Dear friends,
Happy new year! Here’s hoping you spent an enjoyable new year’s eve with those you love most and have kicked off the new year in grand style. We are fighting a respiratory infection so had snacks about 10:00 pm and then climbed into bed. The new year arrived anyway…without us ushering it in.
This year our Sentence a Day posts will be moving to the first Tuesday of the month. Which caught several of us (yours truly included) off-guard this morning with our Sentence a Day, 12.2018 posts. I really treasure these posts because so much can and does happen over the month, and these recaps serve as reminders how far we have come.
Here’s how my December looked, in one run-on sentence a day.
Sentence a Day, 12.2018
- Behind on my sentences, right out of the gate…phone calls from my brother and sister and to my mom got underway early this morning, Mom had a tough morning, the three of us are at our wits’ end to know how to help her, PC and I were registered for a 5K but the cold winds kept us in bed instead, did a little shopping and walked around to see the Lights on the Lake. 12.01.2018
- Woke up to a leaking toilet, lately it is always something, my Prince worked on that while I fixed breakfast, and got laundry underway, took photos outdoors with the help of my private paparazzi for my Ethyl clothing post, steak on the grill for dinner. 12.02.2018
- Funny how a few months ago, I was sleeping so restfully and now I am waking in the middle of the night and struggling to fall back to sleep, after work met Lorena for lunch, when I got home, my Prince Charming was shoring up our kitchen cabinets where they’ve pulled away from the wall, Panda Express for dinner. 12.03.2018
- Happy to learn we have tomorrow off from work in memory of our 41st President, George H.W. Bush, I can use the day to get laundry finished, my packing done, tidy up the house before I head to Kentucky; attended a meeting of the Wood Workers Club of El Paso with PC to see about getting some shields made like the one his grandfather made during WII. 12.04.2018
- My poor mom has conjunctivitis, bronchitis and now she has fallen at the psychiatric center, we need to get her out of there before they kill her; PC and I went to see “Ralph Wrecks the Internet” for comedy relief, left-over Thanksgiving ham for dinner. 12.05.2018
- Finished laundry and packing, got all of the kitty-sitting supplies together for our kitty sitter Eva, my Prince picked me up at 12:30 to take me to the airport, flight was delayed and after a 3 hour wait, it was canceled due to mechanical issues, PC picked me up and we grabbed dinner then home and to bed shortly after. 12.06.2018
- Happy anniversary to my parents…if my dad was still with us, it would 67 years, also Pearl Harbor Day, such a sad day in history; booked on a 6:35 am flight through Chicago to Lexington, Kevin picked up mom from the hospital and they swung by the airport for me; my mom is in terrible shape. 12.07.2018
- Mom slept very little and called for me in the next room before 7:00, feeling almost frantic because she had been up all night making trips to the bathroom for no real physical reason; told me she doesn’t know why she feels like she has to go to the bathroom all the time, was in tears saying she was scared we would put her back in The Ridge. I explained that we had to do that to keep her from hurting herself. Throughout the day she shared worries and feelings she has which I tried to capture on video tape when I could; we played Bingo and went down to the dining room for 2 meals but my mom is just a whisper of herself. 12.08.2018
- Brunch in the dining room with mom and her bff Claire, O’Charley’s take out for dinner, mom is coughing and hurting across her back and chest so she struggles to get comfortable. 12.09.2018
- Took mom to see her doctor, turns out she has pneumonia, and something new … a premature heart beat, picked up her meds and got a good dose in before bed. 12.10.2018
- Up most of the night with mom; she is seeing things – red and green Christmas lights, hearing popping noises and smelling burnt toast – possibly due in part to her macular degeneration; long day of laundry, organizing mom’s winter clothes, trying to make her comfortable, then visiting with my brother before going with him to pick up my sister at the airport. 12.11.2018
- Up early for an eye appointment for mom followed by an echocardiogram of her heart later in the afternoon; it appears she has something called corneal haziness interfering with her already very limited vision, so now we have an appointment for tomorrow at 7:30 am with a cornea specialist; we are all exhausted. 12.12.2018
