Someone I used to work with decided after she had depleted a LONG maternity leave-vacation-sick days that she couldn't bare to go back to work full time so she quit.  Not, however, before she made a big mess of her job, which greatly effected other's jobs, including mine in a negative way.

Several people questioned her, asking if she was sure that was the right choice for her, "oh yes, yes it is the best choice, how could I leave my precious little one in the hands of a stranger?  She's only 9 months old!"  Yes, 9 months, that's how long the part time- maternity leave-vacation-sick days went on.

One well intentioned person even told her not to do it.  She warned she had done it herself and found not everyone is cut out to be a stay at home mom.  She was told the choice had been made.  Others were told that "That woman should mind her own business."

Two weeks later she called the director asking for work.  That was two weeks into interviews to replace her.  She said she and her husband had already arranged their schedules so that she could come back as a full time (9-1) instructor. (That's my job.)  Did she know that if she simply "came back" that either my co-worker or I would lose our jobs? Did she care?

I would have been mortified to come back asking for a job, on principle considering how strongly she insisted she was making the right choice.  More so in that she left the place in a shambles.

I wonder if she even realized what she had done.

I thought before that she was a very self centered person.  The kind of person who tells everyone else how it is, but when someone speaks their mind back, she got of the defense.     I thought when she left that she had never seemed to be the stay at home type.  But I also thought that I didn't know her so well, so figuring she knew herself I didn't say anything.

I think I know myself pretty well.  I've been working part time since May.  I love it.  I think it's perfect really.  I get some time to spend with the baby, I get some time to spend with adults.

I think I could be happy as a stay at home mom.  I have so many things to fill my time.  The time that is that is not filled with the baby.  She leaned to stand, cruise and make funny sniffy noises last week.  She got her first tooth.  She loves her high chair and I love to watch her eat Cheerios. She concentrates so hard to get that little "o" between her finger and her thumb, then while it is still as far away from her mouth as her little arm can reach, she opens her mouth and slowly brings her treasure to her tongue.

I'll be going back full time in January.  It will be hard.

Here's what's happened in the last few days.  Sweet Pea has learned how to go from a crawling position to a sitting position, and she's learned how to pull herself up.  I told D. I thought she was a little a head on the crawling.  The baby sites say she may start crawling by 7 months.  So, she was a month early, so what.  This pulling up thing though- I don't remember reading about that yet.  It's great, but it means a lot of things have to change and quick.  The crib mattress needs to be lowered, so she won't fall out.  Everything needs be put up higher, because now she can reach everything on the sofa, the first and second shelves, the foot stool and the chairs.

She's sleeping on the floor now.  When I put her in the crib for a nap she sat up and looked at me like, "I think I can get out of here."

I also learned what "cruising" means in baby vocabulary.  That's when they move around a room going place to place holding on to something to help them balance.  She's also cruising.

I often dream of running, not from anything, just running to get places or for fun.  I wish that were really in my temperament.

I've declared Mondays for me. The  baby is with Noni and I'm going to try to sign up for a class.  The first class is Hula Hoop for the young at heart. (That means old people, ie me!)  It only meets four times. After that I'll start something new- or maybe dedicate that time to finishing something old.

Monday evenings I will attend a woman's Bible study on Esther.

Other Monday activities will include school work and house work.  Blah.

I've discovered I can't really use my office more than on Tuesdays and Thursdays because I never know when Steve will be there.
It should be only a few months until Steve will move over to the "adjunct office" and I will be labeled "core faculty."
It will be hard to leave my baby everyday!

EJ got up on her hands and knees yesterday and started rocking.  When I put her down she's no longer in that same place when I come back.  She's not crawling yet, but she's scooting around on the floor and rolling until she finds herself someplace interesting.  She can sit up by herself now.  She'll still fall over, but she doesn't seem to mind when she does, because that gives her a chance to scoot and roll.  

Time to baby proof.

Susa the unfinished stocking stuffer.

This poor girl has been left undone for, well who knows how long, she has a sister even less put together.  I've got to get these two girls going!  I'm in a mood to pull my sewing machine out. The more I think about it the more convinced I am that I could easily be a stay at home mom and never run out of (fun) things to do.

I made some baby food today.  I don't know why I decided to buy all orange food again.  Carrots, sweet potatoes, mangos and peaches.  I realized the orangeness after the carrots and the sweet potatoes . . .  so I gave my little monkey some bananas.  She wasn't impressed with my effort.  Little stinker.

She was eating food really well, then she started getting distracted by EVERYTHING and doing crazy little interpretive dances in her chair.  I've been using a Bumbo to sit her in while she eats.  I need a high chair so I can put her there and leave her until she's ready for the next bite, some times it takes quite a while to come around.

I just put a pot pie in the oven, the packaging told me that the paper tray the pie was in was "ovenable." I question the wordability of "ovenable."

I can't find Susa's sister, but I did find her hair, and few naked cousins.

Big day for me and Sweet Pea.  I had a plan of things to do, I did the fun things, and just as I was starting the less fun things I got a call.  There is a new outlet mall and it opened today.  Of course I Had to check it out right?  I mean, even though I don't need anything, I should know what's available for when I do need something.

SP slept in late, the only problem with that is the over-wet diaper.  I think I can deal with a few extra things to wash in trade for extra hours of sleep.

I had breakfast and got some crocheting and listening to Bible done this morning before she got up.  After she ate we went adventuring.  We walked up to the church on the corner and found a mini geocache.

PK got me involved in her new hobby.  Of course I want to look for treasure!  With a map! It's pretty great.  I got a cute little pathtag, which is a trackable coin people have made so they can see who will find their treasures, and what stories they have to tell about finding them.

Of course as this was only my third geocaching adventure, this was my first pathtag and now I know I need to collect them.  And more importantly, I need to convince my director that we need to have them made for TCU IEP, for students and other geocachers to find them and write notes for us.

There are several caches within walking distance of the house, so SP and I have lots of other adventures to try before we need to branch out.

Sweet Pea and I have already had a full  day, and she's been napping for an hour.

I decided to try cloth diapers . . . it seemed like a good idea a the time.  It might still be a good idea when I don't use them at night.  When she woke up she was wet head to toes.  Her clothes, swaddler, blanket, sheet, and mattress pad were wet too, not to mention the cloth diaper and cover.

So, lesson learned, not at night.

I changed her, thought about giving her a bath and decided that I'd just wiper her down, feed her and then strip her bed.

I stripped the bed and put everything in the washer.

