Monday, December 31, 2007

10 LAPS AND 3 CUPS OF TEA TOO MUCH: REPORT FROM THE DAY SHIFT

The frenetic pace of the early morning shift proved to too much and so we had a rather easy rest of the day. Only two walks with 4 laps each, a couple of trips to the "Porcelain Palace", soup and quesadilla for lunch and a couple of naps. The Summerhays clan continue to surprise us with their visits and we enjoyed a nice visit with Matt and Shauna. It was good to catch up with their lives. Mom also did a little Lamentations, a very little, as it quickly did it's job and she enjoyed a nice nap under her new quilt that was delivered to her on Saturday. Sister Carol Hunt went above and beyond in turning out this beautiful work of art. For a minute I even thought of getting sick, a very brief minute.


Mom with Matt and Shauna


Mom enjoying her Carol Hunt Original

10 Laps and 3 Cups of Tea: Update from the early AM shift

Standing on the threshold of 2008 heavy decisions were upon us: purple or orange Popsicle, how many laps around the atrium, what would be the next book for the Gre-Sha book club. Mom chose purple (I got the orange), we hit a record 10 laps around the atrium and we chose Three Cups of Tea (a book about a former mountaineer who in the 90s built 55 schools for small villages in Pakistan - a timely read) as the Gre-Sha book club selection. So we move boldly forward!

Dr. Young dropped by and mumbled so encouraging words about blood counts (no need for transfusions today and bad white still on the ropes) and about release date (before the 14th). Or maybe he was just a dream.

You Probably Think This Song is About You

You know how every once in a while you have a moment that reminds you of Mom? Someone says something, makes a face, or sings a song that makes you say "My Mom always did that!" Well yesterday I had one of those moments. We were at church listening to a missionary farewell. The kid is a little "off" and his whole talk was about his vanity and how serving a mission would give others in the world a chance to know him (I know, I said he was off). Anyway, he referenced Carly Simon's song "You're So Vain" saying that although it was written before his birth he knew "this song was about him". I am sure that I am no different than all of you and had Mom sing this song to me on several occasions growing up. I wasn't quite sure what it meant for the longest time, but as I got older I understood just enough to find it funny (because it was the farthest from the truth:)).
Just thought I would add another Momism to the "never say can't" and various sundry quotes. Hopefully it will bring back your own "you're so vain" memories.
I case you've never heard the song, here is a sing along link for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gUF9G4N-tE&feature=related

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Surprise Visitors!!!!

Well, I came in and relieved Jon around 5pm or so.....brought some delicious homemade food that Becky made---mom LOVED the snickerdoodles. I had one and I must say they were tasty--and I'm really not that much of a snickerdoodle fan, so that's saying A LOT!!

I was settling in and getting on the blog to check out "Mom's" song that "she" wrote while she ate and guess who comes walking into the room?! Thad and Sharon!! How awesome is that?! It was so fun to see them--they look great and it was fun to talk with them and hear how things are going with their family. It sounds like Christmas Eve was fun at Dick and Barbara's with their family. How nice of them to make the drive from Apple Valley--gotta love those backroads--we hope you made it home safely and didn't get any tickets from any Rangers, like someone we all know! :-) Thad had on a awesome Grinch tie---it brought back memories of when mom dressed up as the Grinch (or green booger-depending on who you ask) and scared Jamie and Cozi to tears when they were babies!!! Good times. Anyway, thank you Thad and Sharon for coming out it was a delight to see you and visit.

On another side-note....some fun quotes I just picked up from listening to mom when the CNA brought her new lemon flavored "Toothettes" in. (These are small green sponges on the end of sticks to clean her teeth)

It's Christmas morning!
it's so juicy and delicious too....
I wonder if I can save it?
Who knew there were such delicacies in this hospital?!
That's just wow.......I'm all a flutter

Have a good night everyone, love you, Lou

Sunday "no bloody" Sunday

Lyrics that Mom sang to me (Jon) today as we conversed over Sunday prune juice:

I cant believe the news today
Oh, I cant close my eyes and make it go away
How many meds...How long must I be in bed? How long? how long...cause tonight...
(Blaine) we can be as one...Tonight...

Hand sewed mittens on my feet
Cancerous bodies strewn across Bob Hope street
CNA's won't heed my call
They won't dump my pee or push my bed against the wall

Sunday, no bloody Sunday....Sunday, no bloody Sunday...

