Updates

MIL:
Hip surgery went well, and she was resting comfortably when we left. SU (spousal unit) was a bit shaken when he overheard the nurse tell the night nurse coming on duty the patient was DNR. We came home to find the kids had not only fixed dinner, but consumed all of it. He and I went to Ponderosa to 'decompress' and eat food already cooked and waiting for us.

Me:
Ear no longer hurts, but it continues to leak fluid. I'm also still mildly stuffy.

House:
Due to illness and hospital visits, we're doing a massive cleanup today. K had his senior pictures taken an hour ago ("Mom? You are going with me??!!") and he had an enjoyable time. Male modeling may or may not be in his future, according to the photographer:)

Turkey aka 'Big Boy':
All 22 frozen pounds is resting in a cold bath, awaiting his 'steam bath' in the fryer tomorrow. We still have to go get the ham, and some minor ingredients for tomorrow's feast. For more on the festivities, click here.

I'm under threat of the power being shut off to the computer if I don't hurry up. If I don't end up posting tomorrow, have a happy and safe Thanksgiving everyone!

Back Tomorrow!

Spent yesterday in pain; my ear drum chose to rupture in the afternoon. And the hydrocodone made me sick to my stomach. I'm heading back to bed for a brief nap, after I sort and start the laundry.

Need prayers...the MIL decided, for whatever reason, to try to get out of bed over the weekend. They sent her for an X-ray yesterday, and surprise...she's got a broken hip. She's undergoing surgery this afternoon to have it repaired.

Looks like our decision to stay home this Thanksgiving was a good one....

Have a good day:)

Weekend Photos

Had a great time at the annual Santa Stroll:) The weather was mild; I handed out several promo items and added many more email addresses to my newsletter list. And yes, even sold one. Better than last year, when the wind was frigid and most people were hanging on tight to their cash. They're still watching their cash, but the artis who painted the picture on the wall behind me sold three of his paintings in the week his work has been on display.

Don't know if you can see it or not, but I'm wearing my Santa Hat/jingle bell earrings! We were all in a festive mood Friday night:)

Saturday afternoon, one of the attractions was a free carriage ride. The spouse and K were on a BSA camping trip (K's final one as a Life Scout; he'll complete his Eagle rank in the next two weeks), so daughter S brought her little brother, her friend A, and A's little sister R downtown. They were too late to see Santa, but they enjoyed the ride:)

And later, after I got home, S and A went to see New Moon and came home both excited and upset that the movie "leaves you hanging! We have to wait a whole year to see what comes next!" Girls, you read the book; you know what comes next!

"But it's not the same as seeing it in the movie!"

Teenagers....

Monday Monday...

Woke up with a clogged right ear. I've already taken a decongestant and some Tylenol for the pain. I'm hoping this doesn't turn into another full blown ear/sinus infection! I've not had any problems with this ear since the chronic problem back in 1996 and had to have a tube put into it. I battled a mild sinus headache Saturday night and again yesterday after church. I'm fine as long as I'm either upright or laying down. Don't ask me to bend over or hiccup; pain rushes to my forehead. And since this is Day #1 of Operation Clean Up, I'll do the dusting and vacuuming; the spouse can do the bending-over stuff! And afterwards, I'll lay on the couch and watch the rest of the Law and Order: SVU marathon I ended up DVR-ing while I cooked dinner and later chatted with several authors during Anny's Birthday Bash! Kenzie very nicely posted two birthday excerpts from both books, and received some nice comments:)

And The Next Iron Chef is...

Chef Garseus!

It came down to creativity and basic cooking skills. Chef Meta, the Indian-background pastry chef, had the creativity, but lacked some fundamental cooking skills; one of the judges constantly harped his food was 'too sweet', and several dishes during this ten-week competition were either undercooked or overcooked.

Chef Garseus, who had a Latin American flair to his cooking, had similar problems during the entire competition, but got everything right last night in Kitchen Stadium. His dishes were considered 'safe, yet boring' by the judges, and it all came down to who would blossom the most under the current Iron Chef's tutelege. And since all five of his dishes were cooked to perfection, they decided he stood the best chance.

Have a good day!

Hmmm...Interesting....

Anny Cook asks an interesting question this morning: What's the strangest job skill you've acquired?

In my short working life, I've been:
-Babysitter
-Teacher's Aid in 1st grade class
-Teacher's Aid at Head Start
-Dishwasher for small restaurant (hated it!)
-Bus person for same restaurant (enjoyed it better)
-Worker in craft factory; I folded the items and sealed them in the bag along with the instructions. (Routine; I let my imagination take over and wrote like crazy during the breaks! Most of Love Finds A Way was written during this eight-week temp job!)
-Volunteer at Battered Women's Shelter (Showed me how my budding counseling skills were developing in a good way)
-Cashier for parking lot (again, did a great deal of writing during the down time)
-Rivet polker for semi-trailor factory (enjoyed this one; I was only one of three women and the rest were men! Gave me great ideas for Book #4!)
-Wait staff at a country club (Enjoyed my regular customers and became a favorite with the kids)
-'Bus' driver for pre-school (in actuality, it was a station wagon) (Hated driving in ice and snow!)
-DST for Special-needs children and adults (Taught daily living skills to the developmentally and mentally challenged; my group was at the higher-functioning level)
-More babysitting, plus a two-month foray into the 'get-rich-quick' sales (I hated walking up to people to convince them to buy something they either didn't need or couldn't afford!)
-Concession stand manager (Loved, loved, LOVED this one! I got to be my own boss, and did inventory, worked my ass off during games, counted money, and made some valuable friendships.)
-Bus Monitor for emotionally or special-needs kids (More stressful than it seems!)
-Published Author (I absolutely LOVE book signings and talking to people about writing, books, and how to get started/published.)
-Cashier for fireworks store (enjoyed this, as it got me out of the house for a while and away from moody spouse!)
-And most importantly, Domestic Engineer aka MOM (Again, I get to set my own hours:)

But have I acquired any strange skills? As I told Anny, I can now change the tape in a price sticker thingy. And discovered I really enjoy doing inventory.

