Wednesday...

Good Morning y'all.. Hope everyone is doing well.. LaChelle tomorrow is your big day!!! Wow I'm so excited for you... Theres a big nice warm seat on the losers bench for you! I hope everyone had a good Christmas and is doing well.. Today we are doing Christmas with my in laws since we did it with my family yesterday.

Thanks, Misty! I can't wait either!!!  In exactly 24 hours from the time I am posting this, I will be in surgery!!!!  I can't believe it! This has been the most emotional rollercoaster, thats for sure!!! Phew.  I don't know how I am going to handle today, but it will at least keep my mind occupied at work! I have so much to be thankful for, and I never want to forget anything or anyone.   I guess I am ready, I had better be, now hadn't I?!?!? LOL   If anyone wants to call me at the hospital, feel free to call me.  If you call directly to the hospital, you can reach me by asking for me.......but you will have to ask for Mary Rick! lol  LaChelle is my middle name.  I would love all the calls I can!!!  I am sure that once I am settled into my room, Misty or Jen will be glad to post my room number and all that good stuff!!!  I really can't believe it, this is about to happen!!!! Have a wonderful day! I gotta get ready for work!

LaChelle, I'll be thinking about you tomorrow hon! If I don't hear from you first, I'll give you a call either tomorrow night or Friday morning! Sherri

Welp I made it through christmas without any scratches or scraps... no fist fights this year... (and yes there were some last year ) My hubby didn't have to work which was awesome... because we though he was going ot have to... we spent most of the day at home relaxing.. no little kids so nothing big you know... just chilling and I was studying for the GMAT which I take on Friday. So wish me luck.

Lachelle good luck tomorrow!!

Hope everyone has a great day!! IF anyone sees any good sales let me know!!

GOOD LUCK TOMORROW LACHELLE....i'll be thinking of you and calling and checking, etc etc, etc

Good luck! I'm sure you will do great. Julie

LaChelle, you have mail but unfortunately it isn't from Tom Hanks. Boy is he one sexy guy! lol He could send me mail any day of the week. lol     Oh! I must get back here on earth and finish my message to LaChelle!  I know that everything is going to go well tomorrow. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and I know that you will feel the group hug that we are sending to you. You will feel another one tomorrow too. That one will more than likely be snuggleier. How do you like me making up a new language?

Good morning everyone! Wow, we had a terrific Christmas! We started off on Christmas eve with a visit with Floyd & Brenda. It was so sweet of you guys! I love my ornament...I love blue and with the 'angel', it was perfect! I also love the tree. Then Christmas morning, we opened our cards from Bill's mom ($100 each..woo-hoo!), the card from Bill's sis ($100 gift certificate for Red Lobster...yummmmmmm), and from each other. Then we opened the stuff for/from each other. I felt bad because I really didn't get much at all for Bill this year. He was with me constantly and he gave me absolutely no ideas for anything I could have ordered online. He's really into 'need' over 'want'..and well, if either of us needs something, we buy it. It is so hard to shop for someone like that. He does need a new coat so while we were out shoppng, he tried on a few...enough for me to know that there was no way I could surprise him with one. He was REAL fussy on the price! He thought $80 (plus 40% off AND a $12 off coupon) was too much for a winter coat!?!?! So...an $80 coat, I could had gotten for $36 and he thought THAT was too much?? Shoot, if I liked the way it fit, I would had paid the $80 for me one!! I would have tried to sneak back to that store and get him one but after he found out the price, he wouldn't try on a 3X and 2X was too snug at the waist but ok at the shoulders...so he assumed 3X would be too baggy at the shoulders. So..he ended up with a hot sauce collection with 6 different sauces.  Bill did much better for me than I did for him. In fact, he did better for me this year than he has in all the years we'd been together combined! His gifts are always practical...but usually things he wants me to have, NOT things I would actually want. So..he got me a can strainer..you put it over the open can and strain the juice from it so you don't have to get out a big strainer to do that. He got that to help me out when I strain the sf fruit ****tail for my ff cottage cheese in the mornings. See? Practical. Then he got me a Deceptively Deliciuos cookbook. He knows I love veggies..and the kids don't..so this would help me when I make stuff for them. He thought it'd help too when we have the grandkids over for me to get veggies in them as well. (he had gotten Tiffany a copy as well so she could get veggies in them over there). Again, practical. And now for the biggie present....ELUCA!!!!! Bill got me a pressure cooker!!! I am SO excited about that! I can't wait to read up on it and figure out how to use it! The stock pot that comes with it is 10 quarts so I also have a great soup pot with it! You can also use it for steaming and canning. If my tomatoes do good again next summer, I just may have to try out the canning part! I'll definately be able to fix me some gizzard stew now! For us, a pressure cooker is definately practical..but it was something I REALLY wanted as well so Bill did fantastic by getting it for me! Knowing him, he researched it thoroughly online every since Eluca brought us the gizzard stew and said he got the gizzards so tender by pressure cooking them. I am positive that if I checked Bill's pc history, I would find 'pressure cooker' under Google! LOL! He definately tried to get a multi-functioning one and he knew I also wanted a stock pot for making soups. I know, sounds silly to be so excited over a kitchen small appliance..but if you had recieved the gifts I had in the past from Bill, you would well understand. He did so good! I am really proud of him for that. We spent the day at Tiffany's with all the kids & grandkids. I don't know which was my favorite gift..my pressure cooker or a Christmas without Jay's ex-gf Alisha there! I REALLY can't stand her (definately a coniving bossy ******!) and I am hoping that Jay's sticks with Nickki (kinda quiet, mature..has had a rough young life and trying to get on her feet). I had gotten each kid and grandkid a nice outfit (along with jeans, etc) so I made it clear to them that they are to use those outfits to get some pictures made between now & Mother's Day for me! That really isn't asking for too much, huh? After we left Tiff's, we went home for a few hours and then headed to Bill's mom's (Jean). She loved the digital frame! She couldn't get over me learning about 'such electronical things'. LOL! Then her bf asked me to 'fix' his cell phone since Jean told him that I was the one good with that kind of stuff (anything that is electronical or techie...lol!). The big problem? He had accidentally turned off the ringer on it! LOL! So..Bob can once again recieve calls. I showed him what button NOT to push in order to keep his ringer on & loud. After we left there, we went out for dinner (yeah, even though I had left-overs at the house...haha!). So..we enjoyed some Christmas ham. Then finally, back home to be comfy in our recliners. We went through the Deceptively Delicious cookbook. Great reading..with lots of conversation opportunities...try it sometimes with your spouse! Bill even suggested one recipe I read to help sneak some spinach into his body (he hates spinach). And that...was our Christmas 2007. It was a very wonderful Christmas! And now for New Year's.... Bill & I will be quietly spending the evening at home. If anyone is going to be out & about and would like to stop by, let us know. We thought if anyone were, we'd have some munchies available. Nothing biggie.  Well...I better go get set up for the visiting nurse. I'm really hoping Joe, the RN comes today. I have an area that has a burning sensation..which is something new. It started over the weekend and I told the nurse that came Monday...but me and this lady really does NOT hit it off at all so I have no faith that she passed it on to Joe. That is only the 2nd time I've had her and I'm hoping I won't anymore. My nurse & doctor weren't going to be in at the Hemophillia center on Monday so the nurse told me that I wouldn't need my blood drawn until today. So I told that nurse that Monday, she called my pcp doctor to inform them that I refusing the blood drawn...and then TOLD ME about it...like she was tattling on me or something. It was so hard not to tell her to bite me! So..I'm hoping when the phone rings that it's Joe...or Elaine..or anyone except Marty! You all have a great post-Christmas day! Enjoy any sales you may find!!! Sherri

