Well, not exactly what I had hoped for....

that is, a nice, sentimental, warm and fuzzy, chock-full of wishes and blessings Christmas post. Well yes, I do wish you all of the above, but also wish I didn't have to share that our streak of Christmas travel illness bad luck has continued.

I am posting from my Mom's dining room table where I feel so incredibly blessed to be right at this moment. I'm 39 years old and I still want my Mom when I'm sick. My Mom just left the house to deliver Dramamine and popsicles to my other sister who is sick at her house. She is amazing.

Last night I decided I had had enough. After four days of fever with chills and sweats and a cough that started two nights ago, I broke down and my Mom took me to the urgent care. Leo had left yesterday afternoon for Memphis for three days and I planned to stay here at my parents with the kids.

The good news -- I'm negative for influenza. The bad news -- if you ever have to have that swab done, I'm so sorry for you. It's awful. It hurt like you know what. It made me bawl like a baby and want to punch the technician at the same time.

Two chest x-rays later, I have pneumonia. They gave me a breathing treatment there which helped a lot. I was able to actually get some sleep last night. I got my first antibiotic in last night and they also prescribed me an inhaler which has also helped a lot.

The other bad news -- although WE (meaning our little Ohio family) didn't bring a GI bug, seems that hit the rest of my family over the course of last night. They're dropping like flies around here. We're all fighting for popsicles and gatorade. And we can't wipe this place down fast enough with Lysol. It's definitely reached comical proportions. I definitely think we're giving new meaning to sharing the love.

Anyway, with all that, even in my yucky-feeling state, my hope and prayer is that each of you had a blessed Christmas. I am blessed to have you in my life. Whether near or far, each of you mean something special to me. And I cannot wait to catch up as I'm feeling better.

"Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." ~ Luke 2:10-11

I know. I'm a spaz.

With Christmas just around the corner and a week plus of travels planned, I'm kind of getting a bit paranoid. Okay, a lot paranoid. Without going in to too much detail, we've had bad luck with stomach bugs when we've travelled up to Chicago at Christmastime for the last several years.

Last year I was the 'lucky' victim - and thankfully when it hit, I was at least in the comfort of my parent's home, so it wasn't as uncomfortable as the other scenario, which would have been yaking loudly at my in-laws. And while at my parents, my sweet little, sister Mary tended to me while I was hugging the porcelain bowl.

The Christmas before that ALL SIX OF US got the bug - a stomach bug so incredibly violent and contagious that when it was all over - and we had shared the love with everyone we had visited -- it had taken down 23 other victims!

I snickered a bit when my youngest brother James was the first victim of the extended family to catch the bug. Because see, the morning after my sickness, he was sure to let the whole house know his thoughts on what a loud hoarker I was. Cause you know, I totally planned to be up all night long barfing. Ah, my sinister plan had worked - it was the long awaited sweet revenge I had hoped for.

And even the Christmas two years before that, when I was newly pregnant with Molly and no one knew our news yet, I spent 3 days violently ill and my Mom had to take care of me. Leo had to get back home for a project deadline, so he took the kids and left me at my parents because I was too sick to travel. I rented a car and came home 2 days after him. The drive back to Columbus was actually quite delightful. I got to stop when I wanted. Go to Starbucks. Listen to my music. That part was actually a blessing. And being sick like that and having my Mom take care of me was a godsend.

So, yesterday in my paranoia, I was convinced Molly was coming down with something. She seemed a bit clingier than even the usual clingy and almost fell asleep on the couch one hour before her normal nap time. She seemed a bit warm and while I was feeling her forehead for about the 90th time she said to me "Mama, what are you doing?" I replied that I thought she had a fever. And in her sweet little voice she replied "Mama, do you have a fee-vur?" So precious.

Anyway, in my spastic mode the rest of the conversation went something like this.

Me: Do you think you have to throw-up?

Molly: No Mama, I'm just cold.

Me: What? What's that? You're nauseated? You think you're gonna throw-up?

Molly: No Mama, I'm just cold, I said.

Me: I'll get the trash can.

Molly: Mommy, I said I'm cold and want hot chocolate.

Me: I'll get the dramamine and some ginger ale.

And just in case, I did this.

I put a blanket over my couch.

Now I need to go look for some trash cans to put in my car for next week's travels. Cause this year, Mama's gonna be ready!

The doggie blues.

Since dh has been gone, I've noticed the canine member of the family seems a bit down in the dumps. She's been doing a lot more of this lately.

