Merry Kissmas, Everyone!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas ...

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!

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!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Before I forget, I would like to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! I will be in the throes of meal prep and possible soap making tonight (mango poppyseed soap is next up on the list), so time will be limited.

(It's currently 4:09 and our employer hasn't let us out for the holiday break. What a bummer!)

Enjoy your holiday! Let us all be thankful for ANOTHER World Series victory and 3 more years with Mike Lowell!