Surviving Christmas

Hello all.

Sorry this post is a day late. We were all recovering from Christmas overload.

We came home from our holiday travels on Sunday afternoon. It was a LONG 5 days.

We loaded up and left on Wednesday morning. We intended to be on the road by 7am, and on our way to the Panhandle to spend Christmas Eve with Dear Hubby's family. But the night before we left, hubby started throwing up, too.

He thought he was okay the next morning, but an hour into the trip, he began to get chilled, started shaking, and feeling light-headed. While he was driving!

We made it another 45 minutes, and pulled into a town where his aunt lives to get gas. I convinced him to stop at her house to rest, and he decided he couldn't make the rest of the trip (another 2 1/2 hours in the car).

So we visited for a few minutes, dropped off gifts, and drove back to my mom's house. I thought hubby would want to just go back home, but he was convinced he would be well in a day or two, and wanted to move ahead with the travel agenda.

And the rest of the weekend wore on with lots of presents (the kids were positively swamped with gifts), lots of food, and more travel.

But, we did have a great time. I loved seeing our families, though I'm sad we didn't get to see part of hubby's relatives. They are an intriguing bunch, to be sure, his grandpa is downright ornery, and Christmas dinner at his house is always an adventure (last year it was roast yak).

Tomorrow we will be off to Tulsa to visit his parents over New Year's weekend, and I will be celebrating my birthday on Jan. 2.

Happy Birthday to ME! (And, NO, I'm not telling how old I am. And the first person who rats me out will get a great big banner in their front yard on their birthday with an incriminating number if they do.)

And also, Happy Birthday to my dear friend, Tina. It was good to talk to her on Christmas morning, and I hope she has a great birthday!!

Have a Happy New Year, and I hope everyone gets a great start to 2009. See you on Monday.

Later.

Aw, Gross - Part 2

Hello, all.

Sorry I'm so late with this post. I've been up all night with the twins. They were both puking their guts up all night.

ALL NIGHT LONG!

I've had, maybe, two hours of sleep.

And the vomit on the floor . . . too many times to count, seriously. And as sad as it is to say, luckily this time they hit mostly the hardwoods or tile.

But the weird thing (besides me talking about puke two posts in a row) is that they act fine. No fever, aches, pains, stomach cramps, nothing. They were up playing one minute, and puking the next.

Well, I'm done. I've gotta keep an eye on the kids and get some rest, if possible.

I probably won't post again until next Monday, so I hope you all have a Merry Christmas. Eat lots of food, give your family lots of hugs, torment the people you love (in a good way!), and give thanks for the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Later.

Aw, Gross!

Good morning, everyone.

Okay, if you have a weak stomach, I suggest you skip the post today, and browse another time.

Yesterday, my sons had their Christmas parties at school. Hubby and I both got to go, and we spent our time bouncing back and forth between their classrooms.

They both came home with a ton of treats (candy, cookies, chips, crackers, etc.), and asked if it would be alright to have some.

I agreed, and we separated everything into piles. They started eating, I changed the baby and put her down for a nap.

The afternoon wore on, and the boys grazed on their buffet of junk food while I worked on the bills.

In the early evening I put a stop to the candy fest, and told them they could have another piece after supper that night. About thirty minutes later Twin B crawled up in my lap, and told me his stomach hurt. I checked him for a fever, asked if he thought he was gonna throw up, and he said no.

A few minutes later I couldn't find him, and realized he had gone to his bedroom, crawled into bed, and fallen asleep.

I was instantly worried. This is a kid who NEVER, EVER voluntarily takes a nap.

While he slept, his brother and I started dinner, and then Dear Hubby came home. We both checked on him, ate dinner, and waited for him to wake up.

I slipped off into our bedroom later to get some work done, and suddenly I hear my husband calling for me.

I rush into the hallway just in time to see Twin B puke all over the carpet two inches before he made it into the tiled bathroom.

I dodge husband and child, hurry toward the kitchen to grab some paper towels, and come to a screeching halt.

The vomiting incident I witnessed wasn't the first round, apparently. The hardwood living room floor was covered in puke. Covered!

I'll bet that kid hit a ten square foot radius. It was everywhere.

And of course, this is the time the baby decides to investigate that wet, smelly stuff.

SO after getting her clean, I got to start on the floors, and spent two hours cleaning, scrubbing, and disinfecting.

Not my idea of spending a relaxing evening at home with the family.

