The Week In Review

It's been a week of ups and downs. That's fine if you like roller coasters. Me, not so much.

Monday we were awaken at 5:35 am to the police at my front door. Apparently, they'd received an "anonymous" call stating that there was furniture being moved around in my house and the sounds of a domestic disturbance. Both my son E and I were asleep and there was absolutely no sound coming from my home. I had to explain that my neighbor continuously accuses me falsely of making noises when in fact he is the one making all the noise. Thankfully, one of the officers has come on several occasions whenever my neighbor has called, and said the complaints have been determined to be unfounded. Nevertheless it was unnerving, especially considering what was coming up later that day. 

My son E had his dental appointment to remove his wisdom teeth that afternoon at 2:00. I am so incredibly thankful for the group of women in my Bible study class who prayed for my son's surgery. Everything went well, and while he was in a tremendous amount of pain that first day, it has lessened to the point where he is no longer in any pain. There is still some swelling inside his mouth which prevents him from chewing anything too hard, but he is able to eat. Good thing too - the medicines he is on (antibiotics and anti-inflammatory) make him sick to his stomach if he doesn't have any food in his system.

Sadly, just before we left for the dentist, I received a frantic call from my ex-husband J. His mother is dying. Back in October, J's brother succumbed to a brain tumor that was first detected in December of last year. Surgery, chemo, radiation, all tried but none worked.  He was a month shy of his 49th birthday. It was an extremely painful time for the family, but none suffered more than his mother. She had been told just a couple of months before that her kidneys were starting to fail (she is diabetic) and she would have to start dialysis. She refused. Her children begged her to reconsider, but she said if her son died she wanted to die as well. I believe that, having lost her husband in September of last year and finding out her son was dying of cancer, while her daughter had a double mastectomy in July, was too much for her and she was suffering from severe depression. At 77, her body can only take so much. Late last week she was vomiting and couldn't hold any food down. Her oldest daughter took her to the doctor, who told them her liver was only working at about 4% and she needed to go to the emergency room. Once in the hospital she was put on dialysis, but within a couple of days she suffered two strokes and a mini heart attack. As of today she is on a respirator, her vitals are stable but she is in a coma, and doctors don't know how much brain damage she's suffered or if there is any brain activity at all. She has been completely unresponsive since the strokes. The family is devastated. It's easy to say that the cause is her kidneys or the diabetes or the strokes or heart attack, but I believe she is dying of a broken heart. It has broken my own heart; no one can understand her pain unless they've experienced it themselves. We are all praying for a miracle, or for the Lord to take her away from her suffering. 

I did some more Christmas shopping on Friday, just last minute items and stocking stuffers. I was happy to go out. My neighbor left his tv set blasting from 6:00 am to 8:00 pm in his bedroom (which is directly below my master bedroom). While it's easy enough for me to close the bedroom door and not have to listen to it, I knew it would be the prelude to more harassment. I was right.

Saturday he got up at 10:30 am and began randomly punching the walls. I ignored it. Then around noon, he began blasting the tv set in his bedroom again while punching the walls. I was able to record him on my phone, then I called the police. My son needed to take his math test and he needed a quiet room to take the test in. My bedroom usually fits the bill, but with all that racket it was impossible. The police came, heard the noise and the recording, then tried to talk to him. Again he blamed me, said I was the one making all the noise, then told them I'm attacking him because he's Jewish. I had no idea he was Jewish. The man has a life size Buddha outside his front door; why would I think he was Jewish? Even his last name isn't Jewish. Once again, the Lord opened the eyes of the police and the sergeant recognized that the man is suffering from mental illness. He told me they would be investigating him to see why there are so many reports and complaints against him.

I'm so thankful for the gift my son R gave me for my birthday.

Monday morning I installed the Ring video doorbell beside my front door. It's been working like a charm. It allows me to see what is going on without having to run downstairs which is a huge blessing. 

And that brings us to today. We got home just a little while ago from having lunch with my daughter and son-in-law. They took me out today because tomorrow is my birthday. I didn't want my daughter to rush home from work to take me out to dinner, so instead we went out today. We had a lovely and pleasant afternoon walking around the mall after lunch and enjoying the gorgeous weather that December brings to South Florida. I am thankful that the Lord has seen fit to grant me another year with my loved ones. I pray that this next year I can live even more for Him, glorifying the Savior for all that He has done.

Have a blessed week y'all!

The Week In Review

And just like that, it's November. I know we always say that the year has gone by quickly, but somehow this year seems like it's not only flown by, I haven't accomplished near as much as I thought I would have by now. That's what pandemics do.

I meant to post yesterday, then I just forgot. I have no other excuse. I wasn't too busy, I was home all day, I just plain forgot. I'll try to make up for it today.

Monday started off on the wrong foot. I was awaken at 5:57 am to the news. No, I didn't turn on the tv in my bedroom. I don't have a tv in my bedroom. My neighbor does, however, and it was so loud I could hear it like it was in my house. He'd been punching walls and playing music off and on all weekend, and I tried to ignore it, but now I'd had enough. I called the police again. He didn't turn the tv off till he left for work, but he's been more cautious now. If he turns on the tv he keeps it low so I don't hear it. We'll see how long that lasts.

