What A Very Busy Eighteen Months
My blog doesn't really have a theme, especially not now that the kids are grown and married. I guess if there were a theme it would just be "continuing -- but changing -- everyday adventures of the Helms family." If you are new to my blog, welcome! I think I'll post a few entries from the past in some future posts, just because some actually are worth sharing again, and also to introduce myself to new readers.
So much has happened in our family in the past year and a bit more. I've written about most of it here but not all of it. Thought I'd give a quick synopsis for my second post this month -- mostly because it is getting late, and I need to get to bed, and I don't know what else to write about! :)
So last year Thomas was diagnosed with prostate cancer. It was caught very early thanks to our family doctor insisting that he come in for his annual checkup, including blood workup. He underwent 49 days of radiation, and afterwards his PSA numbers were back to a nice low number. At his most recent appointment his PSA was a bit higher than his urologist "would like to see it," but not too high. He goes back in three months, and if it is any higher at that time, then they may want to do something about it.
Andrew and Alexandria got officially engaged and then upped their wedding date and got married in July in a simple, sweet, outdoor wedding, with just close family and a few friends present. We're very happy to have Lexi as our daughter-in-law, and the two of them are very happy.
Eler Beth got engaged back in September and I had the pleasure and excitement of planning a BIG wedding for her and Anthony. And it was beautiful. I never thought a person could actually spend as much on a wedding as we did, but it was actually surprisingly (and depressingly) easy lol!! We wanted to, though. Anthony has a large Italian family where the weddings are always big, and we wanted him to have one at least as nice as his two sisters' weddings were. We had an unexpected windfall that came just at the right time, and we used some of our savings and were rather proud that we were able to pay for everything without going into debt for any of it. I still need to post pictures from the shower and the wedding itself.
Around December of last year Thomas told me that he was pretty sure the company he'd worked for most of our married life was getting ready to make some big changes. He felt that at the very least there would be a big layoff, probably around March, and that he wouldn't be surprised if the company actually closed. Well, in the past his hunches have usually been proven true, so we began making some plans. These included knee surgery for him.
He'd needed surgery on his right knee for a very long time but had kept putting it off -- mostly because he didn't want to be off work for several weeks. But the knee was bowing out to the right so badly, and the pain was getting so bad, that we knew he'd have to do it this year. He wanted to be able to walk Eler Beth down the aisle and dance with her at her wedding, so we planned for the surgery to be in January. He went on medical leave and had a very successful surgery. The surgeon didn't just replace the knee, but he had to do some reconstructive surgery there as well. Thomas' recovery was rapid. At his six week checkup the surgeon talked about how much work he actually did on the knee as well as the muscles and tendons around it. Then he said, "If I have many patients like you, I'll have to go into another line of work!"
Toward the end of his medical leave he learned he would, in fact, be laid off on March 22, so he had really called that right. And then we found out that the company was actually closing at the end of April. So he'd called that right as well. He had been putting out feelers during his recovery time before he even got his layoff notice, so he had several jobs lined up to choose from by the time he was released to go back to work. He chose the one that we felt would work best for him, and that is where he is still. He likes the work he is doing, the location, and the hours, but a couple of his supervisors are proving to be a bit underhanded. Also, he isn't getting the overtime hours he'd been promised, and if you have known us for long (in real life or as online friends) you know that Thomas is a workaholic and likes to know that he is making enough money to provide for the family by himself if needed. So he has found another company he wants to work for and has begun their testing process. We'll see what happens there.
Around January I decided I might like to take a part-time job. We were using Thomas' short-term disability while he was on medical leave, and I figured we'd probably have to dip further into our savings or 401k after the wedding before he got back to work -- and knew that we'd definitely have to if he did have to change jobs. So a little extra income would help out. But also, I felt like it might help me during the transition to "empty nester" after Eler Beth's wedding. So over the course of a couple of days I played around on "Indeed," updated my resume, and put in some applications. Then I got busy planning the bridal shower and continuing with the wedding planning, and forgot all about it! Toward the end of March I got a call from a company at which I had applied asking if I was still interested and would I like to set up an interview. I couldn't even remember what the job was for! But yes, I was interested, I did interview, I did accept the job, and I love it! More about that in a later post. Hint: It gives me my grandbaby fix so I don't pressure either of our kids into having babies before they're ready :).
I started the job the week after Eler Beth's Bridal shower. She and Anthony were married in April and spent 10 days in Florida. They were both working here in town, living in an apartment only a couple of minutes from our house, and then Anthony got a job offer that he really couldn't turn down about an hour and a half from us. That was a bit of a hard blow at first. If you know us at all, you know how close Eler Beth and I are. They moved up there only a month after they were married. And it is fine. She calls or messages me every day, and we usually see each other every week to ten days. Seriously, I don't think more than ten days have gone by since they've moved that we haven't seen each other. She comes down here for doctor's appointments, spends the night, and then goes home. Or I (or we) go up there to spend the day with them. Or both of them come down here to spend the weekend with us.
The bad thing is that Eler Beth has been having health issues since right after they got home from their honeymoon. They actually had started before the wedding, but the symptoms changed and got bad right before they moved. She is doing better, and I will write more in detail about that later.
We have three new dogs and one of our dogs died of old age very recently.
A couple of weeks ago my Mother's baby brother died, so that leaves my Mom, who will be 95 in December, and only one brother surviving of the nine children. My Mother is doing very well, and I need to get down to see her more often.
My brother had a heart attack the same day that my uncle died, but he is doing well now. He has congestive heart failure and has been bedridden for the past two years from the stroke he had 20 years ago and from other health issues including issues arising from Agent Orange from his time in Viet Nam. So his health will just continue to deteriorate, but for now he is holding his own.
So I think that brings us up-to-date pretty much. I'll expound on these happenings in our family's life in future posts. I used to enjoy posting funny things the kids did when they were little, and I think maybe I can dig out some current amusing fodder for future posts if I try hard lol.
Ta for now.
~~ Lori
I'm a dog lighter at my house. The little Pomski I was dog-sitting went home today; my English Setter is happy to have me all to himself again.
