Fall trip

Just a quick post to let you know I haven't fallen into a bottomless pit somewhere! (Oh, and the below pictures have nothing to do with my recent trip, but didn't want to leave you high and dry!)

 

Last week, I left hubby at home and drove to Gatlinburg to meet up with my nursing school roommate, whom I've not seen in over 20 years! In fact, the last time I saw her was in 1989, when we were flying from Albuquerque to Birmingham, and had a few hours layover in St. Louis. She came to the airport and we got to talk for a little while, but my hubby, daughter, and foster son were there, as were her 2 little girls, so not much was accomplished. Before that? 1975, nearest I can figure.

We met when we went for our nursing school interviews. She was from Helen Keller's hometown, and I was from Birmingham, and there was no guarantee either of us would be admitted. In fact, there were lots of gals there, and there was more than one weekend of interviews, but we found each other and almost immediately decided to be roommates. We were 17. Amazing, huh? We've been friends 43 years now.

Gatlinburg was gorgeous this time of the year, (which is why she trades her timeshare for that time and place), and the weather was nice, but all we did was talk. And talk, and talk, and talk. We did go outside to eat a couple of times, but that was it. Her poor husband just took naps and watched TV and just generally chilled out. He's her second husband, and it was the first time I'd met him. What a nice guy!

I took my cameras, because that's where my photos are, and she brought her wedding photos, but the only pictures we took were of us together on the tiny balcony just before I left. We have vowed to do this every year, so I can plan to spend more than just 24 hours and we can do some shopping or sight-seeing or something. Husbands are optional.

So it was a wonderful interlude, but now it's back to the yard haunt. It's coming along, though there's still lots to do. I had requested 2 vacation days this week just to enjoy the weather and work on my haunt, but it's hard to squeeze a month's worth of Hallowe'en into only a week. I need to be cloned! Pictures and details to come later.

Neighbors

Saturday morning brought tree service folks to the door, ready to clear my driveway and yard, as is their business. But it also brought neighbors to my door, neighbors with a chain saw, who came out of the goodness of their hearts.

Jack is unable to even walk in the snow, much less help, but I was able to throw on a jacket and help drag cut limbs and branches out of the way. We lost more limbs and another tree during the night, and as we live on the corner of the two main streets in the neighborhood, the debris was seriously impeding traffic, too.

One of the men said he watches us set up for Halloween every year, and that his children really enjoy coming here to Trick or Treat.  That made me feel good, as if maybe we are contributing to the community in a small way.

More neighbors were out looking around, taking pictures, and they helped drag branches for a while, too. There was a lot to move.

Yesterday I ran into another neighbor at the grocery store, who is also a night nurse at my hospital.  He said he'd seen the mess on the way home Saturday morning, and had planned to come over with his chainsaw once he woke up that afternoon, but by then it was all done. Many hands...

When I was out here searching for a house back in 2003, one of the selections was a beautiful home with a garden bath and sitting room off the master bedroom, and a kitchen to die for.  It sat back off the road, hidden by a wooded area, accessed only by a long, winding gravel driveway, and no other houses for several "city blocks".   We didn't take it because there was no carport or garage, and we couldn't have afforded to add one, at least not for several years. But I think about how this winter would have been if we'd bought that house, and I believe our guardian angel was looking out for us. 

These guys did this because we are a community, a neighborhood, and would have been insulted if I'd tried to pay them. But I'll bet they won't turn down a pan of Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings tonight.

Checking in

Hi, all,
Thanks for the good wishes and prayers.  Just a brief note to fill you in.  J-Man  is in acute renal failure and liver failure and they aren't sure why.  Some of the tests aren't showing anything definitive, and others can't be done because of wonky lab work.  In addition, they found multiple blood clots in his affected leg (the paralyzed side). 

It's all very complex and everyone is scratching his or her head about what to do.  At this point, not knowing the cause, all they can do is treat the symptoms, but he remains puffed up like a blowfish. If you took a pin to his feet and legs, he'd spurt fluid everywhere.  Hmmm, maybe I should suggest that....

