Tag: writing

Comfy Cozy Cinema: The Five Year Engagement

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized6 Comments

 Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are back to watching and sharing about comfy cozy (and sometimes, chilling) movies for the fall season. Feel free to join in with us!!

This week’s movie was The Five Year Engagement, starring Emily Blunt and Jason Segal.

So this one was my pick. I apologize. Lol. I don’t watch a lot of comedies, but I remembered this one took place partially in Ann Arbor, Michigan and that the soundtrack was all Van Morrison songs, which are two things I liked. I also remembered that professor’s house which was really cool. There is a Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ann Arbor, and now that I am writing this, I wonder if they used it for the movie. I however did not remember the humor or language all that well.

The synopsis: When a series of setbacks interfere with their wedding planning — and their lives — a couple starts to question their commitment to each other.

I mean and that is really it in a nutshell. Jason Segal (Tom) is an up and coming chef in San Francisco, and his girlfriend turned fiancée Emily Blunt ) Violet is a psych grad waiting for a doctorate program. She is waiting for Berkley, but then gets an offer from the University of Michigan, and this uproots their whole lives, despite Tom’s assurances that moving would not be a big deal for him.

I think the point of this movie is that Michigan sucks the life from you, and destroys all hope. It’s these gray skies man, I tell you!

No I am kidding. Although the Michigan parts were not super flattering I still found them funny because they are exaggerated truths, a caricature of Michiganders. The hunting season being a big deal, knitting, making homemade beer and mead and foraging. The crazy facial hair.

I live about 45 minutes from Ann Arbor, and it is the city where Wyatt’s hospital system, Michigan Medical (U of M) is located. We spend a lot of time in Ann Arbor, and it is a pretty cool town. It is very diverse, and you can find million dollar homes interspersed with frat houses and sorority houses and student housing. It has a lot of great restaurants and parks, with theaters and bookstores and in general, it is just pretty neat. It was cool to see places we recognized in the background, and of course the restaurant where Tom ends up working, Zingerman’s Deli, is pretty famous for their sandwiches around here.

This movie is pretty simple, but it has a great ending. I also love a scene where Violet and Tom are arguing, and Tom says he needs to be alone, and when Violet gets out of bed to sleep on the couch he tells her not to leave because he wants to be alone with her there. It is so something I would say.

Overall this movie is about the journeys a relationship can take, from the very high highs to the not so greats, and back again. With maybe some drifterish, serial killer facial hair, knitted tuxedos, and old stale doughnuts.

And I was “wright!” It is the Frank Lloyd Wright House!! According to the blog upstaged by design, it is known as The Palmer House (and you can rent it if you have the cash) and was built in 1950. They have lots of other neat trivia about the design and architecture in this movie on their blog, so it is worth a read to pop over there too! You all know I am sucker for the setting and details like that.

Again, I apologize. This movie was weird. I didn’t remember it too well and I should have watched it again before picking it. Lol. It was much raunchier than I remember!

Next up is The Young in Heart, starring Frank Sinatra.

Don’t forget to pop over to Lisa’s blog as well!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized12 Comments

Hello everyone! After a few hot weeks after a false fall, we had a cool night last night. There was an actual chill in the air, and it was glorious. We stayed outside until the fairy lights came on then headed inside where we made sure all the windows were open. This morning I was practically freezing making coffee in my kitchen! I of course loved it before retreating back to my bed with my hot cup of coffee. It is cooling on my nightstand as I type!

We have been having a good time around here – in school, and out of school. Last weekend we woke up and headed down to Toledo early on Saturday morning to meet my cousin and his family at the Muddy Maumee Book Festival. Well, we really met Mike’s wife Michelle, and their three boys, because Mike was working there. With Wyatt added, there was big boy energy happening! My cousin Mike is the Chief Engagement and Enterprise Officer (a title I just looked up because I knew he was some sort of administrator there but I didn’t know what) and I am so proud of him. Anyway, we will get back to that part in a minute. Let’s start with the book festival.

