Happy Merry

Well, the presents might not have come, but we had a fine Christmas eve, anyway.

My friend Julie from my last job, and one of my friends from the dance studio, Angie, came for dinner.

Unfortunately, Angie didn't feel well and had to leave in a hurry....

But it was nice to have SOMEONE here to help us eat that huge ham, which is very tasty this year.

The spoon bread was perfect, and I served baked cauliflower au gratin, too.

Now, today, as has been my usual practice since 1997, I take down the decorations on Christmas Day, and put them away.

A couple of years ago, I started making old fashioned, Dickens style gin punch for the occasion.

My mother's drink of choice was gin, and since she died on Christmas night, and that's why I take everything down on Christmas, it's a perfect little way to honor her.

Otherwise, I really hate gin, but the punch is yummy!  Sweet and lemony and warm.

All of the ice finally melted yesterday.  The shrub by the corner of the house is very resilient, it seems.  It appears undamaged.

The willow, though....well, it's sad.  It will live, but it's very damaged.  I took out my year's worth of anger and frustration on the ice yesterday, and whacked the crap out of the tree and shrubs with a broom stick.  I didn't want to see that ice re-freeze, so I removed as much as I could.

My arms and shoulders hurt today, but it was really good therapy!

Anyway, gentle readers, if there are any of you out there today, and if you celebrate this holiday, I wish you all the best and brightest.

And may 2014 be a MUCH BETTER YEAR!!

Solstice Ice Storm 2013

Click on image to enlarge.  Oddly, the pictures taken with my phone look better than the ones taken with an actual digital camera.

Willow tree, before the additional ice fell, and before the branches started to break off.

Moon Goddess Flower Box

Hungry Birds

Just trying to show how thick the ice is....these are willow withes

Yuletide Ornament, or Sweetgum Ball?

The Photinia may not make it, and the crepe myrtle behind it doesn't look much better

Another view of the willow, taken with phone

Steaks, anyone?

Grass and leaves completely encrusted in a half inch of ice are hard to walk on

Speaks for itself

Poor, damaged bush

Awning over the front porch

Grumpy Gargoyle

 Yes, the ice is horizontal, because this bush is just that far bent down.

 I'd say that's about an inch thick

Vine and berries on the fence

 Close up

One of the major breaks on the willow....there are several. We will lose about half of this tree.

It has gotten worse as the day has gone along.

This is why there will be no Yule fire this year....this is the fire pit...completely encased in ice.

Yuletide 2013

Tomorrow night is solstice night, the longest night of the year, when we celebrate the rebirth of LIGHT, as the sun rises the next morning.

Wish you all were here.  There's an ice storm starting outside, and it's just so bright and cozy in this adorable little house!  We're sad that no one can come celebrate any of the winter holidays with us this year.  We will make the most of it, just the two of us (and lots and lots of ham and split pea soup!), and look forward to years to come when there might be someone, or several someones, here to share it with us.

Pissed off

SO---now that my package from Amazon has finally been shipped (they usually ship within a day, this took several days for them to fill and ship), they are notifying me that my package has been delayed, and that I won't get it until after Christmas.

I effed up.

Because I was stressed out, I didn't think about shopping until it was too late, and then I trusted a previously trustworthy vendor to be there for me.

Sorry.  *sad face*  but sister and brother in law will have gifts for new years!! (brother will have his in time---it's already on its way to 721)

REQUEST ALERT

Yo, homies....(sister, this means YOU)...if the Bears go to the playoffs, etc, PLEASE get us some T shirts!!!!

I take a medium, Dave takes an XL.  Thanks!

My Personality Type: The Good-natured Realist

My Personality Type: The Good-natured Realist


This is fun...try the quiz and see what yours is! For me, this is pretty much 100% accurate!

all clear....and....PANIC!

The breast imaging proved that it was just another of my lovely, deep, dense cysts that look scary on mammography.

This one really DID look scary on the original film.  No wonder they brought me back in.

SO..that's over.  Again. But...it was scary and stressful none the less.

And now....Oh my gosh, how did it get to be DECEMBER 14TH ALREADY?!

Oh yeah...that's right...I'm one of those people who can really only focus on one major thing at a time.  It frustrates the crap out of my husband.  I'll say "I can't think about that yet, can we wait until after...." fill in the blank.

I can multitask at work, while cooking, and around the house, but when it comes to BIG THINGS, or stressful things, one at a time is all I can or need to manage.

They say it's a mark of a "highly sensitive person"  (http://www.hsperson.com/) which I most certainly am and always have been.

This website, BTW, has answered a lot of my life long questions....I'm NOT actually just an irritable bitch!!  I really do react differently to stimuli.  You may find it interesting if you have wondered about yourself in this regard, or someone you are close to....or if you have found my behaviors to be puzzling, troubling, or annoying!

ANYWAY...suddenly.... Christmas eve is 10 days away.  At least the ham is ordered and on its way.

But I have not purchased any gifts, or even thought about it, because I was so focused on that follow up breast testing.

On top of that, I had the double nasty respiratory infection mentioned last time...the fever followed me through most of this past week. So. I've been a little less than interested.  It's a miracle that I got a holiday letter composed and cards sent out.

But now that I feel better, GAH!!!  Gifts have been chosen and ordered on line because that's all I have time for....but the package may be late.  :sad face:

Sick again.

Not the Led Zeppelin song....

Thanksgiving was a success, despite the snafus.

Tomorrow is my follow up breast cancer testing.  Please keep a good thought.

Meantime?  I am sick again...this time, it's pretty bad, so Dave is taking me to a convenient care doc in a box this morning.

I need antibiotics this time, dammit.

Started with a tickly cough on Thursday night, then during the day Friday, I started to feel worse and worse.  By Friday afternoon, I was full-on miserable, with a fever, headache, and sort throat.  Thankfully, because of the bad weather, we left work early.

Friday night, my throat felt so painful and swollen that it felt like my air way was cutting off, so I couldn't breathe.  That was fun...I needed to sleep, but was up all night.
But by late Saturday morning, that swollen feeling was easing off, so I slept most of the day Saturday.  Had barely any voice, but it didn't matter, because I stayed in bed almost all day.

The fever has been up and down, up and down.  Slept much better last night,  but now my sinuses are full and painful, with green discharge.

SO who knows what the hell that was at the start, with the swollen throat, but there was never any sign of white spots back up in there.  I asked Dave to look.

It's obviously a sinus infection now, at any rate, and that requires antibiotics.  It's been a long time since I've needed any, so I am glad about that.  Sometimes, though, you have to use them.  Ick.

At least when I was sick for 2 weeks in Sept/Oct, it never got this bad.