2022 wrap-up

 I started to do a bullet point update for the last 3 months of 2022, but ended up deleting it each time.

October
Turkey Trot training going great
Taught a new class during election training
Early voting began
I got sick
Dog's fence line went out during a thunderstorm

November
We met with surgeon at UNC -Chapel Hill
Aunt Lois died
Election Day
Worked with Blue Bag Canvass Team the week after the election
My friend Marilou died
Kids Christmas Program work began in earnest
Trip to AL for Thanksgiving
Turkey Trot cancelled due to flu numbers in the area
Cancelled Mom's 80th birthday party due to her health

December
Kids Christmas play
FINALLY got Bobby's van returned
My first gallbladder attack, lasting almost 30 hrs
Septic tank stopped up and collapsed at Mrs. Bryan's while she had family staying with her

So I was not sorry to see the calendar for 2022 close.

Here we are on the third evening of 2023. It is now 5 months out from the first diagnosis of a 1.5" kidney stone for Bobby and we still do not have a surgery date (though we do know it is supposed to be in January and will be at least a 2 part procedure).  The dogs are starting to realize the fence is not working so I've got to call and schedule that repair. And Monday we went out for breakfast and I had the chicken biscuit I couldn't eat on my birthday because of health issues. Life is still crazy, but seeming a little more doable. Years ago a friend of mine posted a quote that said something like "You can't stop birds from flying over your head, but you can stop those birds from building nests in your hair."  That's been my motivational quote the last few months.

a week of goodbyes

 Early in the week our pastor's wife received word that her Dad had suffered a massive stroke and they did not expect him to make it. Mr. Bowen has visited our church on numerous occasions throughout the years and was one of the friendliest and easy going people I have ever met. I think it's safe to say our whole church family grieves with the Bowen family and Nan as they prepare to say their goodbyes tomorrow.

The next day we found out that one of our neighbors had also passed away. Over the years he had been a tremendous help to Bobby. He was a mechanic and has his own shop behind his house. Before cars became so computerized, he did an incredible job of keeping Bobby's van running. Our prayers are with the Walls family, especially Betty Lou as she adjusts to life without her husband.

The next day we found out the wife of one WCA's earliest board members passed away. I never met her, but Bobby knew the family well. The Trumans owned a saw mill, and they would let you purchase a small truck load of mulch for a very cheap price.

My sister-in-law Amie lost a cousin this week. He was missing for several days before they found him.

And this is the week that the world will remember that Queen Elizabeth died. As much as I know her country and family grieves for her, her death does not have the same impact on me. My life and the life of those around me doesn't know change at all with the death of this very dedicated and important person. The older I get, the more I am reminded that I do not have to be important or well connected to make a difference in my world. Don't get me wrong, I watched the first memorial service for her and have watched some of the historical proceedings, but it's not with the same heart of prayer and concern that I have for the families mentioned above. I'm so thankful that our God is a god of comfort.

Summer Review

 I still can't believe we are already into September.  So what happened from my May post through now?

• We had a small garden. I canned 3 batches of tomatoes.
• Put up several pints of spiced apples (sugar free). Still have 1/2 a bucket to go.
  
