Update

I know a lot of you were wondering, Girl is doing much better. She's still congested; still using the the nebulizer. She no longer fights it though which makes it much easier. She is also still cranky as hell.
Boy is back home. He had fun, but was homesick, though you'd never really know because after two nights in his own bed, he wanted to spend New Year's Eve at the farm. He definitely had more fun there than he would have with Mr. Hobbitfeet and I as we were both asleep well before midnight (hey, you deal with a sick kid for a week and see what a party animal you are). Boy on the other hand stayed up til 2 a.m. watching Little Nicky, which I would have never allowed (edited television version notwithstanding).
My house is still a mess, but the Christmas decorations are gone, much to Girl's dismay. She sobbed and wanted to kiss all of the decorations goodbye. She also got very mad when I packed up the few decorations we had allowed her to keep in her room (a snow bear that my mom gave her on her first Christmas and a wreath with her picture in it that she made at school). She also tried to hide my Santa nesting doll so it couldn't be put away. She got in trouble for that one. I truly felt like the Grinch when Cindy Lou Who says "Santy Claus why? Why are you taking our Christmas tree? Why?" But I had all the Christmas spirit I could take. Nevertheless, the minute the Christmas purging started to take place, Girl demanded that she be allowed to watch Elf one last time, and we relented for no other reason then it would keep her occupied long enough to get the tree down.
Honestly though, we don't pack away the Christmas movies. They are just kept behind all the other movies, as are the Christmas CDs. So if Girl really wants to indulge again before next year, it may be allowed to happen.

New Year's Funk

Now that Christmas is past I am in my December doldrums. Why is that? I HATE New Year's Eve. That is right I am a New Year's Grinch.
I have never been one to enjoy bars or big crazy parties. I am a person too inside myself for that. I am crap at making small talk, I hate to dance, and despise loud music. And to me that is the entire hype of New Year's. I think the best N.Y.E that I have ever had is the one that changed 2002 in to 2003 when Mr. Hobbitfeet and I stayed in and played Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on his new PS2 all night. Seriously. About 15 minutes after midnight we were like "Oh yeah happy new year. Now let's toss some gnomes."
Now I believe the other reasons for this hatred are threefold:
1. Boy's other Grandma almost always has Boy on this day.
2. As a child, my cousin K. and I were forced to play Baby New Years, well past the age when it was appropriate. There were younger cousins, why were we singled out? I know I am scarred for life, most likely K. is as well.
3. Any year that I have done something, it has been awful. I won't go into too much detail, but going out on New Year's has involved uncomfortable sleeps in the floor (once not nearly far enough away from some one's brother who kept loudly and fragrantly farting all night), drink induced sickness, and once, most horribly, a boyfriend purposely spitting his fake front teeth (the real ones having been lost in a high school wrestling match) into my mouth during our New Year's kiss because, in his drunken state, it seemed like a hysterical joke. Actually it led to me immediately dumping him and wanting very much vomit purposely in his mouth to show him how hysterical it actually was.
So while others are making their plans to go to bars and party like rock stars, I try to figure the best way to hide under a large rock until epiphany roles around.