Healthy Living Thread

[Dee*Jay]

80!!! Passed part 3!!!

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-AWESOME!!! Congratulations! It has to feel great when all of your hard work and studying pays off. If Bed Bath & Beyond is one of those addictive stores, it's a good thing we don't have one. Pottery Barn too. They sent a catalog to our new house (how did they know we bought a new house?), and I loved a lot of what I saw in there.

Hi Zoe - I hope all is going well with your new home & setting up your classroom. You've got double the arranging to do!

Marcy - I hope your mom is doing better, and you too with your knees and aches. Take care of yourself too. I guess I'm going to have to search to see what this Tumi bag is...

Thursday at the chiropractor I bought a new chiroflow pillow. It's a regular pillow with a water pouch in it, and you can adjust the support to the level you need. I have used one for years and it was pretty worn out. Last night I slept with my new pillow in my super dark room...I slept better than I have in months. I went to bed around 3am and slept all night until 10 this morning. Ahhhh, Saturdays! Matt and I went wild today and bought a new vacuum cleaner, a weed eater, and a mop. We've just gone crazy with the spending since we got our old house sold. I didn't eat breakfast or lunch, and had grilled chicken, beans and rice from Chili's for dinner. We stopped at Orange Leaf for yogurt for dessert. I walked a ton in the mall and Lowes and my feet are really hurting, so I don't know that I'm going to take a walk tonight. It seems like the floor at the mall and Lowe's always makes my aches ache worse. Have a great day tomorrow!

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone.

Deegee, your story about the difference between you and Matt’s childhoods are pretty much the same as Marty and me. And my family adores Marty; especially all my nieces and nephews. Yay that both of our hubbies are home next week. So far Marty should be home for 3 weeks. That is great news the media blackout curtains work so well for you. I love a dark, dark room when I sleep. When we used to camp in the mountains it was so dark it was amazing. Pottery Barn has very nice things. That is funny we got one too within about a month of moving and a discount coupon on our first order. Tumi’s are great. I have some of their nylon handbags and wristlets, Marty has their carryon luggage, brief case and garment bag. They all wear like iron. I told Marty one of the drawbacks of Tumi bags is they don’t wear out so I have no legitimate excuse to buy a new one.

Dee Jay, congratulations for passing #3. I am so excited for you. I wish we had a Tumi outlet store near us. I’d be a frequent shopper there. Buy something for me when you go visit your dad. We have a small Bed, Bath and Beyond here and we can’t get out of there without spending a fortune. It’s a store we like to wander through frequently. Pension accounts and deferred taxes sounds like a real page-turner. How can you put your book down?

Zoe, how are you doing?

I walked more today than I have since I hurt my leg / knee. It is hanging in there though. I went to the hospital this morning. Then Marty was hungry about 1:30 so I came home and picked him up. We split a bacon cheeseburger and some chips and salsa for lunch then went to Office Max and a furniture store. We picked up a “pleather” footstool for me. All the real furniture hassocks could sleep 3 children and I don’t want something that big. This one was $99 so if I decide I don’t like it then I will banish it to the man cave. While paying for the football Marty was getting texted to come play golf. I went back to the hospital then did some grocery shopping and went back to the golf course for a drink with Marty and his golf buddy.

My mom is really bad today. She is not responsive at all and can’t stay away. When I got up there she was really breathing hard so I got the nurse. They called in the doctor and had her check x-rayed, took some other tests and are looking for pneumonia or an infection. She is running a temperature, can’t chew or swallow, isn’t hungry so they have her on an IV and are just letting her sleep. A social worker was there talking to my dad when I got back and they are sending her to a nursing home when she stabilizes. My dad is pretty upset.

Marty is playing golf tomorrow so I’ll do laundry and spend time at the hospital. I told my dad we can go to lunch somewhere.

Take care.
Marcy

 

[marcy]

Hi. Marty played golf in Colorado today so he is just on his way home now. I finished laundry and my September club newsletter. Food wasn't bad; the chocolate and Coke in between; not so good.

