I Swear I am Still Here

We have just been very very busy as of late, but as soon as things slow down a little bit, I will do some posting. Tah tah!

The Audacity

My husband, what a kidder. He challenged me to a coloring contest. I, who work with children and have spent countless hours coloring and doing crafts with them. I warned him that I was a professional, but did he believe me? Unfortunately for him, not for one minute. So I pulled out the markers and crayons and went to work. It is actually a coloring contest through his work, and everyone in the family can participate. I outlined, I blended, I used coloring techniques to keep everything evenly shaded. Then Nadia was yelling for me upstairs. So I took up a diaper because every night around this time she needs a new diaper. Instead, she wanted to sit on the potty (YES!!!), so it took a little time to get her settled back into bed.

I go back downstairs and continue with my awesome coloring. I fill out my name with fun lettering and funky colors, thinking I have this thing in the bag. Until I saw it. At first I thought that Dion ambushed my picture, but the coloring looked all too familiar. The victim was a sheep, and the poor thing was colored purple with harsh strokes of a crayon. I gasped (I really did). Dion said that Claire had come down and really liked my picture and must have colored it when he wasn't looking. Hmmm. I thought about that for a minute and said,

"You told her to do it, didn't you?"

He laughed and said no as my hopes and dreams of winning the coloring contest began to fade. Claire snuck back downstairs, so I walked her back up to her room. As I tucked her in, I asked her if she helped Mommy with her picture. She smiled her great, big, proud Claire smile and said,

"Yes, I colored the dog purple."

Sigh. How can you be mad at that?

So Many Things, So Little Time

And that can refer to so many things on so many different levels that I don't even know if I can go there. But I'll try.

You won't even believe this. I paused to dip my Keebler Snack Stick into my Spinach and Herb dip, and I totally lost my train of thought. Ok, I guess I will just spend some time highlighting some events. I still claim chemo brain, which I believe I have earned that right for the rest of my life.

I had to go to Mayo today for my shot, and while it was being injected, the pain was minimal. Now, however, I can't lay on my right side, and, some chairs hurt when I sit in them. My friend Hope and I coordinate our appointments so that we are there together. We like to chat and laugh and we probably make the older crowd a little nervous, but for me, it is wonderful therapy. Anyway, the room will seat 6 patients, and when we were there, 5 of the chairs were filled. All of us were breast cancer patients. I was the youngest, since Hope was born 7 months before me. Ha ha! I said "Hey! This is the boob room!" Hope and I laughed, the old women did nothing. Oh well.

I took 11 paper bags of clothes to a store that remains nameless but they sell clothes that were once upon a child. I think they took out 10-20 things and gave me $20 for them. I had to haul all of those God forsaken bags of clothes back home. And I was so nice about how I sorted them. Not only by size, but by season. All for naught, those jerks. I don't think I will do that again, except that each store is individually owned so that could make a difference. Seriously, I had outfits PINNED together, and cute ones too! That's it, I am going to just eBay the rest, or maybe give some to a teacher at school who has a little girl. Either way, they are getting out of my hair.

We have some serious cleaning we have to get done before the holidays. I think I am having a hard time accepting that it is the holidays because we have no snow, what-so-ever, and that's sad. But anyway, I am going to do some major cleaning in the next few days, at least I am going to try. Plus I have some baking to do. We have no cookies, and the tub of cookie dough in the fridge by Pillsbury doesn't count. Well, it will count when we are eating them, but it's kind of cheating.

Some people use the word literally too much. Have you noticed that? For example, "I literally puked my brains out," or "I literally coughed up a lung." No they did not. They could not be holding that conversation with me if they puked their brains out. For sure some doctors would want to study them and see how they were functioning without a brain. You can't say literally if it isn't literally. As Dion pointed out they are the people who say, "I could care less." No! That's the point! You are trying to prove that you don't care, right? So you couldn't care less. Couldn't people, stay with me here. Why am I talking about this? Well, the couldn't care less part was kind of a tangent, but the literally part does have some meaning. I was looking for gloves in Dion's trunk, and I can say, with all honesty that everything, including the kitchen sink, was in there. You see, we have to replace our kitchen sink, and there, sitting before my very eyes, was our old kitchen sink in his trunk. It's not a big trunk people! And I couldn't find matching gloves, as much good it did for me to look, since everything was under the kitchen sink.

