Holly Jolly

Have a wonderful holiday... see you in the New Year!

Noel

A little treat.

My son's annual school holiday show is still a "Christmas" show due to the fact he attends a parochial school. So instead of hearing "Jingle Bells" for the upteenth time, I give you this...

Excuse the camera jumpiness...  recorded it on my Flip (not great for long distance shooting, but the sound is good). :-)

Christmas Wrap

I can't let the year finish without the obligatory Post-Christmas post. I guess I am off my game this year, because I really don't have many pictures. Damn!  I was busy taking some video, and left the picture taking to S., and well... that didn't work out so great.

Truth be told, it's no secret that I've had a Nikon camera on my wish list for years now, and thanks to "the-expenses-I-care-not-to-talk-about" it's hard to justify buying it.  Just me and my crappy camera for now.

We did have a nice holiday.  All the snow melted from earlier in the week thanks to a drenching downpour Christmas Day, which gives a good excuse to DO NOTHING.  I spent the entire weekend in the house with David and husband, building Legos, and playing video games.  I am now a resident expert of Lego Rock Band for Nintendo DS.  Yes I AM. And proud of it.

This week, while I've been working like a crazed lunatic, S. and David have been having fun.  Lots of fun.    Not that I am missing it all (well, I sort of am) but I am a wee bit jealous.

While I am hip-deep in my financial reporting and firedrills for work, they have been embracing some serious 1x1 male bonding time.  And for the first time in recorded history, they are grocery shopping for me.  ALONE.  God help me.

As New Years Eve looms tomorrow, I had thought about posting my annual why the year sucked bad post.  But that's getting repetitve. 

I've got a lot of bitching to do but not in the mood to do it.

In fact, I have a lot of emotions to share with you all, but I don't want to pay it lip-service.  For now, I am enjoying having my boys (the big and little one) home with me. 

I just can't drag myself into that dark place right now.  Next week, when work calms down, I have a few items on my to-do list.

This year will be the year of healing.

Christmas Wishes

Christmas is forever, not for just one day,

for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away

like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.

The good you do for others is good you do yourself...

~Norman Wesley Brooks

 

Wishing you peace and holiday goodness from the BagMomma family.

25 Christmases Later

So while I was taking a break from work today, I stumbled upon a classic Christmas tune that I LOVE to sing in the car. After seeing the video again (which I don't believe I have in a decade or two) I couldn't sing along because I was laughing all the way through it.

LAUGHING!



Oh yes, it's George Michael and his pal Andrew with a bunch of friends having a grand ole time in the mountains... sipping wine in a ski chalet and giving "come hither" looks to the camera. An 80's masterpiece.

Back when this song was popular, I was a teen in high school and thought George Michael was actually a straight male.

He fooled all of us I tell you!!

He with the Barry Gibb hair and Dentyne smile (If you don't know who Barry Gibb is, or what Dentyne was... well, you suck. No, just kidding. ...ok, maybe not.)

Oh, how this song brings back memories. "Oh, here's this pin! Please wear it. Oh, you tramp, you Flashdance Queen...! Why, I wasted a perfectly good rhinestone pin I COULD HAVE WORN!!  or at least given to someone BETTER than YOU." Pshaw.

1984 was a good year.  I remember Christmas of 1984.  I remember wearing my Guess Brand jeans, and my off the shoulder pink sweater from "The Limited", complemented by my lime green plastic hoop earrings.  I probably just celebrated one of my friends birthdays with a Smurf cake, and I am definitely sure that I had Calvin Klein Obsession perfume on my holiday gift list, along with the soundtrack from the movie, "Against All Odds".

That was 25 years ago. 

I am officially ancient.

Funny Girl

Who watches Glee? Is Sue Sylvester not the most evil incarnation of an antagonist you've ever watched on a TV show? I love the dark humor, almost as much as I loved the rendition of "Don't Rain on my Parade" this week. I think I liked it just as much as when Streisand sang it!!

Pure genius I tell you...

