Pink Squirrel Farmstead

So this is Chad, writing this post. I don’t usually talk or discuss myself much. I’m definitely not the sensitive type or what have ya. But I have been frustrated 😩 over the last few months and I thought maybe writing this post would help my thoughts.

I’m sure if you are reading this post, this is not the first time you’ve read one of our post.

However if it is, let me give a little background to as why I decided to write this post. (FYI Casey has already posted most of this info in past posts, but I am hijacking the post so hold on tight 🤣)

Two years ago, I had knee surgery and had a cadaver ACL implant along with several other things done to my knee.

Well after 2 years of my knee constantly hurting non stop Casey told me to go to the doctor. So finally on Sep 9, 2025 I went to see my new Primary Care Physician for the first consultation as a new patient (since we basically just moved to Plainview in August).

While I was there, I told him about my knee, so he made me an orthopedic referral.

Few days later on September 14, 2025, I had a few serious seizures. Still don’t know why.

To my knowledge, no one in my family has ever had any seizures. So that rules out hereditary. Hadn’t had any recent injures. I am diabetic and have high blood pressure, however they are both well controlled with medication. Hadn’t had a fever, flu, or Covid in couple of years.

I did recently get promoted to Senior Warden of a Complex (for my non-prison folks, this means I oversee two separate prison units) however, I have already been a Senior Warden at two other Units, for over 4 years all ready.

Honestly, these units I oversee now are a different type of facility with a different atmosphere. The stress level here is very low and nowhere near as intense or stressful as most of the other facilities I have worked on over the past 25 years. So it’s highly unlikely they were stress related. So it is fairly baffling why I had a few seizures at almost 50 years old 😵‍💫.

The first seizure was around 1-2 am while we were asleep. It was very intense and lasted 20-30 minutes. Obviously I didn’t recall any of it, but Casey and Carla said it was not your typical seizure “the uncontrolled body flop” it was more like I curled up my arms in my chest and was very rigid.

Well, Carla called 911 and requested an ambulance. (She is still in shock that the 911 operator took the information and then just hung up 🤔). Funny thing is Casey is a fantastic Warden’s Wife and understands protocol. She immediately called my Regional Director and explained what was happening and she told him I would not be going to work in a few hours 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

The ambulance and fire department get to the house and then they had to lift me off the bed and get me to ambulance (which seeing how I am 6 foot 6 and weigh 340 pounds, I bet them guys said a few bad words under their breath.) Not really sure why, but the paramedics did not relay to the ER I had a seizure.

After being in ER a few hours, I had a second seizure. My oxygen stats also dropped very low. So they gave me medicine to stop that seizure. That’s when the ER in Plainview decided it was time to transfer me to a larger hospital in Lubbock.

After I spent few days in the hospital with no indication of why I had seizures, I was discharged and told to follow up with my primary doctor.

Since my seizures, my main physical complaint has been that my back hurts like Hell. Explained this to my PCP, he got me a X-ray and it really did not show much, so he was like it’s most likely a pulled muscle. But he also decided to order a CT scan.

Since the Xray didn’t show anything, my insurance denied a CT scan and said I needed PT first. My PCP told me that PT was backed up for several months. He advised, if it hurt too bad just go to the ER again. I asked him for a Return to work note. He sorta chuckled and said “no” and told me to wait to see a neurologist.

On Sept 25, 2025, had an appointment with an orthopedic doctor. He basically said nothing is wrong with my knee and I just need to lose weight, but he would schedule me for a “shot” in my knee to see if that would help. I asked about my back pain and was told that he doesn’t do anything with backs. Need to go back to PCP for a referral to a back doctor.

Sep 29, 2025, I had a follow up with my PCP, who prescribed me Gabapentin (which is a multi usage medication that is prescribed for nerve pain and also it is an anti-seizure medication) He also made me a referral to a spinal doctor.

