Also, the kitty cats seem to have given L a reason to breathe deeper and move faster.  She has been doing more and more each day, and her stamina for life around the house is really close to normal.  She still has lifting restrictions after surgery, and she babies her left side and arm quite a bit.  Physical therapy is helping with that but hasn’t resolved it yet.

Her goal is to be able to sing in choir again.  She also wants to be able to ride her bike long distances in the near future.  She used to ride 10 miles at a time, and prior to surgery she had been working her way up to a 50 mile ride.  She’d like to get back to that, but I’m wondering if that might turn out to be a springtime goal.  She’s also recently informed me that now she want to try running a marathon.  It’s ironic that the surgery that is enabling her to get air in through her trachea is the same event that caused her lungs to collapse and subsequently deteriorate.  The humor is not lost on me. 🤓

Our two furries got sick shortly after we brought them home, and Liberty has been leading their care team which is made up of her and her sisters.  The kitties are healthy now.  The last thing to be cleared is Glory’s infected molar, please pray with us that the girls’ teeth brushing will clear it up enough that it won’t need to be pulled.  

That’s right, I said teeth brushing.  I laughed along with the vet when he suggested that as a last ditch alternative to sedating the cat and removing her tooth, But the girls have been serious, and every night they wrap Glory in a towel and brush her teeth amidst her howls, while we all pray.  So funny!

Jeremy asked me out on a date today, and we sat at a restaurant and enjoyed an entire uninterrupted conversation about possible plans for this upcoming year, and then we stopped off at a few different places to complete some tasks.  I got to use my Christmas gift cards from the girls to buy the lumber I needed for a tiny project I’m working on!  I finished my earring holder, and tomorrow I hope to start on a necklace holder.

I bought that sunflower frame for $1.50 at the thrift shop, took the glass and the backing off, stapled burlap inside, and added two 1.5”x1” bracers on the back to keep my earrings from hitting the wall.  Then I hooked my hook-backed earrings into place and hung the fame above my ironing board.  All my post-backed earrings are pinned onto the metal butterfly below.  (I’m also still deciding on a permanent home for my prayer board and for that little basket holding ironing spray starch.)

We finished the evening as a family snuggling with our kitties, eating popcorn, and watching a movie.  All in all, the new year is off to a peaceful, optimistic start.