It’s been quiet on the blog here this week–I’ve been working on Valentine’s cards for the family and looking forward to our Valentine dinner tomorrow. I’m sharing some of the best parts of the last few days with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story. Feel free to join in counting blessings!

1. A smooth transition. I was in afib a couple of days last week. I had my one-month check-up with the cardiologist’s PA since the ablation, and he decided I should change one of my medications. But first I had to be off the old one for three days so it was totally out of my system. Since I was in afib at the time, I was expecting it to continue or worsen without the medicine. But it resolved itself, and I felt better those three days than I had in a while. I started the new medication on Monday, and it seems to be working well so far. My cardiologist told me a year or two ago that afib isn’t cured, only managed. So I hope and pray this regimen manages it well.

2. Being back in church, which I had missed for a few weeks due to weather and health issues.

3. Time with family. We had been somewhat isolated due to icy roads for several days. Jason, Mittu, and Timothy came over Saturday night to make dinner, then we went out to lunch with them Sunday after church.

4. The Olympics. We don’t watch sports much. Even our local Vols football games aren’t usually available unless we want to pay more for the next level of ESPN. But there is something about the Olympics that makes me want to watch. My favorite is ice skating, but I have enjoyed the evening coverage of some of the other sports as well.

5. Lunch with Melanie. We usually get together once every 4-6 weeks, but hadn’t seen each other since early December. It was good to catch up over Cracker Barrel turkey and dressing. Then I enjoyed an excursion to Hobby Lobby.

While gathering the gift cards I had received for Christmas, I saw there was one I had forgotten about for the new Whataburger here. That restaurant is a staple where I grew up in TX, and we’ve been excited that Knoxville now has three of them. But the one closest to us had been too busy to try out since its opening. We enjoyed getting take-out from there for dinner. Then I topped the evening off with half the Double Chocolate Coca-Cola Cake I brought home from Cracker Barrel.

With all these outings, I feel a little like I have been emerging from a short hibernation. 🙂 The weather has been much more moderate lately, which is another blessing. I know winter is not over yet. We’ll likely have more cold spells before spring comes. But I’ll enjoy the respite.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

It’s been another cold week here in eastern TN, but not as bad as the one before. Here are some of the best parts of the last few days. I’m linking up with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story, who started this great exercise of sharing weekly blessings.

1. Snow. I think we got between 5-6 inches last weekend. We were all stocked up with supplies, so we enjoyed looking at it through the windows. We had low temperatures for the next few days, keeping snow and ice around more than usual. But it is finally melting off.

I like how the solar lanterns look like ice cream cones.

We had to drip water from the faucets a few nights in a row, but, thankfully, the pipes remained safe.

2. Sledding video. I commented on our family text message thread that I had seen Facebook videos of people sledding and building snowmen, and I missed that activity here. Then Jason sent a video of himself sledding down their street. 🙂

3. Good yearly physical. These days, physicals seem to be made up mainly of talk about lab work. 🙂 Thankfully, mine was good this time! One that was a little off (thyroid) can be helped with a medication adjustment. And, interestingly, that *might* help with the heart issue.

Bonus: I did my fasting lab work the day before, then afterward went to Bojangles for my once-or-twice-a-year steak and egg biscuit and Bo-berry biscuit. The blueberry biscuit was in a heart shape for Valentine’s Day.

4. A phone call from a friend at church. She said she was thinking about me and decided to call. We had a nice visit.

5. Preliminary work on a project that’s been on my mind for a long time. I hope to share more soon!

Next week, we’re supposed to get up to 50 and 60 degrees! I can’t wait!

How was your week? Stay warm.

We’re expecting another winter storm this weekend. We’ll see what happens! Meanwhile, I’m sharing the blessings of the week with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story.

1. No snowpocalypse. Last weekend, I heard the snow forecast for our area range from a few inches to over 20. We only got a dusting. But we got a lot of rain and sleet that froze overnight, followed by a couple of days of sub-freezing weather. There were a lot of fallen trees around the state. We stayed home Sunday and watched church online due to the potential of icy roads–Jim had walked out to check the night before and almost slipped and fell. We’re thankful we didn’t lose power and the weather was not as bad as it might have been.

