Odds and Ends

It's only been five days since my last post, so why does it feel like forever? All that daily updating in December really makes me feel like I'm slacking if I don't update at least every couple of days or so. Somehow I manage to carry on without updating, though. Hee.

Today is my oldest brother's birthday. I sent him an e-card from Hallmark, featuring Hoops and Yoyo. I love those little creatures! They're so freaking cute. And when I was on Hallmark's site looking at e-cards, I saw that they have stuff with Hoops and Yoyo on it. I might have to buy myself the watch. It's very cute!

So, after a month of eating whatever I wanted, without thinking too much about the consequences, I felt like I had gained a little bit of weight back. Today I was finally brave enough to step on the scale, and yes - I gained 7 pounds. Oops! So I'm not going to buy junk food anymore, either at work or at the grocery store. I'm not throwing away what I have - I'm just going to slowly work my way back down to eating less overall, and to cutting the junk food back out. We haven't started a new weight loss challenge at work, so I'll just start it on my own. I'll let you know how I do.

I had a futon given to me this weekend. It's in need of a thicker mattress, which J, luckily, happens to have in his garage, so we're going to use his, because we're not too fond of the feel of bars pressing up into our butts. But even with the thin mattress, it feels incredible to have it in the living room. I haven't had a couch in years - the one I had got worn out and old and dirty from dogs laying on it all the time, so I put it in the mudroom for them to lay on, and I never got around to buying a new one. I always had other things to spend my money on, like, oh, heat and stuff like that. Now we have it, though, and it's so nice to be able to sit on it to watch TV, or to lay down on it to relax (or nap, as J did last night). How did I live all this time without a couch?

Wow, this is really an odds and ends entry, isn't it? Sorry about that. I guess I only had some little things to say. I hope you are all having a great Tuesday, wherever you are! And if you have some good thoughts to spare, could you send them to J? He had a bad day yesterday, and I'm hoping that today will be better for him. I'm sure he would appreciate any good vibes you can send his way. Thanks!

Happy Birthday, Mom

Today is my Mom's birthday. She would be turning 69 years old today. In honor of her birthday, I scanned in a few of my favorite pictures, and lucky you, you get to see them!

Mom and I went to Hawaii the year I graduated high school, to visit my brother, who was stationed there in the Navy at the time. This picture was taken when we went to the Don Ho show. I love this picture for a few reasons. First, it shows my Mom at what was one of her happiest times in life. She LOVED Hawaii, and was very happy to be there, and to be seeing Don Ho. Second, it shows me at the young age of 18, just as happy as she was to be there. I was young, naive and had no idea of what life was going to be putting me through in the years to come. Third, I really like this picture of my brother, David. He looks so young and handsome, and trouble free. Life has battered him around a bit too, and it's taken its toll on him, but this is how I always picture him.

This picture is of me at two years old, just a month before my Dad died, in my Mom's lap, with my Dad's Mom next to her. I didn't grow up knowing my paternal grandmother, so I'm not too thrilled that she is in this picture, but I LOVE how my Mom looks - so young and beautiful. I wonder if she had any idea of how beautiful she actually was? This picture also captures a happy time before the death of my Father, so it is actually even more precious. Mom wrote on the back of this picture - this is what it says:

"Taken April 4, 1972 on the train ride to Six Gun Territory. Mother P. 56; Myself 34; Denise 2 yrs. Our Easter vacation to Florida - March 29 - April 10th."

And this one, that isn't of Mom, but of my Step-Dad, Wayne. I love this picture of him because it just shows how he really was in life. He's wearing his short-sleeved shirt with pockets and his sneakers, he's smoking his cigarettes (that would go on to kill him later) - it's just him.

So, there you go. A short trip down memory lane with me, on my Mother's 69th birthday. I love you Mom, and I miss you every day and every minute of my life. Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Happy Birthday Sarah! I hope you have a great day, and I hope the cake that Jeff makes you is yummy! Have a piece for me!

All you other readers: if you have a minute, go to Sarah's page and wish her a happy birthday. She'll love it!

