Last Call for 2008

This is the ornament Slug made and sent with our Christmas card. Isn't it adorable? Beanie and Ole thought it was an excellent choice in design!

This is one of Steve's Christmas presents from the rock shop -- a handpainted dinosaur on a rock -- everyone should have at least one!

This is one of the Hallmark ornaments I got Steve on LastMinuteAuction -- too cute!

One of my gifts from Steve was a coloring book and crayons -- I never had a huge box of crayons like this when I was a kid!

This is our downstairs neighbor, Bionett (Bee-O-NETT), who is, even as I type, making us empanadas! She's an excellent cook and a cat woman too!

Christmas Past

Here's Steve with his new meerschaum pipe -- I try to get him one every year. This one is a buffalo and came all the way from Turkey (via Ebay) to live here!

My stocking had lots of chocolates, Werther's (my personal favorite hard candy), and some little ornaments that are adorable.


Tree wizards, amber with bugs, and a gargoyle, oh my!!!

This is a sourdough bread concoction loaded with eggs, mushrooms, green pepper, Italian sweet sausage, and all kinds of cheese -- turned out pretty good, especially since it was the first time I tried it!

Steve got me two huge bottles of body lotions (I use them almost constantly), three different Celine perfumes, Chantilly, Jontue, and Navy smells, two nightgowns (one is very Kwaanza-looking), new cookie and pizza pans, a coloring book and crayons (I've wanted one for awhile and had complained that I never got one of those huge box of crayons when I was a kid), ramekins for making custard, a blue spoon, a new ice cream scoop (which will probably die from overuse in a few months), A soft brown leather wallet, and on and on and on.



As usual, we both went a bit overboard, but it's only once a year and it's so much fun! Hope you and yours had a terrific Christmas!

Kitchen Closed due to Exhaustion

This was the scene on the dock yesterday -- apparently the birds get together over the holidays too!
You gotta love Florida in the winter -- this is from a hibicus tree right outside!

I had a great day today -- slept late, had some of my favorite cinnamon cereal for breakfast, checked all my e-mail accounts (there are four of them), watched the news, and then took Hyler and Cathy shopping nearby. Cathy is on a quest for the ultimate potato peeler for her mother -- and it's not an easy one to find. She looked at Beall's and BigLots today with no luck (but she ended up buying lots of other stuff anyway), and then we all went to Publix (our neighborhood supermarket) for some final fixin's for Christmas dinner. They're doing turkey while we do duck, and we plan to exchange some of each.

Today I learned that Cathy was an LPN until she was unable to work because she couldn't speak after one of her strokes, although she took care of her mother-in-law at home for more than 20 years. Now she's on Medicare Disability like me. Hyler obviously adores her and I know it'll be hard for Hyler when she leaves.

I bought lots of "bad" stuff at Publix -- like heavy whipping cream. There's nothing like real whipped cream and it always reminds me of Gramma Austin who would use nothing else. When we got home we watched a little TV and then I decided to try out another cookie recipe. The dough is currently residing in the fridge for tomorrow's baking purposes. They're another kind of thumbprint cookie with nuts, but on these you put a chocolate filling in the middle. So far the dough's really good and I always consider that a good sign. I think it would be safe to say that the Weight Watchers point system is on hold until after the holidays.

Steve wanted to open one present today but I refused. Tomorrow we'll empty our stockings to one another and maybe one small gift, but keep the rest for Christmas day.

Even the vast numbers of people in Publix were in good moods today! There were so many people on cell phones while looking in the freezer section -- maybe they forgot some ingredient or forgot their lists! I didn't forget my list this time, but I forgot to put Italian sausage ON my list, so I'll have to go back tomorrow for that.

The Duck Virgin

Here's a Dopey ornament I got on Ebay! Isn't he precious?









This is the scene under our tree with both of our baby photos included.











This is the lighted cottage we both love to see every year.






We had a fun day today -- I dropped Steve off an CVS so he could pick up some stocking stuffers for me, and I took off to The Coral Reef, the very cool rock, gem and everything shop we've been to many times before. I've gotten to know the owners (Joe is in his 60's and has provided props for TV production studios and enjoys bartering -- so do I!) and he gave me a couple of good deals on a gross chunk of amber with a disgusting bug in it for Steve -- I even hated touching it! Also got him a six inch fossilized ammonite for his collection and a couple of very unique stocking stuffers. I swear I could walk around in this shop ten times and still see something new every time!

