It's official!

We're getting a new family member! Our daughter accepted her boyfriend's proposal of marriage this week and now he is her fiance. It's exciting. They are planning a spring 2026 wedding.

A great get away.

We took a break this week and went to St. Louis. It's a halfway point for my son and daughter-in-law in Arkansas, so they drove about 5 hours and we drove about 5 hours. We had a great time. We did the transportion museum, the history museum, the arch, the city museum, Ikea and all kinds of fun things, stayed in an air Bnb and played board games, video games and yard games. We cooked and ate it seems almost continually. We added a new vacation member, my daughter's boyfriend, to the group and he fits in perfectly. It was a wonderful trip. It's those moments when we are all together that make all the effort of preparing and packing and traveling worth it.

Happy Spring!

We're still hanging in there. We're gradually recovering our spunk from the issues of 2023, but it's not without lingering effects. My husband is still on oxygen from Covid. My daughter still has hip pain from her hip fracture. But, we're feeling pretty good about life and planning our summer. We are going to have a nice vacation with the kids from Arkansas and are adding our daughter's boyfriend in for this one. He's going to get to experience our family 24/5 (it's a 5 day vacation!). I hope he's ready for that, lol. The main part of this year that's been remarkable has been the weather here in Kentucky, we've had snow, flooding, snow and flooding. We've done a lot of emergency preparedness, but the flooding hasn't reached us and our power didn't go out (it's weird), so it didn't seem too disastrous here at our house. 

 My job has completely changed since we got a new program at work and eliminated the need for transcription, so I am back out on the trail, looking for a new job. It is not fun to do at any age, but when you are 60, it's worse. Trust me. And pray I find something! I need a place to hide out for the next few years that I don't simply hate, like I do my job now.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday.

Trying to recover from 2023.

Last year was not the best for our family. We started out the year with me falling and fracturing/dislocating my elbow. We spent the summer and early fall with my husband being in the hospital and almost dying several times with sepsis, congestive heart failure, pulmonary embolism and covid. That was in August. In November, I got bursitis in my knee and ended up in a walker for 2 months. In December my daughter broke her hip. My husband and I have pretty much recovered, but my daughter is still going through it with orthopedic visits and she can't go back to work yet. At some point during the year, my son also sprained his ankle at work. So wow, have we seen the orthopedic doctors this year. So many of them! It's been crazy. Now I'm in the process of probably losing my job. It's just been really stressful. There HAVE been good times. We had a wonderful vacation in July in Tennessee. We've celebrated birthdays. We've celebrated the end of physical therapy (for now, Lol). We've had a lot of video calls back and forth with our kids in Arkansas. One of the kids has a new significant other. It's new, but seems to be going well. We've done a ton of thrift shopping, some gathering with friends and family, some board games and video games. We are hoping for a better year in 2025 and complete healing of all the body parts that still need it. :-O

Updates.

We've been in recovery phase since August. My husband this weekend has been getting out and doing all the maintenence on the vehicles and I am gearing up for next week's (!) combination Thanksgiving and Christmas celebration. I've been trying to think what to call it, Christ-giving or Thanks-Mas. We love a good silly name. We are cautiously optomistic about the future, though it has been kind of a rough year. I wanted to update in case anyone is still reading and say thanks for the prayers and warm thoughts. We really appreciate it. We've had the most beautiful fall ever this year so I'll share some pictures of that.

August 2023 - To Sum Up.

