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My "best laid plan", to borrow the quote, was to start writing a blog again right before Christmas. Since you are not reading this until mid-January or after, you are seeing just how well those plans worked out. That’s my life in a nutshell.

This year it was the flu or something like it. I’m not sure if what I had is classified as the flu or just an “upper respiratory infection”. That’s what the second doctor who saw me called it. Yes, I said second doctor, as in I saw two different doctors within 4 days.

Here is the timeline:

December 28th we had our family Christmas. It didn’t go as planned as some of the grand-kids were ill but we did our best. You can read all about it in Christmas Part 1 and Part 2. I had also made several trips into town earlier that week gathering food and wrappings to celebrate our Christmas. A lot of people in town were hacking and coughing around me and I did my best not to breathe in their germs. Apparently, I failed.

December 30th, I became ill. Upper respiratory coughing, hard to breathe, stuffed up sinuses. I began chugging water (I am NOT a water drinker by choice, so this was a challenge) and resting a LOT! (I excel in resting!)

January 2nd was my 63rd birthday! My “best laid plans” were that I was going to go to town to the movie theater and watch 4 movies! It was a Tuesday which meant it was $5 movie day! I had planned to start with the new Star Wars movie in the new dream lounger seat theater, then see Jumanji, Finding Our Father, and finishing up with Downsizing. I thought that seemed like a fun day at the movies for only $20. Somewhere in there I would leave and grab some chicken bites nearby and return for more movies. I love movies!

None of this happened. I was down and out sick on my birthday. I was achy, had no energy, no appetite, just felt rotten. Surprisingly I rarely run a fever, which when I did go in to both doctors, my temperature was normal. It makes it hard because they often look at me like I’m not really sick. Apparently having a fever is a sign.

The next day, January 3rd, my right ear became painful and since I’ve been plagued with earaches since childhood I knew this was not going to end well. I decided to drive into town and visit the local urgent care. The first one I drove up to appeared to be closed, so I drove a few blocks over and went to the other one in town.

I only had to wait a few minutes which I thought odd, usually those places are very busy this time of year. I was led back into a room by a nurse. She took my temperature, normal, and left the room. I thought it odd she did not take my blood pressure, but I’m not a nurse, so what did I know.

A youngish male doctor came into the room, looked into my right ear and said yes, I had fluid behind my eardrum. He looked at my throat, jotted down a few notes and told me to go buy some NyQuil and Flonase. I had thought he would prescribe an antibiotic because of my earache, but again, I’m not a medical professional.

I stopped at my local drugstore and got the NyQuil but passed on the sinus spray as it usually just makes my sinuses more irritated. In case you are wondering, I got the cherry flavored one.

That night I woke up about 2 a.m. and was in a lot of pain with my right ear. It kept me awake for hours! The next morning, I called the urgent care place and let them know that my ear was more painful and also draining some, so a full blown ear infection. I also told them the antibiotic I know I can use as I am allergic to several. The nurse said they would call one in to my drug store.

I sent my husband off to the drug store and he returned with a $75 prescription of an antibiotic I’d never heard of or used.

Now, in the world of "normal" people this probably is not an issue, but in my world of high anxiety issues and probable PTSD it’s a HUGE problem.

For two days I tried to talk myself into just taking the medicine and could not. I was terrified I may be allergic to it. So of course, my symptoms got worse and spread into my right eye, then my left ear, then my left eye. In just a couple of days I looked like a two-year-old with a bad cold, goo coming out of my eyes, nose and ears. It was not a pretty sight.

I decided I needed to get MY antibiotics, the one I know I’m not allergic to. I went back into town to the first urgent care place I was going to stop at but thought they were closed that first day. This time I walked up to the door and saw a sign posted on it saying they had moved their office into a new building further down the street. Best laid plans once again rearing its ugly head. Why me?

I drove further down the street to this wonderful new medical building. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot which in an odd way gave me comfort. I walked in and filled out the electronic pad with all my information and went and sat in the first waiting area. A very nice young lady called my name and I went and gave her all the details and she directed me to another waiting area. It didn’t take long, and I was called back into a room.