And my battles just begun
99% have lost, but guess what? I have won
The trench is dug within my arm
And mothers have taken the fried chicken from the farm

Sunday, no bloody Sunday....Sunday, no bloody Sunday

How many meds...How long must I be in bed? How long? how long...cause tonight...
(Blaine) we can be as one...Tonight!!!!

Wipe the tears from your eyes
Cause there will be no more goodbyes
I've enjoyed the one on one talks
And I know that my great grandchildren I will rock

Even though I'm not immune
Can't drink Diet Coke, only juice called prune
Cafeteria food is "killing" me
But not as much as tv reality

Sunday, no bloody Sunday
Sunday, no bloody Sunday

Today I was brought the Sacrament
It means so much to me, I will not vent
My boys sang some songs to me
And as the "bells ring out" I will claim my victory!

On...Sunday no bloody Sunday....Sunday no bloody Sunday...

"I LOVE YOU ALL"

Thank you!
NANA

catering to you

Don't worry everyone. I haven't gotten a life outside the blog. I know you've been waiting with bated breath for my next post- wondering if I'm still alive, still dedicated, and still planning my day around blogging oppurtunities. Actually, who am I kidding. No one has even been on the blog all weekend. I guess you think you have better things to do? Guess you think your life is more important, more substantial, more precious than the Chrome Dome Diaries? Or did your own secret obssesion that we all saw in you last week scare you and you vowed to take it easy for awhile? Whatever the case, I'm glad your back and I welcome you with open arms.


Life was good in Eisenhower 358 on Saturday. It didn't start off that way, however. It started off with a very sad and depressed little bird. I've never seen such a dejected face on mom as when they knocked on her door with a "catering to you!" and brought in her breakfast tray. Cereal again. A bannana again. An orange, whole milk, yogurt frusion, again, again, again. And then when the called for her lunch order I thought she was going to burst into tears as she barely choked out the words, "peanut butter and jelly sandwich". Again. If there is one thing that is going to hurt her spirits and bring down her recovery, it's the monotany and foulness of the hospital food. And that's when they get the order right. When it's wrong (which is often) that really puts her over the edge. Poor little one.

The day started to look up after breakfast though. Dr. Young (has anyone else met this guy? I thought he was going to pass out at any moment. He actually had to prop himself up against the wall at one point to keep from falling over) came in with a positive report. Blood looked good from her transfusion the day before, platelets good, white blood good (still low), and she doesn't have a yeast infection after all! Hooray! No need for any more embarassing encounters with the re-re nurses.
After that we took a long walk outside (Brrrrrr...) and visited her queenly estate (the bathroom for those who haven't read the earlier posts). We tucked into an afternoon of "Jane Eyre" (even though we now know the end, thanks Greg) and then spirits really rose when we kicked the hospital "caterers" to the curb and Cort and Ace brought us El Pollo Loco. We got our chicken on and then pops took over for the afternoon.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Beyond Hot Pockets and Jazz: The PM shift

This update is late since I have been watching Jim the Comedian's expose on Hot Pockets and wondering whether anyone TiVoed (shameless endorsement by verbizing a brand) the Jazz game (Lamar looked great last night - good time to pull the trigger on a trade (with his stock so high I am sure we could get some bench player from Minnesota - Oh yea! McHale won't trade with the Lakers)).

Our evening was great! We finished the Great Divorce - highly recommended for all Gre-Sha Book Club followers (and SPOILER ALERT FOR JANE EYRE no one (or thing) escapes from the attic, burns down the house and kills its self - just good clean Christianity). We clocked some more laps around the atrium. Finally, we settled into watching mom's DVD of the MoTabs Christmas concert with Sissel - which was really beautiful (maybe not as beautiful as Kobe hanging 31 on a wilting Jazz team which is 3-7 in their last 10, but beautiful none the less). The MoTab and Sissel bring mom and I full circle. Several weeks ago when I started the night shift we would play the CD from this concert on loop all through the night (mom asked for that since at the time she was having a hard time sleeping with the sound of the IV pump running next to her head). Waking in the wee hours and hearing Sissel's clear voice singing about the birth of Christ was comforting. Last night, watching the concert, was joyous. We were watching it together, enjoying the moment and one another's company, and thankful for the time we have. Here's to many more Christmas concerts.

P.S. After seeing the bit on Hot Pockets I had to wonder if the Costco Lasagna isn't Hot Pockets for 10.

