Today is my 38th birthday. I like my birthday. It is all.about.me. No, not really, but it sounded good. In fact, this morning could not have proven more differently. I did get to sleep in, until almost 9:00, and stayed in bed until 9:20. That's about the highlight of the first part of my day, because it all went downhill after that.
Pal has been struggling with math at school, so the teacher assigned him some math homework for the weekend. Before I knew about this math homework on Friday, I agreed to let Pal have his best buddy over for a sleep-over. And then last night we went to a college hockey game and didn't get home until 11. Those 2 late nights combined didn't do Pal any justice and it was his math homework that would pay for it! And Hubby and I. I wanted him to finish the homework so that we could all go out and do something fun for my birthday, but after 2.5 hours and many crying/screaming jags, my level of expectation for the day had fizzled to almost nothing. I just wanted the damn math homework to be done, and done right. Is that too much to ask? We finally finished correcting the homework around 1:00.
After that, my birthday got better. We decided to use a gift certificate we had for the Texas Roadhouse, and it was delicious! Pal even tried some of Hubby's steak and liked it. When we got home, Hubby had bought me a chocolate cream pie from our old neighborhood bakery, and that was pretty delicious too! No singing, but that's okay too.
And then I went grocery shopping. Hey, it had to be done!
But as I think about turning 38, I realize how lucky I am. I have my health, a great husband, a healthy beautiful son, terrific friends, a wonderfully close family, a great in-law family, a warm home to come home to, a job that I love, my bills are paid, I have food in the fridge, and I can afford to vacation.
More importantly, I am comfortable with who I am. I know who I am, and am not afraid to be who I am. And that is the best gift of all.
Have a great week!
G
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Happy 19th Birthday, "C"
This is my niece, C, who is 19 today! I can't get the picture to appear bigger, but you can tell from the little postage stamp that she is a beautiful girl.
C is #3 in line of the nieces, and is the second child of my sister, P. I chose her birth-day. When P had to schedule a C-Section (no pun intended...a "C" section? get it?), she called me and said that she could have it on the 24th or on my birthday, the 25th. I thought that this child deserved her (or his, we didn't know at that point) own birthday. So, P went in for the C-section on the 24th. And ever since then, even though they are on separate days, I've shared my birthday with C. Because when you are 17, like I was when she was born, you are pretty much done with birthday parties anyway. So every year when P threw C a party, I felt like it was for me, too. I always enjoyed watching C open her presents because her whole face lit up when she saw what was inside. She didn't care if it was clothes or a new toy, she just loved opening presents.
C was a funny little kid too. She was terrified of dogs...mostly due to my sister's fear of dogs. One time when I was babysitting there, we watched the dog movie "Beethoven". That night, when it was time for bed, C came back downstairs crying and said "I can see Beethoven in my eyes"!!! We had to check the locks on the doors to make sure that no dogs could get in the house.
Hubby's favorite memory of C is when she was about 18 months old. We were having a cookout at their house and C was eating some chips. As she was toddling away, she tripped and as she was falling, she stuffed the chips in her mouth! Hubby was laughing so hard, and no one else had seen what she did. It was so funny.
Today she is turning 19 and is a freshman in college. I can't believe it. She has turned into a funny adult, too. She loves clothes, makeup and music like every other girl her age. She has a long-time boyfriend and he is a nice kid. My hope for her is that she finds her niche in life and is happy and successful.
So, Happy 19th Birthday, C. I love you.
Love, AG
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Happy Birthday, T2
Today is my nephew, who I will call T2, 5th Birthday!
He is the first born of Hubby's sister, and our longtime mutual friend-turned-brother-in-law, T. I call him "King of Diversion" because whenever he's in trouble, he tries to divert your attention to something else. For example, when he was yelling in the house while his brother was sleeping, I went in to say "T2, you have to be quiet or you will wake up J3". (J3 is T2's little brother.) While I am saying this to him, he is smiling up at me and saying at the same time "Auntie G, did you see my new toy?". He cracks us up, and uses words like "cross" instead of "mad", and refers to anytime before he was born as "the olden days".
The funniest thing he did recently was tell his brother that there was just not enough room in the house for both of them to live there, and that J3 will just have to go and live with Nana. And then another time, J3 called 911 when he was playing with the phone, and as you know - they still have to send an officer to the house even though it was an "accident". As soon as the policeman walked in the door, T2 pointed at J3 and said "HE DID IT!". There was no way he was taking the wrap for his little brother!!!
