December, the month of family sickness. 

Christmas did come and go with me reminding everyone that all was  going to be ok and we have to keep the real reason for the season upfront in our minds: that we have had years when things were more challenging; someone was sick, we had to move things around, etc. Then old Jeff piped into the family group text reminding us that  Paw Paw Palmer (Jeff's dad) was in Bastogne on Christmas 1944. That will quickly put it all in perspective. 

We did all meet at our house on December 22nd but there was sickness. Stupidly I don't think any of us thought about the flu until we were all together. I think there was no doubt Palmer had it that night. I was sick, but I don't think I had it. When Paul Allen came down sick the next day Jeff thought to go get him a flu test. He was positive and missed Katie's side of the family Christmas staying home with Valerie who didn't feel well either. It didn't matter that he stayed home because it is running through them now. Tyler's parents came down from Atlanta and I did see them between church services on Christmas Eve. They were sickie too, so it was all around. All of the kids eventually were sick. 

Fortunately Mama has not gotten sick, but it is all in her senior living facility. She is going to visit her sister in the morning for the week so maybe she will miss it. 

I actually got up yesterday morning and called the Teledoc. I don't have the flu, but my whole side of my head is full of junk. I now have an antibiotic. The only other person other than Mama who hasn't been sick is Jeff. Thankful for that.

Here are a few scenes from the last few days.

I mostly took candid shots on December 22nd which are wonderful in my mind too.

On Christmas Eve, Tucker and Palmer set out their cookies for Santa. All of the kiddos are in full belief age. It is quite sweet to watch. I think Tucker has another year before he questions it all.

Lindsay took this picture of Palmer at church on Christmas Eve. He was on the upswing by Christmas Eve, while Miles and Valerie were on their way to the depths of the flu. The service was so sweet.

This was Miles coming back in from viewing the swing that he was genuinely excited Santa had brought, but no energy to swing.

He would get some fever reducing medicine in and feel good for an hour. He gave it a try later, but even today he was still feeling a little poorly.

One interesting note, Katie did end up taking Valerie to the doctor since her fever was so high. Turns out Miles and Valerie each had a different strain of flu. One A and one B. Go figure.

Christmas morning, Jeff and I made it out for what has become our annual stroll on the beach. Someone took our picture after watching me try to get a selfie.

I am one to pack Christmas up right away. I know I am making some of you cringe. I can't wait to put it out right after Thanksgiving, but I am also eager to put it all away and get the house back in order on the 26th. I do the tree last. 

I love Christmas but for some reason I like the order that comes after Christmas. 

I am in  full on reflection mode now and hope to be back in the new year with some ideas for 2026.

2025 was crazy for us in many ways. I really try to focus on the positive though. Life can be even nuttier if you only focus on the bad. There is plenty of good.

I have listed all of my books in Goodreads the last couple years. I really like the digital footprint of my reading. I know many read way more than me but considering how many people I care for and things I do I felt very good about the 21 books I have read. I have two I am reading currently, but I am pretty sure both will be finished after December 31st.

I read 11 fiction and 10 nonfiction. The nod to fiction is a win for me. I am the girl who read the World Book Encyclopedia for fun as a child, so making sure I read as much fiction was a goal I had. I need more of that.

My 2 favorite fiction books were Theo of Golden by Allen Levi and The Last Twelve Miles by Erika Roebuck. I want to add more of Erika Roebuck this year. 

I honestly can't choose a favorite nonfiction book It would be a tie between at least 5 of them. I read some good ones this year. 

Honestly, I rarely read anything anymore that I don't like. If it is not hitting me right I move on. Don't want to waste the time.

I stitched 7 things; Valerie's name, small hornbook with Christmas/winter sampler, Valerie's ornament,

my little multicolored dolphin, the sandpipers, the Bible verse with flowers (round), and the 12 Days of Christmas.

I still need to share the 12 Days of Christmas finish. I will...I ended up not gifting it. The sickness, the rush, all that just led to me saying no to the gift. Maybe later. I will share it in January. It is cute.

I am a few days away from finishing the Bible Recap again this year. I really do love this. I would highly recommend it to anyone. I am not doing it again this next year as I want to slow things down. I am putting my reading plan together for '26 over the next couple of days. I want to slow the pace, but I truly love having a reading plan all set and sitting down to Scripture within the first 30 minutes of waking. It is a good habit to have a starts my day off well. 

