Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Catching Up



If you watched the slide show above, and moved your cursor onto the pictures, you can get the gist of what's been going on around here. As you read in a previous post, Dean and I had gone to the club for the AFC Division Championship game, which the Steelers won and that put them in the Super Bowl. So, we decided to not mess with the Karma and went to the club again for the Super Bowl Party! Must have worked, cause our Steelers are the Super Bowl Champs!

Then, on February 10th, my sister came to town to be here when her friend had open heart surgery. A week later, I took my sister to the ER and she was admitted! 2 days later she had surgery for a bowel obstruction! She was sick for a long time. She was in the hospital for a month! Her friend's surgery was postponed because she had gotten a cold. The friend got the cold, not my sister. So, they finally figured things out for my sister, she was discharged right in time to go be with her friend on the day of her surgery. Things happen for reasons we always say. On April 9th, my sister went home to Arkansas. She wound up in the hospital 3 times I think as of this writing, and finally they figured out that her crazy drugs were not the right drugs and were making her more crazy instead of better! So, that's figured out and she says she is gaining weight and she sounds like her old self again when I talk to her on the phone!


During that time I got laid off from work. I was shocked. But everything happens for reasons, and I know the reason was so that I could take care of my sister.

More on that later. For Valentine's Day, Dean and I went out to dinner and to see the Gunslingers play. We always have such a good time when we go see them. A great bunch of guys and their wives/girlfriends are just as great. Then was the annual trek to Doodles' house for the Daytona 500 Party. It's a great way to kick off racing season. No snow this year, though. The last few years, we had tons. And going to Doodles' in the snow is something else cause he lives in the sticks!

On February 26th, we got a baby girl! Sara delivered Alea Ann on that cold morningand she weighed in at 7 lbs., 3 oz.! She has dark straight hair, and brown eyes and is just beautiful!

On March 9th, I got laid off from work. I am still unemployed. Business must be really slow. I know my boss felt really bad that she had to do it. After I got my sister squared away, I used my time off from work to deep clean my house. Washing all my knick knacks, crystal, cleaning cupboards and closets. Then a friend asked if I wanted to assist her mom a few days a week. Her mom is elderly and doesn't get around too well. So, I would be doing chores around her house and taking her to dr. appointments, shopping, and stuff like that. It's great money and it's under the table. The bad part? She cancels alot, so you can't always count on that extra money. Then another friend asked me if I wanted to help her sister clean some houses in Peters. Her partner had a mastectomy and would not be able to work for a few weeks. So, I did that for a while. Her friend came back to work, and I was out. So friend #1 asked me if I wanted to clean her house once a week every week. Absolutely! She never cancels and she has a beautiful home that now that I gave it some initial tough cleaning, isn't hard to maintain. Gotta love her! Her mom has gotten to the point where she knows she can trust me and likes my company, so she doesn't cancel so much anymore. It is very cool!

Nick had moved in with his buddy Josh in the middle of January. He went to the hospital with me to see his Aunt Dar a few times. And came over when she was here and not in the hospital. He came for Easter dinner and it was a nice quiet day. Just him, Dean and I.

Since Easter, Dean and I went to dinner for Mother's Day,got the camper ready for the season and took it out for the first time on Memorial Day weekend to the racetrack. We got the gardens ready for the plants. Finally had nice enough weather with no chance for frost and went plant shopping and put all that in. I went another time and got the other things for the side of the house. I got perennials and put those in. They will come back every year, so, I don't have to do all that planting every year! I painted our utility boxes in the yard and the gas meter and it all looks sooooo nice! I'll get the pics uploaded asap. Dean wound up in the hospital after a bad sleep apnia episode. He woke up trying to catch his breath and couldn't. He has had a sleep study about 3 years ago, but he wasn't able to tolerate the mask you need to sleep with for the CPAP machine because of his clausterphobia. So, he needs to try it again. New sleep study on July 31st.

And the Penguins won the Stanley Cup! How Cool is that? Now, if they could do something about those Pirates..............

We had Jordan and Alea for the weekend a couple of weeks ago. It was great. Pap took Jordan to the races. Alea and I stayed home. Two weeks later, Mikey came over. Sara doesn't like us to call him Mikey. His name is Henry. Jordan couldn't say Henry at first, so it came out Wee Wee. So they all call him that. He is named Henry after his dad. The mikey was for His middle name Michael which is also Dean's middle name. While he was here for the weekend, I started calling him Bubba. I don't know why, it just happened. So, he's my little bubba.

This weekend, we go to the big race in Butler. Lernerville Speedway in Sarver. 4 days, 3 nites for $40 + race tickets. Can't beat it! Of course, we do take our accommodations. the $40 is for the camping spot!

So, now you are caught up. I will get the pics of the kids' weekends asap. Probably sometime next week. I will not be so lax on my posting now that I have some sort of routine again. Life was crazy there for a while. I know you blog readers wait with baited breath to see what my latest adventures are!!! LOL people. LOL!!!!