Highs and Lows of the Xmas Season

Nothing is ever easy is it?

Here it is two days after Christmas, and I am still not done. I have not gotten it together for my sister's family at all. My excuse is that they were skiing in Park City anyway and not home to receive packages, but now that they are, I have to get it together. Mom and Dad are going down there on Wednesday, and going to the Texas Bowl game with them--hopefully that will distract them from my failures. I have to get it together. Including taking down the Whorehouse tree in the living room, but I do not want to.

Barry was home for three days which is the longest he has been home since....maybe 18 months. It has for sure been a long while. We got to have Christmas day home alone, after Christmas Eve with my parents. We got dad a big TV from all of us, and I really thought he was having the big one over it. It was kind of funny. On Christmas day, we slept in, opened a pile of presents, had breakfast, went to see Little Fockers, and then got a horse ready to take to Tracy's, where we stayed up playing and acting foolish all night.

We went to Barry's mom's yesterday for Family Christmas. I am so sick again with a new mutation of the plague, this time with bad coughs, terrible sore throat and no voice to speak of, which just pisses me off, so I slept most of the afternoon after the festivities. I feel guilty but then again, I was out of their way, which probably makes everyone happy.

When we got home, we had no heat. That absolutely infuriates me. That means I have spent at least $250 a month on propane, and I keep the house 60 friggin degrees. Its not like I am wasting it. We had a lot to do late into the night, since we had not fed, etc, so it was a rough night. To make it even rougher, the screws fell out of the bed railing in the middle of the nite, and I had to sleep with my head pointed out the ground. It was not restful at all butno one had the energy to fix it.

Barry left this morning. He is hurting pretty bad from the last procedure on his back....it was hard on him to drive back to Columbus to work, as that is so much time with his back lying against the seat of the truck. He is popping Vicodin like a crackhead too, although he claims it does not work. I'm not sure I get that.

In other events around here, I sold three horses last week. That is all I have to say about that. I got a new Nook, the e-reader from Barnes and Noble, and it is really cool. I am starting to get used to it, and I bet I will love it the more I use it. I got some new clothes, a sapphire necklace from Barry's mom, a couple fun new watches, a CD, a new stereo for my office from Rita--a whole pile of stuff. It was a good Christmas in that respect. I just wish we felt better, so it would not have been so hard to get through.

We should maybe have Barry's test results this week. I guess that is good, just nerve-wracking.

At the end of January, I have a conference in New Orleans. Four solid days of hurting my brain, but it is a good conference. I went about ten years ago. I was hoping BS would meet me there, but he has no idea where he will even be living then, since his Columbus project should end in the next week or two. Anyone in the area want to have dinner one nite? It is a bad time for me to be gone, weather and animal wise, but I feel like I have to do it. So I will and just hope the rest of my life does not collapse in my absence.

A swell thing happened today too--I was offered a re-breed for Gypsy to Boonsmal Cee Lena, for the gorgeous filly we lost at Christmas last year. I was totally shocked about it, but thrilled. It is not often that someone tells me they want to do something for me because I am always so easy to work with and pleasant. It almost made me think they had the wrong number! But I do appreciate it so much, I almost cried. They absolutely do not owe me this, as it was a freak thing--but what a nice thing to do. It proves that all these relationships I work so hard at are paying off, and that is satisfying.

Just writing all this is wearing me out. I have typed my fingers to the bone today, since I cannot talk, and I am worn out from it. I don't even have the energy to tell you how I cracked my head practically open at work last week. No wonder I have had a headache for five days.