Friday, January 14, 2022

That First Week BACK after the Holidays

Whew. Some weeks feel like a well-choreographed dance. This week felt like a Jumanji vine grabbed us by the ankles and pulled us up and down mountains and through the jungle until it deposited in a heap at the edge of a waterfall. 

Sunday - it was great to be back at church! Allie was ill one week, church wasn't scheduled one week, then cancelled the next week due to the New Year's storm... there was talk about what to do THIS Sunday as the ice and wind were horrendous and the sander fell through....

As seen on Facebook

It was good to be together and helping each other across the ice rink provided fun memories.  The worship was sweet and the message both challenging and comforting...Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God. 

Monday - Grandpa had a dental cleaning. Arielle and the boys came over a bit later than usual to play with Grandpa. Michael and I went out for lunch and then to Lowe's to pick up Michael's Christmas gift. Unfortunately, only one of his gifts are in stock. We hadn't taken into account what a winter storm would do to the supply of propane heaters. LOL 

The girls are back to school this week! Nolan is racing to the completion of another semester of college. We ended the night playing Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza. 

Tuesday - This previously blogged day was filled with school, volunteering for the food co-op and our household gift exchange. Grandpa was out again to do some shopping.  It was suggested we have some folks over for games on Friday night. 

Wednesday - Grandpa had yet another dental appointment. We have a system at the dentists and physical therapists. I go out to the parking lot and enjoy some quiet. They call me when he is done. Something happened and I looked up to see Dad walking across the parking lot. The appointment was supposed to take 90 minutes and be a fitting for a lower plate. It was done in about 30 minutes and Grandpa said they filled a couple of teeth. ::snort:: I think I'm going to have to stay inside in the future. 

Stacia had fun playing with her new blow torch - does it have a fancy kitchen name? She melted sugar on top of the cupcakes she made for youth group. 
Burn, baby burn!

Youth group and ladies Bible study started back up this evening. Grandpa's fourth day out in a row. I'm realizing we may all be worn down by Friday and since Saturday - Tuesday of next week also look to be busy...we decide to make Friday night a quieter at home night. 

Thursday - Allie visited the surgeon and we got back to our weekly Bible study.  Allie is all cleared for normal life with the exception of lifting and such for another few weeks. It appears this grumpy appendix was at the root of many of the health issues Allie has had. It's wonderful to see her feeling better. 

A couple of packages arrived for Stacia. Millie and Michael are on hand to check out the air brushing set...and she is making plans for my birthday cake. I've heard meringue (to use the torch) and stencils and air brushed colors....it will be fun to see what she settles on creating.  It was about at this point I realized we should have celebrated Annie and my birthdays last Saturday at the Family's Gift Exchange.  Oops - I think we'll just roll them into February's five birthdays. 
 


Friday - I took Stacia to her nanny gig early in the morning (usually happens on Thursdays). Rather than running errands, I came home and got the girl's first semester grades and 2nd quarter work samples submitted.  I had just enough time to complete the task before heading out to pick up Stacia. Grandpa was STILL in bed when I left at 11 a.m. I had checked on him several times; it appears he just needed to catch up on his missing naps. 

Stacia and I resumed our weekly Bible study.  Since we were meeting on a Friday lunch instead of Thursday breakfast we opted for Hungarian Soup at Vagabonds. YUMM.  Alex and Michael resumed their study. 

The girls wrapped up school. I sat down in the nook and began to work on our bills, Grandpa's bills, balanced all accounts, took care of a bit of correspondence. I didn't come up until the pizza was ready. 

Sometime during the afternoon, I realized it was a good thing we had not invited others over this evening. We were scheduled to be facilitating another parenting retreat for JBER this weekend. They ran into a snafu with the venue and the time has been changed. I am so glad we didn't end this busy week with a 3-day parenting retreat. 

How did we end the week? VERY thankful for Friday! Michael, Alex and Grandpa were not up for games. The girls and I, however, tried a new game, "Would You Rather?"  This was one of the thrift store finds Allie and I made. 

It was actually pretty fun. We migrated to the living room and watched a couple of episodes of Jericho with Michael and Grandpa. *I* stayed awake until 11 p.m. watching with everyone. I want to figure out some of the subplots! 

I am careful to schedule Grandpa's outings in the afternoons.  This week we ended up with several appointments for him as the offices kept calling wanting to fill slots. I am going to be more careful about not agreeing to more than two outside engagements for him. He misses his naps.   Somehow it just became busier than expected. 

It's 4:44 a.m. on Saturday and I'm blogging instead of sleeping. We cannot figure out WHY Grandpa wakes up early every Saturday, it's my one opportunity to sleep in. I would like to figure this out. Maybe he's allergic to pizza. I think he's soundly back to sleep. I'm going to see if I can catch another hour or two of sleep.