Whew!

Job Of The Day: I took down the Christmas tree.

That's not as impressive as it sounds. Because this was the Christmas tree this year:

See the little boxes in front of it? Decorations that never made it on the tree. Surly Teenager thought the tree looked a little naked with just lights. So I bought some little ornaments for her to put on, and she never did.

All done:

Whew! Who's ready for a nap?

'Round And 'Round She Goes

This probably isn't going to be as funny as it seemed at the time...maybe it is, I'm getting giggly again thinking about it...

Aunt Martha is a long time friend of the family, to my in-laws. She's in her 80's and is a talker, hard of hearing and missing part of a leg to diabetes.

She called Christmas evening because she was having problems with her electric chair and had gotten wedged in somewhere and couldn't maneuver herself out.

Hubby went to rescue her.

When he got back he said the connectors to the battery were dirty so he cleaned them as well as he could. He told her, "You got a lot of carbon scoring here. It looks like you have seen a lot of action." (In case you are not a Super Nerd like Hubby, that is a quote from Star Wars) Of course she only said "What?"

By his 3rd trip to rescue her, he was going to make her put the chair up and switch to her walker. Even though he had cleaned the connections, it still wasn't maneuvering correctly.

It was going in circles.

And that is when the silliness began. With us all sitting around the kitchen table, picturing poor old Aunt Martha spinning in circles and laughing our asses off. There were jokes about her chasing her cats that way - about her spinning like Gretchen's new Stir Crazy - and about how of course she would go in circles because she is missing a leg.

I know. We are awful, horrible people.

But I can just see her. Going in circles. Oh my.

What Day Is It?

I lose all track of time when I don't have to go to work.

I got up and yelled at Hubby for turning off the alarm and did a mad rush to get ready for my dentist appointment.

As I was about to run out the door, the phone rang.

It was the dentist office confirming my appointment.

For tomorrow.

Resistance is futile

I have a strong urge to get my hair cut really short. I have had it for a while and I have been resisting because every other time I cut my hair short, I don't like it and can't wait for it to grow back out.

I don't think I can resist much longer.

I cut my bangs a few days ago.

The rest may soon follow.

Merry Christmas

A few Christmas photos:

Charlie pulled this from his stocking and after a moments scrutiny declared "This is for girls. Boys don't wear lip gloss." Even though it was green, and Charlie is all about green, he promptly handed it off to a sister. Further down in his stocking he came across a similar item, and after another moments scrutiny placed it on his pile of stuff saying "Boys can wear chapstick." I think the first one may have looked a little too sparkly for his manhood.

Melody and Dixie tearing in to their goodies.

Uncle Gary trying on his new work gloves.

Gretchen opening a gift and Lora Lynn putting on her Christmas bow.

The girls got these adorable dresses from their mom's friend who bought them in Africa.

Surly Teenager approves.

Aunt Bethie watching the madness from a safe distance

while guarding her pretty new glassware.

My Hubby. The dork.

Lazy Non-Teenager was mostly ill all weekend and didn't appreciate attempts at taking her picture.

Dowlan and Hubby snoozing after a tough morning of turkey frying.

This is Diego. He had his own stocking, along with one for Clementine and Abby. However, Diego was the only one smart enough to figure out which stocking had his name on it, get the treats out and try to dig in all by himself.

Turkey frying disaster averted by running all over town and scrounging up enough oil to fry them birds in.

The entertainment of the evening: watching popcorn pop in Gretchen's new Stir Crazy.

My Public Apology

My darling husband,

I am so very sorry. Please forgive me. I did not mean for you to find out the way that you did. I tried to spare you; I tried to delete all the emails so that you wouldn't see.

I feel HORRIBLE that you know. I should have known better. I should have known that you would find out if I put it in writing.

I promise it will never happen again. Is there some way that I can make it up to you?

Your loving wife.

~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~

What happened?

