Christmas Eve

12:11am - Christmas Eve 2010, the night before Xmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse- oh crap, that doesn't work in my world...the cat is howling (yes howling, kind of a sick MEEEOOOOW sound that echo's through your brain, to which point I get up from what I'm doing to chase the cat to another area of the house at least 5 or 6 times a night)...I'm also listening to Greta moan in her sleep as the pounding wind against the house is ensuring we all have restless sleeps, so that little poem doesn't quite work...But WOW, it's Xmas Eve...it does not feel like it at all. I posted a comment earlier on Facebook that I wish I could return to childhood Christmas Days. It just seemed like Christmas meant a little bit more than what it does now: Dolls, Barbies, Cabbage Patch Kids have all been replaced with iPhones, iPads, Laptop computers and cell phones, who would have thought that parents and kids had the same wish list. As I was driving to the store the other night I was listening to the kids call Santa on the radio, I almost went off the road when one little guy asked for an iPhone, laptop and ping pong table - and Santa said the gifts would be under the tree...every kid that night but one asked for an electronic item and in my opinion "an adult toy"...The one little girl who didn't, asked for Lego, Silly Bandz and a surprise...I almost cried (and I'm not emotional at all). This new generation of kids won't know how to talk to people or communicate face to face, or know what it's like to play with real toys like Barbies and board games, sure they can do the virtual play world and play games online, but it's not the same...and this is coming from someone who LOVES the internet, facebook and email...I would be lost without them, but I had a lifetime of learning to talk to people, and to make eye contact and fun with games and toys, the kids now are missing out! So, that is my Xmas rant on the state of today's children! A friend was at the house this past week and asked where Greta's toys were, and I said, she really doesn't have many...she doesn't, honest, she is 6 months old (Today actually marks 6 months) she only needs a few things, and we are not going insane on Christmas Day either, I'm holding strong to not have a house over run with toys, I have to say, I'm quite proud of myself and the state of our house thus far. We did get her a few sweet toys, and a new toy shelf to put the new goodies on, but unless she grows 10 arms, I didn't think we would overload her with too many items to play with. And, there is not one clothing item under the tree...they all just went to the closet..ha! But back to Christmas past and present. Years ago, we were always running the roads, had family and friends to visit, people came to visit us, I entertained, had the house full with drinks and food throughout the month of December, but that doesn't happen anymore, it's a very lonely holiday now. If it wasn't for the Christmas House Tour, only a handful of people would have seen my Xmas Tree(s). Just sad, everyone assumes I love Xmas, but it's actually my least favorite holiday (well, Valentines Day is my least favorite, but I don't really class it as a holiday, just a stupid day - mind you, I did get engaged on V-day, but it was a weak moment, I may have said, wait until the 15th...ha). I do love the decorating, the shopping, the planning, but then Dec 20th arrives (give or take a day) and I'm ready for it to be over. It's my least favorite, because I hate to admit, it's a let down, and not with gifts, but with people. It's just so different and because it's so different, it just doesn't feel like Christmas is really here. Maybe (and by this I mean hope) as Greta gets older, we'll make Christmas fun again and she'll be able to have good memories of the holidays with our little family of three + the critters.

This year does mark a major change in my Christmas Tradition, for the 1st time since 1987 I will not be going to Port Elgin for Christmas Breakfast at my Aunt Pegs as they have moved the breakfast to Moncton and it's just too far to justify a trip for Eggs and Toast! For the past 9 years, I have spent Christmas on my own on the Island, but have driven over in the morning solo for breakfast and all my family from Moncton and Port Elgin and surrounding area arrived for an open house breakfast. It was at last years breakfast I broke the shocking and astounding news that Darren and I would be parents, my aunt and Haley were both given gifts with the "news" written out and neither of them could figure out what it meant as it just didn't make sense to them that Baby 2010 was saying, GAIL and DARREN were expecting...we finally had to actually tell them in plain language, at which point Haley stated, but you can't have a baby, you don't like kids! AHHH, the Christmas Memory from 2009. So, I'm sad I won't have a drive to Port Elgin this year, but a new tradition will begin - I'll be getting up at 7am like I have done for the past few months and feeding Miss Greta! I celebrate Christmas on Boxing Day, as Mom and my niece Haley come from Moncton for a 2nd Christmas. We have our Xmas dinner, and then open our gifts on the 26th...but this year, Darren wants to open presents on Christmas Day, so we will have Santa's presents, and we'll take a peak at the gifts from each other at least, then wait for the others. Darren will go to visit his family and do his Christmas in Rustico and Greta and I will play with her new toys and relax at home...I hope she will take a nice long nap, I really do like a quite Christmas Day, I'm afraid I'll be flying solo on Facebook though...that may be lonely..ha!

