Merry Christmas.... and all that good stuff too...

I think I have given up on catching up on blog work and just jumping up to the present. It is Christmas Eve, Aunt Willie HAS made it in, Baby Cakes comes home in less than an hour, most of the food for tomorrow is prepped, 99.9% of presents are prepared in some cheerful fashion, I just have to take a shower and dry my hair and fluff it a little and I'm calling it the "New Christmas Eve Do" and being done with it. Shew!

Hope everyone is having a blessed Christmas Eve & Day! I will try to get some pictures up of Dylan after he opens presents, but judging by my bloggy behavior, don't waste sleep waiting. (Not like everyone isn't busy their own selves anyway.) I am already making New Year's resolutions about "How to be a better bloggy Aunt Nee."

New 'Do From Sue

For your viewing pleasure, Dylan's first real hair cut (from us... don't go there with me.... long story that gets me very upset) that was done by none other than Sue B.

Dylan and Grammy getting ready. I LOVE the blue cape!

Getting his hair all combed out so Sue can cut it. I didn't realize how long it was! It stays curled up, so you don't realize the length.

Sitting tight.

Looking good.

"Make sure it's even."

"Just a little off the top, please."

Finished product.

Such a cutie!

Back view.

Dylan and Sue.

Dylan has now had his bath and the hair is STILL CURLY, THANK GOD! He does look a little more grown up (tear, tear) but he is getting to be a big boy. Of course we saved his curls, and again I am so thankful he is still fluffy curly. I am itching to put mousse in his hair and style it! :)

Not Me Monday

It's Monday, so it is time for Not Me Monday! Brought to you by "A crazy lady I no longer wish to be associated with but hate to delete these posts because they tell stuff I did."

It is not me who searched further into the identification of Dr. Ferrari, whom I was thought was Italian, but is actually from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I did not find a mug shot picture of him that truly did him no justice. TRUST me, he is an Italian Argentinian God of a doctor.

I also did not have to use Wikipedia to find out that Buenos Aires is in Argentina, and where that is. Ahem.

This is not my favorite picture of Dylan in the computer chair.

This is not my favorite CHEESY grin that Dylan has perfected. I do not just love this little boy to pieces.

This is not what Dylan did when we told him to go sit with Minnie & Mickey so we could take their picture. (That is also not me protecting myself with the Boppy pillow from "lovin's" from Dylan. Or "beatin's.")

This is not the second attempt at the "Mickey & Minnie" group photo shot.

This is not as good as it got. Oh well!

This is not Dylan eating puffs straight out of the lid from Poppy. Dylan isn't that lazy/greedy with food.

It is not Dylan who is gone as I type to get a "trim" from neighbor Sue B. It is not a little over due. I am not DYING to see what he looks like when he gets back! (Will posts pictures quickly!)

It was not me who burned my sister so badly she won't even let me tell what I said! (anyone with my email just ask that way! LOL) Lemme tell ya, it wasn't the best "Gotcha" I have done in a while. Personally, I think it isn't too bad to tell on the blog, but I am obeying her wishes. Begrudgingly.

It is also not me and Mom who watched Count of Monte Cristo while our cable/internet/phone was out and we had nothing else to do but break out some old dvd's. It was not me who forgot how much I loved that movie. It was also not me who remembered why I called Jim Caviezel "sexy Jesus" and not feel too guilty about using "sexy" and "Jesus" in the same sentence and in reference to the person portraying him. Jim is one hunky man. (Yeah, I call him Jim. We are on first name basis. We roll like that.)

It is not me who wonders how long the producers/managers/whatever they are of "American Pie" can beat a dead horse. Just saying. How many movies does this make? Commercial for the new movie just interrupted my thought process. Hate when that happens.

Oh, Oh!!!! It is not me who just heard the back door open, so that does not mean I have to go see his hair cut! See ya!

Letters of Intent

Houston, we have had a problem.

I know it is Sunday, not Friday, when Julie hosts Letters of Intent, but better late than pregnant.... er, I mean never, right? (Quoting some more Blanche Devereaux there!) At least this time I had a real reason for being late and missing the actual day of Intent.

This happened the other night:

We woke up to this:

And had no Internet, phone, or television (oh my!) until today at about noon. But we found work for Poppy anyway!

Since I wasn't allowed to go outside (like I do EVERY YEAR when/if we get a big snow) and take "real" pictures, your viewing pleasures are limited to the view from my front window.

