One Long Christmas Season

It seems like so many people are taking down their Christmas decorations this weekend.  We didn't get the inside of the house done until about six days before Christmas, so I can handle a few more days of Christmas cheer.  However, Rick wants to keep the decorations up until his parents get here, which I believe is about the 15th of January and I am sure I will definitely want to de-Christmastize the house by then if not two weeks earlier.  Also, it is going to make it very difficult to clean the house with all of the extra chotskies littering every surface.  If it was up to Katie she would leave the decorations up all year.  Thank goodness she doesn't have a say so.  Anyway, wish me patience as I grin and bear Christmas until the middle of January.

Christmas Part Deux

For Christmas Katie received three gift cards.  Today we headed over to Wal-Mart so that she could spend her moola.  She picked out five toys and initially I was only going to let her spend $45, which meant she was going to have to put at least two toys back.  However, it was painful to watch her try to narrow down her choices, so I let her spend all of her money in one shot.  I tell you it was like a second Christmas for her.  She was so excited that she got to get five, count 'em five, toys in one shopping trip. She has never gotten five toys all at once.  The norm for her is to maybe get a small bag of M&Ms.  Anyhoodles, before heading to the toy department, I had done a fair amount of household shopping, so our cart was overflowing as it was and the added toys on top made me look like Santa with his laden sleight.  Adults were looking at me like, "What, didn't your kid get enough for Christmas?" while the kids were looking at Katie with envy.  She was so proud of those five toys teetering on the top of our cart.

Katie says, "Thank you Auntie Maryel, Auntie Linda and girls ("girls" are her three cousins).  Being able to buy almost everything that she wanted was a one time experience.

When we got home Katie said she missed her credit cards.  I asked her if she wanted to return her toys to get her credit cards back.  She promptly said, "No!" and has not brought it up again

Katie with her loot.  Her Auntie Maryel got her the Barbie Kitchen which came with a Barbie doll; her Auntie Linda got her the Barbie swimming pool and Thumbelina; and the girls got her the Toys Story 3 Barbie (she is sitting on top of the pool box) and the Pop The Pig game.

If you are not familiar with the pig game, the premise is that you feed the pig little plastic hamburgers until his growing belly forces his belt and shirt to pop open.  What will they think of next?!  Actually the game is just right for her age and we have played it once and I lost because my last hamburger over fed him.

Gotta go.  Katie wants to play Barbies and she has to twist my arm to do that. 

Christmas 2010

What a wonderful Christmas we have had. Christmas Eve we went to the candlelight service at our church. Katie was disappointed that there was no Children's Church. Once we got home, we took a few pictures of ourselves dressed in our fancy garb and then settled down to a meal of beef stew.

The Kirschners

Christmas Eve 2010

Katie was so, so excited. We almost forgot to put cookies and milk out for Santa, and Rick had to get her out of bed to do so--not that she was asleep. We also left some cheddar fish crackers for the reindeer. When Katie finally fell asleep, Rick and I had a few hours of work ahead of us. All the presents were wrapped, but locating the said presents was challenging--should have wrote a list of the gifts and their respective secret hiding locations.  I think we got to sleep at 2 am.

Amazingly we got up before Katie.  Pretty soon we heard little squeals.  I thought she was in the living room; however, she was in her bedroom where we had left the goodies for Santa.  And the cookies, milk and crackers were gone!  That pleased Katie to no end.  Santa also left a note for Katie.  When we got into the living room, Katie was amazed at the sight.  Wrapped gifts spread from the tree and a new, little, black leather recliner with a big red bow sat to the left.

After Santa visited our house.

Oh how the wrapping paper flew as it was ripped from the packages.  One item that Katie had asked from Santa was a Rapunzel Tower, which is a Barbie sized home for the Rapunzel doll.  Katie, being the smarty pants that she is, immediately deduced what package could be a tower--there were actually two packages that size, but she focused on the correct one.  She wanted to drag the tower package from the back, but we said she had to open the presents in front and around the tree first.  She systematically opened the presents that cleared a path to the tower. 

