“When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things – not the great occasions – give off the greatest glow of happiness.”
I lost a day this week. I think it was Tuesday. I was shocked to find Sunday papers this morning. The pain killers have been gone all week so I guess I have only myself to blame. I hope this losing a day thing isn’t a trend.
Yesterday I didn’t use my walker all day long. I limped and walked a bit bent, but I survived the day. This morning the pain woke me up, but I put my foot down, proverbially would work here too, and managed to massage most of the pain away. Undaunted, I made my way to the kitchen still walkerless. It hurt but it hurt less than I expected. I think I’m well on my way down the yellow brick road.
The smoke detector is chirping, and I can’t reach it. I have a good step ladder, but this is not the time. I’d probably break my leg, my good leg. Ordinarily I’d have yanked my hair out by now from the constant chirping, but I decided to think of the chirping as a bird’s song, a Christmas bird. Okay, I admit it. I must be losing my mind. What is that? A Christmas bird? Come on! Start complaining, even cursing! I swear ( the nice one, the oath one, not my usual) I must have been hypnotized by all those Hallmark movies.
Some family pictures I have are from Christmas 1953, the year I was six. In one of the pictures, I was innocently playing with the doll I had gotten (I think it was a Ginny Doll) while my brother was shooting me in the back with the gun he’d gotten for Christmas (High Noon would be a great song for this portion), and he’s wearing his gun belt, over his pajamas. My mother is dressed to the nines as this was not long after midnight mass. This early opening happened for many years as my grandparents always wanted to be there when we opened our presents. Later, when I was older, I wondered why they just didn’t come in the morning. Maybe they preferred us almost comatose from sleep (editorial comment).
It was torture to see my toys, play with them a while then be sent back to bed. I can’t imagine how long it took me to go back to sleep. I know I sneaked downstairs quite a few times and played with my toys until it was light outside then I’d sneak back to bed and happily fall asleep.
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December 19, 2010 at 2:19 pm
Glad to hear that you will not climb up on a step ladder just to silence the smoke detector. You and I are the same age and I hope you have not lost an entire day because of early onset of dementia. Blame it on your recovery. We are both too young to be losing our minds just yet.
In our house we celebrated Chanukah. Imagine spreading out the anticipation of the gifts over an eight night period. My parents always saved the big gift until the last night. The other seven nights we had to appear to love the cloths, small gifts or the chocolate candies that my parents and other relatives gave us. Giving gifts on Chanukah is a ploy to make Jewish kids less envious of their Christian peers during the Christmas season. All kids are naturally greedy.
My father always made his specialty, potato pancakes. We ate them every night with apple sauce or sour cream. He loved them and I tolerated them until his death a few years ago. Eating potato pancakes is an Eastern European tradition that I still don’t enjoy. As an adult I learned that the Israeli and Middle east tradition for Chanukah is eating jelly donuts covered in powdered sugar. Now that’s a Chanukah tradition that I have started with my kids.
December 19, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Hi Bob!
Potato pancakes is rather popular here in Sweden too, I love them 🙂 We call them raggmunkar (sorry I just can´t translate that 🙂 🙂 ) We eat them usually with bacon and lingonberry jam 🙂
Christer.
December 19, 2010 at 3:58 pm
My dad would put diced raw potatoes, a diced raw onion, garlic cloves, salt and pepper into a blender and create a potato batter. He would fry them in hot vegetable oil until golden brown. How do you make them in Sweden?
They might be better with bacon and lingonberry jam, but I don’t think bacon would work for a Jewish tradition.
December 19, 2010 at 7:41 pm
Bob,
I always figure I can do anything, but, as stubborn as I am, I’m learning I can’t. I really just ignore the chirping-think of it as white noise.
Eight days is still cool even with just chocolates on a couple of them. I love surprises. I have a dreidel a friend gave me and put it out on Chanukah.
I love potato pancakes, but I’d have to go with th jelly donuts.
December 20, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Bob!
It depends on if You want eggs in them or not. With one egg You mix it all with potatoes, 1-3 tablespoons with wheat flour and a cup of milk or water and some salt of course.
Without the egg the flour amount gets much higher and it will be 1,5 cups of milk. We fry them in Butter till golden brown.
