10,000 Steps

Well, the Christmas season has started and as usual, I'm not ready. But, I'm just going to take one day at a time and do what I can. My stress level is quite high right now and I've noticed that my ears ring almost every day. My ears usually don't ring unless I'm tired or stressed. The Christmas cards and letters haven't been started, the tree isn't up yet, decorations are still in their boxes, nothing has been baked, etc., etc., etc. . . . I'm still trying to declutter this place and have taken two loads to Goodwill already this week. I've been averaging a load a week. I've gone to bed after midnight every night, which is unusual for me. (I still have to be up at 6 a.m. to get ready for work!) Last night I worked in the basement clearing out a room to make a bedroom for Chris (he *lost* his room four years ago when he left home for the Marines and I need to put him somewhere, especially with guests coming for the holidays.) I bought a cheap carpet at Lowe's, swept the floor, and set up a bed. Also cleaned out alot of junk! He worked on it today and is slowly organizing and moving his things in. He has a TV at the end of the bed and is playing a video game as I write! I think he likes his new space!

I've been trying to de-stress by walking every day with the dogs after work and am doing pretty good so far. I wear a pedometer all day and make sure I take 10,000 steps a day. Today as I walked the dogs, I savored the warm fall air and noticed the decorations on my neighbors' houses. It was really quite peaceful. I do miss hearing the birds, though. I tried to listen for the owl again last night but heard Marissa's tires on her Jeep on the road about 1/4 mile away instead! Tomorrow I will go Christmas shopping ALL DAY until I get it done. I'll walk more than 10,000 steps for sure!

A New Kind of *Surgery*

This is Chris in the garage performing "surgery" on his car. He took the engine out of it last night! Believe me, there was a lot of banging going on. And I could hear him from inside the house! You will recall that he towed the car home to Tennessee all the way from California in September. If you look closely enough, you will see all the wires hanging out of the car and the engine marked with blue tape. He is keeping track of everything and hopes to find the problem to get his car running again. I'm amazed that he knows what to do. This is the same kid who took a tank apart in the desert in Iraq and got it running again! He has an engineering mind just like his Dad. . .

In other "surgery" news, no date is set yet for my second implant. I called Dr. Merwin's office today and Nurse Teresa said to call back in two weeks. She said I would be Dr. Merwin's 2nd bilateral implant patient. I hope to have the surgery in late January after Steve and I return from a trip to Latvia.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I'll add to this while I'm cooking tomorrow. . .I am truly thankful and blessed every single day! May this Thanksgiving be filled with the sounds of family and friends! The Table decorated by MarissaFamily! Apple Berry Pie!

An Owl?

Chris and I worked outside today. He was cutting wood while I raked leaves. I heard a mixture of different sounds as I worked in the yard - leaf blowers, airplanes, birds clicking, dogs barking, Chris' chain saw, leaves rustling, etc. As soon as it got dark, Chris said, "Mom, I hear an owl. Do you hear it?" We stood together in the driveway and he would point it out every time he heard it. But, I couldn't pick it out. I kept hearing dogs barking or other sounds but not the owl. He said it was pretty far away and was very soft. I asked him to tell me what it sounded like. He said it was the short "who, who, who" sound and not the long "whoooooo" sound like I imagined. I even tried to adjust my sensitivity levels on my processor so that I could "reach" it but that didn't work. I got my bird sound card out and we figured out that it was a Great Horned Owl. We'll keep listening. . .

P.S. I never dreamed that my own children would be helping me to listen for new sounds. And, they enjoy being part of this hearing journey, too. I am blessed!

The Last Rose

Here is a picture of the last rose from my garden. The vase was a special gift to me from a pastor in Latvia. I gave the rose to Steve because we will celebrate our 30th anniversary on Monday. We went out to dinner last night to celebrate. Restaurants are still noisy places for me but I'm used to it. I enjoy the company better!

(Jennifer - this rose is called Fragrant Cloud and is my favorite!)

I also have a dozen white roses from Steve in the kitchen.
Anniversary Roses from Steve

Up Early

I'm up early this morning. . .and am off work for the next two days. Marissa is having oral surgery this morning which will take about three hours. She is having two implants put in to take the place of her front eye teeth that never formed or developed. She's been wearing a retainer with fake teeth in it ever since she got her braces off last year. (We'll have to go through the process again next year for two more missing permanent teeth on the bottom). I don't know who is more nervous - her or me. But, I'm not going to tell her. Yesterday I brought home six different prescriptions from the pharmacy! She had to take an oral sedative before she went to bed and will take two more this morning (along with several other pills) to make her sleepy. I'll probably have to carry her to the car and to the doctor's office! Anyway, say a prayer for her. Since I don't hear a thing when I sleep, she slept with me and Maddie last night. (Steve is out of town.) I wanted to be able to monitor her in case she had an allergic reaction to the sedative. I'll bring my knitting along to keep my hands busy. I will knit and pray!

Later. . .
We are home. Marissa is pretty drugged up, has gauze in her mouth and is asleep on the chair in the family room (and is snoring!) Chris made a fire in the fireplace for her. He is such a nice brother! She was in surgery for about 3 1/2 hours and everything went well. We will go back next week to get the stitches out. We stopped at the Dairy Queen on the way home to get some milkshakes (she needs to drink milk anyway with her medicine) and got some applesauce, freeze pops, and mandarin oranges for her to eat. She'll have a beautiful smile when we are all done with this process!

Trick or Treat!

Trick or Treat! I thought I would post a picture for the occasion. . .This picture was taken about 19-20 years ago and is our #2 son, Chris. He was "The Count." I've always liked this picture and even put it in his high school yearbook when he graduated! Isn't he cute? He is still "cute" today even though he is 23!

We only had about six trick or treaters last night and that is the usual for us. Also gave out cans for "trick or cans" for the food drive.