I think even my toenails are tired. Today was such a very long today. Steven is still in ICU.. although he is doing much better. He is still on very powerful pain meds and comes in and out according to where he is in the cycle of the meds. We werent able to get him off of the foley cath today because he sometime in the night he became sort of dehydrated. ( Im still unclear about how? He is on an IV drip for fluids.)  and wasnt putting out as much as the Dr would like. But he was able to get out of bed and sit in a chair for a while and then he got REALLY excited when a little lady brought in a tray with some sweet tea and some broth on it. My man LOVES sweet tea. He drinks about a gallon a day and hasnt had any since christmas eve. (poor baby!) He sipped on it and it seemed to energize him for a while

 This evening he asked me if I would go home early enough to get a good nights sleep. It was so sweet the way he asked me, like it was a favor I was doing for him. I DO NOT like leaving him up there. I realize that in ICU he is VERY well taken care of (trust me, I will NOT be leaving him when he goes out to a room on the post-op floor) But I guess I feel like if I am there nothing bad can happen to him.. which is total crap.. but whatever. It makes me feel better ya know? SO anyway. Here I am getting ready to turn in very soon.

We are still on watch for infection and pneumonia.. and I cant even BEGIN to imagine what this is going to cost.

I am totally exhausted. Christmas Day, Steven and I were watching television. He had been in some abdominal discomfort all week after having been diagnosed with constipation early in the week. He seemed much better and had even eaten some breakfast. He suddenly jumped off the couch and said something about gas pains and headed to the bathroom… a few minutes later Thing Two ran into the room screaming that her Daddy was really sick. I of course ran after her and found Steven on the bathroom floor.

  We rushed him to the ER and where they did xrays and were preparing him for a cat scan when he suddenly began vomitting and fell into the early stages of shock.  His fever shot up to 105 and he began to shiver and jerk. When he was finally stableized, a cat scan was preformed and he was eventually diagnosed with Diverticulitis (an inflammation of the colon) and it was discovered that he had perforated his large intestine. Infection was seeping into his body cavity! Needless to say I was totally freaked out. I did manage to stay fairly calm.. it was so so so scary to see him in so much pain and not have any way to help him. He was admitted to ICU and was sedated with tons of morphine. I spent a very scary night waiting for the 15 minutes an hour they would let me in to be with him. I finally curled up in a chair to sleep a little at around 4 am.

At 5 his nurse called me and asked if I would mind giving Steven a bath as he was asking for me. He was so high.. and in so much pain. I dont think I have ever touched anyone whose skin was as hot as his was! It was like fire. He kept looking at me and asking me why we were at the hospital. Then minutes later he would ask me where the babies were.. or where he had parked the car. Honestly I wanted to puke. I was so scared.

At around 8 am he went into surgery. My mom and my mother inlaw were there to wait with me… as well as our pastor. Im so glad they were there. It would have been an impossible day to have to sit there alone. The surgoen ended up doing  a bowell resection as there was a part of Stevens colon that was totally destroyed when the diverticuli ruptured. I was warned that he could come out of the OR with a colostomy bag or worse. I dont think I have ever prayed harder in my life.  36 is so so young to have something like that. I am sure we would have dealt with it fine.. but God had mercy.

 He was in surgery about 5 hours and when the surgeon finally came to tell us that Steven was in recovery I wanted to kiss him! Everything went very well and the resection was successful. When I went to him in ICU he was so very pale. He had tubes coming from every which way and was really out of it.  I spent last night between his room helping to care for him and sleeping in a chair in the ICU waiting room.

Today he was taken off the breathing machines and is doing pretty well on his own.. he is still on O2 but that’s just to help him a little.He has apnea and that is exaserbated by the morphine. He had a tube down his throat and this afternoon that was taken out. Hopefully tommorow he will be able to come off the foley cath and get some moving done. Dr said he has to make some on his own before he can go to a private room out of ICU. (where I can room in and stay with him all the time)

Tonight we decided that I should come home to sleep some and see  Thing Two (t1 is with her mom this weekend and will be home tommorow). I plan to be back at the hospital first thing in the morning. It was so hard to leave Steven all alone in ICU.. but we know the nurses he is being taken care of by tonight and they will do a good job (although no one can do it like I would)

We are praying for an easy recovery and our goal is to be home by the new year. PLEASE keep Steven in your prayers.. he is still in so much pain and the risk of pneumonia and infection are still high.

