New Kitty Houseguest

Our two-legged house guests are all gone, but we have a new one who is fuzzy and has four, rather short, legs.

Cole is named for the third of Ryan's Pritchard cousins. He is about 10 weeks old, but is very tiny, so the sturdy boy name is meant to make him grow and thrive. He was brought to Mary and Rosemary just before Christmas when somebody found him near an adoption event they were holding. He was cold and starving. He spent his first couple of weeks at Rosemary's getting healthy, now he has come to us to get used to other cats. The Orange Prince and the Mafiosa are just the people to help with that (Oogie, Wondermouse, and Ed are less friendly). For now he is in the bathroom -- seems like a big space when you are as little as he is. He has an itty-bitty meow and a huuuuuge purr.

It will probably be about four weeks before he is old enough to be adopted. After that I expect he will find a home rather quickly. He is a lovely little guy!

Christmas

Christmas is over and it was lovely. Yes, I know, it is still December 25, but our Christmas ends after brunch on Christmas day. We have a soup supper on Christmas eve, gifts and brunch on the morning of the day -- then the young couples are off to our sons-in-law's families for their celebrations.

We had lovely gifts -- gift certificates to stores that I love, a fabulous box similar to one I had admired from Lesley, custom gift towels from my mom, and thoughtfully chosen remembrances from friends and relatives -- great food and a house sparkling with all of the Christmas decorations. We had visits from friends who joined us for a glass of wine and a nibble. This is the time of year we are sure to stock fancy beers, sparkling cider, and good wine and hope that people will drop by to help us enjoy them.

The best part of the holiday for Alex and I, however, is that our family is together. If your children and your extended family are close enough for you to see them often, please understand that you enjoy a blessing beyond words. Our siblings and my mother are in Nevada and Southern California. Our oldest daughter is across the country. We see them a couple of times a year at best. Luckily, Nancy and Ryan are now right here in Sacramento, and we do get to spend time with them often. Mom was here for Thanksgiving and Lesley and Tim were here for Christmas. These visits are very precious to us.

Les and Tim arrived Tuesday and we all met Nancy and Ryan for dinner at a favorite Mexican restaurant that evening. It is such a pleasure to have our four young people together. They are interesting, intelligent, and attractive. Alex and I enjoy their company and are very proud to be seen in public with our brood. We want to tell everyone "These are our kids! Look at them! Aren't they marvelous?" Even without the gifts and the music and the food and the decorations, Christmas would be my favorite time because we are all together. I'm not claiming everything is perfect -- we always have some logistics issues -- but it is good. Very good.

Christmas baking

The presents are bought, though not all wrapped. The lights, tree, and decorations are in place. We don't send Christmas cards -- just an Annual Report in January. Now it's time for the fun part -- making goodies.

I did rum balls and the first two batches of shortbread today. Tomorrow will be the rest of the shortbread and the Russian tea cakes. The day after a steamed pudding. Now the kitchen is warm and smells so good. It really is Christmas.

The Prince of Orange had an adventure last night. It is very cold -- freezing warnings on the 11 o'clock news -- and I went out through the garage to cover the azaleas. Apparently he snuck out as I came in, and he spent the night in a verrrry cold garage. I'm sure he thought he had found himself in Alaska. Alex was up first and heard a mournful cry from the door to the garage. Needless to say, Alex was very brave and saved our little pink nosed boy. Harry is quite grateful (Dads are such heroes) and hasn't tried to get out there once today.

He is just enjoying the cozy kitchen and the buttery smells.

Christmas trees

The tree is up and decorated! It takes me two days to put all of the ornaments on -- and then I will be rearranging them throughout the season. I always think that maybe one will catch the light better here, or fill in a gap here.

Anyway, the lighted tree with all of the old ornaments looks like magic in our dark living room. The outdoor lights were up first, and the smaller decorations, but it is the tree itself that makes everything look like Christmas for me. There are ornaments the children made in elementary school, and gifts from friends and co-workers, a pair of baby shoes both girls wore, and the lovely hand blown ornaments I have added to one by one through the years. There are two sets of ornaments made by Janice Bracewell, my third daughter, with all of our names. They are so pretty and hang in bunches, one on each side of the tree. There are the ornaments we have purchased as we travelled, holding memories of many places we visited. And there are the cat ornaments -- a whole herd of them marching down the front of the tree. Each needs to be savored before it is placed on what seems like the perfect spot on the tree -- until tomorrow, when I will decide it isn't and move it.

