Yesterday was an up and down sort of day. It started out with a Facebook message saying that my grandma was in the hospital and it was serious. I called Mom and we both cried. Grandma is 91 and the diagnosis yesterday was gallstones and pancreatitis. I thought for sure I'd have to say good bye to her yesterday. I talked to Dad once they were at the hospital with Grandma and the outlook sounded much better. But since any issue can be serious when you're 91, Steve and I made the trip over (with Reid) to see Grandma. She seemed to be doing well and they expect she'll be in the hospital for a week and then return to the care home. My day ended much better than it began. But it made me think a lot about my grandma, my one surviving grandparent, and I thought I'd tell you about her.
Grandma was born in September of 1919, the first of many September birthdays in our family (there are four others). She had a brother and a sister, although I'm not sure if they were older or younger. (Jesse died a few years ago and Ruth passed away before I was born.) I believe Grandma was born in Sunfield and lived in the area her entire life (so far, although I doubt she'll move away). In her 20s, her father was sick, so she took care of him and her mother. He passed away by the time she married Grandpa. When I asked her how she met Grandpa, she told me she knew him from the time she was born. Their families went to the same church and they were friends for years before they got married around age 30. Grandpa got a job at Kellogg when Grandma was pregnant with Durwood. They had Marie a few years later. At one point Grandma was pregnant and miscarried. She told me she argued with the doctor, insisting she was still pregnant, while he insisted she wasn't. Several months later, she gave birth (she had been carrying twins) to Carla, who didn't survive more than a few days. I remember visiting her grave with Grandma when I was little. A few years later, they bought a house in Nashville and then had Carol, my mom. By that time, Grandma was 39. Imagine - in the 1940s, she waited until she was about 30 to get married - spinster status at that time. She had already lost a parent and two children. And she had a baby at nearly 40, back in the 50s (late 50s, but still). That's Grandma. She's very opinionated and spunky. She's incredibly independent, which has been difficult for her in the last few years.
Grandpa had heart problems for several years. I'm not sure of the time table, but he had a few heart attacks. Durwood married Sue and they had Jenny and Shelly. Marie married Dave but divorced him (I'm not a fan of divorce, but from what I've heard of him, she was better off and fortunate they don't share children). At some point in there, Grandma's sister passed away, from complications of early on-set Alzheimers. In 1978, Mom married Dad. A week later, Grandpa had a heart attack at church and passed away later at the hospital. Mom and Dad stayed with Grandma for a few months before moving to Kentucky for seminary. Marie married Ken shortly after that and they had twins, Brian and Amy, the following year.
More grandkids came: Reid, then me, Tracy, and Leslie. And then Jenny married Donny and Shelly married Bill and great-grandkids came; Sarah, Jacob, Molly, and Scott. Then the family got smaller again before it got bigger: Jenny and Donny divorced, Durwood passed away unexpectedly (heart attack), and Ken passed away just months later (also heart attack). A few short months later, we added to the family again: I married Steve and Tracy married Donovan. Babies came shortly after that and Leslie married Paul and Brian married Rebecca. Grandma now has eight grandchildren (plus five spouses) and nine great-grandchildren, with another on the way.
Grandma has had some health issues over the years. Due to iritis, she's blind in one eye and has been as long as I can remember. She has some heart problems and at one point she had a lump removed from her breast. She had some balance issues, which eventually led to her moving to a home. Like I said, Grandma is very independent. By then she'd been living alone for 30 years. She knew it was best not to live alone anymore, but I think it was really hard for her. She was used to taking care of herself and taking care of others, not letting people take care of her. A good example is the first time Steve met her. We met her at a restaurant for dinner, for her birthday I think. She had fallen recently and injured her ankle and was in a wheelchair. Brian and Marie were with her and Brian tried to push her wheelchair for her. She slapped his hand away and insisted, "I'll do it myself." She was 86 then. :) She accepts help a bit more willingly now but is still pretty feisty. I'm inclined to think that's what changed the doctor's opinion on Saturday, from thinking she wouldn't leave the hospital to believing she'll be around a bit longer.
I'm glad she'll be around longer. I would never wish to prolong any pain she's in and at 91 I know she may not be around much longer. She's outlived a lot of the people in her life already. But I wasn't ready to say goodbye yesterday and I'm relieved she's okay, at least for the moment. Mom and Marie are really close to Grandma and I don't think they're quite ready yet either. In the meantime, I'm going to visit her more often. She still has lots of stories I haven't heard and I bet they're good ones.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
May the 4th
If you know my husband, you probably know I'm married to a geek. He works in IT and loves all things sci fi. I guess I'm a geek by proxy, although truth be known, I was interested in some of it before Steve, since my brother is also a geek. Anyhow, that is how I know today is a holiday. If you have any geek friends on FB or Twitter, you know this or you've at least seen "May the fourth be with you." Since the catchphrase from Star Wars is "May the Force be with you," today (May the fourth) is Star Wars Day. So in honor of that, here's a nice little story about how Steve knew I was the One.
