Christmas Pictures

Well- i didn't take many pictures on Christmas Day- it was a busy busy day.
We spent the morning at Daniel Island to visit with Berry's family, the afternoon at my parent's house, and then was on call at the hospital for the rest of the evening.

Only a few pictures to show for my busy day....


Tiberius stuck in his kennel


The big boy and his grandma Camille



Mary Ellen and Camille

Christmas lunch at my parent's house.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve Dinner

As i said in my previous post, Berry and i host Christmas Eve Dinner at our house each year.

This year was exceptionally fun because we had a "low country" themed dinner. We had venison (which Berry shot), Sea Trout Cakes (which Berry caught), sweet potato biscuits, and mashed potatoes with Clemson blue cheese. For dessert, we had pecan pie (made with pecans from Manning) and Blueberry pie (made with blueberries from Manning).

I think the evening went great (considering i preped the food the night before and had berry finish most of it the day of because i was at work til 6:30 AND our dishwasher was on the blink).

Enjoy the pics!



The main dining room (complete with the bar)







Mary, Paul, and Berry enjoying our salads




Mom and Camille (note the stuffed bloodhound on the bar!)

Grandparents and Berry's aunt and uncle (and my dad with the camera)

Mom and Dad

The Aftermath- thank goodness my dishwasher was working by then! I ran it three times to finish all the dishes!!

Camille, mom & dad, Neannie, and Mary Ellen (Berry's grandmother)

Unloading my camera

So i finally unloaded my camera- pictures of christmas parties, dinners, and Christmas morning!

As you may (or may not) know, my father is the Chairman of ENT at MUSC. It is a great job for him to have- it brought him to Charleston, which in turn brought me to Charleston (and med school, residency, and fellowship!)
I LOVE working in the same hospital as my dad and am always impressed at how nice he is towards his Department!

Anyway, the ENT Christmas Party is held at my parent's house....here are some pics....


Buffet of shrimp and grits, crab cakes, tenderloin, duck, and some other yummies!

Dessert......yummy!

The bar!

Appetizers- tuna, shrimp, cheeses, fruits, and other delish stuff

The Matriarch of the family-

Jean Prather

The girls- me, Neannie, Taylor, and Mom

Dad and Mom

Paul and Erika (21 wks pregnant!)

My family! :)

Tis the season

A few years ago, Berry and I decided to host a Christmas Eve dinner for our family. I can't remember why we decided to do it- maybe it was to make sure we got our families together (both sides) for good food and drinks.
This decision has turned into a family tradition and tonight marks the 3rd annual Hiott Christmas Eve Dinner.

Unfortunately, this years preparations haven't gone as smoothly as i would have liked it- since i have to work today, i decided to clean, set up, and cook yesterday. So after i got off of work yesterday at 5 pm, i rushed home, set both dinning room tables and started cooking.
-Blueberry pie
-Collards in the crockpot
-Acorn squash in the crockpot
-Peppermint cookies
-Sweet potato biscuits
After doing all of this, my dishwasher was full!!

And then i started on the potatoes. I peeled about 20 small potatoes.....and stuck the peels down the disposal. Flipped in on and *glug glug glug*. Didn't work. Water started backing up. Water filled up the sink. CRAP!
I broke the disposal.
In a last ditch effort, i pushed the reset button.......nothing.

So now i can't run my dishwasher and can't use one side of my sink. And since i am at work today, Berry has to wash all of the dishes.....and clean up all of my mess........i am sure he isn't thrilled!!!!

Dear Santa

I loved writing Santa letters when i was younger.....what kid doesn't? You get to ask for tons of presents....toys, toys, more toys, clothes, jewelry, etc. AND you don't have to do anything for these presents. Santa just brings them to your house and places them under the tree and *poof*! You wake up Christmas morning and tear into your undeserved presents.