Happy Birthday Jamie!

Fourteen Years

My Dad died in an accident when I was two years old. I don't have any memories of him, and only know him from stories told to me by my Mom and my older siblings and from pictures. I have often wondered what he was like, what he sounded like and what our relationship would have been like if he had lived longer. But I didn't really feel his loss all that much, because when I was four years old, my step-father moved in with us.

Wayne wasn't very welcomed by my siblings, because unlike me, they remembered our father, and resented the presence of another man in the house. They didn't want another father. I, however, accepted him and loved him as if he were my father. He was a hard working man - a bricklayer, with all of the aches and pains that a job doing such hard physical labor brings with it. He was short - about 5'5" or so, maybe? He had a full head of hair that curled if it got too long, he had kind gray eyes and he loved me like I was his own daughter.

He died of cancer on January 18, 1993. I can't believe that 14 years have gone by without him. He was my father, for all intents and purposes, and I miss him everyday.

I love you Wayne. I'm thinking about you today, just as I do everyday. I hope wherever you are, you are happy, and I hope that you and Mom are once again together, playing cards and laughing the way you used to do.

Plip, tink!

Plip, tink! Plip, tink! Plip, tink!

Hello everyone! I have today off for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. My plans today are to watch a lot of General Hospital to clear it off my DVR and (almost) catch up, play the Sims, and listen to the following:

Plip, tink! Plip, tink! Plip, tink! Don't know what that is? That is the sound of the rain coming through my living room roof, finding its way through the ceiling, and falling into the two bowls that I've put under the drips. Sigh. I'm very sad. J sealed the roof for me a while ago, and I haven't had any leaks since, so I thought he had fixed my problem. I knew I was still going to need a new roof over this part of the living room, but I thought I might be able to put it off. But, nope.

Plip, tink! Plip, tink! Plip, tink!

Damn it.

Anyway, I'm trying not to focus on it, even though it's pretty much all I can hear (plip, tink! plip, tink!) and I won't stop thinking about it until it's stopped doing it. So, let me share some pictures with you!

This is Zelda, killing a plastic bag (whited out a bit from the flash) on my dining room table. She's so fierce!

The stack of books I have waiting for me to read them. I LOVE books. Also, I should note that the bottom three belong to Sarah. I'll get them back to you eventually Sarah, I promise! (In the picture is my Mom. Hi Mom! I miss you! And of course that's Otto the Orange in the background.)

We set a desk up in the corner of my living room for J. He had to go to work last night, and at some point Kate decided to hang out at his desk. I'm sure he won't mind, right J?

The bowls (and towels) on my floor, catching the drips. The plastic one on the left makes the plip! noise. The glass one on the right makes the tink! noise. Sigh.

After my last entry, you should know that my shoulder and arm are feeling much better. My arm is still a little sore, but it's just a minor muscle soreness now - very livable. And it's getting a little better everyday. It's apparently going to take about a month for me to heal completely, but it is happening slowly. Just a tip for you, though - if you start getting a feeling of pulled muscle? Take care of it immediately! Don't let it knot up on you like I did. You'll be happy to avoid this kind of pain, believe me.

And okay, I think that's all I have to say for now. I'm going to go turn on my Sims computer and try ignore that water dripping into the bowls.

Plip, tink! Plip, tink! Sigh. I hope you have a great Monday.

Tired (and Sore) Now

It's been two weeks and two days since my shoulder muscles froze up on me. I've gotten a lot better in that time, but I am still dealing with soreness every day and every night. I can't sleep at night unless I take a muscle relaxer before I go to bed, because my arm gets so sore that the only way it is comfortable is if I'm on my back. Only, I can't sleep on my back - I need to be on my sides. I can't lay on my left side at all, because it hurts my arm too much, and I can't lay on my right side unless I have the pill in me - otherwise the arm hurts too much. I've tried not to complain in here about my arm and shoulder, because it's such a minor thing really, in the overall scope of things. But. I woke up at 2:00 this morning because my arm hurt, and I only dozed on and off from then until I got up at 6:10, because I couldn't get my arm comfortable, and right now I am exhausted. I want to go back home, take a muscle relaxer and go back to bed. But I have to sit here at work and attempt to be productive for the next 7 3/4 hours instead. I hate my shoulder and arm muscles right now.

