A Sunday Ride

It seems the offer of a Sunday ride will still jump start Odetta. She has not really felt well all week. Today after church Don-Mike & Amber stopped by to see if Mother wanted to go for a ride.

Don-Mike walked in & asked Nana how she was doing. She was sitting slumped in her chair, She told him not very good. At least it wasn't "Terrible," which is her usual response. Don-Mike asked where she wanted to go for a ride.

She perked right up. "I don't know. Where's a good place to go?" Don-Mike suggested going up towards Grace. She readily agreed.

I said she wasn't dressed, but it didn't matter, she could go like she was. I sent her waste basket (to throw up in), a box of tampons (for nose bleeds), a blanket, her water bottle, some Kleenex & her portable oxygen. She wanted to wear her black nylon coat. I said I hoped neither one of them had OCD. Amber said she loves her nylon coat, she likes to rub it. So does Mother, but the rattle of the coat drives me crazy.

My whole life my parents always went for Sunday rides. They both enjoyed them. Even when my dad was so sick, Mother would take him for rides. Now, she still enjoys a ride.

Picnic

Yesterday, I posted this on Facebook:

My summer just kind of disappeared this year. This afternoon we are going up the canyon for a picnic, the first for me this year. Can't wait.

It was the first time I had been up the canyon this year. It was so nice to be out. We went to Willow Flat. I ♥ it up there. That was the last place I went before I left on my mission almost 40 years ago.

I was excited & hoped I wouldn't get sick. The food was delicious and I ate too much. I got soooo sick. I went to the car, took my eme-bag (barf bag) out of my purse & sat there with my stomach cramping.

The leaves are starting to turn, but it is soooo dry. It was nice, but then clouded up & random raindrops started falling just as we were finishing. We didn't get our watermelon. Not that I would have been able to eat it if we did.

Some things never change: like forgetting mustard & ketchup. I actually thought of it, but didn't stop & get it out of the fridge.

Nick didn't feel good yesterday after we ate, Don woke up in the night, Don-Mike had diarrhea all day. I don't know if Amber got sick. Mother didn't seem to, but today she is not feeling well. The home health nurse came & took her vitals & sat & talked for a few minutes. Everything checked out okay. I think it was the smoke from the bon fire & she didn't have her oxygen with her at the table, only in the car. I should be more conscientious, but I wasn't.

Word for 2012

Last January I read a Debbie Macomber book called "Thursdays at Eight." I loved it & suggested in the Goodreads Debbie Macomber group we pick a word for 2011. I chose the word resolution. I wrote:

I'm thinking resolution as in a solution, settling of a problem, coming to terms with my life.

How did I do in using my word to help me in 2011? I  THINK the foreclosure is resolved. We are at least working at it. The second half of the year, the months I have spent here at Mother's, was a solution, of sorts. I did not want Mother in the nursing home, so my move was part of my solution. But it still isn't "resolved." We are not HOME.

I have spent a lot of time since I've been over here thinking of the purpose of life. The months trying to get my medications on an even keel made me feel like I was thrashing around in a wilderness. Benchmarks are good. This foray wasn't as bad as some in years past, but ... does it help when you are in the midst of the angst???

I haven't made a choice on a word to live by this year. I'm still thinking.

Last year, after having this "Scathingly Brilliant Idea!!!", I found from reading a cousin's daughter's blog, she, the daughter, does this every year. She chose nurture for 2010 and joy for 2011. I was curious as to what word she would choose this year. She has chosen strength.

I made it to Sacrament Meeting yesterday. Yes, it is noteworthy because I have a very hard time getting up early enough to go to Sacrament Meeting when our meeting schedule is at 9 a.m. Yesterday was the first day of our new schedule: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. I got up at 10:15, chopped up some vegetables, threw them in the crockpot & made it to church.

Liz Child was the first speaker & she was amazing. She said she didn't have anything written, but she said we need to keep our priorities so the gospel is first, relationships (including family), education (learning) & then health. Shannon Knapp spoke also. She said as we set goals, they need to be measurable, written & checked often.

I wrote my word down, discussed it in January & then forgot it. It was a word that could be measured, it was written, but it wasn't checked often.

I just brought Mother home from the hospital today. She went in Friday, 12/30/11, & came home today, 1/2/12.

Never say never

Mother is in the Franklin County Transitional Care Center aka FCTCC aka the nursing home. I said I would never put her in the nursing home. I drug my feet on it, but the plan, in my mind at least, has been only a week.

When I told her how much it would cost to stay there ($7,000 a month), she said, "I can only stay here a week then." She was totally serious.

Today is the first time Nick has been in to see her since last Sunday at the hospital. For one thing, he hasn't known where she is. We were discussing that today & Mother said, "I'm down here in the dungeon." She is in the last room on her hall.

