I keep telling myself that I am going to start blogging on a regular basis and yet...I think many of us are now on FB and post there about our raves and rants and are too tapped out to have anything cogent to blog.

On December 19th, we had our family Christmas up at The Farm, as so many generations before us...same house...where my sister lives.  Not all my grands could be there, not all my children, but all my greats were present.

My sister played Christmas carols on the piano and we all sang.  It was traditional and gave me a sense of peace and comfort.

Two days before Christmas I was fitted with a heart monitor that I have to wear until the end of January. Nowadays, they have a small transistor kind of sensor that sticks on my chest and sends heart beats and any kind of irregularity, to a small monitor that looks like a smart phone.  They are checking to see if my heart goes into AFib.  So far no irregular beats noticed.

Then on January 5th, Karen's youngest Madeleine gave birth to another son.  She decided to have a home birth...two midwives brought in a large tube--like a hot tub without the jets, and Madeleine delivered the baby herself!  Labor took 4 hours.  Karen was there to encourage.

(Aside...I don't get how women do this.  I didn't even want to watch my own kids being born..."Take that slimy baby over there, clean him up, put a diaper on him, wrap him in a blanket and THEN bring him over here for a snuggle and bonding."  I did not witness either of my girl's giving birth.)  Karen said because it was so calm and quiet, she felt a certain spiritual serenity about it all.

Niklaus Adeodatus Loretto Caspar John Stefan Gaudete von Buelow

Welcomed by his 19 month old brother:

Benedikt Leonel Lourdes Aquinas Anton Dominic Athanasius von Buelow

Karen with her fifth grandchild, in 5 years, 2 months

Why all the names you ask?  I have asked the same.  Daddy Stefan comes from a family of 7 boys--Very traditional, German Catholic family and that is just the way they do it.  We call the oldest Bennie and I suppose this one will be Nick or Nickie?

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"If you can't do it.  Adapt it."

I've been doing a lot of that lately.  So many things I can't do anymore with these mobility issues, but I am learning tricks to get things done with my Rollator walker.

In the morning, I put a dishtowel on the seat of the Rollator, get the wet cat food into two feeding dishes, fill up their dry food and water dish and roll it over to their feeding mat.  Thankfully, I can still bend over to put the dishes down on the mat.  

So I don't have to bend over and reach so far back into the dryer, I sit on the seat of the Rollator, which puts me on a level where I can get the clothes out of the dryer, fold them, or put them on a hanger and then get up, lay them on the Rollator and walk them into the bedroom to put away.

I can easily dust tables, entertainment/fireplace and even lower book shelves while seated on the Rollator.  and yesterday, I found I could vacuum this office space, while seated.

It took 45 minutes of moving stuff, vacuuming, moving stuff back, vacuuming, either seated in my desk chair or the Rollator...10 whole feet of carpet, but I got it done!

"If you can't do it.  Adapt it."

There is a warning, "DO NOT MOVE ROLLATOR WHILE SEATED" or I'd be using it like a wheel chair.  I suppose they are worried about the contraption collapsing?

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I am waiting for January to get over with and then will get back into physical therapy.  Right now, our (Michigan) Omicron numbers are the highest in the United States and my grandchildren doctor's, who work in ICU in a hospital on the west side of the state, tell me that the hospitalizations are higher than they've ever been. I figure if I stay in my house, I have little chance of picking up a bad buggie.

The same as last winter--hibernating until the worse is over and then peeking my nose out of my den.

If you can't do it.  Adapt it.