Whew! It seem, the last couple of weeks have been a little crazy. Routine was thrown right out the window! Let me try to summarize...

I worked my regular at-home job every weekday from 9:30 to 4:30, but not at all on one day, not one morning on one day, and not one afternoon one day.

For one whole day I accompanied my mother when she went for a colonoscopy. One afternoon I accompanied my mother when she had an MRI. One morning I accompanied my mother when she went for an endoscopy. (Just before all of this, another day was spent with her when she attempted to have her MRI, which she could not do, so we had to go back on an afternoon last week.)

Edie decided to withdraw from school. She thought long and hard on it, we discussed it thoroughly, it's the best decision under the circumstances but it does not only disappoint in some ways, but changes a lot of things, too. The time needed, actually required, for the classwork, studying, and group project preparations and presentations could not be satisfactorily devoted to because of her difficult and long-hours work schedule, so it was effecting her work performance at her job, her health (anxiety, irritability, overtiredness), her sleep (very irratic), and her grades (she was struggling not to fail one of them), and she felt she was letting others down, too, like her class teammates. So, she officially withdrew.

Edie and I are still fighting colds/sinus infections that just don't seem to want to quit. So, coughing, sneezing, blowing noses, and "oops! pee squirts" have become almost a normal part of our days.

Edie was issued a this-goes-in-your-permanent-record warning at work after she missed two days of work. This was when her cold and infection were at their worst, so she had no choice but to call in sick. Because she had missed a couple of other days earlier in the year (time she desperately needed off so in order to be ready/prepared for school-related presentations and exams), they felt she deserved this warning. (Just so you know, three such warnings means dismissal. This was Edie's first.)

We had to cancel plans to attend Edie's nephew's birthday party because of our colds. We were so looking forward to his Elvis' Rock & Roll Party (guests were asked to dress accordingly), but we had to call and give our regrets.

My boss is on vacation for the last half of this week, so I started "filling in during his absence" and will do so for the remainder of the week. This puts me in that co-running the business mode with the guy that also works for the company and doing my usual work, but it so far has not required that I have to go into the office.

We accepted 2 free tickets to a show at the RI Comedy Connection comedy club for this coming Sunday night. The comedian is Ira Proctor, who is very funny. (If you haven't seen or heard him before, you can google his name and check out some videos.)

We've re-kicked into our diet and exercise "lifestyle" and it's been working out pretty well so far. I can't and won't speak for Edie, except to say that she's been sticking to the diet without any problems or complaints and seems to actually be enjoying it. I can and will speak for me, though...the diet has been going along just fine, I've been doing pretty good with some cardio exercises, I've introduced a little bit of "other" exercises by fitting in one particular "move" I learned from a blogger who is a fitness trainer (I will add more as time goes on), and I'm allowing myself some good sleeping time. In case you're wondering, I've lost 6 pounds since the "kicking in" and I feel great!

Valentine's Day fell into the middle of all of these things. We had no plans to go out and not enough extra money to spend to do anything or get anything too special, so I planned on making a nice meal. Edie couldn't see me having to do that, so we used some money to order a nice meal from a very inexpensive restaurant in the area and had it delivered. So, we exchanged Valentine's Day cards, did some hugging, and then enjoyed a nice dinner....some nice baked lasagne with salad on the side, and then we shared a slice of double-chocolate cake. (Nope, this was not conducive to our diet, but it was, after all, Valentine's Day!)

So, that's about it. A lot of different, mixed-up kinds of things. The outlook from here looks to be maybe more of the same, especially with the change that Edie made by withdrawing from school. This not only changes her/our scheduling for things in many ways, but it also makes some financial changes which could prove to be more difficult. However, we'll keep working at it, we may very well come up with other plans, we'll make the best of what we do have and enjoy what we have, and we'll stay optimistic.