My Sunday-Monday Post!

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

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

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!

Short Classic Reads for Autumn Eves

Ok I am diving in to fall content because I can’t wait. It is still hot and gross and sticky here, so this is a bit of daydreaming on my part. Can’t I just set the AC super low and cover up with a blanket and have some tea and read some scary stories?

Let’s start with these short little classics of horror and mystery, to just give us a little taste of the season to come. A little autumn amuse-bouche if you will, while we wait for the real thing.

The Willows by Algernon Blackwood: Written in 1907, The Willows is described as early modern horror, and precursor to the weird fiction movement, which is something I am reading a bit of these days. This cover is absolutely chilling to me!

The Ghost Stories of M.R. James: My cousin, who I have shared books with since we were children, has told me over and over for years to read M.R. James. Maybe this is the year! And hmm, I wonder if he has this copy for his study; if not I am thinking this would be a perfect gift for Christmas.

The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins: This short story (novella?) is on my list to read this year. And this edition and cover looks gorgeous and spooky!

Autumn Chills by Agatha Christie: We need to have the Queen of Mystery on this list! I think short stories are a great way to get to know an author before diving into a whole novel, and this collection of autumnal stories is a good place to begin!

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson: I love Shirley Jackson, and this is my favorite by her. It is so good and perfect for this transition period.

Carmilla by J. Sheridan La Fanu: This book was so groundbreaking for its time. It pre-dates Dracula by twenty-six years, and the vampire is a woman. It is sometimes referred to as sapphic, but I hesitate to call it that based on a few things. However, it was a scandalous book in its day, and I feel like the focus on women and sexuality and power is one of the reasons why Dracula is more well known.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: Hands down, one of my favorites on this list. I read this in college and fell in love with this whole story. And speaking of feminism, Mary Shelley’s mom, Mary Wollstonecraft, was a pioneering feminist in literature and writing. Just throwing that out there.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: So I haven’t actually read this one. I know the story, roughly, but I should probably read it one day. I knew I had to include it on this list though!

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James: A spooky one alright. Is it a ghost story? Or something else? It is open to the reader’s interpretation. It’s been a very long time since I read this so I don’t remember too much about it. Maybe it is time for a reread.

And there we go. A little bit of fall near the end of summer, on this rainy (here at least) day.

My Sunday-Monday Post

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!! I seem to be in like a fall deep clean kind of mood lately. I have been reorganizing and straightening and getting rid of stuff like crazy around here. Maybe I am nesting, preparing for fall and winter like all the little animals outside are doing. All I know is that our art cabinet is extremely organized right now, and that somehow in my cleaning frenzy I lost one of my sandals. I can only guess that I accidentally threw it out, which makes me sad because I loved it. Lol. However, all of this has had a side effect – now I want Billy to paint our whatever room. A few years ago, we flip-flopped the rooms in our house. It’s a very small house, and we had a room we barely used, the dining room. I realized that we could have more space if we moved our couches and television into the dining room, which we now call the den, and moved all of our other stuff into the living room. So the old living room area now has our dining room table, art stuff, animals, and just leisure activity paraphernalia. But we never know what to call that space! Anyway I am so sick of that paint color and if Billy isn’t able to paint it, then I am going to. I am not a great painter but I just can’t deal with the darkness in that room anymore. Lol.

Phew! Moving on.

Read Last Week:

Last week I read Monk and Robot books 1 and 2. I was gifted this collection edition of both books from an internet friend and I loved reading them back to back. These are just such wonderful stories and I have my husband listening to them as well.

I also read Pat of Silver Bush, which now that I think of it, was another gift! I was blessed with some book mail this summer! Pat is a mixed bag for me. I loved so much of the book, but then, I didn’t like some of the other parts. Review I hope this week, but if you want a sneak peek of it, check out my Instagram. I almost always review there first. I feel like it is a good place to sort of form my thoughts. I don’t know why it makes a difference but it does for some reason. Maybe because I feel like I need to be more succinct, which inspires me to really think about what I am saying instead of just rambling like I am right this minute. Actually this whole post is sort of a ramble!

I tried reading a romance, Out of the Woods, but there was a heavy topic in there that I was not feeling up to so I put it aside.

Reading This Week:

This week I am reading another in the Campers and Criminals series, Hitches, Hideouts and Homicide. I seem to have developed an addiction to these books. I also am reading The Convenience Store by the Sea, which sounds so good.

