Ethan’s Journey

I was excited to hear that potentially this weekend the coating for the barndominium is going in. Yay!!!!! Once that has cured (it takes about a week or so) we can officially start moving things into the garage over there.  This is exciting because I will get to park in the garage again this winter. It has been several years. Not that I drive that much in the winter but it will be nice not to have to trudge through the snow and brush it off every time I need to go somewhere. Plus….Ethan will be able to start organizing things in there and get things in order. All baby steps to his independence. Moe has been driving me nuts with wanting to be outside. I think he misses his extravagant lake life of sunbathing and watching outdoor life. We went for two walks around the field to help me get some relief from his neediness.  He will undoubtedly settle down once we get the fireplace going. He does LOVE napping in front of the fire. I received a little gift from nature today outside. ...

I decided I needed to go to the cardiologist. With my family history and me not getting any younger, I figured I should establish a cardiologist.  I made an appointment at 2:00 and was told to arrive at 1:40. I arrived at 1:40 thinking I would have new patient paperwork. I did not.  Luckily I brought my computer and was able to continue working to keep me entertained and busy for 40 minutes. At 2:20 I was finally called. I guess 40 minutes is not terrible in the grand scheme of things. I met the new doctor, got an EKG, blood pressure and all the good stuff. Nothing is at all concerning. Yay! Also, good because I wasn’t expecting issues. I really liked the doctor. I felt like he listened, gave me options and let me decide how I wanted to proceed.  I left with a list of things, first up to get lab work done, than a baseline echo, and a ct scan of my heart looking for calcification.  All things to gather information to make sure I set myself up for success and protect m...

This morning I witnessed the bus stopped for the children across the street from our house. A white car sped past the bus as the stop sign on the bus was extended and the red lights were flashing.  The person in the white car could NOT have been even looking at the bus for several seconds to not notice.  Thankfully no one was injured. But what the heck? Is saving 30 seconds of your drive worth a kids life? Unbelievable! I stewed about it for longer than I should have. Is this what getting old is like? Having anger towards this idiot driver for the rest of the day?  After work I was able to get outside with my mini chainsaw and cut up some bigger sticks, place them in paper bags and put them in the garage for when we need kindling this winter for the wood burning stove. I have several bags of sticks, but never feel like I have enough. I am excited to have a fire again. It has been chilly in the mornings. We aren’t ready yet to start it. The chimney needs a good sweep and w...

My brother and I had coffee this morning. Ethan joined us (but doesn’t drink coffee). We were laughing and chatting about things. Brian got a tour of Ethan’s barndominium. More wedding photos were shared today from the surprise wedding at the Halloween party. Such a cool and fun idea! I will share more below! Diane and Andy’s Halloween party’s are fun because there is an area to sit outside by the fire, stay in the garage with the heater, or go in the house with all the food. There is usually soups, several crockpots going, dips, chips, mummy themed desserts, Frankenstein rice crispy treats….so many yummy things to choose from! Today I did some meal prep, made some snacks for the air fryer for the boys, had a surprise and welcomed visit from my Mom and Gene. My Mom has been working really hard on her physical therapy and her mobility is improving!!!!! Yay Mom! We went to a friend’s house for the Bill’s game. They won!  There were so many yummy snacks. I was stuffed when I came home...

Back in August, Diane and I went for a walk at camp. She told me about how she and Andy had talked a lot about things and that they wanted to do a surprise wedding at their annual Halloween party.  What a cool idea!  They had already sent out invitations to the Halloween party and wanted people to come dressed in thrift store formal. That could be whatever you wanted it to be. Then Diane went on to asked me to be the officiant. Holy crap! YES! What an honor. I went to the town and applied for a one day license so that I could legally marry Andy and Diane.  It was one big secret! As Diane announced, the excitement swirled and twirled in the room.  Diane had said to keep the ceremony to about 5 minutes. I researched and wrote the ceremony. Not even Andy or Diane knew what I was going to say. My Aunt and Uncle were so surprised! It was so heartwarming to watch. Andy and Diane had the perfect wedding for them. They enjoy this party every year. They love Halloween. How fu...

Ethan had us dying this morning talking about the night guy at his job that he deals with. His description of the guy was so vivid.  Ethan- “His teeth look like tree roots covered in sewage.” Paul - “ugh….imagine what that guy’s breath is like.” Patti- “ no thanks….to be fair that is how he takes care of his body in places people can see….imagine the places people can’t see.” 🤮 This is a good before 7 am conversation in our house. Paul was irritating me. I sent him a clear text yesterday asking him to do a specific task. When I followed up to see if he had done said task, he told me that my text said I WAS GOING TO DO IT!!!!!! Nope…it sure didn’t say that. I read the text aloud. He said “oh….woops.” Patti-  “Why don’t you just do what your wife says? Your life would be less naggy.” We discussed the task and how it would not be appropriate for me to complete. He even agreed it would not be appropriate. Good times first thing in the Di Iulio house! We talked to Ethan a little b...

Today was a leisurely day. I watched a documentary (per Sarah’s suggestion) that is about 10 years old about sexual crimes on college campuses across the United States and how they are under reported because the schools want to fudge their numbers to make themselves look better. It was infuriating to watch, and I am glad I watched. It is called The Hunting Ground. When I first searched for it on Roku, many actual deer hunting shows popped up. Who is watching deer hunting? There is really something for everyone on TV. I thought of how I would react if my child was treated the way some of girls were treated. I would be furious. I would likely put my everything to legally make the college leaders lives harder. I would probably get myself killed for being such a daily pain in the butt. My day got a little more exciting as it got further and further along in the day. More calls, more emails and a couple offers. Throw in a visit to the dentist…for a jaw issue…..it was jam packed.  I am c...