So it's been another year.

Do other people blog.. annually?

Let's see if I remember how to do this, and maybe even post more than once a year.

So, things are basically about the same as they were last year, but there are some notable differences.  Here's a catch-up post with some photos from the past year thrown in...

My oldest daughter, Corina, finally left her husband last summer. She stayed here a while, then moved in with friends where her new job was in another town. She met a new guy, moved to Georgia right before the hurricane.  She ended up getting very ill and he brought her home before the hurricane hit. His job ended up falling through, and they also fell apart, so she moved back in with us for a while. She ended up with another guy who seemed to be very devoted to her.  Over the course of the year, they moved in with my mother-in-law down the street to help take care of her and to have a place together. She filed for divorce from her ex, and after months of waiting, it finally went through.  She found out she was pregnant, but soon lost it, which was so sad.  She and the new guy actually got married in April, just after her 26th birthday. 

 They still live with my mother in law, but she loves having them there and relies on them for a lot.  They're doing well, with good jobs and are trying for another baby. ... what a year!

Corina and Nathan on their honeymoon in Myrtle Beach

My 2nd oldest, Rhiannon graduated college a semester early.  It was quietly done.  No walking the stage, no party.  Just a post on Facebook.

Her last day on campus.  We moved her back home this day.  She got her alumnus t shirt.

Her husband, Joe, came home from his tour in Afghanistan and finished his time with the Army. He moved back here just after Rhiannon finished school, and they both moved in with his grandmother.  They were unsure about what their next step would be, but now he's gotten a job near Washington, D.C. using the skills he learned in the Army, and they'll be moving there at the end of the summer. It's a much higher cost of living there, so they'll be renting a room in a house for a few months, but they should be on their feet and in their own place soon enough.  His job offer was very good.  I'm happy to know they'll have a good start in their marriage and at life after having to be apart through college and the Army.

My 3rd one, Faelyn kept having to miss classes at college due to various pains in her abdomen and chest.  Finally she was diagnosed and they determined her gall bladder had to be removed. I'm afraid that's my genes.  I had mine out at age 20 and mom had hers out in her early 20s as well. Due to the time she had to be out and wait on the surgery and then recovery time, she ended up having to get a do-over for the whole semester. So she was here with us for a few months.  Then went back to college in January.  Unfortunately, she wasn't able to get all of the classes she needed to catch up, so she may end up having to graduate a semester later than the rest of her class.  She also missed out on a trip to Honduras she really wanted to go on. I'm hoping this next year will offer more opportunities like that.

Faelyn standing in front of a huge Amethyst geode in Pigeon Forge, TN

She and her fiance have also said they've decided to get married this December 16th, but that's also like the weekend after finals and the end of the first semester for her.  So she won't even be here the week prior to the wedding to do any of the prep.  But I guess her sisters and I can do a lot of it. They're thinking of a civil servant ceremony with just a couple of people for the actual wedding and then just have a big party for the reception and invite people to that. I don't even know if they'll have time for that between her finals and the weekend they want to have the reception.  I think he's been kind of hinting at putting it off again anyway.  I don't even know why they're doing it.  They still won't be living together.  He won't move to where the college is, and she's not leaving college, so they'll be apart regardless. So, who knows.  We'll see what happens.

My youngest, Ren, has had a rough year.

I don't want to go into a lot of details, but due to many factors including bullying, we pulled her out of the local high school all her siblings attended and she now goes to an online high school which is self paced. It's not been what she expected, and it's not ideal, but we're working on making it better for her.  We still need to work on getting her into some kind of group for socialization. But to be honest, there's not a lot around here. At least that's not full of the same kind of kids she tried to escape from. I'm afraid around here, most kids are just like their parents, and in this town - that usually means racist, hateful, mean, homophobes. She's currently in North Carolina where she's been staying with my husband's sister and her family. She's coming back home today with her grandmother, and she's so thrilled to be coming home.

