Stay safe and warm and help me wish up some nicer weather! :)
Old man Winter can take a flying leap off a high bridge. And he can take that damned groundhog with him, too. I am SO over this ice/snow mess that we have been dealing with. Yesterday it snowed on me all day long. Today it was sleet. Trying to get home was treacherous...lots of traffic crawling along at about 20 miles per hour. I must have passed half a dozen fender benders. I was gripping the steering wheel and trying hard not to panic. That kind of stress just makes me tired. No idea what tomorrow will bring. West of us will still have ice, east of us looks warmer with rain. We are right on the dividing line, so....?? A little sunshine would be so welcome right about now....
We have snow in the forecast again for the next couple of days. That is rough, and I'm really tired of it.
We have had snow, ice and rain for what feels like a year now. Damn that stupid groundhog!! But anyway, we spent the weekend in Wilmington with the Overcashes. We had fun and lots of good food.
I can't remember the name of the restaurant we went to for dinner, but they had excellent crab cakes!
Yum!
And now we are back in Gville. We are in the middle of some house renovations. New flooring, paint, and general updating. And while I know it needed to be done, and that it will all be worth it in the end....the mess is insane. There is some heavy duty sorting out to be done. I want to get rid of as much stuff as I can. It is amazing, or maybe more like horrifying how much stuff there is to move around to get all of this done. I hate this part of the process.
Anyway, have a great week and stay safe and warm wherever you happen to be!
I felt elated driving home from work on Friday. But it feels like I barely blinked and now the weekend is already over?? What the hell, seriously? Granted it HAS been a pretty low key weekend. It's been so cold not even the dog wants to go out. I got some laundry done and that really is about it. We have stayed in, watched movies and didn't even run any of the usual errands. Which means that errands will now have to be done after work one day during the week.....and I kind of hate that. Oh well, it will be fine. I hope you all have a good week ahead. Stay warm! Do you think we are really going to have snow again on Tuesday?
We had snow today. It started about 9 last night, just an inch or so. Enough to be pretty but the roads were basically fine when I drove to work this morning. Things are even wetter, and more slushy than ever. We have had a LOT of rain since, well since this summer really. It's so crazy. California is in a huge panic of drought and we have river flood warnings a couple of times a week. I'm ready for things to dry out a little here. And it's cold right now too. I think our high today hovered around freezing and it's about 20 degrees tonight. Brrrrrrrr....
Anyway, Bruce had another tooth pulled yesterday. He has had the roughest time over the past few months. 2 teeth, the flu, bronchitis, sinus infections....oh sweet Lord I know he is hoping to catch a break here soon. This one wasn't quite as painful as the extraction he had in October, but still. It is never fun. Hopefully he is on the mend now.
Nothing exciting is going on besides that. All the kids are fine. Really busy, but doing well. I talked to Erica and Stephen both this afternoon and they were both in good spirits. Erica misses Penny, our dog. They really bonded over Christmas. Stephen was a little disappointed that ECU did not get a snow day today. The public schools did. It doesn't seem quite fair, does it?
Also? Speaking of Penny...she did NOT approve of this snow thing. Not at all!! Erica was sad we didn't get pictures of her playing in it, but there was not much "playing" going on. She stood in it frozen like a deer in headlights and then tried her best to do her business while levitating over the evil white stuff. Maybe I need to get her some boots or something...LOL!
So, Bruce's stepmother passed away this week. And although things had deteriorated between us after Bruce's Dad passed away, and I mean seriously deteriorated to the point that she was no longer speaking to any member of this family, I was saddened when I heard the news. I didn't expect to be happy, of course. But after the issues over Dad's will and how she treated all of us, I guess I wasn't expecting to feel anything. It could have been different. It should have been different. But it was what it was and there is no changing that.
I suppose that really set the tone for the whole week. Everything just seemed a bit out of kilter. It was 25 degrees on Tuesday and mid 70's today. It's been gray and rainy for so long that I can't remember how many days in a row it's been. I felt out of synch at work, and just couldn't quite hit the right stride after my holiday time off. Bruce is better but not completely well yet. I still miss Erica after having her here with us for 3 weeks. It will all work itself out, of course. Bruce will eventually shake off this crud, and work will find its rhythm. I will still miss Erica but everyday life will mute the sting. I guess it's the post Christmas blues. Or the winter blahs. Whatever. It's grating but I know it won't go on forever.
