So Much Goodness

It's 11:08 P.M. on the Sunday before Christmas, I'm cuddled up with the kitty and the Poodle (who, by the way is sporting red plaid Christmas pj's with Rudolph on the butt) and watching Christmas movies by the glow of the tree lights and the computer screen. It's been a good weekend. Life is good. I am content. And blessed. And so very, very thankful.

Friday I picked up one of my clients in the morning. After a quick stop at my employer's offices (I picked up the paperwork for a new client) we went shopping for the gifts we would need for my Bible study group's Christmas party on Saturday. My teacher was nice enough to invite my client when she met her at the Christmas Tea at church. We found her gift right away at Sam's Club. It took me a bit longer and a stop at Walmart to find everything I wanted.

Shopping done, we picked up lunch and came back to the house. We ate while watching Christmas Vacation. Then I showed her how to make pretzel snaps with a Hershey kiss and an M&M on top and then we made her favorite peanut butter blossoms. We packed it all up for her to take home to share with her co-workers at the soup kitchen.

Saturday morning the kitten was on my "naughty" list (He climbed up on our headboard at 12:30 A.M. and threw up. A lot. Then he jumped down on the bed and did it again. Ewww.) but he still woke me up when Tim got up for work. I couldn't fall asleep again so I stayed up and finished reading book 28 in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich.

I picked up my client and we were at the party by 10 A.M. We enjoyed a wonderful brunch of French toast casserole, scrambled eggs, sausage, potatoes, fresh fruit, and so many kinds of baked goods. After we ate the men blessed the women by doing all the clean up and dishes. What a wonderful gift! 

The fun got started then as we women did our annual gift exchange. We all bring a wrapped gift, then draw numbers to determine the order in which to pick from the pile. Each person, on their turn, has the option of choosing a gift from the pile or "stealing" a gift that was already chosen. We didn't do any stealing this year for some reason so it was a really short lived game. We open the gifts one at a time so everyone can see and ooh and aah. Finally, nearly everyone brings some small gift for everyone there. This year everyone went waaaay overboard and just blessed the socks off everyone....and it was so sweet that everyone included my client and she was just so tickled to go home with a huge bag full of gifts (she has no local family and her parents have both passed away).

Later on Saturday I went out to finish my Christmas shopping. I went to Barnes & Noble and...the mall. Pure insanity! I don't think I've seen the mall that crowded in at least 15 years. Most of the time it is a dead zone with the exceptions of the hub stores and the casino. Anyway, mission accomplished! Tim and I went to a little local restaurant for dinner. 

On Sunday I was up early again as Tim had to do some work at a hotel he built a couple of years ago and it could only be done on a weekend. It just worked out to be this one, which kind of stunk since Sunday was his birthday. 

Megan, the kiddos and my mom came here around 11:00 and we had four generations making cookies. Good times and happy memories, I hope.

Tim got home in time to have himself a birthday nap and then enjoy his birthday dinner of grilled steaks, shrimp, and cheesy mashed potatoes. Colton and Leah came back after that and we watched The Santa Claus 2 so Mommy and Daddy could do some gift wrapping.

So, that was the weekend. It was so full of good stuff that I almost feel guilty for feeling so blessed. I hope you had a good weekend, too, and that you're enjoying this special season of love, hope, and joy. 

Tell me something good about your weekend!

 

It's Been a Week

Yawwwwn...

Sorry. My cute little kitty has no sense of time. He's been waking me up every morning when Tim gets up (3:30-4:30) to eat and to play, in that order. Last night he added a bonus wake up at around 1:30. He needed a little something in his tummy...and I do mean "little." By the time I went to the bathroom and came back to bed the stinker was already there, curled up and purring. 

I didn't work again this week because of our daughter and son-in-law being down with Covid. On Tuesday I took Megan to the ER because she'd been up all night throwing up and called me crying first thing in the morning. They kept her a couple of hours and gave her something for the nausea and two bags of fluids. Basically, they said "You have Covid and you're going to feel like crap." Nice. And a forerunner of things to come. She came home feeling as awful as when she went and still nauseated. 

