Its Already the end of August...

As excited as I am for the beginning of a new school year, I also am starting to grieve the end of summer. It sure has been a busy summer.  There was the filling in for support staff on vacations (for voa), there also was the summer school hours, and of course my new support staff for two young women who recently lost their mom to cancer.

It wasn't all work though, We've got to see a beautiful grandgirls more then we have in a while. With Bella's Birthday in May, Kate's in June, Angie's in July, and Scott's in August....well we got to see them at least once a month:)  I'm going to miss the sleep overs at grandma's & the visits. 

Anna & Tim got settled in their new home....and now have a zillion projects and ideas for it.  We got to see Josh and his new apartment in Burnsville.  Shaun has even dropped by a couple of times since he moved to North Dakota in April.  

I think for me the hardest thing is going to be when Al goes back on nights.  That get's old fast, when we are working different shifts...not complaining mind you as we are so Thankful that we are both working!  These are some of the hardest times I can ever remember, and I am 52 years old, or young, depending on how you look at it.

The nice thing is that the weather right now is spectacular! crisp evening breezes, lower temps and dew points.  The trees are just now getting ready to change their colors and put on a gorgeous show of color...goulash, chili, applecrisp, tatatot hotdish....hot cider, and bon fires with smores being enjoyed, these are all great things of Autumn that we will soon be enjoying.  I guess it is simply a trade off. We need the  balance in order to fully enjoy each.

Summer is quickly passing

You know summer is approaching in it's end when the aisles of target and walmart get stocked with discount "back to school supplies".  I love that commercial that came out some time ago, the one where the dad is riding the shopping cart like a scooter while tossing school items in at random.  The dad has a great big smile and the background music is singing "it's the most wonderful time of the year",{ a familiar Christmas jingle} All the while a school age boy and girl walk slowly behind the cart and gleeful dad, with this "I- am -deadman-walking" looks on their faces.  Trust me it is hillarious.

I am excited about a new school year, and yet, that means Al will be back on evening shift and I on days.  It also means my life will get a whole lot busier with adding a 40 hour school job to my 8 hour support staff job.  I do like the structure it gives my life though, and it helps me work out more, as I am in town every day and able to get to curves, where I work out or use the weight room at work.

I still have a month to lull around and enjoy the sweet days of summer.  I really need to take in a farmers market or two before they are done for the season.

On a positive note, I did get a lot of decluttering and organizing done around the house. Some long over due projects.  I still need to shampoo and clean the carpets,assist Al in getting the garage done with the recently acquired cabinets we are adding out there, and later when it cools down some we have to clean out and gut out the cabin.  What we have done so far amazes me when I open an organized closet or use our once neglected basement.  Oh I definitely need to dust....

Scott and Angie were here on a recent stay and helped me dust cobwebbs with the whoolly they had given me.....They both have allergies and they both were sneezing and suffering with allergy attacks.  Our new kitty was a part of that, but we also seem to live on a dust plain.   ( we live in the boonies on a dirt road in the front yard and a flooded wet land in the back yard)  needless to say it is a war against the elements.

Amazing Grace...I once was lost but now am found!

The last thing on Al & my mind would have been, "let's get a kitten" and frankly we didn't, it got us.  For about 2 weeks now, we have been hearing a crying kitten out in the weeds (the 6 foot high weeds where we don't mow, as we have 8 acres).  Then on Monday, I grilled chicken on the grill which is on the deck.  The crying was so loud that I said, "Al, there is that kitten again."  To which he said, "it's on the deck!".  And so with a can of tuna and a little coaxing....well you know what happened, we now have a kitten.

The thing is, we live out in the boondocks with a lot of predators....the fact that this kitten survived that long is Amazing...and that is what we named her, Amazing Grace! She was extrememly skinny and nervous at first, but soon calmed down and became loving and playful.