We were only back for a short time when Brent knocked on the door to see if we'd keep Hyler for a couple of hours so he and Hyler's grandma could do a little shopping. Hyler and I watched a horrible movie on the Lifetime Movie Network which she thoroughly enjoyed while we munched out on cookies, sunflower seeds, cheese, etc.

Cathy came by later to fetch Hyler and ended up staying for awhile. She's quite an interesting women who's had a somewhat difficult life -- she had a stroke at the age of six, and then another at 21, then four more as time went on. The medical professionals still have no idea why this happened, but she probably had some kind of congenital malformation in her brain. She had to learn to speak all over again while with a not-too-supportive husband and her three kids. She still has to take seizure medication to this day but doesn't seem to be bitter at all. We both really like her and tomorrow I'm taking she and Hyler to our neighborhood strip mall while I do some last-minute grocery shopping. I've been surfing the Web for duck stuffing recipes and finally found one with apples and sausage which sounds tempting. Wish me luck! I'm a virtual duck virgin!

Christmas is Forever

Christmas is forever, not for just one day,
for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away
like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.
The good you do for others is good you do yourself...

Norman Wesley Brooks
"Let Every Day Be Christmas," 1976

Party, Party, Party

We attended Brent's Christmas party today and he had a feast! Freshly baked ham, corn on the cob, chips and salsa, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, chocolates, rolls, on and on and on.

Hyler's grandma, Cathy (who they call Beema; she lives in upstate New York) is staying with them until the first week of January; she's a delightful person and very down to earth. Even strange Charles showed up! Of course he regaled me with his story of going to another club last night and how it made him feel like a loser. I gently suggested that the club scene is probably just not for him. I'm really tired of hearing about his quest for a non-relationship sexual encounter and I just don't see that happening for him.

Our landlords, Karen and Ron, also attended and it was great catching up with them. Karen's still trying to get me involved in the New Port Richey City Council but I told her really like not having to be anywhere at a specific time anymore, and politics in this little city are a mess!
This is Mikey, the son of friends of Brent's -- note the saying on his shirt.

Hyler's aunt and uncle brought her this white bear with a handcrafted quilt gown and lots of lace -- she's calling her Princess Lacy and she carried her around all night!

We ate, we laughed, we reminisced, we just plain enjoyed each other, and we're grateful to call them friends.

What a Difference Three Days Make!

Three days on steroids and antibiotics and I'm beginning to feel a bit more holiday-ish. I actually managed to sleep five hours last night without coughing!

Tuesday I felt so awful that I called to cancel my shrink appointment. I asked the receptionist to ask Dr. Song if she would call my pharmacy with a two-week supply of my meds until I felt better but she refused! She said Dr. Song absolutely has to see me before she'll give me more meds. I mentioned that I've been taking the same medications for 18 years, but she didn't care.

When I finally went to see Dr. Song yesterday afternoon, I quite assertively and while sweating profusely told her that I felt her policy on meds is ridiclous. She curtly said we were not there to discuss THAT. She is extraordinarily rude, but this county is very lacking in shrinks unless you choose to go to a clinic which I'd rather not do. What's a nut to do?

Steve made an angel food cake yesterday (from a box) and poured vanilla pudding on it. He set it on the couch for me to see and, as you can see, the official Food Inspector had to check it out.
It tasted really good with both caramel and chocolate toppings too!


This afternoon we went to Beall's and BigLots to do a little shopping (I mostly sat in the car) and then got Chinese food to take home. It seems like we eat a lot of pizza and it was great for a change!

We came home and put on the A/C! It was 82 degrees here today! Steve sat outside in the sun for an hour today too! You gotta love Florida in the winter!

Tired of being Tired

I've been coughing now for three weeks and it even got worse a few days ago to the point that I had to go back to my doctor to get Levaquin (a major antibiotic), a chest x-ray which showed right lung pneumonia, and some kind of cough syrup that tastes like very bad wine. She also put me on steroids in tapering doses. The worst part of it is that I can only sleep for an hour and then wake up coughing, and this goes on all night. It should start easing up in a couple of days on this combination of drugs. My energy is zilch and I haven't even gotten Mom's Christmas present mailed yet! The GOOD part of it is that I just got this gorgeous throw that Mom made! It matches our living room rug and the Fuzz Family loves it too!

Reddy.gif (image)

Reddy.gif (image)

The Key to my Childhood

When I was a wee child I asked my mother for a key to play with. She had some old keys in a drawer that belonged to absolutely nothing and she gave me one (probably to shut me up).

