My Life, Such As It Is

You don't have to tell us, we already know we are crazy

2009-11-15T20:16:00.000-08:00

Ask me where I have been for the last three days.

Go ahead...

ask.

Tomorrow night is the premier of New Moon. The second installment of the Twilight saga and as you may or may not know, my sisters and daughter and nieces are Twilight crazed.

So, yeah...they talked me into it again. Coming to LA for the premier.

If you have read any of the post that are on my sidebar you would know how it all went down last year for the Twilight premier.

This year....way different.

We aren't first this year but thanks to some awesome friends we made at last years premier, we are #'s 6-12. They are first this year and its an honor well deserved.

More on that later.

For now, the quick story is that we have been here since Thursday evening. Sitting on Le Conte Ave.

Outside.

In chairs.

Its cold outside at night too.

Hubby who was nice enough to drive us here has been staying at a hotel up the street. The girls have been either sleeping at the hotel or in the van parked in the lot right behind us.

J and I have been stayed out on the street every night.

I am WAY tired! Probably about six hours of sleep since we got here.

I know I am WAY stupid too. More on that later.

So, got to get back out there now. Hopefully I will have some really good pictures to post on Tuesday, or maybe Wednesday when I am coherent again.

1000

2009-11-12T01:48:00.000-08:00

The post I did yesterday was post #1000!

I didn't even realize it until I logged back in just now to post something else other than this but I felt I needed to acknowledge my 1000th post.

I didn't know I had that much to say.

Trying to find the routine

2009-11-11T13:07:00.000-08:00

Kids came back from their cruise Monday night.

They won a free 3-4 or 5 day cruise of their choice and have up to a year to take it. They won it playing Bingo. DIL said another person called out Bingo before her but their card was not a valid winner. They were thinking of taking one out of San Diego but I told them to think beyond California. If they could save up money for airfare, they could take a Caribbean cruise. Might as well see something new if you can.

Baby D was with Granny R for four days. I am not sure what she fed him the whole time but I think it was pure sugar. When they stopped by Monday night he was positively uncontrollable. I have never seen him so hyper and whiny. He was actually whimpering.

I think he is also mad at Mommy for leaving him. Usually he is so attached to her, nobody else can hardly even pick him up. He wanted everyone to pick him up EXCEPT her. Pick him up, put him down, pick him up, put him down. The poor kid didn't know what he wanted. I watched him yesterday and he was still a little on the whiny side but for the most part, he was almost back to normal. Mom has today off so they will spend the whole day together and by the time I get him tomorrow, hopefully, he will be considerably calmer.

I hope.

For my sake.

Waiting...

2009-11-09T15:19:00.000-08:00

The kids are due back from their cruise any time now. In fact, I am sure they are already back in town but their first priority is picking up Baby D.

They had internet on the ship so they could keep in contact with Granny R at all times and also to let us know what they were doing.

On Saturday morning I received this...

Having fun. Got to Mexico ok. Going to be a little crazy today, will tell u about it tonight. Will check email again at 10 tonight.

I'm glad they didn't tell me that morning what they had planned or I would have been a nervous wreck all day.

They rented a car and took off on their own. In Mexico. Driving out into the countryside and up in the mountains. Alone. Neither of them know a lick of Spanish. I'm all for adventure, within reason, but to me, that just wasn't a smart idea.

I cant wait to hear this story, which I am sure there must be one because this was what DIL had to say, "It was a unique experience but we got back safe."

Kids.

This was the last email I got...

Had a fun trip. Cant wait to get home to Baby D. Have great news. Will tell you tomorrow when we call.

I hate being kept in suspense.

If my powers of deduction are right, they either won money in the casino, they played bingo and won the money prize or they won the free cruise.

I think its the free cruise.

I should be finding out pretty soon.

Civil war duds

2009-11-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

How long does it take to make a shawl collar vest with lining, two vented pockets and hand stitched button holes?

Weeeell, let me tell ya...

14 hours.

Andy is off fighting for the Confederate this weekend and he needed a new vest. He didn't bring me the material and pattern until Monday but he got the wrong material. He wanted wool, he bought felt. He saw wool listed on the bolt and thought it was what he needed. Never send a man/child alone to the fabric store.

