The relish tray

My niece and her fiance's version of the "relish tray" at Christmas.  Funny!

The movie "A Better Life" made me cry. It may help if you know some Spanish (Of course I took French in high school). The movie did not sub-title the conversations in Spanish.

Things around here have been quiet. Not as quiet as when I lived alone for six months. My daughter is twenty. She should be active and moving around and coming and going. That is what you do at twenty. The dogs are pushing me, but I figure they need an adjustment period, too.

I have lots of work to do to keep me busy. I am supposed to be going through totes and sorting/pitching and organizing "stuff".  A friend had two computer issues. One I resolved already the other one I have waiting on the piano bench. 

See? Again, I will do anything to get out of "house" work like the sorting of "stuff" I should be doing. Heh. Grocery store today. I need almost everything. Since I was by myself for six months not much got used up. This holiday tore through that. (Flour, sugar, detergents etc...). Dog food. Always dog food. You know, I gotta keep them dogs pooping. I have cut their food down a good bit and am thinking about cutting down more. They are all very plump. But,  you should see them play when I take them outside. Now I am back to thinking fence. Sigh. Money, money, money.

Hello...Nice to meet you...here - have some germs.

I watched Contagion.  Fishburne's character brought up a very ironic fact. In the old days - the gesture of shaking hands was to show the person we were meeting that we held no weapons that would harm them.

As all of us now know, we have the unseen killer. The minuscule germs. And, I still shake people's hands. Can we bring in the elbow rub or the fist bump?

The movie was good in a way that it brought attention to the way a disease such as SARS can get out into the world and spread rapidly. I was astounded at Winslet's character's remark about the average person touches their face 3 to 4 thousand (yes, thousand) times a day!

Can you hear me, now?

Did I mention that my nephew has to have the TV volume up to ear piercing levels? LOL! I love him no matter what. Santa delivered this sound bar to my house to go with the TV Santa brought me last year. It is like being in the theater, now.

I had a horrible dream last night. I dreamt that I had a German Shepherd dog and he took off one day and did not come back. I called him and called him. I kept him in the basement (this basement in my dream was the one at my Mom's house where I grew up).

One day I needed to go to the basement and I saw a movement. I was praying as hard as I could "Please don't let him have been down here all this time, please!"

There he was. Blind, no hair and half dead. But walking.

It was one of the worst dreams. Then I tried to keep it secret from everybody but they knew anyway and I was crying so hard in my dream that I had not meant to neglect him.

My daughter had a German Shepherd with her boyfriend (she broke up with just a few weeks ago) and this beautiful dog stayed in a crate in the basement when they would leave.

Maybe it has some significance to real life.

The Shower Head

Okay, it is not the Commando 450, but my new shower head is fantastic. This is not a picture of mine either, it is a photo I lifted from the Internets. I guess my nephew grew tired of my old one. LOL! Hey, come to think of it - he shopped with me when I got the last one, too. This is one of his many Christmas gifts. Santa came to my house and he looked an awful lot like my nephew.

But again, the greatest gift was the laughter and merriment we shared.

Bleary-eyed

Sitting here bleary-eyed this morning. I have the day off from work. I worked until Friday last week and did not have much time to store away any energy. After my niece came in to help Thursday night, her Mother was like a mini tornado ripping around helping me over the week-end. My nephew assembled my (new to me) 7 foot prelit tree. I bought it from a friend of the family. Two strands of lights are out but he said that can be fixed easily. I need to get a bulb and go through each light one at a time to see what one is causing the entire strand to go dark. He made this 360 Panorama with his iPhone. They are my extended family and I am ever so thankful for them.

Remember how I said we "do lists" every year? There are always surprises and this year was NO exception. I am one happy camper. The absolute sweetest gift was the laughter. My niece's fiance had all his teeth pulled a week or so ago and the poor guy has been in total misery. He kept holding his face in his hands and moaning "Stop! Quit making me laugh!"

Oh my dogs, did we laugh.

What is missing from this photo? Dogs! I had them barricaded in the kitchen and you never heard such mournful crying. Poor babies.

Peeking

A photo my daughter took of herself at the family Christmas party on the 17th. This is my daughter but it is not my daughter. Does that make any sense? I raised a girl with beautiful blond hair. Everybody wants to go brunette these days. I blame "Tangled". LOL!