She was incarcerated on Tuesday, July 26, & so a week will be Tuesday. I'm hoping I can get her home by then or Wednesday at the latest. Incarcerated is a rather harsh word & she is getting good care. Probably better than she will get at home. She will have home health coming in.

Thursday, Dec. 9

As far as service goes, Nick took the honors today. I woke up sick with flu, I think. Whatever, I felt absolutely horrid. Don says we felt NICE. Nauseated, ill, crappy, exhausted. He came home from work sick too.He may have been nauseated, but not me. I had the Mexican two-step.

Nick took Mother to get her hair done, picked her up & took her to lunch. I didn't get the bandage changed on her leg, but I didn't feel up to it AND, this is a biggie, I didn't want to expose her to whatever bug I have.

I'm going to read my scriptures & go to bed.

Days 4 & 5

I missed posting what I am grateful for yesterday. So, I'll just add it today.

11/4: I am thankful for my two awesome sons, Nickolas & Don-Mikel.

I found an awesome poem when I was making my 2011 calendar on Heritage Makers.

Grown don't mean nothing to a mother. 
A child is a child. 
They get bigger, older, but grown? 
What's that suppose to mean? 
In my heart it don't mean a thing.

~ Toni Morrison

11/5: I am thankful for "goodly" parents, especially my mom.

I am grateful for both my parents, but my mom is still alive & I am grateful for that. She was confused today, sigh. "Goodly" parents, of course, is from 1 Nephi 1:1. Goodly is cross-referenced to Proverbs 22:1

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches and loving favour rather than silver and gold.

More episodes

or spells, or whatever you want to call them. Mother had another little episode today. It's her right side & her hand & foot goes numb. And she just gets weak.

Then a breathing spell. I had spent the afternoon with her. We watched a movie from Netflix. A Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, "Homecoming" with Anne Bancroft. The movie is based on the novel "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt. One of my favorite books.

I went to the grocery store & did some shopping for her, went back, fixed supper & she ate that. I left & I only got a couple of blocks. The wind was gusting & the dust was bad, lightning was flashing. I decided to go back & roll up the window's on Nan's Am (Don-Mike's 1980 Trans Am) & help Mother with her open windows. I got back, rolled up the windows on the car, went in the house & couldn't find Mother. She was in Don-Mike's room struggling with the windows. She could barely breathe.

Puttering she was not. She was downright working. I had put Don-Mike's work uniforms in the washer & told her they were there. She had got the clothes out of the dryer, hung them up, & put the uniforms in the dryer when the wind came up. So she was hurrying around, closing the windows & was ready to collapse. I sat with her, helped her with her inhaler & she finally caught her breath. She'd been too long without oxygen, too.

Mother needs more practice puttering

Today was a production day for the weekly newspaper I work for. Production days are hard. Some harder than others. One of the things I enjoy about my job is flexibility. What is it about Monday & Tuesday that brings on personal crises? The days I really can't be flexible.

Today was a typical Monday with not one crisis, not 2, but 3! Mail at our house tends to get buried. Is it any wonder we're always living on the edge financially? I picked up a stack of towels on the arm of a chair & found a final notice of a final Qwest bill! What???? Of course, it couldn't be taken care of over the weekend. And I couldn't get online. So, this morning I clocked out & went out & sat in the car to call. Forty-five minutes later I returned to work.

The second crisis came at 4:17. Don-Mike called to tell me Mother was having an episode. He was on his way back to work. I called Luana & asked her to check on Mother. She suggested I call Dr. Beckstead & see what he said. I really enjoy having Mother's doctor right here in town. I called, talked to his nurse, she said she'd talk to Dr. B & call me back. She did. He didn't seem too concerned, but said to watch her. He was on call tonight at the hospital if we needed to come in.

I decided Mother was having caffeine withdrawal. Don called while I was talking to Luana. So, I called Don back & asked him to go get Mother some Mt. Dew. I also asked him to bring me a refill of ... you guessed it ... Mt. Dew. Don brought my refill & while he was there, Nick called, angry & frustrated. He hung up on Don. Don jumped right up & tore out of the office like he was being pursued. Next, I received a phone call from Nick, which was incoherent & he hung up on ME. So, I took off. I did have the presence of mind to grab my street glasses, bag, clock out & lock the door after me. It was after 6 & I was there alone.

Don, knowing Nick was working on a car, was afraid the car had fallen on him. I, not knowing what he was doing, thought maybe he, or one of the cats, was hurt & bleeding. He was okay. Just frustrated & jumped to the conclusion that his dad would take forever.

At 8 o'clock, I decided to call it a day. Besides I've promised Kelly (publisher) & Rod (editor) that I will not stay later than 8.