So, I decided to call my good friend Cesar Milan. You know, The Dog Whisperer. We're tight. If you watch more than one Dog Whisperer marathon, you get access to his direct doggie hotline. Okay, not really. Anyway, I assured him I was being a calm, balanced, pack leader, but that my Dyna still seemed to be so sad. He assessed the situation and knew right away that all good dogs could be rehabilitated. Rehabilitated. With a block of cheese.

Wow! That Cesar knew just the thing. He is amazing! We have also discovered that although calm and submissive, Dyna is a stress eater and there's nothing like a block of sharp cheddar to make a certain canine feel a bit more balanced. Phew, I'm glad we got to the root of her doggie woes.

And with a little more of this....

and a little bit of this, all will once again be copacedic in her doggie world.

Now I must go get a life.

Instead of keying data or folding laundry, I'm doing this.

The other day while ignoring my mound of data entry, I was poking around in the blogosphere and I found this.


And since I'm kinda slow on the uptake these days (notice the date was the 15th) I decided better late than never to join in on the fun. So, go check out all the links to the 2008 Christmas Tour of Homes at Boo Mama's place. I hit a few random blogs and it's always great to check out how other 'real' people decorate for Christmas.

And please know that I'm no Martha Stewart (nor would I want to be cause I don't like jail and I don't think I'd look good in orange), so don't expect to be too blown away. Now my sister Liz's place - well, that would be a different story. In fact I might just have to make her start a blog to show off her talents -- cause she's THAT good!

Enjoy!

Here's a little view from the front entry-way - those cute little stars were leftover decorations from when Leo had an office and we decorated. See, I'm green. I recycle. And my faux Poinsettia - from the ever fancy Sam's Club.

View out my kitchen window - with more recycled stars. Puts me in a festive mood when I'm doing my dishes. Okay, not really.

Now, I've never done this before -- set my table just for the heck of it, but I think it looks really pretty. It makes me feel like I'm actually getting use out of those dishes from Pier 1 that IJUSTHADTOHAVE. No stemware out because, well, I have a three year old. And look -- more stars! Recycle. recycle.

Decorated mantel - you might have seen this before. It's pretty much my pride and glory.

Decorated shelves in family room - ones I never really know how to decorate. My sister would say it looks too sparse. I like sparse. Leave me alone.

What? What's that you say, Mr. Wiseman? You want to come out of the box. I'm so sorry. I'll see what I can do.

Little bit of festive in the potty room. I tied my hand towels with ribbon and I kinda like it. Again, not rocket science, but I'm a work in progress.

And the best part of a tour in photos is that if you find a pair of these on the bathroom counter, with a simple flick of the wrist, viola, gone and you've got a perfect photo. That, and the dust bunnies, aren't all that noticeable.

And last but not least, the obligatory Christmas tree photo. And if I do this again next year, well, the tree will probably look the same. It'll look the same, but hopefully, be sitting in a different house in a different state. Pay no attention to the bottom-heavy ornaments. They kinda make me happy.



Merry Christmas!

Do you ever feel like....

... the guy from the Dunkin' Donuts commercial -- the 'time to make the donuts' guy?

Every day, get up, shuffle around, make the donuts, key the data, make the donuts, drink more coffee, key more data, more coffee, curse data, more coffee, go to bed, get up and repeat next day.

Week in highlights.

Since I'm back to my data entry gig -- the bliss only lasted, what, two days -- I'm doing another hittin' the highlights post. Hopefully I'll be done with these open ends (the part of the survey where people write in their comments) relatively soon.

Faith: Wow! Third Sunday of Advent already. "I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul."

Saturday our John celebrated the sacrament of First Reconciliation. He was really nervous, but after listening to Fr.'s homily, he seemed to settle down a bit. He was afraid he wasn't going to remember what to do or that he'd get hung up on the Act of Contrition. When the time came to get in line, he jumped up and bolted right to the front of the line. And was pretty much all smiles from that point on -- and I have to admit that I had to hold back the tears (happy tears, of course). God's forgiveness -- what an incredible gift! And thanks Fr. P. - I knew you'd take care of my little guy. :)

Also saying prayers of thanksgiving for dear friends who got their long awaited job offer. Still praying for others facing unemployment and unemployment on the horizon.

More prayers for David and Nikki as they have met their beautiful Juliana. Go to her blog and you will see pictures of their newest daughter -- and you might want to have a tissue handy. Technology is amazing and I'm feeling so lucky to be able to share in these special first moments with them.

