Christmas 2005 - We survived!

Despite many last minute tweaks to the plans, my brother and sis-in-law made it to my house for Christmas...through ice and snow, despite sniffles and coughs, they were here for Christmas and we had a wonderful time together. I made Schnitzbrot, an old family recipe...a German bread. My brother, who loves the stuff, said it was perfect. Maybe it was...I don't know. I do know it rose so high in the oven that the tops of the loaves burned!

My mom made her yearly Christmas cookies and they were as wonderful as always. We won't mention any more about cookies except to say that some people need to be more mindful of what they say about cookies and baking tips and who called who and said what.

My sis-in-law was sick with a nasty cough and I took her to the clinic so she could get started on meds. I felt bad that she was sick over Christmas. She was a good sport about it all though and got comfy on the sofa and watched movies with us.

My brother is always up for a good conversation on any topic and we had some interesting discussions. He also noticed that my garage door had a bunch of loose bolts and tightened them all for me. Is he the most wonderful brother or what? :-) I probably would never have realized that my garage door was about to fall apart until it was too late.

We had turkey for Christmas dinner and it turned out great. E made homemade mashed potatoes by herself for the first time and they were perfect. Cricket was as well-behaved as she could force herself to be, considering all the yummy smells in the kitchen.

Gift opening time is always my favorite part of Christmas. I love watching everyone else open their gifts. When I was little we'd all dig in at once and open our gifts. Later on, when I was dating my X I learned that some families take turns opening their gifts and I liked that idea. It's caught on with my family and we all enjoy wathcing each other open gifts. This year E made poetry books for all of us. They're beautifully done and it's my favorite Christmas present.

Politically Incorrect Christmas Wishes

I wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! If you don't celebrate Christmas that's fine. Send me your own politically incorrect holiday wishes. Anything but "Happy Holidays".

My daughter is still not feeling 100% but at least she was approved for homebound schooling. Now she's working on getting caught up in her classes so she can start next semester without having to worry about being behind.

I have so little done for Christmas. I finally have my shopping done but I still have much to do and little motivation to do it. I need to bake bread, wrap gifts, finish some gifts I'm making...

There's been a lot in the news about blogging and the law. Yeeps. Makes me almost afraid to blog. If I mention work or blog on work time (I'm on my lunch break, by the way) could I get fired? I work for the state so does this mean I can't say anything in my blog about state politics without worrying about losing my job or getting in trouble with the state ethics board? Do I need to mention that I'm blogging from my personal computer on my own internet connection...during my lunch break? Can I get the axe for just having an opinion or being politically incorrect? Will I allow these fears, real or imagined, to stop me from blogging?

No. I won't. I can blog on my own time, from my home computer and I can say whatever I want to say. Within reason. I won't blog a commentary about my boss, for example, or make rude comments about the people I work with or publish scathing remarks about how the state does business. That's just asking for trouble to come find me (assuming I had anything negative to say about those topics *looks around innocently*). My rule of thumb...if I don't want it in print so it can come back to haunt me, then I don't type it in my blog. Even positive words aren't justification for publishing identifying details and in depth information. Some thoughts are best left to verbal expression amongst carefully chosen listeners.

Beyond the common sense limits of self-censorship, I feel I can express myself quite freely in my blog. I don't like Bush and I have no qualms saying that publically. I'm a democrat and proud of it. I'd like to see our troops all come home safely from Iraq...now. I believe in being politically incorrect but not being insensitve and disrespectful. I support the GLBT community. I think my current doctor is incompetant and look forward to finding a new doctor after the first of the year. But I won't publish her name in my blog. That's where I draw the line. It's one thing to say I don't like President Bush. Everyone knows who he is and just because I don't like him isn't going to damage his already low popularity rating. But to publish the name of my doctor could hurt her both profesionally and personally. Regardless of my personal opinion about her professional competance I don't feel I have the right to publish her name in my blog along with comments that could be damaging to her career. I will just do what we are all free to do. Change doctors.

So, to all bloggers out there...think twice about the details you publish online. Don't compromise yourself in the pursuit of freedom of speech. Don't lose your job over a blog.

I've ranted enough about this subject and am now going to find a bite to eat before my lunch break is over.

Why do I blog?

I often wonder, does anyone even read this?

OH well. My daughter's been sick and missed over a month of school now. We finally found out what's wrong. She has postviral dysmotility. She's been approved for homebound instruction. I'm waiting to hear from the agency that does the homebound schooling to get it set up. I hope she starts before the semester ends.