The tree transforms our living room. Maybe it is a symbol of this season. There is something about the holidays that makes everyone want to be Santa Claus.

Our friend Mary worked at a craft fair booth last weekend to benefit another county's animal shelter. They sold enough crafts, but what really surprised her was the number of people who simply made donations. She said they had never taken in so many. This is exactly what I have been seeing and hearing throughout this season. Go America! When things get tough we buckle down and help one another.

Christmas Shopping

I had the most fun Tuesday! I went shopping for our Christmas child. You can buy everything at Target a child could want -- such a great store.

I started in the children's department and bought the pants and shirts that were the only thing on the list her mother made. Four pants and five tops in mix and match colors should help a bit. I bought two pairs of jeans with fancy embroidery on the pockets, pink brushed pants, and a pair of navy bell bottoms. Some of the tops looked liked long-sleeved shirts under jumpers.

On to the toy department. With no idea of what this little girl likes, I went for the Fancy Nancy section and the ponies. Every little girl needs a tiara and a magic wand and I always loved horses, so she got a little pony and a stuffed horse that passed the cuddle test. None of these things was expensive.

I hope that the mother went to one of the many charities in Sacramento where toys are provided to get her something else for under the tree. However, I had just come from a lunch at the Stanford Settlement. Operation Cratchit provides toys and holiday food for 700 households. They require pre-application and a ticket to get in to the warehouse on the giveaway days. Many of the local charities use a central computer to be sure each family gets help from only one source. Sister Jeanne told us that they had to turn away families this year, as did the Salvation Army. Even if more toys are donated, there is only so much space to warehouse and display them for the parents to select the best fit for their child. In past years there were always toys to go around for distribution through several agencies. This year, there may not be. There are even more donations. People are being very generous. People who don't have much are trying to do something for those who have even less. This economic downturn seems to be bringing out the best in us. Maybe that is the point of it all.

Deck the Halls -- If you can afford it

It's Christmas. This is the one time of the year when I really really wish I had unlimited money. I would truly like to make everyone's wishes come true.

I belong to a women's service organization. We support several local charitable organizations with money garnered from our two annual fund-raisers. We also give our time, mostly to a group that helps homeless women get back on their feet by teaching some job skills. I have heard how many of these women reached their current position. For the first time, I now also personally know a homeless person. Our young friend, like so many of the homeless, is there because he made poor choices (that would be an understatement) in his life. I feel sorry for him and for others in his predicament, but they are mostly there because of opportunities squandered.

Lately I am far more concerned about another group. These people are not quite homeless, but are holding on by their fingernails. They are people who, through no fault of their own, find themselves in very precarious positions. I had read about them in the newspaper, but the situation is getting closer and closer to home.

A young woman I know, mother of two, was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. It is operable and it appears (in a brain scan) not to be malignant. Nevertheless, she is currently walking with a cane and is housebound and unable to work. She is fortunate that her husband has insurance coverage and that she will receive some disability pay. Her hours had been cut the past few months and things were a little tight anyway. Her church is helping with food and a group of us have donated to an account at a business that will deliver meals to her home.

Our oldest daughter works each Saturday with underprivileged teens -- teaching them to take the SAT. One of her students is unable to complete the homework because she is working to help support her family. Her single mother has also had her hours cut and there really aren't other jobs out there for the mom. Another student has been having horrible headaches and tingling in her extremities. She is also poor and there are family issues. They, of course, have no health insurance. The sort of jobs poor people take almost never include health insurance. She is afraid to tell her parents how bad the situation is.

There were a couple of ornaments left on the giving tree in our younger daughter's office. I asked her to bring me one. The Christmas list is for a four year old girl who asked only for pants and shirts. Can you imagine? No toys, just clothing. (And, yes, there will also be toys.)

I keep reading about people who are embarrassed to be seeking help from our local food bank. They had always worked and supported their families. Now they are losing jobs. If we can help people who have a history of drug and alcohol abuse, can't we somehow find it in our hearts to help all of these people who did everything right? The saving grace in this awful time is that I hear about young people who are being very generous. Maybe our country is ready to pull together and stop the "me first" attitude that got us into this situation.

It's Christmas, and I really wish I could make it a Merry one for everyone.

Tests

It was a long day. Mine started out early this morning because I was to be at Loaves and Fishes to set up for a Women's Empowerment graduation at 8:30. Loaves and Fishes is Sacramento's largest source for services to the homeless and Women's Empowerment is a program that gets homeless women off the street and back into paying jobs. The 8:30 call meant dressing professionally and heading out by about 8:00.