We had an awful time in August of this year. My husband got a small rash on his leg that very quickly, within hours, turned into cellulitis, and by the time we got to the ER a few hours after the rash started, to sepsis. Sepsis is treated with antibiotics and fluids. He had an allergic reaction to the first antibiotic (his first ever to a medicine) and went into fluid overload / congestive heart failure due to the fluids. That was on August 5th. After 10 days in the hospital, he was discharged home to recover. He didn't want to get up and walk on the leg because it hurt, so he spent a lot of time (too much, it turns out) on the couch. Then he got a blood clot in his leg and it moved from his leg into his left pulmonary artery. Pulmonary embolism. Second trip to the ER. Second time admitted to the hospital. This time, for only 4 days, thankfully. He came home on oxygen. So far, he's missed four complete weeks of work. I worked in between so I didn't miss quite as much. It's been so stressful and awful. I have seriously wondered if I will make it many times. To top it off, in between the two hospitalizations, everyone in our family got sick. My husband, daughter and I got COVID and our son got strep throat. We were all extremely ill. Right now, we are getting over COVID and waiting for the clot in my husband's artery to resolve on blood thinners. Please pray it does soon. I tell you all of this, to tell you something funny that I thought/did. I was walking down the hospital hallway that is about a city block long (no exageration) and I suddenly thought. "How am I doing this? How am I propelling myself down this hallway". (This was after hours and hours in the ER). I thought "It can't be food, because I haven't had any. It can't be water/hydration because I haven't had any. No coffee. It can't be sleep because I haven't had any." Walking some more. "Maybe it's prayer". Walking some more. "I hope it's fat cells". Another funny thing I did was to give myself a pep talk. Between the hospitalizations I was out doing some errands and seriously trying not to freak out over my husband getting more short of breath (it was the PE). I was giving myself a pep talk in the car, complete with hand gestures and facial expressions, a really good intense pep talk. What I was trying to say was "I'm not going to freak out. I'm just going to trust God" but what I actually said was "I'm not gonna (hand gesture to indicate freaking out). I'm just gonna (hand gesture to indicate trusting God". To me this was hilarious and I'm thinking if I can figure out how to do it, of getting a tattoo on my arm that says this. I'm not gonna. I'm just gonna. You have to laugh to keep from crying. Please keep our family in your prayers.

Book nook.

My daughter and I decided to make book nooks. I made this one for the Harry Potter books and she made one for The Screaming Staircase books.

Finally doing better.

My arm is healing. I've spent a lot of time in physicial therapy, so much so that I am closer with those people than with my own co-workers whom I never see anymore since I work at home. At first I only had about 30% of arm function and now it's probably 80%. I don't have as much strength in it but my range of motion is moving right along, thank goodness. Spring is here and I'm looking forward to getting back into doing things. Staying home and recuperating is something I am very tired of doing, that is for sure.

My Latest Setback.

I twisted my ankle and fell on January 6th, after 5 days of working on my New Years resolutions and doing quite well. When I fell, I fell onto my outstretched right arm, dislocating my elbow. I'm in the process, 1 month out, of doing physical therapy and trying to regain function of my arm. I also broke a tiny chip of bone off in my elbow but that may resolve on it's own. Right now, I have about 50% range of motion in my arm. I can type but it's painful, so I'm not working much.

White Christmas? Yuck.

Okay, we have a lovely white Christmas this year and that means our son is stuck in the city, sleeping in the hospital where he works for the last 3 days and that our packages cannot be delivered so everyone won't get their presents. I know that second one is petty and small, but it is annoying. I'm really worried about my son trying to drive home tonight He wants to but I don't want him to. I'd rather ruin Christmas morning than everything. I've been through a lot of less than perfect Christmases in the past, cold weather, people being stuck all over the place. One year, my mom and I were stuck at home alone while my Dad, who had gone to pick up his mom was stuck at her house and my brother, who was trying to come home from college, got stuck at a friend's house. I think it was something like 20 below that Christmas (although that might have been the wind chill). I imagine that was kind of awkward, being at someone else's house for their family Christmas? We had an ice storm one Christmas and our electricity was off for several days, then just as it came back on, my son broke his collarbone while sledding. Anyway, I'm kind of annoyed but trying to make the best of it, trying to decide what to do and trying to keep my anxiety in check. It's really not working.

Finally feeling somewhat better.

 I'm feeling somewhat better from my 5 1/2 months of being sick.   I'm undertaking the spring cleaning that should have been done earlier this year and last year ... let's not go into that.  Anyway, I'm undertaking spring cleaning.  I've got my work schedule a little more under control so that it is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday because I've found that if I'm going to get any significant cleaning done, I'm going to need to start early in the morning, work very hard and then nap in the afternoon (not get called into work), so my work is going to leave me alone on Tuesday and Thursday and I'm going to do as much cleaning as I can.  My family has been pressed into service as well and hopefully, the young adults will get their areas completely cleaned and my husband will clean his very, very, very, extremely messy desk area.   (not an exaggeration!)  

