Uh oh... time to start thinking about those New Year's Resolutions again... so here we go: 1. Continue to try and get a life. 2. Take more chances and break out of the safe little world in which I exist. 3. Go to England! Woohoo! OK, so this is something I've planned for a long time, and finally the year is here! 4. Get those irritating, sick people searching for p**ped panties away from my Blog. The idea is beyond me. The sniffing panties (even though I don't personally practice it) seems to be much more normal. 5. Don't be so hard on myself... believe me, easier said than done. I'm my own worst enemy. 6. Be more charitable all year around, not just the Holiday Season. 7. Blog about more interesting things... which kinda goes hand in hand with getting that life. 8. ....??

Best quote about Christmas that I heard all week came from my friend Nancy..."Christmas is like sex with my X... lots of hoopla and build-up then its done before you know it."

Christmas Eve family party was nice. We had 18 bodies ranging from ages 7 to 67 plus 2 babies. Lots of food, even though we toned things down. We ate... then played a fun pass present around game, opened and traded the funny gifts... some held onto their presents as if their life depended on keeping it... the Pepsi and Mountain Dew trucks were the highly coveted items. I ended up with a dream catcher making kit...oooo... can't wait to dig in and make one. ;-) I think I may let my 7 year old niece have it when she's over next. Christmas day was pretty good too. Mom and Dad spoiled me (and everyone!) more than they should have. After opening our gifts, we made the trip out to each of my brother's houses to see their kids. Then home to a nice, quiet house. I put things away and crashed from exhuastion. I worked Wednesday and Thursday... days that I hoped I could play catch up, but it sure didn't turn out that way. I kept really busy and didn't even get bored!! I think Monday will be just as crazy. My boss is really frustrated with our corporate contacts people not doing their jobs in a timely manner so our contract with the gov't isn't in place as of yet! It was supposed to have been done by Dec 21 but it didn't even get started until yesterday. Thanks Judy! Appreciate your timeliness in this matter... sure would like to come into work on Jan 2. I could always go sit in our local office, twiddle my thumbs and charge my time to overhead. Too bad I can't charge the contracts people directly... I cleaned and put all my Christmas decor away this morning :-) Nice to have it around, but nice to have things back to normal. Mom has been working for 2 days putting things away from upstairs. This afternoon I took a short nap and was awaken by the sound of her falling down the last 2 stairs!! She's all right, thank goodness!! I'm sure she's going to be mighty sore tomorrow.

Its been such a lovely day today! Nice, quiet, and soooo relaxing. I even took a 2 hour nap! :-) Love those Sunday afternoon naps. I was just flipping through the digital cable channels and came across the old show "Rudolph's Shiny New Year"! I got all excited... some childhood memory flashes hit me! Right after this show is "Rudolph and Frosty"!! I'm set for the night's entertainment. Hey, you do what you gotta do sometimes. Watching these types of shows seems to bring back the magic of Christmases past. One of my favorite movies to watch this time of year (or anytime of the year really..) is National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. What a riot. Happy Holidays everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahhhh... the baking is DONE! All cornpops are divided out into care packages for all my siblings and their families as well as the spicy chex mix. :-) Salsa turned out is a little tamer than I normally make, but has fantastic flavor that I didn't want to mess with. Now comes Monday... the Christmas Eve meal preparations. Mom has declared that we are doing it simple this year. Thank goodness! Its about time... every year that I can remember we've had the entire kitchen counter and a long table filled with food - for around 18 people. We always have a ton of leftovers and it takes longer to divy up the leftovers than it does to clean up the dishes. About 5 years ago, I had Mom sign a document saying that next year she wouldn't over do it.. impossible to hold her to it. One thing led to another and before we knew it, we had the same amount of food as the year before. This year we REALLY are cutting back. We're having honey baked spiral ham (YUMMMY!), homemade rolls, soup (two kinds, Tortilla and cream of potato), frogeye salad, little smokies (simmered in cranberry sauce - sounds strange but is soooo delicous), potato chips and dip, tortilla chips and salsa, pickles and olives. I know she'll stick to it this year because she's bought all the groceries and won't be going out for more. Mom was really my favorite person yesterday... she me made peanut butter fudge... peanut butter is one of my weaknesses and I don't eat any chocolate (except for the white chocolate)! I got to lick the warm fudge from the spatula after she was done spreading it in the pan... pure heaven! I'd like to have the whole pan for myself, but I'll share with the family, 'tis the season after all!

