2008 Christmas around the house

This year we put a tree up

It was pretty last minute, so we didn't really decorate it with as many ornaments as we would have liked to,

but there was one ornament that was super special :)

I also put some lights up above the kitchen cabinets

and we had a miniature Rosemary herb christmas tree on the dinner table, with a Cowboy Santa.

I HAVE to take a picture of the LED lights we put up on the row of 12 Leyland Cypresses we have on the front fence, as well as the big tree by the entrance, for a later post.

We had to go to Brownwood yesterday

It wasn't a trip David and I had thought we would have to make..

It had to do with our immigration stuff, and even though we had already had our adjustment of status interview, and were waiting patiently for my green card to come in the mail, what we got instead was a stack of papers telling us that I needed to repeat my medical checkup. And I needed to send it in by January 12th or my case would be dismissed, and I would have to go through the whole process of applying all over again...

I KNOW!

Couldn't they have told us this at the interview? Their reasons for needing a repeat medical exam? Apparently the doctor who did my medical checkup in Abilene, who was AUTHORIZED as a Civil Surgeon at the time of my physical, is no longer doing that. Like, SO??????? He was authorized WHEN HE DID IT! *rolls eyes*

So now there were no more Civil Surgeons available in Abilene, and we had to travel 2 hours to Brownwood Regional Medical Center, the closest place with an authorized civil surgeon, to have it done. I had already had all my vaccinations with the previous medical exam, and so I didn't have to get any more shots, and also, we used the lab results for HIV and RPR ( Syphillis ) from my recent OBGYN visits, so I didn't have to have blood drawn.

BUT I did have to have a chest X Ray done. I had had a positive tuberculin test the last time we had the checkup done...and speculate that it may be because of my BCG vaccination as a child that gave it a false positive because the chest x ray that was done right after that was clear. However, once you've had a positive tuberculin test, they want you to have another chest xray if a year has passed, or something to that effect. After discussing it with my doctors, we decided to go ahead and have the chest X Ray done with a lead shield protecting Junior. We didn't want to give the immigration department any reason to delay or ( heaven forbid ) dismiss my application after all this time and effort.

So that was yesterday, and we're waiting on the clinic to mail us the completed forms, so we can mail if off to immigration as soon as we can, and get this over with.

Bleh.

We ARE thankful though, even if at first we were totally stressed out, in disbelief and completely disappointed, that it was not more complicated than it was. Thank you LORD!

Christmas Cowboy Style

I don't think I am jaded yet,

having been in Texas for ( merely ) 5 years, of all the different "western" motif things around me. Which was why when my FIL offered us tickets to the Paramount for Abilene stop of the Flying J Wranglers' Christmas Tour, I said, "sure". Of course, it clashed with Monday Night Football, ( and not being a football fan, I didn't realise that ) but the concert was entertaining and enjoyable, so David couldn't be too miffed about it :)

Letti Thursday

Gah, should have done what David did,

and had some Beano before dinner.. which was

Slow Cooker Ham Hock and Beans





Yellow and Zucchini Squash





Crunchy Corn Bread




San Sucre Sugar Free Low Fat Cheesecake Mousse Pie with No Sugar Added cherry filling.

A Family That Eats Together

Stays Together..

That was one of my dad's "maxims" in life, and in the last week or two, we've been doing a bunch of that.. and not just eating with david's family for Taco Tuesday and Letti Thursday, but with the Abilene community in general!

First there was the Annual HEB Feast of Sharing, held at the Civic Center in Downtown Abilene, an annual "giving back to society" free dinner sponsored by the HEB grocery chain...

and then yesterday was "Breakfast with Santa" at church, with our preacher, Terry, making a very jolly Santa indeed!

Baby Bounty in the Mail

We haven't started a baby registry yet,

so when we came home from shopping at Sam's yesterday, and I was putting stuff away in the shed/pantry, I was very surprised to find a pretty big package from TARGET, sitting there, in my way. My first thought was "ooo baby stuff". My second thought was "eh? I haven't even set up a registry or nuffin', and I didn't get anything online from Target, and David doesn't ever shop at/from Target, so what the hey?".

Anyway, I lug it onto the landing by the steps up to the house, and David comes walking out to help unload stuff. I point to the package, and he's like, "EH!??"

Long story short, it was a baby gift from David's friend and attorney from Dallas, Clay, and it was a Boppy Bouncer! I had been talking to David the night before about redeeming a baby bouncer with our accumulated credit card points, and lo and behold, the next day, what should arrive but a baby bouncer! Very cool.

And if that was not enough, ANOTHER gift came in the mail today, in the same Target packaging, ALSO from Clay and his wife, Chrissy! This time, it was a Shopping Cart Seat protector. That was really neat.

It did point out to us though, that we seriously needed to get the baby's room in order, even if it's just to start storing baby stuff. Right now that's the spare room that's the "catch-all" store room and seriously needs the Extreme Makeover gang's help, I kid you not.

ANYWAY, Thank you, Clay and Chrissy for your sweet sweet gifts! Junior will enjoy them for sure!

T'is the Season for..

Christmas Parades and Lighting of Christmas Trees

After Taco Tuesday this week, David and I went for a "cheap date" downtown to see the Christmas Parade and then on to the Civic Center where the there was orchestral music and "live rhythm and bluesiness" followed by the "Official Tree Lighting" by the mayor of Abilene.

Letti Thursday

It's been quite a while

since I've done a Letti Thursday post.

