It's 5:34 a.m and I'm sitting here by the lights of the Christmas tree, sipping on some cranberry tea. Since I've been up since 4:15 a.m I'm pretty much ready for work as well. Though I feel very tired, I love my mornings like this. It's so peaceful and I feel ready to face the day by time Tanner wakes up.

Steve went back to the Neurosurgeon yesterday for a checkup on his back. They did the big x-rays and said that the hardware and the fusion both look really good. Praise God! There are no loose pins and the fusion is doing what it should. It takes up to a year for the fusion to completely heal, but right now, we're right where we should be. Steve's got some sciatic nerve pain still due to the scar tissue. It's not as bad as it was at one time, but still there nonetheless. The Dr said that may or may not ever go away. It's just a waiting game.

Steve is currently taking the new drug Lyrica for the nerve pain. It's a pain blocker so it doesn't make you drowsy or anything like regular pain pills would/do. It's working well and hopefully that will continue to help. The bad part of that though is that our insurance doesn't cover Lyrica unless you have a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. Since Lyrica is a new drug, it's super expensive. Right now both our family Dr and the Neurosurgeon are giving us samples. They have both said they will do that as long as they have samples. I'm just hoping and praying that the insurance will start covering it before the Dr's run out of samples.

Matt (my little brother that was in the bad wreck) found out yesterday that he's having shoulder surgery on December 17. They are going to "decompress" his shoulder and fix whatever else is messed up in there. I don't understand it all, but a bone that's supposed to be growing down is growing/healing straight out. They will go in and shave that off. He's also got a fracture that still hasn't healed so they will fix that as well. He will only have 80% usage of his shoulder from here on out. Not bad considering the boy should have been dead! It's an outpatient surgery and they plan on staying in KC for a couple of weeks afterwards, so that means they'll be around for Christmas. YAY!

Another blessing for him is that he got officially released by the neck Dr yesterday. The Dr cautioned him about going back to work as a Police Officer and told him to be extra careful in general. Should he suffer another head injury, it would more than likely kill him. The shoulder Dr. said though, that he'll never work again as a Police Officer, so we aren't worried about that. He is still doing his brain rehab, but I think it's still a little too soon to know if it's helping or not yet.

We decorated the tree a little bit last night! I just love this time of year. Tonight we're going to finish the tree and I think I'll get started on the annual cookie making. I thought about starting it this morning since I was up so early, but then decided to wait until tonight.

Our work Christmas party is Dec. 13 at the Country Club here in town. I'm on the committee planning the party and will be busy helping out with things that night. In the past, we've not had Tanner with us on Christmas party nights. This year, she's with us and will get to go. She is going to be Steve's date. (Although she told him she can't be his date because he's already married to Mom) She and I are going to go buy her a dress and shoes to wear. It's not a formal party, but a dressy one and she doesn't have any dressy dresses. It's so cute though because they are both excited. It just melts my heart. I think it's cute and can't wait to see them both dressed up and together!

I guess that's all for now. I think I'll go put Steve's coffee on and get started on Tanner's breakfast. Have a fabulous Tuesday!

Blessings!