By the time I got the right material, it was Thursday. I had Baby D all day Thursday, plus that is order day for Hubby, which I have to do for him, so by the time I got started on this vest, it was after 7pm. They were leaving the next morning.

Hubby thought I was joking when I said I would be up all night.

I was up until 5:30am. I got a few hours sleep and then had to get up and sew on the buttons and make the button holes, which had to be hand stitched for authenticity. They looked like crap but the boy was happy and in the big scheme of things, that's what really matters, right...that your kids are happy.

What ever!!

Off to Mexico

2009-11-06T23:51:00.000-08:00

Oldest Son and DIL are on a cruise this weekend. First time leaving Baby D for longer than a day, for her that is. Oldest Son works out of town so he is used to not seeing his baby for days at a time. Granny R has Baby D for the weekend. Today is also DIL's birthday!

I hope they have a good time!

the beginning of the feeding frenzy

leaving Long Beach

Just an observation

2009-11-05T16:29:00.001-08:00

Its 4:30pm and I am just now getting my first cup of coffee for the day.

No wonder my mood is foul and my head is ready to explode.

I have a blog?

2009-11-04T23:48:00.001-08:00

Wow...that's right, I DO have a blog! Its been awhile since I have been here too. Not like there was nothing going on, I just didn't feel like writing about it or doing much of anything else for that matter. I figured if I didn't get back into this now, I never would. I missed blogging but at the same time I just couldn't even force myself to blog.

Actually, some pretty cool things have happened since I was last here but good or bad, I just wasn't feeling it. Damn, being depressed really sucks. It just zaps your will to function sometimes but a Mother/Wife/Grandmother has to keep plugging along no matter how she feels inside, so, I did.

I'm back!

A quick update

2009-09-14T19:10:00.000-07:00

Its been awhile again.

BabyDsitting and working with Hubby have been taking up a lot of my time. So much so that I haven't posted here, my farm at Farmtown is empty and my house, or everywhere the baby cant get to, is a mess.

This week is going to be just as busy. Hubby left this morning for Spokane. We had a blow out on the way to the airport. What a way to start a trip, a blow out on a busy highway. There wasn't a lot of room on the side of the road so naturally, you just know it happened on the drivers side tire. We had to call Andy to bring another vehicle so I could get Hubby to the airport and poor Andy had to change the tire. I was so scared for him. The traffic was heavy and fast. The icing on the cake? The jack was broke and the lug nuts were next to impossible to get off. The blister Andy got on his hand from lowering the car off the jack with a crescent wrench made my legs go weak when I saw it.

Did you know it was Grandparents Day yesterday? I didn't. My Son and DIL didn't either. Its not a big deal to me. I only mention it because my Mom is flippin pissed off that none of her Grandchildren knew about it either. So much so that she is leaving what she thinks are cryptic messages meant to make us feel bad on her Facebook page. It wouldn't have been such a big deal to her either but the neighbors, SuperW and WonderM, went all out for her Mom so now us girls, or rather our kids, are on the list. You know, the one that starts with a great big "S".

My niece who just got married in June is expecting. She wanted to start a family right away and wasted no time in starting said family. She always said she was going to be married before she was 24 and pregnant by 25. So far she is right on schedule being that she is turning 25 in two weeks. I just hope her new Hubby feels the same way. She only knew him six months before they were engaged and married another six months after that.

I learned a new word at my Gynecologist office today. Dysplasia: abnormal growth or development, as of organs or cells. She said as long as it can be classified as dysplasia, its not cancer. Yet. Next step, wait. Another test in six months and we decide what to do then. I have been sweating this since June when Kaiser called me to tell me my pap was abnormal and I needed a colposcopy. Yeah, that was like two days after my insurance was cancelled. So, I have been waiting and wondering. Finally, new insurance and a biopsy two weeks ago brings us to here. So, I wait. Again.

In case you haven't heard, I have crazy sisters. Crazy, as in they have already made hotel reservations in Westwood for the premier of New Moon. Sometime in November, I will be sitting/sleeping on a sidewalk for days on end. I begged them to let me stay home this time. They wont let me. They think I enjoy this. I don't. But, I go because, well, I guess for the same reason I go camping, even though I despise it. Its what we do and we do it together.

