To the Mysterious Faithful

I say mysterious, because I'm never really sure who follows this blog.  I get hits, but no comments, so  I know something is going on out there :)

Just wanted to check in to say I know I've been pretty quiet of late.  My life has been too crazy to have time to blog about the craziness.  Here are few short highlights (and lowlights), since I last wrote...which I can see has been a while.  They are in no particular order, but I think the pluses and minuses will give you a little taste of what's going on.

- Summer, or thereabouts: the uncle I am responsible for broke his hip in the nursing home where he lived.  Let's just say it involved a flurry of doctor and surgery and hospitalization.
- Summer:  The husband continued to have major allergies that resulted in one illness after another, migraines, etc. My back deteriorated significantly---pain is regular and constant.
+ and -   Summer/Fall:  Son went to work at camp--ended on a sad and sour note, but made a fabulous recovery once he got home! (Yay, God!)
+  Fall:  Daughter gets a job at a school close to home!!!!
+  Fall:  After a short, intense job search, Son gets a job in Hillsboro---starts to sock away money like a squirrel !!!
- A week before Thanksgiving, my back pain is compounded by severe vertigo.  The husband gets very sick and we spend the entire week of Thanksgiving on the couch/recliner.  No Thanksgiving for us.
+ Son gets to go to California for Thanksgiving and has a great time!
- One week later,  my mom goes into emergency for a heart problem.  I arrive in California on Dec. 1st and have to stay with her until about the 19th.  She goes from the hospital, to the convalescent home, back to the hospital and back to the convalescent home in that order. Meanwhile, my vertigo gets much worse, and I get the stomach flu and l lose my voice, all during the time I'm with her.
+ Mid-december  Mom has a pacemaker inserted and is finally well enough to travel--yay!
-  and +++  The husband is too sick, and up to ears in work, and can't help me pack up and move Mom's entire apartment AND her, as we had originally planned.  So, I do it myself----with the help of my FOREVER FRIENDS, Tim, and Therese and the ongoing prayer of my dear sisters Valerie and Hannah.  What would I ever done without you???? (Probably would've lost what's left of my mind.)
+ Tim drives the moving truck from Calif to the PNW and Mom and I have an amazingly good flight up.
+  I recover from my triple illnesses and, by some miracle, Mom never seems to catch the flu or the cold!!!
++ The husband starts on allergy shots and feels the positive affects almost immediately!
+ We have a lovely Christmas together, although there was never  time for anyone to shop, cook or bake. We can clearly see that the prize that day was just being together...
- During this time, the following things have broken and/or needed to be replaced: Our washing machine, our bed, my cell phone, the dishwasher, our daughter's car, the brakes on the husband's car and several others I can't (or won't) recall.
-Mom has been in Assisted Living for three weeks.  She has a severe downturn and loss of cognition with her Alzheimer's since the move.  She no longer recognizes any of us--although will occasionally remember the husband and I, if it's a good day.  Last week, we all make the sad decision that she will need to be moved next door to the Alzheimer's unit--much more intense and much more expensive.

Which pretty much brings me to where I am today---dangerously behind on bills and  property taxes. I should probably be working on those things, but, instead I'm blogging to you.

If I have time to blog in the coming weeks, you can expect to hear a lot more about living with a person with mid-to-late stage Alzheimer's. Hope you can hang in there---it promises to be a long and difficult ride.

There are three more positive things I should note.
1.  Our daughter is doing so much better these days!!!  It's now been 2 years since her car accident. We praise God for her physical and emotional recovery and all God has done.  Truly like watching a miracle unfold in front of us.
2. I got a new car! I have been without a car for a year and a half now.  Last week we found the car we wanted--a little light purple Scion.  She's a 2009, and her name is Violet and she's absolutely lovely! I am so grateful.
3.  I think this December helped open my eyes to a lot of things. It was good and hard--but, mostly good.

Here's to a better year for all of us.