The nurse took my temperature, again normal and my blood pressure, very high! She was concerned and I explained to her that I have very high anxiety with anything medical so if she would like to wait a bit and take it again it usually settles down. She did, and it did. She looked like she was very relieved.

The doctor came in a few minutes after she left the room and told me I looked like crap. I instantly liked him. He was probably in his fifty’s and was very nice the entire time. I told him what had been going on and he confirmed all my symptoms. He assured me he would call in the antibiotic of my choice as it did the same exact thing as the unknown one that had been prescribed to me. I left feeling reassured in the medical system and made a mental note that this was now my favorite urgent care center.

My next big surprise was my drug store. After getting my antibiotic, which is only $20, I told the pharmacist what had happened with the first antibiotic which I had brought along to show him. He said he could take the other prescription and would destroy it for me as they can’t return prescriptions, which makes absolute sense. What surprised me however was that he refunded my husband’s card for the amount! In other words, they just took a loss of $75. In today’s world it is rare to find any place that is willing to lose any money in the name of customer satisfaction, let alone that much. I was shocked and pleased! All I can say is "God bless Walgreens".

The medicine helped. I’ll assume the mass quantities of water and rest helped as well and finally by the end of January, four weeks later, I started to feel better.

January 29th, I finally got to go see the new Star Wars movie. It was no longer in the nice dream lounger seat theater, but I was the only person in there at 10:00 a.m. It was worth the wait.

January 30th, I got to see the Jumanji movie with a friend of mine, also well worth the wait. I’m secretly in love with Dwayne Johnson as my children all know. Dwayne, if you are reading this, call me.

The month of January turned out to be a whole month of "the best laid plans" going awry. Lets see what February holds, there’s always hope.

Until next time….Toni

After a month of planning, prepping and decorating, I was finally ready for our Christmas! On the 26th of December I declared everything as done! Check marks were all made, cookies were all baked, menus were all planned, and supplies purchased.

The trees were all up and decorated, the spare bedroom (aka the kid’s playroom, aka my bedroom) was all ready with freshly laundered sheets and bedspreads. The presents were all wrapped and under the real tree in the living room.

My oldest son, Jason was set to arrive later that day with his family. Our youngest daughter Brittney and her two little ones were not able to join us as she had recently moved to Virginia. Our youngest son Josh and his family lived nearby. Grandson Willie, Torri’s little guy, was not able to be here this Christmas either. It was the first year not to have all of my family together since we lost Torri. Last year had been the first Christmas without her, but her son Willie had been here. This year there were even fewer that could come. Life is always a challenge, and we have to make joyful moments where we can.

I could relax for a few hours and enjoy the Christmas spirit of the house. I had turned on the lights on all of the various trees and was admiring my handiwork. My husband Jay had decided he would make broasted chicken for supper (yes, we have an actual genuine restaurant chicken broaster in our basement) so I was off the hook for supper! Small victories!

Jason and family arrived with smiles, suitcases and presents all bursting in the door at once. Within 5 minutes all the preparation, cleaning, organizing, making sure all the details were perfect were lost in the joy of children running through the house and adults bringing in packages and suitcases. Oh well. I had the joy of seeing my house at it’s finest for most of the day, and now family was here safe and sound and that’s what matters. I had also taken photos of each room as proof I had it all perfect for a while.

After supper (yes, in Iowa we farm folk still call it supper for the evening meal. Dinner is what you eat at noon and lunch is what you eat at 3:00 in the afternoon for your break.) the kids were to sleep in two plush sleeping bags on the bedroom floor – A 9-year-old and a 3-year-old – but it ended up the two of them slept in the bed with their mom and my son Jason slept on the couch. The best laid plans once again in my life…

The next day my son and I took his 3-year-old daughter with us to town, while her mom and her step-brother stayed home relaxing. We ran a few errands and picked up additional groceries needed for that night’s supper. We were having a chili cook-off of sorts. between our sons Jason and Josh and their dad, Jay. The plan was to take the chili to La Porte City to Josh’s newly purchased home. It was about a 30-minute drive from our house. Supper was to be the three chili soups and sub sandwiches and let the kids all play together in their heated garage.