I went directly over to Mother's. Luana was there. Mother had red all over her shirt. That gave me a jump start. I thought it was blood! No, she'd missed her mouth when she was eating some red jello that Luana had brought her. That concerns me. She missed her mouth.

The washer was going. I had heard her say something about washing Levis when I was talking to Luana earlier in the afternoon. I thought we'd talked her out of doing the laundry. I didn't want her up when she was weak on one side. Luana had started the washer. I love having Mother right next door to Luana.

Tomorrow is another day. Dr. Beckstead wants to see Mother in the morning.

The fine art of puttering

Mother had a checkup with her new primary care physician, Dr. Beckstead. He again reviewed her meds with her. He reviewed why she was in the hospital, congestive heart failure. He wants her to continue to take the 80 mg of lasix & not to work, but to putter. So, I asked him to define puttering, LOL.

He said puttering is a fine art. You have to work at it. He doesn't want her working. She's worked hard all her life, now it's time to putter. She can get up & walk out into the kitchen & get herself a Pepsi. Then he laughed & said maybe he shouldn't have said Pepsi. I said it was ok, Mt. Dew is Mother's drink of choice. OK, she can get up & go get her a Mt. Dew. She can walk around out side & sit in the swing for 15 minutes. But while she is wandering around outside, she is not to grab that hose she sees laying there & drag it around. If she sees the vacuum sitting out because someone forgot to put it away. Leave it there. That is a job for the boys.

He doesn't want her to do anything to make her breathe hard. Just putter. He was pleased that her ankles are down. They are not as swollen as they have been. He wants her to continue taking the 80 mg of lasix & see him in a month.

OT-Day 7

It's been a whole week of reading the Old Testament. Tonight I read Genesis 24:63-27:35. I am on Day 7 of 213 days. I plan to finish on New Year's Eve.

Mother spent most of last week in the Franklin County Medical Center, Tuesday through Saturday, with congestive heart failure & pneumonia.

This week is shaping up to be a very busy week, sigh. One of those Little Gingerbread Man Syndrome weeks - run, run as fast as you can. A week that is a month long.

Weekly update 3/14/10

Do I really want to do a weekly update?

1. I have read from The Book of Mormon daily. check
2. Wednesday: Took Mother to have an ultrasound of her carotid artery. Good result. Had her INR checked, down .2 to 2.4, means it's a little thick. Recheck in 1 week.
3. Thursday: Took Nick in for his med check, complete with a blood check. Results are "better than last time." Whatever that means.
4. Friday: Took Mother in to primary care physician, he put her on another new med for her COPD.
5. Worked Friday afternoon & found a problem with a couple of legals, grrr

 6. Saturday: Watched a movie, Are We Done Yet, with Mother & she loved it
7. Sunday: And last, but not least, Daylight Savings Time is here!!! BOOOOO!!! HISSS!!! And, since we "spring ahead," I got to bed "late" & got up "late" & then, because I slept in, the sun stayed up late. As Bishop LeGrand Burton once said to my mom one spring Sunday, "It's later than you think!"

So, even though my body says it's only 10:30, the clock says it's 11:30 & I have to get up at 6, not 7 in the morning, grrrr.

Disneyland, Days 1 & 2

We left last Wednesday morning at 3:30 a.m. & drove & drove & drove. We arrived in Anaheim at our hotel about 5, I think. I had reserved a handicapped accessible room at the Ramada Maingate hotel across from the main gate of Disneyland. It was only a 5-6 minute walk.

I had also bought three 2-day park hopper passes online. We thought Mother would have to be there to redeem the tickets because I had used her credit card to buy them. With that in mind, we decided to wait until Thursday morning, Thanksgiving, to start using the passes. Thursday morning Mother wasn't feeling good, but she never feels good in the mornings. The Ramada Maingate had all these little shops in front of it. One of them was the Scooter Shop. With Mother's macular degeneration, she is legally blind & cannot operate a motorized chair. So, we rented a nice push wheelchair. Don-Mike pushed her.

We got to Disneyland & purchased 2 one-day passes for Mother & I. Mother didn't want to ride any rides. I would have liked to, but didn't want to leave Mother sitting in the wheelchair. I had been told Thanksgiving is the time to go to Disneyland because there aren't any lines, but it was busy. I wanted to ride 2 rides, the teacups & the haunted mansion. I also wanted to see the Christmas parade & the fireworks.

We didn't need any identification for the park hopper passes that I had printed out at home. I pushed Mother into the castle. The moat stunk. I know why moats were put around castles & I'm sure the moat around a real castle stunk worse than this one. It was quite a chore pushing her up the ramp into the castle. I saw the teacups. It is the Scrambler with teacups for the seats, so no, I didn't ride it.

