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.

• 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!

Last Hobbit Day menu included great foods such as Sauron Eyeballs, Bilbo’s Tea Cake, Irish Scones, Daddy Twofoot’s Eggplant Parmesan, Roasted Green Beans, Taters Boulangere, and wonderful drinks such as Merry’s Spiced Chai and Merry’s Mulled Cider.

cream cheese danish	french onion soup	hungarian cookies and lemon tea cake
kerri and colleen with mugs of hot cider	po-tay-toes	sauron's eyes
scones	watching frodo

Don’t be late or you’ll miss second breakfast!