So, let's welcome the brand new 2018! May things go smoothly enough. May we all love and be loved. May peace grow, and sanity prevail. xoxo
We rarely make it to midnight, choosing (as we almost always do) to celebrate in a more convenient time zone. And, one more time, we are going nowhere tonight, because it's too crazy on this particular evening. There is some bubbly, which seems festive enough.
On New Year's Day, the only really strong tradition in our house is watching the Rose Parade. Somebody will probably watch some football, and notify me if they broadcast the marching bands (the only part of football that I like). The tree usually gets un-decorated, and much more quickly than the decorating process. I'm going to do blackeyed peas, greens, bacon, and other stuff in the crockpot, with a side of rice, in a nod to Southern traditions.
What's happening at your place? HAPPY NEW YEAR!
45 comments:
Celebrating with my sister-in-law’s family. Goodbye 2017! Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!
Liz on iPhone
Cheers, Liz!
Started the New Year mopping up the overflow from a clogged toilet at 1 in the morning. 2018 is not impressing me so far.
Liz, that...is hopefully not symbolic of that year ahead. Yikes!
Happy New Year, pixies! I celebrated NYE by having a fondue supper with E and her little friends, and then we went home and put E to bed, and our friends came here for board games (because their oldest old enough to babysit her younger siblings). Board games and snacks until we kicked everyone out at 11:30, and rang in the new year drifting off to sleep.
Oh, no, Liz!
Mmmmm, fondue....
Somebody mentioned black eyed peas yesterday -- a traditional NY food in the South. Greens are also traditionally served, and pork. So, the crockpot is busy cooking the soaked black eyed peas with: cooked and chopped bacon; chopped spinach; onion, garlic, celery, carrot; some little purple potatoes from our yard, diced; some leftover cherry tomatoes, sliced in half; broth; some leftover salsa verde (for oomph); and spices. It looks like a party in the pot!
So, the beans and etc. are ready! The rice is ready! Fresh bread is sliced! Table is set! I asked my beloved when he wanted to eat, and he said "5 minutes." Sometime after that, he got absorbed by some football thing. SIGH. This, from someone who has no patience if someone shows up 1 minute late for a meal *he* has cooked. In summary, good thing he's cute.
Happy New Year everyone! We had a quiet NYE and NY day. Just the way we like it. Back to work tomorrow.
The cold snap is over! It's -9C/+17F outside now, which probably still sounds bitterly cold to the majority of the American pixies, but it's the difference between being able to play outside in the snow, and being so dangerously cold that everyone's trapped inside. (And cars don't need to be plugged in to block heaters in order to start! And my furnace is only running a normal amount, instead of full blast!) This is perfect.
Correction: it's -8C/17F. And getting warmer!
It is 19F here in Virginia.
In other news, I got a uterine biopsy done today. Local anesthetic. Still painful, Still preferable going to the dentist. But only because it is shorter.
Doctor says everything looks good, but will call with results next week
At least that's over, Liz.
Y'all are too cold.
Ouch, Liz! I hope the results are good.
AW: it's 19F and there's snow falling gently. I ran an errand and, while I needed a coat and some mitts, I didn't need to cover my head or face. This is the white Christmas weather I wanted. No way I'd want the weather to be above freezing over the holidays: I've experienced it, and it's depressing. I'm glad we have the rest of the week off from school, because now we can have the Christmas break that we wanted.
I had exactly one white christmas -- a trip to vermont to ski (which I did then, badly), and I remember with wind chill it was something awful like negative 25F. On the up side, the slopes were gentle and we spent a lot of time by fireplaces. And planned our wedding. Long time ago!
Liz, I forgot to add that if the person didn't notice anything, it is unlikely that pathology will, IMO. Also glad you got a local! Totally agree on dental visits being more pleasant.
On Friday, it looks like we'll accompany my SIL's son to visit her. He has not seen his mom in 9 years, and I already warned him that she's not in great shape, her speech is basically not understandable, she can't walk by herself. He's only 17; this will be rough, which is why I really really wanted to go there with him -- for support, and to answer questions. Crossing fingers it is a reasonably good day for her, which will be bad enough.
Crossing appendages, and sending hugs, Kathy. Your poor nephew has gone through a lot in his young life, and he's so brave to go and see his mom. I'm glad that you're going with him for support.
Ouch, Liz. Glad that's done, and I hope all is well.
It's warming up here too, QWP, but not quite as much. We got some snow today, though, so that's good.
