Countdown to Turkey Day

Nothing in particular is going on around here. I am working, running errands, baking some goodies and just trying to get ready for the big Turkey Day in general. We are having a brunch celebration at work tomorrow. I think we do it a day early because a whole lot of people take Wednesday off to either cook or travel. I have been instructed to bring sausage balls to that. I didn't take it off (we have taken off soooo much lately), so we will be in transit early Thanksgiving morning to be in Danville by lunch time. We are having a buffet at the Country Club with Dad and Barb, and our actual food extravaganza will be on Friday when the rest of the family can get there.

I would love to put up my Christmas tree. I feel like it needs to go up in all its naked glory for a while to let the cats (mainly Bitty) get used to it. But at the moment, there is a large box containing my new kitchen sink sitting right about where the tree needs to go. We are having our countertops put in next week, so hopefully that will finally be out of my living room. Seriously....the sink and faucet in a box about the size of a small car is in the living room. And a giant saw is sitting in my dining room floor. We spent the weekend putting down the quarter round molding in the kitchen, and we still aren't done. The saw has to be out and ready to go so we can finish....although I will say that the actual cutting was done out in the garage. He didn't turn the saw ON in the dining room. Grrrrrrr, my house is still topsy turvy. The kitchen china cabinet is in Stephen's bedroom waiting on the molding to be finished. Oh my Lord, I hope hope hope we can get this all pulled together in time for Christmas. Not just in time for the holiday, but in time for me to have a chance to decorate a little bit here and there. Its insane. I had no idea it would end up taking this long. But trying to squeeze things in between work and life just doesn't make for speed. The painting and updating I want to do in the living room, den and dining room will definitely be put off until spring. I am going to need a couple of months of having my house in order before we tear it all up again.

Anyway, I am looking forward to the long weekend, but I am also feeling a little sad that Stephen and Hannia won't be able to be with us. I don't like holidays without my kids, although I realize its probably going to happen more and more frequently now that they are grown. And we also won't get to see him on his birthday either, which makes it even worse. I know they are cooking their own little feast on Thursday. Stephen wanted plenty of turkey (the boy can eat some serious turkey) and lots of leftovers for those yummy turkey sandwiches....so....they are cooking a 20 lb. turkey for 2 people. LOL. I see turkey tettrazini, turkey salad, and turkey pot pie in their future for at least a week.....Well, maybe. He may prove me wrong and end up eating it all before they have to get creative with the leftovers.

hyperventilating

All of this Christmas stuff already has me hyperventilating. Its in the stores, on TV, on the radio. Good Lord, how can it be time for that already??? I feel like I lost October somehow. It can't possibly be time for Thanksgiving this soon. I haven't bought gifts. I have NO idea if we can even have a tree (with the wild kitten we have). Oh well....I have decided not to stress over the details.

Last year we had Christmas with very few of the trims and trappings. We had a trip to Jamaica booked and then Bruce got really sick at the last minute so we had to cancel. We came home on the night before Christmas Eve with no goodies baked, and no gifts under the tree. I was just glad Bruce was ok. We managed to celebrate though. Erica shopped for food and made dinner with all the trimmings. We played games, and we went to see a movie on Christmas night. It was nice. Just like the Grinch, "Christmas came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. ..." And I sort of liked it.

We are staying home this year. I am decorating as the cats will allow, but I am not going to kill myself over it. I am thinking I want to keep it low-key. Is it possible to have a NO stress Christmas? That is my intention. Laid back, time to chill out, talk and play games, and just enjoy having the kids all home for the holiday. A plate of cookies. Glasses of wine sipped over the scrabble board. That is all I want for Christmas this year. Well, I would kind of enjoy a few lights and a couple of ornaments on the tree......if the kitties deem it appropriate. LOL.

Facing Facts

I spent most of yesterday going through my clothes and cleaning out closets. I came to the realization that not only would I probably never fit into a lot of those things again, but even if I did they would be out of style. So....the result is a whole pile of stuff to take to Good Will. Its not that I am being pessimistic. Its more like being realistic. I am 48 years old, I have hypothyroidism, and I take at least 3 medications every single day that cause weight gain ....and I probably will have to take them forever. So.....it is what it is. That's not to say that I won't EVER lose some weight, but if I do then I am buying all new clothes and not closet shopping for something that is 10 years old and the wrong cut, or color or fabric. It felt pretty liberating actually.

I had to do the same thing with my shoes a month ago when I had the achilles tendon problem. My podiatrist gave me guidelines for the shoes I should be wearing. I got rid of anything that didn't fit the bill. Like flats, for instance. I love flats...but they are not so good for healthy feet. I need a moderate heel with good arch support. And just because I now know how painful it can be to go through foot problems, I am taking the advice to heart. Its not as easy as you might think, finding good comfortable shoes that do NOT look like orthopedic Granny shoes. It takes a whole lot of looking and trying on. I am figuring out certain brands that seem to offer the best fit, and that narrows things down a little bit. The one that is the most comfortable shoe ever (for me), is Rieker. Its a German company, and they call their shoes "anti-stress". I can't find them here. I bought my first pair in NY, and then have ordered 1 other pair. Not all of their women's shoes are cute, so I have to really look through what they offer. But if you can find a cute pair I would be willing to bet large sums of money that it WILL be comfortable.

