Leaky Faucet

There is nothing more annoying than the constant *drip* *drip* *drip* of a leaky faucet. And that is the annoyance that I am currently dealing with. It started late yesterday afternoon, when I began to notice the tell-tale signs of leakiness beginning. By yesterday evening, the leaking officially began. Which faucet is it, you are wondering, right? Well, it's not the bathtub, or any of the sinks. It isn't even one of the outside faucets. It's the one that sits square in the center of my face. That's right. We're talking about my nose. Oddly, it is only the left nostril which is leaky. And the contradiction that generally accompanies a leaky nose is present as well. My sinuses on the left side are plugged, and even though there is a incessant drip from my nose, I cannot blow anything out. I am also plagued by thermostat problems (aka: alternating chills and hot flashes), and overall house settling (aka: achiness). I am hoping and praying that my kids and spouse do not end up with the same problems. It's bad enough having to deal with my own house falling apart. I don't want to have to hear the whining and the "hold me's" that will go along with any home owner issues plaguing my family.

So, here's to a house that feels ready to crumble, and lots and lots of prayers that I don't have to see a plumber to fix the leak, and that my family stays healthy :)

Christmas Joy

I hope that everybody had a great Christmas, just like we did. I love Christmas with little kids. It totally brings back the magic of Christmas. The sheer, uncontainable joy and excitement that they have is priceless, and thankfully, it is contagious. Watching them enjoy the gifts that I selected for them is great too.

Aaron is too cool (he's almost 7, you know) to show too much excitement. However, on Christmas Eve, he went to bed at 8. This was his own idea. He wanted to hurry up and fall asleep so that Santa would get here quicker. Aaron usually falls asleep in less than 5 minutes, but on Christmas Eve, it took him close to an hour to finally be able to keep those lids closed. Sadie was her typical self at bedtime...it took her close to an hour to fall asleep, too, but that's what we're used to.

On Christmas morning, Aaron woke up at 1 (we sent him back to bed), at 4:30 (he got in bed w/ us), and at 6:30 (he went and woke up Sadie). The kids looked at their stocking stuff for a bit, and then, on to bigger things.

Aaron opened his biggest gift first (the one from Santa). It was what he expected...a red electric guitar. But he was disappointed because there was no "box" (aka: amp). I asked him if he had asked Santa for a box, and he realized his mistake. I told him he could use his birthday money to buy an amp (but really, he got one the next day from his aunts, uncles, and cousins for his b-day...thanks everyone). He was fine, then. He was also excited about his Rip Stick (so far, no trips to the ER, but keep watching...there's bound to be a post about that when it does happen), and his game. He was less than thrilled with the gift that was clothes. Oh well. My kids always get 3 gifts from me and Toby, and one is always clothes. He'll just have to get used to it.

Sadie was visibly (and audibly) excited about all her gifts. I think she screamed the loudest for her gift from Santa. It was "Dora with a Flying Horse," which is what she had been asking for every time anyone asked her what she wanted for Christmas. That's pretty consistent for a 3 year old. She also screamed w/ excitement when she opened her clothes (typical girl?) She also got some pink Lego's and a jewelry box.

We then cleaned up a bit, and loaded up to go to my family Christmas. That was the mass chaos that I have come to know and love. There were 7 out of the 8 of us kids there most of the day, plus spouses and children (7 kids in all, not counting the grown men who act like children). It was noisy and hectic, but I loved it. It feels like home and I always miss it when it's over. We did Aaron's b-day, played, opened gifts (again, Sadie squealed with excitement for every gift...it was fun), and then ate.

Friday, we woke up to a child w/ pink eye. Lovely. So, we didn't get to spend all day Friday in the chaos. Instead, we packed up, and headed home. I feel like I have been cleaning ever since, trying to put up all the new stuff and figure out what old stuff we can get rid of to make room for that new stuff. We are so blessed!

So, like I said at the beginning, I hope everybody had as great of a Christmas as we did. Family and joy and excitement. You can't beat that!

Christmas Eve

Well, we just arrived home from Christmas Eve Mass. We attended the Children's mass, which has its pros and cons. The cons are obvious. There are a lot of kids, and along with those lot of kids, you get a lot of kids stuff...crying, talking, scurrying about, multiple trips to the bathroom, "hold me's" and more. However, the 2 big advantages of this mass both come from the fact that it is geared for kids. First of all, my kids fit in well. Aaron actually did great. And Sadie did pretty well, too, for a 3 year old. The 2nd advantage is that it is pretty short, to fit the attention span of a child. Short is about the only way I can tolerate being packed like sardines into a gym converted into a sanctuary.

Now, I just need to get my kids to bed. I'm not very confident that this will be a quick task...


I hope you all have a very merry and a very blessed Christmas!

27 Year Ago

27 years ago today was the last day of school before Christmas break of my kindergarten year.

27 years ago today, my Grandma Lucy invited me to go with her, her sister (Aunt Bertha) and her mom (Great Grandma) to Panhandle for some shopping.

27 years ago today, I begged and begged my mom to go with them, and I threw a fit when she said no.

27 years ago today, in the evening, I got mad at my dad when he interrupted a game of Payday that I was playing with my older brother and sister, and he made us go into the den.

27 years ago today, we sat in the dark as dad explained to us that Grandma Lucy, Aunt Bertha, Great Grandma, and Robert (Aunt Bertha's grandson) had been hit by a truck on their way home from Panhandle. Robert survived.

27 years ago today, I survived because my mom told me no.