I tell him that I am going to "kiss him all day" and he tells me, "No, today is not the day." I just love this kid. I love all of my nieces and nephews equally of course, but he has a little corner of my heart reserved just for him.
Just look at him. Wouldn't you?
Happy 5th, T2. Be forwarned, there will be a day that I will kiss you all day.
Love, Auntie G
Saturday, January 10, 2009
A New Year - 2009 is Here!
Happy New Year, everyone!
I firmly believe that 2009 is going to be a good year. It WILL be a good year, I insist! It's off to a decent start - we sold my Dad's house as of the 6th, and moved him into the retirement community where he has wanted to go since 2001. The move was pretty smooth, last Saturday we moved all of the furniture that wasn't going to his new place but was being dispersed amongst the family. Then we went to the new place and unpacked all of the boxes and hung curtains. On Monday the movers came to the house and moved Dad's things to the new place. On Monday night, I took another van load of trash out of there after cleaning the bathrooms and emptying all the small stuff out of the house, the little things that you don't notice until you have to collect it all - it adds up quickly!! On Tuesday my sisters went to the closing and the house was officially THEIRS. The weirdest moment for me was on Monday night when I was leaving the house, I had to put my key inside on the counter and shut the door - I stood there, in the dark, staring back into the empty house, and realized I would never again walk through that door. At least not without being welcomed in by the new people!! It wasn't devastating, but just a little sad. The second weird moment was on Tuesday...I have to drive by the house on my way home from work and the new people were there, their car in the driveway and the lights in my Mom's old room were on. Just weird. Not bad weird, just unfamiliar weird. My sister-in-law said it best: "It's time for that house to raise it's next family." I thought that was an awesome way to look at it. She had the same experience a couple of years ago when her parents sold her childhood home. I know my sisters are having a harder time than my brother and I are. But that is just typical of our personalities.
My Dad already seems to be doing well at the new place. Yesterday I called him to see how he was doing and I could actually hear the difference in his voice. Some neighbors on his floor invited him down to dinner the night before and he went! That is already a 100% improvement than him living alone in that big old house!! I can not be more hopeful that my Dad will become more like his old self.
The only glitch with 2009 already being a better year is that Pal is having a hard time adjusting to being back to school. We go through this every year, and every year the teachers seem surprised by this, but I am not. I told this teacher that every year we have the same issues after the Christmas vacation - it's like starting school all over again for Pal. And it doesn't get any easier from here on out, because there are 2 more vacations before school is out, and Pal will have the same difficulty after those vacations. Oh well, let's just hope he gets back in the swing of things soon.
Heck, I had a hard time getting back in the swing of things with this last week being a full week of work, plus I worked this morning for 4 hours, so my weekend didn't begin until noontime today!
So, raise your glasses to a great beginning to 2009. I hope all your New Year's Resolutions go down the drain like mine always do!!! Just kidding - stick to 'em!!!!
G
I firmly believe that 2009 is going to be a good year. It WILL be a good year, I insist! It's off to a decent start - we sold my Dad's house as of the 6th, and moved him into the retirement community where he has wanted to go since 2001. The move was pretty smooth, last Saturday we moved all of the furniture that wasn't going to his new place but was being dispersed amongst the family. Then we went to the new place and unpacked all of the boxes and hung curtains. On Monday the movers came to the house and moved Dad's things to the new place. On Monday night, I took another van load of trash out of there after cleaning the bathrooms and emptying all the small stuff out of the house, the little things that you don't notice until you have to collect it all - it adds up quickly!! On Tuesday my sisters went to the closing and the house was officially THEIRS. The weirdest moment for me was on Monday night when I was leaving the house, I had to put my key inside on the counter and shut the door - I stood there, in the dark, staring back into the empty house, and realized I would never again walk through that door. At least not without being welcomed in by the new people!! It wasn't devastating, but just a little sad. The second weird moment was on Tuesday...I have to drive by the house on my way home from work and the new people were there, their car in the driveway and the lights in my Mom's old room were on. Just weird. Not bad weird, just unfamiliar weird. My sister-in-law said it best: "It's time for that house to raise it's next family." I thought that was an awesome way to look at it. She had the same experience a couple of years ago when her parents sold her childhood home. I know my sisters are having a harder time than my brother and I are. But that is just typical of our personalities.
