She's Gone Home

My mother has been debating for a few days as to whether or not she was ready to go home. This morning she decided that today was the day!

Hannah helped her pack her things and Justin loaded them into the car. All the while, she was shedding tears. I asked her why she was crying and she said it was because she's had such a wonderful time here with Bruce and me and her grandchildren. Here she is in her wheel chair with all of her pillows piled high. Boy, have all these pillows come in handy!! They've helped her so much during her recovery.


Here she is forcing a smile in the car. When we arrived at her house, Justin and I carried in her belongings, unpacked her bags, etc, and by the time we were finished she seemed to be doing a lot better.


When I spoke to daddy around 9:30 tonight, he said she was happy as a fat cat. I'm sure she and Dolly have enjoyed getting reacquainted tonight.

She knows the option to come back here is open and I'll pick her up anytime she wants me to.

Here's a picture of the sun shining through the trees when we were leaving to take mom home today. I thought it was pretty.

Mom, our family has enjoyed having you with us and each of the children have expressed, already, how much they miss having you here. Bruce and I still think you should have stayed until at least the end of the week, but I love my home too. So I can understand how homesick you were. You know we're here for you if you need us. I love you!

Bright Eyes

Daddy had his eye appointment today. At first we waited for his name to be called. As you can see...he was in rare form today. Come to think of it, these days are becoming less and less rare.


The poor nurse couldn't get anything done with his shenanigans.


He was reading the eye chart pretty good until the third sheet. Then I think he just started blurting out letters in hopes of getting at least one right.


They checked the pressure in his eyes, which was really disgusting. She was rubbing that thing all over his eyeball. I felt a little queasy by the time she was finished.


When his doctor came in for the surgical procedure, he asked me to step back into the waiting room. He would need total concentration since he was using the laser. But the whole time I was out in the waiting area being quiet, I was wondering if daddy was behaving himself and allowing Dr. Farr to concentrate.

The procedure took all of about ten minutes, if that. Which really surprised me.

Since he washed his cell phone in the washing machine *sigh* I drove him to Verizon to see about getting another one. We checked in and were number 1 on the list. However, we kept being skipped over and decided to leave. Opting to come another day or to another store.

I ran an errand to Wal Mart, stopped to buy us lunch, and then dropped daddy off at his house. I no sooner got home when my dear husband decided we needed to go pick up something in the way of a Christmas present for a special someone. We stopped by the hospital first to see Mrs. Janet, but were told she had been released and sent home. That was good news considering she was worried they would have to cut her open today. Praise the Lord they did not!

We did our shopping and got home in time to see Mike and Kim. They had dropped by to bring us supper. I told her to wait until mom went home from my house, but mom said she had been wanting Kim's lasagna. So when I spoke to Kim last night at church she said they would come tonight. And boy, did they! They brought with them lasagna (her grandmother's recipe), salad with ALL the fixin's, garlic bread, and a gallon of sweet tea. They also brought paper plates, bowls, and cups. Clean up was a cinch!

Thank you L family for your thoughtfulness in every detail of supper. It was so nice not having to cook this evening and it tasted absolutely superb!

Thou hast given so much
to me,Give one thing more, - a grateful heart;Not thankful when it pleaseth
me,As if Thy blessings had spare days,But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy
praise.

~George
Herbert

Hair Day and Thanksgiving Shopping

Friday afternoon I took mom to get her hair cut at Missy's. She was feeling a little blue with cabin fever and although I think she was too tired to go, she was happy to get her hair fixed. Since she couldn't lay back in the chair to get her hair washed, I washed it in the sink before we left.


I'm glad Missy was able to get to her yesterday.


Uhhh, wow.


I was going to tell you that this was Missy drying mom's hair, but that would be along the lines of, "DUH."

See the little sign that says "I'm a beautician, not a magician!" I got that for Missy a couple of years ago for Christmas and she's had it up ever since.

Almost finished!

Tah-DAH!

From left to right is Bruce, Mrs. Freida, John, daddy, Missy L, and mom. Mrs. Freida and Missy L came to visit last night and then John and Mikey showed up. Although mom was really tired, she had a pretty good day.

