Feeling so much better.

We've all been sick with a cold for a few days now. My mother started feeling bad first then it passed around, like colds usually do, to the rest of us. After a lot of rest and some tlc, I'm feeling so much better now, and my mother, grandmother, and Clint are on the mend, too.

My grandmother wasn't feeling well before that, though, so we've really been keeping a close eye on her. She had almost completely stopped eating (no what matter I cooked for her, she just was not hungry or interested in it), and had lost thirty pounds as of Tuesday a week ago since her last doctor's appointment in September. Her doctor performed an EGD (esophagogastroduodenoscopy) on her, which is where an endoscope is inserted into the mouth and down through the pharynx, esophagus, stomach, and duodenum. We found out that Grandma has multiple ulcers, which explains a lot of the symptoms she'd been experiencing. Her doctor prescribed a couple of new medications, and they've really helped. Her appetite has drastically improved almost overnight, and she's still eating really well even with a cold.

Well, anyways not feeling well last week and being busy with Grandmother put me a little behind on getting started on putting up our Christmas decorations. We live on top of a hill that overlooks one of the main highways out of our town, and I look forward every year to decorating it and adding something new. My self-imposed deadline to have all of the decorations in place and to turn them on for the first time is always Thanksgiving night; mainly because Clint leaves for an annual conference then, and brings by the friends he carpools with to show off the lights to them (his parents never really celebrated Christmas when he was growing up, so he turns into a thirty-something year old little kid this time of the year).

I finally started decorating yesterday, and the first thing I decided to do was to put up the Christmas tree because we needed to be cheered up a little.

Remy taking a nap under the tree.

Today I managed to put out several of the outside decorations. Clint was at work and my mother and grandmother were at a doctor's appointment, but I wasn't completely on my own. Sunshine, one of our barn cats, was a big help while I was working. He always loves keeping us company when we're doing chores outside, and he even loves watching over the chickens. I think sometimes he thinks they're his birds instead of ours.

Sunshine helping put up gold lights.

Of course, the turkeys were their normal curious selves and wanted to know what I was doing. If you don't have turkeys, let me tell you something about them. . . they're like very nosy dogs that want to know everything you do and happen to strut around and gobble. You wouldn't think their personalities would be so completely different from chickens, but they're as different as apples and oranges. 

Jim Bob the turkey strutting around.