- No word on the echocardiogram; have decided we need to hire Senior Helpers to assistant in the care of our mom, looking into the possibility of moving her to a smaller apartment. 12.13.2018
- Lauren, Lucia and Francisco are heading to Durango, Colorado for the Polar Express while Brennyn and Mustafa are vacationing in Cancun, enjoying pics of their holiday travels; toured an assisted living center, met with the Senior Helper folks, checked out studio apartments in mom’s current facility; so thankful my sister, brother and I can work together to seek the best situation for our mom. 12.14.2018
- Spent a few hours in the late evening last night and the early morning today measuring out the space in the small studio apartment to figure out what furniture my mom might be able to take with her down there; mom began coughing and coughing after a miserable, sleepless night so we bundled her up for the ER, her lungs are clear but she was struggling to breathe well and so sore that the doctor admitted her for a few days of IV antibiotics and fluids; long, long day; my PC flew home without me. 12.15.2018
- Up at 5:00 am to take Valerie to the airport to fly home, then slipped into mom’s hospital room where I cat-napped until she woke up, sat with her most of the day, with the exception of a couple of hours of shopping with Kevin and Jacob, home at 8:30, then received a text that Lauren had passed a clot, and was heading to the ER, praying and waiting now to hear more. 12.16.2018
- My sweet baby lost her sweet baby. Apparently, the baby had been gone for 2-4 weeks and was perfectly made, something just went wrong…probably the campylobacter everyone picked up in Mexico City when they were there in November. Our hearts are broken. I am so so sad I am not with my baby, holding and helping her. We love you Emmie Jean. 12.17.2018
- One step forward, two steps back…we seem to make a little progress with mom and then there is some kind of relapse of some sort, just exhausting; signed for her new apartment, began going through things in her current apartment, spent hours at the hospital, quick run at the gym, drinking a glass of wine every night which isn’t good but it is helping me to sleep. 12.17.2018
- Morning came too soon…did a little work at mom’s before heading out to the hospital, met with 2 doctors, 4 different nurses, 2 physical therapists and we still don’t know what she has; one doctor was ready to release her today while the other says it could be days; made a Goodwill run, moved three loads of furniture to the new apartment, back to the hospital til mom was ready for bed, laundry, going through drawers and cabinets tonight while watching TV. 12.18.2018
- Brennyn sent beautiful photos of Cancun and Skyped with me, Lauren and Francisco had a quiet day recovering from her miscarriage and D&C, several good convos with my Prince, Cady sent me an ‘I love you’ on Facebook. 12.18.2018
- Exhausted tonight; started moving again at 9:00 am, to the hospital by 10:00, more moving again at noon, then my nephew Jacob’s car broke down on his way to help me with the moving so I waited with him until a tow truck arrived, sushi dinner, PC picked up a certified letter at the post office notifying me that a car Lauren once had (but gave to her dad for her half-brother and sister) has been towed and impounded; once upon a time, my name was on the title so I am receiving notices; back to the hospital after dinner to treat mom’s eyes, a bit more work on her apartment, wine and goofing off on the computer tonight. 12.19.2018
- Did a little work around mom’s old apartment, then off to the hospital, they told us mom was being released, then an hour later said she wasn’t; left to buy her a new bed, ate lunch with Kevin and got a call that mom was being released, dashed to the rehab facility where she is moving to complete admissions paperwork there, then to the hospital to get mom, settled her into her room, ate dinner with her, took mattress, box springs and bed frame from old to new apartment and put together bed, finally in bed myself at midnight. 12.20.2018
- Awake at 6:00 am, my mind whirling with things to do, got started cleaning up mom’s bathroom in the old apartment, then went over to her room at Country Place rehab – she is already beginning to fixate again, ran errands, grabbed a KFC chicken breast for lunch, met with all of the care providers at rehab, back to old apartment to continue going through things, back to rehab to eat dinner with mom, back to old apartment to continue work there; message from my Cady on Facebook and ‘I love you’ from Cia on the phone. 12.21.2018
