Wow, our time is almost done here and when we first begun we thought that it would take forever. Let me take you back to the last post and fill you in on our time for the past few months.
I wrote last when I was on leave from work for my surgery. I ended up having to take a total of 4 weeks off from work. I am so glad I did it, I feel so much better. The hot flashes were crazy and irritating. I couldn't sleep, so I did get a low dose of hormone therapy. No problems as long as I remember to take them. I give praise to God for the success.
We finished up the spring with Austen playing soccer. It was a great experience and he had a great
soccer coach that was patient and easy going.
They ended in 4th place.
The kids went to Boys Ranch to see their grandparents during spring
break. I had to work and Shane worked on school. It was nice because Shane and
I could be alone for a little bit.
In June, we traveled to Killeen, TX. for Shane’s cousins’
wedding. I had my first experience to seeing the bad fires. As we drove, the fires were just burning on
the side of the road and in the fields.
Everything was charred. It was
over 100 degrees and the wedding was outside. It was still beautiful and then
we went inside for the reception. We also
celebrated Austen’s birthday. We invited
his friend Colton and we all went to Six Flags for the day. We got there right
when it opened and stayed until closing. Austen’s favorite ride is the Titan.
My dad went ill and had edema in his leg, my step mom had
eye surgery and my little brother Brian had blood clots in one of his
legs. This happened all at once and I
had an overwhelming desire to go help them. So we all packed up and headed to
Georgia. We spent a week there. I
cleaned house and cooked, Shane fixed and repaired things in the house. Dad and I went and had pedicures, Brian was
able to get out of the hospital but was not out of the clear for another couple
of weeks. My dad went to the doctor and found out his leg had a cyst that
rupture in his leg causing blood to pool behind his knee. It was very painful. My step mom, Gail, had a hole in part of her
eye causing her to have depth perception problems and cloudiness. She had eye surgery and had to sit, lay and walk
with her head staying face down 24/7 for several weeks. But as our time there
was ending, she was able to sit up for short periods. She is back to work and
doing much better. While we were there we did take a day to have some fun and
we went to the Coke-cola Museum. That
was very cool! We tried all the sodas made all over the country, watched a 4-D
movie and bought a few souvenirs.
Even though Shane had to continue school for the summer, He
and the kids did come to my work to swim. They also went bowling several times
and Austen likes going to Books-a-Million to sit and read for hours.
Of course August we
started school again. Shane did what’s called practicum. This is where he works
in a intern setting as a student to get hands on experience while getting
credit hours. This week, he will finish up two jobs. One is for the VOW doing
premarital education. The other is for the East Texas Medical Center for the
behavioral and mental center working in group sessions. He has really enjoyed
both areas of work and has learned a lot.
Austen is still doing online home school and doing well. He has many
portfolios to do and he continues to progress faster than the teachers
like. He also has live lessons on
Fridays where he can virtually see his teacher and other students in his class.
He is taking sign language which I’m excited about. Gabrielle was officially tested and diagnosed
with dyslexia. She is pulled out of regular class every day and has several
teachers that work with her. Her
teachers have made accommodations and she is doing very well. Her reading
continues to get easier for her and her math skills are coming along
great. When she started school, everyone
had a timed test and she only made it through half the test which gave her a
failing grade. After the 2nd six weeks she not only completed the
test but she only missed three, giving her a 97. We are so proud of her!
My work has been steady and I was pleased to get a good
evaluation with a nice raise. I have
been working really hard to reach a goal of High Achievers. I have been close a
couple of times. We have had some big
resident activities this year. My favorite that I launch each year is our Texas
Against Crime event in October. This year we decided to have a volleyball
tournament. I was able to promote three teams. I had shirts made for a Police
team, Fire team, and Regency Park team.
I also went around to businesses and got door prizes donated and got vendors we work with to donate money for the winning team. It ended up being a great success! The State
Representative showed up, we had a fire truck come and several police officers
and fireman. Many of the residents came
and the Regency Park team won the game!
Now that it is November, our time is very close to the end
here in Longview, TX. We have started
packing and looking for jobs and planning our move to Bradenton, FL. I have two brothers, Victor and Eric that
live there. Shane wants to do his master
program at Argosy University. We are
planning Shane’s graduation which is December 10th , go to grandma
and grandpa Nation Christmas on December 11th, then get the moving truck
on Dec 15th. We will pack everything and then Shane, the kids and my
mom will head to Pensacola, Fl on the 16th. My mom is going to stay with Carolyn Bush, a
family/ friend until we can find a house to buy. However, they will drop off furniture and
stuff there and mom will carry on to Bradenton with Shane and kids until after
Christmas. I will stay in Longview and
continue working until Shane has found a job. That way we have a steady income
during the transition. This of course is plan B, our prayer is that something
will come up for me and Shane before the move so we don’t have to be separated.
My mom has stayed relatively healthy, we were able to get
her a large flat screen TV for her birthday, and she is very happy to have
purchased a lift chair. She also was
able to attend the annual Encore retreat with all her church friends.
I am writing this
while we are traveling back from spending Thanksgiving with Shane’s siblings
(and families) and parents. Everyone was there except Jill and Joel and kids
who are still in Africa. Mom and her
friend Karen came along and we all had fun playing games, hiking, and taking
lots of pictures.
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