This Weekend:
I'll be doing my final signing of the year at our local Santa Stroll. The parade begins at 6:30, and the stores downtown stay open until 9pm with special sales. I'll be at a friend's new art gallery, and the weather should be better than last year's Big Freeze:) On Saturday, the kids can have breakfast with Santa; there are free carriage rides and entertainment; and down the street at the Bible Bookstore, a local children's author, Roseann Perry, will also be signing copies of HER new book. I've not met her; I'll be going down to meet her between 11:30 and noon.

And Sunday begins Operation Clean-Up, as we are hosting Thanksgiving. K's girlfriend and her family will be here, as will my 'other' daughter and her family, and my friend J and her hubby. I also have to deep clean the car seats and stroller, since the new arrival will be here in a month. Plus, we always have 'strays' who wander in an out, knowing they will be well fed at Aunt Molly's.

Have a great weekend, and I'll be back on Monday!

Update

NaNo Word Count: 8962. And with next week's massive Operation Clean-Up, I don't see myself attaining that 50K needed to 'win' NaNo. Note to self: Next year if I attempt this, move out of house if the SU (Spousal Unit) is home for the winter.

Currently Reading: Regina's Highland Beast. LOVE IT! Recommended Read:) Next up: Her Spanish Topaz.

And then the list reads:
Burn by Anne Rainey
First and Ten by Fran Lee (won this lsat week!)
Infidelity by Debbie Gould
Naughty Nooners Anthology (TEB various authors)

Otherwise, I'm coming up blank this morning. Off to update my word count on the NaNo site ( yes James; I'm finally heading over there! Put away that whip!) and figure out what the SU has planned. We DID find a 22 lb turkey yesterday; I think we still need to get a ham. And the verdict is in for the Puff Pastry Chocolate-Filled Christmas Trees: Yes! Make more!

The only change is, I'll slice them open while they're still warm. I only broke two, and of course, we had to sample a couple. So I have twenty tucked away, with some white-chocolate ones and cream cheese ones planned. I'll have to do at least two batches of all three kinds. I may also experiment with phyllo dough.

Anyone else doing any experimenting for Christmas presents?

More Proud Parent Moments

2009-2010 National Honor Society Members.

K is behind the table with the white shirt and tie.

Close up of my NHS member:)

Receiving his award from his principal.

Walking back to his seat, certificate in hand.

With his Dad at the reception following. He said to me, "Several of the guys and I realized we went through this just to make our mothers happy."

Mission accomplished!

Finally bought Debbie Gould's Infidelity and the TEB antho Naughty Nooners! Am adding them to the TBR pile.

Busy Day Ahead:

I'm doing some creative baking. Made puff pastry Christmas trees yesterday; today, I'm melting down some chocolate and injecting some into each. I'll let you know a) if it works and b) how it tastes! With finances tight, I'm trying to expand my usual cookie baking. Dinner tonight will be simple: Chicken and rice in the slow cooker:)

NaNo Word Count: I did manage to write yesterday, but I'll have to type it up first in order to get a word count. It equals about a page and a half, so I'm guessing at least 300??

Hands Off My Health Care!

What the hell is going on? New task force advises women to not have mammograms until age 50, and oh, you can skip the monthly self-exams? Whatever happened to 'Early Detection, Early Cure'?

The report went on to say the self-breast exams only caused unnecessary biopsies and in 19,000 cases, only one case of breast cancer was detected. From their financial point of view, this test is 'worthless'.

Try telling that to the one person who is now in remission. Go ahead; I dare you.

I'll admit, I've been a bit lax in the past three years. I had my borderline mammogram before the move, and while it wasn't the most pleasant X-ray I've ever had, I fully believe these are necessary to women's health. My doctor scolded me for skipping the one at age 41, and since I've still yet to schedule another, I can only imagine what he will say to me when he discovers I've now skipped three. In my defense, I do not have an OB-GYN down here. We started seeing a family doctor until we could move north again, but when I needed to see him last year, I inquired about the female side of the exam, and lo and behold, that's not his field.

I have no history of breast cancer in my family anywhere, but I did have a mild scare back in 1996, when a small lump was detected. An ultrasound revealed nothing. Two months later, it was back, and we discovered I'd done my SBE at the wrong week of the month; it was simply a reoccurring monthly thing.

(To those who know me, I looked down at my chest and shrugged. "Like it's not going to be any great loss if you have to chop it off!" Dr. S laughed and patted my shoulder. "Let's see what the films say...")

So yeah, if you're looking at the financial aspect, mammograms and biopsies are expensive. But if mine had turned out differently? I'm thankful the insurance company gave the green light for both the ultrasound AND my first mammogram ten years later!

NaNo Word Count: Total for two weeks: I'm just over the 8K mark:) Yeah, I'm well under the 25K where I should be, going in to week #3, but at least it's 8K more than I had last month! And given the fact my spouse has hindered my computer time, the fact I've written as much as I have is an accomplishment!