I messaged my sister-in-law on Facebook when I finished reading Cryoburn (see earlier post) about a character that dies in the book. She wrote back. The Facebook notice went to my email. If you are not familiar with the emails, they show part of the message. I deleted the email notices from the home computers, but Hubby had the laptop with him at work. And he checked it before he headed home. He saw the notice and the message and found out who dies. And he hasn't even had a chance to start the book yet.

I know what you were thinking. Shame on you!

P.S: Ok 3! updates in one day. Does that make up for some of my previous slacking?

Maybe Tomorrow

I have spent the day trying out some of the Christmas presents.

I started with a gift Hubby got:

I'm always cold. I try not to turn the heat up too often, because of the cost. But I must admit, one of my favorite things about getting the house to myself, is the chance to turn the heat up and shed about 3 layers of clothing. Today I opted for trying this thingy out. And I must say...two thumbs up! Toasty warm and able to move about. Much more sophisticated looking than a Snuggie, too. And my biggest worry with the Snuggie: what happens when you want to get up and do something? There you are walking around with your ass hanging out like a hospital gown. Not so with this thingy. You are wrapped all the way around. I got up and got a glass of milk and sat back down still all toasty warm. One minor complaint - I had a time figuring out how to snap myself in to the thing. I'm sure that was just me though and is not a common problem.

While wrapped in the thingy, I munched on these:

Found at the grocery store in Abilene. Locally, they NEVER have the Nacho Cheese. Only Cheddar Cheese. Which is just not the same. So when I spied these while picking up eggs and stuff, I bought every single bag they had.

It's ok. Hubby got to buy 10 things of Sugar Free Cherry Kool-Aid. Because apparently, Cherry flavored Kool-Aid can't be had locally either.

And what was I doing, while munching my Nacho Cheese goodies, all toasty warm? Reading the BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER:

If you like to read, I HIGHLY recommend her Miles Vorkosigan saga (starts with Shards of Honor). They are very well written. Great characters that you easily get caught up in the lives of. Great dialogue. Hubby and I have read them over and over. We knew she had been writing a new one, but the last time we checked it didn't say it was finished and published. We were so pleasantly surprised by it on Christmas morning. My sister-in-law, who gave it to us, had been sneaking out to her car so she could finish reading hers without Hubby or I seeing the book.

And yes. I finished it to today.

All this while wearing: My Magic Pants...

Another sister-in-law gift. They are soooo soft and silky. And I have been told by her, MAGIC. It must be true; I have magically accomplished nothing today except finish my book.

And later this evening I will be trying out these gifts:

While reading the latest Dean Koontz in paperback.

In case you are wondering why I wasn't trying those last two out earlier today while reading Cryoburn - I knew I would be home today and Hubby wouldn't, and I could get it read faster than he would. So Hubby hasn't read it yet. I didn't want to take the chance of dropping it in the tub and ruining the book.

Yes. I have done that.

So...all that stuff unloaded from the car yesterday when we got home? Still there.

Maybe tomorrow.

Jiggity-Jig

Home again.

I love to go visiting at the Holidays. But nothing beats coming home again.

Until you get up the next morning and look around at all the stuff you brought in from the car the night before and just set down because you didn't want to deal with it right then and now it all needs to be put away.

So Sweet

And she said YES (click for story)!

Somebody Had A Good Time

I came home to find books knocked off shelves, pot holders tossed around the kitchen, the laundry hamper tipped over, the phone on the floor, paintings/drawings knocked off the top of the bookshelf, and a trash can spilled over and dug in.

Looks like I missed a wild kitty party.

Please forgive me

I know it is not right to take delight in the misfortune of others....

however, I am having a very hard time not being amused that my
ex-husband got arrested for the possesion of cocaine.

end#

Don't say Ewwww

You know how when you microwave a tv dinner that has mashed potatoes
or rice or stuffing or some kind of sauce and the edges always get a
little over done in a couple of spots and get that kind of hard
crunchy almost burned strip along the sides?

I love that part. I always eat that first.

Did You Know...

I don't like ice tea.

Living in the south, this makes me a bit of an oddity, but there it is.