I can truthfully say one thing has worked well this year. Keeping up with the house and having organized or decluttered so much over the last few years. I don't need to hit January 1st and go crazy decluttering. I will do many things, but not like I have in the past. I still need to let go of much in my sewing room, but I have many wins in the remainder of the house. Woohoo for me.

About a year ago, Jeff and I went through one of our closets together that contains small appliances mostly. I felt there was much we didn't need anymore. We did purge that day but we agreed to put some stuff that we were unsure about on the top shelf of that closet. I am here to tell you not one item was touched since the day we put it up there. I would say that is full evidence that the shelf can now be cleared out. It is on my winter list.

Speaking of winter... fall and now winter have been very mild here in northwest Florida. Much to my liking. Winter is swinging in for a day right as 2025 is leaving, but it seems to only be for a day. I will take that.

We are heading to Auburn to ring in the new year. I will ring it in before midnight as always. I am going to rest the remainder of this week and put together my goals for 2026. 

See you next year,

Sandy

Savoring Late Summer

 I know everyone is thinking fall....

I am kind of leaning towards it, but not quite yet.

I have learned I really don't like to rush the seasons as I age (well, maybe winter) and to just rest in the moment a little more. 

I made a trip out to the beach this morning to stroll and have some prayer time with the Lord. It is my place to go when I have been pulled in a lot of directions or just tired. He met me there and comforted me. I prayed for my entire family one by one and thanked Him for our blessings. I really strolled more than walked because the water was gorgeous and the perfect temperature. I kept my feet in the water for most of the walk, so it slowed me down which quite frankly I think I needed literally and figuratively.

As you can see, I went fairly early. The sun had not burned off the cloud cover. It was just lovely. This time is often not seen by many because of back to school, but it is a wonderful time to be at the beach. The water is clear and warm, the crowds are gone, and it is truly such a beautiful time to beach it.

As I turned to head back to my car, it started sprinkling rain. We have been getting a good bit of rain coming off the Gulf lately. I noticed no one rushed in. It sprinkled on me for most of my trip back down the beach to my car. I didn't rush it. My shirt was wet, but I just continued on my stroll. There were no signs of bad weather, so I went with it. Time well spent to cap off some rather busy weeks.

As I was walking back to the car, I thought about something Jeff and I had talked about in our morning devotional. We have been doing the Bible Recap together this year. He heard me doing it much of last year and decided he wanted to do it this year, so we have gone through the chronological reading of Scripture and listened to the recap podcast together. We were in Jeremiah and it was talking about how rain was considered a blessing in ancient times. We often miss that thought in modern times. It reminded me of a song I heard back in college by a girl named Joy Krueger. To simplify ----She spoke of how the flowers need rain to grow, but we do too. Troubles/rain grow us too. 

*****

Summer is fading into fall in many ways. The intense heat doesn't leave us here for at least another 6 weeks. They are speaking of a cool front coming down, but I doubt very seriously it reaches us. I have some late summer decor that holds me off of the pumpkin decorating that usually takes place for most on September 1st. I understand as I decorate for spring on March 1st.

I will slowly add in my fall decor, but usually don't add a pumpkin until late September. I have some stitched pieces with squirrels, acorns, and leaves to start the ball rolling.

****

While on the seasonal change, I am wearing my white shorts today and my white pants tomorrow. I will wash and put them in the back of the closet until next Easter. I still adhere to my rules. We don't have huge seasonal changes in the weather, so you have to have the fashion rules to guide the seasons here. I know many roll their eyes at me. Go right ahead. You won't deter me one bit from following my rules! 

*****

I am slowly getting my stitching mojo back. I won't have much to show for a while, but it truly felt good to pick up my needle today. 

*****

School seems to have been a rocky start for many this year, but Miles is doing well, FINALLY.  His teacher is gifted! He got to bring home Dani, the dinosaur this weekend. They needed to document Miles's adventures over the weekend with "Dani." It will be hard to top this.

They went to a restaurant on the island for lunch. Look at Valerie holding it too. Oh my, she is going to have a big personality. I think at 7 months I can tell she will hold her own with Miles and the 2 cousins. I feel like I haven't take many pictures of her, but trust me they are coming.