On Oct 6, 2025, I saw a neurologist FNP, who prescribed me some other type of anti-seizure medication (Keppra), along with Gabapentin. She also referred me to an epilepsy specialist and scheduled me for a EMU ( which is when you stay in the hospital for several days hooked up to all sorts of wires and on constant monitoring while they take you off all your meds and “hopefully” have a seizure for them to study 🤔)

I said ok thanks, can I get a return to work note? She basically chucked and was “no” I will refer you to a cardiologist to see if your heart caused the seizure. 😳

Oct 14,2025, I had an orthopedic appointment and got a new injection called Zilretta (which is a long term action medication injection) After a few days my knee stopped hurting and so far it’s felt the best since I initially tore my ACL !! I’d give that Shot 4 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️!!

On Oct 15, 2025 I went to the cardiologist, who scheduled me for: x-rays, CT Scan, stress test, echocardiogram, echocardiography and a 30 day 24/7 heart monitor. And I can’t even remember what all other tests he was going to schedule me for.

I said ok thank you. How about a release back to work? He just looked at me dumbfounded and said “No” not until after the 45677665422 tests I have scheduled for you.

On top of everything else the unbelievable happened, on Nov 2, 2025 I had a kidney stone 🤬 and had to go to the ER due to my urine was blocked. Not sure if you’ve had a kidney stone or not, but they hurt like a 🤬🤬🤬. Since I was at the ER already, I explained to the doctor my back has hurt since my seizures and I thought maybe I had a herniated disc, since the Xray didn’t show anything. So he agreed to go ahead and get me a CT scan. (side note, try your best not to go to ER at night, on the day of daylight time change. Apparently it messes up the computer system and delays getting treatment, pain meds etc) This wasn’t my 1st kidney stone. I have had several in the past, so I knew exactly what it was.

So after the time change delays and got the CT scan results, the Dr came in and said that luckily it was not a huge kidney stone and should pass in a few days. Then he said oh BTW you do not have a herniated disc. You do have (2) compression fractures in your vertebrate T-11 & T-12 which is right where your spine transitions when you bend. Hence the pain.

Nov 5,2025, I had a chemical induced cardio stress test, instead of the traditional treadmill stress test. If I could leave a review it would get zero stars. I can’t explain in words how miserable of an experience that was. 😱 The chemicals make your heart beat so hard and fast if I was to guess it was like a chemical induced heart attack 🤣🤣.

Dec 2,2025, I had a MRI of my spine. I am quite confident I will fit better inside a coffin or a torpedo tube versus that itsy bitsy MRI machine. 🫣 My shoulders and elbows literally dragged down the side of the MRI machine. My face was so close to the machine I probably could have stuck my tongue out and touched it. 😵‍💫

Dec 3,2025, went to my Cardiologist follow up appointment, after all those test (I don’t want to bore anyone so I didn’t even mention the other 5-6 cardio tests appointments both here in Plainview and Lubbock).The Doctor basically said he is confident my seizures were not cardiac related. He did see some plaque build up in my neck ultrasound exam, so he prescribed me medication for high cholesterol. He also said I have a partial collapsed lung due to excessive fluid pushing on my lungs. He said he wants to do a follow up in 3 months to see if it has resolved naturally 🤔. Apparently this is not uncommon for someone my age, being overweight and diabetic. I said ok then can you write me a return to work letter. And he said oh no, not with all your medical issues. Go back to see your PCP.

Got in touch with my PCP and he was nope, not until you see the Spine Specialist 😵‍💫. Finally on 12-11-2025, I saw the spine doctor in Lubbock, and he seen several issues with the fractures and he recommended, I go to the Brace specialist for a special back brace and Referring to pain management for vertebroplasty. Which basically means the specialist will determine if I am a candidate for them to inject bone cement directly into the fractures to try to relieve some of the pain. Since it’s now been 3 months since the fractures have occurred and they are not healing properly not sure if I will qualify .🫣 worst part is I can’t be seen by the specialist until February which by then my fractures will be 5 months old 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

Yep, I bet you can tell what my next question was. And once again here was another doctor playing “Hot Potato” with me. He said nope that he was not going to give me a return to work note until after the specialist appointment. So he prescribed other medication.

