The big Five O.

A few weeks ago, Hubster turned 50. With the hospitalization and the extra costs associated with Hopper breaking her leg, we haven't had much extra money to celebrate his big birthday in a big fashion. And although I could have thrown him a small party, he really can't stand parties. Guess that worked out well, but it left me in a bit of a quandary.  I wasn't quite sure what to do to make him feel really celebrated. After all, 50 is big. It's worth celebrating.


My sister mentioned to me that she'd thrown a big party for her husband when he turned 30 and then again when he turned 40, but they didn't really have the money when he turned 50, so she had to get creative. She said that for 50 days in a row, beginning with his birthday, she gave him something to remind him that he was special to her and she hoped he had a good birthday. 


A 50 day long birthday!


What an awesome idea! 


So I took it and ran with it, and it's really been fun!


Not everything has cost an arm and a leg, which is really good, since I only have 2 arms and 2 legs, and that would only get me through 4 days! But I digress...


A few of the gifts I've given:


A strawberry rhubarb pie. His favorite. He's the only one in the family who likes them, so it worked out perfectly. 


Some of his favorite candies that he hasn't seen since he was a kid. I found both Black Cows and Slo Pokes for him, so that brought back some fun memories for him.


I made his favorite sandwiches for lunch one day. Tuna salad with celery and apple chunks. They really are pretty good, but I really don't make them that often, so they were a treat.


Most things have just been little things to show I've been thinking about him. I've got a couple of things tucked away to give him that he's been wanting for awhile, but he'll get them a week or two apart with little things in between. 


But there's 1 thing in particular he's really enjoyed, and it's lasted him awhile...


You know those yummy caramels called Riesen? I bought a big bag, counted 50 out, and attached a blank business card to each and wrote a different 'Riesen' I loved him on each card. He's not only enjoyed eating one of his favorite candies, but he's really enjoyed reading how much he's adored. 


I hope Hubster enjoys the next few weeks of his 50th birthday as much I've enjoyed coming up with different ideas to celebrate him ...


Er. As much as I've enjoyed him ...


Um. That didn't come out quite right ... After all, this is a PG rated blog!


Maybe I'd better stop while I'm still ahead...


Happy 50th Birthday, Hubster! I love you!!


Whoosh!

Ready for the weekend.

This week has been... How you say? 


Hell.


Just lots of emotional stuff dealing with something that happened with Scooter. Trying to figure out how to proceed - if we should take legal action or what, and wishing that we'd had a hidden camera in place. 


Dehoarding wasn't big on my list of things to do this week. The biggest one was just survival. 


Survived. Tomorrow's the weekend. Going to enjoy the last weekend before school starts. 


Sleeping in. 


Relaxing.


Breathing in life.


Loving.


Recovering.


Living.

Monday. Monday. So good to me.

At least I'm really hoping it will be. 

Monday is hopefully Hopper's last visit to the orthopedic surgeon. If he releases her to full weight bearing status on Monday, it will make things so much easier around here.

It will end the need for a wheelchair, the wheelchair ramp, the shower transfer bench, possibly the walker and best of all...it will end the need for the dreaded bedside commode!

Don't get me wrong. They've all served their purpose, and we're very, very grateful to have had access to each and every one of them. However, at this point, we are more than ready to be rid of all of them!

Hopper has been confined to the living room, dining room and the Scooter's bedroom. The main bathroom would have been available for her to use, except that we tore it apart back in April. We were hoping to get the shower, toilet, and floor redone before Bugster & Bubster's wedding in July. Guess what we didn't get finished before Hopper broke her leg?

The result of us not finishing the remodeling project has been multiple trips up and down the stairs with the commode bucket every day since she's been home. 

Lest one wonder, it's been just as fun as it sounds.

Another fun result of not having finished the bathroom remodel is the adventure that is getting her down the stairs to the shower. The wheelchair doesn't fit past the edge of the cabinet in the kitchen, so at this point in the journey, she uses the walker until she gets to the top of the stairs where she sits on her behind for the trek down. While we hold her left foot up, so she doesn't put any weight on it, she scoots down the flight of stairs. When she reaches the bottom, she uses the walker once again to get into the bathroom and onto the transfer bench in the shower.


We reverse the process to get her back upstairs and back into her wheelchair. It isn't nearly as physical a process for us as it was when she first got home from the hospital. She's able to help hold her weight more than she could then, but it's still exhausting.


To say it's been a bit disruptive to the norm of our everyday lives is an understatement, and we're all ready for things to get back to normal around here. 


Whatever *normal* is.