They had a roller coaster simulator there too. Is not the face of pure joy?! It is so good to see after so many tears. Miles's parents deserve this. He had worn them out!!!

Tucker and Palmer are doing well with their new grades too.

*****

In an effort to get back to blogging again, I will share a few changes in the home this calendar year. I am way behind on sharing any of them. I might add too, that all of them have brought me such joy. 

I shared that we painted the guest bathroom, aka Lindsay's old bathroom. It now is the same color as the adjoining bedroom. I am telling you....PURE bliss. I also changed out the bedspread for the last time in her bedroom. I finally found something I really like!

I found this at Home Goods in Auburn a while back. I knew it would be a good match. I think it was just what this room needed. The print is more subtle than past tries. 

In the living room or family room (the room we do life in) I saw a leather chair in a fall magazine. I have missed my leather furniture. I really love my sea grass green couch, but I have missed the ability to wipe down leather. I had purchased a new chair for me to sit in and given Jeff my extra large chair that we bought when we got the couch back in 2020. The chair was like a chaise lounge with the size. I noticed though it was beginning to wear and stain with Jeff, so I decided he needed a leather chair. He really liked what I showed him and it was in stock in SanDestin so off we went. I could not love anything more.

I have been sitting in quite a bit myself. 

I wish I had professional pictures to show you how good it works in the room, but that will never be me. 

The extra large chair went downstairs to the big room. I have loved it down there. I have made me a little reading nook. I kept Jeff's brother's record player and honestly I love going down there to sit. It is one of my little hiding spots when I need quiet.

The painting is done. How is we love getting things done, but hate the process! It was so over stimulating to my already cluttered brain to have painters in the house, but it is finished. Thank goodness.  They had to come back for the garage. I didn't even want to tell Jeff that it was not sticking, but I knew I had to write that check and when he finally did notice it - it would not be good. It is due to the heat and humidity. He is thinking about getting a dehumidifier for the garage. 

The next home improvement project will have to be addressed by next July. July, August, and September are intensely hot months and with the removal of the pine trees by the kitchen it has been so hot in the kitchen and living room in the mornings. That  eastern sun coming up is steaming it up. I don't want to have to cover those windows with something year round, so we have to do some research on a solution by next July.

How's this for a more normal blogpost? Can I keep it up? Time will tell. 

Until then,

Sandy

Catching Up

Catching Up can be seen in two different ways: one is that feeling I have of playing a game of "Catch UP" over the last 2.5 weeks or two, it could be just letting one know what is going on over here in Blog Land. 

I will go with what has been going on here in my little corner. I finished my third round of antibiotics. This time I am much better. Something just kept holding on to me keeping me coughing which is an exhausting thing in itself.

The Christmas tree was stood in its corner on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I have bought one from the same place now for three years. They are the freshest and it smells so good. It didn't get decorated until the Saturday after Thanksgiving which meant Miles saw it on two occasions all bare, so that when he arrived the Monday after Thanksgiving he admired it much. He said, "I love your ornaments, Mimi," which made Mimi very happy. Palmer has been by also and admired it. 

These days there seems to be a lot of fretting over getting Christmas up early. I will admit the tree is a wonderful addition to the long dark evenings, but I hate being in a rush any more. In fact, I have just downright put my foot down about being rushed. It is not easy folks, but I am trying. Now, when I share all the catching up post you may not think I have succeeded but I am trying. 

I saw a book mentioned on Instagram called, Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember by Barbara Rainey. A quote from the first few pages...

"Our national observance of Thanksgiving is unique. It is both distinctly Christian and exclusively American, a holiday for celebrating faith, family, and freedom."

She goes on to say it is a holiday of rest. "We gather together to ask the Lord's blessings"  is a line from the famous hymn sung at Thanksgiving when I was a child. I think it sums up Thanksgiving well and why I try to make sure it has its place before Christmas. 

Then however, this girl is ready for all the Christmas including the songs, the trees, the lights, the wonder of it all through the eyes of my grandsons.

As for Thanksgiving week....

there were beach visits...

Okaloosa Island the first part of that week.

There were 2 family gatherings at my house. The first was pizza on Tuesday night with the whole family. Kristan, our niece was here from Texas with her family. I didn't take one single picture. I don't know what that says about me!

