My 59th Birthday

Thanks to all who took time out of their day to send birthday greetings my way!  Although I was too sick to do much, I still had a wonderful day.  Dennis took me out for lunch and I picked up a (free) Redbox movie to watch, which turned out to be a wonderfully inspiring story.  He later brought home some gorgeous red roses for me to enjoy.  I got a Skype call from Stephen and the grandsons.  Although my voice was still pretty bad, we were able to talk for a few minutes.  They are having a great time on their Colorado vacation!  It sure made my day to be able to see and talk to them! Then after supper, Dennis took me out for ice cream.  Who could ask for more?

Dennis has been working on the boys’ window seat this week and is making good progress.  He has half of the boards laid already.  Each one has to be carefully measured and cut and shaped to fit correctly.  It is going to be beautiful when he gets it all completed!  I can’t wait to see the boys when they come next time and get to use it.

I, myself, haven’t accomplished much of anything since we got home from Arkansas.  I woke up feeling pretty bad on Tuesday of last week…the day that Stephen’s family was leaving on their vacation.  I managed to make breakfast for them and see them off, but that was pretty much it for the day.  I spent all Wednesday afternoon taking Daddy to the dermatologist to have the skin cancer on his arm removed and taking care of a few other odds and ends in Weatherford.  Thursday, I took him to the specialist about the cancer on his nose.  The doctor wanted to treat it first with some cream, which will kill some of the cancerous and pre-cancerous cells.  After two weeks of using the cream, and then 4 weeks recovering from that, we go back to schedule his Mohs surgery. The doctor is hoping to minimize how much cutting he will have to do with the usage of the cream first.

Sheila spent Friday night and all day Saturday with us.  I was too puny to do anything, so the three of us just sat and visited.  It is always great to have time with our girl. 

Sunday morning I woke up feeling worse and unable to speak AT ALL!  My voice has gotten bad before, but never disappeared completely.  Dennis was able to get me a doctor’s appointment for Monday afternoon.  She said that it was all viral, so I just have to treat the symptoms and wait for it to get better.  She told me to start doing nasal lavage again.  I did that after my sinus surgery several years ago, but it is such an unpleasant experience, I didn’t keep it up.  Guess I’ll just have to learn to live with the grossness of it!  It really does help, both with allergies and sinus problems.  I’m also supposed to NOT use my voice until it gets better.  I’ve done pretty well until Stephen and the boys called!  I’m able to squeak a bit, but I really have to force it out for anyone to be able to hear me.  I am starting to feel some better today though.  The sinus lavage has taken a lot of the pressure from my sinuses, so my head doesn’t feel like it is about to explode every time I cough.  I’m still pretty lethargic, but I don’t hurt everywhere like I did.  I expect to see improvements every day from here on.  I have a busy week of doctor visits next week, so I need to be back to normal (or almost).

Tonette is taking the folks to Spur tomorrow through Saturday.  I know they are excited to be getting to spend a few days on the farm.  They really miss it.  I’m thankful that Toni is so good to take them out there whenever they get too homesick.

I’m looking forward to this next year.  There are challenges to face and (hopefully) new beginnings to encounter.  I eagerly await my trip to Vietnam to meet my newest grandchild and the changes that he will bring to our family.  I’m also excited to see what we accomplish on our home remodel.  My last year as a 50-something-year-old should be quite an adventure!