Master Sparky

There's a blog that I've followed for years (dooce - the authoress is hilarious. You'll find a link to her site over there on the right under "Favorites." She didn't start out as a mommy-blog, and even though she's got two gorgeous little girls now, I still don't consider her a mommy-blog. It ain't all about diapers and how to get your kid to play nice, etc. She writes about her life and her outlook, and she's just too damn funny), and back in October, she posted a picture that a reader had done of her two dogs. I knew I just had to have one done of Sparks, and this is what the young lady came up (thank you, Julie Watson!) She did a super job. I think she caught him perfectly (scroll down to the Thanksgiving post below to see a recent pic of him). This was that special Xmas present for my Special K this year. Very jazzed it turned out so well.

Merry Christmas

I just wanted to say Merry Christmas to my one or two faithful visitors. Hope your holiday week is special and that you're with the ones that you love.

Been visiting the folks every free day we can. Spent the afternoon/evening there yesterday; we brought dinner to cook for them (to give the boys a break). Steak for Pop, Wim and Kathy, and Mum and I had bbq chicken-less chicken :o) (made from tofu, but so good - I ate a lot of this right after my surgery). I was afraid she wouldn't even want to try it, but she did and she liked it! She's been eating much better since she's home from the hospital, but it's clear that she's not well. While we were there yesterday, she spent most of the time in bed. She had fallen a few days before and wrenched her back, so now bed is the only place it doesn't hurt. She asked the fellas to take her to the ER today so that they could get it x-rayed to see what's going on.

Not ready at all for Xmas. I've not mailed a single box yet, and it doesn't look like I'm going to in time for Xmas. Oh, well. I do what I can. I'm exhausted, and there's still so much to do.

I'm not a praying woman, but I'm going to ask that if you are, to pray for Mum. Right now, she needs all the help she can get.

Sorry for not posting

But life has been insane lately. My mother is terminally ill. She is not going to get better. I have not yet come to terms with this. She's too young. I'm too young. I'm not ready for this stage of my life. And then I feel even worse, because this is not about me. It's about her. A loving wife, mother, friend - I can't lose her this early.

And I can't stop crying.

Thanksgiving

What a busy week last week was! But it all worked wonderfully, both Thursday and Saturday. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves on Thursday - the bird came out perfectly (that's my Special K with "Bella" - yes, we always name our turkeys). She was beautifully moist and flavorful - and so big! 24 pounds. Thanks again, Miss P! Her son works at QFC and got a free turkey. He had no use for it, so she asked him if we could have it - wonderful!

And everyone behaved - no-one fed Sparky any treats. He was pretty much bored with the whole thing, I think.

One of the fellas brought him a toy elephant, though - very sweet. Spark's been sleeping with that thing ever since. He loves new toys.

And Saturday was terrific, too - so good to see R&W. Had a wonderful dinner with them, and then instead of going out for breakfast the next morning, we decided to stay in and have breakfast at home. So much better - gave us more time to visit.
Wonderful 5-day holiday - all went way too quickly, though. But it always works out that way, huh?

Maintaining

Nothing new - just wanted to say hey. Still obsessed with my weight, which goes up and down, but I know this will be a for-life thing.

Thanksgiving is coming - excited about that. We're going to have a housefull and then two days later on Saturday, R&W is coming to stay the night (our friends who moved to mid-California back in May - they're coming up to spend Turkey day with his family). We're going to celebrate both Thanksgiving and Christmas to take advantage of them being here.

Thursday will be family and friends - the folks, the big bro dude, T&J (w/o Mr. Big - he's not doing so well, poor baby - bitch to get old and have parts not work right), Miss P, Mr. T. and R.G. That will make 10 of us. Have to remember to tell everyone that no-one is allowed to feed Sparky anything. Don't want a repeat of our Xmas/New Year celebration at the beginning of this year. So many folks fed him tidbits here and there that come evening, he was puking his guts out. I was amazed to see what came out of him. I guess they didn't realize that they were ALL giving him treats. He's going to hate it, cuz he does love to eat, but I don't want him sick again.

If I don't post before then, Happy Thanksgiving!