Week Seven

January 11-17, 2009

Sunday the 11th: Not much to report today I guess. Kevin and I made a run to the storage shed to bring back some more items to put in the apartment so now there are boxes everywhere again for us to trip over. We had to make sure, however, that the boxes did not block the view of the television because the new season of 24 started again. Two hours of Bauer. Jack Bauer, that is. If you haven't been watching 24, you are really missing out on a very intense, stressful show that you look forward to every single week. It's the fastest hour of television you'll ever watch. "If you're not watching 24, you don't know Jack!" And it was very good, as always. That show hooks you from the start. I love it. We love it. If I had nothing better to do and could control my not dreaming about it for days afterward, I would sit and watch all six seasons again. I have to say that season 4 is my favorite by far. During the whole season we kept referring to the bad guy as "the best bad guy ever." It was awesome. I watch too much tv...

Monday the 12th: I finally got to the court house today to get my fingerprinting done for my NC interpreting license. I also got my photo taken and all of my paperwork notarized. (Did you know that to have a paper notarized in NC you do not have to sign the banker's book? The gal looked at me like I was crazy when I asked if I needed to sign her book. Whatever.) I was however, quite cranky after spending four hours trying to arrange all of my paperwork and making sure I checked off all of the things on the list. I was actually in a decent mood before I had to interact with other cranky humans. Stupid humans. But I wasn't cranky for too long as there was another two-hour block of 24 that came on so that was good. After 24, Kevin and I played on our computers for a while and long about midnight we had a knock on the door. Kevin answered it and said, "hey, man!" so I thought something was up with our (duplex) neighbor, Ben. Alas, it was not Ben at this hour but another person who claimed to be our neighbor a few doors down. Apparently he locked his keys in his car. He came over to see if he could borrow money to pay the locksmith once he arrived and said he would pay us back later. He only needed $30 but I was uncomfortable with the whole situation and I think Kevin was, too, but he is a lot more trusting than I. And I had never seen this man before but it's not like I'm a very nosy neighbor (or even very observant) so I don't really know who my neighbors are. Long story short, we loaned this guy the money hoping that he was really telling the truth as well as hoping this would prevent a non-serious situation from becoming something more violent. In retrospect, Kevin thinks perhaps this guy was scoping out our stuff for future robbery. Never fear, we are protected by "alarm man"--the alarm system that's installed in our house. I'm just thankful that no one was hurt.

Tuesday the 13th: Today wasn't much, I had to work and I had what I'll call a mini-migraine--not quite as debilitating as a 'real' migraine but a lot worse than a regular ol' headache. Kevin ran errands while I was at work. Yes, we're terribly exciting people.

Wednesday the 14th: My mini-migraine decided to stick around another day which is always a good time. Thankfully I didn't have to work so I just took it easy during the morning. I was still disturbed by our encounter with the stranger--it really is not sitting well with me. I tried to take my mind off of it by getting on the computer. Somehow I managed to look at some family member blogs and became very sad and started to miss everyone. I then tried to take my mind
off of being sad by cleaning but it was just a feeling that was lingering today. I also received my heating and electric bills which were very similar in amount and almost as much as I used to pay to heat and electrify my house back in Missouri. My house! We live in a one bedroom duplex and it is costing me as much as my three bedroom house with basement. Ridiculous! That didn't improve my mood at all. Later that evening I decided I would watch a movie through Netflix. I decided on Bridge to Terabithia because it was going to be expiring from my queue soon. Bad idea. If you've never seen it and believe that you might and you do not want me to spoil any part of the movie for you, please stop reading now and move on to Thursday's post. Please forgive me for the crude synopsis I'm going to be giving.

**SPOILER ALERT** So, basically this movie is about a little boy who can't seem to do anything right by his family and is a loner at school. One day this new girl moves to town and she's friendly, creative and "weird." The boy and the girl soon befriend one another. Before long they are having daily magical adventures in the forest near their homes and it is through these times together that they become best of friends. One morning the boy's teacher calls his house and asks him to join her on a trip to a local museum. The kid is thrilled she has called (mostly because he has a crush on her) and after getting his mother's (half asleep) permission to go, he heads out with the teacher. They drive by the little girl's house and for a moment he looks at it. The teacher asks if anything's wrong, he says there is not and they ride to the museum. The two spend quite a long time at the museum and the boy is soaking up every moment there. Upon returning home, his parents are quite upset with him for not telling them where he was but thankful he has arrived home safely. Apparently there had been an accident while he was away. The little girl was swinging on a rope to cross over a large creek to get to the forest but the rope broke and the girl drowned. The boy does not believe the claim so he runs out to the creek and sees the broken rope. Still not wanting to accept what has happened, he runs into the forest crying out for her. Eventually his dad finds him and the boy breaks down crying in his father's arms.

