Welcome to my corner of the internet for a little chat and a cup of tea. If you don’t like tea, we also have coffee, juice, or water.

We have a small selection of teas: peppermint, Chamomile, green, Ginger with orange, and raspberry.

Let me tell you that I needed something relaxing to sip today after the week our family had. We are all okay but there has been a lot of worry over various health issues for a few of us and that has had me on edge.

Last week my sister-in-law ended up in the hospital with a health issue and only came home yesterday.

Monday my son came home from school and told me  he had run into metal piping at his vocational school and the impact had knocked his head and neck back.

He got off the bus and walked to the dollar store down the street and back home. I had no idea this had happened to him and was alarmed that he hadn’t let me know so I could pick him up at the bus stop.

He had a horrible headache and his neck hurt. He was also exhausted but he hadn’t slept well the night before. His telling me what had happened launched me into Mama Bear mode and I started asking all the routine questions about symptoms that could mean he had a concussion.

I asked him if he had blacked out, had gotten dizzy, had sensitivity to light and sound, had nausea, or had memory loss.

He didn’t have any of those and when I asked him who the president was he thought he was pretty funny when he answered “Ronald Regan.”

I kept a close eye on him the rest of the day, waking him up when he fell asleep for a nap later. We also kept him home from school the next day and also woke him up in the middle of the night, despite him saying he felt okay.

 At one point on Tuesday, he said he was very tired and I got nervous it might be because he actually had a concussion until we both started talking about how many times I had woke him up to check on him, then his dad, and then he had woke up a couple of times in the night too, plus his alarm had gone off even though he didn’t have to go to school. We decided then that he actually needed more sleep without us checking on him to feel less tired.

On Monday while I was worried about The Boy, Little Miss was dealing with a sore throat but I thought it was from sinus drainage. Later that night she developed a low grade fever. By the next morning, the fever was gone, which is something that happens with her from time to time, especially when the weather changes.

Prior to all of this, on last Friday to be specific, my sister-in-law was admitted to the hospital an hour away for a complication from an ongoing medical issue. She was doing well for the most part but it was stressful as we all waited to see what decisions would be made to solve the issue.

I tried to give her something to think about other than waiting to figure out the next step in her treatment so I texted her jokes or about books or anything else. A few days later my fingers started going numb and I realized carpal tunnel was rearing it’s ugly head from all the texting back and forth with her and my brother. I don’t regret the texting but I probably should have worn the wrist braces I’d purchased a couple of weeks earlier.

I dealt with pins and needles in my hands most of the week until I started wearing the braces more and found a video on YouTube for wrist stretches. The numbness started to subside and is doing much better. I hope I can continue to be consistent with the exercises and help the awful feeling.

Thursday I ate food that I should not have been eating because I have some food sensitivities and that night I had stomach pains and couldn’t fall asleep.

All of this is to say that I was a mess much of the week and didn’t accomplish as much as I wanted to, but did accomplish some things.

I picked up my new glasses and groceries yesterday. The glasses were very much needed because the anti-glare coating was peeling and it was making reading and writing a challenge. I was having a hard time telling what were my normal eye floaters and what were the marks on my lenses and while I tried not to focus on the spots on the lenses, it was a huge struggle.

I also finished writing Cassie, which will be released in August. I can now go over it again and then send it on to be edited. After that, I will start writing book three of the Gladwynn Grant Mysteries. I am excited to start that and announce a title sometime in the near future.

One of the more exciting events this week was when The Husband found a stack of books in the attic left by our house’s previous owner. Now, I know this makes me sound like a very lame person that I found the discovery of books in our attic to be the most exciting part of my week, but they were books from series I have either read or am reading from.

The books were four from the Mitford series by Jan Karon, four from the Elm Creek Quilter series by Jennifer Chiaverini, and a Beverly Lewis book. I’ve never read a lot of Beverly Lewis, but I have read all of the Mitford books and two of the Elm Creek Quilter books (though not any of these particular ones.)

I remember when we first looked at this house. The homeowners at the time were here and when we walked inside what is now our dining room I saw a row of Jan Karon books on a small shelf and blurted out, “Oh, I love Jan Karon! Do you read her?”

Like, she had them on her shelf. Of course, she read them and that’s what she told me with an amused smile. I have no idea why they placed some of those books in a hutch in some bags in the attic but maybe they knew we’d enjoy them.

The couple moved to Arizona from here and the husband passed away last year, which was very sad to us because they seemed like the coolest people. After we met them, I found out the man was in his early 80s and I didn’t believe it. I would have said he was in his early 70s, maybe, but not 80s.

Our neighbors on both sides said there were times they tried to talk him off ladders or from doing other dangerous things at his age.

Based on the books we found and the books she read, I think the wife and I would have got along.

Later today we are taking Little Miss to a couple of Easter egg hunts that The Husband needs to attend for work (he’s a small town newspaper reporter/editor/photographer for anyone who is new here) and then a couple of her friends are coming to visit for the day.

Tomorrow, we plan to visit my parents for Easter dinner.

As for next week, I don’t have a lot scheduled so far. I would absolutely love it if the weather got warmer but so far Spring doesn’t seem to want to come back to Pennsylvania. Our days have been cold and gloomy. We truly need some more sunshine, especially since the buds are coming out on the trees and I’m anxious to see the leaves and flowers again.

How was your week last week? Did you do anything exciting?

What are you drinking today wherever you are? I hope it’s something good!