This and That, March Through June

In March, Lydia was finally able to get tubes put in her ears. We were all nervous about the surgery, but it went well. And no ear infections since getting tubes.

 

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Sean's 29th birthday was April 9th. We bought him a new suit. (He wears suits to church.) There's a store in Greensboro that sells good brand suits for discounted prices. Sean tried on a few before choosing one. I think it was Calvin Klein, but I really don't remember.

 

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Kelly's friend/my "second daughter" Rene had her second child in April. A little girl named Atalaya Hadassah. (Her oldest is a boy named Anthony. I think he'll be 3 this year.) She is so adorable!

 

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I brought Effie to the vet a month or two ago for a check-up, including one or two shots. She's healthy, but the vet would like for her to lose a pound. She already seems pretty little to me (I think she's 8 or 9 pounds), but maybe that's because all of our other cats were/are bigger.

 

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Charlie had to go to Indiana and Illinois the week of May 18th. He doesn't usually work on cranes on the rare occasions that he travels for work. He just has to basically do customer/client relations. He really doesn't enjoy that at all.

 

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The week of May 25th, Charlie went with Sean, Ashley, and Lydia (in his truck; they drove their car) to the Outer Banks. He asked Kelly and I several times if we wanted to go and we couldn't. We were both expecting to start that week and we don't have anyone to take care of our cats while we're gone. 

 

Years ago, we'd have my mom do it, but she didn't come over often enough to let our dogs out, fill bowls, clean out litter boxes, etc. So we don't ask her anymore. After we quit asking her, we had Rene house sit/pet sit, but she got married in 2019 and has two little ones now.

 

The only way we could go is if Sean and Ashley don't go and can take care of our cats for us. When they're out of town, Kelly and I take care of their cats.

 

Anyway, they had a good time. There was some rain for a couple days, but they did mostly indoor stuff on those days. Like going to the aquarium. Charlie and Sean were able to do a little fishing. And they all went to a couple lighthouses, the Elizabethan Gardens (Charlie wasn't feeling good when they went there, so he stayed in his room), etc.

 

Kelly and I enjoyed our week at home (except for AF) and really didn't miss not going to the coast.

 

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June 3rd, Kelly and I went to The Depot antique mall in Concord. That place is huge! We were there for about four hours. We had to hurry towards the end since they were about to close, so we didn't see everything. They have a lot of neat stuff. My favorite booth was filled with weapons, helmets, and other military items from WWI, WWII, the 1800s, etc. It was so cool!

 

After leaving the antique mall, we got something to eat (I don't remember the name of the place; the food was okay) and on our way home, we stopped at the North Carolina Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which is at a rest stop.

 

 There was a man there with a very friendly pit bull. He (the dog) came running towards us, off leash, tail wagging, tongue out. The man hollered at us, "It's okay. He's friendly." The dog started to walk away and then I made the pss-pss-pss noise and he excitedly came back to me and started to jump up on me. So, it works for dogs, too. lol He was a sweet dog.

 

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Saturday, June 13th, Kelly and I went to an antique store here in Greensboro. It was bigger than I expected and, again, we ran out of time before we could see everything. They had some nice stuff, but their prices were higher than the antique mall in Concord.

 

The reason I'm going to antique stores is because I want/need a larger, better quality trunk (real wood!) to keep our bedding in. (We don't have a linen closet.) Not only do I need one a little bigger, but I expect that Lydia and her baby sister at some point may want to sit or stand on the one I have and that one is made of thin, cheap material. It would likely cave in under their weight.

 

There are a couple thrift stores and a few more antique stores I'd like to check out. I've also done online searches. Hopefully I'll find one soon.

 

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I had a doctor's appointment on June 17th. A regular check-up. I was going to get the shingles shot and tetanus shot at that appointment, as well as have blood work done, but after getting the shingles shot (which hurt like crazy! - it bruised and has now turned yellow), I told them no more needles for the day. I almost fainted and the nurse had me lie down. She fanned me with papers in her hand for a few minutes. Then I moved to a chair and she brought me a small bottle of water. I felt better after a little bit.