                                                    Merry Christmas!!!

We hope that you have the best holiday ever. We are mightily blessed and I personally consider it so special to have each of you in my life.. whether you are a close friend or just some one passing through.

with the US mail were my new crocs! The lovely Lisa sent me a code to be used at Crocs.com and I rushed right over there. Originally I ordered a sexy pair of Disney crocs and a cutsie pair of maryjanes.. but alas. I guess I am not to have a pair of those cute Mickey head crocs… they were out of stock. RATS (get it Mickey MOUSE. rats? lol) BUT this little number arrived today.

 And how could you not be happy with THESE I might ask? I should say not! Steven responded when I did a little sexy dance in the doorway with them on. “Those. are. the. ugliest. shoes. I. have. ever. seen.” I blew a raspberry at him.

In other news.. Steven was in the ER last night..He has been MISERABLE for days.. his tummy was all swollen up and he was running a fever. I tired all of my home remedies and nothing was helping. I was actually getting really worried… so we went in to the non-emergency clinic last evening.. and it seems?  his umm errrr. plumbing seemed to be totally backed up. If you know that he pumps septic tanks for a living? Youd have laughed as hard as I did.. I know. He was sick, and a good wife wouldnt have laughed. But I couldnt help it? A septic tank pumper with backed up “pipes”?  It was to much humor to control. I really lost it when after reading his xrays the Dr. came in and said. “Well, as his wife, you already knew this. But You sir? Are full of crap.” I was crying I was laughing so hard. He, was indignant, the humiliation of it all… heh. I still want to giggle about it.

   My annual Christmas cold has arrived, and not a second too soon either. I was begining to think I might escape. no luck. I am snotty and coughing and… this is begining to be a lot about body fluids huh? Hopefully it will be quick and over and I will be ready to party by thursday.

We had a really great weekend. I went to Florence on saturday to finish some last minute shopping. I didnt intend to be shopping this late in the game.. but I had a few last minute things. Circuit City had all of thier tv on dvd sets 20% off.. so I scored a few good deals. We stopped at Chili’s for lunch and I had the chicken crisper tacos.. yummmmmmy. I love sweet spicy sauces and the honey chipoltle sauce is GREAT. We shopped some more and then grabbed a Starbucks Egg Nog latte on the way out of town.

 Those things are YUMMY. with a capital yum. I even grabbed some eggnog at the store last night and made my own verson with some extra strong brewed coffee. Delicious.. could be an addiction if I am not careful. I plan to take some to work tommorow.. that ought to make an extra long work day go by fast (ugh.. there is nothing like working food service with a cold. People look at you like you are some kind of creature.. Im not working WITH the food.. I am managing. But still)

Sunday Thing Two had a part in our church’s annual kids production. It was called “It’s A Wonderful Life” and they did an OUTSTANDING job. It was so so cute. T2 played a “parent” and did a super job.

 This is kind of a fuzzy picture.. it was me with the camera and not Steven, But you can see her on stage. She is so cute

She had a costume change and here she is in the curtain call.

They were so sweet. The play was perfect and they had a good time doing it.  After the play was over Steven took a couple shots on the stage with the good lighting…. they were ok. Here are the best othem.

Today we spent chasing around town. I have a pocket book that Thing 1 loves and I wanted to give her one like it for Christmas. It was one I purchased at a grocery store of all places and then altered by having it monnogrammed and then added a cutsie little bow on it. I dont shop at this store often, and was tickled to find one in her favorite colors. Soo… I picked it up from the monographers Saturday.. and didnt really check it out to much.. I should have because when I went to wrap it today, I noticed that when they did the monnograms they stitched through the zipper, and it wont close! UGH. long story short there arent any more in the right color at the grocery store and two days before christmas we’ll see what the lady can do. I wasnt very happy with the customer service I was given.. she kind of acted like.. “uhh well, too bad for you, its two days before Christmas.”  Even though it was totally her fault. Youd think she’d have at the very least appologized. I dont plan to use her again. I dont monnogram often and if I do from now on I will send it off someplace. I understnad its the holidays and she was busy, but a simple. “I am so sorry”  would have gone a long way for making me feel better about the situation.

