359 / 365: Pax

Dream in heavenly peace.

Until next time...dream away!

358 / 365: Wigilia

I don't have many fond childhood memories. This is one of them.

The Polish people have a Wigilia every Christmas Eve. This is a very sacred and special feast. We gather around the table and start the dinner by breaking an oplatek, a thin wafer resembling Communion. It is to remind all at the table that we share good and bad times, and that we should remember those who have passed this year and those who could not be at the table. It is a very emotional moment.

After the oplatek and a prayer, the feasting begins. It is seafood, seafood and more seafood. Although there is a "standard" menu of other delicacies, we here at the "Ranch" feast on seafood!!

Tonight, Hubby cooked while the boys and I went to Mass. He did a fabulous spread of clams, shrimp, breaded tilapia, rice and veggies. What I could taste was yummy!! I only had twenty minutes to eat before going to the next service. However, any Christmas Eve celebration with my family, no matter how short, is precious.

Hopefully, this will become one of the boys' many fond childhood memories. Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia!

Until next time...remember away!!

357 / 365: Hurry Up!!

We can hardly stand the wait!
Please Christmas, don't be late!

Until next time....wait away!

356 / 365: Parking garage fiasco.

I had to go the hospital for a routine test this morning. Luckily, I got there early, as I totally forgot which part of the hospital housed my department. As I sat in my van trying to get my thoughts together (rough week!), I heard a screech followed by an immediately loud thump. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw a mess. The car's front tires went over the little cement barrier and the whole front end of the car hit the concrete pillar and fence. After a second of hesitation, I went over to see what happened. A very shaken elderly lady was in the driver's seat. She didn't know what happened. She was only concerned about two things: her insurance card and her very expensive hearing aid. The hearing aid probably dislodged on impact. Not sure what to do, I assured her that it would be found and that she should just relax until help arrived.

An angel flew by in the form of some hospital poobah, dressed to the hilt with cel phone in hand. She knew exactly who to call and with in minutes, Richmond police and hospital security arrived. As they tried to assess the situation, a "Mickey Rooney" type parked his Suburban smack dab in the middle of the deck. This gentleman claimed to be a paramedic and a hospital administrator. While he was vying for the poor woman's attention, another man had to keep asking Mickey to move his Suburban because it was blocking thru traffic, including his truck and trailer (Why someone had a trailer in a parking garage, I'll never know...). So we had RPD trying to follow protocol, hospital security trying to direct traffic, Mickey Rooney trying to be the hero and Bubba and his trailer trying to leave the hospital.

Needless to say, it became CHAOS! All the while, I just kept holding the lady's hand. Oh how I wanted to do a "3 Stooges Slap" to the whole lot of them and make them understand that this poor lady needed help and needed her hearing aid! They needed to put their egos aside and realize why they were there, even Bubba!

When things started to get rolling, I asked the woman if she would be OK. She gently nodded her head. I went off to my own appointment, all the while praying that someone would take care of HER, not the situation, but HER!

By the time I returned to the scene, new cars were there. Not a trace of chaos to be found. I hope she's OK.

Until next time....treat away!

355 / 365: Ready to go....

(I had a picture of JOR and SRR in boxes, but I'm too tired to pull it off my camera.)
They were in the boxes, ready to go. Then I realized that it's illegal to ship my offspring off to Tokyo.

Yes, it's the bewitching week. The excitement about Christmas (and the now the possibility of a WHITE Christmas) has caused the boys' behavior to go into negative territory. No they are not terrible....yet. They just need extra guidance to prevent them from going over to the dark side...or Japan.

Until next time...pack away!

354 / 365: Sick kids....a reality check

Both boys have yucky colds. Coughs and snot are everywhere. Not pretty.

While prepping to post this, I was looking for an image to use to show their misery. I searched "sick kids" and the images that came up slapped me in the face.

Oxygen masks, shaved heads, sunken-in eyes, agony etched in their faces.

Give me snot anytime.

Until next time....heal away!

353 / 365: The Christmas Spirit Elves....

With excitement like this exuding through these elves, how can I not be in the Christmas spirit?

Until next time....exude away!