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Monday, December 22, 2014

Hey, Elf, stay offa my shelf....

My fellow Pixies, the longest night of the year has come and gone, and from now on the days will keep getting longer!

Hope that whatever holiday(s) you are celebrating bring great joy! 

But for any rocky moments, WW is open 24/7...

AW:  Have a menu, tree is decorated, looking forward to a relaxed dinner with our kids, and son's gf and her parents! 

W:  There are about 400 steps between here and there, and several are cat-related items (e.g., attempt to vacuum all the cat fur).  I decided to pull out the snowman dinnerware that my MIL gave us, but then it needs to be washed, and before that can happen the weekend backlog of dishes needs attention, etc. 

W/AW:  Visited SIL in her new and better facility yesterday.  She seems comfortable there; it is very homey; her agitation is much less on new meds, and they have not made her more unsteady on her feet.   Her language abilities seem to be really deteriorating, though.  It's a progressive disease; her symptoms are fairly typical; but it is still sad to see various abilities slip over time.  My husband is a real mensch with her.

AW:  We've had ever so much rain this month, after years of drought.  And BAM, the hills and fields are this fabulous emerald green that we barely remembered!  My sweetie and I had a good ramble yesterday, since SIL is some distance away and in a more rural area.  And we scored a delicious brunch, 2 bottles of wine for the holiday dinner, dip, salad dressing, candies for stockings, and an apple pie. 

What's happening, friends?

54 comments:

kathy a. said...

I just got what I wanted! Daughter's day off and she is running dishes, has hung up the cat mats to dry, is vacuuming cat fur right and left, and she promises to clean the bathroom for company.

Anonymous said...

I have a new nephew!!!!!!
He is so cute!!!!!
I get to meet him later this week (knock wood!!!)!
--Neighbor Lady
:)

kathy a. said...

Woot, Neighbor Lady! xoxo

Liz said...

YAY for your daughter becoming the housecleaning fairy just in time for the holidays!

YAY for a new nephew!!

kathy a. said...

True story, at least in my house: we are all just one butter dish smashing on the floor (because someone forgot to close the butter thingy in the fridge) from losing it. And a butter dish is not worth it; at most, it represents anxiety about the 400 item list, now 401, and pretty much none of the list is worth much in the big scheme.

AW: we have bandaids this time!

FYI: the robot thing is still not requiring me to actually prove I'm not a robot.

esperanza said...

I am skipping the robot thing, too, after kathy a revealed it's bogus.

W: horrible, horrible afternoon. Low point was her BITING me (she is nearly 5, for heaven's sake). Then she flatly refused to clean up her toys. I told her whatever I picked up, I would take away. (Cleaning goddess is coming tomorrow, or it wouldn't have been such a big fat hairy deal. I explained that, which has been a motivator in the past for her). So most of her toys are now in my closet. She earned a few back by doing what I asked her too instead of arguing or refusing. Then she fell asleep at 6 pm. Now I feel bad that she was obviously tired, but I can't tolerate biting and flat refusals. Ugh. Long day.

esperanza said...

The "her" in question is Mini--sorry I didn't get that in there.

kathy a. said...

Oh, Esperanza. Biting is unacceptable all the time. And, you need cooperation. But -- such an early bedtime has me knocking wood that the bugs are truly gone. xoxo

esperanza said...

you and me both. She has slept 13 hours the past two nights, so I am hoping she is still recuperating. I went in and felt her, and she is nice and cool.

Sue said...

Yay kathy for the better place for your SIL, housecleaning daughters, and green grass on a lovely drive with hubby.

Yay NL on the new nephew!!

(((esperanza))) Hugs and love to you. It's been a rough couple of weeks for you - I hope the sleep indicates better days ahead.

W: Speaking of sleep - I would love a bit of that. A combination of standard Woman of a Certain Age Insomnia, excitement at having our son home, and endless Christmas minutiae makes for precious little shut eye and general crankiness.

AW: It's so great having the whole family together.

W: My side of the family had our dinner out last night. It was almost perfectly lovely. In a very unfortunate way, the sister who was annoyed that I did not appear when summoned for lunch yesterday let me know that I was in the dog house.

Seriously - wtfireplace???

Queen of West Procrastination said...

Sue, the posse could help inform your sister she is likewise in the doghouse for her insensitive behaviour. Minister at Christmas! Husband with an infection, and fragile health! Family home! It's not rocket science!

(((Esperanza))) I hope the sleep starts bringing out the non-bitey behaviour in Mini.

Cheering that Kathy'a daughter stepped up to help with the holiday preparations, and that Esperanza has a cleaning goddess on the way!

