Travel to the Big City!

In case you didn't know it, we are originally from Milwaukee.  Greg and I were both born and raised there.  This July will make 15 years that we've been living in the "Middle of Nowhere" that is the Mik Homestead.   We still have lots of friends and family in Milwaukee, so we usually travel there at least once a year, depending on what's happening.  This weekend was the first time we traveled to Milwaukee since last August.  I must say, I do NOT miss the City!   Sure there are a few things I miss, like friends and family and the shopping, but goodness, we have dirt roads up here that are in better shape than some of the paved city streets in Milwaukee!!!!  

Not only that, but then there is the TRAFFIC!  OH MY GOSH!  The traffic is AWFUL!   Maybe I'm remembering things with rose colored glasses, or just not remembering at all, but for crying out loud, the traffic is horrible!  And add the construction to that and well, it just STINKS!  

Between the construction (let's go ahead and close off the ramp for everyone wanting to go South on 94 and make everyone take 894.  Sure, that makes sense!)  and the traffic, EGADS!   This picture doesn't begin to show how awful the traffic really was, but it's all I have, so you'll just have to take my word for it!  

We attended the wedding of the daughter of my very best and dearest friend, Cheri.  Courtney was a beautiful bride and the wedding was fantastic!  We had a lot of fun and enjoyed fabulous friends and lots of amazing food!   

Before we left Milwaukee, we stopped to visit Aunt Gladys.  We try to visit with her every time we come down.  She is the oldest remaining member of Greg's mom's family.  When we visited last August, she was not doing well, and even though she didn't recognize us this time, she is doing so much better!  We are blessed to still have her with us!   Joe and Kristen met us there last time and this time and their daughter, Meredith was able to join us as well.  Paul (in front in the green shirt) is Greg's cousin (one of Aunt Gladys' sons) and lives at the assisted care facility with Aunt Gladys.  We were pleasantly surprised when Monica and Tom showed up (as were they!  Monica was looking at me as though I had three heads!  LOL).  It was really great to be able to spend time visiting and catching up with Greg's family!  

I should have mentioned that we stayed with my mom while we were in Milwaukee.  She moved back there a couple years ago and has a cute little house that is just perfect for her!   It was nice to be able to spend some time with her and go out for a fish fry on Friday.    

Greg is now 6 weeks sober, and things are going very well as far as that goes.  He is scheduled for another surgery on Tuesday (May 15, 2018), and I will post about that more after the surgery.  It's supposed to be a fairly simple surgery, but with his pacemaker/defibrillator, any surgery can be dangerous.  Please keep him in your prayers. 

Just to reiterate the whole "traffic" issue -- here's a picture of the kind of traffic I'm used to these days!  This is Highway 29, about 20 miles from our home.  Gotta love that!  

Hope all is well with everyone!  Blessings to all!  

Julie

The Big Reveal! DIY Farmhouse Laundry Doors!

I posted a teaser on Facebook last week about my latest project, and it's finally done!  I found some really cool projects on Pinterest to re-do bi-fold and hollow-core type doors without costing an arm and a leg and without having to buy new doors.   The one that I liked the most was creating "farmhouse" style doors on bi-fold doors.   The place I wanted to change the most was at the entry, and the doors in front of our washer and dryer.    Here is a before picture, when I first decided to paint the doors.

They're pretty ugly, eh?  In case you're wondering, the darker door on the left is the newly painted one.   














The first thing I had to do was cut the strips out of 1/4" plywood.  Using anything thicker would have made the doors much too heavy.  I'm not a fan of saws, so Greg cut these for me on the table saw. I then had to paint them.  I decided on paint, instead of stain, because all of the other wood in our kitchen is painted.  Because these are not "perfect" there are sometimes a bit of a space between the boards.  























I lined it all up and decided that the dark paint underneath wouldn't work, so I basically painted "stripes" on the doors where the strips would be meeting. 

Then it was time to glue the boards to the doors.  I decided to use some small finish nails to help hold the boards down (and not need clamps), and to add a bit of authenticity to the doors. 

After adding the main boards, I added the rest of the "decorative" boards.   Abby was a big help, and made all of the more difficult cuts that needed to be done!  She is a totally awesome worker and will just keep going and going and going when she wants to get something done and done correctly!  

