This and That, November Through March

Sean, Ashley, and Lydia went to the Outer Banks in early October. I always worry when they take a trip, but they had a great time.

 

I think this was at Bodie Island Lighthouse.

 

At the Roanoke Island Aquarium.

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I'm not going to go into a lot of detail because of how much time has passed and because I don't remember most of the details lol, but we had a great Thanksgiving (desserts were pumpkin pie and apple pie), Anniversary (31 years), and Christmas (desserts were pumpkin pie again, key lime pie for Charlie, and homemade chocolate chip cookies). I don't remember what gifts were given. Lydia had a great time though. She loved the talking, singing tea set we got her.

 

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December 27th, Sean called me so that I could hear what Lydia calls me. (She hadn't called me anything prior to that.) He and Ashley were showing Lydia pictures of me and saying, "Who's that?" Lydia said, "Mema". It melted my heart to hear her say that with her sweet voice. She gets excited when she sees me and says, "Mema!" And when Sean's talking to me on speaker phone and she hears me she says, "Is that Mema?" Charlie is "Papa."

 

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On January 9th, I had to bring Loki to the vet because of blood in his poop. Thankfully it wasn't anything serious. He had a full anal gland, which the vet took care of. 

 

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Saturday, January 24th, it was forecasted that we would get a bunch of ice with very cold temperatures, and probably have power outages. We didn't get as much ice as was expected and we didn't lose power, but it was very cold (single digits and teens at night and in the mornings; 20s during the day). 

 

Sean, Ashley, and Lydia came to stay with us (they live about a mile or so from us) in case they lost power. I had bought a lot of food for all six of us (I had to go to five different stores to get everything we needed because people were buying up everything; I went to Walmart, Food Lion, Dollar General, Lowes Foods, and Harris Teeter) and ended up spending over $600! But at least I didn't have to worry about us going hungry.

 

We have a generator, so I cooked up a few meals ahead of time that we could heat up and have a hot meal each night for supper.

 

We got ice and sleet that Saturday evening and Sunday morning, which meant the roads were iced over. Sean, Ashley, and Lydia left sooner than we felt like they should have (Sunday afternoon) because Sean was going to try to go to work that Monday. They made it home safely, but Sean wasn't able to go to work.

 

This was taken on January 27th.

 

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Saturday, January 31st (and I think into Sunday, February 1st), we got 13 inches of snow. The biggest snow we've had in awhile. Again, I had go to three or four different stores to get what we needed because of people clearing the shelves, but I didn't spend nearly as much that time.

 

 

 

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Some time in January, Sean and Ashley told us that they're expecting another baby. On February 28th, we found out that it's a girl! She's due in September.

 

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My 53rd birthday was February 7th, Kelly's 26th birthday was February 8th, Charlie's 57th birthday was February 21st, and Lydia's 2nd birthday was March 11th.

 

Lydia is such a sweet, smart, funny, sassy, adorable little girl! She is a joy to our family and friends. She loves cats, dogs, horses, buses (yes, buses), dinosaurs, and frogs. She knows her ABCs, colors, can count to 10, knows some words in sign language, and is learning to count to 10 in Spanish. 

 

She's at that adorable age where she can't say many words correctly and has such a cute voice. Fish is feesh, car is caw, bus almost ends with a lisp, she can't say the R in horse (well, she can't pronounce the R in any words; Ls are also difficult), Kelly is Keggy or Keh-yee, dragon is gaggon, frog almost sounds like the F word. She says our cat Effie's name really well, but can't quite get Loki.

 

Anyway, I could go on, but I'll stop now. :-)

 

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Tomorrow (technically today), March 21st, is Sean and Ashley's 6th wedding anniversary! 

 

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Lydia is supposed to get tubes for her ears this Monday. She gets an ear infection nearly every month (except for the summer) and had two in one month last year. They've had to reschedule the surgery several times because if she gets sick (like a cold or anything that causes congestion), they can't do the surgery. As of today, she's not sick. Here's hoping and praying she stays well. 