I am still not ready. We open gifts tonight. That I am prepared for. I have a few more food items to purchase for tomorrow. 

Family came in from out of town last night. The spirits are high this year. Everyone is upbeat. This is a good sign. I found some great gifts yesterday that jumped out at me in the stores. That was a pleasant surprise.

The weather looks good for anybody traveling the roads. I am sorry that I do not wish for a white Christmas but I worry about those on the roads.

What is residing in your living room furniture?

This is my nephew's cat and chair. Not mine. I loved this photo.

The ear ache started yesterday. Advil helps the best. The rain is pouring. I know "You don't have to shovel rain", but I am not sure I would shovel the snow either. I would just walk and drive right over it. Big whoop. It's snow. It's natural. Leave it alone.

I also am getting a sore throat. I woke up at 1:30 a.m. after going to bed at 10:30. WTF?! I am on my second cup of coffee and just about ready to go back to bed. It is 3:40 a.m.

Should I take the antibiotics the dentist prescribed for me? Is an infection of the tooth that is splitting causing the ear ache? Should I wait two days to see if the ear ache goes away on its own? Hah! Then it is Christmas day and I could possibly spend the day in misery.

Decisions, decisions.

On a side note. I work in an office where some of the employees are school psychologists. One guy told me that the way to test to see if you have ADHD is if you do not respond to caffeine. My second cup of coffee and I think I can sleep better than without it. Huh. Who knew?

Tryin'

I be tryin' hard today to get into the spirit. My beautiful little niece came over last night and helped me clean. Or, should I say I helped her clean? She is a tiny thing and she drank a Red Bull and it was full steam ahead. I quit to fix dinner. I needed a rest. LOL!

Split like the Great Continental Divide

This photo is one of a dental tool used in the past. I am not so certain today's tools are all that different.

I lost a filling or part of a filling Saturday night leaving a huge hole in my top left molar.  Not unusual really for work that was performed in 1970 or so. I waited for the pain but none came. I cautiously drank my coffee the next morning. No pain. I ate breakfast. The hole filled with food but no pain. I brushed immediately afterwards until I could feel that empty abyss. I made an appointment with my dentist as soon as I could.

The tooth has to come out. It split in two. How I wish the dentist could have seen that when I first began having this issue in August. It would all be over with by now. I was NOT in pain. I chose to remove it in January. He was busy and I certainly did not want to spend the day with a bleeding socket when I have so much to do.

The assistant quipped "Remember the holidays are coming up".  Like I can forget that? What do I look like? I know she meant that they will be closed. The dentist wrote me a prescription for an antibiotic just in case it gets infected.

I can still remember my older sister driving all of us kids to the dentist during my childhood. I am not certain of the specifics (perhaps I will ask her) but I do know this was a welfare case and I am not even sure I was told to brush my teeth when I was little. I must have had ten fillings over those couple of  years. I recall how I dreaded the visits. I hated the Novocaine shot so much, when the dentist said he could fill my teeth with out numbing the gum, I chose that path. Only one time did he hit a nerve and I was not numb. I jumped almost out of the chair and he had another dentist with him. I can remember them laughing (with relief). Water went everywhere. The dental care stopped after a couple of years. I am not certain as to why.

To say I was traumatized is an understatement. I did not return to a dentist until I was nineteen and had to have my wisdom teeth pulled. Dental care was sketchy after that (only when in pain did I go). Until I finally reached this last job that pays for dental insurance and I am finally tethered to one area for more than a couple of years. Care has been nonstop for over 15 years, now. My daughter has had care all her life.

I am luckier than my siblings. Since I am the youngest my dental care started much earlier than theirs. All but two of us have partials or full dentures. Sister 1954 and I.

Chester

A.K.A. Cheech

That is over with

The weather turned  lousy. It poured snow down all day and we had a little bit on the roads. People travelled miles to get to the dinner and some got lost. It was a new location this year out in the middle of nowhere. My car and the two following me had to detour around a wreck, an SUV had slid off the road.

It was too hot in the banquet room. The food was so-so and nobody could hear. I had to shout in my loudest voice to be heard above the din. I had a royal headache by the end of the night. The six kids that did show up got showered with gifts and I hope they had fun.

I was rotten this year and sent all kids home with a can of Silly String. Not to be used in the car on the way home, I told them. 

