Ker also made us a proper English breakfast, replete with beans, tomatoes, potatoes, mushrooms, eggs and bacon.

We also had Babci (Vin’s mom) and Nani (my grandmother) over the house. My brother Greg was sick, so he didn’t come up at all. Hopefully we’ll see him on New Year’s.

Nani just loves Dot, and fortunately, the feeling is mutual. Poor Nani, she’s a bit out of it with old-age dementia, so keeping up with Dot is about all she can do.  Nani didn’t stay at our house the entire day, but considering we had her here by 9am, she did pretty well for the 5 hours she was over!

Babi stayed until the very end of the day! She enjoyed our Christmas breakfast, the cinnamon buns Kerri made in the afternoon, and then the pork roast, lasagna and cannelloni Vin and Kerri made for dinner. I made 2 kinds of cheesecake, which Babci enjoyed with her wine.

Next up: New Year’s Eve! We’re having a Hobbit Day during the day, our annual Chinese food marathon for the evening, and Tim’s parents over on New Year’s Day.

I have really great holiday music.  In addition to the Time-Life Treasuries (who doesn’t have them!?), I have “Best Carols 100” which has some awesome choral work on it; “Broadway’s Carols for a Cure Vol. 12” from 2010 (one day, I shall get them all!), The “Christmas Revels: In Celebration of the Winter Solstice” (which a co-worker gave me and I love!), and “Karolju: Christmas Music” (probably my favorite holiday CD), which includes composers Christopher Rouse, Witold Lutoslawski and Joaquin Rodrigo. I also have albums by various singers, such as Josh Groban, Amy Grant, Sarah Brightman, Celtic Women, and Jingle Dogs (Dot’s favorite)! Then there is all the instrumental music, such as The Nutcracker, brass groups, jazz groups, and a really pretty album “A Christmas In The King’s Court” which features Celtic harp and pan flute. Throw in some Vince Guaraldi and Peanuts gang, and that is one incredible holiday mix of music!

I’ve never been to Fenway Park, and that statement will probably be true for the rest of my natural life. However, I have heard others say that it is one of the most beautiful baseball parks in the country. Don’t know about the park, but the sky is gorgeous!

• Sudafed at least every morning; as often as allowed when necessary. I use the CVS store brand, but only the one that you get “behind the counter”.

• Once or twice a day, a Mucinex tablet; every morning, and in the evening if I need it.

• Daily sinus rinses with NeilMed Sinus Rinse.  I used to do it twice a day with 1 packet of saline, but now I do it once a day with 2 packets.

• Four capsules of echinacea a day. Natrol makes one that is corn-free.

• Daily use of fluticasone propionate nasal spray, especially in the late afternoon when my sinuses are tight and stuffy.

• Avoid allergy triggers like hairspray, perfume, and cleaning products. These products seem to cause the allergy reactions in me that lead to sinus issues.  Kind of obvious when you think about it.

• Sleep! I make sure I get as close to 8 hours of sleep a night as possible. Unfortunately, I am not one of those people that can skip sleep and still function, let alone get run down and sick.

• Use a humidifier in the bedroom at night. We have hot air heat (as opposed to electric), so our rooms get very dry. The humidifier works wonders.

With this strict regime, I now get only one or two sinus infections a year. What a relief! Sinus infections are not only painful, but I am very limited as to what antibiotics I can take. Not to mention that my doctor’s office has a policy of making us wait 10 days from the first symptom before they will prescribe antibiotics. While I completely agree with that policy, being sick for 10 days (or even a week if it clears up on its own) is pretty rotten!

Yes, I will be boycotting Target from now on!

