MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! What a nice relaxing Christmas Day we had. Everyone slept in, then David and I made apple pancakes and sausage for breakfast which we enjoyed in the warm kitchen with the woodstove. Then we exchanged gifts - not many - we need very little and well you know about the economy...but I got a wonderful handcrafted sterling silver necklace made by my sister Mary of South Bay Jewelry - http://www.southbayjewelry.com/ David has been shopping with her each year since my brain explosion when I began wearing jewelry (that was just one of my personalities changes that resulted). I now have a lovely collection from South Bay and treasure each piece. Mary does lovely work and I'm trying to talk her into starting a blog of her own to showcase her talent and craft. Oh, I told Mary I got a new laptop for Christmas and I would post a photo. Here it is!!!!


After breakfast and gifts we talked on phone to family and then it was time to begin dinner prep. My 93 year old dad (pictured below) who is recovering nicely from his bout of pneumonia offered to peel the potatoes for our scalloped potatoes and he did not need to offer twice. He's always makes for a great "chore boy" when we cook, he likes to peel and prepare the veggies and often we would leave him the dishes to wash. He'd say "leave those dishes, I'll do them, you did all the cooking." OK... David and I did the dishes today but he was a great help with that paring knife.



My husband helped with "chore boy" duties too, he cut my big old rutabaga with the wood splitter he was testing out today. It did a nice job and I did not miss messing with the big old butcher knife trying to cut tough thing. He also mashed the cooked rutabaga together with the carrots and they were quite yummy. We baked a half ham too and I wished my daughter and her family could have been here to share it all. They have been fighting colds and had to stay away from Papa, (he can't risk a cold right now) so we are planning a New Year's celebration with them. BEP & Jenna wished us an enthusiastic Merry Christmas on the phone this morning. They always harmonize the holidays for us.

I hope you had a lovely day too. It was nice staying home for Christmas. We have often traveled and though it's nice seeing family it is tiring and sometimes slippery on the roads.
God bless and goodnight!

The Coco page. http://www.secondchanceboxer.com/Dogs2007/CocoPomeranianMix.html

That is where I found my dog... so be careful. You might find yourself browsing their website and see some cute adorable pup and find yourself driving to Maine to pick it up. Of course, they do a background check as thorough as the FBI which is a good thing for those pups. I fell in love with the Coco I saw on the web and lucky for us it was a good match - most of the time. Some days she's a little brat but I'm sure she thinks the same about me.

Another day... a whole lot more snowflakes. We expect another bunch of snow today, it has been snowing since sometime in the middle of the night and no sign of letting up. A white Christmas is pretty much a sure bet! I'm going to try to get out and update my "blob" pic(above). I took that in the fall and we will see how it looks today. A bit white I think.

Skiers I'm sure are happy! This is nice fluffy white powder - perfect for skiing. I remember way back when I used to ski on days like this at Big Tupper. I wish I could still ski but my balance is shot from my brain injury so that would not work. Just walking is a challenge at times. But I'm not complaining, happy to be able to do what I can do. Better than dead for sure! If you start there, it's all good!

Yesterday I sent yet another note and a small donation with gratitude to my friends and saviors at North Country Life Flight. I told them they have given me the greatest gift ever; I'm so thankful for the work that they do every day. They may tire of hearing it but I remain grateful and I'll never stop thanking them. And I'm pleased to be part of their effort now. Hopefully my volunteer work with them will help keep their service strong and ready for the next patient in need. With trauma centers hours away by ground ambulance their mission is critical for survival and minimizing disabilities. I'm living proof of that.

If you would like to support the lifesaving mission of NCLF, you can send them a tax-deductible contribution. A gift of any size will help and be appreciated. Mail to: North Country Life Flight, P.O. Box 994, Saranac Lake, NY 12983. For almost 20 years they have been "neighbors helping neighbors."

The photo below was taken by Al Lambert at the Fletcher Allen Health Care helipad in Burlington, VT. This is where I was flown for treatment in May 2005. From the pad a ground ambulance picks you up and takes you to FAHC. I received (and paid) a bill for that ground ambulance. Lucky for me and others, North Country Life Flight does not bill its patients, thanks to generous support from those who value its mission.

Well, gentle readers, I now know that I have readers. I put a site meter on my blog as I had that feeling like this blob was just a black hole in space that I was working on...why? But now I can see how many people are reading and I hope some will start leaving comments and suggestions. Thanks for reading my rants. Let me know you are here sometime and come back again soon. I just might post something interesting one of these days.... This will be a whole lot more interesting if you participate too! Click on comments (in purple below) and type away! If you don't want to type a comment you can click on one of the reactions to give a little feedback that way (yeah, it's kinda lame) but better than nothing.