For this blog i thought about what i would want for christmas. Momentarily it went like this:

1) Diamond earrings
2) A bloodhound puppy
3) New clothes- preferably from Express, Urban Outfitters, Jessicas, Red Dress Boutique (my new fav store)
4) Pretty shoes



And when i look at what i want.....WOW....how selfish! Only thinking of me. And i don't NEED any of those things...i just want them. Big difference



So putting myself aside for a few minutes, and thinking about the bigger picture, i am re-writing my list.



This is what i would like:

1) A healthy family (incluing a possible...i am saying possible..... new addition in 2011 or 2012.
2) Patience and dedication to study and learn what i need to study and learn
3) A family that gets along and helps out each other :)
4) A good balance of work, family, and "me" time (which includes exercising)
5) And maybe some small diamond earrings.

:)



I think my second list is a lot less selfish. Again, i don't NEED all of those things but they are at least obtainable and reasonable. And i think my hubby would FLIP if i got another dog.

I am very blessed. My family lives close by and i get to spend a lot of time with them. My family is healthy and i have a wonderful husband and daughter. And i am alive- i am breathing, healthy, and doing what i love. I am very blessed.

"A squirrel is just a rat with a cuter outfit!"

"A squirrel is just a rat with a cuter outfit!" said Carrie Bradshaw as she encountered a squirrel on the window ledge of the "country" house that her boyfriend Aidan built.

I use this quote because we have a new addition to our family. And while i would like our new addition to be a 4 legged wrinkly bloodhound, it is not. It is a bushy tailed small rodent....a squirrel. Now, i am not quite sure how a squirrel got into our garage but it has been living in the garage attic for some time.

I first found evidence of our new guest right after Thanksgiving, as i was getting the christmas decorations out. I noticed one of Berry's guitar cases had been chewed up....and i mean, pretty much the entire outer part of the case had been eaten.

"Beeeeeeerrrryyyy! Come here!" And with that yell, the battle against the squirrel began.

The squirrel has become a bit more ballsy. At first we didn't even know he (or she) was living in the garage. But i think with the cold, he (or she) wants to get closer to the warmth of the house....because the garage is not heated, mind you. He (or she) has been crawling through the walls of the garage, getting closer to our tv room and bedroom......we can hear him moving around. And even though we have been setting traps to catch him, the little bugger keeps on eating the peanut butter off the trap and not even setting off the trap at all!

And then today, i found in our laundry room /dog kennel room (which is connected to the garage), that the squirrel had knocked over the dog treat bag and chewed a hole in it....eating all the delicious treats that are meant for MY BABIES......NOT THIS DANG SQUIRREL!

I am not quite sure what to do now....i don't want him hurt but i want him OUT OF MY HOUSE!

I am pretty sure if i came face to face with this squirrel, i would scream like Carrie Bradshaw did when she saw the squirrel. I however, do not think i could give him props for his outfit.....i don't care what he wears, i just want him to stop destroying stuff in my house!!!

Sesquicentennial Day of Secession

Today marks the sesquicentennial anniversary of the signing of the Ordinance of Secession for South Carolina. The 2 bottom photos are of the original which was on display today in the Charleston Museum.

Now being a Southerner and especially a South Carolinian, I have had the opportunity/benefit of being educated with our history as it actually occurred and not how it is generally taught....through Politically Correct colored glasses. I could spend much time discussing the War of Northern Aggression and slavery, etc... but I will not. I will only say that the Late Unpleasantness was as much about slavery as invading Iraq was about weapons of mass destruction. Sure, it was a part of it but not nearly as big a part as most students are led to believe. If you doubt, ask yourself this as a primer. What are most wars about? Money and power! And the things that give, grant, or otherwise garner that money and power.

Regardless, South Carolinians like myself have a code very similar to the Marine Corps (code). Family (Unit), South Carolina (Corp), Jesus Christ (God), USA (Country). If some force, foreign or domestic invades my Motherland, then HELL YES I will defend her!!

One of my favorite childhood movies...