Filet mignon dinner at company party.

This weekend I celebrated being at my company for 5 years, though my actual anniversary is in October.  The company had a bunch of us to a lovely dinner at a fancy hotel, so my daughter and I went.  There was a lot of clapping for people who have been working there 40, 45 and 50 years.   A lot of clapping.  Then yesterday, we went to see an excellent local production of The Sound of Music and there was a lot of clapping then too.  Both my daughter and I have sore arms and shoulders this morning.   I said that no matter what anyone does today, no matter how impressive, I'm not applauding!

I'm feeling good about my new work schedule.   I think it will be great for me.   Since I've been working at home and asked to check in frequently to see if there is work, I feel like I haven't had any free time and no separation of work and home.  This is already helping.   I'm doing a lot more medical coding than transcription now and I'm not sure how I feel about that.   

We're enjoying winding down the summer, planning a small fall trip, doing a little gardening, eating a lot of tomatoes and watermelon, doing a little raccoon watching in the back yard and deer watching in the front yard.  We didn't get any peaches from our tree this year because something ate them.   Not sure what or whom.  Our pool, unfortunately, was damaged when 7 trees fell on our house, so we're not doing that.   Did I share that already?   If not, I'll share a picture in a bit.  

Gardening (4 o'clocks, pumpkins, tomatoes, watermelons)

Freddie has had to be at the vet a couple of times lately.  

Trees on house and pool.  

Duncan and Mr. Miller.   I don't have a good picture of the raccoon family living in the backyard now.

My youngest son was chatting with a fellow former homeschooler the other day and they found out both of them had "dropped out" of public school in the first grade.   It was a funny coincidence.   :-)   

I also went to the Van Gogh exhibit that is traveling the country right now.  

Nice weekend.

 I had a really great weekend.  I worked Friday (at home) but got off a bit early.  Then we put down the new rug we had gotten for the living room.  Then my daughter and I watched the British baking show and ate blackberry cobbler with ice cream.  Then Saturday, I got up and accomplished several things, including cleaning and decluttering, and then went to the Van Gogh digital art exhibit with my cousin/best friend.  Then, a quick nap, and we had a family board game night, playing Carcassone and Rumicube.   Sunday, I did my Sunday resting (which I often don't do) but had an easy day then got to talk to my oldest son and his wife, live from Arkansas.   It was just a wonderful weekend.  I had some medical testing to do today but all worked out okay.  I'm actually typing this while still under the influence (maybe) from the anesthesia but I did want to document and take a minute to be thankful for such a bunch of blessings.   

A lot of things.

 A lot of things are happening around here.  The main thing to me is that I got sick in March and have been sick the entire time since then.  It's been great fun, but during it I have rediscovered my love of reading.   So that's something, I guess.  But in other news around here, I'm still working at home and getting a chance to do more medical coding, which I got certified for about a year and a half ago, so I'm excited about that.   My husband is doing a keto diet which is interesting to watch.  I don't think that's the diet for me, but like I said, interesting.   My youngest is still working at the hospital.   My daughter is doing a lot of interviews but still hasn't found anything yet.   My oldest son and daughter-in-law have moved to a different state, so we are hoping to go visit them there maybe in the fall.   I don't think I've ever been to Arkansas.  If I have, it's just been driving through as a child with my parents on the way to visiting my aunt.  It's not something I remember.   That is a tiny, little, skimming the surface update on us.  We're still here.  If you pray, please see a prayer that I will feel better soon, because this is wearing on me.    

Wonderful week.

