Boxing Day 2015 - The Melting Pot

Every year we celebrate Boxing Day, establishing it as the day this family will celebrate together long after their own individual families carve up Christmas proper. This year however, a long planned trip to the Mall of America was nixed by my surgery. So instead, we rolled out to The Melting Pot for lunch. The kids were great, everyone had fun, and aside from the hip acting up a couple times, there wasn't a bad moment in the bunch. Thanks #TeamSlap! I love you all!

Boxing Day 2015 PT 2 - Shopping

After lunch we took some of the money planned for the trip and divided it up among the kids, letting them shop at Brookfield Square. Call it their Christmas bonus. Yes, I was self-conscious about being in a wheelchair and asked to be left behind while they shopped. Yes, I'm just immature enough to resent it when they did *what I asked* and left me sitting alone in the mall. Yes, I was enough of a martyr to FB about it. Yes, Lisa then called me out on it and I paid a terrible, terrible price.  But fear not, the day continued - just not at the mall. LOL

So, after the mall debacle Lisa drove us to Target, where I was able to use a scooter and shop with the kids. I always said I'd die before I rode in one of those things, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Junie got a MLP doll, some jewelry, and a Robolox card; LuLu bought her manicure set; Smiley bought some Pokemon cards but saved most of his cash, and YaYa bought an outfit.

Manicure Day!

LuLu is giving Yaya a manicure with the set OJ bought today for Boxing Day.

Boxing Day 2015 pt 1 of 3

A year ago, to celebrate Boxing Day, we went ice skating, and later I walked the youngest two more than a mile to the store. This morning I'm changing the diaper sized dressing on my hip and laying strapped into a stretching machine. #bitter

A Visit with Louise

Lisa and I paid a visit to Louise  this Christmas Day. It was great to see her! Plus a big thank you to Sherry, a nurses aid, who saw me struggling down the hall on crutches and found me a wheelchair to use. Give me some more gray hair and I could have passed for a resident! lol

The Tree is Down

As I write this, Lisa is taking down our Christmas tree. Despite its beauty - and personally, I think it was a stunner - it must have sat on the lot awhile before we bought it. It's so dry and brittle that when Lisa blew on it as a joke it lost so many needles it sounded like a rain storm in the living room. #ItsGottaGo

Lisa, dumping dustpan after dustpan of needles. "I've never had a tree do this. This is cartoon bulls--t."

LuLu

LuLu's new picture. Lisa and I breed well together.

Mindy and Isaiah Visit

I overdid it with the hip yesterday, even though all I really did was sit. So Lisa let me sleep in, waking me as Mindy and Isaiah were winding up their visit! (Sorry I looked like poop. I felt like it too)

Christmas Eve at my Sister's

Late on Christmas Eve #TeamSlap stopped by Christopher and my sister Chrissy to exchange gifts. Smiley especially loved his Gravity Falls hat!

An Update on my Mom

My Mom was discharged from the hospital yesterday, which I found out second hand from deciphering FB posts. But thank you for your prayers - apparently the Good Lord was listening!

Christmas at Alex Q's

After Mass #TeamSlap journeyed over to our friend's house for a get together with their family. They hosted a White Elephant gift exchange, a Bingo game for the kids, Surge, yummy turkey, and some potatoes horrifically covered in cheese. ;)

Veggie Trays

Two veggie trays Lisa made for the holiday. I ain't gonna lie - I said the tree was sub-par work for her.

Christmas Mass

Merry Christmas one and all!

Can't sleep. The hip is crazy, and Lisa keeps having nightmares and talking in her sleep. Not the best combination for a restful night. NOTE: this is not to be used by anyone as an excuse to cxl plans. If I can deal, so can you :)

Went to Mass yesterday night, my first trip out in crutches. Lisa yelled at me when I tried to stand for the processional so I spent the service sitting like an old ninny. Nice carols, and as usual a great Homily by Fr Ron - the guy has the knack. At Communion the man in the pew behind us had Fr. bring me Communion, which was very nice of a stranger.

Christmas

Jaspare and Jeanne  stopped by to wish #TeamSlap a Merry Christmas!

TV Time

 Watching What Not to Wear with Lisa, Smiley, and Junie 

Fantastic Four

It's not as bad as people say, but it isn't very good. No one is very likeable, least of all Johnny Storm (tho Jordan did a good job with what he had), and the action at the end was abrupt and pointless.

Many Thanks to Smiley

Kudos to my son, the only child to wish me well before the surgery. He even asked to come along and wait with Lisa, which we sensibly refused. He was the only one to greet me with a hug when I came back, personally set up the cooling machine that draped my hip all night, and volunteered to help me out. He even chose to cuddle up to me on the couch. Time and again, I think that whatever bumps lay ahead, in the end he'll be a fantastic husband and father. I love you Smiley!

I'm Home

I got home from the hospital only an hour ago. What a long day. Recovery didn't go smoothly, although I remember little of it. The doc told Lisa how the surgery itself went, and her impression was not optimistic, but I'll relay more info after the follow-up. Right now I'm sore and tired and a little high, and more than a little irritated that I'm -for the moment - not very independent.