Hello Friends – It’s been a while. I hope you are all doing well and enjoying nice weather, fresh flowers and other signs of spring. I feel like I’ve been dream-walking through my life. Work, caring for my mom, and repeat.

I appreciate all the well wishes for my mom. I feel so bad for her because shingles has been so much worse for her than even her hip surgery. Unfortunately, she’s still dealing with some pain, which in turn has affected the use of right hand. All of this means she can’t use her walker so she can’t walk without me assisting her.

I’m still providing a lot of care for her but we are starting to see some improvement and hopefully that will continue. So my public service announcement, is that if you are eligible for a shingles vaccine, think about getting it.

On top of this, I was having some issues with my right shoulder and come to find out, I have a rotator cuff tear! Not what I need as I have to help my mom get up, etc. I’m hoping I can put off surgery so wish me luck with PT.

Where does this leave reading and book stuff. I’m very happy to say I have started reading again. I have finally gotten my reading mojo back although I will say I don’t have a lot of time for reading. Or I should say, sometimes I can’t stay awake long enough to make a dent in my books.

The start of spring though has made me feel more positive and I’m learning to accept things as they are right now and not give into to frustration so much. It’s not easy but I’ve been turning a lot to my journaling to help me through this time.

I’m not promising a full return to blogging but hopefully you’ll see me around a bit more. Tell me how you’ve been doing and if you are excited about spring.

Hi Friends – I hope you are all doing well and your reading year has gotten off to a great start. I’m sorry for the continued silence around here but it’s been a rough month to say the least.

My mom’s recovery from her partial hip replacement has been going well however last week she started complaining about pain in one of her hands and I thought it was probably just because she was leaning too much on that hand when she used her walker.

When her physical therapist saw her she didn’t think it was too concerning. Unfortunately things continued to get worse and then I noticed a rash. Shingles. I feel so bad for my mom because she’s in so much pain and I’m sure we’ve both cried several times over her pain. I just wish I could take it away from her and feel like there’s nothing I can do.

My husband continues to be such a strong support for me and we manage to carve out a bit of time each day to watch a show or have lunch together. I have a very demanding job but I do work for a great company and luckily I’m still able to continue to work from home and they’ve been very supportive. Of course my friends and family all keep in touch and knowing I have them thinking of us makes me feel comforted.

Needless to say this space is going to be a bit quite for the time being. I’m so exhausted and have not been reading aside from a poem a day. I miss my books and my time with books and blogs but I hope for better days ahead. Once again I ask you for good thoughts and prayers. I miss you guys and thank you for hanging in there waiting for me. Take care and stay safe!