- Kevin put together mom’s new headboard while I sorted through more things in her old apartment, arranged her warm weather clothes in an under-the-bed bin, we grabbed a burger before he left for Nashville to celebrate Shelby’s surprise proposal and I headed to the airport to fly home…but not so fast, my flight out of Lexington was delayed meaning I would miss my connecting flight from Chicago to El Paso so I wound up having to spend another night in Kentucky. This trip just keeps on giving. 12.22.2018
- Up early to catch my 7:00 am flight for home, after a 3 hour layover in Houston, I was finally home at 2:00 pm, spent about an hour repacking my suitcase for our trip to Albuquerque, then we were on the road for Lauren’s house, arriving at 7:30 under the golden light of a full moon, spent an hour or so with the kids before checking into our lovely room at the Inn at Paradise. 12.23.2018
- Slept like a champ, ate a European-like breakfast at the Inn, ran to the grocery store for last minute Christmas dinner ingredients, then over to the kids’ house followed by a romp at a lovely city park; during Lucia’s naptime, PC and I went to see “The Favorite” – a very odd and disappointing movie – back to spend the evening with the kids until bedtime. 12.24.2018
- Merry Christmas…spent the day basking in Lucia’s glee with her gifts, playing with her new Barbie house, Duplos; baked cookies and cooked Christmas dinner with Lauren, evening walk to see the lights before heading back to our room at the Inn at Paradise. 12.25.2018
- Woke to the wonderful silence of – *s*n*o*w* – beautiful, feathery, fluffy flakes sticking to the grounds of the Inn, would have loved to remained in bed to watch the snowfall but we were worried about driving home on the wintry roads, ran by the kids’ house for quick goodbye hugs and kisses then were on our way, arriving home mid-afternoon to kitties who were glad to see us, quiet afternoon and evening at home. 12.26.2018
- Grocery shopping for the first time in weeks, met PC for lunch beforehand, scratchy throat and cough coming on. 12.27.2018
- Finally back to the gym today, cleaned the bathrooms and our bedroom, talked to mom and she was in high spirits, jalapeño popper soup for supper, spitting snow all day. 12.28.2018
- Quiet day after sleeping til 9:00 am in the silence of a snowfall, scrapbook/Skyped with my sister, Panda Express for dinner, laryngitis is making me unusually quiet tonight. 12.29.2018
- Both of us are sick with sinus issues, sore throat, cough…ugh. 12.30.2018
- Headed to Urgent Care clinic right out of bed first thing this morning, we both have upper respiratory infections with 4 prescriptions, laid around most of the day, shrimp ring, dips, cheese, cocktail sausages, fruit for dinner, in bed long before the new year. 12.31.2018
December was exhausting. January promises to be much the same as I will be spending 10 days in Kentucky caring for my mom, and, hopefully, settling her into her new efficiency apartment in a healthy state of mind and body. Both of my girls will be here this coming weekend. Yay!! Hope I can kick this upper respiratory infection and not be contagious before they arrive.
Your Turn
How did your December look? What was the highlight of your month? Would love to have you share in a comment below. Or if you are a blogger, link-up your monthly recap with us below.
You are cordially invited to join us for Sentence a Day in the new year. Start writing those sentences today! And then post with us 02.05.2019. Or you can share your sentences in a comment right here with me.
Happy new year, dear ones. Hope 2019 is a kinder, gentler year with many blessings, good health and happiness for all of us. May God bless you and yours.
Kisses and hugs,
Nancy
Happy New Year Leslie! I hope you feel better real soon! I will post my Sad tomorrow, as I thought it would be perhaps on the next Tuesday because we didn’t t receive the linkup!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
So glad to have you doing the SaD posts with us, Nancy. I think this month’s post snuck up on everyone but we will all be on the same sheet of music for February.
Debs
Oh Leslie, you must be so pleased that awful month is out of the way and I really hope that the next month brings more positives for you and your family. You must be living on your nerves the whole time, no wonder you have succumbed to some nasty bug. Now rest as much as you can, get healthy and keep blogging!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Hey doll, finally finished my course of antibiotics and feeling better. That bug was a nasty one. Had my Prince Charming and me both flat on our backs for a day or two. Glad to be back among the living. 🙂
Gail
What a challenging month Leslie, you must be exhausted, no wonder you aren’t feeling well. Although Jan sounds hectic too maybe Mom will stabilise a bit, particularly with the efficiency move. Hugs.
