Debbie's Summer Vacation

I know many of you still have a few weeks of summer left. Our summer vacation ended when Nathan and Ryan started back to school on August 7th. We had an eventful summer, some good and some not so good.

The landscaping started the second week of June and was completed the last week of July. What a big difference in the appearance of our yard compared when we saw it last summer. We have spent many evenings on the front deck listening to water in the pond. Now that we have a vegetable garden we may even still have a chance this fall to put a few vegetable in before it gets too cold.

We did have some unfortunate events. Sid broke his right ankle July 8th in three places while watering some of the new plants in the yard. He had surgery the next day that required the placement of eight pins and a metal plate. He was in a surgical cast for a week and then had a fiberglass cast for three more weeks. He is now in a walking boot and is slowly starting to get around on both feet with the aid of a walker. Steps are a huge challenge especially since we have five decks on our house. This house was not built for anyone with a disability. Thankfully, it is not forever. What happens after the walking boot we're not sure. I know that therapy was mentioned but we haven't been told when that will be. Probably because he is not at that point yet.

Sid was laid off from SSA Global August 1st when the company was aquired by Infor in Atlanta. Sid wrote courseware for their software line and Infor had their own education department. A real blow for us. Sid has never been without work. Makes you really appreciate all the benefits you receive now that we have lost them. He's going to do consulting on his own and take on learning to do websites. Being self-employed takes a whole new mindset which is somewhat scary. Hope it all works out well.