Click on Coco's photos to enlarge and see how darn cute she is!!!!

SNOW! Lots of it! I'm not all that fond of it but Coco likes it. It will be nice to have a white Christmas. We got over a foot of snow yesterday and more is promised for tomorrow. The older timers say "Green Christmas, full graveyard." So snow is good!

The shot of my Dad's truck would normally show Mt. Pok-o-Moonshine in the background. One of these days I will get a shot on a clear day. It really is there... I think. Important update: David is out plowing the foot of snow and Coco gets to ride shotgun. She loves it! She was born in Alabama but was meant to be in the Adirondack Mountains.

My friend JF told me last month that after Thanksgiving "December ushers the icy downhill descent to Christmas. Less to ponder, more to wonder." That thought has stayed with me given the activities of this month and the lovely snowy weather we have experienced. I'm so glad to have a woodstove and lots of wood to burn this year. We are blessed and my dad enjoyed sitting in a wicker rocker in front of the woodstove most of the day and evening. Of course, now he will freeze away from the stove - it's only 72-74 in the other rooms and he's been basking in temps near 90 all day. David told me to put a hot water bottle in his bed tonight. He's always so cold with his anemia.
A big disappointment this weekend. My niece Kate whose blog I follow (find the link and see her beautiful face and baby Ava) was supposed to come home for a few days with her sweet little 5 month old Ava. Well, not a good day to fly into Albany, NY with this snowstorm so they cancelled and will hopefully get to visit again soon. We miss them and were planning a Christmas party at our house. Another time... I even put up a Christmas tree. A 12" ceramic one with color lights and a light bulb inside that lights them up. I went hogwild. A far cry from our "pre-Coco" days of the 8 ft. balsam we always enjoyed. I just don't want to fight with her over ornaments. So far this week, I have taken from her mouth a bottle of Head and Shoulders, Elmer's Glue, paper plates, kleenex, a box of coffee filters and more. She was getting into the boxes of Papa's stuff. I finally had to put those out of dog reach until we get all unpacked. She is like a bad, bored little kid. We haven't been getting as many walks in as usual and this is the result. I get bored I just eat chocolate, but her, being a dog, well no chocolate for dogs. Elmer's Glue works for her.
So as you travel on the icy descent to Christmas, be safe, be warm and find cause to wonder if not ponder.
I paid for a young woman's groceries at the IGA in Keeseville this week. I say this not to gloat but to enourage others to join me in helping those less fortunate. She was standing at the counter for more then 10 minutes as the clerk kept trying her food stamp card - declined every time. The clerk would wait on the next customer, try her card again - this happened over and over. I finally got to the register paid for my groceries and my change was exactly the 12.78 she needed. I handed it to the clerk, wished them both Merry Christmas and went on my way. It seemed a good thing to do this holiday season. That reminds me to thank my dear cousin in Texas who sent 3 boxes of gifts for me to distribute to nursing home residents. I brought the last two boxes to Tupper Lake last week between hospital trips. It's nice to think of the joy they will bring some of the residents. Thanks Darwin!!!

Decided it was time for an update here. My dad's health seems to be improving. He's eating a bit more and more talkative - stays around visiting more. He does sleep a lot. Goes to bed around 10 pm and I have to encourage him to get up around 11 am. The rest seems to be doing him good but I worry that he is going to long without food. Coco usually bounds into his room in the morning around 9 and wakes him up so I give him his meds then and he goes back to sleep. I'm thinking of adding a little Ensure in the morning - even a half bottle for some nutrition. He needs to gain some weight. Tonight we had chicken, stuffing, brocolli and cauliflower and he ate a fair amount. If he was not cold all the time from the anemia I'd get him to drink milkshakes but he's freezing always. Our house is warmer than it has ever been. I had the furnace on 75 today. It used to be set at 64.

Tomorrow the county nurse will stop in to see him. I called the county the other day. I don't understand why the discharge planner at the hospital didn't offer us those services. I decided to do it after my dad had a bad morning on Monday and I thought he was going to end up back in hospital. I wish our healthcare system would improve for our elders. I'm not pleased with many of the things that happened during his illness. He and others of his generation deserve the best treatment. A little more effort in understanding elder behavior and needs would help.

My 94 year old friend called yesterday. She wanted to check on how we were doing and told me she had shoveled her walk on Sunday, cleaned her oven that morning....she's amazing and a very sweet lady. She takes no medicine - only an aspirin a day.