Anyway. Now that I've vented at you, let me talk about some good stuff - relationship stuff. J and I continue to do great. He has proven himself to be someone I can count on when I need help - he has done more for me during this whole muscle debacle than I ever thought any man would. Cat litter scooping, dog wrangling, food fetching - you name it, he's done it. I loved him before this whole thing, but I think I love him even more now. It's really nice to know that the guy I'm with is someone who is not only able to do stuff for himself, but who actually wants to help out when I need it.

He started moving some stuff into my place last night. He's not really moving in yet, but he is spending quite a bit of time with me, and it only made sense, if he's going to be at my house more than at his own, for him to have a place to store some clothes. So we moved an extra dresser down from my upstairs (okay, he moved it and I tried to help, but I can only do so much with one good arm and one sore one). I emptied it out and cleaned it up, and he put some clothes in it that he had brought with him from home. For the first time in my life, I'm almost living with a man that I'm dating. And you know what? I love it.

After the freak outs that I had in November, I really never would have thought our relationship would be able to move this fast. And yet, once I got past the fear and let myself just enjoy the relationship, it's been nothing but good. We are more alike than I ever thought would be possible. We like the same stuff, we think the same way on most things. I am very comfortable with him. I think I'm going to enjoy sharing my space with him.

Now if only my arm and shoulder would finally get back to normal, maybe I'd really be able to enjoy our time together. Heal, damn you! I have a life to live, here!

Life of Pi

Yesterday I had to go to a meeting in Saratoga Springs, NY. I rode with two other people from work, so I got to sit in the backseat and read the whole way there and back. I FINALLY finished Stephen King's Lisey's Story, so I had one of my new Christmas gift card books with me to read - Life of Pi by Yann Martel. And it is SO GOOD! I am in love with this book. It starts off a little slowly, with lots of talk about zoos and religion, but once I got past that stuff, I just didn't want to put it down anymore. And actually, I didn't mind the early stuff either, it just wasn't as exciting as the main story. If you haven't read this book yet, do yourself a favor and buy it or check it out of the library. Then get ready to spend a few hours just sitting still and reading, because you won't want to stop once you start - consider yourself warned.

Pictures from January 6

I think I discovered the problem with my picture uploading, so if this works, you'll see the pictures below that I wanted to show you. Enjoy!

A school of fish. Ha! Those clever lights on the lake people.

Evil, demented looking racoon. I love it.

And, because I can't just show you pictures of pretty lights without adding some critter pics to the mix as well:

Zelda in a box. Sarah says pictures of cats in things get the most comments. This is a test. :)

Bernie says hi, and thanks for reading!

Happy Saturday

J and I had such a great day yesterday. We started out just relaxing and watching some DVRed TV (I'm still working on getting that thing cleaned off - it's going to happen someday, it really is), and then at about 3:00 we left and drove out to Syracuse. Where we went shopping. Woo!

Our first stop was to the mall, where we hit the SU store, so that J could buy an orange SU turtleneck that he had been wanting. Very cool - you gotta love the orange around here. Then we made one of my favorite stops of the day - we went to the place where he got my charm bracelet, and he used a coupon that they had given him to buy me FOUR new charms! My bracelet looks like an actual charm bracelet now! It's very cool. Do you want to see? Let me see if I can get a decent picture of it.

Can you see it well enough? My camera doesn't have a setting to take pictures really close-up, but I'll describe them to you. On the far left is a giraffe, complete with little brown spots, then there is a sun with a face in it, then a dragonfly, then the original charm, which is a heart and a key (because I have the key to J's heart, aww), then there is a gecko (I love that gecko) and then Tigger. How cute is that? I love twirling my hand and making it jingle, and I love feeling the charms hanging around my hand. Charm bracelets rule.