So, basically, this was a cute movie until the little girl dies then it just felt like my heart was ripped from my chest. I guess I was especially vulnerable today but this movie really hurt. Most of you probably do not know but I lost a friend of mine to cystic fibrosis when I was younger; I believe I was in the third grade. My girlfriend's name was Cathy Wagner and we had some good times together. We played together at school and she lived on my street so I was even able to go to her house on occasion. And it was on a day that I was at her house that I realized she was really sick. I knew she always coughed a lot and she couldn't do a lot of things but that didn't stand in the way of our friendship. But at her house that day I walked into her bedroom and saw medical equipment. I wasn't sure what it was for but since it was in her room, I thought it had to be serious. Her mom happened to walk down the hall and saw me in her room. I remember her saying something to me but what it was, I wish I knew. I don't know how long it was after that day that I lost her but I still to this very day think of her. It still hurts me even after all this time. It was just a very bad day to watch this otherwise touching movie.**SPOILER ALERT END**

Thursday the 15th: Happy Birthday, Justin! Thought I'd get that shout out to the bro-in-law before I forget. So, let's see. Ah, yes. I got an e-mail from my mom today asking questions about 24 and naturally I started to write a book. I wanted to get my facts straight so I watched a couple episodes to help with my synopsis for mom. I also had my handy dandy husband to aid in my writing as well. I don't know how he keeps everything straight. Was that really the extent of the day? Sad.



Friday the 16th: Worked the closing shift at work today and it was good. I worked with a fun co-worker and had a good time. Yay for fun people!

Saturday the 17th: I decided I was still grossed out from our critter problem so I rewashed the dishes again then I made some gooey butter cookies that I was going to take to dinner at my cousin's house. Plans fell through and we didn't make it to his house but we still had cookies. That was bad because they were good. Later that afternoon I went into the pantry to see if there were any "presents" for me and I didn't see any right away. I moved an item on the bottom shelf and behind it was 'the mother load'--"presents" as far as the eye could see. It was disgusting. I had a bag of coconut sitting on this shelf along side some baking chocolate. I picked up the bag and noticed a decent sized hole in the bag. I decided it was a mouse that was visiting us so frequently. It still gives me the heeby geebies. Ick. I'd like to know how it got into my house so I can prevent that from happening again. Ewie ewie ew. But at least it has good taste.

I forgot to mention that we received a package from Kohl's the other day; I ordered some clothes for Kevin because some how he was down to only two pairs of pants. I was, too, so I added a few pairs of pants for me to try on as well. All in all for Kevin our fashion show was a success; he now has five more pairs of pants (I think) and two new shirts. The great thing about the shirts is that they were only $9.20 each! For a big and tall size, that's practically unheard of so we're really excited. And one of the pants was only a dollar. It was an excellent purchase for Kevin. As for me, I was not so lucky. I am going to have to take them all back to the store. Oh well. I guess we can't have it all.

I did, however, have some success at Circuit City. Kevin read a report that Circuit City was going out of business and they were discounting all of their merchandise. We have one not too far from here so we headed out to see what they had left if anything. I ended up purchasing four seasons of Frasier for all less than $50 (they are normally between $20-$30 a piece) and Bread's CD: Anthology for like six bucks. After our outing, we came home and tried to catch up on our TV shows. We watched Battlestar Galactica, 30 Rock, Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother. To top it all off we watched an episode of Wonderfalls in bed then it was off to dreamland.

And on a more somber note, my great Aunt Ginna past away today. I hope she finds peace in her new home.


Books of the week:

KEVIN


Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick


JANA


Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling
Eldest by Christopher Paolini

Week Six

January 4-10, 2009

Hello my fellow . My phone and internet service has been spotty this past week so I'm going to try to post everything today while it's cooperating.

