Monday, April 25, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Mom's THIRD Knee....
So I mentioned the other day that my Grandmother is in the hospital and yesterday made two weeks with some pretty intensive care. During that time, my Mom's lingering knee issue came to a head (so to speak) with a very clear sign that something was terribly wrong with her 2nd knee. A massive infection essentially came to the surface and burst through her skin just below the knee...A sure sign that SOMETHING was wrong and pure, unadulterated proof of a problem that she had been reporting to her doctors for some while now. Well, she is in the hospital tonight with eyes on taking that knee out and installing a temporary knee with antibiotics infused (I guess that's the term) and then three months later, they'll go back in and put in a third knee. What an ordeal she's been through but she's strong and she's probably weathered the worst because at least there is action taking place now...versus nothing at all. She'll certainly have some struggles between now and then but if the pain of the infection will subside, this may be a blessing in disguise and a temporary burden to get to a final resolution....I sure hope.
Grandmother's prognosis isn't tremendously better from last time but at least she has stabilized. She has some pretty serious infections and she has a lot of things working against her....she has been idle so long in the hospital that what muscle control she did have is probably slowly going away. She's too big right now but I suppose that's the Hall way...a sure reason for my big arse to keep running. And she really couldn't care for herself if she wanted to and in many ways, it seems unlikely that any of the family can care for her adequately due to some of these infections and, again, her size and lack of strength. It would be like moving dead weight as she can't pull, push, or lift much of anything. Sitting up seems to require aid right now and that just breaks my heart.
Knowing that both of them are just dying to see Reese and knowing that it could be months before Mom gets down here (we'll be up there in between, don't worry) Kim and I decided to make a little get well wish from Reese. We'll get one for Grandmother Helen tomorrow....holding this sign was a wrestling match to get a pic so just bear with us.....nonetheless......Get well soon from Reese!
Love, Reese!
Pray for my family. My Mother for healing, a speedy three months, and finally a swift return to her feet, My Grandmother for healing and for decisions that need to be made long term for her well being. My Dad because he's stretched thin just doing the day to day with both situations, and everyone else because we just need them. Thanks everyone.
Grandmother's prognosis isn't tremendously better from last time but at least she has stabilized. She has some pretty serious infections and she has a lot of things working against her....she has been idle so long in the hospital that what muscle control she did have is probably slowly going away. She's too big right now but I suppose that's the Hall way...a sure reason for my big arse to keep running. And she really couldn't care for herself if she wanted to and in many ways, it seems unlikely that any of the family can care for her adequately due to some of these infections and, again, her size and lack of strength. It would be like moving dead weight as she can't pull, push, or lift much of anything. Sitting up seems to require aid right now and that just breaks my heart.
Knowing that both of them are just dying to see Reese and knowing that it could be months before Mom gets down here (we'll be up there in between, don't worry) Kim and I decided to make a little get well wish from Reese. We'll get one for Grandmother Helen tomorrow....holding this sign was a wrestling match to get a pic so just bear with us.....nonetheless......Get well soon from Reese!
Pray for my family. My Mother for healing, a speedy three months, and finally a swift return to her feet, My Grandmother for healing and for decisions that need to be made long term for her well being. My Dad because he's stretched thin just doing the day to day with both situations, and everyone else because we just need them. Thanks everyone.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Quick pics...
Reese doing her new favorite smile....CHEESY-WHEEZY and then sporting the Hollywood glasses. What a ham.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Home repairs and a baby girl on the mend....
So last Monday....pretty much a week ago, a series of storms rolled through. Much like the ones that are about to roll through tonight and they left this on the back deck.........
My tent was on the deck and it pretty much took a beating so I'm not so sure the UGA tent has much more life in it after the beach trip and now a hail storm. That being said...all of that hail came from the west - our house faces west - the rain, hail, wind, deluge pummeled our western facing house with sideways rain, hail, and wind - all of that equals...........leaking single pane windows.