Katie got all of the Rapunzel/Tangled toys of her dreams.  She couldn't contain her excitement when she opened her 3' tall Rapunzel doll; or her Rapunzel Barbie-sized doll; a Flynn doll (Rapunzel's boyfriend); Rapunzel's tower; a Rapunzel dress for her; moon dough; DVDs; CDs, Mr and Mrs. Potato Head; a Leapster Explorer and a few games; clothes and more and more and more. I seriously cannot remember everything that Katie got, but she was lavished with gifts.

Rick received socks, lounge pants, a Wet/Dry Vac for the pump/lake house, a Ryobi tool combo set and another Ryobi tool.  His stocking was overflowing with Nestle Crunch bars, his favorite.  As for me, I got a deep fryer; a sign for my parking space in the parking area that says, "Reserved For The World's Best Mom"; pajamas; a music box;  and a diamond bracelet from Rick.  I have come to realize of late that I love getting fine jewelery as a gift.  It is something that I would never buy for myself.  It also makes me feel decadent.  Luckily, Rick does not believe in giving practical or house cleaning gifts for presents.  I like sparkly things, which reminds me Rick got me two large "snow globes".  One is an angel and one is a snowman.  When you switch them on, the sparkles inside move and a light show commences.  Like I said, I like sparkly things. 

As a couple, Rick and I received a hot chocolate whipper; candy dish WITH candy which I promptly ate a few and a bottle of wine.  I know that I am forgetting something, but to list all would make this post ridiculously long, so "Thank You" one and all for remembering us at Christmas.

All of our stockings were hung by the chimney with care and judging by the strained loops, Santa was definitely here.  We have enough candy to rot the teeth of a family of ten!
 

 Ummmm.  Sparkly.

  After the unwrapping of presents, or more properly stated as after the wrapping paper massacre, the living room was knee deep in shreds of wrapping paper, boxes, ribbons and bows.  Thank goodness we have a burn pit or our trash container would be overflowing.

Mounds and mounds of evidence that we do not adhere to "green living" when it comes to Christmas presents.

 Katie decorated the envelop that came with the card from her.  Rick said she poured her little heart into decorating that envelope.

 Maximus, the horse from Tangled, hiding in the presents.  I love that horse and the expression on his face.  He is pretty true to how he looked in the movie.  The bow that I stuck on his head makes him look all the more grumpy and upset about the situation. 

 Katie Rapunzel with her Rapunzel dress and Rapunzel hair.

Katie disrobed her 3' Rapunzel doll and discovered that Rapunzel had a painted on bathing suit, which I think is actually a strapless corset with underwear.  Anyway, Katie decided that they needed to go swimming.  After I told Katie it was too cold outside and that the pool was empty, they decided to go "swimming" in the box in which the tower came.  I had to lift her into the box and then squeeze Rapunzel in there too.  After a bit, of course what I fear happened.  The box fell over, but Katie dusted herself off and decided not to "swim" any longer.

For brunch I made a hash brown, egg and sausage casserole, which we all devoured.  For Christmas dinner I made a prime rib roast.  It was delicious!  Best prime rib that I have ever made.  It was melt-in-your-mouth and had great flavor.  Once again Lawrence Brothers in Stamford came through for me.  I seriously prefer their meat to anything that I can find in Abilene.

I hope that your Christmas was as comforting and joyous as ours was.  Merry Christmas!

"In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there."

Here are a few pictures from inside our home.  They are more for when I have this blog printed as a book for Katie, but you are welcome to take a look.

 Snow globes on side table.  Hey!  That's where that piece of fudge disappeared to.

Christmas Tree.  I have since removed the train track because it took away from my new tree skirt and it stuck out into the living room too far.

 "The stockings were hung by the chimney with care..."  Also the 3000 stuffed Christmas animals surrounded the fireplace.

 The little tree on the dining room table.

The musical carousel that Rick bought me the first Christmas we were married.  Matter of fact, that Christmas was also the first Christmas we ever spent together.

 Wreath above the fireplace.  We actually have four wreaths throughout the house.

Katie's bedroom door

The guest bathroom.  I like this picture because the mirror shows the hallway behind me, as well as part of the living room.

