew!

It's been a very busy weekend. A lot has been accomplished in this house. First off, our basement which somehow always manages to be a dumping ground has been cleaned. I have a small area in the basement behind the washer & dryer where I have a cabinet to store all the extra kitchen things that are not in every day use. If you count that and the laundry area of which I am allowed about a 10X8 area that's not much space in the basement. The rest of the entire basement has been taken over by my husband. Yesterday he went down to start the cleaning for Christmas project. For the past week or so he's had crap spread all over the basement having to do with outdoor decorating. I went downstairs and found him sitting by the bar just staring at the piles of stuff laying around. I'm all about cleaning as you go and putting things away when I'm done using them. We couldn't be more opposite in that way. I kind of looked at him for a few seconds and could just see the lines of stress on his face. He commented that he was just overwhelmed. I guess just sitting in that stool staring isn't going to make it all go away was my comment back. Some time later I hear some moving around and numerous trips outside to the garbage. I figured this was no where for me to be involved. He was on a roll and I wasn't stopping him. I went back down a few hours later and thought I was in someone else's basement. The pool table, which is to big for the area we have , was gone. That's been talked about for some time now. While he was upstairs I looked in the workshop area and the spare room just to see if everything got piled in there. All the rooms were clean. I complimented him on a nice job. He said there's just too much junk down here. I can't get blamed for that as the only thing I bring down is stuff for the freezer and laudry. I had to remind him that he seems to be the collecter of useless items. Some have come in handy, but I'm a firm believer that if you haven't used it in a year, get rid of it. Now I'm just afraid to look in the garage as I'm worried that it's all stacked in there.

Wonder Woman??

I came to the conclusion today that I am not Wonder Woman. I'm just very stubborn and have never wanted to rely on anyone for help. Hence my trip to the attic today. We keep all our Christmas things up there. Today I was ready to set up my Christmas village. So rather than wait for A to come home from work I decided to do it alone. How hard could it be? So I put the dog in the basement as she has some crazy fetish about the attic. I'm not sure if she wants to go up there or just plant herself at the bottom of the attic steps. Up I went. Sorted through some bins until I found the correctly labeled ones and started backing down the stairs with the first one. Not bad. Round two. I went back up and started pulling the second one toward me. This one was heavy, but I figured if I leaned it toward me while backing down the steps it'd be no problem. I got about 4 steps down and felt the weight of bin number two. Crap, it was heavy. So I stood on the steps for a few seconds pondering whether to go back up or come down. I didn't want to bang it on the steps coming down as it was all glass stuff. This was my most extreme thought. If I drop this crap I'm going to be really pissed at myself. So I tried to get it back up and figured I'd wait. It wasn't budging. I started to picture myself laying at the bottom of the steps with this bin on top of me and A coming home. Beside the fact that it'd be freezing in the house he may not come into the house toward the attic. He'd probably figure I wasn't home and go downstairs. He wouldn't find me until he had to pee. Then I knew I'd get bitched at for going it alone. So once again I tried to push it back up. Nope, not going anywhere. So very slowly I took the next few steps down while holding my arms up to support this jumbo bin of breakable Christmas items. I felt the bottom step and was able to master getting this thing to the ground. Once I got over this event I thought "What the heck, I'll go back up for the rest of the stuff". My good senses took over and I promptly folded up the steps and closed the attic opening. No splattered wife on the floor to come home too.