Our first date was May 14, 2005. I graduated with my bachelors degree that day, moved in to my friends' basement, and got ready for a date with Steve. He had to work, so I had dinner at my future in-laws' with Becky and Zech and then went to register with them (they were engaged - for the record, I HATE registering. Shopping is not my thing and registering is worse because you don't go home with anything and you have to pick out what you want that you think someone else would be willing to buy for you. It's even worse when it's for someone else's registry. But I digress.). Steve met us at Target and then I rode with him to the bowling alley. I was nervous and when I'm nervous I either don't talk or chatter endlessly, depending on how well I know you. So I didn't say much. As the night went on, I felt more comfortable and started talking a bit more. By the time we left the bowling alley, I thought this relationship could have real potential (haha! I'm psychic!). The two of us drove around for a while, just talking. Contrary to all dating advice out there, Steve and I basically laid our cards on the table. We were both recently (within the last 9 months) out of serious relationships and were ready to settle down. Neither of us wanted to play games. We talked about our past relationships. We talked about most things. We ended up at Denny's, where we kept talking. When we went back to his parents' house, I asked if I could borrow his Star Wars DVDs.
According to Becky and Linda (my mother-in-law), this is a big deal. NO ONE is allowed to borrow Steve's Star Wars. Talking about it later, Steve said it wasn't that big a deal, no one ever asked to borrow them. But it was a big clue that he was seriously interested. Why did I want to borrow the DVDs? Because in January I visited Tikal in Guatemala. We were told a scene for Star Wars was filmed there in the '70s and I wanted to find it in the movie. I have a picture very similar to the one below, minus the spaceship, and the trees are taller (it HAD been 30 years). It's Yavin 4, featured in Episode 4.
Anyhow, I found it and pulled out my very similar picture, temples visible in the distance and all, when I returned the DVDs to Steve later in the week. I excitedly showed him my picture, exclaiming, "Look! I've been there!" (Even if you're not a SW fan, you have to admit this is pretty cool.) Aside from our similar views and temperaments, this and the fact that I got a Monty Python reference made Steve sure I was the right girl for him. So sure, in fact, that he proposed five weeks later. Here we are, six years, three daughters, one house, a masters degree, three jobs, three cars, and a minivan later. I'm happy with my geek and more than willing to celebrate May the fourth.
Oh, did I mention we had our first kiss after seeing Episode 3 in the theater? It was Steve's birthday and...
Happy Star Wars Day!
Our first date was May 14, 2005. I graduated with my bachelors degree that day, moved in to my friends' basement, and got ready for a date with Steve. He had to work, so I had dinner at my future in-laws' with Becky and Zech and then went to register with them (they were engaged - for the record, I HATE registering. Shopping is not my thing and registering is worse because you don't go home with anything and you have to pick out what you want that you think someone else would be willing to buy for you. It's even worse when it's for someone else's registry. But I digress.). Steve met us at Target and then I rode with him to the bowling alley. I was nervous and when I'm nervous I either don't talk or chatter endlessly, depending on how well I know you. So I didn't say much. As the night went on, I felt more comfortable and started talking a bit more. By the time we left the bowling alley, I thought this relationship could have real potential (haha! I'm psychic!). The two of us drove around for a while, just talking. Contrary to all dating advice out there, Steve and I basically laid our cards on the table. We were both recently (within the last 9 months) out of serious relationships and were ready to settle down. Neither of us wanted to play games. We talked about our past relationships. We talked about most things. We ended up at Denny's, where we kept talking. When we went back to his parents' house, I asked if I could borrow his Star Wars DVDs.
According to Becky and Linda (my mother-in-law), this is a big deal. NO ONE is allowed to borrow Steve's Star Wars. Talking about it later, Steve said it wasn't that big a deal, no one ever asked to borrow them. But it was a big clue that he was seriously interested. Why did I want to borrow the DVDs? Because in January I visited Tikal in Guatemala. We were told a scene for Star Wars was filmed there in the '70s and I wanted to find it in the movie. I have a picture very similar to the one below, minus the spaceship, and the trees are taller (it HAD been 30 years). It's Yavin 4, featured in Episode 4.
