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Sunday, February 23, 2014
Brief Thaw and when you think things are smooth sailing life tends to surprise you
Can't complain about the weather this weekend. We actually ended up with temps in the low 50ies (10C) and high 40ies (7C) which has melted bits of the snow quite a bit. In turn everything is super slushy and messy of course. Plus when all the slush refreezes overnight it tends to get pretty icy which isn't fun either. Oh well, take what you can get I guess. We are supposed to have one more nice day today, cloudy but still moderately warm. Starting tomorrow we are going to encounter yet another crazy cold front with the temps dipping back down into the single digits in F (-15C). No fun at all. Really wish spring would just come and stay for good.
Yesterday we were off and had a vet appointment with Oliver in the morning. It was mostly a check-up and to get his claws clipped. He is doing fine, his weight is steady so we are going to keep him on the same meds and continue like we have been, as long as he is happy, which he has been luckily.
Then in the afternoon we headed to Poughkeepsie, NY to the Walkway across the Hudson, a remodeled railroad bridge that spans across the Hudson which has been turned into a trail. It's been a while since we have been there plus the weather was nice & sunny so it was fun to be outside for a bit. Afterwards we went for a late lunch at the Guilded Otter in New Paltz, NY. Always a fun and yummy place to be.
So much for the fun news. In less fun news my mom unfortunately encountered a set back on Tuesday. Everything was going really well up until then, much better than anyone could have even hoped for in the very beginning, so we were all getting used to that in a way. Well Tuesday things changed a bit as she suffered from another stroke, a much, much more minor one thankfully. This one seems to have targeted the part of the brain that controls her speech. Up until this point she surprisingly never really had problems with speech, which many, if not most stroke victims do. She was transferred back to the hospital but tomorrow will already be able to go back to the rehab place where they have trained physicians who work on speech therapy and will be able to help her relearn what she needs. It is of course terribly frustrating as she is totally aware of what is going on, able to write things down, but just can't communicate them properly.
As frustrating all of this is we do have to keep in mind that setbacks are normal in the process of recovery and considering the severity of her first stroke we really can't complain and have been ever so lucky with the progress she has made. Fingers crossed for another speedy recovery going forward.
Mail Update: A letter is going out tomorrow to: Katie/Germany. Received a letter/owe a reply to: Charles/TN, Jessica/DE, Carmen/Malta, Laura/Spain, Tiffany/OK and Nina/WA.
Posted by Hanna at 11:29 AM in Family, Food and Drink, Weather | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Monday, February 17, 2014
More snow, anniversary & Valentine's
So, so tired of the snow. I was supposed to be off last week on Tuesday but that never happened as I had to come into work to prepare for the snow storm on Thursday. So the whole week was yet again plagued with messy roads, school delays and cancellations and more. Some of our trucks at work that generally deliver to residential areas didn't go out on Thursday or Friday again so it was impossible to catch up. It is getting more and more difficult to keep track.
I am definitely over the snow, ice and cold. Tomorrow we are supposed to get more snow but I am hoping it's just going to be a little bit. So over it, really. In more positive news last week Monday (2/10) was our wedding anniversary (13 years -- can you believe it?) and we had a nice dinner at the Spinning Wheel. We had our American wedding ceremony there back in the summer of 2002. The place closed up a few years ago so I was really happy to see it reopened. It was fun to be back there. Enjoyed the new look and food as well.
Friday was Valentine's Day and we had a nice dinner at Mezon (Spanish tapas restaurant). Saturday we had to work and Sunday we just relaxed, slept in, had a late lunch in Oxford and then caught up on some recorded TiVo shows. Pretty relaxing day.
Today is President's Day which makes it a tad easier at work but tomorrow will be a pain, since it will be the day after the holiday plus the weather is going to be iffy. Not looking forward to it.
My mom started her rehab on Tuesday. It's a bit over an hour away from my parent's house. So far she seems to like the place as it is in a very quiet location. It's on the edge of a big forest and the building is very bright and airy and all you see if fields when you look outside.
Mail Update: Received a letter/owe a reply to: Laura/Spain, Tiffany/OK and Nina/WA.
Posted by Hanna at 02:05 PM in Weather | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Sunday, February 09, 2014
Snow, Arctic Monkeys, Monuments Men and more
So another week gone by. I am so over winter now and really ready for spring. We had two days of snow last week, Monday and Wednesday plus some mix and ice. Messy roads, school delays and cancellations and more. Some of our trucks at work that generally deliver to residential areas didn't go out on Monday and Wednesday so we had to catch up on the other days. It is always difficult to keep track of all of that to make sure everything that needs to be rescheduled actually gets keyed in for the right day. And to make sure that everyone gets charged for the correct items.
So hopefully this upcoming week will be better. We will see. We are supposed to get a few inches of snow tonight as well but hopefully it won't be too bad.
Mike and I actually had both Saturday and Sunday off. Now it's already Sunday night again. How does that happen? Yesterday, Saturday, we slept in and had a late diner breakfast at Elmer's. (yummy egg white Westerern omelette with Swiss cheese) Afterwards we took the train down into NYC to see the Arctic Monkeys at Madison Square Garden. Hung out at a neat pub called Stout just a half a block away before the show. Took the train home after and ended up home around 1.30am.
Slept in late today and went to see Monuments Men at the movies in the afternoon. A really great movie. I had been looking forward to its release and wasn't disappointed at all. Really great movie. I wish I had picked up the book when it was the Kindle Deal of the Day book a few weeks ago. Oh well.
My mom starts her rehab on Tuesday. She will be gone for a month. The place is a bit over an hour away from my parent's house. It's in the countryside by a big forest and looks like a very pretty area. Fresh air and good for recuperating.
She was able to leave the hospital Saturday morning and got to stay hone overnight until Sunday night. That way my parents got to go out for lunch and were able to pack up everything for her rehab. Plus some other relatives and friends stopped by to see her so that worked out well.
Mail Update: Letters going out tomorrow to: Celia/MA and Jessica/DE. Received a letter/owe a reply to: Tiffany/OK and Nina/WA.
Posted by Hanna at 06:03 PM in Family, Weather | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Sunday, February 02, 2014
Nice walk, Super Bowl and more
The cold weather stuck around for most of the week. Brrr. But luckily over the weekend it warmed up quite a bit. Today it was cloudy but almost 50F (10C) which felt super warm after the crazy frigid temperatures we have been having. So we decided to take advantage of that fact and went for a short walk on a trail in Meriden (about 3 miles) Was nice to be outside and be able to take a walk.
Tomorrow it is supposed to be much colder again and the temps won't be much better for the rest of the week so it was nice to get out while we had the chance. Watching the Super Bowl right now. Well, I am watching the commercials while Mike is watching the actual game. :)
Yesterday we had to go into work for a bit to work on a project. We are going through some changes, restructuring some of our delivery routes which means a lot of administrative work. Never any fun.
We will see what next week brings. There is potential snow in the forecast on three different days. Joy. Let's hope it doesn't end up with anything too bad. Saturday night we have tickets to see the Arctic Monkeys at Madison Square Garden in NYC. Looking forward to that. :)
My mom is improving further as well. She has daily physical and ergo therapy. They had her practising walking up and down stairs plus she has been walking bits when people come to visit. So it's definitely an improvement. We are getting there. :)
Mail Update: Letters going out tomorrow to: Katie/Germany and Charles/TN. Received a letter/owe a reply to: Jessica/DE, Celia/MA and Nina/WA.
Posted by Hanna at 08:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack