Millie Does Winter

 Millie is simply not sure about all the snow. We are glad we didn't shave her last month.

Unexpected Fireworks

Snow or no snow, we needed to be up and OUT of the house by 0940 to make it to Anchorage for dad's cardiac follow-up. Michael came with us as the doc office required a negative covid test for the appointment, and I don't have one. LOL  I stayed in the car and had some blessed quiet time, journaled, prayed, read....and they called and put me on speaker during parts of the appointment. Worked well. Maybe we should do ALL appointments this way. ::wink::

The appointment was fairly pointless and I am NOT sure why Maple Springs and Ancora insisted this needed to happen. They simply checked his incision and the answer to all our questions was, "That is a good question to ask his Cardiologist in the Valley." OK then.  I called to make an appointment with the cardiologist and they wanted the oral surgeon to fax info to them. I called the Oral Surgeon and they are closed on Wed.....Dr's are closed on Friday....the weeks are growing alarmingly shorter around here during 2020. 

Taking Dad to town for the doc reminded us of taking Mom G to town for the doc. Both insist on stopping at a restaurant, regardless of the time of day. The challenge today is no restaurants are open for dine in in Anchorage. We stopped and had some Panda Express in the parking lot....Dad agreed to Panda and then was a bit put out that he couldn't order a Big Mac. Oops....I guess "anywhere" and "Chinese is fine," means stop at the McDonalds.  ::snort:: 

Friday nights have been our traditional pizza night...Wednesday nights are our busiest at this point. The kids suggested we switch and we did just that tonight.  Nolan had picked up Alex AND pizza before we got home. Stacia was making cookies for a youth party. 

Michael and I enjoy dropping Stacia at youth group and going out for a hot drink. Snatching time alone is precious in this season. We watched the Laci's do this all those years ago in Hardin and FINALLY we don't have a thing planned on Wed. night, the boys stay with Grandpa,  and we can steal a bit of time alone. LOL Seasons....

We happened upon the lighting of a menorah and fireworks presented by our local Jewish Center....we thought the Menorah would STAY lit and planned to get a photo after we warmed up. We grabbed these photos on the way in for our tea. 

It made us happy to find a nativity and a menorah on "town square."

Note: it is too LIGHT out to have fireworks on July 4th.  Instead we have them the day after Thanksgiving, after the Colony Christmas parade, tonight and New Years. LOL 

Feels Like Monday

 Dad saw the oral surgeon today. I KNEW this was going to be a hot mess, but his primary doc was sure it would be simple. Not so much. The oral surgeon won't extract dad's infected teeth unless the heart surgeon gives his approval - IN WRITING. He is worried about dad bleeding out, he doesn't want to use IV Sedation as dad had much trouble waking up, AND Dad has afib so he worries about taking him off the blood thinner.....oy vey.  These are the very concerns I raised BEFORE surgery and again when Dad began complaining after surgery. It's hard to know when something is serious with Dad. He doesn't complain, then he does, and then he swears it doesn't hurt when I get an appointment. I've told them a better gauge to his pain is to observe HIM, rather than trust his memory or expect him to choose a number on a scale. He is grabbing his jaw when he eats, he winces, he's losing weight - it hurts - even if he insists it doesn't. If that isn't enough the crown fell off, he pulled part of a tooth as it was hurting him, and he  lost  part of a tooth at dinner the other night.  "Yes, he's symptomatic." LOL 

Something has to be done. Something should have been done years ago, but Dad said he didn't want to spend the money then....I'm managing his money these days and I just tell him, "You have enough." ::wink:: 

We were pretty proud of doing our first solo trip with the chair.  We grabbed a couple of drinks at our favorite cafe when we picked Stacia up from work. She took this photo of reindeer lights seen through her 3D glasses. LOL 

Yikes - meds are EXPENSIVE. One of Dad's is $206...and medicare paid $1600 on it. It really is crazy. 

This moose came by to moon us....she wasn't going to turn around...so I took a photo of her back side. 

Michael and Nolan fixed our woodstove. It was smoking. I'm not sure what they found - but it will be nice to have warm feet and hands again. 

I wrapped gifts for the grands. I'm trying to clear my closet. 

We're working to establish a new routine...one with quiet time, workout time, caring for Dad's needs, Stacia's needs, and a bit of fun worked in too.....we'll get there. 

