What I Did On My Christmas Vacation...

This isn't really about bragging, but more about writing down stuff so I don't forget it! You perhaps don't know but can surely guess that I'm approaching 50, but I refuse to tell you from which direction!! So, heretofore (what does this really mean, anyway?!) is my Christmas Vacation Chronicle:

1. Dec. 15 - Visited my new friend, Dr. Jose Ortiz to see what he was going to do to me on; took an online final for one of my classes.
   
2. Dec. 16 - Spend the day at Luther Hospital in Eau Claire meeting some nurses, anesthesiologists, and having my left hand slashed by hand surgeon Dr. Ortiz. Hopefully, having this carpal tunnel release surgery will lead to the return of the feeling in three of the fingers on my left hand...or not. But at least it won't get worse!
3. Dec. 18 - Welcomed Servicemaster into my home so they could shampoo my carpets; tried not to reinjure my left hand so I moved only a few pieces of furniture!!
4. Dec. 19 - Finally set up and decorated the Christmas tree. It's beginning to feel like a holiday around here!
   
5. Dec. 17, 18, 19 -
   • Took full advantage of my "handicapped" status, and didn't wash one single dish! I did, however, load the dishwasher once, then fell into a semi-comatose (wink, wink) state and had to lie down and be fed Rum and Egg Nog until I felt better.
   • Watched holiday movies! Scrooged (Bill Murray), Christmas Carol (George C. Scott), White Christmas (Bing Crosby/Danny Kaye/Rosemary Clooney), It's A Wonderful Life (Jimmy Stewart), Home Alone (McCauley Culkin) and Christmas Vacation (Chevy Chase) twice!
   • Missed seeing Grumpy Old Men with Jack Lemon and Walter Mathau this year, only because I didn't have it on DVD, and didn't find it on cable channels. But I will watch it this winter some time!
6. Dec. 20 - Watched The Family Stone movie with Craig T. Nelson and Diane Keaton, among others. It was great. Sarah Jessica Parker played the epitome of the pain-in-the-butt girlfriend. It was a great depiction of the life of a truly "eclectic" family! Lots of laughs, some tears, some frustration, but I thought it was great, and amazingly, so did my spouse, who doesn't care much for movies.
7. Dec. 23 - A last minute shopping spree, as well as the delivery of goodies to some of my co-workers took us into the city. It was good to see everyone at work after a week of absence and being a shut-in!!
   
8. Dec. 24 - Shared a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner and evening with my Mom, who has just moved back to Wisconsin from New York and insisted on cooking her traditional Christmas Eve meal. She hasn't been with us for many years at Christmas, so this was a real treat. We celebrated at the home of my brother and his wife and kids. Son One and Girlfriend One, as well as My sister and husband were there. It was a lovely time.
9. Dec. 25 - More food and celebrating at Spouse One's parents' home with their family. It was a loaded house, but a fun time. Little kids, medium kids, large kids, cousins, brothers, sisters, friends--a grand bunch, lots of noise, good conversation and catching up. It's what this holiday is all about.
10. Dec. 26, 27, 28 - Shopping for, buying and installing flooring in the bar in our basement. Looks great, adds warmth to the floor, brings the room into modern civilization. Finished painting the walls, with a touch of design.
11. Dec. 29 - Began calling people in prep for a New Year's Eve party. I still can't put my hand in water, so what was I thinking here? :) Excited to see Daugher One and Fiancee One and to party with some friends.
12. Dec. 30 - Mike and I launched out for Eau Claire early a.m.; Dr. appointment to have cast and stitches removed! YAY! Did some serious sale shopping, then headed for home. Worked on last of the Christmas letters...still have some left to mail.
    
13. Dec. 31 - Cleaning, cooking, shopping... all in prep for DO and BO and New Year's party. It's been ages since we've really celebrated...Brother picked up DO and BO from airport and brought them home. Great to see them. Fast and furiously, we prepped for partee ...
14. Dec.31-Jan. 1 - Partied well with a few close friends and family. Father-In-Law One got more than a little tipsy; had to drive him home! Fun and funny because he loves family and really got into the swing of things. Beers, food, wine, Crown Royal...and food galore. No one really wanted it to end, so the last 6 or 8 of us moved to the basement to hunker in, listen to music and savor the time.
    
15. Alas... holiday celebrations over, Daughter/Fiancee One have gone back to their home far away, clean up is done, and return to work is looming large on the horizon...
16. Happy New Year, everyone! Let's hope 2009 is a good year...
    

