Secret Santas

Well hello and good evening...

When we got back from Houston, we walked in the house to see that there were a ton of presents under our Christmas tree. Turns out that Santa (aka Jennifer Hecht and Tracy Haggerty) took care of presents for all three of us while we were away. I was flabbergasted. The giving never ends. Tonight, Jennifer, Dan, their kids, Evan and Erin, and Frances (the perfect Gramma) came over, hauling gifts from all of them, and more!

Thank you so much! Sahara absolutely loves everything!

We had a lovely Christmas. Went to my sister's house for lunch with them, my nephew and his wife and five kids, and my brother-in-law's 91 year old father. The man is an angel - and still sharp as a tack, though he can barely see, has trouble hearing and major trouble getting around. He and Shannon talk endlessly about sports, and S is amazed that Mr. B knows team standings, statistics, scores, upcoming games, etc. It's really unbelievable.

My nephew's kids were a riot as always, and it was a lot of fun. We stayed about an hour and a half, and by the time lunch had been eaten and gifts had been opened, it was almost time for me to change her IV bags. We made an apologetic early exit and went home. Spent the rest of the day watching tv and enjoying being at home. It was especially sweet this year and we truly appreciated spending time with each other.

Shannon gave me two gift certificates for massage, and Sahara (little stinker) bought me, with her own money, a gift certificate to Victoria's Secret. I was very grateful for such thoughtfulness on both their parts.

I have been wiped out this week - functioning on a have-to basis and getting things done as needed. This nursing gig is quite the challenge. Sahara's the best patient ever, but is very dependent right now. Her balance is still wobbly, so Shannon and I are running up and down fetching eats and drinks. I am not complaining, though, because she is feeling SO great these days. She looks so much better than she did at the concert - her smile has improved greatly, her eyebrows are filling back in, and her cheeks are pink and chubby.

I'm trying so hard to get my house back in some sort of order. I've never seen such a mess...it's as if we just moved in, there is so much stuff piled up in every room. I made a major dent in it today, managing to get my living room cleaned up so I wouldn't be mortified when Gramma Dooley walked in. LOL.