Ewww... tomorrow comes the baking! I'm making 9 more batches of cornpops, probably 4 batches of spicy chex mix, and some homemade kick-ass salsa. Hoping I can get it all done in one day!

The blog has really suffered this week. Not one entry! Sunday was a shitty day beyond shitty days, so we won't discuss it because it involves the sister Kathy. Monday was better, but so crazy at work. Seemed like I looked at the clock at it was time for lunch, looked up again and it was time to go home! I love it when the time speeds by like that... Tuesday was much the same. We did have our office Christmas party on Tuesday, and it was a lot of fun. We all brought white elephant gifts... I donated some golfer's toilet paper. We all drew numbers and who ever had #1 started by opening one gift. The person that had #2 could pick a present already open or get another gift... and so on. If someone took your present, then you got to open a new one. I had #36 of 37 so... I pretty much had the pick of the game. I had my eye on a singing reindeer until a pair of massage balls were discovered... I seem to be attracted to pairs of balls of any kind... just special that way. So, I got the balls! #37 got the reindeer and seemed pleased with himself. There was a guy who got a tube of hemmaroid cream... he was so pleased... it was so ironic because this guy is the biggest pain in the ass in the entire office! A few of us got quite a kick out of that! Couldn't bring myself to blog when I got home... didn't even look at the computer! Wednesday was just as crazy at work... came home and was all ready to blog then the power went out! The power was out from Brigham City to Layton... which is about 40-45 miles. Seems that two power stations blew. Took 2 hours to get power back, but soooo nice to have it back. Really makes you appreciate power when you do have it. Mom was right in the middle of wrapping presents when it went out, but the trooper lit a hurricane lamp and went right on wrapping. That's dedication for ya! We had a quarterly meeting with the management yesterday morning and the rest of the day was crazy as hell. Last night, total and complete exhaustion hit, I layed on my bed and didn't move. Got up this morning and cleaned... then went into town and met my good friend Robin for lunch. The last of my Christmas lunches!! I think I've had 8 in the past 2 weeks. Quite a few for someone who doesn't go out to eat much... but it was nice catching up with friends and trading presents. I've got a group of really terrific friends, very fortunate :-) Then after lunch, went grocery shopping and then snuck into the local Hastings (video, CD's, book store) and found a nice little stocking stuffer... the compilation of Pink Floyd, best songs, should be sooo good! I also found some cheap videos, movies I already have taped, but tapes are getting a bit worn.

Something just occured to me... yes, you'd better sit down... I wonder if SOME of my bitching about Kathy is a way to vent my frustrations about my life... hmmmm... could be! Rheumatoid Arthritis isn't easy to deal with and I do need some sort of an outlet for how frustrating day to day life can be. OK, I am willing to admit SOME of it is just my own frustration. Having her here so much does interfere with my rest and relaxation but it doesn't really give me the right to bitch about it all the time. My apologies to my readers. I'll do my best to quit bitching so much... I do have other things in my life to talk about. I must say that this blogging thing is great therapy!

Oh crap... I just hate it when I go to post my Blog and I get an error! GRRRRR!!! I spent the majority of the day baking my goodies for work. I made about 25 dozen cookies (5 different kinds)and 9 batches of my famous Cornpop treats... well, OK its not MY recipe... got it off the package of Corn Pop snacks (not the cereal). They are small morsels of heaven... and have the ability to make one's problems seem to disappear. Easy to make, which makes a lot of my problems disappear. If you want the recipe, just e-mail me! I'm exhausted but happy to have all of this done. I'll have another 9 batches of Cornpops to make and then about 4 batches of Chex Mix, hot and spicy to make next weekend. Kathy has already started to beg for the Chex Mix... maybe I'll tell her I'll make her some if she'd GO HOME. She was gone the majority of the week... while I was at work naturally, but is back again. She stayed the night last night because her husband was having a friend over... now why she can't be home while he has 'friends' over non of us can figure out... but she is still here as of 2:43pm. I'm praying very hard that she'll go home very, very, very soon. But really why should she? She's got Mom and Dad to tend her child and a bed that she can sleep on and not have to get her ass out of it for anything other than going to the bathroom? GRRR! On the brighter side of things, Christmas is fastly approaching and I've got all the prezzies bought, wrapped and delivered :-) One of the biggest things I enjoy about Christmas is seeing someone's joy from a gift that I gave them. My Mom keeps asking me what I want... I started to say "Obsession shower gel and lotion" and she beat me to it by saying "don't tell me Obsession shower gel and lotion." Sheesh! I don't know what else I'd want her to get me... she doesn't do well with picking clothes out for me and she'll be hurt if I say 'give me money' because she likes shopping for gifts. Quite the quandry.