Appendages crossed, kathy, for a good visit with your nephew to see his mom. He is very brave, indeed.
QWP, did you try bullet journaling last year? If so, how did it work out? I'm considering it, but honestly, it seems a bit...complicated. Maybe I'm just thick, or not looking at the right websites, but I'm not quite grasping how it works. If it's just going to frustrate me, I won't bother, but if I can get into it, I think I might find it useful.
I did indeed do bullet journaling last year, Sue! I didn't do anything fancy (I am not at all artistic), but used it as a flexible day planner/task manager/calendar/thought organizer. I'll send you some pictures of my setup, on the Book of Faces messenger.
What the heck is bullet journaling?
I've been worrying some about this mother / son meeting for a few years; and this is the time he asked to set something up, instead of just mentioning "maybe sometime." He has sent cards, notes, photos to her place; and -- well, my understanding is that there's been a mixed reaction. He won't hear about the "mixed" part, only about how her brain has failed her, with other abilities not far behind.
Hope I'm forgiven for feeling it is to the general good, in this particular situation, that her speech isn't understandable any more. She has said some awful things. But I do know that she loved him deeply; would not have wished any of this on him -- so, I will say that.
Thanks QWP for the hints and photos!
I’m so glad you and hubby are there to support your nephew, kathy.
So many hugs, Kathy. I think it's also good that nephew is now older. I was his age when my grandpa's Alzheimer's hit really suddenly, and while it was really upsetting, I was equipped to understand what was going on.
Kathy: here's a good website explaining it (it's basically a flexible way to have a day planner that's also a place to put all your task planning, habit tracking, idea journaling, etc.). Artistic people also get into ways of making it fancy, but I like how it's a place where I keep track of my brain, in a simple way. http://bulletjournal.com/get-started/
Disclaimer: I'm a lot wordier, and messier, than described in the website above. But I found a method that works for my brain, and that's what's important!
((((Kathy a.))))) Best wishes for the meeting, and it's so great that he has you to help make this hard thing easier to do.
--Neighbor lady
Thinking of you and your nephew, kathy!
I just spent something like 45 minutes on the phone with a customer service person. At least one issue got resolved, and it turned out the inability to fix my billing was this guy's fault. Another issue -- that I do not want and do not use this service any more -- remains unresolved.
So many cluesticks for that customer service guy that messed up your billing!
So, did we send last week's awful and cold weather to the rest of you? Or mostly to Liz? I hope everyone getting the winter storm is staying safe and warm.
Your cold air is coming in to fill the gap left by the snow hurricane hitting the coast from Florida to Maine (we only got a light dusting in Loudoun)
Snow day in southern New England!
Neighbor Girl just made muffins via skype with her cousin in Philly who also has a snow day!
Yay!
--Neighbor Lady
So fun, NL! I love the idea of making muffins via Skype. (We used to play board games over Skype, and one time it worked so well that Mr. Q forgot, and for a cup of water for a friend who was playing Clue with us from Hawaii.)
Brrr, hope everybody on the East Coast is warmly bundled up! Muffins via skype -- brilliant!
We had an interesting little earthquake at 2:40 a.m. Woke us up! It was a 4.4, about 8-10 miles south. No damage! (Or as one friend said, "a bottle of Pantene shampoo fell over, but we will rebuild...")
Biopsy was benign! Yay!!! But why do I keep waiting for the other show to drop?
Benign! Hooray!! (I think it's just the year we've had, that always makes it feel like another shoe is about to drop.)
Woot woot woot, Liz! xoxo
I'll second QWP's theory about waiting for the next shoe...
Just one of today's [tiny] accomplishments: I figured out how to get a dog license in my county, made 2 phone calls for questions, located the correct paperwork and copied it [after changing the ink in my copy/print thing], filled out the form. Because speaking of feeling stressy, this was the one thing too many for my beloved Dog Man to deal with. Just needs his signature.
Yay Liz!
--Neighbor Lady
Thinking of all the cold and snowed-in pixies, and those whose world shook (that would freak me out - I've never been in an earthquake of any sort).
Sorry about the customer service glitch, kathy. Ugh. Yay for puppy paper work!
Baking and board games via skype sound awesome!
Yay, Liz for benign!!
Mamm and ultrasound yesterday, this time with tiny markers during mamm so ultrasound could get images of the right point. Ouchy mamm, but otherwise okay. This is the third since late November, focusing on a suspicious area. The mamm tech called it "problem solving" on the part of the radiologist (ie, just being thorough).