HAPPY NEW YEAR, FOR GOODNESS SAKE!

I was just looking back on the January 2008 blog, which was more cynical even than I am usually! It was titled, "Happy New Year Blah Blah Blah." How cynical is that?! It was about how people were so flat and bored at and after Christmas, and how 2008 would be a great year.!! I must have had too much nog to be able to see the future clearly.

2008 was certainly not a good year for a good many of us. Record high unemployment, financial crises, an "entitlement" bailout of financial institutions and GM that will bankrupt the country and its middle-class citizens, record housing foreclosures and the collapse of the housing market...and a war that we should never have started that's cost us over five years, thousands of US military personnel, nearly a trillion dollars, and who knows how many Iraqi lives. Even if you still have your job, your home, and you haven't lost any family members in the Middle East, the crises of 2008 has touched everyone in some way. And it certainly made all of us a bit more fearful. In the words of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." But then, at that time, the country didn't have Fox News, CNN and Geraldo.

Many people I know have lost money in the Stock Market this year, and these are not wealthy people but people who had hoped these funds would take care of them in retirement. Retirement funds have all but dried up, and in many cases are gone completely. Every one of us in my family have been closely evaluating our jobs, retirement funds, and credit, making sure we're in some kind of "good" shape.

On the up side, we have a new President, and that always seems to give people hope. Frankly, I wonder if President-Elect Obama is wondering what he was thinking when he decided to run for the office! Facing some of the worst crises this country has ever seen has to be daunting beyond words. How on earth can anyone fix all of this?! Yet there are people who will expect him to do just that within his first year, and then condemn him when he cannot. I dare say that McCain/Palin are the lucky ones.

Also on the up side, I have a wonderful family, great friends, a spouse who has tolerated me and my quirks for more years than anyone should ever have to tolerate anything; I have a job, good health and a home. I have much more than so many people in this or any other country, and I pray for better days for everyone.

Happy New Year... humbly.

The Chronicles of (non)Coincidence #327

I really have no idea what number "non-coincidence" this is, but these are adding up quickly!

This one has to do with a Christmas gift for my daughter's fiancee. I ordered something warm and fuzzy for him a couple of weeks ago, with MONOGRAM, having been assured by customer service that it would, indeed, arrive in time for the unwrapping ceremonies on January 2. As a matter of fact, she assured me, it would arrive by Friday, Dec. 26. When it had not arrived by Monday, December 29th, I went online to check the status of my order. The friendly customer service rep I "chatted" with online assured me that no, my gift had not yet been shipped due to the number of orders and backlog the week before.

I'm not going to name the company because this is not truly about them. They are a good company, a WISCONSIN company, which is generally very prompt and sells high-quality goods. But I did have to wonder how they got so behind on orders, knowing full well that Christmas is a busy, busy, busy season, and lots of people order from them.

Okay, so I asked the CS Rep when I would receive the item. She informed me that the item was in "monogramming," and would be shipped the next day via the Express UPS that I had chosen and paid for. That would place it in my hands on New Year's Eve. That's great, I said. As long as I'd receive it by then.

To be safe, I checked again the next day, Tuesday, December 30, to make sure the item had been shipped. No, a different CS Rep said, "It is in monogramming and would not be ready to ship until Friday." FRIDAY?!! "Yes, she said, but they would ship it via UPS Express and it will arrive Saturday morning." Well, that will have to do, I thought, as long as I can give him the gift before he returns to Colorado on Sunday.
She then reminded me that " you can return the item, even with monogramming, if you need to."

So, we opened gifts on Saturday morning, instead of Friday, thinking that the gift would arrive dramatically, and I would sweep it under the tree in time for gift opening. "Unfortunately," I was told by Saturday's child at the CS desk, "you don't have Saturday delivery in your area, so you'll receive it next week. Remember you CAN return it."

I was terribly disappointed. UNTIL Daughter One's fiancee told us that he was in the process of changing his last name. Regardless of the reasoning for that change, he said the paperwork was done and I couln't help but perk up at the news for a different reason. Here was another non-coincidence, I thought! He was never meant to get THAT piece of clothing with THAT monogram. If I had received the item in time, as promised, I would not have had the option to return it, and he would have been stuck with a fine quality item with the wrong monogram. As it turns out, I will be able to return this item and re-order it with the correct monogram, making this the fiancee's first gift with the new initials on it.

While this is not an earth-shattering or life-changing coincidence, it is yet another small one in the ongoing chronicle of those I encounter~~~!

As before, I invite you to send me your own non-coincidences!!