My Dad already seems to be doing well at the new place. Yesterday I called him to see how he was doing and I could actually hear the difference in his voice. Some neighbors on his floor invited him down to dinner the night before and he went! That is already a 100% improvement than him living alone in that big old house!! I can not be more hopeful that my Dad will become more like his old self.
The only glitch with 2009 already being a better year is that Pal is having a hard time adjusting to being back to school. We go through this every year, and every year the teachers seem surprised by this, but I am not. I told this teacher that every year we have the same issues after the Christmas vacation - it's like starting school all over again for Pal. And it doesn't get any easier from here on out, because there are 2 more vacations before school is out, and Pal will have the same difficulty after those vacations. Oh well, let's just hope he gets back in the swing of things soon.
Heck, I had a hard time getting back in the swing of things with this last week being a full week of work, plus I worked this morning for 4 hours, so my weekend didn't begin until noontime today!
So, raise your glasses to a great beginning to 2009. I hope all your New Year's Resolutions go down the drain like mine always do!!! Just kidding - stick to 'em!!!!
G
Monday, January 5, 2009
I can sum this up in 6 words or less:
"WHY I HATE REAL CHRISTMAS TREES".
Anyone want to take a stab at it?
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Not A Creature Was Stirring
I find myself, strangely, home alone tonight. Completely alone. With the possible exception of the dog, 3 goldfish and an elf who has taken up temporary residence here until Santa takes him back on Christmas Eve. Which is tomorrow. Wow, it's already Christmas and I can't say that I'm sad to see 2008 go away. This year has been filled with a lot of trials and tribulations for my family. Here's a synopsis of life for us this year:
You might remember that as January began we were dealing with Pal having MRSA. That was one of the most disgusting things I've ever dealt with (see posts from last February, there are pictures...). The last flare-up he had was in July, and I am hoping that we are MRSA free, forever.
February brought many changes to my immediate family. My Father, after several close calls with my Mom wandering out of the house, and at all hours of the night, finally made the decision to move my Mom into an Assisted Living Facility. Our original plan was to move both of them into this one place we had already picked out, but my Dad decided that he wanted to stay at their house and just move my Mom. It was one of the hardest things we, as a family, and I, as an individual, have EVER had to do. Of course, all of us had assumed that once the "burden" of my Mom was off of my Dad's shoulders, he would regain his former life and continue on in freedom. However, this was NOT the case at all. My Dad became almost reclusive, drinking to drown the sorrow over the loss of the life he once shared with my Mom. It was something none of us saw coming, and we began the process of talking about selling the house and moving him elsewhere. He has always wanted to go to this one retirement community which is an excellent place for active seniors, but my Mom never wanted to go. I am thankful that I can say that we have SOLD his house and he will be going to that retirement community in January!
March brought on another problem my Hubby and I were dealing with, and that was Pal. His inability to pay attention or control his impulses had reached a boiling point at school, and he was ending up in trouble with the Principal, a LOT. Our suspicions had been suspicions long enough, and with the encouragement of Pal's teacher and lots of "discussions" between Hubby and I, we decided to have him evaluated by a team of professionals. Of course, we were not surprised in the least to have them tell us that he was "classic case" ADHD. He is not hyperactive, and there are other signs and symptoms of ADHD that he does NOT display, but the impulse control (or lack thereof) and inability to pay attention were the symptoms he displayed greatly. I felt so scared, but reassured that we were not crazy, and Pal's problems were not due to bad parenting or lack of discipline. Funny, how your own words can come back to bite you -- I had said many, many times previous to having my own child that I thought ADHD was a copout for those parents who didn't discipline their kids!!! Open mouth, insert foot. Thankfully, since he was diagnosed and put on a very low dose of medicine, his behavior at school and his grades are definitely MUCH better! He even commented to me yesterday that "he is so glad that the medicine helps him to act better because he hasn't been to the Principal's office once this whole year!". Thank God for small favors!!!
In April my father-in-law had a knee replacement surgery and everything went really well. That was until they looked at some blood-test results and his Ph levels were sky high. He ended up needing a transfusion in the hospital, and they sent him for a bone-marrow test. It turns out that he has leukemia. CML to be exact - Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia. It is highly treatable and is not fatal, but it does explain the chronic fatigue he suffers from, as well as some other minor complications. He has been taking an oral chemo drug for 6 months and his Ph levels have evened out. He still has bad days but overall is feeling well.
