Poor sickly Luce. She had been up three or four times sick (throwing up, feverish, coughing) in the night. Her color is awful - but she seemed to enjoy her presents even so.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
The one who was ready to open presents at 3am
We wondered if this year, as a 3rd grader, she'd doubt the whole "Santa Claus" thing. Nope. She's the one who comments on how Santa's handwriting looks nothing like ours.
Christmas morning
Baby boy got some "boy" toys. Still, he prefers "Bella Dancerella Ballet" and wearing his tutu.
Friday, December 23, 2005
Now we're ready for Christmas..
Cookies baked & frosted? Check!
Presents wrapped and ready? Check!
Christmas cards sent? Check!
Snow on the ground? Check!
At least one of our children sick? Check!!
My memories of my childhood Christmases include more years than not where Christmas Eve found me worshipping the porcelin god rather than laying in bed listening for Santa's reindeer's hooves on the rooftop. Lovely, right? I don't know whether it was the excitement, the peel & eat shrimp with cocktail sauce I over-ate at my Aunt Molly's house or the combination there of -- but Christmas Eve for me as a child generally ended as a "puke fest".
Not unlike my own childhood Christmas memories - since I've "grown up" and created a little family of my own it seems like each year we've had at least one member of the family (usually a kid) sickly. There was the year that I stayed back with a sickly Emma on Christmas Eve while the rest of the family went to church. She laid there limp and barely picked at her presents. There was the year when, expectant with baby Michael, I was totally bed-ridden with HG (hyper-emesis gravidum - that means NON STOP puking. For MONTHS.)
Last year again it was mommy who was most sickly - and I was so out of it that I put the wrong gifts in the wrong stocking. The girls are still debating whether Santa just had too much to drink or whether he is getting dementia in his old age. Seriously.
This year it sounds like our 4 yr. old is going to be the sickly one. She woke up with what sounds like croup this morning, poor baby.
Still -- now I know it's Christmas. It wouldn't be Christmas without the sicky.
Presents wrapped and ready? Check!
Christmas cards sent? Check!
Snow on the ground? Check!
At least one of our children sick? Check!!
My memories of my childhood Christmases include more years than not where Christmas Eve found me worshipping the porcelin god rather than laying in bed listening for Santa's reindeer's hooves on the rooftop. Lovely, right? I don't know whether it was the excitement, the peel & eat shrimp with cocktail sauce I over-ate at my Aunt Molly's house or the combination there of -- but Christmas Eve for me as a child generally ended as a "puke fest".
Not unlike my own childhood Christmas memories - since I've "grown up" and created a little family of my own it seems like each year we've had at least one member of the family (usually a kid) sickly. There was the year that I stayed back with a sickly Emma on Christmas Eve while the rest of the family went to church. She laid there limp and barely picked at her presents. There was the year when, expectant with baby Michael, I was totally bed-ridden with HG (hyper-emesis gravidum - that means NON STOP puking. For MONTHS.)
Last year again it was mommy who was most sickly - and I was so out of it that I put the wrong gifts in the wrong stocking. The girls are still debating whether Santa just had too much to drink or whether he is getting dementia in his old age. Seriously.
This year it sounds like our 4 yr. old is going to be the sickly one. She woke up with what sounds like croup this morning, poor baby.
Still -- now I know it's Christmas. It wouldn't be Christmas without the sicky.
Friday, December 16, 2005
Sneak Preview for our Christmas Card
I do some photo cards most years. This year I'm inserting this picture. This was last night - the kids & hubby met me downtown and we fought the crowds through the Marshall Fields Christmas display (Cinderella) & stood in line to see Santa. All went well (no melt-downs or tantrums or other issues) and we got our Christmas picture completed, too. Yay!
Not official, but still...
So, yesterday I wrote up two lists of "13" for Thirteen Thursday.
Then I got busy at the very end of the day (more on that later) - so I didn't post them. Then, when thinking about it.. I thought: This is not realistic for me.
Seriously - committing to blogging on a frequent basis just doesn't work for me. As much as I'd like to, the pace of my life won't allow it. I have days where I run in the door (after carrying the kids in from the minivan) and run for the bathroom because it's the first chance I've had to use the restroom all day - just too busy.
One of these days I'm going to miscalculate how much tea my bladder can hold and give the kids a great story about how mommy peed her pants.
In any case, here are the two lists of 13. But, consider this the last time I'll try for a Thursday 13 - because it's just not something I can sustain.
