February

His mother called shortly after this treat and he answered my phone, "hello Lauren, this is Sherri Baughman." Without missing a beat, she demanded to know if I'd given him ice cream. He was wild and she was suddenly in no hurry to pick him up. Mimi was busted.

Austin started the month with both Flu A and strep. The poor guy was miserable. His momma was too. However, he made a quick recovery and by the weekend needed an "epic lightsaber battle with Uncle Ty." 

Well darn it. This made me cry.

So many sweet goodbyes from some pretty wonderful people. 

I resigned from the school within hours of being offered a position with the Neuroscience Institute. The timing, despite my initial reservations, was perfect. I only felt relief. Passing along projects I'd sponsored or roles I supported proved more difficult. There are children and relationships I miss. And as it turns out, the new gig offers no hugs. This is disappointing. But we needed health insurance that wasn't $1500 a month through Marketplace so I'm grateful for the opportunity.

Physical therapy has not made much of a difference for my neck or migraines. Plan B will involve a new physician with our newest insurance plan. Apparently paying deductibles and changing plans is the theme lately. Sigh.

Mild weather days insist we hike. Diesel was able to run off leash for an hour or so and returned with his second bought of Happy Tail. This is practically unheard of so we fear he will ultimately end up with his tail docked. I don't love this.

Kristil and I continued our daily yoga challenge. Diesel is always interested.

It was near sixty degrees in early February so I sweet talked him into dinner on the porch swing. I just had to sit in the sun. My schedule was so packed otherwise, it was near impossible to absorb some natural vitamin D. He humors me.

The float center welcomed me back the day after some vaccines to ward off side effects. This is one of my happiest places.

Ty is not a scholarly student, to say the least. We are grateful he is no longer so anxious about school, he is vomiting or breaking out in stress hives, but now he says things like, "D's get diplomas." My eye has a twitch. I'm sure it's unrelated. He had several missing assignments and had the audacity to request a PlayStation gift card once he moved three failing grades up to D's. He's new here. After four daughters, whose high school years were challenging enough, I'm not sure we are all going to pull through the next four years. I attended a parent meeting at the high school for information about the latest graduation requirements and was disheartened to discover they still aren't providing magical solutions for survival. Sigh.

He isn't supposed to have this pillow.

I only purchase Little Debbie snack cakes for Christmas stockings and Valentine's Day. I surprised Greg with his favorite too. After his accident, twenty-four years ago, co-workers kept showing up at the hospital with Nutty Bars and Cheetos. This is how I found out about his work break snack habit. The memory made me smile.

This sweet baby ended up with flu B and covid just two weeks after battling strep and flu A. Kindergarten germs are no joke. He missed a week and a half this round. I hung out with him for an evening so his mom could take the dog to the vet. Days later, she also ended up sick. It was a rough month for them.

This dog.

#winning

It was gorgeous. It's too bad it was also only a real feel  temperature of 11 degrees.

Kate burst into the house just before the sleeting started, demanding the groundhog be fired. 

She stopped by briefly and made the mistake of leaning down to love on Diesel. Before she knew what was happening, she was seated on the floor and he was sitting on her lap; an 80 pound lap dog.

He not only gets the tea bag wrappers from my morning cup of tea but has recently decided he'd like to have the tag as well. 

My Bible study group attended Sweeny Todd at Derby Dinner to see Laura's son in the show. As dark as the plot was, I loved it. This surprised me. But Amanda drove in for the day and hugging her was the best part. I miss her close. 

He failed his vision exam at school while wearing his glasses. They aren't yet a year old. The optometrist verified that rapid vision changes occur with growth spurts. We've clearly had some of those. 

Lauren and Austin stopped by during homework time and Austin enthusiastically offered to help because "I am awesome at math." It's the dual hands on faces for me.

Then Ty demonstrated how to solve an equation and Austin was amazed, "what is THAT?" Apparently he'd never seen a calculator before.

January

 

*Worth recommending to others

Physical therapy for my neck was added to my schedule with mixed results.

Kristil and I met daily for a virtual yoga practice.

They've been dubbed Double Trouble 

Their house had frozen water lines for an entire week. Lauren opted to stay in order to maintain routine for her son and puppy. They visited frequently for water jug refills and showers. Kate decided our guest rooms looked pretty inviting and spent several days with us.

We missed one day for weather and had two delayed starts in the same week. Negative temperatures took the win that week. I didn't mind the extra rest.

While soaking one evening, Lauren called asking if she could shower. I not only left the candles burning but added more and insisted she take her time. Only a mother understands the necessity of a few minutes in silence.

Post snow play hot cocoa. We didn't last long in sub zero wind chills but running in the sunshine was good for our souls.

We lost power in the night and within a few hours had lost eleven degrees in the house. Once sunlight filtered through the windows I noticed how sweet my snuggle buddy looked under the covers. At one point, the smoke detectors were chirping. Diesel howled along with them. It was quite an orchestra only I appreciated. 

I gave up my daily soft drink and at times had really strong feelings. It had been insanely cold for days and for some reason, the 0 degrees that was nine degrees warmer than the prior day really ticked me off. 