So, that is what we have to look forward to, an end of an era of Christmas traditions and the start of new ones to come.

And can you believe it, we have hit the 6 month mark, I'm astonished, I always heard friends say how quick time goes by, but WOW..Greta is 6 months old, I've been off work for 7 months, and my time no doubt will go twice as fast over the next 5 months and I'll be back to work. I originally thought there was no way I could survive 6 months off work, I must admit, I've gotten use to not working. I still need to work and when the time comes, I'll be happy to return to a work routine, friends and a social life with adults. Now, I do hope and have fingers crossed that the next 5 months are better then the past 6 health wise. Lord do I ever wish I could have just one week of feeling like a human being and not a lab rat who has the record of medical complications. I did think my round moon face was coming down, but after seeing a few people out the past few days who haven't seen me in awhile, by the looks on their faces I know I still look like a ballooned freak (for the record, for those who have seen me the past few days, the fact that I'm out in public means it looks 100% better than what it had a few weeks ago). If Santa is listening...please, please, just take some of this water from me.

And as Christmas 2010 approaches it does not look like a White Christmas will be here, instead, people will be lucky to not have the pumps going to clean out flooded basements. The wind, the storm surge and the rain has not stopped, I haven't seen anything like it. When I came home today after a rather pleasant trip to the grocery store, I noticed one of our huge trees on the side of our property was uprooted, and leaning...with each wind gust the earth was moving up and the tree was swaying....towards our neighbours roof! Oh my, do you know if our tree goes down due to natural causes, totally out of our control, and happens to go through their roof, we are responsible! We called Maritime Electric to ask for assistance as not only was the tree aiming for the neighbours home, but it would have taken out the power line on it's way down. They came to assess the "potential damage" and I'm not sure if the guy just heard our concerned voices or was feeling in the Christmas Spirit, but he called in the crew and our tree has been cut down. Sad to see such a huge tree go and it was in one of my favorite gardens, but I can't imagine how the neighbour would have felt with the new sky light for Christmas, nor do I think the neighbourhood would have been impressed with no power the day before Xmas. Of course, we are left with all the wood, not quite sure what we will do with it, hopefully we can give it away to someone with a wood stove.

So, this is a flip flop all over the place post. I must depart, now 1:01am, and we have a hectic and full Xmas Eve planned, with work for Darren, visits to work for Greta and I, visiting, gift deliveries, Church for Darren, sleep for Greta...and presto, Santa will be arriving.

Enjoy a lovely Christmas Eve, Toodles!

Christmas is Coming.

Can you believe it, 11 days and Christmas 2010 will be here. Amazing how a year can pass by so quickly and bring so many changes. This week coming, one year ago, Darren and I missed out on our Christmas luncheons to drive to the IWK for an assessment on little Allie Ann (the Alien that had invaded our lives who eventually turned in to sweet little Greta). It was a very scary time, one that we obviously did mostly on our own as we hadn't shared baby news with anyone but my immediate family. As I had been so very sick with H1N1 and pneumonia and took every drug known to man not realizing I was pregnant, I, as well as my family Doctor was quite concerned about the well being of the baby. So, an assessment was booked and tough decisions had to be made. Of course, when the assessment arrived the top of the page said, Advanced Maternal Age, how lovely, I was emotional enough and now you have to rub in that I'm old and pregnant. We however were informed that the alien looked fine - well, as far as alien's looks could be. I remember the technician printing me a picture and I looked at it with disbelief and said, that is scary!!! She looked at it and said, I'll print another - you are right!!! When the technicians start saying the baby looks like an alien, you really start to worry what the child will look like - believe me, that started months of me having panic attacks of the child looking like a martian (with lots of Gallant hair). I looked at the picture a few weeks ago, and I stand by my first assessment, oh my word, Greta who is beautiful as anything now, started off as one scary little creature.

