Things I've Been Working On

Valerie is getting married in November. Something I am looking forward to very much. She is going to be a very beautiful bride. Her fiance is a kind, good, hard working man. He has a calm spirit that complements Valerie's high spirits in a way that enriches both of their personalities. They are so good together.

Right now, my sites are set on her bridal shower. I have picked out a theme, which I will not divulge here. While Valerie has seen most of what I am working on, she doesn't know the whole theme yet.

She worried me at one point. I had already made many paper flowers and painted some jars. I had already put quite a bit of time into things.

 "I don't really want a shower or a bacholerett party." She said matter of factly. "I don't really need much as far as household stuff." I'm sure my face must have dropped.

"Well, dear," I started, "you can talk to your sister about the bacholerett, but, you are going to have a shower." If I have to, I'll just tell people to get her gift cards to Lowes. They want to paint and stuff like that so why not.

I have been busy making paper flowers, saving and painting jars and planning how I want to use them all. I decided that I want to use repurposed items. It actually amazes me just how fast you can save glass jars. You think that everything is in plastic now a days. There are a lot of things still in glass though. Which is good for me since painted glass jars are a big part of the decor for the shower.

 I started paining the jars all one color. They were a rose gold color. It was very pretty. I liked it a lot. Until I started getting bored with it. The shower is going to be in the fall some time. I decided to start adding more colors. Some bold,  some not so bold. By the time I'm done they will all have a common theme, though.

Some are decorated with other materials as well. I have a book of upholstery samples that I got in St. Louis at a store that sells items that can be repurposed. I paid a few bucks for it and it has been a big part of what I've been doing.

 Some of the flowers I've made have been made from paper, but others out of the samples. I've been having a lot of fun experimenting and using different materials and methods.

I've also been making origami flowers. Mostly, roses. Some are made from brown paper bags, some from newspapers, and others from parchment paper.

 Pinterest is definitely a huge help with it all. I have gotten some ideas from there. A few ideas have been my own. And I learned how to make the origami flowers on YouTube.

When all is said and done, hopefully, it will all look the way I think it will.

Mr. Winter, Leave Me Alone!

I was watching the movie 1776 the other day. It is a musical that was filmed in the '70s about the signing of the Declaration of Independence. If you haven't seen it you should. It is actually pretty hilarious. 

There is one particular song that inspired the title for this blog. Ben Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, and someone else, are trying to decided who should write the declaration. John Adams shouldn't because he is obnoxious and disliked, and if he "were to do it, they'd run their quill pen through it."They go through each person, singing why that person shouldn't write it. They get to Thomas Jefferson, they all look at him. He looks directly at John Adams and blurts out in loud baritone song, "Mr. Adams, leave me aloooooone!" Seriously, see the movie, I'm sure it must be on Netflix somewhere. 

Last night I was coming home from Des Moines. Two very good friends of mine, Kathy and Mary, had lost their father, and I had gone to the visitation at the funeral home. While the circumstances were very sad, it was so nice to see these too wonderful ladies! They are both such strong, intelligent women with big hearts. Getting to catch up with them was wonderful. My heart goes out to both them and the rest of their family on the loss of their beloved father. 

While we were all chatting Kathy, knowing I had an hour and a half drive, said I should get going so I wouldn't have to drive in the dark. It had also been snowing on and off all afternoon. I, kind of arrogantly, poo pooed the idea. (This is an important plot point, remember it for later.) I actually love driving. I was a school bus driver for about ten years. I had driven a bus load of rowdy teenagers about 90 miles in an ice storm once and was just fine. Driving home in the dark.... no problem! I stayed, and then another friend, Kelley and I went out to supper. I drank three ice teas, at supper. The funeral home was very dry, I was very thirsty. We talked and laughed until 10:00 pm when the restaurant closed. 

As I was driving I kept seeing snow plows out.  I had no idea why. I was cruising along at the speed limit. The pavement wasn't even wet much less slick. I was singing along to the songs on my iPhone, loudly and I'm sure way off key. I was enjoying having the time to myself. 

As I got to Iowa  County, I noticed there was a little more snow on the side of the road. I decided to turn off the cruise control, and slow down just a bit. I put my foot on the gas pedal and hit the switch for the cruise. I let up on the gas pedal a little to slow down. 

