How Life Changes - Family, Part 1

Family.

We all have them - to one extreme or another. It's amazing the impact these "family members" have on our lives.

Here's the stats of my family as I was growing up:
Dad
Mom
Oldest sister
Brother
Other older sister
Me
Two grandmothers
One grandfather
Lots of aunts and uncles
Tons, and I mean TONS, of cousins. I counted them a while back and I have 72 first cousins. 72!!! The scariest part is that about 60 of them lived within 10 miles of my house, making family reunions, Christmas, weddings, funerals, more like our modern day-after-Thanksgiving-sale with tons of pushing, shoving, comparing. To say my extended family took the phrase, "be fruitful and multiply" to heart is an understatement.

It was wonderful!

Dad was a great parent. He was raised in the depression era by Dutch immigrants in a large family. I loved hearing stories of his growing up years. My Dad's family lived on a farm until not being able to pay the taxes during the depression left them homeless. Being hard workers, they soon rented a farm and life continued. My Dad was the youngest son and a bit of a prankster who got away with almost everything.

While my sisters and brother all strongly resemble my Mom's side, I looked just like my Dad. We were both blonds with blue eyes in a family of brunettes. I loved the gift of looking like him. I was a tag-a-long - and followed Dad all the time. I remember waiting for Dad on the corner of our street for him to come home at night and running home as fast as I could after him. He'd walk in the house, kiss my Mom and say, "Hello beautiful!" and my Mom would laugh. It was a great laugh.

We'd eat dinner as a family and afterward the "girls" would wash the dishes and Dad would read his paper and watch the news. Dad and I would watch "Hee Haw, Green Valley Jamboree, and Lawrence Welk," together. Talk about opposites! Maybe that's why I don't like country music to this day. Sunday nights, after church, Mom would make popcorn and we'd watch Bonanza. Such great memories.

My Dad died way too young from renal failure brought on by bone cancer. He was only 61 - I was 29. There isn't a day I don't miss him. Mom says I am SO like my Dad and she loves that. I still look like him, think like him, love to drive (he was a truck driver), have his temperament (for good or for bad), love Lawrence Welk and Bonanza.

Such great memories.

A Do-Over!

It is time to start fresh - like a do-over. First, an update . . . Life with the Siamese is with just Carly Sue. Camille was really sick and had to be put to sleep. I would love to get another Siamese and am looking but also taking my time to be sure she is the "right" Siamese to fit in with Carly. Due to the fact that Carly is front declawed, we would need to have another front declawed Siamese. Carly is going on 12 years-old so she wouldn't mind having a friend around. I'm on a new journey with a few friends and the support of my DH and kids. I am going to the gym and working out 4 - 5 times a week, sometimes as early as 4:10 a.m. One of the not-so-nice "benefits" of being in my late 50's is I apparently don't need sleep. I argue with my body frequently that it's wrong and decided that if I'm going to be awake that early, I might as well go to the gym. My hope was that after a few weeks of that, my body would go back to sleeping until 5:30 a.m. Nope - didn't happen. Oh well, at least I'm doing something worth while. Along with the "2014 Fitness Challenge" I'm on a weight loss journey as well. To date I've lost 40.2 pounds with 24.8 pounds to go. I've sorted through my closet at least three times now and have some serious sewing to do or people at work are going to start seeing a lot of repeats. Oh for the days of working in a hospital again. I did love wearing uniforms. I'm down three sizes and figure I'll loose one more size for sure before getting into the maintenance routine. I somewhat dread the maintenance part of dieting as it is by far the most difficult. BUT with 25 pounds to go, it will be a while. I've been working on cleaning out my kitchen as well as my closets and trying to eat healthier. I found a 14-week plan to healthy, no processed, eating and have been slowly putting it into practice. My DH is dragging his heels though as he is the king of un-healthy eating. I'll keep you posted as I go. If you have any recipes to pass along, I'd love to see them. Onward and forward I go. Have a great day.

