Ok, so I haven't posted pix of the front porch - yet. I'm waiting at least for the carpet to be put down before putting pix on my blog - and the carpet gets laid Tuesday. Maybe the New Eggplant Purple tile will be in by mid-next week for the windowsills. Jon/handyguy got all the old carpet and whatever else was under the carpet up and out of the front porch Wednesday and Thursday - with a lot of it going into my trash bin. And all the old carpet cut into decent-sized pieces, rolled up, taped so the rolls wouldn't unroll and are lined up in my garage to put in my trash bin Monday night after my trash is picked up. Plus there is more wood flooring on a planter in my yard that needs to go in my trash bin - so the wood will probably get tossed first since my bin isn't real big.
The back porch floor is done and has cured and looks - ok. Jon and I neither one are totally cracked about how it turned out and I put the furniture back on the porch this afternoon to see if that would help - sort of. The floor needs something - not sure what. I'll talk to Jon. And of course the walls of the back porch need to be painted. I debated about painting the walls last year when Larry redid the floor - all the way around the back porch - about six inches up from the floor the walls got messed up with the cleaner and product Larry had used - and what Jon used made it worse - so if the walls get painted the porch will look better.
Physical therapy is going pretty good. Not thrilled to get up at 5:15 a.m. though. My left arm doesn't hurt, ache or tingle near like it had been. Blake - my physical therapist - is having me do different exercises for part of our session, then he rubs my neck and shoulder blade. He could not believe how tight my left shoulder was and the lump he found there - it's getting better. I told him Friday it felt like my shoulders had actually dropped and he said that made sense because women my age and older tend to carry all their stress and life in their shoulder area and get stiff - and sitting at a computer all day doesn't help either. One of the exercises Blake wanted me to do was lie on a skinny thing like a punching bag boxers hit. The circumfernce of this thing is so small the only part of me that makes a connection to it is my back bone and if I don't lie on it correctly, I roll off it - lovely. I finally figured out how far apart to spread my feet to give me balance.....
Work has been good this week - getting back in the swing of things and helping team members with their projects. We had our monthly BBQ Friday and our BBQ theme was "Flip Flop Friday" where we were allowed and very much encouraged to wear flip flops. I don't know if flip flops are a "big pain" where you work but they were a huge pain at Wells Fargo. What is technically a flip flop - if it was something you would wear to the beach and it floated - you couldn't wear it to work. I think almost everyone had flip flops on at Submittal Exchange Friday - including me - which is HUGE because I just do NOT show my toes in public. So to be a team player I not only wore flip flops, I dug out some nail polish and did a fair job of painting my toe nails and tried to get the callus to not look so bad on my one foot.
I went to Pella today to help Dad with more thank you's. He wanted me to go through Mom's clothes so we did that really quick with me taking 3-4 things to keep (a sweatshirt and a couple of shirts). Mom and I never were able to "share clothes" like some mothers and daughters do. Dad seems to keep pretty busy - several nights when I call to "check in" he hasn't been home.
The big, dramatic thing that happened this week happened on Wednesday to Jon while he was working at the house. I get home, come through the basement up to the kitchen and notice one of Butler's bowls is missing (not realizing it's his water bowl) and think to myself that I knew I brought his food bowl down from upstairs when I left for work. I hear him kind of whining in the living room but don't see him, so I walk in the living room and he's laying on the floor next to a floor AC vent with his water bowl. I think he's fallen during the day, can't get up and Jon took pity on him and brought him his water bowl to have it near him. Then I listen to my voicemails and one is from Jon wanting to know how Butler was doing - because Butler had gotten out that afternoon....................
I call Jon and just laugh because once I got Butler up, he went outside ok, and seemed ok - which amazed me after hearing about "the adventure". Jon had my front porch door open while working on the porch for ventilation and my front house door barely open, like not even a centimeter. Jon had to do something in the back yard and when he got back on the front porch both my front doors were standing wide open. Jon walks in the living room going, "Butler, Butler" and no Butler. No Butler in the front yard. Jon decided to head north for some reason and sees Butler like a block and a half away - across the street! Jon says he calls Butler's name, Butler looks at Jon over his shoulder and kicks it up a notch to get away. Jon chases after Butler - it's hot - and finally corrals Butler like a sheep against a fence but doesn't know how he's going to get Butler back to my house. One of my neighbors saw what was happening and shows up with a leash to hook to Butler's collar. Jon gets Butler back to the front yard and let's him catch his breath before going up the stairs into the house. Once Butler gets in the house he collapses on the living room floor and starts twitching and Jon's going "no, no, no". Jon gets Butler by the floor AC vent, brings him his water bowl, makes sure Butler drinks some water and sits with him for a while. Honestly - in all reality Butler should have died because of his age, how hot it was, and the shape his lungs are in - but he didn't. Know why? Because every morning I pray for Butler just like I pray for family and friends and put Butler in God's hands - and that's why Butler is still here - to comfort me.
I watered my plants tonight and really looked at Stick - the hibiscus Dad bought me that we planted along with the three hibiscus plants I bought that weekend in April. I took a picture of Stick from that weekend and Stick was like 1/2 inch twig. Well Stick is really tall - not like a hibiscus bush at all - and tonight I noticed it had some buds at the top of it. So I'm curious to see what Stick will look like when it blooms - trust me I'll take pictures and post so we can figure out what Stitck really is.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Celebrities At Work?
My handy guy started painting my enclosed front porch yesterday and let's just say in a day or two you are going to see some bright pix :) I had to call the guy at the tile store today to see if he was able to find 2-3 boxes of the discontinued purple tile - like I'd seen at my physical therapist's place - oh ya there were 20+ boxes available. I'm thinking to myself "and just how would I have known that since you didn't call me yesterday like you were going to?" Oh well......I zoomed over to the tile store after work to pay for the tile and I was told it would be a week to 10 days before the boxes would be here.
The other project my handy guy is working on is the floor on the enclosed back porch and it looks - ok. I called Jon tonight when I got home and we talked about it. Jon is great - he wants to make sure things look good or work right. He's not happy with how the floor looks so he wants to try something else tomorrow which I told him sounded good to me. We both realize I have an old, multiple-time patched concrete floor that he is putting concrete stain on so it won't be "perfect" but maybe it could be better than it looks right now.
And then the place I work - it is absolutely nuts. Check out the pictures below to see who came to visit one of the guys that was having a birthday today! :)
I thought my Team Lead (Ann) was going to hyper ventilate wanting to get her picture taken with these two guys :) I'm like "you know this isn't the real Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons from KISS right?" She did realize and it didn't matter - she had to have her picture taken with them.
We have a boom box in the back conference aka garage where we eat when we have our monthly BBQ's (where the dart board and fuseball tables are) and someone got KISS's "Rock And Roll All Night" blaring while these two were there. Then EVERYONE - almost everyone - had to get their picture taken with the KISS look alikes - not me. I looked at my boss (Paige) and made the comment that I'm never telling anyone at work anything that I like and she said they have ways of finding things out :)
The birthday boy is the Sales Manager - so this is Steve (middle of the picture) with KISS and the sales team :)
I mentioned how work had sent a floral arrangement for Mom's service - which I thought was awesome. Well, the arrangement wasn't quite up-to-par but I didn't want to say anything. Ann and Paige drove down for Mom's service and must have seen which arrangement was from work because when I returned to work yesterday the office manager told me that arrangement was unexceptable, was not what the picture had looked like, work had already received a credit for the arrangement and work would be making a memorial donation in memory of Mom to First Bapist - wow.
I got a chuckle out of an email from my small group leader - LWF is going to be doing a school supply giveaway on August 6th for the children in the neighborhood of where our church meets. Each small group is responsible to purchase two different types of school supplies and enough for 500 children to get two of each item. So our group is responsible for two-pocket pocket folders and spiral notebooks (1,000 of each so 500 children can have two pocket folders and two spiral notebooks). We've got the pocket folders purchased and some of the spiral notebooks. In Rob's (small group leader) email he told us to pray the spiral notebooks go on sale - which made me chuckle. I replied that I had chuckled at his statement and that he's right - nothing is too small to pray about when it's going to a project like this :)
And lastly - we had the first LWF inner church small group softball games last Sunday. I didn't go because of my shoulder and needing a day to get ready to go back to work. I've been reading on Facebook about some calamities that happened and I'm not sure this is safe for any of us :)
Tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. I have physical therapy so probably should hit the hay pretty soon.............
The other project my handy guy is working on is the floor on the enclosed back porch and it looks - ok. I called Jon tonight when I got home and we talked about it. Jon is great - he wants to make sure things look good or work right. He's not happy with how the floor looks so he wants to try something else tomorrow which I told him sounded good to me. We both realize I have an old, multiple-time patched concrete floor that he is putting concrete stain on so it won't be "perfect" but maybe it could be better than it looks right now.
And then the place I work - it is absolutely nuts. Check out the pictures below to see who came to visit one of the guys that was having a birthday today! :)
We have a boom box in the back conference aka garage where we eat when we have our monthly BBQ's (where the dart board and fuseball tables are) and someone got KISS's "Rock And Roll All Night" blaring while these two were there. Then EVERYONE - almost everyone - had to get their picture taken with the KISS look alikes - not me. I looked at my boss (Paige) and made the comment that I'm never telling anyone at work anything that I like and she said they have ways of finding things out :)
I mentioned how work had sent a floral arrangement for Mom's service - which I thought was awesome. Well, the arrangement wasn't quite up-to-par but I didn't want to say anything. Ann and Paige drove down for Mom's service and must have seen which arrangement was from work because when I returned to work yesterday the office manager told me that arrangement was unexceptable, was not what the picture had looked like, work had already received a credit for the arrangement and work would be making a memorial donation in memory of Mom to First Bapist - wow.
I got a chuckle out of an email from my small group leader - LWF is going to be doing a school supply giveaway on August 6th for the children in the neighborhood of where our church meets. Each small group is responsible to purchase two different types of school supplies and enough for 500 children to get two of each item. So our group is responsible for two-pocket pocket folders and spiral notebooks (1,000 of each so 500 children can have two pocket folders and two spiral notebooks). We've got the pocket folders purchased and some of the spiral notebooks. In Rob's (small group leader) email he told us to pray the spiral notebooks go on sale - which made me chuckle. I replied that I had chuckled at his statement and that he's right - nothing is too small to pray about when it's going to a project like this :)
And lastly - we had the first LWF inner church small group softball games last Sunday. I didn't go because of my shoulder and needing a day to get ready to go back to work. I've been reading on Facebook about some calamities that happened and I'm not sure this is safe for any of us :)
Tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. I have physical therapy so probably should hit the hay pretty soon.............
Sunday, July 24, 2011
LWF Wilderness Dudes
My pastor and five men from church left a week ago Saturday for a wilderness trip where they were cut off from all communications with the "outside world" with the goal being getting closer to God, learning more about themselves, becoming closer friends and learning to be the men that God wanted them to be, to be leaders of their home - I thought that was awesome.
They got back I think Thursday evening and all gave testimonies about the trip today in church with Pastor Josh ending with reading and applying Psalms 23 to our everyday life and their experiences this past week. I thought that was amazing since Dad told me how he and Mom had spent a night where Mom quoted this Psalm and talked about it to Dad.
These are the LWF Wilderness Dudes with Pastor Josh in the foreground. It was good to hear their stories - laugh at some of their experiences (like the night it rained and hailed for six hours) - but then rejoice for how they were able to bond as brothers in Christ and get closer to God.
Someone - I think it was Josh - said the guys had discussed that maybe there should be a women's wilderness trip. I looked at Ruth sitting next to me and we both shook our heads no. I then made the comment, "maybe if I was 30 years younger" and it hit me - one of the guys that helped paint the trim on my house - it was his birthday today - his 29th birthday. Man I'm old :) I'll be honest, I might briefly consider a wilderness trip as long as I didn't have to carry a canoe from lake to lake over the portage (sp?). The guys each carried something like a 40 pound pack and then had to help carry their two-man canoe over their heads from lake to lake - blick.
This afternoon is the first day of LWF inner-church softball between our small groups and my doc advised I shouldn't play with getting the three cortisone shots in my left shoulder Friday and also having my first physical therapy treatment. So I've been lazy this afternoon - having Butler time, reading and taking a nap. I'm getting geared up to go back to work tomorrow too.
Dad told me yesterday he was going to ride with someone to Bloomfield today and left me a voicemail that things were going so well that they were staying for the evening service at the Bloomfield Open Bible Church and then drive home. This is the church Pastor Chuck Courtney - who officiated at Mom's service - pastors.