I went to the hospital twice today. My mom is worse today. The doctor said her kidney and liver are failing. They upped the fluid IV and gave her 2 antibiotics. Her temperature got up to 101.4 but was coming down. They cranked up the air conditioning and put some ice bags under her back. She woke up briefly and I waved at her and she waved back. They don't want her to have anything orally right now because she can't chew or swallow so it would go straight to her lungs. They said her chest x-ray didn't show pneumonia but it showed she wasn't getting enough deep breathes either.

Off to start a brochure for the Astronomical League.

Laters,
Marcy

 

[zoebartlett]

Marcy, I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. My thoughts are with you.

Dee*Jay, congratulations on passing part 3! That's great news!

Deegee, what type of furniture are you and Matt buying?

Things are going well here. My aunt, who is visiting my parents from out of state, drove to my new school to help get things cleaned out and set up last Friday and Saturday. I was planning on going in yesterday but I didn't want to give up both weekend days. Plus, we still need to finish unpacking at home. We only have a few boxes left but the place looks pretty cluttered. We also have to hang all our artwork. Then it will (hopefully!) feel more like home. We both really miss our old place because it was updated and we had more space (although this place has a few hundred feet more square footage, it's in the wrong places). You guys have hard wood floors, right? What products do you use to keep them clean? I want to pick one of those Bona wet/dry swiffer things if they work well.

Today's my last day to set things up and plan with my new team members before school begins for teachers tomorrow. Kids come on Thursday. My stomach's a wreck but I think it's just nerves.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Zoe, I'm just THRILLED things worked out so well for you guys!!! Now you're back in the goegraphic location you wanted to be in and you have a new job. How awesome is all that?!? And don't worry about staring school--you'll be smashing!

Marcy, this must be so incredibly hard on you and your family... we are 100% here for you, whatever you need. Is Marty going to be home for a little while now?

Deegee, yes, be glad you don't have a BB&B nearby or else you would be broke! And yah for a new good pillow! I try to sleep on my back with my foam neck pillow but I don't last very long like that...

So this weekend was not good for food of studying, but today is a new day and I'm BACK ON IT! I did go to the gym both Friday and Sunday so that's good. I was a little worried on Sunday on the gauntlet becuase I had a weird back thing going on, but I iced as soon as I got home and took some ibuprofin and I think I'm OK. The scale gave me a reality check this morning and the food has come to an end. Period.

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone.

Zoe, once we got our knick knacks and photos hung up our new house felt more like home. I hope you’ll find ways to arrange everything you won’t miss your old place as much. I use a basic swifer to clean the wood floors and we bought the Bona spray and mop to use as well. The girl that cleans my house just uses a bucket of water and cleans the floor with a wet cloth that she rings out. It looks nice after she is done. Good luck with the first week of school. I know you are nervous but I know your students will LOVE you.

Dee Jay, yes Marty is home this week. Thank goodness. He doesn’t have to leave again until the 16th of September. Glad your back felt better after some ice and pain pills. When is your last test? The beginning of October?

My dad and I talked to my mom’s oncologist tonight. She is totally unresponsive today. Her temp was 102.5 tonight. The doctor said her lungs and heart were working very hard. Her kidneys and liver are failing. Her white blood cells continue to climb. He has not got the results of her biopsy yet. He said he doesn’t think she’ll come out of this but wanted to confirm she has a do not resuscitate wish. He is leaving her on fluids and antibiotics but nothing else. He said we will just let nature take it’s course and see what happens. He feels if she does recover she will be too weak for chemo so he would recommend hospice for her.

I came home and called several relatives. My aunt called me back (she’s a nurse) and said to be sure and talk to her because she says many people her you. So I went back up and just talked to her and told her what people said. I had a good cry and told her how much I love her and will miss her. I have no idea what will happen but it sure doesn’t look good.

Thank you guys for caring and listening to me.

Food was not bad today: Cheerios, strawberries, mini muffin, cheese sandwich, baked lays, special K bar, ½ cheeseburger, a few fries and a dish of chocolate frozen custard.

Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Oh Marcy, biggest biggest hugs to you and your dad. I am only a few states away and I will hop a plane without a second thought if you need anything.

 

[marcy]

Oh Marcy, biggest biggest hugs to you and your dad. I am only a few states away and I will hop a plane without a second thought if you need anything.