She ate 2.5 ounces of oatmeal, then 7 oz. of formula.  When I insisted on a burp, I got one, and ALL the cereal and formula too.  I'm not exaggerating.  ALL.  ALL over me.  I was soaked. I thought about giving us both a bath, but I decided to just change my clothes.

I took the first load out of the washer to start the second load, which included my wet clothes.

So, maybe she's not feeling good.  I mean she did smile at me as as soon as the she was finished throwing up on me. It wasn't even that gross considering it had only been in her for about 3 minutes.

I went to change her pants and it was dirty.  It was dirty up to her armpits. Again, I'm not even exaggerating.  It wasn't diarrhea, just a good healthy BM.

I gave up and we both got in the bath.

We both got dressed.  She ate 5 oz. of formula and went back to sleep by 10:30.

Making baby messes is hard work.

I had a dream the other night.

I dreamed I was relocated to a vineyard along with a large group of Christians.  It was like a prison camp.  We were instructed to pick the grapes, but we were not allowed to eat them.The grapes were large and beautiful, heavy with juices and each fruit was as big as a walnut.  The Christians were hungry.  Many of them ate the forbidden fruit until their mouths were purpled with the juices. Others ate in secret, furtively looking to see if they were being watched.  Others tried to resist, but they were so hungry they were surprised to find the fruit in their mouths and gone before they understood what they had done. They asked among themselves, "Did I eat that?"

It was a dream of hypocrisy. 

We live among the temptations of the world, and some of us gorge.  Some of us pretend we are not taking what we should not have, we hide our actions.  Some of us wish to do right, but before we know it we have taken what we should never have taken.

Is there a Christian among us who really could resist unto death the temptations of this world?

I know who I am, and it is shameful.

• The "Hate nuggets" on both sides need to stop.
  
  
  
  Shannon Dawn Burnham Has chik fil a killed your gay friends? I thought the owner just has an opinion.

  5 hours ago via mobile · 
• 
  

   They've donated lots of $$ to anti gay charities I refuse to donate to that cause so they won't profit of off me eating there.

  4 hours ago ·  · 4
• 
  

  No, none of my friends have been murdered by Chick-fil-a Shannon Dawn Burnham. However, Chick-fil-a has donated millions of dollars of their profits to several anti-gay groups and have made it perfectly clear that they do not believe that all men were created equal. Since I do, I am making it perfectly clear that I will never give them another red cent.

  3 hours ago ·  · 1
• 
  

  Further comments are not welcome here. Click "Like" or move along please.

  2 hours ago ·  · 1

  
  

  Between the last two comments this comment by me was deleted:

  
  

  I respect your decision.  Here is what the owner of Chic-fil-a says, "While my family and I  believe in the Biblical definition of marriage, we love and respect anyone who disagrees." 

  
  

  Here is a list of the "anti gay" charities the owner of Chic-fil-a has donated to:

  Marriage and Family Legacy Fund

  Fellowship of Christian Athletes

  National Christian Foundation

  Focus on the Family

  *Eagle Forum (leading the pro-family movement since 1972)

  *Exodus International (seeks to "rehabilitate" gay Christians)

  Family Research Council

  
  

  * I looked these two up since I didn't know them and they weren't obviously named.  

  
  

  If a gay person decides he wants to be a Christian and wants to be "rehabilitated" isn't that his business?  

  
  

  I am so disappointed by the lack of thoughtfulness on both sides.

Half year resolutions:


Half year resolutions:

• NO NEW YARN (except on my birthday) for the rest of the year

• Take time to read (for fun)  every day, even if it's only 5 minutes

• DIET (Lose 30+ lbs by Christmas)

• Write in the baby book

• Blog once a week (at least)

• Take time to KNIT or CROCHET (like I have to remind myself, but sometimes I don't because of other things that I feel like I have to do.  I want to remember I have to relax for me)

• Keep Organizing

• Keep up on my work prep

• Enjoy my new office at work (Can I do 2+ hours a week on work days?  Can I take the baby in on off days?)

• EXERCISE each day, even if it's only for a short time

• Spend more time with hubby 

• Enjoy time with EJ

I can do these things.

Mirrors lie.  They tell you you look good, at least better than you did when you started whatever the process was to get you looking in the mirror.  Changing clothes, putting on make up or doing your hair, the mirror lies.

I know this because sometimes I look in the mirror and think, "Yeah that's okay."  Then I look at a picture taken that same day and think, "What the HECK?"

The time has come again to be serious about a diet.  Several of my friends have had very good success with their diets, and I think it is time for me.  I need to get rid of this baby weight before I add more on.  I told D. we can talk about babies again at the end of the year, so there's not much time to get some off.

I talked to the Dr. about it and he said as soon as my lungs and feet are "less jacked up" he could hook me up with a program that can work  on the condition that I PROMISE to exercise, or it would be a waste of effort.  I know he's right.  I've lost weight before without exercise, but it all found me again.

I'm thinking a good idea would be the C25K program and some gym time after work.   It will be hard because 1. I'm lazy and 2. I don't like to walk with the current stroller.  I don't want to buy an expensive exercise stroller if I'm not really going to get my money's worth. Besides, if we do get pregnant around the end of the year, I'll need a double . . . hard.

Other plans, figure out my protein, calories and burn calories needs.  I know there are formulas.
Improve will power- get exercise music and listening materials ready to keep me focused.
Make a schedule to be sure to have no excuses for "no time" to exercise.

I've decided to stay part time, probably until the Spring, when the full time position opens up at TCU.

When to start?  Well, my feet are still feeling pretty good from the steroid shot. (that was amazing) I'm feeling mostly better from the lung sickness (that was pretty awful.) So  I think I'll start the exercising Monday or Tuesday.  I'll start the diet planning this weekend or Monday.  I wish I could find all the S4L stuff that I had a few years ago.

It's going to happen . . . I think.

Me: My feet really hurt when I first get up in the morning
Dr: Let me see your feet . . . oh yeah your feet are . . . I haven't seen feet like this since ...
you need a rolling pin.
Me: I have a rolling pin.
Dr. I need a rolling pin, a solid mahogany one.
Me: Ok.
Dr. That's what my father told my mother he would give her for her wedding present, while they were on their first date. I wonder whereI can get a solid mahogany rolling pin.
Me: I don't know.
Dr. Maybe I should make one.
Me: I guess so.
Dr: You can use a regular rolling pin, or a Dr. Pepper bottle.
Me: For what?
Dr. Your feet.