 

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Dress Purchases Since August

Dress purchases since August 2024:

 

Tommy Hilfiger dress. Purchased in August from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) Originally around $100, I think. I paid $37.33 after shipping and tax.

 

Boden Mischa lemon print dress. Purchased in August from someone on eBay. Originally $125, I paid $49.05 after shipping and tax.

 

Boden Mischa aqua print dress. Purchased in November from someone on eBay. Originally $110, I paid $21.40 after shipping and tax.

 

Tommy Hilfiger dress. Purchased in November (a dress I had been looking for for a couple years) from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) I paid $40.54 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Calvin Klein dress. Purchased in February from ThredUp. (This is their photo.) Originally $98, I paid $38.84 after shipping and tax. As you can see, the belt was missing, but I have this same dress in black (I've had it for many years) and I use the belt that came with that one. It's ivory.

Brooks Brothers dress. Purchased in April from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) Originally $125, I paid $43.76 after shipping and tax.

Elie Tahari dress. Purchased in May from someone on Poshmark. Originally $448, I paid $91.75 after shipping and tax.

Boden Selina dress. Purchased on the 14th from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) Originally $198, I paid $56.87 after shipping and tax.

I have also purchased a couple purses, some dresses for Lydia, a pair of pink Blowfish Malibu tennis shoes, and some long-sleeved and short-sleeved Lauren Ralph Lauren T-shirts.

Car Update, Storm, Carne en su Jugo

Charlie has had some issues trying to paint my car, which has been frustrating for me - I expected it to be done by now. He thinks he may have it figured out now (something about the moisture in the air effecting how the paint is applied to the car), but probably not in time for me to drive it this weekend. I really hate that. He's going to move my car from the canopy/tent in the backyard and into the garage (where he's had his project car, a '68 Camaro, for years now; he'll move that into the canopy) and hope that it will be better protected from the humidity (all that moisture in the air from the tons of rain we've been getting - even before tropical storm Debby came along) and then hopefully the paint will come out better.

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Speaking of tropical storm Debby. It came ashore recently and has been dumping tons of rain on eastern and central NC since Wednesday night or Thursday morning. It's still going now as I type this. There has been some wind, but nothing too crazy in our part of the state, and some flooding. There have been several tornado warnings, mostly in eastern NC, and a few tornados. Last I heard, one person has died - in Lucama. A tornado caused his house to collapse in the middle of the night.

 

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There has been a little more progress with the new flooring in the front hall at church. I don't know what's taking so long to finish it, but I reckon slow progress is better than no progress. 

 

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In mid-to late July, a Facebook friend who pastors a church in North Wilkesboro, posted a picture of a bowl of carne en su jugo, which I'd never heard of before, and it looked really good. I looked up a few recipes, watched several YouTube videos (only one of which was in English), and then finally made it this past Friday night. It was delicious! I was like, "That's definitely going on the menu!" I'm trying to wait a reasonable amount of time before I make it again. lol

 

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Purchases since my last blog entry:

Boden dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) Originally $110. I paid $40.54 after shipping and tax. I love the colorful flowers and birds.

I wore this to church this past Sunday (with a white shrug and nude heeled sandals) and when I was holding Lydia in my lap, she couldn't stop staring at all the pretty colors. :-)

 

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I've purchased one new (to my iPod) song since my last entry.

No Way, No Way (You Won't Lose) by Fred Hammond.

 

 

DNA, Church Flooring, Car Update

For some reason, I can't upload photos at the moment. Hopefully that gets fixed soon. I will describe what I can and upload photos if and when I can.