Don't worry, I was double masked, gloved, and drove with the windows down. I also took my can of microban and hand sanitizer with me. I now need to clean my car because of the film from the microban.

Wednesday started with Megan calling in tears first thing. She wanted me to take her to the ER again. After the previous day's total lack of help or compassion, I suggested she wait until 8:00 and call her doctor or Med Express and ask them what they thought. 

I don't know if she did that or if she skipped straight to having her husband drive her to the ER. I didn't know she was there until after 3:00 in the afternoon when I finally called her husband after not being able to reach her all day. When he said he'd heard nothing from her I got worried because she normally calls and/or texts frequently when she is at the ER. 

It took forever to get through to someone in the ER. When I did, I was told she was resting comfortably and had been. They were just waiting for results from her CT-scan and then she would probably be released. 

It wasn't long after that Megan called and asked me to come and get her. Masked, gloved, and armed with Microban and sanitizer I went to pick her up. And that's when she told me how they treated her. Let's just say it was mean and abusive and stripped her of her dignity. I looked up and gave her the number for the hospital's administration offices and for the state department of public health and told her she needs to report it all. There is no way the people who treated her the way they did need to be caring for patients. I don't care how tired or stressed or overworked they were (and I'm not sure they were), there is NO excuse for treating a patient they way they treated her. I would tell you about it, but she would be humiliated.

But back to her health, they said she had some mild pneumonia in her lungs and they did, at least call in a prescription for Zofran to combat the nausea. 

Yesterday she begged me to keep the kids so she and her husband could rest. I love the kids, but given the circumstances, wasn't thrilled. I did keep them all day, though. Only to find out that rather than rest, she got her husband to help her put up the Christmas tree and decorate inside the house. She posted on Facebook that she's nauseous again and has a lot of back pain. She did not call me crying this morning. Smart girl.

Anyway, even though the two of them still feel like crud I guess we are done with the quarantine. The latest guidelines are that once you test positive you quarantine for 10 days and then if you don't have a fever you can return to normal activities. Apparently they say you aren't contagious at that point. I thought you need a negative test to prove you were better, but my niece, who works in administration at a nursing home, said that's not so because once you have had it, you could get a positive reading for up to 90 days afterward. 

Seems crazy to me, but I am glad our son-in-law can go back to work. His being off has really put them in a spot. He has tried to file for unemployment, but all of the state's websites are reading error messages and when he called they told him to go online, but did put him on a list for a call-back. It's going to be something like a month before it's his turn for a call!

Other than dealing with all of that, I've been at home reading, watching movies, organizing a few things, catching up on laundry. Very exciting stuff. I'm looking forward to going back to work.

Oh, Tim told me last night that the soil on his current project is contaminated. Apparently, he and a couple of other people have been having mild sore throats and headaches since they dug up a tank full of some unknown fluid. I guess it leeched into the soil over the years. People from the Environmental Protection Agency are supposed to be coming today so he'll know more then, I guess. So far he only knows a couple of the things found in the soil...and one of them was mercury. Nice.

And Mom told me yesterday that she and my stepdad are not coming for Thanksgiving. I get it, but it still stinks. I am so over Covid.

Happy Halloween!

Yesterday Tim (he was actually not working!) and I along with Megan's family went to this awesome place I found on Facebook. It offers seasonal settings for photo shoots for a fee. You take your own photos or you can bring a photographer. Considering the kids are notoriously bad about posing for pictures and Tim and Cody are less than thrilled about having their picture taken...I think we did okay. (You can click on any of them to see them full size.)

 

And here are the kids trick or treating.

Currently

The Weather in Latrobe...is a pleasant 60 degrees with sunshine.

On the Telly...The Encounter on Pure Flix. A series in which Jesus appears to people in modern times to help them make the right choices in difficult circumstances.

Loving...these crazy grandkids of mine.

Colton's reaction to his mommy's plans to move some

of his toys upstairs. The horror! The drama!

Leah was not happy about something.

Colton having a much better day on the trampoline.

Leah's hair? Not so much.

Colton showing off his nerdy look wearing

Pappy's reading glasses.