P.S.S. Go Lady Breakers!!

One Reason We Love Nana

One reason this Hendro Clan loves Nana is b/c of 'Nana Camp', every other year our kids are so excited to go to Nana's and hang for a week WITHOUT mom and dad!! They come home having even more reasons to love you nana. THANK YOU!
(Some of my friends are stealing this idea by the way,
for when their grandkids get older)




And here are a couple of pictures of what Jon and I did tonight! Boyd and Sue if you are reading the blog, THANK YOU so much, we had a BLAST!!!!!!






the best medicine

Tonight Cort and I went to the very classy Fantasy Springs Casino to see comedian Jim Gaffigan. Hillarious! My favorite thing is his Hot Pocket bit. I can totally relate as I have a box of "Lean Pockets" sitting in my freezer right now that have been there, oh, about a year. I'd have to chip through some serious freezer burn to even get to a precious little pocket. What is it about this little meat poptart that we abhor, yet we keep going back for more? Check him out to the right, I think you will like it.

Friday, December 28, 2007

REPORT FROM THE AGE APPRORIATE (BORING) DAY SHIFT

Since I am unable to compete with the literary skills of the other contributers to the Chrome Dome Diaries and am not into book clubs nor Atrium Eisenhower 500's you'll have to settle for the more hum-drum geriatric report.
We did have a busy day with Mom working the telephone to the max. We are happy to report that we have our first appointment at City of Hope scheduled for January 14th (Mom is holding Dr. Driesbach to his Jan. 11th exit date)at 1:00 PM for Labs and Counciling and then at 3:00 with Dr. Stein. That's progress on the next round. We also read some Christmas cards and BYU Studies. We took a really long very COLD walk and took the following exciting photos:

Mom with her favorite day nurse Michael (Sorry I didn't get in the red clogs)


Mom in front of the Hospital


Mom at the Duck Pond


New Years Dinner

The rest of the afternoon was spent resting up from the other shifts intense schedules!

Support for a Mad White Woman

While we are all still trying to digest Shalaine’s confession, I thought I would write in support of her and let her know that she is not alone. When I was reading her confession I thought “Man, she’s got it bad” and then I began to reflect upon the last 72 hours of my life since the blog was created. I check the blog numerous times in a day, sometimes numerous times within an hour. I try to walk by my computer without checking “The Chrome Dome Diaries” bookmark, but find it impossible. Will there be a new post? Will there be a new t-shirt design? Will there be a witty new comment posted that will make me smile, even laugh? Will someone forget that there are many outside of our family circle reading this and embarrass us all?

Admittedly there are some disturbing things found in the blog and maybe this should be the subject of our next poll. The top runners for me are.……Mom kissing a bag of blood and Cort unabashedly using the word “ba-----“ in his post☺. But hands down the most disturbing thing of all was posted by Stephanie this morning. The picture showing that EZE is the proud owner of yet another colorful, floral sling. Why two? Doesn’t everything match with black?

Danica and Pole Position: A drive in the early AM fast lane

With news from everyone's favorite sleepwalking MD (Dr. Young - who is covering for Dr. Luke for the next 5 days) that a platelet transfusion was required today (platelets were at a 7) we quickly revised our activity strategy for the morning. The hospital does not like patients crossing the hospitals holy threshold with bags of blood (or blood parts) dangling from their IV poles - I suppose there is some legitimate worry of back alley transactions for some "good red" or a nice clotter. Regardless of reason, we follow all hospital rules and regulations strictly (FYI - I have reason to believe that this blog is being regularly monitored by the Eisenhower Hospital patient compliance police). So instead of heading for the duck pond we circled the atrium. Past laps have been characterized by hospital hangers-on as trial laps for the Eisenhower 500. Well today we made record time. Danica/mom, with her trusty IV pole in tow (with platelets being infused fast and furious) completed a record 7 laps in 15 minutes - door to door. Beat that emphysimic from Nursing Station 3 West or Head Wound Guy from NS 3 South!

I also want to note that two of the top vote getters for best nurse are night nurses (Mary and Renee). Do not forget that behind every good nurse is a great CNA assistant-in-training/family member. The night shift is dead - long live the night shift.

