I have started this post once again and am hoping I don’t go back and delete everything this time.  It’s been weeks since I posted or even read anybody else’s blogs. WEEKS!

I been busy.

I also got to spend Christmas with my mither and pop, brother and SIL, PLUS nephew, in Decatur, Texas. I spent an entire week there and was thrilled! Them moving to New Mexico from Italy is definitely working out.  It was the first family Christmas with all four members of the immediate family present in over fifteen years. It really was wonderful and spending time with my newish nephew, Noah, was a huge bonus. They only got him two years ago and I have seen him way to infrequently.  He’s a great kid!

So there we are having a perfectly glorious time hanging out together and what do you think happened Christmas Eve? It’s OK, I’ll tell you.  Let me preface it by saying that my mom is 72 and Pop 73, and neither one of them have ever had a white Christmas. I had my first one five years ago when a fluke weather pattern got it to actually snow down here in the southeast end of Texas.

Well, sure enough, it poured snow on Christmas Eve.  A good thick layer of lovely whiteness.  It was beautiful on Christmas morning. The grandchildren that showed up at house had a wonderful time playing outside. In addition my sister-in-law, Melissa and I had several adventures running to town on icy roads to do last minute shopping.  Fancy, seldom heard cuss words were taken out, dusted off and used liberally during our excursions. My eyes are still trying to adjust back down to normal size from the saucer size they grew to while accomplishing these dangerous feats.  But, we good. Melissa did a stint in Alaska with me brother when he was stationed there and is a pro at driving on ice.

During all this time Pop was having trouble with his COPD and continued to deny he needed to go to the hospital. Sure enough, after the last of the guests left, on Christmas day, he succumbed to the shortness of breath and said, “Weeeeell, maybe I better get on down there after all.” So we called an ambulance and let those guys get him safely from the door to the car ambulance over all the ice and snow. They carted his behind in and gave him a “special” kind of breathing treatment and IV steroids and he was feeling tons better in no time. He went home in a couple of days.

Meanwhile, back at the home front, John went back to work. It was either that or run completely out of the paid leave time he had been taking. We too broke for that and though he has good days and bad days, it seems to be working out pretty well so far. The bad days really kick his butt though. He’s working at the coldest store in the district and it even bothered him before the heart problems and his need to take Coumadin. Now he thinks he’s dying it’s so cold in there.

Yesterday we went to Academy and purchased silk long-johns for him to wear as they are supposed to be warmer than thermal cotton and not as bulky. We also got silk sock liners for him to wear under his socks because  his feet are so cold all the time.

I need to point out right now that I don’t have any silk underwear. Just saying…

Anyway that crap, (that it turns out isn’t that effective) was right at $30.00. I was looking for some battery operated socks that work like an electric blanket, with the wires running through them. Couldn’t find any anywhere.

Henrietta’s mind is deteriorating, finally. She is 87 years old and I know it was going to happen eventually. She is really being a good deal more paranoid than she used to be. Oh, and she is still convinced that The Boyfriend is the devil.  She has repeatedly told us that we just need to ask him to leave and “….let this family have peace!”, when he isn’t here and hasn’t been in days.

So that’s where I’ve been and the high, (and low), points of most of what’s been happening.  I made a valiant stab at hitting all of you guys blogs before I finished this post up and made it around to a lot of them. I will be better in the new year about keeping up.

*That’s my only resolution!*

Tomorrow, PICTURES!