Is it spring????????

Still reading The Book of Mormon daily. I've only missed one day out of 62. I am so proud of myself. I have to admit the website, Readthescriptures.com did not help. It was actually the little booklet I snagged at work, Read The Book of Mormon in 100 Days.

I was diligently keeping track of my reading on a spreadsheet saved on the network. Nick kept warning us that the hard drive was iffy & we'd better save our stuff. Of course, I kept thinking about it, but never did it. Now it's gone, sigh, along with several other spreadsheets.

I have been keeping up on ReadtheScriptures.com, cuz I like the quotes that are given. The quote for today was quite appropriate.

"If we are well prepared, death brings no terror. From an eternal perspective, death is premature only for those who are not prepared to meet God."
--Elder Russell M. Nelson, Ensign, May 2005, 18

My mother is terrified to die. I don't know why. You'd think she'd want to be with her husband, children & parents. I'll have to admit, I'm not ready to lose her.

On another note, Mufasa killed 2 chickens Sunday. We didn't find out until Sunday evening when we took dog food over. Kim wanted us to get the chickens out of the kennel. It was dark, so we couldn't see what the kennel looked like.

Nick & I were afraid to go over to clean up the kennel. We are used to cats & expected total carnage - blood, guts & feathers all over. We were pleasantly surprised to see this sight. I only took one picture because Mufasa was so excited to see us, he kept getting in the way.

The chickens flew into Mufasa's kennel Sunday morning. He played with them, chasing them & grabbing them & shaking them like a big rag doll. They'd squawk & he'd let them go, chase them & grab them again. Once their necks were broken & they were dead, he left them alone. They weren't fun anymore.

We couldn't get a rope around him & so I squeezed my way into the kennel. Once I was in there, Nick held the door shut so Mufasa couldn't get out. I put disposable gloves on so I could pick the chickens up & put them over the kennel wall into the garbage bag Steve was holding. The kennel is 6 feet tall. I am barely 5'2", so it was a reach, especially to hold my arm up high enough to get the chicken over the fence.

We had a plan. I would clean up the chickens & Nick would hold the dog. Steve came out to help us. It was a clean kill, so I didn't need to pick up feathers & guts. I had taken a scarf to put over my face so I wouldn't smell the chickens & gag cleaning them up. Mufasa didn't bother me. He kept trying to force his way out of the kennel. I'm so glad Nick was there to hold the door. Steve suggested feeding the dog so that I could get out without fighting him too.

I cut my arm squeezing into the kennel. It is a 2" cut on top of my right wrist. It bled quite a bit. I took the scarf I didn't need for my face & Nick tied it on quite tight. I almost said something about not needing a tourniquet, but didn't want to incense him. I did need the pressure to keep it from bleeding. I cleaned it up at Mother's. It seems quite superficial, so I did not go into the ER to have it stitched. Don-Mike came home & took over bandaging it. It hurts tonight. I am so glad it was my right arm & not the left. The left is the one I have lymphedema in & it could be quite serious if that arm were to become infected.

What a weekend

I probably should be sharing this over on Mother's Caring Bridge site. Perhaps I'll copy some of it over later.

Don-Mike took the initiative & got his old cell phone turned on so that he has a phone until his new one comes on Monday or Tuesday. I had thought we were going to take his new old phone, or Nick's new old phone & give it to Mother. Nick, however, has found this really cool way of using your cell phone through your landline. It costs $150 just to get the equipment to do it. They, Nick & Don-Mike, want to get that set up before they add a line for Mother. I haven't had the energy to fight for just the cell phone yet, but may have to, as Lyola (Mother's lifelong friend) called yesterday & today. Lyola got a cell phone for Christmas. A Verizon cell phone, no less.

Now, to explain the "new old" phone. About March, Nick had a meltdown & broke his phone. Just snapped it in two. He went online & found some parts on E-bay & fixed it. He got his phone working again. Then something else went wrong, equipment failure. He took it down to the Verizon store in Logan & they gave him a brand new phone. So, he had this fairly new phone, he'd only used it a few months. But with Verizon you can update your phone every 2 years. In September he was eligible for an update. He wanted a Chocolate 3. He got the Chocolate 3. He gave the replacement Razor (new old phone) to Don-Mike because Don-Mike's phone was broken. Something had hit his pocket & smashed the window on his Razor. He wouldn't use Nick's phone. He wanted his own phone. So, for Christmas Don & Don-Mike got new phones. Actually, only Don got the new phone for Christmas.

Yesterday I decided I had to bite the bullet & clean Mufasa's kennel. The snow had piled up on the kennel & we've had a few warm days. One day it was up to 45° & the snow melted & dripped through. Mufasa was up to his ankles in mud & crud. I hadn't cleaned his kennel out in several weeks. So, I asked Kim if I could have Eddie come & help me. Well, he was a big help in getting the dog in & out of the kennel, but not much help in the actual cleaning. Don-Mike told me not to be like my mother & overdo. I told him that I had had an excellent example of how to overdo in watching both of my parents & their siblings.

Eddie tied Mufasa up to a fence pole & went back to the house. It took me 3 and half hours & I did get Eddie down to help shovel some of the soiled straw, but it smelled foul. Eddie had his t-shirt pulled up over his nose so he wouldn't throw up. By then I was so stuffed up I couldn't smell. I sent him back to the house. I brought Mufasa's pans up & cleaned them up & sat & rested for a little while. I was almost finished when Mother called to tell me she'd fallen & her face & leg was bleeding. She needed some help. I hurried & finished what I was doing. It was almost dark & thankfully Don was home.

It's January & Don has to work every day in January. Love the overtime, but sure do miss him on weekends. He gets very tired working every day.

I told Don & Eddie all they had to do was put the dog back in the kennel & make sure the door was secured so he wouldn't get out. I wasn't going to help because Mother had fallen & wanted some help.

Nick ran over to Mother's & I was not far behind him. She had fallen face first over a little flower stand. Quite a sturdy little stand that my father had made for Vera Smith many years ago. When Vera died, Reed brought the stand over & gave it to Mother. Her face had quit bleeding, but her shin took a long while to stop bleeding. She applied pressure & was using paper towels. She kept removing the paper towels & had a heap of bloody paper towels around her feet. By the time we got there, she had staunched the bleeding. Nick wanted to know if we should take her to the ER. I vetoed it, but tonight I'm not so sure. She told me where to get some band-aids. I told her that her skin is so fragile, that if we used a band-aid, it would tear her skin right off. She had some of the stretchy gauze that sticks to itself. Dr. Baker had given us some when she had the Mohs surgery on her arm. I used that & Nick went to the grocery store & bought some more.

Nick came home last night telling Don that it looked like Nana had been beat up. She looks worse today.

Tonight she has a big hard lump on her inner thigh & a huge bruise. She's afraid it's a blood clot. It probably is. Her shin was still bleeding tonight when I changed the bandage. It looked like it had just started bleeding again. Talk about wanting to throw up. My stomach is quite queasy when it comes to blood & gore. I swear that her shin is scraped to the bone. I tell you though, there is no yellow fat on that little skinny leg of hers.

Last night I stayed with Mother a couple of hours. I heated up some soup Luana had brought over & sat & had supper with her. I checked her shin before I came home. It had stopped bleeding.

My arm that has lymphedema in it was aching clear up into my shoulder last night. Today I feel like I've been beat up. My legs & back hurt & my arm still hurts, but I don't look like I've been beat up, LOL.