Then we met again for Thanksgiving and had a wonderful feast. Again, I didn't take pictures, well one. My Lindsay was not here for the second meeting. She had her in-laws in town so I was supposed to send a picture of the spread.

On that day, I think I was just tired but happy. Lindsay usually coordinates pictures. She was missed on that account.

Let's just say, Kristin's twins will be unrecognizable to even long time readers the next time I post a picture of them. They are now freshmen in high school and are growing up fast.

There were more beach visits...

Gulf Islands National Seashore between Navarre and Pensacola.

Looking towards Pensacola. The Gulf was like glass two days later. Perhaps the most beautiful place on Earth.

The kids did come over for other times and loved fishing off the dock.

Miles tried to hand Tucker a shrimp to put on his hook, but Tucker said, "No way."

Palmer showed him how it is done. 

In the past couple of weeks, there have been lots of flag football games for Tucker. My goodness, these are fun too watch. 

There has been decorating.

Working on a few home repairs along the way. Remember all that water damage. I have been trying to restain the window sills and baseboards during nap times which means it is slow progress, but still it is progress. Nothing much to show yet. In fact, when I thought I had done such a good job, Jeff had the nerve to tell me it needed a second coat. Bah Humbug!

Fall is full peak in Fort Walton Beach. It always arrives in December and it is quite pretty, but most have moved on past thoughts of fall. I have been enjoying the walks and views though. Every tree is on fire. I didn't expect such a pretty fall since it has been dry this year, but it is showing off this year.

Again, no pics. What kind of blogger have I turned into?

December flew in here, but I have all the decorations up and the presents bought. I have one more to wrap so I am feeling quite good about that.

I am off to sell Mother's car on Thursday in Pensacola. That is a big deal and honestly will be a burden off my shoulders. That is all I will say there.

I will try to be back next week with more than just the diary of my life. I didn't mean to take a blog break, but I think I needed it. I am going to break a few more days and hopefully catch up with everyone midweek next week and become a more sociable blogger.

The end of year roses are sometimes some of the prettiest. This one is "Oklahoma." She was out there all by herself so I went down and clipped her so I could enjoy her on the counter.

Until next time,

Sandy

Goodbye 2023

 Jeff and I are in Auburn resting and relaxing for a few days. It feels good to be quiet. It is cold! I am not a cold weather fan and even pulled out the jacket that I really only wear every couple of years up here. We will ring out the year out quietly. I will write more about that in a bit, but let’s share a picture or two from the last week. 

We celebrated Christmas with our little family on Friday, the 22nd. We had to share Lindsay this year but honestly doing it early since we are all agreeable makes it easy on both kids and their families. We don’t mind. Paul Allen and Lindsay usually work out a date together and Jeff’s sister and brother-in-law are fine with it too. 

The grandsons are at a wonderful age. They remind me of Lindsay and Paul Allen at that age in the same living room oh so many years ago. 

Here they are jumping on bubble wrap from a gift. It was quite loud, but little Miles was not timid at all. He couldn’t find space on it but he just jumped next to Tucker and Palmer. He stayed right in the mix of things with the big boys. What a difference a year made!

Mother spent the night with us on the 22nd since we would be opening presents until past the closing hour at her assisted living place. We got up the next morning and ate a big breakfast and leftovers for lunch before we took her home for the evening on Saturday. 

I drove her back and it was such a beautiful day that I slipped away to stroll on the beach while Jeff went over to a friend’s house to take a gift.

It was about 4:00 in the evening and let me just say I could have stayed forever. A lot of emotion was left out there on that stroll and God met me there for the walk.

Christmas Eve morning was church and such a beautiful service. Again, God met me there with comfort. After church we got Mama out and brought her back to our house and we made a pot of spaghetti. We all 3 sat down to watch a Christmas movie. We watched A Christmas… Present with Candace Cameron Bure. I highly recommend it. A nice family movie.

Donna and Al have modeled what to do with Christmas when you have adult kids. They have their own little traditions for Christmas Day. They take a drive down 30A and back. On Christmas morning Jeff and I took us a walk in the beach. A storm had blown in from the Gulf overnight and the water was still kicking and made for fun watching. I am pretty sure the waves were 7-8 feet at the second sandbar. We again picked up Mom and brought her to our house. She slept for most of the day on the couch. I think all of it had worn her out but one shouldn’t be alone at Christmas.

