Most of you know that we live out in the country, so we really don’t have many visitors just drop by.  The occasional UPS delivery or the mailman might drop by, but most people check to see if we’re home before they come over.  I thought it might be a while before we got to use my new doorbell in a real life scenario.  Turns out that mom’s visit provided the first opportunity.  It was quite the event!  Chet left work early on Monday to go to the chiropractor.  His back was bothering him and after the adjustment, he took some Tylenol and Advil and came home to take a nap and recuperate a little.  About 45 minutes later, mom arrived and she rang the doorbell.  I was so excited!  The strobe lights flashed and the ringing sound was very loud so I had no problem hearing it! In the past, even before the latest hearing episode, I really couldn’t hear someone at the door.   The new doorbell continues to ring until you shut it off or it goes for a designated amount of time – I’m not sure exactly what that length of time is, but it’s pretty long…maybe a minute?  That’s a long time for a loud ringing to be happening!  Anyhow, I was excited that it worked so great, (and that mom was here!) and then when it kept going off I started realizing that poor Chet was trying to rest, so then I was trying to figure out how to shut it off (and also greet mom at the door)!  Then I realized that I was seeing the flashing lights and hearing the sound from the remote unit in the living room, but the main unit is in our bedroom, so the flashing strobe lights and ringing sound were probably also going off  where Chet was sleeping!  Yikes!  It wasn’t too long before he came out and that’s when I learned that the bed shaker also goes off for the doorbell, AND that it’s strong enough that he can feel it on his side of the bed!  LOL  What a crazy moment!!!!  One of the funny times in the middle of all of this stuff!!!    He didn’t get much rest, but he could also appreciate the humor in the situation and we had a good laugh over it!

Seems like the time just flew while mom was here.  She arrived on Monday in time for a family dinner – all but a couple of people could make it – and she got to meet Owen (her great-grandson) for the first time!  We had a great time together, then she got to go to ASL class with us and really enjoyed it.  I was glad she got to see first-hand what we are doing in there.  It’s becoming a pretty big part of my life right now and I’m glad she had the opportunity to see what we’re up to.  Over the last few days, she’s learned the alphabet and a very brief sentence or two, but I was  impressed at how quickly she learned that much!  I think she’s got “the bug” now and might try to find a class in her area.  Tuesday we had time to relax and catch up over our morning coffee, and then headed over to Cory & Nicole’s for more time with them and Owen.  Then we went to the Mall of America and spent a few hours there.  It was a fun day, and Kinsey and Jarryd also got to spend most of it with us.  Wednesday, Mom and I played Mexican Train Dominos and had more of a veg out day at home.  Mom is a game fanatic (cards and domino’s primarily) and I am, too, so we always play a LOT when we get together.  I have a hard time getting anyone around here to play them with me, so it’s always fun when mom (or my sister!) come and we can play all we want to!  Again, that evening, we had a family dinner for everyone who could make it and then went to church together.  Later, Chet joined us for a few games of Farkle and we had a blast.  Thursday, we spent the day chatting over coffee, playing games and then had dinner with Cody & Jessi over at Cory & Nicole’s and had so much fun visiting and (of course) playing with Owen!  We got to see him roll over from his back to his tummy for the first time!  It’s always amazing to me how enthralled a group of adults can be watching a little baby for long periods of time and love every second!  It reminded me of a time about 25 years ago when Chet and I sat with a cousin and his wife and watched their baby  try to roll over for 3 or 4 hours!  We were all so excited when Owen made it all the way over (after multiple attempts) that we all cheered and that scared him and made him cry! 😦      I don’t think it will keep him from trying again soon, though! We also got to take some pics of mom and Owen in their Harley attire and we took a 4 generation picture with Mom, Cory, Owen and I.  It was a fun time.

Today we had coffee together, then mom headed out and now I’m giving myself permission to relax and regroup a little for the rest of the day.  I’ll probably work on some laundry and a few household chores, but I’m going to try to rest up a little and recover from a very fun but  very busy week.  The rest of the weekend  will also be busy, so I’m taking advantage of the opportunity while I have it!