I have a "friend" on Facebook (yes read those quotes as intended) who is very opinionated.  She's an atheist and she's always railing against anything Christians and all the "dumb" things Christians do. She's Californian, so she's always going off on Texans and rednecks.  She practices "attached parenthood" so she's always against "scheduling children."  It goes on and on.  I think many of her posts are silly and some even offensive. I've often wondered how I could stop seeing her posts without actually unfriending her.  I mean, I don't want to not be her friend, I want to be able to comment to her  on her page if I feel like it.  I want to be able to email her if I want to, I just don't care to see all her posts and her comments of other people's posts.

Besides, unfriending feels weird.

So, today she made a comment about how she was going to unfriend people who are always making religious comments, because they bored her.

People were commenting and saying, "yeah, you should, those people are hypocrites anyway."  Really? Now all Religious people are hypocrites?  Blanket.  Thanks for you open mindedness.

So I made a comment because 1.  I was feeling sassy and 2. she quit and she's not my boss any more :0)

I thought I was being not rude- but maybe I was wrong, as the comment got deleted and a new comment by her was posted which said, If you don't like what I post about you should unfriend me, I've unfriended people for lots of reasons, like moaning about a relationship for too long, or always selling something or just long repetitive posts.

I wish I would have copied my post so that I knew exactly what I said, but is was something like this

Hypocrisy is a problem for all people.  It's fair warning to tell people you will unfriend them, but people like to post about what they believe in.  You often post about what you believe in. You shouldn't unfriend people for what they believe in, you should unfriend them because they aren't your friends.

I looked to see if she unfriended me, but I guess I'm not religious enough . . . YET!

visited 23 states (10.2%)
Create your own visited map of The World or Free android travel guide

Occationally I get the idea that I want to learn French.  I have that feeling right now.  I'm in the modern languages lab at TCU and I started listening to the French lab homework and realized I could pick out about 75% of French one lesson one video.  So I started wondering when French classes were held, if I could take one, and how much it would cost. 

I often think (and say) that I don't want to learn anything new, but the truth is I like learning new things.  I know that's why I hardly ever repeat a knitting or crochet or sewing pattern.  Once I have conquered a pattern I feel accomplished and move on.  There are so many things I would like make again, but there are so many more things that I would like to make for the first time.

Maybe someday I will learn French . . .

I'm interviewing for my job tomorrow.

Awkward!

I've had this job for 2 years.  I never interviewed, I got a call that said, "Hey you want this job?"  and I said, "Yes."

Because they are now opening up benefits, everyone has to reapply and interview for their jobs if they want to keep them.

I've got to go read The Great Gatsby.

Our offices at work are being renovated so we are temporarily being housed in one of the "smart buildings" on campus.  The rooms don't have key locks, but swipe cards locks.  I don't even need to use the swipe lock because the doors also have timed locks.  Today I was in my classroom and at 1:00 the doors automatically locks and all the computers (including the one I was using) shut down.

Drat!

Stupid smart building.

The other day I was in the store when a woman commented on how cute EJ was.  I said thanks.  She said, "Look at those cheeks!  I just want to bite them!"  I looked at her.  Then she said, "In a good way."

She wants to bite by baby in a good way  . . .

But really I knew what she meant.  I have a friend who said that when she had her babies she wanted to eat them, and some times she would nibble on their fingers and toes.  She was concerned about her desire to eat her young (especially as she's a vegetarian) so she talked to her therapist about it and she said it wasn't that uncommon.

Weird.

I've never wanted to eat my baby, but I have had to urge to lick her.  Ok I HAVE licked her, once . . . or twice or so.

It was less about deliciousness and more about grooming, I wanted to lick her like a mamma cat licks a kitten.

Odd.

It's always like that!  As soon as you say something, you realize you have been mistaken.  I found the broom.  It wasn't the dogs, it was the tricksy elves who hid it behind the stove.  (Where I looked before I bought the new broom by the way.)

I can still blame it on baby brain. :0)

Someone stole my broom from in front of my front door.  I was washing the walk way in front of our apt, so I left the broom out to dry and it disappeared.  One friend suggested that the dog took it.  To be honest I would very much like to watch either one of our dogs take a broom.  Besides the fact that the broom probably weighs as much as one of them and is about 20 times longer than the other ones legs, our dogs are afraid of brooms.  They act like the were beaten with brooms in their early years.  I know for sure neither of them ever was.  Maybe they are remembering an earlier incarnation.  She said her dog love brooms and she has to lock her dog up when she sweeps because she is always trying to take it away from her.

I thought I had weird dogs.

Bacon, the gate way meat.

O Fortuna Misheard Lyrics (Animated)

You have to watch at least until the octopus in boots going to North Korea.

Yesterday I got up to change and feed the baby.  I played with her, put her down for a nap and cleaned the kitchen washed the dishes and had breakfast. I put the laundry in the washer, checked my email,  facebook, pintrest, and played a game on the iPad.  The baby woke up for second breakfast, so I changed and fed her again, played for a while, and  put her down for second nap.  I put the clothes in the drier, folded the clothes that I took out of the drier, dyed some yarn with food coloring and vinager, and prepared the chicken and vegetables that I would cook for dinner.  Then I reoganized the freezer, found a frozen dinner, heated it up and ate it for lunch.  Then I realized it was only noon and wondered what I was going to do until the baby woke up for first lunch.  So I started to organize my bedroom, which for some reason is always the messiest place in the house.

Now I know what it would be like if I were a morning person. I would get so much done . . .

I dreamed last night that the dogs were in trouble for stealing food from the kitchen. 

I yelled at Louie, who looked appropriately guilty about it and went outside to yell at Buzz. 

Buzz was trying to avoid me, and for some reason my backyard had changed into a school yard.  He was running between the kids and trying to get out of the fence.  I was stalking him. 

When I found him he was a chubby little boy wearing a school uniform (which didn't phase me at all) and while I was still mad at him for stealing food, I was also mad at him for going on a field trip with out having me sign the permission slip. 
I said, "Why didn't you give me a permission slip for this field trip?
(He was just getting off the bus.)  He looked guilty. 
The teacher said, "I thought the permission slip looked like it had been signed by a 9 year old." 
Buzz/Boy said, "He promised me it would look authentic." 
The teacher told me she thought I had poor hand writing. Buzz/Boy appologized prettily,(in a British accent.)  Sort of like Piggy in Lord of the Flies . . .
The teacher said that was a very nice apology.  I agreed and said he was still in trouble when he got home.  The teacher was surprised and said, "but he already apologized!" 
I said, "He's still in trouble when he gets home!" 

Stupid boy/dog stealing my food and running off on field trips with forged permission slips. 