I have tried all kinds of flavored tea drinks. But they all still have an underlying tea flavor. Blech.

Until now! I found one.

Trop*A*Rocka. A Diet Snapple flavor. It was created by Bret Michaels when he was on Celebrity Apprentice.

And under each lid is a "Real Fact" factoid.

Did you know...

India has a Bill of Rights for cows.

A spider's silk is stronger than steel.

The average lead pencil can draw a line 35 miles long or write roughly 50,000 English words.

A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

On average a man spends about 5 months of life shaving.

That's all I have drank so far....

Surplus

Before we started buying the forever stamps, the ones with no price on them, we had occasion to purchase those annoying 1 centers, to make up for the postage increase.

We ended up with a surplus.

Hubby solved the problem quite nicely all at once:

Yes, he really mailed that.

The Long Awaited Vacation Pics

Woohoo - scraping and painting the house...Before

During....

After...

And no, we didn't forget that one board. It needs to be replaced.

Yeah right. Like we can afford to go to Disney Land.

And yes. The window trim is staying white. It is much easier that way. If you don't like white window trim, you are more than welcome to come over and paint it blue to match the other trim.

I noticed while using that blue painters tape around the windows, that that blue is the exact same color as the house trim.

I guess that fits since our hallway is Stanley Tools yellow.

Next will be the Craftsman red in the living room.

Slightly Addicting

You were trying some of those moves, weren't you? Come on, you know you were.

Vacation Time

WoooHooo! Disney World here we come!

Well, It's Official...

I am a spoiled Princess. Breakfast in bed. AGAIN.

Now where'd I put my tiara?

Who's Got The World's Greatest Hubby?

I do! That's breakfast in bed. On a Tuesday morning. For no reason.

Say it with me: AAAWWWWWWW, how sweet!

I ask you...

Does this look even remotely comfortable?

Interesting Rides

Thanks Hermine

Rain, rain and more rain. From Monday night to Wednesday night we got almost 10 inches of rain. A summer of drought was made up for in 3 days.

This is the low end of the backyard. A small lake developed because of the debris that washed up against the gate.

Here are two pictures to show the culvert empty.

This is video of Hubby opening the gate and releasing the flood into the almost full drainage culvert that runs behind our house.

To the left of the driveway there, is that brand new sewer they spent FOREVER putting in. When they redid the road they made it at a slight tilt so everything would run in the direction of the sewer. I guess for a normal amount of rainthat is a good thing. But in this case it was horrible. Hubby took thesemore than an hour after I left for work. It was worse when I left. The water was up over the curb and onto the sidewalk, and much further up the bottom of our driveway. The car was parked in the street at the curb and I had to get in on the passenger side and climb across. I would have been soaked past my ankles if I had tried to go around to the driver side.

And let's not forget the marvelous effect it has on traffic. The 13 miles to work to over an hour.

But on the bright side, the foundation has shifted and I can temporarily get the front door to shut with just one hand.

I would really like....

....to find the person who invented this whole "tough love" concept and just smack them up side the head.

Really hard.

And poke them in the eye.

I don't care how right they are about it either.

Nobody Tells Me Anything

I know for a FACT that they don't require an appointment for immunizations.

I called when Surly Teenager needed to get some something or other for school. They said, no appointment necessary, just be sure to come in the afternoon. And she did. No problems.

So I go to the doctor's office at 1 pm (that's "in the afternoon") and tell them I need to get some immunizations. The lady at the reception desk says, Oh, we only do those from 2-4:30.

FINE.

I go back to the doctor's office at 2:15. I tell the lady at the reception desk that I need to get some immunizations. She looks at me for minute than asks if I have an appointment.

I say no, I thought for immunizations that you didn't need an appointment.

She asks, well have I talked to the nurse about it?

I need to talk to the nurse? Why do I need to talk to the nurse? They are immunizations for school, I'm going to school in the spring and I need some immunizations. No one ever said I needed to talk to the nurse first.