I guess bacon would be rather wrong for You 🙂 🙂 But I guess any salt or smoked meat would be just as great 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
December 19, 2010 at 2:34 pm
That sound can drive me crazy 🙂 But even worse is when the d..n thing starts to shout in the middle of the night just to tell me the battery is completely empty 🙂 🙂 🙂
I would probably have started to hit the thing with a broom if I couldn´t reach it 🙂 🙂 🙂 But I´m glad You look upon the sound as a special christmas bird 🙂 🙂
As You know by now we swedes always waits until after Donald Duck and his friends even if kids usually are allowed to open one or two presents early in the morning.
Have a great day now!
Christer.
December 19, 2010 at 7:44 pm
Christer,
I have really stopped hearing the sound. When my tall friends gets home, I’ll have him switch out the battery.
I love the Donald Duck tradition!
December 19, 2010 at 4:24 pm
It doesn’t sound to me that you will be sneaking down the stairs this year to play with your toys. What is it with your leg? I thought you had back surgery. Didn’t they do a fusion on the vertabrea? I wonder if it was such a good idea with reading how difficult it is to get around. Much of my surgery was highly dependent on painkillers. I’m wondering how you are doing without any. You must know what you can do and can’t do so maybe doing away with the painkillers was a good idea. No need to give you any false hope. But it does sound like this is going to be a long recovery. Let us know if there is anything we can do to help. I’ll be thinking about you over Christmas.
December 19, 2010 at 7:53 pm
Z&Me,
The surgery itself was perfectly successful. The pain I’m getting is sciatica, all from the nerves. My doctor did warn me nerves don’t like to be toyed with though I didn’t expect they’d be so vicious. My surgery was nearer the right leg which is where all the pain happens, but I am doing much better. I really don’t need the walker though my leg is stiff in the morning. Instead of using it, I wait a bit before I move.
The pain is easy to deal with-it only hurts when I move (sorry!). Actually only my foot hurts and a part of my butt. My sister was talking to a relative at a party, and he said his didn’t heal for a year but the pain did go away.
I am thrilled at the progress of the last few days,but I’m not ready for the ski board yet!!
December 20, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Thanks for responding. I get a better idea of the neurapathy type pain induced by nerves that haven’t receded yet. My bypass had problems with nerve endings and it was like little firecrackers going off in my chest area. I would just wait it out. Keep up that positive attitude as the pain will go away when the nerves stop dancing.
December 20, 2010 at 8:49 am
Hi Kat,
The chirping would drive me nuts. I couldn’t make white noise or Christmas birds out of that and I would have to stop it even if I had to call 911. I have grey hair so perhaps they would just think I was a crazy old lady and humor me by changing the battery. 🙂
Many years ago I got thrown from a horse and broke my tailbone. It was extremely painful and bothered me for a long time. I found that the only comfortable way to sit was on a saddle because it put my body in a position that didn’t bother anything that hurt. I used to tell people at work that I was going to have my WWII Japanese cavalry saddle mounted on a wheelie chair base and use it as my office chair. Imagine my surprise when my physical therapist told me that some ergonomic company was making such a chair. They were nice but my Japanese cavalry saddle was cooler. And waaay cheaper too.
Keep up the progress.
December 20, 2010 at 8:05 pm
Hi Caryn,
I just haven’t had anyone visit who is tall enough to change it so the bird still chirps.
I would have loved to see you and that saddle. Maybe the chair’s inventor actually sat on such a saddle, and that’s where he got the idea.
December 21, 2010 at 2:48 pm
I still have it. When my back gets bad, I throw the saddle over the back of the couch and sit on it for awhile. Works pretty well. Considering the chair costs many hundreds of dollars and my saddle only cost me $35, not a bad deal.
The chair’s inventor probably knew that sitting in a saddle makes you sit with your pelvis and back in a better alignment so stuff doesn’t hurt so bad. I think the chair was called a Sally Saddle or something very like that.
December 20, 2010 at 9:07 am
So glad to hear you are doing better! i will admit that as i age, i have learned to accept some things i cannot change and your struggles will inspire me someday, but i also know i would have beaten that smoke detector off the wall by now with a broom.
old photos are the best and memories of the li’l things as well…we have been teasing my 21 year old with stories of her asking Santa for a globe when she was 5 ” Really Santa, that is what I want the MOST- a globe!” what an amusing child she always was! Hope everyone is getting ready for Solstice and maybe an eclipse sighting…snow and clouds here 😦
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoox enjoy today!
December 20, 2010 at 8:13 pm
splendid,
Snow, lots of snow here, the first of the season. They said 6-10 inches. My plow person didn’t come, but he knows I’m not going anywhere.
I think I’m learning patience with smoke detector.