COOKIE-December 02, 2006

Dearest Friends and Family,
The countdown begins! Twenty-three days until Christmas! Can you believe it? It seems like we were just getting our ducks in a row to go to UCLA for the transplant. Here's a shocker....that was EIGHT MONTHS AGO!

Well, our doctor's are sooooo smart and COOKIE is doing sooooo well! We couldn't be more pleased with her state of health these days. It's not only made her more physically fit but her attitude is so much better since she isn't worried about vomiting or feeling dizzy! All of her blood tests have been much improved and we're really seeing some true progress. Yes, she's a little behind but what the heck? What else would we be doing?

Her line is behaving and as long as it's working they're not concerned about removing it and replacing it with something else. Their main goal was to get her feeling better and they absolutely did that! The dressing changes have gotten a smidgeon easier but I think it has to do with her whole state of mind too. COOKIE's weekend meds still consist of a lot of pill-taking but with her feeling better, she glides through it with ease. Comfort is NOT overrated! COOKIE is so much more comfortable and it allows us to celebrate the joy of the season!

COOKIE and Parker are so excited about Christmas. This year is really a good one for Parker because he's grown so very, very much since being in school. Of course we have to take the bad with the good! I can't believe some of the rhetoric he comes home with! BUT, it's opened his mind to so much and he's truly excited about giving the gifts he got to shop for personally. Of course, COOKIE being the little analyst, is quite prepared and has wrapped all of her gifts and put them under the tree already!

Oh! I almost forgot to talk about Thanksgiving! I'll start by saying that I hope each of you got your fill of turkey and fixings and family love. As I mentioned, we all went out to Palm Desert to Aunt Shannon's and Uncle Johnny's house where the weather could not have been more perfect! We had made reservations for 4:00 at Marie Calendar's. Well, there were 12 of us and we showed up to a very crowded Marie's at 3:50pm sharp. We actually got a private room which was perfect for COOKIE because she really shouldn't be exposed to a crowded dining room. Our room was ready by 4:15 and we had the room for two hours. It took until 5:15 to get our drinks and they were delivered by the manager with apologies. We all sat around the table chatting and making the most of the late hour but by 6:00 we were getting a little restless. Shannon came over and sat next to me and said, "If they're having this much trouble in the kitchen, how do you think our food is going to be???" Good question. We were contemplating leaving when at 6:20, our food arrived. It was not edible. Something had definitely gone wrong in the kitchen. It tasted like a bucket of salt had been poured into everything on the plate. Matt spoke to our server and he in turn spoke with the manager. The manager sent his apologies, said he would not charge us a dime and sent us home with two pumpkin pies. He was very gracious about the entire affair.

PROBLEM: 6:30pm on Thanksgiving. No preparation for a dinner for 12 at Aunt Shannon's house. No grocery stores, no fast food places open on Thanksgiving evening because everyone is home celebrating with their families except those of us crazy enough to go out!!!

We went back to the house and scrounged up three boxes of Velveeta Mac and Cheese Shells and doled it out to the masses. Then we had dessert and we were all laughing on the outside and yearning for a wonderful homecooked dinner on the inside. Moral of the story......next year I get to cook.

We had a great weekend at Aunt Shannon's though. Parker got swim with his uncles and daddy and us girls got to go shopping! COOKIE got to play with Shannon's friend's 3 month old granddaughter! She's SOOOOO beautiful! COOKIE was in 7th heaven taking care of this beautiful baby girl. We all had fun playing with her. We went to the Living Desert and saw a great little animal show, lots of Christmas lights and a huge and wonderful train exhibit which, by the way, Parker LOVED!

We came home from Palm Desert on Saturday becasue it's become our tradition to put up our Christmas decorations and tree on Thanksgiving weekend. We left Aunt Shannon's and Uncle Johnny's at 9:00pm on Saturday night and hit tons of traffic. We didn't get home until midnight!

On Sunday, we put our tree and decorations up and I have to say, it's my personal favorite time of the year in our house. It's such a great Christmas house! Parker went around the house with the digital camera and took pictures of every nook and cranny in the living room, bathroom and kitchen that had a Christmas decoration in it or on it! Great fun!

We're going to spend the remainder of the countdown wrapping presents, baking and singing Christmas songs. We all know how much we have to be grateful for this holiday season. We're surrounded by the love of our family and the love of some wonderful friends. We wish each of you peace within and love without.

Until next time, hugs and kisses all around!
Cookie, The Grandma