That's when God decided to slap the arrogant right out of me. 

My car started to swerve. I checked my rear view mirror. No one was anywhere behind me. I looked side to side, and in front, no cars anywhere. I knew if I went off the road, no one would go with me. That set a calm into me. I thanked God, over and over,  as I was swerving from side to side, that there was no one to hit. At one point it looked like I was going to end up in the ditch. While, I had no real desire to end up in the ditch, at least if I ended up there, the worst that would happen would be a black eye from the airbag. I got myself turned away from the ditch on the right and head straight for the ditch on the left. Still thanking God there was no one near me. I finally got my car stopped. I was turned the wrong way on the interstate, but I was fine, the car was fine, there was still no one anywhere near me. Life was good.

I sat there a moment. "Well. That was interesting." I said out loud to no one but God. I started to turn my car around. Yeah, it wouldn't move. The tires were spinning on the ice. The ice that was a glare on the entire interstate. At this point, I could see cars heading toward me. Headlights in the distance were coming my way. I put the car in reverse and moved it an inch or two. That was enough to give me traction to be on my way. 

Facing the proper direction again,  I slowly started up the interstate. The taillights in front of me didn't seem to be moving. I slowed down... VERY CAREFULLY!  I soon caught up with the vehicles in front of me.  

We were creeping very slowly. The semi two cars up was trying to move. It's trailer fishtailing with ever inch. Then, nothing. No movement at all. The taillights in front of me, reflecting off of the ice coated pavement. I sat and waited. 

About ten minutes later I called Kelley. I had told her that I'd send her a text when I got home. I was only about ten miles from my exit, but I could tell it would a few minutes before we would be moving again. I didn't want her to worry when I didn't text her when she would expect it. 

"A few minutes." BA HA HA HAAAAAA! 

 A half hour later, I checked out the road condition app on my phone. Despite the fact that there was a glaring sheet of ice all over the road, the app said it was normal driving conditions. Hmmmm. I checked Facebook, I looked up our local news station. They had just posted that road conditions were partially covered to normal. I started to wonder if I had crossed into some parallel universe, and my phone was still picking up my home universe. I looked on Twitter. I tweeted a question to both my home area TV station and a Des Moines TV station. I just asked if they knew what was going on. 

A Ryan Westendorf from KCCI in Des Moines answered. He had looked up the road condition site, also,  and saw the same puzzling wrongness I had. He kept looking into it and got a hold of the DOT. Soon they were tweeting me and other people stuck with me on the interstate. 

Not so soon, two and a half hours later, yes that says two and a half HOURS! (Do you remember that I told you I had THREE ice teas?) I saw a sand truck. We started moving! Very slowly at first, but it was movement!

Well, until it wasn't.... We were stopped again. (THREE ICE TEAS!) The DOT tweeted and said that semis were having trouble getting up the hills. This time it was only another fifteen or twenty minutes. 

Then finally FREEDOM! I have to say thank you to the DOT workers that came out and rescued all of us. Thank you to Ryan Westendorf of KCCI, and the Iowa DOT for keeping so many of us informed through twitter. 

 Say what you will about social networks, sometimes it is wonderful! I finally got home around 2:00 am. Stupid snow greeting me. But I was home.

 I didn't want to run, I didn't have the proper shoes for it.

Buuuuuut, three! ice! teas!

Do you think winter will EVER end????

Trying to Get Back on Track

So, yeah, it's been a while. I have been having a hard time with the blogging. I don't get out much any more. Most of my time is spent at home with my father. He doesn't like going out in the snow, or cold, and this winter has just been snow storm after snow storm, and polar vortex after polar vortex. Unless he has a doctor appointment we stay home. Not getting out, makes me feel as though I have nothing interesting to say. 

In an attempt to get back my, what a fellow blogger named Pia calls "writing mojo," I'm going to do an experiment. As I wrote in my last post, way back in January, (really? that long ago?) I have been attempting to learn Italian. I am going to give myself a homework assignment. I am going to try everyday to blog at least a small post. Even if it is just a photo with a caption. Then, to help me with my Italian, said post will be translated into Italian. Don't worry, I don't expect anyone to try to read the Italian, unless you too have the bug to learn a new language. I just wish I knew someone that actually speaks Italian. You know to tell me how I'm doing. Then again...... 

