Mid February

 

Kevin and I finished another 1000 piece puzzle. I do like puzzles now, very much. The kids are old enough that they don't walk if with pieces, which is a great blessing.

Last blog post I spoke of a winter storm. We got well over a foot one day, and then a week later, we got four more inches. It was below freezing for several weeks, and we had a lot of snow. It was beautiful in a chilly way.

This last week the temps finally, reluctantly, popped up past freezing, and a couple of days it was 50 something. So the snow began melting with enthusiasm.

This morning I took a picture of a cat visitor. The kids saw him a few months ago and named him Deck Chair because he was, at the time, sitting on a deck chair.

You can see how most of the snow has melted.

This coming week is going to be really warm and nice. I adore the first warm days of the year because there are no bugs and everything feels fresh and new.

I didn't blog for more than two weeks so a lot has happened. We did launch a book and Amazon DID send out messages about it to our followers, and the book has done substantially better than the last two books. That makes us happy. It has been wobbling in and out of best seller status in Romantic Adaptations. At the moment it is a best seller in that catagory and one other, which means we have an orange banner on the book. Amazon pushes books that are doing well so that helps.

I am 50,000 plus words into another book. It is farther off of "canon" -- which is to say, farther from the original P and P. I have a long way to go. It will be long.

An older relation of mine got sick in the last couple of weeks. She is recovering. I am thankful for good medical care.

That's about it. We have kids coming and going with work. Lydia has a friend visiting from the West Coast starting at the end of next week. It is good.

Winter Storm

 The weather people were so excited last week!

They said we were going to get a HUGE snowstorm, and then it was going to be really cold after that.

Now often the Weather People are wrong in one way or another, but this time they were so very right.

We got over 12 inches of snow on Saturday and Sunday! That is an incredible amount of snow for Southern Ohio.

From inside our barn.

Kevin toiling away.

You can see how very cold it has been now! Brrr.

Our back deck is incredibly full of snow!

Kevin made snow ice cream which made people really happy.

Isaac has moved out!

 Yesterday, Isaac did indeed move out. He and Joseph and Kevin saddled up (in two cars) and drove away with his stuff packed in the minivan and Isaac's car. He doesn't have a lot of stuff.

The apartment is about 45 minutes from us. Isaac will be stopping by here after church to collect a few things that he needs, so we will see him today :-).

It does feel very weird not having him here. It makes me a little meloncholy, along with making me happy because he is a young adult and he has launched.

I am excited about organizing the boys' bedroom now. Yesterday I realized that there were a great many clothes that none of the boys were wearing. It happens -- they just shove stuff into dressers and think, oh, that must be someone else's shirt. So I am organizing and decluttering.

Rose was happy to hear I wasn't messing with the room she shares with Sarah. I came across this yesterday and was amused. Like why are there stuffed cats on books? Part of some game, no doubt!

 

Kevin and I finished a puzzle yesterday. It was pretty brutal with a lot of sky and a lot of sand. We are proud!

Well, that's about it. I am unfortunately still not hearing clearly out of my right ear but it has improved. If it still isn't clear next week I may go to the doctor. I think it is just the remnants of my cold.

Wah! I am sick!

 Just a cold, but my right ear is plugged and I cannot hear well. And I am tired.

It isn't a huge deal. My breathing is great, anyway!

Kevin and I are trying to finish up a book this week.

Also, Isaac is moving out in the next week or so.

Lots going on!

Gang was all here

 We had our New Year's Feast today.

Angela had to work New Year's Day which is why we waited until today.

Kevin prepared almost all the food.

It  was fun and tasty.

 

End of December

 Tomorrow is the last day of the year, and then on to 2026!

We have had a very pleasant Christmas season. Mostly.

The one real disappointment is that Joseph got laid off yesterday. Like, what???

He only worked for three months so it was a shock.

But...

He was hired on with two other people, and both those people disappeared a week ago, and Joseph was laid off yesterday so we think likely the company in question needed extra people for the holiday season and are now getting rid of them. The company is one that sells stuff so looking back, we think they took on extra people for the holiday rush.

That is just a guess, of course, but seems a reasonable one. He never got any negative feedback before they let him go.

Anyway, he is back to job hunting. By the grace of God, his rental application had not been accepted yet for an apartment so the plan now is for him to live at home until he gets another job.

Such is life!

But yes, everything else these last weeks have been really nice. I took a break from school, and the children and I both enjoyed it.

We enjoyed celebrating the birth of Christ and the birth of two children. Our last birthday of the year is tomorrow, also known as the last day of the year :-).

I finished a puzzle that was really hard. I am proud of myself. It had a lot of green on it and the pieces were all the same shape. Not the same size, but the same shape. The green pieces at the end were frustrating.

Kevin bought me at least 10 new puzzles and I am working on one now that should be far easier because the puzzle pieces have a variety of shapes.

So yes, life is good, and also disappointing at times, but that is Ok.

Isaac still plans to move out next month.

Happy Feet and Birthdays and Christmas

 First, feet!!

I have been having problems with my left foot for about a month now. I had quite a bit of pain on the top. My nurse practicioner suggested that I see a podiatrist, and I did last Thursday. They did some x-rays to rule out any obvious skeletal problems and then did a test to make sure I didn't have neuropathy.  And I passed that with flying colors. No signs of neuropathy!

I have been diabetic for 20 years so I am very thankful for that. I assure you that it did not just happen. I have been eating carefully for decades now. It is nice that saying no to excessive carbs has actually resulted in something good.

The podiatrist messed with my left foot and then gave me a pad thing to put in a certain place on my foot (it fits around my foot) and basically the pain has gone away. I am grateful!

We have started Birthday Season for kids. We have three within a week of Christmas. We are mostly ready with presents. Mostly.

This morning, Kevin and I led singing at church. We did four Christmas songs. Kevin had to learn them all in less than two days so yeah Kevin!

I have five chapters to go on my current book. I will probably have it done by the New Year. We have a lot going on with celebrations so I likely won't make as much progress as usual with writing this week and next.

We will be having a wet and warm Christmas. It is supposed to rain and be in the 50's. We have already had a lot of snow for Ohio in December so I am not too sad about a warmer Christmas. It will make driving easier.

Merry Christmas to you all!