Spring is just around the corner........
I'm back to work now and it is sadly like my wonderful 3 weeks off never happened. Poor Bruce is still sick although he is bravely still trying to work. He is getting really tired of feeling exhausted and coughing all day and night. He decided to see a Dr this afternoon and found out he has a bad sinus infection compounded by bronchitis. He came home with a bag full of meds, so hopefully he can kick this thing to the curb soon. He hasn't been well in over 2 weeks now!
Erica made it safely back to England. She was pretty much well by the time she left but this flu had her down for at least a week, too! There were places she wanted to shop, like Target, to stock up on a few things. But we had to go just one place or so and come home because she would get exhausted and need to rest. So we would hit it another place the next day...and another the next. I think we managed to acquire everything she needed even if it took awhile. She went home with a decent amount of new clothes and shoes so she should be set for awhile.
Hannia has recovered from her bout of flu, which is a good thing. She managed to fit in seeing her cousin who was here in Gville for just a week. It was the end of their visit before she was well enough, but she got to see her cousin and family before they left...yay! Now school is back in session so she is teaching again, and Stephen is back to work after his vacation time, too. I say "vacation", because his lab was basically closed, but honestly I think he still had a ton of work to do while he was home. I think this is going to be a pretty busy semester for both of them, but everything seems to be going well.
So we are saying good-bye to 2013 tonight. Since we are still in flu recovery our celebration is quiet family time here at home. I made homemade pizzas and tried my first ever batch of cannolis. My recipe needs tweaking but cannoli is something that takes practice. I will get it eventually, I hope.
Anyway, 2013 was a decent year. Good things happened. The kids are all happy with what they are doing, and that makes me happy. We accomplished the monumental task of selling and cleaning out the house in Danville. Everybody was healthy not counting this awful Christmas Flu. We have so much to be thankful for.
As for 2014...I think it's going to be an awesome year. Let's make that thought a reality! I hope all of you are blessed with love, happiness and good health over these next 12 months. Oh, and sometime in October would somebody here please remind me to get a flu shot. Please!
It has been a weird Christmas. Bruce, Erica and Hannia have all had a bad case of the flu. This is not something that I want to contend with again especially when it's the season that is supposed to be all Holly Jolly and stuff. Everybody is starting to feel a bit better...I think. At least we have decided that everybody is going to survive which is a good thing. I'm just a little sad that Erica was sick for her visit, but there was nothing to be done about it. I'm just going to be thankful we all are alive and remind myself that we ALL are going to get flu shots for next year!!!
We are in the height of postal madness right now. Packages stacked to the heavens! I am so exhausted, working later and later every day. But...tomorrow is my last day until next year!!! I am so excited to be done with it for a few weeks. And....Erica comes home Monday which makes me extremely happy.
Are you all ready for Christmas?? I know people (and I love them) who have finished the shopping, have been decorated for weeks now.....oh my God, they make me feel so inadequate!! Our tree is up and decorated at least. Bruce was the most excellent husband who was on top of the roof when I got home stringing lights around the porch. Yay! I was afraid that might not get done this year. We still have to wrap lights around the columns but maybe that will happen this weekend.
Anyway, we are all just fine and dandy. Working hard and trying to get ready for the holidays. Having all the kids home will be so wonderful. That's the only gift I need!!!
We had an awesome Thanksgiving. The food was perhaps the best we have ever had...many thanks to Chef Stephen and his fabulous assistant, Hannia. The apple cider brined turkey was perfect. Tasty, moist and amazing! The sides were all delicious. And the desserts? Oh My Lord....Stephen did an Indian dessert called carrot Halwa. It was a huge hit. And Hannia's flan, which is always yummy, hit new heights of sweet creamy goodness. The only things I did was the deviled eggs (all I really did was boil them. Jeanne and Calvin did the rest), and Lila's dressing which turned out quite well even if I do say so myself. The food this year? Highly successful. And Jeanne made us all what might be my new favorite drink....coconut rum, mango rum, and a splash of pineapple juice. I'm not sure what it's called, but it's very Caribbeany. LOL! And delicious!