Again, the best laid plans…my son Josh called in the afternoon to tell us that the kids were all sick at his house, his 2 girls and his fiancés 2 boys, so if it was alright they’d cancel tonight but come over the next day as planned for Christmas. I told him that was fine, and we’d see them tomorrow. In my head I was wishing now I had gotten my flu shot.

We were home by dinnertime (aka lunch) and I had gotten some smoked pork chops to make. I have a Jenn-Air stove so was going to grill them inside and make some potatoes to go with them. I had the chops grilling on the stove top and went into the living room to save a Christmas ornament from a grandchild when my I heard someone in the dining room say my pork chops were on fire.

I was not immediately alarmed by this because almost every time I cook on that grill something catches on fire. It’s usually just a tiny flare up that can easily be blown out. I came back into the kitchen to see flames leaping off my chops reaching the underside of my microwave!

My husband and son were attempting to put the fire out and had I grabbed some tongs and was attempting to save the chops from being totally crisped. Jay put a large cake roll pan over the top of the burners and we finally managed to get the fire out. Both smoke alarms in the kitchen and dining room were wailing and the grand-kids were looking at us with grave concern.

I reassured them that this too was a pretty normal and regular occurrence in my household. The good news was I had managed to save the pork chops and all but one were overly charred, which I ate, and the potatoes were also done, so we all sat down to eat before something else happened.

We decided to go ahead with making chili for supper that night only just Jason would be making his for us. While making his chili recipe, Jason had cooked some exotic chili’s (anything that does not come out of a box or a can is considered exotic at my house) in a pan and then poured the hot mixture into my blender. My blender is seldom used (ok, rarely ever used) and is one of those with a plastic top and rubber lid. Apparently pouring hot liquid into it caused the lid to warm and warp and while he was holding onto the top of it the plastic cap popped into the blender and was instantly ground into the mixture!

We looked at each other like now what? I suggested we might strain it through a tea strainer I had that had microscopic holes in it. That way we could get the flavor of the juices without any of the plastic shards. So, there we stood over the sink carefully straining and re-straining the liquid. The chili turned out great, the blender not so much.

The next morning was our Christmas day, starting with me making a big breakfast for everyone. It’s the one time I enjoy cooking. Josh and his crew showed up a bit late and the boys were still pretty sick. We made the best of it and had a nice time together. After dinner (noon meal for you city folk) we passed out presents and the kids had fun playing with their new toys. Light naps were had by both adults and kids and then we all enjoyed Jay’s homemade spaghetti for supper.

Josh and family headed for home afterward and the next day Jason and his family headed back to Missouri. Later as I walked around the house gathering up any left items and toys to give back to people, I was struck by the sheer silence of the house once again. I think our dog Kutter was thankful for it.

I would leave the Christmas trees and decorations up for a few more days and then put them all away again until next year. Next up was my birthday, and boy did I have big plans for that day!

Until next time…Toni

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays. Ok, probably my favorite, the next one is Easter. Both celebrate God’s unconditional love for us, in Christ’s birth and then His death and resurrection giving us hope for an eternal life. That’s powerful knowledge.

I’ll admit I go a bit overboard on the whole Christmas decorating thing. Over the years I have amassed an alarming amount of Christmas decorations, many of them handmade by myself or my four children, many given to me by friends or foreign exchange students we’ve had the privilege of having with us. Many were purchased at after Christmas sales, bargain stores or antique shops. The point is, I have a LOT of them.