I bet Louie was the one who forged it for him!

8:52 and it's already been a hard day on my feet.  The screen door scraped my heal on the way out of the house, and I jammed my toes on the way into work.

I suppose it would make a difference if I wore real shoes instead of flip-flops.

Speaking of flip-flops,  I have diagnosed myself with "flip-flop disease."  (look it up, it's real!) Also known as planters factitious, more commonly known as fallen arch.

I attribute it, like my hurting knees and my hurting back to being overweight.  Oh- the trials and tribulations of being fat.

My first day of semi-diet didn't really go so well, but honestly this week is really more about getting rid of the not so great things in the house . . . which is why I had to eat those two egg rolls, but had nothing to do with the cookie.  I must withstand the cookies.  I did say no to the ice cream sandwich.

I'm going on a diet soon . . .  apologize in advance.

Do these glasses make me look smart or just more beautiful?

my little helper

I hope this is not telling of my housekeeping skills.   I made beans the other day, after I soaked them one fell in the drain.  It sprouted there.  What a silly thing for a bean to do in the sink, so I put in in one of my house plants, and now it's all leafy and green.  How fantastic! I wonder if I can grow beans next to my watermelons.

My dream is to grow watermelons . . . and pumpkins.  I grew a pumpkin plant once, but  it was an accident, and then the maintenance men pulled it up and aborted all my baby pumpkins.  They were going to be supper cute too.

What I need now is a hose.

EJ is taking her "night nap" or maybe she's trying to be asleep for the night.  If she's asleep for the night now, she will be up by or before 6:00 AM.  It's ok though, that is the schedule we will have once I start back to work next week.  (!)

I've been watching "Ancient Astronauts."  What a bunch of rubbish.  There have been many claims, the Ark of the Covenant was radio active (which is why nobody could touch it.) Manna was made from a manna machine (which was also nuclear powered.) It spewed out manna every day except Sabbath, because it had to be cleaned once a week.  The Israelites had leave the dessert because the manna machine broke . . .

Goliath was an alien.
Jesus, of course, was an alien.
Adam and Eve were genetically engineered by aliens to be slave labor for them.
Enoch was an alien with a spaceship, he could have also been Apollo.
The Ark of the Covenant is buried in Canada.

:)

Wants to blog

I've wanted to blog for some time now, but hands full of baby makes it hard. When she's sleeping I think "I could blog, or I could do something crazy like sleep, eat or take a shower." I have things to say, surprisingly not ALL baby stuff, but probably most of it. I start back to work next week. Maybe I can devote 30 minutes of grandma's babysitting time to blogging.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UVNT4wvIGY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Dear Eowyn, ignore everything people say about your feet, they are beautiful!

Looking to the future.

"I'm not sure about this!"

Sleepy sweet

We went into the hospital on Sunday night. It was daylights savings time, so of course we were an hour late. It didn't matter though because the doctor had forgotten to tell the hospital we were coming in to be induced.

What does it mean to be induced? For me it meant starting with a drug that started the dilation process. If all went according to schedule, I would have taken that drug for 12 hours, then I would have taken the next drug, which started contractions, for another 6-8 hours, labored for a few hours, and would have had a scheduled baby by Monday afternoon. Of course, that's not what happened. 
I took the dilation drug for 8 hours, when the nurse came in at 6:00AM to give me the last dose, she said, “Oh, look, you are in labor! I guess you’ve been uncomfortable tonight. You don’t need this last dose. Do you want an epidural now?” 
Me: “Uh, yeah!”
The nurse started the second drug at 6:30AM. The day nurse came in at 7:00AM. She said, “Looks like you were dilated to a 4 (out of 10) when we started this drug, and you’re at a 7 now. I’m just going to turn this off for a while. (The doctor wasn’t due in until 8:00.) 
Between 8:00 and 9:00 there was a commotion of doctors and nurses coming in and out, all acting like everything was totally cool. Every three to five minutes they would ask me to shift positions, check the baby’s heart monitor, check the contractions and ask me to shift again. 
At 9:00 one of the nurses called another doctor and said, “Um yeah- every time she has a contraction the fetal heartbeat goes down below 80. Yeah- ok.”
My doctor said, “Your baby is healthy right now, and we want to make sure she stays that way. Her cord is smaller than normal, and it is compressed every time you have a contraction, and they are coming faster now. We want to make sure she is healthy when she’s born, so do you want to go ahead and have a c-section?”
It sounded like a question that wasn’t a question at all. “Do you want a healthy baby or do you want to see what happens?” I decided on the healthy baby. D says he thinks we could have waited, and maybe another doctor would have waited, but in the end a healthy baby was my only goal.
Within two minutes there were 8 nurses swarming over me. Telling me what was going to happen, shoving a surgical gown and mask at Daniel, prepping me and wheeling me away. 
At 9:11 the doctor said, “Look at the peanut head!” I immediately though of “Mr. Peanut.” Peanut head? ! What does that mean? Is she misshapen? Does she have a monocle? She didn’t cry, but they had warned me she wouldn’t at first, she had had a bowl movement in the womb, it was in the fluid surrounding her, if she breathed in the fluid she could get sick, so they cut her cord long and had the nicu folks clean out her lungs before they got her to cry. 
They cleaned her up and gave her to Daniel to bring to me. Of course she was beautiful, and making a face as if to say, “This was not my plan for today!” I don’t think it is anyone’s plan to be pulled out of a comfy place by her face. 
I noticed her head full of brown hair, and the fact that unlike many newborns, she wasn’t red or blotchy, she wasn’t wrinkly and didn’t have floppy ears or a cone (or peanut) head. She looked like one of those “newborn” TV babies, which are really closer to 2 or 3 months old. She looked perfect. I did read that c-section babies tend to look better since they don’t go through the trauma of the birth canal, but I had to admit to myself that I had done an excellent job on that baby.
The first night in the hospital she snorted and snored and made all kinds of unusual sounds. She stayed in the room with us. I had to stay 4 days because of the c-section. Although I didn’t want to stay that long, I knew I had to. I could hardly get out of bed, standing was torture and getting back in the bed was nearly as difficult. 
The swelling was outrageous, at one point my legs were so swollen that I got a bruise from the pressure cuffs they had on me to reduce swelling. The doctor said it would get worse before it got better. By the time I got home my legs were so swollen I could hardly bend them at the knee. 
When we left the hospital, I still looked enormously p regnant. I kept looking at my belly and thinking, “Did they leave somebody in there?”
Things are better now, I can sit and stand relatively easily. I’m still walking slowly, but I’m off the pain medication. I’ve lost half of my pregnancy weight, and hope the other half comes off as easily.
All my energy now goes to figuring out the eating schedule. 
A conversation with the nurse before we left the hospital. “She should eat every two hours. She should have on wet diaper for each day she is old and two or more dirty diapers each day.” 
Me: “But what if she doesn’t?”
Nurse: “It is recommended that she does.”
Me: “But what if she doesn’t?”
Nurse: “It is recommended that she does.”
Me: “But what should I do if she doesn’t?”
Nurse: “Here’s a chart to keep track of her feeding times, her wets and dirties.”
Me: “Thanks.”
She did not and still does not eat every two hours, she did not have the “right” amount of wets and dirties and by the fourth day at home I was ready to have a melt down. I couldn’t get her stay awake to eat, and when she did it was so painful to me I flinched every time she touched me.
Oh- breast feeding, there is a reason two generations of mothers turned to formula.
We are now on a breast feeding, plus pumping, plus formula supplements routine. It is much less painful, but still very time consuming. We will figure it out eventually.

Bare foot and pregnant

I never wondered before about the phrase "bare foot and pregnant." I suppose I thought it had to do with being a house wife and not needing shoes on account of nowhere to go. Now I know the truth. I have places to go, but most of the time my shoes don't go with me. For the past 2 months I have increasingly eshewed my "real" shoes in favor of house shoes. For the past few weeks it has ben an exclusive relationship; shopping, work, special events- all have been attended by my house shoes.

I would like to make a resolution to be a better blogger, but that probably won't happen.  I've been spending a lot of time cleaning, organizing, unpacking, repacking, washing, reading, knitting, watching TV, (a little bit of working) and a lot of sleeping.

Vacation is so good.

I just finished my "Baby Shawl"  which is a triangular baby blanket.  I'm almost finished with the little green baby sweater, and then I'll move on to finish all the baby toys I started and didn't finish some time ago.  I will make a commitment to no new yarn- not when I have so very much stuffed everywhere imaginable. Also no new fabric- I think I'm a hoarder.  It's awful.

No new books- except the crafty books that I really need!   :)  I'm trying to read through my books and send them on their ways.  I've come the realization that I like empty space.  I mean I love stuff, but I also really like not cluttered.

It's not easy by myself, harder with D and I feel nearly impossible with a baby, but I will make my small efforts.

It's a girl!  She's due March 10.  

Messed up week

It’s been a really really messed up week
Seven days of torture, seven days of bitter
And my girlfriend went and cheated on me . . . no wait, I don't have a girlfriend.

What I do have is a $300 ER bill, a $1400 truck tires and repair bill, a $100 vet bill and somewhere between a $600 and $1200 car repair bill (finding out Monday if my warranty is still in place.)

La la la, whatever, la la la, it doesn’t matter, la la la, oh well, la la la

DEB took his truck in for tires and found out he needed break work and some other stuff, which we couldn't afford, so we didn't get.

On Wednesday morning he woke up with severe pain and concluded he probably had another kidney stone. He called the doctor, took some 11 year old pain killers and sent me off to work. When I got back he said "We need to go the the ER now." 3 hours and $300 later we had new pain killers and some pee filters. The pain mysteriously disappeared and hasn't been back since, sans drugs.

Friday Louie had to go to the vet ER because he had some kind of seizure. He couldn't focus his eyes and wouldn't respond. The vet said she didn't know exactly was the problem was, but he was fine by the time he left a few hours later. She said watch him and if has more problems, take him to the regular vet for testing.

Saturday my car's big red exclamation point in a triangle light came on. DEB was driving and had to have it towed to a dealership. They said it was a warning light about getting the 120,000 mile check up or maybe I got too low on gas? Which was strange because no warning lights came on for 24 hours after it both got low and I filled it up and drove it 50+ miles. Crackpot Toyota people. They did an expensive diagnostic, said it needed lots of stuff, gave DEB a 2011 Prius rental and said check back on Monday to find out how much it will be.

This week gave me a headache.

People sending and posting baby videos: would it kill you to do a little narrating?!  I realize your baby is amazing, but a silent video of a baby wiggling around for a minute and a half don't cut it for me, and I'm feeling all maternal and stuff!

I went to the Doctor today.  I started coughing just as he walked in.
"You were diagnosed with asthma when you were a kid."  (not a question)
"No."
"You should have been."

I think I just had a 'House' moment.

I said, "I have fall allergies."
He said, "Among other things."

I've never even seen this man before!

He said, "You know you are married to a nerd."
I said, "Yes, I know."  (Insightful man after all.)

He said, "I'm going to send the nurse in to give you a test. If you don't pass it you should go to the emergency room."

I passed.

He said, "Well, it looks like you are getting enough oxygen, I'm going to give you an antibiotic so you don't get pneumonia.  Keep taking over the counter allergy and cough meds.  Good luck!"

That was one of the strangest doctor visits I've ever had.

Blogging from the phone.

It has happened.  The 80s styles are back in the worst possible ways.  I was at McDonald's yesterday and for whatever reason there were about a million high school students there too. One girl was dressed like she had just come from the staring roll in the 1980s.

At first I thought she was dressed for a play, but when I looked around I noticed hints of her 'style' on the other girls too.  The off the shoulder shirts, tights, raglan sleeves here and there and in neutral colors one can ignore it, pretend it's not happening, but this one girl- I should have taken a picture.

She was wearing pink tennis shoes, purple legwarmers, blue tights, a jean mini skirt, a gray off the shoulder shirt, with a black and neon splatter tank top underneath.  She had her hair up in a side pony tale secured by an enormous red scrunchie.  She had a neon green headband and those big plastic pink and green sunglasses that were popular in the day.  She finished off her look with blue eye shadow and a pink purse. 

The only additions or changes she could have made were bigger hair, a banana clip and slouchie socks (2 pair in different colors.)  Woe is me- this is really happening.

I was driving up the hill to my apartment yesterday when I saw this little kid "racing" the cars going up the hill.  I decided I should slow down, rev my engine and let him "win."  But, I couldn't, there was a car behind me.  I didn't want to make the driver mad.  You never want to anger drivers in my neighborhood.  It's a little too shady for that. Anyway, I started thinking, "Is it even possible to rev the engine on this car?"  I've had this car for three years and I've never tried to rev the engine.

Before I got this Prius I drove a 1985 Nissan Z.  It had a big engine and a manual transmission.  That car sounded like it was going fast just sitting in the driveway.  I revved the engine regularly, just to hear how cool it sounded.

