It has been a while and for that I apologize, but it has been busy here at the Shack.

The crazy Italians had been here almost every weekend since the first part of October. There is still one rocking chair that needs to get up to Mary Beth and the bassinette that is coming here. But it was like Mary Beth yelled "Road Trip" and everyone hopped into the car - LOL. Still, Bruce and I loved having them and my brother John as well, since he had all the baby furniture. John suffered a bit of a medical set back just before Thanksgiving, but he is on the mend. John and I have been talking back and forth about the crazy Italians and that has been fun.

Just after my last blog, Bruce and I took a week and purchased and wrapped the Christmas presents for the New Hampshire group. The baby's father's family lives in CT, just one mile from the Casino - how fortunate is that? So we knew we would be attending a baby shower and wanted to get all of the Christmas stuff passed over to avoid shipping. Then we spent the next week doing the CT group.

Thanksgiving was different in that Melissa and Ethan were coming in for the weekend, from his parents and Mary Beth was coming in on the Monday following. We did a fairly large turkey with all the trimmings and had plenty of food for meals and take homes.

We moved onto Christmas. We figured Melissa would not be able to travel, so it would just be Bruce and I and our friends. The neighbors all came over for an afternoon of cookies and egg nog and that was great fun. Friends and family in and out. I won't say I did a lot of decorating, but our tree is just beautiful - lucked out there and, of course, the mantle. I light the tree every morning for Bruce and we do tea lights and window lamps every night. Always holiday or seasonal music.

With Colleen's guidance, got a lot of leftovers put up and tried some new recipes that we really like and want to do again. Lots of soups for our winter months. Bruce has been a huge help in the kitchen and Colleen has me thinking outside the box, so that has been fun.

So our Grandnephew arrived January 2nd - 3:51am. Yes, he is perfect. Almost 7 lbs, 19 1/2 inches long. He is not liking his cap! Lucas Bruce Leggett. Mary Beth, the new Grandmother, is on Cloud 9 as is Ethan's Mom. Lucas really blasted right in - Melissa had seen the OB on New Year's Eve and she said Melissa just wasn't quite there yet. Guess Lucas had other thoughts!

Melissa has always been protective of Bruce. She was here the morning he stroked and as all of you know, at 15, came every weekend with her Mom. She is still one of the very few Bruce will walk with and had organized this house while Mary and I were at the hospital or SNF. She told me as soon as she knew she was having a boy, that Bruce was to be his middle name.

We are coming into a tough season here. Tonight snow and freezing rain. I did get the gutter guards put on the house, long after the trees were down - LOL. But it is done. Bruce is doing well. He agrees to exercise and stretch every day. We are holding off on the Botox for the winter, but Bruce knows if I can't get his leg in and out of the vehicles, he is homebound. So he is working hard to keep his right leg at least moveable for me. I have been very attentive to getting us out every day we are able to, knowing that will be coming to an end soon. We had a warm spell just after Thanksgiving, so lots of rides and fresh air.

So that is what is going on here. Most days are quiet and to routine. Cognitively Bruce is mostly back and I think a lot of that has to do with me being home - discussions all the time about the house stuff, newspaper articles, family doings. Just daily life.