I think the hardest part was making the crossbucks for the bottom of the door.  Abby spent a good deal of time getting the angles just right and made lots of cuts on sample pieces.   We didn't have any exact plans, as the Pinterest post I based this on didn't have that sort of information.  Every door is different, so I'm not giving any measurements, either.  

We have to make a few more adjustments on the doors to have them line up properly, but for the most part, they are done!  I am SO pleased with this and could not have done this without the help of Greg and Abby!  I have two more doors in the kitchen that I plan to do in this style.    I'm thinking about painting the trim the same color as the door, but haven't come to a final decision on color for that just yet, but I'm not happy with the darker color. 

So, there you have it!  The doors are basically done and I'm thrilled with how they look!  So much better than the original doors.   Hope everyone else is enjoying their projects! 

Blessings to all! 

Julie

More Tests and Surgery in Greg's Future!

It seems to never end for Greg.  As usual, if it's not one thing, it's another.  We are now at the point of one thing AND another!   A few weeks ago, I went with Greg to see an immunologist.  He's had so many sinus infections, even after his sinus surgery that there has to be something going on.  He's had a compromised immune system ever since his bone marrow transplant (on April 12, 2000 -- 18 years ago!), which is completely normal.  His immune system was destroyed by the high dose chemotherapy and total body radiation he had back then.  That is what they have to do in order to give you a *new* immune system from your donor.  In Greg's case, that was his brother, Tommy.  A perfect match!  

So, because he kept getting sinus infections, even after the sinus surgery, we decided to visit the Immunologist to try and figure out if there was something going on with his immune system.  He had blood work done and eight vials were taken.  Some of the tests were specialized enough that they had to be sent to Utah!   

The immunologist advised that two out of the three things they look at with regard to his immune system were low (sorry, I can't remember what they were).  And not just a little low, or near normal, but kind of low, but VERY low.   The first thing he wanted to do was give Greg a pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine, because he's never had one.  He did have a pneumonia vaccine a while back, but never the pneumococcal vaccine.  

The doc said that that can potentially help with the sinus issues and chest congestion, etc.  In about five weeks, Greg will have more blood tests done, and, assuming the results are the same, he may be a candidate for what's called IVIG treatment.  Basically, it is an intravenous treatment that delivers immunoglobulin (found in plasma) donated from healthy people to Greg to boost his immune system.  It can take as many as 1,000 individual plasma donations to treat one patient for a year! (Holy crap!)   Treatment is generally every 3-4 weeks and is usually VERY expensive.  Nearest estimates I can find are anywhere from $5,000 to $30,000 per treatment!  I'm not sure how long a person needs to continue treatment, but that is something we will find out if this is what is recommended for Greg.  

Next, we saw the oncologist to get the results of the CT scan and Nuclear CT Scan that Greg had on Wednesday.  The scans were of his parathyroid glands.  There are four glands behind the thyroid -- they have nothing to do with the thyroid though.  Those glands are located in the neck and control the body's calcium levels.  They are about the size of a grain of rice.   When a person has hyperparathyroidism, one (or more) of the parathyroid glands is basically an overachiever.  They produce too much calcium.  The other glands should compensate by producing less calcium, but with hyperparathyroidism, the other glands continue to produce calcium, so the body has too much calcium. 

Some of the symptoms of hyperparathyroidism that are currently affecting Greg are:  

• Excessive urination
• Tiring easily or weakness
• Depression or forgetfulness
• Bone and joint pain
• Frequent complaints of illness with no apparent cause

The "cure" for this is to simply remove the overachieving parathyroid glands.  So, Greg will be having yet another surgery to have the two parathyroid glands on the left side removed.  Most patients report almost immediate results from the surgery, even going so far as to report feeling better while in recovery!  This could be a huge game changer for Greg and explains so many things that he is currently dealing with!   

So, that is what happened today.  I apologize for not getting this out sooner, but seeing as we were in town, we had to do some shopping, and then had to make dinner, etc.  

As far as other issues, Greg is now about three weeks sober and things are going well.  It's not been easy, but it's a lot harder when he's drinking.  So, all is well.  Prayers that he is able to continue with his sobriety are certainly appreciated!  

As always, I'll keep you updated on all the going's ons here at the Mik Homestead!    

Blessings to all! 

Julie

Craft Room Renovation!