Mother & I were tired, so we went back to the hotel & took a nap. So, glad we have texting on our phones. I texted Don, but he can't see without his glasses & he didn't take his glasses with him to the park. So, Don-Mike & I texted back & forth.

We had Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings at Tony Roma's right next to the hotel. At least, Mother, Don, Don-Mike & I had T-giving dinner. Nick had a full rack of ribs.

Then we went back to Disneyland for the evening. I wanted to see the parade & the fireworks. The parade was fabulous. Nick found a perfect place for us to see the parade. Then the guys left to ride more rides, LOL, they weren't interested in seeing the parade.

We were on our own to see the parade & it was a great place. Some Orientals walked right in front of us & stood there taking pictures. A man told them to move, we were there first. Then he & his wife stood one on either side of us & kept the view clear for Mother to see. I called them our guardian angels.

The guys came back & took us to ride the Nightmare Before Christmas. I told Don that was the only thing I wanted to ride, so they went with us. They knew how to do the Fast Pass & how to get Mother to the front of the line. This was the ride I remembered the most from the first time I went in the 1970s. Of course, then it wasn't Nightmare before Christmas, it was something else. Mother & Don-Mike had a package of wrapping paper with a lit fuse sitting in their laps. Nick & I had candy canes. He thought they were boring & would have liked the coffin in the empty car next to us. I can't remember what Don had.

We also saw Fantasma & then stayed put for the fireworks. The fireworks were awesome. The next day the guys went to California Adventure & Mother & I stayed at the hotel & rested.

Two days was a lot better than a day and a half like we had planned. It worked out a lot better

Tuesday, Dec. 1

We made it home last night about 8 p.m. A day later than we planned. We spent a day longer at Disneyland than we had planned, but we're home! Mother did not come home in a coffin!! Woo hoo!! She's awfully tired, but you can't keep her down.

She almost had all of their laundry, hers & Don-Mike's, done & stuff put away when I got to her place this afternoon about 2:30. I, on the other hand, unpacked a suitcase. Before we could wash anything we had to get a bag of laundry soap.

I've caught up on Jonah, Sheila, Angela & Gwendolyn. It didn't look like anyone else had posted on their blogs in the last week. I also caught up on Facebook, but that wasn't horrendous, as I've been doing that sporadically this week.

I took my laptop with us, but the internet was always SOOOOOO slow. The only thing I could access was Facebook, so I was glad to check on that every day. Sunday night Nick & Don hogged the laptop. I was too tired & upset to fight for any time. I read.

I voted

 I voted today. We'll see what the verdict is tomorrow. Mother even got out to vote. Everyone but Nick did.

They have the voters split up by alphabet. Mother voted first. Then I went to the table for the first of the alphabet. I told them my name & spelled Bartlomé & specifically said, without an h. A lady came over & said no, that's B-a-r-t-H-l-o-m-e. So, they find Barthlome with an h. They're reading down through the list, JoAnn, Layne, Randy ... you're not here. I said, no that's Barthlome with an h. I don't have an h in my name. "Well, that's different," she snipped at me. It's like Nick said, I should have said to her, "I know how to spell my own name." Anyway, I bent over to sign my name & said, "Well, the Barthlomes over here paid to have the h put back in their name. We didn't." I even told her that I spelled Mikel & Nickolas without an h too. So, I voted for the city councilmen, but was still a little miffed.

Next, we had to go to another table & vote on the hospital bond. Again, two different election judges. One for the middle of the alphabet, Monson, & one for the beginning of the alphabet. Camille Saxton, a member of our ward & former Relief Society president, was the election judge for the first of the alphabet. She had no trouble finding me.

Don-Mikel called to see where we voted & I told him the Robinson Bldg. I called him back & said that when he voted for the city councilmen, he was going to have to spell his name, & tell the election judge there is no h, because she is so dumb. Don met Don-Mike at the Robinson Bldg. He said Don-Mike went first, said his name & said, Bartlomé without an H. Don said they flipped right to it & he & Don-Mike had no trouble. I told Don I was the pioneer then, I broke the ground for them.

I am so tired & have had a sore throat all day. I woke up with it. I thought it would go away like it usually does. I always wake up with a dry, dry throat. I sleep with my mouth open. That's why the CPAP mask is a full face mask, so that even though I sleep with my mouth open, the air pressure still keeps my throat open so I can breathe.

Did I, or did I not, do what was on my to do list for the day.

• I forgot to pay McKenzie Law Office, due Friday, Oct. 30.
  