Thanks Dee Jay! I really appreciate it.

 

[marcy]

Dee Jay, I went and fixed this but I just realized I called you Deegee in my earlier post. It is like my mind is elsewhere.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Dee Jay, I went and fixed this but I just realized I called you Deegee in my earlier post. It is like my mind is elsewhere.

It's not like you have anything else to be thinking about right now or anything!

 

[marcy]

Dee Jay, I went and fixed this but I just realized I called you Deegee in my earlier post. It is like my mind is elsewhere.

It's not like you have anything else to be thinking about right now or anything!

Exactly.

 

[deegee]

Marcy-I am so sorry to hear about your mom. Huge hugs to you, your dad, and the rest of your family. You have been in my thoughts so much lately. Any time you need to talk-we're right here. Hugs.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

So I've given up on breakfast. More accurately, I've give up on the habit I acquired since starting this job of having a bowl of pretty much useless carbs first thing in the morning. I *know* they say you should eat breakfast, but frankly what I *think* they are saying is you should get your metabolism going in some way. I'm convinced the venti sized cup of cofee with whole milk and two real sugars I have does that anyway, so out with the fruit loops!

Last night I went straight down to the party room after work and did about three hours of multiple choice questions. My plan was to watch a bit of the video lecture when I went back upstairs but somehow I ended up in bed fast asleep... ! Today I came in early and watched an hour's worth of lecture, but I have two more hours to go on this one. Shareholder's equity... ACK. My big decision now is whether to stay and finish the lecture or go home and do it, but I need to do my nails too, so we'll just have to see.

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-your post reminded me that I needed to stop by Ulta Beauty to pick up a bottle of liquid sand polish for my toes. Darn it-we were 2 stores away tonight and I completely forgot! I never could do cereal for breakfast. It makes me hungry.

Zoe-I just bought a Shark steam mop for my floors. I have used it once and it worked really well. I need to read up on it just in case one of its side effects after long term use is dulling the finish on the hardwood. I hope not, because my floors look great right now! I'm so excited for you with your new job. Don't be nervous...remember that you know more than they do!

Marcy-how are you getting along today? I've thought about you a bunch. Your dad too. It's good you were able to go to the hospital to talk to your mom. I'm sure it registered with her at some level that you were there, and that has to be of some comfort to her.

Work today was nuts again. No lunch, which seems to be becoming the norm. I had coffee for breakfast (1 pkt of artificial sweetener and no milk-not as good as Dee*Jay's), a banana at around 10, an apple at around 4, and I made spaghetti with whole grain pasta and marinara sauce for dinner. We met with the interior designer this evening. I had dreaded it so much I almost cancelled the appointment. Picking out stuff isn't my thing! We did a lot of planning and came up with a basic room design/layout for the great room. We haven't picked anything out, but got ideas as to type of furniture, arrangement, etc. She will be coming to the house next week to set measurements up in the computer so we can do some to-scale planning. I'm actually excited! We stopped on the way home for frozen yogurt. Now to go to bed and do it all over again tomorrow. I get to have lunch tomorrow-our project consultant scheduled a working lunch at the restaurant of my choice. Woo-hoo! Marcy-our consultant just finished up a project in Colorado. I'll ask him where he was located. I'm thinking Boulder. Good night all!

 

[marcy]

Hi.

Dee Jay, I should give up cereal for breakfast and see how I do. I know on weekends if I don't eat breakfast it doesn't seem to bother me. Did you get a lot of studying done?

Deegee, how exciting to be decorating your house. You will have so much fun. Boulder is about 80 minutes away!

The biopsy report came back today and my mom has acute leukemia. The doctor believes it is in her brain and that is why she became unresponsive so quickly. Her liver and kidneys were worse today. He said it is a matter of days to weeks. We are probably moving her to hospice if they have a bed. My poor dad is very torn up. He asked for my help on some things like the obituary and who to notify. I dug up some check lists online for things that will need done.

My cousin from Atlanta was in Denver today so she came up this afternoon to see my mom. We took her to supper. She has an 8 am flight out of Denver but accepted our offer to stay here tonight so she'll be leaving at 4 am from here. It was good to see her. She has a very cool ering but I didn't ask to take a picture. It looks like about a 2 carat OEM in a pave setting with lots of detail in the setting.

