Life...Ever Changing and Yet Constant

I can't believe I haven't posted anything in over a month! Where do I begin?

Let's start with my baby, Reed. It seems he is no longer my baby...he has moved out and is living in his own apartment now. We got the notification in the mail of his acceptance at Lakeland Apartments and before you know it, we were packing him up. Much to Mike's chagrin, we moved the big items on Saturday of the Labor Day weekend. We also had to go and purchase a few "big ticket" items...television, microwave, and bed. I wish I had the camera when Reed had to dish out the money for those. I reassured him that these are one-time expenses and that he won't be spending this kind of money every week. Talk about sticker shock!!! On Sunday, Reed and I spent the day moving the smaller stuff and getting things unpacked and settled. He wanted to spend the night on Sunday so we got everything ready for him. His cable wasn't hooked up yet so we made sure to bring some movies to watch. We went out and got a few groceries to get him by until he figured out what he would need on a steady basis. As far as I know he is doing very well on his own. He comes home most weekends for the day on Saturday and goes back in the afternoon so he can go to church on Saturday night in Clear Lake. He then comes over to do "pig chores" on Sunday and is usually here and working when we get home from church. On weekends when there are home football games he comes home on Friday night to go to the game and stays overnight. From what I can tell he is a pretty good little housekeeper and I don't think he is having too many parties! He knows a few people in the building already as he works with them. Mike and I didn't have too much time to get sick of being alone together. About a week later, Gabby moved home from Norwalk (Thank you, God!). I don't know how thrilled she is to move back home but I am ecstatic!!! Now she is on the prowl for a job around here as she would like to stay in this area. It really has been perfect timing as now my parents are starting to have issues. The very same day as my sister and her husband left on vacation, my mom tripped down their ONE step in their house and before she knew it she was eating carpet. My nephew, Dan, called Sunday evening and asked what I was up to and proceeded to tell me what happened and that they were taking Grandma to get her checked out. After the poor lady having to spend 4+ hours on a backboard and in a cervical collar, she was released from the emergency room in the wee hours of the morning on Monday with a broken nose and a couple of black eyes and carpet burn on her face. After I tucked her in bed, Dad asked me if Gabby could come in and "watch" mom the next day. So morning came and Gabby spent the day "grandma-sitting". Mom was a little stiff and sore but overall wasn't too bad. I made her an appointment for a recheck with the doctor to verify that the x-ray reports were okay.

Tuesday was my Dad's birthday and I had decided that I would spend the day at home and make him a homemade cake and homemade ice cream (or should I say, Gabby made the homemade ice cream!). Luckily I did stay home as I was able to get a picture of Dad and his baby brother, Kenny. Kenny stopped by to wish his brother a "Happy Birthday" and visit for a while. Dad told Kenny all about Mom and her excitement so he stopped in at their house to see her too. The men spent the day pretty much with break downs at the bin site so it wasn't a very productive birthday. They're not getting too excited about it as it is still very early since we usually don't start the harvest until after Mike's birthday on September 29th. Later in the afternoon the phone rang. It was my mom and she was rather flustered. She had just returned from the doctor's office and upon getting home, her blood sugar dropped, she started to sweat and when she tested her blood sugar it was 57! So I got in the car and flew in to her house. She was sitting at the table and her face was kind of red. She had had a spoonful of sugar and three Fig Newtons and her blood sugar had not yet come up. I made her a 2 egg sandwich and made her eat it and she got much perkier. When my dad got home, she told him happened and we also broke it to him that we were having birthday cake and ice cream. -- Happy Birthday, Sourpuss! While he took a shower, I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things for mom and some supper for him. I bought some Dinty Moore beef stew and heated that up for him with some bread and butter (yep, there's always room for bread and butter!). By that time Jamie had gotten there and then my kids. We all had cake and ice cream, did a little visiting and admired Mom's battle scars. The next day after work I stopped in to check on Mom and she had had a bad day. Her blood sugars dropped 3-4 times that day and she admitted that "there is something wrong with me!" I picked up the phone and got her an appointment to see the doctor the next morning. We went in and I went back with her to discuss everything that had been happening. The P.A. cut her amount of Glyburide in half and gave her the "protein is good food" talk...then Mom got that look on her face and told me to "shut up". At that point, the physician's assistant said, "Are we having an 'I told you so' moment?" Mom said, "Yes, dear." After work that night I went to the grocery store and loaded up on some protein and high fiber carb foods that I thought the folks would eat or could/should at least learn to eat. Some were a hit and some...not so much. I can't understand why they are so averse to yogurt! It would be so good for them both!