• I forgot to pick up Nick's meds at the pharmacy Done & no co-pay for my pills!! W00t W00t
  
• Mother needs omeprazole
• I HAVE to send the Verizon rebate. I NEED that $50.
• I HAVE to pay the storage shed company. Today, I took Don-Mike's $50 & part of Nick's rent & got 2 money orders. I will pay storage tomorrow. I also wrote out a check for Mother's storage payment.
  
• Pampered Chef - I lost the order & now people are wondering where the stuff they ordered is. I'm wondering where the orders AND THE CHECKS are, sigh.

This was not on my list, but I also wrote out checks for Mother's rent & home-delivered meals, took her retirement checks to the bank & deposited them.I also took the check to the Community Center & put it through the mail slot. That saved her a 45¢ stamp

I am so tired. I waited for Don-Mike to come home & now I'm off to bed. I took my potassium pills this afternoon at work. Choked on them, as usual, even though I broke them in half. I guess trying to stuff 6 fairly large pills in my mouth at once doesn't work, sigh.

RIP Prissy

I found this on a friend's blog. She lost her cat on Sept. 27.

Can one ever be truly prepared for the death of a treasured family pet?
Every pagan family needs the obligatory black cat.

Our family LOVES black cats. Astro was all black, but with a white undercoat, then we had 4 "black & whites". Prissy had a tuxedo & little white mittens.We lost our Prissy today. We had her put to sleep. She died about 2:30 this afternoon. I prayed last night that if Prissy died, the ground would be soft enough to bury her. I woke up to rain this morning, but it soon stopped & the sun came out. Don had no trouble burying her. He did it by himself. He didn't ask for help because he didn't think Nick or Eddie would help him. Don-Mike was at work. And I'm such a chicken, I took off for work as soon as we got home from the vet, about 3.

I posted the following on Facebook this morning:

Prissy is still with us, but I don't know if she'll make it to her vet appt. I told Mother that Prissy was very ill & she said she wants to say good-bye. At least I told her while she was at the beauty parlor. Marcella was talking with her when I left.

Mother has her hair done every Saturday morning. Arlene Wanner used to take her, but Arlene has been very ill & is still very weak. I take Mother to her hair appt., Marcella, her beautician, calls me when she is done & then Mother & I go to Subway for lunch.

After Mother's hair appt., I brought her home so that she could say good-bye to Prissy. Prissy was very still & very cold. Mother sat & held her for about 20 minutes. She kept asking if Prissy was alive. She was so cold & still. I felt for Prissy's heart & she was purring.

Last night I had tried giving Prissy some more water in the syringe, but she choked & then she tried getting out of the chair & fell. So, I decided the bathroom heat vent would be the best place to put her. She couldn't fall out of that & break her neck. Several months ago I had bought a cute little fleece blanket at Dollar Tree. I found it again a day or 2 ago & was thinking I would put it in Jae's bed, but didn't. I dug the blanket out last night & put it & an old tattered t-shirt of Nick's on the heat vent in the bathroom & closed the door, not that I was afraid Prissy would go anywhere, but that Marsha might bother her.

Prissy barely made it to the vet appt. When I got home from taking Mother home, Don said that if I would drive, he would hold Prissy. I said no, he could drive & I'd hold Prissy. I had already made the decision we would have her put to sleep. And I didn't want to have to drive on the way home. I did that when I had Boots put to sleep & it's too hard to drive when you're crying. She seized several times on the way down. The first time I thought she was trying to throw up. She had such bad breath. I had Don stop a couple of times.

She was SOOOO cold that when they tried to take her temperature it didn't register. The vet gave us several options, but his first comment when he came in the examining room was that she was trying to check out on us.

One option was to do bloodwork & see what was going on. Another was to let her die naturally or the third was to help her along. She started seizing again as he walked out the door to get something. I asked him what she was doing. He stopped, looked & said, "She's made her decision for you." 

Even though I had made the decision to put her down & not put her through what I put Boots & Astro through, I still cried buckets & have a head ache & burning eyes.

I had a busy day. I took Mother to her hair appt. & lunch; Prissy to the vet & worked for 4 hours. After work, I went to tell Mother we had Prissy put to sleep. I fixed her supper, nuked a frozen dinner. On the way home I stopped at the grocery store for groceries. I fixed supper & am now on my way to bed.

Pre-op appointment today

Today I was supposed to be able to sleep in, dream on! At 3:30 a.m., I woke up to Don kissing my hand. Nick was not feeling good & needed to know what to do for diarrhea. I woke up long enough to tell them where the anti-diarrheal pills were. Nick had woken his dad up. I told them where the pills were & for Nick to take 2. At 8:15, I woke up to Nick poking my hand. He wanted to know if he needed to take another anti-diarrheal pill. Yes, if he'd had another bout of diarrhea. He spent most of the day napping, while I had to run errands & go to the pre-op appointment in Logan for my gall bladder surgery on Monday.

