Decision: Facebook....How Am I Ever Going to Find Time for This Too?

How do you all do it? I am hard pressed to find the time to do this blog let alone Facebook...whew......!
I didn't get up until 11:35 this morning and I suppose that could have something to do with how overwhelming this all is. Or maybe it could have something to do with the stress (good and bad), lack of sleep, and driving all those miles from that really big day I had yesterday with Angelica. Time will tell.
So, if I don't get posting done on this site AND I don't answer Skype calls in a timely manner AND you don't see me much on Facebook, please know it isn't because I don't love you, because I love you ALL! It's because it is really hard for me to do anything with my head 'spinning'!

Decision: Get Her There, No Matter What!

This was quite a day.....and that's an understatement!
My quest to get Angelica to the Ambassador Ballroom at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids by 7 AM this morning depended on me leaving work by 6 PM last night. About 5:10 PM I got the OK and by 6 was out of there.
I picked up Angelica, we drove to Great-Grandma's to spend the night. Got up at 3 AM and were on the road by 3:23. Ruth loaned us "Sally" (Magellan GPS) and we relied on her to get use there.
But, alas, all the gyrations we had to go through to get there were worth it! Angelica and I had a great time.

Decision: Do I Do What I Can or Do it All Another Time

Today was a gorgeous day! I really don't know what the temperature was but the sun was HOT!
I sort of made a challenge to myself to take every warm day this Winter and go to my storage unit to work on eliminating the need. Today would have been one of those days if I hadn't needed to go the the doctor for my follow up on my eye. Once I got outside, I was overcome by the urge to work at the sort/purge/get-rid-of thing!
Well, I didn't have much time but I did get to spend what I had in the sunshine and that is worth more than my sorting, purging, and getting-rid-of all put together.
I had to shovel snow to get in to the unit and it was so sunny and hot...my shovel was almost dry by the time I was ready to leave! Don't ya just love it!

Decision: What A Day!

We left the house this morning at 6:40 and returned at 6:10......sounds like magic, doesn't it! It was a long day (6:40 AM to 6:10 PM).
And, it was amazing! I mean the staff and the patients are phenomenal. There is so much positive energy flowing in the infusion room and in the many areas Mom has to visit on her way there. Everybody she interacts with seems to have her best interest at heart. They are friendly, funny, and feverishly serious about making her treatment all it can be to a successful end.
Mom has gone to bed now, tired from the busy day and her blood test shows she is a little enimic. (Doc is not worried about the enima right now and wants to see how it goes as Mom begins to heal.) So, next there will have a few bad days but when they level off, the healing will begin.
Dr. Johnson told Mom she can go back to her 'real life' (like bowling) as soon as she feels like it; now that is something positive we can all look forward to!

Decision: She's GLAD it's her last 'cocktail'!

Mom thought it would be a good idea to have this picture of her last cocktail here at U of M. (Or, maybe it's the endless supply of hot chocolate and warm blankets that makes her smile!)

Decision: Party at Grandma's House.........Jordan's big 30!

That's right....thirty years ago today Jordan was born! Who knew he would grow up to be a 'jet-setter' 'Sprint'(ing) all over the country!
Anyway, we gathered at Mom's, ordered pizza and subs, Mary made a cake and pumpkin dessert. We sang 'Happy Birthday', put together a 1000 piece puzzle, played board games, had Wii tournaments, and generally whooped it up as only the Richardson clan can!
Here is one of the highlights from this evening:
Sorry Jordan, I couldn't resist. This is not the picture I planned to use but that one is in the camera that Amanda has. Besides, Grandpa would be proud....he loved sticking his tongue out at the camera (or one would think as he did it so often)! Happy Birthday to YOU!

Decision: A Frolic in the Snow

The Kirkendall Boys bundled up to go sledding. Unfortunately, it's not the right kind of snow.....too fluffy. They sunk to the ground!