Diary of a mad white woman

Sorry about the delayed evening report. I had written one last night and then spent the better part of what should have been my sleeping hours tossing and turning over its appropriateness. I errased part of it at 3:30 am, and then given our much wider audience, decided to delete it in its entirety when I woke up this morning. Better judegement won out (though I will take the liberty here that Cort assured me it was totally fine, and since Cort is the soul of discretion...).
I thought, hey, we're all family. We've each gone up the mountain and visited the three thrones. We've all had the pleasure of spreading creme on her cute little bum. At what point do things become inappropriate? I guess when they keep you up all night wondering. You can ask me later if you really want to know.
Ok, Cort just came in and was reading over my shoulder and has declared me official physco-blogger. He's unsure about the confession of staying up all night thinking about the blog. He said that, although appropriate, now I just look weird. Oh well. I guess I'd rather look crazy than crass...and you all already knew I was a little nutty anyway. And besides, who am I kidding? I DO think about this blog all the time. It has taken over my life. I think about title ideas in the shower, pictures I want to take while I'm changing diapers, and polls I have to add while ordering my Diet Coke at McDonalds. In fact, I think I've passed "pyscho-blogger" status and have moved right on to the highest security inmate of Blogger Jail. I am the Chrome Domes slave and will do its bidding, regardless of time of night or previous responsibility. I've turned into a blogging monster!



As for mom, pretty uneventful night. We read "Jane" for most of the evening with only a few interuptions. Two potty and one blood. Her last bag was hung around 8pm, so hopefully they didn't wake her up when it was done. Given her ability to sleep like the living dead, I'm sure she was fine.

p.s. Somewhere in my hours of mania last night, I had a dream that Cort found Angus. "But I saw him dead in the road! He was completely driven in half!", I said. "Oh no", Cort replied. "That was a different 10 pound black miniature pinscher that just looked exactly like Angus". Right. (Insert crazy clown music here)

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Wild Nights

Some of the Hendrickson Clan just returned from a chilly evening at the Living Desert looking at the "Wild Lights". While there we saw some pretty scary animals. They nashed their teeth at the 40 degree weather, they bore their claws at all the bright lights, and they roared for their s'mores and hot chocolate. If you dare to see what these terrible creatures looked light, take a look below.







Get these shirts of my back

Last posting about shirts....maybe. It's safe to buy now. I think there are sufficient options to satisfy most tastes, and probably offend other's tastes. In the coming weeks there may be more, but rolling out my whole product line at the same time is just stupid business. Do you really think they invented the Nano 4gb a month after the 2gb Nano because all of a sudden they had some new technology that allowed them to make one with 4gb? No. Those bastards (whoops there are people in the ward reading this)...those bastages waited till we all bought the 2gb, let us enjoy it for about a week and a half, then gave us a reason why we just had to get the 4gb. (There was no way The Old Testament on tape was fitting on my 2gb.)

Anyway, enjoy the shopping.

Blood--Thicker than Water

Oh the nerves...will I be funny enough? will I be witty enough? is there a spell check on this thing? Well here it goes.

Greg passed the baton to me this morning and we spent most of the day waiting for the 2 units of blood to come. Mom did manage a shower but felt pretty weak (due to needing blood) so she spent the rest of the day in bed. As we were watching the clock wondering how late she was going to have to stay up tonight (blood takes about 3-4 hours each bag to go in) I see Mom in a green and black flannel walking in the door. I did a double take and realized that it was not Mom but Uncle Dale coming in for a visit (the Aunt Eileen on his arm should have been the dead give away). They had a great visit and brought along some great gifts to spur Mom on--a book about Courage and a DVD with all the Cowardly Lion excerpts from the Wizard of Oz (OCD warning, all who visit may be subject to this DVD playing on a loop). We talked about the bone marrow transplant and Dale is ready and rearing to go, despite a propensity to faint at the sight of his own blood. We will see if he ends up being a match.





The bag of blood finally came at 4:30 so she has to at least 10pm until it's done. None the less she was glad to see it and welcomed it's red goodness into her PIC line. This should give her some strength back so she can run laps around the atrium once again.




Speaking of which, I highly recommend the stairs to all who come and visit. It is 10 times faster than the rickety elevators and there is less of a chance of a "Tower of Terror" like plunge to the basement. Thanks for tipping me off to it Shalaine!

Shirts

Thank you all for the positive feedback on the shirts. I just up'd the price on all of them $15. Simple economics. Anyway, to answer Loubidge's question, there will be more shirts coming soon, so stay tuned. When you buy in bulk you save some cash.

