What Did You Do Today?

[judy]

It sounds like you had fun, Linda! I hope the funeral goes smoothly, Diana. How much longer is Damon away for? Karlie will be happy to see him!

I went over to Jessie's yesterday. The kids got 2 new puppies for Christmas. They now have 10 little dogs running around the house! 3 yorkies, 5 Japanese Chins, and now 2 pomchis (pomeranian/chihuahua combos). They are just beautiful, and very sweet. I think Jess and Steve are completely out of their minds, by the way. Listen to this...we think one ofr the Chins, and maybe one of the yorkies are pregnant. Who's the daddy? Who knows? Nobody seems to be upset about this, so I kept my mouth shut.

Brandon has had very bad hives over the past couple of years. Thursday night, he felt his throat closing up, which was one of the fears they have about these kind of hives. They have an epipen, but didn't need to use it. They called an ambulance, and by the time they got there, the benadryl kicked in. They have to use the epipen if it happens again. The thing is that he is only 10, and too young to be left to take care if himself. Jessie is keeping him home, doing home schooling, until January. She is looking for a specialist. I looked it up, and it seems to be angioedema, which can be very difficult because sometimes they can't find the trigger that causes the hives. I didn't tell Jessie that, but I am sure she knows. I get external hives, and they are very painful. Mine go away with a cream that I have. I cannot imagine how painful poor Brandon's must be, since they are internal as well. He has been tested inside and out for allergies, and has come up negative for everything so far. That doesn't mean anything to me, since I also come up negative for almost everything, and still get hives.

It would be wonderful if they could find the cause! And no, he is not allergic to dogs!

[gja1000]

Judy, hives can be caused by topical things, such as laundry detergent or other things like foods, medications and such. Gary gets hives when he eats high potassium foods such as tomatoes or milk - but - it only happens when his blood level of potassium is high and THEN he eats a high potassium food, it doesn't happen all the time. It took us forever to figure out what was happening. Also a few years ago, he and a friend of his got hives off and on for several weeks, and we never did figure out what was causing them. It was very frustrating.

I would think a teacher at school would be responsible for administering the epi pen, if he should need it.

[judy]

The 2 fourth grade teachers are just awful! One of the teachers at the school, transferred her own daughter out to another school for fourth grade. Jessie just does not trust them.

[gja1000]

Oh dear Judy, that's just terrible! Of all the people we SHOULD be able to trust, teachers should be high on that list.

[DianaB]

Poor Brandon!! I hope that the cause can be figured out. And it is scary to think that his throat is closing up.

Dean is so funny!! In between breakfast and lunch he usually gets a little snack of crackers or something. This morning I gave him a little bit of cereal and told him that he was NOT to give it to the dogs. Later I checked on him and he had poor Reuger in a head lock and was getting on to him!! I gathered that Reuger had eaten some of his cereal......but even funnier than that was that Jazzi was eating another bit of cereal while he wasn't looking!!! So funny!!! He really keeps us laughing!!!

[Janet]

Poor Brandon...rashes are not fun especially if they cause any kind of discomfort. I still have the rash (look more like zits) in my arm pit area, but it doesn't cause me any problems.

Are Steve and Jessie breeding the smaller dogs? Or just the bigger ones? I didn't know they had so many...wow. And I thought my 5 were driving me crazy. If I had 10 in the house they would have to put me in a straight jacket...lol.

[gja1000]

We are loading up getting ready to head to Houston tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing the kids. Gary was sure we couldn't get everything in the car, but YAY!, we did! It has been hectic getting myself, Gary, my mom, and 2 dogs ready to go. WHEW!

We will travel to Oklahoma on the 26th or 27th to see Gary's sons, grandsons, and sisters. We are never sure when we will come home, usually before New Year's Eve, but we usually just play it by ear. I'll have the iPad and will check in but won't post as much as usual.

I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

[Lindsey]

Merry Christmas Gayle!! I hope you have a great trip!!

I am getting the house ready for Christmas. I am cleaning and doing laundry tonight and probably making up beds for our parents. Tomorrow I am working a half day (I have worked through my lunches this week to make up the time!) and we will go grocery shopping after work. We need to make it to Costco and another grocery store. I'm sure the traffic and last minute shoppers will be terrible! There are a few more things I need to get for Christmas dinner though, and it's the only time to do it. I will also drop off my Christmas presents for my grandma and for my brother and his family before we head home. On Saturday, my parents will be arriving, and on Sunday, Scott's parents will be arriving. Then, on Monday, they are all leaving and we can relax

I think we are heading up to the cabin for New Years and we'll do some ice fishing! We're keeping our celebrations low-key this year I can't wait to see the pups running around in the snow up there! They have more there than we have. Should have moved Christmas there this year!