On Wednesday, I will be joining Hubby in Spokane. I am all packed, ready to go and nervous as hell. The thought of flying, and flying alone no less, has me sick to my stomach. When did I get this way? Stuff like this never bothered me before. The new company is putting on their yearly hardware show. I wasn't going to go this time for several reasons, mostly because he has only been with the company for five months now. With the old company, I was like a fixture at these shows, I went to all of them. Everyone knew me, customers, coworkers, vendors. This is a new ballgame. His employers don't know that I do the shows, that I help Hubby. I didn't want them to think that with me tagging along, he wasn't doing his job and taking care of his customers. What changed my mind was when I saw his flight itinerary. He was due to return home on Saturday the 19th, by way of Seattle. Ive never been to Seattle. Space Needle is in Seattle. Pikes Place Market where they throw the fish around and home of the very first Starbucks is in Seattle. Some of the ships from the Discovery Channel show, Deadliest Catch are in Seattle, although I think I am too late because they have probably returned to Alaska a few weeks ago. So, I will be in Seattle too, with Hubby, on Saturday the 19th, which is my 50th birthday.

I am so excited. Now, if I only didn't have to fly to get there!

Stay turned for pics!

babyDsitting

2009-08-26T20:25:00.000-07:00

Went very well today, if I do say so myself.

He walked around, I followed him. I do need to get a baby gate.

He ate solid food, without choking. Yes, I am a worrier, and always will be after raising a kid with an over-active gag reflex who choked on everything, even pudding.

He slept, for longer than 15 minutes! I am soooo excited about that since I could never get him to take a nap before! He slept for two and a half hours!

Okay, so yeah...my back is screaming with pain tonight, my arm is throbbing and I am so tired at 8pm that I am ready for bed, but that's okay. A small price to pay to get to see this macaroni filled smiling face.

How do you know when your daughter is texting too much?

2009-08-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

When you get a phone bill that looks like this.

The thing was so thick they couldn't even fold it and use a normal size envelope. 144 pages, printed on both sides. The stack on the left, all 7 pages, belongs to Hubby, Andy, DIL2B and me. The rest of the bill is a list of R's texts.

All 6,890 of them.

six THOUSAND. In one month.

I had about 600, Andy 400, DIL2B had 200, Hubby...7.

Maybe this is normal for a teenager and I am sure there are others out there, A-Boo Boo, I'm sure, who have many, many more but it's the biggest phone bill we ever received. I weighed it. It was a half of a pound.

For some reason, the kids don't "talk" on the phone, they text everything.

BabyDsitting

2009-08-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

Starting tomorrow, I get to see this face every day.

During the summer, DIL was home, so sometimes we would go a few days without seeing him. School started for her yesterday and Oldest Son goes back to work tomorrow.

I will be spending my day today baby proofing the house. Not that we haven't already but its one thing to pick up things when he comes to visit, its entirely another when he is going to be here all day.

This time around its going to be totally different. He is walking now. He is eating a lot of different foods and not so much of the baby food in a jar. He doesn't take a bottle anymore. He throws 1-year old temper tantrums, which actually are the funniest thing you have ever seen.

He also has serious, SERIOUS, separation issues, which I thought would get better as he got older but have gotten worse. DIL says its so bad now that she cant even leave the room without him coming after her crying and clinging to her leg. If they are here at the house and she walks out of the room, not even Gma or Gpa will fill the void, it has to be Mommy. Sometimes not even Daddy will do, which makes Oldest Son feel really bad.

We used to have a morning routine. DIL would bring him in the house, I would take him out of his car seat and then he and I would stand at the door and wave bye to Mommy as she got in the car and left. No fuss, no muss.

We'll see what happens tomorrow morning.

We have purchased an arsenal of toys over the summer so hopefully I will have enough to keep him busy. And there is always the Tupperware cabinet if all else fails. He loves pulling every single thing out of there, putting it back and pulling it out again.

