Top Ten Reason's Why Elizabeth Needs To Go On A Cruise

In case you were wondering if I fell off the face of the earth or ran away to Timbuktu or was hiding out under my desk, rest assured that I am here. And although I would LOVE to do the above for a while, I won't. Instead, I will carry on with my crazy little life for a bit longer.

Let's review what is going on with me, as we could all use a little pity party from time to time.

1. My oldest brother spent an entire month in ICU.
2. I was put in charge of updating my entire family/relatives/friends, etc on a regular basis. Even when I sent my regular emails, I had people calling me for updates-just in case something changed overnight or on my way to work.
3. I was put in charge of getting his house organized for him, which I totally failed doing because once I dropped the ball on this one, nobody else offered to pick it up for me.
4. I brought him to my home, unexpectedly, when he was discharged. We were unprepared for him to be leaving so soon and to be staying at our home. I know, you laugh at the idea of a month being too soon, but for us it was still too soon. He will agree as well.
5. I am now taking care of my oldest brother, while still continuing to work full time, mother three children (two of which have homework and school things to add into the mix now), be a loving wife, and cook and clean a lot more than usual.
6. I am in charge of contacting various doctors, caretakers, etc. for my brother, making sure the things the discharging doctor did NOT do are getting done, and updating the various institutions with his new insurance information.
7. Keeping my brother from trying to move into his home again before he is ready because he is dying from boredom and grasping the concept that he just lost an entire month of his life. Helping him to also understand how difficult it will be on us if he were to pick up any of his previous habits now that his body has completely detoxed from everything. Helping him understand that this is the best opportunity that he will ever have to start a fresh life.
8. Pay his bills, insure his car, take him grocery shopping, fill out various forms, clean up his room, spend my evenings planning out what else needs to be taken care of, sorting through his mail, deciding how to sort the funds according to priority, trying to stay sane while trying to do the same with my own bills.
9. Get caught up on two months worth of filing at work, since all of the above consumes my life and I have to use my free time at work to contact the various doctors, family members, and caretakers while responding to various emails and keeping up on the overflow of every day work.
10. Doing most of the above while at work, thus making it almost impossible to get the maximum raise when the time arises. Although I have a wonderful boss who understands my situation, it still effects my job performance more than usual, keeps me from getting the overtime I usually get and has caused me to use all of my vacation time from the various 1/2 days I've taken off here and there during and after his stay.

I think that's everything. Let's just say that it would be nice to have a moment to breath without having all the unorganized thoughts flowing throughout my head at the same time. Thanks for listening.

Easy as 1, 2, 3!

Oh, I'm so proud of myself! I finally figured out how to change my background without using the silly generic templates!!! Oh, I just love it! I even spent all day at work making a new header to match my page! Wow, I am sooooo productive!

Oh, How I LOVE Ceramic Tiles!

Sigh...yea, that's mine.

I also made my dining room into an actual dining room!!!


Well, dining room/TV room.

Actually, the back splash is being redone as soon as the installers get more ordered, but that will be covered in detail another time. Next project, new appliances!