Pressure cooker is a great gift.  It is so good at making protein friendly food.  I found a very lean pork picnic at KMart and made some pulled pork enchiladas for Christmas with the family.  A little hot and spicy but my pouch seems to handle it. I find 30 minutes in the pressure cooker I have is about right for fork tender gizzards.  I brown a couple of red onions, celery, and GFS Canadian Poultry seasoning.   I also like potato and carrots in the pot.  Add chicken broth just to cover and cook for 30 minutes with the pressure gage moving.  I do bring all the boil before I put the lid on the cooker.  I do let the pressure go down by turning off the stove.  I have at times cooled the pot by running warm ater on it so we can dig into the gizzards because they smell so good. I know gizzards may turn people off but until you have tried them cooked tender you are missing a treat. God Bless you. E

Happy day after Christmas!  We all had such a nice Christmas! Only our oldest couldn't be here, he's a chef in the Atlanta area and had too many holiday parties to cater. Peter loved the digital photo frame I got for him while he's in the hospital. Kati, our 'daughter', got him a camera card and we loaded it with all of Peter's favorite pics, even some of our wedding photos we had scanned into the computer. I also had Peter's brother e-mail me a bunch of pics of his family. When I told Peter all this he was in tears when I said 'it was so that he would know that his entire family is there event when he's alone in the hospital', he said it was the 'best Christmas ever'! It was a good day, my folks came over in the morning (10am-the 'kids' no longer get up before daylight) and we had breakfast, my homemade cinnamon rolls - tradition, and opened all our gifts. Then we had dinner around 2:30, crown roast of pork, potatoes, green bean casserol, yummmmmmmmmmmmm! The rest of the evening we were playing with Kati's gift, sing star - it's like a karaoke game that rates your abilities- that was hilarious! I want you all to know that I'm a 'star in progress' and also have 'lead singer' potential!    Peter was really tired this past weekend despite his receiving blood on friday. Yesterday he had to lay down a few times, and was white and exhausted by the end of the evening. He actually laid in my arms and cried some last night, said he was afraid of what's to come  me too , guess it's beginning to overwhelm us knowing that it's coming soon (we hope anyway). Hopefully we will hear from the transplant team by the end of this week an whether or not they will do the bone marrow transplant with the 8/10 match or wait to find a better match. Anyway, we see the Hemotologist today to test again (weekly routine blood test) and he will review the blood under a slide to see if it's progressed, or stil stable. Peter wants to know why he's feeling weak still after just receiving blood, it usually perks him right up for several days. It's a beautifully sunny day out there today, snow's about gone and there's none in the forcast for a while. Maybe I will go spend some of those gift cards I got tomorrow, would you believe that the total amount of $$$ in gift cards to Bath and Body works is $150 (I got like 6 cards) THAT'S ALOT OF SMELLY STUFF!!! I'll have enough coffee to keep me awake for months with the giftcards from Starbucks and Panera Bread too! That will cover alot of long nights while Peter's in the hospital! Well, you all have a beautiful day today! God Bless, Hope