New Year Resolutions

I have a few NYRs....I usually shy away from them, but I decided to give it a whirl this year.

A) To find time to be more artistic- be it by sketching, painting, or thru my photography.
*I have a project in mind......every month I'm going to do a piece of artwork that reminds me of someone. At some point- or maybe for Christmas- I'm going to send the piece to them. I have my first piece chosen already. It's a hummingbird for my mom for Mother Day.

B) To finally reach my goal weight.
*Hopefully the project for Resolution A will help with this one by keeping my mind busy with something besides my cooking endeavors. And I've already started eating better and working out evey morning again. I'm still not back to 100% after my illness, but I'm hoping maybe the more I do- the more I'll be ABLE to do too. I still have to nap and hour or so in the afternoons, but that's not a terribly bad thing, is it?

C) To save more for a deposit on our own house and get out the rent-race.
*I'm sick to the teeth of renting. It's money down the drain if you ask me- and since we signed a two year lease agreement back in October- I think we can save enough in two years for a sizable down payment.

D) To be a better person than I was this year.
* Self Exclamatory.

Secret Santa.....

Twas the morning of Christmas and already light- 

I heard a sound and thought it might be an intruder...but I had my phone in my hand so I put it on camera and peeked it around the corner to see what I was about to face.......

This is what I saw when I looked at the pic.

OMG!! It's DAYLIGHT out!!

 I quickly ran back to bed and waited til I didn't hear sounds in there anymore...

 I saw the things under the tree and ran to investigate!!

Owwwwww- Prezzies!!!!

And Stockings had been filled and left for us!!

 Then I turned to go sit in my recliner and see what was in my stocking

(I love chocolate for brekkie on Christmas Day..

.It's the ONE time I don't feel guilty about eating rubbish all day.)

This is what I saw when I turned around-

Ours must have been the LAST house Santa visited since it was daylight when I saw him and I suppose  after delivering those zillion prezzies all over the world he felt the need for a bit of a kip before setting back off back to the North Pole....

So I tiptoed over and snapped of a few photos...

I mean no one will believe me if there aren't photos, right?

I laughed because,

 apparently, 

Santa was using his NICE List as a sleep mask to keep a bit of the light out of his eyes.

Well, I took a few photos of the List too....Sure enough- Paul and my name was at the very end of the list so we MUST have been the last delivery.

I noticed that a few on the list had stars by their names(*Extra Good)...I have a Blog world friend named Michael who made the list(I'm not sure he would appreciate whoever put the Nice List together shortening his name to Mike tho....Apparently his companion Tom, didn't get a star.....Hmmm...Poor Tom. I wonder if there's a Bonus Gift for having a Star by your name or if it's just for Santa's benefit?

 Anyway....

As I was snapping photos, I noticed he was holding something in his hand and his bag still had a few things in it...I didn't want to get too close and wake him up- (That would earn me a spot on the NAUGHTY List for a VERY LONG time, I'm sure)- but I did take a quick photo to see what they were.....

Owwww- nice one- Quality Street Chocolates!!!

And what was in his hand????...

LOL...Oh my....

Santa ate almost an entire sleeve of Jaffa Cakes!!!

It's okay- I LOVE them too!!!

Well.....

Not wanting to push my luck any further, I took one last look at my childhood dream come true-

Santa in my LIVING ROOM..... and I snuck back to bed to give him a chance to wake on his own and leave undisturbed....

completely oblivious to the fact anyone(and now EVERYONE) knows that 

YES- Santa Really DOES EXIST!!

Happy Christmas to ALL- and to all a Good NIGHT!!!!

Happy Christmas!!!!!!

Today I want to think about happy things.

Christmas has always been a wonderful time for me.
All bright lights and the scent of pine and cinnamon and citrus in the air.

Chocolates in the stockings, the bright look of happiness in the childrens eyes as they open their beautifully wrapped gifts piled under the tree.

The smell of new plastic/rubber  from the baby dolls Santa brought.  The squeals, the laughter.