I made it to the doctor's appt. a little bit late. Dr. Broadbent explained the procedure, they gave me the paperwork to take to Cache Valley Specialty Hospital (CVSH) for bloodwork & an EKG. Because a friend had told me that he'd done her gall bladder surgery & also repaired her herniated belly button, I asked him if he could do it for me. He wanted to look at my belly button. I told him it was a Dr. Orvid Cutler belly button, but it hadn't survived 2 pregnancies very well. He checked it & said he'd be glad to fix it. A couple of stitches & it would be as good as new. Kewl!! Thx Carolyn.

The hospital stay will be overnight. I have so many health problems Dr. B. wants to keep me overnight. He also put me first on the surgical schedule. I have to be at CVSH at 6:30 a.m. on Monday, which means a 5:45 wake up time.

Before we went over to CVSH, I took Mother to Cache Valley Cardiology, Dr. Otrusinik's office, for her pro-time. It was 4.9! Ack! It had risen from 2.7 in one week. We need to recheck in one week. Mother will have to go down with Don Tuesday morning when he picks me up. Unless Don-Mike has Tuesday or Wednesday off & can take her. Nick also has a dentist appt., Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. I told Don I was glad he'd taken both Monday & Tuesday off, because he could substitute for me on Tuesday.

That's the bad thing about having no siblings, there is no one to spell you. I had a Church member tell me on my mission, actually she told my companion & my comp told me that I take being an only child too seriously. I don't think I take it serious enough. I have some real guilt issues when it comes to Daddy & not being there for he & Mother when he was so sick.

I didn't start out life as an only child. I am the youngest of three. My sister, Wanda, was born in November of 1946. My brother, Eldon, was born in March of 1949 & I was born in August of 1950. Eldon & I are 16 months apart. Life would have been a lot different if he had lived. As it was, he was injured at birth. My mom was in the hospital, but the doctor hadn't made it yet. The baby's head was crowning & the nurse panicked & pushed my mother's legs together, crushing the baby's head. He lived for 12 days. Mother & Daddy did not get a picture of him. Mother's oldest brother was supposed to take a picture of him. If he did, Mother never got a picture. My parents didn't have a camera.

My mother was very sick when I was born, something to do with blood. They didn't expect her to live. She was in the hospital for weeks. She was never able to have another child. She had a couple of miscarriages. I have Rh negative blood & she has Rh positive blood. I think that played a role in the fact that she was not able to carry another pregnancy to term.

My sister Wanda died 10 days after her 24th birthday of the side effects of cortisone given to her for the treatment of lupus, systemic lupus erythematosus or SLE. In 1970, they said it was cancer. Daddy died on Grandma Porter's birthday, May 26, 1992.

So, there is just me. Mother, however, comes from a large family of 8, 3 boys & 5 girls. Most of her sisters & brothers have large families, although there are 2 sisters with 3 kids. Their kids are all living, grown, married & have pretty large families. So, Mother feels left out. It really irks me when people brag about their large posterity.

We have a full quorum of family almost every Sunday. I feel overwhelmed with no siblings and sons, not daughters, to help care for Mother. But my sons are a big help. Especially Don-Mike.

Don-Mike & Mother live in Aunt Vi's house, across town. Mother's sister Luana rents it out. Vi was Luana's sister-in-law. There is not room for 5 adults here. It is a small 2 bedroom home. Don & I slept in a camper out back for years. We decided it was time to build on to our house in 2007 & the camper had to be moved. Don-Mike & Nick were sharing a room & they needed their own space. Luana's rental came vacant at the perfect time. It's a cute 2 bedroom home. I think it is the only way Mother would have moved out of her house.

I was going through chemo at the time & it would have been impossible for me to climb in & out of that camper. I couldn't sleep in there during the day anyway, because it was too hot.

Sorry I went off on a tangent. It sounds like a pity party, but it isn't really. It's "just the facts ma'am," as Sgt. Joe Friday of Dragnet would say.

I am very grateful for my husband & our sons. I am also very grateful to have children as the doctor told me that I would never be able to carry a pregnancy to term. We got 2 out of 6. Heavenly Father definitely knew what He was doing when He stopped at 2. I have 2 very determined sons. They beat the odds of getting here & are persistent. Sometimes not as determined & persistent as I want them to be in some areas, but we'll save that for another post.

As for me, I haven't discovered what my purpose here on earth is.

