One Week Before Christmas!

Season's Greetings to one and all! It's been rather busy for me the last few weeks and I guess we have one more week to go before all the madness is over but I really look forward to this time of year. I am not a shopper, kind of hate it actually, but I do enjoy the baking, cooking, wrapping, decorating and how happy and joyous most people are this time of year. Last weekend I managed to get most of my shopping done, (can you say procrastinator?) and I will get the rest done tomorrow. I may have something last minute to pick up Christmas Eve...but that's the way it is with me. No matter how much time I have, I am always in a store even if it is for lottery tickets, on Christmas Eve. Never fails.

This week will be a nice short week at work and it should be an easy week too. We shipped the last of our monthly orders yesterday so we can relax a little bit before Christmas. On Wednesday our department is having a Christmas pot luck lunch. I will be making lasagna for that. Last Wednesday we had our company wide meeting with the President of the company and we got a really nice bonus along with a thermal vest and a calendar from the President and his wife. They are always pretty good to their employees and I am proud to work there. It's by far the best place I have ever worked and I hope to be there for many years to come. I can't believe I've been there 7 years already.

Tonight is the Company Christmas Party and this year it is being held at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester. This will be the first time I go. I always wanted to go but never had a date and although I was always encouraged to tag along with my co workers who did go, they usually had a spouse or significant other with them and I never wanted to feel like a third wheel. But this year I can drag my sweet husband along for the ride and I am sure we will have a great time. We had to choose between prime rib and chicken for dinner so I picked chicken and George of course picked the beef. It should be a nice fancy evening.

On Christmas Eve we are going to my step daughter's house to celebrate with all three of George's kids and their spouses, his and grandkids. I am looking forward to seeing the grandkids open their gifts. I hope they like what we picked for them. Last year I was dumbfounded to see the amount of presents George's ex wife brought for the grandkids. We don't go crazy like Donna does. I try to select things that they will appreciate. I don't know if she is trying to buy their love or show off, but she kind of goes way overboard. I know, it is weird to spend Christmas Eve with your ex spouse, but it is something we do to pacify George's son Jon. He takes the holiday very seriously and he is very much into tradition. This is the second year we have done this and I frankly, am not a huge fan of spending Christmas with Donna and her husband, but I am hoping that Jon will eventually realize how awkward it is. I am sure it isn't a piece of cake for her either but last year we went along with it because Jon's wish was to be able to spend at least a few hours with his whole family and their new 'loves' together at Christmas time. He went to a lot of trouble planning the evening (last year we went to his house) and it was alright. George is a clssy guy and would never show his feelings for his ex and her new husband around his kids but we both agree, we could think of a dozen things we would rather be doing on Christmas Eve than spending it with her and Peter. No matter what, we will get through it with a lot of rum and eggnog. LOL

Christmas Day we are going to visit George's brother and his family and then go to my parents house for Christmas with them. My kids will be there along with my brothers and my nephews. I hope my niece will make it with her new husband and her baby. I haven't seen them since summer and they are back in New Hampshire now that her husband is out of the Army. I got little Kendal a ride on toy that plays nursery rhymes so hopefully she will get a kick out of that.

I have the week after Christmas off from work so it will be nice to have a little down time to relax and recover. We don't go out on New Year's Eve but New Year's Day we always have a chinese food fest at my parents house to ring in the new year. That's always a lot of fun, eating and playing cards and just spending the afternoon together.

Last week I met with an orthopeadic surgeon to see what can be done with my increasing joint pain. After an x-ray and a long consult, it has been decided that I should have a total hip replacement on my right hip. I've been struggling with pain pretty much 24/7 for quite some time now and it is only going to get worse. I have osteoarthritis in my right hip and also a little bit in my lower back and it has been getting worse over the last year or so. My hip joint is just about fused with nothing between the ball and the hip to cushion it and pain meds will only mask the issue so it's time to take some action. We haven't set an exact date yet but we are looking at mid to late February for surgery. I am actually excited to finally get it done. I am sure I will feel immediate results, although it will be a couple months of rehabilitation and recovery. I will keep you posted on how things progress and ask for your prayers that I get through this with no complications. My son is getting married in August and I want to be able to dance at his wedding.

I should get moving here and finish the laundry that I started hours ago. I did take a break and did some banking and picked up medicine at the pharmacy but it is time to get cracking.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. Happy Holidays to you all!