End of hiatus

Since it's been a mere 2 months since the last post on this blog, I feel like I have some 'splainin' to do. To be blunt, July sucked. With the exception of Ali's wedding and getting to see family (more on that in upcoming posts), which were both great, it just plain sucked. There's no other way to say it.

On the personal side of things, right after the wedding, Barry's grandpa Buddy passed away unexpectedly. To say he was a great part of our family is an understatement, and there just aren't words to describe what a (sweet) character he was. He was a lover of animals, lottery tickets, trading and bargaining, and more than anything, family. Everyone enjoyed being around him, and it is still hard to process.

Of lesser importance, July was awful in the area of work as well. We have been starting a business, and we had to prepare for an inspection to receive Medicare billing privileges. We are loving the federal government and all of its fun, quirky regulations. I won't bore anyone with details, but let's just say that there were a lot of late nights on the computer, in files, etc., and all the stress that goes with that, which really took July away from us. (Luckily, this has paid off, as the survey occurred - of course - at the end of July and we passed with flying colors.)

So...that was July, the good (wedding and family time) and the bad (loss of family). More to come.