kind of like a stroll in the woods {updated with pics}

We went for a walk late Sunday afternoon. We’ve had bitter cold and now warm weather on its heels. Along with ice still decorating the shaded spots along the way.

We drove to a park near our house and hopped out to make ‘the loop’ around a small pond. As we made our way up the path to begin the loop, we noticed the small cluster of trees, decorated with paper snowflakes and bits of ribbon.

Others had plastic orbs and flashy tinsel.

And then we made our way to the foot bridge that carries walkers and bikers over a small creek. It was decorated with arches of red and white with more dangling trimmings. One arch after another until we were across the bridge.

It felt kitschy and fun…a little bit like something from a movie. And it made my usually Grinchy heart swell with the warmth of the season.

May you all enjoy all the things that warm your heart this Christmas and remember the greatest gift of all is Him.

I miss being here but at the same time, rarely feel as though I have anything to add to the conversation. And when I do, I don’t have time to document it. Oh well. I will continue to be sporadic as I can’t bear to just shut ‘er down. Merry Christmas, y’all. : )

paint clothes

The water issue yesterday was short lived. My walls are patched and look perfect. And this morning I went to THE Home Depot with my old paint buckets with the label on them to get more paint.

The guy that’s worked in paint FOREVER wasn’t there so I ended up with a young girl..bless her heart…and she thought Evermore was the color, not part of the Glidden name..as in Glidden Evermore..so she had to remix my paint. Oy. But she got it to be the right color and I came home and started priming and painting.

Glidden can’t recoat for four hours, but Behr is only two. So right now, Behr is my favorite paint ever. : ) Hoping to get all the coats done and furniture back in place by the end of today. *fingers crossed*

It will be nice to have that done. But then I want to do some deep cleaning and dusting. That’s always fun. ; )

something to frame

So I had the cat to the vet yesterday. She is definitely feeling better. They thought about bringing in the clear box with the air tube to just put her in it and gas her to get some blood. But I suggested we try to get blood out of her without the gas. Thankfully she did great. She hissed at the very end…I would hiss too if that’s what I did. Getting stuck with a needle hurts! But it’s done and over, unlike getting gassed. She acts drugged and unhappy for hours afterwards. So it was a win.

And I thought we’d have to wait until today to get the results, like last time. But last time she was looking for more things in her blood and it took longer. So, the vet and I chatted, she with arms crossed relaxing against the counter and me with elbows rested on the cat’s carrier. Within 15 minutes the results were back.

And she said her labs were fairly nearly perfect…something she wishes she could frame. : )

Every bit of her blood except one little part is completely normal. She now doesn’t think she had kidney failure as much as she was sick and it caused her kidneys stress. Her blood rebounded that much!

So for now we will do fluids only twice a week this week and next. Then once a week for two weeks and then blood at that fourth week. She will recheck that one little thing that is still off kilter. Hoping it corrects itself by then. Not sure what will happen if it doesn’t. But for now, she seems to think she is on track for a normal life expectancy again. Strange to hear after having to have the discussion about maybe having her put down just two weeks ago.

So she is happy now. She will be glad to leave those daily vet visits behind. She was out of sorts this morning because I had to lock her up in the office because we are having some dry wall repairs done. We had a slab leak in the summer and they had to cut a hole in two walls. And we have a busy contractor. So today is the day. She has cried a river wanting out of there. I feel sorry for her. She thinks she’s locked up so I can take her to the vet later. I wish I could just tell her it’s ok but it doesn’t work that way with kitties.

And within minutes of the workers arriving this morning, I rinsed out my tea cup and realized we have almost no water coming into the house right now. So I called the city. There is a problem but they aren’t sure what it is yet and not sure how long we will be without water. That’s really made me rethink that “good to the last drop” cup of tea I had this morning. Good times, y’all…good times.

a little kitty update

She seems to be feeling better. She’s more active. Eating, drinking and all that jazz. All of which are good signs that things are moving in the right direction for her. : )

We did fluids every day last week, including Saturday. We had Sunday ‘off’ from fluids and I take her today for more blood work to see if things are turning a corner for her. The vet said last week that all the ‘signs’ (active eating drinking pooping etc) are good “prognostic indicators” that things will be ok for a time. But we find out tomorrow with the results.

But y’all..she is a stinker. she has found amazing hiding places and at times has worn us slap out just trying to find her or get her out of something so we can take her in to the vet. It’s been interesting and funny and kept our minds off all the what-if’s lately.

