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This photo is from the inside of my very own snowglobe on Christmas Eve. We got 14 inches of snow in less than 12 hours.

My next two wishes are for Brandon to kick butt on his exam on Wednesday and for us to win the $1.22 million Powerball lotto today.

Please, please, please! I hope Santa isn’t off duty yet.

I can’t even describe how much it is snowing right now.

The fluffy white stuff is swirling and blizzarding and sticking to every inch of Maddy’s face. Suh is running around eating it. I’m trying to keep it from blowing in the crack in the front door.

It’s awesome.

I managed to get home from the hospital earlier this morning before it got really bad. I am now hunkered down in front of a non-stop* stream of TV movies and hot mugs. Unfortunately, the snow is going to mean Brandon will probably end up working a double shift tonight because his 11pm relief can’t get in from Tulsa.

For those of you keeping track, he’s working 24 out of 48 hours this Christmas.

We’ll be opening presents as soon as he gets home at 7am!

*Scratch that. I’m earning my warm-up down-time by helping push vehicles spinning out on our street. People here seriously do not know how to drive in snow/ice.

I just read Fish’s post about making a Christmas list to help out her loved ones. Brandon was similarly stumped this year since his brain cells are being spent on more important things like studying for the USMLE Step 1.

I haven’t made a list in a looong time. I thought about getting out a piece of paper and a pencil to write “Dear Santa,” but ended up going the old-fashioned email route in the end. I haven’t bought anything for myself or gone shopping in such a long time that it was actually a lot of fun. Imagining, day-dreaming, wishing, hoping. I didn’t make a list based on winning the current $122 million lotto jackpot. But I did find it easy enough to pick out a few things that I would buy for myself if I had a source of income and a plug in the ever-leaking tuition drain.

So, what things did I put on my list? Oh, a few warm woolly sweaters, a luxurious bathrobe and slippers, some stuff that smells good for girls, Italian charms for the bracelet I got for my birthday, a family favourite tile game, a game for the Wii, and the Washington Manual of Medical Therapeutics.

This morning, there are more presents under the tree than I think either of us expected. They are all wrapped in Amazon boxes and padded mailers and I think there’s one in a Wal-Mart bag. I was worried about Brandon’s making it on time and it arrived 2 days early! Hooray for the US Postal Service! I know he’s going to try to talk me into opening a few tonight. But I plan to stand firm(!) and wait for tomorrow morning. Or at least 12:01 AM.

You may be wondering what was on Brandon’s list. It was a short one. The only thing he really, really, really wants more than anything in the whole wide world is to pass his exam on December 30th. I wish more than anything that I could wrap that up with a big red bow. Or re-used Wal-Mart bag.

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! After reaping the rewards of fighting holiday mall parking lots, may you enjoy the blessings that come with giving a few small, thoughtful gifts to friends and family.

And if you chose to abstain from the commercialism of this celebrated holiday, may you enjoy piles of good food and bad Christmas movies on TV!

Right now, Janice and Jameson (my younger sister and brother) are headed home from the airport in Saskatchewan.

Brandon and his parents booked them a super secret surprise trip down here to visit me for Christmas!

Their flight was canceled due to a snowstorm.

Dang!

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photo: from November 2006 in Prince George, British Columbia.

May the weather gods look down on this post with mercy and consider it a befitting rain snow dance.

C’mon, Santa! It’s not like I’m asking for a pony!

“It is by chance that we met, by choice that we became friends.”
~ Unknown

I wanted to thank the following ladies for upping to the holiday cheer quotient around here:

Jillian – I curled up in bed with a cuppa cocoa last night. I have been drooling over the latest homemade bottled Christmas gifts on your blog.

Laurie – The cards are beautiful. I am looking forward to thinking up occasions to mail them in the new year.

Joanne – So much oatmeal, so little time! YUM! Thank you for rounding out the food groups in our holiday snacking plans.

You gals rock. Thank you!

