I Want to be a SuperHero

Super Nanaw, that would be a fine calling, dontcha think? I'd want to be a superhero who saved the world from those who would ruin it with their lack of manners, their inability to tell the simple truth, and those who insist on letting their pants slide down to mid-butt cheek.I would proudly go about doing my superhero job of confiscating cell phones and fining people who insisted on texting, or talking during breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or while in meetings, or in class rooms, or even, for crappy's sake, in the toilet. I'd find a corner for every child caught not replying to their elders with respect, and I'd insisit that everyone at the dinner table mind their manners.


I would find great joy in monitoring what came out of the mouths of our politicians, our newspapers, and news networks. There would be an automatic overnight in jail with BIG Bubba,,,or Bubbette, for those caught lying or misrepresenting the facts to the American public. Longer sentences would be handed out to those more deserving.

As for those butt-cheek bearers? I'd spend a portion of each day swooping down on the offenders to snatch those pants right on down to their ankles. Maybe if enough folks pointed and laughed at those bare assets, they'd buy britches that fit and wear their belts where they belonged!

Who started that trend anyway? Are they brain damaged?

I can't think of anymore wrongs to be righted today but I'm sure more will come to me soon. Y'all have a nice day now, ya hear?

Photo Challenge - Lighting

This was taken in June. A tractor was preparing this field for planting late soybeans in front of the house. The dust and the position of the sun made this hazy shot look spectacular.

An early morning shot of the morning glory on my deck. I love how the sunlight is just barely touching the blooms.

The glow of the setting sun behind this shot of my Maximillion Sunflowers in late October.

I love this picture of Beans that I took a couple of years ago. She was pretending to sleep in the shade.

I had to visit the past for photos for this Lighting Challenge. While I've taken a few photos over the past couple of weeks, I wasn't in shape enough to get any that I was satisfied with for the challenge.

I know there will be some amazing shots to be seen over at the Photo Challenge Blog so please go over and visit and click the links to see them.

Room 141

My first night room 141 at our local hospital was probably the least comfortable one of all. I still had that nasty organ that was causing me so much pain, so even with an occasional pain shot, I was only sleeping for an hour or two at a time. During one stretch of snoozing, the head of my bed, which was raised 6 inches or so, suddenly fell, slamming to a flat position, shaking my brain enough to give me a headache.

After such a rude awakening, I decided to sit up for a bit before trying for a little more sleep before the pain meds wore off. About 20 minutes later, I'm still sitting there, watching TV and minding my own business when the TV/Call button thingy suddenly went off the table and landed in the floor between the bed and the table it had been on.

I was wide awake at that point so when a nurse came in to take my vitals a little while later I asked her if the room was haunted and told her why.

She didn't hang around to chat. I don't know why.

If there was a ghost visitor that first night in room 141 he/she/it must have been satisfied with just letting me know they were there cause nothing else went on during the rest of my stay.

Moving Right Along

I ventured out alone today to do some needed shopping. Thank goodness for the bench located in the back SE corner of Wal Mart where I rested up half way through my shopping list. Thank goodness also that every "associate" I spoke with or had a question for (with one exception) was so polite and helpful today. This is not the norm for our area Wal Mart so it was such a pleasure. The feelings of good will lasted until I visited the Wal Mart pharmacy to purchase some sterile saline solution that I needed for my wimpy wound packing. After waiting for 15 minutes or so for someone to acknowledge my presence, a young whipper snapper pharmacy worker informed me that in order to purchase the sterile saline solution for wounds I'd have to have a prescription from my doctor.

Uh,,,What?????

I don't recall needing a prescription when I'd purchased it from our family pharmacy over in town when James smashed his toe into smitherens back a couple of years ago.

Just so happened, our family pharmacy manager had been behind me in line at said Wal Mart and she was still there when I was leaving the pharmacy area so I asked her if I needed a prescription to purchase the sterile solution. She told me that she'd never heard of such and called over to Helena, where they're located, to tell them to have some ready at the drive thru window for me.

So that dilema was solved and I didn't even let the fact that I had to drive 10 more miles to pick it up disturb my feelings of calm from having an almost normal, shopping trip.

