MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Yes, I am still up and it is now Christmas morning. I wonder if any of you have opened a gift or two early? I haven't. I am patiently waiting until morning. I hope all of you get exactly what you hoped for. I have also followed Melissa's lead, and written "The Night Before Christmas" with a little help. I do believe that mine makes even less sense than Melissa's. Either way, they are both somewhat idiotic, but funny.
St. Sandra D enjoys filling jammies after coming down the recliner. If someone has no recliner, she will come down the stove pipe, or come through the water pipe. If you have no jammies to fill, St. Sandra D will fill your underwear or dirty socks. Try to have some jammies though cause you'll get more.

http://www.rinkworks.com/crazylibs/c/c11.shtml

'Twas the Night Before Christmas"
'Twas the morning before Christmas, and all through the castle,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a kitty katt.
The jammies were hung by the recliner with care,
In hopes that St. Sandra d soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-cookies danced in their ears.
And mother in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the rocker to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Called open the shutters, and ironed up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave the luster of mid-moment to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear?
But a merry cookie, and eight tiny tigers.
With a little old driver, so lively and joyous,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Sandra D.
More rapid than gorillas her tigers they came,
And she whistled, and cuddled, and called them by name;
"Now, Dasher! Now, Kristi! Now, Snow and Vixen!
On, Toddler! On Puppy! On, Shirt and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! To the top of the elf!
Now holler away! Holler away! Holler away all!"
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof,
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the recliner St. Sandra D came with a bound.
Her eyes -- how they followed! Her dimples, how white!
Her feet were like reindeer, her nose like a candy!
She spoke not a word but went straight to her work,
And filled all the jammies, then turned with a jerk.
And laying her mouth aside of her hand,
And giving a nod, up the recliner she rose.
She sprang to her sleigh, to her team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard her exclaim, as she drove out of sight,"
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good morning!"

Merry Christmas, and "God Bless Us, Everyone." TTFN

Melissa

I failed to discuss her when I wrote all about mom's and Robert's problems. So tonight I am going to mention her as well as various grandchildren if need be.
Melissa has to potty all the time. She gets tummy aches (most likely since she has Crohns), and spends hours upon hours upon the john. But, if she doesn't get to the bathroom soon enough with her waterworks as well, she wets her panties. So, things are not going well in either of her sewer departments. It makes me sad.
Another problem with Melissa is her heart. Her heart really and truly is a problem. She has atrial fibrillation really bad. A month on the King of Hearts Monitor showed her normal resting heart rate to be near 160 beats per minute. NOT GOOD!!! I try not to think about that problem if I can avoid it. Because I really do get sad and worried. So, I shall forget I even wrote anything about her real heart problem and focus on her secondary heart disease. It skips beats at times (when it is not beating faster than the speed of light. It usually occurs when Mike walks into the room she is in, or when she heads out to pick him up and sees him stretch his very, very long legs to get out of his truck. Now those legs of his are so long. They must stretch to at least 9 or 10 inches give or take. His torso is rather short though, so overall he is near 5 feet tall.....probably shorter than me. Thank goodness his legs are so long. He can just stretch one of them out the door of his monster truck and it actually touches the ground right then and there------if he falls that is. What can I say?
Anyway, I digressed. Melissa's heart skips a beat when she sees Mike, so because that is such a serious affliction, I honestly think he needs to wear a bag over his head when he gets home or leaves the bathroom after his long shower and "special session with john." I don't want to have to continue worrying so very, very much about Melissa's heart anymore. So, perhaps I should purchase several little brown bags for Mike to wear when he is within Melissa's vicinity. Stress is bad for me. He needs to honor his monster-in-law here and help relieve my stress. WEAR THE DARN BAG!!!!!
Now, I guess I should mention my oldest child Timothy Tiger Lily Two Step. I just saw a very recent photo of him, and I nearly had a heart attack. Nobody, but nobody should cause me such a thing. But, his hair or lack thereof was a shock to my system. That round circle of skin towards the back portion of his head was not there the last time he visited. I should have been warned. Next time I hope someone will give me a gentle talk so that I will be prepared. Because when I see him next time (maybe two years after this visit) I am certain there will be other changes. My son has gotten old. What does that mean for me? He is balding just like his baby brother. That is just sick and wrong. Can't anyone in my little family maintain an extra hair or two?
Well, I think that I am done for tonight. I may touch on the problems my poor, little grandchildren face on a daily basis. But, that will be left for another day--- if my children don't make me lose my marbles first. After all they are sick, or hurt, or losing hair by the second. Wait a minute. I lost my marbles a long time ago. I'm good! TTFN.....

