2016
Wow. It’s been one busy year, full of change, both good and not so good. Overwhelming Happiness. Overwhelming Sadness. Everything in between.
Early January - Trip to FL for my B-Day
Jan/Feb - 3 chain smokers moved in in the apartment below us and for a few months we felt like prisoners in our own home.
End of Feb/beginning of March - House Hunting
March 11th - Put offer on house
March 12th - Counter-Offer
March 13th - Final Offer Accepted
March 11-13th Watched Scott & Debbie’s Kids in WI to give them a weekend away
March - Packing/giving things to Goodwill
April 8th - Closed on Our New House
April 8th - 10th - Moved into New House
April 15th - 21st - FL for Cousin’s Wedding
End of April - Cleaning Old Apartment
April 29 - May 1st - WI - Gave Debbie & Scott a date night (we took the kids to the Safehouse) and went to a Confirmation.
May 22nd - May 29th - Jen in NY for BIL Scott’s very serious Surgery, which didn’t happen till June 3rd. He got CDiff and was hospitalized for 3 weeks, and they were away from their kids for a total of 6 weeks. I had to return to IN on the 29th b/c I had used most all of my vacation days. Mom and I had a great opportunity to sightsee in NYC! :-)
May/June - Bought things we needed for new house.
June 4tth - Cousin’s get together in Vernon Hills IL
June 10th - We adopted Mookie
June - Shopping/Planning/Cleaning for Party on June 25th
June 13th - We took Mookie to get neutered
June 19th - Father’s Day - Both of our Dads are in Heaven
June 23rd - We took Mookie to get groomed
June 25th - We had a fun party (65 people) celebrating our New Home, Summer Solstice and 5 Year Anniversary
June 26th - We took Mookie to ER Vet where he was sedated and we were given meds to give him for 2 weeks.
July 6th - We started our drive to WV and spent the night in OH.
July 7th- 9th We were in WV visiting Jonathan’s Mom.
July 8th - We celebrated our 5 Year Wedding Anniversary! :-)
July 8th - We celebrated our 5 Year Wedding Anniversary! :-)
July 10th - We drove back home with Jon’s Mom and she stayed with us for the week.
July 16th - Jon’s Mom left for Grand Rapids with Sandy and we drove to WI to help our very close friends. This was the day my Best Friends Dad (and a Father figure to me for 24 years) passed away. After my Dad passed December 8th of 1999, I would spend Thanksgiving with their Family. Mom and my Sisters were at their Significant others Thanksgivings and Carey’s Family included me so i wouldn’t have to be alone. My heart hurts for my Friend knowing how hard it is to lose an earthly Father. I too, miss my Friend’s Dad. I am their “adopted daughter”.
July 17th - We drove back to South Bend
July 19th - We drove back to WI for Funeral.
July 20th - Burial - and we drove back to South Bend
July 18th, 21st, 22nd, we worked a total of 3.5 extra hours on these days to make up for leaving early on Tuesday to drive to WI.
July 26th - 29th - Jonathan was in Troy MI for work. Our ant problem got exponentially worse while he was gone and our dog bit our Friend.
August 1 - August 5th - Jonathan will be in Tampa for work.
Then add in the fact that my Mom has continued to have her cancer treatments (except for when she was in NY for the surgery), Scott got stem cells harvested this week and began a month of full abdominal radiation. Oh, and then toss in my old lady hormones. Wow. All of this combined with trying to focus at work…...it’s been an overwhelming 5-6 Months for JS Squared (that's us!). There were highs and lows….but even good change is stressful. These are the ebbs and flows of life. I’m hoping things start to settle down for a season for us. During that time I also attended a Friend’s Mom’s Funeral and a visitation….and we started applying for life insurance right before we moved...and…..we are still dealing with that process (things will be finalized this Monday). Apparently there were 2 Jennifer S's in Underwriting at the same time and the other Jennifer uses Nicotine. My Depression also makes the approval process/premium more challenging. This is why the premium for me is more expensive than the premium for Jonathan.