May was fairly uneventful, with the exception of Pal's allergies. This poor kid looked like someone punched him repeatedly in the eyes! They were so swollen, and we were back and forth to the Pedi several times before they found a medication that worked. Another major event in our life was that Hubby went back to being self-employed. This was what he has wanted for a long time and now that I carry our health insurance it was the perfect time.
June brought dental problems for me, a nasty fall for a close friend of mine in which she was hospitalized and in rehab for almost a month. She ended up with the same injury as Christopher Reeve, except she didn't sever her spinal chord. Then the Assisted Living Facility (ALF) where my Mom was called us and said she needed to go to the hospital Psych ward and be evaluated because they "just can't handle her". Basically what was happening was she needed to use the bathroom (urgently most times) and because of her Alzheimer's she couldn't find the bathroom and would end up having an accident on the floor. And it was usually in someone else's room, or in the director's office. It was obviously embarrassing for my Mom, who was always an extremely proud and independent person, and she began refusing their help. She wouldn't allow them to help her clean herself, and she wouldn't allow them to put a "Depends" on her either. In my opinion, and hindsight, this was mainly because they just didn't WANT to deal with her. She was evaluated and in the Psych ward for 2 weeks, where they had her on a toilet schedule and she was allowing them to help her with her hygiene. As soon as she went back to the ALF, the same behavior started (and they didn't stick to the toilet schedule, either!).
In July, we got another phone call that my Mom had fallen and they sent her back to the hospital; our opinion is that she had not fallen, but they were shorthanded and didn't have the staff to deal with her. In all of this, we were adjusting her medications to see if that would help. When she went back to the ALF, the dosages they had her on made her catatonic and very lethargic. Funnily enough we stopped receiving complaint calls from the ALF while she was so doped up.
July also brought about my niece K's surgery, which I posted about a few times. This was an extremely stressful time for my sister, and obviously our whole family. K came through the operation fine, but hit a few bumps on the road to recovery and didn't end up going back to college like she had planned. Her healing has taken much longer than she expected and because she is such a "go-getter" she has had a hard time adjusting to a slower pace. Right now, she is improving every day and is hoping to return to college in January.
August. This was our emotional roller-coaster month. My Mother-in-law was laid off from her job of 10 years and this was especially hard on her, mostly because it bruised her ego a bit. I don't mean to imply that she has an ego, but that getting laid off was a tough pill to swallow for her.
On August 5th, my Dad and I went to my Mom's ALF for her 6-month evaluation. The director sat with us and told us that although my Mom gets agitated, they can handle whatever she throws at them. She reassured us, several times, that my Mom's behavior was 100% normal and typical of someone with Alzheimer's. We left there feeling pretty good about where Mom was. Then the end of the month rolls around and we get a call that they were sending her back to the hospital because they had seen blood in her stool. We knew this already, because it had been discovered previously that she was severely anemic and her doctor felt that she was most likely bleeding internally. Because my Mom would refuse most tests needed to determine where the bleeding was coming from, the doctor put her on iron pills and told us to consider a colonoscopy. My Mom would never, ever, have agreed to a colonoscopy in her RIGHT mind, so we said no.
Well, when the ALF sent her back to the hospital this time, the doctors at the hospital agreed to keep her in the hospital to do the colonoscopy, and that we should find out what was wrong with Mom for our own health history, if nothing else. My sister, C, had a very hard time making this decision but we all reassured her it was the right thing to do. They prepped her for 2 days before and did the colonoscopy on Tuesday. The preliminary results came back the next day: huge, bleeding polyp, most likely malignant. Colon cancer. Wow. I hadn't even given cancer a second thought, but with our recent family issues with colons, I shouldn't be surprised. The doctor told us that my Mom has probably had this for some time, and she could live a long time with it. It was, however, inoperable. She was released back to the ALF and we contemplated what to do about this new diagnosis.
