Holidays can be hard...

[addy]

Marianne- I was sorry to hear you and your mom were both sick for Christmas. I hope you are both feeling better now. The New Year is quickly approaching and my wish is for your family to start it off healthy and bright

For all of us- I hope the New Year brings us happiness and peace.

I had a horrible nightmare about Zoe right before Christmas. I just remember that I was sobbing uncontrollably in my dream, harder than the night she died. Not sure what that was about. Hopefully that wont happen ever again.

Anyway- our holiday thread will soon be coming to a close for another year and I know we were all grateful to be able to come here to talk.

Thanks, Marianne- for making sure of that for all of us

[molly muffin]

Oh Addy. So sorry you had a bad. Isn't are about Zoe. Sometimes things just creep out when least expected. The flip side is that joy and happiness too can creep in when you least expect it.
The new year is coming and I hope for all of us here that when we least expect it a smile will cross your lips, a twinkle will shine in your eye and a laugh will bubble from your heart.

Good health and joy in all our lives.

Hugs to all

[labblab]

Oh Addy, I'm so sorry about your nightmare, too. But hopefully it was just some sort of demon that had to be let out once and now will never return!

Thanks also for your kind words about this thread. It is a big help to me to be able to talk here through the holidays, and I always hope it may be a help to others, too. This Christmas did not turn out the way I had planned, that's for sure. The good part is that I had actually gotten most everything done early because I was planning to savor some special time with my mom -- having her here at the house beforehand to enjoy some little rituals of baking and decorating, etc. Each year now, I can't help but think that this may be the last one we have together. So I had really big plans to make it special. But when will I learn that expectations are just SOOOOO dangerous...

Things didn't turn out that way after we both got sick, and she hasn't yet made it over here to the house at all. We did our best on Christmas Day at her apartment, but it was not what I had planned or hoped for, that's for sure. I kept thinking about what you'd said about going with the flow, and I did my best with that. But I would be lying if I said I was not disappointed. And I'm still feeling pretty low. Just really feeling all the losses of the year kind of piling on, and wondering to myself what next Christmas will be like.

Somehow, New Year's has never been my favorite, ever. Once again, probably because of expectations. It's supposed to be such a dressy, fancy, bright and shiny night and I usually just want to cocoon and stay off the road away from all the crazy drivers! But maybe since my expectations are so low already, this New Year's will turn out to be a good one . Hopefully my mom and I will both be feeling better, and maybe hubby and I will venture out for some fun, regardless.

Above and beyond anything else, I will surely join in the well wishes for all our family here -- may 2015 bring some much-needed and much-appreciated health and joy for all!!!! And as Sharlene says, may it bring some unexpected treasures just when we each need them the most.

[addy]

Marianne- are you sure you don't have fluid in your ear? Whenever my ears hurt for an extended period of time it is from fluid in my ears. 10 days is a long time to be sick. Though I did cough for 4 months from allergies. But I did not feel sick.

We have not been out for NYE since the year Koko and Zoe ate Koko's pad in his belly band I think that was 2008.

I always wanted to do one of those hotel parties with food and music and dancing. My bucket list has attending the Vienna Ball so I can wear a white long dress with a red sash Never going to happen!!!!!

I don't blame you for not wanting to be out on the roads, we feel the same way.

Feel better soon.

[labblab]

I think I probably do have fluid in my ear. But I don't have a fever and it doesn't hurt, so from what I read online there probably isn't much to be done about it other than wait it out -- which apparently can take quite awhile.

I hate to go to the doctor right now and expose myself to all the other horrible bugs that are out there . But if I'm still ailing after New Year's, I will probably have to bite the bullet and go in.

My New Year's fantasy is to be like Nick and Nora from "The Thin Man" and to take my dog into a fancy NYC nightclub and drink martinis and dance the night away to the Big Band, looking just as sleek and svelte as Myrna Loy, without a care in the world.

[Budsters Mom]

Marianne,

I have one ear that's always filling up with fluid. Have you tried popping your blocked ear to clear your eustachian tube? Most of the time this does work, but only clears it temporarily. It usually fills up with fluid quickly again. You can do that several times a day safely.

You hold your nostrils closed, then blow like you do to when you blow nose. Since the air cannot come out your nose, it is forced through your ears, thus clearing your tubes. Chewing gum also helps open up your ears allowing your tubes to drain.

If either ear starts hurting or is painful when you pop it, you need to see a doctor because you probably have an infection and need antibiotics.

I hope you feel better soon.

[addy]

Wait, I'm still on Nick and Nora
I have to google that

[Squirt's Mom]

Like others, some of my family got sick so we had our gathering with the boys at my house today. And with this, the Season comes to an end for me today. The boys had a good time and seemed to enjoy their gifts!

In years past, I would call my mom after going home Christmas Eve and several times caught her crying. I didn't understand why. Now I do. All the effort and work and thought she put into just those few hours and when it was all said and done, her kids weren't there. What she wanted most of all was our time but we always had other places to be. There is such an empty feeling when the gifts under the tree are gone, left-overs to put away, and all those you love most are not at your side. For all the frenzy, something should change yet when the dust settles, our lives are as they were before the storm.

[labblab]

Addy, here's Myrna Loy (Nora), William Powell (Nick) and Asta their dog (who always got to go with them everywhere, including the Waldorf).

http://pre-code.com/wp-content/uploa...hin-Man_01.jpg

Kathy, I think my ear is actually a little better, in which I rejoiced for two hours before sprouting flashing lights in the corner of one eye . So I will be calling the eye doctor first thing in the a.m. to evaluate. Wonder who will be "on call" during the holiday week --probably Doogie Howser...

I hope alcohol is not a no-no with a retina problem, because I am fixing to mix that martini right now, with or without Nick and Nora!

And turning to what you wrote, Leslie, it is so very poignant and so very true for me, too. Even when the holiday itself has been glorious as in years past for me, there is such a quiet and a void and yes, an ache, when it is all over and done with. If only our pain was as fleeting as our joy sometimes seems to be.

[Budsters Mom]

Yo Marianne!!!!

Yes, PUT THAT MARTINI DOWN!!! Whose the mother now??? We kid on the forum about having a drink. If the truth be told, I do not drink and have not for more than 20 years. This is due to the same reasons below. Not good to drink when you suffer from chronic migraines or have eye issues due to a possible detached retina.

"* Avoid alcohol, coffee and excess salt, because they constrict blood vessels; alcohol also consumes surplus oxygen from the blood, so making the vision blurred. Also avoid yeast products as these cause fatigue due to gut fermentation which produces alcohol."

Kathy, I think my ear is actually a little better, in which I rejoiced for two hours before sprouting flashing lights in the corner of one eye . So I will be calling the eye doctor first thing in the a.m. to evaluate. Wonder who will be "on call" during the holiday week --probably Doogie Howser...

I hope alcohol is not a no-no with a retina problem.

When I ended up in urgent care last year with whooping cough the day after Christmas, I Was seen by the Chief of Staff. He was a very nice Jewish doctor who didn't celebrate Christmas. That's always a possibility. But of course, there will be many little Doogie's running around too.

Seriously, no more alcohol until you see the doctor, please!