Carols for the Mentally Ill

For the...

Schizophrenic? Do You Hear What I Hear?

Multiple Personality Disordered? We Three Kings Disoriented Are

Amnesiac? I Don't Know if I'll Be Home for Christmas

Narcissist? Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me

Manic? Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and....

Paranoiac? Santa Claus is Coming to Get Me

Borderline Personality Disordered? Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire

Passive-Aggressive? You Better Watch out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why

Social Anxiety Disordered? Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas While I Sit Here and Hyperventilate

And finally, for the Obsessive-Compulsive:
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock,
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock,
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock,
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock,
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock,
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock,
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock,
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock,
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock,
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock,
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock,
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock,
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock,
Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock,
...Better Now, One More Time!

Mom, my job, sick kitty and sick daughter (NOT in any particular order of importance, mind you)

1. Mom. OK, she's high on the list in importance, but the rest are not in order. Mom got to go home Monday night. They did electrical cardioversion right before sending her home and it worked! She awoke feeling noticeably better, something that has not happened before with these, and her heart was in sinus. It still is. Papa said today that he has been checking her pulse and he's never heard it so strong. Thank the Lord.

2. My job. Yesterday I went from hourly training pay to production pay. I'm slow, but I still am beating the training pay rate, so that's good. I have lots of room for improvement. I am really loving this job so far.

3. Sick kitty. It's Briggs. I gave him a feline leukemia vaccine booster and then forgot about it, and a few hours later when he got very lethargic and grumpy, I failed to make the connection. He's normally a very passive cat. No matter what you do to him, his reaction is usually, "OK, whatever. Hey, I think I'll purr." So when he complained at Lil Miss A's hugs and kisses, when he did not stir from his chair and blankie for about 4 hours, when he actually hissed at the dog, I knew something was wrong. I put him on the feather mattress on the daybed for the night and he hadn't budged when we woke up this morning. Barry took him to the vet and was there when they opened their doors. Normal vaccine reaction, as it happens; they gave him a shot of pain relief and sent him home, where he's asleep again.

I feel sorry for these cats because I know so little about cats. I just don't know how to take good care of them. So I make a lot of mistakes. Good thing they are so forgiving.

4. Sick daughter. The little one. Yet another cold. That's the thing about kindergarten: They have diseases nobody has ever seen before. Forget the jungles of Central Africa: I think the next pandemic will come from some kindergarten classroom in the Midwest. Anyway, Lil Miss A missed school yesterday - which most certainly did NOT please her - and coughed. She's better now and I sent her back. I hope that wasn't a mistake.

Weekend with Mama

I spent the weekend up in the Twin Cities, seeing my mother's progress with my own eyes. I am so thankful!

Christmas Tree

This afternoon the children and Barry went to a tree farm to pick up a tree for the church narthex. They wanted a big one. They found it.

As they drove through LaCrosse on their way home, people were staring, taking pictures on their phones, waving, shouting "Hi Clark!" and such.

Brought to you by the letter P

It's P Week in Little Miss A's kindergarten classroom. She brought home a worksheet the other day covered with pictures of objects. She was supposed to cross off everything that did not begin with P, and color everything that did.

She had one marked wrong, and she wasn't happy about it. She hadn't crossed off a P picture, but she hadn't colored it, either.

"But Mom!" she said. "I couldn't color THAT. Penguins are black and white!"

Extubated

A 7:00 a.m. update: Mom was able to be extubated over night and she's talking! Hurray!

Little Miss A and the Choir Concert

What a little angel. Could she possibly do anything naughty? Never!

Those of you who pray

Please pray for my mom and dad today if you will. Mom is having a mitral valve replacement today.

UPDATE: The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration have her on their list for prayer once an hour for the next 168 hours! What an awesome weapon prayer is in faithful hands.

ANOTHER UPDATE: 4:00 p.m. and Papa just called. She's doing great! The surgery apparently went very well. She's still sleeping in ICU but the surgeon said she is going to feel much better. Hallelujah.

9:00 p.m. UPDATE: She's awake, she knows Papa and smiles at him, but they haven't been able to wean her off the respirator and she has orthostatic hypotension and she's in afib. Doc says don't worry, these things happen sometimes, but of course we're nervous. Note to self: God is faithful.

Little Miss A's Lesson of the Week

Generally speaking, it is NOT a good idea to give a cat a haircut. The cat doesn't look as nice as you thought he would, plus it makes your mom really mad.

De-bagging a Feline

OK, it's time to confess: I didn't stay with Medquist after all. I found a new company and am on day #3 with them as of today. It's Webmedx, located in Pittsburgh. I know it's just the honeymoon period at work but I'm all excited about my profession again and having so much fun!

I can sincerely thank God for my job once again, with no mixed emotions.