House: Got a call last Tuesday for a showing for this past Saturday. I did my best and had the place sparkling -- even though it meant strapping Molly in to her car seat with a book ten minutes before leaving and doing a 'once over'. The most frustrating part of the getting ready to show part is that I feel I walk in circles. Didn't get any feedback -- I felt a bit depressed yesterday about the whole thing. I found myself worrying about the big "what if" it doesn't sell in the spring. But I can't go there -- after all, why borrow possible future trouble, right? But the imperfect part of me goes there and I'm working on that. Someone will buy our lovely home. We just have to keep trusting.

I ended up putting out more Christmas decorations than I thought I would. Usually I'm the decoration scrooge in our marriage -- but felt I needed to get over myself for the kids. They need it to be as normal as possible. And besides, we still have to keep living our day-to-day life - you can't put that on hold.

Us: Leo comes home on Saturday. It'll have been since Thanksgiving since he was home. It's been a bit rougher this time around. He's started the process of looking for a more 'temporary' place to stay. Ideally, he'll be able to get a place with a six month lease and if our house sells in spring, we can look for a house after that. I keep telling myself this won't be forever - and really, the time has flown by, but days when it's 10 p.m. and I'm just sitting down seem to be more frequent than I'd like. I need to keep reminding myself that he isn't on the front lines in Iraq in danger. Things could be truly worse.

Them: Kids have been wound up a bit more than usual in the last week. John continues to give me a run for the money. When he's sweet, he's so sugary sweet, but when he's a beast, watch out! Parenting that child is a handful in itself. And adding to that, Molly has been more clingy than usual -- she wants me to do everything for her -- you know, I didn't realize how much I rely on Maddy to help out with her, until Molly won't have anything to do with it. Like putting her in to the car for me or taking her to the restroom or helping get her dressed. Nope, she only wants Mommy to do it. And of course, it's totally understandable as her little three year old world is already confusing enough these days, but man, it gets exhausting some days.

Maddy lost the composite cap on her front tooth -- one of the two she broke out on the scooter accident a few years back. Mostly her dignity felt bruised, but a kind dentist (thanks to our wonderful next door neighbors) will be getting us in today to get it fixed. Unfortunately our regular dentist is out having surgery, but Chuck and Susie came through for us. We are so blessed to have neighbors like them -- I get choked up thinking about leaving them.

Me: I'm excited about baking Christmas cookies this year. I've always wanted to find someone to bake with. I'm not a baker. I can do it, but it's not something I totally enjoy. I've thought that if I had a friend to bake with, it might be a bit more appealing. Well, my friend Sandy and I are going to bake together on Thursday. Later today we'll sit down to plan which cookies we'll be baking and I'm really excited about it. Leo usually does all the baking -- I know, don't fall over -- but he loves it. He totally gets in to it. In fact I have to tell him to stop the madness because I'd like to still be able to wear something other than black yoga pants after December 25th. So, I'm going to surprise him with my baked goods -- and instead, I'll make him wrap all the Christmas goodies. And Cynthia, how about margaritas and chocolate chippers in spirit on Thursday?..... :)

Random: Melissa, mom to baby Lily (the baby I watch) told me they found a new babysitter for Lily. So, they'll be moving her to the new sitter after Christmas. I'm sad about it -- I've totally enjoyed having her. She is a complete joy and she's really helped satisfy my baby craving. :) I get to love her up two days a week, then hand her over to her parents at the end of the day. I told Melissa that I'd be happy to keep her until the week I leave, but that they have to do what's best for Lily. I completely understand and agree with their decision, but it makes me sad. May be they'll let me have her a night or two (free of charge :) and they can have a date night out. (hint. hint.)

Friends and family: We're getting excited about our upcoming Christmas travels. We'll be going to Chicago and spending time with both families. In between, Leo will have to fly back to Memphis, but I'll have the opportunity to hang out with my family and enjoy time away from the regular grind. I'm praying and praying that my streak of stomach viruses does not hit me this trip home. My bad luck has been so ridiculous that it could be a post in itself -- that's if people could stomach a whole blog post about vomit!

Off to key data my friends...and drink some more coffee. Hugs! Love you all! Mwah!

Recipe APB!

Okay bloggy friends I'm looking for a recipe -- or a place where I can find this recipe-- based on the ingredients I can remember.

It's a bar-type cookie.

It has a graham cracker bottom layer. There are chocolate chips in it. May be white chocolate or butterscotch chips in it too? I don't know.

I definitely know it has shredded coconut in it and sweetened evaporated milk. I believe it's typically baked in a 9 x 11 dish.

