New Year, New Stuff

Well I had great intentions of getting our holiday epistle written early and sent out in a timely manner, as well as the handmade gifts (which will be great next year, provided I get started on them soon while the ideas are fresh in my memory banks) The birth of our wonderful grandbaby changed a lot of my plans, as well as the delay in getting home because of the snow in Denver. Everybody was saving the put-up-the-tree and decorations for me to do when I got home, so we looked like the Grinch house, no tree, no lights outside, no foo-foo dust catchers, although Brian did snatch a tree from his office decorations, and they set up an olive wood nativity. Even without decorating for it, Christmas came anyway, and we had a great time; best of all was the fantastic meal prepared for us by Debbie and Jeff --they give the BEST Christmas gift I can think of each year when they make Christmas dinner for our family. This year it was doubly appreciated, as I didn't even get home until 4pm on Christmas Day, so the welcoming aromas and delicious food were even better than usual.

The day after Christmas was very educational and somewhat traumatic, as we found out that Michelle has Type 1 Diabetes, and spent four hours in the ER after learning that her blood sugar and ketones were at toxic levels. The two weeks since then have been filled with nutrition data/blood glucose monitoring/insulin training/ pharmacy runs/ and grocery shopping. We all have a lot of information overload to deal with, and doctor visits/ dosage management training/ low blood sugar scares, etc etc. (I used to look at nutrition labels just for calories and fat grams; then for sodium and cholesterol bad stuff; now we are focusing on carbs, carbs vs fiber, and protein, as well, so we are pretty much looking at the whole label, which makes for a slow go at the grocery store.)

Last weekend I was able to attend my nephew David B's wedding in Corona CA. It was great to get together with some of my sibs, and see several nephews and nieces and their kids. The trip out there was filled with adventure, as Denver has been afflicted with even more snow, not the nice mild winters we are used to, but blizzardy storms, round 1 was just before Christmas, 2 hit just before New Years, 3 was in full swing as Brian drove me toward the airport (it took us 90 minutes to make the 45 minute trip at 4am, and my plane had to be de-iced before we could take off, then we sat for over 30 minutes before we could leave---I missed my connection in Phoenix, and had a two+ hour layover before the windy, rocky trip to Ontario) The trip back on Sunday was pretty smooth, except for the drive home in GROUND BLIZZARDS and gale-force winds that were category 1-3 hurricane force, and caused many accidents because of drifts. Round 4 is coming this weekend with sub-zero temperatures. So much for the drought around here, at least that is one blessing from the snow. (Brian suggested that I should look for a house in Phoenix during my unexpected layover, and he was only partially kidding...)

Despite maybe sounding like a DebbieDowner, we feel greatly blessed. We are all looking forward to having good things happen in 2007. Chase is already a month old (today) and brings joy to my heart every time I see a picture of him. Also, we have a wonderful family and friends right here to enjoy, and loved ones all across the country. Life is truly good. Plus, I have a great craft project to make in my spare moments, courtesy of my sister Deb.