Mom and I got up this morning and headed to Wal Mart so she could get the things needed for Thanksgiving. We got there early enough to get her one of those little motorized carts. She putted from one end of the store to the other and back again. We also picked up groceries for daddy and delivered them. He was very happy to see the almost seventy dollars worth of groceries we bought for him. He even kissed his jar of bread and butter pickles. Mom was able to visit with Dolly and walk room to room in her own home. She really enjoyed that. We stopped at Food Lion to pick up a couple of things we couldn't find at Wal Mart, ran to pick up Justin's suit from the cleaners, and finally back home. By the time we got home, she was ready to crash. But not until after lunch, a visit from her hubby, and seeing my kids off to their youth outing. They shouldn't be back for several hours and it will be quiet in the house. So she should be able to rest nicely tonight. Lord willing she'll be at church Sunday night and is looking forward to that! I am too.

Exercises, Freecycle, and Visitors

OK, before you judge me too harshly, my mother laughed at this picture and told me to blog it. This was her facial expression yesterday while she did the new exercises for her hip. She has to lay her leg on a trash bag (long ways) and move it back and forth from left to right. The trash bag just helps her move more easily. Then she props a folded pillow under her knee and raises her foot off the mattress to straighten the knee several times. She has had a knot come up on her incission the last couple of nights and it's been very painful. We ice it and that seems to help a lot. We think it's been the exercises, but she knows she has to do them. So pray that her leg will get used to the exercises quickly. OH! before I forget, one of the therapists had an idea for an ice pack if you don't have one. And this works GREAT! We've made two of them and alternate as needed. You pour a large bottle of Palmolive into a gallon ziploc bag, then double bag it and freeze it. It doesn't freeze hard. It's like a gel pack. It's terrific.

I received a phone call from Justin yesterday afternoon. He was at Chick-fil-A and had locked the keys in the car. When I met him with the spare key I told him he had to wear the "I" for his grandpa. There's an inside joke between Justin and his grandpa about the "I" that only a few people know about. So this picture is for them! hehehe

I saw on freecycle yesterday that someone was giving away several Ultra Mini blood glucose meters. They've never been opened and I thought maybe mom and dad could each use one and then I could give one to someone else that could use it. Or daddy could even take one to dialysis to see if someone there could use it. Later, the same person posted several hand lotions so I told them I would take those too, but someone had beaten me to them. However, when I picked up the glucose meters, they had dropped three tubes of lotion in the bag with them. Which I thought was very nice of them. My hands get really dry in the winter, so I know I'll be using those.

My brother, John, was coming over for a visit with mom. It was a little late, but he's been working such long hours at work it's really the only time he could come. So while we waited for him to arrive, mom and the children played a game of UNO Attack. Harrison won.

Poor John can't leave his lab while they're running important tests, so he's been missing out on several meals and lots of sleep. Not to mention that his little wife is in nursing school AND in great pain with her gall bladder needing to be removed soon. Lord willing, she'll be having that done before Christmas and I'm sure she'll be feeling much better after that is taken care of. So it was a pleasure to serve John a hot meal last night. He seemed to enjoy it because every bite was followed by a "Mmmmmm."

I suppose that the fact that he licked his plate clean confirmed that it was good.

Traditions

We're waiting on mom's nurse to get here. She should be here between 11:30 and 12:30. Then her physical therapist will be here around 2:00.

School is completed for the day and I have a batch of chocolate chip cookies in the oven, waiting to be devoured.

While we wait we're doing a Thanksgiving tradition of watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Mom has never seen A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, so we're looking forward to seeing her reaction to it.

Traditions are an individual family thing. We used to have one where our dad would take us kids to climb Crowders Mountain while mom stayed back and prepared Thanksgiving dinner. We haven't done that in a long time. And every Thanksgiving morning, daddy would make homemade milkshakes for breakfast. A tradition that hasn't changed for anyone that shows up at their home Thanksgiving morning.
Young Married Sunday school class, this is not an invitation.

So tell me....What Thanksgiving traditions does your family have?

Mom and Ain't He Sweet?