Ren and Christopher walking ahead of me in Knoxville during a weekend getaway we took with just Ren

Ducky, (Donald), the boy we took in when he became homeless after high school is certainly not a boy anymore.  He's 21 now, and is going into his senior year of college. He had been living on campus until now, but he's decided to move back home for a little more stability and to save some money. He works full time as a server at Applebees and makes probably more than my husband or I (or maybe even put together). He's very handsome and friendly, and makes excellent tips.

He bought a brand new car, and randomly takes the grocery list off the fridge and goes and buys everything on it for me. He's such a good guy.  He's become pretty disillusioned however.  He is majoring in political science, and since he started there, Trump won the election, and he's seen what all has happened since then.  Also he had been very active in the college starting 2 or 3 clubs and being elected president of others.  He was on the Student Govt Assoc as well, and made Homecoming Court again!

 He was picked to represent Tusculum College (Now Tusculum University) in Nashville for TISL

He also went with a class on a trip to Rome over spring break this year.

But the college also got a new president who fired all of the people Ducky was friends with or looked up to. He quit all the clubs and now hates the school.  It's one of the reasons he's living off campus this year.  He's going to get his degree and kiss it goodbye.

Ducky has been sharing a room with Ren since Faelyn and Austin have the smaller guest room. It's not been too much of an issue. Both are used to having room mates, but Ducky has a LOT of stuff - and nowhere really to store it all.  Ren's been gone for a month, so he's had the room to himself, but she comes back today.  That may be one of the reasons Ren and Corina have asked me if Ren can move in with Corina.  They share their house with my mother in law of course, and they do have a spare bedroom.  It's currently full of craft stuff she'll never use, but she's going to get a shed, and they'll move it all in there.  I told them it was fine if Ren wanted to do that.  It would likely help Ren keep a more normal sleep pattern, since I work 5pm-4am 4 nights a week and stay up all night of my nights off as well... she is just all mixed up. She wants to be awake in the day, but I'm awake at night.  She adores Corina, and Corina can spend more time with her on her school work too.  I'm always just 3 doors away if she needs to come get a hug from her mom - and she will.   But this will also, let Ducky have the whole room without having to move into the guest room after Faelyn goes back to college, and then move back to Ren's room when Faelyn comes home for breaks.  We did try having Faelyn and Austin room with Ren... but they're an engaged couple, and well it just didn't work out - they need a private room lol.

So, then there's my husband and me.

Not much going on with me really.  I have been to a doctor finally, and we're working on controlling my IBS-D. He wants me to have a colonoscopy, but I'm gonna have to tell him it'll have to wait - I am still paying on Faelyn's gallbladder surgery, and Ren being in the hospital for a while, and also my husband's surgery...

Back in July or August of last year, Christopher started feeling really bad and had a bad cough.  I ended up taking his to the ER for it. They thought it might be something I can't even recall now - it turned out not to be serious - BUT they had done an xray or cat scan or something (It's been a year and a lot of things have happened since then!) and the ER doctor came in.  We had mentioned that they would likely see the small tumor on his kidney.  Well, the ER Dr said there had been some growth and he needed to see his nephrologist asap.  So he did, and was told nonchalantly that it was cancer. He said the Doctor said it in such a way that he must have felt that Christopher already knew about it.  So there was no time for him to absorb the information or react.  He just had to listen to the doctor and come home and tell me the news. So, we reacted to it together and had a moment of "Oh wow, this is actually happening". We gently told the kids and his mom and sister. And then got organized to attack it.  After testing, it was determined the tumor was now the size of the kidney.  In fact it has basically replaced the kidney.  They did not know if it had spread, but by its size, it was a stage 4.