I skipped out before the actual ceremony because I had to be home and ready to take Alex for his little procedure.

Since he had had neither food nor meds for over 24 hours the hands were shaking so hard he looked like he was playing air tambourine. Signatures simply weren't possible and all of the paperwork they were to do before the actual medical stuff were just tiny scribbles. We were very early, about 45 minutes before the appointed check-in time, and they didn't take him in until about 45 minutes after the scheduled time for the thing to start (not the same as the check-in time). The waiting room was full, mostly with people designated to take the patient home and be certain he doesn't do anything silly later in the day. Alex says he was advised not to sign legal documents for at least 24 hours. So much for my plan of tricking him into taking me out and buying a new sports car.

Over an hour and a half after he had been taken back, and after most of the other people had come out and most of the waiting attendants had left, it was just me and one other lady in the waiting room and we still hadn't heard. A couple of times during the wait a gentleman had come into the waiting room and asked for "whoever is with John Doe." He told them he needed a word and took them into another room. Yikes! I was waiting for the little man to come get me to tell me that my husband had so many polyps or whatever that he was going across the street to the hospital. Finally a sweet nurse named Angel came out to see me -- that alone was scary -- and to tell me what the hold-up was. Because of the fragility of Alex's veins combined with the tremor, they had a terrible time with the IV used for anesthesia. Finally the anesthesiologist herself had to insert it. At that time he was almost ready to go in and it would be about an hour.

She suggested I go get something to eat or drink, or whatever. Good suggestion, since by then I had read every copy of People magazine in the waiting room and neither Sports Illustrated nor Working Mother much interested me. I thought it unfair to eat when my poor starving husband couldn't, but I did go for a walk to kill time. When Alex finally did come out and was taken to the car in a wheelchair we had been there nearly five hours. He knew all about the nurses and had become quite the favorite with them.

We came straight home where he ate (mild food only for 24 hours, no dairy) a turkey sandwich, apple slices, and an entire can of chicken noodle soup. He has nothing scary going on and his colon is very healthy for a 70 year old man.

Now it is on to the next testing bout and next procedure. I strikes me that at our age we almost look forward to all of these doctor visits. They are the core of our social life and make up the background for much of our dinner conversation. We really need a cruise or something.

Turkey Day followed by White Coat Week

Thanksgiving was lovely -- "The best ever!" according to Alex. He always says that. We hadn't had the feast at our house for at least ten years. It is a time consuming meal, but not a hard one. The dishes are pre-planned. No fancy gourmet dishes for this feast day. The big bird, the mashed potatoes, candied yams, cranberry sauce, dressing (I serve a side dish, not a stuffing), simple veggies, and pumpkin pie. We also had great appetizers, pecan pie, and a lovely salad provided by our guests. There were eight of us around the table and everyone except Nancy and Ryan has known the others for over 45 years. Tom and Darlene Hall and her mother, Eva Nixon, came down from the foothills to join us.

There is something almost soothing about setting the table with the same good china we have used for special meals for 40 years. We even put the tiny bread plates on the table for this one, along with the fancy flatware and the best crystal and glasses. I had to wash the goblets and the thistle glasses because we so rarely use them they grow filmy in the cupboard. Using all of these things gives me a sense of continuity. I'm doing things the same way my parents, and grandparents, and even the greats did them. We so embrace new ways that it is nice for this very traditional day to step back into the past.



We really enjoyed having Mom here for the holiday and the days before and after. She asked us not to plan much because she tires easily, but she held out just fine on the days we did go out. December 1 a friend and I drug her out Christmas shopping with us and she was game for hours in a high-end mall. The shops there are fun.



She was back to San Diego just in time. Her son-in-law is prepping for one of those exams where they put a little camera into your body and check things out. This one is tomorrow and is just routine. It does mean, however, that he has had to fast for a day and drink some pretty toxic stuff this evening. He has a hand tremor -- made worse by the lack of food -- and is just putting his glass of yucky liquid on a table and drinking from a straw. The Wondermouse is quite disgusted with his lap. It is usually the more reliable of the two in our household, and this evening it keeps getting up and leaving the room. She gets dumped on the floor about every fifteen minutes.



There will probably be another camera procedure, exploring the renal arteries, within a month or so. He has a consult with the doctor's office December 16 "to establish whether or not he is eligible" for the angiogram. If he has it and if they find the expected blockage (indicated by an ultrasound) they will insert a stent to open an artery. We don't expect any action until January. I will update the situation as it changes.