Christmas Traditions

I love traditions, and this time of year is rich with them. The familiarity of those traditions creates a sense of security, belonging, warmth, and peace. Some of the traditions from my childhood are gone, many still remain, and still other new ones have been created. What are some of your treasured traditions? Below are some of mine...

Traditions from my childhood:

• We never put up our Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving. We would put it up one weekend in December (usually mid-December), but we always had to *clean* the house first. Then, dad would put the tree up and let it sit for a while (to let gravity "fluff" it). I'm sure he drank a beer or two during this process. He would then string our lights. We had bubble lights...candle shaped and multi-colored. All of us kids would then plaster it with a hodge-podge of ornaments.
• Dad would listen to LPs on the record player on Sunday mornings. During Christmas season, it would always be Christmas music. I never have been a morning person, but hearing that music early in the morning made waking up for mass a little more bearable.
• We always went to my Granddad's on Christmas Eve and ate supper there. Then we'd go to Christmas Eve mass, and return to Granddad's to open gifts from him. Christmas Eve will always be a special memory of my Granddad.
• We always opened all of our gifts Christmas morning, one present at a time. We rotated, either oldest to youngest or youngest to oldest, and every year, it was a fight over who got to go first the previous year.

Current traditions:

• We usually try to put up our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. It never happens on the day after Thanksgiving, as I am an avid Black Friday shopper. You can read my blog posts about it here and here.
• My kids have to *clean* the house before we put it up.
• Our tree is pre-lit, so no one has to string the lights anymore. No bubble lights, and only clear lights. I like them, but I think there will always be that nostalgic part of me that misses the bubble lights.
• We still go to Christmas Eve mass, but we go here in Amarillo. Most of the rest of my extended family will still go to Christmas Eve mass in Groom, together. Part of me misses being at mass with my WHOLE family. That doesn't happen often anymore.
• My kids and me and Toby open our gifts Christmas morning here at our house, one at a time, with the kids taking turns.

Aaron just asked me why I typed that we open our gifts Christmas morning, so I had to explain that some people open gifts on Christmas Eve. To my surprise, he didn't wail and beg to please please please open ours then, too.

So, what Christmas traditions do you have? What ones do you treasure most? Which ones do you miss from your childhood?

Be Your Own Advocate (or One for Your Loved Ones)

Recently, a young, healthy friend of mine was admitted to the hospital with viral meningitis. I suppose healthy may not sound quite right, but for the most part, she is healthy...just happened to catch a nasty bug. While in the hospital, she was almost killed by a nurse who failed to follow proper hospital protocol and execute even a little intelligence. She administered a narcotic medication that was outside of her scope of practice to administer in the method it was ordered, and although she administered a dose that was within the range ordered by the doctor, it was way too high. This friend of mine was given the large dose and felt fine initially. She sent her husband to go get her some tea because she was thirsty. He returned 5 minutes later to find her blue and gasping. He could not revive her and ran out to the nurses' station and got help. Luckily, my friend survived the incident, but it just goes to show that you always need someone in the hospital room with you, to keep an eye on things.

Now, I want you to remember that I am a nurse, and a nursing educator, and I did my Master's thesis on medication errors. Med errors happen in the hospital, even when nurses follow protocol and the standards of practice. Nurses and doctors are human, and mistakes are going to happen. That is why I urge you to be your own advocate. Here are a few suggestions:

• Always question the nurse about your meds, especially if they look different from what you are accustomed to taking.
• Make sure the nurse identifies you so that you are not receiving a different patient's medication. Don't assume that s/he knows who you are, even if s/he's been taking care of you all shift, or even a few days.
• Make sure the nurse washes his or her hands (or gels) before touching you. Every time. Don't be afraid to ask them to if they forgot. This is the BEST way to prevent the spread of infection, and believe me, it is rampant in the hospital.
• If you receive any I.V. medications, make sure the nurse swabs the port (where the tubing for the medication hooks up to your main line) before hooking up the new tubing or syringe.

These are just a few things that you can do to protect yourself or your loved ones. And always make sure that you are not alone (or your loved ones are not alone) when in the hospital.

The EVIL That is Krazy Glue...and the Genius That is Me

Earlier this week, we took the kids to buy a new ornament for this year. Each child selected their favorite one, and we headed home. Sadie's was a Santa holding a candy cane. Well, Sadie played a bit too rough with it before hanging it on the tree, and the candy cane broke off. Friday, I bought some Krazy Glue at Walmart. I selected the Krazy Glue pen, thinking that it would be great. I read the instructions and attempted to glue the tiny red-striped cane back into Santa's hand. Well, I must have pushed a little too hard, because a copious amount of the evil stuff ended up coating my fingers. Instantly, this chemical-weapon-grade glue bonded my ring and middle fingers, while at the same time permanently attaching my anniversary ring to my ring finger. Guess Toby's really stuck with me now :)



Mumbling a few choice words under my breath, I found the packaging, and read the directions for how to un-stick myself. Either use acetone fingernail polish remover or warm soapy water. Let me assure you, warm soapy water is completely ineffective. And we had no acetone fingernail polish remover...just the non-acetone (aka, non-cancer forming) variety. Luckily, after poking fun at me for a while, Toby made a quick trip to Wally-World and purchased some. It worked fairly quickly, but not before soaking into the places where I had attempted to simply pry my fingers apart, and instead pull off several layers of dermis. Let me tell you...acetone burns if you are missing part of your skin. Finally, I was able to separate my fingers and could focus on working to remove the ring. After several more minutes, I was successful!



Yes, I feel like a dufus. Here is a picture of my hand...This is after I pried apart the top part of my fingers. Aaron has started referring to me as "Nine Fingers."