But J-Man, being who he is, is in good spirits and usually has the staff chuckling before they leave the room.  He and I are light and dark that way. As he puts it, he feels fine, but everyone tells him he's sick! I am glad he's not uncomfortable.

In addition, he's in my hospital, with some of my friends taking care of him--and me, too, bless their hearts.  Since I work nights, there are many of the day therapists, staff, and various and sundry services I have never met or have only talked with over the phone. They don't know me, or that I'm a nurse, yet they treat him with compassion and patience and sincere good will. It makes me feel much more comfortable when I need to leave him, which isn't often.

DD is coming in tonight, so we are grateful for the long weekend, and her understanding co-workers. Her dad adores her, and I think she will feel better being able to see him for herself. My neighbor has allowed me to put Tandi in her fenced-in back yard so that Tandi doesn't have to spend hours and hours in her crate, and that has been wonderful.

We feel really blessed with family, friends, neighbors, and a wonderful staff of folks at the hospital, from the volunteers to housekeeping to ancillary services and the medical/nursing personnel. Though we have been on the other side of the chart more than once,  each time I swap places I take away a new perspective on my own job.

Saturday at the movies is cancelled for this week.  If we ever get to just watch the television in his room, I nod off anyway, and my brain is mush.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Strays

Julie, from Through the Barn Door, is dealing with damages left from a "temporary" tenant in her guest house. That's her story, so I won't go into details, but an email exchange with her brought to mind all the folks who have lived with us over the years.

Abandoned by his parents, J-Man was raised by an aunt and uncle, until the uncle became so abusive, J-Man feared for his life. Friends took him in and he lived in their basement apartment for a while. He's always had a soft spot for people with nowhere to go. As a result, lots of friends and relatives over the years have lived with us for one reason or another. Some stories have ended well, some have not.

Shortly after J-Man and I got married, my 17-year-old brother was planning to leave home. He and my dad never did have a very good relationship, so J-Man and I invited him to live with us for several months, hoping things would blow over. All it did was cause a rift between my dad and me, and still my brother would sneak out the bedroom window at night. After several months, he decided living with us was no better than living at home, so he moved to the YMCA, which advanced his life lessons considerably. My dad forgave us, and though their relationship was still bumpy, he and my brother were on speaking terms again. I'm happy to say my brother married a great gal and fathered 3 boys of his own. I'm sure my dad is chuckling from his grave over that one.

J-Man's best friend also lived with us part of that time, sleeping on the living room sofa. It was only supposed to be a week or so, but I think he was there at least 3 months. Since he was the pianist where J-Man was the choir director, and we lived right behind the church, he found it very convenient, staying with us. Eventually, though, Jerry moved out and moved on. We heard from him less and less often, which is sometimes how it goes with college friends. About a year ago, we learned he'd had a heart transplant--and didn't survive. We hated to hear that. I always liked Jerry. He and his girlfriend were responsible for locating a Cabbage Patch Doll for DD's 6th Christmas, at a time when you couldn't get one for love or money. I think she still has that doll.

Then J-Man's sister came for a visit with her two kids and "decided" (after she got here) to leave her husband. He got mad, came from 4 states away to stand in the yard with a gun and threaten us all, and then they made up and ALL of them lived with us several more weeks. Later on, after her husband died, we took her and the kids (now teenagers and with a pre-school niece) and rented a big house that had been for sale for a couple of years. We combined incomes to pay the rent, tried to help her get back on her feet, drew up a budget for her, and paid off some of the rubber checks she had strewn around town. That lasted about 3 months, at which time she and the kids got tired of the financial restrictions and moved back in with her stepdad, leaving us responsible for a huge monthly rent and repairs for damaged property.

