Just a Quick Post Before Bed

 It's getting late but I wanted to get on here to say hi. We've been working on some projects today that I'll post about later, once they're completely done.

 

Beth and I have gotten into the habit of going grocery shopping after work on Thursdays. We each grab a cart and head our separate ways. When we're done, we go to our meeting spot and wait. There's a Starbucks in our grocery store so we'll stand at the back of it and wait for each other. I was surprised she beat me this week!

 

 We check out then head to the car. I turned around and noticed she wasn't behind me! She came out a few seconds later - she only had one bag so decided to put her cart away and just carry her bag out. Good idea! Then it was home to put away the groceries.

 

Well, I am headed to bed. It seems the older I get the earlier I go to bed and the earlier I wake up! I hope you have a blessed day!

Tea, Chocolate and A Good Night's Sleep

 Reasons to be thankful:

A fun Christmas party at work

Christmas bonuses

Going to Tea with Allie

Getting the day after Christmas off from work

Diana arrives on Saturday!!

Shopping at the mall and it wasn't very crowded

Finding a great parking spot

Sleeping for 11 hours!

The Polar Express

Taking a day to just sit on the couch and watch TV

It's almost Winter Solstice!

Chocolate Truffles

I'm linking up with Rebecca Jo at Knit By God's Hand for Thankful Thursday

What are you thankful for today?

Workin' Hard

We had VBA last week so for my department that meant moving dozens of tables and hundreds of chairs and setting up all the class rooms.

Beth came to work on Thursday and helped set up 3 classrooms on the third floor.

I took these during the week and Allie wanted to be in them!
She's such a great model!

 When we got home we sat at the kitchen table for a few minutes when all of the sudden...

After about 5 minutes she woke up and quickly headed to the living room. I thought she was going downstairs and when I got up from the table I saw this:

She was absolutely zonked! She slept for about 30 minutes then it was like she jumped up and came back out to the table. "I was sleepeen." 

Yes you were!

Have you ever worked on a project that left you absolutely exhausted?

What Beth Has Been Up To

I snapped this picture of Beth and Allie when we were driving home from the airport after our trip to San Diego.

 

We went to the mall the other day and did some shopping at JC Penney. I parked in the parking garage like usual and then realized we had to go up stairs to get socks and other things she needed.

After we had everything, I suggested she look for a new shirt. She rarely buys clothes, usually only when I encourage her to buy something. So we headed back down the escalator and looked and looked for her size, only to find out they were back upstairs! :) 

  
She's drawn to bright colors and found a really cute shirt that she wanted to try on. We were so excited when it fit her around the waist and in the shoulders! (I find most of the shirts she tries on are too tight at her waist or really baggy up top.) But this was just right! I guess I should have taken a picture of her in it! She's worn it a couple times already, I'll try to get one next time.

After we bought everything, it was back downstairs to the car!

I was walking through the foyer last Tuesday evening and spotted her sitting in a chair.

Sound asleep!! She's been sleeping a lot: if we're in the car for just a few minutes, when we're in the waiting room at the doctor's office... I know she hasn't been using her CPAP machine a lot so I had her watch a video on 'how to gain confidence' when using it. We went on line and looked at her results. I showed her how many hours a night she wore it, how many times she took the mask off and on during the night, they keep track of all that for you.

  

She did really well the night after we watched the video but is struggling again to wear it more than a couple hours each night. Thankfully we see the sleep doctor on Monday. 

So what have you been up to lately?

CPAP Update

The first night she had it I went downstairs to put water in the machine and she already had her mask on! I was surprised she didn't need help with all the straps and stuff but she had it on.

We bought some distilled water and I brought her down a small cup so she can pour water in it when the jug is too full.

The doctor told us she might have some issues for a few days and if she only wore it a couple of hours a night at first, it would be fine. But the second night she had it, I was crawling into bed when I remembered so I went downstairs to help her but she already had the mask on and was sound asleep!

A couple nights ago Chuck and I were laying in bed talking and we heard this sound. He said, "Is that Beth?" Sure enough, she was snoring SO loud! I headed downstairs and realized she had the mask on but forgot to attach the hose! I woke up her and she groggely said, "Ooops." I helped her attach it and she was out like a light!

She's worn it every night, put water in it without reminders and is sleeping with it all night. She's been so responsible!

  
On our road trip, Beth didn't have her machine yet and Chuck didn't bring his (there's just so much to it, and you have to use distilled water...) and I remember laying there wide awake some nights just listening to the two of them snore like freight trains! Oh my word it was loud! 

But now, our house is so quiet! You know, I just now realized I've been sleeping really well lately and I bet that's why!

I hope you all sleep well tonight too!
 

Is There A Bird In The House?!