After multiple doctor appointments and a plethora of exams and tests, still no answers. It seems no doctor knows what to do. They just want to prescribe medication and pass the buck to another doctor. For me I don’t want to necessarily say that I am a work-aholic, but I do have a sense of responsibility and work ethic, and don’t want to feel like I have abandoned my team. This whole ordeal has been beyond frustrating.

Some of the most frustrating parts about this was

1. Could not drive for 90 days
2. Will I ever have any answers to why I had the seizures?
3. Will I ever have more seizures?
4. Every time I am not within eye shot, Casey and Carla both worry I’m going to fall out.
5. Getting prescribed a bunch of different medications, which all have crappy side effects. They all make you drowsy, but they also prevent you from getting good sleep or screw up your sleep schedule with insomnia. Keppra literally has a side effect they label Keppra rage because it makes you get aggravated easily.
6. It’s been 3 months and my back still hurts 🤬
7. I could keep going but I don’t want to bore anyone

Now that I have gotten done with my rant and rave, on to the good stuff. If you know me at all I don’t like to sit still and be idle. I can only watch so much tv and play on my phone only so much 😞.

What have I been doing since I have a broken back and due to the injury and pain with all the idleness?

1st and foremost it has been nice to spend time with Casey. By now I am sure that you are aware of all her medical issues. So it’s great that I have been home with her.

2nd it’s been great spending time with Carla. We are so lucky and fortunate that she has moved in with us. She is a God send.

3rd it has been fun watching Roman growing like a weed. Next month he will be moving to KY and this Opa is gonna miss his lil face 🥰

But what else have I been doing? I have picked up the hobby of leather working.

Now this is definitely a fun and challenging hobby. I have not been doing it for long and can only do so much at a time. Since I have a broken back. If I sit to long it hurts. If I stand too long it hurts. If I lay down too long it hurts. If I move or bend wrong, it hurts. If I try to pick up anything heavier than like a gallon of milk it hurts.

I’m sure most of you know I like to do wood working and other piddling, but that’s not happening anytime soon. So leather working has been great.

Made a crappy looking book mark 🤣

I have over the last couple months definitely improved on my leatherwork. This is definitely a hobby I intend to keep developing and sticking with.

Side note on top of everything Payton came down with Covid. So we had to quarantine ourselves for several days.This caused me to not be able to go to my Units Christmas 🎄 Party. 😞

I think it’s time to wrap up this rant and rave. Please let me know what your thoughts are on the leather work. I definitely need critiques. After the holidays, I can post more pictures (most of what I have made is for Christmas gifts) if you want me to. Let me know.

Merry Christmas 🎄 and come on 2026 !!!

Holy moly! Can you believe it’s already December?!? We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and are so thankful for so many things this year. We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well. I usually make a large meal and lots of different sweet treats but this year we did a smaller thanksgiving because I just don’t have enough energy to do it.

We still had plenty of food and lots of leftovers. What are some things that you do with your Thanksgiving leftovers? We used the Smoked Gouda mashed potatoes the next day to make Shepherds pie (we call it ABC Casserole because the soup we make it with used to have ABC noodles in it).

Cheyenne helped by packing up the turkey meat into ziplock bags with 2 cups of meat in each bag. We will use those to make soups, pot pie and other recipes that call for rotisserie chicken.

This year we decided to try making turkey bone broth. We added a bunch of veggies, the turkey carcass, some spices and water to the Electric Roaster and cooked it for about 24 hours. We then strained it and canned the broth into 13 quart jars. We used one last night in our soup and it adds a good depth of flavor.

We had a busy month in November with doctor’s visits, crafting, cooking and court. I can’t remember if I shared about the court case or not so I will give a little back story.

Payton and her baby daddy split up and we had her ready to move to Kentucky, so she can have a fresh start in a beautiful state, find new employment and start college. Right before she was going to leave,the baby daddy’s family decided not to return the baby back to us.