 

I went back to the doctor this past Tuesday the 23rd to get my blood work done. I went to Rack Room after that and got some new tan sandals (I've needed new sandals for years) and then got a cute pink top and shorts for Lydia at Belk for half off. 

 

Oh, my blood pressure is a little high, so I'm having to check that a couple times a day at home. 

 

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There's been almost no movies worth watching for several years now, but I've watched two really good ones so far this year - Remarkably Bright Creatures on Netflix and Project Hail Mary on Amazon Prime. Both made me cry a lot. If I had known how much I would love PHM, I would've gone to the theater to see it in IMAX. One of the best movies I've ever watched.

 

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Songs purchased for my iPod since late March:

 

The Warrior is a Child by Twyla Paris

We Want Revival by Red Worship

Ask Me Why by David Jennings

Take Control by UPCI Music (featuring Draylin Young & Rayne Libby)

Show Me Your Face/Yahweh by Red Worship

Show Me Your Face Medley by Indiana Bible College

Making a Way For Me/Waymaker by Indiana Bible College

Nothing Else by Indiana Bible College

Everything For Me by J.J. Hairston

For Christ Alone by 2819 Worship

 

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I will post about dress purchases in a separate entry. 

 

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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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New Kitty, Songs, Death in the Family

I've gotten behind again. I wanted my next entry to be about Milo. I always write an entry all about a pet when they die. But I haven't been able to bring myself to do it this time. I would get to thinking that I need to get that done for Milo, but it's going to be hard - I know I will cry. His last few weeks were so sad and pitiful. Just thinking about it as I'm typing this is putting a lump in my throat. I do need to get that done soon though. I've done it for other pets; I need to do it for Milo, too.

 

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On March 15th, Kelly and I went to Juliet's House's adoption fair at Petsmart on Bridford Parkway. They have an adoption fair every Saturday. Mostly cats, but there are also some puppies. We wanted to adopt a kitten. We had been to the shelter a couple weeks prior, but there were only a few kittens available (in the cages, anyway; they probably keep some in the back until they're ready to be adopted or until other cats and kittens are adopted) and I didn't feel a connection with the few that were available. The one I really liked was already being adopted.

 

So, anyway, we went to the adoption fair at Petsmart. There were lots of cute cats and kittens. But this one I fell in love with as soon as I saw her from a distance. (Her foster mom had named her Petunia.) I let them know that we were interested in her and they said that we could spend time with her in one of the rooms, but that someone else was coming to look at her and one of the other cats (Desiree, I think was her name). "Petunia" was six months old and so cute! Desiree was 8 months old, but much bigger than Petunia. We also spent time with her, but I didn't feel a connection to her and she didn't seem very interested in us. lol But she may have just been nervous.

 

After spending time with both kittens (both are torties), we then waited for the couple who were coming to see Petunia and Desiree to arrive and meet both kitties so that they could decide which one they wanted. I was so nervous. I really wanted Petunia. The lady helping us was rooting for us. lol She could see how much we already loved Petunia.

 

The couple arrived and chose to meet Desiree first. After spending some time with her, they decided to adopt her without spending time with Petunia. I was so happy! (For us being able to adopt Petunia and for Desiree getting adopted.) I immediately filled out the adoption form and after a couple hours of being at Petsmart (much longer than I expected to be there), we got Petunia and brought her home.

 

Kelly and I had come up with a list of names for a new kitten a few weeks before this and Kelly started reading off the girl names on our way home. I don't remember most of the names on the list, but we narrowed it down to Valkyrie and Effie (after Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games). Petunia seemed much more like an Effie to us, so that's what we named her.

 

Effie will be 9 months old this Saturday. She seems little to us for her age (such a sweet, tiny face), but she's healthy and very playful. She loves to play fetch and is so sweet! Loki tolerates her, but she often gets on his nerves. lol The pesky little sister.

 

 

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Lydia took her first steps on March 29th. Just a few at a time for awhile, but she's doing great now and is trying to run. I know I'm biased, but she is so adorable! I love her so much.