And for those wondering, NO, I am not abandoning my blog. Shifting focus, maybe, but not disappearing. If you dislike my vain attempts at humor, you may want to bail now. At the core of it all, I revert to laughter in times of uncertainty and I do plan on laughing again.  Just as soon as I stop crying.

I do.

I also have my posse of infertile friends to keep me busy obsessing about their cycles (now that I don't have my own to think about). I've got my buds about to become mommies for the first time. Surely you want my unsolicted advice on teething and swaddling, right? And lastly, but not leastly... the rest of you... My  Super-Duper Band of Sisters and Supporters. You've always been there for me, I continue to be there for you.

I end with something I haven't done a lot of lately. Picture time! as we approach the season of many holidays.  Sigh...  this could be the last one with Santa before he's tarnished.  lol.

See?  I'm laughing!

Looks like we made it

Another Christmas in the history books.

And, I might add, one of the most stress-free I've had in years. Primarily, because of the shaving down of the gluttony, but even better that Christmas fell on a Thursday, leaving 3 days to unwind, eat leftovers, and open every last twist tie on each toy.



Aaaah, now I feel rested.

Almost takes the sting out of the fact I am back to work today.

Not.

Uncle Clark, are you sure you ain't Santa Claus?

aaaah, the holidays....

You might remember my post from two years ago (has it been THAT long?) about my favorite Christmas movie, Christmas Vacation.

Last night we fired up the DVD and watched it again for the gazillionth time.

It just never gets old.

The squirrel in the tree. The fried cat. The lime jello mold with cat food accents. The part when Clark has a ladder mishap while installing the "exterior illumination".

Classic.

It brings to mind a magical moment I had as a kid.

Years ago, when we lived in the infamous "blue house" my Dad did a Clark Griswold of his own. One year he decided to climb up on the roof in the middle of the night and do his best interpretation of Santa and his "eight tiny reindeer".

"And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof,
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof."

My Mom woke up my brother and me to the sounds of various gardening equipment tapping on the roof, and my Dad's oh so accurate depiction of Santa getting ready to come down the chimney.

Let me tell you, as a kid it sounded JUST LIKE Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, & Blitzen.

Well, until the HO HO HO's turned into quite a clamor...

you see, my Dad (sorry, SANTA) was just about falling off the roof.

I don't remember my Mom being concerned, but I do remember her giggling. My Dad didn't know it then, but he was channeling Clark Griswold for sure. In fact, I bet if I looked out the wrong window, he would have been hanging upside down, tethered to the roof only by a stubborn gutter and a heavy-duty string of lights wrapped around his ankle.

We had dozens of stories like that when I was a kid. I am sure that the Griswolds were loosely based on my family.

Clark as my Dad, Ellen as my Mom, Rusty as my little brother, and me, Audrey. Come to think of it, we even looked like them.

hmmmmm........

Pic: Warner Bros. Pictures

One foot in front of the other

You never will get where you’re going
If you never get up on your feet
Come on, there’s a good tail wind blowing
A fast walking man is hard to beat
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door
If you want to change your direction
If your time of life is at hand
Well don’t be the rule be the exception
A good way to start is to stand

David has been obsessed with Christmas television shows. The lyrics above, from the 1970 classic "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" (by Jules Bass). I adored this as a kid, and still do. And this song is one of my favorites... I can hear Fred Astaire singing right now.

What a simple message.

One foot in front of the other. And soon you'll be walking out the door.

Perfection in so many ways, eh?

So yeah, I didn't mean to scare you guys with my freak-out post yesterday (thank you for your supportive comments!), but it is what it is I guess. S. is in limbo with his employment, and well, that situation may either change drastically (if he's laid off soon), or improve (the job fairy finds him a suitable place to land).

On the other side of the coin, my employment (forever up in the air, as it has been for 15 years) is once again on the skids. The goal: find another job within the company that provides safe-haven (in other words, gets me thru 2009 without getting a pink slip). The technology environment is always so cyclical, and I've been laid off twice before (and found a job in-house), so this is no new news really. Just a harbinger of things to come. A situation that I DO NOT NEED when my husband's position is in jeopardy.