The day I brought mom home with me from the hospital we stopped by her house to see Dolly. Dolly was so happy to see mom. She wanted mom to come inside the house so bad. She was content to visit with her at the car though.


Mom did good today. Her home health nurse, Megan, came out for her first visit. She was impressed at how well mom was doing. She has a couple of weeks before she can really go anywhere. Lord willing, she'll be able to at least attend church one service next week. We'll see how she does.

A couple of weeks ago, Bruce bought a small laptop. And I mean small. Anyway, while we were looking at the computers that night, I saw a little camera case I thought was cute and mentioned to Bruce that I liked it. Well, he ended up taking the very small computer back because he didn't like it and tonight he went to Best Buy and bought a Toshiba. When he came home, he handed me the camera case I liked. Isn't it cute?

There's a zippered pocked in the back where you can put your batteries and SD cards. It's just like a little pocketbook. The thing I love best about this little camera case, is that Bruce remembered me saying in passing that I liked it.

Ain't he sweet?

Good Report From the Doc

We just finished our first full day with mom being here. She had a pretty long day, which included seeing her home health nurse and me taking her to the doctor to have her staples removed. Thirty-nine staples, folks! WOW! But she acted as though she didn't even feel them coming out. I got to see her X-rays. That was pretty cool. And they checked to see how her movements were. The doctors were very impressed on how she was healing and with her mobility. Which is still very limited. But they were pleased with what they saw. So whatever we're doing, we're going to keep doing it!

So anyway, good news from the doc today! That's a big YAY!

We're both off to bed now. There's a big day in the works for tomorrow.

Mom's Update!

Mom has updated her blog. Click here to read that.

Coming Home!

I'll be picking mom up this morning from the hospital rehab. I think she's ready to get outta there!

We were supposed to go to co-op today. I had planned on going and waiting on mom's call to pick her up, but decided that would be a bad idea. For one thing, I know she'll be going early because they told her no physical therapy today. But the other reason is because the in home health care is sending some things to the house this morning that she'll need while she's here. So someone needs to be here when that comes.

We were supposed to do school pictures today at co-op, but I can do that myself sometime this week. I had also planned on a craft idea to do with the children at co-op. My Aunt Janice sent me the idea. It's inexpensive and very simple. You take a small terracotta pot and paint it to look like a candy corn. White on bottom, orange in the middle, yellow on top. Then fill it with candy corn, or your favorite candy. It would make a cute hostess gift if you're going to someone's home for Thanksgiving this year. Or just nice to set out for your visitors.

Funny Story

I received a phone call Sunday night after we arrived home from church. It was my mom. She was concerned about daddy because he was scheduled for eye surgery today and really needed a ride to and from that. So I told her not to worry about it. I would handle it.

This was originally going to be a very busy day for me because we have our annual Thanksgiving dinner for the ladies at church tonight. So since I needed to have school with the children, bake a turkey given to me for the ladies meeting, needed to show Hannah how to make her very first pie crust from scratch, etc, etc...I decided to rearrange my schedule yesterday. I had school with the kids, ran to the bank, ran back home because I forgot something, ran back to the bank, ran to the post office to mail a letter to a friend, ran to the hardware store (which didn't have what I needed), ran to see my mom and pick up her dirty clothes, ran into Roses for a throw away pan to bake my turkey in, ran into Food Lion for ingredients Hannah needed for her pie crust, ran home. Took some medicine for a POUNDING headache that never really went away, ran out with Bruce to do some business and pick up things needed for co-op Thursday, fixed supper for my family, threw in mom's dirty clothes to wash, cleaned the kitchen, prepared my turkey, bleached everything the turkey touched or was near (lol), and finally pushed ole Tom in the oven at 1:30 am. Swept the kitchen floor, folded mom's laundry so it would be ready to take to her on my way to get dad for his eye appointment, cleaned off "stuff" from the table, grabbed a sip of hot, raspberry green tea that was now cold because I forgot about it, (ewww), and hit the sack at 2:00 am sharp! I was whooped! But that's OK...everything was done for me to take daddy to his appointment and nothing would stand in the way of it. I got up at 6:00am to check on Tom, who was still looking a little pale for my liking.