 

There was a new DNA update at Ancestry last July, but I wasn't able to blog about it at the time because my computer was messed up. (And still is.) And then I forgot about it when Charlie got me this laptop. So, here are the updated results from a year ago:

 

My DNA:

England & Northwestern Europe 49%

Wales 15%

Scotland 15%

Sweden & Denmark 8%

Ireland 7%

Germanic Europe 5%

Finland 1%

Charlie's DNA:

England & Northwestern Europe 71%

Scotland 10%

Wales 5%

Ireland 4%

Sweden & Denmark 3%

Benin & Togo 2%

Germanic Europe 2%

Norway 1%

Eastern European Roma 1%

Sardinia 1%

My mom's DNA:

England & Northwestern Europe 57%

Scotland 24%

Wales 11%

Norway 3%

Sweden & Denmark 2%

Ireland 2%

Finland 1%

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Over the past few months, our church has been updating the flooring in a couple halls, the nursery, and maybe the daycare. Someone said they'd be doing the ladies bathroom next. 

 

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Pictures of the progress of my car getting repainted. These were taken a couple weeks ago. I'm really hoping Charlie finishes this week. I'm tired of not being able to drive my car.

 

 

***Photos aren't working (though I keep trying; for some reason they keep disappearing), so I'm not going to try with the car update photos again at the moment.***

 

 

The pictures are of my car with a red primer. Last night, he did the sealer (?) and hopefully he can do the final color painting (I don't know what it's actually called) and the top coat tonight. Hopefully it won't need more sanding. He's had to re-sand it a couple times and re-apply base coat. :-\

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Clothing purchase since my last blog entry:

 

 

 Talbots dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. Originally $158, I paid $30.93 after shipping and tax. This is their photo.

 

I was able to copy and paste this photo here. I haven't been able to upload from my computer, which is what I normally do.

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Songs purchased for my iPod since getting this laptop:

Endless Praise by Charity Gayle

Worthy by Urshan College

Jesus by Indiana Bible College, feature Draylin Young and Jessica Di Giovanni

He's in the Room by David Jennings

Praise by Elevation Worship

It is Well by UPCI Music

Covenant Keeping God by POA Worship

More Than Able by Elevation Worship

If He Did it Before...Same God by Tye Tribbett

Anything Can Happen by Mark Crowder

Holy Ghost by Taylor Fish

Too Good to Not Believe by Indiana Bible College

I Won't Complain by Rev. Paul Jones

Not Afraid by Jesus Culture

Jesus That's my King by First Pentecostal Church of North Little Rock

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I finished Anglesey by Frank Tayell on July 11th (I gave it 3 stars at GoodReads) and started reading Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber on the same day. I'm on about page 150 or 151 in that book.

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I started feeling sick yesterday. I woke up coughing a few times and by the time I got up, I had a sore throat, my left ear was hurting, I was starting to get a little stuffy, and I had a low fever. I slept for a couple hours in the evening while Charlie worked on my car. Charlie and Kelly had leftovers for supper (roast chicken with Cavender's Greek seasoning and lemon), stuffing, and vegetables. I had chicken noodle soup. For some reason, I wasn't enjoying the flavor much, but the warm broth felt good on my throat.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to watch Lydia today. I don't feel up to it and I don't want to get her sick.

This and That

Around the first week of this month, an inflatable garage Charlie had ordered to paint my car inside of came in. It's huge! He only left it up a day or two while he prepared my car. (Any longer than that and I'm sure we would've gotten a letter from the HOA.) He then backed my car out of it and deflated it. He's been doing the primer touch-ups and sanding under a tent thing (it's not a tent, but my mind is blanking on what it's called; canopy?) and will hopefully begin painting it soon. I want it to be the same color that it was, so hopefully the paint he ordered is the right color.

 

 

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Wednesday, June 12th, I babysitted Lydia for the first time. Ashley went back to work that week and will be working Tuesday through Thursday each week. She works at our church daycare and will have Lydia with her on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I babysit every Wednesday. She's hoping to get a job she can do from home because she'd really rather be at home with Lydia. 

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Last Friday, I went to Home Depot and got a new light fixture for the hall bath. I'll have Charlie install it after I pick a new paint color for that bathroom and Charlie paints it. I don't know yet what color it will be, but I'm thinking of a light shade of gray, yellow, or pink. The tile in that bathroom is a mixture of light blue and medium blue.

 

I got a new shower curtain for that bathroom recently. I ordered it from Amazon. It has a bamboo design on it.