It's been another rather ho-hum week in Durham but that was mostly due to limited mobility - I am still having problems with my back. On Monday Kevin and I watched National Treasure 2 via Netflix but that was really about it. It was mostly just a day of more heating pad and hobbling. I did, however, find more droppings in my pantry so I cleaned them out and checked around the kitchen. There were also more droppings in the cabinet. I pulled out all the dishes and set them out to be rewashed. Again. Ew. Mind you, this is after we established an arsenal of bait and traps. Let's hope this is the last of it.


Tuesday wasn't really any more exciting. I went to work and upon returning home, Kevin had set up for me to watch. He's so cute. Wall-E, I mean. Well, I guess Kevin is, too, but don't tell him I said so! Eh, he'd never believe you anyway. I did think it was a sweet gesture, though.

On Wednesday as I was heading to work, I spotted another yellow Ranger. The first one I've seen anywhere since I've been here. In St. Louis on my way to work, I would see one every single morning going the opposite direction on the highway. Then, once they opened a Little Caesar's in Arnold, I found out that one of the workers there owned one. He was happy he could put a face with the truck but frustrated because he wanted his to be the only one in Arnold. He added some detailing on his and said he had more in store for his truck. I tried to put his mind at ease by telling him that I was moving out of the state but he said it didn't matter because he still knew of one other person with the same truck. Boys.

Thursday Kevin and I ventured out to the local DMV to get our state driver's license. I hated knowing that I had to take the written part of the exam and quite possibly the driving exam as well. It turns out, the people at the DMV were quite efficient and nice so the whole experience played out much more nicely than what I had envisioned. I passed the written test with flying colors and thankfully did not have to have my driving skills evaluated. I'm also thankful that the process wasn't as painful as anticipated. I do, however, think the license itself is cursed. Ever since I have received it, I have been driving like a mad woman. I do sincerely believe that what was left of my brain was attached to my MO license. It seems that my driving skills are worse than that of a new driver. I have been thinking of revoking my own license! I scare myself.

Friday I went to work and not much else, really.

Saturday my back felt well enough for me to try to clean again and I was successful except for having to break periodically. It was also the day I found out I was a winner! I love digital scrapbooking and making digital greetings (which can also be printed and made into a million other things!) and I'm always scouring the internet for downloads. I prefer that they are free but I have been known to buy a kit or two (or twelve...). There are so many amazingly talented people out there and many of them are so generous by offering free items periodically so I don't mind purchasing some of their products. Anyway, I have grown to love certain designers and Amy Sumrall is one of them--she made the Russian Collection kit that I used to decorate this blog. I was reading Amy's blog one day and read her post stating she was going to hold a drawing to give away one of her older kits. I liked the color combinations and the retro feel of it so I left her a comment on her blog as per the rules of the drawing. Next thing you know I get a congratulatory e-mail from her and the files to download. Awesome! I don't normally win things but I was (am still!) thankful that I was the winner of her kit. It's so cute. I even used it for the weather report this week so I could show you some of the items in the kit and show you how cute it is. I'm still excited about it!


As for Kevin, besides starting back to school this week he's been a reading machine--he finished:


Eldest by Christopher Paolini (for the second time)


V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Llyod

I'm still working on Eldest and hope to have it read soon.

Oh! And please vote in my little poll I have at the top right of this page. I just want to know if you are all interested in my weather reports at all or if I'm just doing it for the fun of it. And do you like my latest posts with pictures or would you rather just read what I have to say? Trying to cater to my readers! Thanks.

Have a fabulous week everyone! I love you all!

Random Rant

So, as you all have noticed, I have a small addiction--I like to change my blog. There's so much cute stuff out there and it's fun making things so that's how I spend my time - wasting it on frivolous things like changing my blog. As you also may have noticed, I'm having trouble uploading some of my pictures appropriately. For some reason Blogger doesn't like my .png images (the images that currently have white background should have a "see through" background). So forgive me for a while if this doesn't work properly or it goes all wonky. I'm just trying to figure out how to get my images on here appropriately. Grr.

Week Five

December 28, 2008 to January 3, 2009

Hello again wonderful family and friends. I hope you made it through that last post all right. I apologize for the long-windedness of it; for some reason I just couldn't stop writing. Hopefully I'll be able to spare your eyeballs and brains this week.