The Mistletoe taped to the top of the doorframe or hung from the chandalier. The silly Christmas sweaters. The crackling fire. The Holiday movies- all the classics- It's a Wonderful Life, Christmas Vacation, Christmas Story, White Chrsitmas, Elf, Miracle on 34th Street, Home Alone, Charlie Brown Christmas, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, A Christmas Carol, Scrooged...the list goes on and on.

Eggnog in the fridge, Christmas cake on the kitchen counter, Fruit and nuts in a bowl on the buffet table, Wine chilling in the fridge or on the counter next to the Christmas cake. The Christmas Snow Village twinkling and glowing on the entrance table.

The tinsel and shining ornaments on the tree.......sparkling from the window for all that go by to see. Some of the ornaments full of sentiment from Christmases gone by....some bright and shiny and new- ready to soak up the Christmas spirit and making themselves special to someone as time goes on. The hugs, the kisses, the smell of snow in the air.

Christmas carols....does anyone go Caroling anymore? I used to go when I was young and went to church regularly and it was lovely going house to house seeing the smiles at peoples houses as they heard us and looked out their windows and then came to the door.
Sadly, they never had any figgy pudding, tho.

Reading the "Twas The Night before Christmas" on Christmas Eve.....and the production of putting  out the plate of nibbles and cuppa hot chocolate or glass of milk for Santa and a bag of carrots for the reindeer before racing off to our beds.

The excitement of waking at 4AM and trying to sneak into the living room to see if Santa had been or if you had to go back to bed because he hadnt quite made it to your house yet.
The glow of the Christmas lights from the tree as you peeked carefully around the corner of the door and saw indeed- SANTA HAD BEEN!!!! The squeals of happiness and running to your parents room to wake them and tell them the joyous news of Santas arrival and hoping that they would get up and not make you wait until the sun actually came up to see what was in all those bright shiny packages so gayly wrapped under the tree!

Grabbing the stockings and eating chocolates and nuts and fruit for breakfast...the one day of the year when our parents indulged us by letting us eat total rubbish for Breakfast of we wanted. (I think it was because they had been up all night putting toys together and wrapping gifts for under th tree and probably hadnt benn in bed a half hour when WE woke up and saw Santa had come and come to get them to open said gifts from "Santa" and were so exhausted they didnt care what we ate that one meal of the year.)

And you need to remember the good times. Every Precious Memory you can. Bring it home. Write it down. Make memories. Do things you have never done. Try things your loved ones want you to try- just to make them happy- and make memories for them.
 Be silly. Be happy. Be Loved.
 Because at some point- y'all will be glad you have all those lovely memories to look back on.
I know I am.

Happy Christmas to All

....and to All a Good Night!!!

I'm GUTTED........Heartbroken.....Christmas is RUINED!!!!!

Well, as you can see I'm starting to feel a bit more like myself.

I just talked with my mother in law. Asked her what time we were expected on Christmas Day and if there was anything I could bring.

She replied if we could find a non- alcoholic wine.....???? I think that's called grape juice, maybe?That we can do........

I told her I was really looking forward to her Christmas Cake this year...I mean literally DREAMING about it.
Y'all know me- I'm a chocolate kinda girl...or an all white kinda girl....I'm not big on fruit cakes. The kind of fruit cakes I was used to are the kinds that everyone re-gifts year after year that finally end up being used as doorstops because they taste so hideous.

Yeah...my mother in law's most certainly is NOT like that. She spends a month or more making it. The fruits and nuts in the lovely cake...baked then doused with that lovely spirit sauce daily..or weekly- or I don't know what she does but it's the most lovely explosion of mixed flavors in your mouth......Like a big Christmas Celebration on it's own. Absolute Heaven. You know it has to be for her to convert this girl to not just liking fruitcake- but LOVING it and having dreams about it in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

But this year due to the new weight loss plan her and the Dad in law are on(I'm supposing I don't know for sure but this is my theory) she has decided to forgo the tradition and she went out and BOUGHT one.
Oh the shame!!! The disappointment!!!! The heartbreak!!!!!

It's just too much for me to bear. Christmas is ruined.