The festival was all independent authors from around the area – some even as far away as Grand Haven Michigan and southern Indiana! This was the first year that it was held at the Glass City Riverwalk in Toledo, which seemed like a perfect place to have it. They all had their books on display, and were happy to answer any questions the kids had. My cousin’s oldest boy is also a bookworm and asked the authors great questions about the books. Michelle and I were lucky to get out of there with only a few purchases each! Billy ordered a set of dragon books for Wyatt from Ryan Null, a clean fantasy author based out of Indiana, called The Flare Chronicles, and I picked up a book for myself from Michigan author Mark Love, who writes romance! I bought an early copy of a collection of short stories by various authors, including Love, called Inkspell’s Enchanted Holidays. After we shopped and chatted and I gathered bookmark business cards from every author, we had a nice lunch at the restaurant there, called The Garden by Poco Piatti. They had the best pizza, seriously.

After we ate, my cousin gave us a guided tour (using an 8 person golf cart which Wyatt thought was awesome) around Glass City. We hit all the major attractions of this 70 acre park. It has a 7 mile loop around the river with a 1,000 foot long trail (The Ribbon) for ice skating in the winter – and they even provide skating sleds for the disabled community, and cute little huts for fires and s’mores and whatever when you need a break, which you can reserve. We saw it all – the mural, the field of histories, which was my favorite. They are a field of glass orbs, and each one has a laser engraved image from a member of the Toledo community, that relates to their own personal history. Then each one has a code that can be looked up online to read more about the object. It is really well done and intricate, and ties it personally to the area. I absolutely loved it. History and art and community connection!! We saw the slag ladles, which is something Billy and I are familiar with living in an area with lots of steel mills, the kayaking cove and even some sites that are soon to come, such as a place to camp! It was really amazing, and for some reason I never put it together that it is called the Glass city because of all the glass manufacturing that happens/happened there, by companies like Libby and Corning.

We had a great time and headed happily home, full of books and history and moments with family.

Billy and I were having a big day Saturday, because we also went on our first date in like a year. I had bought tickets for an Edgar Allan Poe speakeasy all the way back in August and the day had come! Billy’s mom came over to watch Wyatt for us, and we made our way to another big city on the river, this one north – Detroit, of course.

So, this event was four readings from Poe, each one preceded by a drink pertaining to that reading. It was amazing. It was run by just six people, from start to finish, the drinks, the serving of the drinks, the readings, and it was all done so smoothly. When you get there, you are directed to a waiting room, that has drinks and just a few snacks, and tables. My cousin had been to this performance a few days before, and tipped me off that you can wait in line at about fifteen minutes to start, which we did. When they opened their doors five minutes later, we were among the first to find our seats – center stage, second row. Perfection. Then there is the intro, the first drink was served, and the first performance began. And that continued for the next 90 minutes. I did not drink all of my four drinks, I would have fallen over or died or something. So I drank about a quarter of each drink, so that I could taste it and enjoy it but still have the ability to watch the performance, try the other drinks, and not be a puddle on the floor when it ended. No need to get all messy. The performers did a phenomenal job setting the mood and atmosphere, and delivered a magical performance. I was spellbound! They did readings from The Pit and the Pendulum, The Fall of the House of Usher, Annabel Lee (I love it!) and Cask of Amontillado. It is hard to pick my favorite, so I won’t!

Sunday we spent just relaxing and resetting for the week, which I greatly needed. Then most of this week we spent schooling, therapy, and other just life things, except for Tuesday. Tuesday we met my brother and the Hurricane at the Henry Ford Museum. We had a great time, walking around, hanging out with the kids, putting Wyatt’s little flat George Washington places, until it happened. Wyatt threw up. He still occasionally has nausea from his meds and it got him on Tuesday. He threw up however, right in front of the lunch counter where I was paying, in a restaurant with a bunch of people eating. It was one of those horrid moments, where you feel terrible for your kid but also want the floor to swallow you up. My brother was there thankfully to lend a hand, cleaning Wyatt up for me so I could clean myself up, as I took the brunt of it and then I took my kiddo home. He napped for about 30 minutes and woke up perfectly fine. It was just not a great meds morning. We are having a redo next week, when we go to a different museum with Devin and Hurricane girl.

