Life’s Little Moments

I channeled my inner “Clark Griswold” this week.

I spent the weekend putting up the outdoor decorations. Believe it or not, no one was hurt in the process!

With the weather as nice as it was, I decided to get the lights up before it got too cold. I worked on the front yard first. We added two blow up penguins this year. I’m normally not one for these inflatables, but they were only $10 each! Sam loves penguins, so I couldn’t pass up the deal.

It looked cute with one on each side of the arch we got last year. You never really know what it is going to look like until it get’s dark, though. Somewhere between this picture and the next, I decided to put the extra tree on the front porch. Sam says it is too much. I’m not sure….

Sunday I decked out the side porch. Sam bought LED lights this year and they look extra bright. This is the easiest part of the house to decorate. I was going to change it up a bit, but decided to stay with what I’ve done in the past.

I guess I should have known that by doing the outdoor lights now (which is not odd), that Sam would start thinking about the inside. Monday I was home with the kids and they were kind of going crazy. Sam decided we needed a project to do, so I went downstairs and brought up the tree.

Bitsy, our kitten, isn’t even a year old yet. So we knew that the tree would be somewhere she’d want to explore. We decided that when we put the tree up, we’d leave the ornaments off of it. There are some fragile ones that we don’t want broken. Sam said we needed to compensate a bit for having no ornaments. So she bought a boat load of LED lights for the tree. Even after placing 900 lights on it, she still thinks there could be more!

We have a few other decorations in the basement, but I think we’re just gonna roll with what we have for now. I am not going to lie, sitting in the front room with all the lights off but the tree is one of those amazing moments I look forward to each year.

Christmastime is a happy time for me. I know it is early, but after all the stuff that has gone down over the last couple weeks – I like to be in a “happy place.”

Friday Gratitude

I’d like to begin by thanking each of you who reached out either in the comments, via email, or text offering support after yesterday’s blog. I truly appreciate it you.

Today ends with more emotions – anger, sadness, confusion, and helplessness. I truly cannot wait for my appointment this week. Something has got to change. It is affecting me and those around me.

Enough of that. I want to share one of the highlights of my day.

Poke

Ella and I went to the doctor so she could get her flu shot. I needed to go to the lab in the same building to get my blood drawn. Before we walked in, Ella asked if she was going to “get a poke.” I told her, yes, but “it’s only a little poke.” She began to tear up and I told her that I’d be there with her.

I told her that I had to get a “poke” too and that she could help by being with me when I got mine. As we sat in the waiting room, she observed and announced everything!

“That guy must have gotten his poke, daddy.”

“Look a that little baby, daddy. She’s wearing small shoes.”

“Daddy, that lady is wearing pink lipstick.”

There was a guy who was just sitting with his eyes closed across from us. Ella announced, “Daddy. That guy must be tired because he is sleeping right here in front of everyone!” He smiled and opened his eyes. “Oh, he’s awake now,” she said.

“That lady has two babies!”

“Did you see that girl’s Paw Patrol shoes!?”

It was nonstop. She brought many smiles to the folks in the waiting room. When they finally called me back to the lab, they had me sit in the chair. She was next to me. The tech but that rubber thing on my arm and began to feel for a vein. She had no luck on one arm, so she tried the other. She then asked me, “Do they usually have a hard time finding a vein on you?” I told her that usually, it is no problem.

She kept feeling around and then asked her other tech, “Would you use a smaller needle on this vein?” The other tech came over and began to feel around. She had me drop my arm down and a vein popped right out. I guess that was the key. Anyway, they apologized for taking so long. They said, good thing you are not afraid of needles, or the wait would have made it worse.

Ella piped up right away. She looked me right in the eye and said, “Don’t worry, daddy. It’s just a little poke!” This brought smiles and laughter to all the ladies in the lab. She was showered with more stickers and a sucker.

Thank you, Ella, for being a ray of sunshine on a very hard day.

Holiday Decor

I mentioned yesterday that my coworker gave us a tree for the side porch. It went up surprisingly easy today after I got home from the doctor.

Sam had me put it in the corner on the side porch. I can’t wait to see what it looks like when I get home tonight.

I blogged about the arch that Sam bought for the front yard this week. She left the lights on and I was really impressed at how beautiful it looks at night. Those LED lights are bright. She did a video chat last night and I got to see it on her phone, but seeing it in person was so much better.

Engage!

I’m listening to a new audiobook in the car.

I’ve always liked Patrick Stewart. He is such a great actor. His one man show of A Christmas Carol is something that I listen to every holiday season. He reads it, and even though he has aged a bit, his voice is still strong and he is so expressive with his reading. I’m only about 10 chapters in, but it is very good.

With all that is on my mind, it helps to get lost in a good book on my drive to and from work.

Family Christmas photos tomorrow.

Thursday Thoughts

I’m forcing myself to write today. I have some funny things to share, and these are the type of things that have kept me going the last couple weeks.

