2023 December Daily : Monday December 5th

 

Monday's Morning Adventure

This word keeps showing up for me!

Again. Hope. 

This is Dukey!

This is Carly

Sami and Lane's Dirt Road to get to their house.
Sloppy and Sloshy!

The good? 

Alan E. brought us a Christmas Tree!

I also visited Sami's critters to make sure they are ok. Mr. Kitters did not have water or food again!

Smart me realized (when I was almost home) that I should but out 2 or three bowls of water! Duh.

The bad? 

The tree is still outside. I have no energy to get it and set it up and water it every single day.

And Phil's very bad morning..... 

Hope...

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The morning on this Monday was a bad for Phil. He had taken a pain pill/meds the night before and it gave him bad dreams. And, he is 'spinning' in his head. Death. Radiation not working. What if this is it? Tired of being in pain. Tired. I asked him if he wanted me to stay. If he wanted me to drive him to his appointment for fluids. He said no. 

I went to work. He called at 8am. Said he needed me.

On the way home Katie and Jenna called me - conference call. Phil had called all his girls saying he was struggling. We all agree he needs all hands on deck, so to speak. I shared my fears and frustrations. He has all the meds and food he needs, but wants to do it his way. Sets him back. 

He is spinning in his head. And getting anxious about the Pet Scan next week. 7 days a way. 

Depression.

When I took him to Bootsma for fluids he perked up. Chatty. With the girls and on the phone the whole time chatting with guys. This is frustrating for me. He shows up for everyone else. I get the down.

I ran errands while he was getting his infusion. Tires to storage. Grab the Christmas stuff out of storage. Get gas. Get his meds. Get the soups and electrolytes he and nurses at Bootsma are recommending and field calls while in the grocery store.  Take calls from Katie. Rush. Let work know it's a home day for me. 

I'm exhausted. 

Crash. 

How to balance all of this?

It exhausts me.... 

Hope. I hope he has a better day today (early Tuesday morning). 

2023 December Daily: Sunday, Dec. 4

 

Day 3! Lavender Aromatherapy

Phil and Tim Taylor work on the snow plow system

Snowing!

Crafting

A visit to the sunflowers. Winter food for birdies

Phil: Realized he was 'behind' on his food plan and needs to gain weight. Got on it.

Phil: Went out to put the blade on the quad for snow plowing. I asked one of our friends to 'casually' show up to help him out. Phil has no strength. 

Beautiful snow in the morning, but rain later in the day.

I did some snow shoveling... front and back. 

I took a crafty card class today: My escape. 

2023 December Daily: December 2nd, Saturday

 

That's my car, with the hatch open!

Advent goals new Christmas Coffee Cup

Trying to get Phil on a regular schedule 

Saturday, December 2nd.

I had a 9am appointment to get my winter tires on.  Now no more slipping and sliding. 

And we got more snow! 

I had a list of things I was hoping to do, but as is life right now, planning is often futile. 

I did get into the hot-tub though. 

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Around 7:15am Phil interrupted my zoom call with my sisters, to have a serious talk. 

He asked me to take him to the ER 'now'.  Said goodbye to my sisters, and after 2 hours, he got the relief he was hoping for. But he was wiped out and did not eat all ay. Which, since he is on a feeding tube, is not good.

It's been rough. He is having a hard time. Trying to see the good, yet he is focusing on the bad.

Looking for the light in all of this. 

2023 December Daily: Photo of the Day and Story...

Tommie (and I) waiting to see what we got!

Hello cute little advent gift from my sister Avis

 Hello December Daily 2023...

December 1st:

Today's story. The Fed Ex guy drove in (during a Pause of our first series of snow storms) to deliver this cute gift from my sister Avis. She, Paula and I decided to do Advent gifts this year, with daily prompts. They both received my big box of goodies as well. 

We came up with this idea in August. Last weekend, Friday after Thanksgiving was the day I wanted to ship mine out, but the shipping store was closed! So, I had to do it on Monday. Fifty bucks later, in shipping costs, they arrived by December 1st. That was my goal.  

I'm just like a kid. I love having something to actually open each day.

Thank you Avis for playing along with me! 

