The Imperfect Community

ExCareerGal

Have yourself a Merry Christmas . . . for you and your family! A Happy New Years too. I have been too busy to be on much but I just wanted you all to know I wish you all the best!! Come back and post on how your holidays went!

Janna

momtofour · Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 10:07 am Post subject: Rockin around the Christmas Tree

Christmas totally rocked this year. I went to bed at around midnight last night (instead of 2 or 3 am like previous years), and Santa picked out some AWESOME gifts that required little assembly. I got one thing I asked for, and a bunch of stuff I didn't, but DH has at least proven that he has been listening. Our Christmas was green instead of white, but also not bitter cold. All in all, it's shaping up to be an excellent day.

julymom · Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 4:20 pm Post subject:

I had a horrible Christmas! I woke up around 10 to midnight on Christmas Eve with sever chest pains. I assumed it was heartburn (though I had eaten nothing that would cause it). I took some meds, but it didn't ease up. Dh wanted me to go to the ER, but I refused because I didn't want to miss Christmas morning. Cooper got up around 8 am and opened presents which was awesome. He had so much fun. I was still in horrible pain so I decided to go to the ER. I got there and was immediately wisked to the back and hooked up to machines and given blood thinners, pain meds, the most god awful malox concoction I've ever tasted and nitro glycerin. The did an EKG (fine), an xray of the chest (fine) and an MRI. The MRI was fine except that I'm apparently allergic to the CT dye they inject you with and broke out into hives almost immediately. They had to give me a shot a benadryl to stop the hives and it knocked me out. At 3 they decided to admit me to the cario ward for observation. They couldn't find anything wrong with my heart, but wanted to keep me just in case. My roommate was 92 (no lie) and incredibly flatulent. Rolling Eyes

They took blood 3 different times during the night for tests, and checked my bp every hour because it was incredibly low (the lowest was 68/40). And my roommate kept getting up to go to the bathroom. I was so exhausted and iritated. All my tests came out okay, and it turns out I have something called costacondritus, which is an inflamation of the strnum and cartilage in the rib cage. It's incredibly painful and can mimic the signs of a heart attack. Nice. So, they released me with pain meds and Prevacid (I had lots of acid in my stomach, caused by the stress inmy chest) and I came home today around 1pm. So I basically missed Christmas. We're having Christmas dinner tonight, but it's not the same. I'm so sad. I got to see Cooper open his presents, but I missed watching him play with them for the first time and the newness of it all. Sad

Worst. Christmas. Ever.

ExCareerGal · Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 5:38 pm Post subject:

Ouch Julymom! That really sucks. Your next year's Christmas has got to go better!!

We had a nice quiet time at home. I had a sinus infection so I also crashed for a nap but the kids and dh had a nice time. I got to spend most of the day playing with the kids and today we had friends over to play with the new stuff. My sinus infection is lessened too. Overall a nice holiday.

Janna

Jessica · Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 8:36 am Post subject:

Holy shit JM. That totally blows. I'm glad you're okay and I'm sorry you had to go through that.

We hosted Christmas Eve this year and my whole family came over. It was fun. The kids were incredibly spoiled.

The day before though, we lost our power for almost a whole day and it was only like 17 degrees outside. I was having mini-meltdowns the whole day. I felt like a homeless person. Scott, the kids and I went out to breakfast and drank coffe reeeealllly slow and then we drove around and then hung out at Barnes and Noble. We read books and didn't buy 'em. HA! Take that corporate book peddlers! Laughing

Then we came home and wore our winter coats around the house while I called ComEd every 30 minutes so they could earn their money in worthlessness.

It finally came on at 4pm, the day before X-mas Eve and I felt like a Queen. How do people live without electricity??? It isn't right I tell you!

Petulant Pixie · Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 10:38 am Post subject:

Oh man, JM that is a shitty Christmas.

Jess, our power went out about a week ago and I totally freaked. It was like 2 degrees outside and I was trying to calculate the time before we'd freeze to death. It was only out for about an hour though, so we were safe. Power outages in the winter time scare the bejezus out of me.

