Three weeks later

I enjoyed my week off, Andrew had a great time in Montana...and here we are in the later part of July.

I need to explain my absence.  My kids are young adults, and it truly has been the toughest phase so far.  But those things are their story and not mine.  I truly do believe they will be okay in the long run, and they are safe, but sometimes the choices they make only eliminate their options for the future.  Anyway, it's just hard, sometimes, to want to visit my blog.

I had a wonderful week off.  I was amazed at how much I got done.  I've been doing a lot of organizing, especially of photos. I was especially thrilled to get our bedroom picked up.  Catherine was here for a couple of days, and I always enjoy having her around.  Her job is going really well, and we are so grateful for that.

We spent the Fourth of July with our dear friends.  Several of their other friends joined us, and it was really a lot of fun.  Their younger son flew in from Texas and brought his girlfriend.  She seemed really nice, and we are glad we got to meet her.  After the other friends had left, we stayed and played a game with our friends and their girls.  We really appreciate that their girls love us like family as well.

The next week Andrew went to Montana with high school friends.  Including spouses there were twelve altogether.  I was invited, but I had no desire to make a very expensive trip to Montana.  He had an amazing trip and even was able to spend a day at Yellowstone.  I'm so, so glad that he was able to make this trip, but I'm also very glad he's back!

This week I had a church meeting and we visited with my grandmother.  After a really, really awful May, Grandma is doing a lot better.  She enjoyed the fact that I brought Andrew with me to visit her.

Tomorrow, Andrew and I are headed to our own little trip away.  We even get to take our sweet Abby with us!  Catherine is coming here to take care of the cats because Thomas's work schedule is too challenging.  I've been looking forward to this all summer!

Off work for the next ten days

As I told Andrew earlier today, this is the best part of every break...the very beginning.  I'm sure everyone agrees with that.  I love my job, but I can't lie that having ten nights to go to bed and not have to be up early the next morning is always delightful.  I'm not entirely sure what the next ten days are going to bring, but I know there won't be any alarm for most of them!

A puzzle for my dad

 

At the end of the school year, our staff received Amazon gift cards from the school as a thank you.  Amazon carries my favorite puzzle brand, and I decided to check out what might be available.  As soon as I saw this puzzle, I immediately added it to my cart and knew that I had to have it.  Not only did I love the colors and the theme, but my Dad's name was Bob.  And if any man would have ever been the kind to own a hardware store, it was him.  As I told my boss one day recently, he could fix absolutely anything.

Putting this puzzle together brought me such joy, but in all honesty, it also brought a few tears.  I miss my dad so much, but I'm so grateful his suffering ended when it did.  I know my dad was truly a special man, and I loved feeling him with me while I put this puzzle together.  I had thought about gluing it together and keeping it permanently, but I had so much fun putting it together I decided to take it apart, and maybe next year I'll enjoy it again!

Back to work tomorrow

My little mini 'staycation' is coming to an end and I'm back to work tomorrow.  The nice thing is that it will already be Thursday, and I'm not sure if there is any need for me to work Friday.  Even if I do...it's a two-day week!  And next week I'll only work four days before before the office closes for the July 4th week.  This is what I love about my job in the summer!!

The last six days have been wonderfully special, starting almost right after I got off Thursday.  We had won tickets to the Dayton Dragons in a silent auction and we took our dear friends with us.  There have been some issues I won't get into, but the love and compassion that they have shown us during a really rough time is indescribable.  We watched about half the game, then walked across the street for a beer.  Then we spent Friday evening at their house hanging out as well.  It was a great start to the time off!

Saturday I didn't leave my house at all.  I did some cleaning, and just really enjoyed a bit of down time.  Sunday we had planned on church, but I woke up not feeling well.  Sadly, three days later, I'm still not feeling great.  The kids were all here Sunday evening for dinner, and we are enjoying the beginning of that tradition.

