Hey folks, today’s post will be a short, sweet, and quick update as to what has been going on in our world the last few weeks. I am noticing that the world keeps moving on, no matter how much we try to control or direct the course. We have experienced a bunch of travel, a wedding, and lots of work, sickness, music, and many other activities that demonstrate everything is changing.
A quick update
The wedding: We had a great time at my daughter’s wedding in September. This was a quick trip from Arizona to Colorado over 5 days and 1,400 miles of driving. The wedding was beautiful with an awesome reception of around 120 people. Dianne played the cello for the wedding service music. They make a great couple and I wish them much happiness and success. This demonstrates how quickly my kids grew up.
The sickness: My in law’s came to Arizona to spend the winter away from the Colorado winter. This was a few days after attending my daughter’s wedding. My father in law was not feeling well at the wedding and continued to get worse when he got to Sedona. He deteriorated to a point were Dianne and her mother took him into the emergency room. Sparing all the details but hitting the broad strokes: he has several blood infections and assorted ailments that turned into 4 emergency room visits and 8 days in the hospital. He was in poor health and only a couple more days without treatment would have been catastrophic. He is still recovering, coping with pain and mobility issues. It demonstrates to me how fragile life is and how things can change quickly.
The travel Friday: I took the train up to Colorado on Friday to visit family and friends. This was a working day for me on Amtrak. The BNSF railroad experienced a train derailment a couple miles before Gallup New Mexico that created major problems for rail traffic. We waited in the Gallup station for 3 hours for buses to transport all the passengers to the Albuquerque station to catch a different train. As luck would have it, my connection would not be possible so they put me on a Greyhound bus to my final destination. After 8 ½ hours of two bus rides I was at the end of my journey, 3 hours late. I was worn out by the time I arrived. Lessons learned: stuff happens and you have to make the best of the journey along the way.
More sickness: My mother has been in a skilled nursing home for over two years now. I have three reasons to get to Colorado quite often: to help oversee our rental properties, to see my daughters, and visiting my mother. It is sad to see my mother at age 73 ravaged by Parkinson’s. She lived a very healthy and active life until this disease struck. Visiting my mother makes me appreciate my own good health and desire to stop working very soon.
Music: Dianne has been in a whirlwind of practice for the upcoming symphony season. She is working 10 hour days 4 days a week (11 hours with lunch) and then going to a 2 ½ hour practice session with the symphony twice a week. In between these sessions, she practiced at home on her own. This has gone on for 3 weeks while everyone is learning the new music. The good news is the concert was on Sunday and they received rave reviews. The next concert is in February so she has a reprieve.
More travel: I am heading out Wednesday to Florida from Colorado to spend over a week with my friend Mr. Billy. He and his wife have a beautiful condominium on the Atlantic coast overlooking the beach and ocean. Billy retired earlier this year and has plenty of time. I shamed him into going to Florida so we could go hang out while our wives work. It was 30 years ago that he and I had a vacation together, just the two of us going to South Padre Island. I am taking some vacation days next week, trying to disconnect from technology and finding a “happy balance”. This is another example to me of how fast time goes by and waits for no one.
I am in a bit of a funk: I have had a couple doctors review my thyroid levels due to some testing results over the last 5 years. My doctor has now prescribed some medicine to take to see if the thyroid levels will improve with this treatment. Between work, a blog, family, a wedding, travels, etc. I have felt like I have less energy and motivation. Those who are around me have noticed a shorter than normal temper and a poor attitude. I thought it would be prudent to read the side effects of my medicine, quickly learning that this might be part of my problem. There will be another blood test in a couple weeks and I will bring up these issues with my doctor at the appointment. I am grateful for good health, however I see that it is important to monitor and understand why certain aspects of our health are changing. That includes both physical and mental.
Dianne sent me an email stating that both she and Hershey are missing me!
Thanks for reading our quick update. I hope everyone has a great week and lives life to the fullest. It is my intention to stay on my normal posting schedule to keep the community and conversation alive. We will have to see how it goes the next couple of weeks.
Take care!
Photo Copyright : Ganna Todica (Follow)
Financial Velociraptor says
Take care of yourself and that thyroid. Lack of motivation is a serious symptom. You want to nip it in the bud before it becomes clinical depression.
Bryan says
Thanks for the kind words FV!
It seems that 6 days at the beach so far with perfect weather is making a big difference in my attitude. Go figure…. 🙂
Abigail @ipickuppennies says
Wow, not only does the world keep moving on, so do you! I’m so sorry to hear about your mom’s and father-in-law’s health issues. As for your own, my mom has thyroid issues, and the medication took some titrating. But it seems to be working for her now. And yeah, if you’re tired, you’ll be more short-tempered, easily frustrated and may find yourself getting brain fog. I’m well versed with all three symptoms, and I’m sorry you have to deal with them.
Bryan says
That is good to know about the thyroid medications. It should be interesting when I am retested to see what effect it has on my levels. (my mood has improved since I am on vacation and at the beach with my friend Billy)
My father-in-law’s health is stable, however he is still very frail. We are keeping a close eye on him to make sure we don’t have additional issues to contend with as a result. Regarding my mom, we know that it will only get worse. Parkinson’s is a terrible disease!