They got back I think Thursday evening and all gave testimonies about the trip today in church with Pastor Josh ending with reading and applying Psalms 23 to our everyday life and their experiences this past week. I thought that was amazing since Dad told me how he and Mom had spent a night where Mom quoted this Psalm and talked about it to Dad.
Someone - I think it was Josh - said the guys had discussed that maybe there should be a women's wilderness trip. I looked at Ruth sitting next to me and we both shook our heads no. I then made the comment, "maybe if I was 30 years younger" and it hit me - one of the guys that helped paint the trim on my house - it was his birthday today - his 29th birthday. Man I'm old :) I'll be honest, I might briefly consider a wilderness trip as long as I didn't have to carry a canoe from lake to lake over the portage (sp?). The guys each carried something like a 40 pound pack and then had to help carry their two-man canoe over their heads from lake to lake - blick.
This afternoon is the first day of LWF inner-church softball between our small groups and my doc advised I shouldn't play with getting the three cortisone shots in my left shoulder Friday and also having my first physical therapy treatment. So I've been lazy this afternoon - having Butler time, reading and taking a nap. I'm getting geared up to go back to work tomorrow too.
Dad told me yesterday he was going to ride with someone to Bloomfield today and left me a voicemail that things were going so well that they were staying for the evening service at the Bloomfield Open Bible Church and then drive home. This is the church Pastor Chuck Courtney - who officiated at Mom's service - pastors.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Writing Thank You's
My devotion today was titled, "Can Strangers See Jesus In You?" The last paragraph said:
When you spend time with Jesus, it will be undeniable. His power and His glory will be reflected in you to the world. And His presence upon you will meet needs everywhere you go. Take time to be with Jesus today!
This is my main prayer - that my light "so shines" to be a good witness for God. I've gone up to people in the past that I've just known by looking at their countenance they at least go to church and when I ask where they attend then I can tell if they are a believer or not. I hope that when I return to work on Monday I am able to witness to my co-workers that while this has been a sad and emotional time, Dad and I are also comforted to know Mom is in Heaven.
I try to read Psalms 91 each day with certain verses meaning more to me on certain days. The last few days I've truly relied on Verse 4:
"He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge;" When I read or think of this verse I imagine God and the angels giving Dad and me big hugs (covering us with His feathers) and giving us a place to go when we are sad (taking refuge) - and they comfort us.
Last night I decided to weigh Butler to see if he really was gaining weight or if it was just my imagination - so I picked him up and stepped on the scale for our combined weight - that was "fun". Then I put him down so I could get on the scale for my weight - did the math and yep he's put on four pounds. That's not really all that much but boy I can sure tell it when I lift him up and carry him downstairs :)
I got to Pella around 9:00 this morning, stopped at WalMart really quick and then was at Dad's to get organized to write all the thank you's that we could write for him to be caught up with everything received through today's mail. That took a little while. And then we drafted a thank you Dad wanted placed in the Pella paper. We were kind of hungry and Dad mentioned he had some sandwiches left from the meal after Mom's service. I wondered if they were "ok" to eat - Dad said they had been in the frig since Wednesday. I told him we could try them and see what happened. They must have been ok since it's now after 6:30 p.m. and I'm not having any ill effects :)
I was really starting to feel where I'd gotten the shots yesterday so I've been "eating" Advil every four hours and using my heating pad - I even took my heating pad to Pella to have it on my shoulder while writing thank you's. The worst was driving home - I tend to drive mainly with my left hand like Dad does - placing my left hand at the 12 o'clock position and raising my wrist to see how I'm doing speedwise. Plus I have a stick and need to shift with my right hand. Couldn't drive with my left unless I kept it really low on the wheel like at 7 o'clock on the drive home - my arm ached a lot - but I got home ok.
Filled the car with gas, ran into Walgreens to see if I could buy a card that I had bought for Lori when her mother had passed (I really liked the poem on it) and bought my groceries. I've copied the poem below:
What if the brilliant, twinkling stars
that bring the dark night sky to life
are windows looking out of heaven?
And at the very moment
when we're wishing on those stars,
hoping that the loved ones
we have lost are happy, safe and free...
maybe they are looking
at those same stars from the other side,
making the same wish for us...
sending us all their love.
---Sharon Valleau
When you spend time with Jesus, it will be undeniable. His power and His glory will be reflected in you to the world. And His presence upon you will meet needs everywhere you go. Take time to be with Jesus today!
This is my main prayer - that my light "so shines" to be a good witness for God. I've gone up to people in the past that I've just known by looking at their countenance they at least go to church and when I ask where they attend then I can tell if they are a believer or not. I hope that when I return to work on Monday I am able to witness to my co-workers that while this has been a sad and emotional time, Dad and I are also comforted to know Mom is in Heaven.
I try to read Psalms 91 each day with certain verses meaning more to me on certain days. The last few days I've truly relied on Verse 4:
"He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge;" When I read or think of this verse I imagine God and the angels giving Dad and me big hugs (covering us with His feathers) and giving us a place to go when we are sad (taking refuge) - and they comfort us.
Last night I decided to weigh Butler to see if he really was gaining weight or if it was just my imagination - so I picked him up and stepped on the scale for our combined weight - that was "fun". Then I put him down so I could get on the scale for my weight - did the math and yep he's put on four pounds. That's not really all that much but boy I can sure tell it when I lift him up and carry him downstairs :)
I got to Pella around 9:00 this morning, stopped at WalMart really quick and then was at Dad's to get organized to write all the thank you's that we could write for him to be caught up with everything received through today's mail. That took a little while. And then we drafted a thank you Dad wanted placed in the Pella paper. We were kind of hungry and Dad mentioned he had some sandwiches left from the meal after Mom's service. I wondered if they were "ok" to eat - Dad said they had been in the frig since Wednesday. I told him we could try them and see what happened. They must have been ok since it's now after 6:30 p.m. and I'm not having any ill effects :)
I was really starting to feel where I'd gotten the shots yesterday so I've been "eating" Advil every four hours and using my heating pad - I even took my heating pad to Pella to have it on my shoulder while writing thank you's. The worst was driving home - I tend to drive mainly with my left hand like Dad does - placing my left hand at the 12 o'clock position and raising my wrist to see how I'm doing speedwise. Plus I have a stick and need to shift with my right hand. Couldn't drive with my left unless I kept it really low on the wheel like at 7 o'clock on the drive home - my arm ached a lot - but I got home ok.
Filled the car with gas, ran into Walgreens to see if I could buy a card that I had bought for Lori when her mother had passed (I really liked the poem on it) and bought my groceries. I've copied the poem below:
What if the brilliant, twinkling stars
that bring the dark night sky to life
are windows looking out of heaven?
And at the very moment
when we're wishing on those stars,
hoping that the loved ones
we have lost are happy, safe and free...
maybe they are looking
at those same stars from the other side,
making the same wish for us...
sending us all their love.
---Sharon Valleau
Friday, July 22, 2011
1 Shot ~ 2 Shot ~ 3 Shots In The Shoulder!
I was at the office of my mortgage lady at 8:00 a.m. to sign tons of paperwork for the refinancing of my mortgage - better interest rate - lower monthly payment - better steward of my finances like God wants us all to be - which will include being able to periodically make additional principal payments to pay the house off sooner. One of the documents I had to sign was a survivor affidavit or something like that stating the date Mike had passed so the house is now only in my name. That's something I never thought would happen.
Then off to meet my physical therapist who I will be seeing the next three weeks to work on my shoulder/arm issue. The physical therapist is located within blocks of where I work in Waukee so they will be able to do my therapy at 7:30 a.m. so I can get to work in plenty of time. Today the therapist rubbed my neck and shoulder area - wonderful even though while rubbing that area my arm tingled and hurt all the way down it. I asked her if that was all my therapy would consist of - rubbing my arm and neck and she said no that I would have exercises too - bummer. I told her I needed to leave by a certain time to get downtown to the shot doctor and she said because my first rib was so out of whack she wanted the shot doctor to give me a shot by that rib too - lovely...............
The neat part of the whole physical therapy deal was while I used their restroom I found the tile color I'd been looking for, for my enclosed front porch! I will put indoor/outdoorish carpet down on the floor but the windowsills had old floor tile on them - blicky dirt grey tile. Tile like that now comes in all different, pretty, bright colors but the purples I had found were more red-purple and I didn't want that, I wanted a deep blue-purple. That's what was on the floor in the restroom. I asked where they got their tile and they told me so I thought I'd stop at the tile place on my way home from Pella tomorrow.
Off to the shot doctor I go - who is located in a building on Laurel Street just south of Mercy. I had thrown myself on the mercy of the scheduler to try to get me in this week for the shot because they told me I shouldn't work the rest of the day after getting the shot. With being off some last week and then all this week I couldn't approach my boss about missing another day because of this shot - so I prayed that God would work it out there would be a time available for me on Thursday or Friday to get my shot. There wasn't when I called in - so I asked to be on the cancellation list. I prayed again Wednesday night saying Mark 11:24,
"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."
I reminded God that He has always told us that nothing is impossible or too small for Him and that He led me to Submittal Exchange, they had been so good to me these past two weeks and that I couldn't ask for another day off for this shot - so I was believing He could work something out. I got a call they had a cancellation for 11:30 today and I had to be there at 11:15 and I took it :) As I was on the phone they advised I had to have a driver - good grief. So I made a call to my assistant pastor asking who I might bother to see if they could meet at me the shot doctor's office and just follow me home. I figured I'd be ok to drive home since it wasn't that far but if I didn't check in with a driver I thought they might not give me the shot.
Laura and her five kids - one of the kids is Bo who spray painted my house :) was gracious to say she would follow me home - so they showed up around 11:20 or so. One lady came out after having received her shot and was kind of loopey and didn't walk the best. I looked at Laura and Laura looked at me and in my brain I'm like, "I want to go home - now". They had to take the lady out in a wheelchair to her car. Then they called me back...................... The nurse took my history and asked a few questions and then the shot doc walked in - he was a nice older man that called me "kiddo". Anyone that calls me kiddo at my age is ok with me.
I found out from my physical therapist the reason Dr. Neff wouldn't give me the shot. The shot had to be given at a trigger point and because of the location the shot doc would have to use an x-ray type machine to see exactly where he was placing the shot to be sure he didn't puncture my lung............ So off to the shot room we go. I'm thinking to myself, "get a grip, even if it hurts it won't last that long - you survived two hours getting a tattoo." They laid me down on my tummy and all I kept saying (or praying) in my head was "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus". I felt some pin pricks and a little pressure and then the shot doc rubbed the area really good to get the cortisone spread around and said that was it. It wasn't bad at all - and I found out the lady before me had a shot that was nothing like what I had gotten :) Laura wanted to make sure I was ok and thought maybe we should walk around the parking lot but I said I was ok and she got behind me to follow me home. I think I did ok driving - I got home ok :) I told Laura how Bo asked me as we were walking out of the doctor's office if he could see where I got my shots and I told him maybe. Laura laughed and said he was really concerned when he found out I was getting shots :)
I didn't do much the rest of the afternoon - got Butler on the bed with me and read for a while and slept. Around 3:00 I woke up and thought I'd run some errands - put the refinance paperwork in the safety deposit box and see if I couldn't find the tile to get it ordered at the tile place. The safety deposit box part went ok - the tile not so good. I got to the tile store where the physical therapist said she got it and they had no idea what I was talking about. I explained that I was looking for 12 x 12 tile that I would call the old "industrial/institutional" tile that used to only come in boring grey or dull colors with specs but now came in all kinds of bright colors. They had no idea what I was talking about - really?? I gave them the address of where the physical therapist was located to see if they could look up the order - nope. I called the physical therapist to see if they could remember the builder - nope - but one of the therapists knew they had extra tile so he found the box and read off the information for me, including the color. THEN the tile guys knew what I was talking about but I had to go to their main store........... So off north I head - with the information written down the way the tile guys told me to write it down. I get to the main store telling them I had been to their other store, read off what the tile guys told me to write down and they had no clue what I was talking about. So I went through the description again (12 x 12 old industrial tile with bright colors). We walked all over that store and FINALLY the guy found the board showing all the colors with most colors crossed through because they were discontinued and New Eggplant Purple is one of the discontinued colors - but the guy called and left a message with the manufacturer to see if he could find me three boxes of it. I'll find out Monday if I get my New Eggplant Purple or will go with the basic white tile for the windowsills.