 The angel in the green gown I won at a raffle quite a few years ago.  This year I used the fake snow to give her some hair.  When Katie saw it she proclaimed, "She has hair like Ga Ga!"  Not sure which grandmother, but believe me neither has white, long, cotton candy like hair.  At least it makes her look better.  Before she did not have hair and people gave her a crude name since her head looked like a part of a man.  Our Elf on a Shelf, Elfie, was on the mixer when we woke up that morning.

 The bears on the stove shelf.

 During the Christmas Season, I keep the dining room table set.  Last year Rick's parents got us a service for eight of Spode's Christmas Tree dinnerware.  The pattern has been around since 1938.  No danger of it being discontinued. . . .I hope.

 The Major Award as seen in The Christmas Story.

A White German Shepherd angel which signifies Max and Eric.

New Do

Here it is.  The new do and of course Katie.  Can't aim the camera without her America-Next-Top Modeling in front of it.

Big Girl

Katie wanted to drive down to the Quonset Hut in her Barbie Jeep.  Rick was down there, so I said it was okay, but she needed to keep her eye out for snakes and be careful.  (It is warm out there.)  She replied, "I will, Mom.  I'm a big girl now.  I can use a butter knife."  Aaahh.  A big milestone according to a 4 year old.

Music From Heaven

The trouble with posting sporadically is that you forget to mention various events. For example, I got my hair cut last week. Not that a haircut is an "event", but when you have not had your hair this short since 3rd or 4th grade it deserves a mention and a picture. I got it cut to the jaw and chin area. It has been so long since I had short hair, that I forgot that once free of its weight, my hair becomes rebellious. I have a few layers cut into it, so when I wake in the morning I have a crazy, poofy, bed-head do. Short hair gets pretty head strong--pun intended--and will not succumb to hair brushing, gel and hairspray. If it doesn't want to go that way, gosh darn it, it is not going in that direction. The haircut works for my face shape, but I am not sure if I like it. I still don't know how to style it and opinionated hair doesn't help. I don't have a picture yet, so I have included one that shows what type of haircut I got.

 This afternoon I was on the phone with my sister when I heard a voice coming from the heavens.  "Er. . . God?"  Nope, it was Rick with a microphone and his four, newly purchased P.A. loudspeakers perched on the roof.  Katie then got behind the mike and proceeded to sing Christmas carols for about 1 hour.  Now Rick has hooked up a CD player and is playing the Charlie Brown Christmas CD.  "How nice." you say.  Well, I am not sure that our nearest neighbors who are a little over a mile away appreciate the afternoon concert.  Believe me, the sound carries that far if not further.  Rick is a gleeful little boy with his new toy.  He must have one of the speakers right next to the vent pipe for the range hood because the music is pouring into the kitchen loud and clear.  You know what they remind me of?  The type of speakers that you see around football fields.  Not kidding.

Yes, life is interesting, but I asked for it when I said, "I do."

A Rat and A Man With A Red Velvet Suit

We finally put up our Christmas tree last night.  Rick has been on vacation and will be until after the New Year, so I am not quite sure what our problem was but I know how I contributed to it.  I wanted to finish decorating the inside of the house before we started on the tree.  I was decorating very slowly this year and couple that with our oodles of decorations, the decorating stretched across a few days.  Rick has been concentrating on the outside of the house.  He is putting up new hooks to hang the light strings.  Our old hooks and lights went the way of the wind when we got hit by a tornado.  Anyway, for those of you who know Rick, it is a tedious task to place the hooks on the fascia.  However, his OCD has resulted in perfection.  To give an example how thorough Rick is, he has been caulking each screw hole to prevent moisture from getting by the screw and into the wood siding.

Thursday night we took Katie to see Santa Claus.  She was sooooo excited.  We purchased two set of pictures.  One of Katie and Santa and one of Rick, Katie and I with Santa.  After Santa we went to Chuck E Cheese's.  We started the tradition of going out to eat after visiting Santa when Kate was an itty-bitty.  We do Chuck E. Cheese because Katie loves the place and it is her night.  Speaking of the giant rat and his pizza place, we have to remind Katie each time we go in there not to put her tokens down and forget them.  However, some kid wanted to share Katie's coins and when she asked, Katie gladly gave her some coins.  We asked Katie why she did that and she said because the girl wanted to share.  I don't think Katie realized that when you offer to share it typically is when you are giving away something not when you need something.  Another girl decided to take coins without asking.  All I have to say is that Katie has a big heart.

