Yule 2007

Our family celebrated Yule with members of our extended family - Jenn and Beckah.

We had a non-traditional meal of yummy proportions (although I still think that the cornbread stuffing made in the low fat way was a bit dry):

Yule Dinner:

• Relish Tray: pickles = sweet & dill, olives = black & green, devilled eggs, and beets
• Pineapple/Honey glazed Ham - 7 lb
• Sweet Potatoes from Schwan's Man
• Honey Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls
• Green Beans w/bacon
• Cornbread Stuffing
• Cranberry Jelly
  

Dessert:

• Pannetone Bread Pudding w/Butterscotch Caramel sauce

The girls were lovely enough to enjoy a peaceful and loving meal. Alli enjoyed chattering with Jenn and Beckah. Everyone loved the green beans with (surprise!) real bacon chunks mixed in.

The one splurge where no fat was spared was with the Pannetone Bread Pudding. 5 whole eggs, milk, sugar, brandy.... Have I told you I'm a master bread pudding maker? I had the recipe down back in high school for what I called my "Man Catcher" bread pudding. Simply delightful and ultimately sinful. Alas, since I have my man, I no longer need to stoop to such fattening lows...that often. ;) Topped with Butterscotch Caramel sauce.... heaven in a bowl (we had Schwans' low fat vanilla frozen yogurt as well).

I however, won't discuss the Chambord incident. Nor how tipsy I was from a bit of Rum and orange-pineapple juice from the night before. I'm such a non-lush.

We opened pressies after our late lunch/early dinner....

Here we have Jenn and Alli on the couch; I believe this was after dinner - Jenn went into an alcohol and food induced stupor.

But seriously, aren't they adorable? I happen to know one is over 18 and single....heh.


And I also have a feeling she'll seriously maim me if she ever reads that.

Anywho....

Beckah, the author, is holding a mighty scary shirt. She's already told me that I'm partly in her novel as it is.... some of me is manifested in the main character. Yikes. Jenn is supposed to be a smarty pants in her professional job, so I thought that the shirt fit. More people SHOULD be taking notes when Jenn opens her mouth. They should so bow down and worship her.

And here we have Alli opening her pressie from Beckah ~ yes, she asked if it was okay first.

Beckah got her THE cutest deck of Tarot cards! Seriously, cards are fine (but Ouija boards are out of the QUESTION; those things creep me out and I have found that they let more bad things near than good). They are adorable - check the instructional book out here.

Alli in front of the Yule tree. Like the decoration? Dave and I (well, mostly Dave, acting like Mr. Monk) made it last year for 2006. It's held up pretty well. And no. I don't know or remember why Alli was holding an empty wrapping paper tube.


All in all, Yule was fun: we ate, we drank, some of us threw up a little in our mouths from time to time, and pressies were had by all.

New Year Goals

Happy New year!

It seems like every year a friend of mine (Beckah!) will make a list of 100 Things to Do...or something of the like. I decided to attempt that. Maybe not 100 though. Hmm.... we'll see how far I get.

Things I would like to do in 2008:


1.) Spend more quality time with my family.
(1a.) Remember to make time for Dave, time for Alli, and separate family time!)

2.) Try not to be such a spaz about the little things.

3.) Finish planning our wedding (before the ceremony! tee hee hee :)

4.) Eat better/more low and non-fat into the diet.

5.) Walk more.

6.) Make Dave walk.

7.) Communicate more with loved ones and friends (phone, email, snailmail, etc).

8.) Meditate.

9.) Spend more time studying Wicca and rites.

10.) Return to Tarot (thank you for the faerie cards, B!!)

11.) Be more involved with Alli at school - as much as possible.

12.) STOP PROCRASTINATING on doing necessary things! (See how far down the list this is?)

13.) Make sure no more than $500 in debt is on credit cards at any point in time.

14.) Make sure to use Upromise for Alli's benefit. :)

15.) Plan for baby #2 to be conceived this coming summer - get body and mind in shape!

16.) Get Dave ready for baby.

17.) Get Alli lots of "Big Sister" style clothes after confirming pregnancy has reached 3rd month. ;)

18.) Make at least one trip to the theater as a family to watch a family-friendly show.

19.) Have a date night with Dave at least once a month.

20.) Find a regular sitter.

21.) Find time to write.

22.) Listen more to my body and mind....empowering internal and external intuition.

23.) Blog more.

There. That's it so far. That's all I got. For right now.

Have a Happy and SAFE New Year my friends. Be well. May this be your best year yet! :)

Baby News

No, I'm not pregnant, yet. But Kathleen is! Having now passed her 22 week, they were able to do an ultrasound and determine that the doctor says Kas is having a .... are you ready?

*drumroll*


GIRL!


Yes, Charlie was a bit disappointed at first, but he's definitely come around; Kathleen made sure of that.
Believe me, Aunty Witchy is going to be mighty involved. :)

And I just realized that my year is shaping up like this:

Jan-Feb: Plan Kathleen's Baby shower with her mother in law and mom
March: Kathleen's Baby Shower
April: Mine, Alli's and Kathleen's birthdays -
Late April/May: Baby due!
October: Bachelorette Party for me
November: Wedding!

