A Gift

Yesterday was a day of good news. First off my brother in law who had brain surgery four years ago had to have a surgery to adjust his shunt. It was supposed to be a simple surgery but turned out he needed a valve replaced. He did remarkably well and was released after one day. Keeping our fingers crossed that there will be no after effects of this.
On Monday my mother in law had a CT scan to see how effective the chemo was. We didn't expect the results until the 30th-however the coordinator called yesterday to let her know that there were no signs of cancer. Back in August there was an agreement to stop the chemo after the 3rd round of treatment as her blood pressure couldn't be kept under control and she had been in the hospital several times from the effects of the chemo. This was great news. When I spoke with her last night she was still in awe over the results. She is not out of the woods yet as she is still dealing with effects of the stroke she suffered and the blood pressure can still be tweaked a little, but at least now the doom of the cancer has been lifted. As with any cancer victim I'm sure this could just be remission, but for now I guess we'll take whats been dealt. I know my mother in law very well and I'm sure after Christmas she will begin to worry about when its coming back. I suggested she take this gift she has been given a make good use of it. At any rate hopefully we will see some improvement in her attitude toward life.

Mystery Solved

I have a thing about dirty laundry. Not the gossip kind. The kind that piles up in the clothes basket by the washer. I cannot stand going to a laundry mat and feel I have paid my dues in that area. Several times throughout my laundry career I have encountered the broken down washing machine. Usually there is some type of warning that it is not functioning properly.
For the past week or so I noticed that after spinning the clothes were not completely spun out. I mentioned it to my husband and then thought it may be overloaded (working on teaching those girls how to properly load the unit). Last night I went down and threw a load in. I returned 47 minutes later (yes I have it timed) to find the lights out in the area. Went to box and flipped the circuit down. I hear a moaning noise coming from the washer, and the breaker tripped again. I tried hard not to panic when looking at the several loads left to do. I lifted the lid and found the washer 1/2 full of water. Summoned my husband as every time I would flip the breaker back it would trip.
I decided to head back upstairs and wait it out. I've learned that standing over him will just annoy him. He does his best work when not being heckled. After a few minutes I was called to the basement to assist in tipping the washer forward. He announced that there may be something stuck in the pump. Whew! We had that issue a while back as well. My work was done and I headed back upstairs. My first thoughts were "Sure, get a Christmas bonus and possibly have to by a washer". A few minutes later he came upstairs with a very torn up sock. The culprit! The washer was now running smoothly. Is this where all the socks go? Bet they're stuck around the inner rim just waiting to work their way into the small drain tube in the pump.

Had an update on the deadbeat dad last night. Seems he lost the house he was renting. Messaged my daughter to ask what size clothes the baby wore. A baby he has never set eyes on-but has seen one picture to date. He has moved in with his mother and has had the past 3 weeks off to empty out his house and has not done so yet. We wondered if he maybe spent 3 weeks in rehab. Is he going to drop off gifts signed "Love Daddy"? Bitter? Yes, just a tad, but if he is truly making an effort to straighten himself out and can stay clean for the sake of his other two children then I will give him some credit. Addiction is a horrible thing and I know we all have a vice somewhere but I think help should have been sought out sooner. Prior to the birth of the baby my daughter was concerned for his other two children and had contacted his ex to voice her concerns. She was blown off and accused of being a trouble maker. About three weeks ago the ex contacted my daughter voicing her concerns about him using and letting her know that she was not allowing the kids to visit unless he sought help. So now the scenario is-lost house-lost kids-no money and close to losing your job. Maybe rock bottom has hit. I can only hope that his next road is on the way up.

My Christmas Letter

Every year we receive several Christmas letters from distant family members and friends. About 95% of these letters are well written and personal and I enjoy reading them. There is one in particular that I don't even want to open any longer. My husband has a cousin who writes a letter beaming of all her daughters accomplishments. She never mentions the son except to say "Dewey is well". The only mention of her husband is "Chris and I are very proud of Emma (daughter). She speaks mainly of herself and her daughter. Maybe Chris and Dewey opted out?

Receiving the letters makes me wonder of what I would compose in a Christmas letter. I could come up with one mentioning the baby, our camping trips, feeling thankful for our good health and jobs..Then last night I started thinking of writing a very realistic letter reflecting on the past year:

Dear Friends and Family

Packers won the Super Bowl. Ken and Janet threw a great party. Ken got drunk and ripped his jean shirt. Arnie in Ninja form tried to tell Ken some story but Ken was intent on how to explain to his wife that he blew candle wax all over her wall.
Daughter announced her pregnancy. Baby due in September. Says all is going well in her relationship. Girls don't seem happy. I sense something is amiss. Around May
Mother in law diagnosed with ovarian and uterine cancer. Has surgery and does well. Starts Chemo and ends up in the hospital several times with blood pressure issues due to the chemo. Chemo stops-mother in law comes home after rehab for a stroke and does good for a few weeks. Family members decide she is good at home and daughter downstairs can provide care she needs. From the amount of phone calls we are receiving I say she will either be in Assisted Living soon or have in home care.
Get the call in May about daughter moving. We insist she come to our home-figured it was easier than paying her rent when deadbeat dad wouldn't come through. Once the move was made the deadbeat father refused any help until DNA testing.
Made a few camping trips this year. Missed a few due to mother in law in hospital. Watched Dylan play baseball and end up with an excellent season. Football was not so great but still fun to watch.
One of our camping trips was cut short as baby Jake decided to arrive a bit early. Birth went well. He's been a joy but can't seem to get on a schedule yet. He's got a little Thompson in him with his smile after a big poop or crying jag. Just eats at your heart.
Son has been steadily working and has been with his current girlfriend for over a year now. He seems very happy-as I write this I am looking for a piece of wood to knock on.
Arnie is still employed and has been very busy at work kissing some butt. No, seriously-he has been a huge part of the change in ownership and has been busy with moving stores, changing packaging and whatever else makes him so crabby at work.
We bought a shed to store all my daughters belongings-cheaper than paying for storage. I think there is another intent for the shed once she is out. I though about setting up house in there. Nice size-looks homey from the outside.
I am still getting up at the crack of pre-dawn for work. Sometimes my alarm wakes me up-other times I hear the beginning "I'm hungry" cries from Jake.
Deadbeat dad has still not seen his child. It appears his want for drugs has outweighed the gift of a child. Attorney working on revoking any custody rights and I'm convinced he'll sign anything not to pay child support. Guess Jake is better off with that scene for now.
Our house is crowded-trips have been made to the dump and Goodwill to purge out items no longer necessary or that there is no room for.
Mom and Dad are still doing well in Arizona. They came for a visit this summer and were able to spend time with the family. We're still trying to figure out how to convince her to move back. My father wants to be with his kids and grandchildren. Just can't quite figure her out.
Along with the daughter and two girls came Bella the dog and Lilo the cat. The two cats and two dogs seem to get along well. I sometimes feel like Dr. Doolittle in my home-especially at feeding time. I've become used to stepping over two dogs that seem to think that it is a game to seem just how much they can get in the way. Bella keeps our dog Sadie young.
We finally bought an over the range microwave and got rid of the 27 year old one. I miss it! Got a new fridge when ours blew out while camping. Got another new fridge because the first new one we got was to small.
And hell froze over! Our garage is clean! Clean enough for Arnie to park his truck in the garage. The garage door which hasn't worked in years is fixed. I have fear though-I don't know where all the junk that was in the garage went. I'm afraid to open the storage room in the basement.
As I look back I realize that even with all this chaos I feel blessed. At times it seems like everything is getting out of control but we manage to work through it.

From

The Noisey, Bursting at the seams, Crowded but mostly fun Home.

3 Years

I have been blessed with some great friends in my life. Each one of them special in their own way. To lose a friend over an argument or drift apart is one thing. To lose a friend that you have no control over ever getting back is another. A friend that you truly miss every day. One that you could talk to about anything and would always respect your views and listen rather than preach their own views to you. I miss my friend.
Sadly he was taken away from us three years ago today. There is still a lot of sadness yet I can smile when I think of something funny he said or did. He could always make me laugh just hearing his hearty chuckle. I miss the Packer games we watched together (he was my go to guy when I didn't understand a play). I miss the camping fun "I'm going to eat that little runt for breakfast". I just plain miss hanging out with him. What a fun guy he was. If his purpose in life was to make others see what a true friend is all about then I am at peace knowing he fulfilled his duty. Rest in Peace always Randy. :(

