Out with a bang

Well, maybe more of a whimper.  I've got the flu.  Type A, to be exact.  Got a fever on 12/26, was in the dr's office on 12/28, and apparently, I'll be on the couch for the foreseeable future.  Ugh.  I'm on Tamiflu, which means I'm already not spiking huge fevers and don't have horrible body aches, but, I'm also taking a z-pack (antibiotics) because the nurse practitioner (or maybe she was a physician's assistant? I have no idea. I practically fell asleep in the exam room.) didn't like the look of my throat.  And I may be slightly allergic to azithromycin (did I spell that right? Google doesn't know.), so now I'm all congested.  Which means that even though I'm drop-dead tired, I can't fall asleep because I can't breathe. Ugh.

And (just in case you didn't think I had whined enough), my hand hurts. From the surgery.  And is really stiff. Which makes me think I might end up needing physical therapy, because it's been over two weeks, and my hand still feels a bit swollen, and did I mention stiff? Sigh.

This is what it looked like two weeks ago, just after I took the dressing off of it.  Nice bruise, eh?

Here's what it looks like now. (In fact, I just took this picture--you can see my laptop in the background, where I'm actually typing this post.)  Much better, to be sure.  I'm just concerned with how weak it feels (the index finger, that is), and how sore it still is.  I go back to the doctor in about 2 1/2 weeks.

In some very big Towne House news, Miss Madeline got her braces off!

She is gorgeous, if I do say so myself.  We'll pick up her retainer later this week.  I also have to call an oral surgeon to schedule a visit to discuss a frenectomy.  Fun times ahead in 2013. 

We didn't make anywhere near the amount of Christmas cookies this year that we normally do (due to the hand surgery!), but Maddie was a trooper.  We tried a few new varieties, and were pretty happy with them!

These Coconut Clouds were amazing.  Maddie did the entire 12 dozen herself. I thought they tasted like an Almond Joy, but without the crunch of the almonds (just the flavor from extract).

We made these sugar cookies pre-surgery for my mom's cookie exchange.  It was Maddie's idea to dip the mitten cuffs in chocolate--I think they turned out pretty cute!

These are the Peppermint Twist cookies we made (also pre-surgery) for my fourth annual cookie exchange. A lot of work, but super-cute, and pretty tasty!

I think I have more cookie pictures on my camera--I'll try to upload them soon.

We found out on Christmas that my sister is coming to RI with her family for a visit next week.  We can't wait to see them--I just hope that I'm recovered enough to really get to enjoy spending time with them. My sister also surprised me by sending me seasons 1 & 2 of Downton Abbey on bluray!  I've got the whole family hooked--we'll be finishing up season 2 tomorrow. Can't wait for season 3 to air in the States!

That's about it for now.  I am sorry for how lax I've been about posting. I'll try to be better in 2013!