Round 2

Yesterday J went back to the hospital for another round of surgery. Seems when examining the first tissue they removed they found another type of cancer. The most common, yet least life threatening. The little trooper was a little less troopie yesterday. The doctor did take about twice as much as the first surgery and they also had her on morphine which they didn't the first time. She was proud of obtaining her second pair of free socks from the hospital, but did remark that it was a lot to go through for a pair of socks. On Monday she should have the results of the tissue they removed and move onward from there. She needs a break. This has all happenend so fast that I don't think she's had time to breathe.
The other day J posted an email regarding her surgery and mentioned in it that I had wanted to start a pool on how many times she'd have to go in before they got it all. This had brought some comments by people thinking I was unsympathetic toward the situation. Well, that couldn't be more from the truth. I've had enough doom and gloom in my life that it's just not worth it to sit around dwell on all the bad. There is a bright side out there and if you can find it you should. In a previous post I had an Ode to Dad. He is the one who tried to get us to always find the good. He's 72 and doesn't seem to have gotten tired of looking. Believe me, the reality of the bad is still there but it can easily be dealt with by having a good outlook. "It helps in the healing process".
Yesterday while we were sitting in J's room after the surgery her mom was telling me about past Christmas's where they ate in shifts. We thought J was sleeping as there was a little snorage going on. All of a sudden she pipes in with "I get to eat first this year cause I have cancer". We couldn't do anything but laugh. I can so picture her pushing her way to the front of the line. Pushing some little cousin out of the way. I do know that she would let Grandma in before her though.
You all have a great day!

A Fashion Don't

I may not be the most stylish person but I do credit myself with know a major fashion no-no. Take today for instance when I was driving through a major Mall parking lot and couldn't help but see the slightly plump girl with pink sweat pants on. Along with the pink sweat pants were some ugly big clunky shoes. That's not the worst part. The floral granny panties that showed through the pink sweat pants. I'm thinking the panties were about three sizes two big for the girl. I'm thinking she was around 18-20 and should have known better. If that wasn't enough as I'm walking through the mall I see a very large woman with white sweatpants showing every bulge in her ass and legs. Once again the underwear could be seen through the garment. Ladies, Ladies, Ladies....it's not that hard to find a pair of undergarments that do not show through your light colored clothing. I can't see that these women purposely did this. There is nothing at the mall that is so important that you can't stop and do a check prior to leaving the house.
Although I have been known (on one occassion only) to wear two different shoes (mind you they were the same color and style) and I do know others that once in awhile will wear a sweater inside out, these things are not done on purpose or out of pure laziness. These girls just did not have friends who cared enough not to let them go out like that.
I went to Dylans "Winter Play" today and was a little shocked that there was nothing in the play regarding Christmas. What the mess has happened here? I'm sitting there waiting for some cute little Christmas songs...nothing. Last year at least they did something on different cultures for Christmas. Nada. I get to frustrated with the politics of this holiday, so I guess I will keep my thoughts to myself as I could be opening a large can of worms.

Holy Headache

I woke up at 1 a.m. today with the worst possible headache one could have without their head actually exploding. First I was mad as I woke from a pretty sound sleep with this pain. Then I was mad because it hurt so fricken bad and I only had two hours to go before I had to get up for work. My first though was that A was for some reason squeezing my head. Once in awhile he must think I'm the dog or something because he'll rub my head in the middle of the night. Ticks me off as he usually gets his fingers all stuck in my hair and then pulls. What can I say, the man has some weird dreams. I took some asprin and tried to go back to sleep. Did the cold rag on the eyes thing and tossed and turned for two hours. At 3:15 I finally got up and tried to start my daily ritual of getting ready for work. I mananged to turn the shower on, before I called it quits and made the phone call. I then went back to bed. I managed a chuckle when A woke up and discovered I was still there. The look on his face was priceless. I've never overslept before so he was a little shocked, then looked okay when I told him I called in. I don't take sick days very often so in his sympathetic voice he asked me if he should call anyone. I slept for a few more hours and finally got up as this wasn't getting any better. I pondered taking the pain pills I have left from my surgery and went negative on that one.
I went to the front door to get the paper and was immediatly blinded by the sun on the white snow. No paper. I need to call those Journal people. This was worse than any hangover. The problem was, I wasn't hung over. We went to watch the game yesterday and in a 3 1/2 hour span I had 2 Bloody Mary's, 1 beer and two diet cokes. We went shopping after that and went home and did things around the house.
Now I have that dull ache that comes after a headache. My stomach has also been a little jumpy today. I'm pretty sure the worst is over, or at least I hope so. I have a vacation day tomorrow to go see the grandkids in their Christmas Concerts and a dentist appointment.
If anyone's interested Dylan showed me the Santa website yesterday. www.emailSanta.com and you can write him a letter (it's kind of a fill in the blank thing). You can also find out if you're on the naughty list. He wanted to fill one out for me and when the age part came up he looked at me and said "you're about 35 right Grandma". I love him so much.