My care instructions from the shot doctor said I could take my bandaids off after two hours but I forgot so I took them off when I got home after running to the bank and the tile stores - and saw I had THREE bandaids on my back. I thought I felt three different pricks when he was doing the shots....
Tonight Frasier Friday! Tomorrow I drive to Pella to help Dad with thank you's and other things. I called him last night and he had already been to Farmer's Market and was going to the church's ice cream social in another hour. I called him at 5:00 tonight and no answer so I'll call him in a little bit to see what he was up to today.
It's hard to tell but Butler is playing with one of his furry, squeeky toys. He's so cute when he does this - at his age :) And did I mention that I think he's gaining weight?! I think I'm carrying more than 57 pounds down the stairs now.....
Tonight I saw my Butterfly Plant that Dad planted that weekend in April is starting to bloom!
And of course my pretty, yellow hibiscus :)
Then off to meet my physical therapist who I will be seeing the next three weeks to work on my shoulder/arm issue. The physical therapist is located within blocks of where I work in Waukee so they will be able to do my therapy at 7:30 a.m. so I can get to work in plenty of time. Today the therapist rubbed my neck and shoulder area - wonderful even though while rubbing that area my arm tingled and hurt all the way down it. I asked her if that was all my therapy would consist of - rubbing my arm and neck and she said no that I would have exercises too - bummer. I told her I needed to leave by a certain time to get downtown to the shot doctor and she said because my first rib was so out of whack she wanted the shot doctor to give me a shot by that rib too - lovely...............
The neat part of the whole physical therapy deal was while I used their restroom I found the tile color I'd been looking for, for my enclosed front porch! I will put indoor/outdoorish carpet down on the floor but the windowsills had old floor tile on them - blicky dirt grey tile. Tile like that now comes in all different, pretty, bright colors but the purples I had found were more red-purple and I didn't want that, I wanted a deep blue-purple. That's what was on the floor in the restroom. I asked where they got their tile and they told me so I thought I'd stop at the tile place on my way home from Pella tomorrow.
Off to the shot doctor I go - who is located in a building on Laurel Street just south of Mercy. I had thrown myself on the mercy of the scheduler to try to get me in this week for the shot because they told me I shouldn't work the rest of the day after getting the shot. With being off some last week and then all this week I couldn't approach my boss about missing another day because of this shot - so I prayed that God would work it out there would be a time available for me on Thursday or Friday to get my shot. There wasn't when I called in - so I asked to be on the cancellation list. I prayed again Wednesday night saying Mark 11:24,
"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."
I reminded God that He has always told us that nothing is impossible or too small for Him and that He led me to Submittal Exchange, they had been so good to me these past two weeks and that I couldn't ask for another day off for this shot - so I was believing He could work something out. I got a call they had a cancellation for 11:30 today and I had to be there at 11:15 and I took it :) As I was on the phone they advised I had to have a driver - good grief. So I made a call to my assistant pastor asking who I might bother to see if they could meet at me the shot doctor's office and just follow me home. I figured I'd be ok to drive home since it wasn't that far but if I didn't check in with a driver I thought they might not give me the shot.
Laura and her five kids - one of the kids is Bo who spray painted my house :) was gracious to say she would follow me home - so they showed up around 11:20 or so. One lady came out after having received her shot and was kind of loopey and didn't walk the best. I looked at Laura and Laura looked at me and in my brain I'm like, "I want to go home - now". They had to take the lady out in a wheelchair to her car. Then they called me back...................... The nurse took my history and asked a few questions and then the shot doc walked in - he was a nice older man that called me "kiddo". Anyone that calls me kiddo at my age is ok with me.
I found out from my physical therapist the reason Dr. Neff wouldn't give me the shot. The shot had to be given at a trigger point and because of the location the shot doc would have to use an x-ray type machine to see exactly where he was placing the shot to be sure he didn't puncture my lung............ So off to the shot room we go. I'm thinking to myself, "get a grip, even if it hurts it won't last that long - you survived two hours getting a tattoo." They laid me down on my tummy and all I kept saying (or praying) in my head was "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus". I felt some pin pricks and a little pressure and then the shot doc rubbed the area really good to get the cortisone spread around and said that was it. It wasn't bad at all - and I found out the lady before me had a shot that was nothing like what I had gotten :) Laura wanted to make sure I was ok and thought maybe we should walk around the parking lot but I said I was ok and she got behind me to follow me home. I think I did ok driving - I got home ok :) I told Laura how Bo asked me as we were walking out of the doctor's office if he could see where I got my shots and I told him maybe. Laura laughed and said he was really concerned when he found out I was getting shots :)
I didn't do much the rest of the afternoon - got Butler on the bed with me and read for a while and slept. Around 3:00 I woke up and thought I'd run some errands - put the refinance paperwork in the safety deposit box and see if I couldn't find the tile to get it ordered at the tile place. The safety deposit box part went ok - the tile not so good. I got to the tile store where the physical therapist said she got it and they had no idea what I was talking about. I explained that I was looking for 12 x 12 tile that I would call the old "industrial/institutional" tile that used to only come in boring grey or dull colors with specs but now came in all kinds of bright colors. They had no idea what I was talking about - really?? I gave them the address of where the physical therapist was located to see if they could look up the order - nope. I called the physical therapist to see if they could remember the builder - nope - but one of the therapists knew they had extra tile so he found the box and read off the information for me, including the color. THEN the tile guys knew what I was talking about but I had to go to their main store........... So off north I head - with the information written down the way the tile guys told me to write it down. I get to the main store telling them I had been to their other store, read off what the tile guys told me to write down and they had no clue what I was talking about. So I went through the description again (12 x 12 old industrial tile with bright colors). We walked all over that store and FINALLY the guy found the board showing all the colors with most colors crossed through because they were discontinued and New Eggplant Purple is one of the discontinued colors - but the guy called and left a message with the manufacturer to see if he could find me three boxes of it. I'll find out Monday if I get my New Eggplant Purple or will go with the basic white tile for the windowsills.
My care instructions from the shot doctor said I could take my bandaids off after two hours but I forgot so I took them off when I got home after running to the bank and the tile stores - and saw I had THREE bandaids on my back. I thought I felt three different pricks when he was doing the shots....
Tonight Frasier Friday! Tomorrow I drive to Pella to help Dad with thank you's and other things. I called him last night and he had already been to Farmer's Market and was going to the church's ice cream social in another hour. I called him at 5:00 tonight and no answer so I'll call him in a little bit to see what he was up to today.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
A Very Long Day Yesterday
Tuesday I drove to Pella so Dad and I could spend our last time with Mom before public viewing started at noon at the funeral home. We chuckled about some Mom stories and then around 11:30 I asked Dad if he didn't want to head back to his apartment so he could get something to eat - he wanted to spend the rest of the day at the funeral home greeting people that stopped by. He told me he would be sitting in the apartment and if he was going to be sitting he might as well be sitting at the funeral home visiting with people.
We went through his mail to look at cards and started a pile of cards with memorial gifts so when I go back down later this week to help write Thank You's we have all those cards together. Then we looked at all Dad's ties to find a tie that would go good with the suit he was going to wear and lastly he wanted me to check his hair to see if he needed to visit his barber. I told him that he needed to get his neck trimmed up.
When I hit WDM I went to the car wash and then filled the car with gas so I wouldn't have to deal with that later and then crashed until Traci arrived around 5:00 from Peoria. My niece Chrissy - who works in DSM but lives in Pella - stopped by at 5:30 so the three of us were able to have a nice visit and get Casey's pizza for supper.
By 7:30 yesterday both Traci and I were heading to Pella. When Traci checked a map she saw it was almost a straight shot from Bloomfield to Peoria, so she would be heading home from Bloomfield instead of driving back to WDM with me and then driving home. I called Dad as we left WDM to let him know we would be stopping by the apartment to drop off my car and pick him up to drive to the church. While driving in Des Moines Tuesday Traci had gotten some tar on the right front tire of her car - you know it's hot when the tar comes up off the street. She had pulled a big glob of tar off the tire in Des Moines but she found out driving to Pella there was still some tar on the tire because when she drove much over 60 her car started to shimmy.
When we picked up Dad we asked him what gas station Traci could run her car up to for them to get the tar off the tire and he mentioned Braafhart's - so off we go so they could look at the tire. Traci ran Dad and me to the church so we would be there for family visitation from 9-10 and then she took her car back to the gas station.
Several people stopped by to visit with Dad and me before the service - it was fun getting caught up with lots of folks that had been in the church when I was a teenager. I even saw a couple of the guys that were my age or a year behind that I got to visit with. My best friend from 7th grade Lori, was able to make the service which meant a lot since her mother passed in the early morning after Mother's Day this year. My assistant pastor and family came for the service and that was special - I also got a kick out of pointing Bo out to folks - he's the little guy that got to help spray paint my house :) But the two ladies that totally blew me away when they showed up for family visitation were my boss and team lead from work! You've read about my saying how much I enjoy my new job - how much fun Submittal Exchange is with monthly barbeque's, playing fuseball/darts/bags - and just a real nice bunch of people. These two ladies took time out of their work day to drive down to support me - a new employee - and that meant more than they will ever know. They also handed me a card that everyone at work had written small notes to me that is on my night stand.
While I was not looking forward to the service - it was amazing - Pastor Chuck Courtney officiated and his wife Sandy sang one song. We've known Chuck and Sandy since I was 4 or 5 - they were Mom and Dad's Youth Pastor's in Urbandale - and they have kept in contact with my folks all through the years. Chuck gave an outstanding message. I have never head people say Amen at a funeral :) And not too long after Chuck started the sun started shining through the sky light in the ceiling to brighten up the sanctuary and then all of a sudden the sun just shown right on Dad to light him up.
We had a very nice meal time after the service in the basement of the church were people stopped by to talk to Dad, introduce themselves to me if I'd never met them or say, "do you remember me" if I did know them. Some of them really made me think for a couple of minutes :) Dad doesn't know this until now that he's reading my blog but I asked lots of people to keep an eye on him for me and they told me they would :) And that gives me some peace of mind knowing neighbors in his apartment building will keep track of him along with lots of folks in town.
Around 12:30 those of us going to Bloomfield to the cemetery got into cars and headed south. I rode with Traci and Dad rode with his sister (Aunt Verta) so she wouldn't be driving by herself back to Bloomfield where she lives. Traci and I got to Bloomfield a little early so we drove around the Square and I showed her where Grandma Loper and Uncle (Mom's mom and brother) had lived in an apartment above the Square. We also went inside the courthouse to find the Hall of Fame plaque that had Uncle Loell's name on it - he had been inducted to the Bloomfield Hall of Fame a few years back. It was nice to talk to one of the ladies from the Auditor's office that remembered Uncle Loell and what a character he was - and she was my age :)
Traci and I got to the cemetery a little early so I was able to show her Grandma Loper and Uncle's stones which are a couple of rows away from Mom and Dad's stone and then Grandma and Grandpa Hill's stone (Dad's parents) which are in the row past Grandma Loper and Uncle's. For some reason Mom and Dad had purchased the plot next to their two and Memorial Day weekend 2010 when we were at the cemetery for Mom to place flowers on the graves they finally convinced me it would be nice if I at least had a marker on the extra plot to basically note my existance - I will be cremated. So last summer I ordered a marker but had never seen it in person.
I think it turned out great. I thought the marker was kind of "plain" so asked about a greyhound graphic and then since Mike was cremated I thought it would be nice to mention him on the marker to show his existence too. After we got back to Pella and we stopped by the funeral home to pick up the items that had been in the casket with Mom, the funeral director's wife mentioned I had a "big" birthday coming up. She said she learned a lot about me from my marker :)
While it was an extremely hot day with the heat index somewhere between 105 and 110 we had a very good breeze at the cemetery. Pastor Courtney said a few words and then had a nice prayer - then invited us to the Bloomfield Open Bible Church for cookies, bars and punch. We said our good-byes to Traci and headed to the church for a little visiting and then back to Pella. One of the ladies that lives in Pella that has known Mom and Dad forever - that was raised in Ottumwa - drove to the cemetery so Dad and I had a ride back to Pella.
About 10 miles outside of Pella I got a call from my friend that was going to let Butler out for me saying he was on the floor in distress and she couldn't get him outside. While I didn't like to hear that - it happens sometimes when he gets off the mats I have on the laminate floor. If he "goes down" he can't get back up unless I help him up. Well Butler evidently didn't want Chris to get too close to him but Chris stayed for a little while with him.
