Goodbye, October

What. A. Month!

October was filled with challenges.  Looking back, it feels like a blur. It seems as if there is so much to say and so little to say all at the same time. 

The month began with our area starting the recovery from the destruction of Hurricane Helene and the floods that brought to western North Carolina.  Those first couple of weeks - every day just blended in to the next. 

We finally had our power restored on Day Twelve.  There were cheers heard throughout our neighborhood  that evening as everyones lights came on. Because we are on a well, once our power was restored - we also had water restored.  After almost two weeks without, you have a new gratitude for being able to flush a toilet with the push of a lever, flip on a light switch, and take a warm shower. 

Our internet came back for about two days mid- month before going back out again.  Optimum hasn't been very good about communicating any sort of updates or information and at this point no one seems to have any idea when service will be restored. 

That weekend, the kids and grandkids came for a dinner and to celebrate the Man of the House's birthday. There was white chili, corn muffins, and banana pudding. Best of all - it was an afternoon just enjoying having our family together. 

The Man of the House and our son had planned to go to Charleston for a fishing trip this month.  With everything going on after the storm they considered canceling, but since they had elected not to get the insurance, they would be unable to get a return of the money paid for the rental. So, instead of just the two of them going - I brought the dogs and we tagged along.  We even had our daughter and the grandsons come along.  It turned into a nice weekend of just getting away from all the stress and chaos we had been dealing with. 

On the 18th, I had my knee surgery.  The Man of the House drove me to the surgery center early that morning, before the sun came up. I was extremely nervous before the procedure, but it all went well. I was surprised by the amount of nausea I had after coming out of the amnesia, and the pain was much more than I expected.  My recovery isn't going as quickly as I would hope. But let's be honest - it was unreasonable to expect I would be completely back to normal in less than two weeks. 

I had my follow-up appointment on Monday and things are healing well. The stitches are out. Continuing pain/discomfort is normal, but should continue to improve little by little.  I was given some exercises to do for strengthening the knee. 

The Man of the House has been my absolute rock star through the entire situation. He nursed me through the nausea and pain of that first afternoon. In the following days, he took over my share of the house work, all of the cooking, grocery shopping, caring for the dogs, and helping me as needed. All while continuing to carry all of his usual responsibility, including those of overseeing the company's return to normal production after the hurricane temporarily shut it down. I couldn't have done this without his care and support. 

And that was the month in a nutshell.  How was your October?