This was now the end of August. The ALF called me to complain that nobody had notified them of my Mom's return and they were not prepared to care for her, so we would have to hire a 24-hour assistant for her. HUH? Isn't that what we are paying YOU for??? Someone even mentioned to my sister that we should probably start looking for another "place" for my Mom, because they were just unable to care for her there. This threw us into a tizzy, because most places have waiting lists. My sister and I went to a few different ALF's but didn't find one that seemed capable of handling my Mom. We finally found a Nursing Home (NH) that had a bed available, and my sister's sister-in-law was also a nurse at this NH. They took her with no questions asked, and we could not have been more grateful to get my Mom out of that godforsaken ALF.
September has arrived at this point, and Mom settled in nicely at the new NH. School has begun, I am back to work, and things are actually calm for once.
October, though, brought us to the death of a close family friend. You can read my full post dedication to Mrs. D. in August of this year.
Another friend formerly of our campground also passed away, 7 weeks to the day of being diagnosed with cancer.
Toward the end of the month, Hubby's Nana, who turned 90 in September, took a turn for the worse. We had a family trip to Disney planned and were obviously worried about Nana. All we could do was pray that the two didn't interfere. I know it's not nice to think about someone's death affecting your vacation, but let's be serious and think of all the money that would be lost - there were 13 of us going on this trip.
Sadly, Nana passed away on November 1. We buried her 2 days before our big trip. (Thanks, Nana!!) The Disney trip was definitely the highlight of our year. Of course, there are always highlights to go with the lowlights in life, but unfortunately it seems like we can only remember the low.
As we enter into this Christmas season, I know it will be difficult not having my Mom by our side during our annual traditions. But I rest easy knowing she is safe, cared for, and comfortable where she is. I visited her today and will say a prayer for her on Christmas. I will miss her deeply, too.
I can only hope that happier times are ahead for my family. The end of December 2008will bring about a lot of change for my Dad as he prepares to move out of the house he's lived in for 46 years. My prayer, and I hope you all will join me in praying for this: 2009 will begin a fresh start to those who need it, and a new outlook on life for my Dad.
I'm sorry for the Bah-Humbug post! I really do wish all of you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and Happy New Year.
-G
You might remember that as January began we were dealing with Pal having MRSA. That was one of the most disgusting things I've ever dealt with (see posts from last February, there are pictures...). The last flare-up he had was in July, and I am hoping that we are MRSA free, forever.
February brought many changes to my immediate family. My Father, after several close calls with my Mom wandering out of the house, and at all hours of the night, finally made the decision to move my Mom into an Assisted Living Facility. Our original plan was to move both of them into this one place we had already picked out, but my Dad decided that he wanted to stay at their house and just move my Mom. It was one of the hardest things we, as a family, and I, as an individual, have EVER had to do. Of course, all of us had assumed that once the "burden" of my Mom was off of my Dad's shoulders, he would regain his former life and continue on in freedom. However, this was NOT the case at all. My Dad became almost reclusive, drinking to drown the sorrow over the loss of the life he once shared with my Mom. It was something none of us saw coming, and we began the process of talking about selling the house and moving him elsewhere. He has always wanted to go to this one retirement community which is an excellent place for active seniors, but my Mom never wanted to go. I am thankful that I can say that we have SOLD his house and he will be going to that retirement community in January!
March brought on another problem my Hubby and I were dealing with, and that was Pal. His inability to pay attention or control his impulses had reached a boiling point at school, and he was ending up in trouble with the Principal, a LOT. Our suspicions had been suspicions long enough, and with the encouragement of Pal's teacher and lots of "discussions" between Hubby and I, we decided to have him evaluated by a team of professionals. Of course, we were not surprised in the least to have them tell us that he was "classic case" ADHD. He is not hyperactive, and there are other signs and symptoms of ADHD that he does NOT display, but the impulse control (or lack thereof) and inability to pay attention were the symptoms he displayed greatly. I felt so scared, but reassured that we were not crazy, and Pal's problems were not due to bad parenting or lack of discipline. Funny, how your own words can come back to bite you -- I had said many, many times previous to having my own child that I thought ADHD was a copout for those parents who didn't discipline their kids!!! Open mouth, insert foot. Thankfully, since he was diagnosed and put on a very low dose of medicine, his behavior at school and his grades are definitely MUCH better! He even commented to me yesterday that "he is so glad that the medicine helps him to act better because he hasn't been to the Principal's office once this whole year!". Thank God for small favors!!!
