Christmas & More

Christmas & More December 29, 2017

Filed under: Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 2:03 pm

Currently, I am writing from my mother’s computer desk. Graham and I are alone here with TC, the dog. Everyone else is out running errands. Graham is napping in the next room. I thought I would take a quiet moment to update you on our lives. The days have a way of blurring together. I often have to look back at my phone – either in my calendar or pictures – to remind myself of what happened each day. Anyone else can’t remember a week ago? Or is it just me?

On the theme of me home alone with Graham and a dog, I spent last Friday home baking for the holidays with Graham & Barkley, my brother-in-law’s dog that we’ve been dog-sitting while they move. Last Friday was the big move day for my brother-in-law and his family. Jeremy, Owen & Papa went down to lend a hand. I baked Christmas goodies while listening to Christmas music and then during nap time I watched Christmas movies. It was a great day. The kids and I have all been struggling with colds and coughs that seem never ending. Having a quiet day around the house to be productive and then restful was just what I needed.

Saturday began our three days of non-stop Christmas. We started the weekend off with my immediate family on the 23rd and then Jeremy’s immediate and extended family on the 24th and my extended family on the 25th. The kids had a blast playing with relatives and a new toys. I was impressed with how grateful all the kids were this year. All gifts were appreciated. Now that my niece and nephews are getting older, I worry about getting the wrong gifts. Shopping for them took more brain power this year since they all have unique interests. Owen & Graham got everything on their Christmas list and more. They, of course, got lots of new books and while they didn’t jump for joy when they opened them, they have now read almost every new book and seem to be enjoying them immensely. They have no clue that they got a bunch of free books for Christmas (one of the perks of being a book lady).

Tuesday was our annual day after Christmas shopping trip to Portland. Just like Black Friday, we took advantage of sales and found some new items for our future home. We got an area rug and TV stand for our living room and a new desk so I can have a home office set up in our bedroom. It’s fun to slowly add items that we know we will use in our new home. I’m so excited to see them in their new spaces. I daydream of it often.

I guess this leads to the house update. We are in the “drying” process. It’s been a struggle to get the house dry enough to move on. Right now, this could be a delay in progress unless we really amp up our drying efforts. The county came out yesterday and inspected the house. They said the moisture content was at 22%. Code is 20% and Adair requires 18%. It’s hard to be so close and yet still not right where we need to be. Jeremy found a dehumidifier that we were able to rent for the week. We also have family friends loaning us a heater and my dad connected us with another dehumidifier that Jeremy, Dad and Owen are all running to pick up now. The biggest issue is running all the equipment without overloading the power supply. You can only plug in so many things at one time. Which leads to the reason I am here at my parent’s house right now. I am baby sitting our house, keeping an eye on it, making sure it doesn’t burn down in our dry out process. Prayers are certainly appreciated so this doesn’t become a stumbling block moving forward. As for the outside of the house, we had the garage concrete pad poured yesterday and it’s now drying. Our garage door should go up next week on the 5th and our gutters got hung last week. I’m thankful for each thing that we can check off the to-do list.

Finally, I’ll end with my eye update. I was given two artificial tears drops to use after my appointment last Thursday and then I had one prescription we knew might be too expensive and might need a substitute. To make a long story short, we’ve been through multiple pharmacies and had multiple hang ups. I have yet to receive my prescription. We finally settled on a mail based pharmacy, but as of today they still hadn’t gotten it in the mail… then I have to wait 3-5 business days with a possible delay because of the holiday. I was supposed to go back to the eye doctor on January 10th as a follow up to see how the steroid is treating my eyes, but at this point, I’m going to have to postpone that appointment since I haven’t started the meds and probably won’t start them for many more days. My eyes didn’t respond great to the artificial tears so I stopped using them… I’m thinking at this point I might tell the doctor thanks for trying, but I’ll live with the discomfort until it clears up. I wonder if I have sensitive eyes because the more I put in them the more things seems to flare up. I’m close to giving up on the treatment plan.

And that is the major update. We’ll continue to focus on drying out the house for the rest of the holiday weekend. We’ll celebrate my brother-in-law and sister’s birthdays this weekend. That will wrap up 2017. Hard to believe that 2018 is just right around the corner. I did at one point think that I would be in my new home right now, able to start 2018 out with a new chapter. But here I am waiting for this chapter of building to wrap up. My guess is now February and Jeremy has even said March, which makes my heart cringe. Who knew that this journey would be so long? With my health being poor and the added pace of the holidays, I am looking at 2018 and just wondering what comes next. I am tired. I am disappointed. But keeping on is the only option. There are bright spots in each day and the little moments of joy pull me through and keep me going. I know that I am blessed and that despite hardships and delays, there is a still good ahead of me. Until then, I daydream/arrange furniture in my head and pray for healthy and energy to fill me up again. I know I’ve said it before, but I often quote Dory to myself – “Just keep swimming.”