Yes, I am doing ok. I have had a major wake up call this morning. The 'ex' has a hernia. And of course she is just like DH and I in the fact that she can't do anything the simple way. This is the type of hernia (copy and pasted from a website) "strangulation: pressure on the hernial contents may compromise blood supply (especially veins, with their low pressure, are sensitive, and venous congestion often results) and cause ischemia, and later necrosis and gangrene, which may become fatal."

From that I am getting that if it were untreated it could become fatal. The 'ex' is having surgery Tuesday and could be in the hospital for a minium of 3-4 days. It is possible that she could be in the hospital for Christmas.

DH called me this morning in tears after having spoken to 'ex'. He is so worried about the 'ex' dieing and what it will do with to the kids. I told him we would take it one step at a time and I would be there for the kids any way we need to be. DSD, Katie, had such a hard time when her grandma and grandpa pasted away and he is worried what it will do to her. I told her with a lot of love and counseling she will be ok. But he needed to stop putting the 'ex' in the ground before she even has the surgery.

Oh Chris! I can relate a little to this because we had a similar situation with my hubby's ex several years ago. Sure wakes you up, doesn't it? I agree about not burying the ex yet. Take care of everyone, and keep us posted.

I'm leaving in about 20 minutes for the trip with the friends. Have a great weekend everyone!!

Thanks, Tammy. Have fun with the friends.

Good morning.We went to the pageant last night and it was wonderful!! We had to switch cars but it was ok. Brad drove the "big"van!!!
have fun, Tammy.
My best gf had to deal with that situation.Chris. Her ex has lung problems. We have been praying for him. And he is doing better. She was very concerned about her daughter.My ex got very sick and died the same month my 2 graduated from college. It was a very hard time but we dealt with it. It made them stronger!!!And I even went with them to the hospital.
Joanne-about your kids. This is what I have told my gf. Don't get in the middle of it and don't take sides. Pray that they will deal with it. I know it makes it hard on you, though. She finally came to accept it but that doesn't mean she likes it. I remember once when my daughter was having a war with her brother. But he used to say sarcastic things to her and he had to learn not to. She was much younger.And then there is another situation with her other brother but that's too long to tell. A long time ago. I prayed for you this morning.
6 hours sleep . That sounds like 2 naps. Bye Mima

Quiet group!! I got home about 1 1/2 hours ago. Had a great time with my friends. Shopped till we dropped. I did take a break and stayed at the room for a couple hours yesterday late afternoon. I knew that I needed to rest, so I did.

I'm not going to school until noon tomorrow. I knew that I'd be tired, so I planned ahead for once.

Tammy,glad you had a fun weekend. It is nice to get to know your body and know when you have to stop. The board is really quitet. I was away all weekend. Went to my nieces in Edmonton. She had a Christmas get together today. Enjoyed it.

Catch you in the morning.

The choir did wonderful this morning. They really sang their hearts out. I was so proud of them. And the baby girl who 'played' baby Jesus was beautiful. She played her part well and didn't cry once. There was one song where a woman had a solo part ... had to come off the stage and get the baby, carry baby Jesus up on the stage and sing to him/her. The baby just layed there in her arm and stared at her the whole time. It was so cute and so touching. While the choir finished the song with 3 choruses she took the baby around to the choir members ... we sang "I want to see you, I want to know you, I want to feel your presence fresh and new each day; I want to hear you, I want to touch you Lord, I want to fall in love with You, again." It was a very moving piece. That baby girl just seemed to know what it was all about. She acted like she loved every minute of it. Her mother said she laid there and watched me lead the choir throughout the whole Cantata. She just had on her diaper and we had her wrapped in a piece of soft purple fabric I bought to match her mother's outfit. The Choir bought me a corsage of red roses and also $80 worth of gift certificates. I told them if they kept that up I might consider going into choir directing full time!

Tammy ... I still have my gallbladder but I don't think this pain is from that. I think it's mostly muscle related now because it has almost stopped. I've been taking aleve and darvocet. I had stopped taking the darvocet for a while. Wanted to get off them for a few days. I like to take a break so I'm sure I'm not 'hooked'. Thought it best to take my break before Christmas hit me. I took a few over the weekend and the pain has eased up. So I think the pain is probably in the muscles. I still get a twinge right between my breasts but that's the costocondritis. It will probably go away on it's own eventually. It usually does with aleve.

Chris ... tough with the ex. Hope all goes well Tuesday. You sure don't need that stress on you during Christmas. At least it is one they can do surgery on so that sounds promising. They can do wonders now with things like that. There are so many people walking around with a hernia that is inoperable ... ticking time bomb.

All 4 g-kids were in a play at their church tonight. It was "Christmas Crosstalk". They had a TV talk show set up on one side of the stage ... debating Christmas. Very pretty woman as the TV hostess. A professor (my SIL) and his assistant and Cowboy Dan from Texas on the Side of Christmas and two rich businessmen on the 'anti' side. It was a musical comedy. A choir of about 35 kids sang songs relating to what they were talking about. 2 g-daughters sang a duet. Needless to say ... I loved it.