Buddy out for a run. He LOVES the snow.

Poppy's finished up front.... now some shoveling out back to do.

Dutchess taking it all in.

Dylan's first peek of the snow! LOVE that bed head hair do!

Since Mr. Boy Boy is sick (ear infections and runny nose and coughing), this is the only view he has had of the snow this year also. (I said we are lucky that he doesn't remember last year or know what fun he is missing out on or we would really be in for some whining and begging.)

So, on to my Letter of Intent.

Dear Mother Nature of Kentucky/West Virginia,

Why are we all or nothing? I mean, can't we just get a dusting? Does it have to be over half a foot in one night, postponing our Christmas singing, causing wrecks, electricity to be off, etc, and so on.

Don't get me wrong, I like snow. Just not a dump truck full at a time. I know, I know. Some areas stay like this for months. And that is FINE. They get used to it. They know how to drive in it for real, not just think they know how to drive in it. Their electric poles, etc, have been beefed up (at least a little) so that they can handle the "real deal" all the time. (or they know how to use their generators, not breaking out the instruction manual every time, or blow it up like my Uncle Bill did just the other day.) (They are fine, by the way. Stuff like that SO runs in my family!) Their lives do not stop simply because 8 inches of snow fell upon the earth.

Mother Nature, I LOVE snow, it is beautiful, but I would rather have a steady amount on regulated dates and no surprises in the mornings. I would like to be able to function in "Snow Mode." For real. And the stores would love to NOT have the rush on toilet paper and milk. Just saying.

So, I guess I will continue to get hit or miss weather as long as I reside in my old Kentucky home, and I don't see moving to Alaska anywhere in my near future, so I shall work on getting used to the all or nothing weather. (Even in spring. I mean, come on! Drought to floods. Sheesh.)

In closing, I guess I should just say thanks for gracing our presence with some snow this winter, but it BETTER not mess up Aunt Willie & Tonette's visit this week OR cause a permanent cancelling of our Christmas singing (Crum is out of electric for about a week, just wait til my True Story Tuesday.) or my counseling or last minute Christmas dinner shopping..... you get my drift... I just love to whine!

With Love,

A gal who thought she had all her pre-Christmas stuff done.

Thank You Very Much!

First off, I want to say I will hopefully be catching up on every one's blogs soon! Moving on! It is Thursday, which also means it is time for Thank You Very Much by Kmama. Join along.

To Dr. Ferrari (as I call him instead of Dr. Faresi), thank you very much for removing my gallbladder. I love you even more now. I shall see you in 2 weeks with bells on.

To Mrs. Grumpy Nurse in recovery, thank you very much for ignoring me call out for you. YES, I heard you (and actually still remember it lol) reply to the other nurse, "I know," when told I was calling for you. What if I had been dying, huh? So what if I had forgot where I was again and wanted another ice chip and to know why I felt like my right side had been removed and did I have to keep the oxygen thingy on still. It could have been important. You didn't know that.

To my oxygen and blood pressure levels for misbehaving a little during surgery causing me not to get pain medicine in a quick and timely fashion (re: KNOCK ME OUT WITH SOME GOOD STUFF NOW!) thank you very much. I like the sore throat from oxygen and LOVE having my blood pressure taken by a robot every 2 minutes and being told to "Breathe harder!' by Mrs. Grumpy Nurse.

To my oxygen and blood pressure levels for finally behaving themselves and allowing me to get some good stuff NOW, thank you very much!

To all the other nurses, with the exception of Mrs. Grumpy Nurse, you ROCKED, so thank you very much. Seriously, they took care of me like I was having a baby or my kidneys removed or something. They. Were. Awesome. I remember one of your names is Marsha. Thanks. Thanks to the brown headed gal too.

To Mrs. Nightingale Nurse who gave me the whole shot at once instead of waiting an hour between doses like Mrs. Grumpy Nurse said, thank you very much. (She didn't do it wrong or anything, either, that is what the dr. said to do in the first place, as a matter of fact, but Mrs. Grumpy Nurse suddenly added "Surgeon" to her list of credentials and made that lovely decision for him, or so she thought. The other ladies rolled their eyes at you and smirked as you walked away, too, by the way. So ha ha.)

To everyone for keeping me in their thoughts and prayers, thank you very much. They were needed, and felt.

So head on over to Kmama's for more fun with Thank You Very Much!