28th--Sunday didn't really result in much which seems to be the standard on the days I have to go to work. I worked 4PM-10PM that evening and it was rather uneventful as usual. And that's just fine by me; I don't want to have stressful calls!

29th--Monday was somewhat more eventful but that does not necessarily mean it was good. I didn't have to work so I spent some of the day doing laundry and unpacking even more boxes and that was fine. I decided while I was folding clothes I would watch Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Have you seen that movie? It's a classic and with good reason. I really rather enjoyed it. It was a little awkward for me to watch Burl Ives portray a mean, commanding father since I have always seen him in Walt Disney-type movies singing songs more geared for children ("Little white duck sitting in the water, little white duck doing what he otter...) (and let's not forget "Have a holly, jolly Christmas...") but he was still good all the same. So I was watching the movie and folding clothes when all of the sudden I see some movement out of the corner of my eye. And what to my wandering eyes should appear but a gigantic cockroach which did cause me great fear. I immediately scanned the area for other insect relatives but did not notice any so I grabbed my shoe and, well, you can gather what happened next. It still sends shivers up my spine. You just don't know how large this creature was! Ick. After cleaning up the mess, I went back to folding clothes but with my senses heightened. I periodically (let's be honest, frequently) would glance around the room for other critters and about 10 minutes after the first incident I spotted another one. This time, however, it was crawling on the wall next to me. I cautiously stood up and caused this second bug to suffer the same fate as the first. At that point I designated myself night watchman and my shift started immediately. After the movie, I hesitantly decided to make my way into the kitchen for something to eat. I went to the pantry and when I opened it up, I was greeted with several mysterious black pellets just under a millimeter in length. It was at this point that I decided there was either a really large roach or very small mammal living nearby who liked to visit. I cleaned out the pantry (and cabinets) and hoped that was the last time. I was officially creeped out. So creeped out, in fact, that I didn't sleep well that night. I just knew something was crawling around in the bedroom with me. Ew. Monday also happened to be my baby sister's birthday so I called and talked to her for a while but I never stopped scoping the joint for invaders.

30th--Tuesday I was still feeling poorly so Kevin went to Boston Market and got some chicken noodle soup for me. It was decent. The warmth felt good and I love flat dumpling type noodles so that was tasty. I ate my soup and he took off to pick up one of our friends from the airport. After dropping off Dominique at home, Kevin headed over to our landlord's building to pick up some "mystery money." The mystery is that we aren't sure why they gave us money but we've never been the kind to turn down free money! After Kevin came home, he sat in the chair and played Star Wars: The Force Unleashed--a video game he got for Christmas. I sat on the couch and watched him play for a while. I did some more stuff around the house until it was time for dinner. We sat down and ate while watching Lethal Weapon. And I have to say, I must have seen the edited version the first time around because I certainly would have remembered seeing Mel Gibson's rear end. I'm not necessarily complaining I was just shocked when I saw it. Anyway, shortly thereafter we headed to bed.

31st--Wednesday was New Year's Eve but again not much excitement for the Burkes. Kevin played his game and actually finished it. I watched him some at the same time I was cleaning the apartment. I was in the bedroom rearranging our closets and I went to reach for something then felt a twinge in my back which caused me to recoil.
I managed to pinch a nerve in my lower back which restricted my movements and ability to stand upright. I managed to find my way to the couch where I tried to sit for a while with a heating pad. I couldn't really find a comfortable position but managed to sit still for about half an hour. I then made my way to my desk chair where I was able to sit somewhat more comfortably. I played on the computer some while Kevin watched The Shining. That movie is still creepy butKevin seemed to enjoy it. Maybe I should be concerned because Kevin did in fact enjoy it? Hmm... Well, that's how we rang in the new year--by watching The Shining. There weren't very many fireworks outside and I don't know if that had anything to do with the landscape--so many tall trees--or if it's a city ordinance or if people here just aren't that into fireworks. I remember in Arnold people would start the fireworks a week early. And the fireworks here didn't go on for hours, either. I'd say half hour to forty-five mintues. Either way we hope you had a fun, safe, happy evening!

1st--Thursday was New Years Day but also a work day which means again I didn't do much but hurt. I used the heating pad off and on before I had to leave. Working was no picnic. It was all I could do to sit in the chair and I was never comfortable. I still couldn't stand upright either which made life extra fun. I made it through the entire shift but was happy once I was heading home.

