Weekly Review January 6 '17

Last night it snowed!! We got about 3 inches of snow. It didn’t stick to the roads a lot so school did not get cancelled, but there was a 2 hour delay. It’s the ideal kind of snow because it looks pretty but didn’t cause major road condition problems.. Frank is so happy!! Seth didn’t mind getting out of 2 hours of school, either. Frank worked from home today and the two of us went to lunch. I’ve spent the rest of the day crunching numbers, but updating the finances is one of the chores that I actually kind of enjoy. I mean, I’d rather be reading a good book but as far as chores go, it’s a lot more fun than say, cleaning bathrooms!

I should backtrack to last Friday now. It was Scott’s last day here so we went out to dinner as a family. There was a nice sunset while we were driving to the restaurant:

Boys at the restaurant:

 Then we went to a wedding reception for a couple in our ward (they are both Scott's age); it was really nice. The next day we were up super early because Scott’s flight left at 7:00 am. He wasn’t feeling very well so he asked Frank to give him a blessing before they left for the airport. He did start to feel better and he got home without any problems. I went back to bed for a while after Frank left for the airport. He went back to bed for a while after he got back, too. After I got back up, Jared and I went to the church to help clean. Then I spent most of the rest of the day taking down Christmas decorations (everyone helped). I’m always a little sad to see them come down, but I do enjoy having the house cleaner and less cluttered. I did a lot of planning for Cub Scouts too. Jared went to see Rogue One again with some of the youth from the ward that afternoon. For New Year’s Eve, we did the usual—stayed up late eating snacks and working on a jigsaw puzzle. Actually, Frank went to bed around 10:00 because he was so tired from his early morning trip to the airport and I made Seth go to bed around 10:00 too, but Jared and I stayed up until midnight. I talked to Amy on the phone for a while. We didn’t finish the puzzle that night but we worked on a bit on Sunday and I finished it on Monday.

New Year's Eve shots:

Sunday afternoon:

Finished puzzle on Monday:

Frank did not have extra meetings on Sunday, which was nice, but he did have to speak in Sacrament Meeting. He did a good job on his talk. We came home after church and relaxed. It was a nice way to start out the new year. Frank had Monday off work and Seth didn’t have school either. I kept pretty busy, though, although not doing anything noteworthy. Just the usual things, plus more Cub Scout planning. We had the Elders over for dinner that night, and then had family night.

On Tuesday we had to get back to real life! Frank’s had a pretty busy week at work. Seth and I had den meeting Tuesday evening, and I had Cub Committee Meeting afterwards. Jared came with me to help out with den meeting because the boys were learning about tools and practicing how to use them (hammer, screwdriver, saw, etc.) He was a big help—I never could have managed to keep track of all 6 boys and helped them use the tools all by myself! We are going to be building a project out of wood over the next month, so both Jared and Frank are going to come to den meetings to help.

Learning to use hammers, screwdrivers, saws, and measuring tapes:

Jared and I started hitting the long list of mission preparation items on Wednesday. We mostly just went through the list and took note of what things we need to buy and what things we need to do. I set up an appointment for him to get his eyes checked next week, as well as an appointment to get a couple of shots. On Wednesday evening we had the Sister missionaries over for dinner. Transfers were that day and one of the Sisters got transferred (one of the Elders did too) so we got to meet the new Sister missionary. She is NOT from Utah! She’s from Alabama. Frank missed the dinner because he was working late. He got home just in time to say hi to the sisters before they left.

(This is not the new sister missionary. It's a picture we took with the Sister missionary who just left--she stopped by on Tuesday afternoon to say goodbye. She's the one standing next to me.)

Yesterday morning was crazy!! When I took Seth to school there was an unusual amount of traffic. We barely got to school on time, and a lot of other people were late. It turns out that there was a bad accident on the main freeway that runs north to south through Frederick and they actually had the whole northbound side shut down and they were diverting all the northbound traffic off the freeway. So after I left the school and headed to the grocery store, I ran into all that diverted traffic. It took me nearly 30 minutes to get the grocery store from his school! (That usually takes 5 minutes.) It also took me close to 30 minutes to get back home (usually takes about 10 minutes) because there was no way to get home without going back through all that traffic. Later, Jared and I went shopping for mission stuff. We were able to find him a suit and 3 pairs of slacks that were on sale for really great prices, so that was nice. Well actually, we had to order the suit since they didn’t have his size but it will be here soon. We also went online and ordered all his white shirts and dark socks for great prices, too.

Last night I had book chat and we had a really great discussion. I just love that group of women! We have a lot of fun and have some really meaningful discussions. I always feel uplifted when I go there, even though the books we read are not necessarily uplifting. We usually find ways to apply them to our lives, and relate them to gospel principals. By the time I left book chat, it was snowing and there was already about an inch of snow on the ground.

Frank just got back from physical therapy. He is mostly doing a lot better but he has a spot on his back that is really painful. The physical therapist feels like something is wrong that he can’t fix, and he recommends that Frank get an MRI done on his back.  So he has to go back to the orthopedic doctor next week to get a referral for an MRI. So much fun! He also got an extension for his disability parking sticker because the less he has to walk, the better. So now he’s good for another 4 months. He really is doing a lot better but now that he is back at work he has to do a lot more walking, and it helps him tire a lot less if he doesn’t have to do as much walking. Oh yeah, and I forgot that last week he went to the doctor because his foot was hurting a lot. His plantar fasciitis is acting back up so he got a cortisone shot in his foot and it was wrapped up for a few days He also had to start taking an anti-inflammatory medication again. It feels a lot better now, though. The doctor said this flare up can be directly linked to his wreck because it’s very common for someone who has been down for a few months (not walking much) to have a flare up when they become more mobile again. Frank would like to lose some weight. He gained quite a bit since the accident—one of the medications he had to take caused weight gain and he wasn’t getting any exercise, of course. However, he can’t really exercise yet and he has to eat frequently with the medication he’s on. But hopefully he will be off the medicine soon and at least able to control his diet a bit more although I think exercising is not going to be possible for a long time. I told him we should think about getting a Y membership so that he can swim. That is one kind of exercise that I think he could do.

Meanwhile, I am still exercising regularly—I am proud of myself because I have kept it up pretty consistently for a year now! I have not lost any weight but I haven’t gained any either. Or, to be more accurate—I fluctuate up and down within a 5 pound range. I feel better when I exercise, so I plan to keep it up. I can’t complain about all the aches and pains that Frank has, but the last 3 days my left shoulder and neck have been really sore. I don’t know why—just slept on that side funny or something. It was really bad on Wednesday. It’s better now than it was, but still bothering me. I really need a good neck / shoulder rub, but Frank can’t do that anymore. He did rub my shoulder and neck for me for a little while, but it hurts him too much to do a proper back rub. It is gradually getting better, though, so I’m sure I’ll feel back to normal soon. Other than that, I really can’t complain—a lot of people around me have been sick lately but our whole family has had a very healthy winter so far. I hope I’m not jinxing us to say so, but I am grateful!!