Labor Day Weekend

It's amazing that September is here, with the last long weekend of the summer. I have to admit fall is my favorite time of year, now that I no longer have to fight with school. I always dreaded fall as a kid in school & as my kids were in school. But I've always loved the warm, mellow days, beautiful leaves & cool evenings of autumn. You don't have to deal with the mud & cold days in the spring, or the hot, muggy days of summer, or the bitter cold & snow of winter.
Don & Nick have some online friends visiting, Melva & Ron Terry from Mississippi, & Gordon & Colin from Washington State. The Terrys are here for their son Kyle's wedding. Kyle is marrying a girl from Cache Valley on Monday. One of her parents, father I think, lives in Miss & her mom here. We met Kyle & Ashley earlier in the year.

We met them last night at Golden Corral for dinner. There were 10 people there, Ron, Melva, Kyle & Ashley, Ron's mother Trish & grandmother Wilma, Gordon & Colin, Matt (Ron's brother) & John, besides the 4 of us. Don, Nick & Eddie knew the majority of the people there from Runescape, an online game. They've known each other for several years. It was fun as they were introducing themselves by their user names. It confused me no end though as Don calls them by their given name or their user name, rarely interchanging them. They were talking about other friends that weren't there, so I had to ask for a user name, when the given name didn't mean anything to me.

It was fun. I've never seen Nick so animated with total "strangers." He was laughing & talking. It wasn't the usual monotone. They were talking Runescape though.

After dinner, we went out to their house. Check this link out, Logan vacation house rental. Don & I were amazed. It sleeps 16 & there must have been 10 people there already. I don't know if they saved any money over a hotel by the time they paid the deposit & cleaning fee besides the nightly fee, but it was sure nice.

Today, they came up to see the addition to the house, Nick's project car & the Mormon Pioneer Relic Hall in Franklin, the oldest permanent settlement in Idaho. Gordon & Colin from Washington State were on their way home as Colin has to be back in school Tuesday. He was homeschooled & now is in high school. Like Nick was.

Tomorrow there is a potluck rehearsal dinner in Hyrum that we're invited to. Mother's not going, doesn't sound like Don-Mike or Nick are going either, sigh. Tomorrow is Lasagna Sunday, but we didn't prepare for it. I guess if we don't go, we'll have to have zucchini dressing as that's the dish I was taking.

Monday is the wedding. On top of that, Mother is recovering from an acute asthma attack that took us to the Logan Hospital ER Thursday night. Since it's a holiday weekend, I worked yesterday, Friday. I should have finished the paper today, but I hit the floor a running this morning, & finally crashed at 4. I did not make it in to work. I've still got tomorrow & Monday though. We go to press Tuesday, but have Monday off.

At 6 I got up, went over to Mother's to give her another inhaler treatment, fixed her supper (nuked a TV dinner), & made sure she had the antibiotic, but not the steroids. I also went to the grocery store to buy more TV dinners & stuff for my covered dish for the potluck tomorrow & supper tonight. I took Mother's groceries to her, came home & fixed supper.

I stayed up until 3 last night waiting for Sam, our yellow tom cat, to come in. And so even though I had a 2 hour nap, I'm ready for bed tonight.

Hypokalemia

I went to my oncologist, Dr. Broadbent, this afternoon. I had my normal blood check at Cache Valley Specialty Hospital. I called Nick & see if he wanted to meet us for lunch. He said he was already in Smithfield & how about eating at A&W. I said, fine. I wasn't feeling very good, so I thought I'd just bag the rest of my errands. Mother wanted to go Dollar Tree in Smithfield, so I thought we'd eat, then go to the dollar store & home.

Dr. Broadbent called me as soon as he got the results from my bloodwork. We were just getting in the car after our lunch. Scared the crap out of me. I thought my cancer markers had skyrocketed or something. Nick had already left to go back into Logan to get gas at Sam's Club. We were supposed to meet him there.

Dr. Broadbent told me my potassium level was critically low, I needed to take potassium pills STAT. He told me that a couple of times, then told me to go straight home & call my doctor ASAP. I go to a nurse practitioner. I asked him to call her. The oncologist told me I could drop over dead.

Scared me so bad. I was thinking that I've had low potassium levels before. Maybe I could just have a potassium infusion like I did last time. I decided I'd meet Nick, called Don to meet us at Sam's. I thought he could take Mother to the dollar store & I'd just drive myself home. If I was going to drop over dead, I wasn't going to have Mother in the car when I did.

Mother & I had talked about dying on the way down. I said that I had read a quote

"I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens."

— Woody Allen

Mother said her dad, Grandpa Porter, always said he wasn't afraid to die, he just didn't want to have to go through what it took to die. Grandma Porter died of pancreatic cancer & suffered a lot. Most of our family have died lingering deaths.

Don met us at Sam's. Mother was crying. Nick had a "scathingly brilliant idea." Luckily he was thinking clearer than I was. He suggested his dad take Nana home. I could leave my car at ComputerWise in North Logan & ride home with him. Don agreed. Nick decided it would be easier for Nana to get into Don's car. Mother didn't want to shop anymore.

