Am off work today…sick. Some kind of bug decided to take up residence in my head and throat, and is trying to make it’s way into my chest. That’s always the worst, taking the longest to get over. So, I’m hopeful I am able to get rid of it before it gets imbedded down below! I refuse to be sick for Christmas!!!

Got word from the vet about Loki yesterday. The biopsy came back negative. She thinks he had the abscess for quite a long time, resulting in the invasion of fibrous tissues under his leg. He gets his sutures removed on Saturday and the cone will once again be put into storage for the next time…

Still cold outside today (highs only in the 50’s) but Fritz (our weatherman on Ch.4) says it’s going to warm up with temps in the high 70’s for Friday and Saturday. It’s about time! Holiday Light-Up here in “the Ranch” is scheduled for Saturday night and I have yet to put up the first decoration or light. So good weather on Saturday will be welcomed by all us procrastinators! Maybe the warmth and sunlight will help to kill off the bugs in my body!

The family room re-do is nearly finished with Patrick hanging new curtain rods on Sunday. Have a bit more painting to do, but that’s about it! Will replace the carpet after the holidays…just can’t handle the disruption of moving everything out of the room right now. Will shampoo the old stuff as best I can, only moving what is easily put back into place. The paint color turned out to be perfect. Some doubted my choice of chocolate brown for the walls, but all the white windows (3 walls worth!) just seem to “pop” and the new curtains give a sort of cabana feel to the room. With all the wood furnishings, the lightness of the windows and curtains really seems to open up the room. Will post pictures as soon as I get new batteries for my camera!

Christmas seems to be approaching way too fast…still have cleaning, decorating and shopping to do, in addition to finishing up all the remodeling tasks. Last year it was the bathroom, this year the family room. Need to start these projects in early spring rather than early fall. Also need to do a better job of estimating the time needed to complete as it always seems to take about twice as long as I originally plan.