Gail x
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Finally catching my breath after a tough December. So lucky to have many sweet friends supporting and encouraging me. January should be a kinder month. Off to see my mom again in a week but she finally sounds a little better. Thank you, Gail.
Rebecca Jo
Oh my gosh… that baby loosing her baby made me choke up. I’m so sorry.
& your poor momma. December kinda bites, huh?
& you’re not alone. I’m in this kick where I wake up every night at 3am & cant get back to sleep – until like 5 – & I have to get up at 5:30 … sigh
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Oh, dear Rebecca Jo, I know you were as glad to put 2018 behind you as I was. Are you still struggling with sleeping the night through? I have started having trouble sleeping again. Ugh. I roll around for an hour or more before falling asleep and wake up several times in the night after crazy dreams. My melatonin was working so well for awhile but no longer. Praying we both get over this insomnia and start enjoying the rest we need.
Carrie @ Curly Crafty Mom
Oh gosh, how exhausting! You’d think with your mom being out of town, it wouldn’t be… but, you’re very active in flying out to be with her and care for her and sharing your sibling load! You’re a very good daughter to her!! I am so sorry again for the loss of your daughter’s baby. Such a sucky time of the year, too. Not that anytime for loss is good. I’ll be thinking and praying for all of you!! I hope your mom is doing better when you see her next and get over that virus ASAP!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Heading back to Kentucky next week. My mom sounds better mentally and is feeling better physically. Now to keep her in a good place. I have told her I just want a trip to Kentucky where we can have fun without a lot of drama and turmoil. Praying this is that trip. Thank you for saying I am a good daughter. I hope my mom thinks so and knows how much we love her.
Natalie
Happy New Year, Leslie! I hope you’re resting and feeling healthier. Enjoy this weekend with your girls. Don’t think about your trip to Kentucky just yet. Sending you positive vibes and hugs.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you, Natalie, for the positive vibes and virtual hugs. Will be traveling back to Kentucky next week but just trying to enjoy being home for now.
jodie filogomo
I’m so sorry about all this with your mom. I know someday it’ll be me going through this, so I can’t but empathize with you, Leslie. We work so hard to make it easy, but it’s not.
Sending you all my love, all my hugs and a ton of prayers!!!
Now it’s time to take care of yourself, as your body is telling you (so much easier to say than do, right??)
XOOX
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Oh, Jodie. I appreciate your sweet message. I am feeling much better so I think I have this respiratory bug beat. Thank you for the prayers and love. I get back with the support of my blogging buds!!
Jo Tracey
Oh my, Leslie! My heart aches for you reading this. Sending wishes that you’ll heal real soon and that you’re able to take care of you – as well as everyone else.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you, Jo Tracey, for the sweet comments. I am on the mend. Finished my course of antibiotics on Monday and hoping I will be back to 110% very soon. Returning to Kentucky to be with my mom again next week. Hope this visit will be easier for us both.
Laura
Leslie, what a stressful, hard month for you and your family! I continue to keep you all in my thoughts and prayers!! I hope 2019 is a better year for you all!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you, Laura. 2019 is off to a better start. Looking forward to being with my mom next week and just enjoying each other’s company.
Danielle
Oh Leslie. You had an exhausting December. Having a family member sick is so difficult, especially when they don’t live close. I’m glad you were able to go and help your mom and be there with your siblings. Being away from home for that length of time is hard. Glad you got to spend time with Lucia for Christmas. She has the most beautiful eyes.
Wishing you all the best in 2019.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Aww, thank you for the sweet words about Lucia. I love that baby girl. And my Cady Coo, too. Both of my daughters have green eyes and when they cry, bless their hearts, their eyes become even greener. I was hopeful that one of my grands would have green eyes but their big brown eyes are just as beautiful.
I am so thankful to have enjoyed a week home now. My mom actually called me today and sounded pretty good. I hold my breath every morning when I look at my phone to see if my brother has texted with bad news about my mom. I listened to my phone messages (at home) on Friday and there was a message from Kevin left in October that talked about how my mom was starting to slip back into her suicidal thinking. We have been on egg shells for months now. Glad to have a week where I was able to relax a little.