Pre-Christmas Ramblings

The cows would have felt left out had I not taken at least a few pictures of them over Thanksgiving weekend.

Happy Birthday to ME!

• Last Friday was my 37th birthday, and once again it was a fabulous day.
• Thanks to all of you who sent birthday wishes. You really did make me feel very blessed, indeed!
• Just a couple of high points -
• I discovered that my parents' typical early-morning birthday call - complete with singing and recounting of my birth story - has grown into something I truly look forward to instead of being something I once felt I had to just live with.
• My grandmother also shared a story this year. I was born at 8 in the evening after a very short labor, very easy labor. (Mom didn't know she was in labor...and I was three weeks early.) When my grandparents found out that I had arrived rather unexpectedly, my grandfather insisted that they go out that very instant to buy me my first doll. It was cold and late, and the weather wasn't good. Gram didn't want to go, but Grampa won the argument. I was his first grandbaby, and I had my first doll before I was even a few hours old. I've heard the story before, but for some reason this year it really meant something to Gram to share it with me again. And I still have that doll, safely tucked away.
• My husband surprised me with a new knitting bag - hand sewn from old burlap coffee bags with beautiful floral linings. We had seen them at a local coffee shop the day of the Roots & Blues race, and I had admired them greatly...and then promptly forgotten all about them even as I started to dither about needing a new bag. What a sweet husband!
• And because I know some of you are curious...YES, I did give myself the day off from my allergy diet. I had a scone, two mochas, a dark chocolate bar, Shakespear's pizza and some mysterious rum cake that my husband pulled from nowhere after I fessed up that I really did wish for a birthday cake.

What Happens When I Cheat On My Allergy Diet:

• I pretty much instantly start belching - although it's not so bad as it used to be.
• My face swells up like a balloon.
• Note to self....there's no way to cheat and get away with it in secret! One look at my face, and anyone can see that I haven't been good.
• Then there was the hangover headache....
• My allergist was at church on Sunday and we talked. She was glad I had given myself the day off - but laughed when I told her my reaction. She also has facial swelling with her food allergens.
• Laurie is super proud of me, though, and was delighted to hear that I'm doing so well!
• On a similar health note - I haven't been to the gym in two weeks because of my cold/sinus infection. I'm going back tomorrow, with a goal of three days this week. Next week I'll be back to my regular schedule of 5 days/week with no excuses.

Brief Update on the craft front:

• There is no update on the craft front....at least none that I can share right now.

Brief Update on Christmas:

• I finished my shopping this morning!
• Yay me!
• On Friday morning I went to PetSmart and bought what we are referring to as the 'Deluxe Condo' for the Guinea Pigs.
• I also bought a fourth Guinea Pig for my husband.
• Yep, that's right, my Christmas gift for my beloved husband was a rodent.
• He came home from work to find a note taped to his office that read something to the effect of, "As you know, you are a difficult person to buy gifts for. This year, though, I think I've found just the thing." Inside he found a gift bag on his desk chair with the wee pet taxi inside. (I had set all of that up about 10 minutes before he got home.)
• Sean has named his wee Piggie "Gremlin" because he seems to be the troublemaker of the bunch.
• For example, he peed all over his box on the way home from the petsmart, has peed on Sean twice, bit Sean (honestly, I've NEVER had a G pig that bit before!) and has stirred up the other G Pigs as they try to figure out the pecking order.
• It's a perfect match!
• Pictures of Gremlin will appear after Christmas. He's another Abyssinian, with rosette swirls like Rufus, in grey and buff.
• All four are very happy in their new digs, and now play and sing and talk to and with each other all of the time.
• It's going to be a long week, keeping this secret.....
• Yeah, that wasn't so brief.

The REALLY Random:

• I miss my cat.
• Cough pearls are magic.
• I need a Christmas ornament for a Jacob sheep and/or a spinning wheel. Any ideas?
• I love silly TV Christmas movies....almost as much as I love silly TV horror movies.
• Pixie is still living in her swimsuit at home.
• Princess has another tooth hanging by a thread. If it's not out by bed tonight than I'll be a monkey's uncle.

Have a great week everyone!