Apologies and an Update

Due to a prolonged and difficult illness (fondly referred to as the virus from hell), I was unable to post February's challenge. For roughly 18 days, the only time I ventured from my bed was to visit the bathroom; and in the first two weeks, even getting there was a struggle. I credit my husband with my survival because I truly believe I may not be here if not for his incredible care during the worst of my illness. Even now, almost exactly a month from the time I became sick, I am still struggling with my recovery due to lingering symptoms.

That being the case, I have made the decision to cancel March's challenge as well. As difficult as it was for me to make that choice, I need to put my health first.

I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. Hopefully, March will provide me with the additional time I need to recover so that we can return in April. However, I make no promises at this time. I will need to see what fate has in store for me.

I hope that you and your families remain healthy and well in which ever corner of this world you live!

Cheers,

Lisa

The 12 Months of Christmas will be taking a short break...

HAPPY NEW YEAR folks! I hope that you and your families all had a wonderful holiday season.

 

I know our regulars were expecting to see a new challenge posted today. Unfortunately, I have been dealing with some tough issues in real life. I briefly touched on this during the last midway post. I have also posted an update on my personal blog as well.

 

Both my parents were hospitalized after being diagnosed with Covid during the first week of December. My father was released too soon and ended back in the hospital three days later; only this time, in a much worse state. He was diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia and was considered critical when he returned to the hospital. He was pumped full of antibiotics and was on 80% oxygen at the start, slowly weaned down over a two week period. My mom was released after a week in the hospital and thankfully had people coming into the apartment to check on her during her first two weeks. Dad remained on oxygen until they released him on Dec. 19th. Both are extremely weak, exhausted and dealing with the lingering effects of covid (and for my dad, the after effects of having a bad pneumonia as well). Thankfully, for now they continue to have a personal support worker or someone from the Covid Team, checking on them daily throughout the weekdays but it is definitely a challenge for the two of them to look after themselves properly when they are so weak. It has become difficult for them to take care of themselves during normal times, never mind right now. They have been told that it will take MONTHS before they are back to their normal selves.

 

Worrying about my parents and having to check in on them with daily calls to both the apartment and the hospital depending on where each of them was at the time, left me with time for little else during the first few weeks of December. My stress levels and inability to concentrate greatly affected the quality of my work. Given that at the same time, I was supposed to be getting the team ready for our January challenge, it became necessary to take a little break from taking care of the challenge blogs that I am responsible for in order to maintain my own sanity.

I'm hoping that things will calm down soon and I can come back renewed for our February challenge. If it turns out I need some extra time, I'll be sure to provide an update at that time. I will do my best to publish the winner announcement for our November challenge, sometime over the next couple of weeks. I also have a special announcement to make as we'll be making some changes to the way we do things this year here at The 12 Months of Christmas--more on that soon.

I hope that we can count on your support and that you'll all come back and join us when we start up again soon! Until that time, wishing you a happy and healthy start to 2022!

 

Short Delay for October Challenge

Apologies folks, but due to unforeseen circumstances with my health, the start post for our October challenge will not be posted today. I hope to be able to get it posted within the next few days.

Your understanding is greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Lisa

Link Up Now Active for Challenge #2

Sorry folks.  It is pretty bad when there are two of us proofing the post and neither of us realized there was no Inlinkz set up.  It is has now been added.  To link up in Challenge #2 you can click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you.