Not to be discouraged, they made snow angels, walked as best they could around the yard, and waved to Aunt Marlys, who was taking pictures through the screened window in the warm confines of the apartment.

Despite the 'faulty snow', they generally had a good time!

Decision: Aarrrrr Matey!

Well, there's good news and bad news.....

I called the doctor to tell him it wasn't any better and he sent me immediately to the emergency room (the 'immediate' part was also because of the snow storm coming). At the hospital, again, everybody who looked at it said 'oooo, that's bad'. Not exactly comforting! They asked a bunch of questions and gave me an eye test. Then, after a little consultation, they squirted goop in my eye, turned out the room lights, turned on the blacklight, and three of them in unison said: "there it is".

It turns out it's not pink eye, it's a corneal abrasion......I scratched my eye! The bad news is we were treating the wrong thing. Fortunately, no harm; no foul.

To prepare my eye for the new treatment, they had to give it a bath. I am not sure how often they do this but I lay on my back as one of them held my eye open and another poured a bottle of solution in it, as well as in my ear, down my neck, onto the bed where the back of my shirt got wet! Then, when as if I wasn't wet enough, they poured another bottle! I was so relieved at the prospect that my eye was going to get better I didn't care how wet I was getting......I just kept cracking jokes! Next came the ointment, gauze, and tape....my eye patch! I got another prescription, instructions on care when I got home, the news I had to pay $50 to get out of there.....humm. Oh ya, for good measure, they threw in a tetanus shoot (don't think I've had one in thirty years....ouch)!

So, out the door and to the car, clean it off and make a plan how I am going to drive to Meijer for the prescription and then home, in a snow storm, without the use of my right eye.......some days I am hard pressed to drive with two eyes, now I am using only one.

I managed just fine, well except for the depth perception thing......I was just really careful how close I got to anything! Called my boss to let him know what the results were and that I could work from 6 PM to midnight to finish my shift. I will leave it on the rest of the night, take it off in the morning, continue with the antibiotic but use the new drops. Then goop up my eye, patch it, and wear it to bed tomorrow night. I will keep doing that until the ointment is gone.

Decision: The EYE Has It...well one of them does!

......and it could spread!

I didn't go looking for this, it found me. Highly contagious, seriously infectious, and stubbornly hanging on since Monday night. And, this is after I started treatment with my doctor.

Keep checking to see how what we do next!

Decision: Two On There Way! Many, many more to go..............

I am reluctant to do this post because of the repercussions I will suffer from Molly, but here goes!

The 'two' I am referring to are packages being sent. One from Mom; one from me.

Molly, if you look closely at the picture you will see the irony of it all.....both have Alaska in the address, though they are not both going to you. What a small, small world!

Decision: What's in a Fortune Cookie Anyway?

I used to love the taste of them but over the resent years they just taste more like a cardboard box than a cookie! But, I still read the fortunes....and get puzzled. Take for instance, this one:
Focus on your long-term goal. Good things will soon happen.

What does that mean? 'Focus' I get (don't do it often enough, but I get what they mean). But, 'long-term goal'.......define 'long-term'. When I was a teenager (15 or so), long-term meant 10, 20, 30, 40, even 50 years (retirement age back then)! Now-a-days, long-term to me can mean what I am going to do next week (don't laugh.....you will all get there!). Truthfully, I think that is where I need to work more on the 'focus' part of the fortune......getting back to my point.......so, if my 'long-term' means next week, then my "good things will soon happen" has more to do with being thankful to wake up each day, have a job to go to or family to be with, some time for friends, blogging, going over hundreds of pictures to put life's stories together, etc. then it has to do with any of the dreams/goals I had as a teenager.....do you think!

Oh, and there's the Lucky Numbers too....21 28 39 42 48 49...what's that all about! (Any of these numbers strike you as being particularly lucky?)

Decision: And Now it Begins.....the New 'Work' Year!

