The Week Before Christmas

My two college children are home now.  I have most of the presents bought.  The house is decorated but I still need to do my horse's.

It has been somewhat slow at work.  I blame it on the fact that there was four full weeks of shopping and the warm weather we had.

This coming week I work everyday including Christmas Eve.  My husband does not work and my youngest.  My son maybe working.  The tradition for Christmas Eve has been to go to my childhood church with my parents and my brother with his family.  We would have dinner at my parents and open gifts.  After my dad passed away, there was still church and gifts but dinner was either at a restaurant or sometimes just sandwiches.  My brother and his family will be going to that church and then back to their house afterwards.  My oldest will be with her boyfriend's family.  Since only two of us will be able to go to church with my brother, our family is going to go to our own church and have our own meal.   It is going to be hard to be just our family this year and nothing with mine.  We should all be together as this is the first Christmas but I didn't know what my brother wanted to do.  I think I will be even more sad not seeing them, but I suppose at sometime we would be doing our own family things.

Christmas Day use to be with my husband's family.  But a few years ago they stopped.  We would still have my mother-in-law over.  For some Christmas Day celebrations we would invite my mom.  Since my mother-in-law can't leave the nursing home due to her brain injury and dementia, we will visit her and it will be just our family (again) along with the boyfriend.

My heart has such a void this year.  I have no parents to celebrate with.  We don't see my husband's family either.  My oldest still isn't engaged and my son says he doesn't believe in God anymore.  I try to keep my faith in God but it has been hard this year.

I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and wonderful time with family.

The 100 Review: Post-Apocalyptic Drama

The 100 Review: Post-Apocalyptic Drama

One Other Holiday

One Other Holiday

Harlock: Space Pirate Review

Harlock: Space Pirate Review



I didn't know that there was this movie out.  It sounds like it would be interesting for those that like space mystery.  Good review.

Thanksgiving and Christmas almost here

Wow, 2015 is almost over.  In just three weeks it will be Thanksgiving.  After that will be Christmas.  It will be the first for my family without my mom.  It sure is going to be weird and hard.  All the grandchildren will be home for both holidays.  Time to be a close family and there for each other.

For my children, they really have no grandparents anymore.  My father-in-law passed away 27 years ago from cancer.  My mother-in-law  is in a nursing home with dementia and a brain injury from a fall in a public bathroom there at the nursing home.  Needless to say, she doesn't know where she is, who we are, or what day it is.  Sad to say, buth it will be a blessing for her and the family when she passes away.  I hope for everyone that will be soon.

The store I work at just keeps cutting the number of hours each employee works.  To me, the store looks terrible.  They hired seasonal employees, but even those people have few hours each week.  I wonder what it will be like between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I go between having fun not working, to being bored.  I really don't know how much longer I will work there.

I do hope both of my college children will be able to work while they are home.  They need the money for the car loans.

The plus side to not working much, I have been seeing more of my horse.  I would like to see her more but the cost of gasoline compared to my paycheck makes it difficult.  If only we had a hobby farm and would have my horse right there.

Since there is a month where many people talk about what they are thankful for, I decided to take part in the GiveToTheMax day in our state and give to organizations with my inheirtance from my mom.  It feels so good to help so many people and I know my parents would be happy as this was very important to them.

I have done some splurging.  We had someone tear down our rotted deck and build us a maintenance free one.  We had a new patio built to prevent flooding into our basement and I got a new used truck for me.

I hope you all have a enjoyable Thanksgiving.  I also hope you enjoy reading the articles that I post a link to.

Dying Light: A Worthwhile Title?

Dying Light: A Worthwhile Title?

Everyone’s a Yak

Everyone’s a Yak

Along The Board Link

http://alongtheboards.com/2015/10/good-and-bad-of-the-minnesota-wilds-opening-week/http://alongtheboards.com/2015/10/good-and-bad-of-the-minnesota-wilds-opening-week/


I think I almost got this sharing thing to work.  Another wonderful article.  Baseball season is over and Football is half way over.  Hockey has just begun.