Still not too tired of the beach, Jeff and I once again made beach trip on the morning of the 26th. We drove west to Opal Beach and it was a bit chilly that day. The shells were heavy and made for fun scouring while we walked. 

I began taking Christmas down on that afternoon and finished the next day while Jeff and Paul Allen fished. I love the decorations but I am always ready for a clean slate.

I think it was Christmas Day evening I read or skimmed all of this past year’s blog posts. What a year! It has been a hard year… sinus surgery, 2 cataract surgeries to start with. I can breathe and see better:) Mom’s fall, spending a month in rehab and then with me, then moving and selling her home and having to get rid of a lifetime of things… then Jeff’s Parkinson’s diagnosis and retirement. That is A Lot to take in and really the year before had been hard too with Jeff’s brother passing. 

If you want to know the real honest truth I am not thinking 2024 is going to be a piece of cake either, not just with my family but with our country. You can’t have an invasion at the southern border and things not get wild very soon. Listen my own little town is seeing big problems already. 

I think I am going to need a lot of courage for the next year. I do know however that my Lord will walk with me through every hardship and provide me with the courage I need. 

I am going to rest these few days before going home. We took Mama to her sister’s to visit. I don’t think she will be able to make that trek again. I could be wrong but she really wanted to go so we took her. My Aunt Faye will try to get her to eat and cousins will drop into visit so she should be fine. 

I finished my last book for this year today. Kinfolk by Sean Dietrich. It was my 23rd book this year. A prime number and a nod to something in the book. A good one to round out 2023.

I am going to give January a couple of weeks to get used to a new routine with Jeff home before I blog again. 

Thanks for following along….

Sandy

My Summer Has Begun

I left off last post with a restful Memorial Day weekend. I decided to take a few more days to let myself truly relax before I jumped into that list of summer things to get done around the house. I let the chores go around here other than the major rooms and just let myself not jump up to do the next thing. 

Cross Stitching

I started my June ornament in Auburn the last of May, so I have it done already. July's probably won't be spit out that soon. June's selection is another from The Magic of Christmas book. It has a vintage feel to it. I think for July I am going to do a Prairie School Santa, and then I am going to dig around in my patterns for some youthful ones for the next couple of months. 

In other stitching news, I will share the sunflower pillow next time. I just don't have it all stuffed and trimmed yet, but it is so cute. I am about to start on the "my town" stitch. It will be a long term project since I am kind of designing as I go. I did order a Country Cottage Needleworks store that was taller to kind of guide my first building in the town. It is a 2 story building and I felt I needed a guide. I have my palm tree patterns all picked out, so hopefully late June I will get the first stitch in it. 

I did chase a rabbit trail with stitching. A new flosstube account popped up on my YouTube feed. I really like the ladies, so I watched along of one of theirs and went back and caught up with the beginnings of their older ones so that I would know them better.  They are called Curious Crafters, 2 sisters from California. I then followed their Instagram account and that is where the rabbit trail path began. 

Here is the post that made my go ...Gotta have.

I mean how adorable is this whale. I immediately ordered the pattern along with a seahorse like it and the exact linen and trim. It is all DMC colors. I have started the whale while I wait for my order of the store to start my town stitch. I typically write things down I like and ponder and the notion goes away, but this one was screaming at me and I knew it was a Sandy kind of pattern.

For months, I had planned to take The Shepherd's Song sampler to Auburn, but at the last minute I changed my mind. It stayed here....

I decided to make a little collage on the wall in the bedroom. The other 2 were already in the bedroom, so I just rearranged some things.

I think they all go quite well together and they make me very happy.

Outdoor Time

I have loved the late May and early June weather. It is still so pleasant in the mornings here. I have enjoyed my quiet time on the deck in the mornings. There is still a little odds and ends being done on the seawall and dock, so the day isn't all that quiet, but I think they are done as of today. Than the dirt.

Gus and I have kept up with our walks. He is a great reminder to get up and get outside.

I made it to the beach on the cloudiest day. Even cloudy days are good at the beach. I just walked. I will go back this week to sit a spell. 

