Christmas!

I don't have much to say right now, except Merry Christmas Season! I am ready now! We had a great Thanksgiving weekend with both of our families. Now that Thanksgiving is over, I am ready for the Christmas season! My house is decorated, and I love it! This is a first for me, but I am almost done shopping. I am excited about that. My goal is to have a fun and RELAXED December. I am looking for fun holiday activities to do with my family. Will you share any fun ideas or traditions that you do? I would love to hear them!

Motherly Guilt

So, I am feeling guilty about not posting any pictures of my kids. I really do think they are cute. I don't know why I haven't posted any pictures of them. Here they are in their Halloween costumes. Yes, I do know that Halloween was three weeks ago. I love seeing everyone dressed up. So, whether you wanted to see my kids in their costumes or not, here they are! Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving

I don't know about you, but I absolutely LOVE Thanksgiving! What is there not to like about this holiday. Great food, family, gratitude and no stress! (at least for me, we're not eating at my house!) I feel this holiday is very important. I think I am preaching to the choir here, but don't you think that the world would be a better place and people would be happier if they realized all they had to be grateful for? I have so much. I will do some extra thanking to my Heavenly Father this week. I have a great family. We are all healthy. We love each other dearly. I have the gospel in my life. I have an eternal marriage. We have a home in a neighborhood we love. I have terrific friends. We have enough money to support ourselves. Sometimes I feel life is too good to be true. Why do I deserve to be so blessed? I guess I shouldn't ask why, I should just be grateful. And I am! Happy eating next week everyone. I am certainly looking forward to it already! I challenge all of you this next week to write daily in a gratitude journal (if you don't already) in celebration of this great holiday of thanks. Enjoy!

How Soon Is Too Soon?

I am posing a question. How soon is too soon to start celebrating Christmas? I'm sure that you all have seen Christmas decor, commercials and other merchandise around. How many of you saw it before Halloween? I am the average person who decorates their house after Thanksgiving. However, I heard on the radio that someone had their tree up in September!!! Wow, is all I have to say. No it isn't. Is it just me, or is that ludicrous? But, I can't really think of a reason why this would be wrong. Part of me feels to each his own, but it kind of bugs me. Why? Maybe its because Christmas is so commercialized. Seeing Santa, lights and toys before Halloween just chaps my hide. It seems ridiculous. I guess if Christmas were celebrated more for its true meaning, this early(4 month)celebration would be a good thing. Do we really need Christmas to have the Christmas spirit? Why do people like to start celebrating Christmas so early? If you have any answers to my question, PLEASE, enlighten me!

Thriller

If you are into dance theatre at all, you need to go see this show! My mom and I have a tradition of going to this every year. Now that Isabelle is old enough, it had become our Halloween girls night out. If you're not familiar, Odyssey dance company puts on a Halloween concert named Thriller. It has about every kind of dance from ballet to funk. It is a little scary but also has a lot of humor in it. These dancers are incredibly talented. It is highly entertaining for anyone: old, young, male, female! It is AWESOME!! Go see it next year!!

Get out of my head!

My, my, my,my music hits me so hard, makes me say, oh my Lord, thank you, for blessing me with a mind to rhyme and something, something, something, and such, this is a beat, ugh, you can't touch. ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh, You can't touch this. Okay, for those of you who weren't alive in the late eighties, early nineties. You may not know these are the words to the unforgettable "You Can't Touch This" by none other than MC Hammer. (or is it just Hammer?) I'm writing this because its 4:30 am and I'm at work with this wonderful (not) song STUCK IN MY HEAD!!! Why? you may ask, do I have Hammer in my head? Did I just recently hear it? Do I have it on my dance music playlist? NO!!! For no apparent reason Hammer is jamming along in my head. Why is it that we get music stuck in our heads? And, why is it usually a song we don't particularly love? (I have to admit, I did love Hammer in the day. You may even see me break it down to one of his songs in the privacy of my own home) But, do I want Hammer in my head all night while I'm sitting in the semi-dark? NO! Why, when we have a song stuck in our heads, is it only one line? Or why is it a song that we know the tune for the whole song, but only the lyrics to one line? I think it is a strange phenomenon. Some of the worst song offenders for me are "I Will Survive" and an R&B song with the lyrics "I put my hand upon your hip, when I dip, you dip, we dip" (circa 1996) ARGHHH! That song is the worst! S and I will say that one line to each other, and whammo, that line is in our head the rest of the day. What are some of the music offenders that get stuck in your head?

What to do?

As most of you know, I have a sweet little pug named Matisse. Okay, I know that all of you don't adore her! (you know who you are). But, as she gets older, the more I love her! (well, sometimes) Actually, I think I'm just being sensitive and sentimental because Matisse is hurt. She had problems with her left knee in March. She had a hair-line fracture in her leg and fluid in her knee. She got better after a round of anti-inflammatory meds. All seemed okay until we went out of town a couple of weeks ago. When we got home, she was limping again. I thought it was her old problem acting up again, so I didn't take her to the vet. Its been a couple weeks, she's still limping and won't go up stairs, so I took her to the vet. (I kinda felt bad for waiting so long) The vet gives me news that is so unwanted! He tells me that she has a torn ACL. Can you believe that!? Who knew a dog could tear their ACL? I'd never heard of it! Oh, and she also has an unstable knee cap. She may also have problems with hip dysplasia in the future. Apparently the only fix is surgery. Here's the kicker. The surgery costs $1400. I think my draw dropped to the floor and my eyes popped out of my head! Excuse me doc? Did you say fourteen hundred dollars? The vet goes on to tell me that's the only real solution, because long term anti-inflammatory drugs cause stomach and kidney problems.
The way I see it, we have three choices. 1) suck it up and get the surgery (trying not to think of all the great things $1400 would buy) 2) let her suffer while giving her anti-inflam. as long as possible. 3) euthanize her. (okay, not an option for me, but a lot of people suggested this).
I am curious, what would you do? We haven't made the surgery date yet. Oh, I did some calling around and it sounds like $1400 might be a good deal for what she needs done. HELP! I guess that animal vet insurance doesn't sound so bad anymore!