Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

Here’s a Christmas Funnie:

I’ve been MIA for a few days I know, but I just haven’t felt like blogging. Dealing with a touch of depression, a big dose of frustration and healthy helping of wanting to just quit. The credentials process continues and I continue to beat my head against a brick wall, hoping against hope that at some stage the wall will soften. I’m afraid I’m in for more disappointments and quite frankly, looking at alternatives to teaching. Seems like the state of NM just doesn’t want me as a teacher, – I don’t understand what else I can do, but hey, I guess they’ll just have to continue hiring pedophile instead of straight A students who are exemplary employees and the worse thing on their record is one moving violation from about 8 years ago. But hey, who am I to complain?

The medical appointments continue, and as the bills pile up so do the diagnosis. Seems like a hysterotomy will pretty much take care of everything, but we’re going to try a hormonal treatment first. Guess what that means? 1 more appointment for an outpatient procedure. *sigh*. The great news on that front is the biopsy came back clear, so that’s one for the good guys!

Thanksgiving was awesome. Everyone was on their best behavior. My sister and the kids stayed with us, and hubby’s mom and sis and my folks got hotels near by. That was really good for my folks, as they got a true vacation and a real break. Dinner was awesome it included:

Appetizers included a delicious cheese ball and spice crackers (mom’s recipe), veggies, and summer sausage and cheeses. Dinner included smoked turkey (yum), baked Spiral ham, green bean casserole, candied yams (made from fresh sweet potatoes), a delicious eggplant dish, homemade cornbread stuffing with sage, dinner rolls, pumpkin pie and homemade pecan pie for dessert along with homemade jam bars, shortbread – some topped with chocolate and biscochitos.It was soooooo good. Squirt made the biscochitos completely solo and they turned out excellent. We’re already on our second batch! The next day we dined on leftovers and hubby made a delicious green chile stew which his sister made some fresh cornbread to go with it. Perfecto.

Besides piggin’ out on Turkey day, we did something else we haven’t done in years and years.

We played in the snow! That’s right, we got snow on Thanksgiving evening – about 2 inches. Not a lot, but enough for the kids to play outside for a couple hours and make a snowman. Ducky pointed out it was her first snowfall in ……forever! See we’ve lived warm places most of our lives. Ducky was born in Florida (not a lot of snow), and Squirt was born in Arizona. The last two assignments have been in CA and HI – again, not a lot of snow. They’ve seen snow, as we ski and enjoy winter activities. The last snow fall that they’ve actually been IN was back in like 1998 – when it snowed one Easter in Tucson. Ducky is really a warm weather girl, hates the cold, but she’s decided that she loves winter clothes, just not winter! LOL –

So I didn’t really take any pictures of Thanksgiving, but I did indeed take some of the snow! You know I did!

Here they are:

Here is Squirt and Niece with the snowman they built – see how nice it was snowing? Here’s Nephew making snowballs to throw for Rasha.

Rasha – who we all know HATES water, decided that she LOVES snow! She had a blast – catching snowballs and racing around the yard. Here’s Ducky, enjoying her first “real” snow fall!    

Here’s the front yard at night, and then the next day, the snow melted off, but it was snowing again

Here’s the house in snow, can’t wait to get some lights and maybe some luminarias up there!

Thanksgiving Divorce

A man in Phoenix calls his son in New York the day before Thanksgiving and says,”I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough.

“Pop, what are you talking about?” the son screams. We can’t stand the sight of each other any longer,” the father says. “We’re sick of each other, and I’m sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her.”

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. “Like heck they’re getting divorced,” she shouts, “I’ll take care of this,”

She calls Phoenix immediately, and screams at her father, “You are NOT getting divorced. Don’t do a single thing until I get there. I’m calling my brother back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?” and hangs up.

The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. “Okay,” he says, “they’re coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own way.”

The Silver Lining to the Burning Question
You Burnt the Bird?
A Dozen Reasons to Be Thankful!

• Salmonella won’t be a concern

• No one will overeat.

• Everyone will think it’s Cajun Blackened.

• Uninvited guests will think twice next year.

• Your cheese broccoli lima bean casserole will gain newly found appreciation.

• Pets won’t pester you for scraps.

• The smoke alarm was due for a test.

• Carving the bird will provide a good cardiovascular workout.