P.S. I am doing "okay" today, as I am typing this "live" and all. I was in MISERY for a short period of time until I could have some more medication, and I admit I kinda lay there and moaned like a dying llama or something, but after all, they had just removed an organ. I cannot sit in one position for very long without getting very sore, but I am able to get up and move about and that helps work out the soreness. I am taking my pain meds on the dot, so I don't know how much pain I would be in with out that, and I don't plan to slow it down until Saturday, when I hope to go to our church's singing. (Yeah, I know probably not the smartest thing to do, but people can go back to work after a week of having this surgery, so I think if I behave I will be okay.) Other than that, "slight discomfort" would be a small understatement, but I am tolerating it very well. NONE of the pain (before, during, and after) was worse than my last gallbladder attack, so that is something to be thankful for! Well, I am pushing my limits on "computer chair time" and I need to get up, but I'll be back for Letters of Intent on Friday!

Tell Me Thursday

Welcome to Tell Me Thursday! A chance to further explain your Wordless Wednesday pictures if you so choose. Here is my WW photo:


As you (hopefully) guessed, Momma Amy is turning the big 2-3! Her birthday isn't actually until Friday, the 18th, but since she knew I more than likely got her a digital camera may not be up to partying Friday after my surgery, and certainly not allowed to have chocolate cake, she agreed, even volunteered to have her bday cake Tuesday night.


We all gathered at Susie & Troy's (even Jack and Max) after their church that night, except for Poppy, who wasn't feeling too well and had to drive us to Ashland at 6 AM the next day.


I couldn't resist the chance to give Dylan a little Christmas present early, so he got to open a present also! (Plus, after the mike and karaoke he is getting from his Peeps, I doubt this little reverberating mike will be so interesting!)

But he is enjoying it now! Look at that smile!


"Oh, this one isn't for me? Never mind then..........."


"Ohhh...."bye bye bye"..." A Rolling Stone Cover purse for Momma from me with Justin Timberlake. Or "bye bye bye" to Dylan, which is any member of NSYNC.


Now of course I was mean.


But there was a camera in there somewhere!


There it is!


Amy, her man, and her camera!


What Dylan does when you say "Show me your happy face!"


Checking out the new camera.


Helping Momma take a picture.


Cool beans!

Happy Thursday!

Cuzzin Robyn Update

This is SOOOOOOOO LONG over due, but here is my latest update on Cuzzin Robyn! I received this on December 8th.

"Good morning Cuzzins...I have an update for you all...I've been getting ready for the last two weeks to start radiation and every time I go back I end up having to have something different done to my markings (I have gorgeous purple X's all over the left side of my chest and rib cage)...since I have to go back to Huntington today to see Dr. McKinney and Dr. Chowhdary, I'll actually start my radiation tomorrow (Wed)...all I ask is that you all keep me in your prayers...Hope I get to see you all this month for some fun Cuzzin time...Love you all Robyn"

Tuesday I received a lovely e-card from Cuzzin Robyn, and here is what she had to say:

"Well...it's the day before your surgery and I just know through God's grace that everything will be successful for you...afterwards, when the healing process is over you won't have anymore stomach pain/problems and won't that just be something to praise the Lord for? Please know that I love ya and I think you are just an awesome person and cuzzin! Love ya dearly...I will be here praying...Cuzzin Robyn "

Thank you SO MUCH Cuzzin Robyn, and EVERYONE who will be praying. Cuzzin Robyn, you have became so special to me. I can't wait until we have another get together. I miss you so! Thanks so much for your kind words and emails when I disappear in bloggy world that keep me on my toes and my mind focused! That means so much!

Wordless Wednesday

Welcome to Wordless Wednesday!

This one is kinda explanatory, but come back for Tell Me Thursday for more pictures and details!

Happy Wednesday!

P.S. I am having gallbladder surgery today at around 8-9 am. Please keep me and the doctors and nurses in charge in your prayers. I am not really nervous about the actual surgery (yet!) but about hurting myself afterwards. Thanks!

True Story Tuesday

It's Tuesday (evening) and you know what that means, True Story Tuesday brought to us by Rachel & Mr. Daddy at Once Upon A Miracle. Check it out! Her story this week is HARD to beat!
Okay, I am wracking my brain for a Christmas TST, but for the life of me I can't really think of one. I KNOW that surely to goodness in the 29 Christmases I have celebrated in my life, SOMETHING funny or crazy should stand out, but I cannot think of a single, totally unusual or funny thing. How dumb is that? We can't go pee without something crazy happening, let alone have nearly 30 years of uneventful Christmases. Hmm. This is going to require some deep thought.