Any thoughts? Do you know what I'm talking about?

Whoever comes up with it wins "superstar bloggy friend" for the day. :)

I'm feeling a rant coming on....

"Dear Mr. Pharmaceutical Company, YOU STINK!".

Okay, I'd like to say something worse than that, but since I'm keeping my blog "g-rated" I have to resist and force myself to hold back what I'd really like to say.

See, up until Leo took this job in Memphis, he'd been self-employed. You know, self-employment, the part where you control your own destiny, live the American dream and have to pay your own health insurance. Health insurance for a family of six that costs and arm and a leg. And up until fairly recently we paid through the nose to have el primo coverage, coverage that we really weren't using since we have no little babies and kids getting older, requiring fewer and fewer trips to the doctor.

So, we scaled back our coverage about a year ago. Our new coverage allows us six 'sick' visits per person per year - with just a $15 co-pay. Coverage that has us paying substantially less than what we were shelling out before for the el primo coverage that we weren't using

But there's a 'BUT' here....our prescription coverage is well, pretty much, non-existent. We have a deductible -- a $750 deductible. And after meeting that deductible, the Rxs still have high co-pays, so you're still pretty much the same as still paying cash.

And Leo's new job -- well, even though it's with a big corporation -- we're going to be paying again ridiculous premiums for coverage, that we might not really need. So, are we better off keeping what we have and putting the difference in a savings plan? I don't know.

My point -- my rant is this. Yesterday I took Maddy to the Dr. He wrote her a script for a sinus infection and I went to the local pharmacy -- you know, the one that sits on every corner -- where I paid a whopping $49.00 for three pills. $49 for a GENERIC, three-day, z-pack. What a joke! And I know, this particular pharmacy is expensive, but come-on. $49.00. Unreal.

Wasn't Hillary supposed to fix all this?

Works for me Wednesday....and a whole lot more.

So, here's my "WFMW" tip. One way I like to cook bacon is on a cookie sheet in the oven. I know. I know. It's sheer genius. And after all, that's the way Emeril does it, so I must be on to something. "Emeril Magasse" that's what my John used to call him. I still chuckle about that.

Here's what I've found. It's easy -- you lay it on the sheet and you can cook a lot more bacon at one time than in a typical skillet. There's less splattering, thus saving your shirt from grease stains. What? I should wear an apron. I have no idea what those are or where to get one.

And you can walk away and not have to stand over the skillet and futz with it. I'm definitely all about not futzing.

I've also found the bacon stays flatter -- I know, does it matter if your bacon curls up? Does it taste better when it's flatter? But if you're a BLT aficionado, well, then you like your bacon flat. Trust me.

And when I was putting this bacon on a cookie sheet the other day, I thought of something I hadn't thought of in a long time.

See my Dad is a Hungarian immigrant. My grandparents fled with their children during the Hungarian revolution of 1956 and eventually settled in the Chicago area. Through much hard work, they built a nice, little life for themselves. And most Sundays we spent afternoons visiting at their house and eating -- eating large pots of Grandma's goulash and paprikash. Oh how I miss that, but my Dad makes a mean paprikash. And one advantage to living away is that if I sweet talk my Dad, he'll make us a pot of it when we come home. Okay, I don't even have to sweet talk him. He'd make AND eat paprikash 7 nights a week if someone let him.

Anyway, my grandparents never learned to drive, so they had to rely on their kids to get them to the various places they needed to go. Sundays we often took them to the store - I remember my Grandma LOVED K-mart. To her it was the most luxurious store she had ever been in. I remember watching her in that store - often buying little things to send back to her relatives back in the 'old country'. And my Grandpa liked these shoes. I think every time we went to Kmart he and my Dad bought these. I can't hardly remember my Dad wearing anything but these. Totally not where I was going with this post, but I just thought of these shoes when I mentioned Grandma and K-mart.

Digressing as usual.

Another favorite stop was the Kuhns Delicatessen. Kuhns, still around today, is a deli specializing in European items. Now as a child I didn't quite get the appeal of that store, but let's just say my Grandparents were like kids in a candy store -- or more like Seniors in a sausage shop.

They'd stand at the counter and order sausage after sausage. Slabs of bacon upon slabs of bacon. And my Grandma would wander around sampling anything she could get her hands on. But what I remember as a kid in that store, were the pretty European chocolates wrapped in metallic foils with frilly tissue that you'd hang on your Christmas tree as an ornament. Grandma would buy those at Christmas time and put them all over her tree.