 

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Songs purchased for my iPod since the last time I included that in a blog entry:

 

I'm Walking by Donnie McClurkin

When All God's Children Get Together by Minister Keith Pringle and The Pentecostal Community Choir

Victory by Yolanda Adams

Holy by David Jennings and Shara McKee

Famous For by Indiana Bible College

No Other Name by Indiana Bible College

Better by Tye Tribbett

More Than Enough by Gary Oliver

Your Majesty by Steve Lawrence

Revolution by Kirk Franklin & The Family

That Name by Shara McKee

Holy by UPCI Music

Heaven on Earth by Indiana Bible College

Hallelujah to Your Name by Tye Tribbett & G.A.

Bless the Lord (Son of Man) by Tye Tribbett & G.A.

Still Alive by Kirk Franklin

All Things New by Tye Tribbett

I'll Sing About Jesus by Indiana Bible College

Heaven by Michael English

I'm Not Afraid by The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

Alive in You by Jesus Culture

The Anthem by Planetshakers

We Are the Free by Indiana Bible College

Take Me There by Chad Erickson

What a Beautiful Name by Indiana Bible College

But God by The Pentecostals of Katy

Send the Rain by William McDowell

Resurrection Day by Indiana Bible College

The Blessing by Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes & Elevation Worship

Let It Rain by Jesus Culture

Let It Rain by Anthony Evans

Let It Rain by Bishop Paul S. Morton

Excess Love Remix by J.J. Hairston

I Know a Name by Elevation Worship

Hosanna (Be Lifted Higher) by Israel Houghton

Holy Forever & Agnus Dei by The River Worship

Worthy of it All by Cece Winans

John 1 by Indiana Bible College

God's Been Good (The Church Song) by The Pentecostals of Katy

Cry Holy by Salvador

Mighty God by Clint Brown

 

Yes, Let It Rain by three different artists. I couldn't decide which one I liked best. But since getting them, I listen to the version by Jesus Culture most often.

 

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Some time between 11:30 PM, Saturday night, May 31st, and 2:00 AM Sunday morning, June 1st, Sean's father-in-law Doug passed away in his sleep.

 

Sean heard Doug's alarm going off around 3:30 AM, but it kept going. At first, Sean thought Doug overslept (he did that often), but after awhile, Sean went to check on him. He called his name a couple times, then tried to shake him awake. Doug was stiff and cold.

 

Sean called 911 and they told him to do chest compressions until EMS got there. It took them about 15 minutes to get there. (Including police and fire department. Sean said he didn't see an ambulance. He thinks it may have been the coroner's van or something.) Sean said they tried for about 30 seconds and then pronounced him dead.

Doug was 59 years old. Ashley is of course taking it very hard.

 

I can't believe he died that way. And I can't believe my son had to do what he did. He told me that the image of Doug dead and having to do chest compressions on him is always on his mind. He tries to distract himself and get it off his mind, but it's difficult. 

 

The funeral is today at 2:00. 

 

Doug left behind his mother, Fran, a sister, Kim, and his three daughters - Alyssa, Ashley, and Hannah, and five or six grandchildren. (I can't remember if Hannah has two children or three. Alyssa and her husband have two - a girl and an infant son. Ashley and Sean have Lydia.) 

 

I didn't see Doug much over the past couple years, but he seemed nice. I had done some work on his family tree for him. He thought the information I found was pretty cool.  

 

I'm dreading today. I know it's going to be so incredibly difficult for the family.

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.

Baby Shower, Milo, Welcome Baby!, African Ancestry

Wednesday, March 6th, we found out that Ashley had a condition called cholestasis. This is uncomfortable for the mother (itching), but can be dangerous for the baby. Cholestasis can cause up to 60% of preterm deliveries, up to 33% of fetal distress, and up to 2% of babies die in the womb. So her doctor decided they would induce her at 37 weeks on March 22nd. They put her on medication to help with the cholestasis. They were also going to do ultrasounds once or twice a week and monitor the baby. Cholestasis usually goes away on its own after the baby is born.