I got the hospital and surgeon's bill for my gall bladder removal yesterday but I'm not ready to say the numbers out loud yet cause one of them is very, very, scary. I'll be negotiating with them on Tuesday when I plan to tell them that there isn't much left to sell except my birthday,,,,and maybe a kidney...do they know of any takers?

I'm Healing and getting Sicker by the Bill

I got sick. I couldn't avoid a trip to the hospital. I have no insurance. I do not have the funds nor the assets to pay for the huge hospital bill that I know is coming. I've decided to blog about what occurs when something like this happens to the lower middle class folks who work (or have worked far more than their fair share) for a living so they don't qualify for any sort of help. There are far, far, more of us than most of you want to believe there are.

The first two bills came in the mail today. One is from Florence, NC from Arkansas Pathology Associates for looking at a biopsy. I had to call them to find out what the bill was for because this was not included on the bill. I then asked them if they would reduce their fees if I was able to pay cash for the charge. The young lady replied, "No". So I then asked if the billed amount was what Medicaid, or Medicare, or what an insurance company would pay them and the young lady again replied, "No" because we would be paid at their discounted rate for the procedure.

So. Arkansas Pathology Associates may only receive 50 to 60% for this charge from a medicaid, medicare, or insurance provider, but someone like me who can't get insurance, can't afford insurance, and does not qualify for medicaid or medicare, has to pay the full amount charged.

Does anyone other than myself see how wrong this is?

The second bill came from the Anesthesiologists group and the amount was for $1105. I called them because anesthesiologists wasn't on the statement anywhere and again, I wanted to know what the charges were for. A young lady named Crysta was immediately helpful and provided me with the information I requested. When I told her I did not have insurance she immediately told me that she could discount the charged to less than half and if I could send her a check for $500, the account would be paid in full. Before agreeing to this, I asked her if I'd still get the discount if I couldn't pay the $500 in full but had to pay it over 3 or 4 months. She told me no. If payments were set up, the original charges would be due.

I can't see too much right about this either. If you don't have insurance your cost for medical is automatically 50 to 70% more. I'm very glad that I have $500 to send to them but I'm running out of money and the largest bills haven't even arrived yet.

I wonder if I have any body parts worth selling?

Still moving slow

I feel better and better every day that passes but sitting in this chair here in my office still has to be for short periods cause it's still a bit painful. It may take me a few days to get around to see all the Black and White photo challenge pictures but I'll get there. I can't wait to see them all!

Thank you so much for all your get well wishes!

Black and White, and blue all over

Practiced my black and white shooting skills before I got sick. I sure hope I can shoot some more later this week.

Needing Jeanette's staple remover.,,,,,or maybe a church key. :-)

Friday Surprise

At 5 a.m. this morning I was rudely awakened by a sharp, stabbing pain. I turned, I wiggled, I tossed back and forth a bit, I tossed back and forth a lot,,, trying to find a spot in my bed that would help ease the pain. Finally, after 30 minutes the intensity was worsening so I gave up and got up. Throughout the morning I paced, I stretched, I cried, I had dry heaves, I used heat, I used ice, but nothing was helping to diminish the pain in my upper right abdomen.

I felt it was too high to be my appendix, and in the wrong spot to be the usual acid indigestion/heartburn that I frequently have so I figured my gall bladder had to be the culpret. Let me tell you folks,,,I've had 3 large babies and I can't remember having labor pains as intensely agonizing as this pain. Not even kidney stones a few years ago was this bad,,,I swear!

I've had years of back pain for which I've seldom taken anything stronger than ibuprofen but
I gave up at 12:30 today and called the doctor. I needed relief in the form of some major pain medication and was at a point where I didn't give a hoot what it was or for how long it would make me goofy.

James was somewhere between the farm and Memphis moving equipment, Zach was gone fishing with our neighbor, Jeffrey, so I got dressed and drove myself to the doctor. A shot and some wonderful pills are keeping the pain monster at bay for now. I am supposed to go back on Monday for an ultrasound of my gall bladder and upper, right abdomen.

I hope they don't find rocks in there.

Resting Up

This picture has a cute story that goes along with it. A few minutes earlier, our Jilly Beans had sauntered over to where these two cute little boys were playing with their power truck. In less than 2 minutes she had the driver taking her for a ride. 2 minutes after that she was driving it.
Our Beans is quite a little flirt.