Monday is Katie's belt ceremony where she will get her orange Taekwondo belt.  This means Katie is moving up to the Advanced Little Dragons class and she will be attending that class at a different time from her current one.  I am hoping the class is earlier.  Because of her class, we have been eating a really late dinner and I don't really fancy driving home in the dark.  Anyway, we'll see.

Let's see. What else can I ramble on about?  I only have one more dentist appointment left.  Yahooooo!  That appointment will be pain free as the dentist is permanently filling a hole in my front tooth.  A long, long time ago, I hit that tooth on a window sill and it has slowly died.  Because of its death, the tooth had started to discolor these past few years.  The dentist, Dr. Toogood--I just love his name--drilled a hole on the back of the tooth to inject bleach into the inside of the tooth and then he has been putting a temporary filling in it.  I will be getting a permanent fill on Tuesday.  Here's hoping that he likes how it looks or I will be getting a veneer.

Also on Tuesday I will have my mammogram.  My old OB-GYN left the area, so I didn't know how to go about scheduling a mammogram.  Luckily Dr. Kathryn Norton's office called to remind me it was that time of the year.  Dr. Norton is a surgeon to whom I went to last year for a second opinion on a suspicious area on my mammogram.  I used to go to Abilene Diagnostic, but I have switched over to Hendrix, which I am very glad that I did.  Abilene Diagnostic constantly bills incorrectly and the techs in their x-ray group are not very friendly.  I cannot understand why people, who don't like other people, go into a vocation that requires them to work with people.  Accounting would have been a better field for them.  Anyway...

Tonight Katie is sleeping over at her Aunt Gerri's and Uncle Don's.  They are not really her relatives.  They are our big-hearted neighbors who love Katie.  This is her third time doing an overnight at their house.  I miss the Doodlebug, but needed the uninterrupted alone time especially since Katie was not good Friday.  I was so frustrated that I had to walk out of the room because I felt like strangling her.  That child debates everything.  I mean EVERYTHING.   She always has a suggestion of how she should do something or a reason for why she does not need to do something or her perception of a situation.  Prime example, Friday she argued with me about what the printing on a box said.  She can't read, but she insisted again and again and again that she was right.  She stood firm and I ended up walking away because I wanted to scream.  Sometimes I think she does the debating just to yank my chain or to show her independence.  Or perhaps it's just the stubborn Finlander coming out in her.  She just wears me down some days.

I am done with my Christmas shopping and got the boxes out to our parents today.  We will not be traveling for Christmas and no one will be traveling to us.  I am looking forward to a relaxed Christmas with our little family.  Which reminds me, we spoil Katie.  She told Santa that she wanted the tower for the Rapunzel doll.  So there we were driving up to Stamford after Chuck E. Cheese to purchase said tower.  Thankfully they still had a few left and Katie was sleeping in the back seat.  Rick, who is the stricter parent of the two of us, said something that rather took me back.  I didn't want to get the tower at first, but Rick said she is only young once and we will regret not buying it.

I'll post the professional portraits of Katie and Santa, but I'll share the unprofessional, Mommy pics now.

Katie riding the race horse in Chuck E. Cheese's.  A video screen is in front of her that shows the race track and the backsides of other horses.

Katie chatting with Santa.  I had to stay behind the velvet rope, so it is not the cleanest shot.  You can also see that I STILL need to get my camera fixed.  Someday, someday.

Well, nighty night.  The electric blanket is softly and warmly calling my name.

Family Day

Yesterday Katie tested for her Tae Kwon Do orange belt.  The form or pattern that she had to learn while a yellow belt is the form that she has learned the quickest and the best.  She is also getting very strong and fast on her one steps.  I am not exaggerating when I say that of all the Little Dragons, she does the strongest take down.

