Christmas in Pictures II

As we continued our tradition of each family member taking turns going to the Christmas tree and choosing two other family members gifts to give to them, Chino took a brief break in the festivities to watch the snowflakes through the window, through the hole in the chair. He's a complex cat.

Gib got a watch from Mariah.

Now they will know when to run for the bus without pulling out cell phones.
Chrissie trying on the robe from Taryn

Indy was making fun of someone's unique wrapping job.
Yeah, OK, it was MY wrapping job. But she was there when I did it!

Chino sees the world through a blue Christmas fog. He had a little too much catnip.
Chrissie rocking the Chemo Cap look.

We like to put these two together for obvious reasons and just WATCH.

Inside joke. It's been getting alot of mileage.

Gib's gift to Mariah. You need to enlarge this one and read what he wrote.

I was there when he wrapped it. Pink duct tape and much laughter. Ah, good times.

Mr. Picture Taker finally let go of the camera long enough for me to get one of him

Chino got a box with room to spare. He'll probably return it for a smaller one.

You know how cats are.

Mariah got a jewelry box from Indy.

You'd think this picture is of me and Indy....

but no, it's really of Chino. Again.

He was trying to help open the present.

Taryn was sooo excited to get these rain boots! Size 6.

When I see her shoes in the laundry room I think there's a kid in my house again.

The last gift had been opened. It's all over except the clean up party!

Time for Mario!

And Deer Watching

And trying on all your clothes... at once

Mariah trying out a new outfit for 2011

Halfway Point.....

Don't be afraid...

...with Google Voice you can ditch your landline and those monthly bills.

Even if you hold your laptop up to your face like a flip phone, talking into your computer is lame. You want to use Google Voice like a real phone—with buttons and stuff. Here is how.

You're going to need a Google Voice account. You can get a Google Voice number right here, for free. Do it. This will be your new "Home Phone Number".

The key to all this fun, is the little device I got for christmas this year. The Linksys PAP2T, only $49.99 on amazon.com.



The Linksys PAP2T is a little box that turns your home phone into a VoIP phone. It's simple: You just plug your home phone into the PAP2T's jack and plug the PAP2T into your home network (Internet). That's it; your hardware setup is done.

The real magic (and a little bit of work) is in the VoIP service Sipgate. Sipgate is a VoIP service that gives you a free phone number and free incoming calls.

Google Voice gives you free outgoing calls in the US.

Sipgate's free incoming calls combined with Google Voice's free outgoing calls, is a perfect $0/month solution.

You won't notice any difference when it comes to receiving calls. Your home phone will ring, just like it did with your landline.

Making outgoing calls is a little less convenient because you'll need to use Google Voice's website to set up calls. Google voice will call your home phone and then connect you with the phone number you entered at the website. This is a small hassle but that tiny trade leaves you completely free of monthly bills. The other option is to just make outgoing calls with your cell phone.

Two other items of note. Sipgate will allow you to call 911 for approximately $2/month if you sign up and configure it, otherwise no 911 from the home phone. Also, if you have a home security service, they generally require a more formal landline service.


Here's how to do it:
• Sign up for Sipgate and get your free phone number. (mine was a California phone number, but it doesn't matter)
• Set up Google Voice to forward calls to your new Sipgate number.
• Plug a phone into your PAP2T, grab a pencil, and dial "****"
• After the prompt, dial 110# (here's why you need the pencil), and write down the IP address it recites back.
• Type that IP address in your browser
• On the resulting page, go to "Admin Login" and choose "Line 1"
• Insert the proper info, Sipgate's website has detailed instructions on the exact information you'll need to plug into your PAP2T.

The Pergola Kid

The concrete has been scored in a 2' x 2' diamond pattern; waiting to be stained later. The Lifetime Lumber arrived and a guy was here today to start the pergolas. Gib and Taryn think they look very shrine-ish and so of course Gib had to go outside and break them in.