W: I'm also in a sisterly doghouse, because I miss her when she stopped over while she was having a bad day. (I knew she was coming, but forgot to have my phone on me, and was upstairs visiting the cousins. I didn't hear our doorbell, and she didn't ring the upstairs doorbell, for some reason. I came downstairs to make messages, and she's left, and when I called my parents' house (where she lives right now), she was sobbing and wouldn't talk to me.

AW: I think we have some peace now. I got her into a Skype call with Li'l E. Separately from this, we need to have a talk about mental health care. Oh, Christmas.

kathy a. said...

The Posse is riding for Clueless Sister.

QWP, I'm so sorry your sister is so very blue. Brilliant to put her on Skype with E for a dose of lovin'.

Well, daughter stopped vacuuming after the pine needles under the tree, so the fur problem remains. And I still have 2 loads of dishes to do today! Not one present wrapped. Etc.

esperanza said...

You know what makes a Cleaning Goddess even better? When she brings her 12 year old granddaughter along to entertain Baboos.

Mini has been amenable to acting like a human being in exchange for some toys back. Bonus: we are going to be able to identify toys that she doesn't care about and we can get rid of.

Hugs for all people dealing with sisters.

kathy a. said...

OMG, a Cleaning Goddess! I so wish I had one. And bonus granddaughters!!!

SIL seems in a worse mental space than we could really tell with that visit Sunday. Got an emergency call from her caretaker -- the emergency was that SIL needed her brother to know that [a] she does not have enough clothes, and [b] she was hit by a car yesterday and both arms were broken. Neither true, but a troubling sign that her agitation is ramping up. SIL was standing right there, being intense, so the caretaker couldn't do a lot of talking. Gah.

Sue said...

(((QWP)))

(((kathy a)))

Yay for the Cleaning Goddess!

esperanza said...

She was a gift to us when I was stuck on the couch while pregnant with Mini. I had determined that after Mini was born, the Cleaning Goddess would go, since I would be able to clean. About 3 weeks before Mini was born, Cleaning Goddess's husband died of a heart attack while driving the two of them back from Mexico after the holidays. I no longer had the heart to discontinue her services. She cleans every other week. She doesn't do the deep cleaning stuff that needs to happen every so often and has a particular blind spot for dirty bathtubs. But she's an institution now, and I am grateful for the regular upkeep.

Sorry about SiL's increasing agitation.

kathy a. said...

I did a stupid, leaving a closed bag of rolls on the dining room table. One of the cats -- who is normally well-behaved -- was feeling festive enough to dig on in. fa la la la la.

kathy a. said...

We are on round I dunno of the cleaning fairies vs. Messy Inhabitants (some of whom have way too much fur, and a few bad habits), and all I can report is some progress. Yay, progress!

KLee said...

I went to the doctor today. turns out, I have a fairly nasty upper respiratory infection. Doc prescibed an inhaler, an antibiotic, and a cough syrup with c0deine. I asked the doc to please make sure that these are the cheapest that she could find as it is Christmas and I am out of money, and am desperately sick and need the meds. Doc says, sure, no problem. She comes back and says everything should be good to go, and if there are any questions, just call her back.

Imagine my utter shock and dismay when I get to my usual pharmacy to find that one of the prescriptions is $58, and the other is $28, and they haven't even told me about the third one yet.

I am embarrassed to say that I just looked at the poor pharmacy tech and burst out crying. Now, when I say I'm broke, I mean that if the choice is groceries or meds, the choice is going to be groceries. It's not like I can't afford the usual $5 antibiotics, but for some reason, my insurance is saying that these normally covered meds aren't.

I called my husband, blubbering, because I was so tired, and so sick, and didn't want to waste the money on the doctor anyway, but he nagged me to go, and then it was like a slap in the face. Hubby urged me to call the doc's office back, and I did. I think they could tell that I was at the end of my tether, and they said they'd find a way to make it work, and call me back. They did, and God Bless the sweet woman who called around town for the best prices for me. She got me the antibiotic for free, and a reduced rate on the cough syrup. The doc had me go back to the office for a breathing treatment, and pronounced my wheezing diminished, and sent me home.

This is the worst possible time for me to be sick, so of COURSE it's when I'm probably the sickest I have been in years. It also means that I probably won't get to see my Grandmother, since she has lymphoma, and they're limiting access to her. I may just drive Offspring up there so she can see her, but...

Damn it, universe! Cut me a freaking break. Please.

Trying to remain positive, but can't seem to manage it right now. I hope my Christmas spirit shows up tomorrow.

kathy a. said...

((( KLee ))) omg! I am so glad that the doc had your back, and got you the meds for a decent price, and did the breathing treatment. But those are a lot of hoops.