Back in he went.

Back to bed I went.

Bruce woke me up for my morning back rub at 6:30. That was great! He's so sweet. Thanks, Hon! I fell back to sleep, which I don't normally do, and was finally awakened by Justin getting ready to leave for his class at the college. I checked Tom again, but he was still not to my liking. I sat with Bruce to watch Fox news for a little bit, stayed on the kids to get ready for school, and then.........the phone call. At 8:30 this morning I received a call from daddy saying that I didn't need to come get him today because he wasn't scheduled for anything.

*sigh*

Tom is done. I'm going back to bed.

EDITED TO SAY:
Daddy called this afternoon....his appointment was yesterday.

Mom, Rehab, and Date Night

When I drove mom from the hospital to rehab the other day I snagged some pictures of a new friend and her nurses before we left. This little lady was 85 years old, with a knee replacement. She was running circles around the other patients too. She was amazing and the sweetest lady!

Mom and Harry-boy.

These were mom's nurses. They were so great. From left to right is Sherry, Tana, Jamini, and Regina. They really knew their job and were great at it!

Unfortunately I can't say it's been such a great experience at this other hospital's rehab. Mom has been miserable. When I stayed with her the other night she slept for a little bit in the chair. But she was up a good bit during the night and also whimpering in her sleep. Since her physical therapist has started with her, she seems to be doing a little better. Although, the nurses are going to have to be taught about the different movements and ways she has to lay, the pillows needed, etc. I believe the therapist is going to work on them with that this week. It's been good for me too, to be able to watch and help since she'll be coming home with me after leaving rehab.

They are very understaffed and there has been a great deal of miscommunication between the hospitals, between mom and the nurses, between the nurses and the doctor, and between the doctor and mom. It has been VERY chaotic! So this morning I made my way down to the patient representative's office and had quite the chat. She was very helpful in getting some things cleared up. I was also able to speak to the doctor one on one this morning. And also the nurses before I left. I felt a lot better about things when I left mom this morning. They're not bad nurses, they just have too many patients per nurse up there. I'll be honest though, I'm supposed to have my ankle replaced in the near future and this is NOT helping me gear up for it. lol

I did have the opportunity to meet an elderly lady at the rehab. Her name is Josette. She's from France and has the most wonderful accent. We chatted about her beautiful roses, begonias, and orchids there in her room. I stopped by this morning and introduced her to Justin and Hannah. We had a nice chat with her. What a nice lady!

As you know, Friday is mine and Bruce's date night. I stole an idea from Twinmama and we tried on hats in the Christmas department at Wal Mart. I didn't find the perfect hat for this year, but I'm keeping my eyes opened. Bruce said he's posing with this same expression for the next four years. Three guesses why and the first two don't count. LOL

I liked this Angel hat, and it does reflect me so well, doesn't it? But I'm still looking for something different.

We had Chinese last night and then Bruce took me to Chick-fil-A for their peppermint, chocolate chip, milkshake. It was so good, y'all! It kind of tasted like the mint chocolate chip, but it was pink (my favorite color) and had little bits of peppermint in it. I had been wanting one ever since I saw they were making it for the holidays. Go get one!

I had to share this pic of Bruce because it was so funny. I guess I was too close, plus he had just taken a sip of his strawberry shake. It just cracked us up.

Why I Choose to Stay at Home..Part II And an Update on Mom

First, an update on mom. After moving her to rehab yesterday, I decided I was NOT going to leave her there alone last night. So I spent the night with her. She was in a great deal of pain because her medicines were not put in the computer correctly during the transfer. As of this morning they were STILL having problems. I was very upset, as you can imagine. That's just one of several things that went wrong last night. This morning I felt a little bit better leaving her, but may spend the night with her again tonight, depending on how they do with her today. They are very understaffed up there.