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My mom has been driving me to places I need to go for the past couple months. I cannot wait until my car is done so I can drive myself places. My mom is a bad driver. I don't know how someone her age (she'll be 73 next month) has the nerve to drive 15-20 mph over the speed limit on city streets. (In her Camaro that for some reason she seems to think she has to put the pedal to the metal when the light turns green.) She's also supposed to wear glasses when she drives, but only wears them if it's raining or if it's close to sunset. And she has horrible road rage. It's embarrassing. And she talks bad about people. I'm a quiet, peaceful person and her "energy" is so different from mine. I'm afraid I'm either going to lose my mind or she's going to get me killed.

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Purchases since my last blog entry:

J. Crew Factory shirtdress. Ordered from someone on Poshmark. I paid $24.52 after shipping and tax. Originally $90.

 

Eva Franco green tweed skirt with fringe. I had been looking for this skirt in my size for two or three years and finally found it. I bought it from someone on eBay. I paid $54.79 after shipping and tax. Originally $225.

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I dnf'd The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins a couple days ago. I had gotten about halfway through it several months ago and lost interest. 

 

I'm still reading Anglesey by Frank Tayell. I'm more than halfway through.

Tree, Dishes, Shogun, Reading

In my last blog entry, I mentioned the flame thrower redbud tree Charlie bought and planted. Here is a picture of it in our yard:

 

 

I told Charlie recently that I'd like to plant a couple trees in our backyard kind of near our property line with our neighbors to our left (as you face our house) and not directly behind our house so that they can be seen from the road and front yard. I don't know yet what kind, but nothing big. And I told him yesterday that I'd like to plant a bunch of purple flowers. (Purple isn't my favorite color and some things I don't like in purple at all, but I love purple flowers.) Don't know if that will happen though.

 

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Over the past two or three years, we've had a few plates to break - two red Pioneer Woman plates (which chip easier than I like) and a white plate with floral trim. I wanted to get some new plates to replace them, but couldn't find anymore of the red Pioneer Woman plates or any plates I like at Walmart or Target. (The ones at Target were all plain and boring.) 

 

So I went to World Market a few weeks ago and saw these blue plates that I've actually loved for years, but they don't "go" with my other plates or my kitchen. I decided that I no longer care about that lol, so I bought two of them and then my mom bought me two more last week.

I think they're so beautiful and I'm glad I got them. If I had the cabinet space for the bowls and saucers, I might get them, too. But I do not. :-\

 

The pattern is called "cherry blossom".

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Several weeks ago, a remake of the Shogun series (based on the book, which I haven't read) aired on FX and Hulu. It seemed like it could be a good show, so I watched it. I loved it! One of the best shows I've watched in a long time. The acting, locations, sets, costumes, plot were all fantastic. I don't really care about awards shows, but Shogun deserves every award they could be eligible for.

There was no sequel to the original mini-series or the book, so this was supposed to be a mini-series as well, but apparently there might be two more seasons. Without a book to base it on, I don't have high hopes for it. But I reckon we'll see.

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Back in my teens and twenties, there were these chocolate candies that my mom used to buy and I loved them. For the past several years or more, I've tried finding them in stores whenever I'd think of it, but I couldn't find them. So I checked Amazon and they had them, so I ordered a box. Mon Cheri by Ferrero. They were kind of expensive, so I'm taking my time eating them.

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A few days ago, I told Charlie that I'd like to get another really good knife for cutting/chopping food. (I only had one.) He almost immediately got on Amazon and ordered a knife for me. He paid almost $200 for it! I was shocked. I would never pay that much for a knife. lol That may not be a lot of money for a knife to a professional chef, but it's a lot to me. Charlie said he looked at reviews and people said it was a great knife. 

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The past couple years have been terrible for me when it comes to reading. I used to love reading so much, but I hardly ever read anymore. I mean, it doesn't help that I can barely get through a few pages without falling asleep. *sigh* Middle age, I guess. I recently started reading again, but I'm not doing it every day. I want to get back to that eventually though.

