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Back again! Saying Goodbye to 2017, Hello to 2018

Back again! Saying Goodbye to 2017, Hello to 2018

Bettinelli kids in the airport waiting for the plane.

Happy new year!!!!

Dear friends, I’m sorry for the long silence. Really, everything is all right. It’s just that we all got sick in the first week of December, nothing major, just a cold; but as I an asthmatic respiratory stuff hits me bad and takes me forever to shake.

And then we spent 10 days in Texas, from the 9th to the 19th, traveling there to celebrate my parents’s 50th wedding anniversary. It was delightful to spend time with my family– haven’t seen my brothers and my sister in law in five years, since my brother Tim’s wedding, in fact– and even got to see a few friends. I got to finally meet my dear online friend Rebecca, the Geek Lady, in person!!! Sadly, didn’t get to see everyone, because I was marshaling my limited resources and prioritizing family time.

But still our time in Texas was punctuated with lingering coughs and sniffles for some of us. Poor Anthony never did shake his cough, which sounded terrible. And then to top it all off little Lucy woke us up at 4 am the day we flew home. She had a fever and a rather scary cough that required albuterol; but after a couple of puffs she stopped coughing and fell asleep. I was seriously stressed about flying home with sick kids, but also stressed about not being home for Christmas. In the end they all traveled fine, but it was a long, long day with a plane change in Houston, and by the time we got home at about 9pm I was exhausted and feeling very crummy and I couldn’t hear out of my right ear for a whole day.

So… not surprisingly some of us spent another week under the weather after we got back to Massachusetts, and this was the week before Christmas, in case you’ve lost track. We made the preparations that needed to be made, but didn’t do a lot of extras. I bought a tree but left it on the back patio, unsure whether it would come in at all. I didn’t want to bring a possible allergen into the house when my breathing was already distressed. I went to urgent care on Christmas Eve eve and was diagnosed with bronchitis, but given an all-clear on pneumonia. By the next day I was feeling well enough that we brought the tree in and decorated it, much to the joy of the children.

We made it through Christmas, splitting Masses because I didn’t feel up to midnight Mass. It was a quiet day as we opted not to visit family. And the day after Christmas I took Anthony to the doctor for his terrible-sounding cough. He also had bronchitis.

Then in the middle of the week after Christmas four of the kids had a 12 hour stomach bug that kept me cleaning up vomit till 4 am. And then it was New Year’s Eve and we put the kids to bed early and Dom and I watched Wonder Woman while eating spicy blackeyed pea dip to bring in the new year.

It’s all been a bit of a blur. Not terrible, really; but on the whole in the evenings I’ve been preferring to watch a show (binging on Poldark and then Downton Abbey) or read a book (binging on the Dresden Files) as my head is fuzzy and writing is work. Pleasant work, but mental work nonetheless.

I’ve got lots of blog posts half-written in my head, including a travelogue of our time in Texas, which was truly delightful even with the sniffles and coughs. Here’s to more blogging in the new year!

Blessings and peace in the new year to all my readers, those who comment and those who lurk in silence, and those who mostly chat at me on Facebook.

Mom and Dad renewing their vows.
The Bettinelli kids before anniversary Mass at St Louis parish.
Scotts and Bettinellis after Mass. With my Uncle Dan, the best man, and Aunt Lois. And sister Theresa and brother Tim and his wife, Amber. My other brother wasn’t able to make it to the church but came to the party afterwards.
Me and my brothers. (Wanted to get one with Therese, too, but never got the chance.
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4 comments
  • Oh what. a rough sounding time of it for Advent! I’m so sorry: hoping and praying you all are well on the mend now and can soon resume more energetic days. The travel sunds lovely though, despite illness, what an adventure. Happy Christmastide! Blessed New Year!

  • I’m so glad you got that time with your family. Do your parents go to a small parish? I haven’t seen one with individual chairs (vs. pews) except at Eastern Rite churches.

    • It’s actually a huge parish, one of the biggest in Austin. But a few years ago they added a chapel addition (which is almost as big as the main church). The renewal of vows and Mass took place in the chapel.

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