They sure take after their mommy. She always had a very expressive face. Still does.

The Job...is still in the works. I filled out all the paperwork they gave me over the weekend. It raised a couple of questions. One is about insurance since the job requires transporting clients in my car. The other is about the W-4 and taxes. 

It seems there is some new way to figure out what should be deducted using estimated income figures for Tim and I. I did that it came up showing I need to have half of what I'd be earning taking in taxes! That would sure not be worth going to work for. So, I must chat with them and see if I did it right.

The weekend...wasn't all that exciting. For the most part, we just hung around at home and worked on chores that needed done. I did a big grocery shopping trip on Saturday and Tim (with Colton's help) cleaned out his truck. Megan and Leah came over around supper time and Megan treated us to pizza.

On Sunday, Tim, Cody, and Colton went down to the other side of Pittsburgh to get the Bobcat skid loader from the last job site. The company Tim works for didn't have anyone else to pick it up. On the plus side, we get to use it for a few weeks doing things around here. Colt was so excited to go with the guys. Tim gave him an old hardhat and he wore it the whole time. 

I stayed home doing this and that, but in the afternoon I emptied out my big corner cupboard and moved my china into it. I've been meaning to do it the whole time I've been home during the pandemic, but gee....I've just been soooo busy I never got around to it. Ha!

I also moved all the booze bottles and the gorgeous emerald glass decanter and silver tray my mom finally gave me onto the bottom shelf of the corner cupboard. The top shelf holds crystal pieces and the coffee pot for the china because it's the only shelf tall enough.

So that was our big weekend. Woohoo!

Cooking...maybe salmon with mango salsa. I'm thinking about it, anyway.

Looking Forward to...tomorrow. It's supposed to be 80 degrees!

On the Agenda Today...finishing emptying out my great-grandmother's china cupboard so Tim can make a small repair tonight. Then I can load it up with the knick-knacks that used to be in the corner cupboard (minus the ones I've decided to donate to Goodwill) and put all the kitchen linens in the bottom. It's a nice old cupboard, but it is not as sturdy as the corner cupboard and the older it gets, the more afraid I've been that the weight of the china would just collapse it one day.

I also have to go to Lowe's for some extender boxes or something for the outlets in my office. They don't have covers. I bought pretty covers last week. When Tim went to put them on yesterday, he remembered why we didn't get the covers put on them before.

Other than that, I'll be reading today. I haven't done much of that in the last week except for my Bible studies.

Happy Monday, y'all!

Don't Wake the Dogs

Shhhh! Megan and the kids have gone home and the dogs are zonked out for an afternoon nap. I'm enjoying the peace and quiet.

Megan and the kids are in and out because their hot water heater gave up the ghost Saturday morning and they are still waiting for the plumber to find the needed part (they have some fancy digital tank). They have been getting showers here and Megan lugs her dishes over to wash. I hope the part can be found soon. 

As for the dogs, my mom had her knee replaced this morning, so her dog is staying with us until she is up to having her back. My Daisy doesn't really like her and is hyper vigilant while she's here so she can growl and put her in her place when "needed" and Lacey is just basically...and idiot. 

She runs away every chance she gets to slip out the door. She barks incessantly at anything and everything that moves. And just for fun, at about 12:30 last night, she threw up in the bed. No, that doesn't do it justice. She erupted like Mt. Vesuvius! We had to strip the whole bed, all the layers, and the quilt on the rack at the foot of the bed, and then make it all up fresh. I also had to get the laundry started. Blech! There's nothing wrong with her. She was just a pig and ate all of Daisy's food as soon as she came in the house.

As for Mom, she came through the surgery with flying colors and didn't even get sick from the anesthesia. So, as soon as they are sure the pain is under control and she is able to physically do what they require (sit down and stand up, climb stairs, walk 150 ft.) she can come home. It should be some time later today. That's so crazy! I can't believe they ship people out that quick.

We had a good weekend here at home. We enjoyed the beautiful weather, family, and worked on some projects. And the nice weather folks are saying we're going to have this gorgeous weather all week. Yahoo! It might even reach 80 degrees on Thursday!