The girls catching a big bass.

The raptors recuperating..

I was very disappointed when I was downloading my pictures and discovered that I had taken every one of them at the smallest setting. I don't know how I did that but some of them won't be worth printing for sure.

We had a good time in NW Tennessee but I'm still tired from it. I think the kids had a good time though so it was worth a little weariness.

Before I Forget

Mrs. B. over there at Soul Survivor kindly gave me this award and I'm supposed to pass it on. I figured I'd better do it right now cause once I turn this puter off things that are out of my sight are mostly out of my mind too. I love when the people who click on my blog link take a little time out of their day to pause and read about what's going on down here in my part of the South.

Even when my posts have been few and far between as they have been lately.

Thank you Brenda!

And now,,,,Here are the rules:

1. When you receive this award you must thank the person that awarded you in a new post.

2. Name 10 things that make you happy.

3. Pass this award to other bloggers who make you happy.

1. Speckled Malted Milk Eggs

2. A hot bath on a cold day

3. A cool bath on a hot day

4. The sweet scent of a new baby

5. The smell of the first Spring rain on a fresh plowed field.

6. My kids,,,,some days

7. Our grandbabies

8. A good book

9. strong, black, hot coffee

10. Diet Dr. Pepper

I'm passing this on to all of the bloggers who reside on my blog list over there to the right cause they all make me happy every time I click over to see what they've been up to.

James's mother made pear preserves and peach marmalade last summer. I thought they made a pretty picture sitting there side by side.

Apples and tangerines

Orange close-up. You can almost smell the citrus aroma.

A big ol red apple.

It's time again for our photo challenge! The prompt this go round is Fruit/Macro so I hope everyone has been seeking out the fruits! Don't forget to go to our Challenge Blog to click the links to view all the great shooters who've joined us this time.

I had planned on taking a picture of my bowl of peaches and berries that I've been having for breakfast every morning but by the time I thawed the fruit just right, and sprinkled the equal on it just so,,,I couldn't wait to take the time to get the camera to shoot it before eating it. Sorry about that.

Ok, I"m gonna get busy here,,,,

In a minute. But first I wanted to post a couple of Springy pictures that I snapped yesterday.


Here's Mr. Robin looking all important as he struts his stuff. There must have been a Robin bachelor party going on over at the Helena River Park yesterday cause there were about 6 or 7 of these fellas wandering around.

This is worth clicking to see it bigger

I stuck the camera out of the truck window on the way home last evening to take this one. A car/truck/something with a motor had preceded us down the first gravel road leading home and the setting sun put such a pleasing glow over everything that even the dust clouds were beautiful. Dust is for sure a sign of Spring where I live. It means the tractors can get in the fields and get busy.

I'm taking a laptop with us on the trip so I'll be checking some time tomorrow to see all of the pictures for the new challenge.

Later gaters!

Some Things Just Ain't Right

The other day,,,I'm not sure if it was one day last week or the week before,,, but I happened to flip the TV over to channel 5 and caught some of Rachel Ray's talk show. Rachel was having a discussion with the legal minded Lisa Bloom and something she said just about made me jump up and down with righteous indignation cause it was just so wrong!

This woman, this TV lawyer, sat right there and in a gossipy voice, with Rachel hanging onto every word, had the nerve to say that while Tiger Woods came clean at a live press conference,,,apologized to his family, apologized to his friends, apologized to the wholedamnedworld (I repeat, this was on live TV), he did not, and should have, apologized to the women with whom he had the affairs.

WHAT???

I gotta tell you, I don't think Tiger Woods should have apologized to the world live on TV cause I don't think what he did, or didn't do, or does, concerning his marriage vows, is any of our business. I can see that he may have needed to apologize to some of his endorses, but only if there was some sort of morals clause in the contracts.

Those women? Why they're just what we in the south discretely call "old road whore groupies". This wasn't some Joe Blow from Kocomo they were messin' with, they knew he was married and they didn't care one iota. They were hoping some of his money would dribble on down to them or at least the recognition that went along with his celebrity status. For sure, if I were married to a dude with a ton of money and he did me wrong with some ol trash like that, I'd be suing their asses off, right along with his.