A Diagnosis . . . FINALLY

After almost three months of not feeling well, "it" has a name. Ulcerative Colitis. Probably not the best name but so much better than it could be. I started on a new medication that is supposed to help and have been reading tons on the internet about UC. If anyone has any input on diet and triggers, please let me know.

In other news, the snowmen have made their appearance in the house. Carly is very upset with me as there are now snowmen in her favorite place to lay - on top of the fridge. I'm nowhere near done and actually the house looks pretty trashed but I know it will get better and be SO worth it. I love Christmas decorations, Christmas music, Christmas baking. It just makes me feel so good. There wasn't anyone who loved Christmas as much as my dad and I must have gotten my love for the season from him.

Well, I need to work on my kitchen so I have a table again. Pics of the house to follow in a few days.

Oh the Joys . . . update

Wednesday was the worse day but I've seem to turn the corner a bit. Still don't know exactly what is happening but I feel better. In fact, I am decorating for Christmas by putting out my snowman collection. Well, collection is an understatement - it's more of an obsession. This process takes me weeks to put up and get it right but I'm hoping to wrap it up this weekend so all that is left is the Christmas trees. Yes, three full-sized Christmas trees. I'll put up some pictures after this is finished.

The girls tolerate the snowmen and considering the snowmen take over every nook and cranny in the house where they like to lay around, I think they do well.

Oh the Joys! Yes, I'm whining . . .

I feel like crap. I have felt like this for 2 1/2 months. It has been 2 1/2 very trying months.

The past three weeks have been visits to the emergency room, doctor's office, labs, CT Scans and other varied procedures - not to mention the four different medications to try to figure out what is going on. Now I am waiting for the results of last weeks biopies. Hopefully they will show something that is treatable.

For some reason everything feels so overwhelming when you don't feel good. Usual, everyday things become mountains. I'm tired of saying "I'm fine" to people in hopes that I will feel it also.

So, here's hoping that by 5:00 p.m. today, I will know something and can say I am on the upswing again.

and life goes on . . .

Tomorrow my son and daugther-in-law will be 17 weeks pregnant.
On Tuesday my daughter and son-in-law will be 26 weeks.

WOW, have I mentioned I'm going to be a grandma? Keith and I went shopping last weekend at an outlet mall and had such fun buying stuff for the babies. Send down a couple of sleepers to my son and daughter-in-law this week. So much fun to pick up these little things and surprise the kids.

I had a really miss my kids week this week. I usually do ok with the fact that they are all out-of-state but every once in a while when I'm having a tough week at work or a tough week with my extended family I have a really miss my kids week - it was both. Maybe the fact that Keith and I get to have some time with my great niece Ava tomorrow and then spending time with my mom and nephew on Sunday for his birthday
will help. Not exactly my kids but a very close second.

On the Siamese front, they are getting used to being just the two of them. They are loving the Michigan Fall days with the windows open and the cool air blowing in. Camille, the older of the two, has taken to sleeping under the blankets with me since we like to sleep with the window open. Carly has been curling up in the blanket at the end of the bed. She really doesn't like to be in constant human contact like Camille does. It is always up to Carly, on her timing. Sounds like a Siamese, eh?

Time to go to the store to get ready for the weekend. Enjoy the fall days.

I feel blessed . . .

I love and am loved by God
I love and am loved by my husband
I have three wonderful children whom I love and who love me and these three wonderful children have wonderful people in their lives whom I love and who love me
I have grandchildren who are not even born yet that I already love more than I ever thought I could
I have my mom whom I love and who loves me and wonderful memories of my dad
I have siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews whom I love and love me
I have friends I love and who love me

I know this may sound cheesy but today was not the best day. When I've had a day like today it is so easy for me to come home and complain. Thankfully, tonight was one of those nights when I was home by myself and Keith didn't have to listen to me. This gave me time to think about these things I've listed above and be so incredibly thankful and I do feel so blessed. I guess it has been a good night.