I am starting this now. 

The one thing that keeps me from going absolutely insane being cooped up all winter, has been the grandkids. Getting to have them for a weekend, now and then, makes me smile and laugh. Noah is such a calm laid back little dude, so much like his daddy. Of course he isn't moving around much yet, which makes it easier to to keep up with him. Paxton is everywhere at once. He is always smiling and giggling. He is a hoot and a half. Keeping up with him, is like chasing a hamster in an exercise ball, racing all over the house. Getting a good photo of him is near impossible. Kahlen, she is a little princess. At least that is what she would like us to believe. Her mom told me that she was insisting on being called Princess Elsa today, and that the princess part was going to her head a bit. I told Alyssa that meant she was the queen! Apparently, in Frozen, which I haven't seen, Princess Elsa becomes the queen. Which, I told Alyssa, makes her a Goddess! I don't know how things went after that. 

Kahlen being Kahlen
Kahlen essere Kahlen

Kahlen painting the birdhouse she built with grandpa.
Kahlen dipingere la casa degli uccelli ha costruito con il nonno.

We mixed colors and learned blue and red make purple.
Noi misto colori e dotto azzurro e rosso trucco viola.

Paxton and Bazinga snacked while Kahlen painted.
Paxton e Bazinga mangiano mentre Kahlen dipingere.

Painting is very delicate work.
La pittura e' un lavoro molto delicato. 

Paxton ran around the yard while Kahlen built her birdhouse.
Paxton correre intorno il cortile mentre Kahlen costruito la sua casa di uccello. 

I actually got a few good photos of him.
In realta' ho avuto un paio di buone foto di lui. 

He's more of an action shot kind of boy.
Lui e' pui' di un tipo colpo di azione di ragazzo. 

Always on the move.
Sempre in movimento.

Paxton thought he should be allowed to sleep in Bazinga's kennel.
Paxton pensava che dovrebbe essere consentito di dormire in Bazinga's canile.

Silly selfie.
Selfie sciocco.

Best. Toy. Ever!
Miglior. Giocattolo. Mai!

Kahlen enjoys playing the proper cowgirl.
Kahlen gode giocare la propria cowgirl.

Mr. Noah Smiles!
Signore Noah Sorrisi

Goof ball in his overalls.
Buon pallone nella sua tuta. 

Toes, are super awesome!
Dita sono super awesome!

Peaceful slumber. Shhhhh!
Sonno tranquillo. Shhhhh!

Watching Iowa men's basketball team lose.
Guardare la squadra di basket maschile Iowa perdere.

"What the heck was that shot?"
"Cosa diavolo era quel colpo?"

"Grandpa, are you seeing this?"
"Nonno, stai vedendo questo?"

"I just can't believe this, they had so much potential."
"Non riesco a crederci, che avevano cosi' tanto potenziale."

L'unica cosa che mi impedisce di andare assolutamente folle essere rinchiusi per tutto l'inverno, e' stato i nipotini. Arrivare ad averli per un fine settimana, di tanto in tanto, mi fa sorridere e ridere. Noah e' un po tizio tale rilassato, cosi' come il sou papa'. Ovviamente lui non si muove ancora molto, che rende piu' facile tenere il passo con lui. Paxton e' ovunque contemporaneamente. Lui e' sempre sorridente e ridacchiando. Lui e' un spasso e mezzo. Tenere il passo con lui, e' come inseguire un criceto e palla di esercizio, correndo per tutta la casa. Ottenere una buona foto di lui e' quasi impossibile. Kahlen, lei e' una piccola principessa. Almeno questo e' quello che lei vorrebbe farci credere.  La sua mamma, mi ha detto che insisteva per essere chiamato Principessa Elsa oggi, e che la parta della principessa, stava per la testa un po'. Ho detto Alyssa che significava era la regina! A quanto pare, in Ghiacciato, che non ho ancora visto, la Principessa Elsa diventa la regina. Che, ho detto Alyssa, lei una dea fatta. Non so cosa e' successo dopo che.