Thirteen Things I Am Extremely Fond Of (not counting husband & kids & dear friends)
1. Lotte Mint Blue Gum
2. Paradise Iced Tea
3. Pilot G-2 pens
4. XM MyFi!
5. AIM and email. Love it and cannot live without them.
6. Andes Mints
7. Aveda Control Paste
8. Sujata Massey books
9. My MetroPass Go-To card. In fact, I just love Mpls Metro Transit, period.
10. Three words: HEATED.LEATHER.SEATS
11. Bath & Body Jasmine Vanilla Aromatherapy Body Wash - when it's on sale.
12. Anything Carolyn Haines writes.
13. The NYT online.
Thirteen Things I Regret Today
1. The snow on the ground reminded me of my first ever visit to Minnesota years ago -and the terrible person it was with. He drove too fast for the snowy roads and rammed a rental car into a snow pile. The snow piles on the road this morning
brought that unsavory memory back. And all the regrets that I ever got tangled up with such a person in the first place.
2. The stupid play on words I attempted in the lunch room with my coworkers today that was insulting to two groups of people - without me intending to be. I needed some ketchup along with my foot after that dumb remark.
3. I'm kicking myself that we didn't get pictures of all three kids in front of the Christmas tree last weekend when we had our oldest daughter home.
4. I forgot my step-mom's birthday yesterday. I love her dearly and feel like a total dork that I forgot to call or send a card. I'll send a belated card and present -- but I hate that I missed the actual date.
5. I regret not saying something to the dork on the bus that sat next to me and kept hitting me yesterday on my way home from work.
He actually elbowed me in the face at one point near the end of the bus ride and didn't even say "Excuse me". By the time the bus pulled in the lot I was absolutely seething. I'd decided if he hit me ONE MORE TIME (he'd already hit, squished and
elbowed me more than a dozen times by then) that I was going to say something snarky. Now I wish I hadn't waited a dozen times.
6. I regret staying up so late last night. It felt good to ramble on and talk to my hubby (who got back from his trip last night around 9:30pm)..but I was SO tired this morning. Plus Michael and the cat woke me up a couple of times in the night - so I was super groggy this morning.
7. I regret wasting so much time looking at real estate listings today. Hubby & I swapped them a few times. I shouldn't bother - because he's not willing to make a move until Spring or Summer - so I'm wasting my time getting all excited over places we'll never go see or buy.
8. I regret not bringing my boots to work today. I figured I could navigate shoveled sidewalks until getting into the skyway. What I'd forgotten about is the way home. I'm likely to need them.
9. Ah, those two handfuls of Andes Mints I ate after lunch. Have totally undone any benefits from my low-calorie packed lunch.
10. I wish I'd been home to kiss my kids this morning. Instead I got to the office early. Necessary evil.
11. Wrong socks! I pulled on khaki socks - but I would've been better off with a darker color today. Oh well.
12. Speaking up in a meeting. Sometimes I should really just bite my tongue. I didn't say anything TOO stupid .. but sometimes I need to sit down and shut up.
13. My Chipotle dinner. Just didn't hit the spot - I've eaten it too frequent lately. And, the resulting onion breath was deadly bad.
Then I got busy at the very end of the day (more on that later) - so I didn't post them. Then, when thinking about it.. I thought: This is not realistic for me.
Seriously - committing to blogging on a frequent basis just doesn't work for me. As much as I'd like to, the pace of my life won't allow it. I have days where I run in the door (after carrying the kids in from the minivan) and run for the bathroom because it's the first chance I've had to use the restroom all day - just too busy.
One of these days I'm going to miscalculate how much tea my bladder can hold and give the kids a great story about how mommy peed her pants.
In any case, here are the two lists of 13. But, consider this the last time I'll try for a Thursday 13 - because it's just not something I can sustain.
Thirteen Things I Am Extremely Fond Of (not counting husband & kids & dear friends)
1. Lotte Mint Blue Gum
2. Paradise Iced Tea
3. Pilot G-2 pens
4. XM MyFi!
5. AIM and email. Love it and cannot live without them.
6. Andes Mints
7. Aveda Control Paste
8. Sujata Massey books
9. My MetroPass Go-To card. In fact, I just love Mpls Metro Transit, period.
10. Three words: HEATED.LEATHER.SEATS
11. Bath & Body Jasmine Vanilla Aromatherapy Body Wash - when it's on sale.
12. Anything Carolyn Haines writes.
13. The NYT online.
Thirteen Things I Regret Today
1. The snow on the ground reminded me of my first ever visit to Minnesota years ago -and the terrible person it was with. He drove too fast for the snowy roads and rammed a rental car into a snow pile. The snow piles on the road this morning
brought that unsavory memory back. And all the regrets that I ever got tangled up with such a person in the first place.
2. The stupid play on words I attempted in the lunch room with my coworkers today that was insulting to two groups of people - without me intending to be. I needed some ketchup along with my foot after that dumb remark.
3. I'm kicking myself that we didn't get pictures of all three kids in front of the Christmas tree last weekend when we had our oldest daughter home.