Posted Last Week:

Our Cozy Little Life

10 Books of Summer Update

Watching:

Last week Billy and I watched Nautilus. It is not the greatest, in terms of production, but it somehow makes it feel more camp. Like we are watching a sci-fi show from the 50s or 60s, sort of over the top and silly, but despite that, we really like it. Or maybe that is why we like it! I feel like mid-season it really started to gel a bit more and get a bit better, and I love the set of the interiors. It just looks so cool, like old school nautical mixed with Victorian era . I also really like how this series does not shy away from the horrors of colonialism, and denounces it, with many characters in the show being survivors of what they call “the Company”. It makes for a very diverse cast and shines a light on some of these historical events that perhaps today’s students don’t know about. I also really like the main female character, Humility, and her enthusiasm and talent for engineering and science. It had a lot going on at first, but it all started to settle in together nicely. We have one episode left that we are going to try to watch tonight, but we also are watching K-Pop Demon Hunters today, so it might be tomorrow instead.

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

My Sunday-Monday Post

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 pretty good week around here. I have been catching up on a lot of projects and work that I haven’t had time for, and it feels good to get those things done. We also had the grand opening for Wyatt’s Little Free Library last Sunday! He was so excited and proud!

As far as reading goes, I started Pat of Silver Bush and it was slow going at first to get into it. I had a hard time with reading Judy Plum’s dialect and it was just distracting me and I would read about two pages and put the book down. I finally was able to settle down with it yesterday and now I am on a roll. I love how Pat is such a little homebody.

I will be continuing to read this, and when I finish I have this one all lined up.

This wasn’t on my August TBR but I found it while at the library and I thought the cover looked so happy I had to pick it up.

Posted Recently:

Top Ten Tuesday: Beachy Reads

Mini Reviews: Chlorine and Seacrow Island

Hello August!

Thursday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Watching:

Billy and I finished up Season 3 of Dark Winds and it was amazing. That show is so well done. I already can’t wait until Season 4. We also watched Death Valley, which I really enjoyed, and we just started watching Nautilus. Nautilus is like the perfect amount of cheese and action. It reminds us both of Firefly for some reason.

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

Thursday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Hello everyone!! I am feeling pretty good this morning – I had an actual whole night of sleep and it was amazing. I feel ready to take on the world! Or maybe just my patch of the world. That works too.

We are still at home, and going a bit stir crazy. Wyatt is feeling pretty much back to normal but still has all of the restrictions, which is a difficult pairing. But we are managing. He has really only felt this good beginning this week, and I am so happy that we have gotten to this stage. I just need to shift gears now a bit and figure out this new conundrum. We will get it though. We are through the worst of it now, thank goodness.

His recovery timed nicely with the completion of his Little Free Library! We had the grand opening on Sunday, and Wyatt was so happy and proud of it. We had goodie bags for the kids who came, and my dad came and brought balloons.

Our first visitors were two of my nieces, Mermaid Girl and Little Bit! They promptly plopped down on the lawn and got busy with their goodie bags, and flipped through books. Then we had some friends stop by with their children, and our little neighbor girl has been flitting back and forth to it all week. I need to find a way to keep the inventory “fresh” for the kids who come a lot, like the neighbor girl. Wyatt even got a super cute card from some friends down the street.

It was a really good day!

I joined a Little Free Library group on Facebook, and posted about our new library, and asked for suggestions on how to keep the momentum going, and they were all so welcoming and had great ideas. Just what I would expect from people who love books! One person suggested that I get a map and have Wyatt mark on the map where everyone who responded to my post has charters, or show him how to use the LFL map, which I didn’t even think about doing. Other suggestions were to post on the NextDoor App, in our city’s Buy Nothing group, and to start a FB page just for his library. So I guess I will be doing all of that pretty soon.

Right now though, I am busy planning the school year, or at least up to December. I need organization to stay on track with life, so I have been working very hard this week on plans. I have a good chunk finished and I am pretty excited about how our fall is shaping up. We do have two days of physical therapy that we will be working around as well, as part of Wyatt’s recovery. I am leaving those days light for now.

And because I am who I am, and don’t have enough projects in my life, we made a big change with Cub Scouts. We ended up deciding as a group to continue meeting and doing all of our fun stuff and community work, basically stay the same as what we were doing, but without the umbrella of Cub Scouts. So we are now starting from scratch, sort of. I am going to register our group as a nonprofit organization with the state, and get a name and motto and oath and all that together, so that the kids can still have the bond of an organization, and then also design some ranks and badges. I have a few ideas percolating..

And then in the midst of all this, my long suffering husband turned 50!! I am unsure how he is 50, it feels like we are still the teenagers we were when we started dating. We didn’t do much to celebrate this week, but we are hoping to go out together this weekend. We are just now feeling comfortable leaving Wyatt with a grandparent for an hour or two without us. It will be nice to go out together, even for a short time. I am thinking a hike and a drink somewhere might be fun.

