Boy today has been a tough one for me. I'm sure it is all me... emotionally, I feel drained. However, I feel as though I take it out on the ones that I love most.

So I thought I would write in my blog, and count the blessings that I

have in order to lift my spirits.

The newest blessing I have is a grandson born in July. He had a few problems to start out with, and spent time in the NICU. I stayed in Ohio with my daughter Bethany while he was in the NICU in case she had to drive back and forth to the hospital after she was discharged. She lives about 45 minutes from the hospital. The hospital was very accommodating to Bethany and allowed her to stay as a "care by parent" patient. This meant she had no nursing care, no meals, etc. The only thing they did was had her trash taken away. But she was so happy to stay close to Donald and be able to nurse him. The "care by parent" room is usually designated to a parent that will be
taking their premature baby home after being in the NICU for weeks. This gives the parent an opportunity to get help and ask questions of the nursing staff. The day Donald arrived, there were a number of discha

rges, so the hospital had the space for Bethany. This was another blessing given to my family.

Bethany's sister, Mariann wanted to visit the baby, so after spending most of July in Ohio, Jim and I returned this past week with Mariann. It was a quick visit, but I think Bethany was happy to see her sister, and I know Mariann was happy to see Donald and Bethany. I had made some molasses cookies, brown sugar cookies and banana bread before we left. Some went to Ohio and some went with Mariann to North Carolina where she lives, to give to a friend of hers as a thank you for being so good to her.

Nana's 13 year old dog, Pixie died in July. Nana (my mother, who is living with us) was devastated. Pixie was with Nana when my father died and has been her constant companion.
However, we are lucky that we are dog lovers as one of our dachshunds, named Patty, is a perfect 'therapy dog". She loves people, snuggling, and being pampered. The perfect dog to help Nana through this rough spot.

Speaking of dogs, the best therapy for me today was to groom ( by that I mean, get all the matts out) our standard poodle, Duke. He was a mess and I have been meaning to groom him for a while now. He doesn't look perfect, but feels a lot better :-) It took a few hours, but we were outside, and Jim and I worked side by side.

Jim has been struggling with a lot of back problems from an old injury and we are not getting any answers from anyone. He has been told, by his doctor not to work. You can imagine how hard that is for a workaholic. Plus the loss of a pay check has been very hard on us. We are frugal people by nature so this is not so much of a hardship, but more of an awareness of what the future could hold for us.

As Bette Davis said "old age ain't for sissies".

I have started canning tomatoes. We didn't have a garden this year, except for a few plants that Jim planted in containers, but that doesn't stop me. I bought some tomatoes from a stand in Ohio and have started the cooking and canning process today. I enjoy doing it, and later in the year, when we are making a pot of spaghetti (low carb, because I am watching my weight - not that it does much) it will be nice to have some fresh spaghetti sauce.

Well now, I feel better already... thank you for letting me vent!