Happy birthday, Caryn!

So, Rachel sent this to my friends and me as a little Christmas present.  It’s quite funny, especially if you’re a Twilight fan.  Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

PS–We just got word that the paperwork won’t be to the title company in time today. So, we won’t close until Monday. We’re okay with that, though, since we now have a definite date! Woo hoo!

About an hour ago, Corey and I got word that we have the “Clearance to Close.”  Woo hoo! Now, it’s just a matter of getting the paperwork to the title company.  Because of the proactive legwork that has already been done, there’s a possibility that our paperwork will get to the title company before noon tomorrow.  If that’s the case, then we can close tomorrow.  If, however, it takes longer, which in normal circumstances it does, we’ll close on Monday.  It would be sooner, but there’s this holiday called Christmas that kind of limits the available days this week.

So, even though we almost have a week left before we can move into our townhome, Corey and I are pretty happy to know that our wait’s almost over.  Here’s hoping we get to close tomorrow, but if not, we’ll close no later than Monday!  There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it!

Again, thank you all for your prayers!  I know they helped.  Just a couple more to make sure everything continues to go smoothly. (You can tell my paranoia’s kicking into high gear. )

Happy birthday, Jamie!

Yesterday, Corey went to the doctor for the fourth time since his surgery.  His leg’s healing nicely.  He can even walk with just one crutch now and he can drive too. He’s still in pain, but it’s continuing to subside and become less and less noticeable.  The doctor told us he should continue to use at least one crutch for a month just to make sure his bone strengthens and then it’ll probably take 6 months to fully heal.

We also got some good news yesterday.  The doctor told us that after looking at a sample of the tumor and having the Mayo Clinic confirm diagnosis, they’re 98% sure that his tumor is non-aggressive. So, he should be out of the woods now that it has been removed.  They’re going to continue to keep an eye on him and do scans at least once a year to make sure it doesn’t grow back since there’s that 2% chance that it’s aggressive.  We know 2% isn’t a huge chance, but Corey’s the one in a trillion people who’s allergic to non-allergenic iodine. So, we can never be too sure with him.

We appreciate all your thoughts and prayers during this time.  We’re very grateful that everything’s okay and we hope that he’ll soon be able to start having better health and a better quality of life.

Happy birthday, Brandon!

Here are this week’s words:

1. Effete: exhausted of vigor or energy; worn out.
2. Egregious: extraordinary in some bad way; glaring; flagrant.
3. Egress: a means or place of going out; an exit.
4. Encomium: a formal expression of praise; a tribute.
5. Endemic: natural to or characteristic of a specific people or place; native; indigenous.

Dax has been doing a lot of funny stuff lately, so I thought I’d share some pictures.

About a week after Corey’s surgery, he had the heating pad on his leg.  Dax decided to come lay by him and his laptop.  Corey put the heating pad on her and she wasn’t sure what to think at first.  But then, she was in Heaven.

Dax has always loved to drink water out of the sink.  However, since we’ve been at my parents’, she’s had to maneuver around the faucets in my parents’ bathrooms.  The faucets stick out a lot further than ours did.  She got so fed up with trying to figure out how to get a drink without getting her head or ears wet that she finally relented and just stuck her whole head under the faucet.

About a year ago, one of my visiting teachers brought me some jam.  The jar was decorated with a ribbon.  Dax adores that ribbon!  It’s her toy and she plays with it almost every day.  When we moved our stuff to the new townhome last week, I put her ribbon in our suitcase to take up to my parents’ house with us, so she’d have something to play with.  It proved to be a good decision. Even Tigger got in on the action.

So, I guess the most frustrating part of this whole process of buying our townhome is that I didn’t understand what was going on.  Well, I finally got some answers today and I feel a lot better now that I understand the process a little better.

Anyway, we found out yesterday that we were supposed to hear from the underwriter by Friday.  But, we got the conditions back today instead of tomorrow, so that’s really good news!  We just have to turn in the necessary paperwork to meet the conditions and then the underwriter’ll send the “Clearance to Close” papers to the title company within 48 hours.

All the paperwork’s ready to go to the underwriter first thing tomorrow morning.  So, what does that mean?  It means we may actually be able to spend Christmas in our new home. *dies of shock* We should close Tuesday, or Wednesday at the latest.  (To be honest, I’m still a little skeptical.  But, I’m trying to have faith and be optimistic.)

Thanks for all the prayers!  We’ve really needed them and still do to help everything else go smoothly and happen before Christmas.

I always need a little help to get into the Christmas Spirit.  It’s hard to when you have a husband that hates Christmas.  So, I thought I’d do this tag I saw on Becky‘s blog to help.