27

Seven months prior to this day 27 years ago Arnie proposed to me at the Packing House. Or I should say, attempted to propose to me. We were having a quiet dinner and I saw him reach in his suit jacket (yes he wore a suit) pocket and pull out a ring box. Then I noticed the waitress & hostess heading toward our table. He had a plan. I do not like being in a spotlight, so I very softly said "Don't do this here". He never took the ring out and we finished our dinner and left. He drove across the street to the airplane viewing area and then proposed. I felt a little bad for ruining his plan, but figured if he knew me well enough he would have realized that I am not comfortable in public displays. I'm relieved that there has never been anything plastered on a billboard, displayed on the jumbo tron at a sports event, an ad taken out in newspaper or that we've had to drive like crazy to see the banner being pulled behind an airplane. It's a great gesture to someone who is comfortable in those situations-just not for me.
At the proposal time there was no date set. Just a promise that we would marry. We ended up beginning to plan our wedding in October and pulled everything together by the end of November. When I look back I wonder what we were thinking. The week after Thanksgiving and right before Christmas? His busiest season at work.
Waking up on the morning of our wedding I felt like there were a million things we forgot to do. I never felt dread though. The morning of my first wedding I woke up feeling dread. Worried that I was doing the wrong thing. I remember I cried because I didn't want to go through with it. I felt horrible at the thought of my parents losing out of money for deposits and such. Looking back I think they probably would have been relieved.
There are several things that stick out in my head about our wedding day. He stayed at his brothers house the night before. He called me in the morning to tell me how grossed out he was as they had a portable shower in their basement. He said he had the creeps the entire time he was showering. He forgot his tie but luckily his brother had the same one. I forgot to buy nylons and had to make a trip to the store. We were married in the Courthouse on a Friday early afternoon. My sister in law had stayed with me and was to drive herself, I and our daughters there. Her car wouldn't start. Arnie had my car. Nice guy downstairs gave her a jump. My dad was working at the Police Administration at the time and came to the ceremony in his Police uniform, gun and all, and stood right behind my husband. Beside the goof up in what to do between the wedding and dinner (5 hours) the rest of the day went off without to much confusion. My cake was delivered to the wrong place, but was worked out before it was needed.
The next glitch was after the wedding when I had never made plans for what to do with my kids. Thanks Mom & Dad for thinking of that one. We got to the hotel to find out that the suite he booked was double booked. Didn't really want to share a room with another couple so we took the "free" room they offered for their error and the gift certificate for a future date.
So today marks 27 years of wedded bliss. There have been the usual ups and downs of married life, but still to this day I feel no dread and know I did the right thing. Married a man who has been a good friend, a great father and role model for the kids and has never flown a banner over our house or plastered a note of his love for me on a billboard. For that I am thankful.

Thankful

As I look back on the past year I find once again that I have plenty to be thankful for every day. This day brings the opportunity to step back and really appreciate the little things in life we take for granted.

I'm thankful for the gift of life and for God granting me the parents he did.
I'm thankful for a happy childhood provided by my parents.
I'm thankful for them working hard to provide for their family and urging us to always do the best we could.
I'm thankful they never berated us-but instead instilled good morals and confidence in us.
I'm thankful they didn't take my back talk serious-but instead chalked it up to the teenage years.
I'm thankful for the sperm donor (that's all I got) who along with me gave the gift of life to my children.
I'm thankful for the memories I have of them growing up.
I'm thankful they still keep me busy.
I'm thankful I was able to (with help at times) provide them with a good and safe home.
I'm thankful for my fathers nudge and pep talks about life.
I'm forever thankful for their help when things were low.
I'm thankful for my husband of 27 years. He gets on my nerves at times but I thank God every night for bringing him in to my life.
I'm thankful my husband has been an excellent role model for my children and has raised them as his own.
I'm thankful for 4 beautiful Grandchildren. Each one, in their own little ways have brought joy to my life.
I'm thankful for the smiles, the tears, the long talks, ball games, silliness at Grandmas house, the stories, the tons of laughter, the pictures that hang on my fridge, the cards they make me, and the excitement on their faces when they have a story.
I am thankful that we both get up in the morning and have jobs to go to, a roof over our heads and no creditors banging down our doors.
I'm thankful my mother in law is feisty and strong enough to still be here with us, and for the funny stories she's told me on our long visits.
I'm thankful for my friends. Each and every one of them have brought joy to my life in some way. Every single one of them is special to me.
I'm thankful for my siblings and fortunate enough to share many memories-happy or sad with them. I couldn't have asked for better sibs.
I'm thankful for the memories of have of David. I'm certain that 3 years later not a day goes by that I don't think of him in some way.
I'm thankful for our health and that I still wake up every morning.
I'm thankful that my older brother married the best friend I could ask for and along with her came her wonderful family as well. Really, really thankful.


Oh and the list could go on and on-In general I am a very thankful person for the gift of life.

Grounded

It's sometimes difficult as a parent to discipline your children and hold to the punishment. I know as a child I thought I had it all figured out on how to drive my parents nuts enough to let me out of a grounding. My dad was a tad bit more stubborn then I, so I tried a different approach. "Never let them see you sweat". I acted like I really didn't care. Sat in my room with a book near by that I could pick up when ever they came to check on me. I wasn't a bad teenager, I just always wanted to have the final say.
As I became a parent I tried to talk sense in to my children. If you lie you will get caught, if you mouth off you will be punished, if you steal anything that doesn't belong to you prepare to sit for a long time, if you come home with bad grades you will spend a lot of time at studying. They were pretty good kids, but there were some groundings along the way. My son would go downstairs and blast his rap music thinking he would drive us crazy and we'd let him out. Fuse boxes are a wonderful thing. I can only think of one time my daughter was grounded, and for good cause. She didn't seem to care (just like me)
As a grandparent it is sometimes difficult to see your grandchildren punished. My parents thought I was to hard on my kids (they softened in their elevated age). In fact if I would yell at my kids in front of my mother she would shush me and give them a cookie or something. She referred to it as their safe haven.
Well, now that we have these 13 going on 18 year old girls living in our home I am getting caught up in the Grandma thing-but still have the instincts of a parent. I was wondering how long it was going to take their father and my daughter to get together and put the brakes on. They were busted out over the weekend for lying and using the old "Mom said it was okay" to their father and vice verse to their mother. But not wise enough to think the parents would talk to each other. This prompted their father to head to the mall and find his girls and take them home. Grounded from phone, computer, sleep overs,facebook, friends and if he had it his way he would be at school during their lunch hour.
This all happened on Sunday. On Monday I picked them up from school and the two girls who usually are constantly on their phones from the time they get in the car were silent. I was supposed to play dumb (daughters request) and asked how their weekend was. Already knowing the entire story I was impressed to hear them both describe in detail the events leading to the grounding. They did not look for sympathy, nor did I offer. I made a comment that if you have to lie about something then you know it is wrong, and you will always get caught. They both nodded and I mentioned that probably all they were taking in from me at the moment was "blah, blah, blah". I was also impressed by the comment "Yeah, we have a lot to learn. We thought we were pretty smart".
I will say, their room is clean, their laundry is done and I think I actually saw one of them with a book. This act will not get by me, and hopefully not their parents.

Never on a Sunday

I made a huge mistake yesterday. I grocery shopped on a Sunday. Knowing that I'd be going I planned to be up and out of the house before 9. Due to my husband working on my truck I was somewhat delayed until after 11. No problem-I figured the hot ham & free rolls people would be between the first and second wave. I needed some things from the deli and while I was standing there waiting for my number to be called I thought of an idea for the hot ham and rolls. Make a separate section. There were so many people who were in line for just that item. They weren't ordering other lunch meats or salads. Maybe dedicate one deli employee to dish out the hot ham. Then if they want something else from the deli make them go wait in line with the other customers who are held up because of the hot hammers.
They also need to reorganize the store entry. Upon entering the store you are right in the produce section. People grab a cart and then stop and sort through their shopping list and coupons, blocking the way for other customers.
As I shopped I found them to be out of several items I had coupons for. When I asked an employee if these items were available I was told "Probably have some in the back but we're short handed and no one has time to restock". I thought that is what the third shift stockers do? After continuing to shop I noticed a lot of semi-empty shelves and wondered if my local PnS was having some issues. The only near competition they have is Walmart. I've grocery shopped at Walmart and find nothing cheap or special about their grocery department.
The plus side of the trip was saving over $52.00 using coupons. Had I made it there on Saturday it could have been an additional $10.00 with the coupon doubling. I shall try to use my noggin next week and have this task done prior to Sunday morning.
I've stupidly shopped on Sunday mornings in the past and found no difference yesterday due to there not being a Packer game. I think it's the hot ham and Sunday paper coupons that sends everyone out in droves.

Always Next Year

I had to opportunity to attend Sunday's Brewer game against St. Louis. Unfortunately the Brewers lost bringing our baseball season to an end. That happened to be the only negative of the event. J had been able to secure some tickets which I am very grateful for.
We left for the game about 45 minutes before the parking lot was to open. As we were heading toward Miller Park we were a little taken back by the lack of traffic. There was no line until we were already in the park area and there were about 15 cars ahead of us. Managed to park in the 4Th row toward the end. Best parking I've ever had. The atmosphere was great, fellow fans were friendly and the weather was accommodating (except when the sun disappeared behind the clouds). We even scored on some free hot dogs being passed out for our grilling pleasure.
We went in to the stadium about 1/2 hour before game time and there wasn't much of a line. Then we did the climb to the top row in the park. Good view of the entire field and the scoreboard.
The "surprise" guest ended up to be Sully to throw out the first ball. I thought it was a pretty good move to honor Prince in what could be his last stand as a Brewer at Miller Park.
Being at any game at Miller Park is special but viewing the sea of white towels waving in the air was beyond belief. The fans were ready for a game and still had faith after a few bad innings. Up until the 7th inning you could still sense the glimmer of hope. In the 7th J and I noticed a lot of people leaving. We discussed how bad those people would feel if there were a rally. We decided to stay until the very end. In the back of my head I kept thinking about the 3 or so hours of sleep I was going to get, but this being one of those "once in a life time" experiences I saw no problem with staying.
By the eighth inning we began to notice the St. Louis fans making their way to the seats behind their dugout. I assume Brewer fans were giving up their seats for them. By the ninth inning about 80% of the section behind the dugout was taken over by St. Louis. At first I felt a ping of anger, but then after logically thinking I thought "how exciting for them". At the final out and loss Brewer fans still cheered on their team as St. Louis began to celebrate. Guess it would have been better for them to win the game at home, but there seemed to be quite a few fans to cheer them on.
I thank the Brewers for a good season and the excitement experienced in their run for the World Series, for the guys on the team that make it special and for the fellow fans who appreciate the game and back their team no matter what. There's always next year (as I heard the father tell his visibly upset youngster).

