Day Two; Fighting the Beast

It was a beautiful reunion last evening, Joell ran to greet Grandpa Dan, and Grandpa was blown away; his grandson is almost as tall as he is! The young man is pure muscle, love, and gigantic heart. We’ll visit again later, and I must have photos of all of us. We are so blessed. Silly I didn’t think of photos last night, was too busy enjoying the evening.

As I looked at Joell and Gavin pal-ing around last night while Addison was at Dance, it did my heart good. Joell was patient with him, a “little” kid. It appeared Gavin thought his cousin is cool. Joell and Addison are the same age, (6 months apart), 14. Gavin is super smart and gets a little carried away, as little boys do sometimes. That’s what family does. I’m so lucky to have the step-kids I do. Love them and their spouses just like my own. The Babe is proud!

Sneezing fits, Mucinex, lots of fluids, and doubt are all fighting in my brain this morning. Itchy eyes, drainage, all the junk is happening, and I’m just about officially done with the whole mess. With a lot of free time on the calendar (sort of), I should be working on some stuff. I’m at my limit today. Rest will win out. Can I share something with you?

If you know anyone who has a chronic illness, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, arthritis, etc., know I am grateful to get just a cold or an allergy flare up. It will go away. The other stuff won’t. Yes, I’m grateful for that sort of thing. Somedays that’s all you’ve got in the world of chronic conditions. Your friend or family member may feel the same about their days. The thing that’s hard is the mind fog that goes with all of the above. It will clear, but doggone it! We’ve got stuff to create!

My apologies for being brief today. I need to take some allergy stuff and have a nap before we meet up with family for dinner. Take care and have a beautiful day. See you tomorrow!

Today, I Give You . . . Allergies!

I cannot believe the mess of cotton from the Cottonwood tree in the Wetland behind our house. Last year, more big clumps were on the tree. I don’t remember it looking like snow! The asthma has kicked in but not badly. More like just very tired. Wanting to sneeze, but nothing is there. Did you ever start to sneeze, your mouth opens, you grimace, then nothing. You kind of feel like a dork, and there you are. Looking like a dork, not sneezing. Note to self; take the rest of your allergy meds. OK?

We’re going to an outdoor concert tonight, Ken Sitler opens for Jimmy Weber. They did the same two years ago, pre-pandemic. It should be a great show, and we look forward to havng some of the world’s best gelato afterwards. No worry, I already did my 71 squats and 22 wall/doorway pushups. I’m down! 71 sink squats are more than 50, which were pretty easy. These are harder. But remembering our Veterans and helping those with PTSD is worth the temporary inconvenience. Join me, and think abour our veterans while you do these squats and push ups.

Sorry folks, that’s about it for today. These allergies kind of kicked me! I had a nap already, and it’s not getting better with itchy eyes. Hopefully see you at the concert tonight! And of course, see you tomorrow!

Wednesday’s News and Thoughts

All over the news the past two days were a 6-year-old girl and her mom, with a video (Mom took) of a shark coming up to the little girl just feet away from the sandy shore. Mom filmed the whole time without intervening. I get it happened quickly, and Mom maybe didn’t have time to grab her girl. (See? I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt.) It’s hard for the Mom in me to fathom not grabbing the girl first. Things could have turned out differently for that family. But by the grace of God go I. I never thought my son would drown, but he did. Revived (several times), he is perfectly normal. Thank God. But by the grace of God go you, too.

In Nebraska, there is a new license plate to raise awareness about childhood drownings. This is not something you every want to witness or survive in your lifetime, believe me. Even though we were lucky that 1. He survived. And 2. He escaped brain damage. The time he was without oxygen (our estimate) was long enough he could have had brain damage. Somehow, the water must have been cold enough (it was a chilly day), his systems slowed because of the temperature. It is by the grace of God we get to celebrate his 50th birthday this year. Yes, I think about this whenever there is a report about this topic. I’ve dealt with the PTSD (undiagnosed) that followed. The mere smell of wet sand or suntan lotion could drop me to my knees in tears. All my doctor (I was pregnant) could tell me was I had to not think about it. I always knew it was more than just get over it. My then-husband said the same. God’s been good to me, and I’ll never forget it. But now I can manage. I can talk about it without crying. The emotions are still there, but don’t trigger the tears, the shakes, the gut-wrenching stomach spasms.

It’s hard not to judge people (parents) whose kids have terrible accidents. I’ve been there. Because of the news coverage my son’s drowning had, a cousin told me if she hadn’t known me, she would have thought I was a terrible parent. She knew better. I try to stop myself from judging. We all have to realize it could be us. Pray for them instead. Never let the words, “my kid would never . . . ” pass your lips. Kids will do whatever they think they can get away with. Even good kids. Part of being a kid is learning to make better choices. Hopefully, you get another chance to. Some poor decisions result in death. Teenagers need to understand this when they drive.

Is anyone else having a bad allergy day in Nebraska? It’s half cloudy and breezy. My right eye feels like it’s on fire, and allergy meds haven’t helped yet. Next step, eyedrops. Hard to do with mascara already applied. Well, that helped little. Trying Mango Tea next. Already took meds. Bear with me! I’m aware a lot of you suffer as well.

I think I’ll take it easy the rest of the day. The symptoms are all better now, and I hope they stay that way. It’s supposed to rain later that should help all the allergy sufferers. Off to drink lots of liquids and rest. Have a beautiful afternoon. And take your Zyrtec! You’ll feel better.

Thank you for reading today. I appreciate you spending the time. We’ll meet again tomorrow. And we’ll all feel better. Be Kind. Be Generous. Help a sister out. And treat others how you’d like to be treated. It’s hard, but you’ll feel better for it. Until tomorrow, be happy as these folks are. “Achoo!”