When I pulled into my parking spot at home I put the car in park and stepped on the gas petal.  The engine turned off.  It was as though my car were saying, "Uh- no I'm not going to do that.  I'm not that kind of car."  So I put it in drive and put one foot on the break and one foot on the gas.  My car turned back on, (obligingly) and purred.  "mmmmmmm"  "mmmmmmmm"  I had to turn off the radio and roll down the windows to hear it.

That Z is laughing at my Prius from the junk yard.

So, now I know, the answer to "Can I rev my car?"  is "No."

Look at the decline in my blog readership.  Looks like the economy.

Sometimes I ask the dogs questions.
 "Do you want a treat?"
 "Do you want to go outside?"
"What was that sound?"
 "Did you do this?"
"Where's your toy?"

 Buzz responds as a normal dog should.  He barks, wags his tail, runs in circles, starts doing random tricks or hides in his box, depending on the question (more importantly the tone of the question.)

 Louie some times takes cues from Buzz, but usually just sits there and stares at me as though he were trying to communicate with his tiny mind.  It's like I can almost get what he's trying to say . . .  but no.  A few times he has stared at me for a while, and then purposefully walked  over the computer as though he had decided the charade was up and he would type his message out, but just before he reaches the keyboard he turns around, like "No, that would be showing them too much."

The other day I was at a friend's house.  Her little girl ran in and announced it was "FREEZING" outside!  "It's so cold, there is ICE on the grass! It's probably going to SNOW!"  (It was in the mid 70s)

What has the hottest summer EVER done to the weather sense of the children?

Ok she is a rather dramatic child.  One day I commented on the monkeys in the living room.  Her mother explained that they had to be banished from her daughter's room each night because one night the daughter came out all hysterical and saying she couldn't sleep in there because the monkeys kept slapping her.  Nice by day, naughty by night sock monkeys!

I don't know about you, but I believe her.  I don't trust monkeys.

Computer with a new motherboard, welcome home!

What I really want are some new pens.  What I really need is to stop buying new pens, and to find and use my old pens.

Sometimes spending a few dollars on a want is worth it!

School starts soon.  Vacation is never long enough.  Even with the meager list of things I wanted to accomplish- most of them are left undone.

 I'll teach a seminar tomorrow to 20 new MBA students in TCU's Neeley School of Business.  My job is to remind them how to read. :)
I'm offering suggestions on how to read faster, remember more and take notes, specifically while working on case studies.
(like I know)

Looks like Blogger's Big Brother is watching.  I just found out that since my blog began it has been accessed in Bulgaria 29 times.  At this very moment two people in The USA and one in Germany are looking at it.  I feel like a CREEPER!  I know too much and I like it!!!

Yesterday Louie fell down the stairs.  It was horrifying.  His tiny little fuzzy foot slipped off the first step and he bounced down every hard wooden step until he reached the bottom.  Left side-Right side-Back-Belly-Left . . . I was having visions of a toddler bouncing down the stairs in a similar way- how it would break little bones and crack a tiny skull.  Louie, however bounced to the landing and got up and and looked around like, "Nobody saw that right?!" The whole time he was bouncing down I was standing at the top of the stairs saying, "Dog! Stairs! Falling!"  When I got down the stairs I picked him up and checked him out, he didn't seem to be any worse for the ware.  Resilient little critter.

My gmail was hacked.  Boo  Add another to "Things I thought would never happen to me."

Last week we went to see Johnny about our rings.  Johnny is the jeweler Daniel worked with to design my opal ring, which I love.  Daniel bought the opal over 10 years ago looking forward to putting it into an engagement ring.  When he proposed he said this was the ‘surprise’ ring and we could get a diamond later.  At first I thought I would wait for the diamond.  But after talking to Johnny (an ultimate salesman) I decided to get him to make a diamond ring for me too.  He’s a character, and always busy traveling and buying and selling.  There’s no telling when Johnny might have time- so I figured this was my chance to get him to make a ring that corresponds to my opal ring with some of his signature touches as a jeweler.  The rings should be ready next week. 

This week has been busy.  I’ve been on spring break, but I’ve been busy with wedding stuff every day.  The day before yesterday we stuffed, sealed, addressed and stamped about 400 invitations.  There were about 100 missing from the print run, so we can pick those up tomorrow and have the invites out this weekend.  Our invitations are also one of a kind designs made my Jessica my soon to be sister-in-law. 

Yesterday Daniel and I got our engagement pictures taken.  I think they are going to turn out really well.  We went to Handley, the little town where we will get married, and took some pictures with a caboose (the town symbol) then we went to a few parks in Arlington.

Our photographer is about 12 years old.  I told him I got a haircut and the woman styled it so that it looked like I just walked out of 1990.  He said,  “Oh, that’s when I was born!”  Oh well, his pictures are awesome, so what do I care how old he is?

Today I was with Jessica’s mother because she will be making my veil.  Again, it will be amazing. 

Tomorrow is Daniel’s birthday- so we will be out and about for that and that’s the end of my spring break.  Tragic.

We did decide to go to Spain for our honeymoon though!  Wow- that will be amazing, awesome, fantastico!

http://www.mywedding.com/daniellovesshannon/index.html

I want this:  I don't know what I'd do with it.  It costs between $18-65 per skein.  That's pretty pricey, but it is made from silk and baby goat hair.  That's something right?  It's called 'water lily' and that color fascinates me.

I currently have more yarn than I could knit or crochet in 2 years (probably more, I'm rather slow.) Nevertheless, I  want to join a yarn club.  What a strange notion.

Yarn is my addiction.

I'm currently working on a blanket which I love. Double love.  I started from the center and I'm working out, so it doesn't have a set size.  It is black and rainbow colors in long stripes.  It's square, and the yarn is cheap acrylic, but it is so soft and light and warm and pretty. I love it.  I've taken some pictures, but haven't posted them.  I think it looks better every time I add to it, so I hesitate to put up old pictures.  I think this will be the first blanket I keep for myself. 

Last night a bunch of us went to "Love and War in Texas."  It's a restaurant which serves Tex-Mex and Tex-Tex food.  They have Barbara Bush's fried green beans in the appetizers and  things like long horn steaks, rattle snake and wild boar for entrees.  We went because Daniel wanted to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the independence of Texas.  He get's these ideas- but really, who am I to argue with deep fried green beans? (Yum)

When we got there we saw a car with eyelashes or headlight lashes to be exact.  I decided I needed some so I left a note on the car with my email address.  She totally wrote back and I have already ordered my pair along with the matching rhinestone liner.

