January started out cold and snowy. Dave used the snow blower twice, (which was 2 times more than last year). Lucky for us, the snow doesn't stay for more than a day or two. Even more lucky, we live on the North side of the street, so the sun melts it away quickly. A neighbor across the street remarked, "I feel like you live in the Bahamas on the North side, and we like in the Artic on the South side. Our snow never melts." We spent the month, staying home and keeping warm. Unfortunately, after one of the storns, Dave was driving to work one morning and was in an accident, a driver ran a red light and hit the front right hand side of his car. The car was completely totaled, and it took some time, for the insurance to work things out, but Dave is now driving a brand new 2019 VW Jetta. I was very sad on the 27th to learn that my youngest brother, "Bobby", James Robert Long, passed away from COPD. There are now only 5 children and my dad left in our immediate family.
February started out with one more day of snow to remind us that it was still winter. Then on the 8th, Dave got bronchitis. He went to the insta-care on the way home, and they did x-rays, several breathing treatments, etc. They finally gave him prescriptions and told him to go home and get some rest and plenty of fluids. He got it bad enough to miss a week of work. He couldn't get out of bed. And lucky me, I got it on the 17th, just as he was well enough to get up and about. I tried to rough it out for 3 days, and finally they put me on the same medication Dave was on. Unfortunately, by the 3 day I had a bad reaction and broke out in hives all over. I had to continue the medication to get over the bronchitis. Then I immediately call my dermatologist, and got in. I was put on a "cocktail" of 3 different types of antihistamines and a nighttime prescription to help me sleep. My problem is that when my t-cells turn on, they don't know to turn off, and the doctor had to tell the tell the t-cells that it's time to turn off. It took 6 weeks, but finally I became "hive free". I am still on a small daily dose, so the hives don't return, but will so be off the antihistamines very soon. The saddest point of February was on the 11th when my cat, Callie, finally decided to cross over the Rainbow bridge. I had her for over 18 years. Her poor little body finally decided to give out. I sometimes think the grief of losing her caused my resistance to lower and that's why I caught Dave's bronchitis. Late one night about 6 weeks after she was gone, I was sure I felt she jumped on the bed, walked up beside me and laid down next to me, (just like she always did). It felt so real that I reached out to pet her. Even though she wasn't there in body, I felt as if her spirit was there, and it comforted me to pet her again. And I once more told her how much I loved her and missed her.
March started our rainy Spring season. We saw some of the hardest rains ever.. But it was good for the state's water level, which had been below normal for so many years. We managed to see another Broadway Across America play downtown. Even with the cold rain, it felt good to finally get out of the house and go somewhere for a couple of hours on a Saturday. After almost 9 years, our furnace finally decided to start giving us trouble. On the 21st, we had to replace the blower motor, (expensive). On the 27th, we drove down to Vegas to help Dave's brother, (Bruce), celebrate his 65th birthday, on the 28th. Dave got tickets for the 3 of us to see the revised version of Cirque Du Soleil "LOVE". It was very different from the "LOVE" that Dave and I saw many years ago, very modern, young, and upbeat. A lot of action this time. We all enjoyed it. Dave being a Beatles fan, really enjoyed it. As usual, we went to several buffets and ate way too much. But we really enjoyed it. We came home on Saturday the 30th to a cold house. The furnace had stopped working. We called the company that did the blower motor repairs immediately. but they didn't response, (after using them for several years, they will no longer get our business). The next morning, Sunday, Dave got on the phone to another company and explained that we didn't have any heat. They had a technician out in 2 hours. Turned out our circuit breaker had a burned out component. The tech explained a couple options. He could get the new circuit breaker today, but to get the parts company to just open the doors, would cost $90., or we could save the money and wait till tomorrow. It was in the 30s today and getting colder at night and colder tomorrow. Dave said, "Fix it today". Dave and the tech talked after all was fixed and we had heat about the repairs that were made this month. Looks like if we have another big repair, it will be time to replace the furnace and upgrade it at that time. On a side note - at least all the rain has greened things up, and spring as sprung. My daffodils have bloomed and the trees are all blooming. We made it through the long cold winter!
February started out with one more day of snow to remind us that it was still winter. Then on the 8th, Dave got bronchitis. He went to the insta-care on the way home, and they did x-rays, several breathing treatments, etc. They finally gave him prescriptions and told him to go home and get some rest and plenty of fluids. He got it bad enough to miss a week of work. He couldn't get out of bed. And lucky me, I got it on the 17th, just as he was well enough to get up and about. I tried to rough it out for 3 days, and finally they put me on the same medication Dave was on. Unfortunately, by the 3 day I had a bad reaction and broke out in hives all over. I had to continue the medication to get over the bronchitis. Then I immediately call my dermatologist, and got in. I was put on a "cocktail" of 3 different types of antihistamines and a nighttime prescription to help me sleep. My problem is that when my t-cells turn on, they don't know to turn off, and the doctor had to tell the tell the t-cells that it's time to turn off. It took 6 weeks, but finally I became "hive free". I am still on a small daily dose, so the hives don't return, but will so be off the antihistamines very soon. The saddest point of February was on the 11th when my cat, Callie, finally decided to cross over the Rainbow bridge. I had her for over 18 years. Her poor little body finally decided to give out. I sometimes think the grief of losing her caused my resistance to lower and that's why I caught Dave's bronchitis. Late one night about 6 weeks after she was gone, I was sure I felt she jumped on the bed, walked up beside me and laid down next to me, (just like she always did). It felt so real that I reached out to pet her. Even though she wasn't there in body, I felt as if her spirit was there, and it comforted me to pet her again. And I once more told her how much I loved her and missed her.