The reception lady looks up my chart, pulls it, and goes to talk to the nurse.

After about 10 minutes of standing there, trying not to get all bent out of shape, she comes back.

She says I need an appointment so I can talk to the nurse. Then she starts looking up appointments for me.

So I have not only wasted several hours off of work this afternoon, I now also have to waste several MORE hours off of work tomorrow.

Apparently you have to consult with the nurse when you make the decision to return to school.

Who knew.

A New Favorite From Our Local Chinese Food Place

Does Not Instill Confidence

I keep forgetting to tell this story....

I was in the hospital and it was the day after my surgery. A nurse comes in and says she needs to check my incisions.

I lay the bed back almost flat, and lift my gown to expose my tummy.

She starts looking around, kind of poking here and there, and counting. Then she starts pressing here and there, feeling around. She gets to one spot on my lower right side and gets a "look" on her face and keeps pressing in the same spot.

"Hmmm", she says with a frowny, concerned look on her face.

"What?" I ask.

"Hmmm. You seem to have a hard knot there. That's not good." More pressing around in the same general area.

"What?! Where?" I ask raising my head and trying to look and see where she was pressing.

"Right here." Press. Press.

I reached out my hand to feel where she was pressing. She put my hand in the spot and pressed down on the back of my hand so that I could feel what she was.

I looked up at her. "Here? Right here?"

She nods.

I just look at her a minute and blink. "Ummm, that's my hip bone."

She says, "No it's not. Because then there would be one on the other side too." She moves her hand over to the left.

"Oh."

It Makes Me Want To Cry

We've had to move my mom out of her cool little wheelchair accessible senior apartment place. She is in a nursing home now. Well, technically she is in the hospital - again - right now, but she has been in a nursing home since her previous hospital visit, which was in May.

She just never got her "umph" back, and wasn't able to hardly stand up, much less walk a few steps to be able to transfer from wheelchair to a chair, bed or toilet.

It finally got to where Medicare wasn't going to pay as much any longer, and she can't afford the apartment and trying to pay the nursing home co-pay.

We gave final notice to the apartment the beginning of the month and started the go-through-stuff-clean-out-throw-away routine one more time. At least it was on a much smaller scale this time.

And yes, that did coincide with me just having had surgery. Poor Hubby. He has been a trooper. I can't lift or carry hardly anything yet, and any type of prolonged activity leaves me achey and needing a nap, so it has all fallen on him.

We are planning a yard sale, maybe a two weekend in a row one, to get rid of stuff that Lazy Non-Teenager and her Honey Dew didn't take for their apartment. She even contributed some stuffs that Mr. Nice Guy left behind when he moved out.

But in the mean time - oy vey - my poor living room.

Think Hoarders, and you will get an idea of what my house looks like right now. Everything is piled up and there is a walking path through the room.

It's so depressing that I am not even going to take a picture of it. I'll take a picture of the yard sale.

Then you can wonder how all that stuff was able to be piled in my tiny living room.

Eye Spy....

With my EVIL eye......

A co-worker brought it back from Crete, Greece for me. They believe in the "evil eye" in their culture and this charm watches over you and brings you good luck and wards off the "evil eye".

Every Year

Surly Teenager is on the school's gymnastic team. She has been the entire time she has been in high school.

They require a sports physical. Every year.

And every year, I forget that she needs one, until she brings home the form that says SPORTS PHYSICAL DUE BY NEXT TUESDAY.

Thank goodness she is a senior.

Next year when I forget about the sports physical, it won't matter.

My Current Headache

Since I do not use Medco for my prescriptions, the current bane of my existence is my FSA (flexible spending account) administrators, PayFlex.

On a quarterly basis, they will pick a transaction and request receipts and documentation. And woe and misery to you if you do not make them happy with EOB's (explanation of benefits) from your insurance and receipts and statements from your service provider. They will freeze your card and you will not have access to your funds until you do make them happy.