I've about decided to dnf The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. I started reading Anglesey, book eight in the Surviving the Evacuation series (zombie apocalypse) by Frank Tayell, on April 11th, but I haven't made a lot of progress. I've liked what I've read so far though.

Lydia, Easter, Aurora Borealis, Mother's Day, Etc.

I've been a little neglectful of my blog lately. I usually like to post once a month, but I just didn't feel like writing last month. There's quite a bit to catch up on. I'll try not to be too wordy though.

 

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Tuesday, March 26th, Lydia came home from the hospital. She had finally got the hang of eating (something the nurses said takes preemies a little longer to learn) and was putting weight back on after losing a little.

They had detected a heart murmur when she was still in the hospital and they could still hear it in the weeks after she went home. On April 29th, she had to go to the cardiologist to have that checked and they said there's nothing to worry about. At that doctor visit, she weighed 10 lbs. 11 oz.

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Easter was March 31st. I wore the yellow Talbots dress I had bought from someone on Poshmark back in February. I wore nude heels with it, a white shrug, and carried a light blue straw Talbots tote that I had bought from someone on Poshmark in May 2021. I really liked the outfit and got compliments.

I don't remember much from that day as far as what church was like because I waited too long to post about it. lol We had a good crowd though and the weather was beautiful. Sunny and in the 70s.

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Sean's birthday was April 9th. He's 27 years old now. Seems crazy to have an almost 30-year-old. I had remembered that he had said something a few weeks before his birthday about needing new church shirts, so I met him, Ashley, and Lydia at Belk on Saturday the 13th and bought him a couple dress shirts.

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Saturday, April 13th, Charlie bought a flamethrower redbud tree for our front yard. He couldn't find an eastern redbud at Lowe's or the nursery that's near our house, but the nursery had a few other kinds of redbuds. He texted me about it while I was getting groceries at Walmart asking me which one I wanted. I looked them up and chose the flamethrower. The other two were called hearts of gold and ruby falls.

I'd like to get a dogwood in the fall. Our yard has looked so sad since we lost our trees in a storm on August 15th. But I don't want anything big enough to crush our car again.

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Monday, April 15th, I got our taxes done. I went to the same lady I've been going to for the past few years. We're not getting a big refund, but enough to get a new mattress (it's time).

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Our pastor announced at church on April 21st that his daughter Savannah and her husband Jonathan are expecting their third child! Exciting news! Their oldest (Vincent) is almost 3 years old and their youngest (Valentina, soon to be middle child) is several months old. A friend of mine told me that Savannah wants five children. I wonder if they'll all have V names.

 

Our youth leaders (Jerry and Jessalyn) announced a month or so ago that they're expecting a baby girl. I didn't even know she was pregnant. Also exciting news! They have a boy (not even a year old, I don't think) named Ronin.

 

Jessalyn is Savannah's husband Jonathan's sister. She has a twin sister named Joelle. Joelle is married to a man named Ross. They have a baby boy named Abram.

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Friday, April 26th, I went to urgent care because my right arm, which I hurt on October 18th, was hurting really badly and the arm braces didn't seem to be helping. The pain was getting worse. The doctor told me that it seems like I hurt it in multiple places (wrist to shoulder) and gave me the number of an orthopedic doctor to see. I need to call them this week. I had to put off calling because I didn't know exactly when AF would start and didn't want to schedule an appointment only to have to reschedule. And then I got sick and have been sick all this past week. :-\

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This past Friday night, the aurora borealis was visible for much of the US. Including North Carolina. Well, not that visible to the naked eye, though I could see it a little bit, but if you put your phone camera on night mode, the colors show up. It was beautiful! And at times, we could see this white pulsating - like streaks or streams of pulsating white light - with our naked eye! It was so cool! I was bouncing with excitement every time that happened. lol

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Yesterday, Sunday, May 12th, was Mother's Day. I slept maybe 15 minutes Saturday night and couldn't make it to church. I hate missing church! :-( I was so sad about that. I finally fell asleep around 8:30 in the morning and slept off and on until about 2:20 in the afternoon. I also wasn't feeling well still. But it was such a beautiful day - Carolina blue skies, a few clouds, and temperatures in the 70s.