A couple of years afterwards, she and the kids got a big settlement for the husband's untimely death, and blew through it all in less than a year. Her son got in with the wrong crowd, got hold of some crack cocaine laced with household cleaner, and died a horrible death. The last we heard, his sister and her daughter were living in an apartment with no furniture, struggling to get by, but angy at us for not letting them have one of our cars. Some people are slow learners.

For a while, one of J-Man's brothers lived with us. He was a divorced dad, with custody of his daughter for the summer. It was nothing for him to disappear for a few days, leaving his daughter in our care. I never forgave him for taking off while we were on vacation and leaving our dog without food or water. She managed to get out of the fence and went searching for us, and was hit by a car. At last count, he was living in California somewhere, close to his daughter. I hope he spent more time with her.

In the late '90s, DD, ever her father's daughter, persuaded us to take in a friend for a few weeks til he could get on his feet financially, maybe get a second-hand car, and go to school. He stayed a year, bought himself a Sony PlayStation, DVD player, and other electronics, and skipped classes at the community college even when we drove him there. DD gave him grief for his attitude and behavior and finally kicked him out herself. She recently heard he has apparently mended his ways and is in law enforcement now. What a happy surprise.

So this is the kind of guy I married, a sweetheart with a penchant for taking in "strays". Right now, the only stray living with us has 4 legs.

Who knows if that will change? Or when? I just hope J-Man never does.

After 4 days of teasing, Mother Nature has sent us some rain. The weather is cool and casting that blue tint over all things green and lush. It's beautiful, but I wish I were in Colorado this week, as originally planned.

My best friend (I'll call her Connie) lives there with her husband and two teenage sons, and we haven't seen each other since September of 2003, just before J-Man and I moved here. There aren't words to describe her. She is 16 years younger than I, but, you know how it is--the heart knows no age difference, and we have been heart friends for about 15 years now. She is an amazing mom, wife, friend, but very private and we both had to overcome trust issues to bring our friendship to the level it is today.

Connie had Hodgkins lymphoma as a teenager, and the radiation damaged her thyroid, her salivary glands, caused the removal of her spleen, and damaged her heart. Any time she has surgery or gets sick, the lack of a spleen compromises her immune system even further. In Dec. of 2007 she had open heart surgery to repair her mitral valve. Why they didn't go ahead replace it, I don't know, because they told her it would eventually need to be replaced. She had infections afterwards, necessitating hernia surgery last summer. At the time, they told her she'd need the surgery to replace her mitral valve within a year.

Several weeks ago, her husband called me and wanted to bring me out there for a surprise visit for her. I'd been thinking of a road trip out there anyway, so J-Man and I decided to fly to Colorado and spend a few days there. Because Connie is like me and prefers a little advance notice, her hubby went ahead and told her. We've been so excited to get together.

However, her health took a turn for the worse, and it soon became obvious the surgery would have to be moved up. So on Wed. this week, the day before we were scheduled to leave, Connie and her husband flew to Mayo Clinic in MN, where she underwent open heart surgery yesterday. I am so grateful that her CO physician realized his limitations and sent her there, because there were even more complications once they examined her.

In addition to replacing one heart valve, another had to be repaired, and because her heart was further damaged with the infections, the lining around her heart needed to be stripped away, so it could fill and contract properly. After the surgery, they did an EKG and it was unexpectedly abnormal. So after an echocardiogram and finally, a heart catheterization, it was discovered that one of her main coronary arteries was blocked--which would have resulted in a major heart attack at any time. A stent was placed in the artery to keep it open and increase the blood flow and she was finally taken to ICU. We've had no word today on how she's doing.

Her sons, one of whom had to have an appendectomy this week (!), are supposed to fly up there tomorrow. It will be good for them all, because they are such a close family. I wish I could be there, too, but maybe this fall I'll be able to get out there to see her. So instead, I just kept my days off and decided to work at that list of projects to stay busy.

I'll post more about those later, including the yard sale finds I brought home today, but for now, if you're a praying person, I'd appreciate you shooting one heavenward for Connie and her family. This is one angel who needs to stay on earth just a little longer.

Thanks.