Christmas exploded in my craft room this year, as it does every year.  And every year, I clean it up, but everything gets kind of shoved around and is never quite as organized as I would like.  I decided it was time to really get it organized, so I spent some time (way too much time) on Pinterest looking for craft room organization ideas.  Oh my, oh my, oh my!  I wish I had all the money I needed to really make it spectacular, like some of those on Pinterest, but I must say, I'm pretty darned happy with the way it turned out, and I spent less than $100!   

We'll start with the "before" picture -- as I said, Christmas exploded, and who has time to clean up their craft room when they're still doing stuff in there, and working and putting in 60 hour work weeks?  Certainly not I, so no judging, please!  

The first really cool thing I found on Pinterest was to add a sheet of pegboard to the wall.  HEY, we have pegboard from when we had our store!   I really like renovations that don't cost anything!  YAY!  We took a full sheet and cut it down to the size I wanted for my wall.  

I started adding some baskets and stuff to it, as I tried to figure out exactly how I was going to organize things.  I didn't have hooks for the baskets, so I ended up using wire.  Have you any idea how hard it is to feed a wire through a hole that you can't get to from behind?  Yea, it took a while! 

The next thing I added was the cube shelving below the window here.   You know how, when your reorganizing a room or closet, it always gets worse before it gets better?  Well, this is the worse!   Believe it or not, but this is actually progress!  

More mess! 

I did end up buying some hooks for the pegboard, because we didn't have the kind of hooks I wanted.  Along with the hooks, I bought some magnetic strips for holding tools.  I have one of them hanging on the wall next to the pegboard and have some of my tools hanging on it. 

I had a lot of these silk flowers in the closet, but then I would forget what I had, so it's better to have them out in the open and readily available.  

All my spray paint is in the shoe organizer on the back of the door.  I also rolled the ribbon and used stick pins to keep it all from just hanging down willy-nilly.   It looks much neater that way. 

In this picture, I also have new curtains hanging!  These are a really cute red with white polka dots.  I made them for Erica's apartment, and they won't work with her new place, so I cut them down and hemmed them to fit my window!  In between the cubes and the 3 drawer bin is a bag full of deco mesh for making wreaths and stuff.  I used one of those big zippered bags that a bedding set comes in.  Those bags are awesome and I never throw them away!  

Along with all the organization that you can see, what you can't really see is the clear plastic boxes on the white shelves and on the blue three drawer cart next to the wooden file cabinet.  Those are filled with scrapbooking papers and stickers.   I organized all the paper by color (tones) and combined things like Christmas paper with Christmas stickers and placed them in extra large zip lock bags that will fit 13x13 paper that I found on Amazon and then placed them in the plastic boxes that I also found on Amazon.  Now, when I want to scrap a Christmas page, I can just grab that pack from the box and I'm all set!  It took a few hours just to sort through all that, but everything is easy to find now, so it will save time in the future.  

I'm so happy with how my craft room turned out!  I didn't take any pics inside the closet, but that is all cleaned out, too.  All the wrapping paper is organized, and in my OCD state, I even rubber-banded every single role of wrapping paper!  Yea, sometimes, I surprise even myself!  HA!  

Oh, and just because I feel like whining, here is a picture of our neighbor plowing the foot of snow we got on Monday, April 2nd!  APRIL and we got a foot of snow!  A total of 17 inches in three days!  What the heck?!  

Hope all is well with everyone.  In case you're interested, Greg is now three weeks sober.  In between my last post and this one, he ended up having sinus surgery.  I will post about that another day.  Things are going better and I appreciate all the calls, emails, texts and other messages of support and love from everyone!  Let's continue to pray that he is able to stay sober.   

Peace to all! 

Julie 

Life with an Alcoholic . . .

Bitch.  Witch bitch.  Undesirable.  Unloved.  Those are all words he used to describe me in a drunken tirade today.  Nothing new about that.  I’ve heard it all before.  Many times.  Too many times.  Just about every day lately.  This person who said two years ago that God healed his alcoholism.  I believe He did.  But he let Satan back into his life.  He wants to speak to God.  He tells me that God tells him I’m a bitch and a rotten, nasty person.  Fortunately for me, I know my God is a loving God.  That’s not who is speaking to him.  It’s Satan.   