In April my father-in-law had a knee replacement surgery and everything went really well. That was until they looked at some blood-test results and his Ph levels were sky high. He ended up needing a transfusion in the hospital, and they sent him for a bone-marrow test. It turns out that he has leukemia. CML to be exact - Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia. It is highly treatable and is not fatal, but it does explain the chronic fatigue he suffers from, as well as some other minor complications. He has been taking an oral chemo drug for 6 months and his Ph levels have evened out. He still has bad days but overall is feeling well.
May was fairly uneventful, with the exception of Pal's allergies. This poor kid looked like someone punched him repeatedly in the eyes! They were so swollen, and we were back and forth to the Pedi several times before they found a medication that worked. Another major event in our life was that Hubby went back to being self-employed. This was what he has wanted for a long time and now that I carry our health insurance it was the perfect time.
June brought dental problems for me, a nasty fall for a close friend of mine in which she was hospitalized and in rehab for almost a month. She ended up with the same injury as Christopher Reeve, except she didn't sever her spinal chord. Then the Assisted Living Facility (ALF) where my Mom was called us and said she needed to go to the hospital Psych ward and be evaluated because they "just can't handle her". Basically what was happening was she needed to use the bathroom (urgently most times) and because of her Alzheimer's she couldn't find the bathroom and would end up having an accident on the floor. And it was usually in someone else's room, or in the director's office. It was obviously embarrassing for my Mom, who was always an extremely proud and independent person, and she began refusing their help. She wouldn't allow them to help her clean herself, and she wouldn't allow them to put a "Depends" on her either. In my opinion, and hindsight, this was mainly because they just didn't WANT to deal with her. She was evaluated and in the Psych ward for 2 weeks, where they had her on a toilet schedule and she was allowing them to help her with her hygiene. As soon as she went back to the ALF, the same behavior started (and they didn't stick to the toilet schedule, either!).
In July, we got another phone call that my Mom had fallen and they sent her back to the hospital; our opinion is that she had not fallen, but they were shorthanded and didn't have the staff to deal with her. In all of this, we were adjusting her medications to see if that would help. When she went back to the ALF, the dosages they had her on made her catatonic and very lethargic. Funnily enough we stopped receiving complaint calls from the ALF while she was so doped up.
July also brought about my niece K's surgery, which I posted about a few times. This was an extremely stressful time for my sister, and obviously our whole family. K came through the operation fine, but hit a few bumps on the road to recovery and didn't end up going back to college like she had planned. Her healing has taken much longer than she expected and because she is such a "go-getter" she has had a hard time adjusting to a slower pace. Right now, she is improving every day and is hoping to return to college in January.
August. This was our emotional roller-coaster month. My Mother-in-law was laid off from her job of 10 years and this was especially hard on her, mostly because it bruised her ego a bit. I don't mean to imply that she has an ego, but that getting laid off was a tough pill to swallow for her.
On August 5th, my Dad and I went to my Mom's ALF for her 6-month evaluation. The director sat with us and told us that although my Mom gets agitated, they can handle whatever she throws at them. She reassured us, several times, that my Mom's behavior was 100% normal and typical of someone with Alzheimer's. We left there feeling pretty good about where Mom was. Then the end of the month rolls around and we get a call that they were sending her back to the hospital because they had seen blood in her stool. We knew this already, because it had been discovered previously that she was severely anemic and her doctor felt that she was most likely bleeding internally. Because my Mom would refuse most tests needed to determine where the bleeding was coming from, the doctor put her on iron pills and told us to consider a colonoscopy. My Mom would never, ever, have agreed to a colonoscopy in her RIGHT mind, so we said no.
Well, when the ALF sent her back to the hospital this time, the doctors at the hospital agreed to keep her in the hospital to do the colonoscopy, and that we should find out what was wrong with Mom for our own health history, if nothing else. My sister, C, had a very hard time making this decision but we all reassured her it was the right thing to do. They prepped her for 2 days before and did the colonoscopy on Tuesday. The preliminary results came back the next day: huge, bleeding polyp, most likely malignant. Colon cancer. Wow. I hadn't even given cancer a second thought, but with our recent family issues with colons, I shouldn't be surprised. The doctor told us that my Mom has probably had this for some time, and she could live a long time with it. It was, however, inoperable. She was released back to the ALF and we contemplated what to do about this new diagnosis.