The first person we shared baby news with was my life long friend Chris, who was expecting his first baby...I still remember Mom, Darren and I in Chris' kitchen in Halifax, along with his sister Gill, as he read our Xmas Card that announced a baby was on the way...there was a silent moment - okay, a long silent moment...then laughs, then HOLY SHIT ARE YOU KIDDING ME...Then we all went to supper and I am sure said, OH MY GOD 1000 times. Today, I received a Christmas Card from Chris' Mom, who obviously sent the card on Friday, as on Sunday she found herself in the hospital...I'm sending tons of good vibes your way Mary Jean - I know you will have some blog posts to catch up on, but from your card, I know you are always following and as requested, Greta will make an appearance in NB for a visit when you are feeling better!!! How wonderful after 22 years I can have such wonderful memories of such wonderful people.

So, a little look back to a year ago this week, and here I am, obviously with a healthy Greta, who thankfully was not affected by the meds I took, box of neocitran I drank, antibiotics I took and lets just throw in the boxes of sinu tab, tylenol, etc, etc...I wonder if it will make her smarter (I really do think she is quite brilliant, maybe there is something to all these meds). One thing that hasn't changed, I'm still seeing the Dr's and still popping pills (don't I sound like a druggie), or at least that is what I hear on Intervention. I actually was in to see my OWN Doctor today, you know a family physician, not a specialist for once. Reason being, the specialist just deal with the organ of the day, any other issues, you are sent back to the regular Doc. It's quite frustrating really, can't we have a one stop fits all scenarios. I had spoken to my specialist last week about pain, I have what I would consider an extremely high pain threshold, but lately, I can't bare it, I assumed it was my liver and having no desire to hear my steroids had to be increased, I didn't bother calling and just mentioned it at my appt, but he put his finger where my liver is (supposedly) and said, doesn't feel swollen and that was the end of the conversation. So, today. I visit my Dr, Greta in tow as I don't have a day time sitter to help out (lord, I really, really wish I did) and we are discussing the predinsone that is ruining my body, emotions, motivation, self esteem, and she is quite comforting, saying the weight will soon go, as it's mostly fluid, that it's a great drug but the list of side effects is pages long, and then it happens....she tells me I "LOOK CUTE WITH CHIPMUNK CHEEKS"... I started to cry! I actually thought my cheeks were starting to come down, but she has confirmed, I look like a damn chipmunk, no doubt with acorns in my cheeks for added bulk. She did feel bad as I wiped the tears from my fat chubby cheeks though!

Anyway, the result from today's appt, a trip to the hospital for Xrays, so another wait and see what is there or not there, all I know is because it's me we are talking about, something will come up that needs further investigation, I'll continue to look at the stupid online medical sites and freak myself even more and start pre-planning my NB themed, PEI funeral (aka. a meet and greet funeral where you send me lots of flowers, you are allowed to all wear cologne and perfume because if someone is bothered by it, oh well, play no church music, and there is no line up with name tags, you just mingle and see the people you want to say hi to - and I may request a bouncer at the door for the people who are two faced and were not nice to me alive but want to see me at my funeral)...okay, I guess I do have this planned out...ha! See, I'm planning my funeral because I googled rib pain and abdominal fluid - the diagnosis is not good, it will probably come back that I have gas.

Besides medical fun that never ends, my shopping has (for Xmas, don't you all start thinking I am a reformed shopaholic), I have everyone bought for, the gifts have all been wrapped in lovely paper and wired bows, the mess of wrapping has been put away for another year and I get to sit back and just look at all the gifts and wonder what is in them. I truly can't believe we are a week before Christmas, a week before Greta turns 6 months old and another year will soon be here. Our little gal has learned to laugh, wore her first hair bow in her hair, had her first tooth pop through the gums and her first pair of Baby Uggs look beyond adorable...so enjoy those pics and I thought you would all enjoy a little smile, so below is the Mom's version of Twas the Night before Christmas.

Twas the night before Christmas

When all thru the abode

Only one creature was stirring

And she was cleaning the commode.