2. Perspective. When you’ve had days with the temperatures at 9 degrees F, then suddenly 30 degrees feels nice. 🙂 Well, maybe not nice, but better.

3. A personal letter in the mail. It’s so rare these days to get an actual letter! It was a treat from my aunt.

4. Replacement suction cup thingies. How’s that for technical terminology. 🙂 The shower caddy in our bathroom kept popping out of the suction cup holders. So when I got my shampoo or soap out or held onto the shelf for balance when I rinsed my face, the caddy moved around. Jim found some replacements online. At first having one on each side wasn’t holding it either. So he added an additional one on either side, and that’s doing the trick.

5. Safety bars. I was using the step-in shower in another bathroom for a while after my surgery, and Jim added a safety bar on the outside. Then he got some for the inside of that shower and mine that adhere to the wall with suction. They’ve been a big help.

Otherwise, it’s been a pretty quiet week, which is a blessing in itself.

How was your last week of January?

We’re supposed to have a winter storm this weekend, so our streets might look like the picture above. I’ve heard different reports about whether we’ll get snow or ice and how much of each. We’ll see! One of my main concerns is losing power, so we’re praying that doesn’t happen.

Meanwhile, I’m joining with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story to cultivate thankfulness by share this week’s blessings.

1. A successful cardioversion. I was sorry to miss FFF last week, but I had a procedure scheduled that day. I didn’t have my thoughts together enough to get a post ready ahead of time. I had an ablation for atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation the week before, but those procedures left me in afib despite three cardioversions. My doctor advised going home and getting back on the medications I’d had to stop for the ablation to see if that helped. It didn’t, so he had me come in for another cardioversion on Friday. Thankfully that went well and my heart rate and rhythm have been back to normal since. My heart might still be a little jumpy over the next few weeks as it heals from the ablation, but it feels so much better than it did! It’s nice to have energy again. I’ve been slowly getting back into my regular routine and even got some tidying done this week.

2. Meals and a visit. Jason and Mittu and Timothy brought a meal over to us and ate with us one night. I enjoyed the food as well as the company. Then Mittu sent over a few other meals another night.

3. An outing. I had my follow-up visit with the cardiologist’s PA Monday, and all went well there. My appointment was for late morning, and his office is near one of Timothy’s favorite restaurants. So I texted his family the night before to see if they might want to meet us there for lunch after my appointment. They did! It was my first excursion in a long while. We enjoyed lunch, then Jim and I went to Crumble Cookies, and then home. I went back out for a haircut with a $9.99 coupon. The stylist got it a bit shorter than I had wanted–I always say to take about an inch off, but people have varying ideas about how much an inch is. 🙂 However, I liked the way it turned out.

4. A working furnace. We’d had a maintenance call scheduled for our AC/furnace unit long before we knew a winter storm was coming. A few hours after having it serviced, I noticed the temperature was a couple of degrees lower than our setting, yet the furnace wasn’t coming on. Jim called the man who had worked on it, and, thankfully, he was able to come back the same day. Some wire hadn’t gotten connected properly. I’m glad it was an easy fix and we didn’t have to wait to make another appointment. Even without a winter storm, it’s been cold at night.

5. Bible study. We had been off over the holidays and started back up in January. I had missed the first couple of meetings, but the books were delayed, so I didn’t miss any lessons. We usually study a book of the Bible, but this semester we’re going through True Woman 201: Interior Design: Ten Elements of Biblical Womanhood by Mary Kassian and Nancy Leigh DeMoss (now Wolgemuth). I had read it about ten years ago, but it will be good to go through it again. Our first discussion was very encouraging.

How was your week? Is a winter storm forecast for you as well?

This week has been a little more eventful than some, so I’ll just plunge right in sharing the blessing of this week with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Taking Christmas decorations down with Jesse helping. It’s always a little sad yet a relief to get everything packed up and put away. The rooms look a little less cluttered.