I wish we were moving to a rational health care system more swiftly. And also, a person working full-time teaching our young people should not have to beg for meds. wtf? xoxo

esperanza said...

Oh, KLee. If it's a comfort, know that you are not the only person to cry at a pharmacy counter. Ahem.

Very thankful for your doctor's office--what a great nurse. AND hoping you feel better pronto.

Sue said...

Sorry kathy a, but I had a good laugh about the dinner rolls. Silly kitty!!

(((KLee))) I'm so sorry. I can't even....tears should never be part of a pharmacy visit. Sending gentle hugs and a big Christmas wish that the universe/Santa delivers you a break already!!

Liz said...

((((KLee)))) I cannot even begin to tell you how sad I am that we do not have Medicare for Everybody Starting at Birth. Fireplacing cowardly congressional democrats from 2009-2011 really screwed the pooch for us.

esperanza said...

Here's my pharmacy tale of woe: two mistakes, neither of which were mine, mind you, ended up with us receiving a 45 day supply of nebulizer meds rather than a 90 day supply from the fireplacing insurance-mandated mail order pharmacy. This would have been an easily corrected issue at my local pharmacy, where people have brains. Instead of admitting their share of the mistake, the *pharmacist* tried to tell me that "take one vial twice a day in nebulizer" meant that you would only use one vial per day. No, no it does not mean that. The Rx was written to take two a day but only prescribed 90 vials, which I understand was the physician's mistake. But you cannot tell me that it was a 90 day supply. Jerks.

I am halfway sick myself (no fever, but aching everything and stuffy head). Mini and Sweet are on my last nerve. Hubby is uber busy today and uber grumpy/depressed. Sorry y'all have to listen to me.

kathy a. said...

Bah, Esperanza. Hope that got worked out, because if a person needs a nebulizer, they need a nebulizer.

No worries about whines! I'm stuffy + achy, too, and my list is not getting shorter very rapidly.

kathy a. said...

Cobwebs: more of a festive decorative touch for some holidays than others.

Sue said...

(((esperanza))) Whine away!!

kathy a for Mullet! So true about cobwebs...

esperanza said...

I say fling some glitter in them and call them snowflakes.

kathy a. said...

Oh, Esperanza is getting some kind of award for that holiday craftiness!

kathy a. said...

Oh, I forgot to mention the miracle! Yesterday, I could not locate the roasting pan, and I plan to do roast beef and roasted vegetables. My husband had relocated it, and could not remember where he put it. (Then he came home and remembered.) But meanwhile, daughter picked up a new roasting pan *with a rack*, and a new butter dish! So I can roast both things in separate pans, AND we can serve butter!!!

Everyone says I'm hard to shop for.

esperanza said...

Mini: "Do you think we got a poop shooter" lololol

We're all about the potty humor around here.

kathy a. said...

Does "poop shooter" have an english translation? Sounds like Mini's feeling better, anyway.

esperanza said...

I was afraid to ask.

kathy a. said...

LOL!

kathy a. said...

Every time I cross something impressive off the list, like "wash more dishes and the wineglasses," I come up with another item like "cut off the fabric the cat tore out of the bottom of the couch." We clearly do not have company often enough.

esperanza said...

Christmas Eve service. "O Holy Night" by the 10 year old with the amazing voice who sounds like she is 25. I'm having a holy moment. Mini, screeching, hopefully not as loudly as it seemed, "I have to go potty! I'm going to have an accident! I can't hold my pee pee in any longer." Apparently she could, because Mean Mama made her wait till the service was over.

esperanza said...

It's Bodily Functions Day!

kathy a. said...

Sounds gorgeous, Esperanza!

I'm pretty sure there are bodily functions going on all over the place.

Apparently, I've had random moments when I remember that Santa does stockings, and bought various items, and then forgotten all about that. There were several stashes.

Liz said...

W: The roast to feed ten? Doesn't fit in my covered pot. So at the last minute, I'm making it differently this year. Can y'all please reassure me that it will come out okay if it's cooked in an open pan just like my people have done for generations instead of in a covered pot the way God (aka Alton Brown) decrees?

kathy a. said...

Yes, it will be fine! And anyway, aluminum foil to cover?

Probably I should have started things like wrapping before the day itself....

kathy a. said...

Hope everyone is enjoying the day!

Hope my grumpy mood picks up before the guests arrive in a few hours. Just have not felt that cheerful this year. But really everything's ready except a few simple things. And a sink full of dishes.

Queen of West Procrastination said...

I hope everyone's holidays have gone well!

W: in classic QWP style, I had an allergic reaction to the in-laws' cat, which made me get run down enough to catch whatever's going around. Deck the halls with low-grade fevers, fa la la la la la la la la.

(I don't understand what that means, but: low-grade fever, and many drugs.)