Activities for the weekend: Baking, baking and more baking. Going to make cookies and some of my special buttery cornpop treats for people at work for Monday! The family stuff is going to have to wait until next week. Exciting life, I know...

Been a long week... been either too exhausted or too busy to blog! Tuesday my TV went out, so I ventured to Wal-Mart for a new one (Merry Christmas to ME!)... had Xmas lunches everyday this week except for Monday, so I'm feeling quite popular... the festivities will continue on into next week. One really good thing this week, is Kathy has been living at her very own apartment... imagine that... Life is good... until she comes back... don't mind visits, just not extended visits. :-) Its snowing yet again!

Well, the bitch is back... actually she never really left... that's right, Kathy is back. Some lame excuses for having to stay the night... which includes the mornings because she can't drag her ass out of bed until 1pm. So tired of her being here and her crap! UGH!!

Well, the shopping is done! I made my list and went to town. I like to get things done early so I can enjoy the holidays, but for some reason this year I've been quite the nervous nelly about getting it done NOW. The only thing left is to get my nieces and nephews the usual gift cards, but I need to wait for my sister Susie to go in halfsies on those... or hey, we may decide to just to cash. Cash is good. Now comes the wrapping of the gifts, most will go in gift bags. Closer to Christmas will come the baking. UGH

Oh, what a scream! Mom came downstairs to put her laundry in the dryer... I was waiting inside my bathroom listening for a scream... all of the sudden, I heard a sort of a gasp/screech as Mom put her hand in the box of Bounce. She felt the spider (gasp) and then she saw it (screech). *snicker* then she called me by my full name! LOL! I love it. I'm still in posession of the little critter because I grabbed it after she set it on the dryer. I'll have to plot my next hiding place for the critter.

The spider war continues. Just after Halloween, Mom put a fake black spider under a pillow on my bed. It did look real, I didn't scream but I did jump. I never said anything to her... I just took the spider and placed it in some fabric pieces that Mom would be sewing soon. I waited all month of November for the pile of pieces to move... she finally got a chance to do some sewing this week. Funny, she never said a thing to me about the spider... then I found it this morning under a towel in the laundry room. The war continues.... I placed the spider in the box of Bounce fabric softener sheets. tee hee In the summer months, we plant rubber snakes around the yard.

Notice the new button on the right. I'm now an official Zee Lister! Much better than an A or B Lister, was never into that anyway. I'm too much of a goof. My sister Susie went to get her hair done yesterday by my old school chum Kass. Kass gave Susie an envelope for me, which contained some thing we'd written in the 9th grade. I opened it and read it, it was a letter/poem to our 9th grade History teacher Mr. Morris. Oh my God! I had tears streaming down my face from laughing so hard!! Mr. Morris was a strange creature indeed. We constantly made jokes about him - a matter of survival. It was either that or never go to class and flunk. Kass was one true friend in my school days - she brought me out of my shy shell and made me like life. We were always up to something, giggling about this or that... drooling over a guy or plotting how to get a guy to notice us. I could tell her anything and she never judged me. I should really get together with her and talk about old times. Last night was Girl's Night (my group of close friends) Christmas party. We had a great time, lots of laughs but we couldn't stay long as the weather was turning bad and we needed to head home. We were also starving because the club kitchen was closed due to remodelling. How rude. Last night was just one great night. I got home, and all evidence of my sister Kathy was GONE. She moved into her new apartment. WOOOHOOO!!! She's up to something though - she called me (on the phone when she was right upstairs!! LOL!!) the other day and told me that the reason she was staying here in the house instead of the motel with her husband, was because Dad loves baby Elyssa so much. She wouldn't want to deprive him of time with her. I about choked to keep from laughing. Then she proceeded to tell me that she was so worried about Mom because she was looking so tired lately... hmmmm.. would that be because Kathy is a lazy ass and Mom has to clean up after her and tend her baby so much??!! Duh! I got the feeling she was making excuses for her behavior... like she was trying to clear her conscience?... why on earth did she tell me these excuses if she didn't have a guilty conscience? Me thinks she's up to something for sure.