Why I Choose to Stay at Home...Part II

Biblical Descriptions of a Wife

The first thing we (women) are described to be is man's help meet. Genesis 2:18-20 says, "And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 19And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 20And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him." Bruce often says he would never marry again if anything were to happen to me. I take that as a sincere gesture of his love for me. Apparently, he could never love anyone the way he loves me. Isn't that sweet? But truthfully, I would want him to remarry. Bruce is a good husband and, just between us, he is not meant to be alone. I may have him spoiled, but he looks for me to stand on the porch and wave goodbye to him as he leaves for work each day. He looks for me to be home for him when he returns home from work each day. He looks forward to our Friday afternoon dates because he doesn't get to see me through the week, hardly enough to talk about anything of importance to him. He's my best friend and I am his. If anything were to happen to me, *spit* *spit*, he would be very lonely. I was created to walk beside of him, certainly not before him. Some people say that women are equal to men. But this is not so. God created man to rule over every living creature. Aren't we living creatures, ladies? After God placed Adam in that deep sleep and did a little divine surgery, if you will, he created us from Adam's rib. When Adam woke up, I'm sure he was elated to see the beautiful living creature before him, which he (Adam) named Eve. God knew she would bring something to Adam's life that no other creature (INCLUDING ANOTHER MAN) could bring to him. She would be his help meet. Bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.

We are also to be a crown to our husband. Proverbs 12:4 "A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones." I think we can all say we know at least one woman that brings shame upon her husband because she is lacking a great deal in the lines of virtue. She doesn't take his advice, she doesn't allow him to lead her, she doesn't work on keeping the house clean, she spends money they don't have on things they don't need, she puts her friends in front of him, she does not respect him as an authority figure over her, she flirts with other men, etc. The list could go on and on, I am afraid. But when we (women) do everything we can to be that Proverbs 31 woman, we become a crown to him. I would much rather be a crown to my husband than a badge of shame to him. Unfortunately, there are many things in my own life that I need to work on to become that Proverbs 31 woman. But I can honestly say that I strive not to bring shame upon my husband. I want people to look at him and see that he is the leader of his home. The king of his castle.

We are to be a good thing to our husband. Proverbs 18:22, "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD." God wants man to have a good wife. A wife that is willing to be what God would have her to be as a help meet to her husband. And when a man finds a good wife, he finds a good thing. Not too many men out there are finding good things in a wife these days. A lot of women out there are self-serving, demanding, petty, full of jealousy, filled with barmy expectations of her husband that make him look like a wimp to the rest of the world. And I must add here, ladies, that as mothers, it is so important that we do not create these foolish women. We need to be an example to them. We need to teach them what a godly wife is. Television teaches very little, if nothing at all, on how to be a good thing to a husband. Instead, we are constantly being told and shown that husbands are stupid and we are superior in both mind and strength. Which leads me to the next description.

We are the weaker vessel. I Peter 3:7 "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them (wives) according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered." I never paid attention to that "..dwell with them according to knowledge...giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel" parts much until a few months ago. Because we (women) are the weaker vessel, husbands have to handle us differently than they would someone else. In the Bible days, vessels were important pieces around the house. If you had a broken vessel, you might as well throw it out. It was of no use. The strong vessels were used for everything. And the weaker vessels could be used, but they had to be handled with care. We (women) are creatures of emotion. Men are NOT! lol There are emotions behind everything we ladies do. And that's why God found it so important to let him know that we ARE the weaker vessel, and that he is to understand that and handle us with care. And I'm so glad of that and so thankful for that. When my emotions are running amuck, I don't look for my friends. I look for the strong arms of my beloved to hold me and reassure me that everything is going to be all right. Husbands have such a greater burden than we do. And it is because they were created to be the leader and strong tower in the marriage.

Tomorrow I'll blog about the duties of the wife. Which is where Bruce and I made the decision together for me to stay at home comes in.

Moving to Rehab

Mom is doing good. But she's in a great deal of pain. She should have been coming home with me today, but they want her to go to rehab for a week or so before coming here. Even though she's in a lot of pain, she still seems to keep her sweet smile.


Harrison went with me yesterday to visit her. He packed up some school work, art books, and his Patch the Pirate devotion book, had my iPod and snacks. He was pretty well content and kept busy during mom's time of therapy.
She's in, what they call, the Joint Academy. They do joint replacements on Monday, therapy on Tue and Wed, and send you home on Thursday. There were only five people in the joint academy this week. They pull these chairs out into a circle in the hall and they all do their exercises together. They were all so nice and kept their smiles. Well, all but one. Bless her heart. This particular lady was miserable and gave up, going back to bed. It's so important to do the exercises so the muscles don't get stiff around the new joints. That could require more surgery and it's worse than the first. I hope that lady does better today.