2nd--Friday I was still in quite a bit of pain--enough so that I missed my shift at work. I spent the day with the heating pad and ibuprofen. But on the up side, I got to work on my sister's blog. I tried to make it fun looking. I really like how it turned out. I gave her several choices from which to pick and I have to say I'm a little bummed that she chose the purple only because I liked the colors so much that I wanted to use it on my blog. :) [shout out: Karen's blog made using an overlay by Stacy Carlson]

3rd--Saturday was more of the same from Friday. Kevin left the house for about four hours on errands. While he was gone I tried to fold some laundry and I watched the movie Desk Set. I rather liked it. And if you'll humor me, I'm going on a tangent... I think I may have to recommend the Netflix service. We do not have cable or satellite and our regular TV stations don't come in so clearly so we decided to spring for Netflix (and it has the added benefit of being WAY cheaper than our other two options). We love it and use it all the time (sadly). That's how we've been able to watch so many movies and TV shows. Kevin has it set up so we can watch it through the video game console on the television. All we have to do is figure out what we want to watch and push play. It's great. If the movie you want cannot be played instantly, you can still request to have the disks sent to your home and you will get it in a matter of days. And you have the added benefit of no commercials! While we do love hulu, we don't like waiting through the commercials. How sad is that? It's only 30 seconds! We understand that the advertisers are how we are even able to have the hulu service but we are an impatient couple. Wow. Tangent within a tangent. My point of this ramble besides we think Netflix is "bonus!" is that on hulu Kevin found the show 30 Rock and started watching it. He liked the few episodes he saw so he ordered the first season through the Netflix instant queue. He had me watch some episodes and now we're hooked. (Tina Fey is really funny and cute. I think Kevin has a crush.) The "must watch" list is ever growing. I can't imagine having cable. I'd never leave the house!

Don't feed the addiction! Don't feed the addiction!
.....

Week Four--FINALLY!

Sorry about the long delay with the post. I've been ill and injured and apparently long winded which makes for a bad combination for punctuality. Hope you have all been well!

Well, not much to report from Durham this week as we really only spent Monday in town and most of that day was spent cleaning and packing but we were also able to meet with our friends Mark & Dana for a Mexican dinner. It was yummy and being with friends is always good. The temperature on Monday reminded me more of winter and felt more like Christmas to me than any other day I’ve been here. The only thing missing was snow and Mark agreed – he’s from Michigan and is frustrated that there’s no snow here and cannot understand how his wife is always cold when it’s never less than 50 degrees here. And even though Kevin is from the mountains of Northeast Tennessee, he concurs with Dana that it’s just entirely too cold here and wishes it was warmer. Now, I’ve never been one to really care for the cold but I think psychologically I like the change in temperature; that’s how you know the seasons have really changed. Plus, in winter there’s nothing like snuggling up on the couch in a warm blanket with a cup of hot chocolate and watching a movie like Elf, or The Muppet Christmas Carol or even some old black & white movie. It just feels like winter when you can do that. Maybe that’s just me. Or maybe I’m just crazy. Well, I am the latter but I know there are people out there who agree with me.

Tuesday was putting the finishing touches on the packing and loading of the truck so that we could start heading for Tennessee. We got a later start than we wanted (as usual) but that is much less of a concern now that the trip to the in-law’s only takes four hours instead of ten. Let me tell you, that is a much easier trip to tolerate but it didn’t come without incident. Upon leaving Durham, it was decided that I would drive the length of the trip so that I could get accustomed to the roads and the route as Kevin has already made the journey several times and was quite familiar with the course. As the evening drew near, I began to have issues with street lights and car lights. As with a migraine, I had become hyper-sensitive to light but fortunately this time without the pain of the headache. I tried to continue to drive but the lights were everywhere and the pain continued. I managed to drive a little more than an hour before I was forced to stop. We pulled into a gas station, filled up and Kevin took the wheel. Just a few short moments later I was asleep. I don’t know what it is about me but even when I’m asleep, I can sense a disturbance in the force. I slept about an hour before waking to the sound of rain while driving in the mountains in Virginia. Moments later cars began to slow to a stop on the interstate all the while our concern growing about the situation as we were having flashbacks to the winter of ’04 when our ten hour trip took 24 hours due to a heavy snow storm and ice. We weren’t sure of the current situation as it appeared only to be raining and we could not see the flash of lights of any emergency vehicles. For the next 45 minutes, we inched along the interstate discovering that the reason people were stopped was because of ice on the road and a multi-car accident most likely due to the ice. The bad road conditions only stretched about 2 to 3 miles and then the roads became clear. We were cautious for a while after the ice just to be safe but we made it through Virginia unscathed. The rest of the trip was uneventful even though it rained on us all the way to Tennessee. We arrived at mom and dad’s around ten o’clock, chatted for a while then went to bed.