I promptly went downstairs and stuck the key into an electrical outlet, thus being thrown across the room and leaving a circle of black around the outlet.

Subsequent to this experience I had nightmares for years about an electric man (who looked suspiciously like Ready Kilowatt from the Northern States Power Company in our hometown) trying to kill me with his electric rod. In my dreams I'd hide from Electric Man in the back of our father's pickup truck, and when EM found me I'd wake up in a cold sweat. Horribly traumatic; Steve finally made me look up Ready Kilowatt on the web and there he was with his lightning-bolt body and his stupid smile just waiting to get me!

Then I saw an article on Fox News:

A 1-year-old boy from Perryville, Ky., was stabbed through the eye with a car key after he accidentally fell on it.

An X-ray showed the key went through his eyelid and penetrated his brain.

“I’ll never forget that moment,” said Staci Holderman, Nicholas’ mother. “Nothing can prepare you for something like that.”

Doctors told Nicholas’ family the key could be removed without damaging his brain, and after it was surgically removed, there was no damage to his eyesight.

“Everyone will say, ‘Which eye is it?,’” Holderman said.

===================================================================
At least I didn't need surgery. I do, however, have an unusual respect for all things electric...

And Yet More Festivities

We went to Brent and Hyler's apartment this afternoon to see if Hyler had any DVD's we could borrow and to see their decorations. Their place looks really nice with the addition of some furniture provided by Brent's girlfriend, Letizia.



Hyler got to design her own village on the china cabinet -- doesn't she look like she's in rehearsal to become one of the "The Price is Right" girls?


Hyler helped me make O'Henry bars -- she loves to do things in the kitchen. She told me that I'm her best friend - too sweet!



Steve picked lemons from a tree right outside our building today -- he's been trying to get me to make a lemon meringue pie for several years -- now I don't have too many excuses left!

On Festive Music & Criticism

We just got back from attending Hyler's elementary school Christmas concert. It was fun and I think Hyler's dad was happy to have company. They performed some traditional tunes, and used chimes and recorders for some music. They also did a politically correct Hannukah song and even a hip-hop Christmas number! I promised to take Hyler and her dad to Dairy Queen this weekend rather than tonight since she has school tomorrow and her dad has to work.

Steve very rudely criticized my Christmas cookies for being too sweet. I told him that in MY world there isn't such a thing as TOO SWEET! And I told him to contact Martha Stewart with his remarks since I used her method of applying sprinkles, which is to frost the cookies one at a time and then smack them face down onto a place covered with sprinkles. What does he know anyway!


Then I made a vanilla/pistacchio pudding pie, but Steve wouldn't eat it because I combined two different flavors. He LOVES vanilla pudding and he loves pistacchio pudding, but he just didn't think it belonged in a pie crust. I've been enjoying the pie ever since. His loss...my gain, in more ways than one.

On Intimacy and other Quotes

Intimacy means that we're safe enough to reveal the truth about ourselves in all its' creative chaos. If a space is created in which two people are totally free to reveal their walls, then those walls, in time, will come down.

Marianne Williamson

The world steps aside to let any man pass if he knows where he is going.

David S. Jordan

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.

Carl Jung

That Ol' Christmas Feeling

As you can see, my fuzzy girls have been completely overstimulated by all the holiday activities. Not!!!
After coughing for more than two weeks, I broke down and went to my doctor. She gave me antibiotics five days ago and I'm finally feeling a bit more "cheeky" today, so much so that we did some grocery shopping and I baked Christmas cookies. The cookies turned out really good and Steve said he's not sharing ANY of them with the neighbors. That's fine, but I WILL be sharing them with the neighbors -- he just won't KNOW it 'til it's done.

We bought a five-pound duck for Christmas dinner -- I'm just hoping it's not one of the ducks I used to feed when we lived in Tarpon Springs a few years ago. There were two huge white ducks I named the "Aflac Twins" and the "Teenagers" were a quartet of young ducks I think might've been some kind of bird gang. Their individual names were Fee, Fie, Foe and Howard and I almost got them to walk right into our apartment with pieces of bread. But I digress...

Isn't it wonderful to have a watchcat with you every moment of every day? I actually caught Beanie in the act of biting Roly Poly Ole's ear! She can be a little devil at times -- sort of reminds me of my sister Slug! Just like Slug, Beanie can't walk by her fuzzy sister without doing something pesky!