• After dinner, the guys can take the bird to the yard and play football.

• The less turkey Uncle George eats, the less likely he will be to walk around with his pants unbuttoned.

• You’ll get to the desserts quicker.

• You won’t have to face three weeks of turkey sandwiches.

True Stories From The Butterball Turkey Hotline,
where people call to get advice
how to cook a Turkey from the experts

* Thanksgiving Dinner on the run. A woman called 1-800-323-4848 to
find out how long it would take to roast her turkey. To answer
the question, the Talk-Line home economist asked how much the
bird weighed. The woman responded, “I don’t know, it’s still
running around outside.”

* Tofu turkey? No matter how you slice it, Thanksgiving just isn’t
Thanksgiving without turkey. A restaurant owner in California
wanted to know how to roast a turkey for a vegetarian menu

* Then there’s the time a lady was picking through the frozen
turkeys at the grocery store, but couldn’t find one big enough
for her family. She asked a stock boy, “Do these turkeys get
any bigger?” The stock boy replied, “No ma’am, they’re dead.”

Happy Thanksgiving Graphics provided by MySpaceGraphicsandAnimations.net

No need to panic!

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I had a biopsy  and a sonogram done – but this is all ruling out stuff. No one thinks that  there is anything to be even remotely concerned about. Seems I have Menorrhagia and possibly PCOS – although that is in some doubt now because of the sonogram. I hope that my dx of PCOS is not thrown out though because I am finally starting to lose weight with this new medicine. And here’s the kicker, I lost weight DURING my period and while totally ignoring my diet (eating cookies every night etc.) and not working out AT ALL. After 7 years of not being able to lose even one dang pound, you can bet I was pretty freakin’ happy.  I also have an enlarged uterus and some sort of glandular membrane in my lining, Adenomyosis, or something like that, didn’t understand that at all – but maybe if I get all this crap fixed I’ll start feeling better, losing weight and not suffering so much once a month.

The biopsy was just my doctor being careful and ruling out everything before starting me on any treatment. It was a uterine pipelle biopsy, outpatient, fairly simple but not pleasant. I’ll have all the results in a week and will meet with my doctor to discuss treatment options. Evidently I’m a mess in that area, more than just severe periods from – well you know where.

The only reason I got concerned was about age 38 my mom had to have an emergency hysterectomy due to hemorrhaging. I didn’t want that! If I have to have one, let’s plan it so I don’t have to deal with blood transfusions etc. Hopefully I won’t have to have one. I don’t know exactly what the pros and cons are, but these days any surgery seems to be a risk, especially with all the staph infections and crap. Anyways, I’m feeling ok about it, I just hope that I get to stay on this medicine, because I am REALLY ready to lose some dang weight!

Thanks for all your concerns, I really appreciate it! If anyone has any personal experiences with any of this stuff, please share it with me, as I would love to get someone’s take on this. Feel free to message me privately. OK – off to clean. MIL is coming tomorrow, have to have the house ready for inspection – mauahhahahahaaa.

Have a great week if I don’t get back to you all. Everyone have a happy Thanksgiving!

Today I’m feeling extra blue.  I got some very sad news from a dear friend of mine who I met right here on the pages of Xanga. Although she no longer blogs here, we’ve maintained our connection through Instant Messaging and emails. She’s a fantastic lady with a fantastic family. On saturday her and her husband, (and probably her son although I don’t know for sure) were running a 5k. Her husband had a heartache and could not be revived. He was just 40 years old. I’m just heartbroken for her and her son. It makes me cry so much, even though I only met them in real life one time, I feel like I really knew him. It hurts to think of how much she must be hurting right now, and I’m so dang far away and can’t do anything.

This is the second loss I’ve experienced on Xanga, and I have to say  that although this is just an online community, I feel really close to my subscribers and friends. I feel like I get to know them. I look forward to hearing about their experiences and adventures. This is very hard to deal with, real life or cyber life, loss just sucks.

I had my biopsy on Friday. Not something I care to repeat, but not horrible. Today I have a sonogram scheduled. I’m hoping that this will all get straightened out before I go back to work. This week both my family and hubby’s family are coming so we’ll have a full house, but I have to admit, that my heart will be heavier this week. I just want to reach out and give my friend a big long hug, and sit with her all night if she needs it. *sigh*. A very morose post I know, I guess it’s just what’s there today.