I was supposed to work from 2-6 today. Last night I started feeling pretty bad. One eye began swelling and I had a low grade fever. This morning, I woke up with both eyes swollen; I was pretty sure the excision was getting infected. I felt bad making the Dr come in on his day off, but figured better today than Christmas if it got progressively worse. I got a prescription for a different antibiotic than the one I've been taking. I am nervous about trying one I've never been on before, however, since antibiotics and I have an unpleasant history.

I called CWC and they said the really needed me there, but would put me in the fitting room since I look like Quasimoto and don't feel so chipper. When I showed up, the store had slowed down to where there were more sales associates than customers. I was dropped off by Mike 15 minutes early, so I was hanging out in the break room, and was promptly sent home before I even clocked in. I am now on stand-by here at the house since I am 5 minutes away should things change from 4-6 when they go down to two associates to close. I am working forever the day after Christmas, so I think the assistant manager wanted me to be ready and raring to go then. Return City and Mega After Christmas Sales. Sure hope I can smile by then.

After I got cut at CWC I helped Mr. C with all the last minute errands of the Night Before Christmas, including a stop at the grocery store for sugar cookies with sprinkles on top. We figured Santa would like those just as much as if Mariah had made them, and we wouldn't have a kitchen to clean! It's just one of those kind of years. I think there will be a little something extra in the stocking to make up for it, but that's just a guess.

Merry Christmas Everyone! We hope your Christmas is joyful and filled with the Spirit of the Christ Child whose birth we celebrate, not only tomorrow but all through 2011.

The Stitches

The title should be sufficient warning! 3 out of 4 kids think it is disgusting beyond belief. I like to think they just hate to see their beloved mother in stitches.

Today is much better. Sleeping comfortably is difficult.

I really hope when the stitches come out, the dr is right that it will eventually (key word, I'm thinking) look like another forehead wrinkle.

My Aching Head

I had a rough night and do not feel good today AT ALL. After insisting on prescription pain killer, I ended up having a reaction to it. When the Dr. gave me Lortab, I thought I had taken it before, but I guess not. I knew I should have asked for Darvocet, which I know I can tolerate. How I hate being so sensitive to meds. I no sooner had taken the 2nd Lortab, a hydrocodone mix which by the way wasn't working anyways, when the itching began. After awhile, I thought I'd better get up and see if I was starting to turn colors like I do when I have an antibiotic reaction. Well, after nearly fainting but seeing that I was just a ghostly white, I went back to bed and took myself off the painkiller. I got up at 5 am in too much pain to sleep, and tried taking Tylenol. After dozing on the sofa for 30 minutes, I began to feel faint from the pain, and was dripping in sweat. I debated barfing, then decided not to. Good call, huh?! I REALLY don't handle pain well.

So I called the Dr. at a reasonable hour of 7:15 which I thought was nice of me, before he started seeing patients. I described my experiences of the night before and the morning fun with the Tylenol as pain reliever. He wasn't willing to prescribe Darvocet since he really felt in the first place that I would be just fine with OTC. Seriously? 500 mg Tylenol covers the pain from a chunk of skin removed equal to the diameter and thickness of a nickel? After some discussion, he said I could alternate it with Motrin since the threat of bleeding is now pretty much passed. Well.... the threat of MY bleeding is. I am a cranky person when I have a head wound people!! Beware!! We ended the conversation with an out that if by late afternoon I am still in bad shape he will call in some kind of non-opiate pain reliever. Whatever, dude, I don't care what it is, I just don't want to barf.

So the actual procedure: they marked my head with sharpie, then iodined my whole face. The nurse gave me several injections to numb the area. I am not afraid of needles, but she got me a little worried because she said they would really sting and burn. I am not sure you should be saying that! I think it would have been better described as a "Stick and a Sting". Once she got about 3 in, I didn't hardly feel even that, except for a couple of less numbed areas going in. After 15 minutes they tested to see if I was indeed numb. There were a couple spots not numbed enough so I got needled again. Then the dr came in and next thing you know, I feel a line being drawn across my forehead. I kept my eyes closed and went to my happy place, trying hard not to think about the fact that was a scalpel cutting into my skin there. Ewwww.