Not sure if we will have it at this location next year or not.

I was tired and had a bad  headache all the next day. I drank only iced tea. I had the mild cod with mashed potato and vegetables. 

My daughter had a new beau. I have nothing to say. I have to adjust.

I do not have one piece of decoration up. I do not have a tree up. I did get the tree delivered Friday night. A pre-owned seven foot tall pre-lit artificial tree. Zoinks!

My living room is full of totes from my daughter's back bedroom (where I stored all my stuff when I had my new floor put in) and her totes from her boyfriend's house. 

My two smaller dogs, Cheech and Chong are back.

My beautiful boxer decided that his territory was not properly marked and proceeded to leave his urine all over every tote in the living room.

I have to find the energy and back muscle to move all the totes into the basement and then get the tree inside the house and put up. My back starts to vibrate like a tuning fork after lifting and moving about two totes. This  is from helping my daughter move her bed and computers and desk and chest of drawers back into the house. Her ex boyfriend dumped everything into our garage. I am thankful he brought her stuff back at all. He could have tossed it out into the yard.

My daughter has wanted out of her relationship for a long time. She always gave the excuse that nobody was there to help him with his new German Shepherd puppy. His cousin and partner are moving in next week.

I really liked her ex boyfriend but I was also torn because both of them are so young. She is twenty and he is twenty-one. They have been dating for 18 months. They are so young to be so serious. He wanted to start a family, she is not ready.

Meanwhile I have to finish shopping, wrapping and fixing food. I work all week.

I am tired and am going to bed. My finger is stinging. For the most part my headache is gone but I recognize a four day migraine when I feel one. It is all just part of the routine. Second verse, same as the first. This ain't my first rodeo.

Blends right in

I thought it was cute how he blended right into the couch.

I am so freaking far behind in everything. My finger is finally to the point where I can go without a band-aid and people will not freak out when they see it. I have been protecting this digit since November 21st! I am tired of it. It still will not bend completely. I still am very, very careful when I wash my hands. Which is like seven times a day!

All the dead skin has fallen off leaving tender and sensitive new skin underneath. I have applied the Vitamin E as the doctor instructed. They said not too much Neosporin as that makes it too soft. They actually used a  medical term but I figured it out. :)

Sleeping Santa

Nestled under the tree with the other presents. 

I don't have much these days. What as compared to the trivial slop I serve up the other days? Ha, ha! Just trying to stay one step ahead of the game and focusing on what ever event is coming up next. What do I need to do this week? Do not worry about next week. Just get through this week.

Movies? Let's see."Dolphin Tale" reminded me a bit of "Free Willy". It does have it's basis in a real story, I always like that. He is still adorable but somebody please tell Harry Connick Jr. to get a haircut!

Charge!

I'd like to say my life has been too busy to post. Maybe it has. I don't know. Too busy to think about it. While charging ordering gifts on-line I went ahead and ordered myself a new charger for my big camera. The battery is inside the camera, so the charger and spare battery are floating around this earth somewhere. Hopefully in my house.

So,  I will charge ahead into the holidays as each gift arrives on my doorstep. What fun to open gifts up twice, though my act is not actually opening them. :)

Finger is healing ever so slowly, work is steady and daughter moves back the end of the week. Get ready for stories about Cheech and Chong again!

Sleeping Babies

Can't we all relate to this photo if we have had little ones in our lives? That lack of sleep that causes us to drop off whenever we can catch a catnap.

My nephew (pictured here) was the first grandchild in my immediate family and he has long waited to hold his own baby and now has his chance.

But I remember holding him when he was this size. Sigh.

Really?!

My small circle of the family exchange gifts. We have taken the magic out and just given lists. We have even fine tuned it so that we send pictures and links to show the gift giver exactly what we want. No surprises. Except there is an occasional surprise and always one that brings out a good laugh.

This is a time for us to browse and just pick things that we usually would not buy for ourselves or some items we can never seem to remember to get.

Included in my list, I chose a cell phone charger organizer. At one time or another the family that stays over usually needs to charge their electronics at some point during their stay. Cords and chargers often get left behind as they usually pick an electrical outlet located behind a couch, stand or chair.

I came across the above item. This is definitely a gift you would not want to give cat owners. My cats would either a) try to eat the grass or (worse)  b) pee in it. Probably both.