**update** I went back into the store today to check on what they had decided.. she was going to attempt to find a replacement.. but there arent any more anywhere. We decided to add a snap to the purse so it can be closed.. and then she will come up with something to make it up to me. I was MUCH happier with the customer service today.. she must have been having an off day yesterday.  ****

tonight I am baking some maccaroons and taking a hot bath. YAY.

Ive been meaning to post about our new friend around here.

Weve adopted this tiny spitfire.  A friend at work had some kittens that needed homes really quickly.. I didnt intend on having a cat.. they are a pain indoors. But I couldnt stand to think of them going to the pound.. so….. she came home with me. I do intend to slowly introduce her to living outdoors though once she gets biggger. Steven’s allergies dont allow cats for the most part.

Since we name all of our pets after country western singers she could be no exception. We call her Patsy.. after the incomparible Ms. Patsy Cline.

Paisley, our Dauchund/pug mix is adapting.. sort of. She is very jealous and has a constantly disaproving look as if she suspects the cat of being up to now good. She follows Patsy around the place and then comes to sit at my feet looking up at me as if to say ” Dont you see what she’s doing?”

I am finally going to take the time to wrap up the report of our wonderful vacation. Every time I think about the trip I get this giddy little feeling. It really was the best vacation. I cant wait to take my girls on a cruise. I know they are just going to love it. That was really the only drawback.. I kept thinking that they would love this or that.. and kept seeing things I wanted to tell them about or whatever.. but I wouldnt go back and take them this time though.

Anyway.  Wednesday was our day at sea. We got to spend a great day just enjoying the ship and eachtoher.  Today I finally did get my little sleep in. I think we were in bed until 8 or so. We lay in bed and watched a movie and enjoyed being together with no interuptions. We had 10:30 am reservations for Palo’s brunch that I was really excited about. I hadnt wanted to miss a dinner with our friends so I didnt make dinner reservations for us and didnt think Id be able to get a spot for brunch since they were all full when we tried to get them online. But before we left port canaveral I tried one last time in wavebands and was able to get one no problem! I was so excited! Steven, had no idea what I was talking about, but went along with it. I am blessed to have a man who tollerates my whims like he does. He knows that I am usually right though

We were ready by 9 and took a leisurely stroll around the decks and watched the ocean go by. We weren’t going very fast and we could see other ships steaming by on the horizon. When it got close to 10:30 we made our way to Palo and checked in. We were given an AMAZING table right by the big windows where we could look out over the ocean. The day was perfect with a clear blue sky and big puffy white clouds floating by. SO pretty.

I am FIRED because I cant remember our waiters name.. but he was very attentive. He offered and brought us our complimentary mimosas and they were SO good. YUMMY.  Then he gave us a tour of the food options and the buffet. It was neat how they had it set up. You could help yourself from the antipasta (appetizers) and then chose from entrees they had set up.. only you ordered those from your waiter.  The buffet was AMAZING

About that time our friernds Lisa and Pete were seated right behind us. It was nice to congratulate the couple on thier first full day as man and wife

After we’d eaten till we could barely move we left Lisa and Pete to enjoy eachother and thier brunch. And went to walk it off a little. It wasnt long though until we headed to the pool and the wonderful adults only area. Honestly I was afraid that I would find the entire ship crawling with kids.. but it wasnt like that at all. Disney does a great job in finding something for everyone.

We spent time in the hottubs with Edwin and Kim and then later I managed to find myself in a tub with two gay couples. I learned quite a bit about where to get the best Ralph Lauren knockoffs. lol.

We spent most of the day at the pool. Before we knew it, it was time to get dressed for our last show and dinner on the ship. I was actually SO sad to head to the room. We hurriedly got dressed and went to do a little shopping in the shops near the theater. I bought a couple little things for the girls, but the disney prices kept me from doing TO much damage. PHEW!

That night’s show was our favorite of the entire cruise. Disney Dreams follows a little girl as she discovers the power of believing in herself. She adventures through the classic Disney tales and the show is AMAZING. I found myself a little teary eyed. Disney is truely our “happy place” and now its expanded to include the cruise line. I just cant wait to share it with my babies!

After the show it was time for dinner at Animators Palate.

A really neat resturaunt that is themed SO perfectly. I wont ruin the surprise for those who might go on a future cruise.. but I will say I was enthralled I dont even remember what I ate that night! (of couse I think I was still kind of full from brunch!)

