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Post by CoachTsWife on May 23, 2020 9:07:48 GMT -6
My peonies are blooming! These guys are massive and I need to split them up this fall and move them. My zinnias care coming up but are still tiny. I usually have my pots full by now but I haven't visited the nursery yet.
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danvers
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Post by danvers on May 23, 2020 16:05:22 GMT -6
I spent all morning moving flowers around the yard. I’m sunburnt. I’m exhausted. But it looks really good. Except the poor irises are a little crushed and broken but they’re hardy so it’s all good 🤷♀️
Long story short - we decided not to buy a new house. We’re going to build an add-on instead.... cause that’s easier 😂 We’ve had a contractor friend out to look at tearing out our three season room and building a family room instead (as well as redoing both our small 1960s bathrooms). There will be lots of painting too.
... which is why I have to now move flowers in late May. Not ideal for the flowers but where the family room will go is the flower gardens by the deck and I love, love, love those flowers so I’d rather attempt to move them now then scrap them.
I’ll try to grab pics when the late afternoon rain stops.
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Post by doodlemommy on May 24, 2020 3:59:29 GMT -6
Ugh. 2020 blows. On top of covid (which includes the suckiness of dd missing the end of kindergarten which she loves, extreme isolation to protect my mom who is immune compromised so we can still see her, uncertainty about school etc for fall) and education budget cuts meaning my job is up in the air (and I won’t be able to know until we know for sure if/how schools will reopen on top of the budget issue so it’s just a lot of wait and see)...we just found out my mil has a tumor in her gallbladder (most likely cancer) which they think has already spread into her bile duct and caused nodules in her lungs (which if correct makes it stage 4 and a poor prognosis). We are devastated and in shock. I am so sad to think of my kids losing their grandma on top of everything else they have lost this year with covid. And in order to see her as much as possible might mean I have to see my mom less or differently (outside/masks) which sucks because my kids are there twice a week and it’s my only break from 24-7 being with my kids. They are there sleeping over right now and mil is in the hospital with no visitors right now anyways but ugh, this sucks so hard. We will wait to tell the kids until she gets some biopsy results back this week (hopefully) and we confirm a plan but if things are really not good we are talking maybe months. DH is understandably a mess. I am already trying to think through the logistics of making sure we get pictures and videos etc with my kids before she starts any treatment while she still looks like “herself” and how to make that work with covid
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Post by doodlemommy on May 24, 2020 3:59:46 GMT -6
Sorry for the word vomit
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on May 24, 2020 6:58:03 GMT -6
doodlemommy Oh no - that’s such awful news. I am so sorry, and that is just so much for you to have to deal with on top of all the other stress right now. Your poor family - I wish I could fly across the Pacific to give you a hug. I am hoping and praying that maybe the diagnosis will not be as poor as they are predicting, so you will have much more time with your MIL. I also understand how this will negatively impact your ability to see your mom. Big hugs to you - I’m so, so sorry. Please keep us updated. ETA - Don’t feel bad for one second about sharing here - we’re here to support each other, and nobody views your post as a word vomit. 💕
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on May 24, 2020 7:07:02 GMT -6
danvers That’s big news about you all deciding to put an addition onto your home and re-doing the bathrooms. Are you planning on getting it all done this summer? Good luck with all of the planning/contracting, but if anytime is a good time to do this kind of stuff, it’s the summer when you don’t have to worry about the cold as much (and the kids can play outside). duskymonkey I went out to the garden and took some pics for you! Frangipanis are looking good. I also found an interesting plant with some holes in the leaves. Never seen these in the USA - my kids always think that lotus root grows beneath them 😂🤣
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Post by CoachTsWife on May 24, 2020 16:15:46 GMT -6
Oh doodlemommy I'm so sorry to hear that news. I can't imagine. Sending you hugs. Keep us posted on your MIL.
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Post by doodlemommy on May 24, 2020 18:07:19 GMT -6
Thanks guys. Dr today confirmed it is terminal and inoperable. She asked how long and they just said “not long”. She has been referred to oncologists and they will hopefully be able to give a better idea of what that means. She is getting a stent put in to at least help with bile drainage which should relieve pressure and make her more comfortable. Once that’s in she can go home hopefully. Then I plan to take lots of photos and videos, and do a “legacy” interview with her of her story and make copies for everyone
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Post by doodlemommy on May 24, 2020 18:08:38 GMT -6
She wants to keep things as normal as possible for the kids and wants to make as many memories as possible with DD (5.5). DH is heartbroken that our younger two won’t remember her so I am going to take as many videos and pictures as I can. So they might not remember but they will have lots to look at
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cythe
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Post by cythe on May 24, 2020 19:22:15 GMT -6
oh doodlemommy im so sorry to read your update, when it rains it really does pour doesnt it. My heart hurts for you guys and the new plans that you have to make but I'm glad that we have the technology so that years from now you guys can keep her memory bright.