They filed a custody/visitation petition with the court. So we hired a lawyer. The baby was promptly returned back to us, and with approval from the lawyer, we moved Payton to Kentucky in July. We were in Kentucky for about three weeks visiting and got a call from the lawyer about court for temporary hearing. We didn’t think that we would be able to get a hearing that quickly but we did.

After the temporary hearing was over, Payton and the baby had to stay in Childress or Plainview (since Chad got promoted to Formby/Wheeler units) until the final hearing.

Supervised visits were set but they didn’t show up for any of them or follow any of the other things set by the judge.

So fast forward to November 10th and they didn’t even show up for the final court custody hearing. Super frustrating to just delay Payton and the baby moving on with their life out of spite. So Payton and the baby will be moving back to the farm in January. I requested that they stay here until after Christmas so I could spend Christmas with them.

I am also sooo thankful that my sweet friend Kelli watched Roman while we were at court and afterwards she made a delicious meal for us…. I still need to get that recipe from her..❤️Roman had a blast playing with her boys and they were so sweet with him.

We have enjoyed having our sweet boy around the house all the time and we will be sad when he isn’t here all the time anymore. However we understand Payton is ready to be able to move forward with her life. We are glad she decided to move to Kentucky so when Chad retires in a few years we will all be together.

Chad had continued to have more testing and doctor’s visits with no answers yet on why he had seizures . He’s been doing well other than his back pain from the (2) compression fractures and boredom.

He has taken up leather crafting and has gotten quite good at it, I am very impressed how quickly he’s been able to catch on and make amazing things. He’s not used to having so much free time on his hands but I have enjoyed him being home with me.

My mom had surgery on November 14th and is doing well with her recovery. She had her knee replaced a while back but she had to have it re-replaced (probably not a real word but ehh this isn’t English class). She went and got a second opinion when she was still having continuous pain and swelling and they recommended the surgery.

I was hoping to be able to be there for it but with everything going on here, it just wasn’t possible. Luckily the physical therapist came to the house for a while and that helped tremendously.

Chad turned 50 on November 15th and is feeling every bit of his age (hahahaha). Unfortunately I was down with a migraine the whole day, but his wonderful sister Carla made him a German meal that he requested: Rouladen, spatzel, red cabbage, German potato salad and Black Forest Cake. I hope he had a wonderful birthday and we both will be healthier this year.

I received a call from my doctor regarding the results of my mammogram and they want to do some additional testing. Seems a little scary to get that call but I am sure that it is nothing.

I also rescheduled my urology appointment because I wasn’t feeling up to going to the appointment and it was just a medication follow up. I will see the urologist next year and we will see how things are going then.

I have been overly tired lately so I made an appointment with my primary care doctor and maybe we can try to figure out why. I get to meet my new neurologist soon and hopefully that will go good. I have had rough time lately with my headaches so hopefully she can come up with a magical solution.

The farm got a sprinkling of snow but the upcoming forecast shows more ❄️❄️❄️. I have received several memes from my dad about his displeasure with snow and the cold. I love the snow it’s wayyyy better than the heat and sweating.

You all know that I love Christmas and all the things that go with it. I have been struggling this year with low energy and have only had enough energy to put up the Christmas tree and sew a few curtains. I got a new tree this year to help figure out how and what we wanted for the library at the farm. So we have it up here in our living room.

I had a vision of a vintage Victorian style Christmas tree. I spent a while finding the best candles for the tree (battery operated with a remote of course). We found ornaments at different places and the most beautiful tree topper on Amazon.

I have the most amazing husband and sister-in-law on the planet. Chad and Carla made a plan to decorate the house a bit to brighten up my spirits. I love, love, love the house decorated for Christmas and they knew it was bothering me not to have the house looking like it threw up Christmas decor everywhere. Praying next year will be a better year for our health.

We have advent calendars every year and we have tried different ones over the years. Everyone always seems to like the ones with chocolate in them except for me (I am not a chocolate fan, except for Ghirardelli peppermint bark). We found an advent calendar book this year and you unwrap a chapter each day. We actually got 2 different ones but the other one didn’t wrap each chapter but I think it is much better to unwrap each chapter. So far chapter 1 was pretty good and it seems to be the Hallmark movie type of story that I love.