Last night was the Christmas parade in Anson, which we drove in to see.  It was chilly last night and Katie ended up wearing three sweaters.  She got bucket loads of candy because she finally figured out that if she waved and loudly said, "Merry Christmas!" they would throw candy to her.  After the parade we went over to the pump house.  Rick had a few small things to which to tend.  I packed sandwiches and sodas and Katie packed her markers and colored pencils.  While Rick was working, Katie and I colored wooden ornaments that I had bought from Hobby Lobby. 

Today I started putting up the Christmas decorations.  I got the fireplace done and a few other spots, but there is still so much to do.  I don't want to put the tree up until the house is done, so I better get cracking.  Regardless, our tree will be put up earlier than normal for Rick actually has been on vacation since the 6th and will be so until after the New Year.  He had oodles of accrued vacation time and was losing days because he did not take them.  It's good to have him home, but it will be hard to get used to his traveling schedule once his vacation is over.

Below are the pictures from yesterday.

 Katie standing at attention with fellow Little Dragons before her orange belt testing.

 Bundled up for the Christmas parade.  She wore a pair of light-up antlers.

 Here's the annual blurred picture of the Court House in its holiday lights.

A decorated fire truck from the parade

Katie in the pump house.

The last picture is from earlier last week after I started feeling better.  Katie and I are making a garland string for her bedroom.  Please excuse my hair-do and lounge wear.

The Dentist, The Princess and The Elf

(Another title of a post that sounds like the start of a joke.)

I haven't posted again in awhile.  I have been having dental work done.  Not fun.  Yesterday's appointment was the worse.  My entire mouth was numb and I kept on thinking that I would swallow my tongue--it was hard to swallow.  On the ride home, I started gagging every time I swallowed, so of course I threw up like crazy when I got home.  I am still not 100% chipper and I have never had this reaction before from Novocaine or nitrous oxide.  There's a good possibility that I have the flu because of the chills, sweats, aching and headaches on top of the mouth soreness.  I have done nothing but lie around last night and poor Rick has had to pick up the slack, which means running Katie to Tae Kwon Do and ballet.  Because my husband does not cook, Katie and he have been doing McDonald's for dinner.  Not crazy about it, but I seriously couldn't cook right now.  It hurts to stand up, not to mention the feeling of being on the verge of throwing up is constantly present.  At least it is before Christmas.

I am very slowly decorating the house.  I have only gone through two of toters.  Eight more huge ones to go!

Now for the Katie pictures. . .

If I recall correctly, Katie said this was her Christmas bride outfit.  I think the sunglasses add a nice touch.

Here she is looking model fierce.

 We bought a microwave for the lake house.  Once Katie saw the big, empty box, she requested that Rick and I pack her in it and ship her to the North Pole.  We of course obliged.  Here she is waiting outside at 8:00 pm for Joyce, our mail lady, to pick her up.  We even turned the porch light off and went inside.  Pretty soon we heard a big ripping sound.  Katie decided against making the trip.  I think it was because I put four Goldfish crackers through the slot and told her that was all she was going to have to eat on the trip.  As a side note, it is great having a fearless child.

 Here's another Christmas Princess.  She nabbed the garland when I was decorating the house.  I don't know what it is about that kid, but everything has to go on her head.

I bought an Elf On The Shelf for Katie.  The Elf watches Katie all day and flies at night to the North Pole to report to Santa if Katie has been naughty or nice.  The next day he flies back from the North Pole and hides somewhere else in the house and Katie must find him.  She is not allowed to touch him because if she does, he loses his magic.  I have caught her singing to Elfie--yes, quite the original name that she gave him--reading to Elfie and writing a letter for him to bring to Santa.  Unfortunately, he did not leave last night because she was naughty and Elfie didn't want to disappoint Santa with the bad news.  She had a few slip ups today, but I think he will report to Santa.  Katie really gets into the concept of Elfie and gets tragically upset if we tell her that she is on Santa's Naughty List.

That's it for now.  Hopefully by this time tomorrow most of the house will be decorated and I will be able to eat.  Cheerio!

Matching Gummies

Katie takes gummi vitamins and the current ones are Toy Story themed.  The interesting point is that when I fetch her two out of the bottle, they must match in shape and color.  Many a morning I have all of the vitamins dumped on the counter as I search for two identical ones.  **Sigh**  She is her father's daughter.

