Let me explain. No, there is too much - let me sum up.
All is well here. I'm still happily married to Leading Man (30 years as of last October). I'm still happily employed at the same small office (10 years as of last September). I'm still thrilled to be the mother of three daughters (22, 20, and 18 - or so they say. I'm pretty confident they're actually only 15, 13, and 11). And I'm still owned by the same two kitty-boys (Scooter and Sparky).
Leading Man had a second round with pulmonary emboli last year. He was smart enough to recognize the symptoms and our family doctor was smart enough to send him straight to the ER. He's hale and hearty now, on permanent blood-thinning meds, but it was genuinely a life-saving call our doctor made, based mostly on her instinct, God bless her. He may be a pain in the *insert sensitive body part of your choice*, but he's my pain in the *insert sensitive body part of your choice*; I'm glad he's still on this side of the daisies.
I got my other hip replaced 4.2 months ago and am fully recovered, released from any post-surgical limitations, and able to outwalk everyone in my family now in distance AND speed. *beams*
There was much work-related drama and trauma for me over the past few years, but that's all over now. I wound up on pretty strong blood pressure meds as a result, but I'm hopeful that - now that the work issues are happily resolved - I can wean off them soon.
Eldest Daughter will be graduating college with highest honors in about a month; she's applying to a South Korean graduate school for a two year program. We're alternately proud and terrified: South Korea is far, far away. It's her passion, though, so we're thrilled she's pursuing it. For someone who had a debilitating anxiety disorder as an elementary school student, this is pretty amazing. In 2013, she spent Christmas in Nicaragua with a friend and her family; last summer, she spent six weeks in South Korea. Both trips required that she travel on her own, so she's made huge progress in dealing with her anxiety. Proud doesn't even come close to describing how we feel about her growth. It's been a long, hard journey and there are still set-backs, but her progress is undeniable.
Middlest Daughter continues to be a middle-aged person in a youngster's body. She's a sophomore at our Very Big State University, majoring in psychology and nutrition/biology. She is not at all enthralled with the college "experience," wanting nothing more than to get her education over with and get to work. I used to think she would regret missing out on all the social aspects of university, but I've come to learn that she is a very different person than most people and she will probably be far happier once she does have a job in her chosen field that makes all kinds of unreasonable demands on her time and mental energy. Weird. There have been a lot of ... interesting ... twists and turns in her story, but she's healthy and mostly happy now, so let's just leave it at that.
Youngest Daughter will be graduating high school with highest honors in less than two months. She will be attending the honors college at the same State University as Middle Daughter. Since they are genuinely best friends, that's going to be a Good Thing for Youngest and likely a Very Good Thing for Middlest. She's a fascinating blend of all the strengths of her sisters; it will be very interesting to see what path she chooses to take.
Other than that - and I'm not kidding - nothing else is really new.
So how are you all?
Leading Man had a second round with pulmonary emboli last year. He was smart enough to recognize the symptoms and our family doctor was smart enough to send him straight to the ER. He's hale and hearty now, on permanent blood-thinning meds, but it was genuinely a life-saving call our doctor made, based mostly on her instinct, God bless her. He may be a pain in the *insert sensitive body part of your choice*, but he's my pain in the *insert sensitive body part of your choice*; I'm glad he's still on this side of the daisies.
I got my other hip replaced 4.2 months ago and am fully recovered, released from any post-surgical limitations, and able to outwalk everyone in my family now in distance AND speed. *beams*
There was much work-related drama and trauma for me over the past few years, but that's all over now. I wound up on pretty strong blood pressure meds as a result, but I'm hopeful that - now that the work issues are happily resolved - I can wean off them soon.
Eldest Daughter will be graduating college with highest honors in about a month; she's applying to a South Korean graduate school for a two year program. We're alternately proud and terrified: South Korea is far, far away. It's her passion, though, so we're thrilled she's pursuing it. For someone who had a debilitating anxiety disorder as an elementary school student, this is pretty amazing. In 2013, she spent Christmas in Nicaragua with a friend and her family; last summer, she spent six weeks in South Korea. Both trips required that she travel on her own, so she's made huge progress in dealing with her anxiety. Proud doesn't even come close to describing how we feel about her growth. It's been a long, hard journey and there are still set-backs, but her progress is undeniable.
Middlest Daughter continues to be a middle-aged person in a youngster's body. She's a sophomore at our Very Big State University, majoring in psychology and nutrition/biology. She is not at all enthralled with the college "experience," wanting nothing more than to get her education over with and get to work. I used to think she would regret missing out on all the social aspects of university, but I've come to learn that she is a very different person than most people and she will probably be far happier once she does have a job in her chosen field that makes all kinds of unreasonable demands on her time and mental energy. Weird. There have been a lot of ... interesting ... twists and turns in her story, but she's healthy and mostly happy now, so let's just leave it at that.
Youngest Daughter will be graduating high school with highest honors in less than two months. She will be attending the honors college at the same State University as Middle Daughter. Since they are genuinely best friends, that's going to be a Good Thing for Youngest and likely a Very Good Thing for Middlest. She's a fascinating blend of all the strengths of her sisters; it will be very interesting to see what path she chooses to take.
Other than that - and I'm not kidding - nothing else is really new.
So how are you all?