I'm happy that I will get to see my baby almost every day again but I am already tired just thinking about what tomorrow and the following months will bring. That boy wears me out, for sure, and that was even before he was walking. Hopefully, I will lose the 8 pounds I gained over the summer and continue losing again. I highly recommend The Babysitters Diet. The easiest way I have found to lose weight. You are so busy chasing after the kid you don't have the time or the inclination to even think about food.

Wish me luck!

Where the heck have I been?

2009-08-18T16:57:00.000-07:00

Right here...not blogging. I had a bit of a writers block. A blog block? I just wasn't feeling it. And its not like I didn't have anything to blog about, for pete sake! My Baby D had his first birthday, we went camping, I had a pipe burst under my house, school started, Andy was at one of the fires raging in the state. On and on, my life was happening but I was too lazy to write about it. I blame Farm Town.

So, I'll keep it short and sweet.

Baby D turned 1

We had a party at Granny R's house. Celebrated the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse themed birthday party with what else but...HOT DOGS!

Baby D, eating his birthday cupcake

Feeding Gma frosting

The 3rd Annual Family Camping Fiasco

What can I say? It wasn't just me that was miserable this time. Due to reasons I wont go into here, Cough-cough, The Psychic, everyone pretty much wanted to go home after the first day. Oldest son fell twice and got hurt pretty bad both times. J fell and ended up with a massive bruise on her leg. Hubby fell on our tent, don't even ask because I still don't know how, and broke the poles in two places. We ended up putting it in the dumpster before we left. Thank goodness, Baby D was a dream. If he had been fussy or hard to handle, I would have packed him up and left. The idiots are already making plans for next year.

Our great big happy camping family

My expression says it all, "GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!"

Baby D is walking

He was a little unsteady a few weeks ago but now he walks all over the house, usually with both hands up in the air for some reason. I start babyDsitting again this Monday and I know he is going to run me ragged.

There's a hole in my wall

Cost of renting a saw to cut out the old pipe - $23
New pipe and fittings - $38
Price that the plumber was going to charge me - $130 per hour
Having a brother in law who did the work for free - PRICELESS

We only discovered the mess, a broken waste water pipe, when BIL was going down into the cellar to get tools to fix the garage door opener that Andy somehow pulled all the wires out of when he was moving stuff around in the garage and found the cellar to be flooded. Yeah, we still have a hole in the wall from where he had to bust in to get the old pipe out and the new one in but as soon as the whole mess dries out, he is going to fix that too. It was either go through the wall or take out the kitchen cabinets. Wall, easier to repair. He spent quite a bit of time underneath the house too. I felt bad about that, especially when he wasn't feeling well for a few days after, I suspect from the muck he was rolling around in and what ever he was breathing into his lungs. And yes, he rewired the garage door opener too!! Have I mentioned how much I love my BIL?

My hero, SUPER PLUMBER!

School has started

She is a Junior this year and it makes me sad to realize that there is only one more year after this one and she will graduate. On the flip side of that, she is an upperclassman now and she feels free to be herself finally, hence the Jonas Brothers T-shirt, Jonas Brothers binder and tennis shoes that say things like "Girls Rule" all over them.

The annual "first day of school" pic in front of the tree

The only other news I have is that I get to go to Seattle for my birthday this year. Hubby's new company is having their show in September and of course, its the week of my bday. We had been going back and forth about whether I would go with him this time. I always went to shows with him in the past but everyone knew me and was used to seeing me at these shows. New job, new people, didn't want to make him look bad by having the wife tag along. I had pretty much made up my mind I was going to stay home until I saw his travel plans. Flying home, connecting flight in Seattle, on my birthday. That's when I suggested that I go along, he change his travel plans to spend and extra night in Seattle. I am really excited. Not real crazy about spending three days in a hotel room in Spokane but hey, its a nice hotel, its free, I can deal. Our plans for Seattle include Pikes Place Market, home of the very first Starbucks. Be still my heart! Dinner at Space Needle most likely. Checking out the docks and hopefully spotting either the Northwestern or one of the other Deadliest Catch boats that call Seattle home. I am afraid I am going to be a couple of weeks late on that one though, being they might already be on their way up to Alaska by then. If anyone has any other suggestions, please send them along!