Turkey Day and Misc. Stuff

We had a good Thanksgiving.  Katie helped me prepare the turkey for cooking.  She gently washed the bird and then patted him dry.  After his bath, Katie said he was her friend.  Perhaps that explains why she did not eat any turkey!

 Katie bathing the turkey.  Sorry for the crappy picture.  The flash blew out the picture.

Our friends Don and Gerri came over for the feast.  I had made some appetizers, one of which was crab dip.  I think I finally got the recipe right.  A friend used to make the dip around the holidays and I loved, loved, loved it.  However, she has since passed and I never got the recipe.  So, the crab dip was a success and Rick ate too much of the pre-Turkey munchies.  This is the first year that he did not gorge himself on turkey.

Speaking of gorging, our first Thanksgiving together was also our first as a married couple.  We were supposed to drive up to my parents, but the weather was not cooperating.  At last minute we decided to stay in Lansing and I threw a Thanksgiving dinner together at the last minute.  We invited our neighbors over and had a festive time.  Frankly, it was one of the best Thanksgivings ever.  Back to gorging.  Rick was cutting the turkey and putting meat on a plate.  Pretty soon the plate was piled high.  When I said I could put the plate on the table and people could grab what they wanted, he informed me that it was not the table plate but his plate!  He wasn't joking.  Needless to say, he was one moaning and groaning puppy after he was done eating.

I have gotten a lot of the Christmas shopping for Katie done, but I have not started on anyone else.  I am also working on Katie's calendar.  Each year I give immediate members of our families a calendar with a new picture of Katie for each month.

On Black Friday, I don't do the "get up at the crack of dawn, fight the crowds to save $50" exercise.  However, Katie and I did go to see Tangled in Abilene.  I was shooting for the 12:15 pm showing, but we arrived early and the theater wasn't mobbed, she we saw the 11:35 am showing.  We saw the 3D version of Tangled and thoroughly enjoyed it.  And yes, Katie tried to grab some of the objects that appeared to travel outside of the screen.  There is a lot of humor in the movie and I found myself genuinely laughing.  We will be getting it when it comes out on Blu-ray.

Last week I had the first of three dental appointments.  The first went well, but that was only because a gel was swabbed on my gums before he shot them up with Novocaine.  I also took the nitrous oxide.  Did I ever mention that I get anxious visiting the dentist?  It is a result of my younger years.  My first dentist was forced into the profession by his parents.  He ended up losing his license when it was discovered that he was nipping at a bottle before seeing each patient.  Dentist number two kept on giving my teeth a clean bill of health.  After seeing him for years, he retired and I had a new dentist.  The new dentist discovered a ton of cavities.  Apparently dentist #2 didn't like his job either.  In college I went to one of those dental clinics and that hack fixed a cavity for me, but his filling was a mess.  In addition, he drilled too much into the tooth and it ended up cracking.  Like I said, I get anxious about dental appointments and don't trust tooth doctors.  However, this new dentist, Dr. Toogood--real name and no, he is not American Indian--I do like.

Mom is fairing okay in rehab.  Her Alzheimer's has her thinking that she had a stroke.  She has also been claiming that she hit her head from the fall and that is why her memory is bad.  In reality, she didn't hit her head, but it is her way of not facing the fact that she has that horrible disease.

I am not too pleased with Ballet Abilene.  I drove Katie to class last Tuesday evening, only to find the place closed up.  Apparently they are closed the entire Thanksgiving week.  I have no clue how I was supposed to know that.  I have no calendar for them, no email was sent, nothing was mentioned in the newsletter and there was no sign on the door.  I'll deal with that tomorrow.

I have a few errands to run, so I'll sign off. I don't have any type of MOPS function today, so I feel as if I am on vacation.

Improvisational Thigh-Hi

Here's another quick post.  Sometimes I wear hose when I have on a dress and I tend to wear thigh-hi stockings.  (I cannot stand the waist band of pantyhose.  It makes me feel like a sausage.)  Today Katie was in our master bedroom's closet.  When I asked her what she was doing, she quickly closed the door.  Upon investigation, I found Katie with my black, knee-hi boots on her feet; one of my dresses on her body that had a deep, scoop neckline so that her belly button was showing a la J-Lo and thigh-his on her legs.  I did a double take of the thigh-his because they seemed to fit her very well.  Then I did another double take because I remembered that I do not have beige thigh-his.  After a closer look . . .