Last month they decided to pick on our dental payments. I sent EOB's for Hubby, Surly Teenager and myself, because we all go to the same dentist. Well, that wasn't quite enough to instill happiness in them. So I called and talked to someone and some more exact information about what they wanted. Then I called the dentist and explained what PayFlex was looking for.

Naturally, the dentist office doesn't see things the way PayFlex does. Part of the problem is that since the 3 of us go to the same place and the insurance is under one policy, they have us set up as one account. So a "balance due" reflects anything from anybody.

So when Surly Teenager and I went in June and I paid $400 some odd dollars, it wasn't for just the stuff we were having done. No, because that would make things too easy. It also included stuff from earlier in the year. A couple of re-cementings that Hubby did, a left over balance from my visit in February. And stuff that we pay for that they don't file insurance on, because they already know it is not a covered expense. Things like that.

Well PayFlex doesn't see it that way. They see it as so you paid $400 dollars in June, show me EOB's and receipts dated from June that reflect this.

Major headache.

Anyway, I spent the better part of an afternoon getting this straightened out before I was off work for 2 weeks. I didn't want to go to pick up pain medicine and have my card declined. I called PayFlex after sending in the last round of paperwork and went over it on the phone with the person and got the final all clear, this makes us happy.

They lied to me.

About 3 days before I am due to return to work, I get a call from Hubby at the pharmacy, picking up prescriptions, that the card was declined. I go on line and look and sure enough, PayFlex had frozen the card because they weren't happy.

And it was for the same things that I had thought I had straightened out already.

I called and explained how I had already sent in everything and talked to someone and was told everything was fine. Well this new person couldn't see it, so the not happy verdict stays.

I was really not happy myself at the thought of having to do this all again, until I noticed that our remaining balance for the year was $17.

Fine. They can just STAY not happy until I feel like messing with it.

And for $17 it isn't going to be anytime soon.

You Should Be Very Impressed

And not just because I am finally putting something here.

I went to the track this morning.

I jogged half a mile and walked one lap.

I was slower than molasses at the North Pole, but still. Three weeks
after surgery. I'm impressed.

I wore my high waisted panty girdle to hold things still so my tummy
wouldn't jiggle as much and hopefully keep my incisions from getting
too sore. It seemed to work well enough. It was uncomfortable as hell
though.

Now I REALLY need a nap.

The things you learn....

...when your mind is no longer clouded by pain killers.

Apparently, I did not have a hiatal hernia. It was a slip with a ton of scar tissue adhered to it.

The old band was cut free, scar tissue removed and a new band placed.

So I did get the new band.

Now for the big question...will insurance still pay for it with it not being a hiatal hernia?

Lord I hope so. I would not have had the surgery otherwise. I would not have voluntarily put us thousands of dollars into debt.

Dave Ramsey would kill me.

Ouch

I'm still alive.

The surgery got started a lot later in the day than I was originally scheduled for. Then it took longer than he thought it would due to a lot of scar tissue. Due to both issues, they just admitted me and kept me overnight.

Then since I was already there they kept me for a barium swallow test. Can you say yummy? Blech. Nastiest stuff I have EVER tasted.

Then they kept me some more just to make sure I was able to drink enough to stay hydrated. It was tough, because the surgery has made me feel all bloated and full, but I finally managed enough for them to declare me dischargeable. I got home late Wednesday afternoon.

I spent the rest of Wednesday and most of Thursday in a fog of pain and nausea. Headache pain. Not surgery pain. It wasn't until late Thursday when I was sitting on the couch, rocking back and forth, crying and moaning and holding my head to keep it from splitting open and having my brains run down my neck, that I happen to notice the bottle of nausea medicine. "May Cause Headaches".

I was so mad I threw it across the room.

The source of all my misery, and I was doing it to myself. I was religiously taking the nausea medicine because throwing up with a lap band is bad. Throwing up with a brand new lap band is worse.

Once that last dose finally wore off, I woke up from a nap and actually felt decent. I just lay there not moving, afraid if I moved I would spoil the feeling. Then I figured I better take advantage of it while it lasted and got some soup and some liquid protein in me.