I called Roxanne (Froeher, Nurse Practioners of Preston) on the way home. She's so level headed. I love this lady. When she said my potassium level was 2.7. I laughed in relief. I told her that my potassium level had been a lot lower than that & I was still alive. She told me people could die at 2. I told her mine had been below 1 before. I'd had an infusion, but lived to tell about it.

When we got home, I took 40 meqs of potassium. Since we don't have a couch in the front room, I laid out on the swing on the porch. Nick pampered me. He got me a pillow, took my hearing aid & glasses. Don went to the store & bought bananas for me. I'm feeling much better. But I'd better not push it & go to bed early. I've been SOOO tired & feel like I'm going to pass out every time I stand up.

Other findings from my visit to the doctor today. My gall bladder is not going to get any better. I was told to check my calendar & find a week that I could take off & have it out. Don't wait until I'm full of infection. Dr. Broadbent checked the depression behind my left ear where the bone was taken out & stomach fat put in when I had the tumor removed. He told me to check with my ear, nose & throat doctor. It is noticeably sunken.

Mother's INR level was perfect for the 3rd time in a row, which is 6 weeks!!! It was 3.0!! How cool is that?

Cache Valley Cruise In

I promised pictures. This is Don-Mike at the Cache Valley Cruise In on July 4. He was just taking the T-tops off so he could go to lunch when we got there.

My niece, Bonnie, on the left, saw Don-Mike from the sidewalk & he was clear back by a building. I couldn't believe her sharp eyes.

Don is in the middle & Don-Mike in the red. A friend took some pictures of '50s vehicles. She posted them on Facebook & as I was looking through her album I saw Don-Mike way in the background of one of her pictures. I was thrilled.
















Don-Mike thoroughly enjoyed talking to people about their memories of their own cars. He got to cruise Main Street 4 times before they ended it. We took Mother down to the parade at 6. Bonnie had spent the afternoon waiting for a friend that never showed. I called to see where she was & she had walked up from the fairgrounds to Main & Center streets. When Don finally got a parking place, Mother walked half a block to Main Street to see the cars. She was very frustrated with all the noise & was pounding her cane on the pavement. I told her to take her hearing aids out then. That's what the cruise in was all about, showing off their vehicles & making noise.

Gigi is here!!!

My sister-in-law, Gloria, I guess I should say OUR sister-in-law, she's Don's brother Reed's wife, is here. Ok, I guess I shouldn't say she is here, as in here in the house. She's in Preston, staying at Mother's. She started signing herself GG, short for Grandma Gloria, about 10 years ago when her first grandchild was born. I spell it Gigi, LOL.

Anyway, Tiffany & Bonnie are with her. Tiffany will go on up to Idaho Falls to see a friend from college. Tiff got a full-ride scholarship at Southern Utah University in Cedar City. She just finished her freshman year. Bonnie had the weekend off & came up with her mom & sister. It was so good to see them. Cyndi & Robert will come up Monday morning, or perhaps Sunday night. Bonnie will then take a car back to Salt Lake & the other 4 will leave for Seattle to spend a week with Gigi's oldest daughter Diane & her family. With Bonnie coming up to drive the car back to SLC, they won't have to come back this way on their way home from Seattle to pick up the other car.

Don-Mike came home from the Cache Valley Cruise In tired & sunburned. He entered his '80 Trans Am. Something is wrong with it. He's had trouble starting it. He said he enjoyed the day. We'll go down tomorrow to watch the cruise in on Main Street in Logan. I hope he can get his car fixed, because he has always wanted to be part of the cruise in & now his car is acting up - grrr.

Gigi wants to go to the Taylor Reunion at Taylor's Corner in Paris tomorrow. I don't know how we're all going to fit in Don's car cuz Tiff is taking their car to IF. Well, ok, Bonnie, Mother, Gigi, Don & I. That's only 5. If Nick decides to go, Bonnie can ride with Nick in the Camaro.

As far as swishing & swiping, I did it yesterday AND today. Woo hoo, I'm proud of myself.

Speaking of bathrooms, LOL, Bonnie walked into Mother's bathroom & came out with this perplexed look on her face. She asked Mother if she could use the bathroom. Gigi asked her why she couldn't. I spoke up & said she could, but not to take the toilet riser off. Then I showed her the toilet in the laundry room. And told her that to use that bathroom, you close the laundry room door, because if you close the door to the toilet stall there is no light in there & you're sitting there in the dark. That's the toilet we all use. I don't like sitting on the riser. My feet don't touch the floor.

I also swish Mother's toilets regularly, not daily, but fairly often. I think though, if the riser came off, that toilet might actually look quite nasty.