So, that's pretty much it, in a nutshell. Have to go check on my farm now...see ya

Its a small world after all

2009-07-31T15:36:00.000-07:00

Oldest Son, the paramedic, was working Monday night. One of his calls was a traffic accident. A man was driving home to the Bay area and suffered a mild heart attack and heat stroke. Oldest Son ran the call and then ended up having to transport him to a hospital in Big Town, about two hours away.

Flash forward to this afternoon.

MIL and SIL Who Lives Around the Corner are waiting at the Amtrak station in Big Town. One of the nephews has been staying with MIL and they were sending him home on the train today.

While they are waiting for the train to arrive, MIL strikes up a conversation with a man sitting next to her. He starts to tell her a story about how he was on his way home and while traveling through the valley, suffered a heart attack and heat stroke and crashed his car. He had just been released from the hospital and was trying to make his way home to the Bay area.

When he told her where he was when he had his accident, she mentioned that her Grandson was a paramedic in that same town. He told her that the paramedic who helped him that night was so nice and helpful and that he even called CHP for him to find out where his vehicle had been taken. She described what Oldest Son looked like and what his name was and the man was positive they were talking about the same person.

He said if it was her Grandson who had helped him that night to make sure she tell him how very much he appreciated all that he did for him, especially taking the time to find out about his vehicle.

When SIL Who Lives Around the Corner called me, she was still at the train station. She asked me to call Oldest Son and then call her right back after I asked him if it was him who had ran that call. After I explained to my stunned son how I knew so many details of a call he ran five days ago, he was even more surprised that his GMA had actually talked to the guy. He said he had wondered what happened to him and was glad that he was okay and headed home.

When I called SIL back she said the passengers were just starting to board so she was going to try to find the man and to let him know.

Yeah, I know I am all menopausal and everything from not having enough room in the dishwasher for all the dirty dishes to the grocery store being out of half & half makes me burst into tears these days, hearing that just made my heart and my eyes fill up.

My son.

Out there helping the world.

Just kill me now

2009-07-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

It was 112 yesterday. The record that stood for 110 years was broken. Way to go San Joaquin Valley. We rock!

You know you're in trouble when you get up at 7am and have to take a cold shower or hear people saying, "Its only going to be 107 today, and down to 104 by tomorrow, THANK GOODNESS!"

I am really surprised that we haven't lost power except for just one day. Of course, now that I said that, everything will probably kick off around 4pm today.

Hating summer, as usual.

He REALLY wants cake

2009-07-19T14:10:00.000-07:00

J left her red flip flops here last night.

BIL found them in "The Flats". Now that he has put in a swamp cooler, everyone seems to congregate in The Flats more than any part of the house.

He asked me if I could take a picture of something for him and send to my sister with a message.

send a cake or the flip flops will be wearing cement shoes and floating with the fishes

He is holding her flip flops ransom until Daddy P makes him a cake.

Fire chasing 101

2009-07-15T23:28:00.000-07:00

My motto, "I love drama, as long as it isn't mine", was put to the test today.

BIL and I were heading to the hardware store, my new favorite place to go since BIL moved in and loves to fix things for us, when he saw a column of black smoke off in the distance.

Me, being the voyeur that I am when it comes to that sort of thing thanks to my Dad, right away turned off the road to try and find the source of the smoke. As we were weaving our way through the streets trying to find the fire, I mentioned to my BIL that it seemed to be awfully close to where my cousin lived.

Turning down a few more streets and I commented on the fact that the fire seemed to be VERY close to her house.

As we turned the corner, I was shocked and scared to see that it WAS indeed my cousins house on fire. Talk about a sick, sinking feeling in my stomach.

We pulled in just after the fire engine got there, just as her sons and daughter-in-law were running out of the house with the baby. Right away, BIL and I asked what we could do to help. We didn't know whether we needed to be pulling things out of the house or what. The front yard was filled with black smoke so they asked us to take the baby to our car to keep him away from the smokey air. Friends and neighbors were coming over to see if help was needed but the fire department had it under control. I called J as soon as I got the baby in my van and she came rushing over, ready to start pulling pictures off the walls if need be.