We also had fun beyond stuffing our faces. Hannia's parents joined us for dinner and we all enjoyed that. They stayed and played cards afterwards which was very nice. Casey and Delaney learned how to play Rummy.....one of my favorites. And after that? The traditional bonfire. Bruce had chopped up an oak that had fallen in a storm, and we had plenty of wood. Enough to go for 2 nights. We had a repeat bonfire on Friday too. This is one of my favorite parts of the holiday. We sat around toasting ourselves by the fire and had some wonderful conversation. It was really frosty so 1 side of our bodies would be warm and the other side cold. We determined that having those child's toys...the sit and spin (remember those? ) would be perfect. We could turn ourselves like rotisserie chickens and keep the heat more even. LOL!
We did do other stuff too. Bruce, Calvin and Stephen managed to move our 500 pound granite mantle out of the house and tear out the fireplace!! That was the first HUGE step towards the remodeling we want to do after Christmas. We hope to repair and refinish these wonderful old heart pine floors. I am excited. But not until after Christmas. I don't want to be in a huge remodeling mess while Erica is home for the holidays!
Also? We celebrated Stephen's 29th birthday! Jeanne and Calvin got to have a tour of the kids' new house. We had Saturday lunch at our favorite Indian restaurant and managed to even squeeze a movie in on top of all of it! Whew....busy. But fun-busy! The best kind!
Which brings me to the only thing that would have made this Thanksgiving more perfect....having my daughter with us. But we did get to Skype her, so that helped.
I am off work for the rest of the week. I have to go have my new crown put on, so a trip to the dentist is in order. Also, I am very glad to have some time to start the pre-cooking. I have sausage balls to make, a new recipe for pumpkin fudge to try, and lots of other little details that need attention before the holiday. So, I figured I better sit down and write out what I wanted to say now, in this calm before the storm or I might not get the chance.
I am thankful for so much. I have been blessed...with good family and good friends. With wonderful kids, a sturdy roof over my head and never knowing hunger on a personal basis. Our cupboards are full of food, and our closets are full of clothes. All of our needs and many of our wants have been fulfilled. What more could I possibly wish for? I like to count my blessings during Thanksgiving and really honor the day for the purpose it was intended. But there is so much to be grateful for, it can hardly be contained in just a single day of the year.
This year we will share our table with Jeanne, Calvin and the girls. With Stephen and Hannia, and Hannia's parents. Possibly a lab mate or 2 of Stephen's who aren't able to travel home so close to Christmas. We are happy to share the feast with all of them.
I hope all of you have a lovely holiday. If you are traveling, stay safe. And take a moment or two to count your blessings.
I think the holiday madness has already begun. I had to run a lot of errands today and it was crazy out there. I bought the majority of the Thanksgiving feast and the grocery store was packed. I had to go to the mall which is something that I have come to loathe and it was insane already. Parking was hard to find, stores were crowded, lines were long. But I needed to replace a pair of my favorite jeans that are seriously about to die. They are a somewhat thinner denim, which is fantastic for people like me who feel way too overheated most of the time. I couldn't find an exact duplicate since these are maybe 3 years old, but I got some that I hope will suffice. But even checking out was complicated....there were several different prices, some kind of door buster sale where things are 1 price until 12, then another from 12-3..... I don't know. It was weird and stupid and I just wanted to buy these jeans and get the hell out of there.
Which brings me to the insanity of Black Friday. Will you or won't you shop? It's a definite HELL NO for me. I can't imagine anything being worth the hassle. We don't really need more stuff. And seriously? I would rather pay a few extra dollars and shop at some calm, uncrowded place and time. I know people who are waiting for it though....the Black Friday sales. I have a few friends who love it and have spent weeks of working out a strategy, poring over ads online that have been showing their holiday sales well in advance. Planning to get up way before dawn to go out and get right into the middle of the madness. It makes my stomach hurt to think about it.
Not me, though. I plan to spend my Friday eating turkey day leftovers, cleaning up the crazy aftermath of holiday cooking and just hanging out with family. Maybe we will go see a movie....any suggestions?
It's a week away from Turkey Day!! I will miss Erica dreadfully, as she hasn't made it home for Thanksgiving in several years now. But we will go on with the celebrations anyway. There WILL be roasted turkey, and all the trimmings. The Overcashes WILL be here, as well as Hannis's parents. There WILL be a bonfire. And we WILL be thankful for all of our blessings, which are too many to count. Seriously, we are ALL blessed with ridiculous amounts of good stuff...
