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I am sorry that I’m so crummy at updating this. When life goes sideways, I just tend to clam up. Where were we?

I traveled to Colorado on Thanksgiving to be with Dad. I am a bit despondent that my job is one that isn’t easy to do remotely. It wasn’t a long visit, but it was so good to be there. We got things done as we could – recliner shopping and some moving things about.

The first highlight was seeing Dad. He is doing remarkably well despite all the troubles. His hip is healing, his MRSA infection is gone and the incision site for that is healing, and his edema (swelling) is getting better with time and the proper medication, too.

The second highlight was that our nephew, Jacob, was there, too. I didn’t know he was there, so that was a treat. My siblings sure made amazing kids.

We traveled back on Sunday. (I am also a bit despondent that it takes a whole day to get out to Colorado no matter what mode of transportation.) Thankfully the weather was fine. Keren and her other son, Charlie, flew out on Tuesday because it looked like Dad was going to move out of rehab to assisted living sooner than we had thought. I am so glad they are there!

Tonight Dad is spending his first night in assisted living. I am grateful that he just has to press a button to get help when he needs it. I hope he finds the recliner cozy and nice, because Lloyd picked it out. Dad, if you hate it – blame Lloyd.

Ok, that’s it for now. Tomorrow I hope I remember to tell you about our ‘new’ car.

Lloyd leaves for Colorado today after school. He’s taking Sam’s van (Thank you, Sam!!) and will get there sometime tomorrow. The past few days have been spent trying to think what we can get out there that would be useful. It might have been a bed for Dad, but it turned out that there is a place in Montrose that can deliver one.

Dad is still in the hospital. He has a staph infection that settled in his elbow and is messing with his blood. The plan was to have him move to an assisted living facility soon-ish, but this is probably messing with that timeline. That’s ok – God’s got this. Prayers for him to just get some good rest, though. He get poked and prodded by nurses too often for his liking, and he is just tired.

That’s all from here. Have a good Friday, everyone!

My Dad is back in the hospital. He had a regular doctor’s appointment on Tuesday morning where they did a blood draw. He got a call later in the day saying he needed to get to the emergency room because his white blood count was pretty high and his hemoglobin and hematocrit were very low. Mark is with him, thank the Lord. They ran more tests where they suspect some kind of infection. He had two antibiotics via IV and they are keeping him a day or two until they figure out what is going on.

So, as always, prayers are welcome. We actually have a fair number of people in our community who are going through a lot, so I am thankful to have a God who is always with us.

My class talks about emotions a lot. There are a couple of hair-trigger kids who flip out at the drop of a hat. I give them the message constantly that it’s ok to be mad/sad/frustrated/annoyed/etc., but it’s what we do with those emotions that’s important. We can’t hurt others or bother them – they need to learn to mutter under their breath like I do. Wait, no – that’s not it……. Take deep breaths and take a break. That’s it. Yep.

We have books and other resources, but I like to have a Brad-inspired activity. Brad was the one who taught me that stick figure people could have bent arms and legs and look like they were climbing all over stuff in books. Brilliant, Brad. I saw that and realized that simple people could be cool. In my case? Eyebrows on a face. They make all the difference. I gave the kids a page pre-programmed with faces that had only eyes and a nose. By adding different shapes of mouths and eyebrows? The world’s your angry/surprised oyster!

Before we went to Ireland, I bought a bunch of stuff off of Temu, ‘the dollar store of the internet’. Some of it went unused – like some little cases for cables and such, some of it was just for travel – like some little sporks, but one thing travels with me every day: a little collapsible dish.

I keep it in my backpack, and when it’s collapsed, it’s really little.

When it’s opened, it’s maybe…. two cups? Cup and a half? They had different sizes, and this one looked like the right size to pack a little lunch in, or a good-sized snack.

I take it to school because sometimes the kids don’t eat all the breakfast that comes from the kitchen. I serve everyone and then offer seconds, but leftovers are supposed to be thrown out – they can’t be reserved. That bothers my frugal heart, so sometimes I stash that last sausage link or muffin in there. I use it to take lunch when I drive to Lincoln, or I’ll put some dry cereal or other snacky snacks in it.

So handy!

YouTube keeps throwing things at me that I click on, which is no problem with me. I will gladly watch videos about ways to be frugal and cool camping gear. My current favorites are about a Russian couple that goes camping with SOOOOO much stuff. Their channel started out small when they had minimal gear and she was a terrible cook, but over time they gained a lot of attention and now companies send them cool things to use. That’s right – they camp as a career. DANG IT!!!!! That should be me!

I love the videos because there is peaceful music and very little talking. They arrive, set up camp, make fire and cook some meals that involve lots of onions, sleep, then tear down. The man is crazy strong (probably from eating so many onions) and can tote around anything.

I like to watch them before I go to sleep. It’s so peaceful, and I usually drift off. No problem – I catch up again the next night.

Anyway, here’s their channel if you’re interested: https://www.youtube.com/@AtikAilesi