I went to see my Counselor a few weeks ago. We practiced mindfulness. He then asked how relaxed I was. I said about a 4, but I don’t think I’ve ever been completely relaxed. He said “No, you haven’t!” :-) Later I was admitting to being a control freak and he said “Yes, you are!”. :-) He knows me so well. I know God will use this Season of Life to Strengthen me and lead me closer to Him.
I am well aware that everyone goes thru the ups and downs of life. Some seasons just happen to be more stressful and emotional than others, and this is one of those Seasons for us. I think there should be a rule that only one family member at a time can have cancer. If you've ever had a close loved one with a serious illness, you know how emotionally and physically exhausting it can be. Having 2 close loved ones with cancer really weighs on my heart. Especially b/c my baby sister has 4 young children. I hate that they are going thru this. It's a good thing God is God and I am not. He knows what's best for us and His Love and Comfort are always available for us.
A cancer diagnosis changes your life and the lives of the people who love you. The emotional impact can be felt for years to come.
Jennifer Giuffre-Donohue Blogger, jenngeedee.wordpress.com
Huffington Post 10//8/2013
Cancer affects family and friends, as well as the person with cancer, whom all can experience grief in different ways throughout the cancer journey.
I am a highly sensitive person too, which means I handle stress differently.
“Being highly sensitive means we're going to feel stress more intensely and react to it differently than other people. While a not-so-sensitive person may be able to react with laughter to tight deadlines, stalled traffic and a leaking washing machine, the highly sensitive person will find it difficult to cope with even one of those events. Add all three into one day and it's going to take a toll. Add emotional stress into the mix, from difficult relationships for example, and the result is often more than we can handle.
Highly sensitive people absorb more environmental information than other people, and that includes both the good and the bad. Absorbing information is tiring. It's a largely unconscious process that uses up a lot of energy. And when there's too much of it, such as constant noise, lots of people, and busy schedules, we become overwhelmed. It's this state of overwhelm that wears us down.
All too often, we're moving so quickly and trying so hard to meet everyone's demands, we don't even realise we're stressed or that we've taken on too much. If you've ever felt like you're swimming with your head barely above water, you're probably stressed. And yet most of us just keep swimming.
What the mind won't deal with, however, the body will. Highly sensitive people absorb not only information, but feelings and energy as well. Working or living with angry or negative people, for example, means that you're absorbing their negative feelings. And even positive experiences, like going on vacation or getting married, can create a lot of stress as well, simply because of the excitement.”
Deborah Ward from a Psychology Today Article from March 4th, 2012.
I took a 3.5 hour nap last Sunday Afternoon. I must have needed it!
So I’ve gained weight. Actually, we both have gained weight. Maintaining/losing weight and saving money have not been at the top of our priority list lately. We have been in survival mode for quite a while now. We ended up going back to the old Points Plus Plan from Weight Watchers. We were successful with that. We have not been successful with Smart Points. It's healthier, but we feel deprived which ends up setting us up for failure. We will get back there. We also have a plan to start budgeting again with our next checks. We lost weight. We got debt free. We can do hard things.
Here are some of the promises of God that I cling to in hard times.
Psalm 34: 17-19. “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.”
Psalm 9: 9,10 “The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.”
Psalm 46: 1-3 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and mountains quake and with their surging.”
James 1: 2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
I'm sorry if I jumped from here to there in this post. Those who know me know this is what a conversation with me is like! I have self diagnosed A.D.D. Please pray for Strength for my Family and for success for our Mookie as we hire a dog Trainer to help us with his biting issues. This situation is also weighing heavily on me. I love Mookie, but I hate that he has bitten people I love!
Thanks All! We have had lots of change in a short period of time, but I know that "This too shall pass"! :-) Life is Tough, but God is Faithful! :-)