That sure sounds great! I love to watch kids programs. So glad about your presentation. We had a real baby at the pageant. Dr. Powell jokingly said that couples plan their families around the pageant so their baby can be in it.
Glad you had fun, Tammy. SIL and I used to go to NYC and do that.
WE went to watch the boat parade last night, We sat in a field by the canal and DIL got bit by something and her leg had a huge red spot. Hope it;s ok.
Gotta go back to Beall's outlet becuase they didn't give me a discount on something.
Hope everything turns out ok tomorrow, Chris.
And glad about your weekend, Anne.
Joanne, I am praying for you family.
Alison said she liked the second half of the pageant better-that's the part about the nativity and resurrection. PTL
Mima

Thanks for the well wishes. From what I have been told this hernia is wrapped around some major arteries. I know the suregon. He is the best man for the job.

Sorry I haven't been around much. The kids have spent a lot of time here to help their mom rest. Seems like things are go go go when they are here.

I have been wanting a newer version of Print Shop...mine is version 12 and the newest one is 22. We were eating breakfast out with the kids yesterday. (I was real good....omlete made of egg beaters, heavy on the mushrooms and light on the sausage and only eat about 1/2 of it). I was reading the ads in the paper and Staples had the Paint Shop Pro Publisher's Deluxe 22 verison (normally $99) on sale for $79. Then there was a $20 instant rebate and a $20 mail in rebate. I had a $25 gift card for Staples that I had earned from My Points. So off to Staples I go, armed with my gift card and $35. I get to the check out and the guys says today is customer appreciation day and we get to pick customers and give them 12% off. COOL. He rings it all up, and I pay for it. Then I ask where is the mail in rebate. He pulls the ad out and says oh. He said sine it didn't print he would give me the $20 off of it and refunded me $21 (rebate plus tax). COOL. So on the way home I call my girlfriend telling her bout this. She does a search online and finds the manufacturer's mail in rebate of $20. SO in the end...I will have made $6 on this $99 program.

So here I am on top of the world. I get home and find it is a dvd not a cd. My dvd-rom won't work. To say the least I was depressed all day. Last night DH hands me $75 and says he was saving for a Christmas present for me. We never exchange gifts so I have no idea what he was doing. So after my WW meeting at noon I am going to go get it. YAY. Good bye depression.

Hope everyone is doing good.

Hello Everybody.. Just a few more days till Christmas. I still have to buy 2 gifts.
Mima- I am trying my best to stay out of the kids fight.. Today is my hubbies B/D ,he is 81. The son will be here for dinner with his wife. I told the hubby we will not talk about any of it..
Tammy - The problem of Christmas dinner will be solved as the son and his wife have decided to do their own Christmas dinner with her family. At least there won't be so much stress. We will meet them Christmas eve for dinner and go to their house for dessert. I hope I can keep it together. I get upset thinking about this . My B/P has started acting up and it probably will not settle down till Christmas is over.
Chris- Sorry about your upsets too. Thank God there are no ex's in my life. I couldn't handle that right now. Well, I wouldn't. I am the type to say ex is ex.
Meme-My stomach is a mess along with everything else.That is nice about your choir. I am glad all went well for you. They must love you a lot..
Well, got to get busy. Back later...Joanne

Anne, glad you had fun at the Christmas get together.

Meme, I wish we all could have heard the choir. I'm sure you do an awesome job with them. Take care of yourself with whatever is causing the pain. No fun at all! The "Christmas Crosstalk" sounds like it would have been good.

Mima, I've never been to New York. I've been to Chicago a couple times with friends, and that's always lots of fun.

Chris, that's great about the Print Shop!! Woo Hoo!!

Joanne, Happy Birthday to your husband!! Hope the dinner went well. I know it will be hard to stay calm and keep the BP down. Take care and know that we are all here for you.

I was really glad that I only planned 1/2 of a day today. I got up with the dog at 6:00, went back to bed and woke up at 10:00! Felt great!!

Tammy, I have been playing with it all evening. I make the certificates for the Youth Bowling League. The director asked that I came up with different ones. Well with 495 bowling graphics I think I can do that without a problem.

Mima, I used to watch the boat parade's all the time when I lived in Michigan. I wonder if there would have been one here out to the lake. Never thought of that. Bet it is done and over by now if there was one.

Meme, I would have loved to hear the choir the other night. Betting it sounded great. It was so nice of them to give you gifts.

Today was WW meeting day. I did real well. I lost 3.4 pounds for a grand total now of 39.4. Now if I can loss the other 1.6 pounds to get to my New Year's goal.

