My OCD '08 Christmas tree.

1.) Ornaments must hang freely, not touching any branches.

2.) Ornaments that are identical must not be located in the same proximity. Pretty much impossible with this many ornaments. I'm guessing...100 or more?

3.) Ornaments in similar color must not be located in the same proximity. Same as above.

4.) All open spaces in between branches must have an ornament.

5.) Smaller ornaments must be purchased for fill-ins.

6.) Every 5 minutes is review time; stand back, observe ornaments on tree, reposition/swap if necessary. And it's always necessary.

7.) Ornaments of special interest/expensive must be placed towards the top of the tree to avoid 10 tiny fingers. Or 40 tiny fingers if you consider I've got 4 miniatures.

8.) Always, always wear long sleeves when opening/separating branches.

9.) Praise the good Lord that my little Chocolate Truffle has absolutely no interest in either tree.

10.) Breathe a sigh of relief when tree is up, complete & gorgeous!

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I have seriously been MIA. Hubby was out of town again this week, left Monday & was not to return until Friday - low & behold they kicked bootie in MN & he got home today! So I have been super, super busy.

When I went to decorate the tree, I noticed that when hubby put up the tree, he opened the branches all wrong. More like ridiculous. He'll pull one branch up, one branch down. One branch up, one branch down. So it looked like a bunch of fork prongs sticking straight up & straight down. Um...no. So I had to redo the entire tree before decorating! Hence #8. My hands & arms are torn to shreds. That's the first thing he noticed when he got home - my manual labor scars.

I'm guessing it took approximately 6+ hours over a course of 3 or 4 days to decorate my tree because of all the interruptions. And Mercedes has a cold. And I'm searching for a Boxer which is entirely too time consuming. I had no idea. And every night I have gone to bed exhausted & extremely sad due to what I have read each night regarding the treatment of dogs. Craigslist is just flat out nasty, with people bickering & cursing each other, dogs being euthanized (posted by shelters) - I guess people get innocent dogs, decide they don't want them & then just give them to anyone who'll take them. And if those people don't want them, the process starts all over again. A hard lesson learned for someone (me) who is such an animal lover. Most nights I shook my head in disbelief. How in the world can people be so cruel to animals?

We still have a lot of Christmas preparations to complete & I'm beginning to stress because I don't think we'll get it done. But by the grace of God, every year we do.

Hope your week is fantastic! Ü

Ok pray for us! Update.

This is Maggie. This is the one I want! Perfect! Pray all goes thru...

**Rebecca - a few days ago I found some Dallas animal advertising sites (not Craigslist) & posted on some. This lady actually contacted me. Ü

My dryer threw up.

Yes my husband has been out of town. Again. Why do you ask? Ü

Kidbits.

How to tee off Santa:

I picked up Bentley the other day @ school & as he climbed in my car he rather loudly exclaimed:

"Hi Mom! What's wrong with your hair?!?!"

As all remaining teachers & students looked on in interest.

He's now on restriction until he's 23. Ü

(In my defense, nothing was 'wrong' with my hair. I have curly hair & that particular day I did not blow dry it straight. Sheesh.)

Song of the year.

Turn up the speakers. Listen.

(Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of my blogsite & turn off my Playlist first or you'll have 2 musics playing.)

Dancing reindeer & Jaguar update.

Miss Mercedes adores the dancing/singing reindeer. Her little face just lights up with joy. Until it's time to turn it off. When I shut it off yesterday (to save my sanity) this little almost 11 month old actually threw herself on the floor & preceded with a 2 year old tantrum! Kicking her feet & screaming w/ anger all the while lying flat on the floor. Ha! What kind of baby did we get blessed with, anyway? Ü

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The dentist appointment was pretty uneventful. We went to a new children's dentist because I fired the last one. :) I fire lots of jerks people. Ü

Dr. Bo took x-rays & studied the tooth/teeth. It's going to be a 'wait, watch & see' sort of thing. Since there is really no way of knowing how much trauma the tooth actually suffered, it's uncertain if it's going to survive. I have a feeling it is not because it is already discoloring. Dr. Bo seems to think if the tooth does survive, it will move back into place. Two fold - 1.) because the tongue will push it forward & 2.) Jaguar still sucks her thumb which will help move it forward. Worse case scenario is both front teeth will have to be pulled. If necessary, she will pull both of them so the big girl teeth will enter at the same time. If one tooth remains while the other is pulled, the symmetry will be unbalanced. Dr. Bo also prescribed an antibiotic to fight any infection that may occur within the tooth and/or her lip.

I've stated before that Jags has such a beautiful smile & I will be completely heartbroken & distraught if she looses her teeth. If you knew my Jags, when not being a spit-fire, she is very reserved, soft-spoken (way too soft-spoken!) & delicate. I can't even envision her loosing her teeth. Suffice to say her two pretty, tiny teeth add to her demeanor, if that makes sense. They have the same personality she does. :) I'm praying all will be ok & less traumatic for her, of course. Tonight she is fine but being three, she really has no idea what all this means. We return to Dr. Bo next week for a tooth check & annual cleaning. Thanks so much for the thoughts & prayers.

Speaking of children's dentists - I believe this to be true in our area, maybe yours? We have lots of fancy-dancy dentists (for kids) opening here. Outrageous upscale offices (inside & out), providing tv's on ceilings, top of the line video games, blah, blah, blah. I have learned that should I choose to visit one of those, the fee I am going to pay is above & beyond what insurance already covers. I honestly believe they charge more to cover all the extra, unnecessary expenses. Maybe that's a given & I'm just slow at recognizing it, due to the fact my children went to the same dentist for a few years...?

Personally I choose to visit a children's dentist that provides a comfortable children's atmosphere. Not needed are the ceiling tv's, video games, outlandish decor, etc. When I stick with the 'plain & simple', almost all of our dentist visits are covered 100% by insurance. Funny how that works. Or is it? Ü

For Daddy.

See how her left tooth has completely relocated towards her inner mouth? That tooth now has a tiny chip on the bottom but, that tooth does not seem loose. Weird. Her right front tooth is loose. Because her tooth has relocated/repositioned itself, I don't foresee saving the tooth. I don't think she'll be as fortunate as Bentley was. What I didn't tell you is that she was completely traumatized. Like...totally pale in color & immediately felt warm to the touch. Should that have continued, I would have taken her to Cook's. She seems to be ok now & she gobbled her food right up. I did cut it in tiny pieces though so she wouldn't use those teeth. :( :(

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Here are two photos I took before bed. She has one heck of a fat lip & the bruising is beginning to show. Off to the dentist tomorrow a.m. I'm of course hoping for a positive diagnosis but I'm afraid there isn't going to be one. I think this tooth probably suffered some nerve damage. :(

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I forgot to note that Jaguar was playing/running at dinner time, with socks on, & slipped on our marble tile. Obviously it happened so fast she couldn't catch herself & her mouth took the brunt. I've been fearful of this marble since we moved in so it will now be covered in rugs. Poor little thing is a trooper though & she's doing much better tonight. Pretty cute to hear her say "dintish" = dentist.