After the trip to the mall, we went to Target, and I spent a small part of the gift card that my sister gave me, to buy myself a new black purse. I needed one desperately, and I love it. Then we went to Barnes & Noble, so that I could use the gift card that Jamie gave me for Christmas. It was a $15 gift card, and I spent $26 or something like that. Ha! But I got Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (I can't believe I didn't already own that book), Persuasion by Jane Austen and The Assistant by Bernard Malamud. That last one is on one of those top 100 book lists that I'm trying to read, so yes, I'm still trying to work on that. Even though it is taking me months to get through a simple Stephen King book, for goodness sake.

When we left the book store, we went to the Outback and used his gift card to have simply the most delicious meal I have had in a long time. I'm not a steak eater, usually. I don't bother buying them to cook at home, and I don't very often order them out, because I like them with no pink, and if you order a steak like that, you usually get it all dried out and overcooked. Last night, though, I got a steak cooked absolutely perfectly. No pink, but it was still moist and juicy, and I ate every single bite of it. Yum.

When we rolled out of the restaurant with our bulging bellies, we went to see Lights on the Lake, which is a holiday light show that they put on every year at Onondaga Lake. I'd never been, so I took my camera. You lucky people - now you get to see the pictures that didn't get all blurry on me.

Okay, blogger is crapping out on me and not letting me upload anymore pictures at the moment, so look for those to come soon.

Anyway, after Lights on the Lake, we went to Wegman's and got me some chocolate Lactaid milk (yum) and tried to get me some Bruegger's bagels, but they were closed, and then we went home. Home, where I got to lay out the books I have waiting to be read, and the pile is kind of high now, and I LOVE that.

So, a great Saturday. And look for some pictures to come soon. Maybe right after this entry goes up, if blogger will let me upload them.

Top Ten Signs of Recovery

Signs that I am starting to feel better (finally):

10. I haven't taken any Advil today, because the pain is bearable without it.

9. I only took half of a muscle relaxer today.

8. I didn't cuss nearly as much when I was getting up and taking care of the animals/getting ready for work.

7. I can turn my neck to the right with almost no pain.

6. I can lift my left arm without feeling incredible pain (just bearable pain).

5. I'm starting to think about eating less again, to continue with the weight loss thing that has been waylaid by first the holidays and then pain.

4. I can walk without feeling like my left arm is being ripped off my body.

3. I found myself walking quickly and singing to myself when I got home last night.

2. I haven't grimaced in pain in days.

And the number one sign of my recovery:

1. I just put on make-up for the first time in a week.

Druggy

I took a muscle relaxer at work today. Not a wise idea, maybe - I have cycled through the following reactions to the drug: first a feeling of being slightly less in pain, and a subsequent better mood; second a feeling of intense loopiness; third a feeling of intense drowsiness and dizziness, with a headache, where I wanted to do nothing but lay down and go to sleep. Those were followed by it wearing off, just in time for me to have about half an hour before I go home. The drug made it a not very productive day at work, but it did allow me to stretch my muscles out enough to allow me to turn my head to the right with minimal pain, and I can now walk without feeling like something is ripping the muscles apart in my upper arm. I'm hoping the muscles won't freeze back up overnight, but I'm cautiously optimistic right now that this whole thing may be ending soon. Could I actually finally be recovering? Good god I hope so!

Also, the last two days at work have been marked by numerous Internet problems, resulting in us not having any connection for more than half of the time. Those of you who are office workers will understand how horrible a day is when you can't fool around online. EXCRUTIATING! I'm hoping the problems are fixed now, so that we won't have to go through this again tomorrow. We'll see.

Okay, I'm going to pack up and get ready to go home now. I just wanted to send you all a quick update on the state of my seized up muscles. Send good healing thoughts my way! I'm hoping to be back to normal by the end of the week. :)

January 1, 2007

What's good about this year so far: seeing it in with my man, and getting my first ever New Year's Eve/Midnight kiss for good luck.