Must Stop Brain Mush!

I have decided to learn to speak Italian. Why? You may ask. Did she meet a tall, dark and handsome stranger from a far away land? Pissshhhh, I hardly even get to leave the house and when I do my dad is pretty much always with me. Is she planning an extended exotic trip to Italy? Sadly, no. Does she have a new career path in mind that speaking another language would help with? Again I say pissshhhh! For pretty much the same reason.

The simple answer is this, the last seven months have been mostly filled with washing soiled jeans and underwear, and doing dirty dishes. Most of my conversations are with my dad, who has a hard time remembering what he just told me, and tells me again. Our main conversations are about the weather and the squirrel who lives in our tree outside the window. Don't get me wrong, I am glad to have this time with Dad. I love him very much. I don't say these things out of contempt, they are just the plain truth of it. 

Which brings me to why. I need something to stimulate my brain to keep it from turning to mush! One day I was messing around on iTunes and found the "App of the Year." It is called DuoLingo. It is a free language learning app. Yup, free. I like free. I downloaded it to my phone and checked it out. It has a very limited number of languages. Again it is FREE! I looked them over and decided Italian would be my attempted language. Why not! I thought to myself. Yes, yes, Spanish probably would have been the wiser, more useful choice. Since, I don't get out much anyway, it really wouldn't do me all that much good either. I'm not sure why Italian appealed to me, it just did.

After I played around on it for a week or so, I texted my two best friends, Dawn and Kelley, and made a pact with them. I would learn Italian, one of them would learn French, the other would learn Spanish or German and one day we would go kidnap our other best friend from high school Kathy, and we would all go tour Europe together. It is happening, Kathy, deal with it! I just got Mary in on it, too, so you are going!!

Anyway, so far it has been fun. Sometimes frustrating, spelling in Italian is tricky, and I can't even spell in English. I'm sure that is no surprise to anyone, though. Thank goodness for spell check or my posts would probably be unreadable. One thing DuoLingo has definitely taught me is how to spell restaurant. See, I just spelled it! WITHOUT spellcheck. Before, I couldn't even come close enough for spell check to figure out what I was trying to spell. Drove me nuts! Now, I can spell it in English and Italian. Ristorante. See.

The hard part for me so far, which I think I'm starting to figure out, is that there are feminine and masculine words. For instance, zucchero, (sugar) is masculine. As a masculine word that begins with z, the proper way to say "the sugar" is "lo zucchero." Now, jacket, is "giacca." It is feminine. So, "the jacket" is "la giacca." See how "the" changed. Oh and it doesn't stop there. There are plurals. "The jackets" becomes "le giacche." "The woman," is "la donna," while "the women" is "le donne." Most feminine words end in the letters "a" or "e," but not always. For instance, elephant. In Italian it is elefante. Ends in an "e" but is masculine. So, the elephant, is "il elefante," plural is "i elefanti."

Verbs, are pretty confusing, too. The verb changes depending on who is doing the action. For instance, eat. "I eat" is "Io mangio," or just "mangio." "You eat" is, "tu mangia," or just "mangia." "We eat," "Noi mangiamo" or just "mangiamo."  "They eat," "loro mangiano," or just "mangiano." See how mangia, or "eat" changes. You don't really even need the the pronoun. It is just as correct to say, "Mangiamo i panini," (we eat the sandwiches) as it is to say "Noi mangiamo i panini."

Oh, and one of the fun things about DuoLingo are some of the sentences. There is a mouse in Italy who is surely dying of diabetes, but becomes quite a tasty snack for many animals. Il topo mangia lo zucchero, e la torta, e beve limonata. ( the mouse eats the sugar, and the cake and drinks lemonade.) Allora, un gatto, o un uccello, o un altro animale, mangia il topo, ogni tempo.  (then a cat, or a bird, or another animal eats the mouse, every time.) E lo zucchero e' importante a ricetti nella italia. (and sugar is important to recipes in Italy.) Every thing seems to need sugar.