The children were finally sleeping

All snug in their beds,

While visions of Nintendo 64 and Barbie flipped through their heads.

The dad was snoring in front of the TV

with a half-constructed bicycle on his knee.

So only the mom heard the reindeer hooves clatter

Which made her sigh, "Now what's the matter?"

With toilet bowl brush Still clutched in her hand

She descended the stairs and saw the old man.

He was covered with ashes and soot,

which fell with a shrug."Oh great," muttered the mom,

"Now I have to clean the rug."

"Ho-ho-ho!" cried Santa, "I'm glad you're awake."

"Your gift was especially difficult to make."

"Thanks, Santa, but all I want is some time alone."

"Exactly!" he chuckled, "I've made you a clone."

"A clone?" she asked, "What good is that? Run along, Santa, I've no time for chit-chat."

The mother's twin, Same hair, same eyes, Same double chin.

"She'll cook, she'll dust," she'll mop every mess.

You'll relax, take it easy, Watch The Young & the Restless."

"Fantastic!" the mom cheered."My dream come true! "

I'll shop. I'll read. I'll sleep a whole night through!"

From the room above the youngest began to fret.

"Mommy?! I scared... and I wet."

The clone replied,"I'm coming, sweetheart."

"Hey," the mom smiled,"She knows her part."

The clone changed the small one and hummed a tune

As she bundled the child in a blanket cocoon.

"You the best mommy ever. I really love you."

The clone smiled and sighed,"I love you, too."

The mom frowned and said,"Sorry, Santa, no deal. "

That's my child's love she's trying to steal."

Smiling wisely Santa said, "To me it is clear,"Only one loving mother is needed here."

The mom kissed her child and tucked her into bed.

"Thank you, Santa," for clearing my head.

I sometimes forget it won't be very long when they'll be too old for my cradle-song.

"The clock on the mantle began to chime.

Santa whispered to the clone, "It works every time."

With the clone by his side Santa said,

"Goodnight."Merry Christmas Mom. You'll be Alright!"

Toodles everyone, and to all a good night!

Laughter is the best medicine

"A smile starts on the lips, A grin spreads to the eyes, A chuckle comes from the belly; But a good laugh bursts forth from the soul, Overflows, and bubbles all around”

Greta and I have been on the move, not quite sure how I am moving as my back feels like it has been rolled over by a truck, I am soon going to need a walker to get around and a man servant to lift everything for me, but alas, we have been busy. Yesterday we struck out for a quick drive downtown to pick up her pictures from our Fall Photo Shoot with Rachel Peters. We ended up having a lovely visit at Rachel's new office and Greta looked so cute in her little owl hat, an impromptu photo shoot started happening! Always nice to have a photographer friend with an eye for cuteness! Now, I think everyone needs to have professional friends, Carpenter, Painter, Electrician, and Mechanic. Sadly, I don't so I have come to the conclusion, I need to expand my friend base!! Anyway, Greta and I ended up visiting and no doubt keeping Rachel from her work, on the way out, low and behold I pass by a window and two old co-workers - who now work together again are in the same building..so another visit! It was wonderful to see everyone and catch up. Since I'm down town and Greta is pretty wiped from all her visiting, I decide to head in the Confederation Court Mall...well, this bad back issue was not helped along by carrying a 14 pounder in a car seat on my hip, ouch! I did manage to find a few Xmas presents so it was worth the pain, but we quickly returned to the car and I was wishing my Deep Rub (smelly nursing home type liniment was with me!). And what do you know, we have been on the go for almost 3 hours, at this point, I'm getting close to starving the poor child, but she is still in a good agreeable mood so we are passing by Darren's office so we make a quick visit. Sorry to his co-workers who missed her...you should all stay at work until 4pm..ha! We tried! It was then off to home and we had a hungry little gal.