After being dropped off at Dad's apartment we stopped by the funeral home to pick up a few things - I left Dad in the car (running with the AC on). Well, it took a little longer for me to pick up those few things from the funeral director and as I was opening the door of the funeral home, here comes Dad walking toward the funeral home door - leaving my car running. I told him to "get back in the car in the AC" and then said it's a good thing we were in Pella since he'd just gotten out of my car and left it running :) We stopped at the church to pick up the 2-3 flower arrangements and some food the ladies packaged for Dad and then back to his apartment. I really didn't want to leave quickly but it was going on 5:00 and I had an old dog in distress so I needed to head home. Dad walked me out to the car to hug me and as he went back inside I got myself situated (opened my pop, got my sandwich ready to eat, etc.) and started to cry. I looked at the passenger seat - where Mike should have been - and cried for two blocks wishing he was there for me. And then the tears just stopped and I started to eat my ham sandwich. It's like God knew I had to cry just a bit but because of all the prayers and love that has gone out to Dad and me, that's all the sadness I had - two blocks. I had dreaded the drive from Pella back home - alone - but it was ok. It was just a drive.
I have a tuck-under garage that I enter the house through the basement and the minute I slammed the basement door I heard a bark from upstairs and I said "thank you God" so I knew Butler was still with me at least :) There he was on the kitchen floor but not in near the distress I've found him in the past. I got him up and held on to him until he got "his legs" and outside we went and then he was fine.
Here he is laying next to me last night on the bed while I was watching tv. And the turd woke me up before 6:00 this morning :)
We went through his mail to look at cards and started a pile of cards with memorial gifts so when I go back down later this week to help write Thank You's we have all those cards together. Then we looked at all Dad's ties to find a tie that would go good with the suit he was going to wear and lastly he wanted me to check his hair to see if he needed to visit his barber. I told him that he needed to get his neck trimmed up.
When I hit WDM I went to the car wash and then filled the car with gas so I wouldn't have to deal with that later and then crashed until Traci arrived around 5:00 from Peoria. My niece Chrissy - who works in DSM but lives in Pella - stopped by at 5:30 so the three of us were able to have a nice visit and get Casey's pizza for supper.
By 7:30 yesterday both Traci and I were heading to Pella. When Traci checked a map she saw it was almost a straight shot from Bloomfield to Peoria, so she would be heading home from Bloomfield instead of driving back to WDM with me and then driving home. I called Dad as we left WDM to let him know we would be stopping by the apartment to drop off my car and pick him up to drive to the church. While driving in Des Moines Tuesday Traci had gotten some tar on the right front tire of her car - you know it's hot when the tar comes up off the street. She had pulled a big glob of tar off the tire in Des Moines but she found out driving to Pella there was still some tar on the tire because when she drove much over 60 her car started to shimmy.
When we picked up Dad we asked him what gas station Traci could run her car up to for them to get the tar off the tire and he mentioned Braafhart's - so off we go so they could look at the tire. Traci ran Dad and me to the church so we would be there for family visitation from 9-10 and then she took her car back to the gas station.
Several people stopped by to visit with Dad and me before the service - it was fun getting caught up with lots of folks that had been in the church when I was a teenager. I even saw a couple of the guys that were my age or a year behind that I got to visit with. My best friend from 7th grade Lori, was able to make the service which meant a lot since her mother passed in the early morning after Mother's Day this year. My assistant pastor and family came for the service and that was special - I also got a kick out of pointing Bo out to folks - he's the little guy that got to help spray paint my house :) But the two ladies that totally blew me away when they showed up for family visitation were my boss and team lead from work! You've read about my saying how much I enjoy my new job - how much fun Submittal Exchange is with monthly barbeque's, playing fuseball/darts/bags - and just a real nice bunch of people. These two ladies took time out of their work day to drive down to support me - a new employee - and that meant more than they will ever know. They also handed me a card that everyone at work had written small notes to me that is on my night stand.
While I was not looking forward to the service - it was amazing - Pastor Chuck Courtney officiated and his wife Sandy sang one song. We've known Chuck and Sandy since I was 4 or 5 - they were Mom and Dad's Youth Pastor's in Urbandale - and they have kept in contact with my folks all through the years. Chuck gave an outstanding message. I have never head people say Amen at a funeral :) And not too long after Chuck started the sun started shining through the sky light in the ceiling to brighten up the sanctuary and then all of a sudden the sun just shown right on Dad to light him up.
We had a very nice meal time after the service in the basement of the church were people stopped by to talk to Dad, introduce themselves to me if I'd never met them or say, "do you remember me" if I did know them. Some of them really made me think for a couple of minutes :) Dad doesn't know this until now that he's reading my blog but I asked lots of people to keep an eye on him for me and they told me they would :) And that gives me some peace of mind knowing neighbors in his apartment building will keep track of him along with lots of folks in town.
Around 12:30 those of us going to Bloomfield to the cemetery got into cars and headed south. I rode with Traci and Dad rode with his sister (Aunt Verta) so she wouldn't be driving by herself back to Bloomfield where she lives. Traci and I got to Bloomfield a little early so we drove around the Square and I showed her where Grandma Loper and Uncle (Mom's mom and brother) had lived in an apartment above the Square. We also went inside the courthouse to find the Hall of Fame plaque that had Uncle Loell's name on it - he had been inducted to the Bloomfield Hall of Fame a few years back. It was nice to talk to one of the ladies from the Auditor's office that remembered Uncle Loell and what a character he was - and she was my age :)
Traci and I got to the cemetery a little early so I was able to show her Grandma Loper and Uncle's stones which are a couple of rows away from Mom and Dad's stone and then Grandma and Grandpa Hill's stone (Dad's parents) which are in the row past Grandma Loper and Uncle's. For some reason Mom and Dad had purchased the plot next to their two and Memorial Day weekend 2010 when we were at the cemetery for Mom to place flowers on the graves they finally convinced me it would be nice if I at least had a marker on the extra plot to basically note my existance - I will be cremated. So last summer I ordered a marker but had never seen it in person.
While it was an extremely hot day with the heat index somewhere between 105 and 110 we had a very good breeze at the cemetery. Pastor Courtney said a few words and then had a nice prayer - then invited us to the Bloomfield Open Bible Church for cookies, bars and punch. We said our good-byes to Traci and headed to the church for a little visiting and then back to Pella. One of the ladies that lives in Pella that has known Mom and Dad forever - that was raised in Ottumwa - drove to the cemetery so Dad and I had a ride back to Pella.
About 10 miles outside of Pella I got a call from my friend that was going to let Butler out for me saying he was on the floor in distress and she couldn't get him outside. While I didn't like to hear that - it happens sometimes when he gets off the mats I have on the laminate floor. If he "goes down" he can't get back up unless I help him up. Well Butler evidently didn't want Chris to get too close to him but Chris stayed for a little while with him.
After being dropped off at Dad's apartment we stopped by the funeral home to pick up a few things - I left Dad in the car (running with the AC on). Well, it took a little longer for me to pick up those few things from the funeral director and as I was opening the door of the funeral home, here comes Dad walking toward the funeral home door - leaving my car running. I told him to "get back in the car in the AC" and then said it's a good thing we were in Pella since he'd just gotten out of my car and left it running :) We stopped at the church to pick up the 2-3 flower arrangements and some food the ladies packaged for Dad and then back to his apartment. I really didn't want to leave quickly but it was going on 5:00 and I had an old dog in distress so I needed to head home. Dad walked me out to the car to hug me and as he went back inside I got myself situated (opened my pop, got my sandwich ready to eat, etc.) and started to cry. I looked at the passenger seat - where Mike should have been - and cried for two blocks wishing he was there for me. And then the tears just stopped and I started to eat my ham sandwich. It's like God knew I had to cry just a bit but because of all the prayers and love that has gone out to Dad and me, that's all the sadness I had - two blocks. I had dreaded the drive from Pella back home - alone - but it was ok. It was just a drive.
I have a tuck-under garage that I enter the house through the basement and the minute I slammed the basement door I heard a bark from upstairs and I said "thank you God" so I knew Butler was still with me at least :) There he was on the kitchen floor but not in near the distress I've found him in the past. I got him up and held on to him until he got "his legs" and outside we went and then he was fine.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Remembering Mom
Today Butler and I didn't do much, I had an appointment to see the ortho doc for the shot in my left shoulder but due to either the location or depth of the issue he is not able to give me the shot and has referred me to a pain specialist doc. As the ortho doc was poking my back to find "the spot" I'd keep saying lower or left until he finally found it and when he found it, intense tingly sensations ran all down my arm. And then he kept poking the spot and I kept saying you found it, you found it, you found it......... The one part of the doctor visit that made me laugh inside was when he walked in the door - he was OLD! I'm so used to doctors, dentists, etc., being younger than me. He was probably mid-sixties but looked older than my Dad, and I found that humorous for a second.
The only other things I did was finalize Mom's obituary which will be in tomorrow's Des Moines Register and then take two naps because I was pooped.
I thought it would be nice to share some fond memories of Mom in today's blog, so here goes.
Mom (and Dad) always attended any school event I was involved in - which was mainly band - and that started when I was in Olmsted Elementary when we lived in Urbandale. I remember Mom saying how she would bundle up on cold Friday nights to sit on hard bleachers at football games to watch me march in the pre-game and halftime shows and then drive home. She wasn't there for football - she was there to see me.
In 1st or 2nd grade we had a little turtle in the classroom that was named Myrtle the Turtle. I was the last kid to leave the classroom the last day of school and guess what the teacher presented me with - Myrtle! So out I walk to the car - Mom picked me up that day - with Myrtle and one of those little, clear, plastic turtle "dishes". Mom said there were different times she'd walk in my room and find my cat, Mewsette, up on my desk "playing" with Myrtle. That meant that Myrtle was on her back and Mewsette was pawing at her - so Mom would rescue Myrtle.
I don't remember why I wanted a hamster but I did when we lived in Urbandale. So one day Dad and I headed to I think Merle Hay Mall and bought Valentine (I think we bought her 2/15) and brought her home in a box and set her on the kitchen table in the parsonage. Mom walks in, sees the box - then the box moved and she said, "what's that?!" I honestly don't know if Mom thought Valentine made her think of a mouse or not but when Valentine got really sick - Mom nursed that little hamster back to health and Valentine made the move to Pella with us and Mewsette.
We took some awesome family vacations when I was a kid - all by car. And Dad would always want to get an early start so he'd tell Mom and me what time he'd want to leave in the morning - say 6:00 a.m. At 5:00 a.m. Dad would be on the couch ready to go wondering why Mom and I weren't ready. I remember many years hearing Mom tell Dad that if you wanted to leave at 5:00 a.m. you should have told us 5:00 a.m. And then once you got Dad behind the wheel of the car - we were good to drive until sunset if we wouldn't have had to stop for gas. Poor Mom, she had to take water pills which meant she would need a restroom break periodically and Dad sometimes didn't think she really needed to stop. So Mom would give me the signal and I'd tell Dad I needed to go to the bathroom - he'd always stop for me. Now that Dad has been prescribed a water pill he understands what Mom meant when she said she would need a bathroom :)
We moved to Pella and I got my permit the day I turned 14. Mom and Dad were really good to let me drive all the time with them - mostly with Dad but sometimes with Mom. The kicker with Mom was that she was famous for gasping and then grabbing the dashboard while I was driving - and scare the poo out of me. I wouldn't see what either was in my way or I'd done wrong and she wouldn't tell me either but she'd do the gasp and grab.
I drove a pretty, red Maverick in high school and Mom happened to be with me when the mileage flipped to 666 - right when I was getting ready to park it in the garage in Pella. Well..........I couldn't park my car with the mileage being 666 so I took Mom for a drive - a mile drive - in a circle around the tree in the church parking lot :) Maybe that's when she learned the gasp and grab. You know, a mile isn't that long but it sure can seem long when you're driving in a circle (quickly - basically doing donut after donut after donut around the tree). Maybe that's where I got my love for NASCAR :)
I'm not sure if it was our last Christmas with Mike or the next to last but Mom decided she was going to do Christmas shopping through catalogs (Lillian Vernon, Walter Drake, Current, etc.) and Mike and I were to let her know what we found in those catalogs to give her ideas on what to get us. Well, we gave her ideas in August or September so when Christmas arrived we had totally forgotten what we had told her we were interested in. That was the best Christmas in a long time because we got things we either really wanted, or had thought about getting to try out but didn't want to take the time to order :)
Mom decided she wanted to do that again last Christmas, so I gave her ideas from Current and a couple of other catalogs - along with giving her a discount coupon I had from Current. One day a box arrived on my enclosed porch and I knew I hadn't ordered anything. I picked the box up and it was from Current and I started to chuckle because I figured it was some of my Christmas present. Mom ordered through the mail and used my Current coupon but had not changed the address to be their address. So the next time I went to Pella I handed her the box and told her I thought it was probably something she ordered. She just smiled.