But Twin B was fine after that, he slept through the night with no more incidents, and is at school today. Hopefully we won't get any phone calls telling us to come get him because he's sick again.

Everyone have a great weekend, and DON'T over-do it on the sweets. Your momma was right. You WILL get a belly ache.

Later.

Energy Fix

Hello, all.

Wow. We have had a rough morning.

This cold, trapped indoors weather is making our family nuts.

Seriously crazy.

For three days, the twins have been unable to play outside at school, and I haven't been letting them go out to play in the evening either. It's been 15 degrees outside! No way am I letting them out there to freeze.

But I'm beginning to think I should just let them run wild in the frigid air for a little while, just to take the edge off some of that energy.

Because OH, MY GOSH! they are FULL of energy. Pent-up, caged-in, trapped-like-rats, suppressed energy.

This morning, they were up at 6:30am, chattering away. And they would not shut up. I don't know if they paused to take a breath.

And of course, the morning wouldn't have been complete without the two of them fighting constantly. Also from the time they got up until they left for school.

As much as I love them, I was ready for them to GO! Get out of this house, and take their uncontrollable energy with them.

But they are supposed to have P.E. today, and I pray they have the chance to run wild for an hour, just to help take the edge off.

Or the weather is gonna have to warm up slightly. Just enough to get them out of the house and running around the yard all bundled up in coats, hats, and gloves.

I don't know if I can take another three days of the fighting, yelling, screaming, fighting, jumping up and down on the furniture, fighting . . .

We'll see how it goes.

Later.

Typical Monday

And a good Monday morning to you all.

We are coming off a crazy weekend of Christmas shopping, cleaning, getting the clean house dirty again, and movie watching (just reruns, nothing new).

Whew!

Today, I am just catching up on my blog reading, preparing an article to send out, and tackling the mountain of laundry that I got washed, but never managed to fold.

Darling Daughter is playing, and decided over the weekend that she is the Princess of the World. If her Daddy ignored her for longer than 10 seconds, she melted down into a screaming hissy-fit. She could have cared less if Mommy was in the room or not, and when I did come in to calm her down (poor Hubby was about to pull all his hair out: she wouldn't even let him go to the bathroom alone), the "Pretty, Pretty Princess" routine died down real quick.

And that's it for us.

I'm going back to work on my proposal, and I'll talk to you again on Wednesday.

Later!

A Blue Christmas

Good morning, all.

TGIF!

I am happy to be through this week, and am looking forward to a party tonight with my OKC writer's group. We're bringing our significant others to this gathering, so they can finally meet all these people we talk about, and commiserate together on how difficult it is to be married to those "writers".

This weekend I plan to work around the house, and hopefully finish up my Christmas shopping. I've picked up a few things here and there over the last couple of weeks, which is really helping to knock items off the list, but I still have lots to do, and don't really enjoy it all that much.

Mostly, I'm just ready to get the holidays over with.

How sad is that?

I really need to get into the Christmas spirit. Cheer up. Put on a happy face. Whatever cliche I can think of to get excited about the next three weeks.

I want to be excited. I want to be thrilled about Christmas. I want to celebrate the New Year. But I just don't have it in me right now.

Maybe once the gifts are bought, wrapped, and under the tree I'll feel better.

Who knows.

I hope you all are having a fantastic holiday season. If you have any tips or hints for getting revved up about Christmas, let me know.

I need to get jolly, by golly.

Later.

Sad Day

Hey, guys.

I'm so sad today. This is the two year anniversary of my dad's death.

I honestly don't know what to write about this. I miss him, obviously. So many things have happened since he passed away.

His first granddaughter was born.

His grandsons started Kindergarten.

There have been trips to Las Vegas, Colorado, and the biggest trip of all; Disneyland.

We moved into our new house.

My brother has done amazing improvements at the ranch. And they may be building a house soon (still not too sure about that, don't know details, so don't quote me).

I don't know what else to say. I miss him every day. He was gruff. He was loud (very loud). Opinionated. Stubborn. Loyal. Hilarious. Loud. Embarrassing (aren't all parents to their kids?). Loved his family. Fun. Did I mention loud? A good portion of the adventures I had as a kid can be laid at his feet.

Then there's the music. Dad and I had this musical connection. We could call each other and ask, "Who sang this or that song? What year? What else did they sing?" And most of the time one of us knew the answer.

Too many times I'm driving down the road, and one of "Dad's Songs" comes on the radio. Some of them make me smile. Some just make me cry.

