Happy New Year!

We are wano-ing (wano was a word my father used in place of "leave" - I have no idea what the origin of this word is) this afternoon, as we are ringing in the new year in Times Square. This will be my first Times Square New Year's, but my 5th or so in NYC. We are going to try to get a nice prefix style dinner before heading over. Should be cool - and warm! The weather people are claiming that it's going to be 38 degrees at midnight.

Gearing up for the Twilight Zone marathon on Sci Fi. Man, this year flew by. I remember writing about last year's TZ marathon.

Happy Christmas

My mother's surgery was a success! She went in on Christmas Eve day and will remain in the hospital for a few more days, but she is doing great! Her total recovery time will be about a month. The surgeon, who was not totally convinced by the oncologist, still thinks that there is a chance my mother has cancer. He managed to take a small biopsy of the bone tissue while he was attaching the plate and screws to hold her secure the fracture together. We will know the results in a couple of weeks. She's doing awesome. We played hangman and pictionary with her in her room last night. Nothing says Merry Christmas like a dry erase board and a smelly marker!

For those of you taking this week off - enjoy! For those of you working - remember, this is the best traffic week of the year. And you can probably goof off as much as possible this week because all the senior staff will be off while you are getting paid to surf the internet.

NOT CANCER!

Well, all the blood work is in and the oncologist has confirmed that my mother does not have cancer (unless you count her astrological sign)! If you feel heavy gusts of wind today, that is me exhaling. I am the most grateful person in the world. The satanic neurosurgeon was wrong.

She was visited today by a nurse practitioner who announced that they will be performing surgery on her to help heal the neck fracture. I guess the risks of having the surgery outweigh the risks of not having it. She might be in the hospital for Christmas, but hey, I'll take that over cancer any day! They needed to rule out cancer before they scheduled surgery.

So, I can once again go back to enjoying Christmas songs and wrapping gifts!

Time to Play Cancer or No Cancer!

I am emotionally drained and we don't even have a diagnosis yet. This morning, I spoke with my mother's neurosurgeon who basically said, "She has cancer, we just don't know what kind yet." I swear. No biopsies, no special blood work, nothing. The ground opened up beneath my feet. I was hysterical and had to leave work. All I wanted was to be with my mother. So we drove down to the hospital, my new home-away-from-home, and waited around for all this aggressive testing she was supposedly going to get. She got a new neck brace (her old one was horrible) and the results of her head and neck MRI (negative, thank God), but the hematologist didn't show and we didn't hear back from the neurosurgeon again. All I could think about was the fact that I buried my father 7 years ago and I couldn't bear to lose my mother, too. I am 36. Way too young to be totally parentless. Then I thought about Bill, my mother's new husband, whose first wife died of cancer. I proceeded to feel every human emotion possible today. But the fun was just starting when we left the hospital. After this exhausting day, my mom called me to say that she got a visit from her oncologist (cancer specialist) who thinks that she doesn't have cancer! I am now caught between believing the oncologist or not believing him for fear that it is cancer and my hopes will be dashed again. Life is going to suck until we know - definitively - whether or not she has cancer. And if she does, the suckage will continue.

Determination

These 2 big snow storms have resulted in major pain-in-the-ass Somerville driving and parking. Hurray! It's winter in the 02145! I accept these things, especially after my car was "face busted" back in 2000. I parked in a spot that someone else had shoveled out several days after a storm. No chair, no cone, no indicator whatsoever that it was another driver's "property." The interesting thing was that I was due to get to Logan to board a plane when I discovered that my tires had been deflated and my antennae twisted up like a pretzel. The lucky person responsible for the damage had to stare at their handiwork for a week or so. Anyway, that's not the point. I was going to complain about bike riders. The psycho ones who somehow feel that it is necessary to whip around town during or right after a storm. In the blinding, wet, difficult-to-navigate-around streets of the city. I am all for helping the environment and good old fashioned exercise, but I swear I almost took a guy out yesterday morning because I could barely see him coming at me beyond a big pile of snow ( he was moving at quite a clip).

So, my mom is in the hospital. I've been back and forth several times since she was admitted last Thursday. She fractured a bone in her neck and since she's been there, the doctors have ordered many tests. Her bone scan shows several "hot spots" which could be anything from an infection to arthritis to cancer. We won't know until the testing is complete. I'm leaning toward arthritis right now because her blood work (and urine) is immaculate and if she had cancer, she would likely be anemic. She has preexisting conditions that point to arthritis. Also, this is the only thing that allows me to sleep at night. I am just hoping they will release her in time for Christmas.

Cheaters

Roger Clemens. Figures. Maybe steroids is what caused old Chuck Knoblauch to throw balls into the faces of innocent old ladies in the stands. What a creep that guy is.

Mo Vaughn did it, too. *sigh* Steroids, not throwing the ball at innocent old ladies.

Christmas Cocktails

I am a big fan of lounge music. Christmas Cocktails is my favorite holiday collection, apart from A Very Special Christmas (who can resist Christmas In Hollis by Run DMC?). The sound of a lounge organ is irresistible to me. And I didn't even grow up on that stuff. I think it gets me nostalgic for a time I wish I had known. Speaking of that time, Jere and I were waltzing around our favorite antique store not long ago when we came across these nutty old board games. One of them was called, Strip Tac Toe. You can only imagine. The illustration on the front depicted a woman with a brassiere and a pencil skirt sitting on the floor next to the game, fireplace quietly roaring in the background. To her side sat a gentleman with silver fox hair and a smoking jacket or blazer (fully clothed, naturally). This game was hilarious. There was another, too, but I forget the name of it. We opened them both up and read the cards and whatnot. I guess these games were very popular during those crazy days of swinging. My boss recently told me that he and his wife suspected that their old neighbors were swingers. Multiple bedrooms, sauna in the basement. Where was I going with this? Oh, yeah, I love lounge music.

Still no word on Santana. You know, I'm kind of happy about that, too. Trade rumors are fun and all, but not when they involve Jacoby Ellsbury.

To all of my Jewish friends, Happy Hanukkah!

Busy Busy Busy

I've been very busy with my new biz venture, so I haven't written much. This is a good problem to have. Thanks to all of you who have placed orders.

One thing I will say, on a baseball note: If Theo trades Ellsbury away, I will riot in the streets of Boston. I am not kidding. I will rage against the front office machine. Ellsbury stays. Do you hear me, Theo?! He stays put.