Somehow we always miss some decoration until after the boxes have been stored back in the attic. Jesse and I discussed this and looked in places where we’ve left something out before. We couldn’t find anything, but Jesse said, “I just know you’re going to send me a picture of something we forgot.”

And sure enough, when I walked into my bathroom after Jesse left, I saw this:

And I texted him the photo. 🙂

That’s the only Christmas decoration I have in a bathroom, besides a Christmas hand towel. But it makes me happy. 🙂 It’s still there, but I’ll probably whisk it into the storage closet at some point.

2. Easy returns. Some of the clothes we had gotten for Timothy didn’t fit. They had all been ordered online, and I didn’t think to get gift receipts or save packages they came in. They were from two different stores, and I wasn’t looking forward to the ordeal of getting the approval to return and then finding boxes to send them back in. But the online process went amazingly smoothly. Plus, all the items could be taken to a local store without having to mail them. My dear husband took care of that part.

3. Surgery over. I went in Wednesday morning for ablations for atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation. Everything went well except I ended up in afib. 😦 I was told that I’d likely have more afib episodes for three months after the procedures, because the heart is a little sensitive and erratic from all the poking around they did in there. My son did some reading this morning and saw that it’s actually the scarring that develops from the zapped places that blocks the circuits causing afib. So it makes sense it would need some time to heal.

They shocked my heart three times after the ablations, but it wouldn’t convert back to normal. They theorized that once I got back on the medications I’d had to stop before surgery, that would help my heart to convert back to normal. If that doesn’t help, then I am supposed to call them and we’ll see if they want to do another cardioversion or try another medication.

Other than being in afib, I am doing well and feeling good. I had an allergic reaction to some of the adhesive pads that they use during the cardioversion, so I have been using a lot of Benadryl cream on the welts.

But the biggest thing I am thankful for is just that the surgery is over. Plus, last time I had to be on my back for 4-6 hours after the procedure, and then even longer when I started bleeding from the incision the first time they let me stand up. This time, I only had to lay flat for two hours. And I didn’t have any bleeding.

4. Excellent nurses, both the one who took care of me before and after the surgery as well as the one who discussed things with me before the surgery and then took me to the operating room. I don’t think I could ever have been a nurse, but I so appreciate those who are skilled, efficient, kind, and compassionate.

5. Friends who pray and send notes or texts telling me they are thinking about me and praying for me. And then Mittu told me that a number of people asked about me at church on Wednesday. That warms my heart.

And my dear husband has been going the extra mile through all this. He’s a much better caregiver than I am.:)

I hope your week has gone well! Many thanks to those of you who prayed for the surgery.

We’ve had another full but lovely week. Well, except that some have been sick. But hopefully all are on the mend. Here are a few favorites, shared with you all and Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Family time. Jeremy, our oldest son, was here until yesterday. He had to work remotely from our house this week, but popped in for lunch and coffee breaks. It’s so nice he could do that rather than having to cut off his visit last weekend.

2. A mixed outing. Mayfield Dairies Farm Park advertised a Merry Mayfield Christmas.with all kinds of activities. We went on the last day, but it was strangely deserted. Only one other family was there besides us, though more came later. I only saw two employees on the field. About half the advertised activities were not available. Jeremy said it looked like one of those weird empty carnival movie sets where a maniacal clown was going jump out at us at any moment. But we played in what was available and had fun. The best part was an apple cannon, where you shoot old apples at targets. Strange as it sounds, it was very satisfying to do!

Apple cannon:

Me taking aim:

Big slide:

Tire swing:

Lassoing the fake cows with hula hoops. 🙂

Photo op:

3. More adventurous cooking. I mentioned last week that all my kids have become good cooks, though they didn’t show much interest in it while they were in high school and college. They’re also much more adventurous than I am. 🙂 Jeremy made Hungarian Chicken Paprikash for us one night. And I was amazed and delighted to learn from him about a couple of products I hadn’t known about–tomato paste in a tube (for when you only need a tablespoon or two) and frozen minced garlic.