And Marsha, those pumpkins made me think of you!

And that is it for today! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile.

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized10 Comments

Hello everyone!! We have been busy around here lately – a weekend full of fun events and then a week of appointments.

Let’s start with the blah. Wyatt had an extra therapy appointment, so we had three trips to his therapy this week. Then I had my regular routine bloodwork appointment that we all have to get, and then I also had my mammogram this morning. I scheduled it super early in the morning so that I could get it done before Billy had to go to work, and it was super eerie out when I left. Pitch black and quiet. I was the only patient in the building. It was a weird feeling but it was a very quick appointment! I even got my results already – I’m good. I had put off all of my regular appointments for Wyatt’s surgery and recovery, so I now have to catch up on them. Yuck. I go to the eye doctor soon, but I am excited about that one. I am ready for some new glasses!

It was nice heading into this super busy week off of a really awesome weekend. On Saturday, Billy and I took Wyatt out on our first big family adventure post-surgery. We drove down to Ohio to visit some of the marshes there, and did a little hiking on the trails. We were only about an hour from home, and it was nice to be in nature again. I really needed that! We heard so many birds, and we saw a mink dart across the trail! The water levels were really low – you could tell that our area has been in a drought.

We went to two different state parks, located literally right next to each other, Magee Marsh and Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. Both had fantastic visitors centers, nice trails, including a driving tour, and to Wyatt’s delight, a gift shop.

Sunday was another busy day! We had our Blackbirds outing to the Detroit Tigers game, and it was such a blast. We didn’t go for the whole game, but arrived during the fifth inning. I knew Wyatt would not make it through the entire thing, and a few of the other families from our group did the same. The wheelchair area was only about 3 rows up from where our group was sitting so it was nice, we felt like we really were there all together. It was a beautiful day, not too hot, although it did rain briefly! Instead of fighting to get back up to the main concourse with Wyatt we just plopped a poncho over him and waited it out. He loved being in the rain. Everyone else in the lower section where we were had headed up and it was funny to see the rows so empty!

One of the mothers from our group has a niece that works for the Tigers and is in charge of the kids events. On Sundays, kids can run the bases after the game. Well, our group had it one step better. We got to go down before the rest of the kids in the stadium, take the special elevators down that the players’ families use, and we were on the field before basically alone. We were there while the players and their kids ran the bases, and then we got to go! It was so crazy being five feet from the players while we waited our turn. Even the parents were excited. The kids were all pretty pumped, even though they were a little nervous too. They usually only allow the kids to go, but for our group they allowed Billy to go with Wyatt, and then Chrissy to run with the little hurricane girl. Then afterwards, Billy, Wyatt, and I got a security escort back to the elevators with someone clearing the way for us through the crowd. It was such a great experience.

I am so grateful that our kids had this opportunity!!

We also started to decorate for fall and Halloween. Wyatt and I flipped on some fall ambience video on YouTube and found places for our decorations. (well, mostly me) We still have some to put out but we made a good start. I really love my dresser right now. It looks all fall and has a collection of books that I hope to read this autumn. It is up to ten books. Lol.

And that is it for today!!

I will leave you with some random photos from the past week.

And with that, I am out. It was an early morning and I am going to finish this coffee and maybe try to read a bit.

I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

Saturday Morning Coffee Catch Up – Homeschooling and Other Things

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized7 Comments

** so this was supposed to.post this morning.. it did.not..lol.

Hello everyone!

We have been working hard over here, with school and physical therapy! We have been very productive – and I have been pretty tired by the time I get in bed at night. It’s a good tired though, the kind of tired that you feel when you know that you have worked hard and had a good day. Today though we are going to play, and go to a marsh in Ohio, and hopefully see some pretty leaves and enjoy some time in nature.

Let’s start with school. It is weird how we are running into a theme of people protesting, in so many of areas of Wyatt’s learning. We are reading Hoot for Language Arts, and although we have quite gotten into it yet, the burrowing owls living on a live construction site are going to cause protests although right now, it is just mild tampering on the site with stakes being taken out of there spots. In science, we are talking about swamps and marshes, and Wyatt just learned about Marjorie Stoneman Douglas and all she did to save part of the Everglades – and she continued to do it even into a very advanced age. She died at 108! And finally, in history we are right on the brink of the revolutionary war, and we just covered the Boston tea party and Paul Revere.