OHHHHH, I thought of something. I am sure that there are many others, I just am in a pinch at the moment.

We had a crazy kitty named Amber. (Who we believe Gracie is reincarnate.) She was mean.

She bit. She clawed. She scratched. She would jump off the top of something onto your head nearly causing the unsuspecting person to have a heart attack. She was a cat after my own heart. :) She hated me, though. She thought I pushed her out of bed when she was little (no lie) and wouldn't spit on me if I were on fire after that. For real. A real possessed feline.

Well, one year, as my mom was putting up the tree, Amber was right in the middle of it, as usual. She was involved from the time we drug the tree box out of the closet until we pushed it back in. She would literally lay under the tree on the tree skirt and look up at the lights and ornaments. (And, no, she never tore it apart completely, believe it or not. Only partially.Guess she liked it too much. Go HERE for my Tribute to Amber.)

It was time for the icicles, you know, the long, stringy silver messy lovely kind. Mom finished the job, and was gathering up the trash of the plastic and boxes that the icicles came in. While doing this, she suddenly giggled out loud and read what the instructions said. "Make sure your indoor animals do not ingest icicles as this could be deadly if they became entrapped in their intestines." I was like, "Why on earth would they want to eat the icicles? They're like, plastic or something!"

We giggled at the thought of it, and brushed it off, thinking perhaps it was something lost in the Chinese translation or something. (You know what I mean. "Turn Light Off and On for Effect of Light" or something stupid like that.) Now, mind you, this was AT LEAST Amber's fourth Christmas, perhaps even more. She had been "exposed" to the deadly icicles EACH AND EVERY YEAR and had not touched a single one.

About five minutes later, while we were going through ornaments and such in the meantime, we hear, "CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!"

You guessed it, Amber was EATING the blessed icicles straight off the tree. Thankfully, lol, we 'got to her in time' before she actually ingested any of the deadly decorations (I really believe it could happen, don't get me wrong, but you just had to be there) and pulled the tangled mess from her paws and mouth. Mom removed each and every one of the stupid lovely icicles from the tree (and never used them again) because she didn't want to risk further dangerous exposure of the deadly icicles to sweet Amber.

The kicker? Mom believes to THIS DAY that Amber had ACTUALLY UNDERSTOOD our previous conversation amongst ourselves and was EATING THE ICICLES ON PURPOSE to cause trouble. Yeah, please don't tell anyone 'cause I would hate for my mom to be committed. She cooks a lot around here and writes out the bills, and I sure would miss that. Plus some other stuff, too.

So head on over to True Story Tuesday to hear some more Christmas hijinks.

(Oh, yeah. Thanks to the news, I just remembered the year I was at Walmart when the "Shop with the State Troopers" was going on, and I thought Wally World had a bomb threat or something when the men came charging through the doors like bulls in wherever they have that run of the bulls. Didn't notice that every man had a kid by his side. Oh, well.)

Finding Nee Nee

I have been missing all week, and actually there is no excuse. I have let myself get so overwhelmed this past week or so and have let things get out of perspective.

Ever since I found out about my upcoming gallbladder surgery (which is no big deal, they do them EVERY DAY) I have been freaking out. Not in fear of the procedure itself, but that I wouldn't be "ready" before the final day. I have been running around like a chicken with my head chopped off.

Ordering presents, boxing presents, wrapping presents, doing my laundry, trying to get "everything done" before the big day on Wednesday. Plus, I have been trying to be careful, because to be honest I just haven't been feeling well. I am afraid another attack will happen before the surgery, so I am looking forward to Wednesday, actually.

I know I will be "down" for a little while, plus I know my body and I can take a little longer to heal from simple things some times and I don't want that to happen, hence the "get everything done now so you won't have to do it after" mode. Plus (and I am NOT complaining) there is the possibility of a trip to Tennessee for New Years with some friends and families from my church. If that doesn't happen, a few of us still plan on doing SOMETHING, so I want to be well. (I still wont be able to lift, etc, but I can ride in a car, hopefully!)

Anyway, I got a reminder from Cuzzin Robyn (who I keep meaning to give an update on, too. My bloggy buddy Heather has asked about you, for one, Robyn) wondering where I have been.