I've watched Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals for years but I'm not sure if I want to watch her talk show again if she's going to have that trash talkin' lawyer on there again.

Some things just ain't right, ya know?

It's Wednesday Already!

When WalMart starts putting this stuff out it means Spring might be just around the corner.....or it could mean a foot of snow next week,,,,

Where did the day go? What did I accomplish?

Nowhere and nothing.

Photo Challenge - Wood

The wooden river walk board walk at the River Park in Helena, AR.

James pruned the oak tree a couple years ago. This scar reminds me of an eye.

And here's the male of the woodpecker pair that's been hanging around my yard for the past couple of years. Do you see the pecan in his beak?

It's that time again and I'm afraid I let it slip up on me again. I've gone into old photo files to hunt for the above Wood shots for the new Photo Challenge. I hope to be in here early tomorrow to view all of the other challengers over at the Photo Challenge Blog.

I've been missing my blog and I'm trying my best to get my mind situated so that I can get back on the blog track. I miss my blog buds most of all.

Photo Challenge - Red

I bought PopPop a box of chocolates for VDay so I was sneaking and got a shot of the box before I hid it.

I love the taste of a deep red pickled beet.

His and Hers preserves. I don't care for anything that's too sweet so I love the sugar free Red Raspberry preserves cause Splenda just doesn't seem to be as sweet as sugar. Pop and Zach want theirs loaded with sweet.

To view some very talented shooters, please visit the Photo Challenge Blog and click on the entrants there.

MORAL FOR TODAY

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a
well. The animal cried piteously for hours as
the farmer tried to figure out what to do.

Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the
well needed to be covered up anyway;
it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and
help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began
to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the
donkey realized what was happening and cried
horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he
quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally
looked down the well. He was astonished at what
he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his
back, the donkey was doing something amazing.
He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel
dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it
off and take a step up.

Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey
stepped up over the edge of the well and
happily trotted off!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds
of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well
is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of
our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out
of the deepest wells just by not stopping,
never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

NOW .......
Enough of that crap. The donkey later came back,
and bit the farmer who had tried to bury him.
The gash from the bite got infected and
the farmer eventually died in agony from septic shock.

MORAL FROM TODAY'S LESSON:

When you do something wrong, and try to cover
your ass, it always comes back to bite you.

It Was Close!

The ice made the snow geese visit the harvested fields again in a feeding frenzy.

The ice make everything look magical but two more hours of freezing rain would have probably put out the electricity and a degree or two colder might have made our roads as big a mess as they were along I40 to the north of us. My willow tree did a lot of creaking and moaning but she held on to her limbs.

James was nice enough to take me for a drive to the horse pasture down the road a bit where I took this picture and the one below.


Only my HughesNet satellite was out for a couple of days; not pleasant but not a disaster. Click on the photos to see the bigger picture.

Photo Challenge - The Best of 2009

I found it so difficult to choose favorites/bests for 2009 but I decided that these would do. Dirty little hands and a resigned little "hoppy", what wonderful memories!

A splashy pink bloom opening up as a sign of Spring.

A once familiar summer sight. Krysten, MeriKate, and Abby cooling off in the neighbor's pool.

I've had to go round the back way to post for this challenge because we're in the midst of an ice storm; we have electricity but the HughesNet satellite is down which is par for their course. Odd how it hasn't affected our Direct TV satellite, hmmmm?

Anyway, got this trusty dial-up going here so I'm going to try to post my BEST of 2009 for the Photo Challenge. Don't forget to go over to the Photo Challenge Blog created by Miz Donna down there in the great state of Texas and click on the other participants in the comments to see all their great photos.