To answer Stephanie's question, Where do I find the time? I'll tell you where. I'm laying in bed at 11:45 at night with all these whacky ideas running through my head and they won't go away until I do something with them. I cranked out the mini blaines, i don't know you, your mom, and too hot and at 1:00am I found myself staring into this big white screen with my eyes glazed over half conscious so I called it a night.

The Great Divorce and Other Sundries: Update from the early AM shift

With all of these clever posts, I must admit I am a bit intimidated (being a just-the-facts kind of update guy). I have abandoned the night shift for the early AM shift (7-10), and since it is a bit unseemly to be kacked out on the bed chair while dietary is taking the lunch order, I have had to come up with new activities. We still get the Dr. visits (generally around 7:30-8) - btw Mom's creatinine levels were at 1.1, red blood had dipped enough that she is getting two units today, platelets held at 17, and the bad white cells are 0 (I can't help myself). We have also taken up reading C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce and shuffling along bracingly chilly walks to the duck pond. We would read Jane Eyre, except for Shalaine's threats to rip out my tongue if I read Jane Eyre to mom without her (who needs that low-brow fiction anyhow).

Yesterday, we talked with Dr. Luke (a little younger and more cherubic than you thought he looked, huh!) about bone marrow transplants and donation. One interesting fact is that if you are white and Christian you have a much higher likelihood of finding a match in a national search. Its not because we are more genetically disposed to be have a match, it is because white Christians in greater proportion get screened and make themselves available to be donors (though China is catching up since they are starting to require that people are screened and make themselves available for donation - I suppose we really shouldn't call it "donation" for the Chinese). The process for being screened is as simple as taking a blood test. The process for donation is very similar to giving blood over a three day period (no, they don't need to bore into your bones and suck the marrow out). For more information check out http://www.marrow.org/.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

New Shirts Now Available

Hey Everyone,

It seems the "Hendrickson's Never Say Can't" slogan has resurfaced as a theme over the last month or so since Mom and Ricky have been sick. So Pops asked Shalaine and I to order some shirts with that message on it to wear to the hospital and give to mom to help keep us positive. So tonight I came up with a design that I hope everyone will like. I made slighltly different shirts available for men, women, kids, and babies. This way the women can get cute little fitted shirts in whatever color they want, instead of some run of the mill Hane's Beefy-T. At the bottom of the blog you can see a link to "Corty's Super Delux and Rather Fancy Apparel Store." Or you can go to http://www.zazzle.com/cortgreen/. I've designed and posted the shirts that I think look the best, but like I said, you can choose your own color, fabric type, fit, style, v-neck, crew, ribbed, scoopy neck, muscle shirt (for Jeff), tank top, hoody, long sleeve, short sleeve, you get the point. You'll probably want to stay with a lighter color though so you can see the text. (Sorry Eze.) Also notice the subtle bwh on the left chest and avoid buying the shirt in that color. Unfortunately the shirts don't come in the color "highlighter." (Sorry Dro.) Anyway, hope you guys like the shirts. Order yours today while supplies last. I expect Hendricksons from around the globe to gobble these things up like Stephanie on a potato farm.

"I Like Ike" for Christmas

We like Ike for Christmas since we really have no other choice! We spent the day doing much of what we have done for the past month, with one exception, we got to celebrate the birth of the Savior with a whole new perspective on what He has done for us. We also have a much greater appreciation of what it means to turn your lives over to Him and to have unwavering faith that Miracles can happen and will happen.
We spent the day reading Christmas cards and letters from many friends, listening to Christmas Carols and reading the Scriptures. We have really come to appreciate the quiet times that we have together. It's like having the chance to cram 42 years of missed opportunities into a couple of months. It is truly wonderful and a good lesson that we should find that time every day, because we lose out on so much of each other if we don't. Later in the day we were joined by Stephanie, Eric and Max for a little Christmas Joy and then by Greg, Becky, Cozi, Catie, Enna and Bria who brought their own special enthusiastic celebration of the day as well as Christmas Dinner. All in all Mom and I both agree it was one of the best Christmas' ever, and also one we hope not to repeat any time soon.

On another note, I'm sure you've all been dying to meet Dr. Luke or Dr. Driesbach ( The double name comes from his being in practice with his Dad and so not being able to be entitled to the sir-name and so have to go by his first, hence Dr. Luke). And so through the miracle of the inter-net I introduce Dr. Luke Mom's principle physician and the one referred to in all the morning reports with the stats:

keep on keepin' on

As I was preparing my lesson for Young Womens today, I came accross this quote by President Faust that I wanted to share with all of you:

"Some of the most rewarding times in our lives are those 'extra mile' hours given in service when the body says it wants to relax, but our better self emerges and says, 'Here am I, send me'."