A few weeks ago I heard a strange sound coming from downstairs. It almost sounded like a bird chirping. It was a high-pitched, short, squeak or a chirp kind of sound.

I went down to see what it was and saw Beth in bed and she would make this sound when she was inhaling. I watched her for a few seconds when all of the sudden she gasped for air, took a couple deep breaths and then fell asleep again. Although I don't think she was ever actually awake.

I called the doctor and scheduled a sleep study. I decided to do the at-home study because I wasn't sure how she would do in a 'sleep lab'. The doctor in our local doctor's office didn't have anymore kits so we had to drive up to Everett (about 15 minutes away) to get it and the assistant showed us how to use it.

I'm so glad there were pictures because I didn't remember everything she said! 

We came home and finally around midnight I told Beth it was time for her to go to bed. She usually stays up as late as she wants but I was tired and wanted to go to bed! We got the actual monitor hooked onto her chest, then attached the oxygen monitor on her finger and she put on the cannula. When she first got into bed, she laid kind of awkward and I told her she just needed to sleep the way she normally did. 

After a few adjustments, she was good to go. Then I went to bed and slept hard! Around 7:30 I went down to unhook everything. She said she got up in the middle of night to use the bathroom and she did good but it was hard with her pants "cause of this" and she shook her finger.

 I returned the kit that morning and now we just wait to hear from the doctor. I expect she'll need a CPAP machine, but we'll see.

Thirty Eight

Our church held a week of prayer and fasting this week. It began Monday and ended this morning. Chuck fasted food for the week but I didn't know what I was going to fast until Monday morning. I had the day off and was walking to the computer when I felt impressed that I was to fast the internet.

No blogging, no facebook, no pinterest, no ancestery.com. For a week! I didn't realize just how many hours I spent on the internet each week.... until I stopped. It's been rather eye opening.

Last night our church ended the week with an all night prayer meeting. It began at 9 PM and ended at 6:00 this morning. We'd pray for an hour, then take a 30 minute break. They served juice, coffee, tea and water in the Commons (our gym), then it was back to the Sanctuary for prayer. At 6:00 we had breakfast, then headed home.

Most Saturdays are quiet for us, but today -
Chuck's Bible study at 9AM
Beth's choir rehearsal at 10:00
Bible study ended at 11:00
Chuck's doctor appt at 11:30
Choir rehearsal ended at 12:00


As long as I stayed busy today I was fine. But the minute I sat down, to eat or watch TV or get on the internet, I'd start to doze off. As of this writing, I've been awake for 38 hours. Staying awake all night gets harder as I get older!

I have so much to tell you:
Beth's job interview update
Visitors next month!
Fun packages in the mail!
A new friend I met today

But I can barely keep my eyes open so I'm going to bed. Of all the things I gave up this week, I missed all of you the most. I kept thinking about you and your kids and the milestones and hospital visits and broken hearts and I really had a hard time not logging on to find out how you were all doing.

I've missed you.

A Kid in an Adult World

Beth will be 26 in a couple of months. Twenty six. When I was 26 I had already been married for 5 years and had 2 kids. Beth is 26 and is in love with Nick Jonas. I mean love love. There is a huge poster hanging above her bed. When she watches their TV show, she can be heard sobbing (shoulder shaking, snot blowing, sobbing) because Nick kissed a girl on the show.

Beth wears a size 5 shoe. Size 5 is that magical size that can be both adult and child. It is so hard to buy an adult looking shoe in that size. Beth doesn't want princess shoes, she wants adult shoes.

Beth loves to write and color and draw. She wants to color flowers and write names. Don't give her a Sponge Bob color book. That's for kids. She wants lined paper. Notebooks preferably. And all the markers you can carry.

Beth is 26 and she knows it. She knows she is an adult. Old enough to make her own decisions. Only, she won't make them. I found her this morning - 6 AM - asleep on the floor in her livingroom. She was sitting up with her forehead resting on the couch. I don't know how long she had been asleep like that. It definitely didn't look comfortable! But she's an adult and she thinks I can't tell her when to go to bed. She'll sleep when she wants, where she wants.

Every day she walks to the corner store by our house. She tries to sneak out, sometimes going out the back door. Ever so quietly so I don't hear. She walks to the store for her daily dose of marshmellows and soda. I've tried talking to her, encouraging her to buy some milk or granola bars instead. Some days she'll listen. But she's an adult and she knows it!

She likes to shop by herself. We go to the mall and once inside the door she'll tell me, "I have my cell phone" and away she goes. She loves going shopping with me, but she hates me shopping with her. Usually I make her at least stay in the same store as me but she'll go to a different department. After a few minutes she'll call me to ask where I am.

She has so many child like qualities, as expected. But she's wanting to navigate this world alone and that scares me! Just because she's an adult now. She's almost 26 you know.