The Doc (a cute little blonde girl that I swear doesn't look old enough to be out of college yet. Seriously.) also gave me a few other tips. Like never wear the same shoes 2 days in a row. It not only is good for your feet to have different padding every day, but it also gives your shoes a chance to air out. I had no idea it takes at least 24 hours for a shoe to completely "dry out". It not only keeps feet healthy but it will make your shoes last much longer, too. I have yet to convince Bruce of this, though. He buys 1 pair of sneakers and wears them all the time (unless he has to dress up) until they have to be replaced. Maybe I just need to make him go shopping!!! He has plenty of room now that I have cleaned so much stuff out.

Demonic Forces

See this face? Don't be fooled by the cuddly sweetness. She is a demonic force wrapped in an adorable warm and fuzzy fur coat. I have never in my life seen a cat who is so hyper and prone to causing trouble. I thought Vixen was a force to be reckoned with when she was a kitten. She wasn't even CLOSE to what Itty Bitty dishes out. Vixen was an immobile cat statue compared to Bitty. We don't know what to do and are resigned to just waiting it out and hope that as she grows up it will get better.

Bitty has these moments where the urge to rampage mindlessly with no direction overwhelms her. She tears through the house at full speed, running and leaping blindly on everything, through everything, knocking things off, turning things over....nothing is safe from a Bitty rampage. I just cleaned up a cup of coffee that got knocked off the table. The drapes in my living room are torn down. Well, one side is on the floor and the other side is hanging precariously. She has torn down the curtains on several occasions. Half of the blinds in the house are damaged....Its insane.

Bitty's latest amusement is to unroll toilet paper until the roll is empty. We don't know how to stop it. I just fold it over and over in a neat little rectangle and place it on the lid of the tank. Its all I can do. Folded toilet paper is not as fascinating as rolled toilet paper. She leaves the folded stuff alone.

We have no idea what having a Christmas tree in the house is going to be like. I can imagine, but then I start to hyperventilate before the entire picture has time to fully form in my brain. We are going to try....it may be a bare-naked tree.....she likes to chew on things, and we are afraid she might electrocute herself on the cords of the Christmas lights. The plan is to put the bare tree up for a few days and see if the thrill wears off. Then we will move forward as the situation allows. I don't expect much. Any thoughts of a glorious tree decked out with my large collection of sparkly glass ornaments and blazing lights has been knocked out of my head....probably by the falling curtain rods.....She is chewing on the blinds behind me even as I type this. Lord help us.

We are back....

We got back from Las Vegas last night. It was a good trip. Not an excellent trip, but we did have a good time. We enjoyed being with Chris and Jessica. There were high points and low ones, too. The lowest of the lows had to be trying to get there. We were scheduled to fly out on the day that the freak storms hit all over the east coast.

Our first flight got cancelled. We got reassigned to another flight, felt positively elated when we finally boarded it only to have it taxi out to the runway, sit for 45 minutes and then taxi us right back to the gate. Because it got cancelled, too. Bummer. We were so exhausted by the end of that day, haggling to get a flight, standing in lines, multiple trips through security because we kept having to go out to the front ticketing counter to try and figure out how we could get the heck out of Raleigh. Ugh. We had to finally get a hotel and stay overnight, taking an early morning flight the next day. The one bright spot was flying first class that day as compensation for all of our trouble. I don't know if it made up for all the hassle completely, but it did help.

I have pictures to share as soon as I can download them. I am in slow gear today having gotten in late last night and then making an early morning Dr. appointment this morning. I can tell you that I am going back to work tomorrow, as my ankle has finally (tentatively) healed. I no longer have to wear the boot, but I have to be very careful for another month. I am supposed to wear an ankle brace, but its much less intrusive than the boot. I can't do yoga, running (as if), or extended walking for at least 30 more days. I assumed yoga would help, but the Doc said that its too soon to do any serious stretching yet. If I feel any pain I have to slap the awful boot back on, and I am still supposed to take anti-inflammatory meds for another month. I go back on Dec. 2nd and hopefully I will be completely cleared to go back to normal life after that....? This has been weird and long and I hope to never have this flare up again.

But anyway, I do want to write more about the trip later. The high points were dinner at Emeril's "Table 10"....so delicious. And Cirque Du Soleil "O". That show was strange and amazing and I would recommend it highly. Its done in a huge pool onstage, and the performers are all multi-talented divers/gymnasts, who are also synchronized swimmers, contortionists, trapeze artists and dancers. It very entertaining. We also saw the comedian/magicians "Penn and Teller" and we all loved that show, too.