They were beautiful and shiny and you just couldn't resist wanting to eat one. But what I remember as a child, was that as pretty as those candies were, quite frankly, they were nasty. They were filled with liquids and cremes, usually flavored with some sort of liquor. And as much as you wanted to eat them, you were quickly reminded once you bit in to them, that they weren't "kid" candy. But regardless, I kind of looked forward to them each Christmas. Not sure why, but I did.

And don't ask me how I got here from a pack of bacon. That's just how my mind works sometimes.

TGIG....

yes, thank goodness it is Gratituesday because I have much to be grateful for....

....my dear friends Nikki and David are on their way to China to bring home baby Juliana. Sunday, about the time they usually attend Mass, they will meet their newest blessing. Please pray for them during this time away from their other three beautiful daughters, for safe and speedy travels, that there are no obstacles with the adoption process and that little Juliana transitions peacefully.

...the surveys from H-E-double toothpicks (all 3400+ of them) have been keyed. Can I get a "woo-hoo!"? Or a how about a "boo-yea!"? Or even a "who's the woman?" Uh huh! Oh yea! I'm doing the "if I never see another survey in my life, it's too soon" dance. You may also insert choir of angels here. And I suppose I should report that the skin on my fingers DID NOT wear off, nor did my fingers fall off.

...and I'm grateful because I found my advent wreath - that's really not a wreath - but you get the idea. Thanks St. Anthony! You rock!

...and I got this done while taking a 30 minute break from keying on Sunday evening.

And it took no time at all because last year after wracking my brain trying to remember what I put on my mantel and how I arranged my decorations, I took a photo of the finished mantel. And here's the genius part -- I taped a photo of the decorated mantel to the lid of the Rubbermaid container. And if you've done that before and my idea isn't all that genius, just let me revel in it for a second or two. Okay. Thanks.

...and most importantly I'm grateful for my sweet Molly. She always makes me laugh just when I need it most. And yesterday morning she said the funniest little thing when she came down from her slumber to find a few Christmas items I had put out. Upon seeing this red, sparkly, apple candle tree, she said to me "Mommy, that's the cutest little blueberry Christmas tree I've ever seen." I keep chuckling to myself every time I notice it sitting on the shelf. I am thankful for the gift of all my children. They are the best blessings of all.

What are you grateful for?

Happy Birthday Lizzy!

So how cute is my "medium", little sister?

Well she's pretty cute and she's super sweet and well, pretty much the best sister a girl could want, even though she used to steal my socks and hair scrunchies. But whatever. I'm over that now.

She's the best Aunt and the most awesome gift coordinator this side of the Mississippi. And she's going to be a beautiful August bride and I can hardly wait! Well, I'm only going if they can find me a dress that fits, but that's another story.

I love you Lizzy! Happy Birthday Skanky Wench!

I'm dyin' ova here....

Okay, not really, but I needed the added effect.

(Now say it again with my nasally Chicago accent - come on, you can almost hear my voice!)

Anyway, I haven't mentioned that in addition to holding down the fort while hubby has been gone, I've also been working on some projects that we bid and won - but didn't finish before Leo took his new job. So, pretty much since October I've been juggling a full "part-time" job wrapping up some things for the business.

And tonight I'm up to my elbows in surveys. I've been keying data like a maniac. And I'll be keying data until all the skin wears off the tips of my fingers and my fingers fall off. Okay, not really, but again, I'm going for effect here. Do you feel bad for me?

So, I just wanted to say that I'm dying to get on and do some fun posting, but until I get this project out the door, I won't be doing too much real-time, fun bloggy stuff. Sniff. Sniff. I know, it'll be okay. But to make me sound more pathetic, I won't be getting my tree decorated and I won't be looking for my advent wreath and I won't be getting my laundry done. And, I'm kinda hoping nobody calls and wants to look at my house because, well, I've kinda gone and let this place go to pot. Ssshhhh, don't tell anyone, okay? Unless some one's got a buyer that likes the "really lived in" look - then bring 'em on.

Until we meet again my friends, keep praying for me - that I can get these surveys outta here and get back to my regularly scheduled programming! I miss you all!

Gratituesday

Grateful for....

....hubby back to Memphis safe and sound

....stocked fridge (go ME!) AND a menu plan

....snow flurries from the West

....fleece, fleece jackets, fleece socks, fleece pants

....snuggle time with toddler still in warm pj's

....morning routine cooperation

....coffee with real half-n-half

....Starbucks cards that arrive randomly in the mail

....and good friends that love me!