Bad news. When Chris got home tonight a bag of presents was accidentally left outside the door. Of course it was gone by the time she realized it. Both of the gifts Brianna had given to her mom were in the bag as well as some of her things. One of the gifts was a picture of Brianna that I had enlarged & put in a frame. She's going to be so upset about that.

Brianna came home from her dad's tonight. As we thought, he wouldn't allow her to bring home anything she got up there. Unfortunately we had a bit of a confrontation. I told him I didn't think it was fair to Brianna to give her something then not allow her to have it. He said she will have it whenever she goes up there. I told him it isn't the same & she feels it. He told me I wasn't her mother & to stay out of it then he stormed off. OH WELL!!

Brianna was soooo happy to be home. And Santa had come here too. It was all waiting for her & she was so excited. She knew she'd be able to keep everything this time. Here are some of the things she got.


One of her favourite things... ruby slippers.. she's wanted them since she saw the Wizard of Oz! She was so excited when she saw these.
She gets a lovely china doll each Christmas.

Every year we all get together on Boxing Day for Christmas Dinner. Once again we were sorry that Mike & Tena & their families were not able to join us. I know Mom & Dad were hoping to see them all again. However, we still had a great time together. Terry, Wendy, Kerri & Stacey didn't stay for dinner, but we enjoyed their short visit anyway.

Christmas morning was different this year without Chris & Brianna staying overnight. No little one to get us up REAL early!! However, we soon had a houseful when everyone else showed up. We had a great time.. sure hope everyone else did too.

As a Christmas present, I crocheted some Barbie clothes for the 4 oldest girls (Brianna, Megan, Sarah & Paige) I thought I'd post a picture of them.

Ballet Tutu's


matching shorts, pants, skirts & a vest

fancy dress & hat

Today Brianna left to spend Christmas with her dad in North Bay. Although she was looking forward to seeing her brothers again, she wasn't really all that happy about spending Christmas away from her mom. She wrote a letter to Santa asking him to leave some presents for her at Gramma's house because her dad told her she wasn't allowed to bring any of her presents back home with her. She feels that any presents she opens up in North Bay don't really belong to her, they are just there for her use when she's there & for her brothers to play with when she isn't. It breaks my heart to hear her talk about it.. she's just like a robot when she talks about being up there. I am hoping that Doug will allow her to bring her "Santa" gifts home, otherwise how does he explain that?

Woohoo!! Got most of my shopping done now. Cooked both my turkeys. (just need to carve them up & freeze the meat) Chris had an eye dr appt. this afternoon so I had to pick Brianna up from school. Tonight we had our small group pot luck supper.. what a lot of fun that was.

I can't believe it... Ann has gone home! She has completely recovered from the stroke. She has some restrictions of course, but otherwise she's great! Praise God!

The cause of the stroke has been determined to be from the surgery. The sudden infusion of blood in the vessels in the brain caused problems. There's a fancy name for it but all I can remember is ....... ..... infusion syndrome. I knew I should have written it down! **sigh**

Anyway.. I hope that's it for now ... between hospital visits & physio (which I've had to cancel a few times) I've not been able to get all my shopping & cleaning done. I know it will be done by Friday though. That's my deadline.. & I'm determined to keep it. I can be a little bit stubborn at times.

Ann was moved out of ICU tonight & into the step-down unit. All weakness on her right side have disappeared & she feels pretty good. She's tired, but that is normal. We are hoping she will be able to be home for Christmas.

Ann is starting to wake up. She pulled the breathing tube out herself, much to the chagrin of the nurses. She's breathing quite well on her own now though. She doesn't stay awake long but does answer questions appropriately.

Got a phone call from Ann's ex. Jim at around 6 this morning. Ann was in the General Hospital ICU. Katie is with her. I quickly got up & dressed & rushed to the hospital. Ann was not conscious but I'm not sure if that was because of the sedation being used or not. They said that she has had a stroke & there is some weakness on the right side. The stroke is on the left side of her brain which affects the right side. They were really concerned that her communication ability would be affected as it is usually on the right side. Fortunately for Ann, she is very definitely left handed so her communication centre would be on the left.