It made me want to pick up my dragging feet a little bit and remember that my burden doesn't HAVE to be as heavy as I like to sometimes make it. So, cancer be damned! Here are the Hendricksons, send us!


The unsinkable Hendros!

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Faker

Mom pretended to be asleep for 45 minutes today when I first got to the hospital. I thought she was completely out, so I pulled out the little bed next to her and pretended to sleep myself. The two of us laid side by side, wide awake, for almost an hour until mom finally realised I wasn't leaving and started to talk to me. In actuality she claimed she didn't know I was there yet. Right. She only loves me for "Jane Eyre".
After she "woke up" we chatted for awhile about christmas and I showed her the photo book that Cort made me. She talked about how much she loved having everyone come visit her. She said she totally wasn't expecting it and that it was "just perfect". She also said how much she wishes she could see what it was like back at the house, whereupon I whiped out the laptop and showed her our new blog, complete with pictures from christmas eve. I thought I was talking to dad for a little bit as she started to get teary eyed. I think his softness is rubbing off on her.
For the rest of the morning we read until pops arrived. I left as the dr. was getting there, so no medical updates from me. I wil say though that despite black teeth (due to an over-vigorous brush yesterday), she looked great. We of course spent a little time in mom's home away from home-

And the rest of the time in bed. If you're wondering why there's three thrones, it's so the queen can sit on one, keep her reading material and baby wipes on another, and use the third as a footstool. Dad, you better get the plumber over to do some re-decorating before she comes home!

swirlies


Don't be fooled by their innocent look and angelic faces. Trouble lurks beneath. A new generation has risen and the next reign of terror has begun.
Here is a real conversation that occured on christmas eve at Nana and Paga's house:
Jon: Luke, why are your hands all wet?
Luke: (shrug)
Jon: Blake, how come your hair is all wet?
Blake: I got mud in it.
Jon: How?
Blake: (blank look)
Jon: Hmmm....
Fast forward to a few minutes later...
Cozi, Brooke, and Corrie: There's wet toilet paper balls all over the bathroom walls!
So, that explains it.
Blake's wet hair, however, is still a mystery.

The original terrible twosome:

meanwhile, back at the ranch...

"It's boring without Nana!"

This is what I overheard a grandchild moan last night. Probably true. If there is one thing nana is not, it's boring. In fact, nana coined the phrase, "only boring people get bored", and would remind you of it anytime the b word dared to venture from your lips.
But, the show must go on. Even sans Nana. In fact I think it's safe to say we all had a pretty great Christmas Eve. (I'll remind you here that it was LAST night that the boring comment was made). Dinner was FABULOUS complete with rainbow jello, tortellini salad, cheesy potatoes, ham, and even orange rolls (thank you Becky!). Tradition continues.




And my favorite new tradition...Jeff doing the dishes!



After dinner we were all treated to an amazing christmas program put together by our 25 year old trapped in an 11 year old body, Jamie. Nana, you're out of a job. This was our best program yet. Max and Axel fought over who would get to play the baby Jesus. In the end Max won out (he put Axel in a head lock between his massive thighs) and Axel played the role of baby John the Baptist. A video of the evening is coming soon to a blog near you, but for now, here are some choice pics.









But what is christmas eve without Nana? So, after the program we all loaded up in our cars and went to the hospital to see our favorite gal. We met in the loby where we sang Christmas carols, visited, and (gasp!) got a surprise visit from Santa!







Since Santa had left all our presents at the house, he promised to meet us back there to pass them out. Rollerskates, Doggies, Jewellery, Cameras, Bikes, games, and dinasour ball pits for all!





there's no place like chrome for the holidays

I walk in room 358 today and this is what I see:



She always did have a flair for fashion! It's Christmas Eve and Ax and I just dropped by to take some pics and say hello. Fortunately, Axel wasn't afraid of the mitted monster and he got to spend a little snuggle time with Nana. Steph was leftover from the early morning shift and Dad had just arrived after hanging Ricky's first IV for the day. Mom was in good spirits (despite resembling a bottle of pepto bismo) and we chatted while she oppened some presents sent over from the fine folks at Legacy and dad settled down in what is fast becoming his favorite chair.