And I feel like I have prattled on long enough this morning! I hope that whatever you all do today, that you do something that makes you smile!

Hello August!

Hello August!

July was a rough ride – I am hoping that August will be a better month. Wyatt is doing better everyday now, and is back to his normal self, at least every way but physically. We go for his next recheck at the end of the month. The last recheck went very well so I am hopeful the next one will be even better.

The weather so far this August, that one whole full day that we had, was cool and wonderful. No humidity, lower temps. I could tell that autumn is hiding around the corner waiting its turn, with cool breezes allowing me to open the windows most of the day. This morning it was actually cold when I stepped outside, and I did a little dance in the doorway. I would much rather be cold than hot. I am hoping to get outside and enjoy some cold temps this evening, with a cup of tea outside. I love to sit outside at night alone, just listening to the quiet, with the occasional train whistle or boat horn making themselves known.

We had a girls night at my friend Kelly’s the other night and the weather was the same, reminding me of northern Michigan, and nights near a fire, lakeside. It has been way too long since my family has done that and we need to fix that next year. I may not be a daytime beach person, but I am definitely a nighttime beach person.

I was so relaxed at Kelly’s. I would lean back and stare at the sky, listening to my friends talking, feeling calm and safe, their laughter wrapping itself around me. We also spent time fawning over Kelly’s newest addition, Simon. Simon is a sweet little fellow with the most beautiful green eyes. He just showed up one day two weeks ago, hungry and looking for a safe place to land. A few years ago I named Kelly’s house Belle Refuge, a place of beautiful refuge, for she takes in all strays and nurtures them and loves them. Simon is the newest to the bunch, and he recently was neutered and given all of his shots, courtesy of Kelly. Now he comes and goes, living life on her sofas inside and out, and we got to meet him finally last night. He was unprepared for a gaggle of cat lovers as we all vied for his attention. I felt chosen because I got a little cat chirp out of him as he came towards my outstretched hand. He is sweet and adorable and a polydactyl with big old paws. He was definitely soaking up all of the attention.

I am not planning much for August. I want it to play out as it will for the most part. I do have some things on tap though, like Wyatt’s Grand Opening for his Little Free Library, and Billy’s summer work party, Billy’s 50th birthday on Monday, and Mermaid Girl’s 10th birthday later this month.

Usually August we spend soaking up the last of summer, but this year it feels as if we are just starting summer as we enjoy the last of it. We have some of the best of summer ahead of us – and Rebecca over at The Farm Wife Reads has gotten me me very excited to eat more of summer’s bounty. Tomatoes and zucchini, cucumbers, corn, peaches, blueberries, cantaloupe, and of course watermelon. I could eat all the watermelon and cantaloupe, I just love it. I don’t have a garden this year, so I will have to head out to some local farmer’s markets and farm stands to stock up. Isn’t this the time of year for summer sweet corn?

So we are planning on taking it easy this month. Seeing friends, having some backyard dinners on the deck, getting back to the library, taking walks, going on drives and car picnics. Sunsets, iced matcha lattes, daydreaming, reading. It’ll be a nice way to end this crazy summer.

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

Friday Morning/Afternoon Coffee Catch Up

Hello everyone! I have already had at least two cups of coffee, and taken a journey to the hospital with Wyatt and am back home again. We had an early morning appointment today for his surgery follow up. We had to get up at 6 am, but it was worth it because it was a good appointment!

Traffic was awful so we got there right at his appointment time – not ideal. I called from valet parking to say that we were there and on our way up – I was so afraid they would cancel our appointment! We made it up only a few minutes after his appointment time and they sent us right to X-Ray. From there, we went to the appointment with his surgeon. I really like his surgeon, he is very soft spoken. I also think he is very amused by my jokester son, and slightly amused by my hovering, worried momness. He looked at the x-rays, he looked at Wyatt’s legs and incisions, and gave us great news. Wyatt can stop wearing the braces and wedge pillow during the day! He now only has to wear it at night, and he can also use his regular wheelchair. He no longer needs to keep his legs straight out all day long. What a relief! Billy and I walked out of there feeling so much better about things! Wyatt’s braces were causing superficial sores on the backs of his legs, so I am so happy that we can take those things off for a while. Wyatt is currently sitting happily in his chair, watching tv. His job is still to spend the next month healing, and then we go back to see the doctor again. Then hopefully we get the clearance for PT.