Turns out, it wasn't the house on fire, thank goodness. The fence along the side of the house was totally destroyed but the fire was put out before it jumped to the house. The family is spending the night in a hotel tonight because of the smoke damage inside the house.

I've always been one of those people that firefighters hate. The ones that have to rush to a fire to watch. You would think I would know better, being that I have two sons who are firefighters, but I cant help it. Its something that was ingrained in me from an early age by my Dad, the original fire truck chaser. Maybe that's the reason both my sons became firefighters. I drug them along, just like my Dad did me.

This time was no different. I wanted to "see the fire" but it became a totally different experience when I realized it was the house of a family member in danger. It was really scary. I know this wont change me. I will still start to drool when I hear fire engine sirens blasting. The urge will still pull me to find the fire when I see smoke, but I think from today on, I will have a little more respect for the fire and the people who are involved. You just never know when it could be you or yours.

Even MacGyver had a bad day once in a while

2009-07-14T22:46:00.000-07:00

We now have a swamp cooler in our family room, aka: The Flat (where BIL is living) and it is freakin awesome. Cool air blowing throughout the whole house, costing pennies to run compared to running our air conditioner. Now, of course, you cant run the thing once the temp hits 100, which is pretty much every single day in summer, but until it gets that hot, the thing is amazing. I wish we had got one years ago!

Our swamp cooler, (evaporative cooler for those of you not in the know) came from SIL Who Lives Around The Corner. They got a new one about two years ago and their old one had been sitting in their back yard ever since. It was in pretty bad shape when we brought it home.

Until WonderBIL got a hold of it.

We knew we were going to have to put a little time and money into it because for one, it hadn't been running for the past two years and two, the nephews had stripped it for parts for their fish tanks. BIL, who I have since renamed MacGyver, had the thing cleaned, scrapped, rewired and painted by 8am. Before we ran to the hardware store to buy the rest of the needed parts he wanted to make sure the motor was running so we plugged it in and waited for the hum of the motor to fill our ears.

We waited...

For the hum of the motor...

yeah, no hum.

Four hours later, after he had taken the motor out, taken the motor apart, taken the cords off, taken the switch apart, and then put it all back together again, we still were not hearing it.

Five hours, six hours, seven hours later...after standing out in the sun, all day, trying to find the problem, he still could not figure out what was wrong.

He was starting to get a headache from all the strain, got out his glasses and saw the problem right away.

Crossed wires.

All damn day he spent trying to figure out why it wouldn't run and it was all because he crossed two wires when he was rewiring the cord and has bad eyesight.

He fixed the problem, plugged it in, turned it on, motor hummed AND blew dust, dirt and leaves all over him.

I'm telling ya, you cant buy that kind of entertainment.

Finally released!

2009-07-06T12:41:00.000-07:00

My nephew M-moo, being walked out of the hospital by his nurse, his GMA and his Auntie

The boy was finally released from the hospital today! He had his surgery last Thursday. He seemed to recover quickly from the appendectomy but high temps and pneumonia were keeping him from going home.

All he wanted was to go home. Oh, and to have toast.

Today he got both!

If you happen to see this...

2009-07-03T08:43:00.000-07:00

Check out page 6, top right corner. My daughter, holding up the infamous "Bite Me" sign. An even bigger photo than what was in US Magazine. She is mortified. Again.

Page 9, top right corner. The person hold out the book for Taylor Lautner to sign, yeah, that would be my sister.

Another day, another hospital

2009-07-03T07:24:00.000-07:00

As if we hadn't spent enough time in the hospital lately.

Yesterday morning my 17 year old nephew, M-moo, went to the doctor because he had been sick. Bad stomach pain, throwing up. What was thought to be a reaction to shrimp turned out to be appendicitis.

The surgeon said that it was gangrene and his body was preparing itself for the appendix to burst. I'm not sure how a body can prepare for something like that, but it doesn't sound good. He got there just in time. We are hoping he can come home today but as of last night he had a fever so we have to wait and see.