Of course I have made sure to learn the most important words of all, gelato di cioccolata. If I ever get to go to Italy, I will for sure be able to ask for chocolate ice cream! I am good to go! Ok, yeah, maybe I should learn the word for bathroom, too.

A Wee Bit of Spring

A couple of weeks ago when the evil, evil polar vortex hit, I was at the grocery store. As I walked in I saw some hyacinth bulbs in little glass vases filled part way with water. I looked at them and started to go past them. 

 I took four steps and backed back up to them. I looked again. They were $3.99. I started to walk away again. I didn't even get my foot on the ground from the first step and changed my mind. I looked the little bulbs and the leaves popping out of them. I decided I needed a little spring in the house.

 After careful scrutiny I picked one. It looked to be growing well and have a good thick root system. I set my sites on the future spark of spring that would be growing in my house.

 I walked around the store, with my precious bit of spring. Finished my shopping, and went home. I pulled my little flower to be out of its protective bag. The bag kept it warm while the temperatures outside were so "kill me now" cold.

 I put it on the counter. Willie looked at me like I was a wee bit crazy. A look I am so familiar with, it never phases me any more. I found the perfect spot where it would get a lot of sunshine, and not be too cold.

 I gave it water and turned it regularly, to help it grow straight. I took care of it, through all of the turmoil that has been going on lately.

 Now, It is blooming and making my house happily fragrant. It is the wee bit of Spring I needed. It makes me happy and feel just a bit warmer on this "are you kidding me" cold day.

Happy Birthday Valerie!!!!

Yesterday,was Valerie's first 29th birthday!! (I know, I'm late with another of my children's birthday posts. It was a really rough week, ok. Did you read my last post?)

Is it just me or does she look like she's
claiming victory over her birthday cake?

Anyway, this beautiful little baby of mine, my first, has grown up into a hard working, smart, determined woman who knows what she wants and makes it happen. She is still beautiful and more so everyday, inside and out. She makes me proud, and I love her so much!
 I guess she was bound to go to Iowa State from early on.

And I think graduating high school as a Bulldog, was also destined! 

 You are and will always be my baby, like it or not. I can't wait to see what you are going to do with your next 29 years!

Happy Birthday Val Val!!!!

The Stubborn Young Sailor

Dad is a World War II vet. He was a SeaBee in the Navy. He is very proud of that time of his life. He joined the Navy before he was eighteen. He went to Rhode Island to train, and eventually ended up in the Philippines. There he was part of a crew that built air strips. 

At times, the building crews had to share the airstrip they were working on with the aircraft they were building it for. There were safety rules. When the crews were working on one side of the strip, the planes were to go down the other. Pretty simple, in theory. As in all parts of life there are variables that can make theories dissolve, and when they do the consequences can be disastrous. 

Dad was on a piece of machinery working on an airstrip. A plane started down the runway. The pilot didn't see Dad or the bulldozer he was on. Dad didn't see or here the plane coming. The plane came down the middle of the strip, Dad was hit and his leg torn off. 

He was rushed to the hospital. They gave him blood in both arms. One doctor said they'd never get him off the table. Dad, the stubborn young sailor, loved proving doctors wrong. That stubborn young sailor refused to die. 

That stubborn young sailor has done well by Dad all of these years. He has gotten Dad thru all sorts of scary and life threatening situations. He got him through a triple coronary bypass in 1988. He got him thru placement of stents five years ago. He has gotten him thru years of blood thinners, for atrial fib. 

At the beginning of this year, Dad got a bad cold. He was miserable, coughing and coughing and coughing. It kept him up at night, it was awful. His abdomen and ribs were very, very sore from all of the coughing. 

One day he started doubling over from the pain in his abdomen. I thought he must have pulled a muscle  in his groin with all of the coughing. As the cough finally went away, the pain did not. I figured it needed a day or two to get back to normal. 

Then dad didn't have a bowel movement for two days. The pain seemed to be worsening. I figured he must be constipated and gave him some miralax. That day he had two bowel movements. Not his normal toilet buster bowel movements though. The pain was still there. Now I was getting worried. I was afraid he had a partial bowel obstruction. I decided to take him into the hospital. 

