Why hello there world, I am indeed, still around.

Plenty of things have happened since my last post 3 weeks ago. I went to Portland, Oregon with two of my co-workers for a conference on labor and legal documentation. My last night there, Chris called me to tell me his mother had a stroke, the second of her life. I got home Wednesday the 9th in the afternoon and we went straight to the hospital. Chris' mom, Heidi, was in the hospital for over two weeks and last Friday got transferred to a skilled nursing facility for rehab.

Heidi had a stroke the day after Christmas when she was 8 years old which, after much rehab, left her with dystonia and spasms on her right side in her hand and leg. She didn't let any of that slow her down though, she lived on her own, swam every morning, traveled the world and taught students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. She did, however, have ongoing problems with the spasms and dystonia and was always looking into something that would relieve the symptoms. A couple years ago she almost did deep brain stimulation, but decided against it due to its invasiveness. Mid October she had an intrathecal baclofin trial which would test dosages of medication through her spine to see if the medication would relieve symptoms. If they found an appropriate dosage, she would go back for a permanent pump. She did the trial not once, but twice, and after over a week and a half in the hospital, decided the side effects were too great to be beneficial. She went home to recover. About a week later, she had another stroke. This stroke has affected her other side, her left side. So, instead of having some relief of her symptoms on her right, she is paralyzed on her left side and her spasms on her right seemed to increase. She is now sustaining her eyes being open and is moving her mouth, but not speaking.

We have had a huge outpouring of love and support from our friends and family, and for that we thank you. Please continue to keep Heidi in your thoughts and prayers. You can keep up with Heidi updates here.

Thanksgiving was very low key for us. After weeks of little sleep, lots of commuting and sitting in hospitals, Chris got sick so we spent Thanksgiving, just the two of us, at home. It was nice really - to sit with each other, relax, and watch t.v. It was something we hadn't done in weeks. We cooked our own mini Thanksgiving meal with comfort food we were craving.

On top of all this, Chris' grandpa on his dad's side isn't doing well either. He has metastatic cancer and is at home. We have visited him a few times and hung out with the family. Chris spent one day with him sitting at his bedside watching hours of some game that was on t.v.

I took a week and a half off of work, but am back to my regular schedule now. On my days off we're either going to see Heidi, his grandpa, or both. Thankfully we have very supportive families on both sides, so even if we're not there visiting, we know they each have plenty of loved ones with them.

Needless to say, hats for Thanksgiving babies didn't happen, and I don't think Christmas or New Years baby hats will happen this year either. My knitting has been very minimal.

That's all for now folks. I will try to keep you updated!