I know – you haven’t heard from me in a couple weeks. And on top of that, I am going out of order! I should be doing blog posts about fashion and the Oregon/California trail right now. But, and I know you are going to be devastated, the fact is, I simply haven’t had time to sit down and research for those posts this month! So instead, you get life updates from me. Let’s see…last you heard was about June. So, here’s July, with a tiny bit of June:
June 27 – July 2nd: Surgery! Yup, I had a tooth extraction, and the root was so long and there were enough possibilities for complications that my dentist sent me to a surgery center, and I opted to be put under. But, thank the Lord, all went well, and I’ve decided being put under for dental procedures is my favorite. Other than the price tag. So the next few days were recovery, which didn’t go nearly as badly as I expected (or as badly as my poor sister’s went, who went to a small town dentist in Minnesota – she is still getting fragments taken out and trying to heal two months later.) Then I made a menu and grocery list and went shopping because…
July 3rd – July 6th: My sister and her family (five children) visited! We brought them to the fourth of July parade, the boys all went to a canon demonstration at the battlefield a mile down the road, had a cookout, and we went to the fireworks – which is the second best display in the area (nothing beats DC), and I think my sister and her family were suitably impressed. I also introduced my sister to her first real latte at a local coffee shop, as well as Indian food (specifically, butter chicken and cheese naan – the best!). They left the afternoon of the 6th to head to Virginia Beach area, and Daniel and I packed because…
July 7th – 10th: We followed them on the 7th! They rented an Airbnb with an extra room and invited us to join them, which we took them up on in a heartbeat. I needed some beach time! So we drove down to, well, technically Hampton, VA, which was actually really nice, because the beach was so much more empty, plus free parking, and great swimming! There were next to no waves, so you really could just hang out in the water and talk! Sunday, we went across the tunnel to meet a friend who lives in Virginia Beach and had a great time with her and her husband at a dockside restaurant. We were going to visit VA Beach itself, but it decided to storm instead. We headed back home Monday, Daniel working and me driving.
July 11th – 13th: This was a bit of a recovery few days – I worked on graphics, cleaning, laundry, met a friend for coffee, had two dental check-ups for surgery related things…and packed. Because…
July 14th – 24th: Off to Oklahoma! Daniel worked most of the time, but took lunch breaks and after work to help his Dad with yard work, and any time I didn’t spend with family, I spent trying to catch up on graphics and work for ACFW Virginia, my social media, and other stuff – no actual writing, mind you. No, there was enough other stuff I hadn’t had a chance to touch in two months, that I was busy morning to night just trying to get above water – in between family stuff, of course. It was fun to catch up with everyone though! We went to people’s houses, out for dinner a couple times, got to see my brother-in-law’s new nursery, all set up for their soon-to-be-coming son, went shopping, etc.
July 25th – July 30th: Not going to lie, I think I mostly slept these five days. Well, other than cleaning and prepping the house because…Oh, and I picked up a kitten! Yup! I FINALLY GOT A KITTEN! The sweetest little thing named Cordelia…though more on that later.
July 31st – August 9th: Another sister’s family came to visit! With eight children! We’ve been waiting for them to come visit for years, so it was a ton of fun, if a little crazy. In their ten day visit, we managed to:
- Go to Ball’s Bluff
- Visit a winery
- Go to Gettysburg
- Visited Harper’s Ferry
- Brought them to a farmer’s market (their first!)
- Babysat 6 of the kids while they visited DC
- Got stung three times when I stumbled into a ground hive
- Sent them to the Dulles Air and Space museum
The kitten actually did really well with the kids, and I think still misses them.
August 10th – 13th: The day after they left, we did a quick clean-up…and packed again! This time we were off to West Virginia to visit friends for the weekend, and actually got to see the meteor shower because they live in the mountains and had a clear view of the sky. It was awesome. And my friend had drawing salve to put on one of the bee stings still giving me trouble. We got back Monday morning, and I went straight to the dentist for another checkup, then came back, did laundry, and packed again.
August 14th – 20th: Daniel got to stay home this time while I headed off to Minnesota to visit family! Technically, I went out specifically to go to the local fair with one of my sisters. Because…LONESTAR WAS PERFORMING! And if you haven’t heard of Lonestar, you clearly didn’t listen to country in the 90s. They were one of my and my sister’s absolute favorite country band, and we got to hear them for the price of a ten dollar ticket to the fair. I couldn’t even believe it. But far more than just that happened in this five day trip. Other than typical family events:
- My brother-in-law and his wife in Oklahoma had their baby!
- My niece dropped to the ground while we were at the fair and went to the hospital for stomach pain and a panic attack (she is okay now, but appears to have a stomach ulcer).
- I started getting sick the day of the concert (normally my body waits until I get home, but apparently it had had too much), and a cold settled in firmly for the remainder of my visit.
- My bee stings started bothering me again and we managed to dig out part of a stinger still in one!
- My younger sister got induced!! So we spent most of Saturday in a hospital waiting to meet my newest niece, finally got to the cities past midnight, and woke up again three hours later to fly back home.
On the bright side, the concert was amazing, and my sister got the last guitar pick that Lonestar threw to the crowd! AND apparently people don’t realize how amazing Lonestar is because it wasn’t super crowded and we got RIGHT NEXT to the stage.
Oh, and while I was gone, Daniel hosted friends to bring them to the airport, cleaned the entire house, and after the kitten’s first vet visit, found out that Cordelia is actually a male…so now my kitten is named Tennyson!
And that, dear readers, is why you haven’t heard from me. But also, I got another devotional published! And a couple more podcasts up! So, this week I am going to do the bare necessities while I sleep, recover from this dratted cold, and prep for another podcast. 🙂
Forest Idylls 