Catch up

Okay, lets try to get caught up here.  So much has been going on over the past few weeks and I just haven't seemed to have the time, nor the inclination, to get on the computer and write about it all.  Heck, I haven't felt like doing any writing at all.

 

So mid-December Ray and his brothers went down to Florida.  This past summer his father decided it was time to move himself and his wife back to Ohio to be closer to their children.  So as soon as they were able to they put the house on the market, I think it was late August or early September.  At the end of November they received an offer that was acceptable to them.  So the boys went down to help pack everything into trucks and drive them back.

 

His parents wanted to find a nice home here in the same area as us, 3 of the 6 boys live here, so it made since for them to stay with one of us while they looked at homes for sale.  Ray's mother is allergic to cats and dogs.  His father is on oxygen.  We don't have any pets (Rylie doesn't count, lol) and although we do smoke, since we had Rylie, we don't smoke in the house.  Red and Div have 2 dogs and JB and Cathy have a cat, both homes are smoking.  We also have extra bedrooms, so it only seemed logical that they would stay with us.   

 

Besides of which, it was the least we could do for them since they had raised Ray and his brothers.  Ya'll know how boys can be, well mention the "Blossom Boys" in these parts and most people will get a look on their face and say something to the effect of "uh, yeah, I've heard that name".  LOL  Now, don't go and get the wrong idea.  The boys all did their fair share of raising some heck when they were younger, but for the most part they've all settled down and become responsible adults.

 

I have to tell ya'll, having his folks stay with us meant a lot to me.  My father died 26 days before Rylie was born and he never got to meet her and she will never know my dad.  Rylie will be 3 in March and since we haven't been able to afford the trip down to Florida, she never met Ray's parents either.  I am thrilled that they stayed here and Rylie has been able to have this time with them. 

 

Rylie hears Ray call Cathy "Mom", so when Rylie is looking for Grandma she will walk around the house going "Mom, Mom".  Yeah, it can be a wee bit confusing, lol.  Usually the only time she does that is when Rylie has gotten in trouble with her daddy and she wants to nark him out to Grandma.  LOL

 

She calls Grandpa, "Papa".  Papa (Army retired) taught her to salute and say "yes sir".  Although it's more of a little hand by the side of her face and sounds like "yeh tir".  If she ever gets her "S's" down she is gonna be doing real good. 

 

So now along with "what does the kitty say, what does the puppy say and the cow"...we also say "what does Papa say?"  Then Rylie does her little salute and says "yeh tir".  I really need to get a video camera to get that on tape.  It is just too cute!

 

So, shortly after Grandma and Papa got here they were going around looking at homes.  Unfortunately, its been very wet and rainy.  Outside one of the homes Grandma took a nasty fall and really messed up her knee.  She tried to say it was just a sprain, but Ray and I insisted that she go get it checked at the ER.  Yep, she tore it up good.  Luckily she didn't break anything, but apparently she messed up the ligaments or something like that.  I can't believe she walked around on like that for as long as she did until they came home that night.  They gave her a soft cast and she was to take it easy.  Telling Grandma to rest and take it easy is like telling a man to put the toilet seat down.  They know they should, but they just don't.

 

So eventually they found a house and purchased it.  Of course, it needs some work.  So Grandma and Papa were running here and there all day.  Working on this and that.  However, I don't think they were taking care of themselves like they should have been.  But they are grown adults, Ray's parents, so we couldn't exactly treat them like children and force them to rest.  All we could do was try to remind them to take care of themselves.  Which is kind of hard to do without sounding condescending or whatnot.  I certainly didn't want them to think we were treating them like children, but I wanted them to take care of their health.

 

Well, on Weds or Thurs after Christmas I woke up to the sound of someone trying to cough up, not one, but both of their lungs.  Catherine sounded absolutely awful.  I was terrified that she had pneumonia, so I took her to the hospital.  Thank God it wasn't pneumonia, it was an upper respiratory infection which was aggravating her asthma.  Off to the pharmacy and then home to make her rest for a day or two, or at least TRY to get her to rest and relax.

 

Then a few days after that Papa started developing a fever.  I finally convinced him to just go in and get checked at the hospital.  Goodness, that man can be a stubborn mule when he wants to be.  {{{winking at Dad B}}} I love ya honey!  And yes, I lied telling you that you could come home and didn't have to stay there if you didn't want to, knowing full well that if you needed to they would convince you to stay.  But that's just because I care about you.  

 

Thank God he went, he had pneumonia!  The doctors said that it had probably been working itself up since he was down in Florida.  They said he would of ended up with it down there too.  I'm just thankful that he was here, because knowing him...he would of put off going to the doctor as long as possible and that is just scary.  Eventually he recovered well enough that he was released from the hospital, I think he was in for about a week, or so. 