Right now every door that can be closed is closed in an attempt to keep her in the front of the house. I’m hoping she will chill out soon and eat and drink. Her vet appt today isn’t until later, which isn’t my favorite. I’d rather do it and be done with it, but scheduling didn’t work in my favor this time. Sigh…

From what I understand, I will still be having to bring her in for fluids but not every day. But on a tapering off schedule sort of thing for quite some time. The vet called it ‘a commitment’. I just thought this is a drop in the bucket. Although I never had to get either of my kids out of the arm of the sofa. Ha.

Hoping all goes as gently and easily as possible for her today. Have a great Monday! : )

some stress

Last week was a super stressful week. Last weekend, I had been noticing that the cat wasn’t eating very well. Monday I took her to the vet. She did blood work on her and I got the results Tuesday.

She’s in kidney failure. Y’all, I cried and cried. I know she’s a pistol, but I love her, as crazy as that sounds.

So we were in and out of the clinic last week giving her fluids and some new meds and foods and we’re hoping she turns a corner. It’s possible she can sort of snap out of this and have some good months and be maintained for a time. We even learned how to give her fluids here at home after getting a couple of lessons from the vet’s office. Yesterday I’m thankful to say, we were able to do it here at home instead of having to load her up and take her somewhere. Hoping we are successful again today.

Been private messaging my cousin (who is an emergency vet, but not AB’s vet) to get advice over the weekend as we keep watching her. She got a push of antibiotics in her fluids on Friday and she’s hardly eaten since. Ugh. Not sure if it’s the antibiotics or something else, but her not eating is worrisome.

We will recheck her levels in another week or so after (hopefully) doing fluids every day and see where things are. We are hoping she’s bounced back a bit and her kidneys start doing better, which is possible. If they aren’t, then we will be having to explore…ya know. And that makes all of us very sad to think about.

And Wednesday I had an onc appointment right in the smack middle of everything else. I had to have a bone density test before my appointment. And I found out Wednesday that I am in the beginning stages of osteoporosis…fancy word for it is something like osteopenia or something like that. So I will be having to order something called Grow Bone from Amazon which is cheapest, because it’s pretty expensive stuff. And take it for a year. Sigh….

I just gave the kitty some wet food, which she usually doesn’t really care for…and she’s been in there licking at it, so I hope she’s making a bit of a dent in it. Unfortunately it doesn’t have any of her “sprinkles” (meds we now have to add to her food because of her kidneys) because she won’t eat the wet food WITH sprinkles. Bleh…it’s never easy.

Hoping things turn around for our kitty. We are all pretty sad right now.

Both these girls have aged a bit since this was taken, but it’s still one of my favorite pics of them together. : )

what day is it?

Yesterday we were sorting through her fresh school supplies. Can I take a moment to lament being a college parent and the frustration of trying to find the things she needs since it’s so PICKED OVER by now?! Gee whiz.

Anyway..we were looking through her supplies and talking about what comes ‘tomorrow’ (which is today), as much for me as for her.  The conversation went like this…

Me: And tomorrow it’s art and math.

Her: And Duck Dynasty!

Me: Yes, that too.

Priorities people. Priorities. : )

(It’s not basic math, but we call all math classes ‘math’)

sixteen

It’s another birthday.

Another day that I know he’s not here.

But there.

Heaven.

I don’t know how to fathom Landon’s experience.

But I know it was precious* to God to bring Landon to Himself.

And I’m thankful for that.

Happy “sweet” birthday in heaven, sweet boy.

Another one.

Hug and kisses,

Mommy

*Psalm 116:15

first day for my fish

For many of my friends, school ‘began’ last week when they dropped off their kid at college for the first time and got them all settled in their dorm etc.

For us, it started today when I pulled into the parking lot and dropped her off at a very nice community college just a few miles from our house. She isn’t completely sure what she wants to do and with excellent opportunities to learn in a less expensive environment and do some exploring and perhaps a little more deciding, this was a perfect fit.

And my girl just wasn’t ready to ‘go off’ just yet. She doesn’t even really like to drive. Thank you big city traffic. FREAKS her out sometimes. Freaks ME out sometimes. ; )

So today was kind of strange. I packed a lunch and dropped her off, much like I did when she was in middle school and her first year of high school. Only this time, we’re starting over.