As you can see Grace is already right at home:)

Life is just a blurr lately

Thanksgiving is already just about a week away...like a snow ball going down hill, gathering more momentum and snow layers as it goes...well, that is what my life feels like right now.  Like I am on auto pilot and not really present.  The work days at school are merely a blurr.  I try to get things done around the house with my 3-4 hours after work and before bed...but I get side tracked, or there is just too much to do and I get overwhelmed.

I am so looking forward to having a couple days off for Thanksgiving to just relax and enjoy being with family.  I am hoping to make it a no fuss relax and have fun day.  We have so very much to be Thankful for and I Thank God for his abundance of Blessings.

God Bless, Take a Deep Breath and remember Every breath is truely a gift!

Home for the Holidays

I am so enjoying my day off!  The weather is gorgeous, although I have not been out yet, the sunshining in the windows is lifting my spirits and encouraging me along on my tasks at hand.

The tasks list is getting shorter and shorter as I zoom through them one at a time.  All that is left is finishing two batches of Christmas cookies for the bazaar at church on Saturday, and finishing straightening out my closet with some purging of  the summer and "what were you thinking?" items.

I might even sneak a nap in.  The more I can get done now the better it will be next weekend, when both Al's parents and my Mom arrive for the weekend.  I want to really enjoy the holidays this year and not get stressed out.  We are having a small Thanksgiving dinner here with Our oldest son, Scott, his wife, Angie, and those adorable grandgirls, Bella & Kate. 

Their names together are so sweet like a upper class store that sells exclusive high end merchandise with delcious chocolate and other culinary sweets...  I bought this at Bella & Kate's, see?  doesn't it have just the sweetest tone to it?

Anyway, We have Al's Birthday on the 21st, then Tim's on the 23, followed by Thanksgiving....a busy month for sure, but I wouldn't have it any other way....I am truely Thankful, for all the abundant blessings I've been given.

call me Sleeping beauty....just don't wake me up

One of the perks of being a para in the jr high, is late start days like today.  I do not have to start work till almost 10 this morning.  So I why am I up at 6:30am....that is a good question, the answer is simple too.  I was so tired last night I went to bed at 8pm.  This is probably not a good habit to get into.

What a week, capped off with an ER visit to Mom!

Friday night, after a very crazy-long day, the phone rang, just as I was finally turning in for the night.  My mom had been rushed by ambulance to the hospital and was in intensive care.  Her doctor had given her 2pints of blood earlier that day to remedy her anemia (her hemoglobin was at 7).  Because her blood pressure was already so low they did not give her the diaretic with this transfussion.  Several hours later, while out to eat, she went into pulmonary adema....(I am learning way too many medical terms, that is not a good when dealing with one's parent's codition).  I spoke with my mom from intensive care at midnight, when she asked me to come to the hospital.  We got there at 2:15am.  I dozed off here and there from 2-6 am, but never really sleeping, and constantly being woken by mom arguing with her medical team. Even though her blood sugar was 385 without eating in 6 hours, she refused insulin and demanded food.  At 80 years old my mom is soooooooooooo stubborn!  A doctor who works with her regular doctor was oncall came  in to see her during the am rounds.  He let her eat breakfast and told her she could probably go home by afternoon.  I waited till my baby sis got there and then drove the 2 hours home and went to sleep.  At 4pm I called her to see how she was doing and if she was home.  She was so upset, she is being kept in the hospital another day at least.  She does not accept that if she would just take her insulin shot she could probably go home.   The underlying problem of all her medical issues is stenosis of her main artery leading into her heart, which she will not have surgery to fix.  These issuses will continue the rest of her shortend life. 

It seems this is all I do is deal with oppositinal people!  from my mom, to the ld population I work with in jr high special ed, to the vulnerable adults I work with at VOA.   I would think I would be more oppositional myself!  I admit I can be....but really I am not, at least not to the degree of  the amount I work with.

I guess I need to just focus on positive and get on with it though, because Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I have so very much to be Thankful for.