What are some fun things and traditions you do with your family during the Christmas season?

Oooh, I almost forgot but one night Payton and Roman were out Christmas shopping and found a kitten on the road (so she says 🤪) and brought it home. Chad named it Stimpy because of its tail being mostly gone. Somehow Stimpy and Coco were playing and Stimpy broke her arm right at the growth plate and is healing up nicely without a cast or anything. She is feisty just like Margaret and not scared of anything or anyone.

Last night, it snowed again at the farm!!! (Insert sarcasm here) I am definitely sure that my parents were ecstatic to wake up to the snow! They might even bundle up a make a snowman! Hahaha

I love the snow and I can’t wait to move to the farm and have snow each winter. If it’s going to be cold, then there should be snow. Do you like snow?

November has been interesting and we’re only 5 days in…. Approximately 17 days ago give or take a day, our sweet orange kitty Houdini Weenie went on an adventure. After days of looking for him without any trace of him, we came to the conclusion that he was not ever coming back. Margaret was happy because she wants to be an only cat child, she is also a saint for putting up with Roman’s not so gentle hands and she is so patient with him…. I am sure she is telling us with her eyes we have a very feral kitten human and we are definitely doing a terrible job.

A few nights ago around midnight Chad and I were up late due to insomnia and Chad got up to go let Coco out one last time before we went to bed…. It was dark and in walked a cat. He looked down and said is that weenie and brought him to me, I checked his eyes because He has a wonky eye and checked his ear for his neuter tattoo and low and behold it was weenie! He was definitely skinnier than when he left and chowed down on his kibble. Apparently food was harder to come by in the wild.

We went and woke up Carla to let her know that he was home and we all loved on him and went back to bed. We are still baffled he was gone that long. I guess he had enough of the wild because he stays pretty close to the house now, maybe it wasn’t as fun as he thought it would be especially now that it is getting rather cold at night 🥶.

Because there is never a dull moment around here Chad decided he wasn’t having enough health problems and we ended up back in the ER on November 2. He has had back pain since his seizures and it hasn’t gone away but then his side began to hurt and he couldn’t urinate. We were 95% sure it was a kidney stone (due to both of us having them in the past numerous times 😩) and we were correct. When they did the CT scan they found a 3mm stone in the UVJ. More interesting the CT scan discovered the reason for his back pain. He has compression fractures at T-11 and T-12. I am not glad that Chad had a kidney stone, but I am glad he was able to get an answer for his back pain.

The doctor fixed him up with medication for both the back and the kidney stone, and recommended to wear the backbrace and follow up with his primary care physician. In addition they said he could go home once he urinated. Right before the second 2am (stupid time change) he was able to urinate and we headed home.

The next morning we put together Roman’s Christmas tree since it’s practically Christmas time. I also finished making his stocking. I recently took a short sewing lesson at a quilt store on what I was doing wrong on my embroidery machine and how to use my machine. So if you are ever in Amarillo stop into the quilt shop, it’s called Quilt Winks right next door to Hobby Lobby. This was my first Christmas stocking and I know it’s not perfect but I am pleased with the outcome.

Chad found a new workbench for his leather work on Facebook marketplace for a good price and got his leather working area organized and moved. Because we were sharing a work space and that wasn’t working for us.

I had a doctor’s appointment in Lubbock yesterday at the hematologist, because of some of my bloodwork showed that I had Antiphospholipid Syndrome. It has something to do with my body can apparently spontaneously create blood clots. Luckily that hasn’t happened yet so I can just continue to take a baby asprin every day and I don’t have to go on Warfarin. That medication is pretty harsh and I don’t want to go on it. I already have to take way too many other medications for Migraines and Diabetes. {On a positive note it happened to be my Doctor’s 45 wedding anniversary and he was a wonderful Christian man, it was inspirational the way he loved his wife.} Additionally he stated he was going to add me to his prayers and Pray I get healthy and never get a blood clot. He also seen Chad had on his Back brace so being a Dr he inquired about his medical condition. He said he was definitely going to be adding him to his prayers as well 🙏🏻 💜

We also decided to try something new for lunch. We stopped at Hawaiian Bros and it was delicious! I highly recommend it, not only was the food delicious but service was also top notch. Of course we also had to stop at Hobby Lobby because you know it’s my favorite store. I then got a horrific headache and dizziness so we headed home.