• Made batch 1 of 2 of grape jelly. I might not pick any more.
• We've had three different hens hatch out biddies, and one more that wants to but we're not letting her.
• We put burlap around the pecan trees in hopes of stopping the worms from getting to the nuts. It's supposed to take 3-4 years of wrapping & spraying before they're gone.
• Spent 3 mornings fishing with Bobby's great-nephews.
• Worked a summer election, called a 2nd primary (essentially a run-off) and helped with the hand-eye count afterwards.
• We purchased a new van.
• New van went back to the shop the 2nd week we had it and we still do not have it back. It is now at the Chrysler dealership as the problem is not the lift or adaptive equipment. The company will "rent" us a van free of charge to go to Alabama in October if ours is not ready by then.
• I was rear-ended and only went to get it evaluated because my husband insisted. Found out there is a possibility they will total it if the frame is damaged as they fear. I like my car. I hope the end of next week I get a call saying it is fixable. (It goes in the shop a week from today.)
• My sister-in-law had someone back into her (while she was parked at the gym). She gets her car repaired the same time.
• My niece had someone t-bone her van and hers is an ongoing mess. Turns out the family doesn't have any insurance at all.
• The board and committee chairs for the quilt guild has met twice and we are running full steam ahead for our new guild year which kicks off two weeks from today. I am the program chair once again (my last year) and only have one more slot to fill for the year. Still need to create a contract and get those emailed out to speakers.
• Bobby had a routine colonoscopy and we have now followed up with genetic testing. We should get the results in another week. Neither of us expect them to find anything, but if they do, then his doctor wants us to consider a surgery. We both think that is excessively extreme for benign polyps.
• Bobby's annual urology visit did not go as expected. We were fully expecting to hear "Everything looks good. See you next year Bryans."  Instead we now have a visit with a specialist at UNC Chapel Hill to see what options are available for an x-large kidney stone in a bad spot. Since that stone was not on the scans a year ago, and he has had a previous sepsis infection from kidney stones, we mistakenly thought we'd have already had an appt by now. (We got the news the end of July.)  Our appointment is for the first week of November...right in the middle of early voting.
• In June I went to Sand Dollar Island with a friend from church for a day. I enjoyed it, even if the ferry ride and the island wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I think I might try and go again the end of November or the first of March when everything hasn't been so picked over.

 

And that is everything I can think of off the top of my head. It's been a long day, and tomorrow will be busy as well. Happy September everyone.

May

The end of April finished up help table elections training and brought with it an offer to work on the Early Voting helpline. (For those not familiar with Wake County elections, Help Table is the position that processes all the non-perfect scenario voters and the Help Line is a direct line to the Board of Elections that puts you in touch with staff who can answer questions and troubleshoot problems. I was flattered to be asked. After talking it over with Bobby, I said yes, then within an hour was wondering "What have I done?!?"

Today we completed the first week of Early Voting. I have learned a LOT, still have a lot more to learn, but am so thankful for the organizational structure and supportive network that BOE has in place. So far it has been a positive experience, though a bit slower than I would like. (They say November will be much busier and some days you won't take your headphones off for very long.)

 We also had our first reptile visitor for the year. This is way earlier than we've ever had one before (I think) and I am thankful Bobby's nephew Robert was willing to come over and help me take care of it.  It was skinny, but about 4 ft long (roughly, we didn't measure).

We have two broody hens that I am constantly pushing off a nest to get eggs. We've discussed trying an egg swap with a friend and putting some fertilized eggs of a different breed under them, but we don't need to do it until we know we'll be in town around hatching time. We also really don't need any more chickens, but I hate for them to want to hatch eggs so bad and not be able to do so.

My aunt has had several slight strokes in the last month, and my Dad's oldest brother fell yesterday and broke his hip. He is currently at the hospital and we are awaiting word on if/when they will do surgery. He is currently unable to feel that leg.

We were able to get tomato plants and 2 rows of green beans in the ground (not enough to put up for the winter, but hopefully enough for a few meals this summer).  So far so good. 

I am behind on quilting (what's new about that?), I am managing to keep up with the laundry and the dishes, but am woefully behind on other household chores.

Gas was $4.09 on the way home. Earlier in the week I saw it jump to $3.89 and thought maybe it will drop a little in a few days when I start running low. Bad idea. I guess tomorrow morning I'll leave a little early and fill up on the way in to work. I fear if I wait until coming home it might be even higher. 

Belarus is now running military drills. They say it is routine, but it is new for the country. Many people think they will join Russia in attacking Ukraine. I think about Sasha and wonder if his unit is one of the ones who will fight. He was such a sweet and caring person, who understood Christianity in his teens and it hurts my hurt to think of him being placed into war. I don't know where Mikalai and Aleg are, but it wouldn't bode well for either one of them to fight, either. My heart hurts at the insanity of it all, but other than pray, I don't know how I can help. We've contributed toward supplies for refugees, but there are so many and the need is so great. We know families of two people who have children training in Poland in case the war spills over into a NATO country. My prayer is that it doesn't, but I fear we have watched the beginning of the next great war this year.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

new nephew

 My favorite text from the family group chat last night:

I only heard the nurse say 8 lbs. I couldn't hear the rest because there was a baby crying in the room.