Anyhow, I found it and pulled out my very similar picture, temples visible in the distance and all, when I returned the DVDs to Steve later in the week. I excitedly showed him my picture, exclaiming, "Look! I've been there!" (Even if you're not a SW fan, you have to admit this is pretty cool.) Aside from our similar views and temperaments, this and the fact that I got a Monty Python reference made Steve sure I was the right girl for him. So sure, in fact, that he proposed five weeks later. Here we are, six years, three daughters, one house, a masters degree, three jobs, three cars, and a minivan later. I'm happy with my geek and more than willing to celebrate May the fourth.
Oh, did I mention we had our first kiss after seeing Episode 3 in the theater? It was Steve's birthday and...
Happy Star Wars Day!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
There goes April...
I've been neglecting the blog. Sorry, loyal readers. So I'm back with some updates...
- Nora turned 1! She's a hefty 25 lbs. She is stubbornly resisting all attempts to get her to walk. I half expect that one day she'll just take off at a run and that will be the end of crawling. She says a few words - Mama, Dada, baba (bottle), Ewwa (Ella), hi, and a few other things that sounded like words but may or may not have actually meant something. I had to trim her hair because it was in her face. That happened the day before her birthday. She looks older with her hair cut. The little bit I trimmed off is in a baggie in her baby book, along with a note with the date.
- Mia turned 3! Her check up is in May. She's getting tall. She's our cuddler, sensitive kid, and antagonist rolled into one. She adores Nora and takes care of her, but will turn around and smack Ella with a toy. I honestly don't believe she's trying to be naughty, she's just curious what will happen maybe? It keeps life interesting for sure. She has the BIGGEST appetite, but of our girls, she's probably the smallest for her age (which is still pretty high on the charts, I think). We still get lots of comments and questions about her red hair. I've even been asked if she was adopted...since red hair seems to pop up a lot when both parents have this recessive red hair trait (which honestly isn't so recessive in our family, considering Steve and I had 3 red-headed grandparents between us), I don't believe red hair is dying out. Just saying.
- Ella had her kindergarten round up appointment. How is she old enough for kindergarten?! Well, she seems old enough, but I don't feel like I'M old enough to have a kindergartener. Some days I feel like I'm actually still 17 and somehow woke up with a husband, house, three kids, and a minivan (in a good way, but there's still that feeling of "how did I get here?"). The appointment went well, she talked a ton, drew pictures, and came home with a few books and the alphabet.
- Steve got a promotion! He was help desk support and was promoted to network engineer. Normally there's a step in between - network administrator. The fact that he skipped that step shows how highly his bosses think of him and the faith they have in his abilities. He has a lot more responsibilities and a lot to learn (which means a lot of added stress), but he's up to the challenge. I'm very proud of him. :) This promotion also means a pretty big raise. Since Steve left Comcast and joined the bank about 13 months ago, his yearly income has gone up nearly $20,000. HUGE blessing! Obviously, this relieves a lot of the stress we had surrounding finances, even with the addition of a third child.
- We <3 Amoxicillin. Well, not really. I hate the 3 times a day dosing and some of the unfortunate side effects. Getting Nora to take it isn't easy either. But it does get rid of ear infections and the pain and screaming that come with them. Mia went to the doctor on Wednesday - double ear infection, bad enough that the doctor also prescribed ear numbing drops. Nora went in on Friday and she has an ear infection and the beginning of bronchitis. So both are on Amoxicillin and Mia has ear drops. Ella had a fever and a cough and threw up for about 24 hours, starting Friday night. She's finally keeping down liquids (Pedialyte for the win) but hasn't tried food yet. She did say she was hungry though, which is a good sign. The big girls have had cough syrup and all three have had some combination of Tylenol and ibuprofen for pain and fevers. We have two calendars on the fridge to track the Amoxicillin dosing and a list of who took what when. I highly recommend keeping a list if you have a kid on multiple meds or multiple kids on meds. My brain gets pretty muddled when I'm low on sleep so this method works for us. As of this morning, everyone seems to be doing somewhat better. Mia and Nora have been on meds long enough for them to take effect and Ella has stopped vomiting and has asked for juice and some food. She asked to play outside too. So Ella and Mia are out in the yard now - I figured the fresh air could only help.