4. Low-Key New Year’s Eve. We had an assortment of snacks, then played games. Everyone went home between 9 and 10. Jim, Jeremy, and I fell asleep in the living room, but Jeremy set his alarm so we could turn on the TV in time to watch the ball drop in NYC. 🙂

5. Coupon from Audible. Audible had an offer saying if you spent three credits within a specified time, they’d gift you a ccoupon of $15 towards audiobook purchases. I was able to find two Christmas novellas and one novel with my coupon.

Bonus: Good news from a friend undergoing a kidney transplant. All went well with the surgery and his numbers have improved immensely the first day after. One of my simple pleasures is getting new wall calendars set up for the year. Jeremy made it to RI with no scheduling problems. Though we miss him already, his cat was glad to have him back. 🙂 Jason and Mittu got me some much-needed larger plastic storage containers, unasked and unexpectedly (I think prompted by my sending soup home with them in the only large container I had which had a broken lid 🙂 ). We finally got some family photos New Year’s Eve:

Happy New Year to you!

This has been a week overflowing with blessings. I’m sharing a few here along with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Our 46th wedding anniversary. We celebrated a couple of days early since we had other things going on the actual day. We usually go out to a nice place for dinner and exchange cards, but not presents, since it’s so close to Christmas. Last year we tried a new-to-us restaurant, and we decided to do the same this year. Even though we ended up not liking the restaurant (half the food was cold and they didn’t get the orders right), it was still fun to go out. And, on our way to the restaurant, we noticed there was a Krispy Kreme Doughnut place next door! We don’t have one near us (which is a good thing for our blood sugar levels). We bypassed the restaurant desserts to bring a couple of Krispy Kreme doughnuts home.

2. Jeremy is here! My oldest son’s first flight from RI was delayed, which caused him to miss his connecting flight and have to spend the night in a hotel. But he finally got here.

3. Family Fun Night at church. This is designed to be an informal time, something like the family at Grandma’s house, with different ones performing for the rest. Some were silly, some serious. We had vocal and piano solos, musical skits, readings, a Christmas quiz, and even a tap-dancing dad and daughter.

4. Dinner at my youngest son’s house. Usually when Jeremy is here, Jesse has us all over for dinner one night. He made some kind of Korean dish with tofu and pork belly and kimchee, I think. But he also made chicken teriyaki for those of us (mainly me) who aren’t adventurous eaters and don’t like spicy things. 🙂 Plus he made a snickerdoodle cheesecake. I’m amazed at the good cooks my sons have become. Then we played some new Jackbox games. Hear Say had us laughing.

5. Christmas. We’re so thankful the whole family could be here. We had a lovely time together all day, hearing the Christmas story from Luke 2, feasting, opening presents, most of us dozing in the afternoon, and later eating pie and playing games.

We’re staying mostly inside this day after Christmas, partly to rest, partly to avoid the craziness in stores, partly to savor the season, which went by way too fast.

How was your week? I hope you had a special Christmas.

It’s been a busy week, but a good one. I’m just a little behind where I wanted to be with Christmas preparations, but God has blessed with health and energy and productive days.

Thanks so much to those who prayed for my lower back pain. It’s not 100% yet, but it is much improved. I’m still moving carefully so I don’t set it off again.

I’m counting more blessings with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Protection. My next-to-youngest sister was in a car accident this week. Another driver cut too close when passing another car and hit my sister’s car from behind, causing it to spin around and then flip over. Miraculously, she walked away from the wreck with no serious injuries–just soreness from the seat belts and being thrown around. The other driver did not stop, but other people did. One got the offending driver’s license tag number. We assumed the driver who caused the accident didn’t have insurance since they didn’t stop, but they did, and someone filed a claim the next day. So hopefully the legal/financial stuff won’t be a hassle. But mainly I am so thankful she was okay–especially after seeing photos of the car smashed and upside down.