Yesterday we had a fun Friday for school – I used to save Fridays for field trips and errands only, but now with physical therapy two days a week, we need to use Friday as an instructional day. I figured we might as well make them fun if we are having school on them now. We did so many cool things yesterday!

First, we started with making a lantern, like the ones of “One if by land, two if by sea” fame. We only made one, so our British came by land unlike the real ones that Revere warned of. And he didn’t ride around yelling “The British are coming!” although that would have been cool. It was more of a quiet version, telling people that the Regulars were coming, and only people who needed to know, knocking on their doors and telling them.

I think this project turned out pretty cute. Wyatt’s Aunt Chrissy came in for the win with the milk carton, finishing up her oat milk so that we could use her container.

After making the lantern and watching a reading of Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride by Longfellow, we moved on to our artist of the month, Salvador Dali. We talked a little about surrealism, and looked at Dali’s most famous painting, The Persistence of Memory. Then we started making clay versions of the watches from the painting, which were inspired by melting cheese, of all things. Since we had to wait for the clay to dry (and we are still waiting) we just cut the circles out and moved on for now. When they are dry, Wyatt will paint them.

Next, we made a wetland! We have been talking about the importance of wetlands, swamps and marshes and mangrove swamps, and how they protect the land from flooding and also filter the water, and I thought it would be neat if we could test it out. So, using the directions from a book that I got from the library, we made a wetland out of a paint tray, sponges, and clay. However, we made the unfortunate decision to use a red soap dye to color the water… it looks a little like a crime scene, sorry.

It didn’t filter everything but it did some which was cool!

We also played a reading game but I didn’t get any pictures of that. It was a fun way to learn on a Friday!

I mentioned that Wyatt is doing awesome in physical therapy last week, and he continued working hard this week as well. His therapist was happy with the range of flexibility he is getting, but we need to keep working on strength, so that is what we focus on both at therapy at the center and at his home therapy. Our list of therapy activities for everyday is very long, and I have to be inventive sometimes to work it all in, and combine it with school when I can.

My mom is also starting physical therapy! She got her staples taken out from her cut, and she is getting a physical therapy eval today so that she can start next week. They are coming right to her apartment so that is awesome. I talked to the therapist on the phone, since I am not able to stay, and I discussed her mobility limitations, and what we are hoping for. I would like for them to focus right now on weight bearing on her right leg, and building strength, same as Wyatt. I would also like them to work on getting up off of the floor, and standing easier. I also found a few items online that I want to purchase for her to make things a little more functional for all of us. She has severe osteoarthritis in her hip, which we learned from scans she got last weekend, and that unfortunately, we can’t do much about. So we need to work with it the best that we can. Any suggestions are welcome!

And with that I am off! I hope you guys all have a great day!

Sunday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized15 Comments

Hello everyone! I think we can all agree that last week was a long week, and I hope that you are all taking care of yourselves and guarding your peace.

In the midst of all this upheaval going on around us, I had a mixed bag of a week myself. I will get the yucky over with first here, because I do have lots of good stuff to share as well. So my mom. I had just finally sighed a breath of relief that she was safe and taken care of – but, I guess I exhaled too soon. On Thursday my brother went over to visit our mom and found blood in her apartment and on her pillow. After searching for the source, and asking my mom what the heck, he discovered the source, which was a small cut on the back of her head. It was small but persistent with bleeding, so the two of us whisked her off to the ER for scans and probably a stitch. We were there only about two hours which is record time around here, and her scans came back good and they put two staples in her head. She is doing well but dang, mom! Lol.

Ok now on to the good stuff!!

It’s been a hot minute I think since I updated here like this. Since then, Wyatt has been seriously kicking butt. He has started back to therapy, and this kid is such a hard worker. It blows my mind sometimes how tough he is. At home, he is a little more… wanting me and Billy to do more for him, but now that I have seen what he is capable of, and getting the all clear from the PT, he will not be getting the kid gloves any longer.