Wednesday was Christmas Eve which was the day I finished wrapping the gifts for the following day. The family left the house around five o’clock and headed out to Pap’s for Christmas Eve dinner with him and the aunts, uncles, and cousins. I felt like the evening was much more subdued than years previous but maybe that was just me. After dinner I was designated Santa because apparently I was good at passing out the gifts to all the kids last year. I don’t even remember doing that before and tried to argue that but I was out numbered and overruled. I clambered through gifts onto the floor and began to pass out the gifts to all the kids and Pap. It actually worked out to where we had a train of people; I would announce the name on the tag and the kids who were in line passed along the packages to the correct person. It worked out perfectly. The gift opening this year went rather quickly because there were so few packages which I’m gathering is related to everyone having financial difficulties this past year. All in all, though, I think the kids were happy with their gifts even though I don’t know who got what except for my two nephews. For the past few years the adults have done a “Chinese gift exchange” – that’s what it’s referred to down there. All the adults who want to participate buy a gift usually totaling less than $20.00. The gifts are wrapped anonymously and labeled to designate whether the gift is appropriate for a male, female or either. We then put numbers in a hat equal to the number of participants then each person draws a number out of the hat. We then take turns either choosing a gift from under the tree or taking it out of the hands of another person. This year the hot ticket items were an air hockey set you place on a table, glass bakeware set and a pocket knife. Fortunately I had one of the last numbers so that I could pick the gift I wanted which was the cookbook that I brought for the exchange. No one else picked it up from under the tree so I grabbed it, opened it and showed it to everyone then got a disappointing look from Stacey (Kevin’s aunt) who said she wished she would have known that was under the tree because she would have taken it. Luckily for me I was able to go home with it.

Not only was I able to leave with my cookbook, I actually left with several other gifts as well. Kevin’s Aunt Paula came over to look at my book and asked me if I like cookbooks and naturally I replied in the affirmative. She mentioned to me that she had several of Granny’s cookbooks that she would be happy to give to me. Paula mentioned this to Pap who then came up to me and asked me if I liked to cook. I said that I did and asked him how he thought I kept my figure. He laughed his little grunt of a laugh and then decided he was going to see what he had upstairs for me. I followed him up the stairs into a room that looked like it had become Granny’s craft room. Pap walked into a closet and starting pulling out all sorts of different crafting items. He wound up giving me a box of miscellaneous things—fabric, craft magazines and a few unfinished projects among other things. He was perplexed that he did not come across any cookbooks but decided we’d check in the room across the hall to see what else we might find. And there it was. A glorious pile of books in every color of the rainbow, many were faded due to their age and many years of use, and some looked newer but still showed signs of love. Pap walked over to the pile and picked up several cookbooks and handed them to me. Then he reached down and handed me several more books. Pap asked me if they looked like good books and I said that they did but I had some reservations about taking all of the books that were just given to me as I did not want to upset anyone. He said, “The only one you’re going to upset is me and that’s if you don’t take them. Don’t worry about anybody else.” Well, I don’t want to upset Pap that’s for sure so I gratefully took them and headed back downstairs where I met Kevin and showed him my new treasure. I looked through some of the books for a while but then people started packing up to leave so I had Kevin and Sam (Kevin’s brother) help me take my books and craft items to the car. We came back inside and I worked my way toward the kitchen where I met Paula again. I told her that Pap had given me some of Granny’s cookbooks but I told her that I was concerned about it; that I didn’t want to make anyone upset because I was taking their mom’s/grandmother’s precious things. She told me not to worry about anyone else – that it was fine that I was taking the cookbooks. She also said that she was glad that I got some of them because of Kevin. (Granny of course loved all of her grandchildren but we have a hunch that Granny had an extra special place in her heart for Kevin.) Feeling somewhat at ease about the self-imposed stress, we made our rounds to give hugs and wish everyone a merry Christmas. I also made my yearly plans with Pap to come back and visit when the weather is more cooperative so he can take me for a ride in his golf cart where he will whisk me away from Kevin and we will have a night on the town and maybe not even come back. My agreement to the plan had once again satisfied Pap so we were allowed to head back to the in-law’s. As Kevin, Sam and I headed out the door, we noticed how much it was raining (pouring) and it was at this point that Sam and I became anxious—Sam because he doesn’t feel comfortable driving long distances in the rain and me because I’ve become especially paranoid about driving in the rain since I was in a car accident as a teenager (as a passenger, not a driver). [In this particular accident, the car slid off the road and tumbled down a hill almost landing in a pond. And I *just* had a self-realization—there is a good chance this incident was the catalyst for my need to have control especially while driving.] And knowing Sam wasn’t comfortable didn’t help the situation any either. I was sitting in the front seat during the trip back home all the while holding tightly onto four Little Golden Books that Sara (Xander’s mom/Kevin’s sister) left behind. I am not sure how by the end of the 45 minute drive that I was still holding four books instead of one as I was sure I had fused them together by the sheer strength with which I was holding them. We arrived safely back at the house where we all tried to de-stress from the ride. I eventually went back downstairs to finish up the few gifts I had left to wrap. I took the finished packages upstairs and placed them under the tree then took Kevin’s computer and played on it for a few hours until I was tired enough to go to bed.

