Poinsettias are not Poisonous.

I'd heard years ago the poinsettias are poisonous when ingested by pets. I bought a couple of beautiful plants last week and thoroughly lectured both my cats of the dangers. I don't keep any other real plants in my house, and I knew they would be nosy. Within an hour I had to chase Salem away from the plant several times. Luckily he scares easily. Well, this morning there are pieces of poinsettia all over the floor. It looks as if a little mouse chewed upon the leaves, or my ginormous cat. So I did a little research and found that this is just one of those of wives tales. Phew...... Poinsettias have never been reported to cause anyone or any animal to fall ill.

Other interesting myths debunked that I found:
*Suicides do not increase over the Christmas holidays.
*Sugar does not make kids hyperactive.
*Douching with Coca-Cola is not an effective contraceptive method.
*Not wearing a hat causes one to lose excessive body heat. (try telling this to your Grandma).
*Eating at night makes you more likely to pack on the pounds.
*There is no cure for a hangover that consistently works.

Source: British Medical Journal's annual Christmas issue, Los Angeles Times 2008

Christmas Rush

I feel the stress of my long to do list. Even though Christmas is over a week away, I feel like I have too much to do. I have a to do list everyday until Christmas. That is kinda sad. I've been doing a lot of shopping, it is the only thing I feel mostly done with. Do you ever think you're done buying gifts and then realize later it would be nice if you got something for so and so too? That's the shopping point that I'm at. One more small thing here and there...........

The one thing I'm good at doing when I go Christmas shopping is buying things for myself. I've been a pro at it this season. I keep seeing things that "I need." Or deals that "I just can't pass up." The best purchase so far was an electric mattress pad. Oh, is this a warm cozy invention. Perfect for me because I'm chronically cold. It has dual heat controllers so I can keep my side toasty and Ryan can do as he wishes. Our bedroom tends to be the chilliest room in the house, so it is awesome!

The big cookie thaw begins later this week. I'll be baking up only two more batches of cookies and thawing out the rest to platter and tin up.

Ultrasound Update

Yesterday I received a voice mail from my Dr. saying that on the ultrasound pictures from last week there is a echogenic intracardiac focus (EIF) on the left ventricle of the baby's heart. Which sometimes can indicate chromosomal abnormalities. She wanted me to go to a maternal-fetal specialists for a second opinion and second ultrasound. So of course I stressed out. This morning I was able to get in for a second ultrasound at the specialists office. The technician was great, very thorough and immediately told me that she see's eif's frequently and that it is normal. Sometimes eif's are an indicator of Down's syndrome, or trisomy 18 and 13, but most of the time they are just a normal variance that have no effect what so ever on the baby. They took lots of measurements and were very thorough and everything looked great. She said typically if this was something to be concerned about she would find other risk factors of which there are none. So no worries!! The final report will still be done by the high risk Dr. and my Dr., but I feel certain that all is well. I have a scheduled appointment/check up tomorrow so I can go over everything then too. So I view the whole experience as just an opportunity to see the little one again. She was still just as active. I got some great new pictures. It's nice to know my Dr. is thorough and checks into everything, I just wonder if sometimes it's just a little to over cautious. I like knowing that everything is good, but I don't like the worry that I felt last night. Maybe my Dr. could have just approached this differently............