I've begun doing my Christmas shopping. This is actually late for me; I used to start Christmas shopping in September. My kids are grown now, and I don't buy them a lot of little toys and games anymore.  I try to get them things they need, or things they really want and will use. So rather than having a bunch of stuff in my closet, I have a few large items that I know they will appreciate, and I don't have to start shopping near as early. I was also waiting to see if my income tax return would get approved. And finally, it did. On October 30. When they told me they'd get my tax return approved in October, it didn't occur to me it wouldn't be till the very end of the month. I should receive my refund this week. Yay.

My youngest son E needs to have his wisdom teeth taken out. I'd taken him to the dentist two years ago, and was doing everything possible to get this taken care of, but his father's dental insurance was giving me a hard time. I went back and forth repeatedly with the oral surgeon's office and the insurance and couldn't get them to agree on what was covered and what wasn't. Ultimately J cancelled his dental insurance and nothing got done. Now the wisdom teeth are bothering him again, but thankfully he has some insurance now. He tried to schedule an appointment with the dentist that was assigned to him. They no longer take his insurance. I went online and found another dentist close by, made an appointment, and when we got there we found out they wouldn't take the insurance if he was over 18. They referred us to another dentist, who also said they no longer take that insurance. So he called the insurance company and explained the situation. They gave us three more dental offices to call. I tried the first one, and was happy to hear they actually do accept his insurance. There's just one catch: it expires on his 21st birthday, which is less than two months away. We knew we needed to move fast. He's scheduled for his first appointment on November 9. They will do the initial exam, then refer us to an oral surgeon. Hopefully this can all get done in time. 

This past week was my big grocery shopping week. November is a tricky month; it's shorter than October or December, but it's got Thanksgiving, meaning a lot of food for just one day. I'm super excited because my oldest son and my new daughter-in-law will be coming down to spend the holiday with us. I did get a few things that I'll be needing, though most of the items on the menu will be purchased later in the month so it doesn't sit around the pantry or fridge for a month. 

I buy the Kirkland brand chicken stock from Costco because 1 - it's a great price considering it's organic (the box brings 6 - 1 quart containers for $9.99, or $1.67 per container), and 2 - it's the best tasting and best quality on the market in my opinion. I use it to brine my turkey and also for soups. Crescent rolls are a must have on the Thanksgiving table, and Costco had the box of 5 on sale for $4.49 so I couldn't pass that up.

I'm gonna do a separate post on the monthly grocery shopping trip. Right now, laundry is calling me. Be back with more soon!

Move It Mondays

Happy Monday world! Can you believe it's the first Monday in October?!?  This year has just flown by!

It started out as a beautiful day, sunshine and a cool breeze even though the humidity is still high.  I decided it would be a good day for cutting the grass.  Allergy-wise it's not the best thing; my allergies were on high alert yesterday, and I ended up having to take a Benadryl so I could function, which left me drowsy the entire day.  But I wanted to get the lawn mowed because we're supposed to get rain all this week, and with my son R's schedule of work and school he probably won't be able to do it, so it was up to me.

It started out great.  The breeze made being outside much more tolerable than in past weeks when the heat and humidity made the air stifling.  It became overcast too, so I didn't have the sun blaring down on me.  Our lawn mower is 12 years old, and while it's been a real workhorse, it's also deteriorating fast.  Last time we cut the grass, I commented to my son that I'd seen a small hole on the top of the mower.  He said he'd noticed 2 holes, and grass clippings coming out through one of them.  Today I noticed that, not only is he right about there being two holes, they've grown and continue to grow.  The metal is corroded, probably because the lawn mower is housed in the shed in our backyard and the humidity has damaged it over the years.  I still was able to do the entire side yard and half of the backyard before I noticed something even more troubling:  the engine was smoking.  I'd never seen it do that before!  I immediately turned it off and put it away.  Hopefully I can get it going tomorrow so I can finish the yard - it doesn't look very attractive with only half the work done.  I'm also looking at prices for a new mower, as it seems this one is on its last leg.

I'm currently cooking our lunch/dinner.  We're having kielbasa and onions, yellow rice with mixed vegetables, and oven fries.  I have to make enough so that my daughter can have it for lunch and also pack some for her dinner.  At the orphanage, she's not allowed to go out to eat because she can't leave the children alone or with just one other person, so she eats there with them when they're having their dinner.

This afternoon I'm taking my youngest to the dentist again.  Last week he had 2 baby teeth removed.  One was an eye tooth, and the other a molar.  These had stuck into the gums and refused to budge, even though the permanent teeth had come out.  It distressed me, especially the eye tooth, because E has the straightest teeth of all my kids except for that one tooth because the baby tooth wasn't letting it fall into place.  Hopefully now it has the space to move on its own, since I don't want to have to pay for braces for one tooth.  Today he's having a cleaning and sealant put on his teeth.  He's happier today because he knows a cleaning won't involve needles ;).  He was a real trooper last week, but let's be honest, no one likes those icky novocaine shots.

I've got a busy day and busy week ahead.  I'm thankful for the days past, for today, and for the days to come.  Have a wonderful first week of October!