Hug your loved ones today. Let everyone you care about it know it.

The Kween asks us:

As 2007 comes to a close, how close were your dreams to the reality?

So my dreams for the year 2007 included: Moving to New Mexico, seeing my hubby retire from the military after 26 years, graduating with my Masters, helping out my family (both my parents and my sister), getting back into a classroom teaching, buying a new house, buying a new truck, winning the lottery and losing weight

What’s my score so far? Well…not to bad.

1. Move to New Mexico – check
2. Retire from Military – Check
3. Graduate  - Check
4. Helping out my family – half check (I have helped, but not in the main ways I really wanted to, I’m still working on this).
5. Getting back in the classroom — grrrrrrrr…… still waiting for this dream, it’s becoming more of nightmare.
6. New House – still renting L Once I get the above done, this one will be closer.
7. New Truck – I’ve actually think I’ve changed my mind, I’m looking at a crossover vehicle instead, however this one is also dependent on number 5.
8. Winning the lottery – NOW that would go a long way towards meeting number 6 & 7 — hey there’s still a month and ½, right? You can’t win if you don’t play!
9. Losing weight – Hmmm…well still trying to get this straightened out, have another appointment tomorrow and well as a sonogram on Monday. Hopefully then I’ll be able to get things in order and start losing some weight.

Pretty good, overall I would say. This year has been a great year. It’s a year of changes and growth and adaptation. Dreams have come true and goals have been achieved. Not all of our dreams are realities, and in truth some won’t come true but overall it’s been a great year.

Basically my real-life dreams are pretty boring. I’m not really looking for anything too out of reach (ok, except for the lottery, but hey, who DOESN”T want to win the lottery) so in truth the possibility of my dreams become realities isn’t really that far-fetched. Not like when I was a kid and had dreams about being discovered and becoming a famous actor or musician – ignoring the fact that I have no acting talent and only limited musical abilities. Also ignoring the fact that I didn’t choose to participate in any of the activities geared towards success in these fields, screw all that, I just wanted to be the next Valerie Bertinelli and marry Eddie Van Halen.

Nowadays my dreams are much more attainable, albeit a little less exciting. What can I say? Danged if I didn’t grow up somewhere along the way. Hmmm… who knew?

You can find more great entries about Dreams of 2007 at the Kween’s site.

Yesterday I called AGAIN to check on my application status and ask when I could start subbing. Same ole’s same ole’ crap. Still waiting on references. 1 is in, 3 came back return to sender, 1 was sent in but had the wrong name at the top – well, not the exact same matching name so they discarded. No cross-referencing, no attempts to match it to any applicants, just sorry, not an exact match, toss. ”they don’t have time to cross-reference each references.”. Arrrghhhh. So I called Sub Services hoping that maybe they could make something happen. They looked at my stuff, conference with whoever and said to come in whenever I wanted and they would start the processing. FINALLY I thought.

So today, after taking the kids, I get dressed in decent clothes, do my hair the works and head down to hopefully start the process and finally get some work. When I first got in I was getting angry – why did I come in? Did we call you to come in? If you application is not completed it won’t be released and we can’t process you. ARRGHHHHHHHH — NO! Not again. After some conferencing (again) and talking to the Manager they decide that my one reference is good enough and they begin the processing. Then they start asking about fingerprinting. I explain I did that this summer. Paid for it, when down and found the place, had it done and sent it off with the fees. No – they say – that’s not how it’s usually done. Where was it sent? When? Who did it? That’s not standard operating procedures….. I explain I did it during the summer. They suggest I do it over again, because it will probably be faster that way…uh huh, sure it will. Then one decides, oh – hey, let’s go ahead and look her up and see if it’s there. The others exclaim that since I’ve not got my NM license that I won’t have a file – etc. blah, blah, blah. Miss I’m so helpful checks anyway and lo and behold – guess what? There it is! AND it’s clear and I’m ready to go! I should be done processing next week and I can’t tell you how relieved I am to finally be just about ready to work.

Now I just need to get my license so I can get a permanent job!