- I have gallbladder issues? This may fall a bit into the TMI category - sorry, but you've been warned. I'm no stranger to issues involving gas, what with IBS and eating lots of fruits and veggies (I've heard this is an issue for other people switching to a healthier diet too). During pregnancy, it was one of many discomforts I dealt with. Normally Gas-X helps. But occasionally, I feel more bloated and uncomfortable and I start to get an ache in my shoulder. I found out a month or two ago that this could possibly be related to my gallbladder. It's an occasional thing, there doesn't seem to be a pattern to when it occurs, and I didn't think the doctor could do much unless I was in the middle of a flare-up so I figured I'd mention it when I go in for my yearly check ups. But Friday it was BAD. It happened when I took Nora in for her appointment and it was painful to sit down (pressure on my middle) or stand up straight. So I sat in a semi-reclined position and tried to hold Nora on my hip, which didn't help much. I asked a nurse about it in passing, knowing she couldn't do much without it being my appointment but she could at least tell me if I should get it checked out (yeah, I know, if I'm doubled over in pain, I should). She said I should get it checked out and asked if I still had my gallbladder. Since it didn't get better, I went to MedPlus later and the first question the nurse and doctor asked after hearing my symptoms was if I still had my gallbladder. The doctor thought I might have scar tissue on or near my gallbladder and ordered an ultrasound. Without going to the ER, I have to wait until Monday to even call to schedule it. Unfortunately I was in pain the rest of Friday night and off and on most of Saturday. I'm a bit afraid to eat because I'm not sure what's "safe" to eat and won't cause it to flare up worse. So I've had lots of bland foods and bowls of Cheerios. Steve bought more fruit last night because that's safe. Hopefully they can get me in soon to figure out the exact cause of this and do *something* to help it or shorten it.
- Fit Club ends and LIVE Turbo Kick class begins! Although both with a whimper, apparently. Second to last Fit Club was me, my wonderful sister, and my new co-teacher. Last Fit Club was just me and no one even showed up to let me in the church. Awesome. But that made it very clear to me that it had run its course. Unfortunately, Saturday morning when I dragged my hurting body (mid-gallbladder attack) out of bed and went to teach my first ever class, determined it would be awesome and I CAN work out through this, once again no one came. My lovely co-teacher came so we practiced and will advertise a bit more for this coming Saturday. I have a few people who I think can come this week that weren't able to last week (one of them being my wonderfully supportive sister) and I'm going to be more intentional about personally inviting people. I will make this class a success, even if my body seems to be determined to kill it (Seriously, the last time I was sick as the first week of Fit Club. Not sure what's up with that).
I think that's about it here. I DVR'ed the royal wedding and watched it. It was beautiful and I wish them the best. But William was much more handsome when I was in high school and I would not want to marry into all those requirements and media attention. I mean, they made her change her name. There will be pressure to "produce an heir." I much prefer my "prince" and quiet existence on this side of the pond. Well, at least once we're all healthy again. :)
- Nora turned 1! She's a hefty 25 lbs. She is stubbornly resisting all attempts to get her to walk. I half expect that one day she'll just take off at a run and that will be the end of crawling. She says a few words - Mama, Dada, baba (bottle), Ewwa (Ella), hi, and a few other things that sounded like words but may or may not have actually meant something. I had to trim her hair because it was in her face. That happened the day before her birthday. She looks older with her hair cut. The little bit I trimmed off is in a baggie in her baby book, along with a note with the date.
- Mia turned 3! Her check up is in May. She's getting tall. She's our cuddler, sensitive kid, and antagonist rolled into one. She adores Nora and takes care of her, but will turn around and smack Ella with a toy. I honestly don't believe she's trying to be naughty, she's just curious what will happen maybe? It keeps life interesting for sure. She has the BIGGEST appetite, but of our girls, she's probably the smallest for her age (which is still pretty high on the charts, I think). We still get lots of comments and questions about her red hair. I've even been asked if she was adopted...since red hair seems to pop up a lot when both parents have this recessive red hair trait (which honestly isn't so recessive in our family, considering Steve and I had 3 red-headed grandparents between us), I don't believe red hair is dying out. Just saying.
- Ella had her kindergarten round up appointment. How is she old enough for kindergarten?! Well, she seems old enough, but I don't feel like I'M old enough to have a kindergartener. Some days I feel like I'm actually still 17 and somehow woke up with a husband, house, three kids, and a minivan (in a good way, but there's still that feeling of "how did I get here?"). The appointment went well, she talked a ton, drew pictures, and came home with a few books and the alphabet.
