Day 197, Friday, July 16th, 2021
White Crepe Myrtle
I’ve been trying to get a good photo of our gorgeous crepe myrtle trees all summer but they are surprisingly hard to photograph! Especially if there is any wind at all. I like the ethereal quality of these white crepe myrtle blooms. My favorite part are the curly tendrils around the seeds.
Pink Crepe Myrtle
Almost as pretty as the white crepe myrtle blooms are the pink blossoms. The yellow pollen really stands out against the pink. This particular tree is shedding its pink petals all over our driveway. When the garage door is open, our garage floor is covered in a carpet of pink.
Day 198, Saturday, July 17th, 2021
Toadstool Treasure
I was outside feeding the deer and decided to clean out the water trough and fill it up for them. While I was doing so, this young doe came very close and nuzzled something on the ground. It was a bright red toadstool! She was quite delighted with her find and went to work getting the other toadstool at the base of the tree.
Day 199, Sunday, July 18th, 2021
Instapot Chicken
While my sister Pam was here a couple of weeks ago, she sold us on getting an Instapot to make moonshine. I decided to put it to use to cook some meals too. I found a recipe for cooking a whole chicken and this was my first attempt. The meat was so tender it literally fell off the bone! Curtis said it was pretty good and I’ll have to take his word for it since I am a vegetarian. My next meal will be a pot roast. I just made salted caramel moonshine and it turned out great (see below!).
Day 200, Monday, July 19th, 2021
Time for a Med Adjustment
Through no fault of her own, or anyone else’s, Anna has gotten quite stuck on her beloved Great Uncle Bill. Though her OCD sometimes has rough patches, this one took a turn into unhealthy. She did so well with her cousins’ visit that she earned a day trip with Daddy to see Uncle Bill working at the radio station in Mexia last Saturday. That was an overdose of virtual heroin to her OCD and she came down off that trip in a rough way. We took away all of her screens, going cold turkey with no calls or texts to anyone. Anna had several violent meltdowns over the weekend which led to her glasses being thrown. Thankfully they didn’t break this time and just needed an adjustment at Visionworks. They are always so nice there. After consulting with her psychiatrist, we upped one of her meds. It took a few more days of no contact and med changes to get our girl back. She is working so hard to control her brain storms. I am proud of her progress.
Day 201, Tuesday, July 20th, 2021
Salted Caramel Moonshine
After a few days of rough behavior (including having to meet Andrea, Anna’s caregiver, at the front of the neighborhood because Anna was melting down in her car), I needed some extra deliciousness in my alcohol consumption this week. I found a highly rated salted caramel moonshine recipe that called for Everclear and Salted Caramel vodka. Yes please! I doubled the recipe but it still didn’t make much so if you want to try this, quadruple the recipe (get 2 bottles of Everclear though!). It is the most delicious (and STRONG!) thing I’ve ever had to drink. Yummmmm.
Day 202, Wednesday, July 21st, 2021
Zen for my Soul
4 days in a row of hard behavior requiring 100% supervision of Anna, I took advantage of Andrea’s presence on Wednesday to wander in my backyard with my camera. It wasn’t long before I discovered this butterfly on one of our bushes. I asked him out loud if I could please take his picture and I meant him no harm. He opened his wings and got super still. I approached slowly, snapping away, different angles, below, above, straight on. This image is a composite of 4 snaps (but I still missed focus a bit on the left) to get most of him in focus. Thank you, dear butterfly… you truly are zen for my soul.
Day 203, Thursday, July 22nd, 2021
Haircut with Heather
Anna was supposed to get a haircut with Heather on Monday but we rescheduled due to meltdowns. Thankfully the med adjustment and the long break with no contact seemed to be helping Anna control her brain storms. We went to Heather’s for a quick haircut and Anna managed the washing, cutting, and drying with perfect behavior. I did allow her to talk about Uncle Bill so that made her happy. Her hair looks so cute now, I’ll share a picture of it in next week’s blog.
Last Day of PT
Insurance only allowed so many physical therapy sessions before saying that’s enough, so this was Anna’s last PT with Dr. Katie. I can see such a difference in Anna’s strength and stamina. She brought Isabelle, her silicone doll, to show everyone. This clinic, Texas Physical Therapy Specialists, are the most wonderful, caring, competent group of people we’ve ever met. We love them and will miss them.
Thanks for looking!
