Christmas is Over

... and for the first time I am delighted.

I have been battling the eye infection as long as Christmas was infecting me it seems. It caused pain and anxiety and robbed me of time. Because I thought it might be an allergy to wool, I stopped working with it, so some presents will have to wait till after Christmas. That drama is still not over. They want to do one more CT Scan to reassure themselves that the shadow is no longer there, that it was caused by inflammation.

I had to opt out of Christmas because of it.

I didn't realize (should have, of course) that they were injecting me with a poison that would put heavy stress on my liver and I should not drink until my body had eliminated it all. It was Christmas Eve and I didn't drink as much water that afternoon as I should have and I had wine with a high fat dinner of snacks while we opened presents. By the middle of the night I was ill with stomach pain and nausea.

On Christmas morning we opened our stockings and then I prepared the turkey and stuffing between waves of nausea and naps. When the family came home from their Christmas visiting, I went to bed and left the vegetables and gravy for them to prepare, and I slept till Boxing Day.

Last night and this morning Stella was up vomiting up segments of the toy she brought with her. She eats everything. I don't mean she chews everything. She eats everything. Her feeding instructions suggested she had been starved all her life. I began feeding her more but I suspect the chewing/eating habit is ingrained by now.

Everything that has been happening has made it difficult to enjoy the good things. Mud Mama , Papa Pan and the children brought lovely presents to soothe me in my bath and to delight my taste buds .... teas and applesauce and pickled pumpkin ...

And Nature Girl, their only daughter, gave me my very best present ... a book about her family. It was a true labour of love because she is both dyslexic and a wonderful artist.

And Tamarak also gave me a piece of her art ... it is wonderful and my playroom-den needed it.

I will post photos today.

I wish everyone a wonderful 2009 ... may we all have good health and enough prosperity to be happy in the coming year.