Random Middle of the Night Musings

I am leaning more and more toward a minimalist lifestyle in that I want things as simple as possible so I can keep up more easily. Storage has been a bit of an issue since Erin moved home in April. Sister has a lot of stuff; like an entire apartment's worth. I have been considering hidden storage possibilities to help streamline the cleaning and maintenance. One area I dared to investigate was the closed cabinet space on the entertainment center. This happens to be the location we collect old cds, dvds and wii games. Generally speaking I am not one to hold onto things we no longer use and occasionally jump the gun and eliminate things we actually might use someday. So why we are keeping dvds when we watch Netflix is beyond me at the moment. Greg's cd collection takes up one whole side of the entertainment center despite the fact the only cds in the disk changer are Christmas themed remnants of last year's celebration. As it turns out, they have not been moved out of that changer in several years. But I attempted to purge old mixed cassette tapes he made in the late 80's once and he was irritated with me because they were special. Noting we didn't even have the capability to play said tapes nor would the sound quality be something we could endure in this digital age, he still held onto them for a few more years until the day I snuck them into the trunk and after they sat there for a few weeks without him noticing, they were disposed of. And by disposed of, I mean donated and to the poor folks at Goodwill, I am sorry. I know you didn't need this particular donation; however, putting them in the trash may have ended my marriage.

Makenna and Noah went to Walmart and came home with this guy. I have mentioned storage being an issue, right? But she is clearly amused with her purchase. And the little certificate? She works with kids before and after school providing childcare. They adore her. The feeling is mutual and as result she plans to pursue education after her gap year. She has skills well beyond her age managing children and it has been noted repeatedly.

So this has been quite a year around here. We entered 2018 with notices from physicians stating we needed to make appointments if we wanted to remain in their practice. It had been two years since anyone except Makenna had seen our primary doctor and she only went in for a vaccine last year. But being Baughmans and unable to do things with little fanfare or drama, we have more than made up for lost time and have met our outrageous deductible as result. Kate has a tumor that needs on-going observations and was diagnosed with asthma this summer. Ty's educational evaluations lead to additional DNA testing which was fascinating, by the way and he is being monitored for vision discrepancies. He has required two pair of glasses in nine months in addition to multiple eye exams. Makenna had sudden onset acute pain in one eye last week. That landed us in the optometrist office twice last week and they forwarded us to her primary care physician. It appears she has an autoimmune condition and the seventeen tubes of blood they drew will hopefully reveal exactly what we are dealing with when we get results on the 29th. We know from my psoriatic arthritis, how difficult it is to diagnose these conditions but I am praying for concrete answers. Makenna's only concern is how much her diet will have to change. In fact, the whole family has been placed on notice. They will all be joining me in the paleo journey after Christmas as it has kept me medication and flare free for over five years now. Medical care is expensive and time consuming so eat your greens already!

Since we met our deductible, I am having some hormone issues evaluated and I finally scheduled the hearing test my doctor recommended two years ago. I failed it. I have more extensive testing next week and an appointment for those results the following week. I have already been informed I am not a surgical candidate so I am trying to wrap my head around the idea of possibly needing hearing aids. Apparently 45 is a lot older than I initially suspected. But as I laid awake in the middle of the night next to my handsome husband who was lightly snoring with a weird blowing breath sound, I wondered why I can't select which sounds I want to hear. Whining? Nope. People chewing with their mouths open? Not a chance. Gum chewing? Please God, make it stop. But I do want to hear the sound of rain falling and my son's speaking voice more clearly.

Ty mumbled something behind me yesterday afternoon and once again, I asked him to repeat himself. He blew up, "you never listen to me!" and I quipped back, "Dude, I honestly can't hear you. I failed my hearing test as proof!" Makenna doubled over laughing and Ty stomped to his room ticked off and convinced she was laughing at him. She was of course, laughing at me. Welcome to my world.

These next few weeks will be interesting as we come to terms with our new normal around here. We are praying whatever Makenna has can be managed with diet and lifestyle changes rather than immune suppressant drugs and that my hearing loss isn't as significant as they suspect. And those hormones? I don't even know what to think about them but if I could be just a little less crazy, that would be great. In all of life, it will be what it will be but I am feeling just a bit overwhelmed with the weight of it all at the moment.

However, in God's infinite wisdom, I no longer have to juggle other people's children in the midst of all these appointments and still don't have obligations beyond what I choose to place on our schedule. Having that much control in this season has been a gift.

Lauren turned twenty two yesterday and we celebrated it with our first snow day. Lord help me. It is entirely too early for that nonsense. But I am thinking about Christmas cards and finalizing shopping a lot later than usual for me. Living as a UPS widow for 22 years prepped me well for early planning and I won't be letting go of that despite Greg's much easier holiday schedule. It's just more pleasant this way. But I am debating a letter to accompany the card this year and Erin requested I not include her. Of course she won't allow me to take her photos so she can be in the annual family album either. Who raised this girl to be so stubborn and independent anyway?

But eight month old Austin continues to entertain us via video chat daily. He is as rotten as we anticipated he would be with the genes we supplied. He is crawling and loves the freedom this newfound mobility has provided him. He is keeping his momma busy. Uncle Ty is counting down the days until they fly home for Christmas. We all are but he has the data readily available if you are interested. We cannot wait to love on this little family in person again.