Dad is very comfortable at the Des Moines VA hospital. He has been a patient there probably sixty years. Since I thought it was either a partial bowel obstruction, or still maybe a pulled muscle I decided to give in to his request to drive all the way to Des Moines, instead of just going to Iowa City.

When we got there, they sent him down to Xray, and then back to a room to wait. And wait, oh, yeah, and wait. An hour or so later, they came in to draw some labs. More waiting. Soon the doctor came in to talk to him, and left. More waiting. Dad was getting tired and frustrated. He just wanted to go home. Suddenly all of the waiting changed. They came in and told us his INR, which measures how well his blood thinner was working, was at 8.9. Our jaws dropped. I looked at my sister and she looked at me. we were in shock. This is very high. The goal for him was between 2 and 3. His last INR which had just been a week before was 1.3 which was low. The doctors had raised his dose 2 mg on one day, only one day. We still don't know what made it rise so high so fast. 

The doctors started thinking Dad's abdominal aortic aneurysm  might be leaking. The last time it had been measured it was at 6 cm. Usually, it is recommended that surgery be performed to fix a AAA at 5 cm. Dad had decided against surgery at that time. Since then, he has decided against any surgeries or any invasive procedures. My sister and I support him on this. He has never gained his strength back after his gall bladder surgery last February. He doesn't come out of anesthesia well. Any more surgeries would just be more dangerous than helpful. He's done with being cut open. He's done with being poked or prodded. The doctor thought his AAA might be leaking. If that was the case, without surgery he would die. 

We talked to dad again. The doctor was in the room. Did Dad understand that with out the surgery that he would die? Was Dad ready for that possibility? I made him tell us and the doctor what would happen without surgery. "I'll have a peaceful death," was his answer. Even if the AAA was leaking, no surgery would be performed. 

It was a weekend, and they had to call a CT tech in to do the scan. It would be a little while before they could get it done. Stacey and I started making calls. I called my kids, to let them know what was going on with Grandpa. I told them I'd let them know as soon as I knew anything. 

Finally the CT scan was done and read. He had a bleed between the outer layer of a muscle and the muscle itself. They asked if he had fallen recently, he hadn't. The AAA was fine though, no leaking, it was a little larger, but stable. That was a huge relief. However he wasn't out of the woods. The bleed could still be dangerous enough to kill him. There was a fairly simple procedure that could be done, but it involved anesthesia and Dad didn't want that either, again my sister and I agreed and supported him. The decision was made to start an IV and give Dad fresh frozen plasma to bring down the INR, slow down the bleeding, and hope the pressure from the the hemotoma that formed might stop the bleeding. 

It worked. The stubborn young sailor that loves to prove doctors wrong was back. They kept Dad in the hospital until his blood count and INR were safe to go home. Thursday, his INR was 1.3, his hemoglobin was 9. It was decided to take him off of all blood thinners for at least a month. This meant a substantially increased risk for stroke. It was either that or risk another major bleed. It was all explained to him, and he seemed to understand. Dad was just happy to be going home. 

Right as we were leaving to make the hour and a half trip home, a freak, unexpected blizzard hit. The National Weather Service didn't even issue a blizzard warning until after it had started, that's how unexpected it was. We had stopped to drop off Kahlen's booster seat to Alyssa before we headed out of town. When I went in the house, the weather was fine, windy but fine. When I walked out five minutes later, it was snowing so hard you could barely see across the street. 

Dad and I got out of Des Moines and ahead of the blizzard.  By the time we got to Newton we had gotten out of the snow. We had to stop at a Casey's for dad to go to the bathroom. He had a large, unpleasant accident in Casey's bathroom, and I spent the next half hour cleaning him and the bathroom up. By the time we got back out the blizzard had caught up with us again. It was a long drive. It took us four hours to get home. Luckily, by the time we got to Bel Plaine we were out of the snow, and the interstate was dry, otherwise it may have been another hour or two.

Fast forward to Saturday night. About 8 pm Dad called me into his room. He was having chest pain. It was bad enough he couldn't lie down, and he was having trouble breathing. He is always short of breath, it is hard to tell when he is in distress. I could tell he was in distress. I gave him a nitro pill to put under his tongue. I set my phone timer for five minutes and waited. No relief. I repeated the process two more times. Still no relief. I called an ambulance. Willie went out to clear the walk and the ramp.