Like it will be noted in her obituary tomorrow, Mom was very good at correspondence and sending cards. It was always a challenge to open one of her cards because of how well she strategically put stickers on the back of the envelope flap.
Mom and I had always been able to talk ever since I was a teenager. My last good visit with Mom was this past Tulip Time. Dad and I had a good time walking through West Market park looking at all the vendors and then going through Scholte House garden and checking out the old tractors. Dad had to leave for a while to perform a wedding so Mom and I were able to visit - little did I know that would be our last good chat. I cherish that time we had.
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My yellow hibiscus - you can't see really well in this picture but it has several blooms that may be open in the morning. Like I blogged a couple of days ago, this plant has not bloomed in over a month and tomorrow or the next day it may go crazy with blooms.
The only other things I did was finalize Mom's obituary which will be in tomorrow's Des Moines Register and then take two naps because I was pooped.
I thought it would be nice to share some fond memories of Mom in today's blog, so here goes.
Mom (and Dad) always attended any school event I was involved in - which was mainly band - and that started when I was in Olmsted Elementary when we lived in Urbandale. I remember Mom saying how she would bundle up on cold Friday nights to sit on hard bleachers at football games to watch me march in the pre-game and halftime shows and then drive home. She wasn't there for football - she was there to see me.
In 1st or 2nd grade we had a little turtle in the classroom that was named Myrtle the Turtle. I was the last kid to leave the classroom the last day of school and guess what the teacher presented me with - Myrtle! So out I walk to the car - Mom picked me up that day - with Myrtle and one of those little, clear, plastic turtle "dishes". Mom said there were different times she'd walk in my room and find my cat, Mewsette, up on my desk "playing" with Myrtle. That meant that Myrtle was on her back and Mewsette was pawing at her - so Mom would rescue Myrtle.
I don't remember why I wanted a hamster but I did when we lived in Urbandale. So one day Dad and I headed to I think Merle Hay Mall and bought Valentine (I think we bought her 2/15) and brought her home in a box and set her on the kitchen table in the parsonage. Mom walks in, sees the box - then the box moved and she said, "what's that?!" I honestly don't know if Mom thought Valentine made her think of a mouse or not but when Valentine got really sick - Mom nursed that little hamster back to health and Valentine made the move to Pella with us and Mewsette.
We took some awesome family vacations when I was a kid - all by car. And Dad would always want to get an early start so he'd tell Mom and me what time he'd want to leave in the morning - say 6:00 a.m. At 5:00 a.m. Dad would be on the couch ready to go wondering why Mom and I weren't ready. I remember many years hearing Mom tell Dad that if you wanted to leave at 5:00 a.m. you should have told us 5:00 a.m. And then once you got Dad behind the wheel of the car - we were good to drive until sunset if we wouldn't have had to stop for gas. Poor Mom, she had to take water pills which meant she would need a restroom break periodically and Dad sometimes didn't think she really needed to stop. So Mom would give me the signal and I'd tell Dad I needed to go to the bathroom - he'd always stop for me. Now that Dad has been prescribed a water pill he understands what Mom meant when she said she would need a bathroom :)
We moved to Pella and I got my permit the day I turned 14. Mom and Dad were really good to let me drive all the time with them - mostly with Dad but sometimes with Mom. The kicker with Mom was that she was famous for gasping and then grabbing the dashboard while I was driving - and scare the poo out of me. I wouldn't see what either was in my way or I'd done wrong and she wouldn't tell me either but she'd do the gasp and grab.
I drove a pretty, red Maverick in high school and Mom happened to be with me when the mileage flipped to 666 - right when I was getting ready to park it in the garage in Pella. Well..........I couldn't park my car with the mileage being 666 so I took Mom for a drive - a mile drive - in a circle around the tree in the church parking lot :) Maybe that's when she learned the gasp and grab. You know, a mile isn't that long but it sure can seem long when you're driving in a circle (quickly - basically doing donut after donut after donut around the tree). Maybe that's where I got my love for NASCAR :)
I'm not sure if it was our last Christmas with Mike or the next to last but Mom decided she was going to do Christmas shopping through catalogs (Lillian Vernon, Walter Drake, Current, etc.) and Mike and I were to let her know what we found in those catalogs to give her ideas on what to get us. Well, we gave her ideas in August or September so when Christmas arrived we had totally forgotten what we had told her we were interested in. That was the best Christmas in a long time because we got things we either really wanted, or had thought about getting to try out but didn't want to take the time to order :)
Mom decided she wanted to do that again last Christmas, so I gave her ideas from Current and a couple of other catalogs - along with giving her a discount coupon I had from Current. One day a box arrived on my enclosed porch and I knew I hadn't ordered anything. I picked the box up and it was from Current and I started to chuckle because I figured it was some of my Christmas present. Mom ordered through the mail and used my Current coupon but had not changed the address to be their address. So the next time I went to Pella I handed her the box and told her I thought it was probably something she ordered. She just smiled.
Like it will be noted in her obituary tomorrow, Mom was very good at correspondence and sending cards. It was always a challenge to open one of her cards because of how well she strategically put stickers on the back of the envelope flap.
Mom and I had always been able to talk ever since I was a teenager. My last good visit with Mom was this past Tulip Time. Dad and I had a good time walking through West Market park looking at all the vendors and then going through Scholte House garden and checking out the old tractors. Dad had to leave for a while to perform a wedding so Mom and I were able to visit - little did I know that would be our last good chat. I cherish that time we had.
My red hibiscus that I call Cyclone getting ready to have both red blooms and at least one yellow bloom - they will probably be open tomorrow morning.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Mom Is At Peace
Shortly after I did my blog last night Dad called letting me know Mom had passed. While it's never good to get a call like this, we are both glad she is no longer suffering and is in Heaven now. I needed to run downstairs to do a couple of things and something told me (God) to take my cell phone with me - which I rarely do when I'm running up and down the stairs. Dad's call came as I was carrying my laundry upstairs and I'm so glad I had my cell phone with me - that would have been a horrible call for Dad to leave me a message. I debated going back online and doing another update to my blog but thought that might be confusing so I did a quick post to Facebook through my cell and made some phone calls to family members, my small group leader and my assistant pastor.
Butler was on the bed with me so I had to contort myself around him to try to sleep - until he decided he wanted to get off the bed sometime after midnight. And then I was amazed this morning. Butler has not let me sleep past 6:00 a.m. for quite a while - even during the work week when I don't need to get up until 6:30 but today not a peep out of him. And....he has not been able to jump up onto the bed for a few months - I have to basically toss him onto the bed. This morning sometime after 6:00 a.m. Butler jumps onto the bed and lays down next to me to "snuggle". I thanked God for that moment.
I got up a little before 7:00 to get ready to watch John Hagge and Dad called wanting to know if I was going to drive to Pella today. I told him I had planned on it after going to church - I needed to go to church to be uplifted by friends and uplifted spiritually today. Dad called back about five minutes later letting me know we had an appointment to meet with the funeral director at 2:00 p.m.
When I walked into church I was immediately given hugs by many of my church family which I truly appreciated. The song service was great and so was the sermon - one of our elders spoke since our senior pastor is on a wilderness trip with some of the guys from the church. I got more hugs and kind words after church and got an absolute amazing surprise. Three little girls came up to me and gave me handmade cards! I was blown away - and gave all three of them hugs. My small group leader and wife had taught the Waves group (K-3rd grade) and all the kids had made cards for me. As Rob (my small group leader) handed me several cards, I lost it (crying) on his shoulder and told him I would treasure these cards forever. This month Waves are learning about Helpfulness and today they were learning how to be helpful to someone at church - and it was me. As I walked out a couple more little girls personally handed me their cards and I gave them hugs.
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Here's Butler checking out all my cards from the Waves kids. These cards are precious and some are actually kind of funny - in a very sweet way. These will go in my "Mom's" box along with her funeral program, obituary, etc.
So after stopping at the Casey's close to church for a bottle of pop and something to snack on I headed to Pella. I got there around 12:15 and knocked on Dad's door - no answer. I have a key to his apartment and let myself in calling "Dad" and no answer. I'm thinking, "great, Dad's aneurysm has blown and I'm going to find him dead in his bedroom". Nope - no Dad. No Dad anywhere in his apartment, downstairs in the laundry area for his building or his storage room - and no answer when I call his cell phone. Lovely. He did appear about 10-15 minutes later letting me know he had gone out to eat lunch. We talked about different aspects of Mom's service and picked out something for her to wear.
Dad told me that he took the three mylar birthday balloons he had gotten for Mom, tied them together and as they drove away from Comfort House with her last night - he released the balloons into the air and watched them go higher and higher. I thought that was awesome.
We got everything taken care of meeting with the funeral director. I will finalize Mom's obituary tomorrow so it will appear in Tuesday's Des Moines Register (http://www.desmoinesregister.com/). Tuesday morning Dad and I will have time to be with Mom at the funeral home before opening the time for public viewing - we will not be having a family viewing in the evening.
Public Viewing: Tuesday afternoon until closing
Van Dyk - Duven Funeral Home
615 West First Street - Pella
641.628.2540
Funeral: Wednesday
9:00 to 10:00 a.m. Family Viewing/Visitation
10:00 a.m. Service
First Baptist Church
709 Independence Street, Pella
641.628.3401
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Hospice of Pella or the First Baptist Church. Donations can be sent to the funeral home and they will be given to Dad or they can be sent to Dad directly.
Dad's address:
LaVerne Hill
832 Franklin #3
Pella, IA 50219
It has been interesting to see some similarities between Mike's last days and Mom's. Mike went into the hospital 3/1 and was in-and-out three times before coming home on 4/24 with home Hospice and then passing on 4/27. His kidney cancer had spread to his lungs, he had fluid in his lungs, they took two huge glass containers of bloody fluid from his lungs. Mike was "involved" with Hospice for 3 1/2 to 4 days.
Mom went into the hospital 6/1 (both went in the first of the month) but she did not leave the hospital until going to Hospice. She passed 7/16 (eight days short of the same amount of time Mike first went into the hospital and then passed). Mom was "involved" with Hospice for 3 1/2 to 4 days. Mom's cancer was lung cancer with a quart of bloody fluid taken out of her lungs.
Butler was on the bed with me so I had to contort myself around him to try to sleep - until he decided he wanted to get off the bed sometime after midnight. And then I was amazed this morning. Butler has not let me sleep past 6:00 a.m. for quite a while - even during the work week when I don't need to get up until 6:30 but today not a peep out of him. And....he has not been able to jump up onto the bed for a few months - I have to basically toss him onto the bed. This morning sometime after 6:00 a.m. Butler jumps onto the bed and lays down next to me to "snuggle". I thanked God for that moment.
I got up a little before 7:00 to get ready to watch John Hagge and Dad called wanting to know if I was going to drive to Pella today. I told him I had planned on it after going to church - I needed to go to church to be uplifted by friends and uplifted spiritually today. Dad called back about five minutes later letting me know we had an appointment to meet with the funeral director at 2:00 p.m.
When I walked into church I was immediately given hugs by many of my church family which I truly appreciated. The song service was great and so was the sermon - one of our elders spoke since our senior pastor is on a wilderness trip with some of the guys from the church. I got more hugs and kind words after church and got an absolute amazing surprise. Three little girls came up to me and gave me handmade cards! I was blown away - and gave all three of them hugs. My small group leader and wife had taught the Waves group (K-3rd grade) and all the kids had made cards for me. As Rob (my small group leader) handed me several cards, I lost it (crying) on his shoulder and told him I would treasure these cards forever. This month Waves are learning about Helpfulness and today they were learning how to be helpful to someone at church - and it was me. As I walked out a couple more little girls personally handed me their cards and I gave them hugs.