He went to the dump this morning (we live in the middle of nowhere and have to take our garbage to the dump, which is only open Saturday mornings) and was supposed to get sawdust for the chicken coop.  Instead, he stopped somewhere to get his 16 oz. 8% alcohol Steel Reserve that he likes so much because it gets him wasted really fast, especially when he drinks a whole can in two or three gulps then drives around a while, while drinking it so he can come home and pretend he’s sober.  But I’m just a witch bitch.  Against my better judgment, I did follow him outside earlier, and of course, he was out there trying to hide his drinking.  I assume it was the second or third can.  I don’t know for sure.  I don’t know where he got the money, but it wasn’t from me.  I didn’t yell.  I didn’t scream.  All I did was ask how many more he had hidden so I knew how drunk and nasty he was going to get.  He pretended to not know what I was talking about and said he wasn’t drunk. 

I joined Al-Anon earlier this week and I’ve already changed.  I refuse to let him push my buttons any more.  I can’t take it.  He’s either been sick or drunk for almost our entire 28 year marriage.  I’m done being his verbal punching bag.  I’m not going to let it bother me.  When he started in today, MercyMe and Third Day came to my rescue, along with a great pair of headphones that drowned out his nastiness.  When I wasn’t responding to his taunts, he sat in my chair at the table, put his foot up on the table and watched me taking the lights off the Christmas tree.   He just sat there and watched.  I don’t know if he tried talking to me, because Third Day was telling me to trust in Jesus and MercyMe was telling me to listen to God speak.

He finally got bored, so went to finish mopping the kitchen floor.  According to him, he was doing MY work because I was too lazy to do it.  Mind you, I’ve been sick all week and still managed to work 9 hours every day.  I even worked 6 hours this morning.  But he has to do MY work because I’m not doing it and that’s just not right.  At one point, because I had my headphones on and wasn’t paying attention to him, he took one of the dogs’ toys and threw it at me, hitting me in the shoulder.  I turned around, took my headphones off and he said “I love you.”  I put my headphones back on and ignored him.  He’s passed out in his office at the moment, so I have blissful silence for now.  At least until he wakes up.   He sleeps in his office.  I keep my bedroom door locked at night.  I don’t want him in there when he’s been drinking.  He’s not physically violent, but I don’t trust him when he’s been drinking and I don’t want him stealing money out of my purse.   Sad, but true.  It’s the life of the wife of an alcoholic. 

I stopped talking about his drinking to my friends and family a long time ago.  I’m sure they were sick of hearing about it and wondering why I stay.  I wonder that myself.  I hardly talk to anyone any more.  Classic victim of abuse.  He’s managed to alienate me from my friends without even trying.   It’s embarrassing – being married to someone so out of control.   He says I don’t have any friends because I’m a witch bitch.  He says my family (sisters and brother) don’t want to have anything to do with me because I’m a witch bitch.  According to him, my children don’t like me and want nothing to do with me.  Today, he told me that my (our) grandchildren will not want to have anything to do with me because I’m such a witch bitch and that I’m mean, like my own grandmother was.  The grandchildren will run to him and say they’re scared of me.  He says his family doesn’t like me because I’m a witch bitch.  He told me that his sister has never liked me (due to the stupid drugs we did way back when we were first together, that were of course all my fault).  I had no idea his sister never liked me.  When we were separated and he got his pacemaker in Milwaukee, she refused to tell me anything that was happening with him.  So I guess it’s true.  I’m sure he told her the same kinds of horrific stories about me that he told everyone else.  Of course, the whole “witch bitch” thing, but I’m controlling, and nasty, and every other horrible thing you can think of.  Once he started to sober up, he never bothered to tell anyone that that was his drunkenness talking.  So I’m guessing that they all believe his horrible stories.  I wonder if they ever wonder why he came back to me, begging me to let him come back home.  If they really believe all those nasty stories, then they are in as much denial as he is.   

He is what is called a “high functioning” alcoholic.  He doesn’t drink when he has to go to work.  And he’s managed a lifetime of working without drinking until he’s done working.  Alcoholics are really adept at that.  They save their drinking and nastiness for the people that love them the most.  Isn’t that kind! 

