Walking in a winter wonderland

Reading everybody's posts about Christmas has really made me think about what my family does each year and just of my memories associated with the season. I fight every Christmas Eve to open one present (and then attempt to get my family to allow me to open more!) and we have our English dinner; roast beef, yorkshire pudding, trifle and we have those fun crackers and get to wear paper crowns. My mother tortures us by making us watch "The Night They Saved Christmas" (Which is an AWFUL movie) and we all drink a bit too much of something but stay nice.

When I was little, one Uncle would be forced to distract all the children, so he usually took us for a drive around town to watch for Santa's sleigh flying through the night sky. Every single radio tower was pointed at and the blinking red lights glowing atop the towers were of course, Rudolph's nose. When we arrived home all the presents were out and the folks that stay home would say, "Oh, you just missed Santa!" One year Aunt Patti took a picture of a glove falling down the chimney to prove Santa had been there. :)

My sister does a dance to "All I want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey -- several years back the dance ended in the splits and then she couldn't get up.

When we were small, Courtney and I would have on our little flannel nightgowns and we'd stand over the heating vents in the floor, trying to keep our legs warm and laughing as the nightgowns puffed out and made us look like marshmallows. We'd always help our mom make Peanutbutter Blossoms, which are those cookies with the hershey's kiss in the center - Courtney was so excited when she was very tiny about the cookies and ended up burning a tiny moustache on her face when she leaned onto the cookie sheet before it had cooled down.

One of my favorite winter pasttimes is to lay on the couch and watch the snow falling - when it is dark outside, staring at a street lamp as the flakes float to the ground is one of the most peaceful things to do. Some Christmas music, a mug of apple cider, a fire in the fireplace, some very comfortable pajamas, a giant poofy blanket, a cat curled up on your belly and the snow falling is without a doubt some of the best things in life.

Thanks for coming out here with me John, oh California boy. I'm glad you get to see what I've seen almost my entire life. I hope you love it as much as I do.

YOU PURL 2 YOU HARPIE!!!

Yes, Jenny and I do love to craft. I like things that I melt and then throw some crud in and then pour it into something else. I'm good at melting things - I can microwave with the best of them. I CANNOT however learn to do things from Ikea-like instructions with little cartoon images showing you how to do things. I can't learn that way. I can't learn from a book... So WHY(?!?!?!) did I decide that I could? I picked up a little kit for making a scarf (which was some knitting needles, two things of red yarn and a cardboard sheet that has pictures of someone with a higher magnitude of dexterity making a magnificent scarf for someone. Oh it looks lovely on the cardboard!!! (The jerks) but what I have in my hands isn't anything like it... I can't even "cast-on" -- Which to me sounds like a nautical term... Cast-on mateys, I like the cut of yer jib!!! I have some mangled knots that somehow keep including my hands which I don't think anyone expects to have in their scarf. Now I'm sitting here, frustrated, looking like Pigpen with yarn replacing the dust and ready to give the cats a brand new yarn ball. Why did I think I could make a scarf?!?!?!

Where'd ya go?

I awoke at around 12:30 AM from a nightmare, to find John sitting at the computer. I was so resless and he thought he was keeping me up, so he went to the front room. After trying to sleep for another 45 minutes, I went to go talk to John and THERE WAS NO JOHN!!! No John in the living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, closets or hallway. (ha! I just made my apartment sound huge when it's not) I peeked out the blinds to see if maybe he'd gone out and lo and behold - there he was outside. Who is outside at this early hour of the morning?! Well, John is.... all alone. What is he doing?!?! He was scraping all the snow off of my car so I wouldn't have to get up super early. I didn't ask him to, I even had the alarm set to get up to do it... But dang. I think that's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.

Things like this terrify me

With John traveling so much, it's hard for me to hear about crud like THIS
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/09/chicago.airplane/
and not freak out. Think about that... just driving home from work and BAM here comes an airplane... um you aren't supposed to use the expressway!

It helps if I remember to do both tests. :S

You will be sucked dry by a leech. I'd stay away
from swimming holes, and stick to good old
cement. Even if it does hurt like hell when
your toe scrapes the bottom.


What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
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Oh goody, I get to go swimming in the cement pond.

What color should your hair be!?

Your Hair Should Be Orange

Expressive, deep, and one of a kind. You pull off "weird" well - hardly anyone notices.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

Oddly enough, my hair has never been orange... everything else though!

