Year in Review

Can't complain. This year has not been bad at all. I managed to stay out of the hospital another year. Yay for me. We were also spared the wrath of any hurricanes. We visited 3 places from my "Things to do before I die" list. California, New York & Niagara Falls. Loved them all and hope to return soon.

Kat received her Senior Class Ring and got accepted to FIU. She's had her Learner's Permit for almost a year, next step her License! EEK! She has her Bell's Palsy to deal with but is slowly getting better. Aside from that, we have all been very lucky in the health department this year.

Kari has been very busy with her FEA & FCCLA activities. Working hard to get those scholarships!

Danny has been working a 40 hour week at headquarters but is dying to get back on the field. It was a nice little break but enough already.

I turned 40. OMGee! Sounds soooo old! But hey, I still have 20/20 vision! Eye doctor told me so!

So aside from our insurance rates & electric bills sky rocketing, we really can't complain.

Looking forward to 2007. May it bring everyone health & happiness!

2007 Right Around The Corner!

I keep forgetting to update his thing I figured that I should do it before 2007. Nothing much going on around here. Christmas Eve & Christmas Day were both quiet & spent with family. I made a nice ham on Christmas day and everyone came over here. Danny & I don't really exchange gifts since according to him, everyday is Christmas for me. I graciously told him that he did not have to get me any gifts and just apply it to our Hawaii trip. I know, I know, I am a very considerate wife.

On Thursday, the girls and I spent a record 11 hours at the mall. They have gift cards and money burning a hole in their pockets. The mall wasn't as bad as I expected. Tons of sales! I should do my Christmas shopping after Christmas! We did take a 2 1/2 hour break and saw "In Pursuit of Happyness". Good movie. Very inspirational. A tad long though. Will Smith did a fantastic job on this film. We wanted to see Charlotte's Web but neither of us can sit in a movie theater full of kids anymore. Especially since one of us always gets a seat kicker behind us. I don't really blame the kids though, they don't know any better. My kids learned early on what I expected from them when we went anywhere, especially a place where other people have paid money to be able to enjoy themselves. So, we will watch Charlotte's Web when it comes out on DVD. Same goes for Night at the Museum.

We are going to a friend's house tomorrow for a quiet NYE. We might even make it till midnight.

I wish everyone a very Happy & Healthy New Year!

Allergies

I am only allergic to one thing , REALLY gets me! I went to drop off some baked goods at a friend's house & I forgot that she has CATS! Holy macaroni! Looks like I've gone a few rounds with Rocky Balboa!

The baked goods that I was delivering were part of the stuff that I spent the ENTIRE day yesterday baking! I decided to become a professional baker. I was up to my eyeballs in baked goods & I didn't have one bite

Well, the Benadryl is kicking in, I better get to bed. I'll have to post pics later, blogger is being a pain! I knew that I shouldn't have switched.


Nightie, Night!

Elfin Magic

This is hilarious!

Elfin Magic starring Danny. At least for me. I can be easily amused!

Grinchalicious!

I still have not shaken off this grinch mood that I am in this year. I usually am Mrs. Christmas from hell. Decorating, shopping, party planning baking and everything else that goes along with it was just a given. Gift giving this year is driving me nuts. My brothers kids are getting older and they are into more high tech stuff. Plus they have practically everything they want anyways. They don't need anything. My nieces are younger & are right at the age when Christmas is so magical. They live in AZ so I have taken to sending GC or cash since shipping has gotten so expensive. My sister's kids here in Miami need what money can't buy and unfortunately there is nothing I can do about that.

Last week, I packed up what I had purchased for the boys & took it to the Fire Dept. after their truck full of toys for cancer patients was ripped off. So now, I will probably just give them a gift card or cash so they don't see the green in me.

I will be baking, and I have to start on Tuesday. The thing with baking though, is that I have to try everything to make sure it's acceptable for gift giving. Jenny Craig here I come!

My donations are always a given. The grinch does not see his way into that. The one place that I ALWAYS give to is St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. I thank God every day for the health of my children and I need to give to help those that are not.

