T.G.I.F.

That ain’t NO lie!

This day has been more like a Monday than anything…

I’ve been dealing with Workers Comp cases ALL day long…hmmm…and I thought that my boss was the Risk Manager.  Yeah well…what else is new huh.

I’m looking forward to getting out of here this afternoon and going home to watch some  hockey…and eat some …and have a !!

Well…back to work for me….unfortunately.

I hope that you all have great weekend!!

Lights, Breads, & Cookies!?

Yes…this weekend is going to be semi-warm…so I’ve decided that I’m going to have to use my time wisely!

I figure that since I’ll only have 2 out of the 4 children that first thing on Saturday morning (despite Jason’s reservations to do so) we are going to begin putting up outdoor lights!

It’s supposed to snow here come Monday…so, I figure that we’ll put up lights this weekend while the weather is still dry and somewhat warm…and then once their up…I’ll have time to bake!

Well…that’s the plan anyway.

I came across a slew of recipe cards last night that my Mom had stashed away.  Their were TONS of recipes in there that I can use on a daily basis!  Not to mention some wonderful holiday recipes. 

I’ve decided that this year I’m going to bake some breads along with my regular cookies and biscotti.

Jason loves my biscotti and it’s so easy to make!  The families that I sent it out to last year really appreciated the different styles and tastes…and I enjoy making it.

I haven’t made breads in a long time…but I will be baking with my daughter and thought that it would be a good time to teach her how.  Besides, they make wonderful gifts as well.

Thank you all for sharing your holiday plans and such with me…it’s nice to know that I’m not alone in trying to keep up with the fast pace of the season!

Getting things in order…

Ya know, it’s amazing to me the amount of support that I get here on Xanga. I know that I thank you all almost every entry…but it’s only because I am so grateful to you for the love and kindness that you show me here.  I am truly blessed to have people like you here.

I’m attempting to get things in order now around my house…following the wave of illness that took over last week.  This weekend I’m going to try my hardest to get some of the Christmas decorating done…outdoor lights and all.  My oldest daughter has her best friend coming over this weekend…so they should be a help.

We are not in the way, financially, to afford much this year for gifts…so I’ll be doing a great deal of baking.  I enjoy baking…it’s just time consuming and I don’t have a ton of that to spare with four little ones at home and all of the holiday events coming up.  However, I’m going to attempt to get some baking done this weekend as well.

Jason and I would like to send cards out to people this year also…it’s something that we did last year and enjoyed doing…so, I’d like to continue with that.  He also would like to have some family portraits taken…but I don’t know if we’ll be able to this year…so, I’m thinking that we may just have a friend take some family snapshots instead.

So much to do…and so little time.  Ahh…such is life during the Holiday Season eh?

Have you completed your Christmas decorating and shopping yet?

Wow…

Once again…thank you all for your wonderful comments!

Myki …take care of yourself woman!!  Remember, lift with your knees…not with your back.

TheHorseYouRode…thanks for stopping by …and for the encouraging words!

Jen…I guess you could still send those get well cards out m’dear…considering it’s my group…I’m sure that they would apply for at least a few more weeks…unfortunately.

Tanya…for your sake…I hope that you don’t get sick at all!!  Being sick just sucks!

Toni…wow…I had no idea that you knew my hubby, but then again…most people that I’ve met through Xanga have known him on Xanga at one point or another…haha…so I’m not surprised.  He reads my site…so I’m sure that he will see your comment and the hello. And thank you so much for the lovely compliment on my little ones…I too think they are beautiful…but I’m biased.

To everyone else who commented yesterday…thank you very much for all that you say and the support that you give to me here…I appreciate your kind words more than you know.

On a different note…

I had these plans of posting on many different things during the time that I took ill…but of course being ill took up too much time…so I didn’t get a chance to post last week.