OK – So I hear you all clamoring for pictures of the boxes. So I went and took some and uploaded them. I also took pictures of the drop-leaf hutch I went to Silver to get and the bookshelves I got last time I went. Now please ignore the mess in the baskets, I did that real quick to get all the stuff off the floor before the BBQ. I’m looking at either painting the plastic boxes to match or replacing them with leather boxes (which is what I’m leaning towards…he he he) I’m also contemplating putting in a shelf to maximize the space. But, I do like the wood grain effect. I still have to decide on the material and make the cushions, but overall – I’m VERY happy with them!

Here’s the hutch and bookcases. The bookcases are really three stackable pieces, the bottoms are what the girls utilize to keep the school books and supplies in order (ok, semi-order, although they are organized in this picture).

Question of the day:

Would you drive 100 miles to pick up a piece of furniture?

I finally got my window boxes done. Whew! Just in time for the BBQ we had on Saturday. Which by the way, Hubby was gone most of the week so I got to prepare for by myself. Oh joy. Nah, actually he came home on Thursday afternoon and helped out all day Friday afternoon and did all the food prep, shopping and cooking. Can’t really argue with that huh? Anyways, back to the window boxes… a couple of months ago I commissioned my dad to build me some boxes for storage, that would come even with he window ledges so we could use them as window seats. Unfortunately dad no longer has the awesome workshop he had back in AZ and quickly got frustrated with the limitations of his current situation. He brought the pieces already to be assembled last time he came and Hubby put them together and finished them off. Then the task became what color to paint them. The wood wasn’t good enough to stain, so it had to be paint. I hemmed and hawed and finally settled on a two-tone faux woodgrain finish. This however meant that each box had to be painted several times. First: primer, next  two coats of the base color, then the glaze and top color were applied and the woodgraining tool used on each section. I was really ready to be done painting. They turned out great however. I think I could have chosen a little bit browner color for the top color, but overall I’m happy. I may put a layer of stain and then a finish of varnish, but I’m waiting to see how I feel about them. I bought some baskets to put in them to store things, but I’m not really happy with the looks. I’m still looking for what to put in them for storage, and I may go with leather boxes.

This weekend we also had the above mentioned BBQ. Kind of a housewarming thing. Several couples and some singles came over and sampled Hubby’s famous Brisket. He also did a couple racks of ribs, some grilled veggies and we had pupus (appetizers) like Queso dip, veggies, bread and oil, etc. Candi’s dad brought some delicious pies which he baked himself and then wrapped up in Village Inn boxes that he handmade. (LOL). Along with the brownies we made it was the perfect end to the evening. Both the girls had guests as well, Ducky had her friends Thespian and Sam, and Squirt had her boyfriend Hobbs and bff Candi. We played Boccie and Croquet, ate, laughed and were merry. All in all a good day.

On Sunday I chilled. No work for me. Attended church and finally made the decision to find a new place to worship. It’s just not getting it done for us. I sometimes actually leave there angry. You should never leave church angry. I’ve been thinking a lot about becoming a youth minister and after some conversations with family and friends this week end I think I will pursue that. In the meantime we need a new church.

After church we went to a comedy club. OK, this is actually a funny story, alright, maybe just amusing. See we finally switched our phone numbers to NM numbers, giving up our last connection to Hawaii (well….I still have my HI driver’s license…but you know what I mean). On my new phone I immediately started getting calls. and Texts. And jokes of the day, pranks of the day and weekly horoscopes. This chick Celeste who had my number before me was a very busy and popular girl, that’s all I can say. So after a month of constant wrong calls, texts and weird subscriptions I’ve had to cancel some calls and asks once again for Celeste. I reply with the now automated response “I’m sorry this is no longer Celeste’s number” and the lady says “oh really? Well she won 16 passes to Laffs comedy club. Do you want them?” FINALLY – after all the crap I’ve had to deal with because of this number something good occurs! Yipee! On such short notice only one other couple could go with us but we still had a blast. Laughed our butts off and got a little endorphin rush from all the good comedy. All three comics were pretty good, although hands-down the headliner was the funniest. Scott Kennedy was his name. Funny stuff.

Alright, I’m off to finish packing. Angie is sending the jet for me to catch  up the  crew at  the Angiehamas you can bet I’m not about to miss that flight. I really need some R&R! The Angiehamas look like just the thing!

