The final countdown

Four days until Christmas.

And its pouring rain. Yuck. Admittedly in these parts we are more likely to have green Christmas than those in other parts of the country, but this is nuts.

It is supposed to be 11 degrees and rain in the 23rd. What?!

Crazy stuff. We're headed north to see Big C's dad so we should have snow, but even that could be touch and go as they're forecasting warmth and rain just before the big day there too.

We've completed one Christmas already. It was good too. My mom and stepfather were down. We went bowling, opened gifts, had food, played cards. Mostly we just had some fun and lots of laughs. A good time had by all really.

Miss K was excited about bowling but then her ear began to hurt so the enthusiasm wore off a bit. She perked back up when we got there and then proceeded to have a good afternoon and evening with her grandparents and parents before passing out at 7:50pm last night. Some ibuprofen and ear drops and she was good to go for today so that is a blessing.

I'm a little disappointed that I still have one Christmas present to get…a gift card that I cannot get anywhere but at the store it is for. And I have not got there yet. I do feel that I could wait until after Christmas though as we will not be giving this gift until we return from the nord.

That and it was a weekend of hemorrhaging money. We knew there was going to be the last gift cards and cash for the sitter, dog walker, etc… as well as the inevitable liquour and beer run. But we did not plan on the 220.00 vet bill.

The dog has some sort of infection between his toes. The vet says its pretty common in dogs, especially the water loving kind of dog like ours, but its not so common to have the infection in 3 of 4 paws instead of just one.

Awesome. Now we have to manage 2 weeks of antibiotics and a few doses of corticosteroids for the inflammation. I say we, but I really mean me. I am the one that is up in the morning feeding him for the most part and supper time is a crap shoot, so I might as well do the whole thing.

He is typically fabulous at taking any sort of meds. Put it in his food and he eats it. Done.

Friday night that got blown to hell. He chomped one of the capsules instead of inhaling food like normal. It burst open and he just about gagged on what was inside. No way no how was he going back near that bowl of food. 

He could have been famished for all I knew, but he wasn't going back lest he get a taste of that medicine again.

So, we've now resorted to the capsule wrapped in a partial cheese slice method for administering these pills. It works nicely, but he's enjoying the cheese a bit too much I think. He follows me around wondering if there may be more. If he were a dog on the street would he be a drug addict? LOL

Big C is on antibiotics for a sinus type infection…I'm surrounded by sickies.

It should be a good Christmas, Miss K is excited but isn't losing the true meaning of things either. I chuckled last week when the 2 elf on the shelfs they have at school got together and had a birthday party for Jesus in the classrooms. I thought it a good mix of Christianity and the Santa Phenomenon.

I will still grumble some about the commercialism and mass marketing machine that is Christmas, but I'm staying out of the hustle and bustle as much as I can and hopefully staying sane in the process.

Yesterday was a simple day with family, I hope the rest of the season can be as much fun and possibly filled with naps.

Sleep is eluding me these days. The hours between 4 and 5:30 am seem to be the most troublesome. Miss K was up at 5:10 this morning, that did not help the situation.

I crave 8 solid hours of good quality sleep. Long for it. Yearn for it. But, the zzz's do not come. 

They will though. Every week or 2 of 6 hour slumber nights are followed by a couple weeks of solid sleep nights that really do recharge the system.

You take what you get, once done its done there is no going back…and all that cliche type crap.

Christmas vacation could not come at a better time. I need the recharge, the food, the drinks the time spent with loved ones.

Til next time…hope you can recharge your life over the festive season

Things get better with age, or at least they change

They say things get better with age. I'm not so sure about better, unless you're talking cheese or whisky, but I do know that your perspective on things certainly does change.

Big C and I had an adults only weekend, a date night and day if you will. It was delightful to be away from home, away from responsibility and household chores doing things that we love to do.

I missed the kids terribly but it did not take away from the weekend in the least. When its luxurious to lay in bed until almost 9 am (even though you were awake at 6:45 am) you know that you are long overdue for some down time.

We dropped the kid and fur kid off at grandma's early Saturday morning and took off for the big metropolitan area that is about 2 hours away from our home. 

Traffic was light so we arrived in time to check into the hotel and have a bite to eat before the show.

And by show I mean a matinee showing of Phantom of the Opera. This was the first time we'd seen the show together, but the 3rd time for us both individually.

I'd been looking forward to seeing it since we'd got the tickets 2 months prior and it did not disappoint.

I don't gush about much. But I had chills or goosebumps when the first familiar chords started to play. It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon, well worth the somewhat pricy tickets. I was actually sad that it was over so quickly.

But it was funny how differently I saw the production this time versus the last time which was nearly 25 years ago.

