New things ...

So ... I should try to catch up, right? It's not like it's YOUR fault that I fell off the face of the planet, blogging-wise.

I've mostly just been lazy. (EXAMPLE: Here I sit, at a quarter to nine, and I'm in a nightgown and a robe. Yes, I did sleep in a TON ... like an hour ... thanks to being SO worn out from last night. [No, not THAT, you perv.] And, also, thanks to the kiddos sleeping in.)

Okay, so my last REAL-REAL post was just before Thanksgiving. Let's see what all I can recall:

• My aunt had her toe amputated. She was SUPPOSED to (read: my mom did EVERYTHING so that her sister could be in assisted living until she heals. My aunt has Rheumatoid Arthritis, so while she heals, she can't take her medicine for RA. So she's in pain.
  BUT, the doctor sent her straight home (to my mom's) instead. Which was aggravating.
  ESPECIALLY since, within a couple days of being at home, she developed a CRAZYBAD infection.
  So they moved her to assisted living to get her THREE DOSES of antibiotics daily for a MONTH.
  Yeah. Bad choice on the doctor's part.\rant
• My mom also discovered that my childhood bedroom has mold. So, instead of doing Thanksgiving at her house, we ended up at Michael's folks' house (and spent Wednesday night with my Dad and --- oh, hell. If Oregon had common-law marriages, they'd have been recognized as married. I'm just going to call her my stepmom, okay? From here on in, L is "my stepmom." That's what my kids call her, that's how I think of her. /rant --- my stepmom. We also got to see my Nana and Uncle Steve.
• As I alluded, we had Thanksgiving with Mom and Dad C, Michael's siblings (except his brother C, who had to work. Boo.), his grandfolks, Aunt A, Uncle T, Cousin K (who gave me her hand-me downs. YAY! I fit in 14s again! ... No wonder, when I bent down, my jeans would slide down. And, since I don't like the chance to crack-flash people, I was not thrilled with this occurance. But, hey! With K's old pants, this doesn't happen!! Yay!)
  Bruise LOVED playing the Wii over at his grandfolks. Bucket loved playing with her cousins. Michael's and I played some board games with J, T, and her husband K (NOT Cousin K. Cousin K is a girl. Are you keeping it straight?)
  We also went to watch Tangled, which was REALLY GOOD. Michael's not enamored of the music. But the visuals and the plot and dialog were top-notch. And, hee!!! It's Chuck Bartowski! As the voice of Flinn!  ... I really do adore him. I'd totally be BFF with Chuck anytime. (I know that it's really A ROLE played by Zachary Levi. But it's played SO WELL!) And the kids loved it, too. Pascal, the chameleon, is their favorite character.
• Black Friday, I opted to sleep in. Around lunchtime, Michael and I went out to get a few things. And we got some good deals. ... While we were out, we ended up at Target. And we bought a fake tree. It's a pre-lit one. Normally, it'd have cost $50 for a 6' tree with clear lights. But it was on sale for $25 ... so we really couldn't resist. We figured that, hey, if we hated it, we would only be out $25 ... which is how much a real tree would have cost. It was easy to set up (after we got home) and looks pretty decent! ... And I did get a Wallflower (Fresh Balsam) from Bath and Body Works, so that it SMELLS more like Christmas in here.
  - Also on Black Friday, after we got back to Mom and Dad C's, the womenfolk went out for pedicures. Mine's now chipping, but I have Chinese red piggies with white and silver snowflakes on my big toes.

  

  It's REALLY hard to take a picture of your own foot.
  Normally, my toes actually fit together. They're not all snaggle-toothed-looking.
  Just for the record.