After a bit, I was roused from my happy place by a very distinct snip-snip-snip. I could even feel the tugging, but no other sensation. I gotta say it was really gross. So of course, I said "that sounds an awful lot like scissors" and the dr confirms he is using very small scissors on me. My reply? "That is so disgusting". I considered sharing the conversation Indy and I had about how gross we think his job is, but decided to save that for another time.

In between cutting, snipping and stuff, they were cauterizing. Eww, ewww, ewwwww. I told them before anything began that I would be the stillest person ever if they would just warn me ahead of the cauterization so I could hold my breath. Otherwise they would probably have a gagger. Their choice. I can hold my breath for a really long time too. So everytime he had to do that, I would take a deep breath and hold it. One time I jumped and he thought I had felt it. I said, "it almost hurt, but it didn't". It was kind of like a shock that I could feel in my hairline. I thought maybe a wire was moving in my hairline that I didn't know was there. He said it was a nerve that runs vertically and he was probably hitting it. Umm, ok, stop?! It kept happening after that.

When all of that FINALLY ended, and I gotta say it took so long my happy place was not happy anymore in the slightest, the sewing up began. That took even longer. I thought I could amuse myself by counting stitches. I stopped after a good long while, probably somewhere after 20. Mostly because I was distracted when I started to regain some feeling. At one point I go "I kinda felt that!" and the dr said "kinda?" I told him if it was the last one on the far right I could tolerate it, but if he was going to do anymore leatherworking over there, I needed more local first. Complete silence. Oh, that went over quite well. Then he said he was done there until the next row. Next row?! By the time he hit my forehead side I got a real zinger and went for an "OOWWW!" lest they think I was lying about my pain level tolerance being a ZERO. I think he did it on purpose. So I got re-numbed all over and the work commenced until it was done. My dr is really a nice guy, and I hope to see that he's as super talented as well. He said it will be a thin ridge for about 6 weeks. I will have a quizzical look for a couple of weeks as he had to pull the skin pretty tight making one brow higher than the other. My bangs better be long enough to cover that! The lab results come back in a week to 10 days.

They cleaned it all up, put a several layers of bandages over it. I thought about asking to see it, but decided my stomach was done for the day. Besides, now I have something to look forward to, hahah. A pressure bandage on top of all that and gave me a bunch of post-op instructions. They tried to talk me out of my prescription painkillers. And here we are. I am left wondering, if they find any more signs of melanoma next week that I will have to do this for?! Ugh.

Snow, Exams, Indy, Quilt, Paint, Guest, Taryn, Patio

It's been a week since my last blog..... and alot has happened since then! We had some snow, and that closed school for a day on Monday, then the kids went to school late on Tuesday. Indy arrived in the middle of it all on Tuesday night. On Wednesday they went to school on time, but came home at noon due to the threat of an ice storm, which never arrived. Sheesh! It wouldn't have bothered me except for a pesky little issue of final semester exams. Gib missed his afternoon exam on Wednesday and had to take 3 on Thursday. Everyone went to school for full days Thursday and Friday and got to finish all exams resulting in a relaxing Winter Break without the prospect of taking an exam in January looming over their heads.


Nobody was more relieved than Gib who pulled tanked grades up and got 2 A's and 3 B's for the semester. He came home and got his grades online, and requested the return on his cell phone and facebook account. He had to text his dad for the password. His dad replied "good grades". Gib thought it was a question, so he texted back YES. Turns out, Mike had changed Gib's facebook password to "good grades" during the duration of the weeks he had to go without it while working on his academics. I thought that was hilarious. I'm not so sure Gib found it as funny as I did.


Preschool ended on Thursday for the holidays. We had a half day with the Christmas program which was so adorable. The program was centered around my favorite childhood book of Twas the Night Before Christmas, with a narrator reading the story, a slide show with the pages of book as he read along, and at certain points each preschool class sang a song. Very cute! Afterwards, they all had class parties and went home. We broke down classrooms and then all the staff went out to lunch and we had our gift exchange. My boss knew I wanted to get this one teacher to make a quilt for her gift. She does so much for our school, the community, etc., and I wanted to give something extra back to her. I got this idea a long time ago to make a quilt based on the units she teaches; I browsed the material store to see if it was possible. Boy, was it!! So by some stroke of luck, my boss handed me her name and said she had drawn it for me since I wasn't going to be at school the day of the drawing! Wow, what a coincidence!