What sucked about the Midnight thing: my shoulder and arm were fine if I was laying down, but as soon as I sat up to be able to drink my sparkling grape juice and get my kiss, they started feeling like the muscles were being torn apart, so I sat there for a full minute going, "ow, ow, ow, hurry up and drop the ball, damn it, ow, ow, ow. Okay kiss, sip, lay down. Whew." It was not fun. But it was nice to not be alone on New Year's Eve for a change. Also, Dick Clark makes me sad. I should feel all empowered at his progress and how he comes out to do this thing even after his stroke and all that, but instead, I just got sad. I was actually happy to see him send it off to Ryan Seacrest and whoever that girl was.

And now J has gone back home, and I'm here alone. Kate (my fat cat) is yelling at me because she wants me to pick her up, but I can't right now because of my sore shoulder and arm. It's completely quiet here other than her meowing, which seems strange, and I'm suddenly not used to being alone. I liked having J here a lot. Like, he could have just continued to stay here and I would have been fine. Which is very weird for me. Could it be that I have finally grown up enough to want to share my life with someone? Strange!

Happy 2007!

Happy New Year's Eve!

This whole shoulder thing has been so frustrating. I'm feeling quite a bit better than I was a few days ago, but I'm still pretty sore and weak. J had to go to his old job today to show his replacement how to do a year end closeout thing, so I'm here at the house by myself for a few hours. I took a muscle relaxer, although I was hoping to be able to skip that today, and I rubbed some Icy Hot on my arm, and I feel decent. So I took the ornaments off the living room tree and the stockings down off the banister. And got exhausted and had to sit down. J and I are going to have our holiday ham dinner tonight, so I got the pan out and washed it and got the glaze made and started the ham basting in it. And then I was exhausted, so I had to go back to the living room and sit down. So frustrating! I want to just be able to do normal stuff again. Stupid shoulder.

Anyway. Today is the last day of 2006! I hope everyone reading has a great New Year's Eve, and a fantastic 2007. I can't believe that my ten day vacation from work is almost over. I'm going to be sad to go back to work on Tuesday, and even sadder to say good-bye to J when he goes home tomorrow night. The holidays are almost over, so I guess it's almost time to get back to real life. Vacations can't last forever, right? It was a great break, though. I found out that J and I can spend this many days in a row together without getting on each other's nerves, and in fact I learned that when I need help, I can count on J to be there. That's a really nice thing to know about the guy I'm in love with. I had a great Christmas - three of them, in fact, if you count all the different celebrations. J spoiled me like crazy with gifts, which he didn't need to do, but I certainly enjoyed it. :) My only regret from this break is that I didn't get to get together with Jamie and Sarah. Jamie was supposed to come over on Wednesday to watch Nip/Tuck, but my shoulder was seized up and he had a cold, so that didn't happen. And Jamie, Sarah, Jeff, J and I were supposed to get together for lunch on either Friday or Saturday, but my shoulder and arm soreness kept us from doing that. We'll do those things soon, though, I'm sure.

I'm catching up with some more TV on my DVR while J is gone. I got all the Ellens off of it, and one General Hospital, and now I'm watching the first of two Smallvilles that I have on the DVR. And I'm back to having almost half of the memory free! Excellent. If I can just find time to get caught up with GH and get Jamie over here to watch Nip/Tuck with me, I'll be in good shape. Someday, I hope.

Okay, I need to stop typing, because my arm is getting sore again, so that's all for now. Happy New Year! I hope you all have great celebrations, if you choose to celebrate it. :)

Holiday Catch-Up

Wow, just like that 2006 is almost over. It's certainly going out with a bang for me. I'm still recovering from the pulled muscle thing that I've had going on for a few days. The pain in my arms is a lot better, and the muscles in my neck and shoulder are still tight, but way less so than they were. I'm getting better everyday, so I'll be fine soon.

It certainly sucked that this happened during my ten day vacation with J, but I really don't know what I would have done if he weren't here. The basic daily tasks like scooping the cat litter and taking care of the animals would have been pretty much impossible for a couple of days. He has been a huge help to me, and I can't say enough how much I appreciate him right now. I know that I can count on him if I need him, and that means a lot.

