A day late and a dollar short...

Although its more like several days late and such. I hope that all of you and yours had an absolutely fantastic Christmas and that no one spiked  the egg nog! My family and I had a wonderful day together. I apologize for my absence. The cold I mentioned in my last post only worsened after I posted. I was at work at the time of the post, as is my custom, and we got super duper insanely busy. Unfortunately, no sleep coupled with holiday preparations, and such, greatly worsened the cold. Plus, all of the cold air and the drainage from the cold have worsened my asthma. Friday the 21st saw me moping about and not good for much. I think I marked a couple of things of my to do list; the cold and cold medicine have my memory a bit fuzzy about the details. Saturday the 22nd was spent traveling to the Mountain Grove and Cabool area to visit with family. Aside from feeling like something a cat puked up with the occasional dragon breathing on me (I had a fever- don't do what I do, do what I say. If you have a fever, stay home, drink plenty of clear fluids, yada yada, yada. There, my medic side is happy now.), it was a good visit. Its almost always good to see family, especially when the troublemakers are ignored. And when things are less tense around folks where the past has not always been amicable. God is good and can cause a tentative friendship to start. I'm glad for that! Praise the Lord, I had taken Sunday the 23rd off. And last shift, a coworker kindly agreed to come in and work my second half for me.

  Smokey was a bit miffed at me for not allowing him to post on Christmas day. He tried laying on the laptop to see if he could find some nonexistent magical button that would make it open, but to no avail. He wants all of you to know that he dearly misses showing off his cuteness and that he did try to make sure that his Merry Christmas was on time! He also wanted to let you knwo that he is a huge help with wrapping gifts and that he also makes an excellent paper and tissue paper shredder.  He also ignored me this morning since he knew I was going to work. His latest obsession has been turkey lunch meat, and he always comes running when he hears the fridge door open or close. He wouldn't even acknowledge my existence for turkey today! He wanted to show off his new collar:

Doesn't he look snazzy?! 

  Miss Sadie has had her puppies. I'm not sure if I have mentioned her here before or not. In case I haven't, she is an adorable stray that showed up one day. Based on her appearance, she is at least part pit bull, is extremely sweet, and appears to have been abused. She has started trusting Dad more and more, and will not turn down a treat from any male UPS driver. Treats are most definitely her love language. She is nervous around cell phones, so I don't have too terribly many pictures, although she is getting less nervous around them all the time. To begin with, if Dad was holding anything, she would cower and hide. Now, she she pauses briefly for Dad to per her on her to the back door when he leaves for work. That is her very, absolutely, most favoritest time of the day because she knows she will get treats. She warmed up to us girls pretty quick (beef jerky is a wondrous thing. Who knew that a squashed Slim Jim could get me a friend so fast?). It seems that someone treated her well, and she loves to ride in vehicles. She gets miffed at me if I forget to have her hop into Bumble Bee (my car) when I go to park it. Anyhow, Guinea Pig and Banjo are proud papas. There are 2 puppies that most definitely bear a strong resemblance to each of them, plus two that look like their mama. There were just two puppies yesterday and she had acted like she was done when we ran to Billings (A store there was having a sale on wool; Mom is going to teach me how to wool applique. She also got me a punch needle set, so she is going to teach me how to do that too. I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Anyhow, we didn't get back until after dark (which is like 5 in the evening right now; I dislike how dark Missouri stays in the winter. I need sunshine!!!!!) Since the wind was blowing like it had a vendetta to settle and the cold sets off my asthma and makes my cold worse, I didn't check on her that evening. This morning I was running a tad late, so I didn't get a chance to check on Sadie and the younguns before leaving for work. Plus, I would have spent too much time with them, I mean, c'mon now, its puppies!!!!!! So, imagine my surprise when I glanced at my phone after tones awoke me to see messages from Mom and Kirst informing me that there are now 6 puppies instead of the two lil guys I met yesterday?!? Methinks a trip to the barn is in order when I get home from church tomorrow!!!!!!!!

 And the two gents that I met yesterday:

  I'm still plugging away on Yule Queen. I think I might try to finish her before starting anything new. That said, this is me we are talking about, so there is no telling! I do think I am going to try to stitch some ornaments throughout the year. Some for gifts, some to keep, and some to list online. Plus one or two for giveaways, Lord willin'! Hopefully youns won't mind pics of them throughout the year too terribly much....  I do think that the next time I stitch Yule Queen, I will turn her dress into red and green to be more Christmassy. I am thinking of stitching "Snow Queen" so she can be out all winter. Does anyone else have a hard time giving away or selling  their stitching? It feels like saying good bye to a friend at times. Although, I am a weird individual, so that could just be a me thing. Some pieces I say good riddance to if they gave me grief, but others I'm just like, awww, you was such a good, happy, easy-going baby! Lol, maybe the cold medicine is messing with me more than I thought!

 I'm currently at work. The 12 hour ran one call. That's it, just the one. I'm getting really antsy and Minion feels like he is forgetting to do something since we haven't ran a call yet. Here lately, our first call had been coming shortly after we got here at 08:00. Days like this make us fear the night. Of course, I would rather be busy all day if it meant that I would get to sleep all night! One of the gals was telling me this morning how a crew ran a call for a gentleman that had a nightmare. He did not tell them about the traumatizing events of this nightmare, just that he thought he would OK at home. I am said to say that he is around my age. And just for the record, although I'm sure all of you already know this, that is not proper use of 911. ;)
 I finished the book I brought earlier, and I didn't bring a spare!!!!! I always bring a spare, even if I'm just getting ready to start a book! I have books on my phone, but its just not the same as holding a real live book in my hands. Nothing matches the comfort of an actual book. I even like the smell of them.... Granted, I am undeniably a bookworm. And I am most OK with that!

 I am still planing on posting pictures of Christmas decorations. I am setting the lofty goal of posting them prior to the New Year. I know, I know, I'm always right on the ball. ;) At any rate, the goal might be a bit optimistic. Although, I am feeling quite a bit better from the cold. I think the steroids I'm currently on are helping with my asthma, which lets my body focus on attacking the cold. Unfortunately, these particular steroids make me have occasional, random hot flashes,
so if any of you suffer from hot flashes, you have my deepest sympathies. Poor Mom had this cold a couple of weeks ago and now has it again. She teaches Sunday School and doesn't think that she will feel up to going to church, let alone teaching! I think we will try to find a video to watch during that time. Teaching adults is scary, and I am a coward. Dad had been working longer hours since before Thanksgiving, so he won't have time to study a lesson. My church would greatly appreciate prayer on behalf of a gentleman that usually comes. He hasn't been well for some time now and is in the hospital now. I know he would appreciate the prayers and I would most definitely be indebted to anyone that prays for him. He is a sweet gentleman that I am sure all of you would love if you had a chance to meet him. I'm also sure that his dog, Skippy, would appreciate prayers for his friend as well.
 Sorry for such a long post. I don't usually bother with new year's resolutions; if I think its time for a change I don't see the point in the waiting or possibly starting at a busy time, depending on the year. That said, I am hoping to start posting more regularily. I've thought of youns frequently and wrote several posts in my head. I just didn't get them typed. I hope you have a wonderful, restful night, and that your Sunday is peaceful! Please, feel free to tell me about your Christmas. I love hearing from youns!
 ~ Emmy