Bed, Bath and Batman... aka Bedlam

   Last year was a doozie,wasn't it. (There's no question mark there; it's a period, cuz I think I'm stating a fact.)  Seems like last year became a mad dash toward what we still hope to be better days, to "infinity and beyond". 
   We lost some family members to infinity and beyond, we gained some new family members to the here and now. God Bless and keep them all.
   Right now, I'm sitting here in our little camper, in our driveway, looking out at the sky, which is spitting snowflakes here in "Sunny South Louisiana", as Cappy is wont to call it. The wind rocking the camper is accompanying the feelings I'm having right now...kind of adrift. 
   We're waiting to hear how our five month old great-grandson is doing. He's in surgery. He was born weighing 1 lb. 2 oz., but with the miracles of today's hospitals, he now weighs over ten pounds, but his long stay in the natal unit has not been without difficulties. We were in Rochester, NY this past Fall, so I got to see him, but didn't get to hold him. Praying repair on his little body will go VERY well. Waiting to hear.
   Simultaneously waiting to hear about Melissa, our friend, who is also in surgery. Praying it will go VERY well. Waiting to hear.

   We are on hold. 
    Last year, we didn't have to wait around for anything; bad news seemed to have been a constant.  
    It was a terrible shock when Cappy's favorite cousin, Mark, lost his wife, Susan, while they were scuba diving on a tropical vacation. The family did have to wait quite a while for her to be sent home. It was such a difficult time for her loved ones. We learned that she had had an enlarged heart. Cappy said, "Of course she had a big heart, and it was made of gold." What an incredibly sweet woman and what an incredibly sad and shocking loss.

   While the family was in deep sorrow over Susan, our precious Aunt Gussie passed. Another wonderful Robin has flown Home. I hope she gets to meet my Grandma...I can only imagine the fun they would have together. They were both a hoot! 
   During all this, here at home we had a huge border collie puppy running amok, turning our life upside-down. She was sweet, to be sure, but she tore up our yard and gardens, ate the furniture inside the house, she ate the walls of the house, she cut her baby teeth on anything and everything, including her Bichon Frise brother, Beauxbear. Now, we did patiently wait for her to grow up and stop doing that. Sadly, it never happened. 

   While we were in New York State visiting for a couple of months visiting family, her personality changed as she turned one year old. She became dangerously vicious and sly. Our baby girl doggy!! Our scaredy-cat, Jolie`! Everybody loved her and tried to treat her so well, but she kept 'foaming and frothing' at the mouth, trying to attack them... it was heartbreaking.  One day she lunged at our four year old and eight year old granddaughters' beautiful little faces, missing the older one's sweet smile by one inch!

We were shaken to our core and immediately contacted professional help.
   We were told that a terrible situation with border collies is currently taking place, primarily because of careless breeders. When these puppies turn one year old, something happens... they are 'broken' little dogs and cannot be trained out of this vicious behavior. The border collie rescue in central New York State has what looks to be a Disney World for border collies. They retrain border collies and have tried for over ten years or more to train this trait out of over a thousand dogs, to no avail. The woman almost cried with us, loving border collies as she does, as she told us that we had to 'let Jolie` go' before she hurt someone, or we could lose everything we own...home, savings, everything, if she actually attacked s0meone. 
  It was with a broken heart that we contacted an independent veterinarian in our son Dan's town. We wanted another opinion. While they were very sympathetic to our plight, they confirmed what we had learned earlier. 
   We came home to Louisiana without our baby girl.
   Arriving home sweet home after two months away was wonderful...for two hours. Stepping in the front door, I noticed an odd smell; almost faintly sweet... but not. I crawled in bed for a much-needed nap, noting a dry cough as I fell asleep. When I climbed up out of bed, I could hardly walk. Everything hurt: my muscles, my joints, my lungs, my head.          Lonnnnnnng story, short. We have toxic mold in the house. We just had people in yesterday to do testing as to which kind, but just from looking around, they confirmed what my body already knows: I cannot go into the house until we get test results back to learn what needs to be done, and then, after the house gets "fixed". Who knows how long all of this will take.
   So, here I sit in the camper, waiting. The weather is terrible. The little camper heaters are trying to keep up, but my feet feel like ice cube trays. 
   I know this post probably reads like one of those dreaded family newsletters enclosed in Christmas cards. Despite Cappy and I not wanting to write about such negativity, still, we wanted to let yall know why our posts have been so far and few between.
  It hasn't been all bad news, tho'. Since the cheap, rickety mattress here in the camper has decided to get in the bad news game, and "sproing'd" its springs, introducing us to each and every one of them as we twist and turn, trying to get comfortable, we have a new one ordered from the local furniture store which is having a winter sale. Yes! (hope it fits)
Even with a tiny 18"x 18" shower stall in the camper, "PTA baths" and sweet neighbors insisting I go use their showers, and showers at campsites, I feel like I'm "stewing in my own juices". I'm laughing here. Just as I was adjusting to this type of bathing luxury, the water pump quit tonight. No water. (why am I laughing???)
   To preserve a modicum of sanity, I got a new laptop computer and, finally, a smart phone to keep me otherwise occupied, using my time wisely. I've been working on editing our book, working on the new book(s)...reading books and trying to figure out how to use this darned new phone. 
Cappy manages to spend time in the house without symptoms such as mine. I called him on my phone and whined that I'm cold and need an electric blanket. 
"Where you gonna get one?"
Smarty pants me, using my smart phone and the suggestions they put there for me, clicked away, and answered him, hoping he'd be impressed: "Bed, Bath and Beyond"...and send, but the Stooopid phone changed it to "Batman" instead of Beyond. So...my old-fashioned flip phone was stupid and now, my smart phone is stupid, too? 
   Well...I'm waiting. 

(Both the surgeries appear to have gone well, Thank You, Lord!)
    UPDATE: over $10,000.oo later and things are almost back to normal as far as our house's health issues.  So, we are back to our weekly blogging and sharing our world with yall as we recover from what has been a very trying time. We will keep yall posted.  Hopefully :-)