Huh? Bad idea. I'm getting my hair done on Monday! Oh, but he's going back to work, so that makes sense. I don't think he wants to climb the ladder and hand down 5000 sentimental little ornaments dangling from wires. So, it looks like I'm undecorating on Tuesday, the same day the electrician is coming to fix the electrical wiring on the porches which went awry way back 7 years ago when we had our basement finished. Our dislexic building crew did something to mess them up. My hubby rescued the game room lighting when something sparked and shorted after they finished, which possibly saved the whole house from burning down, but our porch problems weren't discovered until many months after the contractor and his crew left and Christmas time arrived. Anyway, no outlets on the porches means no Christmas lights unless we run a series of long extension cords. This year we hung cute stuff, but never lit it up. The ice melting things on the roof and in the rain gutters got all the power. Funny that we're fixing the wiring issue after the lights come down. Silly us!
This little cutie lights up my life. He's attached to his little snow leopard named Snowy. One day soon he'll lose him and never notice. It will be a sad day of growing up. I snap more pictures than necessary so we can remember this sweet time in all of our lives.
Life changes in many ways. 2013 is ending. I've never been superstitious, but the whole 13 at the end of a wonderful 20 has felt a little ominous. This past year has been our most unlucky year ever--for one thing, meeting our out of pocket insurance deductible (A LOT of MONEY!) on unexpected life-altering events for both my husband and I, and changing our entire calendar of upcoming events--like the vacations we never took. We've experienced a lot of pain and inconvenience along the way, yet we're looking forward to 2014 and our future.
A special thank you to all of our wonderful family and friends who have helped us through our trials this year. Thanks to our wonderful son and his wife for keeping tabs on us and helping keep our spirits high. Thanks to our son who lives at home still for his many hours of taking over many of our normal responsibilities when we couldn't. Thanks to those who called, visited, brought meals and treats and sent cards and flowers. Thanks to my sweet sister-in-law who came by and took me to breakfast--my first real outing in many weeks after my surgery. Thanks to my hair stylist who met my needs. Thanks to a sweet friend that I hadn't seen for a long time who I chanced to meet one day in the store who had the same surgery a year before and encouraged me. Thanks to the people who watched my Grands when I couldn't and were so thoughtful about their needs. Thanks to everyone who didn't tell me how awful I looked those first few weeks when I felt much worse than I appeared. Thanks to my mom who drove to my house for a visit. That was a huge feat for her, and I appreciated it more than she'll ever know. Thank you to a nurse who found me a Dr. Pepper while I was in the hospital, when all they had at the nursing station was Coke. Thanks to my husband who never broke down and cried in front of me. Thanks to my grandkids who lived with me and needed care which helped me get up and function and heal quicker than I otherwise might have. Thanks to my tiniest little Grand who daringly climbed up on the table and obediently lay down on a blanket and held still so I could move him into position and change his diaper when I couldn't lift him or bend over for many, many weeks. Thanks to chemists who combined the necessary ingredients to make a pain pill smaller than the tip of a match head, and thanks to my doctor who chose that pill specifically for his patients who could hardly swallow and desperately needed it. Thanks to my husband who shopped around and bought me a really good reacher, grabber type tool so I could be sort of useful when I couldn't bend or lift. It was so satisfying to pull clothes from the washer to put into the dryer, and from the dryer to fold, and to pick toys up from the floor, and not feel totally useless or helpless when I basically was. Thanks to God for healing me quickly and taking the pain from me faster than normal. Thanks to my husband for enduring two painful unexpected surgeries following mine, and working hard to heal himself and regain his independence.
2013 was a record breaking year for me in learning. I learned about aging in a way I never expected, or at least many years before I expected through expereince. I hope the many things I've learned will remain with me and turn into wisdom, understanding, love and goodness.
During my life I've realized that every experience offers something valuable, but during and after some experiences, we have to search long and hard to discover what that might be. May 2014 bring me more learning and experiences, but of a happier and healthier note!
May your new year bring many good things to you!