The Little Things

Some of those who read this will find an appreciation-some won"t.
Since my last post my mother-in-law has improved somewhat. She has been told by her chemo doctor that he will no longer give or recommend any treatment. Some family members do not seem to have an issue with his decision. The main reason for stopping was her blood pressure. I find it hard to believe that in this day and age doctors cannot work together to find a happy medium for her. As it stands right now another scan will be done in December to see how far her cancer has progressed. What they will do with those results are unknown at this time.

Our grandson decided to arrive a few weeks early. Guess he was as anxious as the rest of us were. He's been a pretty good baby so far. Some tummy issues and he is known to pass gas like a man already. I've always loved to observe the discovery points in a baby's life. He knows certain voices and will turn his head when his mom or I speak. The little guy is awake and very alert for several hours at a time now. Unfortunately he has his days and nights a little mixed up. The true smiles are starting to appear. The kind that make your heart melt. I had a slightly crummy day at work yesterday and when I arrived home he was awake and very alert. I hijacked him from his mother and went to sit down in the living room for a bit. Did the usual soft talking and noticed him reaching his hand up to my face. After several attempts and a little help he succeeded. He then grasped my finger and gave a huge smile. I knew it was a real smile verses an uncontrolled smile. Saw the dimples and just about melted. His other discovery over the past few days have been his hands. He will contently lay on his side and stare as he's moving his hands around. You know he's thinking that there is a use for them.
I don't know how anyone in their right mind could not be amazed watching a baby grow to discover the world around them.

Hang On There

I think our lives may return to some normalcy. As I type this I'm desperately looking for a piece of wood to knock on. Doris is improving each day and although not completely out of the woods yet-she has a positive attitude and a goal of returning to her own home soon. Today she will be moved to the rehab floor of the hospital verses moving to a rehab center. We met the team that will be working with her and feel at ease with them.
My concerns are for when she is released from rehab and ready to go home and then wants to start her Chemo again. She was pretty weak from her surgery when she started her first round of chemo and we all thought it was to soon. Her cardiac and primary physicians are both saying no more. This will be a tough choice for her to make given that she'll be told the blood pressure issues could do her in. There hasn't been a time frame set on how long it will be until the cancer takes her. At last CT scan a month ago the tumor had not grown. The family has talked about it and each voiced their opinions. No one wants to see her in any pain. No one wants her to suffer any further damage due to blood pressure issues. This isn't our decision to make. She currently cannot recall what lead to the incident that brought her to the hospital-nor nine days of being in ICU. I guess that in itself should raise a flag to her.
I've been waiting for the worrying Doris to show up and found out yesterday that her doctor does have her on a low dose of anti-anxiety medication. She's pretty determined to get herself up and going. A direct quote "I am sick of my self pity party."
We have one more camping trip planned. As selfish as it sounds, I would like to go. We need to go. If I have to I will get one more trip in this season. It could mean the my husband and I may be braving some cold and snow-but we will go at least once more this year.

You Go Doris!

Went to visit Doris yesterday and saw some improvement. I walked in on her speaking to a Rehab nurse and was able to answer some questions regarding her recent experiences as she had no recollection of the events leading up to her incident. A few days back a Social Worker had asked several questions in regards to how well she could take care of herself-laundry, cooking, cleaning and personal care. She had the answer to the personal care right but I knew she was still a little foggy in answering the rest of the questions. Yesterday the answers more realistic.
It looks as if she may be able to fulfill her rehab needs right in the hospital verses going to a center. We'll have that answer today. For the most part-she's a little weak, her eyesight is not so good and she has some coordination issues. The doctor isn't sure how much of her eyesight she'll regain. (mind you she told me that she could see my pretty brown eyes. I teared up a little at that one).
She was very positive about a rehab program and went on to blame herself for her recent incident. She said she hadn't done anything for herself and felt she sat in her chair and wallowed in self pity. I explained to her that she had been through a lot in a few months and her body and mind took a beating. I saw a little bit of the woman I knew prior to all her health issues. I dreaded the question I knew she would eventually ask. "when can I start my chemo again". It came and I looked at my husband to step up and answer. "Mom, you have to get your body back to being able to handle any more chemo and then your doctor will talk to you". I felt that was about as good as an answer he could have given her. Problem is-her doctor has told us that the chances of her having any more chemo are slim to none. She's proved people wrong before so we'll see if she can do it again.
Doris is really pushing for her grandson to be born. I'm excited as well but am hoping he hangs on until the Sept. 22nd date. I really want to make the next camping trip. I think my husband and I both need a weekend of relaxation, fresh air and some time with our friends. They are the best remedy for troubled minds.

Two Wishes

Doris was moved out of ICU Saturday night. She is out of danger as far as her blood pressure is concerned. There has been remarkable improvement over the past few days. Saturday morning she was alert and very passive. Her eyesight was blurry and her hand eye coordination was a bit shaky. She required assistance with eating.
Yesterday morning we arrived as her doctor was checking her over. There is talk of her needing oxygen at night to keep her levels up. This is something that had been discussed as she was usually tired and weak.
There was a difference in her. We saw the mom that had been missing for a while. She was happy and somewhat worry free. She inquired about her bills being paid, told me where things pertaining to bill payment was and remembered some banking that she had done a few days before her incident. She did not remember what happened to bring her to the hospital, but did remember feeling tired and weak the day or two before.
It was after a few minutes that she asked about the chemo and whether or not she would be able to finish it. The three of us in the room fell silent for a moment. "Well, at this point in time it's on hold. We're going to have to see what your doctor thinks. First of all we need to work on getting you stronger and in to rehab". She seemed content with this answer for a moment and then turned to me and said "I have two wishes. One is to see my grandson be born and the second is to visit my grand daughter's new home(just bought a 100 year old house in upstate New York)". Had to clear my throat a little and told her I would do my best to make sure both those things would happen.
She is on 3 types of blood pressure medication and her bp is good. This is the only medication she is on right now. Gone are all the other things she was taking, but also gone is the shoulder pain and wrist pain from her arthritis. Gone is the constant worrying. She asked about things with an air of confidence around her that I hadn't seen in a long time.
Here's the weird thing...When I was sitting with her in ICU she was holding my hand very tight. This was on the day they claim she had the stroke. She had woken up and was staring straight ahead and had a tight grip on my hand. She said to me "do you feel that? Someone is pulling us". I had told her I didn't feel anything. She told me not to let go of her because she didn't want to go so I stayed right there. A little bit later she relaxed her grip and fell back asleep. Yesterday she told me she had a weird dream that her and I were in a storm and being pulled out of her house and I held on to her to keep her from being sucked away. Gave me the willies for a minute. Maybe I read to many books, but I believe they weren't quite ready for her yet.

Bad Turn

Things with Doris took a turn yesterday. It's been confirmed that she suffered a stroke on Tuesday with not so good results. Two of her doctors are working closely to get her blood pressure under control. Main issue is not having her kidneys shut down. Her tired body seems to want to reject any medication to lower her blood pressure. It will stabilize for a bit and slowly creep back up. The neurologist ordered an additional test which could show some reasoning. He's looking for possible bleeding on the brain. We won't have results from this test until later today. He wants to move her to the NICU unit but she has to be out of the clear for any kidney and blood pressure issues first.
The news was broke yesterday that when she recovers she will be in rehab for quite a while depending on what she may regain after the swelling on her brain goes down. At first the swelling was being attributed to her chemo. Not so much any more as the chemo should be out of her body now. They see no further chemo in the future. Her cancer was at stage 3 prior to her surgery. Their is still a tumor in her aorta lymph nodes which was to risky to remove. After her first round of chemo it had shrunk very little. She was scheduled for two more treatments. As of right now we do not know the status of the cancer. The highest prioity is getting things under control.
Little bit of breakdown of some of the family last night. Quite understandable for what is going on. Stress and worry will do that to you. This came after the doctor's request for a copy of her living will. I have faith and have said plenty of prayers. The later of them being to get her out of pain-whatever it takes. She's just so tired.

Frustrated

It was back to work yesterday with a stop at the hospital afterwards. Doris had been showing some improvement, but yesterday was a little discouraging. She woke up good and had her gathers together. The longer she was awake the foggier she got. I got there just as she woke from a nap. She knew me and we chatted about simple things. Within moments she was off somewhere else. The blood pressure is still bouncing around and she's on small doses of anti-anxiety medication to keep her calm. We've been told that with a spike in the blood pressure it can take days to level out and who knows how long to return to a semi normal state.
For the most part there has been excellent communication between family members that are there. Emails and text messages are abundant. Older sister Sue is at the hospital during the day and the rest of us file in after 3. Tempers were remaining at bay until yesterday.
There seems to be an issue with brother Mike. First off it took him a day and a half to show up after numerous calls to him. No excuse-he's off work for the next 6 weeks for a shut down. Claims we didn't explain the seriousness of the incident. I don't know what spell out serious more than "We're losing Mom". After his initial visit he committed to staying with her during the evening hours. He's failed miserably at helping out. He's come to taking command during the few hours he's appeared and has suddenly become an expert in brain injuries. For the sake of my mother in law I grit my teeth and smile a lot when in the room. I thought it was just me until we got outside and my usually meek husband gave him a piece of his mind. Mike is leaving town for a race and will be gone for the next week. I'm not saying we should park ourselves there and I realize one must continue their normal life to prevent an overload however-having a doctor say "She's by no means out of the woods" may make me stick close to home. We made the decision to opt out of camping this weekend. There will always be another opportunity for camping.
As he was telling us about his trip he turned to his daughter who has been at her Grandmothers side as much as she can and asked if she wanted to come along to Tennessee for the race. I saw daggers as she said "No Dad, and I don't think you should be leaving right now either". He feels the rest of the family has it under control. What he doesn't see is his sister is tired and could use a break. He sees himself, which is what he has always done.
My question for the day is-why would you give a person who barely has motor skills spaghetti? I must say I was impressed at Doris's ability to balance a noodle on her fork even if she couldn't get it to her mouth.

