Leap Day

I just wanted to post today because it is Leap Day! I plan on blogging about CNY, Valentine's Day, Bri's wisdom teeth removal and our winter break staycation very soon.

I'm still battling health issues but I am trying to hang in there.

Hope you all have a happy last day of February. I can't believe March is almost here!

All About January

Finally, I am recapping what we were up to in January.

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Briana started back to school after Christmas/New Year break and it's her very last semester of high school. I am still in a bit of shock and denial...

 

She has only three classes this semester and she has early release from school. She is really enjoying that.

  She is back in culinary class and brought home a pulled pork sandwich and some coleslaw for Doug and me to try. The class has also made burgers, fries, pizza, beef pasties and fajitas...

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For fun one January afternoon (at home), Briana made some cream puffs (from scratch) for us...

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The weather in January was a bit crazy.

It rained a bunch for a few days. And when it rains a bunch, the little quiet creek next to our house becomes a much bigger, louder creek...

And then it got crazy cold for a few days...

Mei Mei loves fireplace days...

She is just a sweet furry baby (we celebrated her 9th "gotcha day" on January 24th)...

 

I of course made a crockpot of chili on one of those cold days...

 

I will say, I am pretty sad it didn't snow again in my neck of the woods in the winter. We are halfway through February now, and I am quite sure that the metro Atlanta snow window has now passed. Climate change is very real. We have never gone this long (several years in a row) with no significant snow or at least some sticking in my part of town. I believe 2020 was the last time I saw any significant snow stick at my house at all. I honestly don't know if we will see true snow where I live again. I just don't know.

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I always miss my bedroom Christmas tree when I have to put it away when the holiday season is over. I decided to place a new little light up tree in that space in my bedroom where I place my Christmas tree. I just enjoy looking at twinkly lights. Why can't I have twinkly lights all year? Well, I can! I really do love it...

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 Bri spent some time with her sweet friend Mary in January. They have been besties for 15 years...

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And a very important event happens every January - Doug celebrates a birthday!

I made him birthday cupcakes and he got a lot of nice birthday gifts...

The day after Doug's birthday, the C family (one of our favorite families), took Doug out to dinner to celebrate...

 

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Doug and Briana put together their Lego Christmas gifts...

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I know I spoke about my health ailments in my last post, and unfortunately the day after I posted, I had yet another bad inflammation flare up in my knees for about a week or so. I thought upping my thyroid medication was helping, but no, I flared up bad again anyway. I did finally see an orthopedist who recommended continuing my inflammation medication and doing physical therapy. I found out that I do have mild to moderate osteoarthritis in my knees. And sadly, my heel still hurts quite a bit (the one I tore). My physical therapist is helping me strengthen the heel (he thinks I have developed scar tissue) and is also helping me strengthen the muscles in my knees. My hip has gotten a bit out of alignment due to wearing the boot and limping so much and he is helping with that too. I am kind of a hot mess. Hoping the PT will help me.

And of course, my anxiety is up because of all of this. I feel like I turned 50 and my body fell apart (more than usual). 

 Things have been kind of tough.

 Good news though, my ear did finally open up - so that was at least a win.

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 Let me end this post on a positive note. Briana is officially going to SCAD in the fall. We paid her admission fee and she is committed. This was my FB post...

I am on the struggle bus with this all - not going to lie. I am SO proud of Bri. And I am SO excited for her. At the same time, I know that I am going to miss her so much come September. Big life changes ahead.

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So that was our January. 

Please keep me in your thoughts when it comes to my health issues. I really am working on trying to overcome them. It's a process for sure.

We've already had a lot going on in February and we are only halfway through it - CNY, Valentine's Day and Briana's wisdom teeth removal. And next week is winter break. We will be staycationing, but we have a few things planned.

Thanks for reading! Be back soon.

A Rough Start To The New Year

For me anyway - things have been rough health wise.

Doug and Bri have been doing pretty well overall.

Me on the other hand...not so much.

 As you know, I really hurt my heel in September and I'm still trying to recover from that. My podiatrist said this type of injury can take a very long time to heal.

In mid-November, I had a horrible joint pain and swelling episode in my knees for about a week. It luckily went away for about a month, but then it came back with a vengeance about a week before Christmas. I had a hard time sitting in a chair and standing back up. I had a difficult time going up and down stairs. I asked my general practitioner to order some blood work so I could check for autoimmune issues (I wanted to see if I had arthritis). 