Colton and Leah are loving this weather. Here they are modeling their new swimsuits. You don't think they're anxious for summer to get here, do you?

How was your weekend?

Thankful Thursday

I'm getting my Thankful Thursday post done a little ahead of the game (Wednesday evening) because I have a dentist appointment in the morning. I'll finally be getting that crown that's been on hold because of weather postponements and an awful lot of confusion between the dentist's office and our insurance. I'm hoping it will be worked out by the time I get there tomorrow. I'll be linking up with Rebecca Jo @ Knit By God's Hand at some point.

This week I am thankful...

** for all this gorgeous weather! It has us all feeling the summer vibes...even though there is no way winter is done with us here in PA at this point. We will see cold and maybe even snow a few more times before Old Man Winter finally gives up.

In the meantime, these days are glorious and Colton and Leah have been enjoying it so much. We spent a good bit of time outdoors yesterday.

They took my Daisy for a walk.

Had a blast with their new bubble blowing fans/guns. These things worked great and created hundreds of bubbles...not that you can tell because it was really breezy...and they were only $4 or $5 at Walmart.

Walks around the neighborhood were fun, too.

I bought them a little picnic table at Sam's Club on Tuesday and Wednesday we had the first picnic of the year. Megan took a picture, but hasn't shared it with me yet.

** Megan's surgery went well and they got all of the cyst removed so it should not return. Instead of sitting just under the skin, it was down into the tissue of the breast and removing it required a 3-inch incision. It's sore and it took her a couple of days to get over the anesthesia. We're also thankful it could be closed and doesn't have to heal as an open wound.

** for our little neighborhood within the neighborhood...we live on the lot behind my mom's house and Megan's family is one lot over from us. With all that has been going on health-wise with Megan it's really been wonderfully easy for all of us to pitch in and help take care of her and the kids. It doesn't all fall on any one person. It's such a blessing to have a built-in support system.

** I got to spend Tuesday with one of my husband's sisters (the one who is the same age as me...though she will point out she's 3 months and however many days younger than me) and a dear family friend who is like another sister. We went to Sam's Club, Target, and had lunch at Olive Garden. It was soooo much fun to just get out and cut up and laugh. Except for the masks it felt almost normal!

** as always, for each of you, but I really am especially thankful for you this week. I was feeling discouraged at the beginning of the week and thinking of giving up the blog. When I shared that, you all responded with such love and encouragement. I was truly blessed!

And now I'm going to say goodnight and post this so I can head to bed. I stayed with Megan and the kids last night because she was still having dizzy spells from the anesthesia and I did not get enough sleep to bother mentioning. I am whooped. 

Blessings on your day! I will catch up with you when I get home from the dentist's.

Community

Thank you all so much for your kind and encouraging words yesterday. You are the reason, that no matter how discouraged or burnt out I may get with blogging, I will likely never completely give it up until I am physically or mentally unable to continue. 

We have a community of sorts here and those who don't participate don't understand it, but it is very real. We laugh with each other, encourage and support each other. We cry together when one of us is hurting and we do what we can to help bring healing. We pray. We send little gifts. Sometimes we even meet in person. How could I give that up?

Now, in case you missed yesterday's update...Megan's surgery went well. The cyst was large enough and infected enough that the surgeon had to make a 3-inch incision to remove all of it. He was able to close it with stitches on the inside and glue on the outside. Thank you so much for all your prayers. 

I had believed I'd be staying the night with Megan and the kids. She isn't supposed to be left alone for 24 hours following the surgery (Cody works midnight shift). Mom decided she was going to be the one to stay...perhaps taking pity on me since I had the kiddos all day. 

I also didn't sleep well Sunday night. I kept hearing this throbbing hum. I thought at first it was the air purifier, the ceiling fan, or the furnace. When I had ruled those out I checked the refrigerator, freezer, and hot water tank. It wasn't those, either. It was driving me insane! I couldn't block it out. Burying my head in the pillow only seemed to make it louder. 