  Here they are ... with the bruised toe I got from tripping over luggage in my hurry to get to the bathroom before running out with Michael to do some Christmas shopping while my mom put the kids to bed.
  Besides the bruise there, way cute, huh? I don't know that the snowflakes were WORTH $5, though.
  But, yeah, this is my first professional pedicure. Kinda exciting. (I could totally get used to them. My toenails were all so SMOOTH along the tops, I couldn't snag pantyhose/tights OR accidentally stab Michael in the leg! Pretty nice, eh?)
  Okay ... *I* was excited.
• Grandpa C fell while getting to the car on Thanksgiving. He also ended up falling while unloading the car when they got home. So, Friday (Black Friday) they went to Urgent Care, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. But it wasn't really pneumonia ...A few days later, he ended up in the ER, where they determined that his lungs were clear ... but there's SOME bacteria in his system. And he has a heart murmur (which they won't operate on, since he's 84).
  They sent him back home ... and Thursday night/Friday morning, he had a heart attack  (which you've already read about). He's alive. He was in the ICU. He should be released from the ICU today and moved to a care facility here in town. He's a fighter. He's stubborn. And he's got lots of people praying for him/sending him good energy/whatever. (Hey, I have friends of different religious/philosophical persuasions. And that's cool with me. ^_^)
• The kids went to a birthday party last weekend. It was a superhero-themed party. The birthday boy was Batman, his little brother was Robin. One of their other friends was a Jedi. Bruise was Iron Man and Bucket was Supergirl. It was a really nice party.
  After the party, we scurried over to the library in time to see one of the local ballet troupes (younger kids. Ages ... 3-18, I think) perform some selections from "The Nutcracker." We had missed it last year (too many people showed up. Boo.), so it was REALLY nice to get to see it this year. Bucket really liked it. And Bruise liked it well enough, too. Not enough to think of a future as a ballerino/danseur, though.
• We've been checking in on a friend's parrot (and getting her familiy's mail). He seems chattiest during the day, when I'm able to drop by then ... which, unfortunately, isn't often, since we only have the one car. And, really, walking over 4 miles (round-trip) with the kids? I don't think it'll happen. But, hey, I still get to get over there and see her birdie. That's pretty cool. (Except for when he's ill-tempered and feigns like he's gonna bite me. Which he can't. Because HE's in his cage and I'm NOT. Neener-neener.
• Michael got the presents wrapped. Most of them. We don't have all the presents bought ... but we've made a start.
• The kiddos are loving doing Advent calendars. We have chocolate ones (one each for them), a Lego one, a Playmobil one ... a book one (missing #6, but it tells the story of The Nutcracker), and a couple paper ones that we've used in previous years.
  The kiddos also like this online one at the Zooborns website.
• As I mentioned, we also have two hedgehog sisters. The kids like them ... but are mostly scared to touch them. I clean the cages and have given them baths (just the one bath so far). They're pretty cool. And I've only wanted to have a hedgehog ... well, for the last 18 years. So, yay for living the dream!
  (Now to convince Michael to get a chinchilla ... and finches or a canary. And some fish again ...)
• I went to Roller Derby last night. I fell a few times. Twice on my butt/back ... and my wrist hurts.
  It was a good experience and a good workout (THAT'S the reason why I was so tired.)
  I, however, don't think it's for me ... at least not at this time. It'd be $30/month ($360/year) for dues. AND I'd need to get my own gear. All in all, that'd be at least another $300-600+ ... and that's not considering the time that I'd spend away from my family (At least 4 hours of practice. Plus games and any travel) ... So, yeah, I'm not ready to make that commitment. At least, not right now.
  But I'm glad that I tried it. People were nice and I learned that I don't TOTALLY suck at skating, even though it's been about a decade since I was on skates. But my wrist is still feeling it today, after that first back-fall. And, OH, my back was SOOOO sore when I got home. 
• Also, since skating was such a workout, I NEEDED a shower. SO BADLY. So I jumped in and got soaped off. And the shower drain wasn't working. So, I made it a QUICK shower and padded out to the laundry room to get the Drano. (Which worked. But still. *sigh*) ... But, yeah, I fixed the drain. Go me and caustic chemicals!
• But it was REALLY nice to snuggle, all clean, in our new flannel sheets. So cozy. I don't know how I managed to leave the bed at all!

Also, in other news, I've been having CRAZY dreams ...

• In one, Oprah had done some expose about vermin (maggots, rats, worms, etc) in bedding.
  And then, Michael and I were at my folks house. And my mom's bedroom carpet was a different color. And there was a white mouse in the new blanket. And I tried to kill it. With a hammer. And it was bleeding and vomiting up HUGE PUDDLES of blood. And I kept trying to kill it, it was suffering terribly and I felt so bad. And I had to end up throwing it out to the cats.
  VERY DISTURBING, INDEED.
  I'm not a very violent person. And I LIKE mice. (In fact, I rescued one from the cats once. My mom wasn't so happy when it got loose and we had to use D-con for the infestation.)
• That same night, I also dreamed that I was coloring my hair (which I DID in real life. Pics to come.) and Mom and the kids were there, in our old apartment. And some guy kept trying to break in through the window. And I was wearing a towel. And he's all, "Don't call the police." And I'm like, "OF COURSE I'm calling the police, STUPID!"
  And it turns out that he (and his partner) were both FBI agents. And I'm all, "Haven't you heard of a door? Or knocking?? The door's RIGHT THERE!! ... Yes, officer. He's about 6'2", dark curly hair, brown eyes, *looks at badge* His name is ____ and he's an FBI agent. Please complain to the FBI office about this. Their agents should know better than trying to break into apartments with a lady in a towel, her mother, and her kids."
  But, truly, his FBI partner was quite professional and courteous.
• Last night, I dreamt that our house and bathroom were really different. And that Ron Weasley was making out with me. WEIRD.
  

SERIOUSLY, what is WITH my subconscious????
I didn't even eat anything spicy last night!
(Michael blamed the mouse-blood and FBI dreams on the burritos we had the night previous ... but ... Yeah.)

But ... yeah ... Do you feel sufficiently caught up? Did I miss anything?
If I did, let me know.

Now, to watch a movie with the kidlets. They've been begging. ^_^