Tuesday, October 25, 2022

I'm HOME!

 


Happy Tuesday, friends! I am so glad to be home. I love to travel and getting to see family, but there really is no place quite like home. I don't say that lightly—I am so grateful to be home. My trip started kind of roughly, because everyone got sick. It was so good that I was there to help my sister Debi, because nobody else would have been able to do that. My niece and her husband and four girls all came down with strep, and my sister Lisa was diagnosed with shingles and was in pain for the rest of the week. She kept going and going...but as I write this on Monday afternoon, she was just discharged from the hospital. She ended up having to go to the ER in the middle of the night, she was in so much pain. It turns out all of her pain is from nerve pain from the shingles. This is the same sister whose home flooded while we were on the Cape. They do say that shingles can be brought on by severe stress...and she definitely has more of that than she ever expected. 


Would you keep her in your prayers? I know she would appreciate it. I feel so bad for her and am just praying that the medicine they gave her will help her get some much needed rest.


I skipped yesterday's weekend recap, because I didn't have much to write about. I spent part of the weekend near Denver and Sunday was spent packing, eating out at a wonderful restaurant for brunch, then sitting in an airport for the rest of the day. Does anyone else love an airport? I love to people watch.



Look how adorable my gate was, all decked out for Halloween. I do love the Denver airport. It was a ROUGH flight home, friends. It was incredibly turbulent the entire ride home, except for maybe twenty minutes. I sat beside two kids, a brother and sister whose parents were in front of us, and who were traveling to Memphis to visit family from California. The little girl next to me was nine and terrified of all the bumps, so we talked most of the way home and I tried to help her get her mind off being scared. I kept eating a pretzel every couple of minutes and sipped the Ginger Ale they gave me. I was so nauseous, I had my eye on the "sick bag" in back of the seat in front of me. I thought I was going to lose it a few times. Add to that the fact that my air didn't work and it was past my dinner time, and well...you can imagine how thrilled I was to be home and on the ground again. My sweet husband picked me up and had ordered dinner for us, so I came home to sushi and three fourths of my sons being here, plus a girlfriend! I ate dinner, as much as I was able, then I unpacked and showered. 



I enjoyed the rest of the evening by reading and chatting with my hubby. I didn't go to work yesterday and hadn't planned on it, since I was supposed to go on another trip at the end of the week, but it ended up being postponed and I'm so glad. I was leaving on Wednesday and coming home Sunday, but now I'll get to be at home and attend church on Sunday. I spent yesterday getting settled back into being home and doing odds and ends type things around the house. I am so grateful that my family always makes sure that when I come home, the house is clean. You have no idea how much I appreciate that! They know I love coming home to a clean and picked up house and I think it's sweet that they make sure it happens. They do all the things while I'm gone—laundry, kitchen cleanup, vacuuming—and I usually have very little to do when I come home. It's nice and I never want to take it for granted. 


I did some light cleaning yesterday, I did all of my travel laundry and I went to the grocery store. Drew came home for dinner, so I made one of their favorites that my mom inspired—tamale casserole. I also tried a new recipe for a healthy dessert in the crock pot that I thought Todd might enjoy. I think I saw it on an Instagram story? It's six apples diced, two teaspoons of cinnamon, a third teaspoon of nutmeg and half a cup of zero sugar brown sugar, which I couldn't find, so I substituted it for Truvia brown sugar. I let it cook on high for three hours and at the last half hour, I added about a tablespoon of those red hot candy pieces. It is delicious! It tastes like apple pie, without the crust. 


 I kind of pretended like yesterday was a Saturday, so when I woke up, I ignored my phone and the computer and blog posts and watched the best Christmas movie, A Kismet Christmas. Despite the cheesy title, it was so good! I loved both the actors and was surprised to see the female lead from the show Parenthood—did you ever watch that? She was the young lady who played Hattie. I started watching Hallmark Christmas movies with Lisa while I was at Debi's. We had a two night sister sleepover and watched movies all night. It was fun! 



Just in case you need to know...here's what I'll be doing every time I get the chance.


So, how was your weekend and Monday? I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all! 

16 comments:

  1. Ugh - I would have been a mess on that flight! I am sure you were a blessing to the little girl next to you.
    So good to be home! I bet you are ready to be there for awhile. That crockpot dessert sounds amazing and I think I've seen that somewhere. I am getting my crockpot out this week for a couple of other recipes, so I will definitely try that! Thank you! Have a great week!

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  2. I am feeling your relief at being home, as well as not having to leave again! I plan stuff like that and end up regretting it when the time comes. It sounds like you had a warm welcoming when you got home though :) That makes up for the rough flight.

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  3. Amy, I was! Thanks for that. You should try it! I would not add the red hot candy pieces like I did, though. It made it too sweet...and the next time I'll cut back on the Truvia brown sugar. I can't wait to hear about your meals this week!

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  4. Debbie, right? I am the exact same way! I did have a very nice welcome home, which was very sweet.

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  5. I don't like airports but I love to be in the air flying (though the latter may be because I have never experienced bad turbulence). Airports depress me for some reason. People seem to be in a huge hurry or terribly bored (I've been both for various flights). I'm sorry to hear about your sister. She's had a rough go of it but at least your niece are doing better. I'm sure it's great to be home! Glad you came back to a clean house.

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  6. Prayed for your sister...shingles can be so rough! Glad you made it home. We're watching all the movies too, from both Hallmark Channels and from Great American Family. We watch one and hubby records the other 2 channels. You're right. The Kismet movie was very good!

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  7. Whew, that flight home sounds horrible. No air vent along with the turbulence would have done me in. I'm so sorry to hear about your sister's shingles. I've heard it is horrible, and she must be feeling like Job right about now. Praying for her.

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  8. Glad you are home and sorry everyone got sick but I am right there with you with the Hallmark movies- I have it on every night and it brings me so much joy :)

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  9. Girl, you have been on the go! I am so happy you are home and took the time to enjoy being there yesterday. Glad you are well and were able to be there with your sisters. My goodness, I need to go get the shingles vaccine. I'm so sorry that happened to Lisa. Rest well friend!

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  10. Maria- I do think they can be sad places, airports. I get teary sometimes watching someone say goodbye, and I almost always cry when I say goodbye at one. I hate goodbyes!

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  11. Thank you for praying for her, Cathy! I appreciate more than you know. That is the same thing I do- watch one and record one or two. I'm watching Christmas House right now, from a couple of years ago. So cute!

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  12. Tanya- SAME. I have never been so glad to be on the ground. I had to pull out my little purse fan and was glad I had it. I haven't thought about that, but she probably does feel like Job. Poor thing.

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  13. Marilyn, I know! I never travel this much, so close together. I have thought the same thing, about getting the vaccine. She is miserable!

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  14. Oh I am so sorry to hear about your sister; that poor woman! That flight home does not sound at all fun... I am so thankful that we've always had uneventful flights. I'm not sure how well I would handle turbulence. I remember my boys' preschool teacher had one flight home from Florida where the plane lost so much altitude in one drop that a blood vessel in her eye popped!! It was so sweet of your to keep your seatmate distracted; I'm sure her parents appreciated it too.

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  15. Joanne, I know! I will definitely appreciate my next uneventful flight. I had a feeling it was going to be bumpy, because of the gusty winds both in Colorado and here at home, and all the clouds. Ugh! That is terrible about that preschool teacher- I cannot even imagine.

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