I'm still here!

January 17, 2026

I hope y'all haven't forgotten me! I had to stop posting for a while. Life was throwing things at me/us and I just had to stop.

But I'm here. Much has happened.

I know I told you about Jerry's left kidney stone/infection removal surgery in June (2025). He is STILL doing well. The urologist did a fantastic job on both him and my son, John. Jerry is dealing with his usual spinal pain (spinal stenosis does not stop, it just continues to worsen). We have an appointment for Jerry with a new pain doctor in town on January 28. Hoping she will help him, which I'm sure she will. Two other people in our family are patients of hers and we've heard good things. Jerry has been without pain relief for six years now due to a previous doctor we thought we were going to go to just ripping him off his med without weaning.

John is having some related issues with his left kidney, although all those stones/infection are gone. I haven't received any updates on that, so not sure what's going on. I'll try to remember to ask. Daughter-in-law Katelyn is pregnant! The baby is due about July 20. Aero (John's son from his previous marriage) is going to be eight years old in April. You would not believe how much that boy has grown! He's still in sports. His best sport is football.. he's looking forward to it again next August. Right now, basketball is finishing up.

Daughter-in-law Amanda is still doing her work with the school district (15 years!). James (her fiance) is still right there with her at home (he is unable to work due to what the cancer [4x] he acquired from his military service and subsequent chemo did to him). The grandkids all call him "dad." Kara turned 18 last October.. she's in her senior year. She does virtual school and is way ahead in so many subjects. Madison (age  is still at home with her son, Symere (he is 2½ years old). Her guy left her last fall (he is not worth it). Mad earned her BA from K-State (virtual), and is now working on her other degree (virtual again to stay home with Sy) from our local college to be a legal para-professional. Andrew is 24 and still manager at a fast food restaurant.. several years now (since he was 16!). He and Kaylee have Nilah, who is 4, and they are expecting their second child at the end of May.

Soooo, we will have a fifth grandchild and a third great-grandchild this year!

My car had some major - MAJOR - problems that had to be addressed in the fall. Bad enough that it stranded me clear across town for three+ hours. And then there was another problem.. and another. The whole engine had to be taken apart and fixed. A friend of my son's who does car work (that I didn't know about) did it. Some "donors" knew of my problem and paid for it (thank you!). I could not have paid for all of the things that were fixed. For now, it will work. But it's an old car, and as is expected, is on it's last leg. Once these cars break down, they begin to go fast. It still needs some important stuff done, but it works for now. I pray over that car every time I get in!

I had surgery in mid-December. Long overdue to get it done. I'd been living with a certain female "problem" for 15 years. In 2025, it just became unbearable (NOT painful, just extremely annoying). So I had my son make sure he could be there for me (he's my DPOA) and I finally got it scheduled. What was supposed to be a three hour surgery ended up being four hours as the gyne doctor ran into what she called some "snags." Nothing dire, just unexpected junk. Made my son worry, though. The gyne and the urologist (same one who worked on my hubby and son!) did great work. I'm soooooo glad I finally got this done. I'm doing okay. Yes, just okay right now. Gyne doctor said I have to take the whole 6-8 weeks to fully recuperate. "The littlest things can take the wind out of your sails," she said. Hooo-boy, she was right. She said I could drive at my two-week followup appointment, but I waited more than a week after that. John and DIL Amanda did a lot of things for me during that time. But I'm driving now. I just stretch things out over several days that I need to do and spend a lot of time resting. Yes, in bed. I will get a few things from the store during the week. Maybe do my laundry at my son's a few days later. I don't need a lot done, so I really am resting plenty. I'll get there. I specifically planned the surgery for the beginning of our winter so I wouldn't have to go anywhere or miss anything. Like gardening, haha! I didn't want anything to interfere with gardening!

We've hardly had any winter because the temperatures have been anywhere from the 40s up to the upper 70s for a while. But on Friday the 9th, we received 2.5" of snow overnight. It was gone by midday the next day when it got up into the 40s. The past few days we've had a few minor snow squalls. Nothing much. Last night the Artic temps finally made it down here and we had what was basically a blizzard in the middle of the night (yes, I got up and peeked out the window, haha). It has been extremely cold all day (-1° and lower) and the wind (25-40mph) has been hitting the north side of the apartment building like a freight train for two days. Kansas in the winter. Our winter is basically the beginning of January through the end of February, but half the time it goes into March. This has been a slow year for it to get going. We'll see what the next few weeks bring. I'm just waiting for Spring! Come onnnnn, Spring!

I hope all of you are doing well and I'll try to get caught up on your blogs. Sending you many prayers. I'll be back!

Always,

Diana 🌻