 We just got home from going to visit our son and daughter-in-law in Mississippi.  We also took a little side trip to Louisiana / New Orleans.   It was a great time with lots of food and fun.   We had never been to New Orleans before and it was interesting.   Back in MS, we had our first crawfish boil.   Very interesting.  I liked it okay.  My husband liked it quite a bit.  We had a lot of time sitting around and just talking and playing games in my oldest son's nice little home.   We were talking at one time about my kid's childhood's and how their childhood was different from nearly everyone else's they have ever met.  I looked at them and said "I really don't know how to respond to that" and one of my sons said, "I think the phrase you are looking for is 'you're welcome'".   :-)   Nice review of homeschooling and our learning lifestyle!   (and my favorite part of the trip).   

Settling into 2022.

 So far, (knock on wood), it's not as bad as last year.   Last year at this time I was dealing with kidney failure and chest pain and all kinds of stuff.  This year, though we've had snow and my son has run his car off the road twice trying to get to work, it's been more okay.    I'm not working that much so I'm getting a few small cleaning projects done (really few, really small) and working on my youtube channel.   My daughter and I have also started doing some volunteer work for https://www.findagrave.com/.   We've been going to cemeteries and locating graves and taking photos of the headstones.  It's interesting and I get a lot of walking done when we go.  When I'm thinking about what I'm looking for, I don't tend to think about if my knee hurts, or my ankle hurts, etc. and I've been getting an hour of walking at a time.  I'd never have the patience for that if we were just walking.  I'd get bored.   

We're still dealing with the (big) losses of last year, of course, but we're coping and we're making some future plans.   

Our week-late Christmas.

 It went great.   We had a wonderful time.  I think everyone liked their gifts.  One thing I ordered was the wrong size.  It was a dressmaker dummy for my daughter.  I bought her clothing size, but it needed to be just a bit smaller here and there.  Short of asking her for her neck measurements (which would have been a little odd) I couldn't know.  The new one is already on the way.   We had a happy time.  We played some video games and some of the new board games.  Santorini was a big hit as was Cheating Moth.   In Cheating Moth, you HAVE to cheat.  There's no other way to get rid of some of your cards. They're not allowed in the discard pile.  So you have to put them somewhere.  Hilarity ensues as cards are dropped under the table and shoved up people's sleeves.   

Post Christmas, I've thrown my back out and my bestie has Covid so back to reality.

Prayers for my friend, please.  

Christmas 2021.

 It's been a year.   

Lots of surgeries and recovery time.   Loss of 2 people we hold very dearly, my husband's mom and my dear aunt.   Covid 19.    And, bathroom remodeling.   

But we're still here.  We're happy to be celebrating Christmas this year even though it's going to take us a few weeks to get it done.   We're celebrating with my husband's Dad and one of his brother's family today, then next weekend with our son and daughter-in-law from Mississippi, and then in the first couple of weeks of January, we'll be meeting with the extended families if they meet.  We've celebrated for the past couple of weeks with our church family.   

Christmas is always bittersweet as we mourn Christmases past and family members who are not with us anymore, but it's always beautiful.  

It's 9:00 a.m. as I write this and youngest son, the person I know who loves Christmas the most is already up (though he worked late last night) wrapping presents and making me smile.  

Merry Christmas!   

Job Title.

 Youngest son decided on the job title he'd like to have in the future:   Eccentric Millionaire.  

Looking ahead.

 We are trying to move ahead,  We are making plans and looking forward to the holidays.   We have moved the location of Thanksgiving so that it will not be at my mother-in-law's house, though my father-in-law still lives there.  It seems like it would just be too emotional to have it there.  So, we're having it at my brother and sister-in-law's house.  We've got a lot of cooking to do this week for all the feasting.  I'm not ready and would kind of like to skip the holidays this year, but I'm going to put on my brave face.  I guess that's best.  

Believe it or not, I've already started my Christmas shopping!  My family has been pretty prompt about sending me their lists (most of them) and I've been better about just going ahead and ordering them.  Usually, I hesitate and obsess for a few weeks.   

We officially are done with the bathroom remodel, at least from the contractor's point of view and now we just have to finish some trim, a tiny bit of painting, and  set up the new bathroom furniture.  We are also getting our driveway graded even as I write this.  Things are happening to make the house look nice going into the holidays.  It's a money pit, so it's never done, but I can be happy with that is.   I guess.  :-P  

Anyway, happy Thanksgiving week!