It was still there when I woke up yesterday morning. When I took the dog out the mystery was finally solved. It was coming up out of the valley from the steel mill. I was actually relieved because I was beginning to think I was hearing things. Later conversations confirmed that Tim and my mom also heard it. It just didn't keep them awake.

So, today I am meeting one of Tim's sisters and a family friend at Olive Garden for lunch and tonight my Bible study group is meeting online. Our teacher is finally back from visiting family after a month away. We've had a couple of Zoom meetings, I even taught one, but it will be good to have her back at the helm.

Currently

The Weather

A winter storm advisory went into effect at 1:00 this morning and stays in effect until 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday. We woke up to ice on everything on Sunday. That is still there. Over the next day and a half we are supposed to see freezing rain, sleet, snow, rain, and whatever else can be thrown at us. The total snow accumulation isn't supposed to be more than 5 or 6 inches, but all those lovely freezing layers...

Weekend Highlights

Colton and Leah spent Saturday night with us so their mommy and daddy could have a Valentine's date. We were excited to have them stay, but worried about how the actual sleeping would go. We hear so many stories of how they don't sleep that we expected to be up all night. Both kids went to bed with no trouble and Leah slept until 9:00 and we woke Colton up around 10:00. Colton even did a great job with potty training for us.

Megan and Cody came over to get the kids Sunday morning and I made cinnamon rolls and eggs for anyone who wanted them. Colton isn't a breakfast person, but boy, Leah sure liked it. She had a bowl of Captain Crunch, too.

It was 12:30 before everyone cleared out. We had decided not to go to Guy Fieri's restaurant for lunch because of the icy conditions (we'd have had to go a couple of hours early to try and get seated), but by the time everyone left the roads, at least, were clear. The same couldn't be said of the deck, sidewalks and driveway. We decided to brave Walmart to stock up (as did the majority of the people in the area) since we're going to have some nasty weather off and on all week. 

We were going to call for Mexican from Don Patron's and pick it up on the way home, but since it was an odd time (3:00 in the afternoon) we decided to see if we could get in. Apparently, Mexican is not a popular choice for Valentine's Day or everyone did their dinners out on Saturday, because we walked right in and there was hardly anyone there. We had a yummy meal and then came home and unloaded the groceries.

The rest of Sunday was uneventful except for a panicked call from Megan. She had been trimming Colton's nails and he was fighting her something awful. She ended up snipping the tip of his finger and he was screaming and crying and bleeding all over. We went flying over and Tim was able to get the bleeding stopped as soon as he convinced Megan to let him raise his hand up and to stop squeezing it (in putting pressure on it, she was actually squeezing his finger and forcing the blood out). Tim got him a little calmer and got some Neosporin on it and bandaged it up. Poor little guy was really upset. The finger will be sore for a while, but he'll be okay. It's possible that Megan was more upset than Colton was.

Today's To-Do List

Start figuring out the Instant Pot I got for Christmas. 

Laundry (always)

Dusting

On the Calendar 

Not much due to the weather and Covid.

Tuesday evening I have Bible study online.

I am supposed to go to the dentist's to finally get my crown on Thursday afternoon, but at this point the forecast is for freezing rain and snow. If it's bad enough I will be cancelling for the third time.

Get the lesson I am teaching to our Bible study group done for next week.

Other than that, it's possible that we will have to pick up our new mattress. We weren't given an exact day, just told it would probably be this week. The weather may change that, though. The new dryer is scheduled to come on Friday. Also possible this week, the kitchen island I ordered from Amazon may come. It's got a delivery date of the 19th-23rd. Any and all of those will mean some changing around of "stuff" will have to take place.

Reading

Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews

Something New to Try

Getting kind of tired of TV. It all seems the same after all these months. I bought a couple of jigsaw puzzles at Goodwill and got a puzzle board on Amazon so I can keep pieces sorted and put it all away when I'm not working on it. With the kids around, I can't leave a puzzle sit out. Anyway, hoping it will prove to be a new way to pass some time. Others sure seem to enjoy them.

By the way, yes, I have become that woman who is driving her mailman crazy with all the Amazon packages.

Happy Monday, y'all!