So, in heat that was reminiscent of June/July I decided that I'd rectify this situation on Saturday. I have glazing. I have a ladder. Done deal. Well...some one that owned our home prior to the Hall family residing here felt it necessary to plant Holly bushes in front of the house and those bushes are in front of the windows that were beaten to hell and back last week. I'll cover up! So I put on an INSULATED bib overall that should be used in 30 degree weather when it was 85 degrees. Stood on a ladder and reglazed windows while my insulated bibs protected me from the devil bush trying to scratch bloody welts on my legs. I remembered doing something like this years ago when I worked at the Fields Ferry Golf Course one summer....I had to edge sand traps and the edger was throwing sand at you like a blaster so myself and a friend working there come up with the idea to wear rubberized rain gear as protection. It worked but I think we lost about 20 lbs that day...same for me this Saturday. Not my brightest moment but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes and windows pouring water were not going to cut it.....big test tonight!
Sunday had me repairing leaks around the front door and repainting that mess too. Our front door surround looked awful and something had to be done there as well because the caulking had dried and water was trying to come in behind all of that as well.....I'm telling you, we had one hell of a flood here and any crack the rain could find....it went there. Kim and Reese played outside while I was painting and caulking on Sunday morning and Pooks had a blast with a new bubble maker and the pirate boat. She LOVES bubbles and Kim got the king daddy of all bubble blowers so Reese was in heaven. Some of the neighbor kids came over and the normal terrorizer wasn't quite as terrorizing on Sunday....a nice change that won't last I'm sure.
I mentioned that Reese was on the mend as she had been wrestling with fevers and just general ickiness all week but while I was traveling, Kim brought Pooks home looking like this.
If you didn't know my daughter and had never seen her before - you could probably assume she wasn't feeling up to speed. Those aren't tears so much as just watery eyes. Yucky nose, cough, tired.....just blah! Poor thing was in a bad way but she got better over the weekend with a pop of Benadryl and some kids Motrin.(Grape Ape) Her fevers were being knocked out by the Motrin but the Benadryl was new to our list of tools. It sort of hops her up for a little bit but then in true Benadryl fashion....she was a goner and slept pretty decent.
After getting a little better each day..Reese was back to her normal self on Sunday and I was able to catch Mommy and Pooks playing around a little so I grabbed a few candids of Mommy/Reesie time.
I caught Mommy eating on the job. Poor little Reese is busy unwrapping and working while M-O-M-M-Y was stealing a bite. Daddy sees all!
That's pretty much the updates from our end. My grandmother is still in the hospital nursing an ever changing list of maladies. Reports are that she is getting a little better but some days are obviously better than others. I think that she's got a long road ahead of her and some huge hills to climb in order to be living in her own home without some supervision. Living in what I'll call the Sunset years of her life....she has to be a little over it. I know she misses Papa, I know she misses being the Queen that he made her, I know she misses being able to do what she was once able to do...It's such a shame that our reward for a life well lived is to sort of suffer through loss....tragedy....and being alone without the one or ones that you love. The term nursing home has been brought up and I've fought back a little - even gone so far as to doubt that the right thing was being done when that was mentioned. Nursing home always brought up the notion of "being put out to pasture". Sort of put some place to dwell but not live.
I should know my role in this situation and be supportive but sometimes I have a hard time doing that. It's hard to have these conversations with my family because I don't like to hear what they're saying sometimes and questioning a decision or not understanding a view point isn't an easy thing. I have a take no prisoners type of argument style....and when pushed to a point, I'll pretty much just let it rip. I don't have a governer on my tongue so what comes out is just passion and frustration. I'm pretty level headed up to a point and then....when I've reached that point where I can't take any more of whatever it is...well, I push back. Maybe one day I'll learn a life lesson there but Kim isn't a good one to learn from. She's too damn passive and I'm a little bit more like the bull in the china shop. Kim is able to can up those emotions and put them on a shelf to deal with at a later time - in a less emotional state. Maybe I should learn to can things and learn to leave well enough alone.
Or maybe stab something in my eye....I think that would be easier.
I digress....Pray for continued healing for my Grandmother. Pray that Kim will teach me how to can emotions someday (hahahahaha) and keep some good words in there for our little family. Everyone needs a prayer now and then. Thanks!
My tent was on the deck and it pretty much took a beating so I'm not so sure the UGA tent has much more life in it after the beach trip and now a hail storm. That being said...all of that hail came from the west - our house faces west - the rain, hail, wind, deluge pummeled our western facing house with sideways rain, hail, and wind - all of that equals...........leaking single pane windows.