Read away and let me know what you think.  Have a wonderful November.

http://alongtheboards.com/2015/10/good-and-bad-of-the-minnesota-wilds-opening-week/

The Spur Links

Now our son writes for the newspaper at the college he is attending.  Here is his first review article.  I hope you enjoy it.   Thanks for reading.

http://www.smsuspur.net/ae/2015/10/15/destiny-expansion-review/

Empty Nesters Again.

Both children are back at college.  There are times I miss them and then there are times I love having the house to myself.  I can go to bed when I want to, wake up.  I can eat whatever I want whenever I want to.   Though, there still is my husband at home so I don't have all my freedom.

We have hired some contractors to do fixing up of our yard and house.  These were all things that we were going to do this summer.  Unfortunately it didn't  happen due to the passing of my mother.  Things are looking great and I know my parents would be happy that I am using the money for productive things.

I miss my mom every day.  Some days are harder than others.  It is hard to believe it has been four months.  I do know that at her age, her body was old and now she has a new one.  It helps most days but it still hurts to not be able to talk to her.  I still have a hard time grasping that she is no longer alive.

My employer has not been cooperative with me.  In addition, they schedule me in work areas that either is painful for me or I hate.  I only have three and a half years and I can leave that store.  I don't know what I will do after that, nor what I physically can.

I have been out to see more of my wonderful horse since my parents house sold.  I don't ride her every time or longe her.  Sometimes I just groom her, walk her around and then put her either back out in the pasture or her stall.

It is hard to believe that just a little over a month away and my two younger children will  be home for Thanksgiving.  It will also be the first major holiday without my mom or both of my parents.

Here is a picture of my wonderful horse.

Along The Boards Link.

http://alongtheboards.com/2015/10/top-10-defensemen-23-and-under/
Another awesome article.

I guess you will have to copy the link and do a Google search.

Let me know what you think.

Along The Board links

http://alongtheboards.com/2015/10/minnesota-rising-is-matt-dumba-on-the-verge-of-a-breakout-season/http://alongtheboards.com/2015/10/minnesota-rising-is-matt-dumba-on-the-verge-of-a-breakout-season/

And another article.  Though for some reason the copying and pasting is not working.  I will have to figure out how to fix it.

Along The Boards link

Another great article.  The hockey season is here again.  The author is back at analyzing the Minnesota Wild.  Here is his prediction for this 2015-2016 season.  Read the article and tell me if you agree.


http://alongtheboards.com/2015/09/30-in-15-minnesota-wild-2015-16-season-preview/

My New Normal

We got the house ready for sale, my son off to college and then the first weekend of general open houses.  That Sunday we had seven offers to consider.  We finalized on one.  Next would be the buyer's inspection.  That happened the day we brought our youngest back to college.  There were four items that needed to be addressed.  My brother and his wife took care of it.

I have both children back at college and no parents to visit or help take care of.  I hope though the house is settled and closed on soon.

What shall I do with my time?  I was really wanting to be in this sandwich generation for longer.  Apparently not.  Most of the people I know who have recently had parents pass away either have their children to still take care of, or have grandchildren; or their in-laws.

I right now have no grandchildren and my children are either living on their own or are at college.  There is my horse Dinah.  Yes, I can spend more time with her.  Our bond can grow deepter and the connections will be better.  I will still have work (but that is where my parents would shop).  

It is weird though that it is somewhat nice having the kids back at college.  I can fix the meals I love, eat whatever and whenever I want to.  I have the bathroom to myself and the laundry room.  Our driveway no longer looks like a used car lot.  I took my mom's minivan so at one time we had six cars.  My husband donated our oldest car so now we are down to five.  One of those is my husband's car that his employer gives him to use for work.  My mom's is our spare.

My oldest daugher's boyfriend got a better job.  It still is not in sports writing but better than what he had before.

