Hello and welcome to the 2004 Christmas Olympics Medal Wrap Up coming to you live from North Carolina. We have looked over absolutely every little thing that we have received this year for the holidays to find it’s country of origin (ie where it was made). We find it a very interesting experience to learn where all our stuff comes from. This year, we are happy to report that USA has won with 29 ‘medals’, but they are followed closely by China with 22. The full listing of ‘medalists’ are:
USA – 29
China – 22
Mexico – 4
Canada – 3
France, Italy, Holland, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia all with 2 medals
Costa Rica, Brasil, Isreal, Korea, Portugal, Ireland, Singapore, El Salvador, Columbia, India, and Cambodia rounding it up with 1 medal each.
For those gifts that we were so excited to use (like those really cool fuzzy socks) that we ripped the tags off we have the Unknown country category with a total of 10 medals.
(Yes I know that sounds like a lot of gifts, but every book, jar of jelly, and piece of clothing counted as one medal each. Plus, don’t forget that we have an 18 month old and gift happy grandparents:-)
Thank you for supporting our 2004 Christmas Olympic Games and please keep us in mind next year when you are buying your gifts and try to support countries with fair labor practices.
Monthly Archives: December 2004
Happy Winter Solstice
Happy first day of winter everyone!! I have really gotten into this holiday over the past few years. It just makes sense to me (especially as a gardener)… to celebrate the shortest day of the year and have traditions that revolve around welcoming back the sun and the light as the days grow longer again. I like it! So, we lit a candle through the night and woke up this morning to open gifts and have a very leisurely breakfast (we were just getting done around 11:15!! Good thing Toby took the day off of work!)
So today, I would like to wish you all a very happy first day of winter! I hope you are all keeping snuggly warm and enjoying the holidays! My blog family has been a wonderful addition to my life this year and I am very thankful for you all!
Check out this awesome scarf I made for K. I am certainly not a seamstress. So, I am very proud of myself for completing this scarf. And isn’t the fabric great!! It’s so cute!! K hates it! 🙂
heart ache
I feel like an absolute, humongous pile of shit when I have to discipline K! I really hate it! She is having issues with biting me when she gets too excited. Putting her in her room for ‘time-out’ seems to be the only thing that gets her to calm down and stop biting, for a while. Tonight, she was running around the kitchen while I was doing the dishes. She ran up to me and bit my leg. I grabbed her up and went straight back to her room, placed her inside and closed the door…for two minutes. Two minutes that still leave me enough time to open my rib cage and tear my heart out while she sits behind the door crying. After two minutes, with my saggy heart in my hand, I knock on her door, “K, can you please try really hard not to bite mommy anymore? Please??” I open the door and she slowly walks out with her sweet, little head hung low. She walks up to me, turns around and sits in my lap, as if asking for forgiveness. My heart starts to dissolve. And if that wasn’t enough, she lets out a few of those half breaths that you make when you’ve been crying so hard that you feel like you can’t breath and then she leans her head onto my chest.
You’re killing me, kid!!! Killing me!!
Let Freedom Ring!
So, I have finished my last exam and given my final presentation. Yes, I know I was only in school for one semester, but it sure feels nice to be done! I have so many other things to keep me busy. Plus, I can always go back to get my Master’s degree some other time, right? Well, maybe… some of you may know that in 1998, I was supposed to start at Emory to get my Masters in Midwifery. But, I decided not to one month before school started. At least this time, I made it through a full semester. So, the way I figure it, I will need 2 more possibe degree options and then one final real one to finally get a masters if I keep doing it at this rate 🙂
On another note, I am having some problems with Suki (the dog). She seems to be very happy that K is walking now. Because, as Suki sees it, that means she is free game to chase and stomp on. Whenever we are all outside, Suki charges K and knocks her down. So, now I have to keep Suki in the house when K is outside. It sucks! But, yesterday when we were all inside, Suki charged at K and pushed her down hard, then stepped on her. I said a few choice words to Suki and tossed her outside (well, more like slowly shoved…she is 65 pounds you know??) I’m not sure what to do. It’s going to be years before K is really big enough to defend herself and, though Suki is extremely smart and knows that she isn’t supposed to chase K, she can’t seem to control herself. I think Suki needs a playmate. But, one – She is an akita and very unfriendly to other dogs and two – I don’t know that I want to take on another dog right now!!
Hot Porn Tree
We have cut up a hardwood tree from the front yard and it is ready to innoculate with shitake spawn. I did a little research and figured out that it is an Eastern Hophornbeam. So, I yelled this fact across the living room to Toby, who was in the kitchen washing his hands…”What?? A Hot Porn Tree?? Awesome!!” he said. He is very excited to see what pops up out of this tree:-)
She’s a mean one, Mrs. Grinch
So, I decided to play the grinch today. We (Toby, K and I) are supposed to go back to Asheville on the 10th for Toby’s Office Holiday party, and then back to Asheville again 2 weeks later for Christmas. I told Toby today that I would travel for one of those weekends but not both…and that means K would only be traveling for one too. Here’s why…of the past 4 weeks, we have traveled 3 of them (to NY for the Marathon and to Asheville, twice), with, let me emphasize, the 17 month old. During this time, we have had to find someone (and it was a different person every time, poor animals) to watch the animals, the house has become a complete wreck, and none of the stuff that we were supposed to have done before winter has gotten done. We still have 75 trees to take down in the front before our house can get any solar heat, I still have to sew up the insulating curtains, and let’s not forget about Christmas cards!!! I know, bitch and moan, but I decided that I have had enough. I almost popped yesterday (that’s popped, not pooped!) after tripping over the stroller, in the middle of the living room. So, since I am a little tightly wound (is that how you spell it?), I decided not to go to Asheville on the 10th. And since I don’t want to wean K yet. Toby will make the trip by himself and I will have the house, and K, to myself. At first glance, you might think it is harder to have to take care of K by myself, but I actually think it is easier. Because we don’t have to worry about anyone else’s schedule, or clean up after anyone else…I’m not saying that Toby is a needy pig, but you now what I mean, it’s just easier by yourself, even with a toddler in tow. So, once next week is over and school is done, maybe I will have some time to put my feet up and chill…I hope so!
On a happier note, I talked with my mother tonight and she said that the Herbal Ulcer Syrup that I made for her has her feeling 95% better! It’s always so good to hear when things work well. Even though I know what these herbs are supposed to do, it’s nice to hear good feedback.