4. I forgot my step-mom's birthday yesterday. I love her dearly and feel like a total dork that I forgot to call or send a card. I'll send a belated card and present -- but I hate that I missed the actual date.
5. I regret not saying something to the dork on the bus that sat next to me and kept hitting me yesterday on my way home from work.
He actually elbowed me in the face at one point near the end of the bus ride and didn't even say "Excuse me". By the time the bus pulled in the lot I was absolutely seething. I'd decided if he hit me ONE MORE TIME (he'd already hit, squished and
elbowed me more than a dozen times by then) that I was going to say something snarky. Now I wish I hadn't waited a dozen times.
6. I regret staying up so late last night. It felt good to ramble on and talk to my hubby (who got back from his trip last night around 9:30pm)..but I was SO tired this morning. Plus Michael and the cat woke me up a couple of times in the night - so I was super groggy this morning.
7. I regret wasting so much time looking at real estate listings today. Hubby & I swapped them a few times. I shouldn't bother - because he's not willing to make a move until Spring or Summer - so I'm wasting my time getting all excited over places we'll never go see or buy.
8. I regret not bringing my boots to work today. I figured I could navigate shoveled sidewalks until getting into the skyway. What I'd forgotten about is the way home. I'm likely to need them.
9. Ah, those two handfuls of Andes Mints I ate after lunch. Have totally undone any benefits from my low-calorie packed lunch.
10. I wish I'd been home to kiss my kids this morning. Instead I got to the office early. Necessary evil.
11. Wrong socks! I pulled on khaki socks - but I would've been better off with a darker color today. Oh well.
12. Speaking up in a meeting. Sometimes I should really just bite my tongue. I didn't say anything TOO stupid .. but sometimes I need to sit down and shut up.
13. My Chipotle dinner. Just didn't hit the spot - I've eaten it too frequent lately. And, the resulting onion breath was deadly bad.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Thirteen Thursday - 13 Reasons Why I Got Nothing Done Today
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Monday, December 05, 2005
Picking the tree
This is all the more progress we have towards all things Christmas-y so far.
Hubby travels like ALL of December, including through the weekend this weekend.. so I am seriously wondering how I will get Christmas cards mailed out this year.
At this rate, I wonder how we will ever pull off Christmas this year. When and how will we manage to get the tree decorated? When will the presents get bought? Wrapped? Christmas cookies? Ha! As if!
Oh well. The important things will be completed. We adopted a needy family and my sister-in-law did all the shopping for them (we sent a check).
Youngest daughter went to a Gingerbread House making party and ate candy and played with her friends.
We'll have Christmas Eve at Grandma's house, and Christmas dinner at ours.
I think toy shopping on-line will guarantee that SOMETHING is under the tree for the kids..
It'll all come together just in the nick of time. Right?
Hubby travels like ALL of December, including through the weekend this weekend.. so I am seriously wondering how I will get Christmas cards mailed out this year.
At this rate, I wonder how we will ever pull off Christmas this year. When and how will we manage to get the tree decorated? When will the presents get bought? Wrapped? Christmas cookies? Ha! As if!
Oh well. The important things will be completed. We adopted a needy family and my sister-in-law did all the shopping for them (we sent a check).
Youngest daughter went to a Gingerbread House making party and ate candy and played with her friends.
We'll have Christmas Eve at Grandma's house, and Christmas dinner at ours.
I think toy shopping on-line will guarantee that SOMETHING is under the tree for the kids..
It'll all come together just in the nick of time. Right?
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Thirteen Things - Thanks to Shelli
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1…. I recently cut off all my hair. People who haven't seen me in a while are quite shocked - it's REALLY short. 2…. Me speaka the Japanese. 3…. If my children were dwarves in Snow White they'd be: Pukey, Smiley and Recalcitrant. 4…. I would be Coughy and my husband Farty. Actually, that's accurate without Disney magic. 5…. I was born in Ohio. Go Buckeyes! 6…. I wish I had been born in New Zealand. Go Kiwis! 7…. My family of 5 lives in a house with less than 1400 sq. feet in a neighborhood where the average house is over 2500 sq. feet. 8…. I don't drink coffee. I love the smell, but all I drink is iced tea. Year-round. 9…. I drive a mini-van now. I swore I wouldn't.. but, I love my Nissan Quest. 10…. I am an avid quilter. I don't have much time - so I'm not very prolific - but I love to quilt. I hand piece and machine quilt - which is backwards from what many quilters do. Figures. I'm kind of backwards sometimes. 11…. I had scoliosis as a child that went undetected. So, I'm a few inches shorter than I should have been due to curvature of my spine. 12…. My H.S. graduating class had only 32 people in it. 13…. I met my husband in Japan - but he's Minnesotan. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!) |
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