Sunday, December 30, 2007

sniffle sniffle hack

I think all of the hustle-bustle of driving and visiting and celebrating (not to mention drastic weather changes) has been the perfect setting for me to get a cold.  

If  you remember, I've had a cough.  Now I've got a cough with a continual fountain of snot to blow.  It's very exciting.

Zoloft is so excited that we're back from our travels.  She has been very attentive to us between her naps.  The first night we were home she woke me up five times to let me know she was there.  The Hater says she's about driving him nuts...  When she's not pestering us, she's absolutely taken with her new cat toys.  Her favorite toys eventually get deposited in her water bowl, the highest sign of appreciation.  Since we've been back, we've found each of her new toys in her water bowl at different times.  

It's so hard to be the house cat.

Tomorrow evening we're going to have some friends over for some low-key New Year's Eve celebrations.  We're going to start with spaghetti and end up with Rock Band (or some board game, or both).  We hope it goes well.

This afternoon we made some chicken noodle soup.  Actually, we made enough soup to feed an army.  We ate some for supper, and I've got four tall containers for later this week.  I've got a zippy full of some for lunch at work tomorrow, and I've got a gallon bag of it in the freezer for well after we're tired of eating it.  

Our Christmas stuff is still up, and will probably stay up until the weekend.  The Hater and I won't bother taking everything down until then anyways.  It'll give us a chance to add our new Xmas decorations and ornaments to the collection, too.  We're on our way to have an ALL VOL tree.  Very exciting.

We hope all of you have a fantastic New Year celebration -- whether you ring in the new year partying or sleeping, we hope that 2008 brings you both peace and joy.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Christmas Preferences

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping Paper! Bags take away all the fun.
2. Real tree or artificial? 100% Fake.
3. When do you put up the tree? This year we did it a week or so before Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down? That will depend on when The Hater is in town.
5. Do you like eggnog? Only if it's spiked.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? The gift of learning to appreciate the reason for the season.
7. Do you have a Nativity scene? Yes, complete with Smokey.
8. Hardest person to buy for? Anyone who doesn't give me a hint as to what they want.
9. Easiest person to buy for? Zoloft (wadded post-it note).
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Tube socks that weren't my size.
11. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? Perm, do both!
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? (you can't pick just one)
classic: Charlie Brown Christmas
modern: Elf, The Nightmare Before Christmas
horror: Black Christmas
just wrong in the right way: Bad Santa
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Valentine's Day.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Absolutely, but I usually rewrap it first. See #1.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Nana's Pumpkin Chiffon Pie
16 Clear lights or colored on the tree? Perm, do both.
17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night
18 Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travel, but only go to home. We just live in here; it's not home.
19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Rudolph... (but I have to sing the song to do it!)
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? A star.. but only because we found that one on sale.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Yes. We love progressive holidays.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Traffic!
23. Favorite Christmas tradition? Gag gifts.
24. Up early or sleeping in? I always default to sleeping in, except for Christmas morning!
25. Who hands out the gifts? Whoever is closest to the tree.
26. Does Santa wrap your gifts? No, Santa's elves wrap them.
27. Do you tell the Christmas story? Yes, we read it.
28. Do you leave cookies for Santa? We leave whatever is in the cabinets. Last year we left band fruit.

FYI: We leave soon for our big trek to the other side of the river for a tender, TN Christmas. We hope everybody has a safe and happy holiday season. Give everybody extra hugs and kisses while you can.

Friday, December 14, 2007

winter wonderland update

The ice is gone and has been for a couple of days.  We are fortunate to have electricity, however many people in the state are still waiting for electricians or the electric company to come to their aid.

The city has opened the convention center as a shelter.  This morning I heard on the radio that the first night they were open they had 350 people who had come, seeking warmth and water.  They can handle up to 700, and they've had several notices come out on the news today, encouraging all people without electricity and water to come downtown to the shelter. 

As a member of the Oklahoma Medical Reserve Corp, I've received several emails and phone calls over the last couple of days, seeking for nurses to volunteer to staff the shelter.  I really would like to go help, however The Hater has put his foot down and refused me to go.  Seriously.  He raised his voice and everything.

The truth is that I have a cough.  I've been coughing, mostly at night, since a few days before Thanksgiving.  I went to see a doctor this week, mostly because my sweet husband was worried about me.  The doctor was as unimpressed with my cough as I was.  We're going to watch it for two more weeks and see what happens after that.  We drew some blood to make sure that everything was okay.  They were going to call today if anything was askew, and nobody called.  So for the next two weeks we'll tough-out the cough.

But The Hater is a good husband and doesn't like my cough.  He says my cough disqualifies me from working at the shelter this weekend.  When I tried to argue he said that I couldn't get sicker before the trip home next week.

That's the best argument he's ever had.  So when it starts snowing later, which we're supposed to get another few inches tonight, don't worry about us.  We'll be inside, in the heat, spoiling the cat, nursing a cough--- and not out in the mess that's headed this way.

Special Thanks--
To all of the volunteers who are able to staff the shelters this weekend, to the volunteers who have come to help the electric company fix the problem lines, and to everyone else who has sent good vibes this way.  

Monday, December 10, 2007

the weather outside is frightful

It’s a winter wonderland. Ice Storm 2007 is here and demanding to be noticed. There have been 100+ car accidents in the OKC area and 10 reported deaths due to the storm in the past two days.

It’s raining now and it’s called to thunderstorm later this afternoon. They had said it would be less than freezing today, making all of this rain more ice. But so far we’re just getting rain, which is making the roads and parking lots slushier.

The Hater, who isn’t at work today because of the weather, is my chauffeur. He drove me to work this morning. The typically 10 minute drive took us 30 minutes to creep along. It wasn’t so bad once we got to the “snow route”, the roads that had been sanded and had seen more traffic, but the other, less frequented, roads were treacherous, at best.

We have blankets and leftovers a’plenty. We are stocked to the hilt and still have electricity. We also have a furball who is as excited as all get-out that The Hater gets to stay home one extra day with her.

If it continues to be warmer and rain this afternoon, it will make for a slushy tomorrow. It’s 31 degrees right now, if the temperature drops and we get 2” of ice, it will make for a slicker tomorrow. We’ll update as things progress.

Brace yourselves, LBG—winter is coming your way!