I was shocked when I looked at the date this morning. How is it December? I was just getting into November! 
With a new month comes reviewing my goals and making sure I'm on track... nope. Of course, being sick for a couple of weeks kinda does that to me - even it was relatively easy (not much coughing this time 
).
The things that didn't quite make it this month was my monthly "adventure" and exercise (I still did some stretching). Hopefully, I can finish out the year better.
Getting started on my end-of-year project and setting up next year's
goals... 
Bob came home from work early today, informing me that he has taken the rest of the day off. Then says: It is so nice out! Do you want to going flying with me? 
Thinking of all that I had not gotten done, my initial response was "no". But, I quickly changed it to a "yes" because how often does one's spouse come in out of the blue and ask to spend time with you?
It was well worth going.... it was the smoothest flight yet and we saw two HUGE flocks of white birds. They looked like little snowflakes dancing on the water. 
Bob surprised me yesterday by bringing home groceries that he knew we needed... milk, eggs, cereal... basic stuff. I did not tell him that I also ran out of soymilk.
I decided to have oatmeal for breakfast. As I was trying to decide if I could tolerate using regular milk this morning or if I would be happier with plain oatmeal, my eyes fell on a holiday treat that my kids gave me. I decided to try it on my oatmeal. It's just thicker, flavored almond milk, right? It should work...
It was... interesting. I don't think I'll do that again though.
Yesterday, I realized that our cat food would run out before the one I had on order would arrive. I told Bob we would need to pick some up, so he pulled into the grocery store parking lot after we finished with the horses. I looked at the parking lot and told him that the cats could wait a day because it looked like half of the town was stocking up for the winter storm. Bob said he didn’t want to wait in case we ended up snowed in.
I contemplated sending him alone, but took a deep breath and went in with him. We went straight to the cat food and grabbed something for dinner, then Bob took us through the self-checkout. We were only in there 10 minutes. Once we were back out in the parking lot, Bob turned to me and asked: That wasn’t so bad, now, was it?
My wide eyes turned to him and I let him know that my heart was pounding and I was having difficulty breathing because my throat and chest were so tight.
He was surprised. He had no idea it could be that difficult for me!
The anxiety was rather uncomfortable and I almost cried before getting home, but I was quite proud of myself for going inside despite knowing how many people would be there.
We only live a couple of minutes from the store and I used some CBD oil as soon as we got in. 15 minutes later, I was relaxed and breathing normally again. I have to say, I do love my CBD!
Something I needed reminding of today. 
I am very thankful for the soul rest that the Lord's presence provides! I do believe I would be a very different person without it.
I have spent the last week with the grand-babies. As is typical, I am exhausted (because I don't sleep well away from home) and ready to go home for some much needed physical rest.
Although I am sore from the extra activity, I am happy to find that I am not completely hobbling in pain (I am usually having trouble walking upright by the end of a week ).
However, this time, I am not feeling the best in other ways, as I have had an irritating, dry cough for the past three days and have needed my inhaler more than the past year. 
I do hope this passes quickly.
I had hoped that I would get home, get some rest, and be back to my energetic self today... not quite there...
But, the coughing is minimal with only two doses of cough medicine and no need for my inhaler yesterday (nothing needed so far today). I truly have nothing to complain about. I just don't have the energy to do everything I want!
I should finish making the bed before the day is over though... it would be nice to sleep on new, clean sheets!
Buddy is a good nurse. He knows I don't feel well and he makes sure
I get up and moving every 2-3 hours day and night. It would be very
annoying if I didn't know I need it to prevent getting worse (still
no fever and mostly mild coughing). So, I (reluctantly) get up, walk
across the house, do some coughing, go to the bathroom, get some
liquid in me, decide if I have energy to do more (dishes, food,
etc), then Buddy will let me lay down again. I'm a lucky one to have
someone take such good care of me.
I went from a week of an irritating, but manageable, cough, that I thought I was almost done with, to a multi-day battle of whether or not I was going to develop pneumonia. Thankfully, I managed to stay on the edges and never developed the pneumonia, but Bob was ready to haul me to the hospital if it looked like I was struggling to breathe. (we were also checking my blood oxygen level every hour I was awake... ). I am grateful to be on the nearly-well side. I feel like the time to my full recovery may be longer than I like though I am also tremendously grateful that Bob was here and very helpful; and that neither he, nor my youngest, has gotten sick.
Curious thought this morning: I remember praying for patience to get through the winter with less horse time... could this allowance of this struggle be an answer to my own prayer to provide me with a focus of recovery to keep me from becoming overly anxious about things outside of my control? hmmm....