I was excited to pick her up today and hear about her day. She told me the social stuff first and then after I prodded, she told me about her professors and her classes.

So far so good, being a little fish.

The summer vacation that almost wasn’t.

So this year we kept looking at the calendar and shrugging. What do you want to do? I dunno. Where do you want to go? I dunno. 

And then finally we just said well, are we or aren’t we? And then we quickly made some reservations at an extended stay hotel in Colorado Springs one weekend and headed out the very next. I think that is a record even for us. And we planned our first Disney trip in something like three weeks. So yeah…

So Saturday the 27th of July, we headed out. Made the trip in a day. Not that bad. This year we are driving a new car (a CRV) and last year we had van troubles in Amarillo (window mechanism broke and window wouldn’t stay up, so we lost about an hour while hubs ran the van over to the dealer to get the window dealie fixed). Thankfully no such problems this year and we made it there uneventfully. Yay.

So Sunday we got up and ‘hit it’, but it was a little tricky..it was foggy and rainy. I was so happy for the Springs because I know they need rain so badly to keep the threat of fires down, but a bummer for us since we were only going to be there four days. So we made the best of things and changed what little plans we had and went to Cave of the Winds first thing. Y’all, it was so foggy, it was nuts. We weren’t sure where to walk after we parked the car because we couldn’t see that far ahead…and we’ve been there before.

This was our ‘view’ over a little overlook porch in the gift shop. Is this all a dream..did we accidentally go to the Smokies? Crazy, I tell ya.

Getting in the last text before going underground.

After the cave, we went into Manitou Springs and found some lunch. I had researched before we left, so I had an idea in mind. We ate at the Stagecoach Inn and it was a super cute place to have lunch.

And yummy. I had a bison burger. And it was good. : ) After lunch it was still raining, so we piddled around in the Penny Arcade for a little while before continuing on with our day. {the arcade was super fun for nerds, I on the other hand, went to a nearby shop}

The weather was still gloom and doom so we went to the Air Force Academy. And walked around outside. {I don’t think we thought that one through very well.} I have been going to the AFA since I was very young  but never realized there was a Catholic, Jewish and one other (Hindu maybe?) chapel below the Protestant one up top. So we checked them all out. Interesting.

And on the way back to the car, a warning came over the loud speaker to seek cover because of the weather. Rain was a frequent theme all week. : /

Monday morning we rode the Cog Railway up Pikes Peak. The weather held out for us thankfully. It was still pretty chilly at the bottom so that meant it was downright COLD at the top. {it averages 30 degrees cooler at the top than the base} Before we knew it, it was time to go back down the mountain. Such pretty views from the cog and from the top. I was so thankful the weather held out for us so we could see.

Stinkin’ gorgeous!

By the time we came off the mountain, we were starving. So we got some lunch and went to Seven Falls. I’ve gone to there since I was three years old. It is chipmunk INSANITY! So many and so cute. And so bold.

After many snapshots of these cute little guys, we headed up the gazillion {224} stairs to the top of the waterfall.

And then it rained. And we huddled under an umbrella and waited for it to pass. Thankfully it did. And then we came down. Crazy.

And then we went to Helen Hunt Falls…another one I’ve been visiting since before I can remember. Smaller…and free.

They have hummingbirds. LOTS of them.

I spent a good amount of time trying to take pics of them. They are crazy zippy…zooming all over the place. So fun to watch.

And then we stopped by Garden of the Gods and walked around. Something else I’ve been doing since I was 3. : ) It was a nice walk.

And then Tuesday, we took a day trip to Denver. I will start this by saying NEVER AGAIN. Traffic is horrid there. I’m glad went. We had a nice day, but I don’t desire to go back. And I could smack myself for ever thinking I would like to take an entire vacation in that crazy city. Just too hectic. But we did enjoy our day. : ) Just not the traffic.

We stopped by the state capitol. This was a major disappointment to us and we didn’t waste any time moving on. First off, the dome is being remodeled, so it was covered. And very dark inside. And secondly, there just isn’t all that much history to tell about inside. I guess I’m spoiled by Texas’ rich and varied history and this just left us a little flat. We decided to take the guided tour, but it was just painful. The girl was so sweet but she had a very VERY heavy Spanish accent it was was almost impossible to make out what she was saying. And when we could…yawn. So we bugged out of there after about 5 minutes of the tour.

