Chrimbo
What a lovely Christmas.
The weather was great....it snowed but not so much that we couldn't go anywhere.
We went to Candy Cane Lane to marvel at the house decorations.
We also went to see the stage production of
'A Christmas Story'.......which was excellent.
Donna has been out and about with her mates karaoke-ing. Lauren has resumed playing World of Warcraft.
Christmas Day was lovely. Lots of gifts, food and drink....then we watched The Avengers and Men in Black 3.
Philip had used 2 of his vacation days so he could have Christmas Eve and Boxing Day off. This made for a better break for him and he was able to relax more.
I finished my antibiotics (for my gob) on Boxing Day and the pain was back the following day. So, after phoning the oral surgeon I am set to have exploratory surgery next Thursday to see if he can find out what is going on.
I have a theory that it is a previously root canalled and crowned tooth and if so I want it out.
I am not messing with it any more.
It is an old root canal and they do not last forever. I sometimes wonder if they are worth having done at all.
He says I have to be asleep while he does his stuff and that suits me just fine. I don't want to be awake while he is poking around in there.
I have decided to ask him if he will take out the suspect tooth if he finds no root tips left. I might as well get it all done while I am asleep. I don't want to keep going back.
Of course one wonders just how much this lot is going to cost.
Tonight we are going to ice hockey to see The Milwaukee Admirals fight..oops I mean play.....The Peoria somethings.
Donna will enjoy that.
The time is whizzing by way too fast. I shall be devastated when they leave.
This is our house decorations.....well some of them. I think it could fit into Candy Cane Lane.
I would love to live there.
Oh and this is our living room after the present opening.
Oh I don't mind. It is tidy all year. I love to see it like this.
Hope you all had a fab time.
She wanted snow !!!
Donna said she wanted snow for Christmas here.
Be careful what you wish for.
The snow storm was forecast for today. Originally it was forecast to start last night.
I was worried it would affect her travel plans.
She was going to get a plane to Chicago and then a connecting flight to Milwaukee.
Luckily Philip, bless him, managed to collect her from Chicago and it was a good job he did.
He got Donna and Lauren both here just as the real snow started. Phew !!!
They announced on the news that Milwaukee airport would be cancelling flights.
But, they are here now and Donna is delighted with her snow.
It continues overnight and then we have some very cold weather over the weekend.
Snow again on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
A white Christmas indeed.
I am pleased for her. She loves it so much.
I have had my own adventures this week.
A root canal on a tooth on Monday, an angina attack on Tuesday, jaw pain on the other side from the root canal on Wednesday - resulting in a trip to an oral surgeon today.
My dentist thought that a root tip had been left in my jaw from a previous extraction.
Nightmare.
This would mean surgery....really nasty stuff....to get it out today.
The oral surgeon, after having taken more x rays and a ct scan, said he could not see a root tip and was not going to go cutting around trying to find one unless he had very good reason to.
So, the result is, I have antibiotics. He said he would wait until I finish them and then see what happens. If I have any more trouble then he will investigate further.
I was so upset. I thought I was going to spend Christmas with my gob stitched up and thoroughly miserable.
He also said that if I have any further problems I must phone him......even if it is Christmas Day !!!
He insisted that I should phone him and he would help me...again saying even on Christmas Day !!
He is a lovely man. I hope I don't need to see him again but I have complete faith in him.
I hope Donna and Lauren have a wonderful stay with us. She brought me lots of British supplies to replenish my stash.
Alanmas begins before they leave this year so we have an overlap.
I don't mind at all. We have plenty of room. I know Alan is counting the days. Bless him.
All Wrapped Up
The wrapping is finished at last.
The next problem was finding a place to hide all these presents. I eventually did hide them. I made sure I put labels on them all as I would never know which were for who...if you get my drift.
I have also finished this years Christmas cake...see above.
It has been well soaked in brandy so should be quite tasty.
I also made little ones to give as gifts. Philip likes to take some to work for his team.
They seem to be rather popular.
You can't buy Christmas cake here. It doesn't seem to exist.
I still have the mince pies to make but I will do that in a day or two.
We met up with Gary for breakfast on Sunday to give him his gifts. I also give him a little cake.
He usually spends Christmas with us but this year, as his mum will be at his sister's which is within driving distance, he will be visiting them.
He gave us a bag of goodies too. I told him on facebook that we hadn't opened anything and were waiting for Christmas Day.
He then said that maybe he should have mentioned the Baby Belle cheeses he had put in there for us.
I was puzzled by this.
He then explained that he thought we shouldn't lose sight of 'the reason for the season' so he had included "
The Baby Cheeses" in our gifts.