So, now that I can sit at the computer long enough to do more than a simple "I'm hurt, talk to you later" post, I owe you a couple of days' worth of catch up. Christmas at my sister's house on the 26th went really well. The family was all really nice to J, and made him feel very welcome, and he got a first hand example of why they're so much fun to be around at dinner, when my youngest niece was throwing pieces of bread at her father at the table, and when my youngest nephew was doing imitations and having us all laughing so hard that we cried. They're a great family, and he came out feeling like he could have fun hanging with them, I think. And I love that. And I think he loved that I told him that when I first got there, my oldest niece pulled me aside and said that my man was a cutie! Hee. He is, so that's true.

Anyway, the 26th was fun. My sister gave me a gift card for Target and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants on DVD. I loved them. I also got a taxi cab ornament for my tree, that sports a logo that my talented niece-in-law designed. Very cool. Thanks guys!

The 27th was supposed to be spent going to Syracuse for the day, but that's the day that my neck and shoulder seized up, so we ended up coming back home without even getting halfway, and I spent the evening and the next morning in bed moaning and wishing that Advil could at least pretend to touch the pain. And you know about that, so I really don't need to talk about it anymore. I'm healing, and that's what counts.

Today we stayed at my house and watched TV. J gave me Field of Dreams on DVD, and we watched that this morning, and we spent the afternoon watching some of the shows that I have stacked up on my DVR. Between what we watched and the duplicates that I deleted, we got about ten hours of shows off. I'm now up to almost 40 free hours of DVR storage time. Woo! I have about five or six weeks of General Hospital on there to catch up on, and I'll start hacking away at that tomorrow while J is in Syracuse helping out at his old job. I'm not going to clear the DVR off before the end of this vacation (although I would have come much closer if I could watch the DVR'ed shows in my bedroom, given the two days I spent trapped in there because sitting up and moving was so painful), but it's going to be a lot less backed up than it was, so that's good. And in between all of the time spent laying in bed wishing for the end of pain, we have still managed to have some fun. Which is a great thing.

And now I think you're pretty caught up, so I'm going to end this. Holidailies is almost over, which is kind of sad for me. I've missed three days this time - one because I forgot, one because I was having fun and didn't want to take the time out to post and one because I was in too much pain. I'm sad to have missed that many days, but making all but three posts isn't bad, really. And as hard as it has been to come up with content some days, I'll kind of miss posting daily. Kind of. ;) But of course there are still a couple of days left, so I'll be back tomorrow and the next day, at the very least. Hope to see you then!

Muscle Update

Just another quick post to update on the state of my horrible neck. It's still horrible and painful, but marginally less so than yesterday. Yesterday the pain was a 9 on a scale of 0-10, now it's about at a 6. Maybe 7. Still sucky, but there are signs of improvement. My knot of muscle tissue is gone, but my arm is incredibly sore from all the jumping my muscles did, and my shoulder is still really tight when the muscle relaxers wear off. So for now I'm still popping those things, and I'm discovering how many Advil and Aleve I can take in one day, and I'm waiting to feel normal again. Normal is going to be really nice.

We did manage to make it to the mall today, though. We exchanged an SU t-shirt that J got me that was too big, and we exchanged my necklace for one that fits the pendant, so I am once again wearing my pendant that my step-dad gave me. It feels really good to have it on again. I also got a dragonfly charm for my bracelet. So it still managed to be a good day. Oh! And I used one of my bookstore gift cards, and got the following: Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Good Grief by Lolly Winston and Love by Toni Morrison. I love books. It may take me forever to read them, but I love them.

I was about to sign off, but J reminded me to tell you all how great he is. (Hee.) He scooped the litter again! He spoon fed me chocolate ice cream, and that right there is a sign of a guy you want to keep around. Thanks J!

And now I'm going to go bed. I'll let you know tomorrow if I'm feeling any better, or if I'm still hating my left arm.