Stained glass is sort of a ‘thing’ in the capitol, but this picture was almost funny to us. It really reminded us of something that would be on the Haunted Mansion at Disney. Doesn’t it? {be honest} I’m not meaning to offend anyone, but our entire time there was less than stellar.

Stopped by a Catholic church. Very pretty architecture. Was so wishing we could have gone inside. But no.

Kinda neat, even though I’m not Catholic.

And they have a statue and everything…

Then we went to the Molly Brown House. It’s the home of the famous “Molly Brown”, a survivor of the Titanic. It was an interesting tour. We learned a lot about Mrs. Brown, including that she wasn’t named Molly, but Margaret. No one knows where the name Molly came from. But what a lady. And what a rich history the house has. Was a really neat tour. (no pics allowed inside though)

And THEN we went to Wings Over the Rockies, which is an air and space museum. And we all thought it was PRETTY COOL. And the biggest reason was because they have an X-Wing fighter on display (a scaled replica from Star Wars…and signed by all the stars…squeee!)

It was a huge hangar filled with so much history. So much to see! We were all geeking out.

And then Wednesday, we went to the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center in Divide. We visited this place after a tip from a friend and it did not disappoint. It was amazing! This is a sanctuary for wolves and foxes and also provides an educational opportunity there and out in the community. These were magnificent animals that are being cared for in such a great way. They have very LARGE enclosures, but our guide called them by name up to the fence to talk about them and feed them raw meat while she discussed them as we toured. Some of their stories aren’t for the faint of heart, but the staff there was very mindful of children without sugar coating their plight.

It was kind of funny..when the tour started, they all just started howling spontaneously which really surprised our guide. But we loved it! And then at the end, she led us in group howl to try to entice them to howl back. They finally did and it was incredible. My daughter loves wolves, and now I think I do too.

I noticed we were close to the Florissant Fossil Beds when we were at the wolf place, so we drove on further and spent a little bit of time there. I had packed a lunch for us that day since I knew we were going to be pressed for time and I didn’t want us wasting time figuring out meals, so we ate our lunch in the car, but it was comfortable and a yummy meal. After lunch, we hit the trails and saw the fossilized trees etc. A pretty walk but we didn’t stay long.

It was so pretty out there! : )

And then we went to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. This will be my family’s second visit, but I visited several times as a kid and have been enjoying this zoo since I was 3. Love love love!

They  have quite an impressive herd of giraffes and I love visiting them. And they love to eat from your hands so they love you visiting them too. : ) She fed a giraffe, but it was so fast, I missed the shot. I was so bummed!

The views even from the zoo are lovely!

After visiting the zoo, we also did this.

 

There go my peeps…

Stairs, stairs, stairs…

The views from the top are amazing.

And that concludes our trip. We ate dinner(at Famous Daves…I loved it even though I couldn’t eat bbq. We actually ate there twice while we were there. YUM). We packed up our stuff and hit the bed, knowing we would drive the whole way home the next day. We were sitting on the couch in the hotel room (we stayed in a Residence Inn…love!) and all I could think about was not being ready to go home yet. We discussed staying another day and driving home on Friday. I almost jumped at it, but I knew the hubs wanted that extra day to rest from all the driving before he had to return to work. And I couldn’t really do that to him. So I agreed with our original plan and we headed home Thursday. It was a full, fast trip and we loved it. I so wish we could live there…I never tire of her beauty and long for it during the rest of the year until we can (hopefully) meet again.

It makes me incredibly sad that Manitou Springs has experienced a significant flood since we visited. I know I don’t live in Colorado but I’ve visited it more than most people and it makes me sad that my “state away from home” is experiencing so much right now.

lotsa life

Life feels like it’s been hitting us coming and going the past few weeks. Just about the time the girl got over having her wisdom teeth removed, the hubs walked in the door from work announcing that he had a tooth ache. So I had a couple of weeks more of cooking soft foods and odd meal prep. And nursing somebody else. He ended up taking some days off work because he reacted to one of the antibiotics he was on. Figured that out after he lost a fair bit of his cookies in the Home Depot parking lot…and immediately came back home after thinking he was good enough to go back to work. Uh-huh. But he’s getting better now.  Still has to do the crown and all that jazz. But not in pain anymore.