Our new favorite item these days is her new Jumperoo, this contraption was recommended by quite a few friends as the must have item, so of course, I assume I must have it and had bought it on sale before she was born and it has been just sitting and waiting for her to grow in to it. For those out of the baby lingo, it's the fancy version of a jolly jumper but instead of dangling from the door frame, it's a stand alone jumping seat that she sits in to and as she bounces she is rewarded with lights and music (the music is getting old, thankfully - as all toys that come in to the house, it was confirmed there is an on / off switch). Of course, Greta seems to be on the shorter side, well proportioned, but short at the moment, so her legs don't hit the ground so we have a quilt under her to give her some bouncing leverage. It's quite comical to watch and she is greatly improving from a few bobs up and down to this morning where I thought she was going to bounce out of the seat, she hasn't caught on to the fact that there is a bar she can hold on to, instead she seems to fly up and out of the seat if she gets a good knee bend. But as you can see from the video I have attached, last night had an added event...she laughed for the first time. She had giggled a few weeks ago, but it was a quiet little chuckle and she hasn't done it again, well, she went full force last night, laughing for 10 minutes over Scarlet running in the house after her toys. Nothing like a baby crying to make you laugh yourself, I was taping the video and was laughing so hard the camera was all over the place, so I hope you do enjoy watching and get a good laugh from it yourself.

After this happened, I was in rush mode. I had supper plans. I felt bad for Darren, we had originally planned to take Greta with us, as my oldest and dear friend Chris was in town and the 4 of us were going to strike out...but I'm not a huge fan of kids in nice restaurants (okay, it's my pet peeve, and without a guarantee of Greta's evening behavior, we chose not to risk it), so Darren yet again agreed to stay home with Greta when I got out for a lovely dinner. Probably one of the best dinners I have had in some time, so kudo's to the Merchantman Pub, you may have won be back, as I wasn't overly pleased with a few meals. Chris and I had a great time as we always do, laughing about life, people, events and now, we can add kiddies to the mix. Overall a great night and thanks to a great Daddy who wanted to stay home with Greta and relax I had a fun night out...almost forgot about the pain in my back, but it's still there and I'm paying now for all the running around I did yesterday. Oh, and good news, Darren's window that was accidentally smashed by a rock during my care can be fixed cheaply and put though insurance with no financial increase to his plan...so I may be off the hook! MAYBE!

Not sure what the weekend plans will include, we have tickets to the Stratford Choirs Christmas Concert on Sunday, a gift for participating in the home tour last weekend, and hoping to take Greta to see Santa, but everything may be a wait and see based on my mobility, Dr on Tuesday to see about my back - has anyone caught on that I'm falling apart. I feel more like an 80 year old, take no doubt more pills than most of them and I am starting to realize I don't have many body parts still fully operational. Crohns, liver disease, lumps, skin, scars, toes, sinuses, back, knees, ankles, ummm, I think my elbows may be okay and I still have my tonsils and appendix, everything else, yikes! I'm starting to think Darren married me for my life insurance policies, he may be in luck, although jokes on him, I'll leave him with enough debt to just have enough to pay off my bills, better hit up Ebay and check out the sales flyers, I have an inheritance to spend (HIS). No worries, Greta gets another policy, she'll be fine!

19 days to Christmas, get shopping!

Toodles.

Are you kidding me????

Just a little short note tonight...(well, short is the goal, we'll see how I do upon completion). I had a day off from parent duty today and headed "across" - did I sound like a real Islander??? For those away, that means I went to NB, the mainland, shopping destination, etc, etc. Our old neighbour Janet has been asking me for a few years now about coming with me on a trip, and this was the one that worked out. We left bright and early as I wanted to make an attempt of getting home by night fall, of course, this is 5pm at the latest, so a bit though of a goal to reach. I had convinced Darren to let me take his SUV on the trip, my windshield is in desperate need of being replaced and lately I'm finding it almost impossible to see out of if the sun beats down. For the record, it's very, very important to note that Darren hates people driving his truck, I'm surprised Greta and I get the okay once in a while to drive in it He takes very good care of his truck and I dare say it's one of his babies! Anyway, for some reason I had a convincing some story about my personal safety and he agreed to let me take his vehicle. As I was explaining to Janet the reason we had his truck over mine, we remarked a few times how interesting and shocking it was that Darren didn't seem to mind me driving his truck like he once did, but was still tentative. About 5 minutes after this conversation as we are rolling down the highway, a beautiful day of sunshine and excellent driving conditions my luck takes a turn...A damn rock smashed the windshield. It was a huge rock (well, as huge as a rock can be that is spun up from a truck passing by) It really was big, the size of a timbit, although it sounded like a damn bowling ball. It gave me quite the fright..as I drove down the highway gazing at the hole and damage this rock made, I honestly think to myself, who in the hell has luck like me...I also answer my own question NO ONE!!! So nice to be so social. I did call Darren to let him know, funny thing - he wasn't overly impressed! Janet I headed to Costco and met up Mom for a day of shopping, and besides suck up presents for Darren, I really bought nothing. The people on my Xmas list, still reqire gifts to be purchased. It was a rather poor display of shopping, just didn't see anything we needed and couldn't seem to find any Xmas presents, so looks like I have more shopping to do.