So, in heat that was reminiscent of June/July I decided that I'd rectify this situation on Saturday. I have glazing. I have a ladder. Done deal. Well...some one that owned our home prior to the Hall family residing here felt it necessary to plant Holly bushes in front of the house and those bushes are in front of the windows that were beaten to hell and back last week. I'll cover up! So I put on an INSULATED bib overall that should be used in 30 degree weather when it was 85 degrees. Stood on a ladder and reglazed windows while my insulated bibs protected me from the devil bush trying to scratch bloody welts on my legs. I remembered doing something like this years ago when I worked at the Fields Ferry Golf Course one summer....I had to edge sand traps and the edger was throwing sand at you like a blaster so myself and a friend working there come up with the idea to wear rubberized rain gear as protection. It worked but I think we lost about 20 lbs that day...same for me this Saturday. Not my brightest moment but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes and windows pouring water were not going to cut it.....big test tonight!
Sunday had me repairing leaks around the front door and repainting that mess too. Our front door surround looked awful and something had to be done there as well because the caulking had dried and water was trying to come in behind all of that as well.....I'm telling you, we had one hell of a flood here and any crack the rain could find....it went there. Kim and Reese played outside while I was painting and caulking on Sunday morning and Pooks had a blast with a new bubble maker and the pirate boat. She LOVES bubbles and Kim got the king daddy of all bubble blowers so Reese was in heaven. Some of the neighbor kids came over and the normal terrorizer wasn't quite as terrorizing on Sunday....a nice change that won't last I'm sure.
I mentioned that Reese was on the mend as she had been wrestling with fevers and just general ickiness all week but while I was traveling, Kim brought Pooks home looking like this.
If you didn't know my daughter and had never seen her before - you could probably assume she wasn't feeling up to speed. Those aren't tears so much as just watery eyes. Yucky nose, cough, tired.....just blah! Poor thing was in a bad way but she got better over the weekend with a pop of Benadryl and some kids Motrin.(Grape Ape) Her fevers were being knocked out by the Motrin but the Benadryl was new to our list of tools. It sort of hops her up for a little bit but then in true Benadryl fashion....she was a goner and slept pretty decent.
After getting a little better each day..Reese was back to her normal self on Sunday and I was able to catch Mommy and Pooks playing around a little so I grabbed a few candids of Mommy/Reesie time.
I caught Mommy eating on the job. Poor little Reese is busy unwrapping and working while M-O-M-M-Y was stealing a bite. Daddy sees all!
That's pretty much the updates from our end. My grandmother is still in the hospital nursing an ever changing list of maladies. Reports are that she is getting a little better but some days are obviously better than others. I think that she's got a long road ahead of her and some huge hills to climb in order to be living in her own home without some supervision. Living in what I'll call the Sunset years of her life....she has to be a little over it. I know she misses Papa, I know she misses being the Queen that he made her, I know she misses being able to do what she was once able to do...It's such a shame that our reward for a life well lived is to sort of suffer through loss....tragedy....and being alone without the one or ones that you love. The term nursing home has been brought up and I've fought back a little - even gone so far as to doubt that the right thing was being done when that was mentioned. Nursing home always brought up the notion of "being put out to pasture". Sort of put some place to dwell but not live.
I should know my role in this situation and be supportive but sometimes I have a hard time doing that. It's hard to have these conversations with my family because I don't like to hear what they're saying sometimes and questioning a decision or not understanding a view point isn't an easy thing. I have a take no prisoners type of argument style....and when pushed to a point, I'll pretty much just let it rip. I don't have a governer on my tongue so what comes out is just passion and frustration. I'm pretty level headed up to a point and then....when I've reached that point where I can't take any more of whatever it is...well, I push back. Maybe one day I'll learn a life lesson there but Kim isn't a good one to learn from. She's too damn passive and I'm a little bit more like the bull in the china shop. Kim is able to can up those emotions and put them on a shelf to deal with at a later time - in a less emotional state. Maybe I should learn to can things and learn to leave well enough alone.
Or maybe stab something in my eye....I think that would be easier.