He not only has zero awareness of personal space but he also cannot imagine someone not needing kisses.

Lauren is exhausted. Also, we own more than one chair.

Erin and Evan hosted lunch one Sunday for all of us and I loved touring the updates they've made around the house. The framed vows are beautiful in every way.

This one swiped some of Erin's "Galentine Day" accessories. He is a mess. 

Crack head energy at 5am.

New Year 2024

• Take my hand
• A study in Charlotte
• Wench
• The last of August 
• Come as you are
• The Case for Jamie
• A question of Holmes
• A beautiful terrible thing
• Signal fires
• All my knotted up life
• Someone else's shoes
• Between the Mountain and the Sky
• The Paris Apartment
• Time Lottery
• Becoming Free Indeed
• Of Boys and Men
• The extraordinary deaths of Mrs. Kip*
• Woman on Fire
• Hang the Moon
• On Mystic Lake
• The lost and found bookshop
• Homecoming
• You could make this place beautiful
• The highly sensitive person
• I'm just a kid with an IEP
• The silent patient
• My body and other failing empires
• The in-between
• How do I Un-remember this?
• Lessons in Chemistry*
• You shouldn't have come here
• All the Lonely People*
• Remarkably Bright Creatures*
• Breath as Prayer
• The island of missing trees
• Learning to walk in the dark
• The Blue Castle
• Battlefield of the Mind
• The ruthless elimination of hurry
• Tom Lake
• It only gets worse
• Between sisters
• Home Front
• Distant Shores
• Spare
• Small things like these
• Foster
• We are the Light
• The Wishing Game
• Taft
• The Boys from Biloxi
• The winemaker's wife
• Miracles and other reasonable things
• Nothing is missing
• Everybody come alive
• The prodigal God
• Commonwealth 

These are the titles of the fifty-seven books I read in 2023. This does not include the Bible studies or the start of another round through the Bible. Some of these I read for other people because I'm a firm believer in reading before recommending. Someone casually suggested a "Christian marriage book" years ago to support another friend. That book was good for fire starter only and likely evidence in abuse cases. Anyway, because I know a lot of people from a variety of backgrounds, if someone shares something I know little about, I track down information or helpful books to pass along. After all, I'm reading something anyway, I may as well be learning along the way. However, as extensive as this list appears, it was a significant reduction from 2022. Fifty-two weeks ago, I was shocked to discover I'd read ninety two books and vowed to reduce that count in 2023. Recognizing that many novels indicated a lot of life avoided was the driving force for monthly check-ins on my reading list.

 (*)Indicates my favorite titles from this year.

2023 wasn't our year, as a whole. Greg lost his job, my job situation is anything but pleasant, my health took several hits, Lauren's marriage crumbled and Makenna welcomed Noah back into her life after finalizing their divorce. This has been complicated for a lot of family members. Ty had several difficult teachers and ended up at home for two quarters while we regrouped. We were left grappling for understanding as to how so much can crumble in such a short time. 

By early summer, I put the "Tell Me Something Good" jar away. I was actually ticked off when I saw it sitting on the counter. It felt like a taunt, "can you still find something good? How about now?" I don't think it will return but something similar to jot down cute moments, silly comments or anything that makes us smile would be good to look back through fifty-two weeks from now.

There were highlights of course, time spent with Austin, Erin casually winning the title of Miss Louisville and competing on stage for Miss Kentucky. She achieved what she set out to do. Her cervical cancer story was spread and she earned scholarships to aid in finishing her master's degree. Kate's early graduation was well celebrated and of course, Erin and Evan's wedding was delightful. Lauren added a happy little handful of a puppy to the family and whereas he is a mess, he does make us all laugh when we see him. Makenna's achievements with her students are profound and Ty has adjusted well to his new school. Life isn't easy, but it isn't all bad either.

I saw a friend who was in town from Houston once I recovered from a mild illness. They rented the cutest little shotgun house in town and hosted a small open house for friends to get together. I'm grateful I was able to step into a quiet evening with friends during the strange week between Christmas and New Year's, where I often had no idea what day it was or when I needed to eat. No schedule means odd habits and lots of rest. I'm grateful for the lot of it. 

Ty requested one of the larger beds be moved into his upstairs room. Since we had two guest rooms, it was fairly easy to grant his request. Bringing the twin bed into one of the guest rooms, freed some space for me to have easy access to my yoga mat. Kristil has agreed to work through a thirty day yoga challenge with me virtually this month and now I have space created to maintain that commitment. Diesel, who was already claiming half of Ty's twin bed is pleased with the change as well. He now helps himself to half of the queen bed but Ty can finally stretch his growing legs. 

Lauren left to support a grieving friend this evening so we scored a dinner date with our favorite grandson. He "helped" me with my yoga commitment. I have to assume it was a lot like yoga with baby goats. At one point, he was laying across my back while I practiced cat-cow stretches. But his giggles are amazing and I don't take the yoga too seriously anyway. I just like the way I feel afterward.