Oh, the Pain!

Sorry to miss posting yesterday. I have had a slightly sore stiff neck for a couple of days, and yesterday it seized up on me. I have a knot of muscle tissue poking through the skin on the back of my neck, and the pain has been horrific - I swear, it felt like something was broken. I went to the doctor's today and got a prescription for muscle relaxers, and they've helped some, but it still hurts quite a bit, so this is going to be a short one. I'll get you details on the last couple of days when I'm feeling better.

Before I sign off, though, I have to tell you that J has been really good to me today. He's taken care of the dogs, he's brought me meals, shoot he cooked macaroni and cheese (homemade, not boxed) for me for dinner. And - the biggest sign of his concern and caring and general good nature - he scooped the cat litter this morning! He is a prince among men, and I have no idea how I would have gotten through today without him

And now I'm going to go crawl back into bed with my heating pad. I'll be back tomorrow.

Christmas Day Recap

Happy day after Christmas! I didn't post yesterday, so I'm going to make up for it today by posting twice. Maybe. :) This morning I'll talk about yesterday, and then later tonight I'll talk about today. Sounds reasonable, right?

So yesterday was a great Christmas. J and I exchanged our stockings at just before Midnight, because we were awake anyway and we were impatient. He got me yummy malted milk balls from Gertrude Hawk chocolates, red pistachios because I told him once that I love those, strawberry scented V05 shampoo (I was using it when we first met, so he associates that smell with me now) and five or six of those Double Crisp santas, which I love, love, love. Yum. J got a bunch of chocolate, including lots of peanut butter cup stuff, because he loves those, a new toothbrush (to counteract all of that chocolate), a couple of scratch off lottery tickets and the big one - keys to my house. :) He liked those the best.

And then it was Christmas morning! The best morning, because it brings gifts! Followed shortly by cinnamon rolls and chocolate milk! Excellent. And do you want to know my haul? Of course you do! J went way overboard. I got a Bob Seger CD (Smokin' O.P.'s, which is an excellent CD), Field of Dreams on DVD, some Hickory Farms beefstick and smoky cheese (I love that cheese, yum), SU socks, a Stephen King book on CD, and then the two best gifts - a gold rope chain and a charm bracelet. And there is a story behind the necklace. At some point I showed him a pendant that I have from my step-father. Wayne (my step-father) died from cancer in January of 1993. For Christmas of 1992 he had my mother drive him to a jewelry store on a day when he was feeling like he could be up for a little while, and he went in and picked out this necklace for me. He couldn't stay in the store long enough to do anything other than pick it out - then my brother took him back to the car and my mother paid for it for him. It means a lot to me, and I used to wear it everyday. But then the chain broke and I couldn't afford to replace it with a nice one. I bought a couple of cheaper chains from Walmart, but they didn't last long before they broke too, so since then the pendant had been sitting in my jewelry box. J thought I should be able to wear it again, so he bought me a chain. I love it. I also love the charm bracelet - they're my two favorite gifts from him.

By the time we got done opening gifts and eating cinnamon rolls for breakfast (yum), it was time to get ready to go to his parents' house for the day. And I was a little nervous about it, because even though I had met them all before, spending Christmas Day with someone else's family is a big thing. But it was great. His family is wonderful, and I already love his Mom. She's great. I watched while everyone opened their gifts, and I had a few of my own to open, including a few more from J that he took over there (a Borders gift card, Quantum Leap season five and Bob Seger's Greatest Hits part two). And his Mom gave me a little stocking with a lottery card and a mini M&M thing in it, and I won $25 on the lottery ticket! Excellent. The luck was with me yesterday. And we had a great dinner of lasagne (his family alternates and does lasagne one year and roast beef the next) and we hung out and talked, and his Dad showed me pictures of J from when he was first in the Navy. I felt like they were making me part of the family, and I loved it. I hope he feels the same way while we're at my sister's house.