This was one of my favorite movies as a kid....i even remember wearing a tee-shirt that says "I saw Harry" to bed all the time.





So when i found it for sale for $5 (DVD) on Amazon, i jumped on it. I wanted taylor to see movies from my childhood that i loved....good wholesome family movies. Wholesome movies like that one, The Goonies, and Karate Kid (part 1 and 2, not 3). No vampires, teenage angst, or serial killers....just good wholesome story lines. An occasional cuss word. And a lot of laughter.

So we watched it last night.....taylor liked it all right...didn't LOVE it (hey, it doesn't have Bella or Edward in it), but it was a really nice family movie and i am glad we were able to watch it together.


Anybody else have some fun 80's movies we could watch together???

Not much to say...

So, unfortunately i don't have much to say today......it's cold, i'm working, and i'm tired.
Those three statements pretty much sum up my life and sum up the past 14 days of December.


I cannot believe that Christmas is 11 days away. It sure feels like it- the weather is blustery and cold (19 degrees with wind chill this morning) and the city (including my house, all store, and even the hospital) is decorated for Christmas. But in other ways it doesn't feel like it. Taylor will be gone visiting her dad and i will be working. I shouldn't complain, as i had thanksgiving free from hospital call, but there is something about working on a holiday that is just depressing.


I do have to show off our Christmas tree this year......which isn't really a Christmas tree at all. I didn't feel like getting it out of storage and getting all the ornaments out, just to not have taylor here and to be working on Christmas day. So i opted to buy this instead.....i love it!





I'll try to get a pic of it with all the presents under it (and not the pic from the side of the box). It really is adorable!
:)

The Lords of Discipline, Conrack, The Great Santini, The Prince of Tides

I just met Pat Conroy. He was very personable, gracious, and funny as hell. For example, when I told him I teach psychology he stated that he taught it for two years himself. And all he had to do to teach the course was go through the members of his family. A paranoid schizophrenic here, a manic depressive there, etc.... He also asked how my mother was doing after I informed him that she just retired as a English teacher. I said, "keeping her self busy so as not to go stir crazy." He stated I know the feeling as his grandmother used to say. "get me the frack out of this house." Above are a few pictures from the event and below a few qoutes of the author that I like. His parting words to me were, "Berry, you live in the most beautiful city on earth." I responded, "Pat, I know."

"My mother, Southern to the bone, once told me, "All Southern literature can be

summed up in these words: 'On the night the hogs ate Willie, Mama died when she heard what Daddy did to sister."

"Since the day I was born, I have been worried that heaven would never be half as beautiful as Charleston, the city formed where two rivers meet in ecstasy to place a harbor and a bay and an exit to the world."

"To my mother, a library was a palace of desire masquerading in a wilderness of books. She distributed books to me a though ther were communion wafers."

"You get a little moody sometimes but I think that's because you like to read. People that like to read are always a little fucked up."

"Man wonders but God decides when to kill the Prince of Tides."

Is it really that bad?

In light of what happened at Taylor's school yesterday, i am writing this blog.

For those who don't know, a 16 year old 10th grader, Aaron Williams, who goes to Academic Magnet, doused his clothes with lighter fluid and lit a match. Quick thinking of students and staff put out the fire and he was transferred to MUSC. He was then airlifted to the Agusta Burn Center (as MUSC doesn't have one), where he passed away this afternoon.

There was a lot of spectulation about what happened and if it was on purpose or by accident but from what has been told to us and the students, it was a suicide. It has been reported that there was a suicide note left in his car and that there was no bullying involved. Apparently Aaron had friends, wasn't "popular" but was liked, and had a good home life.

I sit here writing this and feel so grief stricken......I couldn't imagine losing Taylor and cannot fathom what this boy's parents are going through right now. For those who helped with his medical care- the doctors, nurses, paramedics, ER staff- it must have been such a difficult job but thank you for caring for him.
And of course this makes me think of my friend, Gibby, who took his own life after high school. Another life that was ended too soon.