**For my Featured_Grownups entry please go HERE**

Another major change resulting from our move. OK, I understand the big ones, swapping ocean vistas with mountain views and high desert, leaving aloha spirit for high stress traffic, trading country life with city living. Not to mention the change in our grocery bills, electric bills, and fuel costs. When we got here the first thing we realized that boy…it was really dry here. My mouth was always dry, my lips were chapped and my skin felt so dry it was tight and itchy. Not to mention the change in my hair, but that was a good thing for the most part – I went from uncontrollable frizz and super curly to smooth and straight with occasional flyaway issues.

This latest adjustment is a little more shocking. Now that’s it’s cooled down we add that to the super dry air, throw in a little forced heat and you have an electrical situation – literally. I keep shocking the crap out of myself. It doesn’t matter what I do, shoes, no shoes walking on concrete, tile or carpet – as soon as I touch anything metal, or another human being – KAPOW! I get shocked every time I open the door or the fridge. Every time I get in and out of my car. When I change the channel on the TV or answer the phone. This static electricity is no fun and I am now missing the dreadful hair frizzing humidity of Maui.

Alright, now that I’ve complained about the horridly dry and shocking conditions here is my contribution for the Kween’s annual writing challenge:

THREE LITTLE THANKFULS ’07

Each year I ask you to list the three little things that you are thankful for.  NOT THE BIG THINGS. . . .NOT YOUR FAMILY, NOT YOUR CHILDREN, NOT YOUR CAR OR YOUR HOUSE, but the 3 small things that you never pay too much attention to, but when you think about it, you really wouldn’t want to do without them!  For instance, because of a recent black out from storms in this area, I was reminded of how much I depend on electricity!  When it’s out, why, what does one do but chores?  And those having nothing to do with electricity either!  Or a microwave oven that goes out. . . .can you live without one now?  But please don’t think you have to stick with appliances. . .. some of you have withdrawals when you run out of hairspray (come on, some of you do!) 

List the 3 little things you are most thankful for this year…..you have 1 (one) week!!!

My three little thankfuls -

1. Digital technology — what would I do without my ipod, cds, dvr, computer, cell phone and digital camera?? My question is how on earth did I manage to eek out a miserable existence before these marvelous inventions?
2. My bed. Ahhhhh….wonderfully soft and supportive, beckoning me each night into a dreamful sleep… I love my new mattress – can you tell?
3. Caffeine. Nuff said.

Please stop by the Kween’s site and read about other thankfuls -

Featured_Grownups has a new topic up and once again I thought I’d play along:

OUR TOPIC…

Write a topic on the commercialism of our Fall Holidays using one of the following beginnings:

When I saw the stores putting Christmas decorations out with Halloween decorations I thought…

OR

I hear Christmas music on the radio and I haven’t even bought my Thanks Giving Turkey, so in protest I intend to...

OR

To protest the commercialism of the Holiday Season, I am going to…

When I saw the stores putting Christmas decorations out with Halloween decorations I thought…

Jeez — what next? Halloween decorations out with the 4^th of July stuff. And why oh why does each holiday have to be a major retail blow out in the first place? I mean come on. The holidays should be about celebrating – whatever — whether it be celebrating our Independence, the proud labor force we have, the arrival of fall and our bountiful lives or the birth of our savior. It is about being with people you love, remember special occasions and laughing and living.

It shouldn’t be about buying.

Now, that being said, I am just like thousands of retail shoppers who eagerly scoop up the latest and greatest decorations or themed goodies. Why? Because I love having people stop their kids on Halloween in front of my house to snap a picture of them with my giant ghost. I love having my neighbors say how nice it is that someone makes the effort to decorate for the holidays. I like coming home to see my house reflecting the beauty of the season, what ever that season may be.

I know that the years we didn’t decorate because we were traveling or busy or <insert lame excuse here> that I found it difficult to get into the spirit of the holiday. Coming home and seeing spooks and goblins in every corner of the yard definitely brings the Halloween spirit a little closer, as having angels, evergreens twinkling with lights and poinsettias with their cheery displays remind me of the miracle of the Christmas season.

What I’m waiting for is a decoration you can set up and leave all year – how ‘bout a ghost wearing an Uncle Sam hat and Santa suit while waving a turkey leg? I mean if were going to make this retail season year round, let’s really do it right!

Who’s with me?

Question of the day:

Shop early or wait til the last minute?

Please stop by Featured_grownups to read other great blogs!