In family updates, 

Lindsay brought the kids by after work on Friday because Grandma hadn't seen them in a while. I had gone to get Mama and bring her to my house because her house is sort of out of the way and would make it a little difficult for Lindsay. Mother fell down from hugging Tucker. We don't exactly know what happened but Lindsay and I looked up and Mother was laying on the driveway with Tucker sort of underneath her. He saved a broken hip I am sure. She scraped the top layer of skin off of the forearm so I knew that would need professional bandaging, but she also bumped her head and had to have that glued. Lots of blood and an ER visit Friday evening. We would have been out of there pretty quick for an ER visit, but her blood pressure was read as they were about to dismiss her. 227/102, so yes, we were there for  the rest of the evening. We pulled in the driveway at 10:40. Mom's blood pressure will spike like that when she is nervous or upset, but we have found BP meds will cause the opposite. A dip which can be just as dangerous. I think every single test in the book has been run over the last 10 years about it and I never really get a diagnosis. I have found I usually can talk to her and calm her and it will go down. 

Anywho, lesson was learned that Mama will now be greeted by all grandkids in a sitting position. They are not allowed to hug her if she is not sitting. Tucker will hold her to that. Mother will not follow those rules, but he will so that should be good. We got lucky in that she didn't have a broken hip.

Lindsay and our family are still so upset about her dear friend and her breast cancer. They will stay in Huntsville for now and return to the jobs they were giving up to move. It is all a bit much to understand, but I know God has them in His Hands.

Miles is crawling. Katie should have lots of fun this summer keeping up with him. He may even be walking by the time school starts for me to have him. 

Here he is at Auburn. Paul Allen and Katie went up this past weekend. He is wearing his Daddy's first Auburn shirt. It has now made the rounds through the other boys as well.

Here are Tucker and Palmer Sunday morning early. Palmer with a snotty nose is still cute as he can be. Palmer and Daddy weren't feeling well so they had to stay home from church, but Tucker didn't want to miss because we were having snocones at church.

The one thing I did do last week was cook supper all week. I won't get any points in home economics for color, but I made some tasty meals last week.

We are enjoying the time on the deck as long as we can.  You will find Gus with me all the time.

That was about it for my week. Even with the Friday night excitement, it was a quiet week and one I needed to handle such things as Friday evening. I will leave you with pretty pink roses on the bottom deck.

Oh and I did read a good book. No picture because I have already passed it to Lindsay, but it was good. The name is Walking Shoes by Lynne Gentry. My description of it is somewhere between Karen Kingsbury and Jan Karon. For Kingsbury it contains a faith based storyline with a wee bit of drama, but for Karon it contains a small town (Mt. Hope) with the eccentric characters in the town. Good clean faith based book. A good summer read. I plan to order the others in the series. 

It is my favorite time of the year, so I am going to hopefully soak up as much fun out of it as possible.

Sandy

Life Lately

 

The fruits of my plantings....

Another set of day lilies have bloomed. These are called Alabama Jubilee. The red orange color is just beautiful. When I drive up they just make me smile.

Mother's Day didn't turn out as planned. The children had a cookout planned and were in complete charge of it. I told my children that to me Mother's Day is everyday. I am blessed beyond measure. 

What happened?

Sunday morning, Mother texted me at 6:27 AM to ask me if I was up. Of course I was, so I called to check on her. I haven't really said much here on her condition lately, because it is just so hard to explain her symptoms. She was not doing well and really had herself stirred up, so I decided rather than taking her to immediate care places where they just prescribe her another round of antibiotics that she can't take that I would just go to the ER. I quickly got dressed and got her there by about 7:15 which was in our favor for a weekend in ER. Nothing like a weekend in the ER..

They ran tests of course. The ER doctor when I first walked in and explained her symptoms and why I was there told me it was quite possible we wouldn't get any answers, but that they would get an IV started and run some tests on her. 

After a CT scan, he thought she might have had some mini strokes as late as 3-5 days ago. They then proceeded to do an MRI. The doctor we saw once they admitted her didn't think that was the case after the MRI. He thought it was normal aging showing on the test results. Remember my mother has epilepsy and has had seizures. 

She spent the night in the hospital and got an appetite stimulant and some electrolytes in her IV. She is off balance but she says it is not like the usual vertigo in that she doesn't feel dizzy but she describes it as off balance. 