We are also all the way back to school and that is going really well too. We were exhausted from a full week of school, two days of PT, a huge list of home therapy activities to do everyday, and then just everyday things (and some emergencies), but we managed. We also had our first Blackbirds meeting on Thursday! We had such a good time, and the kids were all so happy to be back together. We started the meeting explaining the name change from Cub Scouts to Blackbirds, as we decided to just have our own club, and talked about our new mission statement, motto, and learned the sign for Blackbirds from one of our kids. We passed out the new shirts which my MIL and I had made, and had the kids make a banner for us to hang every meeting. It was a great first meeting back. And for me, the icing on the cake was Wyatt saying “Bye Zane!” to his friend. This is huge. Wyatt doesn’t say hi or bye generally, or any names. However, since this one surprise, he has gone on to say the name of one of his cousins, little wild child, and his uncle Devin. It was an amazing moment for Billy and I.

Yesterday we had a great day of time with family. My dad came to visit and we went out for dinner, and after that I had my two little nieces over for a short time while Devin and Chrissy went out for a quick drink to celebrate Chrissy’s birthday. We had a good time with the girls. We painted nails, played with tons of toys, and played a board game all within an hour and some change.

We also did a little shopping at our city wide garage sale yesterday. One of the animal rescues in our city has a mammoth sale and we headed up there to shop their sale. Wyatt got a book, I got a book, and then I also picked up two mugs as well, because they were so cute! They were also apparently made in Spain. I love them but now I really really do need to go through my mug collection and pick some to have in the cupboard and some to put away for a minute.

And that is it from me!!

Let’s move through this week with grace and peace, for ourselves and for others. Be less quick to reply in anger, to be helpers when we can be. And take of your own self as well. As I say, try to do one thing today that makes you smile.

Bookish, Artsy, Slice of Life YouTube Channels I Love

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized14 Comments

Hello everybody!! Does anyone else like to watch YouTube? I feel like I can find anything on there. I do have favorites though, that I like to watch, especially in that calm down zone that we have with Wyatt. Usually Billy will be in the shower, and Wyatt and I watch half an hour of YouTube together. He has his favorites of our nighttime ‘Tubers as well, which I think is so cute. After that, we read a bit of his book and he goes to bed. It’s a nice way to wind down. I also like to put them on as background when I am doing things around the house as well. These YouTube people are all pretty different, from all walks of life, and different lifestyles and beliefs.

Anyway, here are some of my favorites lately! I’m also linking recent videos that I enjoyed.

First, in no particular order besides the order they were in as I scrolled through my subscriptions, is Harm’s Honey. Her full name is Harmony but I guess her shortened name people call her is Harm. I just love her vibe and style and energy, although I don’t always agree with some of the things she says or her exact views.

Next, Real Vintage Dollhouse! I love her vintage style from the 1940s, and her channel always includes detailed historical videos of different aspects of life in Britain in the 40s. I feel like her channel gave me the courage to embrace bold color lipstick! Plus, she is awesome because she rescued a pigeon! It is a crazy story, the pigeon actually came up to her at a pub and just wanted to stay with her. So she kept her. The pigeon was injured and had been kicked around at the pub and it was all very sad for a minute. But that pigeon went to the right woman!

Liv’s Library is our favorite book channel. Wyatt loves watching her and calls her the book lady, Liv. When he was in the hospital after surgery in a lot of pain, I put her channel on for him and he was able to relax a bit. I actually sent her an email thanking her for her work and told her about Wyatt and she wrote us back. She was so gracious and sincere! She also reads a lot of fantasy and cozy books, which I also like to read, which is of course why we first started watching her.

I also really like A Moment of Wonder. These are captioned, with music playing, and they are so relaxing and mesmerizing a bit. It is all book talk paired with a delicious looking food dish, usually dessert and a special drink. She acts like the viewer has just come in off the street into her bakery/cafe and they are just so atmospheric.