At the table we talked about wedding things, and work things and of course Texas things.  Someone at the table declared that Daniel had enough Texas pride to cover both of us since I insisted on being "yankeefied."  He was just jealous because I knew the answer to the crossword puzzle clue "the port of Pennsylvania."  Duh- there's only 1!

My students often ask why they can understand when I speak English, but they can't understand when people outside (Texans) speak English.  I tell them that Texans have a different kind of English than I do.  I speak 'standard English' Texas of course speak Texan English.  I have to remind them that I'm not Texan, I can understand Texans- I've been here a long time- and I've met a few Texans out of context in my travels. (Hi) Sometimes I teach them what I call "special Texan words," like "Howdy Y'all."  They can't believe Texas has it's own words, but I assure them that if they go to another state and use these special words someone will surely ask them if they learned English in Texas.  (Imagine the fun of having a room full of Koreans, Chinese people, Arabs, Russians and South Americans repeating after me, "How-dy Y'all!"  I tell them they'll fit right in. :0)

I have a great time telling all my little foreign friends about Texas- and how special it is.  The lone star flag is very interesting to them along with the six flags of Texas.  I love asking them what they think the six flags are for.  Sometimes the give outlandish answers, only hoping there was a time that Japan owned Texas.  Imagine southwestern samurai eating fish tacos.

Hey friend,
Happy Texas Independence Day!  We went to Love and War in Texas to celebrate tonight.

When I was in high school I developed hay fever allergies.  It was a mystery at first, I thought I had a crazy cold for about a month until I realized it was possible to suddenly develop allergies.  I had a few allergy related sinus infections in college- I move around a lot after that so I don't recall having a problem until about 4 or 5 years ago when I started getting a yearly allergy/sinus infection attack.  I normally get it in the fall- I figured it was ragweed- famous in TX for it's allergy inducing pollen. 

I didn't have a problem this year though- until now.  Late winter/early spring allergies.  In the past I tried to wait it out.  I waited for 5 days this time.  I thought it might dry up after a few days since it didn't seem really serious.  Boy was I wrong.  I don't know that this was really as much about allergies this time as it was the infection.  I don't know much about sinuses, but there must be a front and a back.  I've had 'front' sinus problems before.  Pain in my forehead and around my eyes.  Drainage from my nose like water works etc.  What I have going on now is the 'back' kind.  It's all in my throat and down my neck and up to my ears. 

I'm coughing and hacking and wheezing and retching and making any manner of awful sounds as though I were orally birthing an alien race.  Some of the stuff that comes up sort of looks like that too.  I went to the doctor yesterday and he gave me antibiotics, nasal spray, allergy meds, and codeine cough syrup.  He said the syrup would help me sleep, so don't take it if I'm going to drive.   I took it last night before bed   and I swear it made me twitchy.  Great.  I'm one of the freaks for whom codeine causes "excitability."  Oh well, I guess I don't have to worry about driving after I take it. 

TGTF (Thank God Tomorrow's Friday)

PS I want to see Gnomeo and Juliette!

Today is the fifth snow day of the year- of the month, with in the past 10 days.  We were off Tuesday through Friday last week.  It warmed up and melted off for the Super Bowl in Arlington, Monday and Tuesday this week were good, last night it froze up and snowed some more.
Some people at work were all "I hope we don't have a snow day again tomorrow!  I was going crazy staying at home!"  Well, it's pretty safe to say that I was routing for disaster yesterday.  I 100% enjoyed last week at home, and I'm sure to enjoy today at home as well.
I realize that I have enough projects in my apartment that I could be under house arrest for 2 months before I ran out of things to do.  Actually I wouldn't run out, I would just get tired of doing those same things.
While not in school I watched TV and movies, crocheted, knitted, painted, cooked, cleaned, played computer games, sewed, organized and read a lot.  It was fantastic really.  Louie was with me (Buzz was with Daniel.) so I  took him out a few times a day.  He would run across the snow, realize again that he hated it, pee without lifting his leg and come back and stand on my foot until we went back in.
Today my plan is to make lemon bars with the left over egg yokes I have from the Texas shaped waffles I made over the weekend.
I will also go out to do my private tutoring. Daniel worked all night on the emergency line, he said the roads aren't so bad. I hope to finish a few more little project that I started last week.  I already finished my book.  It was the Robber Bride, which I don't recommended.  It's one of those books I've had for years, and I felt obligated to read.  1. because someone gave it to me 2. I really enjoyed another book by the same author 3. because I hate to get rid of books before I know what's in them.  I mean, if I read a book and then get rid of it, I always know I can get another copy if I want it again.  But if I get rid of  a book without reading it I feel I've wasted my potential with that book.  It seems I have book issues.  Clearly I could get another copy of that book I didn't read too.  But if I had a copy and got rid of it and then had to buy another copy only to find out I didn't like that book I would be mad about wasting my money (possibly twice.)
My goal is to read though my books on my shelf so that I can decrease the number of books I have to carry around when I move to just the ones I really love.  I have a Kindle now so I can keep electronic copies of all other books I feel the need to access.
Time for lemon bars now!  Let's hope I don't burn them.

The Super Bowl will be here Sunday- This weekend was beautiful- but starting tomorrow night an "arctic front" is moving in.  Looks like it will be a wintery Super Bowl this year.  Snow, sleet, ice and temperatures in the teens.  Ah Texas- if I were feeling more creative I'd write an ode to your wacky weather. 

I don't understand where all my time goes.  Thank you Jesus that I don't have a 9-5 type job.  How would I accomplish anything?  Not that I accomplish much now.  It's bed time already and I only accomplished one thing off my "to do" list! 

Pooh.

I'm going through some old work emails- I seem to forget that I actually have a work email address most of the time:  I found this little jem.

"Hi Shannon Petrson

I wish you and your family
hoppy knew year
with my best wishes
Rashed"

I Love It.