And the other day I saw something sad on Facebook and thought the name sounded familiar. Sure enough…a couple that we have known (of) through a couple of churches lost a son suddenly in a car accident in Oklahoma. It has just thoroughly saddened our little area. There are ribbons tied to the trees in our neighborhood. As IF I need any help remembering this sweet family in my prayers. I finally watched his memorial online…sobbing through the entire thing. Both parents and the young man’s sisters spoke…very eloquent. Amazing grace of God at work in this family’s life right now. Blessed my heart to watch it and see God at work in them.

And then we figured out we have a slab leak. The plumbers left about 30 minutes ago. And I am feeling overwhelmed. The house is a disaster area! I need to clean EVERYTHING. Sigh….. So I’m blogging instead.

It has just felt like one thing after another for the past few weeks.

I’d like to stop this merry go round and get off please. : )

I’m glad tomorrow is a holiday…happy 4th, y’all! : )

a lack of wisdom

It’s been a rough week. My girl had her wisdom teeth out Tuesday. And it’s been as much fun as you’d think.

She’s been handling eating weird food and being in pain pretty well.

I noticed bruising yesterday.

She looks very chipmunky. If that’s a word. Well, even if it’s not. I made it up cuz it’s true. Chipmunky chipmunky chipmunky. : )

The first night, we both crashed on the sofa bed in the living room, so I’d know if she got up or was in pain.

But from then on, I let her sleep in her bed and *I* slept on the sofa bed so *I* could get up in the night and give her meds and not disturb the hubs. And after four nights of being up at all hours with her, I see even more clearly why young women are the ones to have babies, because I have been a zombie. I can’t even fathom the months and months I stumbled along hanging by a thread when my kids were babies. How did I do it?!

But since the Mr didn’t have to get up for work today, I decided to sleep in my real bed. Delightful I have to say. My sofa bed is ok, because I replaced the mattress with a much better one. But after a long night, it’s still a sofa bed. Clearly I was sleeping hard and having a little trouble remembering exactly where I was because…

…I woke up at 1am, popped my head up and said “what are you doing here?!” to the hubs. And then I got my bearings and said “oh yeah, I’M here” and giggled and went back to sleep. He has no memory of our little one sided chit chat in the wee hours.

But he got a kick out of it this morning.

Can’t decide who is lacking more wisdom. The girl…or me. 

hot….not in a good way ; )

I wish I had one of those little gun things that you point at a surface and it tells you it’s temp.

I’d like to point it at my scar area under my bra after I do cardio.

Cuz it’s hotter than the blazes in there.

I keep thinking about inventing a small ice pack that can go behind the foobs to cool things to heck down in there.

It’s gonna be a long summer. *fanning hopelessly…*

And with a click of the mouse…

….she’s finished with high school.

No prom. No parties. No awards ceremonies. No cap and gown.

No whoopla whatsoever.

Just a little click of the mouse exactly like a zillion others, but this one carried with it her last assignment.

And that was that. Over. Done.

No bells or whistles or tickertape parade. We slipped into the void of being done with high school so quietly.

Very strange and surreal.

Friend’s daughters are going away to school…some as early as next week. Others in the fall.

The changes here feel just as drastic until I am reminded that I’m not leaving her miles and miles away. She will be going to a two year college about two miles from our house just to get the basics over. This will allow her get her bearings a bit and decide something she would like to ‘do’.

So there are changes. I guess ours just feel more subtle since she will come home to us every afternoon. Something we haven’t had since she was in 9th grade….the going and the coming home part.

Come fall, I will miss having her around all the time. But she’s growing up.

*long contemplative sigh…..*

Happy graduation, sweetie girl. : )

of bras and boobs

I had been putting off buying more bras. I knew after six months, I was eligible for two new ones. But what a hassle. And since I hadn’t been wearing them full time that long when six months rolled around, I just punted on the whole thing.

And then I decided it was time.

So I called the survivor chick place I go to and asked (praying inside for a miracle) if they still carried my favorite bra. It was a no. : ( So I had to make an appointment, come in and be refitted.

The place is super nice and very private and the girls there are great. And the experience itself is a positive one. The girl that helps me usually is a survivor herself and super patient.

