A Post-Holiday Post

These are fun! Played around a bit in Paint Shop Pro while transferring pics to my hard drive. This was a really dark and blurry photo improved a bit by turning it into a snow globe. I used the Circle Geometric Effect. They really ought to call it the Snow Globe effect, and put a base on it, if you ask me. Here's another one, made from a less-than-stellar shot of our front yard:
In the original photo, those pink lights are actually bright red and the blue-ish cast is really blackish-dark and drab. I like the pink and blue better, although Hubs would never go for it. Since I didn't participate in the outdoor decorating this year and had no say in how Hubs did it, I can't really complain about how much I dislike his minimalist approach. (minimalist = lazy) We have so many yard scenes in the garage attic, but he bah-humbugged all of them. Since I was in severe pain at the time he put the lights up, however, fighting with him about it wasn't something I was up for. So, I guess I'll have to be happy doing it more my way in pictures, LOL. NEXT YEAR.....

Well, how did everyone's Christmas Day turn out? Ours went well, but we were all worn out by the time we got back from festivities with Hub's family. I promptly fell asleep on the couch, as did Hubs. Missy managed to stay up long enough to go to bed early last night, LOL. I called my folks and then took another nap. Woke up again and worked on my photos, and now I am wanting to get a bit more shut-eye. But I knew I needed to get back on the blogging trail, so I thought I'd pop in and post a few lines first.

I think our weather is to blame for something. In the past 24 hours, it's gone from really cold cold-front dry cold, to stunningly sunny gorgeous and almost spring-like, to London-fog-nasty-chilly. I mean, I hardly ate much of the holiday meal today as we had a Mexican food theme (really odd, if you ask me, but Hub's sisters wanted to try it). So I know for sure that tryptofan (that turkey chemical) is not to blame for my grogginess. I suspect it's a combination of the weather, my health, and holiday stress. I guess I'll just have to sleep it off.

I ended up going to the doctor last Thursday about my ear, and it turned out I have a massive ear infection! No pain, still, so can you believe? I got a shot, and then scripts for an antibiotic and ear drops. The pills are huge and I only got 5 of them because they are Levaquin, really strong stuff. They were $6 a piece! They made me feel horrible, too, so for the first couple of days I was miserable.

Bottom line though is that my ear is still plugged up. Totally, completely. So now I have to make an appointment with an ENT specialist and just hope it's hard wax and not hearing loss and nerve damage causing my problem. Stay tuned...

Hubs and Missy are going to brave the after-sales later on, but I seriously cannot think of another thing I want to buy, and certainly nothing that I need. Santa was that good to me this year, after literally years of crap in that department. I so cannot complain.

Among my many new goodies are a Cricut and 4 cartridges, a Cuttlebug and some new embossing folders, a Bind-It-All, an Epson Picturemate photo printer, some ridiculously expensive Privo fur-lined flip-flops, and a Janome sewing machine. Both my parents and my in-laws conspired together with Hubs and Missy to get me some special scrapbooking and card-making equipment, because they wanted to thank me for the gifts I've made family members over the last few years.

It really made me tear up and was a total surprise, except for the Cricut and Cuttlebug, which I found out about at Thanksgiving. You can imagine, after knowing you are getting both of those, then to get all this other, too. I'm going to be days unboxing and setting up and trying out. And of course I cannot wait!

Frankly, I'm still a bit in shock that I actually got stuff I would love to have but wouldn't necessarily buy for myself. Hubs got money and some big honkin golf clubs (along the Big Bertha line of club, and that's all I know), and Missy got money, her favorite thing in the world to get. So, everyone was probably napping last evening out of sheer pleasure, LOL.

Well, I'm v-e-r-y groggy, so I'll sign off for now. I'm liking the idea of trying to blog a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule, so with any luck I'll be back Friday. I have to get 3 gum-line cavities filled Thursday, so please wish me luck (hate those!)...