Note to self (and others who read this): Don't spill your Spaghetti-Os on your keyboard. That's what I get for being pressed for time and being hungry... actually desperate to be eating Spaghetti-Os in the first place. ;-)

The Saturday Wal-mart Experience! I kept asking myself, "who's idea was this to come to Wal-Mart on a Saturday before Christmas?" and I had to keep answering "your's you silly goose!" I was feeling ambitious today and wanted to get some more shopping done. I asked Mom and Dad if they wanted to go to Wal-Mart with me and both of them said yes. Now I knew Mom would, but Dad?? Come to find out, he could either go shopping with Mom and I OR stay home and babysit baby Elyssa. Dad LOVES Elyssa but Kathy and her husband Ellis were trying to pawn her off on someone while they went out for the day. Dad decided it was high time that Kathy and Ellis took responsibility for their child and they could just take Elyssa with them OR wait until he got back from Wal-Mart. They chose to take Elyssa with them. Dad made a comment in the car that "we have a life too and they need to respect that". Miracles never cease. :-) Its good to know that Mom and Dad are FINALLY realizing that Kathy takes advantage of the Grandparent Babysitting Services. Dad really hates shopping, so that shows how much he's getting fed up with the whole Kathy & Ellis situation. Anyway, back to the Wal-Mart shopping experience. We got a pretty good parking place - not in the north forty. But I can tell you that people are so rude! Mom and I were standing waiting for the Welcome Lady to get a shopping cart for us, and 3 people butted right in front of us. Finally I went around one lady and grabbed one myself. What happened to waiting your turn and being polite?? Guess its to be expected around Christmas, being the season and all. People forget what its all about. I'm sure I got cut off at least 20 times trying to get through isles while trying to find things. I'm surprised I didn't come out with bumps and bruises from all the people bumping in to me... next time I may decide to wear protective gear. Not that I was being slow or obnoxious, just trying to shop. Some people use their carts as weapons! 1 hour later, Dad said he'd had enough and was going to sit in the car. It took Mom and I about 30 minutes later to finish what we needed to do, then get through the check out counter. Lesson Learned: Never go to Wal-Mart on a Saturday during the month of December. Although I am happy to have the majority of my shopping DONE, I'll never do that again!

Had a pretty good day yesterday. Got my cleaning done, then took my Mom to lunch then shopping. Mom is becoming my cheese enchilada buddy :-). Dad never eats in a Mexican restaurant (he only likes home-made tacos!) so Mom is happy to go with me, especially if its my treat. I'll never catch up to all the meals she's treated me to though. Shopping was nice, not too crowded and we got the things we intended to - my trunk and the backseat of my car was full. We got home, and here comes my sister Kathy and she just watches Mom and I unload everything... then after my 6th trip downstairs she finally asks, "Oh, did you need some help carrying that stuff downstairs?" Duh! But wouldn't want her to break her streak of not lifting any fingers to help... although I still fight not to lift a finger in her direction. I suppose I shouldn't complain because she and her husband moved out of their apartment Wednesday and Thursday and I couldn't help (one of the good things about having RA is I can't lift much). Kathy and the baby are staying here until Dec 6 (when their new apartment is ready) but her husband is staying in a flea bag motel. Fine with me. Yesterday he called and asked to borrow Mom and Dad's portable heater and an extra blanket because he was freezing. Everyone got quite a chuckle over that. After shopping and unloading the car, I settled in for a nice quiet night. I watched 5 episodes of my soap opera "Days of Our Lives" in 2.5 hours. I forwarded through the story lines that I'm not really into - like all the teen romances. I'm getting sick of the teeny boppers taking over the majority of the show these days while the grown ups are in the background. I want to see more of John and Bo... oh and let's not forget the new Brady cousin Colin who is very nice. There's a big story on the horizon... I wish they'd just get to it and let the teenagers grow up!