New Seasons

With the beginning of fall coming soon ~ I thought it would be a good time to update this blog that I had all but abandoned.

I just deleted a draft that I had written in May about "Being Behind."  At the time it felt like such a struggle to be ill for over 4 months - and I was completely frustrated by how much school work Alexis didn't get done and how much work I needed to do around the house.  I questioned if I was ever going to come up with the strength to feel normal again.  It was a rather depressing (to me) post, so I chose to make it go away.

Well, four more months have come and gone…  I still struggle with all of the above, as I have continued to have health issues, but I am gaining on everything now and that has helped my attitude tremendously. 

I am thankful to be in the process of regaining my health.  After lots of allergy testing I found out that I am allergic to most every grass and  weed  that grows locally, as well as lots of trees and other foliage.  Among many other things I am also allergic to dogs, horses, aged food (molds) and yeast.  For the next 2 1/2 months I am on the mother of all diets.  I won’t go into the details of what I can eat except to say that it is very little.  The good news is that after gaining a horrible amount of weight due to 5 rounds of Prednisone, the pounds are now melting off.

The good thing about a summer break for students is that you can make a fresh start when you begin your school year.  We started out great for about 2 days ~ when  both Alexis and I came down with a yucky bug.  When it was over for her, sadly we were behind again.   However, something fantastic happened this year…  Alexis is now at an age where she can comprehend our system and has worked very hard to catch back up.  We can see the light at the end of the tunnel again.  That has been very encouraging to both of us. 

As far as my house goes…  Well that’s an ongoing battle.  Every day I try to do something to gain ground and with our older 2 children in college ~ I am able to spend more time doing this.  Every day I try to do something to make a difference around here.  Yesterday I cleaned out the inside of my refrigerator.    I guess some people might think it’s strange that a clean refrigerator makes me happy, but since I spend so much time in my house – it makes me feel so much better! 

Speaking of new seasons!  The big one for us is that we have only 1 child home right now.  Both David and Amanda are enjoying the college life and thankfully at the same university!  We wondered how that might work ~ so far very well!  David has done lots to help Amanda – from picking her up at a volunteer location when she suddenly became sick, to buying books for her that she needed but didn’t get when she should have.  Amanda on the other hand, has shared her meal plan with her brother ~ she knows how to keep him doing favors for her.  I miss them both terribly!  I am looking forward to seeing them soon for family weekend...

Amanda the Sailfish!

Amanda's 18th Birthday!

Alexis' 1st day of school!
Another 1st day of school picture