For Auld Lang Syne

otherwise known as: Where has Mister Nizz been and what has he been up to?



Happy New Year everyone. I'm glad (personally) that the holidays are behind us, well, except for Elvis' Birthday Party, but I always look forward to that one.

I've been off the net for a couple of weeks, due to a rather severe illness that my entire family contracted, your humble narrator included. An unfortunate communion with group A streptococcus bacteria, aka Strep Throat, left me so weak and feverish that I almost collapsed two days before Christmas. I had been feeling punky all week, but thought I had just gotten a rather poorly timed cold. I knew things were not normal when my inlaws dropped by for a visit while Audrey was out and I had the shakes and sweats so bad they were offering to take me to the hospital. I was a poor host, I guess, but I kept insisting I was okay.

Turns out I was pretty far from okay-- the doctor at Kaiser told me it was bordering on Scarlet Fever. Oh Swell. I insisted that Drey and the kids get tested and sure enough, they had it too, although not nearly this severe. Funny thing with kids and strep throat. They just cought a bit and feel a little punky. When I get Strep as an adult it really drains me. I didn't feel like doing much more than staring at a wall for several days. Unfortunately those days were right around Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the ensuing couple of days.

Anyhoo, many antibiotics later I feel much better, but it kind of was a downer for the holiday. I had to sleep in the basement during the quarantine time frame (when we knew I had it and weren't sure that anyone else did) and that was a frigid experience-- which brought on a vicisous arthritis attack in my right ankle (thanks, God!) so it was hard to walk. So with everyone's health problems it's been difficult at best to find the desire or energy to post here. Sorry!

Christmas was quite subdued for once. We exchanged gifts Christmas Eve and had Santa visit us with the big presents on Christmas Day. I received a Toshiba gigabeat player, which pleases me very much, some socks, a couple of gift cards, and a giant rechargeable spotlight. The kids got LESS than usual in terms of bulk numbers but what they got was far more valuable to them. They are growing out of the toy realm and into the "unique little individual" area, and that means they are harder to shop for. Garrett was delighted that Santa brought him a PS2, and Annie is very pleased with her new MP3 player.

One thing that we sort of bought each other was a giant idiot box (flatscreen TV), capable of High Definition. The image is amazing, and Little G can hardly be disconnected from the PS2 connected to it. This is something we're going to have to monitor-- we told him last night he will have to earn PS2 time by doing well with his school work.

In any event we're back from the holidays and back to the comfortable grind. Praise be!