As I’d previously mentioned…last Tuesday was the 2 year anniversary of my best friend’s death.  I think that for me, the reasons that I’ve had such a difficult time letting go is due to many things.  First off…I wasn’t able to attend his memorial service (he lived in Canada), second…we were so close to each other that we were almost twins, third…we’d planned this huge vacation together for last year (which I wound up taking Jason on…and I’m glad I did) but being there where we were supposed to have met was so hard for me, fourth…our last conversation still rings in my head.

See, the last time that we talked…I had this horrible feeling about this trip that he was taking…something just told me that it wasn’t a good idea…and I feared that I’d never talk to him again.  I begged him not to go…but of course Peter reassured me that he’d be fine and that he would use “utmost caution” on his trip to Nova Scotia.  I hated that he was going…it just wasn’t right, something…just wasn’t right.

The last thing that he said to me is that he would call me Sunday night when he got home…and not to worry, that he loved me and to have a good Thanksgiving.

I never got that call…in fact, I didn’t learn of his death until 2 days after it happened…but by then, I had already known…in my heart, I knew he was gone.

I know that I need closure on this in the worst way…and I know that I will need to travel to where his ashes are scattered to get that closure…and I plan on doing so hopefully this next year.

I couldn’t do it last year…it was just too soon and to be honest, I wasn’t ready to go there.  This year of course I was too busy with the wedding plans and surgery to spare enough vacation time and money to go…so, hopefully next year will be a better time.

I need to see where he grew up…where he lived and all of the places that he described to me on so many different occassions.  I’m a better person for having known him…he was a beautiful man and the most gracious person that I’ve ever known. 

In saying that…I think I understand why God felt that he didn’t belong to this world.

The Thanksgiving…Flu

Yup…the flu!!  Among other nasty bacterial infections that have floated around our house this past week.

All four of the children have ear infections and sore throats and the flu…and of course they passed these lovely germs onto Jason and I.  You know…I DO teach my children to share.

Well, as of last Monday I had been awake for more than 36 hours and was taking care of Caleb who seemed to have the stomach flu…nasty little virus that it is.  I sent all of the children into the doctor that day and then went in myself.  The kids came home with diagnosis’ and $150 of prescriptions to be filled…ouch.  I came home with a diagnosis of ear infections, a severe sinus infection, strep throat, and the flu.  Yup…I was SICK!!!

Of course, it couldn’t possibly end there…nope.  Caleb’s fever was so bad that they wanted to have him admitted to the ER…but it was overcrowded so they gave me explicit instructions as to what they wanted me to do with him.  Jason was in bed…and stayed there Monday and Tuesday.  So, it was me…and a bit of help from my Mom, to take care of the sicklings.  I did have one little problem though…I had an allergic reaction to my antibiotics…so back to the doctor I went, only this time…I took Jason with me!

We both were put on another antibiotic and then sent back home…yup, another $100 of prescriptions later.

By Wednesday…I was in bed…couldn’t really get out of bed.  Thursday wasn’t much better at all…I’d been out of work all week and so had Jason.  But by this time…he was feeling a bit better and I was feeling as if I were dying slowly.

By Friday…Mom and Jason worked all day and I was alone with the kids…and I was still extremely ill.  So my oldest helped me out…a LOT.   To be honest, by this point I didn’t really care what the kids did as long as they weren’t making a ton of noise (because my head was going to explode) and they weren’t burning down the house!  I just didn’t care…I was too darn sick!

I do feel better today though…but Thanksgiving wasn’t much to behold around our house.  We had a ham and a turkey breast and my Mom attempted to fix some lovely side dishes…but we weren’t hungry…so hardly anything was touched.  I felt bad…but I couldn’t even taste the food and had really no appetite at all.

I hope that you had a much better Thanksgiving than we did…it’s unfortunate, but it makes us look forward to Christmas just THAT much more.

So…here’s to Christmas! 

P.S.  Thanks SO much for all of your comments and emails…you all are the best!