UPDATE ON THE DENTIST TRIP!

Just a quick update on my trip to the dentist yesterday.

I arrived for my appointment at 2 p.m. as scheduled. She started me on gas to relax me. It made me deathly sick to my stomach and gave me a pounding headache immediately. So, we decided to try it without the gas.

Next, after drilling for at least 40 minutes she tells me we have a slight setback. It seems she broke the drill bit off in the root canal and could not get it out. I, now, have two options, she can seal it in the canal and leave it or I can go to a specialist that might not be able to get it out either. Supposedly, this kind of thing happens quite often and it is no big deal. It should be fine just sealed in the canal because they used to put in something metal to fill the tooth anyway in the past but don't anymore. Besides, it fits in there just perfect! I decide to leave it in and get it over with. I spent one hour and 35 minutes with my jaws locked open, being gassed, and feeling like I would feel that drill come out the side of my jaw at anytime and even paid her a big sum of money to do these things to me....... When I got home, I was so sick to my stomach I was afraid to do anything but lie on the bed and not move because I did not think I could make it to the bathroom in time. She said to continue the antibiotics for several more days! (They are making me sick, too) I don't have to go back unless it starts to hurt again. I may pull it myself if it does!

Today, I am feeling a little better but still got the nausea.

I did get to see Thomas Wyatt on Sunday and give him his Christmas presents. He is feeling much better and went back to daycare yesterday. It was so good to see the little feller.

Thanks for all your kind, sweet comments and hopefully this situation will clear up very soon.

I SEE BETTER DAYS AHEAD!!

What did one tooth say to the other tooth? "Thar's gold in them thar fills."

Hi folks, Just wanted to let everyone out there in blogland know that I am suffering from an abscessed tooth! Guess I ate too many sweets while I was baking for Christmas!! Who knows what causes these things.

Anyway, on December 23rd, I started having these twinges of pain that morning while trying to get stuff ready to go to the farm for Christmas. In a couple hours, it was more than a twinge it was a full blown throbbing pain. I knew I could not take a chance on trying to get through Christmas without seeing a dentist.

After calling nearly every dentist in my town, (including my regular dentist), I got an appointment for two thirty that day with a young woman that recently opened an office here and must have needed the business because she agreed to see me.

It seems I had an abscess on a tooth that is part of a lower bridge and is also crowned. This meant I go on antibiotics for several days and then a root canal on Monday, December 29th.

They will have to drill through the crown and if this does not work, then I go to an oral surgeon.

The cost is only $800 and that is if you pay up front!! The antibiotics have finally given me some relief. The medicine has to be taken two hours after eating or one hour before eating and every six hours including during the night. You can't lie down for thirty minutes after taking it, so I am up at 3 a.m. every morning. My daughter, Anne, said she was not smart enough to take this medicine!!

I will let you know what happens on Monday.

I did go to the farm and the girls and I prepared Christmas dinner. My son and his wife could not come because Thomas Wyatt had an ear infection and pinkeye and was running a temperature. Then, my son had to work that afternoon. His wife, Sarah, is now sick and on antibiotics. We hope to have

Christmas with TW soon and give him his presents. We just want everyone to feel better and know it could be a lot worse.

I enjoyed my visit with my daughters and they had a wonderful Christmas dinner at the farm.

It was great to be with them during the holidays.

We are all looking forward to better days ahead and the New Year.

TO ALL MY FRIENDS IN THE BLOGGING WORLD

My Christmas Wish To YOU By Catherine Pulsifer
If I could wish a wish for you, it would be for peace and happiness not only now, but for the whole year through!
I wish that there always be food on your table. And that you always remember those less fortunate.May you always take time to share, and thank those who share with you.
I wish for time, so you may reflect on the blessings that you have, and that you express your love to those who are dear to you.
May you never feel lonely, because there are those who care.That you realize: you are special, you are unique, you make a difference, not only at Christmas, but all year!
I wish for your thoughts to be positive ones, that you never quit, that you never give up, and that you continue to learn.I wish for the love, peace, and joy of Christmas be yours always, Merry Christmas to each of you dear blogging friends.Judy

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

I have not posted for a while and my blogging friends are beginning to check up on me. Just wanted everyone to know I have been busy. I am baking cookies, making cakes, wrapping gifts and trying to get ready for the holidays.





Yesterday, I made cookies all day. I have made gingersnap cookies for at least twenty-five years.
My mother-in-law used to make shortbread cookies every year and now that she is gone, I make those, too.

Another tradition with our family is jam cake and I make one for Bob and me and one to take to the farm for Christmas Day. If I have enough time during the holidays I will make a cake for a family member for Christmas.