2. Flowers.Jim bought these for me last week, and they still look lovely. They’ve opened beautifully.

3. A timely arrival. We had ordered something for my oldest son on Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend. It was a large item, so we had it shipped to his place in RI for an early Christmas present instead of shipping it here for Christmas and then to his address. It didn’t show a shipping time during the ordering process, but afterward I got a notice of an almost two week time span it could be delivered–and part of that time, he was going to be here rather than there. We figured, between neighbors and friends coming to feed his cat, someone would bring it in. But I was still concerned about it. I was relieved to hear it arrived while he was still home.

4. Back to church. I mentioned being thankful for live streaming services last week. But it’s especially good to be able to be back in the services and Bible study.

5. Christmas music .BBN Radio plays Christmas music throughout December, and I have a good collection on my phone. I’ve enjoyed listening while wrapping presents, making cards for the family, and puttering in the kitchen.

I hope you have a good week and a very special Christmas!

It’s time again to share blessings from the week with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Steady progress. I have been discouraged that my lower back pain is still there. I start to feel pretty normal one day and worse the next. It’s like two steps forward and one back. But at least there is progress–it’s much better than it was originally.

2. A visit from Melanie. We usually get together once every few weeks but hadn’t seen each other since late September/early October due to scheduling and health issues. We wanted to try to get a visit in before the holidays and then my procedure in January. So she offered to come to my house for coffee or tea and a snack. Since Jim went to the store for me that morning, I ended up getting a lot of sweet and savory snacks. 🙂 So we had something of a finger food feast, but we had both missed lunch, so it worked out great.

3. Live streaming church. It’s always better to be there in person, but when we can’t, I am so thankful we can join in via live stream. I remember the days when sermons were audiotaped and then we had to wait a week to get a copy. That was better than nothing, but I so enjoy watching in real time.

4. Christmas cards. The first ones are starting to come in. I hope to get mine out this week.

5. A new microwave installed. I mentioned in October that our over-the-range microwave had died. It was still under a service contract, so the company sent someone out to fix it. After five service visits over two months replacing various parts (some twice), they finally replaced it. We had a little microwave from my husband’s office (from when my mother-in-law stayed there) to get us through, but it’s nice to have the kitchen back to normal.

6. A ingenious fix. I have trouble reaching items in the cabinet above the range unless they’re right on the edge. But often they get bumped back, or I can touch them but not get my fingers around them. We don’t keep a lot up there, but there was no good place to move them to. My husband solved the problem by putting a tension rod behind the items so it keeps them all at the forefront.

How was your week? I hope you’re getting done the things you need to while enjoying the season as well.

This has been a challenging week, but one where it’s especially good to look for the highlights along the way. It’s not a matter of just “looking on the bright side,” but counting God’s blessings. I’m sharing with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Christmas decorating. I’m so thankful the whole family comes over to help decorate for Christmas (except for our out-of-state one 😦 ). Not only does everything get done in good time, but we have fun reminiscing over the decorations.

One tradition that arose over the years is that one of the boys–I think Jason, usually–puts one of our snowflake ornaments in an unusual place. Once it was on the ceiling above a chair. Another time it was on a shelf with some figurines. This time there was a whole line of them. 🙂

2. Mittu makes dinner on decorating night, this time a chili with cornbread baked on top dish.

3. Heating pads. My lower back was hurting last week, which happens every now and then. Usually Tylenol and Icy Hot over a couple of days take care of it. But Saturday night, one particular muscle in my back kept spasming painfully. Tylenol and Icy Hot weren’t touching it. I spent a couple of days and one night in my desk chair with a heating pad. I know they say to ice muscles, but a heating pad usually works for me. It’s much better now, but still twinging a little. So I am moving slowly and carefully.

4. My dear husband outdid himself this week, making dinner, taking care of the house, fetching things for me.

5. Cyber Monday shopping. We got most of our shopping done, finding some great deals.

Bonus: Procedure scheduled. I finally got a call back from the cardiologist’s office and have the ablations for atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation scheduled for January.

Special Bonus: My heart rate went back to normal last night after being in atrial flutter for two weeks!

How was your week?