But here’s one of the reasons why my kids are so fantastic: they know just what to get me for Mother’s Day. Being the Aspie that I am, I tend to shun “commercial” holidays like Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, etc. To me, they exist just for people to make money. But my kids can cut right through that by giving me presents that they know will not “just make someone money”. Kerri got me these beautiful treble clef earrings (this is the photo from the store website):

And Katie painted her gift to me! Since I expect that most of you can’t read music, it’s the melody from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story song “Somewhere“. Not that the words especially mean anything to me (although they’re sweet, and Stephen Sondheim wrote them), but the melody is one of my favorites, and of course WSS is my favorite show, and it’s inside the entire ballet/dream sequence, which is my absolute favorite part of the show (on any instrument), and when done right, gives me chills.

Where in the world did this kid get her talent from? Certainly not me! I can’t even take the photo without it being blurry. I really hope Katie gets into doing more painting. As much as I’d love to see her actually sell something, I wouldn’t mind if she gave everything to me!

• Aida
• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• Feeling Electric (the workshop of Next to Normal)
• The Last 5 Years
• The Little Mermaid
• Tommy

I’ll be driving down to CT for my grandmother’s birthday (91!), and it will be nice to have my iPod and iTrip all set up with great music. And I love Sherie René Scott! She has the prettiest voice, and is such a wonderful actor.

I got my week off, alright.  I hurt my back two weeks ago, and it got better day by day.  By last weekend, I was getting cocky, and pretended I hadn’t hurt it at all.  Big mistake. Monday morning I was in even worse pain, and it hurt to even take a step.  I went to the doctor Tuesday, and ended up being told to stay home the rest of the week! What a waste of time. I found out that I  do not work very well when I’m in pain. For all the extra “work” I got done, I might as well have had a full week!

And just some random things I also discovered. One is that I am never in my car a 1:11, am or pm. Monday through Friday I am at work, so that makes sense. Most Saturdays I have a music lesson, and I’m usually home by then. If I go out on Sundays, it’s for a matinee, and I’d be anywhere I need to be well before 1:11. And of course, I’m asleep at 1:11 am.  But I got to see the 1:11 Tuesday on my way to the doctor. (See, this is why I don’t have a digital watch; I’d spend most of the day trying to “capture” times like 12:34:56 or 2:52:52.)

I have also discovered Robyn Hitchcock. How can I have lived on this planet for 46 years without ever hearing of him before? He is my-kind-of-music. I have also been listening to Ralph Vaughn Williams Flos Campi over and over again; it is so beautiful. Last month I discovered George Butterworth (1885 – 1916), a student of Vaughn Williams who tragically died at age 30 in WWI. Oh, the beautiful music we lost when he died. I could listen to Two English Idylls (1911), A Shropshire Lad (1912), and The Banks of Green Willow (1913) over and over again. Actually, I do listen to them over and over again! The people at work must think I’m crazy.

But perhaps the most random thing I discovered was that Diamond carries stuffed animals in her mouth when she yowls at night!  She is a weird cat.  Old too, but she was weird when she was young as well.  She’s a tabby cat, and they are supposed to be “feisty” animals.  That she is.  Pixel is also tabby, but she was never feisty.  That is, not until we got her hernia removed, poor kitten.  Now she’s feisty, and even a bit bossy!  One night when Diamond was downstairs yowling, we brought her up to stay on the bed with us for the night. Well, Pixel didn’t like that! Not only does Pixel consider herself our “baby”, it’s her bed. She (Pixel) growled, howled, yowled, scowled, meowed, and pouted until Diamond left the room. Guess she told her.

Christmas was weird without her, but we were able to Skype most of the day.  A poor substitute, but better than nothing.

Kerr’s now busy with her exams.  Hope she does well.  They do things a bit differently there, and she has that damn memory disability.  Oh well, we shall she.  Good thing she’s a smart cookie, that helps.  Here’s how she spent a day with her “friend” Rob:

Kerri's new ring

Yes folks, that is indeed a lip ring!  Matches her red hair quite nicely, actually, don’t ya think?  …That’s our Kerri!

Of course, I would never friend my own daughter, so I moved on to ignore it.  Then what? Another suggestion, this time with both kids!

I’m not sure why I find this so amusing, but I do! I wonder if the girls do?