The Kentucky Derby isn't the same without him. We'd call each other and ask, "Who do you want in the Derby?" I always wanted the gray horse. Didn't even know or care what its record was, the name, its spot in the gate, or anything. Just the gray. Dad knew exactly which horse he wanted, and usually won, or at least placed or showed.

I miss going to the races with him. He always wanted to go to the Derby, but we never made it.

Football isn't the same. I miss giving him a hard time about the Dallas Cowboys. Cheering for the OSU Cowboys, and him giving my hubby a hard time about the OU Sooners. Dad had a personal vendetta against Barry Switzer, and tormented hubby about it.

And I think that's all I can say about this today. I miss you, Dad.

Later.

Dad and my brother at the twins 1st Birthday Party. Dad did not

like having his picutre taken.

Random Update

Hello to you all.

We had a good weekend. I went to Tulsa to the WIN-ACFW writer's Christmas Party. I got a couple of gifts for my sons' teachers at our silent auction, got to eat some good food, and supported my friend who was this month's speaker.

My hubby was way excited that OU won the Big 12 Championship, and will be going to the BCS National Championship game against Florida.

We are all healthy at the moment, and things are going pretty good so far.

I am coming up on my self-imposed deadline to send out my adult romantic comedy, and I have to say, I am SUPER nervous!

This story is my first attempt at an adult book, and with the current economy, and the current state of the publishing industry (everyone is cutting back), I have no idea how my book will fair. I hope well.

We'll see. Have a great week. If you've already finished all your Christmas shopping . . . don't brag to me. I haven't yet, and don't want to hear about it! But a grudging congratulations on getting out there early and getting it done.

Later!

Enjoy the Weekend

Well, good morning everyone. I'm a bit late with my post this morning.

We have been taking Darling Daughter off bottles and moving to a cereal and milk-in-sippy-cups only breakfast.

Boy, has that been fun (please note the sarcasm in my typing). We have one particular cup that is meant to help with the transition by using typical sippy cup lids, but they are made of squishy silicone to simulate the feel of a regular bottle in the baby's mouth.

Great concept.

Except Darling Daughter sucks on the squishy top, gets her mouth completely full of milk, and then lets it all dump down her chin, and dribble from her chest to her belly buuton.

And she only does it with the squishy top. Not the hard plastic sippy cup lids. So I've been standing over her with a wet towel, letting her drink only so much, and then swiping the cup when the milk starts to flow, and soaking it up with the towel.

But I have been off to a really slow start today, and I don't think it will get much better. So much to do, and so little time.

I hope you all have a happy, productive weekend.

Later.

All The Good Ones Are Gone

I know this is my second post in the same day, shocking to say the least, but I just had to blog about my frustration.

Like the entire cyber-world (or at least the few of you who read my blog) wanted to hear about this.

I am so annoyed that one of my favorite shows on TV is being cancelled, Eli Stone.

My sister-in-law warned me over Thanksgiving that she thought it was a goner, but I didn't take heed, and now I am so disappointed to find out it's true.

Basic premise: a high powered attorney starts having "visions", goes to see his doctor (who is also his brother) and finds out he has a brain aneurysm. So he has visions about cases he is working on, and questions whether a higher power is leading him on a prophetic journey to help people, or is the aneurysm just making him wacko. And if it is God, just what does He want from Eli anyway.

This show has a stellar cast: Jonny Lee Miller (who happens to be Angelina Jolie's first ex-husband), Natasha Henstridge, Victor Garber, Loretta Devine, and more. There are musical numbers (some of them VERY well done, some of them corny, but cute), great dialogue, funny scenes, dramatic scenes, conflict out the wahzoo . . . I love this show.

And therein lies the problem. I love this show. When "I" love a show, and really get into it, it is the official kiss of death for said endeavor.

If I get in on a new show right from the beginning, and faithfully watch every episode, that show will go belly up within the first two seasons.

If I come in late on a series and have to catch-up, it lasts for years. Seriously.

And yes, I know I am placing way too much importance on my ability to make or break the fate of a television show in Hollywood, but still. After the third or fourth time this has happened, I'm beginning to wonder what the deal is.

I would love to start a "Save Eli Stone" petition, but the truth is, I have other things to do. I just hate to see a good show die when I know it will be replaced by junk later. And I'm sure there are those who would argue that Eli Stone is the "junk", but it was clean, good-humored, and wasn't afraid to touch on God and His sovereignty in our lives.