This was now the end of August. The ALF called me to complain that nobody had notified them of my Mom's return and they were not prepared to care for her, so we would have to hire a 24-hour assistant for her. HUH? Isn't that what we are paying YOU for??? Someone even mentioned to my sister that we should probably start looking for another "place" for my Mom, because they were just unable to care for her there. This threw us into a tizzy, because most places have waiting lists. My sister and I went to a few different ALF's but didn't find one that seemed capable of handling my Mom. We finally found a Nursing Home (NH) that had a bed available, and my sister's sister-in-law was also a nurse at this NH. They took her with no questions asked, and we could not have been more grateful to get my Mom out of that godforsaken ALF.
September has arrived at this point, and Mom settled in nicely at the new NH. School has begun, I am back to work, and things are actually calm for once.
October, though, brought us to the death of a close family friend. You can read my full post dedication to Mrs. D. in August of this year.
Another friend formerly of our campground also passed away, 7 weeks to the day of being diagnosed with cancer.
Toward the end of the month, Hubby's Nana, who turned 90 in September, took a turn for the worse. We had a family trip to Disney planned and were obviously worried about Nana. All we could do was pray that the two didn't interfere. I know it's not nice to think about someone's death affecting your vacation, but let's be serious and think of all the money that would be lost - there were 13 of us going on this trip.
Sadly, Nana passed away on November 1. We buried her 2 days before our big trip. (Thanks, Nana!!) The Disney trip was definitely the highlight of our year. Of course, there are always highlights to go with the lowlights in life, but unfortunately it seems like we can only remember the low.
As we enter into this Christmas season, I know it will be difficult not having my Mom by our side during our annual traditions. But I rest easy knowing she is safe, cared for, and comfortable where she is. I visited her today and will say a prayer for her on Christmas. I will miss her deeply, too.
I can only hope that happier times are ahead for my family. The end of December 2008will bring about a lot of change for my Dad as he prepares to move out of the house he's lived in for 46 years. My prayer, and I hope you all will join me in praying for this: 2009 will begin a fresh start to those who need it, and a new outlook on life for my Dad.
I'm sorry for the Bah-Humbug post! I really do wish all of you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and Happy New Year.
-G
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Thirteen Years
Today marks 13 years of marriage for Hubby and I! Lucky #13. He was born on the 13th, so I don't feel like the number 13 means anything bad.
I just have to say that I love being married. And I love being married to HIM. (Most of the time, anyway!!!) I love coming home, knowing he'll be there with his quirky (read: dorky) greetings. I love it when he winks at me across a room and I know that he's saying "I love you". I love that he's such a good guy, like when he tells me that he helped an elderly woman to her car because it was icy. I love the feeling I get deep in my chest when he gives me a hug. I love that he can still make me laugh. I love it when he quotes movies and I don't know it, and I happen to see the movie years later and realize that's where the saying comes from! ("Hello, Willard!"). I love how he takes care of his parents. I love how he wants to do things with Pal, even though Pal doesn't always cooperate. I love that he loves me even though I've changed (read: gotten fat!) over the years. I love that he is a hard worker and is good at what he does. I love that he is a terrific budget-handler, because I'm not! I love that he enjoys hanging out with my family, too.
I could go on and on. He may wish I did! But all I really want him to know is that thirteen years later, I'd do it all over again as long as it's with him.
I love you, honey, Happy 13th Anniversary.
-G
I just have to say that I love being married. And I love being married to HIM. (Most of the time, anyway!!!) I love coming home, knowing he'll be there with his quirky (read: dorky) greetings. I love it when he winks at me across a room and I know that he's saying "I love you". I love that he's such a good guy, like when he tells me that he helped an elderly woman to her car because it was icy. I love the feeling I get deep in my chest when he gives me a hug. I love that he can still make me laugh. I love it when he quotes movies and I don't know it, and I happen to see the movie years later and realize that's where the saying comes from! ("Hello, Willard!"). I love how he takes care of his parents. I love how he wants to do things with Pal, even though Pal doesn't always cooperate. I love that he loves me even though I've changed (read: gotten fat!) over the years. I love that he is a hard worker and is good at what he does. I love that he is a terrific budget-handler, because I'm not! I love that he enjoys hanging out with my family, too.
I could go on and on. He may wish I did! But all I really want him to know is that thirteen years later, I'd do it all over again as long as it's with him.
I love you, honey, Happy 13th Anniversary.
-G
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