Come to find out, my underactive thyroid had become even more underactive since my last blood test and I needed to up my dosage of thyroid medication. Once I upped my dosage, my knees slowly started to feel better and I'm doing better in that department now. But I suffered for a couple of weeks.

 Despite my knees not working very well and my heel hurting, I still managed to get through Christmas, New Year's and a trip to Chattanooga. I wasn't going to let my health issues stop me.

Then, on the second day of January, my right ear blocked up again - just like it did during the pandemic. I know it is related to my neck/vagus nerve. I have to admit that I had not been doing my PT exercises like I should have and now I am paying for it. As I write this, my ear has been blocked up for couple of weeks (though I do feel it is starting to improve). It is very frustrating. I am doing the PT exercises again and I hope my ear clears up soon.

In the middle of all that, I somehow had my first routine colonoscopy done. It had been scheduled for October originally, but when I hurt my heel, I had to postpone it until early January. I couldn't reschedule again, so I pushed through. I'm really proud of myself.

The prep was rough. Not gonna lie. But luckily, everything looked good and I am so glad I did it now. It is very important to get a colonscopy, so if you are 45 or over, get one if you haven't! It can save your life!

So, I continue getting smacked in the face with chronic health "stuff." No wonder I am anxious all the time. Ugh.

I will be so happy once my heel feels better and the pressure in my ear lets up. I am just ready to feel good again. I don't need to feel perfect - I just want to feel better.

So if you have a moment, please say a quick prayer for me or send some healing vibes my way. I can really use them.

Briana Photo Books

 

Since I brought Briana home, I have been making yearly photo books of Bri (from Shutterfly) to record all of her special memories. I make a book right before Christmas to give to my mom and then I also get one for myself.

I choose a special song lyric to type in each book along with the pictures...

I have designed 13 books so far, and I think I will do it just one more year to go to get Briana through high school graduation and off to college.

I will give these books to her one day. She will have my blog and the numerous Shutterfly books I have put together so she can look back at her life and see everything she enjoyed and accomplished.

New Year's Eve Recap

 

 After having such a busy December, we were more than happy to have just a low key NYE. I made reservations for Ruth's Chris for dinner and then we headed home to watch a movie.

We really enjoy the food and atmosphere at Ruth's Chris...

 

We dined on lobster bisque, steaks, lamb chops, brussel sprouts, lobster mac n cheese, crab cakes, creme brulee and chocolate cheesecake mousse...

Everything was so good!

We went back home and watched the Barbie movie...

Though I liked the overall message of the movie and it was visually beautiful, it really was a strange movie. The plot was just - weird. Glad I saw it but not feeling the need to see it again.

Once the movie was over, we turned on CNN to watch Andy and Anderson drink shots and listen to Anderson giggle over anything he finds amusing. Watching Anderson laugh at John Mayer at a cat cafe in Japan was hilarious...

I have to admit, it was very difficult trying to stay up until midnight. It gets harder and harder each year. We'll see if I can make it to midnight next NYE - heh.

Trip To Chattanooga 2023 - Breakfast And Buc-ee's

We awoke on Friday morning and it was a bit cloudy and cold outside...

 

We ate breakfast at the hotel...

I had the most delicious egg/potato/veggie/meat hash...

After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and started our drive home.

We had been told by numerous people that we needed to stop at Buc-ee's. Many of our friends could not believe we had never been to a Buc-ee's (Mere had been, but Doug, Bri and I had not).

If you don't know what Buc-ee's is, it is an American chain of country stores, gas stations and electric vehicle chargers. And - we were told it was an experience.

Numerous billboards told us we needed to stop too...

We finally arrived...

I'm not quite sure if Buc-ee's is a madhouse every day, but it was that day. SO crowded.

It definitely was an experience (food, clothing, toys, everything you could think of)...

I had heard the restrooms were some of the best around, so I checked it out.

Dang - it was like a well-oiled machine in that ladies room! There was a female employee calling out the open private stalls/rooms and it was so clean in there. And each private stall/room was huge (I know I took a picture in a bathroom and that is very weird, but I just had to - LOL!)...

 

While I was using the facilities, the store mascot came out to greet customers and the girls managed to grab a picture with THE Buc-ee...

 

We grabbed some items including jerky, fudge and brisket and pork sandwiches to bring home for dinner.

 

I would say pretty much everything we brought home food-wise was just mediocre, but we were still glad we checked it out and found out what all the buzz was about.

 

  So that is the wrap up of our quick, overnight trip to Chattanooga. So glad we did it - it was really fun. The girls really enjoyed going on a trip together. Hopefully we can do something like this again soon!