The good news is we've already been cutting back on expenses. The intent was to lighten the load for the donor cycle expenses, but it appears we had good timing to at least get our debt in order the last three months.

We need to re-examine our lifestyle and seriously crank back MORE just in case. And, no the donor cycle is still in play. And, yes, David will indeed have a great Christmas. Just less stuff.

Burgermeister Meisterburger is not going to rain on my parade.

Cancelling Christmas

Well, it's going to be a very back-to-basics holiday season around here. Without going into too much detail, suffice to say that 2009 will bring a change of pace economically for my family.

Check out my latest post at New Jersey Moms Blog for part of the story...

The rest of the story is, well, crappy also. More to come when I'm not stressing out.

Sugar Therapy

Behold a masterpiece...

I give you, The Candy Cottage, by David and Mommy...

How many pieces of candy were eaten during the construction?

Lord only knows, but it was good.

How much fun can you handle?

Whew! What a holiday weekend. From Turkey Day all the way through Sunday we managed to use every last spare moment of time.

Thanksgiving Day here at home was... exhausting, but fun. This is me and S. after 24 hours of cleaning and cooking...lol

Then we woke up Friday morning and drug out every last box of Christmas decorations. Was I meaning to do that? Hell, no. I was looking to just kick back and relax, but David had other plans. He's the worst supervisor, by the way.

Saturday we got up early and headed to the Please Touch Museum in Philly. It's in a new venue (such a beautiful building).


It had lots of hands-on stuff for the kids, and the adults. My personal favorite was the restored Dickens Village (think Christmas Animatronics set in 1776). The last time I saw the full display was waaay back in the 70's. It was an annual Christmas event at Lit Bros. Department Store in the city.


Oh, and the indoor fully restored carousel... just stunning...


Sunday, we woke up to rain. And fog. And sleet. And more rain. We had tickets for the North Pole Express Train Ride. We met my brother, SIL, and the kids after a 90 minute drive, but it was well worth it.

It was the worst weather day... but you know what? It made for a great day anyway. Lots of rain meant people stayed in. Which meant we had a great time in a place that is normally packed with people.


The rain actually added character to the day. Doesn't it look Christmas-y?

David and my nephews were bowled over when Santa walked onto the train to present them with a Christmas sleigh bell... they looked terrified and elated at the same time.. lol


Afterwards we kicked back in a nearly empty brewpub, had great beer and pretty awesome burgers.

Yeah, it was a pretty cool weekend indeed.

Lastly... a fertility update: In case you all were missing my status posts on the donor egg cycle, well, get ready. Pre-work is complete, and the cash has been procured. Tomorrow is the appointment to delve into the Great Big Book of Donors. More to come...

Hit me with your best shot

It's two weeks to Christmas.

Is your holiday list completed?

I always work towards a yearly goal of having all my gift purchases done one week before Christmas. Most of the time I screw up and miss that goal, but I think this year I really might make it.

I think it's my alter ego at work. When I am most stressed and busy, I tend to whip my ass into shape. I'm like a little kid, sometimes if you give me too much leeway, I get bored and procrastinate on every little task. But pile up my calendar, and I am forced into "Commando" mode. get a task. complete the task.

What has gotten into me?

Anyway, I've gone from not doing anything to getting everything done (I think the week off of work and blogging helped). So much so that I am pondering embarking on baking next week. I have a beautiful Christmas cake pan that has waited the last two years to be used, and some cookie recipes I've been wanting to try.

I know, you are laughing. I can take it.

Oh, and I must report on last night's injection. Went just fine, and S. didn't even hesitate. I think he missed his calling as a nurse.

So when will I start to feel my ovaries revving up? I am a newbie, remember. Enlighten me.

I have a follie scan scheduled for Thursday (that will be after 3 days of stims.... I'm on 150IU of Gonal-F).

Oh, and the title of this post.... yeah, I know. ENOUGH with the 80's song references. But I love Pat Benatar. So there.