Sean, Ashley, and Lydia came over this past Saturday and brought me flowers and a card. I wish I could've held Lydia (I love that sweet baby so much!), but I don't know if what I have is contagious (I'm thinking sinus cold), so I didn't.

I also got flowers and a card from Charlie, a card and money from my mom (we gave her a card and a purple orchid - her favorite color is purple), and I bought a couple dresses. We gave Ashley a card and money to buy a new dress. (Charlie transferred the money to her account.) She had said to me a few weeks back that she needs new dresses.

 

Flowers from Sean and Ashley.

Flowers from Charlie.

 

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Purchases since my last blog entry:

Boden dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (This is their picture.) Originally $198. I paid $71.52 after shipping and tax. More than I normally pay for dresses these days, but I had been looking for this dress in my size for at least a year.

 

Modcloth dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. Originally $150. I paid $36.24 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Modcloth dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (This is their picture.) Probably also originally $150. I paid $46.94 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Calvin Klein shirt dress. One of the dresses I bought for Mother's Day. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. Originally over $100. (Could be between $120 and $135.) I paid $40.54 after shipping and tax.

 

Tommy Hilfiger dress. The other dress I bought for Mother's Day. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. I don't know the original price. I paid $35.20 after shipping and tax.

Loss, Birthdays, Park, and Sick Milo

On January 21st, my aunt Nelie passed away. She was 90 years old. She was my maternal grandma's youngest sibling and the last surviving of her siblings. My grandma passed away in 2003 at the age of 78. The other siblings were James (1915-1968), Horace (1917-1972), Lester (1919-1994), Pauline (1923-2004), and Ruth (1928-1997).

 

 

Aunt Nelie is the one with the doll. Behind her is her mother Lessie. Beside her is her sister Ruth. Behind Ruth is my grandma/Nelie and Ruth's sister Doris.

Aunt Nelie and her husband Richard.

 

Left to right: James, Nelie, Lester, Grandma (in the back), Pauline, Horace, and Ruth.

I hadn't seen my aunt Nelie in many years, but it was sad to lose the last of my grandma's siblings. That generation of our family is gone and now we can't talk to them about times past and things they lived through and experienced. 

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On February 1st, the baby wasn't moving as much as she normally does, so Ashley went to her doctor. He or she then told Ashley to go to the hospital. Charlie and I arrived at the hospital awhile after they did. We were there for an hour or two while they monitored the baby. Thankfully, all was fine. They said she was probably sitting on/leaning against the umbilical cord and/or playing with it.

After leaving the hospital, we went to Texas Roadhouse for supper. I got the herb crusted chicken. It was delicious.

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My birthday was February 7th. I'm 51 years old now. I was 35 when I started writing in this blog. Hard to believe. For my birthday, I made a chocolate blueberry cake. It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted (not enough of a sweet blueberry flavor in it), but it was still good.

Charlie gave me money to shop with. I mostly ordered skirts. A few black denim skirts (two Lauren Ralph Lauren, one Land's End), a brown pencil skirt (Lauren Ralph Lauren), a green, flowy silk skirt (Calvin Klein), a green corduroy skirt (St. John's Bay), white denim skirt (Lauren Ralph Lauren), and a green Tahari cardigan. (My favorite color is green. :-) Red is a close second.) All for low prices off of eBay and Poshmark.

 

Kelly's birthday was February 8th. She's 24 years old now. She wanted strawberry pie instead of her usual cookies and cream ice cream cake this year. She doesn't like actual cake, except cheesecake.

 

Charlie's birthday was February 21st. He's now 55 years old. I made him one of his favorite meals - fried pork chops, macaroni and tomatoes, corn, and great northern beans. The cake he wanted this year was lemon cake (instead of yellow with chocolate frosting) - I put buttercream frosting on top.