The ambulance arrived quickly and off to Iowa City we went. (I have decided that from now on when Dad has to go to the emergency room for anything, it will be the VA in Iowa City, so much nicer than the one in Des Moines!) We got there, the doctor had already read over Dad's history and knew a lot about him. They drew labs and started a nitro drip, which made him feel much better. It was probably angina. They admitted him for the night so they could watch his cardiac enzymes.

Without doing any procedures there were limits to what they could do for Dad. He couldn't go home on a nitro drip. He was already on a med, ranexa, that is basically a last ditch effort to stop angina pain. He was being told that this chest pain could be his new normal. It might be something he just has to live with. I didn't like that. I asked about stronger pain meds. Those, I was told, weren't very good at controlling angina pain, and could make him at greater risk for dizziness and falls. The last thing he needs is to fall and break a hip. Between his angina, and the arthritis in his neck, and his "good" leg always hurting and back pain, the man is in enough pain, he doesn't need to have a broken hip the rest of his life.

They decided to add one more med. Another nitrate, Isosorbide. This is it, if it doesn't work, he has to be in more pain. They gave him the first dose in the hospital to make sure that it didn't plunge his blood pressure. It seemed to help, and his BP stayed stable. He got to go home.

Today, Dad seems in good spirits, but didn't have the energy to get out of bed. He hasn't eaten much today. Just a banana and a few bites of scrambled eggs. I talked to him this morning. I told him that when he is ready, it is ok if he wants to let go. I told him my sister and I would miss him terribly, but we would be ok.

 He has been in so much pain for so long, he deserves a break. He is so tired. The stubborn young sailor is still hoping to stick around, but I think the very tired, old man, is ready to slap that kid around and tell him it is time to rest. The very tired old man, doesn't want to hurt anymore.

Rough Week

The end of 2013 and beginning of 2014 Has been a rough one for Dad. He caught a bad cold, I'm not sure how, neither Willie nor I have had one. Never the less, he has been miserable. I mean influenza miserable, but he hasn't had a fever at all. On top of it all, he ended up with pink eye in both eyes. Life has not been kind to him this last week.

His home health nurse came, his lungs were clear, his oxygen level was fine. With the weather being so cold, I didn't want to take him out unless it was necessary.

sound asleep

One day he tried to make himself feel better. He got up, got dressed and came out to the front room. He tried very hard to read the paper. However, sleep got the best of him and he was on the same page all afternoon. He didn't eat well, and went to bed early.

The next few days he stayed in bed. I noticed that his eyes were getting red and had a white discharge in them. I called the doctor and he called an eye drop into a local pharmacy. They didn't want us to bring him in if we didn't need to, either.

His cough got worse, and I was considering taking him into the ER. He insisted he didn't want to go, so I decided to wait one more day. Yesterday he woke up and was feeling better. Not good, but better. He ate his breakfast and got out of bed all day. Today he is a little better still. He stayed up all day and even watched the end of the Packers/49ers game with Willie.

I think my dad likes football. I think he likes it a lot. He hasn't watched it that I can ever remember, but I think that was because my mom convinced him he didn't like it. My brother and sister never liked it either, so Dad just never got to watch it, until now. When Willie is watching a game, my dad will stay up later and watch it with him. Now, he doesn't stay up for evening games, but he stayed up clear until 7:30 tonight to see the end of the 49ers game. He also watched the Army/Navy game, and was happy with how that turned out, and even watched Iowa's bowl game on New Years, even though he was in his room sick. Poor guy was sick on his birthday.

On a completely different subject, I think, maybe, just maybe, we need a humidifier. Poor Bazinga has been having some very bad hair days.

And.... he desperately needs a bath. I took this picture because he was using Mia as a pillow. When I looked at it, I realized just how desperately. He is a Maltese, after all. Which means he is supposed to be white. He's not getting that bath until the temperature gets into the 30's again. He is not arguing about that. He just thinks Mia is too white. He says  she needs to get dirty to match him and all will be just fine. It is HER issue, not his. He really doesn't see the problem.