Awesome and Not-So-Awesome

AWESOME: Getting together with a gaggle of friends for a “Christmas Cookie Exchange” party. What is a Christmas cookie exchange party you ask? It’s a bunch of women getting together to visit, catch up, laugh and just enjoy each other’s company. But we don’t come empty handed. Oh no. We show up with 6 dozen cookies that we’ve made, and then all share the bootie. Cute snowman platters were provided by our wonderful hostess, and we filled our huge plates with cookies to bring home and, if desired, share. It was great!
NOT-SO-AWESOME: Having a dog, Jake, whom I love, eat the ENTIRE f’ing platter of cookies when  I went to pick the kids up from school the day after the cookie shin-dig. THE. WHOLE. PLATTER. We’re talking about 40-50 cookies. Maybe 5 lbs. of cookies. When I saw what he had done, I quickly went from pissed to terrified. Because what goes in MUST come out, and I didn’t know how, where, or in what form the “out” would rear it’s ugly (and potentially disgusting and vomit inducing) head. He spent the good part of the afternoon outside, and luckily there were no accidents. However, there was some serious air polution infractions. When I opened my daughters bedroom door this morning (which is where Jake sleeps), it was obvious that his digestive system had been doing some serious work through the night. Yuck.

AWESOME: Having amazing medical coverage is worth more than it’s weight in colostomy bags. My shoulder surgery cost me absolutely nothing. Having lived through some serious medical insurance nightmares, I am extremely grateful to have such great insurance. Sweet!
NOT-SO-AWESOME: Having a state “program” designed to protect and cover children who’ve been dumped by other insurance companies DUMP those same kids because of a confusion over paper work. AND then not do anything about it. That is my tax dollars at work.

NOT-SO-AWESOME: My hubby being out of town for the week :(.
AWESOME: Being married to not only my best friend, but having that man be the most thoughtful and sweet man alive. Every morning that he’s been gone, I’ve gotten a text telling me where I can find my next hidden gift. That’s right… he hid little presents for me around the house, one for every day he’s gone (although yesterday was “bonus” day and I got two 🙂 ). Seriously, how cute is that!?! It’s been hard having him gone and I miss him terribly, but I am excited to get to see him tomorrow and looking forward to our weekend alone.

My Dating Life of 2009

Dating changed significantly for me in 2009, in that my “hot” dates consisted of going out with my hubby or with my kids.

In November it was Ian’s turn again and he chose to eat at The Training Table. It’s been years since I’ve eaten there and the cheese fries still rock. And because the kids seem to always choose to do what the child before them did (I think they are worried that something AWESOME happened and they are afraid they might miss out on something if they don’t follow the same plan), Ian and I hit the Nickelcade. I still stand by my previous statement… Yeah, it’s a little dingy, but it’s cheap and the kids love it. Hence, SUCCESS!

December was Emma’s month and my date with her was this past Thursday. I have been feeling under the weather this past week (yes, I know, I’ve been sick a lot lately), and that in combination with my bum shoulder made me want to skip this month. But I didn’t have the heart to disappoint her, so we did something low-key. She had yet to experience The Cheesecake Factory, but the boys make sure to tell her how amazing the cheesecake is in detail as often as they can. That is where she chose to eat, but with a 40 min. wait, I-Hop became her second choice. After dinner we went to see Planet 51. Emma loved it and from what I saw, it was cute. I admit, I fell asleep a few times. IN my defense, I haven’t been getting much sleep and I was sick, so, yeah. She is a really sweet and funny girl and I always enjoy any time I get to spend with her.

I’m really happy that I implemented this whole “kid date” thing this year. There really is no other time that I get to spend one-on-one with them, and they are all so excited when its their month. For 2010, I’m going to try to get a little creative and try to come up with some new suggestions for the kiddies (any suggestions???). But whatever it is we choose to do, I’m just glad to be doing it with them.

Hi There

It’s been awhile. And now it’s been so awhile that I don’t know how to catch up.

I missed my yearly “Thanksgiving” post. Which isn’t to say that I’m not thankful, it’s just been a little crazy around the Nickel bunker.

I had surgery on my right rotator cuff about 2 1/2 weeks ago. I have photos that I may or may not post later, but now you know one of the big “whys” for me not posting. I can barely type and I’ve been pretty zapped of energy since the surgery. The entire procedure and process has been a little more difficult than I expected. I didn’t realize HOW painful it would be and how little I would be able to do. There is always pain, but the level varies. Sometimes it’s completely tolerable and other times it agonizing. But I faith that this will improve things for me and my troublesome right shoulder. I also need to thank my wonderful hubby for taking such good care of me, the house, and the kids. I have been unable to pretty much to anything and he’s been forced to pick up the considerable slack. So thanks sweetie… you’re the best! Also, thanks to my mom and dad for taking care of me for a few days and also to my friends who brought dinner. I cannot forget my friends who helped out with the kiddies and friends who gave up the “good” room this weekend so that I would be more comfortable.

Our family joined my family in St. George to celebrate Thanksgiving. It was a nice getaway and the kids loved getting together with their cousins. There’s nothing like constant playmates.

This past weekend Mr. N and I headed to Moab with a couple of friends for a 10k. I was supposed to run but was unable due to my shoulder, so I cheered them all along at the finish line and took some really bad pictures. Everyone did very well and I’m proud of Greg who came well in under his goal time. Nice job sweetie! Our friend Jeff came in 25th overall (WOW!) and the ladies in our group also beat their goal times. EXCELLENT everyone :). It was a really nice weekend.

I’m going to end the “catch-up” there seeing as this is taking me forever to type it all out. The next few weeks will consist of me trying to get ready for Christmas (which is coming up sooo fast).