I liked that.

Later.

Christmas Decorating

Good morning, all. I hope you are having a great week.

I think our household is finishing off the last round of a cold bug. Dear Hubby came home early from work yesterday with a cough, stuffy nose, and achy. He went straight to bed, and didn't get up again until this morning. But he seems to be doing great today. I guess 14 hours of sleep is just what he needed.

Oh, Christmas is rushing at me, a head-on collision in the making, and I am SOOOOO unprepared. We've managed to get our tree down, and set up, but no decorations, lights, tinsel, etc. adorn the branches yet. We probably won't do lights on the house, and we'll be lucky to get more than just the tree to decorate the inside as well.

I'm not entirely sure why.

I know my family decorated when we were kids, not all out department-store window decorating, but lights, wreaths, bows, candy canes, etc.

In college, I was never at my apartment during the holidays, so it seemed like a waste to put up decorations for a week, and then we'd be well into the new year before I got back.

After I got married, and Hubby went to grad school, it was kind of the same thing. We decorated some, but we never spent the two weeks surrounding Christmas at home. Plus we had two cats, and couldn't keep them out of the tree.

Then we moved to Arkansas, and it was the same scenario. We weren't home, we rented tiny houses for the first few years and didn't have much room for a tree or the decorations, and I never saw the point of doing all that work if we weren't going to be there to enjoy any of it.

Our first year back in Oklahoma we were in an apartment while our house was being built, and the same old story; no space, small children who wanted to play with all those pretty, shiny glass ornaments, and we spent most of the time at our family's houses anyway.

But now it's different. We have our own house, we won't be gone for weeks at a time during December, and the kids are totally psyched about having decorations for Christmas.

The only problem is me. I just haven't found that "Decorating Spirit" yet. The one that says get going, decorate that tree, get those other decorations out and put Christmas bling everywhere. Maybe over the weekend the spirit will take me, but until then, I'll be struggling just to get the tree done.

I know I don't want to disappoint my boys, so we'll probably be adding more and more as the month goes by. And that doesn't even include all the shopping left to do.

But we will persevere and get it done!

I hope you all have yours finished already.

Later.

A Good Weekend

Good morning, all. I hope everyone enjoyed the Thanksgiving weekend.


I know we had a great time. We started the weekend with my hubby's family, though that trip got off to a rocky start. Darling daughter was sick the night before and the morning of Thanksgiving day, so she didn't get much sleep. Which means Mommy didn't get ANY sleep.


We got to hubby's aunt's house, where the boys immediately took off with their cousins to play on the trampoline and swing set, and I didn't see them again for a few hours.


But the roughest part was the baby girl. She wanted NO ONE but momma. Which meant I carried her on my hip or sat with her in my lap most of the day.


And my poor, poor sister-in-law, Al. She is the sweetest girl, just love her, and she is always so nice to us and our kids, but she couldn't even look at Darling Daughter because the baby would burst into tears. Howling, screaming, clinging to me for dear life. Any eye contact whatsoever sent the child into freak-out mode, and my poor sister-in-law did nothing to warrant such harsh treatment.


I felt so terrible about it, and I hope Christmas goes better.


But my hubby got to hang with his brothers, they watched football, the food was good, we got to enjoy lots of time with his family, and had a wonderful time.


Then we went to my mom's house, and I spent another sleepless night with the baby, who was still recovering from her cold.


We did a little shopping, did a lot of cooking, and enjoyed another great holiday meal. I made my first ever homemade pie . . . from scratch. Made the crust, rolled it out, made the filling, crimped the edges, all of it.



Of course, my mom was standing right there with me the whole time, talking me through the process.


And I can honestly say that if I never make another pie again, it won't hurt my feelings one bit. I'm glad I made one from scratch. It was a good experience to say, "Yeah, I can make a homemade pie." But it's not something I would enjoy doing frequently.


I have an incredibly renewed respect for the homemakers of previous generations. Because that is some hot, sweaty, strenuous, and thankless work. My mom and I spent almost all day Saturday cooking and cleaning the house to get ready for our meal on Sunday.


So Sunday night rolls around, and after everyone has eaten and gone home, my brother struts into the den where mom and I are sitting down for a break and says, "Isn't anyone gonna clean up in the kitchen? You guys need to put that food away before it goes bad."

It took all my self-control not to leap over the ottoman and strangle him with my bare hands.


But . . . there's always Christmas.

Later.