And soon, in just over 3 weeks or so...Erica WILL be with us again and Christmas will be another celebration. And I will count having her home with us as one of my blessings.
So, I may have mentioned that we found a new dentist about a year ago. This after realizing our old one was just awful. Apparently a truly GOOD dentist? Not as common as one might hope. But anyway we love Dr. H. We have spent crazy money this past year for Dr. H to fix the crappy dentist crappy work. And Dr. H loves...apparently my husband. He goes on and on about what a perfect patient Bruce is. How he holds as still as a statue for hours on end and never complains....I was feeling some competitive pressure here. I mean, geez.
But anyway, I have had some crowns done and a bridge done in the past. Granted it's been a long time, but I have been through the process and survived just fine. Yesterday I was scheduled to get 2 crowns done. And I don't know what happened. I might have been the worst patient ever. Everything he did made me have this reflex gag that I could not seem to control. It took him 3 tries to get impressions made. I gagged and moved and it ruined the first 2 attempts. Then the X-rays. More gagging, more moving, and several attempts before they could get a decent picture. Oh my Lord I was horrified, mortified, and frustrated. I have never had that happen. But if anything touched my tongue, or the roof of my mouth it all spun out of my control! They finally got the impressions and X-ray, but by that time Dr. H made an executive decision....he only did 1 crown yesterday and sent me home with a Valium prescription to take before the next appointment. Which I will in hope that it helps.
The way that we finally got this done was Dr. H finally told me that sometimes holding your left foot in the air and concentrating on rotating your ankle slowly helps. I am sure it looked silly but it worked enough that we finally were able to get the 1 crown prep work done. I was fine after that. I didn't flinch or have any problems at all once he started the drilling part of it. I even made it through the final impressions where the tray of goo has to stay in your mouth for 3-4 minutes just fine. All my shame happened at the beginning of the appointment. But seriously? If he had tried to do both crowns at once, we may still be back there trying.....
Next time? Valium! I hope it helps!
If I remember correctly, the food was perfectly fine. But things just were wrong all the way around. At the last minute, Lila (grandma) got upset and decided she didn't want to eat out, so both Grandparents opted out of dinner. And Stephen? He whined and complained and bitched for most of the coming year. Seriously. There was NO pie at home. No leftover turkey. It was an abomination. I don't recall Erica being nearly as traumatized. She doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving in the UK at all, and she seems to be able to go on with her life somehow.
Anyway, back to the present.....I got an email from Brasa Brazilian Steakhouse, a place that we enjoy going to when we are in Raleigh inviting us to their Grand Thanksgiving Celebration Buffet. I laughed maniacally as I forwarded the email to Stephen asking if he thought that would work for us this year. A few hours later he called, almost prepared to be furious. He didn't even say hello. He said, " Oh HELL NO, we are NOT going to Brasa for Thanksgiving!!!" LOL! As if. I learned my lesson of the importance of a home cooked feast complete with plenty of leftovers! I will NEVER make that mistake again.
Everybody is getting better. Penny Lane seems to be back to normal after her spaying and stomach distress. Bruce is healing after his tooth extraction, just not eating anything too crunchy yet. Last week was a hard one around these parts, but hopefully all that is behind us now. So, what's up this week? Well, let's see....
Erica is in Belgium with her friend Amy, and apparently is loving it. She might be in Amsterdam this weekend...? I can't recall her travel schedule, but I know she is having a wonderful time.
Stephen has been so busy lately at work and school that he might as well be in Belgium for as much as he has time to see us...LOL! Seriously. He is up against some big deadlines, trying to submit an abstract, and crunching research data, etc. he explained it all to me, but I don't fully grasp it all. I know he has been pulling some very late work nights though.
Jeanne and family are coming to visit this weekend. They are only here for 1 night on their way to the Outer Banks for a marathon...half marathon...? I don't know, but I do know Jeanne is running in something on Sunday.
Doug, and Emily...maybe Laura are visiting on Saturday. I think Emily has something she needs to do at Duke. Honestly, I can't even remember the last time they made it here for a visit. It's been a long time. Parker's Barbeque is in our future on Saturday night though.
So, it's all good. Busy, but much, much better than last week!
I hope everybody has a fun, but safe Halloween. There is no partying going on in this house this year.
