Back in the "Lower"

Greetings from... Seattle, y'all!
Sorry it's been so long since the last Moose Nugget entry, but we've been a bit preoccupied in the Moose Nugget Household. Hold yer horses, I'm fixin' to explain...

We had some busy holidays. We decided on a whim to host a Christmas party at the Little Farm on the Tundra. Amazingly enough, our 860 sq ft of home-ownership COMFORTABLY housed close to 30 people during our revelry. Kids upstairs, big kids in the TV room, grownups in the dining/kitchen area, and a handful of guests around the burn barrel outside (if you keep the beer out there, the men tend to congregate around it, regardless of the temps outside). The party was fun and J and I plan on making it an annual event. J's goal for next year is to replicate a scene from a Chevy Chase film with Christmas lights (Goodness, help me!). My goal is to set up sled rides for the kids, if the weather will cooperate.

The holidays in themselves were, um.... a little crazy.
I woke the night before Christmas Eve (Christmas Eve Eve?) to a lonely bed. My sweetheart had snuck out of bed and I could hear him rustling around in the den. "Hmmm," I thought to myself. "I must be getting something REALLY good for Christmas if he's sneaking around downstairs!"
This is what I thought until I heard the unmistakable sound of vomit hitting porcelain. J landed himself a case of food poisoning just in time for the holidays.
*SIGH*
Christmas Eve was spent simultaneously nursing J back to health while fussing at him to get the rest of the Christmas stuff accomplished. I won't lie, and I won't sugar coat. I was grumpy and mean about J being sick for Christmas. Top that off with the fact that no matter how sick moms are, WE don't get sick days, I wasn't going to humor J with a day of rest. Nope. I think sometime around noon I *MIGHT* have said something like, "Aw, put your big boy undies on and quit whining like you have female anatomy. We have stuff to do and I am NOT doing it by myself."
Yeah. I know. It was pretty mean. Especially since he really was pretty sick.
Don't worry. Karma found me. Turns out it wasn't food poisoning, but the flu. And I got it Christmas Day. And I didn't get to stay in bed because there was Christmas Dinner to prepare. And just when I thought that I had paid the Karmic gods, J left for work and BOTH girls got the flu the day he went back to work. I think J is still snickering something about "paybacks"...
*SIGH*

Well, we survived, anyhow. The holidays were also a little hectic because of a phone call we got Christmas Day. Little Nugget hasn't been feeling so great the last few months and was having a few health issues. The doctor called us Christmas Day with the news that her lab work came back and that we needed to take her to Children's Hospital in Seattle for some tests that can not be done in the entire state of Alaska.
Should know what's going on within the week, so keep watching for a post.

So thus, our New Year begins. It was with a heavy heart that Little Nugget and I gave Beans and J kisses and got on the next flight to Seattle.
I just want to say that leaving a toddler waving goodbye in the airport can really break a gal's heart. Calling her to say "good night" from a hotel room and hear her little heart break when she realizes that mommy's not going to be there to "snuggle you to bed" or read stories is just enough to make you want to hug a hotel pillow tight and cry your eyes out.

The day was not lost... Turns out that Little Nugget is a much better traveller than her sister. A little nursing on take-off, and the sweet pea slept through the entire flight. She woke and cooed at the other passengers when we deplaned, and giggled at the driver that picked us up at the airport.
My hotel room is lovely (if not entirely too quiet!), the hotel has a nice view, and we have a free day before all our appointments at the hospital start. I've never been to Seattle and always wanted to go... so tomorrow, Little Nugget and I will be bonafide tourists. Nervousness over the hospital trip aside, how bad can it be to be in a town where I can find a coffee shop on every street corner (and then some)?
Will I conquer my fear of heights enough to visit the Space Needle? Probably not. But I may run out of money before I make my way through Pike Place Market.

I wish I had fun and witty things to say today. The only commentary I have worth noting is that I caught myself giggling at people in the Seattle airport that were complaining about how "cold" it was (um, 51 F), and explaining to people that no, I really didn't think my daughter needed a COAT. And I should mention that after spending almost two years in a town with a population of less that 1000 people, I felt a bit like Jed Clampett from the Beverly Hillbillies, when he first arrived in Cal-EE-Forn-EE-Ya. Star-Struck and Mooney-Eyed...

Y'all don't worry too much about Little Nugget. If you are praying types, pray, or meditate or do whatever you think brings good news. I'll post when we know something definite.
Until then, I am going to be basking in the 50 degree heaven with a cup o' joe at my beck and call.

Until Next Time,
Happy Moose Trails!