What I Want In A Man

What I Want In A Man!
Original List:

1. Handsome
2. Charming
3. Financially successful
4. A caring listener
5. Witty
6. In good shape
7. Dresses with style
8. Appreciates finer things
9. Full of thoughtful surprises

What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 32)

1. Nice looking
2. Opens car doors, holds chairs
3. Has enough money for a nice dinner
4. Listens more than talks
5. Laughs at my jokes
6. Carries bags of groceries with ease
7. Owns at least one tie
8. Appreciates a good home-cooked meal
9. Remembers birthdays and anniversaries

What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 42)

1. Not too ugly
2. Doesn't drive off until I'm in the car
3. Works steady - splurges on dinner out occasionally
4. Nods head when I'm talking
5. Usually remembers punch lines of jokes
6. Is in good enough shape to rearrange the furniture
7. Wears a shirt that covers his stomach
8. Knows not to buy champagne with screw-top lids
9. Remembers to put the toilet seat down
10. Shaves most weekends

What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 52)

1. Keeps hair in nose and ears trimmed
2. Doesn't belch or scratch in public
3. Doesn't borrow money too often
4. Doesn't nod off to sleep when I'm venting
5. Doesn't re-tell the same joke too many times
6. Is in good enough shape to get off the couch on weekends
7. Usually wears matching socks and fresh underwear
8. Appreciates a good TV dinner
9. Remembers your name on occasion
10. Shaves some weekends

What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 62)

1. Doesn't scare small children
2. Remembers where bathroom is
3. Doesn't require much money for upkeep
4. Only snores lightly when asleep
5. Remembers why he's laughing
6. Is in good enough shape to stand up by himself
7. Usually wears some clothes
8. Likes soft foods
9. Remembers where he left his teeth
10. Remembers that it's the weekend

What I Want in a Man, Revised List (age 72)

1. Breathing.
2. Doesn't miss the toilet.

Thanks Miz Donna!

A new Teenager in the House!

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate covered cherries on top.

Jessie came by, Zach's oldest friend.

For a few days now we've had a bunch of snow geese settling in at the corn field across and down the road from our house. You can see our house across the field here (it's the one on the right).

This is all the snow we've had. The temperatures have been gruesome; colder than an Alaskan well diggers arse for sure. I think it's supposed to climb up to 30 degrees tomorrow so that might feel like a heat wave! Tuesday it's supposed to be up to 55, almost warm enough for swimming. :-)

I'm keeping up with the 365 project, barely.

Chance of Snow and the Undead

The weather forecasters around here are using that S word again for tonight and tomorrow and to add insult to,,,,well,,,insult, they're also predicting an Arctic blast worse than the present Arctic blast we're having.

People in east central Arkansas are spoiled. We may recall that we had freezing temperatures in the teens and single digits that lasted more than a day or two way back a few Winters ago, but we really do tend to put all those nasty doings out of mind during the mostly moderate, mostly bearable, mostly temperate Winters that are par for our courses. We are wimps who don't drive well when frozen precipitation is landing on our roadways and we just plain don't cotton to having cold hands and feet for months at a time.

However, it IS cold and it MIGHT snow or do something icy. I'll take pictures and tell you all about it if it does.

On to another subject,,,

I'm lovin' this Kindle! It's so easy to find and download books and there are loads of reading material to be had too. I downloaded my first book on Christmas day but only started reading it this evening cause I've been trying to finish the latest Cornwell book, The Scarpetta Factor.

Anyway, I've downloaded a book that I think will probably give me more than a few nightmares. I'm reading "Day by Day Armageddon" by JL Bourne. I should have known better cause every Zombie book I've ever read and Zombie movie I've ever seen has given me some wicked weird night terrors. It does no good to be reminded that none of "it" is actually REAL,,, you know how your mind works when it's sleeping and collecting all those random thoughts from your day? Mine normally doesn't do that cause it's mostly thoughtlessly empty, but just let me read or watch a movie about the Undead and it's off to the firing neuron races and I end up awake at 3 a.m. convincing myself that those dogs aren't barking at anything resembling the,,,,undead.

Did I mention that this ebook has a sequel? You know what that means.

Ok, done with the brain twitches.

For day 6 of project 365 you can click here but you don't have to leave a comment. I'll try to put a link to that photoblog on facebook too.

I hope everyone is staying warm!!

Project 365-5

I couldn't get this to upload on my photoblog, not sure if it's due to my crappy HughesNet connection or a problem over at photoblog, so I'm posting it here.

Not much else happening around here today except that I wimped/wigged/freaked out whilst they tried to complete an MRI today and no amount of prodding or pleading will ever get me back in one of those things unless I'm totally unconscious! Guess they'll have to go some other route,,,they tell me they have open MRI machines somewhere.