We tried on and tried on. I finally asked her if I won the prize for the most try-ons.  But of course, I had not. It just felt like it. And her comment was that some girls find something that works right away. And it takes a little more work for others to find the perfect fit. And I guess I fit in the later category since my perfect bra is no longer made. (insert loud cries and pouts here)

We finally found a bra that sort of fit but it wasn’t in my size. So they ordered me one up and yesterday I went to try it on. It was a sports bra and seemed to support the foobs pretty well. And it didn’t have seams going across the bust. I HATE bras that have weird seams that seem to shine like a beacon in the night under my tops. Nothing like having my clothes shout out…lookie at the foobs. Notice anything weird? That’s exactly how some bras made me feel. Like extra attention was being drawn to the ladies than is normal or necessary. The foobs and I, we just wanna blend in, I tell ya.

So back to the sports bra. I bought it. And then tried it on again when I got home. And noticed something that bothered me ever so slightly. My foobs seemed not quite so cutely shaped, a little smashed and didn’t seem to stick out quite as far as with my other regular bras. And frankly, it ticked me off a little bit. When trying on bras, I am not wearing a top and after trying on so many, it seemed like a victory to find anything that came close to fitting. Without having weird seams. And it was super comfortable which was a major coup.  I tried it on for the girl and put my top back on and asked her if she noticed anything different in the foobial area. And she said they seemed a little smaller. BUMMER. I guess it’s not enough that I went from a D in real life to a B (which was my choice, I know), but now to be told they seem even smaller. It was almost too much to take. I did show and tell with the hubs last night and he couldn’t tell. But then again, the house could be sitting in smoldering ashes and he still wouldn’t be sure if he smelled smoke. He’s not always very perceptive, if ya know what I mean. But it’s bought and it’s mine, so that’s that. I know I will wear it and probably be ok with it. But I am just a little bummed about the fit.

And with the bra, I also bought a cami that is pretty cool. My foobs fit inside it so all I have are the two spaghetti straps on my shoulders. It’s very freeing to wear it. The scoop of the neck is bordering on being in the danger zone, but I finally decided to heck with it, I am just going to wear it. If some weird perv is so concerned with my anatomy, then he needs a lesson in eyes up here, eyes up here. So I went with it. I hope I am happy with it when I actually wear it, ya know…out.

So I am a bit pouty about this whole bra thing. This whole fiasco has just gotten under my skin a little bit.

No real point or fancy bow tie of an end to this post. I just needed to fuss. Thanks for listening. : )

guacamole

I was flippin’ channels the other day and caught a bit of Hungry Girl on tv. I don’t watch cooking shows much, but the fact that she was doing Mexican food made me perk up. I looove Mexican food.

And here is a true confession….I hadn’t ever had guacamole until a few years ago. I watched Alton Brown make it on Good Eats and decided to give it a whirl. And YUM! I lament all the years of going to Mexican food places and shoving ‘that nasty green stuff’ aside. Oh, what I missed!

But anyhoo, back to Hungry Girl. She was trying to make guacamole less fattening. (IMO guac is fine just like it is…replacing a healthy fat with a carb doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.) So! She put some mashed up green peas in with some avocado to make guacamole.

I just about died.

Talk about messing up some perfectly good food. Peas? Really?!

I do hereby promise that I will never EVER ruin a perfectly good dish by adding peas. Especially my beloved guacamole.

The end.

Pass the chips. ; )

a new every day routine

Every night she gets up on our bed and finds her snuggle spot and goes to sleep.

Every morning she hops off the bed before I get up, hoping to hide under the bed and avoid being caught and medicated.

Every morning she eventually comes out. Hunger always wins.

Every morning I put on an Academy Award worthy performance of not giving a rip that she came out from under the bed…so I can snatch her up and give her some medicine.  And then she runs and hides under the bed. Again.

Every day she continues to hide under the bed until she gets brave. Or hungry again. And ventures out from under the bed. Again, with my award performance of not giving a rip that she’s out and about. But this time, I don’t need to grab her; I’m just glad she’s out and about.

We go through this same routine. Every day. And every day I talk to her and tell her that if she’s already had her medicine then everything is cool and she can just relax and go about her day.

But every day she gives me the same “what the heck you talking about, lady?” look. And I feel dumb for trying to reason with a cat. Cuz it’s impossible.

At some point every day she comes around and figures out that indeed I am done poking meds down her and she can just ‘be’. But this has to be re-learned. Every day.

We go through this same routine every stinkin’ day and sometimes it wears on me.

It’s like that movie 50 First Dates.

I’d like to thank the Academy…and my cat..for making this award possible. Oy.

a week of days

This is ‘the’ week. The anniversary of the week we lost our Landon. But there is something unique this year. For the first time since we lost our little Bub 11 years ago, the days fall on the same days of the week as the year we lost him.