After dinner we had to rush back to our rooms to finish packing as we had to have our luggage in the hall by 11 pm for checking to disembark the next morning. How sad! It didnt take long though and I had us all ready to go. Such a restful wonderful day. I wish I was there right now!

I will finally get to our surprise day at Epcot maybe later today or this weekend

I am loving the holidays this year. (I always do) We are super busy, but in a good way. Last night we attended Thing One’s junior high school holiday band concert.

Nothing like spending an evening jammed into the gym bleachers with a gajillion other parents. It was a cute concert though, and it’s always nice to finally hear the results of having to listen to the tenor sax part of “Jingle Bell Rock” repeatedly for the past 3 months. They did a great job. 

 My niece Patience is a year behind T1 in school and  in the begining band, so we got to hear her play her flute too.  Bonus

This would have been a GREAT picture.. except T1 has this thing with cameras and always has to have two photo’s taken one after the other because the first time? Her eyes are garunteed to be closed. Its the strangest thing. Steven was in a hurry and didnt take the second one… so there we have it. T1 in her band outfit all cute.. and her eyes are closed. rats. I plan to get some shots when they have the next concert sometime next week.

This is Thing Two and her buddy LaTerin from preschool days. They have been in the same class since 2k. It will break my heart to see them separate next year when they move from the primary school (5k-3) to the elementary school (4-6).

In other news I discovered a GREAT holiday recipe to share with you. Yesterday at work one of our venders brought a bag of this delicious chocolatey trail mix stuff and I set out to recreate it when I got home last night. It wasnt too hard to figure out what was in it and I am SO glad. That stuff is addicting! I do have to figure out a better way to store it.  I made it last night and it was all crispy and perfect like it came from the venders house.. but today after spending the night in a bowl with a lid? Its a little chewy, tastes great still, but I like it crispy. Maybe you are sopposed to bake it at some point like you do chex mix? OR hmmmm maybe the answer is to eat it all up as soon as you make it? lol

Reindeer Food

Ingredients

one box of Honey grahams cereal

1/2 jar of dry roasted peanuts

1 can on lightly salted pecans

1 bag of white chocolate chips

1/2 cup of heavy cream

In a really big bowl mix the nuts and the cereal (the one our vender brought had pretzel sticks in it.. but I didnt have any) In a double boiler (a saucepan with about 2 inches of simmering water in it.. and a glass or alluminum bowl set over it) melt the chocolate chips. Mix in the heavy cream if you need it to help you keep your chocolate from seizing.

Pour the melted chocolate over the mixture and mix to coat. Pour out on wax paper to cool. Separate into managable clumps and store in an airtight bowl or ziplock.  YUMMMY!

I am in a menu planning rut. Even I am not interested in what I am cooking this week… and thats bad.. but people still click on my blog looking for menu plans all the time.. so here ya go.

Monday- Homemade Split Pea Soup with ham, grilled cheese sandwiches, green jello with pears

Tuesday- Chili dogs, tater tots

Wednesday-

Chicken enchilada casserole, green salad

Thursday- Staff party at Shoney’s.. the kids will likely eat pizza or something

Friday- Carribean jerk Salmon with pineapple salsa, wild rice, mixed veggies

Saturday- Sunday school party… kids will eat something around here.. maybe leftovers

Sunday- Cube steak and gravy, garlic mashed potatoes, broccoli and cheese

I did my first baking of the season today. I tried Giada De Lorentiis’  Orange and Nut Bars. She made these on her show, and they were featured on the Food Network’s 12 cookies of Christmas email series so… I figured they’d be worth a try. Especially since they used pre-made cookie dough that happened to be on sale at Wally’s on friday… AND I had a teeny  jar of marmalade that we filched from a returaunt when we were on vacation.

And they are indeed worth a try.. Here is the recipe as she lists it on the FN site.

Orange and Nut Bars.

Ingredients

• 1 package store bought sugar cookie dough
• 1 cup orange marmalade
• 1 1/2 cups assorted nuts, toasted and chopped (try hazelnuts, almonds, and walnuts)
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread the cookie dough out on a cookie sheet to 1/4-inch thickness (about 9 inches by 12 inches) using your fingertips. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool.

Spread the marmalade over the cookie. Sprinkle with nuts.