Well, just a quick check in, we survied the trip to Moncton, Darren played stay at home Daddy for the day and went to have a nap when I got home...also admitted to lying down in the afternoon when Greta had a nap. I do think he enjoyed his day with Greta tough.

I must sign off, I'm seeing double on the computer, very exhausted. Hopefully going to reach my family Dr tomorrow, my back is killing me, I've had a cyst for years and I'm afraid it's time that it is taken care of...Liver update - reducing the steroids slowly, very, very slowly.

Will write more another day....for now, have a great Thursday...Toodles.
PS> Sorry if this makes no sense, I'm so wiped out I can't even re-read.

Pictures and Videos

A few pics for friends and family away and for those not seeing them on Facebook!


Ella and GretaSitting under the tree

Greta's 1st Holiday Party with the 2010 crew.
Miss Scarlet O'Hara

Daddy trying to put Greta to sleep!

Kitchen is ready for the holidays.
Front entrance and my favorite wreath.

Master Bedroom is decked out.

Main Bathroom.

Greta's tree

Formal Living Room with my new train.

Great Room.

G

Ella singing Rudolph and Red Nosed Reindeer to Greta...too cute!

Hair - Scream - Sweets - Success - Tour - DUST

Well, well, well...here I am, an hour and a half after I thought I would head to bed and I am starting a blog post. Monday night, 10:25pm, Scarlet is curled up on the pillow beside me, Greta has been asleep for a few hours and I am watching (and greatly enjoying the Sing Off on TV). It was a full week, one that I am still recouping from. I am in desperate need of a massage, I would love an Alabama Slammer (maybe 2 - hell, I want a pitcher like they served at the Barn on Friday Afternoon Movie Pubs), I would love to find a Nanny to move in for a few weeks and get up with Greta in the morning so I can sleep until noon, and while I'm wishful thinking, maybe an unlimited VISA.

I commented in my last blog post that Greta hasn't given me much to talk about lately, her sweet angelic personality was kind of boring and there were no embarrassing moments to discuss, well, that is over...Greta came through for those blog followers looking for a giggle at my expense! We went to the hairdresser....and it was NOT GOOD!

Lets take you back to Thursday of last week, we had a wonderful morning. I had a house cleaner working doing an amazing job cleaning the floors, dusting, washing the tub and shower, Greta was so good that morning that she had a nap, watched Baby E and allowed me to bake cookies while the cleaner worked on the other rooms while I made a new mess in the kitchen. I packed Greta up and off we went to the hair shop. Now, this is not Greta's first visit, more like her 5th and each time she was so sweet and content, she either slept, or just watched the girls. Usually enjoyed sitting with the girls as I got my hair done and soaked in all the attention...The comments usually included : Does she ever cry...She is so content...She is so good.... Well, they won't be saying that again. I'm not quite sure why it started, but there was that pivotal moment, when angel baby became the devils. A customer startled her, mixed with exhaustion, mixed with the fact that she had yet to blow off her diaper, so stored up toxic waste, and possibly hitting the stage of making a bit strange lead to a blow out of a different kind...and it all started with the lungs..And let me tell you, did she ever use them. It was just about the time when I looked like a freak show (not the puffy faced freak show I have been the past few months), oh no, this was better, reddish orange hair dye, with foils all over and a crying baby. You just can't mess with hair dye, it has it's limits, it needs to get on and under the heater, as having green hair or worse, having clumps falling out because of a crying baby wasn't part of the plan. At one point I was still getting the dye rubbed in to my scalp and I'm trying to feed Greta, I looked down and there were two drops of hair dye on her head, whoops...guess I was dripping! Who else can say they dyed their 5 month old babies hair!