The last straw was last week when I caught him in the basement drinking straight out of a bottle of vodka.  I had to wrestle it away from him.  I dumped it in the sump pump crock and he had a fit.  That was it.  I finally saw myself clearly.  I am not going to do this any more.  I can’t do this any more.  I joined Al-Anon and discovered myself.  I told him that I’m not going to hunt for his booze any more.  I’m not going to take it away from him any more.  I’m not going to make his problem my problem any more.  With his heart issues, if he had drunk that whole bottle, he’d probably be dead.  There’s nothing I can do to stop him.  If he wants to drink, he is going to drink.  He will find a way to drink.  The only way I can deal with it is to finally allow him be in control of his own actions instead of trying to control what I have no control over.  I have to constantly remind myself that I am powerless to try to control him.  I think I’ve finally realized that.  There is no doubt in my mind that one morning, I am going to wake up and he will not.  And I will cry.  I will cry for the hate that he allowed into his life that ultimately destroyed him 

It may seem like I’m airing “dirty laundry” but I’m not.  I’m sick of hiding.  I’m sick of being ashamed.  I have no reason to be ashamed.  I have no reason to be embarrassed.  Alcoholism is his disease, not mine.  He owns it.  Not me.  He controls it.  Not me.  My life was turned upside down this year when he was diagnosed with Esophageal Cancer in March.  I spent every minute of my paid time off going with him to appointments and making sure everything was taken care of properly.  That’s what a good wife does when her husband is diagnosed with cancer for the third time.  The insurance company spent almost half a million dollars on saving his life, and he’s trying to kill himself with  a $1.27 can of malt liquor. 

I am not a witch bitch.  I am not unlovable.  When I cry, it’s because I’m crying for what could have been.  For what should have been.  And I wonder why God decided that this is what my marriage should be.  When I see other people in happy, loving marriages, it makes me want to cry.  I watch stupid Christmas movies on TV because I want to see, no, I NEED to see, that there is hope.  Even if it’s only a stupid Christmas movie.  I need to see that things aren’t always as they seem.  That life can and does work out just the way God intends it to.  As a kid, there were times I seriously thought about suicide.  I can’t count the number of suicide notes I wrote.  I remember when we were at the Grand Canyon.  I was about 10 (I think).  As I stood there on the edge of the canyon, on the precipice, all I could think was that no one would care if I just leaned over and fell in.  I just wanted to fall in and be done.  And then, I heard my mother tell me to stand back and not be so close to the edge.  I’ve been close to the precipice many times in the years I’ve been married to him.  And I’ve managed to drag myself back.  I’ve taken my anger at him out on our children.  I’ve taken my anger at him out on myself.  I’ve taken my anger at him out on God.  I’ve been angry with everyone and for that I apologize.  I need to find happiness.  I need to find joy.  After over 30 years with him, I’ve finally come to the realization that my happiness is not dependent on anyone but myself. 

I’m tired of hiding.  This alcoholism is not MY choice.  It is HIS.  I cannot control him, and I refuse to hide any more.  My blog is probably not going to be fun to read and if you made it this far, thank you!  I find writing to be very cathartic.  And, like always, if I can help someone else who is dealing with the same thing I am dealing with, then there is a reason for me telling the world about how this insidious disease has wreaked havoc on my life and the lives of my children.  It is what it is.  Life is not all happy, happy, joy, joy.  It’s messy and it’s dirty, but we only talk about the dirt behind closed doors.  It’s time to put a stop to that and if it means that I’m the one that has to step out on that ledge, then so be it.  I trust that He will make all things right for me and has a grand plan that will make all this pain worthwhile.  I am not a bitch.  I am not a witch bitch.  I am not undesirable.  I am not unloved.  I am a beautiful and loved child of the Most High God and nothing he says will ever change that. 

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change; 
courage to change the things I can; 
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time; 
enjoying one moment at a time; 
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; 
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it; 
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will; 
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next. 
Amen.

Same Heart -- New Pacemaker

Well, back to the health issues for Greg!  It seems to just never end.   We knew this was coming, but that doesn't make it any easier.  We were told back in July that he would need to have his pacemaker/defibrillator replaced before the end of the year.  Apparently, the battery was dying.  A pacemaker is allegedly supposed to last six years, but it's only been four for Greg (more on that later).  As this is not something that can really be put off, he had to have it done, and yesterday was the day! 

We didn't have to be at the hospital until 11:45 a.m., so I got up and started working at 5 a.m.  I logged off at 10:30 so I could get ready to go.  I could have taken a vacation day, but we are on mandatory overtime, so I would have had to work 8 hours at straight pay before time and a half, and I didn't want to do that, so I got up and went to work.  For those that may not know, I telecommute, so "going to work" means getting up, putting on my sweats and walking down 16 steps to my office in the lower level of our house.  I am the first to admit it's pretty rough!  HA!   