Bruce had a tooth extracted this afternoon, and the numbing meds are wearing off. He is in pain right now. Poor hubby. His face is a little swollen, and I get the feeling he is not up for celebrating. I just asked him how awful would it be to have a tooth pulled and be out of commission for Halloween as a kid? It would be devastating!!! I hope he feels better soon. He took tomorrow off work to recouperate, so that should help.
Penny Lane is recovering from her surgery too. She is more active and is eating just fine. There is 1 problem though. She has had diahrrea. Bruce talked to the vet. It could be from the anesthesia, the meds, or even the stress. She is a pretty neurotic, high anxiety dog anyway. But dealing with this is not fun. She lets us know when she needs to go out, which is frequently. But this morning....OMG! It was a fitting start to a Halloween day. Penny sleeps in a dog crate inside. She loves her crate and usually puts herself to bed about 10pm most nights. We usually lock the door just so she doesn't wander and get into trouble in the middle of the night. I swear she sleeps right through until morning so it works fine. But this morning...I could smell the evil all the way down the hall. She had had an accident sometime in the night. I was cleaning up poop, washing poopy dog blankets and scrubbing the dog with a wet washcloth at 6:30 this morning. BEFORE I even had coffee! I couldn't just bathe her, because she is not supposed to get these stitches wet. It was NOT a good start to my day.
Oh well, we googled it and dogs can take immodium. We even found the dosage per weight for dogs, so hopefully this will help with this problem. I don't think she is sick with a virus or anything because otherwise she is recovering really well. I just hope and pray I don't wake up to another mess like that tomorrow. Bruce looks too much in pain to make him deal with it...and I don't know if I can do all that before coffee again.
Our dog, Penny Lane, was spayed today. The poor thing is so miserable tonight. She is so restless and can't get comfortable. She looks at me like she is accusing me of doing this cruel and awful thing to her. I just hope she feels better tomorrow.
Also? Bruce went in to have an old crown replaced and the tooth is not able to be saved. He has to have it extracted on Thursday, and eventually after that heals, he will have an implant done. Apparently it can take up to 4 months to heal enough for the implant. It's a back tooth with deep roots, so....ugh!
I just hope he can get through this without too much pain. A dog AND a husband out of commission is not my idea of fun!
It's getting down to 32 degrees tonight. Bruce and I have been arguing about whether it's time to turn on the heat or not. I keep voting for NO, but I think I have lost the fight for the season. This nice chilly weather is the stuff that I dream about during the long, hot summer. I sleep better if the room is cool.
The last thing I want is to crank up the heat. Heat is a 4 letter word. Oh well, he set it on 65 so hopefully it won't make me sweat...LOL!
Anyway, I am thankful that it is finally Friday. I have been trying to ward off some kind of bug all week. Raw sinuses, sore throat, feeling tired. It never turned into any full blown thing though so hopefully it's over. A couple of days to rest and drink some Emergen-C and I should be fine. I keep meaning to get a flu shot though. Maybe this weekend.
Nothing much is going on here. We are going to be low key this weekend, which is perfectly wonderful as far as I'm concerned.
Finally we have a bit of sun after 2 solid weeks of intermittent rain, gloom and gray drizzle. We spent yesterday at the river with Chris, Jessica and Jeff. There was lots of good food and conversation on their screened in porch with the beautiful river views. But it was a rainy, gloomy day. Poor Jeff came here from Seattle to escape the rain and it never really cleared up for his whole week of vacation. But maybe it's all over now for a while. It's sunny, cool and dry today, and that is a beautiful thing.
Anyway, nothing much is going on since we got back from Boston. It's all good though. Everybody is fine. The kids are all doing well. Stephen and Hannia were here on Thursday bearing a still warm batch of homemade churros. Very delicious. I have talked to, emailed with, and Skyped Erica over the past few days too. She is super busy and now has a grad student to mentor and is teaching a little bit as well. In addition to her other work. Bruce and I are pretty much the same, too. Healthy and happy but busier than we would like.....
Which reminds me of something I keep meaning to write about. I am confused about things like keeping busy and the virtues of relaxation and zen. Some people swear by cramming their schedules full of everything from work to social engagements to exercise.....is that best? There are others who claim simplicity and the art of living a peaceful existence is the way to go. Less commitment, time to stop and smell the roses, etc....?? Some busy people see that as lazy. I'm not sure that I do. I haven't gotten it all worked out in my head just yet, but it's something I ponder fairly frequently. Maybe one day I will figure it out.
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