3 Years

Today marks 3 years since my brother David passed away. My reminders of this started last Thursday. My mother in law Doris was once again admitted to the hospital. Upon leaving the emergency department she was transferred to the same floor my brother was on. At least she's at the other end of the hallway.
When I was taking the elevator up the other day I heard the "code 4" announcement that I'd heard 3 years ago when I got the call about my brother coding.
So more so because of being emotionally stressed over Doris,trying to be strong for my husband, being tired, and being flooded with memories I had a little private cry.
I still get sad over the events of his death. I still wonder if more could have been done. I'm at peace with them doing all they could do to safe him and am at peace with the decision to have them stop after 15 minutes, just wonder if prior to those events if anything more could have been done.
I think more now of his laughter and constant antics. My brother loved to write-couldn't spell worth a damn, but wrote some funny and interesting life stories.
Many times I still want to pick up the phone and tell him something.
There's a new baby coming into the family and I know "Uncle David" would have been one of the first to see and hold the new addition. I miss sharing things with him.
At some point in time I know I'll be content with the memories, but for now I'm still a little sad about losing a brother to soon, and his daughters losing a great father. Their ability to achieve the things they are would make him proud.

We almost lost Doris the other day. As I stood among the family and heard the news I could see the reality of this hitting them. They were raised to respect their mother and when their father passed at a young age they began to make sure she was taken care of. She opted for the surgery and chemo to treat her cancer. We supported her and many of us kicked it up a notch to help her out. Her first two chemo treatments went good. After the 3rd treatment she ended up in the hospital for a week. One of the chemo drugs caused some brain swelling. She went back in twice after that, but for short stays. This current one was serious and attributed to her blood pressure spiking. She's naturally a worry wart so keeping it under control is critical. After three days of being unresponsive she woke in a panic. Two days later they still haven't been able to find the magic formula for the blood pressure. She's responsive and alert but once she starts thinking about the hospital and her bills-she's off again. People started going back to work yesterday after knowing she was somewhat out of danger. My thoughts are this is going to be awhile. The bad news is her doctor told us that she has to make a choice between the chemo or her blood pressure. Originally the plan was to shrink down the tumor they could not remove, until it was small enough, and then do the surgery. Doc says no to that now-she won't make it through the surgery. This news hasn't been broken to her yet, and I know she won't be strong enough for that for a while. She's a fighter usually, but she's just so damn tired.

Loser X 10

Despite all the recent hassles we were able to make it to State Fair twice this year. The first time was a hotter than hell Sunday and we took the three grand kids. Spent the majority of our time at the Mid-way and then wandering around through a record crowd day to find something to eat. Of course no one wanted the same thing to eat. I found my husband to be the most annoying one. He walks the Fair like he shops. From one end to the other and doesn't listen when his lovely wife looks on a map and gives him directions. After being there for about 5 hours I took a look at three wilted kids and a crabby husband and decided to call it a day. They all took naps when they got home.
The second time was this past Sunday. The last day of the fair and my company picnic as well. The company function is held in the white tent area at the edge of the fair. I go mainly to see if I can continue my losing record at door prizes. There aren't many people from my department that go and most people just come for the lunch and door prizes.
We went fairly early as it was a great day weather wise. Did some walking around and my husband sampled a few food items. The company lunch was catered by Saz's and very much a disappointment to many. In the past we've had the shredded pork however this year it was missing from the menu. In it's place were some very dry grilled pork chops. Not much of a selection of food-but one can't complain much about eating free.
Door prize time came and went and I continued on my losing streak. It's so bad that I came within 3 pretzels of "guess the pretzels in the container". But wait, I had one more chance to win something. There was a scavenger hunt. 18 questions regarding the Fair. Most of the answers could be found in the information brochure. The remainder required walking around to get the answers. I was pretty sure I had them all. When they announced the winner yesterday they said 4 people got all the answers correct and they had to "pick from the hat". Well once again the loser holds her standing. We're still waiting for them to publish the answers.

Get Me My Arby's

I had a few moments of quiet last night and some time to reflect on the past few months. I wondered where my summer went. There have been a few camping trips-not as many as in the past, one festival, a total miss of Summerfest and one or two barbeque's. The majority of my time has been spent moving my daughter and girls back in, getting ready for a baby , over at my mother in laws house or visiting her in the hospital.
Doris has had a rough time. It doesn't help that she's a naturally pessimistic person. If I had a nickle for every time I've heard "that's not going to work" over the past few months I wouldn't need to work. She's been handling her chemo treatments well, but will suffer from every side effect there is. I've become way to familiar with two major hospitals in the area and also with her doctors.
The care of Doris was supposed to be divided between all the family members. Downstairs Debbie takes the brunt of it with living in the same household. DD's kids are lazy to say the least. I can't even say kids as two of them are in their early 20's. Getting either of them to mow the lawn is a joke. The third one lives upstairs with Doris and does brighten her day but is lazy as well.
My main task seems to be cleaning her house and helping her figure out her bills. My frustration is all the people who come to "visit" her and can't as much as take out her garbage or straighten up a little. I do feel she could do more for herself such as the little tasks of cleaning the bathroom, dusting or doing dishes. For a while I was stopping every day and taking care of these things. I skipped a few days thinking she'd do for herself. I have a different sense of clean, so when I asked DD if things were cleaned up she assured me all was well. I stopped there to find dishes piled up in the sink, the bathroom a wreck and things that were dropped on the floor that Doris can't pick up.
Doris has become very demanding. She's always grateful, but her approach sometimes lacks politeness. On my way home yesterday I received a frantic call from DD asking if I was stopping over. Dd had been out running errands yesterday and upon returning home Doris wanted to know where her Arby's was. DD was puzzled as she did not recall Doris requesting this. I've seen and heard Doris in her demanding mode but through the phone yesterday I heard "Dammit Debbie, where is my Arby's" in a tone I've never heard before. Guess who made the special trip to Arby's and stocked her up on roast beef sandwiches for a day or so? I was her hero for at least an hour or so.
On a different subject, the baby will be delivered September 22nd and things are moving along pretty smoothly in preparing things. My house seems to be getting smaller every day. She's doing pretty well considering all the back issues she had. The waddle is prominent now and she's grateful for the break in the heatwave. We just hope that the ultrasound is correct or the girl could be wearing all little boy clothes.

The Nightmare

My dream last night could have been prompted by the phone call I received from my younger brother earlier in the evening. About a month ago he came home to find out his house had been broken in to. They took his PlayStation, computer and some cash he had. I had warned him to wait a bit before replacing these items as sometimes they strike again. He replaced both about a week ago and yesterday his house was broken in to again. Of course none of the neighbors noticed anything. He's a bit creeped out now, knowing that someone is watching him. It may be time for a move toward a better area.

I woke up about 2 am in a cold sweat and my heart was racing. The dream was so vivid and seemed so real that I was a bit nervous to go back to sleep. But then I thought maybe I could go back to sleep and make my own ending.
In my dream I had gone to the bank and cashed a check for $3700.00. I had paid a few bills and bought some groceries on the way home. Later that night we were sitting in the living room watching TV and our door was kicked in. These two huge AA men and a woman burst in to the living room with machine guns pointing at us. The guy demanded the $3700.00. We were all pretty calm and I told him that I didn't have any money like that in my house. He claimed he saw me cash the check and come home. My husband accused me of not paying the bills and started looking for the money. I showed receipts to him and the robber. The robber & his side kicks then sat down and watched the end of the TV show with us. Upon leaving he told me they'd be back in a few days and I'd best have the money.
I called the robbers wife and she came over for a visit. I explained that I didn't have that kind of money and she needed to have him leave us alone. She claimed she'd try. What seemed to be a few days later they both appeared with a basket of food and an apology. It seems he'd gone straight. We were all sitting around talking when we heard a loud car and he screamed for everyone to drop to the floor. I grabbed a baby (I assume it was by daughters) and ran to the hallway. Our house was immediately littered with bullets. I heard my dog yelp and handed off the baby to go get her. I I was dragging her to the hallway and saw the wife of the former robber sobbing over her husband who was down. I peeked out the window and saw an orange and black hopped up car with guns pointed at the house. I picked up the phone to call for help and the phone line was dead. I woke up wondering why my neighbors weren't hearing or seeing any of this. I realized that going back to sleep and hoping for a better ending didn't always pan out. This stupid dream is so stuck in my head.