I used to only have one large real Christmas tree each year that I would decorate with all the various decorations, the kids’ ornaments always having priority and they still do. Each year Jay, I and the kids would go to a Christmas tree lot and pick out a tree and watch Jay saw it down. Over the years that too dwindled as children left our home for theirs and now Jay just buys a local tree in town. He bases his decision on my size and shape, short and rounded.

A tradition I started with the birth of my first child was each year I would make or buy each child a new Christmas ornament and when they moved out of the house and started their own homes, each child got their box of Christmas ornaments to decorate their first Christmas tree. Once they were all out of the nest, it became a little more hit and miss each year as the family grew, and many of them started that same tradition for their children, one I have hoped they will carry on.

As years passed and my house grew in size and less in people living in it, I also began to collect a wide variety of artificial Christmas trees. Most were purchased at garage sales during the summers, and a few at after Christmas sales, until I finally had a Christmas tree for each room. I was in heaven!

Now the next task was organizing my ornaments so that I could make some type of a “themed” tree in each room. I don’t know why that seemed important, as my real tree is always my favorite and it is always a giant hodge podge of ornaments and lights. It started in my husband’s TV room, loosely called “the den” where I placed the first artificial tree with sports type ornaments on it, you know Santa fishing, a wooden fish, a hunting dog or two, various sports balls, etc. It was the fake Alpine style tree that is supposed to make your home look very woodsy I guess.

As I gathered in more artificial trees I started to collect more ornaments to go with the themes I had given to each room of the house. My bathroom has a nautical theme as I love ships and the oceans, so the tiny tree set in there also has that theme with shells for ornaments and Santa as a ship’s captain.

The kitchen of course has a tiny tree with little tea cups and coffee mugs, a tiny grater, and tiny cookie cutters on it. The dining room I went with a snowman tree as I had a lot of snowmen ornaments I’d collected over the years, and then I added small glass ball ornaments with each grandchild’s name on it so it is now called the grandchildren’s tree.

The laundry room was an unusual choice and I didn’t go for the obvious laundry day theme but went with penguins instead. It has a small white artificial tree with tiny Christmas balls with cute little penguins on it and I set my stuffed penguin in there beside it.

The main basement family room has a medium sized green artificial tree with a set of pool ball ornaments on it and little hearts I cut out from old music books. In the kids playroom aka guest bedroom, aka my bedroom is a tree made from felt with all felt ornaments on it that the grandkids can play with. This year I also added a “bird” themed tree to that room with beautiful bird ornaments I bought at a garage sale last summer. Some day that tree will go into my craft room if that ever becomes a reality.

The final tree I added this year was a medium sized green artificial tree I went and purchased after Thanksgiving when I discovered a sack of long forgotten ornaments in the living room closet where all of my seasonal decorations are stored (about 10 totes of just Christmas stuff, but who’s counting). The ornaments were from an antique store in Lake Mills, Wisconsin where I had lived with my daughter Torri while she was battling cancer. The ornaments were all a beautiful light peachy color or cream color and I set the tree on the small bookcase that sits in the living room entryway. It was a little tribute to Torri who also loved Christmas.

I started doing this decorating a couple of days after Christmas, hauling out tote after tote from the living room closet. As I did so the OCD or whatever it is in me, decided that it would also be a great time to go through all of the ornaments in each tote and all of the various decorations and get rid of the ones I no longer use or care for and organize the rest. This whole process literally took me weeks and by Christmas day I had just finished putting up the last decorations around the house.

All of the boxes and totes were still scattered across the front of the living room and I had family arriving in just a couple of days. I started to shove things into totes, and boxes, foregoing any organizing for the moment. One Christmas tote I emptied and put all of the normal living room decorations into with a note on top so after Christmas I could put them all back into their place. I shoved everything into the closet and shut the door.

Now the house cleaning ritual began, and I got my Christmas Holiday binder out and started checking off each task as I went. I was in full blown Christmas celebration mode now. Soon the house glistened, the gifts were all wrapped, the menu’s all planned, gifts were all mailed out to those who could not be with us. I had the agenda all figured out, what could possibly go wrong?

Until next time – Toni