So Friday was remembered because we talked to his oncologist because he had been waking up at night in pain and he HAND DELIVERED TO OUR DOOR STEP a scrip for narcotics so we could go get in filled. And then we went to get in filled at a different pharmacy ( not just any pharmacy carries narcotics in liquids for kids) and both kids were running around acting crazy. We laughed and didn’t care. We knew his time of being with us was coming to an end, but even then we had no idea just how quickly it would actually come.

Then over the weekend he had more struggles. He felt decent so we did some ‘normal’ stuff. He wanted a pair of sunglasses, so we bought those for him. I cry every time I look at the pics of him lying on the couch smiling with those glasses on. On death’s door. But still trying to play and be a kid. (crying now just thinking about that)

Monday we went in to clinic to get him started on hospice. We had to wait forever in the waiting room and I was so angry I couldn’t see straight. Couldn’t the nurses and doctors just believe us that he wasn’t doing well and get the ball rolling without us coming in. (no)

Tuesday hospice came to get us started.  Fancy talk for coming to meet us. We continued to give liquid meds from his onc throughout the week because they didn’t know what to do with Landon and for some strange reason consulted ‘other sources’ instead of talking to his TWO oncs. (I was livid. I was also livid that hospice never contacted his oncs to let them know after he passed. Our sweet onc read it IN THE NEWSPAPER AND CALLED US.)

Thursday we finally got some relief in the form of a patch and some different oral meds…just in time for bed Thursday night. We put him to bed and he woke up in Jesus’ arms Friday morning. (I wrote more about this night here)

Friday we were numb. By 7 am the funeral home had come and gone and we began making phone calls. We went to Luby’s for lunch, but nobody was hungry so really we just pushed around some food on our plates. We had all lost our appetites from the events of the night and morning. By Friday afternoon, a friend came into town to do Landon’s service.

Saturday we planned everything at the funeral home and picked out a plot. In the pouring rain. Sunday was the viewing. Hubs and I went ahead to see him before we had to have it all together for the family viewing time. It was still raining. The power went out as we twisted the knob to enter his ‘room’. We waited on the power to come back on to proceed. Very strange. I remember not having any idea what to expect. In my mind he was tiny, but he was longer than I thought he was. I remember thinking he looked so big and yet so tiny at the same time. Something else nobody in their wildest imaginations can see in their mind’s eye…their little beloved one being laid to rest. Wanting to cherish the last time I would see his little face and his little hands holding on to one of his stuffed kitties and yet so strongly not wanting to remember him like this. But I do. *tears*

Monday was the burial and memorial service. It was beautiful and perfect and sweet.

All of these things were eleven years ago this week.

A week full of days that hold tremendous meaning and are special and break our hearts all at the same time. Little snippets that are forever etched on our memories…

So I will see you, my friends, on the other side. Please pray for us as we walk through this week in a strangely even more sobering way this year.

We miss you still, sweet boy. You would be so big. I can’t wrap my head around how much time has passed! Mommy and Daddy and Sister love you very much!

spring break in our rear view mirror

We all survived spring break. It was a pretty low key non-event around here. But we managed to squeeze in a little fun. : )

My girl turned 18. She had a small get together with her besties.

I made cupcakes. And there was no licking involved on my part. For the first time. Ever. And I didn’t eat one either. These aren’t the prettiest cupcakes but they are a recipe of my mom’s that this bunch seems to enjoy. So instead of a bundt cake, I made cupcakes. And I sent the leftovers home with everybody so they weren’t staring at me. Crisis averted. : )

One of the girls made her this pretty bookmark. This girl is a reader herself so it makes me smile that she gave my girl a bookmark for her birthday. It’s very pretty. Good job!

She could use it in Pride and Prejudice. She was having to read that for school. And this sort of book is not her thing really. (even though she finished reading it last night and ended up liking the ending, so it’s all good) But the girls also gave her this…

…which I think is a hoot. The light is awful because the flash is so obnoxious that I shot a lot of pics without it. : / But the book on the left is P&P and the book on the right is P&P and Zombies. Cracked us up! A fun little gift while she was trudging her way through the real thing. : )

They also did some things you can do now that you’re 18 kinda stuff. One of the things they did was a mock-wedding. This is the ‘bouquet’ being tossed. The girls made tissue paper flowers for fun and used these in their ‘wedding’. It was a hoot!

