Here we go again

Gary is no longer employed. They told him it wasn't working out. He packed up and came home. Honestly, I am glad he isn't working there anymore. It was not a healthy working environment.

Gary is honest, trustworthy, diligent, and dependable. Somehow these qualities didn't work for them. He is also a capable engineer, who has attention to detail, knows his abilities and what he can improve upon. Again, these qualities didn't work for them.

Gary is an asset to any company.

While visiting my parents, I've come across old photos.




Aren't we just adorable, my brother and sister and me?












Jess and me, around 1987. Aren't we fetching?

My paternal grandfather, in 6th grade.

The blankie

Last week I cut up Josh's blankies. I cut off the nasty parts where he has gnawed holes, as you can see in the first photo, and sewed the raw edge.

In this next exhibit, you can see a full sized gnawed blankie and a cut down one. Quite a bit smaller.


I forgot to clean up the evidence before I picked him up from the bus stop. He found it and demanded I put it back on and got further upset when I explained I couldn't and that it needed to be done.

He has since accepted the inevitable and holds tight to the one I didn't get to yet.

We finally bought wood! I was excited. We bought almost two cords of logs for the price of one cord split. But . . .

But . . . (and all you seasoned firewood buyers probably already know this) . . . but even though this wood has been sitting around for over a year, being still logs, it isn't really seasoned yet. It's still green in the middle.

In trying to buy wood for this year, we ended up buying wood for next year and still need wood for this year. But since we did pay off the car this month and now currently have no debt (except for my student loan which refuses to go away,) we can't do anything about wood until February.

Maybe we can scrape something together from my paychecks.

Better

Three days later and my rib barely hurts, except for when I cough and sneeze. And I am not taking any pain meds anymore.

Ellie has been having better control with her emotions. Her fits have been less frequent with a shorter duration. We are trying to handle emotions differently and using better tools.

Unfortunately the house has not grown while we weren't looking, but I am thankful we have been able to live here. We are one payment away, which is planned to be paid this month, from our goal of paying things off while we lived here. It took longer than we wanted, but we made it.

And just in time for the Subaru to have some expensive worked done. Eventually, we will get to start saving again.

The LORD Praised for His Goodness.

¹ Praise the LORD!
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart,
In the company of the upright and in the assembly.
² Great are the works of the LORD;
They are studied by all who delight in them.
³ Splendid and majestic is His work,
And His righteousness endures forever.
⁴ He has made His wonders to be remembered;
The LORD is gracious and compassionate.
⁵ He has given food to those who fear Him;
He will remember His covenant forever.
⁶ He has made known to His people the power of His works,
In giving them the heritage of the nations.

⁷ The works of His hands are truth and justice;
All His precepts are sure.
⁸ They are upheld forever and ever;
They are performed in truth and uprightness.
⁹ He has sent redemption to His people;
He has ordained His covenant forever;
Holy and awesome is His name.
¹⁰ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments;
His praise endures forever.

~Psalm 111

A Pain

Spent the morning at the ER today. Nearly two weeks have gone by without much respite from the pain in one rib. This morning it was the worst it's been. We packed up the kids and headed to the hospital instead of church.

Although I was the only patient in the waiting room, I had to wait. When I was called back, they asked questions, took x-rays and asked more questions and there was ore waiting. Much more waiting.

X-rays were negative, I was given one pill there and a prescription for Vicodin and sent home, with directions to check in with my family doctor later this week.

I laid on the couch napping with a war compress on my ribs, waiting to take the Vicodin. I woke around 4:00, took my pill and drove to work. Two hours after taking the Vicodin, I felt no better. I came home and asked Gary to clean the other bank for me. I took three ibuprofen and laid down on the couch again with a warm compress.

That worked and I felt better enough to finish cleaning.

I guess warm compresses, ibuprofen and couch time is what I need.

Outdoor Hockey

Gary and I were invited to an outdoor minor league hockey team that played at the Phillies stadium. We drove down to my parents', dropped off the kids, met up with friends and enjoyed a night out.

Compared to a baseball field, a hockey rink is tiny. We had premium seats too. Gary and I were thinking we should get Phillies tickets in the Hall of Fame club section, but they are too expensive. Minor league hockey is cheaper.

Pictures will follow.

And more time

My sister will fly back to California on Friday. She decided to take some time and come up with my mom to visit us a little more before she left. This photo is the last time she was here, in August 2010.

But this time we won't fill our days with shopping, just staying home with a fire blazing. To accomplish that last part, I just may need to scrounge around the woods for some logs. We are very low on wood and waiting on Gary's extra paycheck to buy more.

Tonight my mom went with me to work. It should have gone faster than it did since she was with me and I just cleaned last night. But since it also snowed last night, the bank floors were a mess. And the new vacuum is not as efficient at sucking up the dirt. I find myself re-vacuuming areas. Very annoying. But no one consulted me on vacuum options.

Time with family

For our Christmas break, we traveled to Gary's dad's house for Christmas weekend. During which we saw his mom Christmas day. We then went to stay at my parents' house Tuesday until today.

A lot of visiting, a lot of busyness. Of the 8 days we had with family, only one was a day we didn't have plans to go anywhere and just stayed at "home" and relaxed. Our days were mostly filled with visiting with various family members and friends, shopping and a little present opening.

My sister and I went shopping and she bought me my birthday present early (black dress boots and flats,) instead of sending me something from California later. And I bought myself some new skirts to go with the dress boots. Now I am stylin'. At least with a few very cute outfits. Perhaps I'll post some photos of me sporting my new duds sometime.

Yesterday, we took our yearly train ride to the city to see the Christmas Light Show and Dickens Village. The kids never seem to tire at seeing the trains.