I digress....Pray for continued healing for my Grandmother. Pray that Kim will teach me how to can emotions someday (hahahahaha) and keep some good words in there for our little family. Everyone needs a prayer now and then. Thanks!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Running, Grandmother in the hospital, and a haircut for Reese....
So it arrived....with little to no GOOD training I set out to run 6.5 miles on a trail here in Woodstock at the Old Rope Mill park Saturday morning. Nerves officially sat in mid-week when I realized I had sort of over committed. I mean I can run 5Ks and not really have an issue. 3.1 miles is a safe number and I can sort of click that off with no issues. 6.5 miles is quite a different story and on top of that....on trails. I ran a strong first mile...I was almost shocked at how quickly mile 2 showed up. Then mile three rolled up and I was hitting the wall. Usually the elation of mile three has meant I'm done, I've turned in a decent time and ready to go home. Well, I hit mile three on my watch at 32.50. I felt pretty good about that as the hills were steep and I never hit a "pace" so to speak I just struggled the whole time to find my rhythm.....WALL. ADAM. HIT. Mile 3.0 to 4.waterstation KILLED me. I found some strength at 5.0 and was able to finish somewhat strong but I was gassed. Completely done for the day and blitzed for the night too. I'm pleased with my running in that I finished but now I'm really pumped to go back to this course and beat my time. I know I can....I just have to ramp up my running and make it hurt more often.
She's playing in her new Pirate water set that Mom and Dad got her for her birthday and she loved that too. She was under the weather this morning with a bit of a temp but Children's Motrin to the rescue a few times today and she was as good as new.
Finally, my Grandmother had to be put in the hospital Saturday so I went to Calhoun to see her Sunday morning. She isn't doing well and her lack of taking medicine correctly sort of landed her in ICU yesterday. I think there are other things at play here but suffice it to say, she isn't doing all that well. I worry about this all the time. She's my last grandparent still with me and it just bothers me that sooner rather than later, I could lose that. Her stats changed for the positive before I left today but I still don't know what the long term holds for her. I worry that she's ready to go home....that she's ready to be with Papa again.....I can't blame her for wanting rest and peace and love that she's always believed waits on the other side but selfishly I hate to see her weakened by age and sickness. I'd want to go home too if I were 80 yrs old but at 36, I still want her with us as long as God will allow it.
My problems at work are pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things.....Things like running a long race or playing with my Reesie in the afternoons, seeing Kim be such an amazing Mommy and having the hots for her when she doesn't know I'm looking....I suppose that's more what this whole thing is about than outboard engines not being built and customers screaming at you about it.
Pray for Grandmother, pray that Reese is feeling better Monday....Thanks all.
I may run a little more this week to escape from the problems of the world....I find a bit of peace between pants.
This is me toasted at the finish line.
Reese giving Daddy some love....Daddy couldn't get up after this shot!
Saturday also landed Reese in the salon to get a little trimmy trim. Her poor hair has looked like Fop for so long and Kim decided it was time for a little girl "Bob" cut. I think she looks SOOOOO much better now.
Finally, my Grandmother had to be put in the hospital Saturday so I went to Calhoun to see her Sunday morning. She isn't doing well and her lack of taking medicine correctly sort of landed her in ICU yesterday. I think there are other things at play here but suffice it to say, she isn't doing all that well. I worry about this all the time. She's my last grandparent still with me and it just bothers me that sooner rather than later, I could lose that. Her stats changed for the positive before I left today but I still don't know what the long term holds for her. I worry that she's ready to go home....that she's ready to be with Papa again.....I can't blame her for wanting rest and peace and love that she's always believed waits on the other side but selfishly I hate to see her weakened by age and sickness. I'd want to go home too if I were 80 yrs old but at 36, I still want her with us as long as God will allow it.
My problems at work are pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things.....Things like running a long race or playing with my Reesie in the afternoons, seeing Kim be such an amazing Mommy and having the hots for her when she doesn't know I'm looking....I suppose that's more what this whole thing is about than outboard engines not being built and customers screaming at you about it.
Pray for Grandmother, pray that Reese is feeling better Monday....Thanks all.
I may run a little more this week to escape from the problems of the world....I find a bit of peace between pants.
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