It's Already The Middle of December!!!

I can't believe it!! We've all been sick at the same time or one at a time since before Thanksgiving... it's been so yucky!! We did manage to get our tree up last weekend... we have really scaled down our Christmas this year. Some on purpose because of the economy and some not on purpose - we've not gotten to do near what we'd hoped with friends and family because of being so sick. *sigh*

Well, we still have 11 Days, 12 Hours, 27 Minutes so hopefully we will manage to pack in some fun stuff before the big day!! :)

Visit my friend Courtney's blog and leave a comment! She's doing a really nice thing.

We spent the evening last night with Gran. It's her 86th birthday... can't believe it! We took her a new TV because her old one finally just gave out. I had to go shopping and get her all new winter clothes and a coat because she's lost so much weight - her clothes were HUGE on her. So we descended on her like an early Santa and made her so happy.



We took her to Cracker Barrel for dinner. There are not a lot of choices in Rockwood, TN. But, we told the waitress it was her 86th birthday and they brought her a BIG dessert when we finished dinner and a lot of the waitstaff and the whole section of the restaurant we were in sang happy birthday to Mary! She got tears in her eyes and blew kisses at the end. It was so sweet.

It gets harder and harder to visit though sometimes. It took her a few minutes to recognize us last night. That is hard! Once she connected though - it was fine.

When we were leaving her, the nurse, Diane was going into her room to give her the nighttime meds and Diane said "Ms. Mary - did you have fun with your family?" and I heard my grandmother's voice break and she said "Oh, gosh it was just the nicest evening... it meant so much!"

So, of course, I cried all the way out to the car. In some ways, I miss her being "here" so much... here in Knoxville. We use to talk every day... until she started getting sick and then those talks grew harder and harder. Then all we did was worry about her living alone.

Outliving your mind is not a pleasant thing!

We are fixing to make some big changes with Katie. She is really struggling in school as I stated in an earlier posting. Kids are beginning to be very cruel to her. She is learning at a good pace - that is good but she is struggling more and more in the mainstream classroom. The majority of her quality work is done when she is working in the special ed classroom in a smaller group with more individualized assistance. Cedar Bluff doesn't have a CDC classroom... basically a full time special ed classroom so she is probably going to have to change schools. She has made some good friends and all the staff at Cedar Bluff knows and loves Katie dearly so this will be a big change.



Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. She's the bravest little girl I know! Even though she's been having such a hard time with her peers lately... she gets up every morning enthusiastic about going to school. But she told her teacher the other day that "she wished people would quit reminding her that she was a 3rd grader because sometimes her brain felt like she was still in kindergarten"... what kind of child who is struggling can be self-aware enough to make that analysis?

We just want what is best for her and what's best for her future!

LA :)