I almost dismissed the comment notification, thinking, "I will do it tomorrow," and almost got off the computer. I changed my mind and signed in to give a "quick update" that was humorous, quick, to the point, etc. But when I signed in on the blog, my "Daily Inspiration" (that changes with each page load) was staring me right in the face:

"My God, there are so many things to do and I feel overwhelmed. I pray for the right perspective and a calm disposition that I may do all things with the right attitude at the right time."

Basically, "GET A GRIP!"

I am not in control of things anyway (but like to pretend I am sometimes) and have let myself be overwhelmed by MYSELF. There is a situation that I am praying about, that I am afraid I will "mess up" (I can't if I give it to God) which I need to keep in PERSPECTIVE and not let it overwhelm me. There probably will be some dirty clothes of mine to be found come Wednesday at 4 pm, and someones gift may have to be in a gift bag, or a Walmart bag even, come Christmas Eve, but SO WHAT?

I have been taking steps of improvement lately, and have been so blessed it isn't even funny, yet I want to keep myself tore up all the time thinking I need to "have everything ready" and "all figured out" when in fact, I have not one iota exactly what I need to "be ready" for or "have figured out" because I do not know what tomorrow holds. But I know who holds tomorrow, and I know He will help me.

I will finish with the quote again, as a reminder to myself:

"My God, there are so many things to do and I feel overwhelmed. I pray for the right perspective and a calm disposition that I may do all things with the right attitude at the right time."

Not Me Monday!

Welcome to Not Me Monday! Brought to you by "A crazy lady I no longer wish to be associated with but hate to delete these posts because they tell stuff I did."

Oh, where to begin. It has been a while since I have "Not Me'd" that I am just going to put what I can remember in the post. May not have been this week, but recently, anyway. How about that? Good.

It was not me who searched for a hospital photo id (or whatever) of my Italian God gallbladder doctor on the hospital website where I am to have my surgery so everyone could at least see a peek of him. (Even though they usually look like mug shots.) That would be weird and creepy, and I am not either of those things.

I did not almost cry at choir practice today because I can't be in the choir this year (surgery 16th, singing 19th) even though I had already decided I WASN'T (for real) going to be in the Christmas choir this year. Nope. I never change my mind or want to do something I can't.

I do not miss Aunt Willie and Tonette. My hospital visit and loopy shot made it feel like they were only here about one day. I am not already praying for a Christmas visit, even if it means no more snow at all. Wouldn't bother me a bit. We had one. I'm good til next year.

By the way, we did not get our first snow this year.

A 60 year old man (Randall S., Aunt Willie!) did not wrestle and overtake CULLEN today in a snowball fight after church proclaiming with gasping breaths, "I said I would rub his face in the snow (pause for gasp of air) and I DID!" Randall is a very mature man (cough) and Cullen does not have a way to get at you so said mature man would ever do such a thing.


*Cullen* Go HERE for ALL my "Cullen" stories. The kids a riot.

My dad did not dress up like the Virgin Mary to go up to the gas thingamajig a couple of nights ago. Okay, it was a little more complicated than that. Our gas did not go off again like at midnight and my dad and uncle did not have to go up the hill in the snow on a 4 wheeler (which my dad is NOT afraid of, cough cough. Excuse me, seem to have something in my throat) with Dad riding on the front (hood?) of the thing cause stuff they needed was on the back. My sister did not over look the NEON ORANGE hunting mask and declare us to be toboggan-less so Dad did not put on a hat Sissy Sharon knitted for my mother and then tied a white towel around his head (Virgin Mary reference) and I did not knot it under his chin. (He is sick and on antibiotics, or he would have just forgone the whole ordeal even though it was less than 20 degrees outside.) He also did not have on big mud boots and manly coveralls, so he did not look ridiculous in his get up. We did not all laugh at him. Not even Susie. Dylan also did not keep saying "Hat?" VERY questionably for about an hour. Yes, dear boy, in a pinch, that is a hat.

And, in closing, it is not me who has ALL her Christmas presents BOXED, more than half wrapped, and just waiting on the rest to get here and I am FINISHED and ready for Christmas! I am DETERMINED to be ready before my surgery as much as possible. I just can't wait! I only have about 3 things left to get, and the rest is just a few small things in the mail and I am finished. Ahhh. I won't know what to do the last two days before Christmas!

Well, Happy Monday and See ya tomorrow for True Story Tuesday!