Well it's been quite some time since my last post so I have some catching up to do. So fair warning, this will be a super long post.
There have been some big changes since then and I have been meaning to get back to blogging but I just keep putting it off.
Then today I just happened to check out my blog and I really enjoyed looking back over my posts. It reminded me why I wanted to do this, kind of as a journal or diary for myself, so I made a decision to make a point to get back to it right away.
Also - it's my birthday, Woot Woot!
I turned 45 today. Birthdays are great days to reflect and refresh.
I thought if there was every a new day for a fresh new start then today was it so here I am.
My last post was back on September 21.
Then on the evening of September 22 I had my family over for a "Thanksgiving" dinner. We had plans to go to Panama City for a vacation and were going to be away for the holiday so we were doing it a bit early.
It was a family dinner like any other, everyone came over, we all hung out, caught up and had some dinner.
Miss A came straight from dance class.
Not everyone was thrilled about what was on the menu.
By 8:30 everyone was heading home and My Honey & I were cleaning up.
Then the next day, September 23, I received a phone call that nobody ever wants to get.
A lady that works with my mom called to tell me that my mom had collapsed and she couldn't get her up.
She thought she was having a stroke.
I raced over there immediately and although I am less than 5 minutes away, those were the longest 5 minutes ever.
So many things were running through my mind and I had no idea what I would find when I got there.
Long story short, my mother did indeed suffer a stroke, and quite a severe one.
She spent over two months in hospital and rehab.
She had flowers & gifts delivered to her room before she even got there.
She has been doing so well with her recovery. At first she couldn't move or speak at all. She was on a diet of thickened liquid and needed assistance doing everything. I remember at one point going in to see her and they showed me how she could sit up by herself and it was such an accomplishment that I was overcome with emotion.
She continued to excel at the physical part of her recovery and pretty much has all of her ability back as far as that goes. Her speech was also greatly affected and that has been taking much longer to return.
I want to do a post dedicated solely to my mom and the stroke, her hospital stay and her recovery so I will save the rest of the story for later but just as an update, mom can no longer work and she is now living here with us.
Okay - back to catch up.
Here are some of what has been going on since my last post.
We have a new family member.
My Honey found him out in the field (at work) and he was a scrawny little thing.
The initial plan was to get him healthy, get his shots, get him fixed and then find him a new home. We did do all of those things, it just so happens that the new home we found him is here with us.
Introducing, Professor Snuggles!
Turns out he is really helpful around the house, lol!
Three of my aunties from PEI came out for a visit when mom was in hospital.
Of course the reason for the visit was not a great one but it was still nice to see them.
My mom was happy to see them as well.
Plus it gave me a bit of a push to get some organizing done that I have been putting off.
Some before shots of the disaster that was going on in my craft room.
And Ta-da! ORGANIZATION looks so good.
A couple of family birthday dinners happened.
My brother had a birthday in October.
The whole family was there except the Mama and we were missing her.
Love having them all over.
My little baby and his honey.
My other brother had a birthday in November so we all got together again.
Love these candles but they melted pretty fast.
I love this crew so much.
The king of funny faces.
Halloween came and we had the cutest little trick or treaters ever.
A little kitty cat
and the dark lord himself, Darth Vader!
and this cool pair was spotted in Nova Scotia.
I actually did some Christmas crafts - which I so enjoyed. I have always loved crafting and want to get back to doing it more.
I had some scrap pieces of wood laying around so I arranged them in a manner that I thought resembled a tree.
I gave all the pieces a solid white base coat.
Next I painted the pieces different shades of greens, whites & reds and also glued some patterned tissue to random pieces.
Finally I glued on some buttons and nailed the pieces on a stake. I was proud of the final product.
I also made some large wooden flowers as gifts for my friends but I forgot to take pictures.
I will track one down and post at a later date.
We also upheld a long standing family Christmas Tradition and got together to make pizza fingers.
My niece Miss M was anxious to get started and got right to work.
Greasy goodness that everyone goes crazy for.
The first batch is done.
The official taste testers.
We tried donair fingers too this year for the first time and they were a big hit!
Some people were interested in trying out other things - like cat food. He must have liked it because he keeps going back for more.
Mom was home from the hospital and able to join us which was awesome.
She was happy to be home.
Next up - Christmas!!
The shape of this tree was so beautiful, it almost doesn't look real.
Three days later, this is what it looked like.
For some reason all the needles fell off (yes I watered it).
Hard to believe that there were any needles actually still left on the tree.
I ended up having to take it down and starting over.
Tree number two was much smaller but still looked pretty.
One of my favorite tree ornaments is this one my son made for me back in grade 1.
My sister and my two little nephews (Mr.E & Mr.D) came out for Christmas.
Mr. E was so tired after the plane ride he couldn't keep his eyes open for a picture.