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Other little notes of December 1st:

Phil started eating real food! Yay!!! (ramen for lunch and dinner, ice-cream, and a bite of my scrambled eggs). After a very rough week of throwing up and being nauseous and getting down to 160 lb.  Monday Katie and I called all the medical team members we could. We put him on a strict meds routine, and food routine. As in take your meds and quit saying you are nauseous and can't go on like this! We had to get ahead of it. He is not a good patient. And, he had to eat slower, more frequently, and with less volume (he has a feeding tube and wants to get it done, now).  He was also in pain at his tumor location. I think it's blistering. But he doesn't want to take pain meds. They make him constipated. Not.A.Good.Patient.  Wednesday was the 2 week post-radiation mark - and poof! Now we are now seeing daily improvements. Wednesday was the first day he did not throw up... Thanks Be to God! Let me tell you, Tuesday I was beat and wanted to make the call for reinforcements to help out. Exhausted. Emotional. Scared. 

 I went to visit Sami & Lanes critters (they are on a cruise in the Caribbean for their Honeymoon)  they have a critter sitter, but I'm a grandma in training and worry about such things.  Mr. Kitter's needed water and his box cleaned out. He had NO water last Tuesday when I visited. And Duke was on the wrong side of the fence! He crawled under and couldn't get back. Grandma to the rescue. I feel better now. Jake is babysitting their kitten. That was a good call! I'm sure he is all snuggly and warm and getting lots of playtime. 

First snowstorm hit us on December 1st: Gads.. my tires on this Ford Explorer suck (new car in 2022).  I was sliding at every turn and having difficulty at stop signs. Worse part? I went into the Albertson's parking lot and almost hit a car when I turned into one of the parking lot lane's! I could not complete the turn. Kept sliding while turning.  What a show. Back up, start again. Nope. Back up, start again... did it. I parked at the end, and walked in. Instead of parking in the 'stop and go' spot up front - I had an online order to avoid walking in the snow stuff. Did not want to it any cars! I was shaking like a leaf from that experience... 

I have an appointment to get my snow tires on today, December 2nd. At 3:30am I realized my tires are at the rental in Baker City. In the back shed. It seemed like a good idea during the summer!  And the rental is occupied. Awkward. 

DD #13: Friday the 13th!

Is it me, or is this month December flying by?  Seriously.. only 11 days until Christmas?  ELEVEN!

I still have to wrap and package and ship gifts  (Note to self:  Buy more wrapping paper and tape!)
And finish my Christmas Cards
And decorate the tree
And put up some more indoor decor

But I am NOT stressed!  Nope.  I am in a happy cozy little place right now.  Meaning, my inner place or space. 

I am still trying to figure out what else to get the kids.  I bought us each all day ski passes, four each.
And Sami already got a pair of cowboy boots (zebra striped and very sparkly) and Jake got a new black cowboy hat.

They both want a smart phone.  So do I!  But not sure I can really afford the expense. I paid for all three of our current phones, and I pay for all three of our phone plans.  I also do not have regular TV.  We do the streaming thing through Roku.  I miss my live sports and the emmies and grammies and country music awards.    So at times I am tempted to get satellite TV.  Or slippers.  I need new slippers... whatever.

Right Now?  
It's Saturday morning.  9:21 am.  Sami is still in bed, and Jake is on the couch fighting a cold. 
I am in my jammies.  It is an overcast white day outside.  And, I am in no hurry to go anywhere. I woke to snow yesterday morning and when I drove home at night it was starting to ice up.  I saw later there was black ice everywhere over the mountain and a few accidents. So glad I got through safe and sound. 

Morning space: Coffee, favorite Christmas Cup, ME Calendar, and a bell from the wreath sent from Pat Mom a few years ago

And this year's Christmas Card! 

DD#5. Cold Frigid Thursday

We started with MINUS 2 in the neighborhood.  Dang cold.
So cold the kids finally complained about the weather.  They never wear appropriate clothing, despite my rants of 'cover your head', 'get some gloves', 'wear long underwear'.

So, hopefully we will get them all sorted out with appropriate winter wear this weekend.

A coworker of mine makes the cutest decorations and I love to buy them.  So, these little guys were on my desk today. 

they are still hanging out at my office.  I will bring them home tomorrow night and pick a few for gifts and keep a few. 