That is my most important and best news, obviously. We also stopped at the gift store so Wyatt could get a sticker to add to his water bottle, which he was very excited about.

In other news, we are getting closer to Wyatt’s little free library getting done. All we have left is to put shingles on it, and plant it! I am thinking about having a little Grand Opening, and leave gift bags inside as Book Worm Starter Kits for kids. The only thing is, what should I put in there? Bookmarks for sure, gummy worms, what else? I am not at top form over here, and I am having a hard time coming up with ideas! I need a little help. Lol.

We are still reading a lot over here. I have been reading my books, and of course, going through stacks of books with Wyatt as well. I can’t just have him watch tv all day, even if he wanted to. And some days I think he would be happy with that. Lol. The first week I definitely let him, but as he started to feel better, we broke it up with activities and reading. Wyatt has been so blessed with people who have sent him gifts to keep him occupied, as well as videos to cheer him up, and all sorts of well wishes! Billy and I were also overwhelmed with gratitude about all the help we have received as well. Everyone has been so kind to our family, and we are so thankful.

I don’t really have too much to add, so I am going to just share some photos I have taken, and say goodbye for now. Thanks again everyone for all of your kind words and well wishes and gifts and videos! I hope that whatever you do today, that you do something that makes you smile!

Thursday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Hello everyone! We need all the coffee over here these days. It’s been a learning experience and a challenge for a bit, but we might be sort of settling down. Hopefully. Fingers crossed and all the prayers at least.

It’s been one week since Wyatt’s surgery, and the first couple of days, as expected, were the most difficult. He is doing better; things are still tough but he is more himself the past few days. Coloring, drawing, smiling and laughing. I can’t tell you how much I missed seeing his smile and hearing his laugh! Right now he is drawing and laughing and singing loud and I love it. His energy level, again as expected, is much lower than normal but it is good to see him regaining bits of himself.

We have been so blessed for such supportive friends and family, who have really been amazing, sending things to help Wyatt, to keep him busy, to make him smile. They have also sent food and well wishes, and Billy and I feel so overwhelmed and grateful by the kindness we have been shown. These gestures have made a hard time easier. We have also gotten so many messages of support and prayer for which I am also grateful. I am so appreciative of the love people are showing my kiddo. He still has a long way to go, and it is helpful to know that so many people love him, care about him, and are pulling for him. Thank you everyone for all of your gestures and messages of support. They mean a lot.

In the down times, I have been working on a new embroidery project, listening to audiobooks, and reading. I have learned I can only read books that are pretty fluffy, not too complex, are entertaining, and quick – and I am making my way through the Campers and Criminals series by Tonya Kappes. I think I have read three since the surgery now? I am heading to the library to return the ones I have and to pick up my new holds today. I also have been reading Nightmare of a Trip.

My new embroidery project is cute too! I am working on it super slowly, but I have two more from the same creator so if I do finish it before the month is up, I have some waiting in the wings.

We had a few really good days too, before surgery that I wasn’t able to share. The best being working on Wyatt’s little free library! We decided we are going to name it Wyatt’s Sunshine Little Free Library, and it is going to be painted blue and yellow. We did start painting it – well, Wyatt and my dad started primering it the day before surgery. My dad was a house painter when I was little and he was going to college, and he takes it super seriously. I loved him passing on his skills to Wyatt, who did a great job. He even got the thumbs up from my dad, which is tough! Then when Billy got home from work, Wyatt and Billy painted the door. We are hoping to finish it up in the next week or two as Wyatt begins to feel better.

I am really excited to set it up. It is huge, Billy being Billy made an enormous version, and it will have space for kids books on the bottom, where Wyatt can reach, adult books on the top, and in the middle, space for whatever else I feel like making it that week. Rocks, seeds, mugs – I am getting excited and Wyatt is too.

Something else we have been doing – ordering odd and strange things. So far we have ordered Oxy-Clean washing machine cleaner, an At-At walker fish tank decoration, and a floating betta hide. Our little menagerie has been so soothing for all of us and I guess I wanted to decorate something.

Billy also bought a water filtration system and installed it yesterday, but that wasn’t an odd purchase but unfortunately a necessary one, as it is has come out that our city’s water is crap, and “poses an immediate health risk.” Our city has its own water and electricity, and while I still love that we produce our own power the water situation is scary. The city is telling us that it is fine, but I am opting for safety instead of blind faith here. So Billy put the filtration system in, and now we feel a little better. If the city is right and it is fine, its still no harm done in having one.

And I feel like I am rambling sort of assorted and random things, so I am cutting this off here. I probably need more coffee. Have a good one everyone!