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cythe
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Post by cythe on May 24, 2020 19:31:43 GMT -6
Hey guys! I live. Not a whole lot going on over here, I'm just jealous of everyones flower pictures. Mine are not doing great, I like to plant and garden but it seems my thumb is... not green. Its not black, but it may actually just be more of a beige color as it turns out. CoachTsWife, Peonies are one of my all time favorite flowers and those things are seriously beautiful. I have 2 transplant bushes from my mom that are probably going to flower this year, but they're behind. That arctic vortex that rolled through last week/2 weeks ago really put a damper on my flowers blooming. In somewhat good news, I FINALLY have some relief for my hands. I know I havent told you guys about them, but last spring they started to itch and blister. It would blister, rupture and then dry up and peel - only to begin the blister cycle again. Google told me it was dyshidrotic eczema and that a steroid cream may be necessary to clear it up. Its caused by spring allergies as well as stress so I figured it would go away. Well, I procrastinated and just dealt with it until the summer rolled around and it did clear up on its own. Well, queue February 2020 and all hell breaks loose. Allergies and, well lets say a bit of stress (lol) and blisters came right back. It was awful, so I finally decided to try and get into a dermatologist since nothing OTC was helping. Called about 10 places within 25 miles of my house and of those that were actually seeing patients, the soonest apt I could get was August (!). Realizing that I'd probably have itched my blistery fingers off by then, I took a chance and paid $60 for an online dermatologist. I made my acct and paid in the morning, and by 5pm that night I was picking up a steroid cream. Now, 2 days later its almost all cleared up and for the first time in months I don't wake up itching my hands raw. I could about cry you guys. Its amazing how much you use your hands for, which sounds stupid but its true haha. So yeah, I'm feeling good now for the first time in a while. It helps to get me motivated to keep working on things around the house!
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on May 25, 2020 7:53:26 GMT -6
doodlemommy Oh no - I’m so sad for you and your family. Especially your MIL getting that news in the hospital when she can’t have visitors. Is your FIL able to be with her? I think the plans you have laid out are good ones, but it’s just such a sad, terrible situation. I’m so sorry again. cythe Wow - that’s a bummer you’ve been dealing with itching and blistering hands for so long! I am glad the steroid cream cleared it up quickly. I hope it does the trick from here on out, and whatever this is doesn’t come back!
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Post by doodlemommy on May 25, 2020 12:41:04 GMT -6
Taitai no visitors at all except for birth and end of life. So she is still there alone. The drain is supposed to come out this evening and then we are just hoping the stent goes in ASAP so she can be discharged. I am having my kids work on a memory book and am going to do a family legacy interview once she’s home so hopefully we can keep her memory alive even for our boys who won’t remember her. I am going to do the legacy interview with my father in law too and print and bind copies for each of my husband’s siblings
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on May 26, 2020 7:04:52 GMT -6
doodlemommy That is so hard she’s had to be by herself while receiving this devastating news. You are so strong to be getting a game plan together and taking the lead on maximizing time with her, photos, documenting things. You’re a good DIL, I hope the stent works well, so she can be home asap.
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on May 26, 2020 7:07:40 GMT -6
We just received word that the government has approved international schools in our country to open on June 1. Still haven’t heard anything official from our kids’ schools, but it’s exciting to think of them being able to go back to school and see their friends/teachers. It will be very different than normal school, however, with all of the social distancing procedures in place. We’ve heard just 25% of kids the first day, and then getting up to alternating days until the school year lets out at the end of June. It’s better than nothing, and I’m really thankful that we can get some closure for this school year for the boys.
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danvers
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Post by danvers on May 26, 2020 17:43:03 GMT -6
doodlemommy all the thoughts and prayers for you guys during this time. Take all the pictures and videos you need and then some take some more. Your H and kids will appreciate these years down the road. Even if the two littles don’t remember her in person she will live on through the stories you tell and collect.
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on May 30, 2020 0:33:23 GMT -6
Ugh - well, typical to where I live, the government reversed its international school opening decision. No return to school for our kids. What a bummer.
At least we have signed them up for swimming lessons for the next 9 weeks (swimming schools are okay to open). Glad to have something to get them out this summer.
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danvers
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Post by danvers on May 30, 2020 17:08:50 GMT -6
Taitai how frustrating from a mental mom type perspective. You mental prepare yourself and think about kid logistics for one thing and now have to go back to another, the ever changing stuff is jus exhausting mentally. It sounds like they are taking it seriously there though... which is not what our state governor is doing here. We have phases with random dates and so far we’ve gone through 3 phases of opening like it’s not a problem except... our cases and deaths keep going up. I feel like regardless of how the rest of June goes we will be fully open by July and deemed “cured” 😡 regardless of science and data
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danvers
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Post by danvers on May 30, 2020 17:12:19 GMT -6
My parents, who have been religious about quarantining since they take care of my grandma, drive 3 hours just to see the girls all day. The girls so needed the attention and it gave H and I a chance to escape for a bit... if only to get take out, eat picnic style in the car, and drive to get an oil change 😂
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on May 31, 2020 8:10:38 GMT -6
danvers I’m glad your girls got to see their grandparents! And that you and your H got some time to yourselves. One of the casualties of COVID has been the ability of many parents to have any time to themselves, away from their kids. I know I feel that way. Working from home, juggling that with home-based online schooling, and no extra-curricular activities for the kids.....it’s a LOT of together time 😂🤣
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