Recently I also got both my Daiths pierced because some people say they help with headaches and migraines. At this point I am up to trying pretty much anything to get rid of the daily headaches, but sadly it has not helped. I did a bunch of research and people said how painful of a piercing it is but it seems they must have a low pain tolerance because it just felt like a little pressure.

Today was another doctor’s appointment day for both Chad and I. Chad’s appointment was first thing this morning where they did a chemical stress test. Luckily Carla was home and could take him because I had a headache and didn’t feel up to driving him there. Chad said the stress test was stressful and we are waiting for the results from the doctor. We tried reading the report but my google doctorate didn’t help me with that. Then I had a mammogram in the afternoon. I expected it to be a little painful but it wasn’t at all. Hopefully the girls are healthy and I won’t get any bad news from that.

I have to mention what a true blessing it is to have Carla live with us. It’s nice that we three can take turns taking care of each other and also have another responsible person in our lives to help with the kids, grand kid, and fur babies 😇. Some days neither Chad nor I would know what to do with out her in our family.

I love this time of year when the outside air starts cooling off and no longer feels like a furnace. Made a big batch of our family’s homemade hot chocolate and baked some pumpkin cream cheese Starbucks copycat muffins. They were pretty amazing and didn’t last long around here.

If you remember back a couple years ago Chad injured his knee and had to have surgery and lots of torturous physical therapy, well that knee has still been bothering him and the more he walks the more it hurts. He went to a new orthopedic doctor here in Plainview and is trying to get it fixed. The doctor of course ordered X-rays and scheduled him for an injection of some newer medication under the knee cap (ouch!). We were no totally sold that it was going to help but might as well try. Surprisingly, it has helped tremendously, pain isn’t all the way gone but it has brought the pain down to a manageable level.

I also went to the salon and got my hair done…. I don’t like it and it doesn’t look anything like what I wanted. I don’t hate it but I feel like it looks like I need to go get my roots touched up. So after a couple weeks of trying to let it grow on me, I decided I am going to dye it back to a dark brown.

Next up on our October agenda is a cardiology appointment for Chad. The doctor was great and discussed everything with us about trying to figure out if the seizures were related to a heart problem. Of course Chad was trying to talk the doctor into letting him be released to go back to work. The doctor literally laughed at him and said not until I can get these tests done to see if I can safely say you are ready. He is also wearing a heart monitor for 30 days! 

What is fall without pumpkins? I found a cute little farm here in Plainview called The Country Garden that had a pumpkin patch that you got to cut your pumpkin off the vine and they had some adorable farm animals to love on and feed that you could purchase for $0.50 a cup to give them. It is also free to get into the farm and enjoy good ole fashioned family fun. We bought 4 pumpkins, they are all priced between $1-$8.

The farm is ran by a sweet lady named Lana and she took the time to explain to us how we could do something like this in Kentucky when we finally move there. We would love to get into agri-tourism but I will do a lot of research on the legalities and logistics before making any decision.

We continued our fall fun with carving pumpkins and enjoying the weather. Roman even cut 2 teeth and is not happy with the teething thing. Cheyenne was excited to be able to use a knife to cut out her own pumpkin. Also we had to cut Roman’s little leg holes 3 times to be able to get him in it. At first he wasn’t too sure about it but then he started to have fun!