Right now?  Super tired.  Did not sleep last night so looking forward to crawling into my bed.
Good night my friends.
Oh.. winter storm coming tomorrow night!  Yippee!
I love snow on the weekends!

December Daily - #1 12/1/2013. Sunday

I am attempting to do a December Daily Album, but blog style.
Last year I kept a daily journal in one blog post that I never shared.  I love revisiting it. It has all sorts of stuff in it, like, storm monitoring, tracking the sinus infection I had, and the first sweet dates with FM.

It's all narrative and needs some photos, so one of these days I will update it and share it with all of you.

This year?

A daily post.  Let's see how it goes...
In My Life...

My $35 Tree.  Setup all by my lonesome. Last year's was $5.00 (USFS)

Today I strung my lights.  And that big wreath?  $35 from the LG Lyons'.

Fa La La La La! 

Our Entry Way. Notice those dark clouds?  Storm is a coming. Hence trying to get all this done!

And the fence that faces the paved road.  Yep.  One busy girl today.

Today was a crazy, busy day.  I went and got the tree, solo.  And set it up, solo.  It was the 'dirtiest' tree I have ever purchased.  It rained last night and my tree was muddy!  So needless to say, a few things got dirty along the way. Inside of car, white shirt hanging in car, kitchen floor, living room carpet, and even a wall.  I bought the tree to support the kid's school -   a fundraiser.  And, I bought an 'extra' for them to donate to a needy family.  which makes my little heart sing (part of my personal RAK project).

I also put up the outside Christmas lights and decor, today.  And set the lights to a timer, which, yippee, is working just right.

And now?  My back hurts.  HA! 

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What is going on with my significant ex's family... 
The kids went back to their dad's this morning after being with me since Thanksgiving night.  This was a rough week for them.  They left a week ago Sunday, with their Dad, to be with the Sexton Family in Idaho.   Dick's dad, John Henry Sexton, or 'Hank' as he was known, took a tumble out of bed on Nov. 22nd.  At some point he had stopped breathing.  This poor man lost his eyesight and hearing both, about two years ago and has been depressed, sad, and wanting to leave this planet for quite some time. He was taken to a hospital, and put into an induced coma to bring his body temp. down.  He never came out of the coma and he died on Wednesday, November 27th after being taken off life support.  Sometime soon, maybe tomorrow, the kids and Dick will go back to Idaho for a family viewing.  Dick's sister has called me twice and I have not called her back yet. It is hard for me.  It's not my story.  It's Dick's and the kids. 
 
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And in my heart..
Getting the tree and decorating outside occupied my time and kept me busy today.  Which, was good, considering my heart took a hit this morning.  A 'friend' sent me a text with a photo of the man I was dating for 10 months and his date, while they were out at an event last night.  Excuse me?  Who does that to a person?  She wanted to know if I saw 'this' on Facebook.  Whatever.   Reminds me of a show my daughter watches called 'Gossip Girl'. Good God.  Drama.

This is the guy that was my FM (favorite man) and that I fell in love with, but he just wasn't emotionally available to me.  And he had a lot going on in the 'baggage' dept. with his ex.  I broke up with him a month ago.  But miss him daily and think about him far too much for someone who tells herself  'this is the right thing to do' and  'he is not the right guy for you'.  

So needless to say, my little heart hurt to see him with someone else.

But life goes on.  Talley ho.  Forward ho. Upward and Onward.

Go A Team.

The days leading up to Christmas 2011 - Some Highlights - (Ever so late!)

November: Driving On Ice for Jake's Morning Basketball Games

Or Driving on Snow to work over the mountains and back roads

Capturing the Full Moon Out the Front Door

And the Eclipse - gosh what a show

Catching Sami and one of Her friends Playing with Ipods and Phones

While I Capture Jake (44) During his Games (November and December Routine)

Decking the Halls - and Walls soon after Thanksgiving

Decking the tables and being told our tree is too Small

Lighting up the Darkness Outside - My Little House is Warm Inside!

And Getting Our Craft On

And Fighting Colds

Making our Tree Taller - Test Driving a New Tool

Thankful for a Real Tree that only cost $5.00

And the Simple Pleasure of a Grapefruit Spoon

Loving the Beauty of the Season - and a sweet little house!