When things like this happen, so many questions are left unanswered. Why? Why there? Why then? Is life really that bad??

IT IS SOOOOO COLD!

It is cold outside, i mean REALLY cold! I woke up to find it is 29 degrees outside and then watched the news and saw that it is going to be 20 degrees tonight! AHHHHHHHH!!


But the real way i can tell it is cold is that Tiberius sleeps beside me all night long. Usually, my bed mate starts off sleeping beside me and once he gets too hot, he moved to the floor on his "bed." However, when it gets cold outside, our wood floors get cold, and that means his bed is cold. And mine is warm and apparently even Tiberius gets cold. So he sleeps beside me....all night long.....snoring, dreaming, and just in general being a big doofy.

Berry gave me one of the best presents ever a few years ago (besides diamonds, of course)....an electric blanket. I would turn it on a hour or so before bedtime and then jump into a nice warm bed. I used it so much that the heating coils stopped working on my side and i had to flip the blanket around and use the other side of heating coils. Those stopped working after a year too.

So, i am now on the hunt for two electric blankets. A queen size for taylor and then a king size for myself. It will make this cold season much more tolerable!

It's a.......

........white icing baby??????



Ok- so my sister-in-law, Erika, asked us a few weeks ago to come over tonight to find out what they were having- a boy or a girl. Paul and Erika had an ultrasound on Friday and the plan was this: they weren't going to find out the sex of the baby. Instead they were going to have "girl" or "boy" written in a sealed envelope and were going to take that envelope to a bakery. There, they were going to have them bake a cake with the icing on the inside either be blue (for a boy) or pink (for a girl).

Here are the votes for boy vs girl....

While i wasn't crazy about the idea....i like to know things, i HATE secrets......it was an exciting way to find out. Erika and Paul had all of our family over and it was nice to be able to share the experience with all of them. And i did get in the spirit and was excited to find out as well.Now, i have to say that i don't have any pictures of them actually finding out (because i video taped it, which i am NOT allowed to put up on the web), but i'll describe it.

Picture all of us gathered around their dining room table. They had my grandmother, Neannie, cut the cake, as a birthday present (remember, her birthday was a few days ago). Neannie cut the cake, got a large slice out and we all stared at the piece. The icing was WHITE. Not pink, not blue, but WHITE. And the look of Erika's face when she figured out that Publix had messed up was horrible. She looked like someone ran over her puppy dog.As all of us were "boo-ing" and cursing Publix, Paul ran into the kitchen to get the ultrasound picture (which i know he peeked at while he was getting it) and gave it to Neannie. He made her read it outloud (which was hard for her because she didn't have her glasses) and she said, "its a boy??" And he goes, "nooooo...." And then she says "its a girl?!?!?" and bursts into tears.

So then of course we cut the rest of the cake and celebrate that they are having a girl. I am going to be an Aunt to a little Lambert girl- in April 2011! So exciting!!!

Congrats to the happy couple!!!

The famous white icing cake........

PICA

Pica is the persistent eating of substances with no nutrition, such as dirt or paint.

And yup, someone in our family has been diagnosed with it. That person would be Tiberius, our 3 year old red bloodhound. It started innocently- he would grab tissues out of the trash or out of the Kleenex box but it has now turned into a full blown problem.

You can't even leave him by himself anymore...unless he is sleeping. He pretty much eats anything that is paper. Newspaper, magazines, books, and even has taken a liking to Berry's stack of C of C psych tests.

I have done a bit of reading on it and it apparently is because he is either 1) bored or 2) wants attention. Well sorry i cannot provide attention to him during the 10 hours of the day that he is awake (he really does sleep about 14 hrs a day) but seriously! So demanding! If he ever gets a hold of my magazines or cookbooks, he is going to be dead!!!




The initial paper trail.....

Berry's tests from his C of C classes

Taylor's Stephen King novel.....