A Long Over-Due Update

It's been a very, very long time! Many seasons have come and gone since I last wrote here. Here we are again at another change; autumn is just around the corner & I see and hear hints of it. We've finally gotten a break in the terribly oppressive heat (even though it's still august), berries have ripened & been eaten, critters of all sorts are scrambling to stock up (hopefully not indicating this will be a hard winter), and my dog's coats are already filling out. That and I'm beginning to feel a nearly irresistible urge to bake cookies.

In our own lives, we see things that give us hope that the season is about to change for us too. The process of seeking disability is a long one, but we are hopeful that it will soon be over. We've been through the expected two denials and applied for a hearing. Our lawyer says that it's currently taking about a year from application for a hearing to actually get that hearing. We put in our application last September. The lawyer also believes that my husband's case is pretty strong despite his age being too young for what the government considers old enough to hurt that bad. We have also learned a great deal about what is wrong with him (no, not mentally; I'm not going there): back injuries that have produced osteoarthritis & neuropathy, diabetes that has gone unchecked for too long which has resulted in pretty bad peripheral neuropathy. The pains in his shoulder that for a whole year were chalked up to the neuropathy, lo and behold, have turned out to be a torn rotator cuff. Luckily, there is a high success rate for the surgery to fix that, so he is looking forward to improvement there. Unfortunately, since we have no insurance or savings, we're on a waiting list for a hospital that is willing to work with us on payment.

We are truly amazed at how far we've come with very little income. God has greatly blessed us & provided for every need. It has been an experience that has brought us even closer together & deepened & strengthened our faith. I've also had the opportunity & motivation to use my artistic talents which I believe are gifts of God (that I had sadly been neglecting): We've been going to re-enactments(since most of my work in history-inspired) and selling my pottery, other arts & demonstrating spinning yarn & writing in calligraphy, and I've also been doing some custom jewelry design work. Once the income from those activities aren't needed for household expenses & can be reinvested in the business, I'm really excited to see how it will grow & develop. We've also learned a lot about how much we take for granted and count as "needs" that really aren't. I thought I was a frugal home-maker before!

I'm looking forward to getting caught up here, telling all the interesting things that have happened in the last year and a half. I can't believe how long I've put off writing an update; it was just so overwhelming to try to put everything into words. I'm sure I've left out lots as it is, but something's better than nothing, I guess.

More to follow soon,
-Jayne

Ps: be sure to feed the fish at the bottom of the page :) It's a cute new gadget I ran across the other day.