Finally we got through that week and the weekend arrived. My sister was heading home and so it seemed pretty safe to leave town for the day. My nephew, Dan was in town so I told him to keep Grandma and Grandpa under control. I had bought tickets a long time ago to go to the Clay County Fair and see Jeff Foxworthy. After mass and the chores were done, Mike, Gabby, Reed and I set off for the fair. It was a beautiful day for it, not too hot..not too cold. We walked around, looked at campers and looked at model homes. Not one of the homes were as nice as the one I call home. It's good to be able to say that. Mike looked into a Morton building for possibly next spring or summer. Gabby bought some cowboy boots. Also, we all ate FAIR food!! All that deep-fried, so not good for you food! The show started at 6:30 so we made our way into the grandstand a little after 6 and found our seats. It was a good show but Reed informed me that he really likes Larry the Cable Guy better. Oh well, can't please everyone! The next week was actually pretty busy but nothing outstanding. My mom had a birthday but nobody had any time to party. I made a taco dip and Gabby and I went in to visit and entertain her. Deb was not feeling good and didn't want to risk giving it to anyone else. The weekend came and almost went. Mom called me Sunday evening and said that Dad's toe was killing him. He had dropped something or another on it while at the farm and now it had a big blood blister and was huge. He couldn't wear a shoe and was wearing a sock that he wore the day before that was already stretched out. He couldn't put his foot through a pair of jeans so was wearing shorts. She said she knew it must hurt but "does he have to be such a baby about it?" The next day, she called work and Deb made an appointment for him to see Dr. Ponnada. As I was leaving to go home, I looked down the hallway to the clinic and there was Dad sitting in a wheelchair with a bit cast shoe on. I punched out and went down to see what he was up to. When I got there, he just hung his head. Mom said he was given orders not to walk -- only to the bathroom or to bed, no driving and no farming. Deb asked if I would go to the house and get them settled and she ran up to get the antibiotics and pain pills filled at the drug store. When we got home, he said, "I might as well just go down to the home." Mom said, "Oh, no! We aren't going down there...we are staying right here!" So far he's being a real good patient...don't know how patient his caregiver is. She about had a cow when Deb cut his antibiotic pills in half as they were kind of big. "I take pills that big, so can he!" I'm not sure if she likes him getting so much attention. I think that when the doctor said that we have to be careful with his injury as we don't want him to lose his leg -- that kind of hit home. While Deb filled his pill box, I made grilled ham salad sandwiches for them both. I figured if I didn't make them supper, I didn't think Mom would get in any big rush and he needed to have something in his stomach after taking all those pills! The following Wednesday, I accompanied Mom to her big doctor's appointment. After a little seed planting by me, she decided that I should drive her to the appointment since she needed to be fasting for the blood work. So off we toddled to see her regular nurse practitioner. We decided she was getting to the point where she would try just not taking the Glyburide at all and see how that goes. Once again she got the talk about how good protein is for her...once again she told me to "shut up with the 'I told you so's'". After that we had some time before her pedicure so I pushed her down to the cafeteria where she ate the half a ham salad sandwich and had some COFFEE!!!! I also brought a molasses cookie of which I had made the night before -- my Grandma Smith's recipe. We sat and visited and then I took her down to get her feet done. I left her in Sherri's trusted hands and told her to call me at my desk when she was done. After that I made sure she had her flu shot and then we were on our way back home. Whew! Parents! My sister, Deb, informed me today that she was going to "kill your mother!" Mom had called her at 6:15 a.m. and Deb was in a panic thinking that someone had fallen or something. Pat answered the phone and it was Mom, asking what they were going to do for supper. She had been awake since 4 a.m. and was just lying there thinking about this plan she had concocted. They decided that Dad needs a lift chair like Mom has and they wanted to go to Mason City to pick one out and of course ... eat supper. She also said...by the way...could Pat come down and fill the car up with gas as she was going to Garner to pay their property taxes and such and she does not pump her own gas. Just come into the house and we'll give you our gas card. So, Pat, being the obedient son-in-law that he is, heads down to the folks' house, goes in and both of them are in their chairs in the living room -- sound asleep. He could not get either one of them to wake up so he just took the car and charged it on their account. When he got the car back he went inside again and Mom was just kind of waking up. He said, "Sure, you call us at just after 6 and then YOU go take a nap while the rest of us have to go to work!" Yeah, I'm SOOO glad she doesn't call me in the wee hours....yet. I think we will have a kind of busy weekend ahead. Micah comes home for the first time this Fall. Gabby goes to Waterloo to a friends' wedding. It is homecoming on Friday. Mike's birthday is on Saturday. I have to make muffins for a breakfast after church on Sunday. Let's see...what else can I fit in? Who knows?!?