Monday, Andrew and I decided to head north and make a quick visit to the Air Force Museum, then we drove even further north to meet up with my mom and several of my high school friends.  A very dear friend had flown in from California, and it was so incredibly great to spend the evening together.  It had been nine years since he'd been here, and that is entirely too long!

Yesterday was our one evening "away", but it's a bit comical.  Andrew and I won a night at an airbnb property in a different silent auction, but I'm not sure it was even two miles away from our home.  It was so needed though.  We drove out to the state park for dinner, then drove back to the place and watched the Reds game before I turned in fairly early.  It was a really great evening to just have to ourselves.

Today, my California friend drove to our town and we spent the afternoon just the two of us.  I was kind of ready to be just "done" with people, but I'm so glad that we took this afternoon together.  It was so very special.

During all of this week, we've been under a heat advisory and/or warning.  It's been in the 90's all week with indices over 100.  This is NOT my kind of weather, and I suspect that is why I haven't been feeling great.  Sadly, there is no break until Sunday when it will "only" be in the upper 80's, then next week we are back to all 90's again.  Not at all enjoyable.

I'm ready to get to back to work...and then enjoy another weekend!

A few days off in the middle of June

It's the middle of June.  I'll be honest, time has not been flying by, and I'm 100% okay with that.  Part of the "not flying" though, has been our adult children, and that's hard.  My kids are good kids, but oh my goodness, some of the choices they make are astounding.  They were taught better, and sometimes it's hard to watch.  But, as they are adults, watching is all I can really do.

I've taken several days off this week, and I'm so very glad that I did.  I needed this down time, and I'm not feeling great so it's even more appreciated.  I'm very grateful for the life I have.

The first week of summer

The first week of summer has come to a close.  This was supposed to be our "quiet" week at work, but it was definitely anything but that.  The good news is, it is just the beginning.

My week consisted of working over 33 hours, but it was more flexible than a normal school week.  I also made a trip both Monday (with all of us) and again on Wednesday to visit my grandmother.  We are trying to have someone check in with her every day, but this is not sustainable for months on end.  And honestly, while Hospice is involved, I suspect she is going to be here when school starts again in August.  I'm not even ruling out her still being here at the holidays, although I certainly wouldn't have expected that a month ago.

I also got lots of laundry done and I got most of the house picked up.  That's a good thing, because I need to work at church tomorrow.  My allergies are making me really, really miserable.  Part of that is because the weather has been absolutely gorgeous, and I've been able to have all of the windows open.  Since Andrew has been at his mom's house, I've been able to sleep without any snoring or other bedroom distractions (like our sweet pup) and I've been able to make the bedroom downright cold.  It's been lovely.

Today is my cousin's birthday, and it would have been my maternal grandmother's birthday as well. She would have been 95 today, and I'm grateful that our family gathered together to celebrate her 90th.  It's really so hard to believe how much has changed in five years, and it's also really hard to believe how fast the last five years have flown by.  Family things make me fairly emotional these days, but I'm so grateful for the memories! 

Tuesday at the end of May

I love the fact that although we have been out of school for almost a week, there are still three days of may remaining.  I think we can all agree that the best part of summer is the beginning!  I have eleven entire weeks until the next time I have to get up for a school day.

Andrew has gone to visit his mom and help her with some things.  He took our sweet pup with him.  I miss them, but I appreciate the quiet time.  Thomas had a short work day today, but I was able to get three loads of laundry done and lots of school work.  The end is always really busy.

I'll be honest, I'm really sad that we aren't taking a vacation this year.  I know that an ocean vacation is not in the budget, and I know that the kids can't get off work to join us, but I'm sad that we can't make it happen.  Not only is the ocean amazing, but I always appreciated that our family had an entire week together, no matter how things were going in our lives.  I suspect we will be able to take a vacation again at some point, but I acknowledge things will never be like they were.  And that's okay, but it does make me a bit sad that those days are over.

I'm hoping to really spend some time working on some things around our house, and I hope our summer schedule allows this to happen!