I have a real good recipe for pumpkin bread and I make that for gifts for family members, too.

On Christmas Eve, Bob drops me off at Twinbay Farm around noon and the girls and I go have lunch at this quaint little restaurant called Fava's. Then, we go by the grocery if we need any last minute items. Back at the farm, we get everything organized and Anne usually makes sausage balls for snacks and we relax and plan our meal.

On Christmas morning, we get up before daylight and have coffee. Then, we go to the barn and watch the sun come up on Twinbay Farm while we feed the horses and take pictures. Next, it is back to the house and start cooking dinner.

Our menu consists of ham, green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, macaroni and cheese, barley casserole, cheese grits casserole, cranberry salad, rolls, tea, coffee, jam cake and pumpkin pie and any other last minute additions.

The barley casserole and cheese grits are another tradition. We have made these two dishes for years and we all like them.

This year, we are only buying gifts for Thomas Wyatt as he is the only child in our family at the present time. Rob, Sarah, TW, Bob and Hilori, a friend of the girls, will join us Christmas Day for our holiday celebration. I can't wait to see TW get his presents and visit with Anne and Leigh on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The recipes for the cookies, jam cake, barley casserole, cranberry salad, cheese grits, and pumpkin bread are all on my recipe blog: Recipes From A Southern Country Cook

Does your family have favorite recipes or traditions at Christmas?

SANTA'S BAG OF TOYS

The other day I was in Walmart looking for toys for my grandson, Thomas Wyatt for Christmas. The more I looked, the more confused I became. I have never seen so many toys in my life and they all run on batteries or electric or have controls. Guess it has been a while since I shopped at Christmas for an 18 month old boy.

I started thinking about some of the toys we used to play with as children and how much more sophisticated they are today than when I was a child.




Here are some toys I remember. I am sure there are many more and you can add a few of your own to this list.










Remember the etch-a sketch? My son, Rob, loved this toy when he was small. I think they still make them today but I bet they are not under many trees. He also loved his Inchworm and I did not see an Inchworm anywhere in Walmart.

Another toy that Rob just loved and wanted so bad from Santa was the Rock-em, Sock-em Robots.












My girls liked puppets and horse stuff.



Now, for some of the stuff I played with when I was a child. When I was in school, we played marbles and jacks all the time. There was always a circle on the playground with a bunch of kids playing marbles and if you won a cat eye that was really something. In the gym, we sat and played jacks during the entire recess period.












Does anyone remember pickup stix? I spent a lot of time playing this game.











How about a slinky and a yo-yo and skates with keys that fastened to your shoes?

Remember the old jack-in-the box?

And last but not least one of my favorite toys when I got a little older was the hula hoop. I once entered a hula hoop contest when I was about eleven or twelve at a Frisches Restaurant in my town. We all lined up in the parking lot and I went for four hours and twenty five minutes without dropping the hoop. I won a Frisches big boy and a malt!! WOW. The girl that won the grand prize (a portable radio) went for eight hours. Can you imagine standing there for eight hours without stopping???

What favorite toys come to mind when you think of your childhood?

REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR

Sixty seven years ago today on December 7, 1941 at 7:55 a.m., Japanese fighter planes dropped the first bomb on Wheeler Field, eight miles from Pearl Harbor.

The surprise attack by the Japanese Imperial Navy led by Commander Mitsuo Fuchida on the Island of O'ahu, Hawaii killed more than 2,300 servicemen and 68 civilians and wounded numerous other Americans.

The U.S.S. Arizona was completely destroyed and seven other battleships were damaged or sunk.

There had been no formal declaration of war.

The entire nation was shocked by this attack and the United States declared war on Japan.

Two atomic bombs dropped on the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima brought surrender from Japan on August 14, 1945.

"The Oregonian", a Portland, Oregon newspaper has been credited with the first use of the phrase "Remember Pearl Harbor" in its' December 9, 1941 edition.

The song, "Remember Pear Harbor" and the saying became the slogan and battle cry of World War II.

Here are the words to the song:

History - in every century,
records an act that lives forevermore.
We'll recall - as in to line we fall
the thing that happened on Hawaii's shore

Let's REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR -
as we go to meet the foe -
Let's REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR
As we did the Alamo

We will always remember -
how they died for liberty,
Let's REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR
and go on to victory.

Although Pearl Harbor brought unprecedented unity from the American people during World War II, the cost in resources, lives, and sacrifice impacted generations of Americans.

Each year we honor the lives lost in that attack and salute the veterans of World War II.
Presently, we are engaged in a global war on terrorism and must once again unite to preserve our freedom.

Today, let's REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR, honor our veterans, and the brave men and women serving to advance freedom and peace around the world.