What an ouchy week of diagnostics, Sue and Liz!
W: would someone please come over and operate my arms for me? I had a clever idea to cook an entire Christmas dinner yesterday, to celebrate our (most of the way) recovery from our flu. And I overdid it. I'm so tired. Also, I made the custard for ice cream, for my Mom's birthday celebration.
At least I had to presence of mind to declare that I wasn't also baking my mom's birthday cake (as the whole family presumed I'd do).
Ouch, Sue!
That's a lot of cooking, QWP!
Waiting for our nephew to arrive. It's about 1.5 hours to his mom's place from here. Not sure how long we'll last, at the visit.
The visit was great, in that SIL recognized her son, told him "I love you," and when questioned by her favorite nurse, said he was her son. Also, today was not a bad day! Fave Nurse got her all gussied up in nice clothes, regular shoes (not sneaks), makeup.
But boy howdy, even though we tried to prepare our nephew as best we could, he was *really* taken aback about his mom's loss of abilities. He held her hand and cried (tissues appeared). He tried to tell her he's going to college this year, and got a blank stare. Physically, her appearance is so changed; and she couldn't or wouldn't stand up or go for a short walk, even with much encouragement. No conversation was possible. My husband took him for a little restorative stroll to see the garden, and told him it was OK to leave whenever he wanted. We left soon thereafter.
Glad we went with him. Glad to have reconnected. xoxo
I'm back! My computer is back! At some point my phone stopped playing nicely, so I couldn't post, but I was reading all the whining.
kathy a, your nephew is very lucky to have you. I'm so glad y'all went with him, and glad SIL was having as good a day as she could. Also--Fave Nurse is awesome.
W: Christmas break was interminable. Baboos went back to school yesterday, but two days was not sufficient for maternal recharge.
W: Sweet spent the first week sleeping, because of the new med. Second week (at grandparents house) with insomnia. I think it's settling into a better pattern now, but whew. Not the greatest break ever.
kathy, I'm glad the visit went as well as it did. It must have been so difficult for her son to see the drastic change in his mom, but it's good that she had the clarity to know him and express her love. xoxo
esperanza, I hope you are all able to settle into some kind of routine now that the winter break is over.
Glad Sweet's sleep is evening out. And that your computer is back!
Fave Nurse really is awesome in many ways. I'm pretty sure she coached my SIL on her son visiting, and what to say! (Clue: SIL started talking to the nurse, I think saying she loved her son. And the nurse said, "He's right here! Tell him!")
We had a few stories illustrating some of SIL's losses, on the ride up. He did not want to talk about his reactions or feelings after, so we chatted about family stuff, how proud we are of how well he's done, his future plans. There's an open offer to answer any questions he has, plus we want to keep in touch.
Even though it went as well as possible, it still brought up a lot of stuff from the difficult past (for me). Much or most of it, we are not sharing with our nephew because it won't help him; could cause more pain.
((kathy a))
So many hugs, Kathy. You and your husband are such amazing supports to your nephew and SIL. I'm glad the visit went as well as it did.
I'm back from a day trip to a family funeral (Mr. Q's uncle died on NYE, after six years of cancer). We left E here with my sister, which ended up being a good call: three hour drive each way, with a two-hour Catholic mass, and then a lunch in a crowded town hall (with about 500 people in there) would have been rough with E. But it all went well (other than the point where a large roll of paper towels fell off a bathroom shelf at the hall, bounced off my head, and brought back a few of my concussion symptoms).
Pixies -- I found a former teacher of my nephew on FB (also a former teacher of my daughter x 2 years); she taught my nephew after SIL's separation, and really went an extra mile or 2 to help him feel welcome, help him come up to the speed of his new classmates. And we just had a lovely chat! I wanted to thank her for her kindness toward my nephew, and then we got to story telling. It was great!
W: Crowd at church today was half of normal. Sick people, traveling people, etc. However, one missing person is worrying me. He is usually there every single Sunday. He's very troubled, a Vietnam vet. He wasn't there this morning, has not returned a voice mail nor answered his phone. I'm concerned, but there's nothing more I can do at this point without spreading anxiety around (ie calling his estranged wife or his sister). We don't have a physical address for where he's living. It could be something simple, or it could be something awful.
((( Esperanza ))) Fingers crossed that he is just taking a Sunday off, and he'll return your call soon. xoxo
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