Nothing to Blog

But am I going to let that stop me??? No! I'm tired of looking and seeing that it's been nearly a week since my last post, so I thought I'd sneak up on it this time. Tricky.

Sam continued to be sick throughout the day on Tuesday with short breaks where he would be up tormenting the dog, but soon enough he'd be laying down again or frantically searching for his sick bowl. He sipped on some 7-Up and ate about half a cracker all day long. He was a little feverish, too, but not for long. I really believe the Lord touched him--and he woke up perfectly well and mischievous yesterday morning.

The only notable happening yesterday is that we got a phone call from a realtor saying he'd like to come "preview" the house. Preview? We've had several showings, but I'd never heard of a preview before! Ha! He said he'd be here in about 45 minutes. "Sure, that will be fine," I said as calmly as I could as I looked around at the mounds of laundry all over the den, the kitchen that was covered in dirty dishes, the boys' room that had a tent built with bins and blankets and stools all over the place, and Katie's room that has been set up as a museum for several days now with displays of all sorts blanketing both beds, the night stands and even part of the floor. HA! I was so very thankful that I had already scrubbed both bathrooms to a shine that morning. It was a bit of a madhouse as we rushed around trying to get everything back into place, but we got it done in the 45 minutes that we had and the realtor arrived just a few minutes later. ~whew~ We're good. ;-)

He introduced himself, stepped in the front door, said he just wanted to take a real quick look-through, and he was off like a flash--zipping from one room to the next in record speed. He made a few statements as he went, all of them favorable, but I was out of breath from trying to keep up with him and probably a little distracted. Ha! No kidding, he was done with the house in just a minute or two (I am not exaggerating!) and was saying his goodbyes. I somehow had the presence of mind to tell him that there is also a finished office out back. I grabbed the keys and led the way, trying to quickly tell him that the hail damage is being taken care of (see the partially finished new roof?) and there's also a shed out back, etc. I did detain him long enough to ask if he had clients who were interested in the house or... why exactly WAS he here?! Ha! He doesn't have anybody looking in this price range right now, he said he just likes to know what's available out there so he's well informed. Weird. When he left after being here a whoppin' five minutes I just stood there sort of stunned. I should have grabbed him by the collar and drug him back into the house and said, "Look, buddy--we just killed ourselves for 45 minutes getting this place put together so you can look at it, so you'd best mosey on through and actually DO that!" HA!

I had thrown together a taco soup sort of thing and had it cooking in the crock-pot all day yesterday. I didn't have a recipe, I just remember making something like it last year and it sounded good so I gave it another try. I browned some burger with onion, salt and pepper and LOTS of taco seasoning, then threw in a can of corn, diced tomatoes, tomato soup... something I'm forgetting... along with the left-over Hormel chili from lunch and some left-over pork loin from several days ago. We served it up on top of chips and covered with cheese and it was soooooo good! In fact, I'm anxious for lunchtime so I can have it again--though I'll have to be the first to get to it because there's not much left! Yum. :-)

I slept on the couch in the living room last night. I've always loved sleeping in the room with all the Christmas lights. :-) Maybe I'll let the kids sleep out there with me tonight. I let Charlie sleep with me last night. That was great. He's so sweet and cuddly. :-) When he FINALLY winds down, that is! He usually gets CRAZY hyper right about the time I'm ready to go to bed each night. Though sometime last week I was up late working on things and I suddenly heard one little "woof." I went looking for him and found him standing next to Katie's bed, looking over his shoulder at me, just waiting for me to come put him to bed. Ha! What a smart puppy. :-) He's completely adapted to that and I'm sooooo glad I didn't continue on trying to make him sleep in that box like we'd started out doing with him--he'd STILL be keeping me up all night! Ha! Now he goes to bed with Katie and will sometimes sleep until 8:00 or better. The house training is going GREAT--I think he went nearly five days without an accident and has only had one or two since then. He's getting really good at letting us know when he wants outside, but I fear we may be in trouble when Christmas is over. We have door hangers on the front and back doors, both of which have bells on them. When Charlie wants to go outside he reaches up and rings the bells, then turns and waits for us to come! Ha! It's GREAT, but what's he going to do when there are no bells anymore?! We'll see, I guess. :-) I must admit that the first week or two we had this dog--as much as I already liked him and enjoyed him--in the back of my mind I kept thinking what have we done?! Ha! He was sooooooooooooooooo much work, totally, completely an all-consuming 24/7 job and there was no light at the end of the tunnel! But in the past two or three weeks things have leveled out and Charlie is learning and picking up on things so quickly. So for anybody who has read about our experiences and resolved that you are NEVER going to get a puppy if that's what you have to go through (Emilee--ha!), it's only completely consuming for two or three weeks, then it gets much, much better and you sort of regain your life again. :-)

We had hoped to have Sister Galaviz up to join us for dinner on Christmas Eve, but she called this morning said that she's having car trouble and not going to be able to make it. We are sooooo disappointed, but we do understand. She'll go spend the evening with her son and his family, so she won't be alone--but still, we'll miss having her. This is the second year in a row she's bailed on us. Some people, I tell ya'. HA! (We love you, Sister Galaviz--I just couldn't resist. I told the kids this morning that you were bailing on us. I think they'll forgive you. Maybe. HA!)

And that's about it from here! Lots of cooking and baking to be done today. It feels and smells very Christmassy around here. :-)