My son may not have a job at college but he will be busy volunteering at the college's newspaper and literary journal.  That will look awesome on his resume.  It will be like an internship.

I hope the next time I write, the house is gone and I have settled into a routine.

The Summer that flew by

Well, this week will mark eight weeks since my mom passed away.  So many emotions and feelings.  I don't know how to begin.  I feel like she is just in the hospital or maybe a assisted living apartment.  Then at times it feels like she has been gone a long time.

Everything that my parents owned or kept that my brother and I owned as children is out of that house.  That is the only house we really have known.  We had lived there for all of our childhood except for four or seven years.  I don't like it but I knew it had to be done.

The painters have already painted and carpet ripped up.  I think next is the countertops and the bathrooms.  Then it will be new carpet.

My brother and I have been getting along great this whole time.  Somehow I think my parents knew we would.

We had a garage sale and still had six loads in the cars to donate.

I still wish I knew what happened to cause her death and had been there.

I have a hard time going to work.  My parents would shop there and also get there prescriptions.

I have been getting the letters fro the companies that my mom had investments.  Decisions, decisions.

In two weeks my son goes back for his last year of college.  I pray that he does well and is able to have a job shortly after.

My daughter's boyfriend still does not have a job.  I am still praying for him.  I hope 2015 turns around soon.

My wonderful mother has passed away.

I haven't written anything for a long time.  Two months ago my mom went into the hospital because of stomach pain and dehydration.  Her blood pressure become very high and then her heart went into atrial fibralation.  She couldn't stop vomiting and had to give her IV antinausea medication and then at the same time was high blood pressure medicine.

Twenty-three years ago my mom was diagnosed with stage four cancer.  They removed her reproductive organs and did chemo and radiation.  She survivied it for twenty-years after treatment.  The down side was her body stopped producing magnesium and had diaerrha and vomiting.  These epidodes increased in frequency to about every three weeks, increased in duration to four days and they were strong episodes.

Last September I brought her into an Urgency Room.  They gave her IV for dehdraytion and anti-diarreha and anti-nausea medication.  That seemed to help until May.

My mom had high blood pressure for the past two or three years.  But recently she was having problems keeping it in range.

After three days in the hospital, my mom was able to take her medication and start on a liquid diet.  The last day she was able to eat solid foods.  They  looked at her heart and didn't see anything wrong but put a dye in her body to bring the heart back into normal rhythm.

My mom kept appointments with her doctor as she was on steriod to help the inflammation of her lower GI (due to the radiation).  Her blood pressure went goofy again and at one visit, her doctor found her in atrial fibralation again.

She went into the hosptial again with same symptons.  This time they found a large hiatal hernia.  Once she came home she started on a blood thinner to prevent blood clots.  A INR nurse montiors her blood for how easily she would bleed or clot due to the medicine.

I brought her to her last doctor appointment.  He and the cardiologist wanted to keep her on the thinner.  They had two options for the future; the montior implanted to record her heart rhytm or a device that would stop the flow from one of the ventricles.  I brought her back home and had to leave for a picnic at my mother-in-laws nursing home.  The next night my brother called my cell phone but I didn't have it on my back ride.  I then got a call on the home phone that her neighbors found her lying on the floor in the family room.  Once my brother got there and talked to the paramedics it was determind she was gone and had been for a long time due to her body being cold.

When my husband came home from the store, we went down to the house to say goodbye.  My son couldn't go, it was too hard.  But my husband, K and M were all down there along with my brother's family minus his youngest who was in Colorado.

We all talked and with the police.  One officer stayed there and the pastor came.  We prayed and talked until some family members needed to leave.  The creamation society came and took my mom's body away.  Then my brother and his wife, my husband and I locked up the house and left.

We meet two days later with the funeral home to discuss the service arrangements and what to do with her body and the cemetry.

I am at such a loss.  We didn't expect it this soon.  We can only conclude it was her heart.  Now there is the items in the house to get out and put the house up for sale.  I want to go back in time.  I also can't wait until God brings me home and I can see my parents again.