I also like Rosie's 4 All Kids Foundation. You can purchase items with all profits going to the foundation. Or make a $$ donation for 100% going directly to them. On Friday actually, Danny & I went on a one day cruise to benefit the foundation. We had a nice time & it was for a great cause. I support them for basically the same reason , my kids do not want for anything, although they think they do at times. They really don't. They are healthy, they have a home, they have both parents, they get their education etc. I still push for scholarships & grants though, because college costs are so prohibitive. But, they will go no matter what. Speaking of college, Kat just got accepted into FIU. We are very happy for her!!!! Yahooo!

If you will be making any charitable donations this year, please consider one or both if you don't have one that you prefer. There are many notable charities, but I am only able to help these 2 at this time. Maybe when I win the lotto???

Acupuncture?

We are considering acupuncture for Kat. It comes highly recommended by more than one person. She is the one that brought it up, so she is all for it. If it works, I may consider it for weight loss. I'll probably look like a human pin cushion if it's based n the amount of weight that I need to lose! I'm waiting for a call back from the doctor to find out what th cost will be.

I just got home from Target. I walk into Target and there are absolutely no shopping carts. Not a good sign! The store was packed! This was at 10AM! Holy Moly! I shall try to avoid the stores till January. Yeah Right!!!

Anyhoo, here is the pic of the back of our house which I said I would post.

Switched

I just switched to the Beta Blogger. I've been afraid to do it. Mainly because I was afraid to lose my stuff. But now it's done. I still have my stuff but I can't figure out what's new or different. Except that I have to sign in every single time! I switched because I was somewhat forced. I'm sure the blogger people do it on purpose. When the old blogger is ridiculously slow in loading and the link that reads "Switch Now" is staring you in the face, they know that you will be frustrated enough to click it!

My time is precious

I'm in a ranting mood. My Kat is still dealing with her facial paralysis. It breaks my heart to see her go through this. Her spirits are a bit up since the last time I wrote, which is a good thing. She had to go back to the neurologist yesterday. I took the 1st appointment of the day so that she could get back to school at a reasonable time. We got there at 8:30 after driving in rush hour traffic for a liitle over an hour. We signed in. Then waited, and wated & waited. At exactly 10:09 they call us in. They sit us in an exam room where we waited for another 15 minutes before the doctor came in. We finally left at 10:40!!! Why do they make appointments in the first place??? UGH! God forbid if we were 15 minutes late though. They would cancel the appointment out of "courtesy" to the other patients. It says so on a sin on their door!


Kat has an appointment for her MRI on Moday @ 7:00 AM. Prayers are reatly appreciated. She's my baby ya know.

Happy 40th Birthday Danny!!!!

He has caught up with me in age. But he will forever keep telling people that he married an older woman. He just does't mention that I am only a month and a half older!!!!

Today was a very hectic day. Started off with getting his birthday dinner ready, then I had to take Kat to the doctor @ 1:30. Made me remember why I HATE going there. First of all, parking is impossible. Then we actually waited for 2 1/2 hours! We didn't leave till a little past 4PM. Why do they make appointments???? But God help us if we are a tad bit late! My mom & dad came over for dinner & cake. They just left and I'm about to hit the hay! Good Night.

Another Bump in the Road

This morning Kat woke up complaining of a slight tingling on the left side of her face. When she went to brush her teeth and gargle, the water just dribbled out of her mouth. Right away I knew it was Bell's Palsy. It happened to me when I was 22. Went to her pediatrician who in turn sent me to th neurologist. He prescribed some meds then sent her for an MRI, then to an ENT & also to see her opthamologist.

This is something that supposedly is not very common. According to the doctor, it's like 1 in 5000 or 40,000 per year. So what are the chances of this happening to both of us????

It has gotten a bit worse since this morning. The left side of her face is void of any movement but thankfully it is not sagging. I hope we don't wake up to something worse in the morning. She is having a really hard time with this. I don't blame her and it hurts my heart to have her go through this. It's a combination of the discomfort, the physical part and the fact that she will be missing quite a bit of school for the next several days. This is her senior year, she can't really afford to miss.

So for the next few days, we will be sitting in doctor's offices, waiting with anxiety, hoping for good news. The tears have flown today for both of us. I hope tomorrow brings good things.

Well, at least the inside is done!

We finally finished decorating the inside of our house! Now Santa Claus can come!Since I'm feeling like such a Grinch this year, I'm not quite sure if we will do the outside or not. Here are a few pictures of what I did accomplish. I'm not a very good photographer, so it doesn't look quite right.