The Plant Based Bride is next up. I feel like her channel makes me smarter, in that it has challenged me to read my books a bit closer, and to investigate the themes and subtext and remember my Lit Minor roots from college.

We all love Alexis Dahl! This is one we watch with Billy too. Alexis shares history and science pertaining to Michigan, and it is always educational and interesting!

The Wild Pencil is a channel that doesn’t have a ton of video but the videos that are there, are quality.

With Love, Kristina is a vlogger I have shared before. I just really appreciate her honesty, and the realness of her life. It is not all an aesthetic for show and views. She is a real mom, who lives a real life, with ups and downs and struggles and happiness. She also just wrote a book, The Devil and the Midwife.

Finally, I want to mention Drew Binsky. This is another channel we watch with Billy too. Drew travels the world, reporting on “inspiring people, hidden cultures, and wild adventures in faraway places”. It is pretty fascinating!

Do you watch any of these channels? Who do you like? I would love to hear!

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized35 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Hello everyone! It was a crazy muddled up week but a good one! Wyatt and I even had a “book date” at Barnes and Noble, where we got books and treats from the cafe and hung out. He loved it, my little book boy.

Read Last Week:

It was a sad reading week for me. I had a hard time settling down with a book after Cat’s People, and I floundered around while also waiting for my library holds to come in. I ended up reading an old middle grade from the 90s by Betty Ren Wright. Still good, still scary, after all these years.

Reading This Week:

I had one book finally come in from the library, and I am waiting on one more that I am going to buddy read with Lisa at Boondock Ramblings.

I am starting Isabella Nagg today, and hopefully The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder comes in within the next few days. I am sure it will. Lisa and I are reading that one together.

Posted Last Week:

Welcome September!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with Occupations in the Title

Watching:

We have been sort of floundering around in tv land. I need to find some shows. We started Joe Pickett, and then halfway through the first season decided we weren’t all that interested in it. Now we are watching Renegade Nell, and Billy likes it but I sort of don’t. But it is only one season so I can handle watching a few episodes to make him happy. Lol.

We also watched Lisa Frankenstein last night and it was such a weird, fun movie! I loved the 80s vibes, which were immaculate. It had all the tropes of 80s movies, and the costumes and music were fantastic. It was silly and the horror/gore level was probably reminiscent of The Santa Clarita Diet or my Best Friend’s Exorcism, if you watched either of those. And there are fun little Easter Eggs throughout, from the name Frances Owen (Practical Magic) on a headstone in the opening, to Lisa exclaiming “Damn it, Janet” (Rocky Horror) to the end which is a nod to Notting Hill and also to director Zelda Williams’ father, Robin Williams.

And that is it from me today! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

My Sunday-Monday Post!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized34 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Hello everyone!! We had a very big week of very important appointments; it was rough but I also feel like we can put it all to rest for a while and move on. (hopefully!)

I had the perfect book to read during this crazy week though.

I absolutely loved this book. Definitely a five star for me. It is wholesome and heartwarming and not only did it feel like a warm hug, I wanted to hug it back. I checked it out from the library but I need my own copy. It’s a very simple story, but also so impactful. It is going to be a hard book to follow. I am still in that world and that feeling which makes moving on to another book difficult!

I have a few I am trying.

Hopefully one of these sticks!

Posted Last Week:

Top Ten Tuesday: It’s All About Kevin Bacon

Cozy Fall Reads for the Non-Spooky Readers

Saturday Afternoon Coffee Catch Up

Watching:

Not a whole lot right now. We have been watching Joe Pickett at night and that is it. However, Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are about to begin our Comfy Cozy Cinema this month and we will be busy watching movies that feel cozy, make us laugh, and around Halloween, maybe feel a little spooky, but not too spooky! Feel free to join in! We will have a linky and our first posts will go up on the 25th of September!

And that is it from me today! I will be around visiting blogs later tonight and tomorrow morning! I hope that whatever you do today you do something that makes you smile!

Saturday Afternoon Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized10 Comments

It has been a week! I am sooo ready for a break. It was a week of appointments which always makes for a long week, and coming off of a week where Billy had to work super overtime didn’t make it easier! However, I do feel as if we are finishing up “old business” and moving on in time for autumn.