The penny did drop then. I wouldn't have got it if he hadn't explained. I would have wondered what on earth he had put cheese in the bag for.
He is a silly bugger our Gary.
Donna and Lauren arrive Thursday. Yippeeee !!!!!!!!!!!!!
"And he was laughing......."
Muchly wrapping has continued.
I had a bit of a panic when I realised that they actually arrive next week and I have so much left to do.
Apart from all the wrapping (which is almost completed now) I still have to marzipan and ice cakes, make mince pies, make chocolate reindeer cakes, feed the hog.....etc..etc.
Yesterday our house looked like a scene from a slapstick film.
In the morning, after doing the washing, I noticed that the two huge sinks in the basement which the washing machine hose empties into ( come on keep up....are you following me?), these sinks (enormous great things) were filled with water......and it wasn't going anywhere.
I rang my hubby and asked if he would bring home a bottle of Liquid Plumber. This is amazing stuff. You chuck it down the sink and in an hour or so the sink is unblocked.
Such is the theory.
He dutifully brought home the stuff and emptied it into the two sinks in the basement.
After dinner he decided to go and check on them.
Fortunately, I decided to stay upstairs.
After some ominous thumping and crashing, a very red-faced husband came up the stairs carrying a heavy bucket of water.
"Well the good news is I have cleared the blockage."..........don't you just love it when you know there is going to be some bad news.
"The bad news is I broke through the u-bend under the sink when I poked a stick down it and the water is pouring out over the floor."
Poked a stick..........sigh.
My husband is lovely. What he isn't is practical.
I went downstairs with him as he tried to remove the u-bend......couldn't do it.
I suggested asking Marty up the road for help. This wasn't received with cordiality initially, but when it dawned that the upstairs sink also ran into this pipe and that if it wasn't fixed we would not be able to use the upstairs sinks either............... Marty was summoned.
Actually, I phoned Marty who hadn't got a clue what the mad English neighbour was talking about when I mentioned u-bends. It turns out that here in the colonies they go by the name of J-Traps.
No...I don't know why either.
Marty, bless him, quickly arrived and promptly removed the offending J-Trap ( with Philip protesting that he must have loosened it for him already ) and they set off together to get a new one.
Of course when they arrived back with the new part ......it was wrong. The connector was wrong. Two of them went and still got the wrong bit.
Off they went again.
This time it was the right part with the right connector..........but it was plastic...........and it broke !!!
For the third time they set off in search of the J-Trap of Excellence and this time they returned in triumph.
Marty installed the much heralded contraption.........may blessings be showered on him, his family and his cat.
He refused any monetary compensation. His view being that, where he could help out in such an emergency, Philip would be his man to call if he has computer problems.
It makes sense to get on with your neighbours.
Wrappity, wrap, wrap.
This is Stumpy Eric.
He has lost most of his tail....poor thing. I remember seeing a baby squirrel back in the spring who's tail was bent and odd looking.
Maybe it was broken and sort of withered off.
We also have a Bald Eric who worries me somewhat. He has lost his fur down both side of his body.
I hope squirrels huddle together for warmth when the weather is cold or poor Bald Eric will not make through a Wisconsin winter.
This week .....I have mostly been wrapping.
Sigh.........
I need to get all the pressies wrapped before my visitors arrive.
So far, I have wrapped at least 50 pressies.
I haven't even started on the stocking stuff yet.
We have a little tradition. We open our main gifts on Christmas morning.
Then after dinner we have stockings full of little gifts.
Some silly things, some sweeties and just fun small gifts. But all this stuff needs to be wrapped.
I am amazed at all the stuff I manage to buy. I start in January and buy things all through the year.
This way I don't notice spending the money so much and it means I don't have a huge outlay in one go....which I couldn't do.
I usually forget half of the things I have bought and it is fun for me to pull them out and re-discover all the treasures I have bought during the year.
They still need to be wrapped though. I couldn't wrap them as I buy them or I would have no idea what was in any of the parcels by the time Christmas gets here.
This year I have had plenty of "help" from Tootsie. Maybe she thinks that as she has a thumb she is the perfect assistant.
She is not.
She attacks the paper, sits on the tissue and tries to get into boxes.
Donna and Lauren are getting excited about coming over now and I know Alan can't wait for Alanmas.
It will be lovely having so much company and the help will be most welcome ....what with my back being a bit 'iffy'.
Thoughtful
A silent thought, a secret tear,
Keeps the memory ever dear,
Time eases the edge of grief,
Memory turns back every leaf.
Normal blogging will resume tomorrow....do not adjust your sets.
Remembering.
Remembering this day many years ago.