1. Do you like hot chocolate or eggnog? I actually like both.  I used to make my own eggnog, which was really good.  However, I do love me some hot chocolate, especially if it’s Stephen’s Chocolate Cinnamon.  Yum!
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just put them under the tree? When I was a kid, he did both.  Now, that I’m an adult, Santa doesn’t come to my house.  Even though it’s the most common Christmas tradition, Corey and I won’t do “Santa” when/if we have kids.  We want to focus more on the religious aspects of Christmas rather than the commercialism.
3. Colored or white lights on the tree/house? I like white lights on both the tree and house.  I think it looks more classy and less gaudy.  However, I don’t mind it when other people decorate with colored lights.
4. When do you put up your decorations? The only decorations we do, if we do any, are nativities.  A tree would be a disaster with our cats.  So, if I decide to decorate, I usually put up a couple of nativities around the first of December.  This year I would’ve loved to put the nativities up, but alas, we don’t have a place to put them and they’re packed in some box somewhere.
5. What is your favorite holiday dish? My family usually does a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for Christmas too.  So, my favorite dish is the stuffing and very recently, yams.
6. What is your favorite holiday memory from your childhood? I used to stay up all night on Christmas Eve without my parents knowing (or at least I thought they didn’t know).  Then, once “Santa” came, I would sneak into the room with the tree and get my stocking.  When I was a little kid and didn’t know who “Santa” was, I’d wake up my mom and show her what I got in my stocking.
7. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Nope.  Christmas Eve is Caryn’s birthday, so my parents tried to keep her birthday and Christmas separate.
8. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Well, I don’t decorate one right now.  But, when I was a kid, we’d put on yellow lights, glass balls, ornaments my mom painted, sometimes tinsel, and my bell (it was my first ornament).
9. Snow! Love it or dread it? I hate to drive in snow, but I love snow.  It’s so pretty outside right after it snows and it’s lots of fun to play in.
10. Do you remember your favorite gift? Well, I had lots of them.  One year, I received a Super Nintendo and some games.  Another year, I received a suede jacket.  Corey got me an iPod a couple of years ago, which I love.  And, we got a GameCube a few years ago, which has been used a lot.  It’s hard to pick just one.
11. What is the most important thing about the holidays for you? It’s changed a lot in recent years.  When I was younger, getting the gift I wanted and spending time with family.  Now, that I’m older, spending time with Corey and extended family, if we go somewhere for Christmas.  And, getting time off work.
12. What is your favorite holiday dessert? It used to be pumpkin pie, but I don’t really have a favorite holiday dessert now.
13. What tops your tree? If we had a tree, it’d be a star to represent the birth of Christ.
14. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? When I was a kid, receiving obviously.  What kid doesn’t feel that way?  Now, I like to give to people and see how happy it makes them when I get them something they want.  I still like to receive too, but I’m trying to steer clear of the commercialism, so I’ve been training myself to not expect any presents and just focus on what I can do for others if I can afford to get or do something.
15. What is your favorite Christmas song? “Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella,” “Greensleeves,” “O Holy Night,” “Carol of the Bells,” and “Somewhere in my Memory.”
16. Candy canes? Yes, I like candy canes because I like peppermint.  However, because candy canes are messy, I usually just eat peppermints.
17. Do you feel Christmas is too commercialized? Yes.  When someone gets trampled or shot on Black Friday because they’re trying to get the perfect gift for their child at a reduced price, then the commercialism has gone too far.
18. What is your favorite Christmas movie? I don’t really like holiday movies because I think they’re sappy and stupid.  However, I’ll watch five Christmas movies: The Small One (a fictional story about a boy who sold his donkey to Joseph and Mary), Mixed Nuts, Elf, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
19. Can you ice skate? Yes and I love to ice skate.  It’s one of my favorite things to do during the winter, even though I haven’t been for almost 10 years.
20. Are all your Christmas presents ready yet? No.  I haven’t even started shopping.  Since Corey and I are buying a townhome, that’ll be our Christmas present this year.  And, because we need to make sure we have enough money for the things we need, we probably won’t be able to afford presents for anyone else.  Money’s kind of tight around here with medical expenses and a soon-to-be mortgage payment.  Please just know that if I could afford to buy all of you something nice, I would.  For now, “Merry Christmas and I love you,” will have to do.

The six people I choose to tag are Ali, Amy, Christina, Jen, Meagan, and Vanessa.

PS–I’d also send out Christmas cards, but life is a little hectic and uncertain right now, especially the address part of things. I hope you understand.