Often Mom has trouble describing her symptoms. She has her right mind but she has never been able to describe what she feels is happening to her. Nothing new at all. 

She doesn't eat enough and while she says she drinks water all the time....I wonder???

AT the end of the hospital stay, nothing was really established as to what is wrong with her other than "old age." Jeff and I discussed that the only thing they had done differently was the IV and the appetite stimulant which worked because she ate hospital food which she would NEVER have done otherwise. 

I am following up with her doctor Monday morning and her neurologist in Pensacola the first week in July to let them see all these tests and weigh in their thoughts. 

I have signed her up for Home Health to come out once a week and check her vitals. Now, she is agreeable to that right now, but trust me when she starts feeling better she will not want this. I am holding her to this for at least 6 months. This will keep us out of immediate care and in closer contact with her doctor than just me trying to call to get in.

She is also going to have some home physical therapy for now to help with her balance. An occupational therapist is also coming to evaluate her although I don't think that will be needed. Mom's home is set up well for an older person so for now she is all good. I want to keep her at her home as long as possible because she will be happier that way. 

That is life lately here.

Tyler's mom came down from Atlanta this week to keep Palmer so that I can get all this set up and working well. That is good for her to get a few days with Palmer. She has her own elderly parents in Atlanta. Hers have passed on, but her husband's (Tyler's dad) are in their upper 90s so she is well aware of the trials of all this. 

For me the biggest issue is - it is just me. Now, I could not do it without Jeff, Lindsay, and Paul Allen. They are all very helpful.

I did get a hamburger later in the day for Mother's Day. Paul Allen went ahead and grilled them and I went over for one. I told Lindsay to go to the beach and enjoy her day. She did and sent the cutest video of Tucker watching the planes fly by on the beach. A grandson after his Mimi's heart. We love our planes.

Lindsay also took this cute little picture of those sweet boys one afternoon.

Palmer was walking behind the cart last week and of course climbing into it as well. He is such a climber. I fully expect him to be walking by the time I get him back on Friday.

He also loves Gus. He rolls all over him and tugs on his ears much like Tucker did with Lemony. Gus is great with him.

We met with the home health nurse yesterday and are meeting with the physical therapist today and something else on Thursday. I am using the time to get Mother set up for success while I don't have Palmer. I miss him terribly and so does she.

I did slip away just before lunch yesterday to put my feet in the healing waters of the Gulf of Mexico. I knew I needed it. I love my bayou, but the beach is my sanity place.

I just strolled for a good while and let my troubles wash away and felt like I was ready to tackle the rest of the week.

It was a beautiful day. There were lots of people behind me, but I just kept my focus on the Gulf and tuned them out.

Tucker only wants PaPa to take him to get his haircut. He told Tyler that he could take him when he got older but for now he wanted PaPa. You can imagine how that makes PaPa feel.

He is growing up so much. I have said it before, I am so blessed to have them close by and they bring me such great joy. 

I will try to have a more interesting post next week. I have a day trip planned for Saturday. I am praying it will still happen. I won't say what it is yet in case it doesn't. The kids of course will check on Mom, but I think her sister is coming to see her anyway.

Counting blessings,

Sandy

Rested and Refreshed

After spending a few days in Auburn, I feel rested and refreshed. I think I am ready to tackle a New Year.

As promised, here is the finished picture of the clock I did very quickly for Lindsay.

I know it has been odd weather in lots of places and if you looked at this photo I took in Auburn you wouldn't think it was hot. It looks wintery. I snapped on a walk with Gus. The first two days were quite sunny and warm, but the last two were cloudy and warm. Nevertheless, I was there to unwind, clean a wee bit and just have some quiet time. 

The trees are such a different landscape from home. Almost all the leaves on the trees around our house were on the ground. 

A change of scenery is good for one sometimes. I really just wanted some quiet unrushed time. Mother decided not to go. I don't think she rests well when she is away from home and I got lucky in that her brother came and stayed with her for two of the days and then her sister for the other two. I got a much needed vacation and didn't have to worry about her.

The following picture is an interruption to the Auburn trip, but Lindsay sent this to me while I was up there. My my that boy is so cute.

Does anyone else miss the old version of blogger when you could upload all the pictures and then put them into your post without the hassle that it seems to be these days? Or is just me doing something wrong?