Our hotel, the Bellagio, was luxurious. Our rooms were amazing, and the view of the fountains were fantastic. We were on the 20th floor, right in the middle of the building. Beautiful. On the downside, besides being expensive, you were nickel and dimed to death there. The wi-fi was NOT free. I refused to pay for it, too, so we went without it, even though I had dragged my laptop there. A 6 cup pot of coffee delivered to your room in the morning was something like $20. These were small cups, too. And I thought Starbucks was expensive. Geez. Honestly, I half expected to be charged for my wake up call request yesterday morning. And it was so crowded. Apparently, the casino, shows and restaurants are really popular, so in the evenings these areas were claustrophobically packed with people from all over. Most of them were not guests of the hotel. You had to show room keys to get past the elevator Nazis who guarded the guest room towers. In a way that was a good thing. But don't accidentally try to get upstairs if you left your key card with your husband, and he has disappeared into the vast, never-ending casino to entertain himself while you run upstairs for a minute.

The thing that surprised me was that I don't love Vegas anymore. I used to. When we went 10 or so years ago it was so much fun that I couldn't imagine running out of things to do. This time around....eh.....things have changed a whole lot there since we last went. Case in point, the Excaliber has always been advertised as one of the most "family" oriented hotels. We went there because Chris wanted to do the "Tournament of Kings" dinner show (the one in Myrtle Beach was much better, although the principle is the same). Right in the lobby, in front of the entrance to the "Fun Dungeon" arcade for kids, there was a stage out in the open area with a dancer. She wasn't nude, but almost. The dancing was erotic and provocative, and it kind of creeped me out how many people were dragging kids or pushing strollers past it as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. I do NOT have a problem with exotic dancers, strippers or whatever, but those performances should be in an adult-only club. Not out in the open public areas. Oh well....a lot of Vegas had gone much seedier that way. Even the food, and all of those highly advertised buffets were not all that great. They were much more expensive than the last time we went. Expect to pay upwards of $30 per person, but the quality is more like the local Golden Corral. I was a bit disappointed in that.

Anyway, we had fun, didn't win any money (at least we didn't lose too much so at least there's that}. It was entertaining, and I can officially put Las Vegas to rest now. Been there, done that, and now I am over it. I really don't think I will go back. If I feel the overwhelming urge to gamble (unlikely) I will go to Atlantic City or take myself a cruise to someplace warm and friendly in the Caribbean. Seriously.

Lady Luck PLEASE smile on us....

We leave for Vegas tomorrow. It has become increasingly clear over these past few weeks, while I have been out of work to heal up this stubborn achilles tendon, that my job is detrimental to my health in more ways than I can count. Since I have been off, my blood pressure has been LOW. Do you believe that? LOW! I have a wrist cuff and am supposed to take it several times a day due to the fact that medications only seem to control it marginally. Last night it was 105/69. Never in my life do I remember a low reading like that. I have felt so laid back and unstressed. I haven't had a single tension headache, or tension muscle cramps in my neck. My back has stopped hurting.
Its amazing. I was beginning to think that all of my problems and aches and pains were just a part of getting a wee bit older and it was something that I was just going to have to accept.

Oh well, if I don't win enough $$ to be independently wealthy (unlikely given my reluctance to gamble) then I will probably have to return to that God forsaken job in a week. Of course, there is always the possibility that I will run away from home and stay in Vegas.

Paranormal Activity

Bruce spent the weekend with the guys down at the river, and Jessica came up here on Saturday to spend the night. Its funny how we were both "under the weather" a little bit and didn't feel like doing any of the things we had planned. She didn't get here until about 5pm because she was trying to nap and get rid of some kind of queasy-feeling bug. I was nursing a serious sinus headache. What a bunch of whining babies...HA. But I am glad she did make it eventually. We decided to go get take out (Olive Garden,,,yum), and rent a movie. In keeping with the Halloween season, we chose "Paranormal Activity", which I had seen before but she hadn't. I wanted to see it again since the new one has just come out in theaters, and my niece, Sydney reports that it rates right up at the top of movies that will scare the daylights out of you.

So, this movie sounds so bland and so boring if you try to describe it. Its a young couple, in a regular house (not your huge haunted mansion) and they set up a video camera to try and capture footage of some strange things that are going on in their home. Its not bloody, or overly violent throughout the movie. Instead it plays on your sense of vulnerability while you are sleeping and defenseless. It has an astronomically high "CREEP" factor. The one scene that gets to me for some reason is how the camera captures the girl getting out of bed and then just standing by the bedside with this blank, zombie-like expression for several hours. The counter on the video tape shows that it went on for 2 or 3 hours. Just standing there, while her boyfriend is asleep and totally unaware until he watches the play-back. I have NO idea why that scared me so much, but it made me instantly suspicious that Bruce might just be spending hours every night standing by my side of the bed while I am asleep. LOL. And IF I ever woke up to see that......yeah, it would definitely creep me out.

Anyway, I found that movie to be scary and there is NO way I would have watched it by myself, alone in this house. LOL. But now I am caught up on it and ready to go see the second part. Maybe we can catch it while we are in Vegas. Its definitely a good choice for Halloween.