I realized she had my knee-his on.  She looked so darn silly that I took her outside so Rick could see her.  Also, she really is a smart pumpkin.  I wonder how many "thigh-his" she tried on before she found a pair that fit.

Week Round-Up

My mom ended up going into a rehab facility.  While in the hospital her shoulder popped out again and they feared she would try to use that arm if she went home.  She is supposed to be at the rehab facility for a couple of weeks.  The exact length depends on how well she does in physical therapy.  She is bored out of her mind  since she has no one with whom to talk.  The rehab facility also is an old folks home, so it has long term residents that can no longer live by themselves.  Most of them are off in the la-la land of old age.  Mom cannot wait to go home.  She would rather talk with my father who cannot speak than converse with fellow patients that are out of touch.

As for my dad, my sister Linda did an amazing job getting him situated.  She set up home health care for him, as well as meals on wheels.  Dad has been fairing pretty well.  My mother always said she had to do certain things for him, such as helping him put on his shirt.  So far, Dad has been putting a new shirt on everyday.  What can you say.  My father is a stubborn Finlander and is displaying what we call sisu.  The other day he asked his home health care person if he could get a Life Alert, so they are ordering one for him.

Katie and I went to The Nutcracker at the Paramount Theater in Abilene.  It is a gorgeous theater, but surprisingly small.  The Calumet Theater in the town in which I grew up is similar to the Paramount but bigger and slightly more classy.  (Again click the name to be taken to their website.  Back to the ballet, Katie and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  We were five rows back, so Katie got to see all of their fancy foot work close up.  Also, Katie's two ballet teachers performed and Katie was so excited when she spotted them.  The Nutcracker performed by Abilene Ballet Theater is no rinky-dink, small town show.  The costumes were gorgeous and the back drops massive and rich.  I was impressed.  As for the dancing, the part that I liked the most and that I consider the most beautiful is the Peacock's Dance.  Katie's teacher Mary Elizabeth Walker danced that part, as well as several others.  She was graceful and flowing as the Peacock.  From my limited knowledge of ballet, I thought she was the best dancer of the evening.

Now for a few pictures.

We bought Katie a zebra print office chair for her desk in her room.  She is quite proud of her chair for now she is like mommy and daddy, she has a desk, chair and computer.  In the above picture, she is wearing my reading glasses.  According to Katie, she had work to do at her desk and it was extremely important.  Since Rick wears readers when he works, Katie figured that is was a requirement for working.  I was surprised that she did not get a headache from wearing the glasses.  Rick is worried that they could actually harm her eyesight so I have hidden all of my readers.

This picture above is Katie and I ready to go to the ballet.  Actually, we stopped at the mall first to watch a Team Chip Tae Kwon Do demonstration and to do a little shopping.  I had Katie wear pants with her dress because I knew she would want to go to the mall's play area and that girl is not bashful about showing her underwear to the world.  I had Katie take her pants off in the car before we began our short walk to the theater.  Speaking of a short walk, we arrived about 50 minutes before the ballet started.  Parking in downtown Abilene is scarce.  I wasn't looking forward to hunting for a spot, but by getting there early, we only had to park one short block from the theater.  Since we had time to burn, we went into the Texas Star Trading Company (Click the name to be taken to their website.)  They have various items that celebrate Texas.  I picked up some pecan popcorn.  Oh man, was it good.  The fact that I had not eaten yet that day had something to do with the fact that I basically inhaled the popcorn.

The next few pictures are of Katie at a Tae Kwon Do class. The first two pictures crack me up.  In the first picture Katie and her fellow classmates are patiently waiting for class to begin.  In the second picture, I don't know what the boy next to her said or did, but the look on her face is as if he farted.  And no, you are not seeing double.  Katie is sitting between two twin brothers, a bad place for her because the twins have a hard time concentrating, standing still and obeying.  Katie actually gets irritated with them.

Below Katie is doing an cross arm/punch exercise and each time she throws her fist out, she did her Tae Kwon Do yell.  You can see her open mouth in this picture.