Chocolate Beer is Not For Me

After reading my friend stbs blog and his review and a few comments on the Miller Chocolate Beer I went in search of it today. It wasn't really a long search. I finally got to Pick & Save at 9am this morning. They welcomed me as I entered the store. At least they could have shoveled my parking spot and the lot for that matter. After my really needed items I took a stroll through the liquor department and could not locate the chocolate beer. I asked the woman in the dept. who was busy dusting off bottles and was told they don't carry it.
Later in the afternoon I stopped at the Wilson Park Liquor Store. That's the one that has the two little old ladies working that have not aged in 30 years. My husband thinks they're aliens. That store usually has anything you're looking for, but they didn't have the Chocolate Beer yet. She could take my name down and call me when it came in. I then stopped at another liquor store and the nice Iranian (?) man said "we no have". I was starting to feel desperate. I had a few more errands to run and then stopped at a new liquor store and it was found. On a shelf and chilled. The new owner was like my personal shopper. He showed me around the entire store. Nice store, nice guy. Nicely wrapped in a brown paper sack.
After dinner tonight I removed a bottle from the fridge and poured it into a glass. I took stb's advice so as not to be a heathen and drink right from the bottle. I let the foam settle a little, lifted the glass and smelled................coffee. I hate coffee. I hate anything with coffee in it and the smell of coffee. You will never find me in a coffee shop even to buy a fruit drink. I didn't let that stop me though. I took a sip. There was a slight hint of chocolate but more of a bitter taste like coffee. I was trying to be fair and I tried again. Nope. This was going nowhere but down the drain. Now I don't want anyone to think I have a closed mind as last week I did drink a few Corona's and enjoyed them. Not that it's a premium beer or anything. I just like Miller Lite. I have tried other beers and can have maybe one then it's back to the Miller. I tried to have an open mind, but why drink something that I don't enjoy.
So sitting in my fridge now are 3 bottles of Miller Chocolate beer. That may make a good White Elephant gift.

For Sale-3 snowblowers, 1 snowmobile,1 husband

Yep, you read it right. 3 Snowblowers. I have been observing my husband out in the garage trying to get his 3 snowblowers running. So far I have seen him using the small one that's good for about a 8 inch path. I then saw him using the larger one for about 5 minutes. Now I see him and my boarder brother looking at the 3rd one in the garage. About a month ago I asked if they were running and was told he didn't know...it wasn't snowing yet. We have friends who fix these things for a living. That is called stubborn. Guess if he can't fix it himself, then no one can. So I will now sit in my warm home and watch him shovel.
To my utter disbelief I also witnessed boarder brother with a shovel this morning. Actually using it to clear the sidewalks. This guy went through all last year without picking up a shovel. I'm thinking this is supposed to soften my heart a little about booting him out soon. He even removed his wet boots when he came in rather than tromp through my house.
The subject of the snowmobile is a sore one. I think some day I'm just going to drag it to the curb and I'm sure the Mexican junk man will pick it up in a flash. Then I'm sure A won't notice. It's been with him longer than I have but we have dragged it to 4 different homes in 22 years. Kind of just like he's dragged me around.
Why is the husband for sale you ask? Because in some way I will get blamed for these things not working. At any time now he will walk in the house with a shit ass look on his face, glare at me, and say "Don't even fucking say a word". At that time I will gracefully turn away , leave the room and hide my laughter from him.
Well to all of you who took a snow day today have a great day. I was off anyway so to me it's just a day where I delayed in the running around I have to do. Pick & Save will have to wait for me just a little longer.
Could very well be a beer night. I figure by 6 or 7 the roads should be clear!