Feeling … not right

When I got the diagnosis of ADHD recently and began the new medication, I had hoped that I would start to feel some things change. They did, but not in the way I expected. Now, I’m told that it takes 4-6 weeks for this new med to really do what it is supposed to do, and I have only been on half of the dose for a month. They are supposed to up the dose the next time I see them. I have an appointment with the place where I got my diagnosis this week, so I hope to get things sorted out.

I should not be feeling more depressed than I was before the medication, but I am. I am supposed to have my yearly physical next week and I am embarrassed to go in. All the weight I lost is back. Bad choices and emotional eating are to blame (ok, I am to blame, too!). There is no motivation. I have tried to psyche myself up to no avail. There is a program through work that I just stopped doing because I wasn’t feeling like myself and didn’t think it was helping. I have to go get bloodwork tomorrow and I always fret about what that is going to show.

I’m not saying meds are the answer, but something isn’t right. Here’s hoping that we figure it out.

Vet Visit

Daisy had a vet appointment today. She is 21 pounds already. The vet seems to think she will be bigger than we anticipated. “At least 100 pounds” Sam said.

She is totally puppy and chewing everything in sight. Housebreaking remains a challenge, but she starts her “Puppy Obedience” classes after Thanksgiving.

Ella went to the vet with Sam. When they got home, Sam says, “Hey Ella, tell daddy how they had to take Daisy’s temperature.” Without skipping a beat, she yells, “They used a butt thermometer!”

She’s still giggling about it.

Holiday Decor

While Sam and Ella were at the vet, Andrew and I put together the 8 foot arch that we got for out front. It wasn’t as difficult as I anticipated and I was able to get it up in about 30 minutes. Each bulb and the Merry Christmas sign have LED lights, so I cannot wait to see how this looks at night.

With the construction finally done, and our yard being semi-put back together, I need to get out and get some of the leaves out of the way. They have that hay with the netting all over the lawn so the grass will grow back, so I’m not sure just how much I can actually rake.

The majority of the holiday decorating is done, however, there are still a couple small things I need to do. I have those light nets for a couple of the bushes I need to get up and some lighted garland that I will put around the front door. Normally, when that is done, I am done. Not this year.

Sam wants to put an artificial tree out on the side porch this year. We didn’t want to buy a new one, so we kept an eye on Facebook marketplace for one. I asked a coworker if she knew anyone who was getting rid of a tree and she actually said she had one that had been sitting in the garage since they got one from her parents. At some point this weekend, there will be another tree to decorate.

Grades

Over the past two weeks, I finished up three tests for my Bible classes. This semester, we are in the books of Romans and Matthew. We are also in an Old Testament Survey class and a Preparation and Delivery of Sermons class.

I aced all three tests. They were tough. I plan on using my lunch break at work daily to watch the classes and take tests. It’s a nice, because usually no one is in the building, so it is uninterrupted.

Brotherly Q & A

My brother, who has written a couple times for this blog in a “guest” role contacted me and said he really enjoyed it. So he thought it would be cool to think of some holiday themed questions to ask each other. He sent me his, and I was surprised that I had a lot of the same questions on my list. I combined the two lists into one and we’re going to share with each other. Some of the questions are more personal or family oriented, but I may share those answers here. We’ll see.

Thanks for reading!

Decking the Halls

Ok, technically, I’m not decking the halls. I’m not decking them with boughs of holly either, but I did get a few more things done over the weekend.

We have one of those fake electric fireplaces at our house. The heating element went a year or so ago, and we never did have it looked at. However, we’ve always wanted to do something with the mantle. This year, we found some really nice garland that lights up and it fits the mantle perfectly. We also got new stockings for every one and hung them up a little lower than years past. My wife just loves the way it looks.

As you may recall from a blog or two ago, we bought a new kitchen table to eat at. The old one remains in the basement where it has been for some time. When I was going through the Christmas decorations, I found some placemats we had bought when we first got together. I was finally able to put them out and used a little Christmas tree that we used to put up on the mantle as a centerpiece. I may need to throw some decorations on it.

I went to let the puppy outside and it really wasn’t too cold, so I put jackets on the kids and let the pup roam around the yard and I put the lights up on the side porch. It’s very different from last year, as the railings are no longer there. I ran lights up and down the posts and hung the big Christmas bulbs.

Since they tore up our front yard, I figured I would skip the front yard this year, but Sam had other plans. Our porch is small, so getting the lights on it is no issue at all. I have some lighted garland that I will drape over the front door. The newest addition is on the way to the house. She ordered it from Sam’s Club. It’s a huge 8 foot arch!!

I think it will look cool, even though the yard looks bad. When it snows, it will look great! This should be arriving mid-week. It is supposed to be a bit warm, this week, so I hope to be able to get it up and done before it gets too cold.

Now, just what I am going to do with this big thing in the off season, I have no idea!!