I took my pain medicine around 11 and went to bed and slept through until 9 am this morning!

This morning is the first time I feel fairly normal. The surgery pain isn't too bad, but it is a lot worse than the first time. I don't know if that is due to the hiatal hernia repair part of it, or because of all the scar tissue he had to cut through or what, but OUCH.

Surgery Day

Finally.

I will be leaving shortly. The surgery isn't until 1 pm. I've never been scheduled in the afternoon before. It kind of sucks. No eating or drinking after midnight, but then your procedure isn't until the afternoon.

Makes a person parched.

I hope they don't expect a urine sample.

Keeping Busy

My latest obsessions, to keep me from eating:

1000 pieces

Evony

(a Facebook game)

One of four kingdoms in my empire.

You know you are hungry when...

...your mouth starts watering while you are stirring a container of yogurt.

Day ONE

I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but I got approved for the surgery. I got the happy, about to go on vacation, just got a raise, insurance person when my request went through.

Juyly 27. Hiatal hernia repair, brand new band.

That makes today - DAY ONE - of the required 2 week liquid diet.

What is the purpose of this, you may ask. It is to shrink the liver. The liver is partially over the upper part of the stomach. It has to be retracted to perform this surgery. It is easier to retract, less fatty, less chance of accidental bleeding, if it has been pre-shrunk. This all helps the surgery go easier and faster.

And I am all for the easier, faster surgery.

I did something this morning that I have not done in the last 2 months. I got on the scale. It was not pretty. I knew I was gaining. My pants were starting to get tight again. Not a pleasant experience.

If nothing else it has proven to me that I am not able to maintain my weight without the lap band. I am just too hungry ALL THE TIME. I had gotten used to not having the feeling, and then feeling it again was overwhelming. And even though I would tell myself that nothing had really changed and I didn't need to eat that much, I couldn't stand feeling hungry ALL THE TIME. No matter how far I have come, how much I have lost, how much progress I have made - inside my head is still FAT and it looks like it always will be.

That makes me sad. I had always hoped that losing the weight, I would eventually think like a thin person.

So anyway, I gained. 21 pounds.

But I know I can do a liquid diet, because I did it before. And I did not cheat one single time. I was too scared too. I was convinced that my surgeon would be able to tell. That he would peek inside and see my fatty, not shrunk enough liver, and just say, no lap band for her! I know that is not the case. But just knowing I was able to do it before, makes me know that I can do it again.

I'll just be a little extra grumpy for a few days.

Thats Just Not Funny

I don't like working off hours at my job. It is a big building, and when it is not packed full of people it is just creepy.

Especially at night. The lights are on a timer. So if you happen to stay past 7pm, the lights go out. It's not too horrible during the summer because it is still light out, but during the winter - creepy.

And on the weekends. Creepy.

I worked for a few hours this morning. All by my lonesome.

I had the lights on in the area I work in, but the other parts were intermittently and dimly lit.

I was walking back from the bathroom and walked past the bank of 6 elevators. This was in one of the dim sections.

All of sudden - DING - all 6 elevators open at once. And they were empty.

I jumped. I screamed. It was a good thing I had just been to the bathroom.

It scared me to death.

Much to the enjoyment of the giggling maintenance men on the first floor.

Not Done - But Progress

Bed was found on Craigslist. It is sturdy as hell. It is handmade out of really nice plywood. All it needed was a new coat of paint. A steal for $50.

The bedding is courtesy of Wal-Mart. The picture doesn't do it justice. It is a gorgeous plum color and looks absolutely divine with the wall color, Distant Valley.

It's not done. We need curtains. A rug. A bedside table. A lamp. The shelves hung. A mirror. And this and that.

But it is done enough for Borrowed Daughter and Revlis to not have to sleep on the couch any more.

In Progress

BEFORE THE UNSTUFFING:

DURING THE TRANSITION:

You weren't expecting an AFTER yet were you? We're still working on it.