My mom and I had alot of fun shopping for material. It features Eric Carle heavily since the teacher starts with that unit and uses their Eric Carle inspired paintings all year long in their art projects. Mom and I spent alot of Thanksgiving placing the fabric.

Then mom went to work on all the sewing!

Here is the back of the quilt, done in subway tile pattern.

Everyone loved it, especially the teacher I gave it to! She couldn't believe we got all her preschool units into one quilt. My mom did a great job on it didn't she?! We make a good team. I love to choose the fabrics and she loves to quilt.

Another project finished this week, finally, was painting Taryn's new college girl bedroom. Indy helped me since I only got 1 wall done on Monday. She and I cranked it out and when Mike and I left on Sunday to get T, all that was left was one wall of touch ups and to put the furniture in place. I could have finished the touch ups if Killer Bunnies hadn't called me away! We wrote a message on the wall to her friend Charlie who will be remembered forever for losing in Rock-Paper-Scissors and having to stay in the "turquoise room" when he and Trevor came for a visit. We thought for sure the guys would be fighting over the bed, but nooo, they fought over the pull out sofa rather than lose any manliness in the turquoise room. Trevor and Charlie are on their missions now, but another friend from the infamous EFY group, Brennin, is back from his mission, so he came for a visit this weekend! We were excited to have his company. He had to learn Killer Bunnies, however, we didn't make him stay in the almost finished, paint fumed navy blue room. Indy, Brennin, Gib and Mariah also visited the Opryland hotel; a busy place this season having just reopened since the May flood. There are some great photos on Indy's facebook wall of their Opryland excursion. And one photo that is deep, deep, deep undercover right now. A totally fake marriage proposal from Brennin to Indy that they are going to use to fool Charlie and Trevor into thinking he proposed to her while they are on their missions.

Mike won Killer Bunnies by the way. Poor Brennin could barely keep Bunny Heart alive the entire game and had to revive him once even. He was attached. I do believe there is a photo of him snuggling Bunny Heart.

While Mike and I were picking up Taryn in St. Louis, Indy and Brennin finished her room as a welcome home present! They moved in all her furniture, hung the shelves, put up artwork, and decorated with all her shells and stuff. It looked great! We got home just in time to say goodbye to Brennin who had to return home that night. Bummer. Unfortunately, it was too dark without overhead lights in the college suites to get a photo, because as soon as Taryn moved in, her travelling trunk exploded and that AFTER photo is not going to happen until I see carpet again.

Here is Taryn, utterly thrilled that I texted Mike to send her out for a Rest Stop Photo Op to add to my collection

Fishy!!

We haven't seen much of Taryn since she got home Sunday night. She has a cold and doesn't feel well. She is pretty much sequestered up there with her Betta fish, named Fishy, who had to travel with us in a Parmesan cheese shaker because it had a lid with holes and could fit in a cup holder. I thought that was totally ingenious on my part, especially since it was 2 am when I came up with it.

WHEW!!! this is long, isn't it?! Yesterday, Christmas came early and we got concrete!!!

The cats haven't used the back door since who knows when. Neither have we, but hey, we're just the humans, it's the cats that use it the most!

Chino was given Top Cat honors.

Not sure about this!

Haven't quite figured out there was stairs yet. He eventually did.

Give Chino the time and he'll get there.

Heading to his sidewalk, happy as he can be!

Mom's prison window will be replaced soon with a longer, bigger one.

Still no bars. She hasn't tried to escape so we're rewarding her Good Conduct. From the inside the difference is amazing! So much natural sunlight in her kitchen and living room now! Yay!

Next: The patio will be scored in a diamond 2x2' pattern tomorrow. It will be stained when the weather warms up and it has cured. The pergolas will be built and the fire pit and elevated portions of the patio will be bricked. Also we have some brick columns going in which will be topped with outdoor lights flanking the sidewalk. And the wrought iron guys comes tomorrow or Thursday to start the railings.