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I had to renew my license by my birthday this year. Last time I got it renewed, I was able to do it online. This year I had to go to the DMV to renew it. I had to read the top line of some letters and get my picture taken (probably the worst picture that's ever been taken of me in my entire life). I went a day or two before my birthday and was there for about an hour or maybe a little longer. It felt even longer than that. :-/

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On my birthday, Kelly and I went to the dam at Company Mill Preserve and to Hagan-Stone Park. The temperature wasn't bad (about 51 or 52 degrees), but for some reason I was about to freeze. I wished that I had gloves with me, a thicker coat, and had worn boots instead of tennis shoes. I did finally warm up, but it took longer than I thought it would.

 

The gap in the dam wall is to the left of this picture.

Dam wall gap. Kelly took this picture for me while I stood in agony after falling. lol

 

Anyway, we went to the dam at Company Mill first. I took some pictures and short videos and then noticed a small open area in the wall to the left of the dam. I told Kelly I wanted to get up there. We found a stone wall about 3-4 feet tall and decided to climb up. There were gaps that made good footholds. Kelly got up quickly and then I tried to get up. Actually, the getting to the top wasn't hard. But I asked for Kelly's hand and when I got to the top (pretty quickly), I somehow fell and came down hard on a big, sharp, white rock that was stuck in the ground - right below my right knee. It hurt so bad I thought I was going to throw up. It took a couple minutes for the nausea to pass. The place where I hurt my leg quickly bruised and swelled up. It stuck out as far as my knee. I joked that it looked like I had two knees on my right leg.

When we decided that we were ready to move on, I said that I probably couldn't jump back down those 3-4 feet with my leg hurting like it was. So I found a very narrow, overgrown path that lead away from the lake and dam and back to the path. If only I'd seen that path before trying to climb the wall, but it was pretty well hidden.

We then got back in the car (because the walk to the next area we wanted to go to was about 2.5 miles away) and drove over to Hagan-Stone Park a few miles away and made the walk over to that side of Company Mill where the creek is. Such a pretty, peaceful spot. We saw a couple deer take off in the woods when we got to the creek. I didn't try to take a picture since I knew that with all the trees and them moving you probably wouldn't be able to see the deer in the picture.

 

 

 

It's been almost a month and my leg is still bruised and I can't put pressure on it without it hurting.

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About 2-3 weeks ago, we started having a hard time getting Milo to eat. If I added something new to his food (he's supposed to be eating prescription food for his liver - hepatic), like rice or corn, he would get excited about his food and eat most of it. But after 2 or 3 days, he would stop eating it and I'd have to find something else to add to his food. Eventually he was eating almost nothing. He had a regular appointment (yearly check up) on February 21st and I told them about him not eating. He had lost nearly a pound in those couple weeks. Nearly every test (blood, urine, feces) came back normal and his heart sounded good. The only thing that came back not so good was his liver values are elevated more than last year (he has liver disease), but not so much that he's in liver failure or so bad that he would stop eating. So we don't know why he wasn't eating.

Charlie started giving him boiled chicken tenders about a week ago and he's loved that, but I really wish he'd start eating his dog food again. Protein isn't good for his liver.

Last Saturday, he seemed kind of lethargic most of the day and hadn't had much energy in the weeks that he wasn't eating much (naturally), but he's back to full energy now - barking, running, playing.

He's supposed to have an ultrasound done this Friday so they can see his liver.

Milo turned 13 this past September. I think Jack Russell's typically live 12-15 years, so we know he probably doesn't have much time left. I'm praying he'll be with us for at least another year though. I saw my husband's eyes fill with tears a couple times when things were looking really bad for Milo. Not only am I not ready to lose Milo (not that you're ever ready to lose a pet), but I don't want Charlie to lose him. He loves Milo so much. That's his buddy.

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Other than the clothing items I bought with my birthday money, here are purchases I've made since my last blog entry.

Talbot's dress. Bought from someone on Poshmark. (This is her picture.) Originally $149. I paid $45.87 after shipping and tax.

L.L. Bean dress. Bought from someone on Poshmark. (This is her picture.) Originally around $100, I think. I paid $35.20 after shipping and tax.