She's Back

As parent's we're supposed to give our children advice and hope that some of it sinks in. I mean, we all listened as children right? I listened but usually not until it was to late.
Back in late October when I said "Don't move out with this guy yet" it fell on deaf ears. It was to soon and I also felt that it wasn't fair to her kids. But he had a house and all this room and he had his two kids and they were going to be one happy family. Three months later all seemed well and she also announced that she was pregnant. Foolishly I thought that things would be good. The pregnancy wasn't planned and we can all think about how it wasn't very smart, but what's done is done and it'll be dealt with. Outwardly they seemed like a big happy family.
Then I began to see some odd things. She was the one picking his kids up from school and mentioned a few times that he kept changing around his schedule to work later at night. She'd ask him to run for something from the store and he'd be gone for 2 hours. He didn't concern himself with his kids schoolwork or discipline them.
Prior to my daughter getting pregnant she had had several back surgeries and had been weaning herself off pain medication. He was all for it at first, but she would still have some days where the pain was bad. She had no intention of taking or doing anything that would be harmful to the baby. She had been pregnant twice before and lost both early on, and wasn't taking any risks. He was constantly pushing her to have her prescriptions filled and mentioned that they could wean the baby off the meds when it was born. This sickened her (and me when she told me).
Well little to know it was then discovered that he had a pill popping habit and if she could get her prescriptions filled it would be cheaper on him. She was done with him at that point.
That is when we got the call. At first she was looking in to renting an apartment. After some discussion my husband and I felt she should come back home until after the baby was born. Save some money-get her self together-find a job and then go. She has a pattern of doing things in haste but I don't see her going back. He's not really made any effort to try and hold the relationship together. Just mentioned that he hopes she doesn't rake him over the coals for child support. I guess we don't have to worry to much about him wanting any custody as since she left he has only seen his kids once, and hasn't yet told them she was gone.
So the past several days have been spent cleaning out rooms to make room for them. Nine bags of stuff went to Goodwill and the attic is once again over flowing. I joked that she must come back every time we accumulate to much which helps us in ridding ourselves of junk. Similar to a spring and fall cleaning.
So we had a little chat yesterday about her getting her life together. I took into consideration her three back surgeries, her divorce and her recent happenings. I mentioned that she had a choice to sit around and wallow in self pity or do something about it. What's done is done so get up and go from there.
My husband tried to be funny in quoting from a television commercial "Don't leave us with the babies". This would be my nightmare. I do give her more credit that that.

We're Still Here

The world was supposed to begin to end on Saturday. I've been hearing little bits and pieces of this rumor for a few weeks and didn't really pay much attention to it. I received a call on Thursday night from one of my sister-in-law reminding me that she loved me and cared about me and she would see me in heaven. She was dead serious. After talking to her for a while I got the feeling she was hoping this would happen. There have been some medical issues with her husband which have caused some financial hardships, but something always works out for them in the end.

I've never wished death. I'll admit I'm a little afraid of it. I also know I shouldn't be. My fear is leaving the family and friends that I love. I've had some hurdles in my life that I've overcome and am now able to be proud. There were some times when I thought I'd never get through them but I was told by my father that you can either stand up tall and fight through it or wallow in self pity and be a quitter. These are the words of wisdom a parent should pass on to their children.

My daughter went through some similar hurdles and is now on the road to bettering her life. I'm proud of her. She found the inner strength and little by little began to regain control of her life. We were at my grandson's baseball game the other night and one of her daughters was having 13 year old drama. She was upset over one of her best friends talking behind her back. My daughter doesn't much care for this so called friend and made the comment "Well then I guess she's not your best friend ,is she". Those words were used before. By me, by my mother and I'm sure by my grandmother. She went on to tell her to keep her chin up and give it time. (another bit of advice passed down).

As a parent you often think that what you try to teach your children goes in one ear and out the other (with nothing in between to stop it). You find yourself stealing quotes from your own parents and then hear your children using them. So as we all know, there is something in there that stops it. And stores it for a later date.

For sure I know it's getting passed on as my daughters 4 year old soon to be step-son stuck his tongue out at his sister and a mix of voices sitting in our area said "Don't stick your tongue out or it'll turn black".

A Peek at Summer

We had a little get together and P & K's home Saturday evening. As I sat outside with the rest of my friends the smell of the firewood burning began to remind me that summer and camping are right around the corner. We spoke about camping for a few minutes but as I looked around I could see my fellow campers in deep thought.
I myself was thinking about where the heck the boys put all the stuff when they cleaned out the camper in the fall. Then I thought about how much I love sleeping in the fresh air. I sleep well when camping. Not for long lenghts of time, but for what I do get it's good sleep. J brought up the best thing of all-there is nothing better than waking up early in the morning and giving the fire a good stoke before heading for the bathroom. Upon returning there may be another person or two up and you sit down in the lawn chair and enjoy the early morning. No words have to be spoken. It's just a great feeling to sit, watch and listen to the morning.
I know running through my husbands head was-where the hell did I put all the camping stuff that she told me to organize. I'm pretty sure Ken was going to go home and pack the canopy so as not to forget it at all. E was probably wondering just how much spam is acceptable to bring for one weekend. Richard was deep in thought about the damn racoons that stole his fancy pork rinds. Connie was thinking about which romance novels she could read out loud to us. J was wondering what new games we could play around the fire as well as finding the latest camping gadget. And Stb..well he was going through recipes for Snickerdoodles.

Dreaded Phone Calls

I dread the middle of the night phone calls. Every once in a while our phone will ring after midnight and it will be a wrong number. For a while we turned off the phone in our bedroom but it's since been turned back on.
At 1:30 this morning the phone rang. Seeing as it's on my husbands side of the bed he groaned and then reached over to answer it. I'm all about answering the phone in a somewhat pleasant voice. His "what" came out pretty rude. It was downstairs Debbie telling him that Mom needed to go to the ER. It seems that there is some infection in her incision. He told her he'd be right there,laid back down and sighed. He hates hospitals. I got up thinking I'd be the one going and was told to go back to bed as I had done enough already with taking care of her. Off he went.
I've gotten one update so far. They took her for a CT scan-she's on an IV and she's sleeping. In fact he mentioned that downstairs Debbie is also sleeping and he's watching the CNN news that one of our friends is so fond of.
Downstairs Debbie is going to need a vacation after Mom is recovered. She's not in the best health herself and has been running ragged with taking care of her. (since the other sister checked out).
So four hours later they still sit in the ER waiting for the next step. In my opinion they should admit her to clear this up. Some things just can't be taken care of at home. Seeing as she sees fit to self medicate herself-at least in the hospital she can be given what she needs when she needs it. I was there yesterday for a few hours and didn't notice anything that would cause concern. She was walking around pretty good and in a good mood. Didn't complain of any pain or discomfort. Hopefully this is just a minor set back.

First Game of the Season

Two of my friends surprised me with tickets to a Brewer game Saturday. It was my first game of the season, good seats to bat and fairly decent weather.
I tend to be a fairly serious baseball game watcher. Let me clarify by saying-if a good amount of money is paid for a decent seat I'm going to be paying attention to the game. I am also going to be considerate of those around me. I'm not so serious that I won't joke around or laugh-but I'm not going to be loud or call attention to myself. I will try very hard to keep whatever liquid I am drinking in my cup and not on the lap or back of those around me. I'll not use hood of the person in front of me (unless I know them) for peanut shell disposal, or to wipe my hands. I'll try to limit the times I disrupt others by getting out of my seat. I will multi-task my using the bathroom and bringing back refreshments in the same trip. At most important of all-I will not argue with my significant other while seated.
We had the last three seats on the aisle. You always know you're in trouble then. You will be getting up for anyone who needs to get out of their seat. I don't mind a few times but there were two girls who must have been the runners that were up at least ten times through the game. Sometimes coming back with beers and then leaving five minutes later to use the bathroom. Then we had a soap opera going on in front of us. Two couples came in together and one girl spent the entire game hanging on the guy and trying to engage him in public making out. A room may have been in order. The other couple got up around the 4th inning and he came back alone a little while later. There was apparently a fight. The texting between them began. My friend was viewing the texts over his shoulder and relaying the content to those around us. This continued through out the remainder of the game. She came back at one point and left moments later announcing that she didn't like how she was being treated. He seemed confused and then was content to sit and chew his fingernails and beer cup until the end of the game. About one inning provided amusement by the guy next to my friend with the peanut shell residue hanging from his chin. And then the spilling of the beer when he was leaning forward to read the text message from the soap opera guy.
For the most part I was impressed with the new scoreboard, but found myself looking at it when I should have been watching the game. Unfortunately I attended a game they lost. Lost due to their own errors. Count of the young girls puking on the curb on our way out-4. Always a pleasure to see them.

Mini Spring Break

In my younger years I remember being off school on Good Friday and the entire week after Easter. Once my kids were in school I would always take that week off to spend time with them. We did day trips and things around town-movies, zoo, museum and of course some shopping. I'm sure there were days in there that were cold or rainy but for the most there would be a few days warm enough to play outside.
I saw the forecast for the next week and felt sorry for the parent's and children who are off next week. Cold and rainy. This means either the kids will be stuck in the house fighting over video games or constantly complaining of boredom. Maybe there will be some trips to the movie theater or local pizza-arcade along with the tons of other parents trying to find something to amuse their kids.
For those who can afford to-pack the kids up and head south on a mini-vacation. Not north to a water park where millions of kids will be running around and waiting in endless lines for their turn. I'm wondering what happened to the warmer days of Spring break when we'd be out the door early in the morning on some neighborhood adventure. Mother Nature surely has some vengeance this season.
One of the Holidays we have at work is Good Friday. I decided to take tomorrow off as well and have a four day weekend. With the recent goings on with my Mother in law I need a day to catch up on a few things. A day for me is in order. I shall call it my Mini-Spring Break. It looks to be the only dry day in store for a while.