Chad and I had a relaxing crafting day of him doing leather work making me a chapstick holder and I started to work on making Roman a Christmas stocking. Is it just me or does everyone get chapped lips at the beginning of fall? Probably just me but I cannot ever keep up with my chapstick so I was excited to get such a sweet thoughtful gift from the Hubs. He is new to leather working and did an amazing job on his first project, I know he will just get better and better with it. It is definitely driving Chad crazy not being at work and having so much idle time on his hands. We are hoping in a few years when he retires and we move to the farm that Carla, Chad’s, and my crafting hobbies can turn into a little side hustle so we can use the proceeds to buy more crafting supplies 😊.

Roman is at the age that he never stops going, he has such a fun sense of humor and loves to play in his jeep, and climb on his Opa. I tried to sweep the dining room and he even took away the broom. Guess it is never too early to learn to clean. I don’t know how people have babies at 40, he wears me smooth out!

Chad had an ultrasound on the arteries in his neck on both sides. From reading the report he had some plaque in them but honestly I don’t know exactly what the results mean. Guess I will just have to wait for his next doctors appointment and stay off google!

Chad and I had to squeeze in a little date in Amarillo after getting the oil changed in the car. Went to a place for chicken salad sandwiches, then we found a place to paint pottery. The owner was very nice and I loved it having a wholesome Christian vibe. Since it was in the middle of the week we were the only ones there and it was nice and quiet. Chad painted an electrical plug cover that we will have to find a place for it at the farm and I painted a squirrel planter but I am using it as a candy dish. after we painted them it took about a week for them to go through the glazing process and fired in the kiln. And for some reason I didn’t take pictures of them afterwards. Life has been crazy busy lately.

Last activity of the month was trick or treating. We were all recovering from the stomach bug and were low on the energy totem pole. But we couldn’t miss Halloween so we sucked it up and got to it. Roman was a dinosaur from Jurassic Park and Payton was Dr. Ellie Sattler the paleobotanist. Cheyenne was a cheese burger and fries.

October was definitely a busy month and I can’t believe it is already November. November started out pretty rough and I will have to tell you about it next time. Hopefully you all had a great Halloween as well!

Our family is always busy, whether it’s here in Texas or at the Farm in Kentucky! My parents asked if I could come to the Farm for a week or so to help with the animals and help get Hunter to and from work. They had plans to go on their 40th anniversary vacation to a Ruby mine in North Carolina! Which is exciting because the 40th anniversary is the Ruby Anniversary.

Since Chad got out of the hospital we have been to several doctor’s appointments between the two of us. At the beginning of the year I had several kidney stones (due to a side effect of one of my Migraines meds) and had to follow up with a Urologist and found out I have some issues with my liver but I don’t have any more kidney stones as of the end of September.

I took Chad to our primary care doctor regarding his back still hurting, tried some medicine for a week and it didn’t help, got X-ray to make sure nothing was broken, thankfully not, but insurance denied a CT scan and wants him to go to physical therapy for six weeks but they can’t get him in until February or March (lotta help that was). Good thing he was able to order a back brace designed for herniated disk off of Amazon !

I got Botox for my migraines and it helped for 3 whole days this time!! I am supposed to get it every 3 months and I am definitely hoping for more than 3 days this next round of Botox, but I enjoyed having a small break from headaches for those 3 days.

My Neurologist retired the last day of July. The office was supposed to distribute her patients amongst the other neurologist in the office, however since they didn’t have any more headache and migraine specialists they dropped me as a patient and didn’t have the audacity to call me to let me know. I called to find out my next appointment and that’s when I found out. I was not happy, it takes months to get in with a new neurologist. I did a video call with my previous primary care doctor to get a new referral to get the ball rolling because it was going to take another 3 weeks before I could get in with my new primary care doctor. After the referral was sent, the new neurologist has 2 weeks to approve or deny my referral. Finally got an appointment with the new neurologist but the first available appointment is not until December 10.

Luckily, Chads followup after his hospital stay didn’t take as long. We met the Neurology FNP on October 6th. I was supposed to head to Kentucky on October 5th; but wanted to be there for his Dr appointment because he doesn’t tell me everything the doctor says because he doesn’t want me to worry….. haha like that will ever happen.

