Christmas

Another Christmas. Boy, it sure went by fast! Hard to believe we wait so many days for the 1 event.

It was a different Christmas for us this year. We spent the 24th at my parent's house, and then on the 27th, we spent it at my in-laws. So, the actual day of Christmas, we were all at home and chilling. Never changed out of my pjs. It was great! I didn't feel like I was rushed to do anything. Sure, I cooked meals for folks and they were more extravagent than a normal day. But still, it was easy peasy. That's about the only chore I did. I promised myself that would be the only one I did because I know I work hard throughout the year.

Though we did have a bit of drama on the 24th. My youngest daughter was quite sick with a cold and started up with a fever. And she was quite uncomfortable while we were at my dad's for Christmas dinner. We left much earlier than expected, but my parents were very understanding.

When we got home, my daughter settled down, the meds were kicking in and she started to sleep. At about 11 something, my daughter gets up screaming! She's in the bathroom and basically has a bleeding nose. No big deal...but the sight is pretty horrifying. I pinched her nose, got tissue to plug her up and tilt her head forwards to avoid any nausea.

Well, after a couple of minutes, I was starting to freak out because her nose started to bleed like an actual faucet. And I'm not even remotely exaggerating here. It was completely flowing out quick and fast. By then, I was yelling loud enough for my husband to come out and help. It just didn't look right.

Sure enough, he agreed that it didn't look right and this kid's nose kept flowing. Oh, it really did look like a horror show around here. I've never seen this kid bleed like this. And I did end up calling the ambulance. I figured that I'd rather have them call me a total moron and pay the $54 than have my kid bleed to death. For my husband to be concerned too, you know it was looking bad.

The paramedics really were good to us and they didn't make us feel stupid at all. But by the time they came, sure enough, the flow had slowed. They checked her out and they made sure we knew to call them again if there were any concerns.

When everything was said and done, I went downstairs to just grab some water. When I looked at the clock, it was exactly 12:00am Christmas morning. Knowing my kid was fine was a very good Christmas present indeed.

Bedding

I've been suffering through allergies since I was a teenager. It's pretty common stuff like pollen, dust, cats and dogs. Definitely cats and dogs which makes it a really good reason for not having them in the house. Sorry kids, no pets.

But I wonder about stuff like allergy bedding? From what I understand, this type of bedding protects me from dust mites and allergies. The idea is good and they don't seem to be bulky or anything like that. When I first read about them, I just thought they were going to be big plastic sheets. LOL! Glad I was wrong.

But it may be worth a try as it seems that my allergies are getting worse over the years. Sure makes me grumpy.

US Jobs

I have a friend that gets to travel around the world a bit because her husband is a professor. He visits different universities and he researches in different places. Pretty skookum if you ask me.

But I wonder, if I were the wife, how easy would it be to adjust? I wouldn't be able to really find a job because it would have to be and only be for a short period of time. How easy would it be to actually find jobs in philadelphia pa or any city in Europe, etc? My resume would be very sketchy.

But it would allow me to travel and see so many places around the world. Oh, life can always seem greener on the other side doesn't it?

Online University

I'm happy that I finished my university degree. At the time, I wasn't so sure it would serve me any good, but it has and I'm truly thankful for it. But in this day and age, to me, the university degree is now the absolute minimum for education. That to me is scary. I know of some co-workers who are working full time, are parents, do a ton of stuff, and go to school at the same time. Wow. They are hard core.

So, my thought was maybe doing something like an online degree. I figured it would be something that I could do on my time and find sessions that work for me. The hard part will be sifting through the different online universities and ensuring one works for me. Of course, I'll have to determine if this is truly the right time for me to actually do something like this.

At some point, I think further education will be needed as I really do think that extra education is never a bad thing. And if anything, sure helps out with the tax return!

Dreams

Dreams. We all have them. May it be while sleeping, or the big dreams we make for ourselves that we hope one day come true. When we're sleeping, we can't control any of those dreams.

But for some, dreaming is just another word for an action plan. For some, those big dreams do come true. Maybe it's being the CEO of a certain company. Maybe it's taking a big trip around the world. The dream can be as big or as small as you want.

But what happens when those dreams for yourself don't work? I just found about a great friend whose dream may not come true. And it's heartbreaking to know that. It's been a while since I've seen anybody so motivated to do something and worked her butt to get to that stage. But she's gotten to a point where unfortunately, she may no longer to go on for a number of reasons.

And so, what do we do with those unclaimed dreams? What do we do with those thoughts of never getting there? I've had dreams myself that I know will never be fulfilled, even though I tried pursuing them. Yes, I had my moments of dwelling on those failures. But now when I look back, those were not failures, but truly learning moments. I learned much about my character, I learned about other possibilities, I learned that not all dreams were meant to be. No matter what though, I learned to live through those without regrets. And I hope, truly hope that my girlfriend will see this one day too.

Not chasing a dream at all and living in regret is much more painful.

Parties

'Tis the season for Christmas parties!! Last night, we had a number of close friends come out to celebrate. As always, no one starved which means we were all in some form of food coma for part of the night.

But if anything, it was just so fantastic to see friends, how well they are doing, how happy they are and catch up with everybody. It was amazing see the little kidlets...some were not kidlets anymore. Seeing this type of change just is a firm reminder of how quickly time passes and how important it is to keep up with friends and family as much as possible.

It was just such a carefree night and everybody yapped their little mouths off. I'm thankful for such a night, grateful for a full tummy and extremely grateful for such wonderful friends.

Spam

The filters at my work e-mail address is not working. I have been getting quite a bit of spam mail which is quite unusual as the spam filters and whatever walls the techies put up have worked very well in the past. But now, I'm getting things for an enlargement of certain parts, slimming pills, and world music. I was actually kind of interested in the world music one...but I figured I better not read those ones because with my luck, I'd spread some virus.

I just hope my techies don't think I'm randomly signing up for stuff at work...especailly the enlargement of the male you know what!! I'd hate for them to start calling me Alex.

Basement

I think my husband and I need another date to clean up the basement. Last year, we spent a whole day reorganizing the basement because it was turning into a junkyard. We were so happy.

But again, the basement is being used as storage. And rightfully so...but still. How in the world did we accumlate that stuff?!!!

Or we could be smart and actually start working on the basement. Perhaps a bar with real bar faucets? Hmmm...I don't drink. I like the idea of a play room/tv room.

But until we actually have a plan and we clean the thing up...it'll just be an unfinished basement for now.

House

I like the tiles in my house...especially the ones on the kitchen floor. However, I'm having some serious issues cleaning the grout between them. I break a sweat everytime I work on those damn things. I guess it's good exercise. But the in between never looks "clean."

Or maybe it's just that there is so much traffic through this house that everything just seems in there. Ugh.

I need a full time maid. Really.

Christmas Gifts

Well, my husband just screwed it up for me this year. For once, I had an idea of what to get him. For once, I wasn't even stressed about his gift. I think he's one of the hardest people to shop for.

So this year, I was going to get him one of the e-readers. Perfect for when he's on the plane, reading at night, or just needs 50 books at one time. I was waiting for some sales, had all the accessories planned out to.

So, what does he tell me? "I went to the store and I looked at one of those e-readers. I'm not going to get one until they improve. They're crap right now." The perfect gift out the window. And upon further review, yes, they could be better before I buy him one.

I basically asked what he wanted. I think he mentioned something about video cards. Any element of suprise is gone now.