I Will Stay Calm

This is what I need to keep telling myself. I knew Mother in law would be content when at home but I hoped it would last longer than a day or so.
Yesterday she was supposed to call and get a refill on some pain medication. We had talked the day before about Tylenol verses prescription pain medication. She didn't have the RX filled before leaving the rehab (had to get out asap) and had a few left. She was sure she could make it until Monday. I called yesterday expecting to pick the RX up after work. Her frail voice told me that she decided she didn't need them. I'm not one to take these things myself but reminded her that she just had a major surgery and without them may not be able to get the proper rest she needs. She pooh-poohed me and said she was fine. I stopped for a bit after work and she mentioned feeling very tired and not sleeping well. This was in the course of two hours. I told her to call and I'd go get them and she once again said she could put if off until today. Last night at 8pm I called to check on her and she was miserable. In pain and the Tylenol was not doing it for her. She is now going to call this morning and maybe one of her kids that are not working could find it in their hearts to help their mother and pick them up.
Loo the "stressed out" sister made an appearance yesterday. But first we had to take a call from her daughter asking us not to bring up her weekend melt down. She was at Mom's when I got there and had I known I would have waited a bit. She was a little sneaky and parked her car behind the garage. Damn. She didn't have to much to say and the conversation was polite but strained. As she was leaving she let me know that she decided not to take the week off work to help out, but if we needed her to call. After her departure I had to deal with Mom who thinks she's the one who drove her to the melt down. Brother Ike who was supposed to bring a few items yesterday never showed up. Downstairs Debbie is doing her best to handle things and is doing a good job. Older brother and sister in law are in their own element and mention letting them know if she needs anything. My husband is fixing things that need fixed or fitted to her needs. Allow me to mention that I am very close to calling Ike (who is laid off and has nothing to do all day) and telling him to get his lazy arse over and take care of his mother. Maybe he shouldn't have told me that since his lay-off 2 months ago he has done nothing but sleep and watch TV.
My frustrations are not with my mother in law. My frustrations are with the ones who want to condemn each other yet always have something else going on when help is needed. Lazy Ike had the nerve to call our house yesterday to remind my husband to fix the knob on the medicine cabinet.
Thank goodness I have my blog to vent.

Pop Goes the Rib

With the weather lately I wasn't to shocked to see the snow this morning. It's spring snow and will be gone shortly. The sight of it is a little depressing being the 3rd week in April, but then again it has snowed in May.

I seemed to have popped some cartilage in my rib cage. Downstairs Debbie (sister-in-law) has a dog gate across her entrance door. I've walked over it many times. On Saturday amidst all the other drama going on I got one leg over and somehow my foot got hung up on the gate and down I went. I hit the wall with my arm and felt and heard a pop. Knocked the wind out of me and the fact that I was laughing didn't help matters much. See, in addition to laughing at others injuries-I laugh at my own. At first I though I may have done some damage to my arm but upon picking myself up off the floor I immediately felt the pain in my rib cage. I sat down for a minute to catch my breath and asked my husband what happens when one breaks a rib. His reply was simple "You can't breathe". Well I seemed to be having some difficulty in that area at the moment. "Oh, but you puncture your lung and die". That one made me chuckle a little. What, were they all sitting there staring at me and waiting for my lung to deflate like a balloon? I didn't see anyone moving toward a phone or anything? Guess they were just going to let it deflate.

After a few minutes I gained my composure, stood up and carried on with what I was doing. Saturday night I took some anti-inflammatory medication which didn't seem to help much. I didn't to well and yesterday the pain seemed to worsen. Last night was also a restless night and the pain has not subsided. I decided to call and talk to someone this morning. After describing what happened I was told that I must have pulled the cartilage. I need to ice it every two hours for 1/2 hour, continue to take the anti-inflammatory medicine and refrain from any sports, jogging, lifting, and aerobic activities. The pain will last 4-6 weeks depending on the severity. I can also tape the area to prevent me from straining it further. If the pain worsens I should come in for an x-ray. This ice thing at work isn't going to work either.

On a lighter note-Mother-in-law seems to be content at home. For now. I'm hoping that others will begin to pitch in and help a little. She'll need help with certain things for a while. The main issue is to get her strength built up for any further treatments she may need.

Drop the Drama

It's Sunday. Typically the day of rest. I'm hoping for a least a little less drama for one day. I could be cursing myself at the moment, but the phone has been quiet for the past 10 hours.
Drama was the object of the week. Mother in law had surgery on Monday. Waiting area got tense a few times. Loo-the eldest daughter had "taken charge". I will give her the credit for providing the majority of her mothers care over the past 3 years. She has a job that allows her to do so. Every so often Loo becomes a little stressed and needs a break. In saying she provides the majority of the care I also mean that the rest of us pitch in. It's never good enough for Loo.
On Thursday a decision had to be made whether Mom would come home or go to rehab. I felt the decision was up to Mom. She's of sound mind and knows what she wants. Loo felt she should come home. She thought she could make that decision (to also fit her needs) and Mom had no choice. She shunned Mom going to rehab and brought up money issues. She volunteered my house which I was fine with Mom coming, but Loo decided she'd also come. (I secretly prayed that Mom would not choose that option). She volunteered her younger brother and us to pay a niece to care for her. She actually told the niece we would without asking us first.
Loo went up to tell Mom her plan and ran into the Social Worker who was setting up rehab for Mom. Mom had made the decision as she felt she would get Physical Therapy and be able to come home within a week or so. The rest of us stuck by Mom's decision. Loo stormed out of the hospital and has now "checked herself out" for a week or so.
I was a bit worried about her because I think she has some deep rooted emotional issues going on and this put a head on it. I spoke with her Thursday night and after listening to some of her issues though she may need some help.
On Friday we moved her to rehab. Arnie and I stayed with her until 8pm and she seemed to be doing okay. I did feel a little uneasy about her being in a room with a slightly crazy woman. I could see the look on Mom's face when this woman started talking nonsense and wondered if I should stay with her.
At 8:30 Saturday morning I received the frantic "get me out of here call". I called other brother Ike and off we went. She had a horrible night. They wouldn't let her get out of bed (she had been doing so the previous day), the food wasn't what she needed, the crazy lady talked all night, she got now sleep and they only allow you to take a shower once a week. We tried to settle her down, they offered her a private room, they mentioned she was on a general diet and told her the shower thing was not true-they just didn't want her to go unassisted.
Nothing was working so I said we would take her home. I knew at that point that this is the only thing that would make her happy, so we called out the rest of the family-except for Loo and got her home. Things were re-arranged and purchased to fit her needs. When everything settled down I looked at her and say content on her face and it made it all worth it.
I sent a message to Loo informing her that Mom was home. The reply I got was typical of her "What was the sense in sending her to rehab". My response was "I guess it's what she wanted to do". Loo seems the have Mom convinced that her "Medical Power of Attorney" status allows for her to make all Mom's decisions. The social worked spelled out to her that as long as her mother is of sound mind she can make her own decisions. I figure she's got stage 3 cancer which may be treatable , she has always done for everyone else-these children of her's need to get their acts together-drop the drama-and take care of their mother.

A Long Day for Doris

Yesterday was surgery day for mother-in-law Doris. The surgery was planned for 12:15 but the nurses were convinced she'd be going in earlier so they whisked her away before several of us were able to see her. Whisked her away only to have her wait in the holding area until the original time of her surgery.
So the off-spring and their spouses hunkered down in the waiting area for what we were told would be about 3 hours. Luckily yesterday wasn't a busy surgery day and we had a nice area for the six of us. The boys were disappointed that the TV was out of their viewing area but they managed to make it through. The lap-top was brought out which gave us some entertainment for a bit. We were there for about an hour when a very familiar person made her way toward us. My little "tower of strength" had arrived with a bag of snacks and some magazines to tide us over. Many thanks to the best sister in law and friend ever Nannette!
As the day wore us then tension began to grow. My husband was smart in sitting off to the side and fake sleeping. Each of his family members are unique in their own way and were all there for the love they have for their Mother. Each one handles these things differently. Over the years there has been some tension between older sister and middle brother. He is very argumentative. We're talking about someone who shines around every once in a while and then wants to take charge. I had to remind them several times yesterday that we were there for Mom. He took several walks, I assume to cool down.
After about 3 1/2 hours the doctor appeared to tell us that they had removed about 90% of the tumor. He was not able to fully remove some that was embedded in her lymph nodes. She will need to have chemo to hopefully shrink down what is left. He went on to say she did well and they expected it to be worse. She will be able to come home by the end of the week and will start the chemo in a month or so. When asked about the side effects he did say she will lose her hair.
As we all sat and absorbed his words I couldn't help but think about her hair. It's a tiny little thing to go through to get better. She had mentioned to me the other day that she wanted to shave her head and start over as she was having such issues finding a good style. I think I'm going to have to take Mom for a nice haircut before she starts her Chemo. These things were racing through my mind when the humor started. Middle brother is going to the clown store to purchase her several wigs. Husband is going to give her his pirate wig. Sister in law has a blond wig from a past Halloween. I chuckled but then remarked that a hot wig in the summer may not be the best so I'll be hooking up with my friend who designs bandanna's just for this cause.
After about two hours we were told she was in her room and settled. Poor Mom was so uncomfortable and in pain that all I could do is give her a hug and tell her to get some rest. I'm not quite sure she even knew we were there. Older sister wanted to stick around and tell her the out come of her surgery. I just thought it would wait until today when she could absorb the information. She had been through enough already. Now comes the healing process.

Can She Beat This?

My mother-in-law has had some medical issues that prompted us to take her to the ER two weeks ago. She started off thinking she had a bladder infection but then other symptoms began to appear (of the female sort). The doctor in the ER scared the living daylights out of her and she walked out of there thinking the worst and planning her funeral. She was prompted to see her doctor asap with the possibility of her referring her to a specialist.
She has a good general physician who did not delay matters and mom was off to the specialist within two days. This doctor was also good and sent her for further tests the same day. On Friday we received notice that she was going to be meeting with the OBGYN specialist, her doctor and the oncologist yesterday morning. So yesterday was the waiting game. By the time I left work yesterday I was informed of the diagnosis. She has ovarian cancer.
The doctor gave her three options-leave it-have surgery and then possible chemo-have radical chemo and hope it shrinks it down. After laying it on the line and giving her the options he left the room so she could discuss things with the two of her children that accompanied her. Her first words were "I'm just going to leave it. What's the use." That was the initial shock.
The doctor came back in and announced that he is legally bound to give the options but highly recommended the surgery. Told her that although they sometimes don't know how far the cancer has spread until they open you up, he felt strongly that there was a very good chance that this could be nipped in the bud. She opted for the surgery which brought a sigh of relief from all of us.
So Doris has surgery on Monday. They'll be doing a total hysterectomy and taking lymph nodes from two areas. She'll be uncomfortable for a bit but probably not as uncomfortable as she has been for the past 6 months. The decision for chemo won't be made until 12 or so weeks after the surgery.
I had the dreaded duty of telling my husband and convincing him to be positive for his mother. We can cry at home, but in front of her we need to be strong and remain positive. She's been a fighter all her life but does tend to let the doom and gloom in at times. After stopping to see her last night I feel good that she opted for the surgery and is approaching it with a fighting attitude.