Our Christmas was fine. Everything went smoothly and the kids enjoyed their gifts. I just felt hollow. That's the best way to describe it, just kind of empty. I had my smiling shell on and went through the motions for everyone, but inside I just felt empty. I know my dad had a hard day and I spent a lot of time pondering why he wouldn't come here for the holiday or have us there, and I felt guilty about it and ran through a million times what I could have done or could DO differently to make it better and came up empty. And, I thought about my sister sitting wherever she was spending her holiday, having not talked to me since three days after my mom died, when she just screamed horrible horrible things at me and hung up. How she still blames me for everything even though she wouldn't even let me try to explain my feelings or actions (would just start screaming at me whenever I uttered a sound) and I spent a lot of time feeling guilty about that and ran through a million times what I could have done or could DO differently to make it better and came up empty. And I spent time remembering Christmases past. So, it wasn't a great day. The kids had a lot of fun, but frankly I'm glad it's done.

Anthromomma · Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 12:38 am Post subject:

JM, that sucks! I hope you're feeling better.

We seem to lose power for some amount of time roughly every six months, thanks to the shitty infrastructure of my shit ass city. It hasn't happened this winter so far, but I'm sure it will. I actually like survivalist camping type of stuff, but when you're in your own house with all of your nonworking stuff-- ugh. It doesn't usually get super cold here, so at least we don't have to worry about freezing to death.

Our Christmas was fine. Usually at least one of my or dh's family gatherings sucks in a big way, but (surprisingly) everyone was reasonably well behaved this year. The kids are happy with their haul. All five of us are coming down with some horrible illness now-- but at least all of the family obligations are out of the way. Holly jolly!

DietCokeHead · Queen of Imperfection Joined: 29 Apr 2002 Posts: 3805

We had a really fun Christmas. I hosted Xmas eve but didnt cook anything, my dad and sister made the meal (crab legs and beef tenderloin). We did a grab-bag gift for the adults instead of buying for everyone which was nice.

PP- I am sure you couldnt have done anything different to convince your dad to come and spend the holiday with you. Try not to feel bad about that. Last year we were all still in shock about losing my mom right before Xmas and this year it felt very obvious that she was absent. It just sucks even a year later. My dad is on a TRIP with a WOMAN FRIEND which both kills me and also makes me happy that he is not sitting alone and depressed.

Ok! Pictures!
MOlly and Kate loved their new playhouse.

Jack's big gift was a ESPN gamestation

Paige learned how to clap! This was very exciting to her!

I got crafty and stencilled step stools for the kids.

Happy New Year, Everyone!!

Petulant Pixie · Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 9:54 am Post subject:

DietCokeHead · Queen of Imperfection Joined: 29 Apr 2002 Posts: 3805

OK, I got an update on the woman friend this morning. He's still on the trip. Apparently she doesnt like him in that way.I guess she thought this was a "friend" trip and he thought otherwise. Ugh! Even in your mid 60s dating is an awkward nightmare!! Confused

Jessica · Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 12:27 pm Post subject:

Do you think people in their 60's and 70's who get remarried again, after a spouse dies or they divorce, do it because they're so used to living with someone?

I know in your case, DCH, you said you father was dating, but do you think he'll ever get married if given the chance?

I think I'd remain single if it were me, but who knows...

DietCokeHead · Queen of Imperfection Joined: 29 Apr 2002 Posts: 3805

He said he would live with someone but wouldnt remarry. He already has a joint headstone with my mom with his name on it and everything. I think it's more about how he has his estate planning already done and doesnt want anyone else to count on getting in on that! Laughing

Petulant Pixie · Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 5:13 pm Post subject:

I have no idea whether my dad would re-marry or not. I'd say probably not, but who knows? I'm sure it is really, really quiet in his house these days, even with all the activities he plans for himself. I mean, he and my mom were married for 42 years and the past 11 of those years they've been retired, so they've been together, in that house, every day, all day for 11 years. It must feel like someone has sawed him in half and taken the other half away, seriously. And she was the noisy half, lol.

DCH, that really sucks about your dad. I know it's hard consoling a young teen boy on those issues, it must really suck to have to console an elderly man on them. I am soooo not looking forward to doing both any time in the near future Shocked

And I meant to comment on the hamburgler pajamas. Where in the hell did you get those? They are too cute for words. The playhouse looks like a blast (and you know you'll get a lot of use out of it in the future, too), but the stenciled stepstools make me want to slap you, just like I want to slap Eileen out of envy all the time with her crafty stuff.

DietCokeHead · Queen of Imperfection Joined: 29 Apr 2002 Posts: 3805

Jammies are from the Childrens place! You too can have matching pajamas for every member of your family. Even adults! No, I didn't go that far.

Oh, the step stools are not smack-worthy, they were so easy! If you can purchase a stool at Target, tape on a stencil and apply paint in a repetitive dabbing motion, it's a snap. Laughing

Jessica · Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 8:38 am Post subject: