Christmas Time Photos

I was reviewing some AP photos 2008 and came across this one. Pretty frightening isn't it?

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

We had a great Christmas. This was the most stress-free Christmas ever. We are short on funds and it didn't hurt a bit! I actually cooked Christmas breakfast and dinner and everyone had a great day!See our little tree? It was great just having that and not the 9' monster that we usually put up. One of the good things about being the blogger is that I get to select the photos to post! No photos of me on Christmas morn. No, no, no you don't. For the past several years, we've taken in a movie on Christmas. This year we got there a little late and several of the new movies were SOLD out! We saw The Day the Earth Stood Still on the new IMAX screen at our theater complex. The movie was OK but the screen was awesome!

Whatcha smokin' there?

Duck!

Hey, he's pretty quick. Too bad he didn't throw them back!

Not a pretty picture!

I'm glad these days are behind me (no pun intended--you'll see)!

I love it!

My daughter and I were at the mall and this was the wheelchair sticker in the window! I have to find one to put on my van--we have the same hairstyle!

The Five Love Languages

I'm starting to read a book by Gary Chapman titled The Five Love Languages The languages are:

Words of Affirmation
Quality Time
Receiving Gifts (flowers, jewelry, etc.)
Acts of Service (vacuuming, dusting, diapers, mow lawn, etc.)
Physical Touch

What my husband and I are doing is choosing each of our top three and then listing five specific things we would want under each of the categories. We are going to go to dinner (he won a gift card) and share them with each other. Even after 23 years of marriage, I bet we find a couple of surprises. The idea is that the more we talk the same language, the better we'll communicate. I've simplified the process quite a bit, but I think it will be a fun assignment.

Pets & Kids

Here are some photos of the pets and kids.

Michael and Norm (the dog) share the same birthday, different year.



Billy the hunter. Everyone in the neighborhood loves Billy. He is just too cool.



This is my daughter's dog Skittles from a couple of years ago. She's a Papillon (her white facial markings combined with large ears (when not in bows) resemble a butterfly, hence the breed which means butterfly in French. She's on the small side so she is often mistaken for a long-haired Chihuahua.



Monica, wearing the hat, taken backstage during her performance in High School Musical.

Multiple Sclerosis

I'm not sure what direction to take this blog since it's my first. It will probably be another family blog that you see out here in blog land. My life is not real exciting. My kids are wonderful, just like yours; my husband is wonderful, most of the time. With practice perhaps I'll come up with something that will be of benefit to someone who reads these things!

I mentioned that I have pets as well as kids. What I haven't mentioned is that I have Multiple Sclerosis (MS). I've had it about ten years now and it has definitely become a member of the family. I have primary progressive MS which only affects about 15 percent of the MS population. This sucks because they do not spend a lot of time/money on research for this type of MS. My family participates in the MS Walk in Sacramento each year. Twice, we were the top fundraiser and came in 11th in all of Northern CA. My team is FNDAWAY (find a way) which happens to be my personalized license plate. Here's a team photo.

We meet again!

I was grocery shopping with my daughter and we saw several firefighters also doing their shopping. We wondered if they were part of the response team that showed up at our house the previous night. We made eye contact and then they realized who we were. I would have been disappointed if they recognized me by anything other than my wheelchair 'cause I wasn't looking so beautiful at one o'clock in the a.m. They came over and asked how my son was doing. I gave them the update that all was well and thanked them again.

I told my son that we ran into them and he wanted to know if I was looking for a date! I guess my kids have never heard their mom commenting on a good looking man (other than their dad, of course) before. It's not everyday six of them show up at your doorstep!

My husband suggested I bake cookies and bring them by. I told him that they may start to think I'm a stalker! ha..ha

A Little Excitement

Well, I have been wondering just how to make this blog a bit interesting and wouldn't you know it, the event just fell into my lap. At around 1 a.m. this morning my 20-year-old son kept passing out. The last time, we fell and hit his chin breaking it open. My husband got him into our room and sitting on our bed. I called the 24-hour nurse line and when I told her how old he was she asked if he'd been drinking. I told her he was sober. I think she was expecting a different answer because she told me to call 911. After I called, I realized that with all the excitement my legs became almost paralyzed so I couldn't even get out of bed and into my wheelchair. I was going to have to greet these fine rescue workers from bed! I managed to sit up and fix my hair a bit--remember it is after 1 a.m. and the bed head has set in. Five minutes or so later the fire fighters and paramedics arrive. Boy, I must be getting old because these guys were young! Oh yes, and cute, too. Isn't that a job requirement in the rescue business?

Oh yeah, this is about my son! They checked him out and wanted to take him to the hospital for further evaluation. Off he went in the ambulance. Dad met them there and after a CAT scan and some blood work, they sent him home. One good thing about going by ambulance is that you don't have to wait in the waiting room! Can't wait to see my copay for this event!

All is well but it gave us all another reason to remember to be thankful for all of our blessings.

You CAN do it!

The next time your kids tell you they caaann't do something, share this with them!