In addition he isn’t allowed to drive for 3 months since his last seizure. I was worried about him having another seizure and I would be in Kentucky and he would be here in Texas. The Neurologist said she doesn’t feel comfortable releasing him to go back to work and wanted him to follow up with Cardiology first.

I was thankful his Boss approved him to go with me, especially since he couldn’t even go back to work (Which is one of the first things he asks each doctor as soon as they walk in the door 🙄.) We left after his Neurology appointment and drove to Joplin Missouri and had to stop and get some rest for the night.

The port for the car cigarette lighter wasn’t working so we figured out that it was the fuse needed to be replaced. I have changed car fuses several times in my life but this cars were teeny tiny. Apparently there is regular fuses, mini fuses, and micro fuses… I saw some mini fuses at the gas station and was gonna replace it but it wouldn’t fit… that’s when we figured out there was micro fuses…. Good grief Charlie Brown. Chad got them at the hardware store and I got it changed out…. I don’t even remember what we needed it for lol

The next day we finished our long drive. Thankfully we were able to sleep in and enjoy a relaxing day. Man that’s a long drive!

Prior to getting there Chad ordered a new shower door for our master bathroom because we didn’t like the one we originally installed…. The opening to get in the shower was small and I had to suck my gut in just to get in the shower. Apparently the shower we have is an odd size and it’s so hard to find the size. Chad researched and looked for the right one and we were excited to find it online for the size we needed….. well until he got it installed. It was not in-fact the right size even though the ads specification said so (grrrr). But it will just have to work for now because we have to shower lol.

I hated that it didn’t work because with Chad still recovering from his seizures and back pain it took him a couple days to take out the old one and put in the new one. I had a terrible migraine so I wasn’t able to help at all.

On Hunter’s day off from work, we decided to go find something fun to do. We were going to go to a living fort but we didn’t find it and phone service was non existent so we just drove the backroads to Lexington and took a bunch of pictures.

We also went to a place called the Peddlers mall in Lexington that is two stories and it is full of different booths that people sell stuff. It’s such a wide variety of new, used, homemade and even antiques, you never know what you are going to find and it is so much fun. Not sure why but both Chad and Hunter bought themselves brass knuckles….. I guess it’s a guy thing. Haha that place is so large neither Chad nor I was up to walking around the whole place. Oh well more to see next time we are in Lexington 🙂

On the way home we stopped at a German restaurant and had some delicious food.

My parents were having a great time on their trip mining for rubies and then they went to Dolly Wood. I can’t wait to see the rocks and rubies all shined up. They came home a bit earlier than expected but it was great to visit with them before we had to head back to Texas.

While we were there we bought a new and bigger log splitter. The one we had was just too small and not powerful enough for the need at the farm. We bought it while my parents were on their trip and showed it to them late at night when they got home. Chad and my Dad were very excited. My dad read the entire manual and was outside splitting wood before I got up the next morning.

Unfortunately we had to go back to Texas…. Between the two of us we have non stop doctor’s appointments. But it was great to get to see my parents and Hunter.

Cheyenne and Coco had stayed at the farm for a couple months and we missed them so much. While we were on the way home Roman decided it would be fun to try out the taste of dirt but refused to eat his Aunt Car Car’s spaghetti (RUDE!)

I didn’t have the energy to drive all of the way home in one day (17 or 18 hours in between our two homes) so we stopped in Rolla Missouri for the night. We found a nice dog friendly restaurant and ate on the patio in the cool night air. Cheyenne was very excited about a tree that lit up and changed colors.

After we got home to Texas, Hunter and my Dad installed a cute little cat door in Hunter’s bedroom door 🥰

Coco learned that she doesn’t like that Roman can crawl and chase her now. She kept trying to get away from him and his not so gentle petting and finally just jumped in to Chads lap.

Cheyenne was very excited to finally see the Plainview house and she couldn’t believe how much her nephew had grown.

It was a fun, but quick trip to the Farm. It was very exciting and definitely exhausting to go there and back in a week but it was nice to see my family again. Now it’s definitely time to catch up on some well deserved sleep 😴 and blogging 😬