One thing that finally got accomplished and finished was getting the financials all finished for my mom, and all of the proper care she needs lined up. We had a big meeting on Tuesday that was seriously three and a half hours but at the end I felt such overwhelming relief that my mom was going to be secure and taken care of the way she needs to be. I am not able to be there to do all of the things she needs help with now, and it was very distressing. My brother is not able to either, and both of us had sleepless nights agonizing over her future. I feel like a weight has been lifted and I feel more positive about my mom’s life right now. That was a huge moment.

We also had Wyatt’s follow up appointment with the surgeon this week. It was a mixed bag honestly. He said that Wyatt is doing great, and he is all clear for physical therapy, with no restrictions, which is fantastic news! Onward and upward! However, we do have to keep bracing him and using the wedge pillow until his next appointment, which is in DECEMBER! That was a blow. But, if it needs to be done, it needs to be done and we will get through it. It is certainly not the hardest thing we have done!

We also have an early morning MRI on Tuesday followed by an appointment with his neurosurgeon. He has to have his shunt checked once a year so this is just a regular routine checkup. I hate that he has to have an MRI since he goes feral in them, and it causes him such distress and he just went through a major trauma. But again, we will make it. I feel like at least we are getting everything over and done with. He usually has a freak out for X-rays too, anything he has to lay down for causes him great fear. Children’s Services at Mott has told us that this is because you are so vulnerable when you are laying down, and asked us to think of it like if someone broke into our house: is it scarier when you are awake and on your feet, or laying down in bed? And he has had so many invasive procedures that have caused him pain while laying down already. So it is tough. However, yesterday for his appointment he had no issues at all during his X-ray, and we think it is because he was holding an “emotional support book”. He just held on to that book and was fine. So maybe he can hold a book on Tuesday as well.

Once we finish up at Mott, then we have an evaluation with his physical therapist in the afternoon. It is going to be a long day but at least it will be all out of the way in one day.

There were also some fun moments thrown into the week.

Following Wyatt’s appointment yesterday, instead of heading right home we decided to hang out in Ann Arbor instead for a bit. I had always wanted to go to the Matthaei Botanical Gardens, Wyatt wanted to go for a walk somewhere, and Billy had the day off so it seemed like perfect timing. It was such a great time, and there was so much to look at. We only did part of it, but it was just what I needed after the stressful week of appointments. We spent a lot of time in the Bonsai garden, and then wandering around outside in the Children’s Garden. There was also an indoor tropical biome area and a desert biome as well, and it was a lightbulb went off in my head – we could visit these areas this year since we are doing biomes in science! I love when I find things like that to tie into our learning!

We also went school shopping with my Dad, and Wyatt picked out some new stuff, including that sweatshirt he is wearing in the photo above. My dad and I were kind of wishing they had one in our sizes. It is oversized and not too thick and seems really comfortable. I also picked up some fall decorations while I was out from the Target dollar spot, a cute mushroom canister, a squirrel, a fox, and a pumpkin. I am slowly putting out my fall stuff, but since it feels like fall out here, I am going with it. I blame my cousin. He recently took a trip out East and brought me quite a few souvenirs back, including a cute little teapot from Salem that says Witches Brew. I had to set it out immediately! It was good to see him, and hear some of the stories from his trip.

We also had a little guest the other day. I happened to glance out the window at the right time to see my neighbor’s elderly beagle just chilling on our front lawn. I turned to Billy and was like “Billy! Luna is on our lawn!” and sent him out to take her home. But she seemed perfectly content to just lay there instead, so I went out and chilled with her, petting her and enjoying her company, while Billy alerted the neighbors. I was happy that it took a little time – I love dogs and miss having one but our life with Wyatt right now doesn’t suit one. So I have to enjoy other people’s dogs, and Luna is a sweetie. She was so happy, just hanging out. I feel like she had a tiny adventure, escaping but only going as far as our house, right next door.

And that is probably enough from me today! I hope that whatever you do, you do something that makes you smile!

