So grateful that T & E had an extra ticket and shared it with me. It was breathtaking and heartbreaking, stunning and funny. What a delight to share that experience with T & E & D! This is one day I’ll remember forever! 

Natural pest control – chickens! Our lawn is now pretty much grub-free. 😁 Added bonus, the grubs did most of the work. Now we are ready for our pollinator garden/patio installation work to begin!

A bit of rock in the sidewalk that looks like a tiny bird.

Realizing after years of taking many meds, that I can make the process at least a little bit fun by rainbowizing my pill sorter.

Chicken therapy with Ellis last week. A much needed lift!

Pancake art for Ida. Playtime in the morning!

Amazing birthday breakfast with Katie, Cina, Mckenzie, Sarah & Ida. Delicious food and fun celebrating my very favorite daughter! I’m so glad you were born, kiddo! ❤️

Really good meeting with my family. I so appreciate everyone’s candor, love, and enthusiasm for making the rest of Jeni’s days as brilliant as possible. I feel so lucky to be part of my family!

Festive, fragrant, friendly reminder of Pam’s love and support. Darling friend, thank you so much for the beautiful surprise! 😊

You. Yes, you. I am unbelievably grateful to know and love such warm, & wonderful, wacky & witty people. Thank you for being one of them! And thank you for all the love yesterday! ❤️

Season 5 of the Great British Baking Show on Netflix. What a delightful way to rest and settle after yesterday’s meeting. Plus how awesome it is to hear people saying “I’m gobsmacked!” and “I’m quite chuffed!” I love it!!

The simple joy of making pancakes for Ida every morning. I’m waking up early these days because of the steroids. Waking up at 4:30 isn’t fun – but it IS fun to see Ida’s face light up when instead of a “regular” pancake, she has a flower and butterfly pancake! Getting up early gives me more time for fun pancake shapes. 😉

Coffee date with Jeni and Katie. It was hard to see Jen so much weaker than usual, but so good to see her. And so good to have Katie’s love and support for our outing. Plus, feeling so much gratitude for Jeni’s group home workers. They are so loving and generous and funny. 💜

Gorgeous weekend walk with the family. I love sunny 60s weather. And I love my little family so much!

Bonus day with Katie and visit with Cina. I love when that happens!

Fantastic weekend of taskies and cleaning. So satisfying.

Truly magical dinner with Terri & Ellis. So much love and joy and interest and fun (and delectable food!) squooshed into just a few hours together. Magic, indeed.

Marvelous Monday meeting & workday with Ellis. We got so much done! 😁

Today’s appreciations…
Henry laid her first egg! It’s green!!! What fun it is to have chickens.

Sweet cards and gifts from friends. Debb, the chicken on your card looks like Amelia!! Kari, your cat lady gifts made me laugh out loud! I am so grateful to know and love (and be loved by) such beautiful people.

Mckenzie and Ida, making the world a sparkly spectacle!

The grapevines we planted to grow over the run have actual GRAPES on them. Neato.

My new weighted blanket! Sarah, you are such a darling to give me a gift that feels like a continuous hug. I love you!

Mckenzie and I got a card from Ida (via her care provider, Jennifer) IN THE MAIL. Magical.

Regular appreciations
A beautiful weekend up at Sarah’s family cabin! So much laughter, love & silliness!

I especially loved…
Early morning & late night quiet time
4-way coffee & canasta
Chipmunks & chickadees (who ate from our hands!)
Evening loon songs, daytime breezes & and thunder echoing across the lake
Sunshine, rain & everything in between
Puzzles on top of puzzles. Literally.
Games, games & more games!

 

What a magical weekend. I am counting my blessings again and again and again. 💖

Super fun show at HUGE Theater last night! I hadn’t been in such a long time. All the sets were wonderful in their own ways! Do yourself a favor and go see shows there!!

