The Holidays

Christmas has come and gone already which is so hard to believe.  I do not know where the time went.  For awhile there, I didn't think we'd have much of a Christmas at all as things got a bit more hectic than usual.

On December the 15, I was giving our little gray dog, Pudding, a bath and noticed a nasty lump on her back.   I called the vet and they graciously allowed me to bring her right in, around 5PM that very night.  Turns out the lump was nothing to worry about too much, the vet put her on antibiotics and it seems to be healing.  Since she is eleven years old, many thoughts crossed my mind, and I was glad I did not have to face any impossible decisions just yet.   She is eating and romping around just fine, so thankfully, this time, she should be ok.

Joel had driven Pudding and I to the vet and since it was rather late at night and I hadn't a clue what I was going to make for supper, we stopped at a fast food restaurant and brought supper home with us.  Carl and Joel ordered the usual fare, and I opted for something different, which was tasty, but by 2AM that night, I found myself in dire straits, even sicker than my proverbial dog.  I don't know if it was the food or a virus, but whatever it was, it was nasty.  My timing was impeccable, I was supposed to be going  for my second sleep study the next day, and was so looking forward to getting it over with before the first of the year. Alas, it was not to be.

I thought maybe it would be a 24 hour bug, but it turned out to be a lot longer than that, almost five days later, before I finally felt a bit better.  No one else in the house fell ill, thankfully,  so whatever it was, it was my own private plague.  (Maybe that's what I get for not cooking??)  Psychosomatic or not, it will be a long time before I visit that fast food restaurant again. 

Luckily, I was able to reschedule the sleep test for December 22, which was last week Monday.  I went back into the hospital and got all wired up for the second time.  Once again, I crawled into bed and tried to sleep, just like the first test, but now with the addition of a sleep apnea mask on my head.  Oh, dear....I had no idea the masks were so tight.  I'm hoping that's something that can be adjusted because I have to admit, the thing was far from comfortable and I sure was not having any better luck sleeping, so the technician brought me another sleeping pill.  I think I could have used two or three sleeping pills, but she said I did fall asleep eventually.  She tried four different face masks on me, from one that just covered my nose to a full face mask, which I ended up with since, apparently, I open my mouth a lot.  Figures, I can't keep my mouth shut even when I'm asleep.

I still don't know what the results of the study were, but I guess I'll hear from them eventually.  One thing I do know the result of, the sight of myself in a sleep apnea mask is not one I will soon forget, wow..!

Of course, being sick set my Christmas preparations way behind, and since I am a Procrastinatoe in the first place, you can imagine how far behind I was.  I managed to write out Christmas cards while I was sick, but then had a few 'Returned to Sender' because I forgot to put stamps on them.  Good grief.  I can only imagine what the postman thought. (At least none of the cards I sent out with proper postage came back that way.)

Just before Christmas, I finally started to feel more healthy and enthusiastic and managed to get my Christmas sewing done even though I burned a lot of midnight oil in the process. We had a very nice Christmas Day with Mom and Ann as our guests.

2009's Poinsettia Lamp

Carl has a few days off of work, so we are trying to reorganize the sewing room and stained glass studio so I can finish up some sewing projects and we can get back to work on our next stained glass lamp.  Last year we somehow found the time to work on the Pachyberm right up until the first week in December and had a good start on our Poinsettia lamp.  This year didn't work out quite as well, but we do have a lot of winter in front of us yet; we should be able to get at least one shade made before spring.

If we don't procrastinate.

But, hey, if I get my sleep problem treated, maybe I'll find I have a lot more energy.  So far, I have found people divided into two camps, those who have CPAP machines who feel their lives have changed for the better, in some cases, amazingly so much better, to those who dislike the machines and don't think it helps much at all.  After listening to my snoring when I tape recorded myself, I really don't know if it would be possible to have a worse night's sleep then I do now. If I ever do get a machine,  I sure hope I'm in the first camp.  I can always hope, right?