Whiiiiine: this means the family is travelling North without me tomorrow, for the extended-family Christmas. (Insert guilt whine about aging grandparents, and how rarely we see them.)

AW (but nervous): Mr. Q and my family are taking E anyway. And I'll have a day to myself to convalesce!

Liz said...

Oy, QWP. I hope you enjoy your day to yourself despite sickness. Feel better!

And I think you get style this week!

The roast came out delish, but just infinitesimally less good than in the covered pot. Barely detectable, but there. Everybody kvelled, tho, so all is good.

KLee said...

Now that I have antibiotics in me and slept last night for about fourteen hours (totally not kidding), I feel better. Head is less stuffy, and I am coughing a lot less. I just hate that I broke down like that, but I really was at the last of my rope there. Too sick to really function, and AFTER having asked for the cheapest thing I could get, it was just All. Too. Much. and I had a moment.

Freaked out the poor pharmacist, though.

Hope everyone's Christmas was merry, and filled with love. Thank you for another year of good friends with no judgment and wonderful senses of humor. :)

Sue said...

Glad you got to rest up KLee, and that you are feeling at least a bit better. Coughing less is good!

(((QWP))) Definite style points. I hope you get some rest and feel better asap.

We had a great day here. My MIL, who is becoming quite frail, managed both the morning visit for opening of gifts AND dinner. She's a real trooper. It's been such a gift, this week with all of us together.

kathy a. said...

QWP, hope you are feeling better!

KLee, glad you are better. That was messed up with the medications.

Sue, how lovely to see your MIL for both events -- and that your faraway boy is home!

We had a wonderful time with the kinda-inlaws (son's gf's family)! Dinner turned out good, and I did not forget to serve one of the dishes, like I usually do.

kathy a. said...

Cuteness: son's gf got pink fleece slippers with hedgehogs; daughter got "ruby slippers" with red sequins; they both wore them all day.

Sue said...

Cuteness!!

esperanza said...

AW: relaxing Christmas Day, with just us, and then the afternoon with friends.

W: my "halfway sick" keeps getting worse. Sore throat, ears hurt, body aches, fatigue...you're thinking flu right? But no fever! What? Day 5. The Baboos and I were planning on heading to the grandparents' house for cousin time, but I just didn't have the energy for the drive. Hopefully tomorrow. I'm attempting to do this thing called "resting" today in the hopes that I will feel better. So far my attempts at naps have been interrupted by: Baboos, Mr E, the phone, and the UPS guy.

AW: oh! My rant at the online pharmacy on Christmas Eve resulted in the remaining 45 day supply of nebulizer meds being delivered TODAY by the UPS guy. Speedy delivery!

kathy a. said...

Yay! for the pharmacy and the UPS guy!! That halfway sick is no good, though -- BEGONE!

Whining works, even with pharmaceuticals, even during the holiday season, for 100% of pixies this week. Victory!

Liz, kvelling!! It was perfect.


Queen of West Procrastination said...

Kathy, it sounds like you has a wonderful day.

It looks like a good percentage of our whining pixies have the Holiday Blargh! I, for my part, am still running a fever, and am now debating the merits of visiting a walk-in clinic on the weekend, versus going I'm and seeing my gp on Monday. My fellow sickies (this is a thing that's going around) are experiencing a break in their fevers, and suspect that it's viral.

W: I have no voice, which makes me very lonely.

AW: E had a lovely time with my family, and Mr. Q is home for another week, and so I can feel free to lay about and convalesce.

(Whispered anti-whine: so, we have a REALLY bad couch. It's creaking and groaning, and all the bonded leather is flaking off on everyone. I spend my whole day sweeping bonded leather flakes. We asked our parents if, in lieu of presents this year, we could get money toward our New Couch Fund. You guys, with combined birthday and Christmas presents, each set of parents gave us enough to buy a modestly-priced couch. This is how much our while family desperately wants us to get rid of the monstrosity in our living room. We're going to be able to buy something nice! I tight we were going to have to save until the summer. Instead, we can go couch shopping in the Boxing Week sales. It's such a big thing. So huge. I can't even believe it.)

Queen of West Procrastination said...

There are a lot of typos here. I am hardly seeing straight.

kathy a. said...

QWP, hope you are feeling better -- sounds like a nasty. But yay about the Couch Fund!

Keep whining! Awards sometime later.

Sue said...

((QWP)) I hope you're feeling better soon.

Same for you esperanza. Christmas sick is just not right.

W: Christmas funerals are awful. Just awful. Met with a family today for a service on Tuesday. They are very strong, and at least it wasn't Christmas day, but dang - it's tough.

AW: More leftover turkey tonight = easy and delicious dinner.