Mr. D didn't even try.
They didn't even wake up when we carried them into the house.
Pretty happy to see Nanny in the morning when they woke up though.
They are growing up so fast. I just love spending time with them and they got a huge kick out of Professor Snuggles.
He and Mr. D became fast friends.
The Professor was really getting into the Christmas spirit.
Mr. H trying on My Honey's boots. What a character he is.
Christmas this year consisted of
lots of family time
making crafts
eating sweets
playing games
Love the look on his face, ha ha!
and opening gifts of course.
Everyone was very happy
and feeling the love of the season
especially the boy with the Dragon Ball Z kicks!
Christmas morning was fun with little guys around again and I am so glad I captured this moment on video.
Ellen's game "Heads Up" was a big hit with us this year and so was the Pie in the Face game.
Mr D's turn.
I think everyone was lucky enough to get a pie in the face at least once!
Over the holidays we went to the city for a day and we got lots in,
swimming at West Edmonton Mall,
Sight seeing in the mall,
shopping (I found this lovely little addition to my quirky family)
having a great time
a trampoline park.
It sure is a great place to expend a bit of energy.
Then supper at Famosa
Auntie enjoyed it more than the kiddos did. I was not their idea of good pizza.
Then all too soon it was time to say good bye.
Everyone made sure to get some final hugs in.
and Nanny got some final snuggles.
They were a blast to have around and the visit was too short as far as I am concerned.
We had one last night at the hotel before an early morning flight
So we made sure to get in some silly selfies.
In January we had the Ladies Bonspiel.
This is my 5th one I think and we have come in 2nd place a couple times but this year we finally got 1st place in the "B" event.
So proud of us!
We also won first place in the league as well so we ended the year on a good note.
We ended up having to cancel our Panama Trip and rebooked it for January so we were off to warmer weather for a week.
I think someone wanted to come with us.
I will elaborate more in a post dedicated to the Panama trip this weekend.
I also got to go for a helicopter ride at work.
They do lots of flying to check the pipelines but don't often take passengers so that was fun.
This is our whole town!
My Honey knew I was going to be in the helicopter so he was prepared. This is him taking a picture of me up in the helicopter.
Just a random sign I saw that made me giggle.
In March a dear friend turned 50 so four of us couples went to Las Vegas for an extra long weekend to celebrate.
It was busy and even though it was our fourth time there, we still did some new things and it was a really great time. I am planning a Las Vegas post as well this weekend.
Also in March, Mom flew home to PEI for a visit All ON HER OWN! She and my grandmother were eager to see one another ever since the stroke happened so it was wonderful for both of them.
It was a direct flight but it was still a bit scary for us, you never know what could happen. She flew WestJet and they were just terrific. We filled them in on the situation with mom and they were absolutely wonderful with her.
Before she left we had to get Mani's and Pedi's. Got to look good for the family.
On April 2nd the girls from the office went in to the dinner theatre in Edmonton
Ms SV, Ms MC & Moi
Ms BH, Ms SG & Ms BK
Moi encore, Ms RH, Ms KI (who invited us all out for this lovely evening).
Ms KL & Ms SB
It was the final night for School of Rock and it was a super show, one of the best I've seen.
Me and Miss A had a little trip to the city to pick up my mom. She was arriving on an early morning flight so I didn't want to take any chances on the weather being bad and went in the night before.
We had a good time, we saw Smurfs, swam in the hotel pool and took selfies in the hotel room.
After we picked up mom we saw another movie, Boss Baby. I let Miss A choose where we had supper and she picked McDonald's, what else right?
So that about gets us to now. Last night I had the family over again for a joint birthday supper. My niece M turned 18 on Mar.219 but mom was away visiting in PEI so we waited for her to get back to have the birthday dinner.
M requested stuffing, peas and gravy for her dinner (goofy girl) so My Honey added some mashed potatoes, meatloaf, corn and a delicious Banana Sour Cream Cake and supper was spectacular!
Hard to believe these two are all grown up and have honey's of their own.
Little Mr. H is super busy, holy heck!
Not hard to tell who his favorite go to guy is.
Weight loss efforts kind of dropped off the radar when mom got sick and I've been trying to get back at it but am having trouble creating momentum. I am determined though and believe that I can (and will) succeed.
So today, on my birthday, I am making this bold statement
(even putting it in caps bold font for extra emphasis)
ONE YEAR FROM TODAY I WILL BE 100 POUNDS LIGHTER!
I weighed in on Monday and
I was sitting at 256.6 so that means on my birthday next year I will be 156.6 or lighter. I just have a feeling that this is my year and one way or another I am going to do it.
So there it is, the recap of the last 7 months.
Glad to be back at it. Once the first one is under my belt, the next ones will be easier.
Until next time, be happy!
No comments:
Post a Comment