I had no choice I had to go under the heater, I'm pretty much stuck at this point, the girls are doing their best to console the screaming monkey, rocking her, even changing her diaper. The shop was sounding more like a nursery so I had to call in reinforcements...Daddy was called...a desperate plea - can you please come get this child!!! The answer - no...WTF..I don't care if you are working, I don't care if you are on call...I realize this was pathetic, but it was close to the end of the work day and he skipped coming home for lunch because of the house cleaner, so I needed him...Work won however! Well, after 15 more minutes of screaming, I called again this time he could hear the echo of her scream bouncing off the walls and he said he would come. As the girls walked Greta more, she eventually calmed down! I move to the sink to get my hair washed and guilt comes over me as I see a lady departing the estheticians room - no doubt her nice relaxing massage or facial was completely ruined by the screams of young Greta. I know the right thing to do would be to pay for her service Greta just ruined, but I just bowed my head in shame. I did apologize though...And of course, Murphys Law, Greta is sound asleep when Darren arrives, I should have told the girls to give her a little pinch, just so Darren would believe me that she was a screaming banshee for the better part of an hour. Alas, Darren packs her up, she doesn't move a muscle or an eyelash and off they go to home. That officially is the last visit Greta shall make to the hair shop with me!!! Night time appts for me from now on!

Gosh, this is going to be a long post...that incident took awhile to explain! Friday I can say fairly quick...I had a sweet exchange with Mama's and Babies, 7 babies, 7 Mom's....all together in one house, and if you can imagine, it actually went quite well. Now, everyone knows, I'm more of a one on one type person, the thought of 7 babies in a room takes me back to my first experience of a room full of babies and moms at the movie theatre which I did not enjoy in the least. But it really did go well and the babies entertained themselves and took turns in Greta's toys, all were so good, the sweets were amazing, and it was nice to get some adult time, entertain and see and hear how everyone was doing. So thanks ladies for attending, for the lovely sweets you shared and to all of Greta's little friends, she was happy you could come as well.

Now, timing perhaps was a bit ambitious...as I literally finished my visit with the Sweet Party gang and needed to "flip this house" in preparation for the Christmas House Tour. The house of course had just been cleaned, but honestly, cat hair appears within minutes of a room being cleaned, and I needed to start hiding the junk. I have cleaned for 2 weeks preparing for the house tour, but the papers, and magazines and just clutter that accumulates needed to be addressed...so I addressed it...it all went in to a tote and moved to the basement, or stuck in a drawer, or shoved in a closet..I'm afraid I'll be looking for items for the next year! I added a few more Xmas items, set the Dining Room table for Christmas Dinner, picked out an outfit that I could squeeze my predinsone bloated ass in to and around 2 am went to bed for a few hours...