Anyway, this is a really long boring entry basically just telling you what I got for Christmas. Sorry for that. Today J and I will be relaxing for a while and then we'll be going to my sister's house for the holiday with them. All six of her kids and their respective others will be there, so poor J will be kind of inundated with a family that isn't his. Poor guy. They'll be nice to him, though.

And now that I've bored you with a horrible Christmas Day recap, I'll show you a picture to reward you for your patience. Below you will see Sable, enjoying one of the toys that Jamie gave her. Well, he gave them to all of the kitties, but it's mostly Sable and Gracie that play with them. Thanks Jamie! They love them.

Merry Christmas Eve

Happy Christmas Eve! I hope you all had great ones - I certainly did. I'm posting this pretty late, so it'll be a quick one, just to fill you in. Today J and I mostly relaxed. We watched Christmas Story and cleaned the house up a little and watched a couple episodes of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip off my DVR (that's a great show, by the way - if you aren't watching it, you should give it a try). Then we got a little more dressed up and went to Syracuse to his Aunt's house for Christmas Eve festivities.

I wasn't really too nervous going in to this, because I at least already knew his parents and his siblings, so I wouldn't be completely surrounded by unfamiliar faces. But there were six people there who I didn't know, but luckily for me they were all really nice people. I could really be friends with his two female cousins, they were so nice. And there were gifts! I got two orange SU t-shirts from J, doggy treats and toys and kitty toys for the critters (from J's sister, who is a big doggy person) and a nice smelling bath set and candle from "Santa," who I assume was J's Aunt.

And we stayed there and hung out, and had birthday cake for J's Mom, who has her birthday tomorrow, and we didn't leave until almost 10:30, so it was almost 11:30 by the time we got back to my house. So I think we're going to do our stockings now, since it is almost Christmas, and we're impatient and can't wait, and then we're going to crash. Tomorrow is another big day. We'll have our cinnamon rolls and gifts in the morning, go to his parents' house for dinner and for their family gifts, and then we'll come back here to hang out and relax and enjoy Christmas night. It's going to be an excellent Christmas. I'll stop back in tomorrow night to fill you in on the details, and to describe all my loot. :)

And now, I'll leave you with a picture of a Christmas miracle. I came out into the living room earlier, and saw what you see below.

This is Willow and Kate, in the same crate at the same time. Miraculous, because Willow hates the cats. Or at least she pretends to. Maybe it's all a front? Hmmm... ;)

Vacation Day One

Day one of my ten day vacation is almost over. :( But, it was a very good one, so I'm not complaining. Well, okay, I stood on my feet a lot, but J is good at giving foot rubs, so it's all good. :)

We started out the morning with a trip to the local Wal-mart, for grocery buying hell. We left fairly early, but not early enough, because it was a bit of a mad house in there already. Ugh. I don't like going to Wal-mart on the best of days after 9:00, but on the Saturday before Christmas? Madness! But we struggled through, getting groceries and more baking supplies. And we ran into one person from my work, and then we ran into my sister, her husband and their youngest son in the dairy aisle. One thing about Wal-mart, you always seem to see someone you know.

When we were done at Wal-mart, we came back to my house, and holiday baking part two commenced! On the docket for today were sugar cookies, peanut butter blossoms and whoopie pies, but frankly, by the time I had made 56 peanut butter blossoms and almost 40 sugar cookies, I was done baking for the day. And when I added the chocolate chip cookies that I made last week, the tins that we bought filled up quite nicely, so the other ones weren't needed. I'm holding on to that recipe, though, because I want to try them soon.

After all that hard work standing on my feet mixing and baking cookies, I needed a bit of a rest, so J and I watched an episode of Buffy (I just might have him hooked on it, ha), and then we went to the movies! Woo! We went to see Night at the Museum (I think that's what it was called), which was pretty good. It kind of lagged a bit in the middle, but it turned around at the end, so it was worth watching. Plus? It had Dick Van Dyke in it, and I love him in anything, so I definitely wasn't disappointed. He rocks.

And now that I've given you a laundry list of my day, I think it's time to shut down the computer for the night. Good-bye until tomorrow!