A Christmas we're not likely to forget (no matter how hard we try)!

OK, admittedly, it wasn't THAT bad....but, it could have been a little better. It started with the annual "fight with my hubby, because I went to a movie with sister, at the last minute, and didn't make it to the grocery store to get the key lime cheesecake ingredients for the cheesecake I said I'd make for his family's xmas dinner, because all the stores closed at 6:00, and I got there at 6:15" argument.

(over the phone, none the less - he was at work)

Then, the 20 text messages back and forth. Me telling him I was a worthless wife, and would stay home on xmas if he liked. Him apologizing for being a complete prick about the honest cheesecake mistake.

Then, the phone call at 10:00 pm from Mot, telling me they had taken his oldest brother to the emergency room. We usually do xmas eve at his parent's house, but because he had to work, we weren't participating in the oyster stew meal - which was fine by me!!!!!!! Although, his great aunt brings homemade chicken and noodle soup for the two of us, because she doesn't like it either.

Anyway, I asked Mot what hospital, so I could meet him there. It turns out he was the acting captain at the firehouse right down the street, so he came and picked me up. His brother was experiencing some pretty hefty chest pains. He's a doc, and just as stubborn as the other males in the family, so the fact he let them bring him in, alone, had me worried.

We were there for a couple hours, and left around midnight. He was going to have blood drawn and more tests done at 4:30....so we decided to go home and get some rest. His dad went back home...and we told him we'd pick his brother and wife up at the hospital when they released him....instead of him driving all the way back into town to get them himself. It was on our way.

4 hours later, we were back at the hospital picking them up. But, rewind back to getting up and ready to leave the house. I woke up, with some heart burn (of which I've never experienced, and hope I never have to again)....and also with that....well, "the tummy gurgling, bad things are happening" feeling.

I was hoping it was the pound of chewy Sweettarts my sister and I had shared at the movie the day before....in combination with getting 3 hours of sleep.

Once we picked the family up from the hospital, I realized that the pain and unsettling feeling in my tummy was worse than I'd originally thought. Oh yes....this was going to be a problem. I spent the 30 minute ride to his parents in agony. I was breathing like I was in labor, and wishing the roads were just a little less bumpy. I was pretty sure that if I made it to his parents house, we would just turn around and take me back home.

We pulled into their driveway, and every one got out of the jeep....well, everyone but me. I couldn't move. If I was to move, I was going to revisit anything left in my belly from the day before.

The time came when I NEEDED to get out. I walked (stumbled) to the nearest snowbank....and voila! Merry Christmas!

Mot was trying to hold my hair for me, rub my back, and be supportive. I was really only concerned with staying alive. The human body is most vile....let me just say. :-(

I went inside, cleaned up, and determined that I felt a heck of a lot better. In fact, I felt quite normal. It HAD to have been those chewy Sweettarts.....ugh!

So really, the title of this post in unfair....after the heart attack scare, and the Christmas morning upchucking, things we quite smashingly. We exchanged gifts, ate dinner, watched a move that Mot's niece received from Santa, while the rest of us slept on the floor around her.


Bob (Mot's oldest brother) sporting his new welding hat gift


Erin and I making picture taking difficut for Uncle Tom :-)


Erin without the silly posing...isn't she a sweety???

With his parent's two dogs, and the two dogs belonging to his brother, we had a house full of canines. But, they all behaved very well together.


Drake, the oldest (his brother's)


Sweetie (the second oldest, again his brother's)


Mot's Dad, Walt, and his dog Jake


And, last but not least, Bo (the most photogenic dog I know!)

We laughed, we hung out, we had a good time. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy my camera's rebirth on Christmas. I, honestly, wasn't feeling quite right. So, I don't have many pics of the festivities this year. :-(

Mot's brother and family left at about the same time we did. They had a 4 hour drive home, we had 30 minutes. But, by then Mot was starting to feel a little cruddy himself. Uh oh!

Once home, we changed into the most comfortable clothing we could find, watched some TV (did some more napping), played Mot's new xbox game a little (I suck at first person shooters...and that's not an exaggeration...in fact, people that suck at them are better than I am. Ugh!)

Then we went to bed.