Below is Katie working on kicks with Mr. Kyle.

Here is Katie listening so intently to Mr. Kyle critique her kicks.

In other news, I am cooking a 21# turkey tomorrow.  We have some neighbors coming over and I am so looking forward for the Holidays to begin.  This really is a warm, nostalgic time of the year.  Any hoodle, Happy Thanksgiving and I hope you enjoy your turkey, as well as the turkey sandwiches, turkey soup and turkey casserole that you will be eating for the next week and a half.  Gooble, gooble!

Mom, Birthday and a Marriage

Tuesday evening I received a phone call from my Aunt Fern that my mom had fallen and was in the hospital.  She slipped on the snowy, slushy steps of an office building.  She managed to fall on her stomach and also managed to dislocate her shoulder and crack her pelvis.  A man in the building saw my mom lying outside and my mom had the presence of mind to have him call my Aunt Fern and an ambulance.

As of today she is still in the hospital and her shoulder has dislocated again, so they want to do a procedure.  Tomorrow she is being moved to a rehab center for "a few weeks".  This means my dad will be at home alone, which is not a good thing considering he cannot speak or use his right arm due to a stroke.  So he can't drive, talk on the phone and has trouble putting his shirt on and zipping his jacket.  My sister Linda is trying to set up meals-on-wheels for him, as well as home health care.

I'll have a better idea tomorrow as to where my mother is going and for how long.  The other day she was adamant that she was going home.  She is terribly worried about my dad.  Even though being in a rehab facility for a few weeks will create a harried situation for my mom and dad, it is the best way to get her healed and walking and the best way to prevent a permanent move to an old folks home. 

Yesterday was my birthday and it was a ho-hum day because of so many things on my mind.  In the evening Gerri, one of our neighbors, came over for cake, ice cream and two bottles of wine.  Rick and Katie went to bed and Gerri and I continued chatting and sipping until past midnight.  I think I needed that.

For my birthday, Rick got me a beautiful diamond necklace that is a key with hearts and the number two.  It means key to my heart.  Rick had to point out the number two since I didn't see it right away.  Below is a picture of it.  Rick also got me a dozen, red roses.  Gerri got me some bath products from Pier One and Katie got me a trampoline.  Yes, I said a trampoline.  It is a clear case of Katie getting me what she wanted.  I told Rick this morning that the trampoline needs to go back since I don't think I will be able to use it.  I have been having problems with vertigo and it doesn't take much for me to get sick to my stomach and out of sorts from movement.  Anyway, Katie is disappointed that it needs to go back.  I fear I have hurt her feelings by telling her that I have to return her gift.  Considering the stress in my life right now, it was a good birthday.

As I had posted previously, Katie and I went to the Sugar Plum Fairy Tea at Abilene Women's Club.  Being the outstanding momma that I am, I didn't bring my camera, so there are no pictures of Katie with ballerinas.  However, we did have our picture taken before we left the house.  Don't I look thrilled?  Katie was being, as we politely call it, a handful that day.  Katie is wearing her first pair of high heels and her first pair of pantyhose.  She has worn tights before, but they were not as amazing to her as the pantyhose.  While at the tea, I purchased tickets for Katie and I to attend The Nutcracker performed by Abilene Ballet Theater on this Saturday afternoon.  I opted to purchase patron seats so Katie can see the ballerinas.

And here is America's Next Top Ham.

 

About six months ago, I tried on my wedding dress, tiara, veil, shoes and jewelery for Katie.  She was awe struck and since then she is obsessed with veils and being married.  Yesterday, she wanted me to perform a marriage ceremony for her bear and her.  This is when I found out that the big bear that her Pop Pop brought to the hospital when she was born is called Ricky, Mr. Ricky Bear.  The above picture is when they were standing at the "altar" before the ceremony.  When I finished with "you may now kiss your bride", I was instructed to leave the room.  Apparently it was not to be viewed by anyone, including the preacher.  After the ceremony she proceeded to dance and twirl around the living room with her husband, Mr. Ricky Bear.  I guess that was the reception.

So that's the news around here.  I was so looking forward to this holiday season, but that kind of fizzled.  Take and ciao.