Drug dealers at the door...

Yep, you guessed it. My thanks-for-giving virus pushed me over the edge.  I am on IV's once again but no lengthy check-in at the Denver Bed and Breakfast. Yippee!  Instead I get to spend three lovely weeks of home confinement treatment doing 4 antibiotics round the clock.  It seems I'm either dripping fluids into my body, setting out fluids to warm so as to not shock my body, or eliminating fluids from my body.  My poor body.

My sinuses are full, my lungs are full, and my stomach is unsettled.  My lung function was down to 25% with lots of crackles and wheezes for added excitement.  Yesterday I had to bounce my prednisone up to 32 mg because I couldn't stop the twitchy coughing.  Each cough finished with a high-pitched squeak, which not only sounded but felt a bit disconcerting.  That part has improved today thank goodness.

But there are silver linings to this black cloud.  I'm grateful I caught a cold BEFORE a round of IV's and not after just finishing one.  The only thing worse than having to do three weeks of IV's is to have done it all for nothing.  I'm thankful I will be feeling better in time for Christmas and an important wedding coming up afterwards. I'm grateful my deductible is met.  I'm hopeful I will be able to keep up a good lung function into the first week of February when I will be seen again at Duke.

So when the doorbell rings and my dealer law-abiding delivery man drops off drugs, I will count my blessings...drop by drop.

Tis better to give than receive...

Twas the day after Thanksgiving when I landed on the receiving end of a cold kindly given to me by my son or one of the myriads who have been sick lately.  As I type, I can feel a pulsing heartbeat behind my cheekbones there is so much pressure in my sinuses.  For a person who is already filled to the brim with mucus, to get a cold is adding insult to injury.  As soon as I felt the first inkling of invasion, I went on the attack with copious amounts of water, essential oils, Emergen-c, and positive thinking but it refused to remain at bay. Luckily I have managed to out-maneuver cold germs for the past several years with this strategy, but this one must be a survivor because it has outwitted, outplayed, and outlasted me.

I already had a scheduled appointment for Monday at clinic so that turned out to be good timing.  I have been noticing its been harder to exercise the past couple of weeks so I wanted to check my lung function.  Now they can see me tomorrow in all my germy glory.

Some exciting news to share happened November 21st, the day before Thanksgiving.  My daughter, Christina, decided to join the Navy!  She scored high on her preliminary tests and so the Navy was anxious to get her.  The recruiter helped her jump through a couple hurdles that sped up the process and she ships off to basic training on the 12th of December.  Yes, in a little less than three weeks she will fly to Illinois and begin her 4 year enlistment with the Navy.  I am so proud of her because I know she is fearful about some things but it hasn't stopped her from making the commitment and moving forward.  Every time I think about her, I start singing In The Navy in my head.  I am a product of the 80's so I can't make it stop!

We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner the night before with the Larson family.  Since Mary Anne had to work on Thanksgiving, we decided to celebrate early.  But Josh stayed at home sick and Christina took longer at the Navy office than she planned so our feasting numbers were down.  Then on Thanksgiving afternoon with no big meal to eat, Rheid, Christina, and I decided to see Rise of the Guardians.  What a darling movie.  Never been a big fan of Jack Frost but now he's the  man!

Baby Teeth, Jack Frost, Easter Bunny and Sandman.

Another memorable day this month honored our Uncle Edwin who passed away.  His funeral was on Monday the 5th in Golden, Colorado.  It was a beautiful service made special by the memories shared from each grandchild. When we moved to Colorado, Rheid's aunt and uncle were the only people we knew in the whole state--and I didn't know them that well.  We have grown to love them and I will miss being able to joke with him.

Grandson pallbearers at the graveside.

Earlier we had an unseasonably warm Halloween which made it fun for our two favorite trick-or-treaters.

Cutest witch and fireman ever!

We took Maggie to see Josh who was volunteering at the
Otterbox house at Treatsylvania.  

What I deal with every Fall--Tucker plays in the
leaves and then drags them in the house.