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.