Christmas morning we were awakened at 9:00AM to start opening gifts. We all gathered in the living room where Sara passed out presents to everyone and we opened them. We all got some nice things—movies, clothes, scrapbooking stuff, and a cold from my nephew—but there was one gift however, was especially chosen for all the girls by my father-in-law. He gave us all a Christmas album by Faith Hill. This album was apparently very popular in Tennessee as he claims to have had to go to five different stores to find one for each of the three girls. I opened mine right away and we played it in the radio while we finished opening gifts. After the gift opening, my mother-in-law went into the kitchen and began cooking a large breakfast—bacon, eggs, biscuits and gravy—and it was as delicious as ever. After breakfast, though, we all headed back to our respective rooms for a nap. The napping was good but not long enough for me; Kevin slept something like four hours and got up just shortly before his mom started to get dinner ready. We all ate dinner together and almost everyone cleared their plates from the table then Sam and I started on the dishes. I have to say I’m thankful for the dishwasher they have because I certainly didn’t want to wash all of those dishes by hand. Shortly after the dishes were started and the table cleared, we set up the game Apples to Apples—a fun game where there is a judge who pulls a card from the deck with an adjective on it and each player has to find a card in their hand that has a noun on it that most closely matches the adjective *and* the personality of the judge. That’s a poor explanation for a very fun game. So, we’re several rounds into the game when all of the sudden there is a very loud sound of a gong. We all look at each other in confusion then moments later hear the sound of the gong again. We looked over into the living room to find Xander (who is 1 ½) standing at the entertainment center holding the door open all the while having the worried ”am I in trouble?” look on his face. Somehow he managed to open the entertainment center door and push a button to play AC/DC’s Hells Bells which was in the CD player. Once we realized what happened and the song started playing we all started to laugh but Xander still wasn’t sure about the situation. He eventually realized he wasn’t going to get into trouble so he started to dance. He’s too cute. We all laughed about the situation some more then went back to playing several more rounds of the game until we decided we wanted to do something else. Dad was getting tired but mom wanted to stay up for a while and I wanted to stay up because we hadn’t had dessert yet and it was cheesecake and I wasn’t about to pass it up. And let me tell you, if you ever visit the Burkes and you want some food, you’d better get it while there is some because if you snooze, you lose. I was fortunate to get some of the yummy cheesecake with mixed berry topping which made me happy. Kevin then decided that his parents needed to see The Dark Knight (which I also recommend if you haven’t seen it; it’s very good even if you don’t like superhero movies). Kevin’s dad was too tired to stay up for the movie so he was going to head to bed. Kevin asked his mom if she was going to stay and actually sit for the whole movie—she tends to multi-task during movies which drives everyone nuts. Her reply was priceless. She says she likes to do things while a movie is on because she has so much to do. “It’s a motion picture and I’m in motion.” This might be one of those ‘you had to be there’ moments but I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard. I never in a million years would have thought to say that. After a good laugh and a discussion about her comment, dad went to bed while Kevin, mom and I began watching the movie. It wasn’t too far into it that mom got up and did whatever it is that she does but Kevin had the remote handy and paused the movie every time she left. After the third or so trip, she came back and got a little snippy with Kevin for stopping the movie on her account. “It’s never going to be over if you keep pausing it.” He got snippy right back and commented on how she was leaving at very important times during the movie. He promised not to stop the movie again if she got up (and she did) but she was there for the ending and she got the gist of the movie which I think is her objective when watching movies anyway. After a long evening, we all went to bed in hopes of being rested for the next day.