There was miscommunication about his heart being able to take the surgery, so he finally had to have another stress test, but he did wonderfully at it.  So he was cleared for surgery. It took forever to schedule, but finally in October, they removed the entire kidney. He was in the hospital for a couple of days, and had to recover at home for 6 weeks.  It was done laparoscopically, so he had tons of little cuts all over him where they were inserted, and then one big scar where they cut him open to remove the kidney.  He now looks like he survived a knife attack!

Christopher at Christmas. He's better than a little kid!

Thankfully he had gotten critical illness and cancer insurance through work.  Unfortunately he had apparently declined the short term disability coverage - WHY we did that I have no idea.  - but the other policies allowed us to make it while he recovered. We have it now - just in case.

Now he's doing just fine.  The one remaining kidney is working just as well as two.  it's likely been doing so for a while anyway.  He has been a long time fan of Kevin Smith who recently had a heart attack. So when Kevin changed to a vegan diet to get healthy, it was the prodding Christopher needed.  He's gone vegan as well, actually even a step beyond to what's called a nutritarian.  he doesn't eat any processed foods if possible either. He's lost 20 lbs and his body is changing.  he's really excited!

Kevin Smith at the show we got to see live!

With my IBS, I can't follow his diet unfortunately, but I am trying to be good.  I've cut out most dairy, soda, and all foods that trigger flare ups and anything that causes bloating or other issues. It doesn't leave a lot,  and I still sneak sweets way too often.  I almost wish chocolate caused a flare up, so I'd be less inclined to eat it.  But it's one of the things that I can eat a ton of and it never hurts me... so I just have to use will power to not eat it (or buy it at the store). Needless to say, I've not really lost much.  maybe 5 lbs total. I've just got to make that serious commitment to weight loss.  My doctor says I don't need to lose weight. it's not an issue (I'm actually healthy as a horse other than my digestive issues) - but I want to have more energy.

Christopher and me at a theater about to see Kevin Smith in person.

Let's see in other news... our Suburban finally got too bad to fix.  Around the same time, Christopher wrecked our van on the way to work one morning when there was ice on the roads. So we ended up buying a new car.  We got a 2017 Nissan Versa.  It's nice.  I love the gas mileage, cup holders and blue tooth.  What more do you need? LOL

We had a family reunion week last June at a cabin in Gatlinburg with Christopher's sister and her family and his mom. That was a lot of fun.  The kids basically lived in the hot tub.

Back row L to R: Ducky, Ren, Rhiannon, Austin, Faelyn.  Front Row, L to R: Christopher, his mother, and me

The kids with their cousins

 The following pics are from the tram that goes up to Ober Gatlinbug on top of the mountain...

 

When we got to Ober Gatlinburg, most of us then took the chair list to the very top at the lookout

 

On the way back down, most of them rode the track down.  Not me! Maybe next time. 

These following ones were taken at the gazebo across the creek from Ripley's Aquarium

 

Faelyn, Austin, Rhiannon, Joe and Ren all went to New York City on spring break in March of this year... in the middle of a freezing snow storm...

 Also earlier this year, Christopher and I took Ren to the Smoky Mountain Highland Games, and we finally officially joined the Clan Campbell.

Let's see,... oh also I moved my office - again.  With all the kids home for the summer and needing all the space, I had moved my desk and all my stuff to our master bedroom, but it was such a pain to get into the walk in closet, that I measured and measured again and made sure everything would fit.. and then ordered a big stand alone closet organizer, and moved my office into the walk in closet.  It's been fantastic!  Our clothes are super easy to get to now since they're on the organizer in the actual bedroom now instead of crammed into the closet.  And the closet is the exact size I need to put my desk and the dresser I've been using for storage and an extra work space.  So, yeah it's tiny. Like the size of a sound booth or smaller, but as long as it fits my chair and desk nicely - and I fit in the chair just fine, then it works. I've been moved in here for a while, but haven't quite gotten all of my collectibles out of the guest room and in here yet.  When I get it all done, I'll take some pics and do a post just on that.... or maybe I won't blog again for a year.  Who knows!  Hopefully I'll be back soon!