I'm still here

Wow, I didn't realize how lax I had become with this blog. My apologies. Work is keeping me increasingly busy and I love it. Every day I am learning something new, and I am getting to impress my teammates and colleagues with my skill and knowledge.

I have happy family news too.My cousin who married in March of this year, gave our family great news- she and her husband are expecting! Baby Johnson is due the week of Christmas. Mom and I think they need an "M" name to keep with the family theme. Now comes the fun part for me, a new project knit with love and from the heart. The one thing I can tell you, it will most definitely not be holiday colored.

Time to start searching patterns :D

Hope all is well with you.

How do you say goodbye to someone when their time comes too soon? My Aunt Terri was a dynamo, a homemaker, entertainer, and lover of animals. She was a beloved wife, mother, sister, aunt and friend.

She and my uncle turned the family homestead into a showplace, inside and out- all done with love. She always had animals around of the four footed variety and loved to have them underfoot. They raised 2 wonderful boys who have grown into incredible young men.

She loved Halloween,it was her favorite time of year.  A few years ago she threw a big Halloween bash complete with a fortune teller and  of course costumes were a requirement. We all had so much fun. 

She had an illness that she never spoke much of, one developed while a young teenager. In the last year she had her medical struggles, but never made a big deal of them- she preferred to be quiet about it. Last fall we learned that a transplant was going to have to be a reality, and this spring it came to be an urgent requirement.

We got word last weekend that it was go time, and the family descended to the hospital for support (for her, the boys, and my uncle). The surgery was delayed several times - waiting for the donor hospital to get the process started. She finally went down to the OR the next morning for her procedure. Despite the efforts of her excellent medical team, she slipped away from this world.

I am not a very religious person, and struggle to understand the reason why He called her home. None of us were ready to say goodbye- especially her boys.

You know there are risks for any surgery, especially one as long and complex as this one. Yet, we didn't think this would ever be a possibility. We fully expected to hear she was in recovery and that she made it through with flying colors.  It seems like a horrible nightmare that we can't seem to wake from.

Aunt Terri, I will miss you greatly, and hope you are now at peace and pain free. I will miss your smile, your loving nature, your sarcasm and sense of humor (the Donovan genes are strong there). I hope you have reunited with Grandma and Grandpa, Speckles, Tucker and Murphy, and are now watching over your family. We'll miss you.



Thankful

Thanksgiving is now over and done, and I was blessed to be able to have fun and spend time with almost every person in the family this year :) From a food perspective, it was interesting. I typically have 2 meals a day, with the first being at around 11:30-12:00. The feast yesterday was at 3....., so I planned ahead and had a simple egg sandwich on whole grain toast in the am. That enabled me to not snack on apps beforehand and be hampster hungry! I did have a pig in a blanket that my brother and neice made, but I was not compelled to eat and eat. I ate more than I planned, but stopped before I was stuffed.

After the feast we took a walk/hike through the woods to the nieghboring tree farm- so beautiful, and so New England - rows of different kinds of trees in various growth stages on the rolling hills and surrounded by stone walls and towering old trees. It was so beautiful and peaceful, I really wish I had brought a camera.

I ended the holiday with a trip to my aunt and uncle's to visit more famiy- and arrived just in time for the games. Got to play with the dogs as a cap to the day.

I was SO happy that the scale was the same this morning as yesterday. I had a great time and did not take too much of a side trip on this journey to getting smaller :) I am going to take it as a trial run/precursor to next month and the fun that awaits !

This year I am thankful for all of my friends and family, being employed and doing a job that challenges me, and am so thankful that I took a chance this summer on the wellness pilot program that is really changing my life and its all for the better!

Fun Friday

Unplanned sleepover tonight!

Picked up the Munchkin from school today and her medicine from my dad's house. In true family tradition, she has her first ear infection. At almost 4 she is lucky to have withstood this long. My brother and I were NO strangers to the achey and popping ears. Hope she doesn't get them into adulthood like her auntie.

Moved her carseat to the middle seat in the car.... she is tall & skinny and no longer had any foot room. She is almost 30 lbs but I think it is time to get a booster for my car. We are thinking a tall booster because she is too young and sleepy for the backless ones.

Dinner was my niece's choice. I asked what she wanted.... hotdogs please. Stopped at Stop & Shop and picked up Hebrew National (my fav) they were on sale & reduced fat- double score!
A piece of cheese was scored from the deli and a fast run thru the store with random throw in items from the little one.

Batman and She-ra were the entertainment choices for the evening, by demand of the little one. Love her taste in cartoons.

Tomorrow will have a quick morning at home before meeting my brother in the late morning.

I love the unexpected sleepovers, and want to take advantage of them while she still likes it!

I think tonight is going to be an EARLY night because she wakes up way early :)