So after stopping at the Casey's close to church for a bottle of pop and something to snack on I headed to Pella. I got there around 12:15 and knocked on Dad's door - no answer. I have a key to his apartment and let myself in calling "Dad" and no answer. I'm thinking, "great, Dad's aneurysm has blown and I'm going to find him dead in his bedroom". Nope - no Dad. No Dad anywhere in his apartment, downstairs in the laundry area for his building or his storage room - and no answer when I call his cell phone. Lovely. He did appear about 10-15 minutes later letting me know he had gone out to eat lunch. We talked about different aspects of Mom's service and picked out something for her to wear.
Dad told me that he took the three mylar birthday balloons he had gotten for Mom, tied them together and as they drove away from Comfort House with her last night - he released the balloons into the air and watched them go higher and higher. I thought that was awesome.
We got everything taken care of meeting with the funeral director. I will finalize Mom's obituary tomorrow so it will appear in Tuesday's Des Moines Register (http://www.desmoinesregister.com/). Tuesday morning Dad and I will have time to be with Mom at the funeral home before opening the time for public viewing - we will not be having a family viewing in the evening.
Public Viewing: Tuesday afternoon until closing
Van Dyk - Duven Funeral Home
615 West First Street - Pella
641.628.2540
Funeral: Wednesday
9:00 to 10:00 a.m. Family Viewing/Visitation
10:00 a.m. Service
First Baptist Church
709 Independence Street, Pella
641.628.3401
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Hospice of Pella or the First Baptist Church. Donations can be sent to the funeral home and they will be given to Dad or they can be sent to Dad directly.
Dad's address:
LaVerne Hill
832 Franklin #3
Pella, IA 50219
It has been interesting to see some similarities between Mike's last days and Mom's. Mike went into the hospital 3/1 and was in-and-out three times before coming home on 4/24 with home Hospice and then passing on 4/27. His kidney cancer had spread to his lungs, he had fluid in his lungs, they took two huge glass containers of bloody fluid from his lungs. Mike was "involved" with Hospice for 3 1/2 to 4 days.
Mom went into the hospital 6/1 (both went in the first of the month) but she did not leave the hospital until going to Hospice. She passed 7/16 (eight days short of the same amount of time Mike first went into the hospital and then passed). Mom was "involved" with Hospice for 3 1/2 to 4 days. Mom's cancer was lung cancer with a quart of bloody fluid taken out of her lungs.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
7.16.11
My goal - I always have goals it's just sometimes they don't always work out - was to get up early and stop by Lowe's and Home Depot to check their indoor/outdoor carpeting to get an idea for the carpet for my enclosed front porch and then head to Pella. My spirit was willing to do this but my body said - nope I want to sleep a little longer. Butler made sure I got up and took him outside at 6:30 and then I fell back asleep until 7:30-7:45.
I wondered the other night if Mom would be here for Dad's birthday on August 2nd. My hope for her sake and also Dad's is that she isn't but it's too bad Dad's birthday is just around the corner for him to "celebrate" and Mom may not be here. Mike passed April 27th and I didn't have to deal with my "first" birthday without him until September. I always knew Mom and Dad's birthdays were close together just like Mike's and my birthdays were close together but it hit me - how many days apart were our birthdays. I think Mom and Dad's birthdays are 18 days apart and Mike's and mine were 19....just thought that was interesting.
Some of you may be aware of my garter snake issue I've had this summer and a friend of mine that is an Iowa transplant to Wyoming had posted a picture of a snake (dead snake) she had found in her garage wondering what kind of snake it was. She was wanting people to identify it. I identified it for her - it was a snake - good enough identification for me. Someone posted that it wasn't a such-and-such snake because it's brow wasn't as pronounced or something like that. I'm like it's brow isn't pronounced - I don't even take long enough to make sure it has a head if I know it's a snake - again knowing it's a snake is good enough for me and I'm heading the other way......
This morning I looked out at my hibiscus plants and the yellow hibiscus was blooming - it hadn't bloomed in over a month.
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This is my yellow hibiscus - it almost looks orange in the picture but the name of the plant was Sundance or something like that. If you look back a couple of days to see my red hibiscus that had yellow blooms and red blooms you can see those are a paler yellow on "Cyclone".
If you know me - you also know that no matter what the speed limit is my foot knows exactly 10 miles over the speed limit. Mom used to give me a hard time about that and the past three days I've seen a State Trooper between Otley and Pella so I've held it to 5 over. Trust me if you get pulled over for 5 over the speed limit you have a very bored officer or trooper. But today must have been the Trooper's day off because I didn't see him.
Mom was sleeping when I got to Comfort House and Dad said she had slept pretty good last night. She didn't want to drink any Ensure for dinner though. Dad and I visited for a while and then a friend of mine from college was in town visiting her mother and called me to see if I wanted to get together for lunch. The timing was perfect because they were going to give Mom a bath so I headed out with Linda for lunch and had a good visit with her. When I got back Mom was sleeping again and Dad said she didn't drink any Ensure for lunch. Dad needed to run back to their apartment for a while so I settled in next to Mom to hold her hand and read.
A couple of the ladies from the church in Pella stopped by and we had a nice time catching up on their families. They both had three boys with some older and some younger than me. It was nice that Dad made it back to visit with Linda and Marcia before they had to leave - and we had a nice prayer time. I stayed a little longer and then headed back to West Des Moines. That was the hardest thing for me to do because I'm not sure if that was the last time I'll see Mom. I know she wasn't awake to know I was there today - and that's ok - but I won't get back down to Comfort House until next Saturday...and that's a long time. I'll call Dad each night to see how the day went and then do a daily update to my blog.
Like I shared with my friend at lunch and with the ladies this afternoon before Dad got back - I'm not mad at Mike that he's gone. He couldn't help it that his cancer reoccurred and he died but part of me is like he's suppose to be here for me to lean on during this time - and he's not. I come back home and it's just me and that stinks. Poor Butler, he looks at me when I talk to him but it's not quite the same :)
Tomorrow my only plan is going to church and then back home to sit in the air conditioning. It's suppose to be hotter tomorrow than it was today - and it was really hot today.
I wondered the other night if Mom would be here for Dad's birthday on August 2nd. My hope for her sake and also Dad's is that she isn't but it's too bad Dad's birthday is just around the corner for him to "celebrate" and Mom may not be here. Mike passed April 27th and I didn't have to deal with my "first" birthday without him until September. I always knew Mom and Dad's birthdays were close together just like Mike's and my birthdays were close together but it hit me - how many days apart were our birthdays. I think Mom and Dad's birthdays are 18 days apart and Mike's and mine were 19....just thought that was interesting.
Some of you may be aware of my garter snake issue I've had this summer and a friend of mine that is an Iowa transplant to Wyoming had posted a picture of a snake (dead snake) she had found in her garage wondering what kind of snake it was. She was wanting people to identify it. I identified it for her - it was a snake - good enough identification for me. Someone posted that it wasn't a such-and-such snake because it's brow wasn't as pronounced or something like that. I'm like it's brow isn't pronounced - I don't even take long enough to make sure it has a head if I know it's a snake - again knowing it's a snake is good enough for me and I'm heading the other way......
This morning I looked out at my hibiscus plants and the yellow hibiscus was blooming - it hadn't bloomed in over a month.
If you know me - you also know that no matter what the speed limit is my foot knows exactly 10 miles over the speed limit. Mom used to give me a hard time about that and the past three days I've seen a State Trooper between Otley and Pella so I've held it to 5 over. Trust me if you get pulled over for 5 over the speed limit you have a very bored officer or trooper. But today must have been the Trooper's day off because I didn't see him.
Mom was sleeping when I got to Comfort House and Dad said she had slept pretty good last night. She didn't want to drink any Ensure for dinner though. Dad and I visited for a while and then a friend of mine from college was in town visiting her mother and called me to see if I wanted to get together for lunch. The timing was perfect because they were going to give Mom a bath so I headed out with Linda for lunch and had a good visit with her. When I got back Mom was sleeping again and Dad said she didn't drink any Ensure for lunch. Dad needed to run back to their apartment for a while so I settled in next to Mom to hold her hand and read.
A couple of the ladies from the church in Pella stopped by and we had a nice time catching up on their families. They both had three boys with some older and some younger than me. It was nice that Dad made it back to visit with Linda and Marcia before they had to leave - and we had a nice prayer time. I stayed a little longer and then headed back to West Des Moines. That was the hardest thing for me to do because I'm not sure if that was the last time I'll see Mom. I know she wasn't awake to know I was there today - and that's ok - but I won't get back down to Comfort House until next Saturday...and that's a long time. I'll call Dad each night to see how the day went and then do a daily update to my blog.
Like I shared with my friend at lunch and with the ladies this afternoon before Dad got back - I'm not mad at Mike that he's gone. He couldn't help it that his cancer reoccurred and he died but part of me is like he's suppose to be here for me to lean on during this time - and he's not. I come back home and it's just me and that stinks. Poor Butler, he looks at me when I talk to him but it's not quite the same :)
Tomorrow my only plan is going to church and then back home to sit in the air conditioning. It's suppose to be hotter tomorrow than it was today - and it was really hot today.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Mom's Birthday
Last night when I let Butler out the last time I realized how "lovely" I looked. My handy guy is working on the floor in the enclosed back porch so I've had to take Butler out the front door to do his duty in the front yard all week and my mind was elsewhere last night. I was wearing my jammies - which is a t-shirt and light, striped cotton shorts - my white gym socks with grey ankles (and toes), my flowery slip on shoes and I have no idea what my hair looked like. Normally Butler will pee at the drop of a hat but not last night - not even after ten minutes standing in my front yard - looking lovely as city buses went by, people were in the park across the street and people walked by on the sidewalk. Not one of my better moments................
I got down to Comfort House by 10:00 this morning to wish Mom Happy Birthday. Dad had bought three pretty mylar balloons and tied them to the end of her bed for her to look at throughout the day. Mom was sleeping when I got there and we woke her up for lunch. Last night Dad said she didn't eat any of her blended food so he decided to do a drink similar to Ensure. Mom wasn't too thrilled with that and Dad couldn't get her to drink much. After she calmed down I tried and got her to drink about half the glass.
Dad needed to leave for a while to do his laundry and run some other errands so I settled in the chair next to Mom to read and hold her hand. The medicine they are reducing - it's not a pain med or for agitation - they are now giving to her in liquid form by syringe. The first time they gave Mom this med did not go well - at all. Mom got choked very badly. The more she coughed and choked, the more she panicked. The more she panicked, the more she coughed and choked. I wasn't sure she was going to get calmed down - I was so glad Dad wasn't there. Once the coughing/choking episode was over Mom was agitated the rest of the time Dad was gone - even after giving her the agitation medicine and some morphine. Once Dad got back Mom calmed down, which makes sense she would respond better to him than me.
I left shortly after that to get home to mow. It's in the 90's here with the temperature to only get worse this weekend with the heat index to possibly hit 110 - so I thought I better tackle the yard tonight. Now I'm blogging and watching "Frasier Friday". Tomorrow I'll head to Pella after checking out carpet for the enclosed front porch - I'll be getting to Home Depot and Lowe's really early.....
I got down to Comfort House by 10:00 this morning to wish Mom Happy Birthday. Dad had bought three pretty mylar balloons and tied them to the end of her bed for her to look at throughout the day. Mom was sleeping when I got there and we woke her up for lunch. Last night Dad said she didn't eat any of her blended food so he decided to do a drink similar to Ensure. Mom wasn't too thrilled with that and Dad couldn't get her to drink much. After she calmed down I tried and got her to drink about half the glass.
Dad needed to leave for a while to do his laundry and run some other errands so I settled in the chair next to Mom to read and hold her hand. The medicine they are reducing - it's not a pain med or for agitation - they are now giving to her in liquid form by syringe. The first time they gave Mom this med did not go well - at all. Mom got choked very badly. The more she coughed and choked, the more she panicked. The more she panicked, the more she coughed and choked. I wasn't sure she was going to get calmed down - I was so glad Dad wasn't there. Once the coughing/choking episode was over Mom was agitated the rest of the time Dad was gone - even after giving her the agitation medicine and some morphine. Once Dad got back Mom calmed down, which makes sense she would respond better to him than me.
I left shortly after that to get home to mow. It's in the 90's here with the temperature to only get worse this weekend with the heat index to possibly hit 110 - so I thought I better tackle the yard tonight. Now I'm blogging and watching "Frasier Friday". Tomorrow I'll head to Pella after checking out carpet for the enclosed front porch - I'll be getting to Home Depot and Lowe's really early.....