And nice lazy breakfasts on the weekends with special treats from secret Santa's

Packaging and Wrapping for Family Afar

Goodies for Treatbags lie on the floor

Loving how fun it is to wrap special Gifts

The reminder of a Manger, Magic, and Sami's love of young things

Bouncy Baby Goats that make her heart sing

And Jake, who helps with cleanup and the treats to deliver to neighbors by bike in the cold

With Just One day left.... we prepare for the story... that never gets old.

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Hello long lost blog friends and family....

Just catching up on posting our happenings....

xxxxooo

December Daily, Day 3 - A beautiful bright and sunny day! (Dec. 31 2010 posted)

Day 3 - Click to Enlarge. This is one of my Favorite!

 Hello blog friends!  Here is the hybrid layout from Day 3.  This is definately one of my favorites.  The SUN was out!  During the winter the sun is not out very often (snow, clouds, fog, inversion) and when it is my heart just sings!

Left Side Page: Photos: (from top left and going clockwise):  1. View of the Mountains and back fence to the yard, 2. view of the back of our house, 3. Sami's Ducks out in the 'free range chicken's pen before they got moved to their winter house, 4.  The new advent calendar blocks I made at  Stamp Camp (supplies are all Stampin' Up) and my Willow Tree Ornament - upstairs by my 'office'.  Left Side Supplies:  Ali Edwards templates, and Martha Stewart baker's twine.  

Right Side Page Supplies:  Basic Grey patterned papers! Yummy!  Right Side Journaling: 
December 3^rd, Friday.  Beautiful. Bright sunshine on snow, all day long!
Sourdough pancakes in the am.  This is usually Dick’s winter tradition – when someone remembers the night before to ‘feed’ the batter.  Sami is our sourdough pancake girl.  She was refusing to let me have a pancake – since she made them. Then I reminded her that I cook her breakfast most days!  I managed to get 2 pancakes out of the bargaining agreements.
About 10am I helped Sami get 'ready' to bring goats into the scale house... A friend about 30 miles away is renting Sami’s Billy Goat (his name is Billy) to breed her girls.  Good God..did I mention our big storm earlier in the week?  We had to do a lot of snow shoveling – and not ‘walkway’ stuff – but ranch stuff.  As in, getting the gates clear so a truck and trailer could drive through the headquarters, and all the gates to the corrals so the goats could be herded from one pen to the other. We also had to drive out on the quad to the Pratt field.. but we forgot the snow shovels, so we used our  feet and some heavy heaving on the gates to clear two sets out there.  All that and… the goats did not want to come in.  We did entice them through one field, Sami had grain and was leading them.  But, they spooked and ran back through the fence!   My back hurts from pushing gates in snow! 
We got home (2 miles from the headquarters) and shared our defeat.  Ramon, our hired hand got the job.  Dick called him.  Sami and I went back down to the headquarters about 2pm to help load up Billy. 
I put up all the outdoor Christmas decor!  Fa la la la la.  They look awesome with the snow! 
Sami made brownies at night.. little chef! 
Hmm.. I see Toy Story 3 is available on pay-per-view. Note to self:  We must watch it!

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And, following is my blog Diary Post that I saved in draft form: (most of this iwas captured above so I deleted it). 

Outdoor Christmas Decor all done! Fa la la la la.  Need photos.


Talked on the phone w/ Michele.  ODA F2S.. and Tia Upstream Public Health.. Love this job!!!


Sami made brownies at night.. little chef! 


Hmm.. I see Toy Story 3 is available on pay-per-view. Note to self:  We must watch it!

December Daily - Day 2 (published on Dec. 30, 2010)

Day 2 - Click to Enlarge

 My photos for Day 2 really show 'the snow' from our storm and  the events of Day1! Photos are of the kids catching the bus at the end of our drive; breakfast goodies; the llama and sheep, and my chores outfit!

Supplies: Page 1 & Page 2 are templates from Ali Edwards. Again, I used some of the Prima flocked alphas - they say 'daily' down there by the #2. Patterned paper is My Mind's Eye. I also used some October Afternoon stickers.  The journaling for my Daily routine on the page says: "4am:  Start the fire in the woodstove; clean and prep kitchen.  Breakfast? Today?  Delayed!  Snow Storm.  Egg Nog in Coffee.  Shoved snow.  Haul water to chickens.

