Other Blog Back Online

My old blog is back online. I am going to try to do both, with more personal stuff on the old one and more home stuff here, which was my original intention. Here is the address for the old blog: http://anna-ravensroost.blogspot.com/

Today is going to be less hectic than yesterday, I hope. I have a lot of laundry to do and lots of cleaning left to do.

It's That Time

As long as I can remember I have been battling my weight. I have been overweight almost all of my adult life and most of my teen years, so this year I am going to finally do something about it. There, I've said it. I am going on a diet. I have to lose 84 pounds. OUCH! It's time to get healthy and today is the start. Marshall is dieting with me. I can't stand looking like this and I am not going to be fat anymore. Yesterday I bought a scale that can weigh both Marshall and I, and it is accurate to 1/10th of a pound, so I will have a good way of keeping track of my journey. I blew my chance several years ago when I lost 75 pounds on low carb and now it won't work very well for me, but I am going to get this weight off one way or another, barring surgery. I have to. I am not going to let my weight kill me.

Back to the drama

I can tell we are home now. The drama has started. My sister in law Teresa just lost her boyfriend because he is moving back to Mississippi with his mother and she wouldn't go with him. They have been having problems for a while now, and I guess it got too much for him, so he left.
Mavis is having to move because the landlord wouldn't install the septic on her house, and she is getting ready to buy a mobile home from Marshall's cousin Betty Jean. The home is a mess, needs a lot of work and isn't worth the $1000 she is buying it for, but she has no other option, I guess, since she doesn't want to move back in with us (we did offer). I suppose it's because we wouldn't allow her to drink here or party like she has been doing, or something.
In other news, our landlord may be selling the house out from under us as well, and so we might be having to look for somewhere else also. I hate moving, but we will go if we have no choice. I was hoping to be able to build on some acreage here and rent while the house was going up, but that may not happen. Time will tell.

Back Home!

We got home Wednesday evening. I am really glad to be home and have already started getting back to our normal routines. The kids have gotten back to school and even though they miss my mom and have been through a lot this past month, they are working hard to do what needs to be done. Yesterday we cleaned the house and did laundry. Mavis is looking at having to have another knee replacement soon. Apparently one of the screws holding in the replacement she has is coming loose and has caused some sort of infection and they are going to have to re-do it. The doctor here doesn't use the same materials that she has so they are sending her to Chapel Hill to UNC for the evaluation and possible surgery. She is also having to move because the landlord never put in a septic system at her house and the health department was called over the holidays. I can't imagine living without septic. To me, you might as well live in a cave.
Marshall is looking at possibly getting his job back. He lost it because we were in Texas for so long, but he spoke to his boss yesterday and because of some of the employees possibly failing the new random drug tests, he may be able to go back.
Today I will be working on finishing the house and getting everything put back into place. It is really cold here right now, and though it hasn't snowed yet, we are all wrapped up and downing hot food and drinks. I was hoping it would snow last night, but we had nothing fall. Oh well, we have plenty of winter left.
Talk to y'all soon!

Heading Home

We are sitting in the San Antonio airport right now waiting for our flight to board. We are finally going home! The sad news is that my mom passed away at 5:57am on Dec. 31st. She lost the battle but has won the war. No more pain or memory loss, no more struggles. I will catch everything up when I get home and get rested. It has been a really long month. I can say though that I couldn't have made it through all this without the following people: my wonderful husband Marshall, Althea and Robert Shelton, Joe Castano and of course my kids. My extended family was also a great help. Talk to you when I get home!

Update from Texas

We are still in Texas. My mom came through the surgery well but has taken a turn for the worse and is not expected to make it until the end of the year. We have made all of the arrangements with the funeral home because I know I won't be in any condition to do it when it is needed. I am not taking all of this well and I am seriously depressed. Today the chaplain with the hospice came out to pray for her and I cracked. We have aides with her 24/7 now so she is never alone and Marshall and I are there several times a day for several hours each time but I am not sure she even knows we are there. She hasn't eaten in over three days and has drunk very little, so we know she is trying to pass. I can't do anything to help her due to her medical advance directives and it is killing me just as sure as it is killing her.

Going to Texas

Either today or tomorrow Marshall and I will be flying to Texas to be with my mom for a while. The doctors decided to do the surgery on her back and we think we need to be there so off we go. I am not looking forward to the flight because we are supposed to be getting snow in the San Antonio area today and it could make it difficult for the landing, not to mention us having to get to the hospital and the hotel. Folks in SA don't know how to handle their cars when it snows and they completely freak if there is ice on the roads. Neither Marshall nor I will drive if there is ice. He was almost killed on an icy road back in 2001 in San Antonio. Needless to say, if there is ice he won't leave the house. Mavis will stay with the kids while we are gone. I really don't know what I would do without her. She has been a great help to us over the years. No one could ask for a better person to have as a mother in law.
See you when I get back!