Ann came home from the hospital today. Her neck is cut from just below the ear almost to the clavicle. She's a little sore of course, but otherwise in good spirits. She will be coming back on the 20th to see the surgeon & probably get the stitches out.

Ann's surgery was rescheduled for today at 8:00 a.m. She had to be at the hospital by 6:00 a.m. UGH!

She was in surgery for 2 1/2 hrs. The doctor came out to talk with me. Everything went well & Ann would be staying in the recovery room longer than usual because they needed to keep a very close eye on her. The doctor was able to clean out the artery & once she recovers, she will have a much lesser chance of any strokes. We thank God for watching over her during the surgery & afterwards.

I couldn't stay longer than 2:00 as I had physio at 2:30. Ann was still in recovery when I left & I knew I wouldn't be seeing her until tomorrow. After physio, I had to get Brianna from daycare & take her to pick up her new glasses. They're really cute on her & I hope she will wear them all the time like she is supposed to.

It was 5:30 p.m. by the time I finally got home, 12 hrs after I had left it. I'm bushed!

Today was the Ecodyne/Procor children's Christmas party. All 5 of our grandchildren were there along with Carolynn & Christine. It was fun to see the older kids do a craft & watch the magic show. The balloon clown was there again this year, making fun balloon shapes for the kids. Brianna & Sarah wanted a mouse & Paige wanted a bunny (I think it was) Zachary, (surprise surprise!) wanted a sword. Chloe just wanted mommy!

Marshall arrived just as the children were opening their gifts. That was nice that he got to see Paige & Chloe open theirs.

A lot of the pictures I took at the party didn't come out. I had inadvertently changed the setting on my camera... darn it!



Zachary this was the only picutre I got of Zachary.
Paige loved the animal balloon the clown made for her.Chloe & Paige had to leave before Santa arrived. Sarah & Brianna wanted to talk with Santa, but Zachary decided he didn't want to.

WHEW!!! Tom & I got the house decorated & cleaned up by Friday! Well, as long as you don't go to the basement it's cleaned up. Most of the decoration boxes etc. have just been more or less thrown down there & not put away. Thank goodness the outdoor decorating was already done.

Tom's youngest sister, Ann, needs surgery to open one of the 2 blocked arteries in her neck. These arteries are the ones that supply the brain with oxygen-rich blood. So far she has avoided a stroke but who knows how much longer that will last. The right side is totally blocked & cannot be opened. The left side is almost totally blocked but hopefully the surgeon can clean that one out.

Ann was scheduled for surgery this afternoon at 2:00. We had to be at the hospital for noon. After getting prepared with IV's etc. We waited for the next 5 hours. What a boring place to be for 5 hours! At 5:00 her surgery was canceled & we came back home, a little disappointed of course. Apparently the surgeon's 8:00 a.m. patient had some complications & they were still in the operating room. Hopefully Ann won't have to wait too long until her surgery is rescheduled.

This week is going to be a busy one. We have our annual Martin Christmas Open House next weekend & Jim & Muriel will be staying with us over the weekend. In a way, Ann's postponed surgery is a blessing as it is at her apartment that we will be gathering. I would like to get the house all decorated before Jim & Muriel arrive too.

Ann came down this afternoon in preparation for her surgery tomorrow. We managed to get a couple of tickets to the dessert theater tonight & I took Ann. Tom was working there tonight. Ann really enjoyed it.

Tonight was the Ecodyne/Procor dinner/dance. As usual the food was delicious. At our table was Jeff & Marie, Ben & Barb, & Keith & Linda. Great company, good food & I was even able to dance a little. Of course I'm going to pay for it tomorrow but it was worth it!

Tonight we went to dessert theater at the church. It was really well done. The music & cast were excellent I thought & the desserts were out of this world! yummmmmmmm