Does anyone who reads this play hide the pickle at Christmas? Now, don't be dirty and thinking naughty thoughts, you perverts. They were talking about it on the radio today, and I guess I had heard of it before, but forgot. All I could think about were the outtakes from Grumpier Old Men when the old dad is trying to pick up a lady in the food store. I had to laugh. Those were good movies.

Well, I guess I have gone on and on and on enough. For now. I am looking forward to the holidays with my family, and I can hardly wait to see the girls open their gifts. I suspect there will be some squealing. That rocks.

Breast Cancer Support Group

I mentioned before that I was waiting to get info on starting a support group in my town for breast cancer patients. I am still waiting for a response, which is kind of frustrating. But I have to keep in mind it's a hectic time of the season. I have to admit though that I am itching to get going. If you know me, you know how much I hate to wait for things. Dion and I get yelled at every Christmas because we can't wait to open our gifts. I know....naughty!

Either way I am going to start something, and I have been trying to figure out what name to give the group. That's harder than it seems! Boobalicious....Care-a-boobs (like the coffee place)...Pretty in Pink. I don't know.

Dion is giving the girls a bath, but they are almost done so I better go. Think of a name for me, will you, and post it in the comment section. How, you ask? Easy, click on the word "comments" and comment away! There, now you can't say that you don't know how to comment on my blog all you readers who don't comment on my blog.

Now Leave Me Alone

Claire and I put the Christmas tree up this morning.

Hair, It's Been a Fun Ride

Well Hair, we've been through a lot together, and have seen many many changes. Remember when I was a wee one and you were so blonde you were almost white? That was cute. As I grew you became a little darker, but still blonde. And then there was the time that my mom must have put a bowl on my head and cut you. Now, as a parent, I can understand why. Then from kindergarten to about 4th grade you sported the same look, straight as a board, but never fear, it was the 80's and a perm was in your future. And a perm you got. Remember sitting in those stinky curlers with those fumes making my eyes water? Sorry about that, Hair, but it was the 80's, the decade of the large hair.

It was around that point that I let you grow a little, and in the 90's you were long enough that for one of my basketballs games, one of my teammates put a french braid in you. Remember how tight it was? I think I got a minor form of a face lift that day. Then I cut you off again to just under my ears. Then I went to work at camp, when we cut lose, right? Now you were back to short and shaved all the way under. Yeah, we lived on the edge, Hair.

You sported a short cut when I went to college, but by the time I left you were long with layers, for a little more volume, and highlighted. Those were fun times, right Hair? Then it happened. I got cancer. I know you understand that to live I had to put that poison through my body. But that also meant that I had to sacrifice you. Even with all that we had been through, I had to let you go. Remember, first, before my surgery, I cut you to a bob length? I loved that. I told Dion that it made me even more sad to lose you, and I cried for you. I received my first treatment and I knew I had limited time with you, Hair. I went to get you shaved off because I knew I would start losing you in large chunks. Remember that hair stylist? She wouldn't do it. She really thought that there was a chance that you wouldn't fall out. No offense, but I knew you wouldn't make it through treatment with me. I had to let her cut you short, I didn't have the energy to fight her. I knew I would come back the next day and get the job done with someone else. And ugh, that was the worst I had seen you. That haircut depressed me more than the thought of shaving you off. Again, no offense.

I went back the next day and thankfully that girl wasn't there, but someone I knew was. I told her everything and she got out her clippers. Bzzzzzzzzz...the last time I had heard that sound was in college. And here we were. I watched you fall to the ground like feathers. 29 years of history, falling to the floor. Do you remember what I had her do then to you Hair? That's right, she shaved "I 'heart' D" on my head. You could read that for a few days before the rest of you fell out.

I never knew the ups and downs of not having you, Hair. It was the summer, so I kind of like the cool feeling. But I didn't think that it wouldn't be until late fall that you would come back to me. With you gone, I got a lot of comments on my fine shaped head. I matched my oldest brother's head. I had some moles hiding under you that I never knew were there. Then you made an appearance. You made my head look like a dandelion...just these fine blonde blonde wisps. I was really excited to see how you would come back to me. Would you be straight again, or curly, blonde or brunette? I could hardly wait. Then the dandelion wisps fell out. Dang it, we were getting close!