 

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Friday, March 8th was a busy day. Milo had an ultrasound done of his liver, I ordered the cake for the baby shower (strawberry buttercream from Maxie B's), got groceries, bought gifts for Sean/Ashley/Lydia for the baby shower, and made chocolate chip cookies for the shower.

 

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Saturday, March 9th, was the baby shower. I picked up the cake from the bakery about an hour before the shower, brought it to the church, and waited for the shower to start. I had a few people helping me with decorating and food. (Rene, Kaley, Jennifer, and Kristin.) I couldn't have done it all myself. Plus, I'm not a party person, so it's not my area of expertise. They did a great job.

The shower started at 2:00. It was a lovely time of conversation, food (cake was delicious!), and gifts.

 

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Monday, March 11th, Ashley's water broke before dawn. Sean called me after 5:00 AM to tell me. Ashley called her doctor and he or she told her to go to the hospital. Ashley was 1 centimeter dilated. I told Sean it would take all day for the baby to be born. I waited for Charlie to get home from work and then we went to the hospital. We got there shortly before 6:00 PM.

They gave Ashley an epidural when she was about 3-4 centimeters dilated (I think around 4 or 5 PM). By about 6:45 PM, she was 6 centimeters dilated. She was fully dilated around 7:35-7:40 and began pushing shortly after that.

Lydia Jane was born close to 9:30 PM. 6 lbs. 5.9 oz., 20 inches long. She came out sideways and was very blue, but breathing and was crying soon after that.

Because Ashley was 35 weeks pregnant, Lydia had to go to the NICU and is still there. She had a breathing tube until the morning or afternoon after she was born. She also had a feeding tube for the first couple days and then they removed it, but they had to put it back in (through her nose this time; it was in her mouth before) the next day because she wasn't getting enough food from the bottle. She still isn't eating enough (though she has finally started gaining weight), so she still has the feeding tube.

I've been to the hospital a few times to see her and hold her. (I would go every day, if I could.) She is so sweet and so cute! She's so much smaller in person than she looks in pictures. Such a sweet, tiny face. She makes such cute noises, sometimes sticks out her tongue when she stretches (so freaking cute!), and loves to hold Sean's thumb. Right now, it looks like she has Sean's eyes, Ashley's nose, and mostly Sean's face shape, but I think she may have Ashley's jaw.

I love that little girl so much! People have asked me what I want to be called and I told them "grandma" is fine (I don't think I'm the Gigi/Nana/Meme/Nona/whatever type), but whatever she chooses to call me is also fine.

So weird being a grandma. I don't feel old enough to be a grandma. But, at 51, obviously I am. lol

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We got Milo's ultrasound results back this past Monday. Pretty much what they told us when we had an ultrasound done a few years ago. Liver is shrunken and nodular. Probably fibrosis. (I think that's what she said.) He's 13 years old, so we're not going to have a biopsy done. He's still not wanting to eat his hepatic food, but the vet said that the most important thing now is his comfort and quality of life - whatever he wants to eat and continue medications. He acts like his normal self still - loud, playful, happy, crazy, annoying. lol

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A few years ago when my aunt Wanda (my mom's oldest sister; passed away last January) had her DNA done, it showed a small amount of African - south central hunter gatherers (Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Angola, Zambia, and Tanzania). Last night, I was doing some things at Ancestry and went to the DNA section and then "matches". Aunt Wanda is my second closest match and I decided to click on her and check her ethnicity. (I had never thought to check hers each time there was an update.) It now says 2% Cameroon, Congo, and Western Bantu Peoples for her African ancestry.

So that area of Africa is where the African ancestors that are in my family tree came from. This is on my mom's mom's side of the family. To be more specific, my maternal grandma's mother's mother's mother's side of the family. (My great-grandma Lessie, great-great-grandma Nelie Britt, 3x-grandma Penelope Ivey's ancestors.) It's cool to know a little more specifically where they were from.

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.