We got to the hospital and they took Greg to get him set up.  Prior to taking him, I advised the person that I did not want the nurse to attempt his IV.  His veins are shot from being chemo'd and radiated like crazy, so no matter how good you "think" you are, you are not going to be able to get it in.  And let's face it.  Needles hurt, but IVs hurt more!  I advised that I did not want anyone but an anesthesiologist putting in his IV.  I was assured that that information would be passed along.  

When they finally let me in back, guess what?  I was informed that the nurse insisted on trying to do the IV and COULD NOT DO IT!  I was PISSED!   She told me that "they insist we try before calling anesthesia."  I advised her that I specifically requested an anesthesiologist because I knew she would not be able to do it.  Nothing against her or her abilities, but we've been down this road too many times.   When I told her that I was going to contact Administration, she was definitely nervous and stated that she'd put a note in his chart, etc., etc., etc.  And then went on to state that the "anesthesiologists don't do anything special that they don't do." I DON'T CARE.  I AM going to contact Administration because that's just unacceptable.  All she had to do was listen to Greg tell her all he had been through this year alone and she should have known that we were not kidding about his veins.  I'm getting upset again just typing this!  So, let's move on.   Oh, an anesthesiologist did come and was able to get both IVs in on the first try!  Yes, I feel vindicated.    So, enough about that.  I'll let you know what Administration has to say after I speak with them. 

Greg was finally taken to the OR at 2:15 p.m.  We weren't sure how long the surgery would last, but I was told that they would call me (they had my cell number) every two hours to update me.  At 4:30 I still had not heard anything, and the receptionist was about to leave for the day.  She was kind enough to call the OR and have a nurse call me.   Everything was going OK and they had just finished replacing one of the leads.  They still had to work on the pacemaker.  

Another two hours later and I was called again and told that they were done and that Greg was resting comfortably.  Shortly thereafter, the surgeon came out to talk to me.  Apparently, the old lead was doing something it shouldn't have been doing, so was draining the battery and that is why it died 2 years sooner than it should have.  They had a bit of an issue with scar tissue that they had to cut away, but they were able to get it all done.    That was at about 6:15 p.m. or so.   The next step was to have Greg stay in bed and not stand up for 3 hours, and after that he had to have a chest x-ray.  Once the x-ray was read (apparently by some radiologists in Australia!), then we could go home. 

The new pacemaker/defibrillator is pretty awesome.  We have a special box that connects to our Wi-Fi that will send reports every three months to his cardiologist.  In addition, if the defibrillator shocks him, it will send a report to the cardiologist.  How cool is that?!   Technology is pretty amazing.  I did tell him that he better toe the line or I might have to figure out how to hack into it and give him a shock!  HA!  (I'm kidding, people!  Calm down.)  

Instead of him staying in the cardiology day surgery area, he was moved to the regular cardiac area of the hospital.  

He was able to order some food, seeing as he hadn't been able to eat prior to the surgery and actually felt like eating it.  I must say, no matter what he's had done, whether is radiation, chemo, surgery or extensive dental work, he has never wanted to not eat!  

Oh, yea, he managed to spill his V8.  The nurses got a little scared at first, when they saw all the red stuff on his blanket!  LOL.  He was bummed, because he really wanted that V8 juice!  Oh, notice the new glasses?  Be sure to tell him how nice they look!  

We finally got to leave the hospital around 10:15 p.m., so didn't get home until 10:45 p.m.   By the time I helped to get him situated and took care of the dogs (with Abby's help), I didn't get to bed myself until almost midnight.  I've been starting work at 5 a.m. because of the mandatory OT, but there was no way that was going to happen Tuesday morning.  I gave myself an extra hour of sleep and didn't start until 5:45 a.m.  I worked until 4:45, so still had a very long day and was fairly well exhausted all day and was grateful that I didn't have to get up early to shower and make myself look presentable to go into the office! 

Following doctor's instructions, we changed his dressing today.   That "hole" just about in the center of his stomach is where he had the feeding tube.  You can't see it here, but below that is a scar that's about 8 inches long where they cut him open the very first time he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma 25 years ago.  This is definitely the body of a warrior!!!!!!!  

And, because we always like to post pictures of the gross stuff, just for fun, here's what his incision looks like!   There's a total of 12 staples there, in case you were wondering!  

So, that's pretty much the latest health news on Greg.   If you have time for some extra prayers for him, I would sure appreciate it.  He made a comment to me the other day that really hit me hard.  He stated that he didn't even know what it felt like to feel "normal" anymore.   How sad is that?  