For many of you, it never ended.....LOL I am fortunate to have four weeks vacation.....the most you can have from Merillat....er, ah...MascoBCG.....anyway the most they are going to let me have. I get kidded all the time about having three months but the truth is I get ONLY 20 days.....I just know when to take it to maximize time spent away from the office.
I have to admit, this is the first time I have not logged on to my work computer everyday in practically the whole 25+ years I have worked there......it felt good!
Well, I need to get going. I probably have 5 hours of 'home' things to do before I start my 8 hour shift. Have a great week....I am not real sure when I will get back to the blog, but probably not until next weekend!

Decision: Back to the Old Grind

Tomorrow will start the new year as far as work goes. I'll be dragging myself there as it has been really nice being off for two full weeks! Can't wait to do it again next year.
I have spent the day doing laundry, sorting and taking inventory on the food stuff readily available for dreaming up new dishes, and getting pictures ready to be printed. Meijer has next day 4 X 6 prints 10 for $10 this week and I want to get some printed for Aaron and Angelica. Getting them in groups in one folder will be a big help once I figure out again how to put them on Snapfish.

Mom went to bed a little early tonight. She hasn't slept very good the last couple of nights and it might help her 'discomfort' to get some extra rest. The cat has been sleeping down here most of the night.....I think to help her along. How thoughtful!

Decision: Rough Time At The Old "Farm" Today

Well, dirty dishes will get you every time. Mom is feeling down today....right on schedule in the sequence of events that have followed each chemo treatment. She was doing them up and got too hot, then hotter, and then had to sit down.
She says it's like the first treatment all over again. I wonder if that is because she had to go an extra week....sure helps explain why the doctor said can't delay more than a week with this schedule. Next treatment will be January 19 and should be the last one.......nobody will be happier than Mom for that to be true.
Keep her in your thoughts and prayers. She has been remarkable through this whole ordeal but a little extra word of encouragement and support couldn't hurt.

Decision: Has It Been Long Enough?

I called Aaron and asked him....he said "no Mom, I'm OK". Puzzled? I was.....LOL! I just wondered if I had given him a big enough break. After all, we had just spent 7 days in a row together in very close quarters!
He has had one heck of a time since we got back. He had to move equipment to a 'tax free yard' before midnight New Year's Eve and then move it out again after New Years Day. (He tells a better account of it than I).... but, suffice to say flat tires and expired plates made it mostly impossible. So, he gave it up, wrote a check for shingles, and spent Thursday and Friday shingling the front roofs.

I went over my list of missing things with him but he hasn't seen any of them. Actually, he hasn't taken everything out of the Expedition yet so there is still hope!

Decision: First Food of 2009

Got up but didn't have breakfast. Got on the computer, Mom came down from upstairs, and soon we were watching 'Dr. Phil'. Checked email and found invitation to Denise's blog (http://denise-angelwhispers.blogspot.com/); then Molly found me online and we 'IM'ed for awhile. Soon, I got hungry and Mom too. As she sat bundled up in her chair (getting ready for her next nap), she said 'Ice cream sounds good (explaining water isn't tasting good right now)'. So I jumped up and out to the kitchen: I got the last slice of Apple-Cranberry pie and two scoops of Butter Pecan ice cream for me; for Mom, I dished up three scoops of Whipped French Vanilla (she can't have the nuts right now). So, there you have it.....the first food of 2009. YUM, YUM!

HAPPY 2009 EVERYONE!

Mom just went to bed....."don't let anybody say I didn't see the new year come in.....I'm going to bed". Yes, that's what she said as she disappeared into the dimness of the Entry Room and headed up stairs. I grabbed my phone anticipating a call from one of my kids and hoping the Alaska kid didn't wait until it is midnight in her time zone....LOL. But, the circuits are too busy and suspect I will either get a call after I go to bed or in the morning (daylight)!
Enjoy the rest of your night...now I'm going to bed!