 

In the meantime, there was a lot of work going on down at the new house.  It is really going to be a very lovely home when everything is done.  The really great thing is that they will be so close to their boys, so that if they ever need anything, grass mowed, snow shoveled or whatever, the boys or one of the wives or grandkids can be there in merely minutes.

 

Let's see, what else has been going on?  David's 21st birthday was on the 28th of December.  Stephanie had her baby, a beautiful little girl named Aubreigh, on the 29th.  Aimee and her boyfriend are moved into an apartment together.  I had to go to the doctor for my kidney stones.  My birthday was on the 5th.  Let's just say 30 years old okay?  Hmm, not very believable with David turning 21 a week before, huh?  LOL  Samantha and her boyfriend Matt, a very likable young man, are talking about moving into an apartment that his father owns.  And of course, Rylie is her usual self, keeping me running almost all the time. 

 

My Mom came up to see me on the 5th and brought me a birthday gift.  She gave me a tube of hand creme from Crabtree and Evelyn called Summer Hill hand therapy.  I love it!  I put some on my very dry hands that night and when I woke up in the morning they were still silky soft.  She also gave me a set of colanders.  A much needed item, which she noticed when she was here for Thanksgiving.  Not that I didn't have one, but it was one I got from a second hand store, probably 20 years old (at least) and missing one of its feet.  Hey, it still worked.  But these new ones are quite lovely.  They look so nice that I am trying to find a spot to hang them in the kitchen.  I certainly don't want to shove them away in the cabinet where no one will see them.  LOL

 

So Mom handed me the gift bag and Rylie starts to "ohhh" and "ahhh".  She grabbed the bag and pulled out the wrapped box and looked at me and said "Mommy's" and proceeded to unwrap it for me.  LOL  She got the unwrapping gifts thing down very well.

 

Right now is about 4am on Monday morning (when I was originally writing this).  I spent over 7 hours yesterday down at Mom and Dad B's painting.  By the time I was done I had a burning pain in my right arm and shoulder.  When I got home Rylie went to hand me a glass and it slipped right out of my hand.  It was like I didn't even have the strength to hold a silly glass.

 

I've been up since 3am.  Ray has a fever and a cough.  Rylie woke up coughing too.  I gave Ray some cough medicine and Ibuprofen.  Then I attempted to give Rylie some Childrens Tylenol cough and cold.  Twice she spit it back up on me.  I can't tell you how extremely frustrating that is. 

 

So today should be fun.  Stuck at home with two sick BABIES!  The really sad thing is that Rylie will probably play as usual, while Ray will be the one whining like a baby.  LMAO  Poor thing, he actually spent almost all of the day sleeping and he took today (Tuesday) off of work too.  I think he is planning on going back to work tomorrow, although he probably really needs another day to rest and try to get better.

 

Why do I keep putting this off and writing a little more every few days?  I am so out of it with this journal.  I just kind of don't feel like it.  I don't know why. 

 

Okay, that was written last week and I couldn't tell ya why  but I never got around to posting it.  Let me catch ya up some more.  Ray stayed home all week, he finally let me take him into the ER on Saturday.  Bronchitis.  So at least he is finally on antibiotics and he went to work this morning. 

 

I took Rylie to the doctor on Thursday.  She has another ear infection.  This is the second one is 2 months.  But it seems to be working itself up to something more.  The past two nights she falls asleep and then coughs, wakes up, cries, starts to fall asleep as she whimpers.  Then will cough herself awake again.  She is finally sleeping on the couch now at 8:19 am.  I think I got about 2 hours of intermittent sleep last night. 

 

Then the phone rang early this morning.  Apparently Papa was taken to the hospital again.  His breathing was difficult and they call the EMS.  Since he got out of the hospital last time, he and Cathy have been staying at John's house (one of the brothers).  It is just a few doors down from their new house that is being worked on. 

 

I'm worried about him.  This is the second time in just a few days that they had to call the EMS because of his breathing.  I wish he wasn't so stubborn and would take it easy and stay inside like he probably should and try to avoid the things that seem to be irritating his lungs (he has emphysema).  However, I know how much he really wants to get settled into the new house, and I understand that.  I just wish he would take better care of himself. 

 

Of course, I should lie down now while Rylie is sleeping, but I am way too awake for that.  As a matter of fact, I think I will go refill my cappuccino and see what I can clean without waking the baby.  I wonder if bronchitis is contagious.  She only seems to be able to sleep in a kind of propped up position, but she doesn't really sound wheezy.  I may need to call her doctor again today.  Although, since the temporary tags expired on my car and we won't be able to renew them till later this week, I won't be able to drive her into the doctor if I need to.  Pooh!  I hate the slow winter season when money is tight.

 

Well, I think that pretty much catches everything up, for the most part.  Any rants can probably be found on my private journal later.  LOL

 

I hope everyone is well and had a wonderful holiday season.  Take care and I will try to get myself back on the regular schedule.

 

Hugs!