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And, here is the diary/journal that I saved in my blog as a draft: 

. 
 Drove over the mountain to La Grande  to work.. snowing here, raining there!
We have about a foot of snow now.
Snowpacks.. my shoes for winter.
Trendsetter.


Took lots of photos this am:)


Headache.
It's pitch black at 5:23.pm  I want to record sunset and sunrise.....
More wood in the garage!  Yeah!  We were very low...


Jake:  He was real upset when he came home.  After some coaxing, and in private, he shared a story about a bully.  What is a mom to do?  A kid corners him in the locker room. Just the two of them.  The bully says sexually nasty things.  Things that a boy should not talk about if he is raised in a good home.  No witnesses... (Note:  After talking w/ Jake, I spoke the coach about this.  The coach said he would keep an eye out, try and walk through the locker room, and he talked to the entire team about being a team, and respecting each other, and looking out for each other.) The bully was recently transferred to our school, and is in Sami's grade - older than Jake.  The bullying occurs when the bus boys are done w/ basketball practice. The bully is also on the team, but never makes it to any games.   Jake and this other kid are the only ones who leave early from practice to catch the bus and that is when it happens.  I spoke to Jake, and he did not want to create a scene - he didn't want a 'meeting' with parents and kids, he did not want to stay late and have me pick him up to avoid the locker scenes, and he did not want to quit the team.  What a big boy.  I asked him if I could talk with the coach, since the coach is in charge of the safety of all the team at that time and it is creepy for a bully to be sneaky like this without witnesses.  It's not an attention thing, in my opinion, it could be signs of bad things happening to the boy at home.  And I told that to Jake.  He let me talk to the coach.  Each day I checked in with Jake after school to see how it was going.  The peak was during this time - early December, and then it died down.  I think between the coach, and my giving Jake the power to have choices and knowing an adult was backing him up, helped.  Scary stuff. 

December Daily - Day 1 & Tim Holtz 12 Tags

Day 1 (Click on Image to Enlarge!)

 Hello friends!
I am now going to share with you my December Daily Album!  Not sure if I will share one page a day, or several.  Today, I am just sharing one.
The photos on the left are of a gift 'a salt box' one of my sweet customers gave me for Christmas.  She got it in Bali, while away on a 2-year detail in Singapore.  She is one of my Boise Customers, Thank you, Elaine!.  On the right, you can barely see the title 'First Gift' - in white flocked alphas from Prima.  Yummmm!

And, these pages have absolutely nothing to do with the 'diary' post below!  But, I wanted to capture my first gift in the album:)

Enjoy!


Below are the actual blog notes I wrote on December 1st.

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December 1st -  Daily Diary
I'm just writing thoughts right now!  Capturing some ideas...

Approach to December Daily:  Ali Edwards - December Daily Dec. 1
Just one story a day!  Love it...

So.. which story????
Today is December first... And it came with a BANG!  At 6am we got the 'all call' phone call from school.  School is delayed for 2 hours due to last night's huge honking snow storm.  The kids were released early yesterday, but did not get home until late.  Bad roads.  I had breakfast ready at 5:45am. Oatmeal with raisins and cranberries, and sliced apples on the side.  The kids opted to sleep in an extra hour.

My morning?  Up at 4:00 am.  Started a fire in the woodstove, made coffee, cooked breakfast.  The usual.

Then caught Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas - Day 1!  Giddy... I just love sneaking up to the computer once all my indoor chores are done, with my first cup of coffee (today I put Eggnog in!) and seeing what Tim has to share!  (Note:  later I found out I was a winner from Tim's day 1 comments!)...

Fa la la la la!

Note: Tim's Tag: I want to put a scene behind the house windows... a peek at Christmas! 

Outdoor chores:  Phew.. boatloads of snow.  I sweated when hauling water to the chickens.  Shoveled snow out front.  Man, I am out of shape!

Lunch with Ann Louden - she is leaving for 6 weeks to take care of a friend who had a lung transplant. Ann is an Angel.  Talk about giving of one self.

today was 'Cut and color' day.  My hair.