Nolan's Quarantine Project

 We had another lazy Advent day. We really SHOULD jump into the seasonal rush but we don't have the energy. LOL We won't have our family gift exchange until the 12th day of Christmas....so we have lots of time left to rush around. WELL....there will be stockings and kids gifts on the 24th or 25th and then we draw names for an exchange with EVERYONE on New Year's Eve...but the 7 of us at home won't have an exchange until Jan 6th. It breaks up the craziness. ::Snort:: 

Nolan spent time while quarantined researching and applying to Western Governor's University. All his paperwork is in and we just have to figure out the VA benefits. He was notified of his acceptance and will begin in February. He will take classes towards his business degree while he continues to be an assistant general manager at McDonald's. He'll cut back from 70 - 45 or 50 hours a week. It's a good plan. Stacia made this wonderful cake.....

It tastes great, too! 

Dad slept in until 12:30 and then took a nap at 2:30. ::wink:: 

Michael worked on a letter and got a hair cut. 

Krista, Nolan and Alex worked full days. Stacia got a full day of school done. 

I did laundry, attempted to make sugar free caramel corn, took care of Dad and read a chapter from my latest Ludlum book.  I don't know what I think about the sugar free popcorn. 

We ended the night around the Advent countdown....Jesus - Holy Son of God.... Dad and the kids went to bed. I folded another load of laundry, started the last one of the day, worked on a puzzle with Michael, and came up to blog. I'll go fold that last load and call it a day. 

I've gone all day with no pain reliever/fever reducer and NO HEADACHE. I even got a work out in this a.m. Good stuff. 

Millie's SAD

Even Millie misses the sun. I find it funny that she slies in front of the SAD light. Winter won't last forever. 

 

New Washer

Dad doesn't really like the stair lift down the longer flight of stairs. Today, he wanted to come down badly enough to give it a shot. 

Our washer gave out. Michael is a pro on these "for sale" lists. He found an ad for a FREE washer and dryer. It turns out the man was going to put them in his shop and changed his mind. We probably would have picked one with a bit larger capacity...but these were FREE and work well. The dryer is in the garage waiting for our current dryer to die. The appliance repairman predicted that would happen 3 years ago. LOL 

 We are very satisficed. Do you check the used ads before buying new? 

Out of Quarantine

Michael came out of the room to say, "Grandpa and I both got negative results on our tests." 

With those words our latest quarantine is over - Nov 9th - Dec. 13th! 

How did we spend our last Sunday in quarantine? We watched our local service online. 

I made a nice Sunday dinner which Grandpa, Stacia and I ate. Michael and Alex went out for a catch up Bible study. Nolan was at work. Krista spent the day with Luke and his family. 

I have spent quite a bit of time researching planners and journals. I have done my own bullet journals for 3 years and loved it - EXCEPT life got busy and I didn't have time to make the layouts and so it was stressful and counter-productive. I've also been using a fitness journal and wanted to see what else is out there. I discovered I will not find a planner that does all my bullet journal has done for me...so I THINK I'm going to use this planner and add something for all the "collections" in my bullet journal which the planner will most likely not have space to hold. Collections? Books Read, Books to Find, Cheap Fun in the Area, Gift Ideas, Family Sizes....I may create a separate "Book of Lists."  And if life settles down by 2022 I will go back to a Bullet Journal as it has been the BEST planner system I've ever used. 

I was looking for a wellness journal much like the one I bought from Target - but prettier. I don't need to track food - I do that on the iTrackBites app....but I like to see on PAPER my workouts, have a place to jot goals, daily intentions, inspiration. I HAVE loved this journal, but I've been using it for a year and well - I like change and pretty.  I was hoping for all the Target journal had and a page a week for notes from a small group I attend. I found this one from Hallmark .... I think it has everything but the note pages. We'll see. I was able to spend my pastoral gift cards from the Pacific Region of Open Bible for both. Free planners. Life is good. LOL 

CoRielle came over in the evening! I had seen Danny when he came home from the hospital, but the others had not seen him without glass in between them. We all got to hold him. We visited. Benny orchestrated more dancing. It was great fun. 

Michael was up first to hold Danny. 

Benny claimed his lap as soon as Danny moved to GG's lap. 

GG meets a new great grandson! 

Stacia was excited to finally hold Daniel Michael.

Such a sweet BIG brother! 

Benny - 3 years 1 month, Danny 1 month

Arielle made Alex hold him...and it was sweet

And, finally, for the first time since he came home, I got to get Danny in my arms. There he stayed for a good long time. 

Life is sweet!

Photo via Arielle 

Such kissable cheeks! 

Ed and Jennifer stopped by with a plate of Christmas goodies. It's good to be out of quarantine. 

This is the first day I did not take anything for my headache since this all began Nov 22nd. I was the last to get it. I am hearing we are "immune" for 3 - 6 months now. Is that what you've all heard? I sure don't want a repeat of THIS. Maybe the 2nd time would be lighter? It was all the quarantining for those who didn't catch it that made it even longer. Stacia and Michael never did catch it.