My house is pretty much finished. Josh and Belle managed to get my bedroom done and my bathroom partially finished. I want to tear out my "wet" area of my bathroom and redo it so Joshua made it more livable and put new flooring and sealed the whole area. He also removed the disgusting shower door and put a shower curtain in its place. I love it. It makes the shower look so much bigger. My plan is to remove the jacuzzi tub and shower and tile the whole area. I want to make it more accessible to a wheelchair .... not that I plan on using one in the near future but I am trying to think ahead. Joshua Soileau is a all around handyman that I have been using to do the other jobs that my Josh could not get to. He is a perfectionist and I am blessed to have found him.
Christmas was bittersweet for me this year. This was the first time in three years that I have been able to have people over and have decorations up. I was proud and thrilled when I looked around my home. As I said before my home may not be your style but it is mine and I love it. I sat one night with the tree on and everyone was sleeping. My thoughts turned to Stan and wishing that he could have seen this. My house has been transformed and it is wonderful to be able to have guests over without hesitation. Several months ago Fatima had its grandparents day and when I was in Winston's room he said "I really miss papastan and wanted him to be here". Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw someone that looked like Stan. I turned and no one was there. Now I have had time to time "dream" visitations from my mom in times of need so I am choosing to believe that Stan came to Winston's special day. I told Winston that I believe that his papastan was there. "really Mimi?" I think so Winston because he loved you so much that he would not have wanted to miss this. I was pretty shook up because I really thought I saw him.
We had our celebration on the 14th because I had to work on Christmas. I had my usual dinner of prime rib and all the casseroles. I had both of my kids and their kids and my daughter's in-laws, Benny and Francis . Michael and Maria Felton and their daughter Arianna came and of course Aunt Ruthie and Taunte Jill rounded out the guest list. This was the best time I have had in years. Presents to the grand kids were plentiful but slim compared to previous years because I had a special surprise for Joshua and his kids. It was the best kept secret ever. I was taking them to Disneyland for a 4 day vaca. The kids did not know till they arrived and the video of them realizing where they were was priceless. Maria Felton (Disney queen) planned the whole vacation starting last summer. I was beside myself with excitement. A February Disney trip is also going to happen for my Garrards!
Disney is wonderful and you would need at least a month to see and do everything. We stayed at Art of Animation and Pop Century on site. Walking thru Disney is something that you really need to be in shape for AND not be 80lbs over weight, old and have a bad hip. One hour in and I was ready to go home. I was in serious pain. We could not get a scooter as they were all rented out so Maria got a wheelchair. I would like to say here that I was initially humiliated with the wheelchair but it was a necessity. Maria pushed me all over the Magic Kingdom. The first day they got to dress up as pirates. I cannot say enough wonderful things about the experience. It was a ridiculous amount of money but worth every penny.
They got to choose pirate names, pick the pirate they wanted to be and at the end took the pirate oath. They had a blast. The next dress up day was the prince and princess day She chose Aurora and he was a prince. They sprinkled large glitter on his head representing dragon scales. The costumes were incredible and will be worn in playtime many times over!. Getting around Disney is much easier on a scooter which I had the last three days. Its worth the cost because I could not have gone anywhere I was so limited with my hip. People do stare at you. That was an uncomfortable feeling. After the first day I didn't care. We had character meals every day and the kids got their pictures with their favorite Disney characters. We went to a dessert party with Captain Hook and watched the fireworks from a boat. Peter Pan met us afterwords at the dock. Waiting times for rides was up to several hours but thanks to Maria's planning we had "fast passes" for rides. I watched the kids early one morning and Josh and Belle set out in the rain at 6am to get to the park at first opening to ride Avatar. They did not have a fast pass. They sprinted to the ride and still had to wait over an hour but as they left the wait was up to several hours. They both said it was awesome and worth the wait.I shopped and shopped and shopped. Who KNEW that I needed Mickey ears for each day? I didn't realize that I needed them but now have five sets. As a season pass holder I get 20% off of all gift shop items. I do like a sale. It rained part of each day and that didn't diminish our fun or stop us. We still had a blast.
I drove down with Maria and Arianna and drove home by myself. They were spending and extra few days and waiting for Michael to join them. On the way home I stopped by Reddick Florida to Debi Grunnah's home to meet Koray an Anatolian Sheppard that needed to be re homed. She is a sweet 8 year old who acts like she is 3. We got along and I brought her home. Joshua Soileau was doing the final touches in closing in my back yard. I drove straight home and she has integrated herself into my family. Her favorite people seem to be the kids and she plays with them in the back yard and when someone walks by the fence she goes to the fence and waits for them
to pass by before she returns to the kids. This breed is everything and more than what I expected. I easily can see myself with another in the next year or so.
I made the mistake of weighing myself when I went back to work and was stunned to realize that I had gained 15 pounds since Thanksgiving. Yes I ate...whatever I wanted when I wanted it. I then realized why my pants were tight. I thought they shrunk in the wash(I wish). I started keto immediately and have not cheated once. I am finally at the stage where sweets do not look good to me and I have pan fried(in a non stick pan) what seems like 50 lbs of cheese for crispy little snacks. Yum. There are down sides to keto that i have found. The first being constipation. You cannot eat pounds of cheese and not pay attention to the last time you pooped. Believe me I know this for a fact. I will not go into the details but trust me when I tell you I am now keeping track of this function. The second thing is "Keto crotch". Look it up its real. I developed symptoms of a yeast issue that progressed over several days and was using an over the counter preparation to remedy the situation. I seemed to have developed a sensitivity to the "cure" and on the last night was awake pacing the floor. I messaged my NP but did not send the message till the next day. I was miserable in the extreme.I had a fan to my nether regions and when that didn't help used an ice pack. The final sentence to her was as follows: " I am asking you no no no I am begging you to call me in a prescription for diflucan with 3 refills just in case. My Miss Puss will be forever thankful" She called it in. The upside is I am down 10 lbs and feel pretty good. I have got to get this weight off sooner than later.
This has been a year of change for me and my family. We are all doing well I think. The most honest thing I can say is I am content with myself and my enviornment. I think that is enough for now. My goal to de-stress my life as much as possible and to learn to enjoy myself. Life is to be lived to the fullest and I want that.