Love, peace and prayers to all! 

Julie 

New Couch -- New Couch Cover!

So, we got this "new to us" couch a couple weeks ago, and with three dogs and four cats, we needed to do something to keep it looking nice. It's an Ethan Allen couch and super heavy and quite frankly, the nicest couch we've ever had. Best of all, it's only two years old and was FREE! Can't beat that!!!

I had bought some covers in the past for our old couch (wowsers, they are expensive!) only to have them ripped by the animals' toenails and in the garbage after six months. I didn't want to do that again, and in the spirit of frugality, I decided to MAKE a couch cover. Well, at least a cover for the cushions. The cushions on the back are attached, so I would have to make something with elastic around it, and that would be a pain in the butt. I thought I'd just use an old sheet, but none of the older ones we had were big enough, and they were too thin, so would probably tear fairly easily. Sooooooooo, while we were shopping on Saturday, we stopped at Hobby Lobby (one of my favorite stores!) and I found some material that was not only inexpensive, but on sale, too! I was looking for something that would fit with my color scheme (reds and blues), and would not show the pet hair. Not an easy task, with a tan dog, a brown dog and a black dog, and cats of the same colors! This fabric fits the bill, though! It looks a little funky with the rest of the couch, but since when has "funky" ever bothered me? LOL! Basically, I made a giant pillowcase for the cushions. I added five buttons on the side -- I was amazed that I actually found five large matching buttons in my button jar! My sewing machine has the most awesome button-hole foot that makes it super simple to make button holes! So, even though the cover is a bit large and has to be tucked in, it's a big case and buttoned on the side, so it's not going to come off! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

Here's the before. That's George (one of the cats) on the right.

And the after! Sophie jumped up the instant I stepped away after putting the cover on and wasn't about to move! Sophie is our latest rescue. She is almost a year old and weighs 95 pounds so far! She is a Newfoundland/ St. Bernard mix and is the absolute sweetest dog! She has some issues we're dealing with, but that's for another post!!
Like I said, it's a little funky, compared to the couch material, but it is what it is and it works just fine!

Without having all kinds of medical appointments to head off to, I've had some time to get some stuff done around the house! It's that time of year, and I'm feeling crafty (hence the reason I made the couch cover -- oh, and it only took about 1-1/2 hours to make!), I've been working on some Christmas decorations! Abby cut some branches off our pine trees for me and I made this basket. I save my summer hanging baskets and use them for my Christmas baskets. I leave the dirt in them and because it gets dried up, after I make the basket, I water it so when it's outside, it freezes and makes the basket heavier and less likely to blow away in a storm. Pretty awesome to not have to pay anything for such a pretty basket!

I cut some more branches and twigs and made this out of one of my summer planters.

Sophie totally lives up to the Newfoundland nickname of "gentle giant." We babysat for Bernie and Ezra on Friday, and neither of the boys had met Sophie yet. They were a little intimidated at first, because she is a very large dog (and let's face it, when you're 3 feet tall and have three dogs wanting to greet you, it can be a little intimidating!), but they soon became good friends! Ezra was nose to nose with her and I couldn't resist snapping a pic!







Of course, when they predicted an inch or so of snow for us, we got FIVE inches! It was very wet, heavy snow, so it clung to everything. We had to be in Wausau early this morning, and a normal 30 minute drive took 60 minutes in 4 wheel drive. We counted four vehicles in the ditch on Highway 29 in a 15 mile stretch. Not surprising, to be sure! People are stooooopid when it comes to driving in the snow, even in Wisconsin! On the way home, I counted the fresh tracks into the ditch -- TEN in total! Idiots!







This was Sophie's first "big" snow and she was loving every minute of it! I can't wait to see how she acts when we get more and have giant snow piles in the yard!!

And I'm working on some Christmas decorations inside the house, too. I saw this idea on Pinterest. As you can see, this is a regular spot for the cats. They're doing really well, though and haven't been messing with them! Right now they have been more interested in the sparrows at the feeder outside the window. It does help that the shade covers them at night. Out of sight, out of mind, right?! We shall see how long that lasts!

So, that's all for now. Things are going well. It's gotten to the busy time of year for me and mandatory overtime starts next week. I'm allowed 15 hours between last week and this week and am putting in every minute of those 15 hours!

Hope all is well with everyone!

Love, peace and prayers,

Julie