One Month

It's been one month since Mom passed away.  It's been a long, sad, busy month.  There's been lots of tears and missing her.  It seems like she should be right here in her chair keeping an eye on the neighborhood.  But it's been a month filled with love and support from lots of people.  Cards and phone calls and hugs mean a lot.  Most importantly, I've known the comfort that only the Holy Spirit can give.  He truly is the Comforter.  The grief is still very painful but there's an unexplainable peace in knowing that Mom is where she had longed to be and that she's doing just fine.

A Rescue

This afternoon a bird flew into the glass door and was promptly pounced upon by Queeg the cat.  It was a horrible sight.  I just stood there saying, "Oh my!  Oh my!"  Not Hannah.  She leaped into action immediately.  She shooed the cat away and told me to get a towel.  She wrapped the poor bird in the towel and took it down to the woods where it slowly recovered and was able to fly away.  The bird looked like a small woodpecker.  Phillip says it was probably a sapsucker.  It is a lucky bird.  Hannah is probably a legendary heroine in Birdville tonight. 

I'm Okay.

Mom's funeral was last Tuesday.  It was a bad day for all of us but we're okay.  I'm okay.  The thing about someone you love having dementia is that you lose them very slowly, piece by piece, memory by memory.  That means the grieving is done slowly, day by day.  Saying goodbye to Mom was very hard but we'd all been saying it for a long time.  I miss her every minute of the day but a lot of the grief is behind me.  Knowing with complete confidence that she is safe, healthy, strong, and happier than we can only imagine in the presence of the Lord brings comfort and peace to all those who love her.  So I'm sad but I'm okay. 

November in a Nutshell

This picture is from our annual family camping trip.  We usually go in October so we were a little late this year.  We had one rainy day but the rest of the weather was beautiful.

This picture is from Jimmy's birthday.  He really enjoyed his pineapple upside down cake.

This picture is from Thanksgiving.  Jason cooked the turkey in his oil-less turkey fryer.  It was delicious.

 
 This picture is from Lilly's and Lucy's birthday party.  Lilly's 6th birthday was November 23 and Lucy's 3rd birthday was November 26.  It's hard to believe those girls have grown up so quickly!

This picture is of Laura and me at the Christmas tree lot.  This year we have a real tree for the first time in a while.  I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it.  Of course, the needles aren't falling all over the place yet.

November had a few milestones that don't have pictures.

Hannah had her last orthodonist visit, at least we hope it's the last.  She got braces when she was 12 and she says she's not missing them at all.

We were blessed to attend Jonas's dedication at Parkwood Baptist Church.  It was a very meaningful service.  Jonas was, of course, the cutest and sweetest and most intelligent baby there.

Christmas List

I really love Amazon's wish list option.  I'm trying to get everyone in our family to make a wish list for Christmas shopping.  It makes it so much easier to see exactly what people want.  I love to click through Amazon's different departments.  It's almost as addicting as Pinterest.  Anyway, while browsing through Amazon, I've discovered a few things I really don't want for Christmas. 

* A musical toilet paperholder

*An electric meat slicer - It looks scary dangerous.    

*An electric meat grinder - same as meat slicer    

*A talking bathroom scale - It's bad enough to have to look at my weight without hearing it as well.

* A yodeling pickle (Yes, they have one on Amazon.  No, it doesn't seem to be affiliated with Veggie Tales)

If you happened to have already bought any of these things for me, it's okay.  When I open the gift, I'll tell you how much I love it and have always wanted it, unless it's a Conway Twitty cassette tape. In that case, the truth will prevail again.

Random Facts from our Day

Today is Tuesday.  I had to think about that for a moment.  I wasn't sure.

We all have colds.  It sounds like a cough convention in this house.

I went grocery shopping, not my favorite thing.  But ice cream was bogo so I did (buy one and get one, I mean) and we're having ice cream right now. Thanks to this cold, I can't really taste it, though.

I didn't cook supper.  We ate leftovers from the refrigerator:  sweet potatoes, gravy, peas, and an Italian chicken pasta dish that Jennifer brought over the other day.  Jennifer's dish was the favorite. 

Our library books are due tomorrow.  We've already renewed them once online so we can't do that again.  We'll have to return them or pay the fines. 

Our camping trip was fun, in spite of the rain.  We have pictures and someday we'll post them, maybe.

I had 2 black bananas lurking in the kitchen so I baked banana oatmeal muffins.  I had oatmeal I needed to use up, too, so that killed 2 birds with one stone. They're pretty good. Phillip ate 2.

Laura had a good visit with my mom this morning.  I feel encouraged for the first time in quite a while.  We hoping to get a recliner to put in her room so she has somewhere comfortable to sit.  She's either in bed or in her wheelchair most of the time.

The ticking clocks in here are driving me crazy.  It's not a comforting sound to me.  It sounds like a timer ticking down.  I feel like I either need to hurry and finish some undefined task or get out quickly because something is going to explode.

Last random fact:  Our jack-o-lantern is still on the front porch.  My goal is to put it in the compost pile before Thanksgiving.

November

I'm glad October is over.  It's usually a month filled with celebrations for our family. This October has been so hard.  Now it's November, and I'm going to try to make it a month of truly being thankful even with all the hard things going on.  There are so many good things but they get lost when I focus on just the difficulties of life.  So for the next month, I'm making a special effort to appreciate the blessings of God in my life.