Community Ed rocked the 3 am iron range restaurant genre and Jill’s Drum Machine filled my little heart right up with joy! I am grinning even now as I recall it. Jill, you are a wonder of a human being. 😁

Special sister appreciations
Jeni is bringing out the best in us right now. My parents and siblings and I are spending more time together, laughing more, crying more, and being so gentle with each other. It is a tender, lovely time. She is helping us to savor what is good right now. I am so lucky to have her for my special sister.

Woke up super crabby today and after the past week, I decided to just go ahead and have a full-on anger day. I spent most of the morning feeling sorry for myself and being pissed about the past week.

I am mad about having to get FIVE pokes in the back of my hands (yes, that does hurt) in order to get my IV placed yesterday, mad that my colonoscopy results were not good, mad that my heart doesn’t work right, and super mad that my little sister is dying. Mad mad mad mad mad.

I know that appreciation is a helpful tool, but couldn’t think of ANYTHING good. But then I remembered to just start where I am, so I came up with these three things.

1. I am not currently prepping for a colonoscopy and next one is six months out instead of two.
2. Budesonide and Azathioprine might help me avoid surgery.
3. Nothing else crappy has happened today.

But then I found that letting myself live inside that anger for a few hours lessened its intensity. And besides, something else crappy DID happen then…A 15-minute series of fortunate events this afternoon spoiled my bad mood. 😆 Here’s what happened next:

First, Mckenzie and I saw FIVE random people in a row wearing red (all of them walking on the east side of Lyndale).

Then I got home to find my Seriously Happy order from Vista Print.

And finally, Toby jumped up and settled into the box even though not all of him fits.

I mean, really. How was I supposed to stay mad in the face of those things?! 😉

This week we learned that my sister has bile duct cancer with no viable treatment options. As we struggle to understand and inhabit this new reality, I offer two kinds of appreciations: everyday appreciations and appreciation for all the beauty and joy I can find in the time we have left with Jeni.💖

Everyday Appreciations
TWO year roomieversary with Sarah and Ida. What a tremendous gift it is to live with them. So much love and laughter and wonderfulness. 😁

Ida’s new dance moves. Super fancy stuff, I tell ya!

Beautiful bugs.

Our old lady chickens who continue to provide us with eggs and delight.

Our “baby” chickens who are delightful in their own ways… and one of whom has laid her first egg!

Teeny tiny pullet eggs!

Special Appreciations
The blanket of love and support surrounding me and my family. Always there, but felt and appreciated so deeply right now.

Beautiful flowers from Terri & Ellis’ garden…delivered with Ruby hugs.

Mom & Dad’s fierce loyalty and steadfast support of not only Jeni, but of all of us kids. Plus the bazillion hours they’ve spent at the hospital this week talking to docs, keeping Jeni comfortable, and making the best of a crummy situation. They are the absolute best.

Gifti (Jeni’s group home manager) who has spent countless hours at the hospital and helped us get Jeni set up with all the docs & services she needs. Her love for Jeni, knowledge of this process, and her unbelievable generosity have made this so much better for us all.💚

Heidi, whose visit delighted both Jeni and me, and who volunteered to stay to help Jeni navigate her room change so my folks and I could go home and get some rest. We are so lucky to have her in our lives! 💜

Sharon, the fantastic hospital social worker, who takes such great care to understand Jeni and meet her where she is. She brought Jeni a new monkey friend for her faithful doggy companion, Marley. Jeni immediately accepted the new addition to the family, christening her with a kiss and a liberal application of lip balm. 😁 Her name is Sandra Jr.

MY new faithful companion (a chicken!) that T & E bought for me before they even knew about Jeni. Talk about perfect timing! Her name is Molly Jr.

Jeni’s decisiveness and spunk! She knows exactly what she wants and what she doesn’t — and does an excellent job of letting us know. I LOVE that about her! She happily accepted the word find book I brought her, but sent the smiley stickers back home with me. 😉 Yesterday I brought her some were also coupons and ads from the paper. These were also acceptable. 🤣

Loving hugs and texts and cards and calls from my beautiful friends. I appreciate you all so much! 💙💛🧡💚💜❤️