Trudging on...

It's been one of those weeks where you are dead beat tired but there is so much to do. To top it off, I'm battling a cold. It started last week with just being busy. Then Saturday I spent my entire day with a family picking and pressing apples for cider. Sunday, I canned the cider up and dried some apples and tried to get caught up on laundry, bills, etc. Monday evening my husband and I attended a Care Net Banquet fundraiser. Tuesday I was my youngest daughters 17th birthday and my 18 year old came home from school sicker than a dog with a 102 temp and slept the rest of the day. Also on Tuesday, a dear old neighbor from Oregon showed up for a wonderful visit and stayed a couple of days. I also stayed up past my normal bedtime in order to visit, so I'm not complaining, but it left me tired.

Wednesday rolled around and I'm pretty exhausted but still trucking along. Report cards are due next week, our class party is Friday and I still have planning for the following week. Got my hair cut on Thursday and worked out. Well, Friday my oldest has not gone to school and sounds horrible. She said her lower back is killing her and she hasn't urinated all morning. I'm thinking kidney issues and make an appointment with the doctor, explaining to the triage nurse that she has been sick all week with a high of 102, stuffy, aching, coughing, and now lower back pain and not peeing. Well, I'm at school working so I can't go with her, but she is 18 anyway, so she can start to take on these kinds of responsibilities. She gets to the doctor and they don't even take her temp. or her blood pressure. The diagnoses: a back strain. Yeah, I was pretty peeved that we had to spend money for him not to even look at her. She's just been laying in bed and getting up to go to the bathroom or get a drink and bite of something to eat. We're praying for a quick recovery and back to her normal school and work routine.

Today, I didn't work out but went to town and found a pair of pants for work. I got home and started some apples in the dryer. I would dry at night, but mine dry in about 8 hours, so I don't want it running all night or all day while I'm away because I don't want them over dried. So I'm doing 2 dryer loads over each weekend. I have an apple coffee cake in the oven right now. It smells delicious! Our neighbor who came up over the week bought us some kielbasa at a local Italian deli while he was here and we are having it tonight. I can hardly wait to try it.

So this weekend I am going to try and lay low (sort of) and get laundry caught up and bills paid. The lawn needs mowing and we haven't winter fertilized it yet. It got down to 20 degrees Tuesday and Wednesday night, so the couple of apples that were left on my trees are not good. But I picked all the decent ones and got tomatoes picked and in the garage. I need to do something with them tomorrow. Either make salsa, tomato sauce or can them up whole. Not sure yet. That's about all we've been up to around here. Busy as always, and just trying to get by.