Thursday, July 26, 2018

July 26, 2018

Life Is Back to Normal
July 26, 2018



Back in the middle of June, I had spent hours on writing a new blog entry and adding photos.  Then,  as I was adding the last photo and trying to center one caption, the entire blog disappeared!  I tried everything I knew to do, and my husband tried, but it seems to be lost in cyber space.  Oh, well.  Back to the start.  I know just enough about computers to get myself into trouble.  The program provided by the blog support automatically backs up the blog about every minute or two.  It had just backed it up and then, poof!  The page was blank.  Things like that are "normal" for me. 
These are the 7 arrangements I made this evening 
after picking zinnias from our garden spot.

It has been just over 5 years since my Cochlear Implant surgery.  About three weeks later, I returned to Houston to have the system activated.  The surgery and the activation were the beginning steps to returning my life to as near normal as possible.  At the time, I had read most of the things I could find about the surgery.  One thing was that after activation, I would see improvement for a couple of years and then it would sort of level out and after that, there would be very little change.  I find that not to be the case.  My perception of music is still changing for the better. It is still not great, but it is better than in the beginning.  But strangely, the music I have heard in my head for 5 1/2 years, is disappearing.  When I do hear it, it is usually very soft.  I miss it.


At the beginning of the summer, my husband and I thought we were looking at a long boring summer.  Several of the grandchildren were going to be out of town for various events.  Our son with the large family, took them all (except the oldest who is spending his summer in Michigan working with a church there) on a two week vacation to places we used to take our boys.  It was hard to see them have fun at all the places we loved to visit while we stayed home, but we were delighted that they were able to make the trip. Then there was Vacation Bible School for them, church camp and a mission trip for three of them.


In early July, our third son came for several days.  This family had things going on that kept them at home, but we had a good visit with our son.  Later in July, our youngest son who did not think he and his family (he, his wife, and their 17 month old son) could make the trip this summer, but were able to come for several days and we had a delightful time with them.  Next our daughter-in-law from New Mexico will be coming for a week toward the end of August.  All of these visits have been unexpected treats!  Also, my sisters and my brother have made trips to see mom and we have been able to enjoy their visits.


Our summer has been filled with much more activity than expected and my house is almost clean now.  I need motivation to get some things done, and having company helps me get my house cleaner.  With a toddler coming, that took a different kind of cleaning.  Not only did the floors need to be vacuumed, but the house needed to be sort of child-proofed.  He still managed to find things that I had overlooked, but he was good about handing them over without fussing.  He is a delightful little guy and he enjoyed watching the birds in the yard as much as I do.  He would say "Bird" and point each time he spotted one.  It seemed his vocabulary grew each day he was here and it was so much fun to watch and HEAR him.


In with the fun activities of the summer, we have had some that weren't as fun.  My husband's mother has spent the last 10 days or so in the hospital and was just transferred to a nursing home for about 10 days to see if they can get her to be able to stand without falling.  She had taken several falls before going to the hospital and thankfully she did not break anything.  She usually goes down very slowly, but then can not get up.  Ron has been spending several hours a day at the hospital and I am sure he will do the same at the nursing home.  His sister will be coming about the time she goes home from the nursing home to help out for a week or two.


During this summer I did a two night testing at the hospital for sleep apnea.  I was to see the doctor today for results and they called yesterday to say they do not have the results yet, so changed the appointment to a month away.   Other than that, I really have not had too many doctor appointments this summer.

In early June, Ron and I made a trip to San Antonio for a high school graduation ceremony for our honorary granddaughter.  She will be starting college this fall and like her brother who just finished his second year of college, they will both be at UTSA (University of Texas at San Antonio).  Our son Dave and his wife will have an empty nest this fall and that will be a real change for them.  The kids (our daughter-in-law's niece and nephew) have lived with them for about 7 years.

Ron has done a lot of yard work this summer, but it has been too hot and too mosquito infested for me to be outside much.  The 10 1/2 inches of rain we had about a month ago really brought out the mosquitoes.  Ron planted several patches of zinnias, but only 3 of them have produced and the best one is where we had a patch a couple of years ago.  As always, I enjoy cutting the flowers and bringing them inside and also sharing them with family.

I have also had a few miniature 
roses blooming since the rains.

Deep South Texas has experienced unusually hot weather the last couple of weeks.  Brownsville gets the Gulf breezes which usually keep us in the low 90s in the late summer, but a couple of days ago it was 104!  Yuck!  Thankfully my days are normally spent indoors with the air-conditioner working overtime!.  Hope your summer has been good.  








1 comment:

  1. Yay! Gorgeous flowers and good to see the blog...enjoyed encounters in eateries too!

    ReplyDelete