This Is Not Christmas

For those of you who don't know it, me madre is sick with a super, nasty cold. Yesterday she felt like real crap. Colds affect the elderly much worse than they do some of the rest of us. Maybe, that's not totally correct. The one I caught in August lasted me forever and a day it seemed. It has also left some permanent damage I believe. My ribs are still affected. I am assuming they may continue to be for a long, long time.

I have been doing all that I can to avoid catching the virus mom is carrying around. So has Kris. We DO NOT WANT a Merry Christmas cold! That is just sick and wrong. Anyway, we continue to monitor mom's condition to the best of our ability. If she worsens, she will take an ambulance trip. The three of us agreed on that one. But, so far, so good. Her oxygen levels are still okay. I checked her hands a few minutes ago, unbeknownst to her.

The other thing some of you don't know is that last Sunday, Robert was involved in an accident on his way to work. He was a passenger, not the driver. He remembers very little about it because with the truck flipping over, he received a serious concussion. He did go back in yesterday because several people pushed him into returning. His symptoms are apparently normal for such an injury. He has what feels like a continual migraine, he gets severely dizzy (scared Sadie May last night), and his memory is affected. Sadie has offered to teach him how to tie shoes. He cannot remember how to do that simple task etc. He also gets very confused. So, it is affecting his job too. That scares him because he does know that eventually it could cause Walmart to let him go. That worries me too. But, he gets confused at work, he vomits there, he forgets how to rotate products etc. He has been sent home more than once so far.

Anyway, these are not good things to happen anytime, but even less so at Christmas. It makes for a less than jolly holiday. Sometimes life just"ain't fair." I will still continue to watch Christmas movies, listen to my lovely music, and be happy that we are having snow for the holiday though. I am keeping a positive outlook....as positive as I am capable of keeping. So, Merry Christmas and safe driving in the lovely snow! TTFN

Christmas

For some reason, this Christmas holiday isn't as much fun as it could be. The time has been passing to quickly, and the weather was way too warm. However, that has since changed. It got very cold almost overnight. I am somewhat acclimated now, but at first I was just freezing. I honestly didn't mind it that much though. When it's so cold, it just feels so good to go to bed at night and snuggle under warm blankets.

Anyway, it is more Christmasy here now. If only my mind would find that Christmas Spirit, all would be wonderful and exciting. Although others here don't believe me, I don't intend to buy and create Christmas gifts all through the year any longer. It's too hard on me. If the piles of gifts are going to cause me more anxiety and feelings of being overwhelmed and crowded, then it just isn't worth it. And, I do wonder if that is part of the reason for my lack of enjoyment this year.

I have said this same thing for the last couple of years too, so those who have heard it before don't believe me. It's the story of the boy who cried wolf. I cried wolf once too often. But, now it is in black and white here for all the world of bloggers to read. I do not want to collect hordes of gifts all through the year anymore. It drives me crazy. I plan to do Christmas during the season instead. If, during the year I get an urge to create, I will, but no more buying of gifts until the holiday season. I am looking forward to being able to use my closet as well as the underside of my bed for something other than Christmas gifts. Everyone may end up with a little less, but I will have nearly a year to think about what they need most or what might be special.

So, now then for all of you reading this, since I have cried wolf before, you will just have to wait and see if I follow through. But, this time at least I know I will be doing as I say rather than the opposite. Time will prove that to all of you. That's all I can say.

Luana has put family poetry on her blog as well as lots of Christmasy photos. I am going to put a couple of photos of our snow here. At least all can see that finally it's beginning to look and feel more like Christmas here. Walking on or driving on icy roads is difficult, but snow is really pretty. It adds a very necessary and beautiful ingredient to the Christmas Season. Hey school will end for a short time the end of the week. Kids need to go skiing, snowboarding, and sledding. It'll be Christmas holiday. Snow is a big part of that. Welcome Christmas. TTFN

Sadie and Sophie

Because I wanted nice photos of the girls, I tried to take them myself. I had them wear their new dresses for the photos. It was mostly a lost cause. Sophie has become very hyper, and would not stop moving. I got no really good photos. Now then that is in part due to the fact that I don't have a camera that can take pics quickly. With that I think one is bound to get an occasional good expression. It is also partly due to the fact that I am not gifted in the art of photography. But, my biggest problem was the fact that Sophie insisted on moving a lot and making faces. She just was not at all cooperative. Even when I got a decent shot of Sadie, there was Sophie making a lovely face for me. Never again will I try to do the IMPOSSIBLE! I had such grand ideas. Anyhoo, I will work on the occasional somewhat decent photo in the bunch and do the best I can with them.

I am attaching a couple for all eyes to get a good laugh at my attempt. I have done nothing with these to fix them, and probably won't. They aren't good. They just give you all an idea of Sophie's idea of "good" photos. Enjoy! TTFN