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Mom Update 7.14.11
I sent an email last night to lots of family and friends that I would be using my blog as an update on how Mom is doing - as of yesterday she is now at Comfort House which is the Hospice house in Pella. Today Dad sent an email to let all their friends know they can follow my blog to get the latest on Mom. I will try to do daily updates since we don't know how much longer we will have Mom with us. And those of you that have read my blog in the past - you know I share how my day goes too :)
I wanted to see my doc today before heading to Pella to talk to her about my left shoulder/arm/hand that had been bothering me since late March/early April. This was because I had to start carrying Butler (my 14-16 year old, 57 pound greyhound) down the stairs 3-4 times a day since he wasn't able to navigate going down the stairs any longer. He's still more than willing to go up the stairs as long as I have my hand on his behind as a "safety net" in case he stumbles on the way up. Well, I pulled or pinched something within days of starting to carry Butler downstairs but didn't want to see my doc with my individual health insurance plan because if I would find a job and go on the company health insurance - whatever was going on with my arm would be a pre-existing condition. So I have toughed it out and some days it has really hurt.
My doc was Mike's doc who diagnosed Mike's kidney cancer and when my doctor quit seeing patients and became the on-call doctor for his practice I switched over to Dr. J. Dr. J is a riot - along with being a female body builder - and has been on my case to workout. So while we were talking about what was going on with my arm, she didn't come right out and say I was a wimp but she did say I wasn't that strong. I looked at her to inform her that I had been carrying 57 pounds of dog down my stairs at least four times a day - and she just looked at me. I'm sure she was thinking that she lifts more than that with one arm in a normal workout :) Anyway....a week from Monday I get a shot in my arm to see if that won't help. And she advised to pick Butler up from him standing on the bed and not from the floor so I'm not picking him up from a dead weight since I'm not overly strong.........................
I got to Pella around 11:30 and Mom was no longer on oxygen - and Dad said she had slept pretty well last night. After Dad fed her lunch he left to run several errands and I stayed with Mom - she spends the majority of her time sleeping. While Dad was gone one of the ladies from our church in Pella stopped by and Mom woke up to say "hi" to her. Then Mom and Dad's pastor stopped by and as he was having prayer with Mom and me, Dad returned from running errands.
Like I mentioned in my email yesterday, the Comfort House is a beautiful facility! And....they don't have room numbers but room names. Mom's room name is Faith and I thought that was so appropriate. It's my faith along with family and friends that helped me through the rough times after losing Mike a year ago in April and it's Dad's and my faith that will help us through this time with Mom.
The Hospice chaplain stopped by to ask Mom some questions and she was able to answer a few before falling back to sleep. The chaplain is the brother of one of my Pella High classmates :)
Mom and Dad's doctor stopped by around 4:00 and we wanted to visit with him to go over all the medicines he was going to keep Mom on - and what he was going to take her off. Outside of one medicine that has to be slowly reduced, Mom is off all her meds except for pain medication and if she gets anxious or agitated they can give her something. What all three of us want (Dad, their doctor and me) is Mom to be comfortable and not in pain. We don't know how long Mom will be with us but their doctor thought days/weeks - but it all depends on God's timing.
Tomorrow is Mom's 87th birthday and Dad has balloons he wants to tie to her bed :)
If you'd like to send her a card the address for Comfort House is:
505 Union
Pella, IA 50219
My hibiscus plants that Dad and I planted in April have not been blooming the best but today I was pleasantly surprised to see the pink and red hibiscus blooming - check out the photos below!
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Yes - this yellow bloom is from my RED hibiscus plant - seriously. I call my red hibiscus my Cyclone hibiscus because I've had red blooms and yellow blooms on it at the same time. It's too bad I lean Hawkeye...
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I wanted to see my doc today before heading to Pella to talk to her about my left shoulder/arm/hand that had been bothering me since late March/early April. This was because I had to start carrying Butler (my 14-16 year old, 57 pound greyhound) down the stairs 3-4 times a day since he wasn't able to navigate going down the stairs any longer. He's still more than willing to go up the stairs as long as I have my hand on his behind as a "safety net" in case he stumbles on the way up. Well, I pulled or pinched something within days of starting to carry Butler downstairs but didn't want to see my doc with my individual health insurance plan because if I would find a job and go on the company health insurance - whatever was going on with my arm would be a pre-existing condition. So I have toughed it out and some days it has really hurt.
My doc was Mike's doc who diagnosed Mike's kidney cancer and when my doctor quit seeing patients and became the on-call doctor for his practice I switched over to Dr. J. Dr. J is a riot - along with being a female body builder - and has been on my case to workout. So while we were talking about what was going on with my arm, she didn't come right out and say I was a wimp but she did say I wasn't that strong. I looked at her to inform her that I had been carrying 57 pounds of dog down my stairs at least four times a day - and she just looked at me. I'm sure she was thinking that she lifts more than that with one arm in a normal workout :) Anyway....a week from Monday I get a shot in my arm to see if that won't help. And she advised to pick Butler up from him standing on the bed and not from the floor so I'm not picking him up from a dead weight since I'm not overly strong.........................
I got to Pella around 11:30 and Mom was no longer on oxygen - and Dad said she had slept pretty well last night. After Dad fed her lunch he left to run several errands and I stayed with Mom - she spends the majority of her time sleeping. While Dad was gone one of the ladies from our church in Pella stopped by and Mom woke up to say "hi" to her. Then Mom and Dad's pastor stopped by and as he was having prayer with Mom and me, Dad returned from running errands.
Like I mentioned in my email yesterday, the Comfort House is a beautiful facility! And....they don't have room numbers but room names. Mom's room name is Faith and I thought that was so appropriate. It's my faith along with family and friends that helped me through the rough times after losing Mike a year ago in April and it's Dad's and my faith that will help us through this time with Mom.
The Hospice chaplain stopped by to ask Mom some questions and she was able to answer a few before falling back to sleep. The chaplain is the brother of one of my Pella High classmates :)
Mom and Dad's doctor stopped by around 4:00 and we wanted to visit with him to go over all the medicines he was going to keep Mom on - and what he was going to take her off. Outside of one medicine that has to be slowly reduced, Mom is off all her meds except for pain medication and if she gets anxious or agitated they can give her something. What all three of us want (Dad, their doctor and me) is Mom to be comfortable and not in pain. We don't know how long Mom will be with us but their doctor thought days/weeks - but it all depends on God's timing.
Tomorrow is Mom's 87th birthday and Dad has balloons he wants to tie to her bed :)
If you'd like to send her a card the address for Comfort House is:
505 Union
Pella, IA 50219
My hibiscus plants that Dad and I planted in April have not been blooming the best but today I was pleasantly surprised to see the pink and red hibiscus blooming - check out the photos below!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
The House Is Painted!
As of about 1:00 p.m. yesterday the house was painted and looks beautiful! I was saying at church this morning that I'll have to watch how I describe my house now when I give directions because it had been "the white house with blue trim" for so long but now it's the "white house with dark green trim".
It was great to start to take the tape and paper off the windows - which I did with glee! After everyone left and I went inside to let Butler out, I was shocked to see the back yard through the windows of the back porch :) I made some comment to Butler about how nice it was to see the outside again.
Enjoy the photos from yesterday's painting gang - I didn't take as many photos as last week because I was doing more hand's on work. Last Saturday I ran more errands getting ice, water, lunch, etc. And again I realized that painting is not my calling - especially when it comes to edging :)
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Figuring out how to make a Little Giant ladder into a big ladder. Mike always used to like to stop at the Little Giant booth at the Iowa State Fair and watch them manipulate the ladder.
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Darin back up on the roof with Justin joining him yesterday.
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Boaz (Bo) had asked Josh if he could paint with the sprayer so Josh let him do this little spot on the back of the house. Here's Bo getting instructions........
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And here's Bo spraying one spot like crazy! Check out Josh's face. Bo hit the trigger to turn the sprayer on and kept spraying one spot without moving the sprayer around on the wall. We all told Bo he had done a good job and the smile on his face was priceless. If you look at the picture really close you can see how much paint Bo sprayed - I found a paint brush that wasn't being used to smooth out the paint a little :)
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We found out there are several ways to get trim painted; by ladder, by lying flat on the roof and leaning over like Josh is doing, and I'm not quite sure what Justin is getting ready to do.
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The kids playing in the front yard - Blindman's Bluff. They had played in the park for quite a while yesterday morning.
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When Pastor Josh got to my house he said he had a very important present for me from Darin and him and this was it! Mike and I were HUGE Bulls fans during their hay day and we freaked when Rodman was traded to them. I read my book last night and then placed it in our Bulls shrine in the living room :)
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All painted - and beautiful once again. This 100 year old house looks great!
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Last night Butler was panting pretty good when we were upstairs but I didn't think much about it but after a couple of hours I thought I better check the temp and it was 85 - with the AC running. Today the AC is not working very good so I'll be calling my AC guy in the morning. I'm hoping it's a freon thing.....
I had to run errands after everyone left yesterday and then headed to the hospital to see how Mom was doing - not good. The fluid they pulled from her lungs Wed was bloody and they still don't have the results from the cultures. One person told Dad things looked good but they don't have the results - so I told Dad they shouldn't have told him anything. Friday night I told Dad to ask for a Pulmonologist to get involved since they didn't know where the fluid was coming from - her lungs were filling up again - so yesterday he requested a lung doctor to get involved. Dad called me this morning before church to tell me the doctor that is assigned to Mom canceled the lung doctor consult - which irritated me to no end. And this same doctor wants to put Mom in an ambulance Monday to take her to their sister hospital in town to place her in/on a machine to get a definite result if the spot in her lung is cancer. Remember me saying the biopsy of the lump in her lung was not malignent - well now they are not so sure. They claim sometimes they don't get a piece of lumps that may have cancer cells. I told Dad I don't care what they say - the lump should have had a high count of white blood cells I would have thought to alert them to something being wrong at least..... I also told Dad today on the phone to tell them if the results from the bloody fluid would come back Tuesday to give the same result as what the test in the sister hospital would give - don't put Mom through the stress and trauma of transporting her to the other hospital tomorrow - wait for the culture results. Dad was concerned last night when I left what we would do if the result was cancer. I told him to not even think that way - why worry about something that we don't have the results yet. And if the results are cancer - we would deal with it then.
I know there are lots of prayers being said for my folks - which I am very thankful and greatful for. If you could especially remember them in prayer the next few days that would be awesome.
It was great to start to take the tape and paper off the windows - which I did with glee! After everyone left and I went inside to let Butler out, I was shocked to see the back yard through the windows of the back porch :) I made some comment to Butler about how nice it was to see the outside again.
Enjoy the photos from yesterday's painting gang - I didn't take as many photos as last week because I was doing more hand's on work. Last Saturday I ran more errands getting ice, water, lunch, etc. And again I realized that painting is not my calling - especially when it comes to edging :)
And that's Justin leaning over the side of my house to paint the trim at the highest peak.
Last night Butler was panting pretty good when we were upstairs but I didn't think much about it but after a couple of hours I thought I better check the temp and it was 85 - with the AC running. Today the AC is not working very good so I'll be calling my AC guy in the morning. I'm hoping it's a freon thing.....
I had to run errands after everyone left yesterday and then headed to the hospital to see how Mom was doing - not good. The fluid they pulled from her lungs Wed was bloody and they still don't have the results from the cultures. One person told Dad things looked good but they don't have the results - so I told Dad they shouldn't have told him anything. Friday night I told Dad to ask for a Pulmonologist to get involved since they didn't know where the fluid was coming from - her lungs were filling up again - so yesterday he requested a lung doctor to get involved. Dad called me this morning before church to tell me the doctor that is assigned to Mom canceled the lung doctor consult - which irritated me to no end. And this same doctor wants to put Mom in an ambulance Monday to take her to their sister hospital in town to place her in/on a machine to get a definite result if the spot in her lung is cancer. Remember me saying the biopsy of the lump in her lung was not malignent - well now they are not so sure. They claim sometimes they don't get a piece of lumps that may have cancer cells. I told Dad I don't care what they say - the lump should have had a high count of white blood cells I would have thought to alert them to something being wrong at least..... I also told Dad today on the phone to tell them if the results from the bloody fluid would come back Tuesday to give the same result as what the test in the sister hospital would give - don't put Mom through the stress and trauma of transporting her to the other hospital tomorrow - wait for the culture results. Dad was concerned last night when I left what we would do if the result was cancer. I told him to not even think that way - why worry about something that we don't have the results yet. And if the results are cancer - we would deal with it then.
