Saying goodbye to Ashley

 Always young, always beautiful. The love of my nephew's life. Rest in peace.

Aunt Irene

My aunt Irene died today and I am heartbroken. She is no longer in pain, no longer suffering. My sadness comes from the fact that I can't be there to say goodbye in person. 

I love you. 

 

New York for Christmas

Flashes of my trip to New York for Christmas

Seeing my nephews

Seeing my siblings

All the girls

Dropping in on my sister's in-laws

All celebrations

 

Randy Campbell

 

The baby of our Peace Corps group, Randy Campbell, was a glorious gift in my life. He toured the world and explored new cultures and had adventures I could only dream of. And he made friends everywhere. His spontaneity meant that I could get a call at 2pm and have the joy of him for dinner that night. Such joy. 53 years just doesn't seem like enough time. I love you, baby brother. You are forever in my heart.

On the fifth of December, Randy and his dog were killed when his van was hit head on... and I can't believe it. My heart is sick and sad. I miss you and love you, my sweet boy.

COVID-19

I had sinus congestion on  September 23rd and just to be safe, I did a home Covid test. It was negative, so I went to work- we all mask at our desks so it wasn't a big worry. John had a fever that night, so we pushed Gatorade and Ibuprofen, but his Covid test was also negative.

Sunday night, before heading to work on Monday, I did another at home test that was again negative- which was good as I had a work project I had to get done on Monday.

But Monday was a rough day. I did not feel well and it got worse over the course of the day- I left early and on arriving home, did my third at home test of the week. And it was positive.

For the first time since the pandemic was declared on March 13, 2020, this illness got hold of me. On September 27th I did a proctored exam that confirmed that I had COVID-19. Bah Humbug!

Still, I consider myself truly lucky- I had my vaccine and first booster. When I was diagnosed, my Primary Care Provider prescribed Paxlovid, and five days later I was on Prednisone. But I did not have to be admitted to the hospital. I did not end up intubated. 

But the cough, the insomnia, the aching bones and fatigue that is impossible to describe.  I am using Vicks, albuterol, Reishi Mushroom tea with Rooibos and Orange Peel- which tastes worse than dirt but I need to do something. 

I was out of work for another week- My FMLA ran through October 17th...And I went back to work today- and only worked a half day because I was exhausted. After speaking to my manager, we agreed to me working short days the rest of the week. 

I am not a fan of this illness.

Mikhail Gorbachev

 

Mikhail Gorbachev died yesterday, and it feels like the old Cold War is fading from memory. Gorbachev ushered in a new world- Berlin's wall came down and he said it was a German event. No tanks rolled. He let it happen. The USSR had many of it's republics pull away. And he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

But I also remember 1986. The Chernobyl disaster, a nuclear accident, occurred on 26 April 1986. And he didn't warn the world as soon as he could have.

Things I never thought I would see in my lifetime now seem a world away.

My granny named her pup after Gorbachev- he was well thought of in the West. 

Rest in Peace.

Meeting Ella Quinn

Today I got to meet the romance author of The Marriage Game series, The Worthington series, The Trevors series and most recently, The Lords of London series. I love her stories and have read each novel, and have the Kindle versions and all her Audible options. 

I follow her on her Facebook group, and when she said she would be in the US, I asked when she would be in the area I live in (I use the term area in loose terms- it was over five hours travel time but totally worth it!)

I left my house early in the morning, and drove in my "WHY DON'T I HAVE AIR-CONDITIONING" car on what was a VERY hot day thru Kentucky, Indiana, a some of lower Illinois, when I decided to stop for a drink about an hour from our meeting place. I was making good time and just wanted something cold. In jumping out, I only took my wallet, realizing a few minutes later that I had locked my keys in the car!

Only me!

I called my Roadside assistance people... They had no providers anywhere near where I was.

I decided if worse came to worse, I would break a window. I would have to drive all the way home instead of staying overnight in Louisville but needs must. 

I called the Carmi IL police department and lucky for me, Officer Grider was able to get me into my car without any damage and I was on the road again in short order.

I arrived at The Hills in Harrisburg IL only to discover that I was really early- Illinois is an hour behind Ohio- a fun fact I completely forgot!

So I settled in to wait and it was SO WORTH IT.

We ordered lunch and we talked about her books, her former life as a JAG and family attorney, the world and life in general. She is brilliant, funny and I felt honored to spend time with her. Ella offered to sign my copies of her books and I was over the moon. And so glad I brought them all with me.

It was a great afternoon and I am so glad I went. We parted company, her to go see grandchildren and me to get to the Louisville hotel for the night.

But my adventure was not over yet. As I pulled in a gas station, my oil light went red, and when checked, my car was dry- no oil at all. Grateful to have stopped before my engine seized, I got 2 quarts in and was back on my way. And just outside of Louisville, there was a downpour and it cooled off the day.

Thanks so much, Ella!