7am...holy frig, the house tour starts in 6 hours, and I see junk everywhere. I am now in hide the junk mode, at 11:30 I start to think to myself, what in the hell was I thinking, 400 people are about to walk through my house, and I look at each room and I have cat fur balls still appearing. And holy lord, I have a baby....5 months old, who needs food. I don't have time to stop and feed a baby, I am still wearing a yoga outfit, need a shower, need to pack up the dog, hide the cat in the basement, pack Greta's Baby Bag so she can go for a drive with Daddy...holy heck, I need a few more hours. I have a 2 minute shower, Darren is feeding Greta, I'm starting to get my make up on and I hear the door bell...oh my. I'm not ready but here is the greeter who will be helping with the tour. I literally take big shopping bags at this point and start gathering anything and everything in sight that seems to not mix with the clean Christmas house people are expecting! Off to the closet it goes just in time for the first guests to arrive. I have to say, it was a lovely experience and would certainly do it again and recommend it to others if you are interested and like to decorate in November for Christmas...ha! The visitors were very kind with compliments, asked questions about the house renovations, colors, decorations on the tree's, how we chose Greta's name...really, sky was the limit. I really didn't know what to expect, but a few notable occurrences from the day!!! First, I am not use to wearing high heels anymore, 6 months of wearing bare feet or slippers has spoiled my feet that were conditioned to only wearing heels...lets just say, I had tears in my eyes at the end of the day - my feet were burning with pain! I think I better start practicing walking and standing in heels before I return to work, probably not too appropriate to wear bunny slippers with a suit to work. And I have to say, I thought the house was spotless, I mean, we hired a cleaner, plus we haven't stopped, I must have logged 40 hours cleaning for the holidays...but you know that one moment where you are chatting and feeling pretty good about the house, almost pat on the back type of feeling...well, I was there - and it came crashing down when I looked up and saw the biggest cob web / spider web of my life - INSIDE THE HOUSE.....This is at the 2 hour mark, so no doubt 200 people through already and here shining in the light, as if there was a spotlight on it, was this massive web, worthy of a tarantula, between the kitchen and the great room. I wanted to die...how in the hell am I going to get this thing down without being seen...gross, I had to take it down with my hand, as let me tell you, most likely would have been worse to take out the broom and sweep the thing down... So, web was gone, I have no doubt many got in their cars and said, can you imagine, that house had cob webs everywhere! And then there were the few old inspectors who were checking behind the shower curtain checking out the tub and if you can imagine, one lady swept her hand along my dresser looking for dust, actually moved her hands across the furniture and looked at her fingers! I didn't see this action, but the monitor did and couldn't believe it. And if the web and dust inspector were not enough for stories, I can add one more to the mix. The ladies who helped with the tour and assisted guiding people through our home were here for hours, so I made some apple cider and brought out some lovely sweets from the sweet party the day before. One delicious item was peppermint bark, I had the bag out for the ladies helping, it was off to the side and we were all at this point in the kitchen chatting as a few people still were visiting the house. As I moved across the room, a guest on the tour went over to the bag of peppermint bark and took a piece. I kind of watched in amazement, it's not that I wasn't willing to share, but pretty bold I thought for someone on a house tour to go to a bag of sweets and take a piece, as she was leaving, she did come up to me and said how good the peppermint bark was....GASP - I had nothing to say!!! Jaw hit the floor! I guess she thought it was a community treat bag - surprised she didn't help herself to my cupboards for a mug and joined in for cider as well...ha!

So, what a whirlwind...but I accomplished it all and still am ticking...of course, at times I think I'm barely hanging on but I think I thrive on having deadlines and things to do and organize.

The countdown is now on for Xmas, can you believe it, 19 days away...where is the time going. I feel like I'm all ready but have tons more to wrap, still some people to buy for and no doubt, more cleaning and baking to do. I'm heading to NB later this week to finish up some shopping and will then hopefully avoid the hustle and bustle of last minute shoppers. I don't seem to have the energy or patience I once did and the online shopping is now cutting too close for a guaranteed deliver, still awaiting a few things, so I may stop the fingers from shopping for a bit.

Quick Stat update:

Greta is sleeping through the night...YEAH, Hallelujah, Rejoice..Well, she has been sleeping through the night for over a month now, and always slept 5-6 hours, so I guess we never really complained too much, but she now clocks 10-11 hours a night.

I weighed her with me, I know it's not overly accurate, but looks like we have a 13lb 4oz little gal.

We'll leave my weight off the stat list, lets just say, this prednisone water balloon of a body I have is dreadful, and I can only say thank heavens I lost all my baby weight in the first 6 weeks because I gained it all back in fluid since taking these damn drugs. So the drugs are suppose to hold off a liver transplant, I'm telling you, there are days I would rather the transplant option. I asked the Dr today if he has to write prescriptions for prednisone and anti depressants on the same slip, he shook his head yes, and said, we are getting you off of them!!!! I'm not sure if it was the tears in my eyes, or me admitting I have been in sheer agony for 2 weeks but wouldn't call out of fear the drugs would be increased that made him realize I was at the end of my rope, but he told me I could skip the pills today and I have to call for my blood results tomorrow. Fingers and toes and every other water logged body part I have that may cross, in hopes I will hear the prednisone will be reduced more. I no longer look like myself and if you haven't seen me in 2 months, I dare say you will be astonished at the difference in my face and neck. The Dr said it will go away - of course, I want it to be a 24 hour type of go away time frame, but it took 2 months to go on, I hear it can take that long to see it disappear, if not longer!!! SIGH.

Hope everyone is doing well, get shopping if you are not done, or get started if you are like Darren...Toodles for now!