Along The Board Links

http://alongtheboards.com/2015/04/behind-enemy-lines-why-you-shouldnt-cheer-for-the-chicago-blackhawks/?fb_action_ids=10100176361912045&fb_action_types=

Well, the Blackhawks won the series and advanced.  Good job though for the Wild.

Enjoy the read.

Along The Board Links

http://alongtheboards.com/2015/03/all-30-each-nhl-teams-mvp/6/

Wow.  A lot of Most Valuable Players.  I enjoyed reading the picks for each team and the honorable mention.  I love the pictures so I know what that person looks like.  It is helpful to read the reasoning for each player and versus other players on the same team.

Now we are in the playoffs, let's see how far these players can take these teams.

Along the Board links

Another great article by this writer.  I enjoyed reading the stats for these players.  It was helpful that in the beginning they had an explanation along with a link to a glossary.  There is a highlight for a few of the hockey players with how they benefit the team they play for.  This is a great read as the playoffs are now happening.  Enjoy this and comment with your thoughts.

And the cycle doesn't end for leasees

I believe the last time I wrote about someone leasing our horse Dinah, there was a girl taking lessons and coming out inbetween times to practice.  Well, that didn't take long to end without this girl ever leasing.  We had a young lady leasing but she had to end because of her full time job.

I had another teenage girl start up, but now I hear she will be up at her dad's during the summer, and when comes back to live with her mom during the school year, she is going to try to buy one of two horses at the stables that the owners don't visit.

I feel for my horse.  We keep having different riders on her and not for a long time.  The search comes again.  I can be very busy at work and need someone to give Dinah exercise (just like dogs and humans).  This past week she turned 19 years old.  K and I are so happy we have had her for seven years.  The money helps out quite a bit also.

Maybe one day I can have my own land and bring Dinah there.  Then I can see her whenever I want without have to find the time to drive there.

Here is a picture of her pretty face.

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Weeks Fly By

I went to Orlando, Florida with my husband for his annual work trip.  We were only there for a few days.  We arrived on Monday afternoon to rain.  Tuesday was windy, cloudy and cool.  My husband was in seminars all day while I walked around Walt Disney resort area.  Wednesday was better for weather and I sat by the pool and just slept.  In the evening one of the resorts played the movie Frozen on their beach.  Thursday was the warmest day there that I actually wore my swimsuit.  It was too cold though to go into the pool.  My husband had almost two hours of free time and sat by the pool with me.  Friday morning and we are on the plane back home.  Oh how I didn't want to go home but three days was just enough since I couldn't do anything without a car.

Two weeks later K came home on her Spring Break from college.  A had our spare car at college so K would have to use my truck for work and going places.  Bad news, our boarding facility didn't have any spare hours to give her to work.  Then my truck needed new head gaskets which took the whole week.  On top of that, it was very cold that week.  By the weekend, K was ready to back to college.

Two weeks later, A came home for his Spring Break.  It was nice to have him without either of his sisters.  We also celebrated his birthday.  He turned the big 22.  Still no job, but his classes are going pretty good.  We are still so proud of him.

Here are a couple of pictures from the trip to Florida.

Along The Board Links

http://alongtheboards.com/2015/03/devan-dubnyk-savior-of-the-north/

Another well written article from this writer.

I felt bad for the Wild's other two goalies after reading this article.  But very happy for the new one, Devan Dubnyk.  This article states why Devan has proven to be such a asset and great decision for the Wild.  It looks like the team has made a turn around and maybe headed for playoffs.  The use of stats and the chart adds to the ease of understanding what the author is wanting the reaers to know about Devan.

Have fun reading and love to read your comments about this article.

Along The Board Links

Another great article.  This was a interview with a student at Notre Dame University that grew up in Minnesota.  His dad is the coach of the U of M Gophers Hockey team.  This player is being pursued by the Wild to play for them.

