My Novels

Friday, January 13, 2012

Worst Times, Best Times

The is the latest I've ever written a year's end review...but this time I do have a reason. I was sick, sick, sick for a couple weeks, starting on New Year's Eve night. It was my first illness since late DH died, and while truly awful, at least I learned a lot about how to cope alone. The main lesson was not to wait till I'm too sick to get myself to a doctor, which is what happened. My sisters had to take me to Urgent Care.

I'm not sure how a stomach virus caused such consequences for me, but according to the doctor at the Urgent Care, it's a bad virus and many people here have had it. I became almost dehydrated, and that caused a separate issue. Alas, I'm better now -- well enough that I actually took the dogs on a long walk today.

As for the past year, it was one of the worst in my life since we had the EF4 tornado that destroyed most of my neighborhood. Fortunately, the damage to my house/property wasn't as bad as many surrounding homes. But it's been a long year since last spring, and I really dread the onset of tornado season this year.

As for the best news, I qualified for my late DH's SSI...and the first check should be deposited this month. I'll be glad to have that extra income, and I'm hoping to save most of it.

Because the tornado so overwhelmed everything, it almost seems as if nothing else occurred. I know it did, but honestly, nothing stands out enough to even write about it. With the exception of getting reacquainted with my grand-nieces-nephew and enjoying their company more often. That's been rewarding and fun. I hope it continues this year.

My dogs are well, my cats are well. That is something I'm grateful for; they truly enrich my life every day.

Now for a few photos of our Christmas family gathering:

The baby is my newest grand-niece; my other grand-niece that visits is next, and that's my nephew's wife and nephew watching the baby rip into her many presents!

This is my grand-niece showing off her "Fijit" robot doll; she loves it!

Oscar showing off his new sweater, standing by his & Rambo's other presents.

Rambo sniffing the present with some treats in it!

Rambo in his new sweater; he doesn't like wearing clothes as much as Oscar.

Oscar recently after a long walk, snoozing in the sunshine on the back porch.

Oh, I've lost 6 pounds since that stomach virus. NOT a way I'd recommend losing weight, but I needed to lose a few pounds so my clothes wouldn't get uncomfortable.

And that's about it for now. Not much of a year end entry, but since it's delayed, about the best I can do now.