As I was browsing Amazon for possible selections, I checked the technical details of the one pictured above.  I think they have the wrong product.

Technical Details

• Features -
• Create your Scenes - Use powerful tools with thousands of stickers, brushes, textures, elements, animating objects, and more to create each scene any way you like; dynamic tools bring your scene to life
• Unlock a World of Play - In a game powered by your imagination that rewards you for being creative, unlock new tools, objects, fun challenges, and more
• Experiment with Fun Challenges - Over 100 challenges to spark your imagination; use your creativity in each scene to power-up your play and unlock new hidden areas; experiment with objects and effects to create simple, challenging, or even crazy solutions
• Fun for the Whole Family - A unique experience that's fun and easy for anyone to pick up and play

LOL!

By the way, my fog lifted as soon as I published yesterday's post. Just writing that stuff down seemed to purge it out of me and I was pretty good the rest of the day.

Some minor aches this morning, but nothing like yesterday. Perhaps I can put off seeing the doctor for another month or two.  ;)

Well, the fog lifted until my cats knocked something over just before I started this post and when I turned to see what happened, I spilled my coffee. It is nice to know that if I ever need to, I can use coffee to clean my wood floor. It gives it a nice, shiny sheen. Groan.

Family history

My Mom told me about her grandmother being bed-ridden for the last 7 years of her life suffering from arthritis with bottles of FourRoses as her pain reliever.

My mom herself complained quite often about pain in the sacroiliac joint area.  Her pain reliever was a single dose of Bayer aspirin. I have started to feel a similar pain with this area for a little over  a year, now.

As I was walking the dogs this morning I thought that perhaps with them fusing the "leak" in my finger joint; all the problem may be causing a back up in the rest of my body because nearly every joint hurt this morning. I am not getting better. I will have to see my doctor and I do not want to. I don't want to run around and have this test and that test just to hear them tell me that "You have to live with it"  or   "You will need an operation"..   I do not want an operation nor do I want to live with the pain.

I cannot function like this, that is for certain.

I tried a heating pad first. On my right wrist because that is my main "mouse" user. I do not believe it is carpal tunnel because I have no numbness or tingling. Just pain. Stiff pain. After an hour I broke down and gulped down some Advil.

I cannot lift my coffee cup with one hand. I cannot open jars. I am  having trouble locking the door. I am  having trouble turning the ignition key in the car. I am having a lot of trouble getting up and walking. It could all be a phase.

You know. Like some people have a bad month or a bad year. I wait as long as I can stand it before seeing the doctor because you know what happens. The day you go to see the doctor  you are not in any pain and it is hard to make them believe that you are for real.

Oh, well. I am reading and thinking. I feel that the recent "flare up" is related to poor diet right now. I have not felt well enough to do any "proper" grocery shopping. I have been scraping by on simple stuff that is not good for me. I am going to try to rectify that. If I can just find the energy to get washed up, get to the grocery store and then come back home and fix the food. When it is so much easier to keep popping Advil, sitting with my heating pad and eating toast. Boo! Epic fail.

Ready for bed

Nobody wants to see my finger without some kind of cover on it (except for a few sick family members who I believe like the idea of me in pain), so I am posting one where he is wrapped around a splint, ready for bed.

I will sleep with the splint for a month until I see the Dr. again. They said everything looks great. I looked at my black and purple finger and I said "If  you say so!"  They said everybody says that.

I was somewhat disappointed in "Cowboys and Aliens".  It was later that I realized it relates to the phrase "Cowboys and Indians".  There are Indians in this movie, also. The character played by Wilde was laughable at best.

"Apollo 18" was scary enough to make me jump in places. Really only two characters in the entire movie, plus a third has a little screen time.

Get this thing off of me

Two more hours.

It is painfully obvious

That I don't have a clue as to what I am doing.  I am the type that puts a unit/computer together and only when I have issues, do I look at the manual. I have had more pocket screws from assembling things than I care to admit. When the item falls apart later, I just chalk it up to being made cheap.

I am just now (seven years into my blogging) adding blogs to my Google reader. At least I think I am. I am not real certain I am doing it right.

I do know one thing for certain. There are WAY too many options for a person to choose from. I could get lost looking at all the various themes, etc... while setting this up.

Good grief!