I know there are lots of prayers being said for my folks - which I am very thankful and greatful for. If you could especially remember them in prayer the next few days that would be awesome.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
4th Of July
I thought I might - just might - sleep in a little later yesterday.....like maybe until 7:00 a.m. but Butler saw that didn't happen. Once I was up I decided I might as well work on things - like loading the pictures from painting the house this past weekend. Then I headed downstairs to the office to balance the checkbook - something I just l-o-v-e to do...not. And then worked on thank you cards for those that scraped, taped and painted last Saturday.
Mike and I never made definite plans for holidays like Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day - we played them by ear which was awesome for the two of us but stinks when you are single. Dad asked if I had anything planned and I told him once I finished the things in the office, I needed to vacuum the car and then wasn't sure what I'd do.
Got the car vacuumed really good and then decided to just drive - which was something Mike and I also loved to do. Just head out in a direction and see where we ended up. I decided I wanted to spend a little time on Mike's bench at Raccoon River Park but thought the park might be full of people and parking might be difficult - nope. Found a spot right off. The tree they planted by Mike's bench is looking really good - see picture below.
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I got emotional sitting there "talking to Mike" saying how it didn't seem possible he'd been gone for two 4th's now and that I really missed him. I took a little drive after leaving the park and then decided to go to Family Video to rent a DVD and couldn't find anything that sounded good or that I was in the mood for - so I headed for home.
Got settled on the bed with my book and Butler and after a little bit I looked at Butler and realized he had a huge swelling under his jaw on the right side. I touched it and it started to bleed so I got the "brown bottle" aka peroxide and a bandaid. I debated a few minutes if I should take him to the emergency animal hospital and decided I better. Who knew what I'd be facing in the morning and I couldn't deal with taking him to the vet then because of having to go to work.
So......again on a holiday Butler had a boo boo that involved blood and going to the emergency animal hospital and as I plopped him on the back seat of the car on the blanket I put over the seat, I say to him, "really, the day I vacuum the car is the day you have to go to the emergency animal hospital - THE day I vacuum the car?" Oh well.
We go through check-in and head to a room where they take preliminary information and we wait for the doctor to come in. I decide Butler might calm down if I sit on the floor with him so I sit with my back against the door to the hall and he finally lays down on the floor next to me with his nose right on the door to the hallway - which is how the doctor sees him when she walks into the exam room. She's like, "he's ready to leave isn't he?" She didn't want to sedate him at his age to do a thorough exam/work up of his mouth and all - but what she could see from a very quick peek in his mouth and all was that Butler just had an infection - nothing relating to his mouth. Now....was it just an infection or was it more? We wouldn't know for a couple of days until he got some antibiotics on board because if the doctor took a sample of the swollen area she would basically just get white blood cells. So......if the swelling didn't go down some by Wednesday I was to take him to my vet or the emergency animal hospital for more testing because it was not "just an infection".
I get one pill down Butler - I'm to give him two a day but only one yesterday. I realize he is not thrilled to have anyone mess with his mouth or try to lift his chin to see how the swelling is doing so I wonder if I can take a black Sharpie marker and draw around the swollen area so if I do get his chin lifted I can check quickly to see if the swelling has gone down or gotten worse. But I don't want to use a Sharpie on him without checking - so I call the emergency animal hospital and pose my question stipulating that I had marked myself in the past when I had an issue to see if something had gotten worse. The lady that answered the phone wasn't sure if that would be ok or not and wanted to check with the vet - the vet thought that was a great idea and said to go ahead and mark him up. Butler was so happy when I did that - not.
Dad got home from visiting Mom and we talked about going to the fireworks and we decided we might but we'd touch base around 8:00 p.m. I then saw on PBS the Washington D.C. 4th celebration and an hour later on NBC the New York City 4th celebration. Between me doing things upstairs and Dad talking on the phone downstairs I think we both ended up watching both shows - and that was good enough fireworks for us.
This morning when I got up before pilling Butler I could tell the swelling under his chin had already started to go down.
Poor Mom - Dad told me tonight that now they have found fluid in her lungs and are waiting the results of x-rays today to see if they need to drain the fluid. To say I'm not happy with her treatment is an understatement......
Mike and I never made definite plans for holidays like Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day - we played them by ear which was awesome for the two of us but stinks when you are single. Dad asked if I had anything planned and I told him once I finished the things in the office, I needed to vacuum the car and then wasn't sure what I'd do.
Got the car vacuumed really good and then decided to just drive - which was something Mike and I also loved to do. Just head out in a direction and see where we ended up. I decided I wanted to spend a little time on Mike's bench at Raccoon River Park but thought the park might be full of people and parking might be difficult - nope. Found a spot right off. The tree they planted by Mike's bench is looking really good - see picture below.
Got settled on the bed with my book and Butler and after a little bit I looked at Butler and realized he had a huge swelling under his jaw on the right side. I touched it and it started to bleed so I got the "brown bottle" aka peroxide and a bandaid. I debated a few minutes if I should take him to the emergency animal hospital and decided I better. Who knew what I'd be facing in the morning and I couldn't deal with taking him to the vet then because of having to go to work.
So......again on a holiday Butler had a boo boo that involved blood and going to the emergency animal hospital and as I plopped him on the back seat of the car on the blanket I put over the seat, I say to him, "really, the day I vacuum the car is the day you have to go to the emergency animal hospital - THE day I vacuum the car?" Oh well.
We go through check-in and head to a room where they take preliminary information and we wait for the doctor to come in. I decide Butler might calm down if I sit on the floor with him so I sit with my back against the door to the hall and he finally lays down on the floor next to me with his nose right on the door to the hallway - which is how the doctor sees him when she walks into the exam room. She's like, "he's ready to leave isn't he?" She didn't want to sedate him at his age to do a thorough exam/work up of his mouth and all - but what she could see from a very quick peek in his mouth and all was that Butler just had an infection - nothing relating to his mouth. Now....was it just an infection or was it more? We wouldn't know for a couple of days until he got some antibiotics on board because if the doctor took a sample of the swollen area she would basically just get white blood cells. So......if the swelling didn't go down some by Wednesday I was to take him to my vet or the emergency animal hospital for more testing because it was not "just an infection".
I get one pill down Butler - I'm to give him two a day but only one yesterday. I realize he is not thrilled to have anyone mess with his mouth or try to lift his chin to see how the swelling is doing so I wonder if I can take a black Sharpie marker and draw around the swollen area so if I do get his chin lifted I can check quickly to see if the swelling has gone down or gotten worse. But I don't want to use a Sharpie on him without checking - so I call the emergency animal hospital and pose my question stipulating that I had marked myself in the past when I had an issue to see if something had gotten worse. The lady that answered the phone wasn't sure if that would be ok or not and wanted to check with the vet - the vet thought that was a great idea and said to go ahead and mark him up. Butler was so happy when I did that - not.
Dad got home from visiting Mom and we talked about going to the fireworks and we decided we might but we'd touch base around 8:00 p.m. I then saw on PBS the Washington D.C. 4th celebration and an hour later on NBC the New York City 4th celebration. Between me doing things upstairs and Dad talking on the phone downstairs I think we both ended up watching both shows - and that was good enough fireworks for us.
This morning when I got up before pilling Butler I could tell the swelling under his chin had already started to go down.
Poor Mom - Dad told me tonight that now they have found fluid in her lungs and are waiting the results of x-rays today to see if they need to drain the fluid. To say I'm not happy with her treatment is an understatement......
Monday, July 4, 2011
House Painting Pictures???
Ok - let's see if the photos from the house painting party will load this time. Because I went back to the "saved" post that I had tried to load pictures to yesterday, it kept yesterday's date for this post.....
On a side note I'm now 0-2 for 4th of July things I wanted - or kind of wanted - to do. NASCAR always has a night race for the 4th weekend and I was sure it was Sunday night, so Sunday morning I checked the schedule - and saw the race had been Saturday night - bummer.
Then the WDM parade is always the evening of the 3rd of July and for years it has started at 6:30 pm at Valley High School which is 3+ miles from Vine and 4th so it's a good 45 minutes before the parade even gets to my corner. Dad and I weren't really dead set on going to the parade but about 7:20 I said why don't we go. So I take Butler out to do his thing and we spray on bug spray, grab a couple of chairs and start down the block - to see a big WDM Public Works vehicle and a police car turn the corner at 4th and Vine south and then regular traffic going through the intersection of 4th and Vine - and people walking away from the corner of 4th and Vine. Then the police vehicle that had blocked the intersection of cross traffic at 4th and Vine drove off - missed the parade. I found out from my neighbor that the parade started at 5:30 this year.....
So we're thinking of going to WDM's fireworks tonight and I know where I want to park - the place Mike and I went the last two years we watched fireworks - and I KNOW they are tonight and I KNOW they are at dusk - so I shouldn't be able to goof that up - I hope :)
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On a side note I'm now 0-2 for 4th of July things I wanted - or kind of wanted - to do. NASCAR always has a night race for the 4th weekend and I was sure it was Sunday night, so Sunday morning I checked the schedule - and saw the race had been Saturday night - bummer.
Then the WDM parade is always the evening of the 3rd of July and for years it has started at 6:30 pm at Valley High School which is 3+ miles from Vine and 4th so it's a good 45 minutes before the parade even gets to my corner. Dad and I weren't really dead set on going to the parade but about 7:20 I said why don't we go. So I take Butler out to do his thing and we spray on bug spray, grab a couple of chairs and start down the block - to see a big WDM Public Works vehicle and a police car turn the corner at 4th and Vine south and then regular traffic going through the intersection of 4th and Vine - and people walking away from the corner of 4th and Vine. Then the police vehicle that had blocked the intersection of cross traffic at 4th and Vine drove off - missed the parade. I found out from my neighbor that the parade started at 5:30 this year.....
So we're thinking of going to WDM's fireworks tonight and I know where I want to park - the place Mike and I went the last two years we watched fireworks - and I KNOW they are tonight and I KNOW they are at dusk - so I shouldn't be able to goof that up - I hope :)
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Last time the house will look like this - white with blue trim and in desperate need of painting.
Even the kids got into scraping - if they didn't have a paint scraper they grabbed a hunk of concrete to use as a scraper :)
Getting instructions from Phil (blue t-shirt in background) on what to do next.
Scraping, scraping and more scraping.
Working way up high.
Ken figuring out his next mode of attack on scraping.
Darin starting to tape.
That would be my pastor, Josh, taking a moment to pose for the camera on my roof. The person going in my front door that looks like a stooped over elderly person with a hat is me. Not sure who the other person is next to Josh - who appears to be working while Josh is posing......
Julie and my small group leader, Rob, taping windows.
Now it's getting serious - one of the doors is being taped over :)
Butler made lots of new friends!
Lunch time!
Dad mugging for the camera :)
Another shot of lunch time.
Josh taping.
The kids spent the day in Legion Park playing, eating pizza at lunch and then wading in the wading pool.
The "grey" look aka over spray :)
Rigo literally got into his work when he was spraying paint.
Victoria - Rigo and Heather's little girl - gave me these pretty flowers Saturday from their yard.
Me and Lynn - my friend that invited me to Living Waters Fellowship last August.
Butler and me.
After everyone had left I took a couple of pictures - and I can't believe I actually got my hand in the picture - I never do that but with the sun shining and no true view finder on my camera I couldn't really see what I was taking a picture of. The house looks so bright and shiny - and it's getting some looks since all the paper and tape is staying on the windows until this next Saturday :) I may have to cut some holes in a few strategic windows before Saturday so it doesn't feel like I'm living in a cave :)
Surprise in the frig! Heather had taken a picture of a HUGE, silver grasshopper sculpture that is on a lawn in Newton that she posted on Facebook that we kidded about. After everyone had left, I had taken my "after" pictures of the house, seen the snake in the front yard, let Butler out and was putting what was left of the 2 liter of Coke in the frig I saw this and totally cracked up. Then I saw the grasshopper on my kitchen window ledge (scroll back up to the picture with the flowers and do a "where's Waldo" to find the grasshopper in the picture). Then the one on my table in the living room. Then the one on the sink in the downstairs bathroom. Then the last grasshopper on the stairs going upstairs to my bedroom. I LOVED it - it was like a scavenger hunt!
Butler at the end of his big day - I was wondering where I was going to sleep. I sleep on the left side of the bed looking at this picture - the other side was Mike's - so I laid down like normal and somehow got my legs down the side of the bed by Butler's behind but trust me - he was more comfortable Saturday night than I was :)
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