Congratulations on the weight loss Chris. Sorry to hear about the ex. Hope everything goes well. Print Shop sounds great ... good buy. I have had Paint Shop on both my computers for years. Don't know what I'd do without it. I need an update but guess I'll have to wait a while. Hubby bought me a building and is now talking about covering the back deck for me. We lucked out ... we are going to have to have a new roof put on our house. He told our Ins. man about it the other day and told him the wind had blown quite a few of the shingles off up there. The house is about 16 years old so he didn't figure there was any way the ins. would cover it. Well ... the guy came out and took a look. He called the other day and said to come up to the office and pick up our check to have a new roof put on. Over $3,000. So, since the ins. covered that, he's decided he might just cover the deck while he's getting the roof put on. I've been wanting it done for years. With a new office building and the deck covered that's about all we can afford for a while. (Along with all I've spent on Christmas, too.) My kids are getting expensive. I can't believe what one pair of Arizona jeans are ... and on sale, too. AND THEY WERE RIPPED AND NEARLY WORN OUT!!! And of course what I buy for one boy I have to buy for the other and what I buy for one girl I have to buy for the other. Double your pleasure and double their fun!

My eyes are killing me. I'm quitting that stupid Optometrist. I called them today and told them I had to have some relief because my eyes were itching me to death and I wanted to pull them out and throw them. I asked if I could come up and have him take a look at them. It was after 11 and they asked me if I could be there by 11:30. I said no way. They said I could come in a little after 2. He leaves at 11:30 and comes back at 2. I thought ... long lunch. So I said if I come in at 2 can you have me out in time for me to be back home by 3 because I have a student then. They said no. Then they said let them talk to him. Came back to the phone and said he was calling me in a new eye drop. Stop using the other one and start the new one tonight. He hadn't even looked at my eyes. I told her I needed something to stop the itching NOW. She said if I stopped using the old eyedrops the itching would probably stop. I was so upset with them. I called my MD and tried to get in ... he was doubled booked today. I got an app. for tomorrow at 9. I even went to the ER tonight at 9 and sat in there for 30 minutes ... thought maybe they could give me something to relieve the itching. It was so packed I saw I was going to be there for hours and left. I had to make soup and a banana pudding for hubby for work tomorrow and I was so tired ... I just wanted to come home. I stopped at the pharmacy and picked up the eyedrops he called in just to see what they were. It was a beta blocker! I'm taking a beta blocker in pill form ... Inderal. I had to fill out a medicine form so he should have know you're not supposed to mix those two. It plainly says right on the side effect warnings not to mix two beta blockers. (I already knew that anyway.) Now ... just suppose that I was ignorant about my meds or maybe an elderly person or someone who couldn't (or didn't) read ... someone who didn't know what a beta blocker was or what it did. And supposed I went ahead and used the eye drops. Then supposed I was one of the 14.6% who dropped dead of a heart attack. Think I could come back and sue the quack?

Going to bed and see if I can sleep until time to go to the Dr. Hopefully he'll either figure out something to do or at least send me to someone who can.

Good thing you got that taken care of somewhat, Meme. I showed my doc what I took for my stomache and he said I could take something else. It was the same thing with a different name.Hope your ms can figure it out.
Slept later again. I went swimming yestaerday and in the whirlpool. Today we have to go back to the insurance company.Massage on Thurs.
We got a call from a member of our Sunday school class. One of the members had died during the night. We were with all of them on Sun. Funeral is tomorrow. Trying to figure out how I can keep my casserole safe in the hot car while we are at the funeral. One of you must know.I am thinking an insulated bag.
Prayers with you today, Chris. Glad you got a new Print shop.
Jill is ok from the spider bite







.Kids have a way of distracting your mind from everything.Yeah for the weight loss!!!
Hope your week goes well, Anne.
Good for you Joanne. Just think that everything is the best that it is for today.

Messed up the post. Bye for now Mima

Meme, sorry you are having a hard time with your eyes. Are you going to try to find a new eye doctor. He should have asked what your current meds are...better yet he should have looked at your chart which had them listed. I am glad you are getting into the doctor's office today. That is great about the roof. It is always nice when something nice happens. I have used Paint Shop Pro X (bootlegged copy--which I lost when I had to reformat and they aren't allowing bootlegged copies any more) and Print Shop Pro 12 (which I have the discs for) for a while. I was hoping that the newer version of Print would allow me to add text to photos. But I had to go insert a picture into a project...a poster or newsletter, then add the text and save. Then I was left with all this excess white paper around the photo. I couldn't see how to crop it. So I then had to open the photo in Nero and crop it. Not sure if I am just not finding how to do it in Print or it isn't an option. Print came with a 348 page book....guess I have some reading to do. I love the graphics that came with Print that I can use in my certificates and newsletters. There are 495 bowling graphics alone.

Mima--Sorry to hear that a member of Sunday school passed away. Had the person been sick at all?? Sounds so unexpcted.

Ex's surgery is today. The kids did go to school today. DSD called me last night and asked if I could pick her and DSS up after school and take them to the hospital to see their mom. Of course. I have come in as a great 3rd parent who doesn't work and is always availible for taxi service. If someon gets sick while at school, I am there to pick them up while their mom and Larry are working. I have picked them up for volunteering at the hospital, going to a friend's or going to a movie while mom and my DH works. I remind them every now and again how lucky they are that I am their taxi cab.