Secret Diary. Do Not Read

Not much of any interest to memorialize in my diary lately. It's hot and dry and generally miserable outside. I find myself putzing around and not getting anything accomplished inside. The dust bunnies are still free-ranging in the house while I read or play with Aerogardens.

My son and his family will be coming to visit in a couple of weeks and my little granddaughter will stay with us for a week. That will be a nice change and I hope she won't be bored. There is a little girl living next door so maybe they will hit it off.

We finally took the RV to a repair shop to have the brakes serviced, oil changed and lube done, and the generator serviced. I'm sure that will be an eye-popping bill but we have put it off long enough.

I thought we might enjoy a little travel before we sell the motorhome, but I've been reading on the RV forums that campgrounds are not the friendly places they used to be. All the "entitled" bunch has taken over, blasting their outside TVs, putting custom strobe lights around their campsite, and generally being annoying. What has happened to people?

 

In the words of my sweet mama, "things are duller than dishwater" around here. Not much going on, which I suppose is a good thing. I'm planning my fall garden and going to start some seeds before long.

My son and his family are coming this weekend so I'll have my little granddaughter next week. Due to pandemics, cancer, and other random annoyances I haven't gotten to spend much time with my grandkids and they are all growing up too fast. I hate that all our kids scattered to the winds so they (and the grands) all live far away from us now.

My oldest grandson spent a lot of time with us from the time he was born; when they lived a few miles away and I got to do a lot of babysitting on weekends. He was the cutest baby EVER and such a sweet natured little guy. Now he's in college so where did the time go???

 

The amazing thing is now being old, things can be slow and even boring, but time still passes fast. Now that I started doing my lawn again, any boredom is replaced with whining over aches and pains. Glad to hear the little G daughter is coming to visit. That sounds like fun.

 

Isn't that the truth? I can't believe it's almost August already.

My little granddaughter is spending the week with us; it's weird having a little one in the house again. She's very different from our kids, which I suppose makes sense. She's very quiet and reserved. She got sunburned from too much pool time so today she's staying inside. We also had a plumbing emergency in the bathroom she's using and had to call a plumber to get the toilet unplugged. Oh the joys of kids in the house.

Today's my MIL's 89th birthday. She is still chugging along and managing to stay in her own home with the help of home healthcare workers. My husband and his sister are taking her out for dinner later. MIL is hard of hearing and doesn't do well with crowds, so my GD and I will entertain ourselves for dinner. I'll let her pick what she wants so I suspect there is Chick-fil-a in my future.

Speaking of MIL... my husband noticed a damp spot on the ceiling at her house, so he climbed into the attic to see if the a/c overflow was plugged. He spotted a leak in a pipe and will be trying to fix that in the next day or so. It's a terrible time of the year to be working in the attic.

I'm getting ready to start some seeds for my fall garden, though it's hard to think about when it's so HOT outside. This has been the worst summer I can remember as far as the "misery index."

 

Well, I'm back. "Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in!!"

About a month ago my husband was in a serious auto accident. Idiot teenage driver turned left too soon and hit my (oncoming) husband's driver side rear tire, spinning his Jeep into oncoming traffic where he was hit head-on by a Pathfinder. The Jeep rolled and was totaled. Why wait that additional 3 seconds when you can eff up multiple people's lives?



Two burly guys who witnessed the accident pulled my husband out the driver's side window since the Jeep was laying on it's (passenger) side in a drainage ditch. The driver's door was facing up and he was disoriented; couldn't get out of the seat belt and airbag. When I drove to the site of the accident he was standing talking to police. His only injuries were cuts and bruises on his legs and a rug-burn on his face from the airbag. It was a miracle that all three drivers walked away from that. The wrecker guys got a kick out of the "FJB" sticker on the back of the Jeep.

Then for the past several weeks my MIL was in and out of the hospital. She died a couple of weeks ago at 89 of pneumonia and respiratory failure so we have been dealing with funeral "stuff" and now her estate. Greedy family members behaving badly have me ready to tear my hair out. People are disgusting and greedy and "when they show you who they are, believe them."

We sold the motorhome to my niece and her husband; they flew out from GA and stayed with us a couple of days going over all the RV systems, then drove off into the sunset with glazed-over eyes. They were thrilled to get the RV and we were even more thrilled to see it go! So the end of an era.

We finally got the insurance settlement on the Jeep so I guess that's done. It wasn't a huge deal since my husband was not at fault in the accident but it seemed to drag on for a long time. We were able to find a new 2023 Ford F-150 that we like so we bought it. With the autoworker's strike dragging on the available choices are getting more limited, so there's no telling how long it would take to get a 2024. It's really nice but the sticker price made my eyes bug out.

Most recently my husband's sister has been in intensive care at the Houston medical center with lung issues (COPD) and pneumonia. She was finally able to come home yesterday. I made a pot roast and sent it over for their dinner.

I saw my oncologist last week for my checkup. He told me that I am doing fine and that I am past the "critical stage" for recurrence... the first 2 years. From now on my chances of a recurrence are on a downward trend, though they never totally disappear. I don't see him again until next May.

It's finally feeling like fall in Houston with a few nights in the 50's. Still kind of dry, though. I haven't had the time or inclination for a fall garden but I'm still "Aerogardening" in the dining room.

So that's my life recently. I'm tired.

 

Thanks, y'all. I did miss (almost) everybody.

You are so right about the price of new vehicles, @John Brunner . I don't know how the average family can afford all the necessities of life these days.

 

Welcome back, @Beth Gallagher. So many of us missed you. I am soory that you had so many bad thing shappen, but maybe the bad things are gone and you can enjoy life without the RV to worry about!

 

WOW!!! I was worried about you you've been gone since August 13th I believe, I can see why.
I hope hubby is doing okay and has fully recovered.
So sorry to hear about your MIL, my sympathy goes out to you, your husband, and your family.
Good to hear your sister-in-law is doing better.
Your check up with your oncologist was excellent so happy for you. You had a lot of negatives going on in your life but this is one big positive it's just great.
Glad you're back!!!
Tony

 

What a couple of months you've had and my condolences on your loss and pray your husband is doing better but YOU'RE BACK!!!!

 

One of those, bad news, good news, bad news, good news couple of months!
That’s a lot of stress to have to go through but ya’ll made it. Hopefully you guys can have a little peace and time to process things.

Really glad to see ya back Beth!!

 

@Beth Gallagher - I answered your PM then saw this post. What a mess. So glad your husband is okay and sorry for all your days of grief going on. I hope things calm down for you soon.

 

Wow. Sorry about all the difficulties in your life since you've been 'gone', but glad you and your hubby are fine, considering.