Yes the sets were different and the actors of course. Technology has changed and there was evidence of that in the show, but it was something more intangible than the obvious.

By my best estimation I was in my late teens the first 2 times I saw Phantom. I loved it. I was a big musical theatre fan so this was a big event in my life. The music was cool, people I knew wanted to go, it was a big deal at the time.

But I'm not sure how much I got the story. I mean I understood what was going on, but this most recent time had a much different effect on me.

It was still fantastic and a joy to watch on the outside. But I saw more of the darkness and love story this time.

It hit harder, and was more emotional than I expected it to be. I nearly had tears in my eyes in the last scene when the "phantom" breaks down and laments his fate. Disfigured, but immensely talented, controlling but just a man in love. 

I was amazed at how much my perspective changed and how differently I felt leaving the theatre. Usually you are happy you saw it and entertained for a couple hours but this time was something new.

Perhaps it was not just age that changed my view, maybe the third time through I saw something different that I missed before. I really don't know.

It was neat though. Having a more emotional connection to the actors on stage. Big C said he saw things differently this time through. Perhaps it was the newer staging or perhaps it was that age has changed or altered our perception and observance.

Whatever the case we had a lovely afternoon, a big steak dinner, a walk about the city and a relaxing weekend just the two of us doing things we loved and enjoying one another's company.

Whether it is a sign of age or not, I'm grateful for the experience and opportunity.

I'm still running through the songs in my head even today…

Til next time…may you watch or see something that makes you laugh/smile or feel better about the day, or maybe even changes your thinking on something

Making lunches and the 12 bills of Christmas

December the 9th. We slowly march toward the festive season, or hurtle uncontrollably depending on your perspective. I know for one I'm counting down the remaining 7 school days until the break, at which point I will have a respite from the dreaded school lunch.

I am not a bento box, cheese cut into a locomotive and its cars kind of mom. No cutsie sandwiches or animal shaped fruit comes out of our kitchen. You want that shit, either make it yourself or find a different mom.

I ain't got time for that crap. You give me your order, that is what you get, occasionally I will think to cut the cheese into a triangle or something easily derived out of the block, but that is the extent of it.

For all you mom's out there who send delightful characters made out of vegetables or notes inscribed in their cookies, good on you. All the more power to you, but its lunch, and its all going to the same place, cute or not.

Miss K is pretty good, or should I say pretty consistent. She basically eats the same damn thing every day. I can handle it. Sometimes she even helps prep it with me. But in all honesty for the most part I do it alone, along with my own and Big C's if the need is there.

Some would say I should make her prep it. Its her lunch after all. True enough, and she will assist sometimes. 

But in all honesty at this stage in her school career it is just easy if I do it. She's still too little to cut things without supervision and I will be damned if I'm dragging out all the lunch fixings when we're trying to accomplish the whirlwind of getting home, making dinner, eating, feed and exercise the dog, snack time, bath and reading/snuggle time in the 2.5 hours we have.

I will just do the lunches on my own time with little to no help.

I do get bitter sometimes. I've always hated making lunches…it goes back to my high school days, but for about the last 30 years or so on a week day I've had to make myself a lunch and I say yuck.

I do wish someone else would do it for me. I at one point offered my mom 5 bucks to make my lunch every day for high school. She paused, obviously doing the math like I was and was about to say yes, when I finally figured out that would be 25 bucks a week I'd have to pay her to make my lunch.

I lived in the day and age where you could buy a school lunch for about 5 bucks or less, so I quickly decided against hiring her.

It's not that I hate taking a lunch. I don't at all. It's usually healthier, and a ton cheaper than buying something every day, I just hate assembling the damn thing. 

You can send me 30 different ways to make things more efficient or whatever and it still boils down to the same thing, I'm making my damn lunch.

Yes, yes I know be thankful I have the leftovers or supplies to make a lunch and snacks. I get all that, I'm not being ungrateful, just whiny.

Everyone has that chore they hate…for some its laundry, others vacuuming, for me its making lunches (and doing dishes). And unlike some chores it cannot be put off, if you want to eat a lunch the next day you must assemble it prior to that time and bring to your final destination for the day.

A necessary evil. Big C says its in the "contract" that I make his lunch when he requires one as well. 

I would love to see this contract, but do admit he will help me out from time to time, not that it makes it any better but at least the painful process is over somewhat quicker.

Aside from my lunch rant, life is pretty normal. The dog has something wrong with his one foot, its all swollen. All of them were at one point, now it seems to be just the one. May that go away soon, lest there be a big vet bill before Christmas.

My car is sounding weird. Crossing my fingers it will just keep rolling along for the next 2 weeks and save me a big repair bill. 