Our Cozy Little Life

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized15 Comments

Hello everyone! We are getting closer and closer to Wyatt’s next follow up appointment and we can’t wait. We go next Friday and we are hoping they ease up on some of his restrictions a bit. Now that he is feeling better he is restless! He won’t be able to jump right back into things, the healing from this surgery is considered a year, but it would be nice to resume a few more activities.

We got out of the house last weekend thank goodness. It was a beautiful sunny, breezy Sunday and we decided to drive to Belle Isle and take a look around since it has been a while. We stumbled upon a cricket game in progress and we thought since that is not something we see here everyday, we would stop and check it out. Wyatt and I lounged in the back of the Subaru and Billy popped open his camp chair and we just hung out for a bit watching and cheering, although we had no clue what was happening. We had so much fun, just being out and taking a slow Sunday.

Last weekend we also celebrated Mermaid Girl’s birthday in the most casual, relaxed, fun party. They came over to our house to make things easier for Wyatt, and brought the cake and ice cream. The kids played, we chatted, we had delicious vintage cherry cake, which was the name from the bakery, and just had a great night. Mermaid Girl immediately started using her gifts from us; she loves drawing and wants to be an illustrator, so we got her some more “serious” art supplies for that, as well as a set of our favorite alcohol markers and a cute coloring book just to keep it young and fun. She drew and colored most of the night, when she wasn’t hanging out with her sister and Wyatt.

The past few days have felt like fall. I know that it is not here to stay, but I am enjoying it while I can. I even posted a fall books post, the first of a few that I have planned. I want to get them posted kind of early in case people are planning their fall TBRs and are looking for seasonal books. I have somehow amassed a huge list so it made more sense to break it up into a few different lists. I am going to however have the full list of all of the books available for people if they want it, once I figure out how to share it.

Our life has been very simple and slow lately. We are restless, but I am trying to make sure that we also have some fun things “during our confinement”, even if they are small. We check out our Little Free Library, to see if anyone has used it, and get excited whenever we notice books gone or new books left behind. We have been enjoying our animals and our books and our creative projects. I bought a new table that is easier for Wyatt to use with his wheelchair and he really loves that he can just roll up to it and use it without any issues. Our old table had the table legs in the middle, it was a fold up table thing, with leaves, is this a drop leaf table? Anyway, there was only so much room for his chair, the front wheels couldn’t fit between the legs, he had to line himself up exactly, and it was just a pain. Now, it is a bit lower, it is narrower so he can reach most of the way across, and the legs are at the far corners so he can use it very easily. I can’t wait to paint that room now, even more! I am thinking October, when the weather is nicer and the paint will dry better. Then I want Billy and our friend Nathan to tackle storage in that room during mid-winter, and build a whole wall of shelves, with areas for school supplies, art supplies, books, games, and the geckos that live in that room. I might be wishing for a lot there, but you never know! Poor Billy. This is what happens when I have too much time to sit and think. I also have some summer plans for our yard percolating, including a small pond area, and… the thing I am super excited about… a tortoise enclosure! I don’t want a big tortoise, like a sulcata (although, those of you in warm climates could do it, just saying) just a smaller one. I have seen the coolest little outside homesteads for tortoises on Instagram and I just think it would be so cool. We have an old playhouse of Wyatt’s we could probably convert over… see? This is a problem! It might not happen next summer, but I am hoping it will. I am going to spend the winter learning all the different things about tortoises, and their care, especially overwintering them, if they need to brumate/hibernate, etc. It’s a big project. But I mean, just look at this. This woman has the coolest setup for this tortoise, and she also has informational reels as well. Like I said, it is something I am going to research very well and make sure that it is something that we can do and something that is humane for the tortoise as well, and that we can care for one appropriately. I am trying to convince my friend Kelly to get one too, then we can have tortoise playdates. I had happened to see that two tortoises were in rescue together, which gave me that idea. I am such a dork.

And I have probably rambled enough for one day. I will talk to you all soon, and I hope that whatever you do today, you do one thing that makes you smile! Wyatt and I are going to the library and our local fish store for a few new aquarium plants, so we will both be doing happy things today!

And just some random photos!