Then I felt something on my head. It felt like a bug crawling, but it was only when I went outside. Hey! That wasn't a bug! That was the wind blowing you! Hair! You were coming back! It took some time, but then I saw them....the curls! You were coming back curly! I was excited until you just kept getting wider and wider and not longer and longer. You were SO curly!! Everyone was amazed by you, some were jealous. That was a bittersweet thing to hear. I can understand being jealous of curly hair, but did they forget what I went through to get it? Anyway, you finally started to settle down, and I had gotten a few trims here and there, I was a little hesitant since I finally had you back. Then you began to relax. The curls were leaving us. I was mixed on my emotions. Even though you were difficult as curly hair, I liked you. Now you were starting to settle down, and I was back to a place where I didn't know what to do with you. So I cut you again, right below my ears. You have taken on a pretty wave, but I still have issues styling you at times. But we'll be ok, right Hair? We've made it through the 80's big hair, perms, buzzes, and chemo. We're up for the challenge, right Hair?

Coming Out of Our Ears

The company that Dion works for is very generous for the holidays. Here's a list of items that have arrived on our doorstep.

• Venison sausage
• Cantaloupe Jelly
• A capon
• A brisket
• A whole ham
• Blue Cheese

So, like my subject line says, we have food coming out of our ears. I think Dion is going to cook up the capon Saturday, and I think we are saving the ham for Christmas. Who knows when the rest will be prepared. Well, except the Blue Cheese. We happily hand that over to my parents every year. And maybe the venison sausage, I just can't force myself to eat that. **involuntary shiver***

I can't believe that we are 10 days away from Christmas. This year has disappeared before my very eyes. But the thing that is bothering me the most is the fact that we have no snow. I hate having Christmas without snow. There's something just not right about that, and it's even more not right that we live in MN and we have no snow. Dion bought the girls snow tubes to go down the hill in the back yard. That's kind of a hard task when there's no snow. Plus, I want to try them out too.

I have to get packages in the mail, and cards sent out. Yikes. I have a lot to do. Now, don't post a comment saying shame on me, but we don't even have our tree up yet! I know, I know, but seriously, we haven't had a lot of time. Whatever....leave me alone.

I have found myself subbing a lot in the past few weeks, which I enjoy doing, but it takes up a bit of extra time. But like I said before, I have also been doing things for myself. Such as last night. A group of women from the office and I went out to eat and to a play. We went to Outback, which I had never been, and when we got there we found out we had another half an hour for buy one get one free drinks. I can't remember what the drink was that I had, but it was delicious, as was the food. We all had a good time, and even though all of us seemed to be dragging our feet before we left, I think we got over it pretty quick.

Well, I guess that's it for now. I really want to write more just for the mere fact of writing, but I have nothing really to write about. What I can say though is that I think 2007 will be bringing some changes to the Flaska household. Change is good. Scary at times, but good.

Some New Pictures

I'm Still Around

Holy cow! I didn't notice how long it had been since I last wrote. It seems like this time of the year just never slows down. I have phone calls to return, Christmas cards to send, subbing at work. I can hardly stop to just be. But I have been, because I made a promise to myself to have some more "my" time. That is probably why I have been so busy. It's hard to get my time in and keep up with everything.

Some things that have been keeping me off of Blogger:

• We had our faux Christmas in Illinois with Dion's side of the family. Dion proudly showed off his cooking talents, along with some fantastic lasagna made by his sister-in-law. It was a wonderful weekend even though we wondered if we would make it through the snow. They got 11 inches the night before and the day of our road trip. We were there from Fri-Mon.
• I am going to teach a one day class as Community Ed on how to start your own blog. Awesome, huh?
• I have been buying and wrapping presents. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
• I moved 3 of our 4 bedrooms around last night. I won't even begin to explain it, but me strong like bull.
• I got an mp3 player that I have finally begun to figure out. It rocks. BWAH-HA-HA-HA!
• I have gone out with Carol a few times, and I have been over to a friends house for some rockin' chili.
• I have been doing some extra subbing at work as of late, including today's split shift. But oh how I love being with the kids. I think I would like to work in an environment like the Ronald McDonald House. But would I be good?

I am sure there are a few other things that I am missing like the normal taking Claire to preschool (Oh! We had a Family Festival at her school that I helped set up and take down), going to Mayo every month, and the general day to day junk.

What I would like to do is go out with just Dion at some point. I can't remember when we did that last. But, sigh, we'll see. It's nap time for the girls, so I must bid you adieu. Adieu.