The party was fun. She had a great time getting together with the girls and I had fun planning it and listening to them laugh. : )

Also during spring break, my girl went for her driving test. Well, nerves got the best of her and she drove into a parking lot instead of making a right turn. And got so flustered, she didn’t do well on the rest of the test. She did not pass. (she went again a few days later and passed with flying colors, justsoyaknow) She was crushed and a little embarrassed but handled the situation with grace. I was thankful for her attitude and it was a learning time for her…even though she was disappointed at the time.

We drove to a podunk town near us to order her a class ring. It is one of the things about school she was missing and really wanted one. So we found a company that could make that happen even though she home schools. So that was a fun little outing.

On a funny note…we have had trouble with our potty flapper for ages. I can’t tell you how many we’ve gone through. But his time the hubs came home with something different.

Isn’t it cute? It’s kinda like being at a bed and breakfast every time I flush. Or not. ; )

My garden seems to be taking off. I have baby strawberries.

And the kale is getting bigger. And everything is really doing well and growing. And the squirrels are doing their best to dig it all up. Will be making a fence’y kinda deal pronto!

I had to take the cat to the vet Monday. She had a weird tummy. Come to find out she had lost THREE POUNDS. Gah. So the vet did a bunch of blood work on her and she’s got high thyroid. So we’re doing meds for that. She’s acting better but not eating as much now. I may end up trying to find something herbal for her if she doesn’t start eating soon. She is on antibiotics also which can cause her not to want to eat. The thyroid med doesn’t taste bad and it’s not hard to get it down her. But the antibiotic tastes bitter and she foams at the mouth with every dose. Which is gross, in case you didn’t know. ha. So it will be a long week or so til that’s over. Ugh. Poor kitty. Aaaand in a strange move I still don’t understand, she slug slobber onto my lip last night. Poor me. : p

Well I think that about covers all the major activities of spring break and beyond. Hope you are all doing well, my friends. : )

oatmeal chia breakfast

I have seen variations of what I’m about to show you all over the internet and on Pinterest. But I tweaked and changed and lowered the sugar (to zero) and I think it’s just about my favorite thing ever.

Are you ready?

(pretend I am showing you oatmeal, chia seeds, stevia, cocoa powder and almond milk)

(I totally forgot that until I was loading the pics and I deemed it too late since I didn’t want to start the process all over. Forgive me.)

Ok…back to the recipe…you start with 1/3 of a cup of old fashioned oatmeal…not the quick 5 minute stuff.

And then add about 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder.

And 1/8 of a teaspoon of stevia.

This is the kind of stevia I’m using right now.

And stir it all around til it looks sort of combined.

Then add 3/4 of a cup of unsweetened almond milk. (or the milk of your choice)

And 2 tablespoons of chia seeds. (follow the link and go read about this little super food dynamo!)

And stir it all up. Also add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and stir that in too. I forgot to picture it. Pioneer Woman I am not.

That spoon is good for licking right about this point. Just sayin’. : ) And the bowl now goes in the frig for 15 to 30 minutes. I usually grab it closer to 15 minutes and everything is ok.

While the chia seeds work their magic and soak up some of the chocolate milk, it’s time to make the topping.

The cast of characters…cocoa powder…I buy mine at the health food store…it is dutch process and I think it dissolves easier, vanilla extract, a riper banana (or baby food banana if you don’t have a real banana on hand), flax oil, stevia and cottage cheese. Pretend my cottage cheese is organic..it usually is.

Anyway, combine 1 tablespoon of the flax oil with about a 1/4 of a cup of the cottage cheese in a bullet style blender. Also add about 1/2 the jar of baby food banana, or about half a banana, 1/8 teaspoon of stevia, 2 teaspoons cocoa and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Put the spurs to it!

Basically what you’ve got now is something that tastes exactly like chocolate pudding, but it’s super healthy!

Pull out your oatmeal concoction when you deem it settled enough. It will look sort of crusted over on the top. I always stir it some to mix it well and give the chia something else to soak up if they still want to.

Pour the pudding on top. And enjoy!

Y’all this is just about the most delicious breakfast ever. I took all the equipment on vacation to have this every morning for breakfast. I just love it. And if you get tired of the chocolate, you can just leave it out altogether and make the entire thing vanilla flavored. Both are equally delish!

And super healthy…love love YUM!