About a year ago I started making a baby blanket.  It's not for anyone- I wanted to try out a pattern, and I happened to have 8 balls of baby yarn that someone gave me.  I would never have picked this yarn.  It's sort of old fashioned looking, and a little bit scratchy.  Maybe the scratchiness will go away when it's washed the first time.  It's baby blue and white variegated with a silky thread running through it. 
The pattern is called a pin wheel blanket.  It's a circular blanket with ten sections radiating out from the center.  I've made several mistakes, but I figured this my practice.  I think I'll try again with yarn that I really like.  I saw some at the store the other day- I want it, it's cheap, but I told myself "Don't buy it!  You don't have any more space for yarn in you closet!"  I might have to buy it anyway.  I hate it when I see a yarn I like, I don't buy it because I don't need any more yarn, but later, when I want to buy for something specific, it's gone. 
The blanket is almost finished!  I'm working on the border now.  It will take a while, but I think it will look pretty cool.  That's a 1+ year baby blanket.  I must be the slowest knitter in history!  Finally finishing up has put me in the mind to buy more needles to make another one. (A bigger one.)  Of course the needles I want cost $140.  They seem to be made out of gold . . .  No just kidding, it is an interchangeable set of 8 or 10 pairs of needles and cables that hook them together to make big things like circular blankets. Some day . . . It will be me and a mountain of yarn and my fancy needles.

I only want a little vengeance.  And maybe to scratch my eyes out for the dramatic quality of the performance.  No lasting effects please.

Sadly, my purse smells like a fish.  One of my fish oil caplets burst in there and now I feel like I'm carrying around an aquarium each time I look in my purse.

Resolution 1: Make some good resolutions
Resolution 2:  Finish Bible Study before Monday each week
Resloution 3:  Prepare for classes before they start :)  (Me?  Unprepared? No, I'm just spontaneous!)

I'll keep thinking- it's a start.

I just finished The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  When I started it everyone said, "you won't like that!"  "It's so violent, so graphic . . ."  blah blah- terrible, horrible, no good, very bad . . .  Well, I finished it for the same reason I started it, I wanted to know what all the fuss was about.  It seemed like every one was reading it, talking about it, talking about the movie about it . . . so I read it.  It was ok.  Not horrible, not terrific- just ok.  I wonder what got everyone so worked up.  I understand that there are two more books that continue the story and that there is some mystery as to the fate of the author and the manner of this death . . .  I suppose I'll read the other two just to see what the fuss is all about.

In other news, no classes tomorrow!  Yeah MLK Jr!

Someday I'd like to have a kitchen big enough to accommodate both a toaster oven and a conventional toaster.

I haven't made my new year resolutions yet.  Some times it takes a while to think of something I might really want to commit to.  I'm considering one to be Finishing my unfinished projects- but there has to be more, I mean I have a lot of unfinished projects.  I finished two of them today (Yeah for me!)  There's another on my dinning room table, two on my sofa, two on my chair, about 6 in my foot stool and three or four in my closet.  Those are just yarn projects,  I have fabric projects, photo projects, drawing projects, writing projects, work projects, etc.  I expect that if I became agoraphobic and could never leave my apartment again it would not be a problem at all since I probably have enough projects to keep my busy for the rest of my days.

Time for bed.  I've been very tired this weekend.  I've been sleeping 10 hours in the night (and morning) and getting up, not because I felt refreshed., but because there is some shame attached to staying in bed all day for no good reason at all.  I've clearly overcome any stigma attached to staying in the house and wearing my pjs all day- but with out any clear health reasons, I feel like I really should get out of bed.

I hope to finish my weekend project tomorrow, which is a brain bag.  It's a little make-up sized bag with brain wrinkles all over it.  I'll post a picture.  I hope it will make me happy, as I'm making it for myself.  I saw a picture of one someone made on line and I decided I could make that too.  The wrinkles are mostly done.  Now I just have to figure out how to put a zipper in a lined bag.  I can do it.

This will be the year of the rabbit (on February 3) according to the Chinese Zodiac.  For me, however, this will be the year of the sea creatures!  SEA CREATURES!! Kracken- a fearsome monster of old.  Leviathan- again fearsome- monster- old.  The  Lock Ness Monster . . .  Yes, lock monsters too.  Not just monsters though, fish and crustaceans  and  octopuses etc. which sometimes look like monsters, but are in fact just homely.  Yeah!

I'm reading Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy.  I have always really enjoyed Hardy in the past, but honestly, reading this book is like punishment.  It's so bland and preachy.  It's one of those books you want to know what the story is without actually having to read it.  I only have about 120 pages left, so I'll finish. It is a very forward (for the the late 1800s) indictment against church and the institution of marriage.

To console myself on this punishment of bad Hardy, I've also started reading Coraline.  I watched the moving thinking it was going to be a cute kid's movie.  It was actually pretty creepy.  The book somehow seems less creepy, but I'm not yet half way through and I don't really remember all the movie.  It is interesting to me that the title character is never physically described.  A few times the author has described her clothes in detail, but not her person.  I like it.

I got a Kindle for my birthday and have really enjoyed it.  I didn't have a complaint until last night when I couldn't read it because the battery was dead.  Well, it is true, a real book never needs to be charged up.  It is also true that I can't carry around 50 paperbacks like I can in a Kindle.  I could probably carry around 800 paper backs in my Kindle- but I don't want to brag.   :)

Santa, Yoseph and me!

Was it only yesterday that I went to the closing ceremony for the Fall semester 2010?  It's been a good semester.  Easiest semester ever.  Starting in January I'll have real classes to teach and real prep work to do.  For the closing ceremony D dressed up like Santa and I dressed up like Santa's fiancée.  (I didn't have the time or resources to prepare a costume for "Mrs. Claus" so I was some kind of elf or consort or something.  I don't know.




I decorated for Christmas today.  It's pretty minimal.  While I love Christmas and Christmas decorations, I'm sort of lazy about decorating.  I'm usually not where I live for actual Christmas, and I don't usually have many visitors.  I don't really have that many decorations, and I have so much other junk that would need to be put away . . .  I just scatter a few of my favorites around and call it done.

One of my favorites is the 'Elf on the shelf.'   Although I always thought of him as the 'Elf in the Tree.'  We had one when I was a kid, and he always sat right in the middle of our 3 foot tree.  A few years ago I saw one just like the one we used to have and I bought it.  A few years after that I saw the book Elf on a Shelf.  Apparently this little guy is a spy in a network of Santa's spies letting him know who's been naughty and nice. Yes, he's sitting between pumpkins and near a crazy-eyed Santa.

One of my new favorites is this Mexican nativity.  I bought it a few years ago on a trip pk and I took to visit uncle bk.  I hadn't put it out before so it was still wrapped in it's Mexican newspaper wrapping.  I was surprised to find a tiny plate of tacos included in the package.  Ummmm . . . a gift from a Mexican wiseman?

Plate of tacos on left.

The set seems to include four wisemen and one wisewoman or maybe it's three wisemen, and a well-to-do shepherding couple.  I divided them into groups of the latter description.  I like how the shepherd guy on the near right looks like a Conquistador.