I’ll try to be brief about Friday as it didn’t yield too much of anything and I appear to be rambling.

Around 11:00AM James, Kevin’s best friend from middle school, called. He was in the neighborhood and wanted to stop by for a while to see everyone. I told him that was fine but I had to wake up Kevin from his deep slumber. Kevin and James were able to catch up a little bit while I was baby sitting Xander. It was really a self appointed job as Sara and mom had to make a run to the store and Matt (Xander’s dad) was simply too tired to stay awake—the baby was crying all through the night and Matt took care of him. I enjoyed playing with him while the boys talked. They decided that we needed to get out of the house for a while so we were going to go to lunch and just hang out. We went to Cheddars to eat where I ordered the Monte Cristo sandwich which was basically a raspberry jelly doughnut lightly dusted with powdered sugar and on the inside was filled with ham, turkey and cheese; it may sound gross but unfortunately it was really good. Not what I expected from the description but very good nonetheless. After lunch, Kevin, James and I went to Circuit City and looked around. For what? I don’t know but we did. And then we went to Target which was surprisingly not a mad house for the after Christmas returns and discounted shopping. Our shopping trip was rather uneventful but it got us out of the house for a few hours anyway. James needed to get back to his pregnant wife (due in March) and help care for her which was fine. We were sorry we missed seeing Katie but she had to work that morning which was understandable.

We went back to the house and really didn’t do too incredibly much the rest of the day. Mom fixed dinner and we all ate it then everyone decided they wanted to watch I Am Legend which was one of Kevin’s Christmas gifts but I went outside onto the deck and called my parents and my niece. I was on the phone with everyone for most of the movie which was fine with me. I miss my family but the pain didn’t tear at my heart too terribly only because for the last six years, Kevin and I have spent Christmas with his family so it was ‘just like every other year’ in that respect. So, the family finished the movie, mom and I sat and watched some TV—they spoil me by letting me watch whichever cable shows I want since we don’t have cable—and we commented on the shows and the designs, you know, girl stuff. That’s always fun to do but the night was drawing to a close so it wasn’t long before Kevin and I headed to bed.

After a restless sleep, I got out of bed Saturday morning with a headache and sore throat (thank you, Aden). I proceeded to go upstairs to find some medication that might help my symptoms. I wasn’t sure if it really was from being sick or if it was allergies due to being cooped up in the house for several days with cigarette smoke. Kevin’s mom came into the kitchen and saw me hunting for drugs, pointed me in the right direction then offered to make a cup of hot chocolate for me. I thought the warmth of the drink sounded good and it certainly felt good going down once I got past the pain of the sore throat. After drinking my hot chocolate, I decided I’d take a shower since Kevin was still asleep. After my shower I went into the living room and sat in the chair all the while fighting to stay awake. After about an hour I decided I’d go back downstairs to lie down until Kevin was ready to leave for home. Kevin got up just as I was going downstairs to rest. I got into the bed and almost instantly I feel asleep and that’s where I stayed for the next five hours. We were hoping to leave by around noon but we didn’t make it out until around five o’clock. Again, not such a big deal since we live SO much closer but we really didn’t want to drive in the mountains in the dark again. The weather was warm enough, though, that ice wasn’t an issue this time. It did start to rain once we got into North Carolina but it was really more of a light shower. And other than the rain, the trip home was uneventful. We got home, unloaded our things from the car, unpacked some clothes which I threw in the washer straightaway, relaxed for a little while then it was off to bed.

And that was Christmas with the Burkes for 2008. We hope your holidays were safe, happy and full of lots and lots of cookies! Uh, we mean love! :)