This time of year is sort of depressing down here in Oklahoma-wherethewindgoessweepingdowntheplain. I wish it was colder and snowier or warmer and greener. I’m not used to living in a place that is cold enough for plants to freeze and die, but not cold enough to get a nice blanket of snow to cover all the ugly stuff up.

I finished one cross-stitch project and started another. I splurged on a couple balls of yarn and am crocheting a stripey scarf. I finished one book and started another. I decorated Christmas cookies last night. Some carefully for looking. Others not-so-carefully for eating. I found an awesome present for Brandon. He seems to have an awesome surprise for me. Brandon had to run out and buy an emergency plunger last night. He finally found a dinner dish (that he liked, but) I just couldn’t(!) eat. I’m sure he’ll write about it on his blog. Grandma is in the hospital, but out of the woods. I have 4 weeks left of Internal Medicine. Mom- and Dad-in-law will be here to visit in 2 weeks. Brandon has 13 days left until Step 1. Christmas is only a week away. My Mom’s birthday is on Saturday.

Thank you to everyone that sent Christmas cards! And hot chocolate! And photo cards! You really know how to make us smile!

It’s 645am. I just ran outside to warm-up the truck. Soon, I will pick up Brandon from work and he will drop me off at the hospital and come home to sleep.

This is how we will say good-bye to 2009.

I’m seeing Santa everywhere. Yesterday, a fellow student motioned to a patient being wheeled into the ICU and said, “Santa!” He was right! Well, it was either Santa or ZZ Top.

We got more Christmas goodies in the mail from Brandon’s parents! ‘Tis the season to try and teach Suh to sit still for a photo. You can see Maddy looking rather bored. After more than 6 years of putting up with my lens in her face, she knows it’ll be over faster if she’s patient and indulgent.

I love the stripey pom-pom scarves!

Brandon opened the boxes of dishes and said “Oh, these are obviously for you.” Hee! Not that he doesn’t need dishes to eat on… Just that I’m more likely to appreciate both the festiveness and domestic-ness of the gift. He’s right. I love the holly pattern!

And what did Brandon get? His new PS3 is safely tucked away unopened until after he takes the USMLE Step 1 on December 30th.

Brandon and I don’t really have any money to spend on each other, but I hear there’s some other Big Super Secret Surprise on its’ way for Christmas Day…

As an aside, I’ve been trying to figure out how to write more about school/work. I’m worried that even if I change every identifiable detail and make-up fake patients, someone will read and think I’m talking about someone in real life and get their knickers in a knot. Brandon thinks I need to tell the story of the swollen scrotum. I kinda wanted to share the little old lady on morphine. Plus, there are tons of acid-base-electrolyte stuff that I learn and digest every single day. I can hardly begin to describe how awesome it is.

My life is really amazing right now.

I. love. Christmas.

It’s sappy and commercialized. It’s expensive and gratuitous. But there is just something about this time of year that makes me all warm and fuzzy. It essentially defies explanation, but probably has something to do with a childhood of fun-filled family get-togethers and celebrations of food. Coming from a Mennonite family in Saskatchewan with 6 aunts and uncles that each have 4 or 5 kids does not make for small, cozy Christmases. They were big and loud and jolly and fun. My cousin, sister and I were pretty close in age, so we almost always got the same thing (in different colours) from our grandparents. We had to time the opening of our presents *just right* or the surprise would be spoiled.

As you can see, the tree is up! This photo is for my awesome mom- and dad-in-law. When we were all in Lincoln for the OU game, they took me shopping (without Brandon – *mwahaha!*) and bought us a tree with red (for the Huskers) and green (for the Riders) ornaments. The box in the picture under the tree is a big blow-up thingy that I just finished pegging down in the front yard. Wait’ll you see it. It’s almost as awesome as the 20′ Santa my dad-in-law tried to convince me Brandon wouldn’t kill me for bringing home.

And now, since I’m in such a festive spirit, I’m off to start our Christmas cards! If you want to send us one this year, we would *LOVE* to hear from you and support the postal service in your direction. I’m trying to figure out a way to share our mailing address with all of you non-creepy folks without worrying about the creepy folks… Suggestions are welcome! Or just drop me an email.