There was the time we were in Vegas, then there was Thanksgiving, and then there was the week I forgot to take photos, when we had Dirty Rice, Duckling with Gravy, and I forget what else...

ANYWAY, tonight we had

Croissants or Crescents





Chicken Fried Chicken with Gravy





Creamy Spinach Casserole, and





Cantaloupe.

Hey, I just realised it was a "C" menu today!

Doctor's Orders

We had a doctor's appointment today

Everything is progressing along well, and both mommy and baby are doing excellently ( other than mommy's angst over pregnancy weight gain ). One thing the doctor had told us to do a few weeks ago, though, was to get me a flu shot.

So, after the appointment, we swung by David's dad's house, picked him up and went to the Health Department for our flu shots. It wasn't too bad of an experience. The staff was nice, and Walter even teased the nurse some. :)

Afterwards, we went for Taco Tuesday ( yup, that's still going on ) , and David and I drove downtown ( for what David would later call "an extremely cheap date" LOL ) to enjoy the annual Christmas Parade as well as the lighting of the tree at the Civic Center. Will sort the photos out later to post tomorrow.

Finally, a clean and organized kitchen

Part of getting ready for Baby

was getting the dogs, Henry and Big Ear, out of the house. Partly because they needed to be in their kennels out of doors, partly because our kitchen was extremely cramped with the 2 dog crates in there. Another major pain in the rear end was that because they slept in their crates indoors at night, they would bring in a day's worth of MAJOR dust into the house, and shake it off all over the kitchen area, and on to the living area.

Which is not good on so many different levels.

So finally, the week before we left for Vegas, the dogs were finally out of the house, secure in their outdoor facilities, and I could embark on the massive task of reclaiming my kitchen. In fact, because of the dog crates, there were parts of the kitchen floor that I hadn't seen and cabinets ( that had been obscured/blocked by the crates ) that I hadn't been able to get things out of, in years!

When we came back from Vegas, I started the task of slowly cleaning the kitchen, corner by corner, cabinet by cabinet, bit by bit, getting all the dust ( that is sooo insidious and EVERYWHERE ) and grime off of everything, and reorganizing the cabinets. Of course the first thing I did was break down the 2 dog crates and had David cart them off into the shed.

Yesterday, I cleaned out the last of the cabinets, and I have to say, it is such a wonderful feeling to not have to grouse/worry about dog dust or the helpless feeling of knowing that even if you cleaned stuff up, they'd only get dirty/dusty again the next day.

NO MORE OF THAT !! WOOHOOO!!!

Now I have to muster up the energy to go on to cleaning up the living room. ( which will be no easy task, believe me - there's a whole different story attached to why it needs cleaning up so badly )

*sigh*

Oh well....slow and steady wins the race. I have to be realistic and know that I can't do this overnight. It may take me a several weeks or even several months, but I WILL HAVE A CLEAN HOUSE before the baby arrives :)

So much to be thankful for

It's been a blessed year

and we have so much to be thankful for. I pray that I never forget to count my blessings and constantly give thanks for all the many wonderful things and people I have in my life right now.

This year, Thanksgiving was a very lively affair at Walter's house, with just about everyone in the family showing up, and we even had 2 other families - the Londons and the Foxes - join us for lunch in the "sun room".

I made a couple of chocolate pies ( they didn't turn out as good as I had hoped, but oh well ), and David and I made some Cranberry relish







The Crowd









The Grub






After-lunch "entertainment"/board game






David and I set up a Christmas Tree at Walter's house, and put our presents for the family under it for festiveness :)

A Milestone ... and a Sneak Peek

I finally mustered up enough courage

to post pics of my baby bump.. BUT still not THAT courageous to publish it on THIS blog. I guess having just gone through the halfway point of 20 weeks justifies a "little bit of bare flesh" tummyness over at the Preggo Blog.

So for all of you who have been waiting to see letti in all her preggo splendour, hop on by to the Preggo Blog :)

Linky Link right HERE

Christmas Shopping

Woohoo I'm done

I usually have my Christmas shopping done ( way ) before this, because I have to send stuff back to Malaysia, but Cindy and I went to Hobby Lobby today and I did the last bit of Christmas shopping I needed to do. Yay!

This year, the gifts aren't quite as big or extravagant, nor as numerous, and I'm sure everyone can understand how it is this year. But everything is still from the heart and with love and will have a personal touch :)

Dallas Trip

It's been a pretty intense couple or three weeks

First came the long road trip to and from Vegas for my cousin's wedding, coming home on the early morning of the day we needed to go to the doctor's for a detailed ultrasound scan of Junior.. and then yesterday, David and I had to get up before the crack of dawn to drive to Dallas for firstly, an appointment with the ( subbing ) attorney, and then on to THE INTERVIEW. Yeah, the long awaited one for my adjustment of status in the application for a green card. Don't ask us why it took so long for this to happen - the interviewer was just as curious. It's a long story :)

It went well, and the our attorney said that he could see no reason why we shouldn't be getting my green card in the mail in a few weeks. We did drive around Dallas and the surrounding areas to "sight see" for a change. Hurray for GPS receivers!

Ooo and we're having duck for Letti Thursday tomorrow. Yummmmm...

I'm officially Outnumbered

We had a doctor's appointment yesterday

and everything looked great, and the doctor was happy with everything he saw, and said we had nothing to worry about. In fact, Junior was a few days ahead of what he should be, length, weight etc- wise ..

And... it's going to be a little boy :)

Praise the Lord :)