I as well adore Edward Gorey.

The GashlyCrumb Tinies - You have a terribly wicked
sense of humour and people are drawn to your
wit. Children beware of the thin, pale man
with the black umbrella!


Which Edward Gorey Book Are You?
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Adventures in the U.S. Healthcare System

I know that it has become much better than it is in previous years, but sometimes I think that making the hospital look nice does not make up for behavior on the part of doctors and nurses. A flower vase, and some wood paneling doesn't help mirage the fact that the doctor doesn't want to be there and hell if he wants to really help you if you have no insurance. This however does not mean that just because you feel like dog poo that you can't have any fun. (HECK NO! You can have LOTS of fun in a hospital!)
I went in to the emergency room since I have been sick for a month and nothing seems to be helping me to completely recover, in fact the things that are "helping me" are making me feel worse. The steroids given to me to open up my airways actually burnt my dang stomach and caused my esophagus to have spasms where I felt like my throat was trying to escape! I arrive at the ER with my fiance John, and my mother and father meet us there. I never quite know if i'm supposed to do all the talking or let my mom do it for me, so we spent some time looking back and forth at each other in between sentence trade-offs. They took us all back and did the temp, blood pressure history jibberjabber and then took me to a room where I got to switch from my lovely warm clothing for a threadbare hospital gown that was, shall we say, BREEZY?!
Moments later we were introduced to Dennis the fantastic nurse who asked many questions and then we were interrupted by the doctor. So there I sat on that stupid table thing, leaning forward while Dennis AND the doctor listened to my lungs through stethoscopes. (Yes, both of them had a listen at the same time, one on either side of me) The doctor seemed bored and gave me some novacaine and some antacids to calm down my stomach and my throat. Then he sent me off to x-ray via Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, or so I believe. The Lab Tech bumped into every door and I don't think she understood a word I said. She did enjoy my nose ring though. I stood in a variety of peculiar positions so they could take an X-Ray of my throat and then back on to the magic carpet to return to my room, or so I thought. The Lab tech rolled me into the hall and then forgot where she was going. She went back to the lab to find out which room I was in, but neglected to lock the wheels - so when she returned, I was in a completely different spot from where I began. Many innocent doors were attacked on the way back, to say the least and I was of course mindful to keep my hands and arms inside the cart at all times.
When I arrived back in the room, I was greeted by my sister who had decided to show up to see if a tragedy had occured. To her utter disappointment I could still breathe and wasn't even drooling on myself (big girl!!!) To keep herself amused since I wasn't very exciting, she fished another gown out of the cabinet and had my father walk her up and down the halls, muttering "Daddy,it huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurts" while he pretended to steady her arm and calmly reassured her that she was going to make it!
I amused myself by watching the television for a few moments, even though I can't even tell you what was on. My mom just looked happy to have the door to the room open since my father had been amusing himself by closing the door everytime someone left it open (just to drive my mother crazy). My dad and sister returned, looking extremely suspicious. Courtney took up residence in the chair by the window, but instead of facing us, she turned around and faced out and waved at people as they passed. A few people waved back, and a confused doctor even stopped to ask what she was doing and asked her why she was wearing a hospital gown. (She offered up the great answer of "Because") Occasionally she'd sip from a juice box that I don't remember seeing before - oddly enough though my dad's coat looked a bit puffier than before. (and where did he get a ham sandwich from in the ER?)
After a time, Courtney's fiance came to visit and asked my sister why she was wearing a hospital gown, and why did it have to match mine?? Her only answer, "I can SO rock this gown" (aw crud, I didn't know there would be an "evening gown" competition)
What seemed like years later, and at least 10 juice boxes passed. the doctor returned and told me I could go home and he prescribed antacids and heartburn pills. Thank you good doctor. I am SO GLAD that I spent hours for you to help me out with your miracle cures and voodoo magick.

I still feel like crud, but I am always amused.

Why Jenny, why?

Apparently since I have run out of books, out of movies and out of crafts to amuse myself while I have the plague, I am supposed to begin this "blog". For some strange reason, Jenny believes it will entertain all the little children of the world and give me something to occupy my somewhat addled brain. I tell you there isn't enough coffee or alcohol in the world sometimes, and by god am I sleepy. Amused?