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Yes, I'm fully aware I can be a bit of a Drama Queen at times. THIS once is TOTALLY justified tho.

 I cant wait until NEXT Christmas. Maybe I can get the recipe from her......it definately won't be the same- but I could TRY it.

Thanksgiving was CANCELLED.

Sorry....I see it was the night before getting sick that I last posted.

On the 14th I felt okay....ish. Early morning of the 15th- I suddenly felt like I was going to throw up....after forcing myself to do a few necessary errands- I came home and went straight to bed....and remained there with projectile vomiting,  (sorry for the following description but there's no other way to say it) explosive diarrhea, horrible stomach cramping and an on and off fever. For three days I didn't get out of bed except to run to the bathroom and I honestly don't remember much of the weekend at all.

Monday morning, I was no better, so instead of going to my job, I called off work and called my doctor for an emergency appointment. None to be had- they said I would need to try again the following morning...I said no way.
So I took a taxi to my nearest hospital walk in centre.....Manchester Royal Infirmary.

They examined me- did a urine sample- and brought me directly to the A & E(Accident & Emergency) for admission.....they brought me to an isolation room and hooked me up to an IV drip. That was at 10:30AM.........at 8PM they came in and informed me that I wasn't hydrating sufficiently and as I couldn't keep food or water down they were admitting me to the hospital proper and would be going upstairs to a real bed in short order.......
I finally made it up there to a ward at 10:30 PM. I was on a ward for exactly 3 minutes 45 seconds. The nurse came in- looked at my chart- and practically RAN out of the room. 30 seconds later- they are whisking me down the hallway to the end of the corridor to an isolation room.  One of the ones with two sets of doors- with a scrub station and gloves and bio hazard suits.
I was so sick it didn't really register at the time...but a few days later it clicked from a comment the doctor made while in the in between station that I probably wasn't meant to hear.
They actually thought it might be Ebola when I was first admitted.
Luckily it wasn't...but it was a really nasty gastro-intestinal infection.
I was hospitalised in the isolation room for three days- then moved downstairs to yet another isolation room for another two days. During that time I went thru 4 or 5 bags of IV fluids a day. My veins kept collapsing and they had to move the IV needle 7 times in the first 4 days. I lost a stone...(14 lbs). I had to be injected every day with a medication into my stomach to keep me from getting blood clots. My arms and hands and stomach had huge bruises on them...I looked like a junkie that had been beaten it was so bad.
Then the doctor came in and informed me they had finally been able to identify what the problem was. Unfortunately- or fortunately- the worst of it was over at that point and the rest was just that...rest and recuperation for a further 7-10 days.....until the symptoms had disappeared completely for 48 hours.

They gave me my meds and a doctors note-(eventually)...I called my husband- and we came home. But the coming home was provisional.
I had to pretty much stay either in bed- or on the sofa. No gadding about......no going out in public at ALL until 48 hours after the symptoms abated...and no work til then either. I had to eat regularly, and most importantly, I had to drink and stay hydrated. water, juice, coffee, tea, milk(altho they cautioned me to go easy on the milk as long as I still had symptoms)- it didn't matter- just fluids, fluids, fluids......So I did as the doctor ordered and was finally allowed to come back to work on December 1st.

So we had to cancel our big Thanksgiving Celebration Dinner we had planned.

I'm back to about 80% until about 11AM....then it goes down to about 65% for the rest of the day. This week, I've come home every afternoon and taken a nap....Monday it was a two and a half hour nap- Tuesday it was an hour and a half- today it was an hour and 15 minutes.
So things are looking up- but I'm thinking its going to be around the first of the year before I'm close to 100% again.
Hubby's Parents have invited us to their house for Christmas Dinner, so that means I won't have to worry about cooking a big Christmas meal either- altho I do plan on bringing something yummy to contribute to the Christmas Dinner.
Bless my husband who has taken wonderful care of me during my convalescence and barely let me lift a finger to do anything...He has cooked- cleaned,  and whatever needed doing to get me well.

I learned a few lessons along the way...but for now- this is going to have to be it for the blog post.
I'm exhausted again.

So Good Night- and I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!!!