Breaking the Chain

Several times a week I will receive chain letter emails. I guess if I would seriously pass them on I could be receiving tons of money in the mail right now, I would know how many people loved me, I would be guarenteed a healthy life and no doom would ever come to me. One of my friends is infamous for sending these things. At one point I had told her I don't respond to them and was told she would continue to send them regardless as she is very supersticious. She has become engrossed in them and even the virus didn't stop her.
I will also receive the "tell us about yourself" emails. I'll usually respond to the funny ones sent by close friends. Yesterday I received a bucket list email. This requests that you put 10 things on a bucket list and pass it on. I thought about it for a while and since it's not from any close friends I have I decided to delete it. If I'm going to come up with a bucket list then my family and close friends will know about it. They may be the ones that will help me fullfill my list when I'm on my last dying breath. So after some thought I came up ten items on my bucket list:

#1. Get back to desired weight (by my own doing-not because of an illness)
#2. Convince my husband to fly.
#3. Take a vacation to Italy.
#4. Ensure that my parent's and mother-in-law are well taken care of.
#5. Pack up all my grandchildren and take them to DisneyWorld.
#6. Purchase a vacation home up north.
#7. Attend a Rolling Stones Concert (better get on that one quick)
#8. Fly-Not in a plane. I want to have a jet pack like George Jetson and fly.
#9. Watch a sunrise and sunset on a beach in Hawaii.
#10. Enjoy a week of pampering with my friends at a top notch spa. (in order to do that I'd probably have to win the lottery and I'm over the top ten so I'll have to save that for my wish list.)

What's on your list?

Is This A Pattern

Years ago I read a book about a man who had insomnia. It had started with him losing an hour or two of sleep a night and eventually turned in to him not sleeping for days on end. Strange things started to happen and he eventually couldn't separate reality from dreams. I thinking of trying to locate the book again because I can't remember how it ended. I more so want to find it to see how I'm going to end up.
There seems to be a pattern developing with my sleep. In the past I've worked some crazy hours and was able to function on little sleep for a few days and then have a day or so where I'd sleep well past 8 hours. Not a healthy way of life and I paid for it. A few years ago when I went to a straight day shift (if you count a 4:30 am start a day shift). My sleep was good and I could fall asleep shortly after hitting the pillow. Then I started to wake up after about 3 hours of sleep. It is very hard for me to fall asleep afterwards. It's almost like I took a nap and am now refreshed and ready to go. Problem is that three hours usually means I'm up at midnight. We purchased a new mattress and that seemed to have solved that issue or so I thought.
In the past I had issues initially falling asleep. I made sure that I had eaten well before going to bed. If I worked out it was at least 2 hours before going to bed and I refrained from any caffeine drinks at least 2 hours prior to sleeping. Reading would usually get me pretty relaxed and prepared for a good nights sleep. I also don't nap. Napping just throws me off.
The past few Sunday nights I have gone to bed around 9 only to wake up an hour or two later and lay awake. The sheep counting is for the birds. TV off or on doesn't matter and reading just seemed to wake me up more. Warm shower also showed negative results. Soothing music does nothing but make me move my feet. I'm not a sleep aid person and drinking myself into sleepiness isn't the answer. Up until last week this problem was only on Sunday nights. Now it has begun to creep into the weeknights. Makes for a long workday. Last night I was tired and in bed by 8:30. The phone rang at 9:30. I then tossed and turned until around 12:30. Alarm went off at 3am. My magic sleep number appears to be 3 1/2 hours.
I'm wondering if my body and mind are telling me that they're ready for camping season. I never have an issue while camping. Maybe I could have my husband set up the pop-up and just sleep in the driveway.

Hey Now

We have a morning ritual at work. Get in, read the paper, drink coffee (or diet coke if you're me)and for a few of us-step outside and have the morning cigarette and talk about the previous nights TV. Depending on the season we catch a little wildlife.
Spring is in the air. The raccoons have come to life. With the snow being gone it must be a little easier for them to find food. Birds are starting to chirp and the geese are angered as the pond isn't thawed out enough for them to swim yet. They've been walking around on the ice showing their anger by squawking. This morning we saw two coyotes prowling for food. Then we were treated to a show.
It seems it is mating season for the rabbits. At first it was a little humorous watching. One rabbit-I'm assuming it was the male, was in hot pursuit of the other. She wasn't having it and kept trying to hide from him. After watching this for a few minutes one of the girls said "Isn't that cute how they are playing". Had I had drink in mouth it would have been spewed somewhere. As soon as the words came out of her mouth the act was in progress. The look on her face was priceless. The next words that came out where "Oh my. I had no idea". I proceeded to head in and give them their privacy, with hopes that they were wise enough to be aware of the coyote prowling the parking lot.
On another note-Today would mark the anniversary of my first marriage. I received a text this morning. "Happy Anniversary". I get a text or a call every year. Every year I reply with some negative remark. This time it was "Probably wouldn't have been-given the history. I'm thinking that maybe if I replied back "I'm still missing you" he would stop.

What Goes Around

I received an email from my ex-husbands third wife. "Ron and I are officially divorced. I would like to thank you for being so patient and understanding through-out the years. I know he owed you a lot of money and I thank you for never pursuing any action against us. You've been a very nice person and I hope we can stay in touch."
I replyed "Good luck to you". What I wanted to say was- How about giving me a chunk of change out of that house you're selling.
When I heard of their maritial issues I felt a little sorry for her. In the end though I think she'll be fine. She's already gone through blaming the break-up on herself, feeling sorry for herself and is now in the moving on mode. The truth of the matter is I can't find it in my heart to really care. Over the years she has voiced her opinion one to many times. Acted the part of the perfect marriage and made to many references to his past marriages. Wife #3 must not have been an easy spot to handle. She was really under the impression that the two ex's were completely at fault. He didn't drink when he met her. Big shock to her when he started up again.
So now he's in a relationship with a drinker. One who actually drinks more than he does. In a very rare conversation the other day he told me he's thinking of dropping her as she drinks way to much. They had some errands to run after work and when he got home she was already drunk.He said it was looking in a mirror. He went alone rather than be embarrassed by her. I try not to reference our marriage to him, but given the opportunity I said "Oh, boy. I know that feeling" He apologized. Went on to say he really thinks he made a mess of things and finds that he drinks a lot less when he's with her. Come on! Put the bottle down and get your life together before it's to late. Oh, and pay me the money you owe me.

Have A Meatball

Dreams can be crazy. I've woke up many times wondering what the meaning of the dream I had was. The scary dreams can leave an eerie feeling with you for several days. Almost like you're waiting for something bad to happen. The crazy, way out of line dreams can leave you confused and wondering the meaning. Then theres the sad dream where you may wake up feeling the effects. My favorite is the totally out of line funny dream. The one you wake up from that puts you in a good mood. The one you can remember details of, but yet wonder where it came from.
I woke myself and husband up laughing so much I had tears in my eyes. It took awhile to fall back asleep and I was about to take the hint from STBs blog and quick write it down for fear I'd forget it. The memory was fully intact this morning and I was still chuckling about it.
The dream started out somewhat scary. I was with a group of friends and we were going winter camping. We were setting up our usual camp in the snow, but were all in summer wear except for my husband who had on shorts, his winter boots and a flannel shirt (of course). Brother Ben had his knit hat from my mother with the embroidered "K" on it. I was hell bent on wearing my sandals and was amazed at how warm my feet were staying in the snow. We put an electric blanket under the boys tent to keep the bottom warm. Can you site the safety hazard there?
We were all set up and Nannette kept talking about getting the meatballs in the slow cooker going. We discovered we had no electricity. She started throwing a fit and had this huge wooded spoon in her hand and was stomping her foot yelling to Ben to rig something up cause there's no way she spent hours making these meatballs and we weren't going to eat them.
Ben and Barney got the fire going and we were all sitting around the fire when Cleve came up with the idea to cook the meatballs in the pudgy pie makers. It made no sense to me as we had a stove. It seems the guys forgot fuel. So they're loading these giant meatballs in the pudgy pie makers and they wouldn't close. Nanette is still throwing a fit that they're now squishing her meatballs.
Next thing is some critters coming out of the woods and surrounding us. They were like large raccoons/bears. Ugly things that were drooling. They were after the container of meatballs that Nanette proceeded to grab and throw to me. The critters were circling us and we just kept throwing the container around like a game of hot potato. The strategy was to tire them out. She kept saying over and over again that she was not giving up those meatballs.
It didn't work. Each time we tossed the container, more critters appeared. We saw a car approaching and were hoping for a Park Ranger to help us out. It was a group of pretty seedy looking guys who got out and walked over. One guy said "I'll take those meatballs. We've been looking for them for a while". (huh) Nanette proclaimed that in no uncertain terms was she giving up her meatballs. Not after working so hard on them. The guy was eating a sub sandwich and all of a sudden the critters seemed to tire of the meatball game and started sneaking toward him. The others noticed and they began to back up and get back in their car leaving the spokesman on his own. One of the critters told him to drop the sub. He refused and ran off into the woods with them in pursuit.
We continued on with cooking the meatballs which were now on skewers. Nanette put them on a fancy tray and began to walk around to each of us saying "Have a meatball. You don't know how hard I worked on these". I took my skewered meatball and noticed it had jelly beans coating the outside. Everyone else had them also but I seemed to be the only one who found it odd. I hesitated and Nanette was suddenly up in my face waving her skewered meatball at me and yelling "Aleta Gloria if you don't eat that meatball I will never speak to you again". I woke up laughing and her facial expression. What made me laugh the most is her outfit. She was wearing Connie's housecoat.