- Steve got a promotion! He was help desk support and was promoted to network engineer. Normally there's a step in between - network administrator. The fact that he skipped that step shows how highly his bosses think of him and the faith they have in his abilities. He has a lot more responsibilities and a lot to learn (which means a lot of added stress), but he's up to the challenge. I'm very proud of him. :) This promotion also means a pretty big raise. Since Steve left Comcast and joined the bank about 13 months ago, his yearly income has gone up nearly $20,000. HUGE blessing! Obviously, this relieves a lot of the stress we had surrounding finances, even with the addition of a third child.
- We <3 Amoxicillin. Well, not really. I hate the 3 times a day dosing and some of the unfortunate side effects. Getting Nora to take it isn't easy either. But it does get rid of ear infections and the pain and screaming that come with them. Mia went to the doctor on Wednesday - double ear infection, bad enough that the doctor also prescribed ear numbing drops. Nora went in on Friday and she has an ear infection and the beginning of bronchitis. So both are on Amoxicillin and Mia has ear drops. Ella had a fever and a cough and threw up for about 24 hours, starting Friday night. She's finally keeping down liquids (Pedialyte for the win) but hasn't tried food yet. She did say she was hungry though, which is a good sign. The big girls have had cough syrup and all three have had some combination of Tylenol and ibuprofen for pain and fevers. We have two calendars on the fridge to track the Amoxicillin dosing and a list of who took what when. I highly recommend keeping a list if you have a kid on multiple meds or multiple kids on meds. My brain gets pretty muddled when I'm low on sleep so this method works for us. As of this morning, everyone seems to be doing somewhat better. Mia and Nora have been on meds long enough for them to take effect and Ella has stopped vomiting and has asked for juice and some food. She asked to play outside too. So Ella and Mia are out in the yard now - I figured the fresh air could only help.
- I have gallbladder issues? This may fall a bit into the TMI category - sorry, but you've been warned. I'm no stranger to issues involving gas, what with IBS and eating lots of fruits and veggies (I've heard this is an issue for other people switching to a healthier diet too). During pregnancy, it was one of many discomforts I dealt with. Normally Gas-X helps. But occasionally, I feel more bloated and uncomfortable and I start to get an ache in my shoulder. I found out a month or two ago that this could possibly be related to my gallbladder. It's an occasional thing, there doesn't seem to be a pattern to when it occurs, and I didn't think the doctor could do much unless I was in the middle of a flare-up so I figured I'd mention it when I go in for my yearly check ups. But Friday it was BAD. It happened when I took Nora in for her appointment and it was painful to sit down (pressure on my middle) or stand up straight. So I sat in a semi-reclined position and tried to hold Nora on my hip, which didn't help much. I asked a nurse about it in passing, knowing she couldn't do much without it being my appointment but she could at least tell me if I should get it checked out (yeah, I know, if I'm doubled over in pain, I should). She said I should get it checked out and asked if I still had my gallbladder. Since it didn't get better, I went to MedPlus later and the first question the nurse and doctor asked after hearing my symptoms was if I still had my gallbladder. The doctor thought I might have scar tissue on or near my gallbladder and ordered an ultrasound. Without going to the ER, I have to wait until Monday to even call to schedule it. Unfortunately I was in pain the rest of Friday night and off and on most of Saturday. I'm a bit afraid to eat because I'm not sure what's "safe" to eat and won't cause it to flare up worse. So I've had lots of bland foods and bowls of Cheerios. Steve bought more fruit last night because that's safe. Hopefully they can get me in soon to figure out the exact cause of this and do *something* to help it or shorten it.
- Fit Club ends and LIVE Turbo Kick class begins! Although both with a whimper, apparently. Second to last Fit Club was me, my wonderful sister, and my new co-teacher. Last Fit Club was just me and no one even showed up to let me in the church. Awesome. But that made it very clear to me that it had run its course. Unfortunately, Saturday morning when I dragged my hurting body (mid-gallbladder attack) out of bed and went to teach my first ever class, determined it would be awesome and I CAN work out through this, once again no one came. My lovely co-teacher came so we practiced and will advertise a bit more for this coming Saturday. I have a few people who I think can come this week that weren't able to last week (one of them being my wonderfully supportive sister) and I'm going to be more intentional about personally inviting people. I will make this class a success, even if my body seems to be determined to kill it (Seriously, the last time I was sick as the first week of Fit Club. Not sure what's up with that).
I think that's about it here. I DVR'ed the royal wedding and watched it. It was beautiful and I wish them the best. But William was much more handsome when I was in high school and I would not want to marry into all those requirements and media attention. I mean, they made her change her name. There will be pressure to "produce an heir." I much prefer my "prince" and quiet existence on this side of the pond. Well, at least once we're all healthy again. :)
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