I enjoyed hear Mario's thoughts and feelings about hockey, Minnesota, his family and future.  This was another well written article from the interview  I think it is always tough to come up with questions to ask that lead to answers that come have a whole article for.  Enjoy reading this.

Along The Board Links

http://alongtheboards.com/2015/02/skate-survive-movement-makes-difference-wilds-offe

Another great article.  It is wonderful to hear that my home town team for hockey is now winning.  I love the pictures and kind of play by play descriptions.  Good descriptions also of the beginning of the season, the middle of the season and now.  It is fansciating to hear what a new goalie can do, and when all the players are healthy and healed.  I hope this momentum can continue.

Social Media

Now I bet I use Social Media more than most married moms.  I try not to let it consume me but I have to admit when I don't feel like cleaning the house or the weather makes it dangerous to travel; I do get on Facebook a lot.  I am learning what to say and not to say on there.  I agree with the statement that if you don't like what someone  posted, just scroll past it.  It is their timeline and they have the freedom to put what they want.  But as with all things, there are limits.  I do feel that if you write something to make someones character look bad, or if you write swear words (yes on television we still bleep those words out). then you have use Facebook for the opposite for what the creator intended it to be.  We can state "in our opnion" or wonder why somethings is happening.

I have read children's posts complaining about their parents using terrible language.  I personally asked for suggestions what to do about my horse that is at a boarding facililty.  Just recently, a few friends of mine were involved with a incident on Facebook.  I read about a student using Twitter to persuade the school board to think about closing school because of weather.

What is proper eqtiquette these days when it comes to Social Media and the internet?  Is there such a things as too much information?  Or can we still have freedome of speech?

Whirlwind of situations

Our Christmas Eve was quiet.  We celebrated it with our two younger children.  The reason for this was my niece had her gallbladder removed on that day.  My family gathered the day before (I had to work and missed it).  Christmas Day was with my mom, my oldest and her boyfriend.

It was nice to have our two youngest at home for the break.  I didn't get to see K much as I worked and she worked.  Then once again, she is gone back at college.  A was here for four more days then left to help a friend move back in early.

Poor A.  He left to go back with his car that we got him and about 45 minutes away the winds got stronger and blew the snow around.  He was having some difficulty seeing but not until eight miles from the campus and there was a moment of white out.  The wind died down and right in front of him were two cars that had been involved in a accident.  The one in front of him hit the car in front of it.  The accident happened like only two minutes before he came.  A didn't have enough time to stop and hit the second car.  The police came and helped all three of them.  The officer was getting frustrated that the state was not closing the highway.  Towtrucks were not running due to the white out conditions.  The state finally closed the highways and the officer brought A back to the college.  The car was totalled.  The job A thought he was to have when he got back did not come to be.  Lastly, the financial aid department told me son that for next year, the amount of aid was going to be a very small amount.

Our insurance company is giving us a check for the car that will be more than the amount left on the loan.  Praise the Lord.  Then A did a rough estimate for financial aid for next year, and it will be higher than this year.  It still is yet to be determined the exact amount.  A though is still waiting for a job.  His accounts are almost zero and we only have so much money since K is at college and needs help also.  A has such perserverance.  He doesn't give up, but yes at times he feels defeated.  We tell him that God will provide.  Have faith.

I hope soon I can write about A having a job and maybe decent grades.

http://alongtheboards.com/2015/01/search-goalie-minnesota-wild/

Intriguing article on the possible players for trade.  It is nice to read the reasons for each one and the drawbacks.  It looks like trading paid off for the Wild as they now have won two games.  Yeah Wild!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Along The Board Links

http://alongtheboards.com/2015/01/top-nhl-defensemen-25-under/10/

A very compelling article.  I enjoyed having the graphs and the short paragraphs with explanations for why these were the top 25.  I am surprised to read that there is a 18 year old in that group.  They play too young.  Click on the link and read who they are.