Man, I'm gonna be pooped by the time we get married.

Ch...ch...changes....

I know, I know. Where the HELL have I been, right?

Well, let's see....


I switched jobs in November right after ThanksGiving, so now I can (I think) tell you all the horrible stories about my former employer (without mentioning any names, I'm sure) and how there was a TON of butt licking and brown nosing people that weren't qualified to ride the short bus.... even with a helmet. Whew.

In my old job, I used to be a customer service rep -- who is leashed to a phone queue 7 hours a day, answers benefit and claims questions, has her day scheduled down to the minute, and felt I couldn't do #2 unless I planned it during my lunch.

I am now doing what I call my 'vacation job' - I work an earlier shift that I have the option to flex my hours with, I plan my own day, I no longer have a leash, and I handle Ambulance billing for a local hospital. It's fantastic! I actually feel like an adult for once in my professional life.

Yay me!

So I've been busy with settling into my new job amongst other things. More later. Trust me, MORE LATER. (<-------- Dave is watching me type. heh.)

Wedding Fair Weekend

Okay, yeah so I know it was back on October 14th, which was a Sunday... and sure it was a while ago, but I thought I'd bring you up to speed.

When Kas came down to visit, we shopped 'til she literally dropped. Motherhood Maternity in store was a MAJOR LET DOWN! The Plus Size section SERIOUSLY was half the size of my bathroom - which is pretty small as a whole.

Beckah stayed over with Kas on Saturday night - Both of them passing out while we were attempting to watch a Wedding cake making video. I stayed up with Alli to watch. It was interesting.

The REAL fun began Sunday morning in getting ready to leave for the Wedding Fair.

Beckah was lovely enough to bring some super yummy thick cut bacon for us girls to have Sunday morning breakfast. She advised me beforehand that we could put it on baking sheets and cook it in the oven... and it normally takes a half hour.

I put two sheets of bacon in the oven and set the timer for half an hour.
Suffice it to say that I set off the smoke alarm and pissed and scared the crap out of Dave. *L*

Silly me..... burning bacon from the oven, and making horridly indistinguishable hash browns that I discretely tossed out in the trash. Yikes.

One thing after another; the four of us - Jen, Beckah, Kas and me all climbed into the van. Beckah had offered to drive and I declined...I felt I shouldn't be afraid of driving into downtown. I'm a big girl. Right?

Well.... I made a wrong turn the first time and we saw Sexworld from a distance. The vagrants at 11:45am in the morning made it a particularly homey scene as they sat against the building. I made two illegal turns to get back to the highway. What? There was no one around! I swear.

The second attempt to get to the Minneapolis Convention Center was much better - we found it, we parked, and then we all got out on shaky legs. No thanks to my driving. Tee hee hee.

It was a beautiful bridal fair. I loved the decor that Midway Party Rental put up around the convention center. Made me feel really quite well that I had chosen them. :) I got a few ideas about flowers - did you know that Chrysanthemums are the Winter flowers and come in a wide array of colors? And there were so many sights and sounds! I have now decided that DJs are slimy, sleazy, greasey monkeys. That is all.

The girls and I scoped out the freebies: chocolates, candies of all kinds, free cake samples (YUM), and about 2 hours into it, I couldn't take it anymore. There was no way I would last much longer, I knew. Beckah seemed surprised while Jen and the pregnant Kas seemed grateful. Trust me, the less time I spend with the mainstream, the better.

We adjourned to the Western 'burbs for an early Sunday dinner at Macaroni Grill, and then everyone went away and I slept. Alot. It was a long weekend.

Guess who turns 38 today?

Happy Birthday my Dave!

In true Dave fashion, he didn't want us to make a big deal out of my birthday. And yes, he got his wish. I was good. *G*

And then my leg went numb...

Yeah, I know. What a way to grab attention.

Seriously though, I'm fine now. Last Thursday night I wasn't so certain when my left leg (the leg that has the clot in it) went numb and all tingly for a few hours. I wasn't panicked, but I was concerned and knew it was either a nerve that was compressed for some odd reason, or it was an unhappy thing concerning the existing clot.

Friday afternoon I left work for an emergency ultrasound at Fairview Southdale. Then was sent home to await further instructions.

Good news: From the ultrasound, they could determine that the clot hadn't changed - no bigger, no smaller, it's all good.

Better news: The tingly feeling with the previous numbness had to be due to a nerve. Which has happened before.... you know, like when you sit on the toilet too long, and then one of your legs goes numb.... okay, maybe I'm the only one that's happened to. uhhhh....

I see Dr. Weinshel on Monday again. Consultation to discuss moving forward. What he thinks I should be doing from here on out, whether it's ultrasounds once a month or if he thinks I should go back on the Coumadin. Cross your fingers and toes that he'll let me remain on the Lovenox. At least for right now.