Loose Ends

Well, one of my three faithful readers emailed the other day and asked, "Are you ever going to post again?" So in the interest of pleasing my followers, I decided to write and catch y'all up on what has been going on. Here's the thing - somehow or other over the last few weeks, life went into fast forward. Thank goodness! I don't think I have been this productive in three years! To get the ball rolling, here is the Cherbonneau take on Halloween decorations:

The only DIY thing I accomplished was drawing the "C" on the pumpkin....that's ok - I was thrifty!

Besides that, I have been doing a LOT of networking with different attorneys, or people who work with attorneys. Fortunately, I just got offered a job clerking three times a week for a solo practitioner who does estate planning. I am really excited about it - I have my first client on Wednesday! In addition I have been working here:

http://www.crystalsonfire.com/

I have to tell you - when I started working, I didn't understand why people would pay money for these excessively adorned phone cases, shoes or jewerly. Now that I have been in Dallas awhile, I feel plain and homely without enough "bling" on my 2 year old cell phone cover. Lastly, I have been doing data entry and filing for a gentleman as he tries to get his office organized. I am having fun and feel like there might actually be an ending to the life in limbo where Mike and I have been living. I keep thinking one day I can tell our kids, "When Daddy was in school, Mommy was working three jobs just so there would be food on the table. She walked uphill (both ways) to work (in the snow) barefoot." Maybe an exaggeration because there are no hills in Texas, but it makes me feel better.

Mike finished his comprehensive exams a few weeks ago and is waiting on his results. I get my bar results back this Friday - I can't believe the day is finally here. I get anxious every time I think about it. Hopefully we will get our results together and they will be both be positive!

Mike's mom was just here visiting for a few days on her way back from a girls trip. We had a lot of fun catching up, eating great food and just laughing. I am looking forward to the holidays when we take on the southeast in our quest to visit everyone!

Happy Halloween!

Grandma - Part II

Well, whatever you have been doing is working! Grandma is awake and seemingly much better. They doctors did drain the blood from her head yesterday, which seems to have helped. She is now walking around with aides and answering cognitive questions in better form than my uncle has seen in months. Apparently when the doctor asked her which comes first, peeling or eating a banana, she replied, "Well, it sure would be difficult to eat if you didn't peel it, wouldn't it?!"

My parents are still going up to Virginia on Thursday, but I feel much better hearing some positive reports. She will be going to rehab because there seems to be some damage to her physically, but then she is scheduled to go home! Very exciting!

Oooh - I also got a little part time job that y'all are going to love. It is not law related, but it is just in time for Christmas. Stay tuned!

Grandma

My Grandma is not doing well. Yesterday she was admitted to the hospital with a subdural hematoma (bleeding in the brain.) I did not know what that was and looked it up on the computer - this was a horrible idea because everything is so negative. My parents told me to get off the computer. ANYWAY, my aunt found Grandma in the tub without any water in it, adding another concern as she has apparently been more confused than normal for the past few days. Thank goodness she is living with them. Last night we knew nothing, which was hard. We didn't know if she was still bleeding or what sort of damage she may have incurred..

We still don't know much. This morning, the doctors drained the blood and are keeping her until Wednesday. She is in and out of consciousness and confused. Right now she is unable to lift her left arm, but she will be going to rehab Wednesday to work on that and whatever other issues may come up. My parents are going to Virginia Thursday morning and hopefully we will have more information then. In the meantime, please just think positive thoughts, or do what you do, in hopes that she will get better. She is 80, but as my mother in law said, "That is young!" She is a fighter, so hopefully things will be ok. Thank you.

More Antics from Lullabelle

It all started last week when I took Lullabelle to the vet. She has been biting a lot (specifically not allowed in our home) and I started wondering if it had anything to do with the tooth we dealt with a month ago. I was able to look in her mouth (pry her jaw open) and saw that she had a bump on her gums. I was sure it was an infection because Mike and I didn't exactly give her the antibiotics. She didn't like them! When I took my child in, a different doctor than the one we had last time came in the room. I immediately said without thinking, "You're not the doctor." He looked at me and said, "I've been here for 10 years. What's the problem." Not so much with the bedside manner. I explained the issue and he started to examine my cat.

The vet finally looked up at me and said, "There's nothing wrong with her." "Oh - there is," I argued! "She has a bump on her gum!" He proceeded to explain that these "bumps" are folds of skin and most cats have them. Oh, and if I had looked more closely, she has one on the other side too. Oops. Thankfully the doctor decided not to charge me for this piece of information. I walked out of the office and called my mother, knowing she would think this was hilarious. After she gave me an obligatory pep talk about how I am an avid pet owner, she said, "Don't worry - you are just a concerned mother." I agreed and she said, "No. Really. I was one too. When you have kids they put a note in your chart that says the mother gets worked up about things that aren't really a problem." Great.

She went on to say, "But then, sometimes I didn't even know anything was wrong with you. Julia could go an entire week with an ear infection. How do you know?" Super. So glad we all ended up so normal. I got home and told Mike about my excursion. After saying, "That's embarrassing," he told me that we needed to be more serious about taking care of Lullabelle. "We have to give her medicine even if she doesn't like it. Our (unborn) kids aren't going to like everything we do!" (This coming from a man who takes spiders outside so that he doesn't hurt them.)

So, in the spirit of being more strict, Lullabelle is on a diet. She was supposed to lose 2 pounds the last time I was there and she lost 3 ounces. Not very good progress. So we are going to start being more serious about this issue....unless she starts crying because she is hungry.