Welcome to our family Anderson Jeremiah White!!!

My parents got to visit at the hospital this afternoon.

My brother Andy got to give him his first bottle.

So thankful for this photo...for so many reasons.

My sister-in-law Amie is such a trooper. So thankful for her and happy for her.

Wow

 Today I opened the portal (that reads as strange as it sounds) for my elections assignment.  It lists how many elections each Chief Judge (the person in charge of the polling place) has worked for my zone, then it listed how many elections I have worked. 

37

That's an awful lot of elections. It sounds larger than it seems.

Another wow that happened today was that we stopped at Crumbl cookies. I have heard so many positive things from so many people about these amazing, but very expensive cookies. For the first time in my life, I didn't finish a cookie. Bobby says he prefers the cookies from KFC to those. I'm not sure they're THAT bad, but they don't surpass Chik-fil-A's cookies or the Lofthouse brand in the deli at FoodLion. For the price of four cookies, I could have gotten a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I can't decide if I'm more bothered that I didn't LOVE them, or that I paid so much for something that's just meh. Live and learn.

Today is my sister's birthday, and I'm also keeping my cell by me for updates from my brother. Hopefully little Anderson will arrive safe and sound today. Many prayers are going up. Maybe there will be pictures to post tonight.

April

 My brain still cannot wrap around the fact April is quickly marching by.

The last week of March/first of April we were in Alabama trying to help my brother get ready for the move. The first day I unpacked a few boxes and did a little cleaning. There was one box labeled Kitchen: plastics. I was surprised at its weight, and even more shocked when I saw how packaged it was. I opened it to find an eagle. (My brother is an Auburn fan; my sister-in-law an Alabama grad.) Bobby said it needed to be visible. I was more concerned about it getting broken with all the work going on. Andy laughed at its placement and said he liked it, but he doubted Amie would.

Is it still on its perch?

 

Days two and three were spent mudding, sanding, and painting baseboards.

Day 2 of the baseboards

Dad and Andy worked on the living room and started the dining room on day two.
Day three, our last day, my sister and brother-in-law came to help as well. Dad alternated between helping me with baseboards and helping lay out boards for the flooring. Jamie and Andy made a great team and by the end of day three had finished all the hardwood flooring.

Bobby supervising. If an end piece was cut wrong, they would laugh and say "Bobby cut this one!"

Andy rearranging the boards I placed...haha

Jamie trimming down an edge piece.

 

The day after I left they got most of the baseboards back in place and moved a lot of the work equipment to the basement so they could begin moving furniture to the house.

This past weekend, my niece told me she was at the house helping and they got most of their stuff moved in. I'm so thankful. I was beginning to be concerned they wouldn't be ready in time. Unless something unexpected happens tomorrow, they will go to the hospital Monday night and Anderson will arrive either the 12th (my older sister's birthday) or the 13th. I can't wait to see pictures of the little guy, as well as find out if he's truly as big as the doctors are thinking. His original due date was the end of this month, but the doctor's are saying he's already at 8 lbs and needs to come on now. The remainder of the things and the rest of things that need doing in the house (kitchen floor, hallway floor and overhaul of the master bathroom) will wait until after the baby comes. 

Meanwhile election training classes are moving along. Wake county has some controversial races on the ballot in May, so that should bring out the voters. There's nothing I hate worse than a slow election day. 

Quilts of Valor has resumed the monthly meetings, though I'm not sure how often it will continue. I'm very behind on quilting some of the tops, but I am determined that I am going to finish some of my projects. If that means volunteer work has to be put on hold, so be it.

And that is where life stands at the moment.