WHERE I'VE BEEN AND WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON

 Hello. friends!  I bet you never thought you would hear from me again.  It's been a long (LONG) time since I've been with you.  But there is a reason.

Towards the end of October I came down with some kind of upper resperatory infection.  No voice.  Coughing.  Nasal congestion.  Headaches.  I was a mess.  Well, everyone gets sick, right?

But this lasted and lasted.  It lasted for 6 weeks until I got mostly back to myself.  I was good for two weeks and even got to church once and then . . .

It all came back.  Same infection as before.  This one lasted about three weeks.  I was sick all through the holiday season and was miserable.

Around the end of February I was finally able to get out and about again.  I was attending church and teaching my Tuesday Bible study again until . . .

On Tuesday, March 17th I was getting ready to go to church to teach.  I was even wearing green for St. Patrick's Day and planning what I was going to have for dinner that night.  I didn't know if I would have enough time to make Irish soda bread.   I finished studying my lesson and headed for the powder room before getting in the car to go.  When suddenly . . .

I started feeling dizzy as I went into the kitchen (the powder room is behind the kitchen).  The dizziness got worse and worse.  I had to grab onto the countertop to get through the room.  I thought if I sat down on the toilet I would start to feel better.  Thought it was my blood pressure.  But . . .

When I got to the powder room everything began spinning rapidly.  The entire room was one big swirl, as if I were spiraling down a funnel.  Faster and faster.  All I could see was white and black swirls and I started throwing up.  I grabbed onto the sink and was able to sit on the edge of the closed toilet.  I began screaming Joe's name.  He was upstairs asleep.  "JOE!!!  HELP ME!!!  CALL 911!!!"

Fortunately he heard me and came running downstairs.  He tried to help me, but immediately saw it was not something he could handle.  I heard him calling 911.

It was just a very few minutes until they pulled up at the door.  The medics took one look at me and said they had to take me to the hospital.  And what a time getting me out of the house and into the ambulance.  We have a stair lift on the front steps, so they had to strap me into a chair and then when we got to the pavement get me onto a stretcher and into the ambulance.  The hospital is very close to our house so it was less than 5 minutes until we were pulling up to it.

I spent almost the whole day in the Emergency Room.  All kinds of tests being done.  I had two CT scans of my brain and the ladies doing the test were so kind to me.  I felt badly that they had to lift me back and forth from the stretcher to the test table but every time I moved everything spun and I vomited.

At the end of the day they told me I was staying and got a room for me.  Poor Joe stayed with me the entire time and never left my side.  By this time they had stabilized me and I was feeling better.  There were several neurologists looking at me.

I really don't remember much of being in the hospital.  I was told I was there for four days but I remember just snippets here and there.  The conclusion seemed to be that the viruses that I had in October and January had settled in my brain and damaged it.  And it was going to be a long time to heal.  Months if ever.

And now my computer is about to run out of power so I have to end.  I PROMISE I will continue this tomorrow and tell you more.

Until later,

Kathy

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2026

 Hello, everyone!  Happy 2026 to you.  I am going to give this yet another try.  I think my posts will be short and that should help me get you all caught up.

I hope things are going well with all of you.  We have been having a time here with sickness.  On October 22 Joe and I went down the shore to church.  Our pastor friend was celebrating 10 years of being at his church.  I wasn't feeling all that great, but went anyway.  Here are a few pictures from that time.

They gave us a great meal.  Everyone brought something.  We brought artisan breads because we had to drive so far and didn't want to bring a main dish.  There was so much food and everyone went home with left overs.

But the next day I felt even worse.  By Wednesday I was coughing like I'd never stop, couldn't breathe, didn't have a voice, and had a fever.  Was it the flu?  Was it pneumonia?  I went to Urgent Care and the only thing they could tell me was that it was viral.

I tried to sit outside on Halloween to hand out candy.  And I did for a little while.  But then I started choking and had to blow my nose all the time so I went inside.

For the next 12 weeks (yes 12!) I was sick.  Very sick.  So sick I thought I was going to die.  And worst of all no one could give me anything except decongestant and cough medicine because they couldn't figure out what was wrong with me.  I even had x-rays but nothing showed up.  I truly thought I was going to die.

So the entire fall, my favorite time of year, was spent being sick.  It has only been about 10 days since I started feeling entirely well again.  You don't appreciate your health until you don't have it.

Thanksgiving was very low key.  We spent it alone.  I got a turkey breast for free by spending enough money at the supermarket (with the help of my sister).  We had that with all the fixings.  And I did decorate the house a little bit.  Let me show you a few pictures.

As you can see I did make a pumpkin pie from my great-grandmother's recipe.  In fact, it was so good that later when I felt better I made two more.

I didn't get much done for Christmas with either gifts or decor.  I didn't even get a card sent.  But I did get to spend the day with my sister.  Still blowing my nose, though.

But I will save that story for another day.

Have a wonderful day everyone and I will hopefully see you soon.

Kathy

WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO

 Hello, friends!  I know I've been missing for a while now.  Let me tell you why.  In the beginning of June my computer crashed.  I lost everything.  Pictures, posts, and access to this and my YouTube channel.  It's been quite a time getting everything set up again.  I had close to 550 subscribers on YouTube and now I am down to 15.  But I am so glad to have those 15!  I still haven't recovered all my pictures.  If you were a subscriber (or know someone who was), please tell them the name of my new YouTube channel is Kathy's Happy Home 2.

In any case, I am glad to be back here.  So much is going on.  I am busy all the time.

We finally emptied out our storage unit from when we moved and got rid of that bill.  We expected to have it for two months tops and ended up with 18 months!  Unfortunately, now the house is full again with all the cartons and bags we had to bring in.  I'm working through them one at a time.

Yay we got rid of a bill.  But...

I had to get the car inspected.  We found out we needed an oil change, new rotors, and four new tires.  It never ends, does it?  But now that is all taken care of and we are broke again.  2026 is going to be better.

I saw a new to me cardiologist.  I like him better than the one I had been seeing.  But he wants me to have all kinds of tests and perhaps a surgery or two (or three).  And see some specialists.  *sigh*

One good thing is since my sister retired this year, I've been able to see more of her, and we talk almost every day.  This is good!

I have to show you a cute picture I took tonight.  I had salmon for dinner with broccoli and macaroni salad.  George must have smelled the fish, because he jumped right up in Joe's chair and it looked as if he was waiting for his dinner too.  So cute!

I know this is kind of short, but it's late and I still have things to do before I get ready for bed.  I'll be back soon to continue with telling you about June, July, August, etc.

Kathy