Short and Sweet

If you're given the gift of life each day shouldn't you start out with a clean slate?
I too have a disliking for a few people but they are in my past. I try to put them out of my head and hope I can make it through much of life without running into them again.
When I have to work with people I don't find to be my "best friends" I try to make the most of it and be pleasant. Not being out on the lines full time has given me the opportunity to walk away and not be involved in the daily squabbles. I don't care to be dragged in to the drama and when being complained to will usually smile and offer some sort of positive comment. I find carrying "the grudge" will make for a long workday. At the end of the work day it's over and done with. Go home and enjoy you evening with your families. Don't take it home, sleep on it, and then bring it right back the next day. These people are all adults and should be able to talk it out without pointing fingers. From the outside view, they are all guilty.

Soap box has now been taken down.

Road Rage

Didn't expect any action on my way to work this morning. Once in a while I'll run across someone making their way home from an after hours party. You can usually spot them out. The very slow and cautious driver or the one with no headlights. The best is the "wrong side of the street" driver. Hopefully they are making it home without injuring someone.
Today was the 10 or so mile road rage drivers. It started on 27th and Layton when the little car decided to cut in front of the truck. They went at it down Layton and both got on the freeway on Loomis. It continue with each one passing each other and then hitting the brakes. I think the little car tried to avoid confrontation and veer off onto 43 but truck guy cut him off forcing him onto 894. I stayed a distance back as I don't care to be involved in stupidity. Around Lincoln I saw the red & blue lights flashing in my rear view mirror. I slowed hoping that they weren't after me. Zoomed past and went after the truck and I saw another coming that went after the car.
Now I wonder-did they call each other in or did another driver also observe this and call it in. Regardless they were both pulled over about 1/4 mile apart and off the road. Bet the little car thought he was home free.
What a crappy way to start their day. Keep it off the road guys.

Words of Wisdom

You would think that by now I'd be a little smarter with dental visits.
At my last exam a month ago I was cavity free. I was happy. I figured barring no emergencies I was good to go for another six months. Things don't always work out the way you plan. It seems my dentist wasn't happy with two older fillings I had and wanted to replace them. One had a crack. Looking on the logical side I thought it best to have these taken care of rather than run the risk of losing one or both of them.

In the past when I ignored these things I've had to make emergency appointments. Thus I shall never again eat another Milk Dud. Pulled a filling right out and left a very painful exposed nerve.

I've had one or two painful experiences with dentists but have faithfully kept appointments and kept up on things for many years now. But I still dread going. My dentist is a pain free guy and looks for your comfort. He's very assuring. I always have the same issues. Can't stand all that stuff in my mouth! I've finally overcome the gag reflex by breathing through my nose. The problem seems to be that when I'm tipped back things run down your throat.

I've written about his assistant before. I was hoping she'd be gone by now. I wonder if she has something on him that is keeping her there. I heard her voice when I was in the lobby and almost bolted. I don't know what is up with this woman but I don't think she's all there.

She came and led me to the room and started a silly conversation about being ill. Then went into how she had the stomach flu so bad and began to describe her lower body portion mishaps. I just stared at her thinking it was not suitable conversation for a professional office. My dentist walked in to her saying "I had to finally send my sister to the store for depends as I was messing myself". His face was priceless. He proceeded to numb me up and then left me with her. I hoped she'd find some other subject to approach and she began to chat about how "back home" they have swap meets. While still chatting the dentist returned and the tubes and other needed things were now in my mouth. He asked her to rinse my mouth and I think she heard "wash her face" cause the water just sprayed all over my face. She was sorry, he was ticked off. I then tried to put my mind anywhere else but there.
I wanted to ask for a blindfold so I wouldn't have to look right into the light. I try not to look right in the dentists face but hate to close my eyes. Her rinsing abilities were horrible and I was close to gagging several times. My "happy place" was not working out to well. She started to ask me questions "What kind of perfume are you wearing?- Where did you get those pretty earrings? What shade of eye shadow is that? Do you have highlights in your hair or is that natural? Each question brought a eyebrow raise from the dentist and a grunt from me. The final straw was "Is that a tatoo you have on your shoulder? WTF? How did she see that?
The dentist, who was trying hard to do his job, then put the drill down looked at her and said "Could we just focus on what is at hand here? I'm sure Aleta enjoys the diversion , but she cannot answer these questions. Please rinse and suction."
There was some quiet for a minute or two and then she began to talk about a TV show about people who go around the US and pick up other peoples junk and sell it. The fillings were going in so I knew it wouldn't be long now. Yap, Yap, Yap...
The final rinse was on it's way. Wait the final rinse was once again a face wash. The dentist gently touched my hand and shook his head. As I was leaving I heard him softly ask her to step into his office. Hopefully she is looking elsewhere for a job.

When I got home I needed to rinse my mouth as things weren't rinsed out very well. Not a good idea with a numb lip and side of your mouth.

I have my fingers crossed that she is long gone in six months.

A Costly Mistake

A company I worked for years ago is in the news. Not in a good way. I'm not shocked at their total disregard for rules and regulations. I left there out of sheer frustration and their disrespect for their employees and laws.
They hit the news because they are being sued for a contaminated product that caused the death of a 2 year old. They were warned by the FDA and chose to ship the product anyway and now have issued a voluntary recall of several of their products. In reading some comments left on the news article, a lot of people tend toward blaming the FDA. Yes, they should have shut them down, but I feel the total blame lies on the company itself.
The article lists several issues-dirty pipes-people packaging sterile products without gloves and record keeping to name a few. In the seven years I worked for them I saw them go through three QA Managers. The owner flat out didn't want to hear about anything other than how fast the product could get out. He balked when he had to "clean up" the room where the producing and packaging was done. He balked at having to supply clean room suits, hair nets and gloves. He balked at everything that was going to take away from his profit.
I was injured due to a wrongly wired machine and was asked to keep my mouth shut and not record the incident. Needless to say there was an OSHA fine for my incident and the incident shortly after mine which was just as bad. Failure to correct machine functions will do that to you.
When I was injured there was a lot of blood inside the machine and on the floor and conveyor belt. It was wiped up with paper towels and within an hour of my injury the line was back up and running. The owner and supervisor decided that since it was an alcohol towelette machine that the alcohol would take care of the blood left in the machine. I was at the hospital for several hours and was given an excuse for the remainder of the day and the following week. I received a telegram the following day requiring me to return to work. It was a right hand injury and being right handed there wasn't much I could do. I stood next to someone and trained them on running the machine I was injured on. No lost time incidents for this guy.
At one point, to avoid a mound of OSHA and Union fines he shut his plant down and reopened 6 month later in another city but that didn't work out for him.
The past few days I have heard from several people whom I worked with at this company. It brought back some feelings that they as well as I would like to bury. I can see that it was just a matter of time before he'd be in trouble. "What goes around comes around" doesn't seem to be a morally correct statement due to the death of a two year old and other claims of violently ill people. I say sue his ass for his carelessness,greed and total disregard. It took a lot for me to admit I worked there.

Big Bed

The choice was made a few weeks ago to purchase a new mattress. We looked at ads and made a few stops here and there just to get ideas of what we were looking for. My husband decided that the Queen size bed would be upgraded to a King size. I was a little shocked by that as we had went from a King to a Queen years ago to free up some space in our bedroom. I think he was just tired of falling out of bed because his cat feels the need to take up so much space.
I was able to hold him off long enough to paint the spare bedroom in anticipation of moving the existing bed to the spare room. That was done by Friday night. We had some errands to run on Saturday and some residual things to deliver to my daughters new home. Afterward my plan was to go home and organize things in the spare room. "Did you want to take a run out to Colders and check out the mattress's" was not what I was expecting to hear. I agreed but with the intent that we were only looking.
Two hours later we walked out of Colders with nothing. They have a "deal" going on. Whatever you spend you get back in store credit to spend on whatever you want. We found a mattress which I thought was very over priced. Walked around the store looking for what we could use the credit for. Everything we found was jacked up in price so much it was almost a crime to assume you were getting it for free. We took the salesman's card, thanked him for his time and said we needed some time to look around.
Off we went to a popular stores newly opened outlet store. Saw the same mattress for a much lower price. The problem was we also needed a headboard. Saw nothing that caught my eye. The store was closing so we took note of the pricing and decided to look around a little more. As we were leaving, husband noted that we had seen some mattresses at Menard's a few weeks ago. I thought they may have been the same one we had just looked at. Didn't hurt to drive across the street and check it out. It was indeed the said mattress and $700.00 cheaper than the first store with an 11% rebate. We stood and wondered if we'd be able to live down purchasing a mattress from Menard's. With the savings we would have been foolish not to purchase it. The only thing lacking was the free delivery. I'm just saying that one of these days this old workhorse is not going to be able to help Paul Bunyan haul furniture around any more.
It is comfy and very roomy and I have slept wonderfully the past two nights.