Back to Auburn. We did take in a basketball game. That was not on our original agenda, but Lindsay and Tyler gifted us two tickets to the Auburn/LSU game. It was a great game and we had a blast. Our tickets were in a good place for old folks who didn't need to much breathing of germs on us, so hopefully all is ok. I think we have already passed the number of days to come down with it.

Now, back to my walks in Auburn. Many of you may remember the post I did on all the many colored doors in the neighborhood. This house was a favorite from that post with many commenters. It recently went up for sale and I was completely in shock over the inside pictures on the listing. For such a traditional home, the inside obviously had an artsy person. Every wall was a different and very bright color. It was quite overpowering. I actually found it hard to see the layout of the home over the wall colors and this from a girl who loves color. 

Anyway, homes in this neighborhood rarely stay on the market past two weeks no matter what is going on in the housing market. It sold and the door has been changed. Based on the door color, I am guessing the house has been toned down inside as well.

I left Auburn feeling rested and refreshed. The few days away were just what I needed. This morning we got up early and took a beach walk before things get hectic again. Our church was only going to be online today so we could watch at our discretion. It was a beautiful early morning and this time I dressed appropriately for the temperature. I even waded in the water. 

Yes, that is odd even for our area. While we were strolling we saw lots of odd things on the beach. We watched out step until we figured out what they were.

I will let you see if you can figure it out before I give it away.

We passed several of these before we finally came up on some with the tentacles trailing.

Have you figured it out yet? I certainly didn't think they were around here.

A very long tentacle made Jeff proclaim, "Portuguese man o' war." We looked it up and yes, he was right. Later in the day, it was confirmed by the local news guy.

The surf was quite rough with a southerly warm wind which is going to meet a northerly cold wind somewhere along the south tonight. That means someone is probably not going to have a good night. I am praying all will be smoother than is expected.

We took a very long walk. As we were headed back in the other direction the sun was popping out.

I have been in reflection mode as per my personality being the end of a calendar year. I know that '22 has the possibly of some tough times for us. 

Anyway, in this time I couldn't help but think with a lot going on I was really going to have to be disciplined this year with taking care of myself. I don't know that I really pick words of a year, but when something comes across my mind like this did I try to incorporate it in my life. 

A while back I mentioned the word streamline came to me rather than simplify. That simple shift in my mind from one word to another made a significant difference in some things.

A smoothie for breakfast for my disciplined eating plan.

As I pondered the word discipline I came across a podcast where the guy said discipline was no good without motivation. I chewed on that a day or two and I agree that he is correct, but I still think discipline is the idea I want to incorporate. I need to adhere to my strict dietary plans for good health with two autoimmune conditions. I know it is vital for health. I also need to keep up some form of exercise and movement to keep those joints lubricated. There is always a balance there for me with rheumatoid arthritis. There is a happy amount of exercise and there is a too much which leads to rest instead of forward progress.

A well disciplined life is in order. I am hanging onto that thought as I head into the new year to guide me. 

While I was relaxing in Auburn, I was reading and the word humble jumped off the page at me. I asked the Lord if I was prideful. I didn't think so, well not much anyway:) but if He was telling me so then I would be on notice and trying to pay attention to it.

Today when I finally sat down to watch our church's message I found out why that word was on my mind. The message today was all about what to avoid;  that being pride.

The gist was understanding my place before a God that is BIG and HOLY. 

1 Peter 5:5 says... You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

He talked about the "clothe yourselves with humility" part and likened it like putting on a servant's apron. The analogy was about a particular garment worn by servants in that time period. Just a reminder to put on humility each day towards others and giving God His due in respect to who He is. 

Apparently the Lord thought I needed to be tuned in to this as well so I am listening and hopefully will apply this where needed.

A song from today's service stuck in my head too. 

Here were a few lyrics that caught my eye and ear. .

I stand on the chain-breaking

Miracle-making

Powerful name of Jesus

On the body-raising

Prodigal-saving

Powerful name of Jesus

I want to focus on those lyrics too along with discipline and humility.

Winter will find me working a long list of projects around the house. I am in no hurry. I will do them as I can. I have already been a polishing doors and furniture. It is getting shiny here.

That is all I have time for tonight.