And speaking of hospitals, MIL was finally released Tuesday night. She was never so happy in her life as when her doctor said she could go home. The lady in the next bed was really driving her nuts. It turns out she was homeless and according to what we were able to over hear, she is there on a pretty regular basis. She will OD on her medications when ever she wants to get off the street for awhile and was put in the cardiac ward because there were no other beds for her. That's how she knew she could have coffee, even though coffee isn't allowed on the cardiac floor. Since she really wasn't a cardiac patient, she was given a two hour pass to go downstairs to get her own coffee, only to be brought back to her room by security because she was panhandling down in the hospital lobby. County hospitals, what can you say.

MIL is home, thank goodness, and she seems to be fine, but has an appointment next week with a neurologist.

Now if we can just get M-moo home, hopefully, no more sickness for awhile.

I hope.

Please.

A little bit of wedding

2009-06-30T01:54:00.001-07:00

I tried posting a short video I took as my niece walked down the aisle but Blogger cut it off on one side so mostly, all you could see was the bride's father. You can see it here though. With everything going on, I haven't been able to actually make sure its okay with her that I post this, so its up...for now. I'm sure she wont mind. Its cute.

MIL update

2009-06-30T00:52:00.000-07:00

Still not being released.

Still don't really know what is wrong with her.

Its like every day they are finding something else.

She thought she would be going home today but when the results of the CT scan came back they found a "hyper dense cellular mass". Doctor ordered an MRI and told MIL that she was not going home just yet.

The MRI, which they hoped would show in more detail what this mass was, didn't help all that much. They still cant tell if its solid or blood. The mass is up against her pituitary gland, which is probably what was making her blood pressure go all wacky. They ran more blood tests this afternoon to find out what was going on with her pituitary gland but now I cant remember what the doctor said. If the labs came back with normal hormone levels that meant it was a solid mass, or was it blood??

Hubby, of course, is going into denial mode. While Mac was trying to explain what was going on with the latest tests to Hubby and his sisters, he sat there with his Sudoku book, not looking up. I told Mac later, he is listening to what you are saying, he just doesn't really want to hear it. I feel bad for SIL Who Lives Around The Corner. This is the same hospital where her FIL died a week ago. She said its like deja vu, being there again. Her Hubby cant even come visit MIL because he cant make himself walk back into the place.

MIL just wants to go home, especially since her new roomie is driving her crazy. Last night around 2am, they moved this drug addicted lady into her room. All day today she kept hitting her call button asking for Oxycontin and coffee and they weren't giving her either. They finally gave her coffee, I think just to keep her quiet, but then she started yelling because they weren't putting enough Splenda in it. When they cut her off, she tried to get out of bed and go downstairs to the cafeteria to get it herself.

I was all the way at the other end of the hall, coming out of the elevator, and could hear her yelling about needing to have a bowel movement. As I got closer to the room, I heard the nurse tell her, "Okay, I'm here to help you but we don't need the whole floor to know about it."

Too late.

The nurse told her when she was finished to pull the cord for help because they didn't want her walking unassisted. Not only did she not pull the cord for help but she took off down the hall. Probably to go get more coffee with splenda. BIL talked to the nurse about having either this lady or MIL moved to a different room but they are full. No empty beds at this time.

Hopefully we will know more tomorrow, one way or the other.

The annual "I HATE SUMMER" post

2009-06-28T22:36:00.000-07:00

yeah, yeah, I'll spare you the details. You've all heard it before.

I hate summer, blah, blah, blah...

Today was our first summer time power black out.

And so it begins.

Joy.

MIL update

2009-06-28T12:27:00.000-07:00

We went up to the hospital very early this morning thinking she was going to be released. She is not coming home today either and she is none to happy about it, let me tell you! MIL told the doctor she wanted to go home because she only agreed to stay ONE night! Her doctor has other ideas. They are still running tests because her blood pressure is unstable. Going from very high to very low.

We were the first ones there this morning but we decided to leave when everyone else started showing up. There were just way too many of us hanging around. That's what happens when you have six kids! We will go back up this afternoon and take her book and cell phone.

So far all we know for sure is that she has a urinary infection and the beginnings of emphysema, which is not good at all. Still running tests.

In the 35+ years I have known this woman, this is the very first time I have ever seen her in the hospital. She looks very frail and weak but she is joking around and worried about how her hair looks so that's a good sign.