Mom was nauseous and tired after their hour long session. I really think it's the pain meds. She's on some pretty high doses. Since she was dizzy and sick she stayed in her chair after therapy. We took a nap together.


And then my friend, Kelly, showed up with daddy's favorite candies in hand. Hershey's chocolate caramel filled treasures, dark chocolate covered almonds, and Raphaello's. We kid her about being the "candy lady" because she loves sweets.

Brother Johnny, Brother Humphries, and Pastor also came by to see her yesterday. She always enjoys seeing them. There were several people at church last night that asked me if mom told me they had come to see her. She's had a great deal of visitors and that always cheers her up. She was pleased at all the little ones that came to see their "Maw Maw ----."

It's going to be another busy day for us today. Besides school and trying to get a supper cooked before the day gets away from me, 0ur family is going in different directions. Justin is at the college and then going to work, Harrison and I will be going with daddy to pick mom up for her transfer to rehab, and Hannah will be going with her dad to her eye appointment.

I hope y'all have a terrific day!!

Mom's Surgery

Mom had to be checked in by 10:00 yesterday. She was in good spirits and ready to get that new hip. So far she's had two knee replacements and now a new hip. I told her she's becoming more and more like Barbie every year...all synthetic.


Me and my mommy.

My sister-in-law made it in to see mom before they took her down to prep her. She's in nursing school too. She's someone else that needs prayer. She's got some medical things going on with her that they're not too sure about. Nothing too serious, they think, but she's in a lot of pain right now.

They took mom down to start her antibiotics around 11:00. I was feeling sad for my dad because he had dialysis yesterday morn and wasn't there to see her before she went down. I knew he was on his way, so I prayed that he would have an opportunity to see her before she went in for surgery. I asked them if he could come back when he got there and they said if he got there in time he could come back. He was very weak and wobbly, but he did get in to see her. Awwww, kissy-kissy.

Pastor Goodman showed up and they let him back for a word of prayer. He stayed for a few minutes and then had to leave for another family in our church. Pray for them, please. I haven't heard anything since yesterday, but their son is dying with cancer and this is the second time to lose a son this year. The first son died from cancer also. So, please say a special prayer for that family.

This was mom's nurse while she was being prepped for surgery. She was so sweet. Of course, all of her nurses have been wonderful there. Suzy, Tana, Norma, Carolyn, LIZ, and (oh, I can't remember her recovery nurse's name).....they've been great.

Mrs. Liz, our youth pastor's wife, works at the ambulatory in our town. She called to check on mom after surgery yesterday and heard mom in pain in the background. She came straight to the hospital and held her hand during recovery and then helped wheel her back to her room. I was touched by that.

My friend, Kelly, came and stayed all day with dad and me. We had so much fun and a lot of laughs. We had lunch together at Ham's and she was exposed to "my world" being out in public with daddy. lol

We waited patiently in the hall as the nurses got her settled in her room. Daddy was the first one in to tell her he loved her and say bye. I was really worried about him. He was having trouble keeping his balance. But he did make it home all right and is doing much better today.

John showed up after he got off work.....

...and shortly after, my Darlin' showed up.

He kept telling mom, "Mama, we know you're in a lot of pain......but we love ya." I don't think that was much comfort.

John and I took turns feeding her that yummy hospital jello, broth, and other liquids.

She practiced her breathing tube-thingy and did really good.

And these are the beautiful flowers Mrs. Liz brought her. She placed them inside of a pumpkin and they were quite lovely to brighten the room and bring mom a smile.

Thank you all that visited, called, and prayed. Our family appreciates your thoughtfulness.

I spoke with our patient this morning and she did have a rough time last night with pain, but said she was doing pretty good this morning. They'll have her up and walking twice today. As a matter of fact, she should have been up for the first time about thirty minutes ago and then they'll have her up again later this afternoon.