I hope.

Mother Nature is Messing Around

See? Even my big, ol, fake, fat, frog has goosebumps. And a slight dusting of snow between his little froggy eyes. I was all prepared for a leisurely day at home,,,alone,,,and that tiny bit of snow shut down our wimpy school for the day, dammit.

Anyway, the sun broke through off and on, and then mostly on, and I got a pic for the 365 project when I got out of the bed or out from under my blanket for more than a second or two.

The weatherman speaks of more snow to come about mid-week and the frigid temps continue.

Baby It's Cold Outside!

These freezing temps are not doing one thing for my temperament. My feet are cold so I'm now sure that it's officially Winter time in eastern Arkansas.

Now I'll have to try to patiently wait for Spring, but patience is not one of my virtues.
Actually I'm not sure what/which, if any, virtues I have.

"A virtue is a character trait or quality valued as being good."

Well, maybe loyalty, or love. Those can be considered virtues can't they?

Anyway, enough rambling.

School starts back tomorrow ( creaky geriatric cartwheels, and squeals of delight) and the same old routine begins again.

And hey, I remembered day 3 of project 365! I'm on a roll here folks!

Day Two, over and out!

It's the evening of January 2nd already, before you know it, another January will be sliding on by.

Second picture of project 365 is of a delta sunrise.

We had leftovers and snacks today so the fridge is gradually emptying out of holiday fare. I'm thinking a good pot of soup would taste mighty fine for tomorrow. Maybe some chicken soup, yeah,,,,or some roasted rosemary chicken and veggies,,,,I guess I'll have to sleep on it.

Happy First Day of 2010!

I'm going to try to do the 365 photos, If

I don't forget,

And the creek don't rise and take my paddle,,,or something like that.

Jan. 1, 2010 photo.

I'm Ready for Anything.

Got Beer
Got Arbor Mist
Got Tia Maria for the coffee
Got snacks
Got movies
I'm ready to say adios to 2009 and welcome in a new decade!

You Know What?

I find it odd that reality TV has taken such a toe-hold in America.

,,,,I don't care if Tiger Woods had numerous girlfriends, he's still a great golfer. His girlfriends are nobodies business except his and his wife's.

,,,,I don't care if Jon and Kate are divorced. I don't think either of them are capable of thinking of anyone right now except themselves. The losers in all the drama are their children. How did their lives become so important that it had to be played out on TV anyway?

,,,,And don't get me started on OctoMom!

The best entertainment on TV lately has been the commercials. Have y'all seen the Beef Jerky commercials with the Sasquatch?

Christmas 09

Two of these are nieces, can you guess which ones (a hint, they're twins)? The other little divas are 5 of our granddaughters. This was the quietest they managed to be all evening; they were watching a movie on TV. I think it was a horror movie called Jack Frost or something very nonChristmasy.

Whew, I'm Beat!

I wanted to buy James a new shotgun for Christmas this year so today we went to Mack's Prairie Wing in Stuttgart, AR; quite a large sporting goods store. See the empty parking lot up there in the advertising photo? Well, today it was smack dab full, and as soon as I walked through the door and was bombarded with wall-to-wall human males clothed in cameo, I realized I had found Hell.

There wasn't room to walk so you sort of traversed with weaving motions through maze of bodies. Some were weaving themselves, some were merely standing in groups of 3 or more discussing their afternoon hunting plans, I believe some were even having family reunions. There were camouflaged persons who pushed and shoved their way through the aisles, and women with shopping carts prodding you from behind. Worst of all, it was impossible to tell which bodies were working there and which were shoppers, so after standing at one counter for about 30 minutes for a hunting knife purchase I'd had enough and started staggering my way through to the front doors and some much needed fresh air.

We did come home with a shotgun but we didn't buy it there cause I'm pretty sure we'd still be standing in line at one of those counters hoping that one of those folks we kept asking for help actually worked there.

I'm Trying here.

Tae Kwon Do is done till around mid-January.

I'm not through Christmas shopping and not sure when I will be.

Lacking the Christmas spirit and not sure it'll be happening.

Just all blah.