Ahhh money tree where art thou? There should be the 12 bills of Christmas song…the bills you weren't expecting but came at this time of year anyway.

Til next time…may your kids get some sort of Christmas lunch at school so there is one less to make 

The countdown continues and Nightmare on Elf Street

Somehow time has ticked away so that we are only 22 days away from Christmas.

How in the hell did that happen?

I thought I was ready this year. I mean you pretty much have a 364 day warning that its coming again on December 25th, but still you don't ever seem quite prepared enough.

I am trying to keep things low key and minimize the stress however. I'm one that would be all for a burgers and beer and store bought cake type of Christmas. But I also confess to loving big turkey dinners with loads of homemade treats.

Shopping is pretty much done. Thanks to the 24/7 availability of the online store it makes a busy mom's life much easier when she can shop on Tuesday night at 9 o'clock in her p.j.'s. One can even get their husband's approval on items they are buying for his relatives. Thank you God for the internet, you have saved my sanity, not to mention a trip to the mall, which would result in rage or at least annoyance of indescribable proportions.

I've got a good start on baking and cooking for the holiday too which is a plus. The next few weekends have quite a bit of stuff going on, so not much time for domestic chores.

All in all as prepared as I should or could be. Still some stuff to get, but we're down to the gift card/cash/alcohol stage so that is pretty straightforward to do at any time without being mobbed.

Miss K is starting to get excited about the big event, or big events as they have about 100 things going on this month for them at school. There's a big dinner, some field trip to a play, among other things.

She took her head out on a rock Tuesday at school. Which resulted in her being basically sent home with a watch for concussion symptoms sheet of paper that had to be signed and returned if she passed the test so to speak. 

When her description of the events was that she thinks she tripped on a stick while playing hide and seek and thought it funny that the "girls" were looking all over for her. (she was the self proclaimed winner of the hide and seek that lunch period). She was impressed with the freezie she got while sitting in the office and was thoroughly impressed that she got to go home early with what she said was not even a "contusion"

I declare no sign of concussion, just typical 5 year old enthusiasm for something out of the ordinary.

Yesterday I came home to pick her up to find she'd spiked a pretty good fever. Awesome. Kinda figured it was coming as the day before there were 7 kids absent from her class. (she made 8 with the head injury).

She was reasonably pleasant over the course of the evening, even managing to join us for supper, but she was in bed at 7:15 saying that everything hurt and we prepared for the night of drama to come.

All in all not so bad. She awoke at 10:30 complaining that her ears really really hurt. I asked if she wanted ear drops and she said yes, so with that affirmation I know things must have been rough. I stuck around for a snuggle and when I went to go back to bed she gave me that look that would melt the heart of any parent around.

The look that says "I know you really can't do much for me mom, but if you could just hang out I'd be really really happy". OK, done.

I scooped up Miss K and off to the spare bed we went. I did manage to scare the crap out of Big C when I told him what was up…poor guy. About 5 seconds after I crawled into bed with Miss K she let out a big sigh and fell into a fitful sleep. 

The fever broke a couple hours later and life and sleep returned to almost normal. She was gung ho to go to school for a while, then thought maybe a day at the sitter's might be better as it had already been a pretty crazy week.

In other news we have an elf. Not an elf on the shelf, but one that acts like it.

Big C really wanted to do it last year and I was not really on board. I was not on board this year either, spending 50 bucks for that creepy looking thing and a book was a little too much for me. Not to mention I don't have the time to hide that stupid toy every night and have it do crafts or change the oil in the car or whatever people do with the damn thing.

That little skinny thing gives me the creeps. Nightmare on Elf Street if you ask me. And spying on kids, to make them behave for the month of December? Bullshit, kids should behave the whole year, not just under the threat of reports to Santa and no toys.

I told Big C he was on his own. If he wanted to be creative, then go for it, I was having no part in it. He  did figure that the real Elf was too much money. But I give him kudos for dubbing a stuffed Elf that we already had as Miss K's pseudo "Elf on the Shelf". She thought it very cool and quickly named it Snowflake.

We're not really doing the "behave or else" spin on things but more the fun magical side of hide and seek and where will he be tomorrow. 

I can get on board with the magic of Christmas and she does delight in even the simplest of moves. Big C tipped Snowflake on his side yesterday before leaving, and Miss K determined he must have got tired and needed a nap.

I'm not a fan of the marketing machine that is Elf on the Shelf, but am a fan of seeing delight and wonder in my kids eyes when she truly believes there is some sort of magic taking place.

After the start of the week that she has had, I will take anything that doesn't involve another bottle of ibuprofen

Til next time….may the elves in your life soon have all the Christmas shopping done