[Janet]

Safe travels Gayle! Have a wonderful time and of course, pictures are a necessity. Didn't do much today, except for cleaning the kitchen a bit and laundry. Laundry is a never ending job it seems.

[DianaB]

I'm busy today so I don't have time to catch up on the reading......but I hope all is well!

We're having our Christmas with the kids tonight. I finally got the presents wrapped a couple of days ago and cleaned part of the house yesterday and am working on the rest of it today. We're cooking Mexican food for tonight.....so that will be easy and different.

Tomorrow I'll be able to catch up and spend more time on here. Christmas we'll be opening gifts with Dae Lynn and the kids so that will be nice. We're just planning a simple lunch. On Christmas Eve we'll probably be going to Glen's Aunt's house. She always has a big party and that's where Glen always celebrated Christmas because his house was too messy to have it at home (remember Glen's Mom was a hoarder).

I'll talk to you later!!! Hugs!!!

[judy]

I went out for a bit today, and then decided to just come back home. It's snowing lightly, but it feels damp outside. I was going to get my nails done, but I would rather stay in.

The last gift has yet to be decided upon. I promised Mackenzie a cell phone, and a prepaid monthly plan for a year. She, being 14, wants a fancy phone. She could pay for most of that herself with her Chrisrmas money, but the $45 plans only cover basic phones. They don't have real wireless, etc. I left it at....either get a lower priced, less fancy phone, or pick something else. She is calling PopPop to see if he will get her an ipod for Christmas, and then she will have all of the functions she needs. Her ipod fell into the kitchen sink into a pot filled with water, and that was the end of that.

I have to admit that I have no patience for all of these discussions and phone calls back and forth about this. I'm a very "cut to the chase" person, which is why I was a good teacher. All the other crap is just a distraction, and most of the time, the answer is still NO, or these are your choices.

Whatever! I do want her to be happy, I just do not want to be involved with her parents trying to figure out what I already know.

Other than that, I gave out all of the gifts except for my family, and enjoyed that tremendously. I have stocking stuffers for the kids that I will wrap tonight, I will write 2 checks - one for Jess, and one for Steven, and then go over there.

My friends are coming up this week, so it will be busy and fun.

Have a great trip, Gayle.

[JJJ]

That reminds me Judy. I need to get the boys their cell phone too. Which they don't deserve. One for losing his and the other for not getting good grades. Of course they will be getting the free ones. I have them on my family plan so it's just $10 each monthly.

I went out to eat, then went to buy a few groceries. Came home and wrap the presents. Boys are so excited they keep trying to peek inside my room

Have a safe trip Gayle.

[Blueyes]

Happy Christmas Weekend everybody!! I have been busy the last few days just like I'm sure the rest of you have... cooking, baking, wrapping, etc. We will go across the street to my brothers tomorrow for our family Christmas with our nieces and nephews and their kids. It's nice that we are on our next generation of kids..it's fun to have little ones around for Christmas! I won't get to see any of my kids, but we talk on Skype every couple of days

I love you all, and I hope you have a very Merry Christmas

[Lindsey]

We are still trying to get things ready for company tomorrow! We have all of our groceries bought now, and a last minute gift bought for Scott's dad. I need to empty the dishwasher and hand wash some pots, finish the last load of laundry, and clean the bathrooms! I just made some devilled eggs and put them in the fridge for appetizers tomorrow.

Maybe I just wasn't feeling Christmasy because I was done everything so early this year! All the stress and hustle and bustle of today is making me feel a little more in the spirit! And knowing I'm now on holidays for 10 days!!!

[Janet]

Today I had to take my little Joey to the vet to have his teeth cleaned. His have been the worse of all my dogs. I was a little worried because I knew he was having some pain so I didn't want to wait any longer. I just put it on the charge card. Turns out he had 3 pulled and 4 fell out while they were being cleaned. On a scale from 1-5 (5 being the worst) Joey's was a 4. His gums had infection so they washed out as much as they could. He has to take antibiotics and pain meds for a week. My poor baby!!! Joey only has 9 teeth left.

The rest of the time I just played games on the computer, napped and spoke with a great friend on the phone.