In a double boiler over very lightly simmering water, melt the chocolate. Dip a spoon in the melted chocolate and drizzle on top of the cookie. Let cool. Cut the cookie into 12 bars or squares. Serve or store in an airtight container

THIS. is how mine turned out.

Notice that there is a square missing. Also notice that it didnt come out easily, and that MY chocolate is far more “glumpy” than Giada’s. I also added white chocolate chips to mine. These cookies are yummy if you like orange marmalade. Which I am not sure I do.. there is really big hunks of orange peel in marmalade and I think I had forgotten that. I am also sure that Giada did not over bake her sugar cookie base like I did.. mine is pretty crisp. And I think we were shooting for soft and gooey. BUT Thing Two’s verdict was. OHH YUMMY. Thing One did not try it as they were hurtling out the door to go to youth group at the time I finally pried one off of the cookie sheet (flipping it out onto the counter in the process, also bending a favorite spatula all to heck) . but she said that they looked “decadent” which is her word of the day.. so I may have a winner.  Steven, who is not a fan of citrus at all liked the chocolate drizzle that I had left over and ate a huge spoonful of it. Stating. “yall can have the cookies, Im eating this delicious frosting” I didnt tell him that it was only melted chocolate chips.

ooo I love this time of year. We have been so so busy though! Believe it or not this is the first time I have sat still long enough all week to even think about formulating a post.  Our week started out with Thing One going to Florence High School to audition for the district band. She plays the tenor sax. She did so well on her audition, and scored second chair in the district! We are SO proud.  We will get plenty of opportunities to hear her play this month.. Her band has something like 4  holiday concerts scheduled.

 Thursday found us at our town’s annual holiday parade. The girls have loved being involved in it in one way or another since they were very small. Its always so fun to see the whole town turn out to see the 20 or so “floats” go down main street. Thing one marched with the band again this year.. the junior band doesnt play yet, but marches behind the highschool marching band. Thing Two rode on the Dillon Church of God U-turn Kids float. They had a great time screaming MERRY CHRISTMAS. all the way down main street.

After the parade Steven and I went to a dinner given by our church for  church workers.. those who are involved in one area of service or another for the church. I am a nursery worker and Steven is an AV nerd in the media department. We had a great time chatting with friends  and had a really yummy country dinner served by our favorite local cafe. They have the BEST mashed potatoes you ever had. EVER.  Steven managed to break our tail light as we left though.. backing out of the parking lot. DOH! And to think he DRIVES for a living. ugh.. oh well. At least it was only our car that was damaged and not the whatever it was he backed into. A HUGE intact piece of the wrap around light was missing!

Saturday, Steven and I were up early and went to get breakfast together at the same place we had dinner thursday night… and found the missing piece of his tail light two days later!  It was only cracked, and he was able to pop it back into place until we can find a piece to replace it! I was so surprised to find it!

After breakfast we went to do some grocery/christmas shopping. Then we ran home and grabbed the Thing’s to go to my niece Lyric’s birthday party at a roller rink in the next town over.

 She is just older than Thing Two and was turning 9.

The kids had a great time skating (no, I did NOT risk my neck and my hienee on skates. thank you very much)

 Lyric got some nice things.

Thing Two was heck on wheels all over the rink.

Thing One enjoyed playing pool with her Daddy and Uncle rather than skating.. she said she just had to far to fall if she went down.. and I dont blame her YIKES! 

Today was church of course, and then after lunch at our favorite Mexican place we went to do some shopping with the girls. Usually we chose names off the Angel tree for our girls to buy a gift for. I want them to be reminded of how blessed we are and that Christmas isnt all about recieving gifts.  We are by NO means rich or well off, (ugh not even close. grr I hate money!) but we are blessed for sure. Besides I just cant stand the thought of ANY kid going without presents on Christmas morning.( just think if EVERY fortunate family did that for a couple kids?)  anyway.. this year  we did it a little differently, I know of a family that is in pretty tough shape this year, so Steven, the girls and I shopped for them instead of chosing names from the tree.. I think the girls got into it even more this year being that I KNOW the kids that will get the gifts. They kept piling stuff in the buggy and it was hard to reighn it in! It did my heart good though to see them so excited about doing something for someone else. They ran in when we got home and got right down to wrapping the presents. I just love those sweet girls!