I called some people for my dad after we got home to let them know about my mom. My sister is on vacation and I sure hated to ruin thier day.

I am taking off work tomorrow. I went in today but several people said "go be with your family" including 2 directors so I left about 10.

Food today was bad. Enough said there.

Take care.
Marcy

 

[zoebartlett]

Marcy, I'm so, so sorry to hear about your mom's health. I wish I knew what more to say. I can only imagine how hard this must be for your family. I'm glad you took the rest of the day yesterday to be with your family.

Dee*Jay, good luck with your studies!

Deegee, thanks for the recommendation for the shark steam mop. I need to wash our floors but I haven't had a chance to check out some of the cleaning products out there. I'll hopefully get to it this weekend.

 

[zoebartlett]

Condo news: well, it's bad. The floors were ripped up on Monday. They looked for the source of the leak that caused the floors to bubble and they found it. Some idiot had taped the bathroom drain right at the wall and now there's mold there. This wall has the bathroom vanity on one side and one side of the kitchen on the other. There's a good chance the cabinets (lower cabinets only ?), the kick boards/plates, and the kitchen counter tops need to be ripped out. We need to replace the bathroom vanity.

We also need to have an industrial hygenist come out and test the air quality and the areas that have mold. Oh, and the washer hose had also been taped and that was the source of a leak at some point, apparently. That needs to be replaced. We were hoping to have this work finished by Friday but now that timeline is out the window. I have absolutely no idea how we're going to pay for any of this, nor do I know how we're going to afford to put our tenant and her boyfriend up in a hotel while this is going on. I suppose we don't charge her rent either since they probably shouldn't live there right now. This means we're paying the whole mortgage for the time being. The condo association was going to pay for the majority of the work because we had all assumed there was a crack in the concrete slab under the floor. Now that the source of the leak is the drain, that's not something the association will cover, so we're stuck with paying for all of it. Our insurance will cover some but I don't think there's coverage for mold. I could cry but I just laughed when I read the several e-mails from the workers and the property manager of the association. Of COURSE things would go this way.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Marcy, I am thinking of you and your family. Call or email me directly if you need anything. Big hugs my friend.

Zoe, WHO on earth taped these things to begin with?!? As for your insurance, read through that policy like a hawk. I don't know what the mold coverage will be but there should be some sort of loss of use clause that will cover the tenants being in alternate housing while the repairs are being done.

Deegee, I will likely repaint my toes this weekend with the purple color that came in my mini-four pack. The blue was fun but I may never do it again. The purple is still a little out there *for me* and the black... who knows... that one may never grace my tootsies!

I was good with the food yesterday... until I decided to have that extra completely unnecessary 1/2 sandwich around 3:30 yesterday... followed by an equally unnecessary oatmeal cookie... I stayed at my office until after 9:00 and didn't eat anything else when I got home--not that there's anything TO eat in my house right now!

Tomorrow WILL involve a trip to the gym. I am hoping that the text book I ordered will come in today so I can take the pages I need over to the gym with me. It just kills me to dessimate a text book, but this sucker weighs about 12 lbs and I will only need certain pages out of it so I've resigned myself to extracting the necessary pages with an exacto knife. I've never destroyed a book before... it may hurt me more than it hurts the book, ha ha.

 

[marcy]

Hi.

Zoe, holy condo headaches – that place just keeps coming up with new problems for you. I am sorry you have to continue to deal with this plus the monetary drain it has become. Good luck getting it resolved and fixed soon. How is your first week of school going? Thanks for the kind thoughts for me and my family.

Dee Jay, thanks for the kind offer to help out with what is going on with my mom. I really appreciate it. Thanks for mentioning nail polish. I need to paint my nails and toenails as well. A 12 pound book? Wow. Good plan to extract the sections you with an exacto knife. Of course Marty wouldn’t let me do that since he doesn’t want to rush me to the ER. I definitely plan on doing my leg lifts and stretches tomorrow. I haven’t done them for a few days.

I am taking off the rest of the week from work. My dad is trying to get things done ASAP so he is running me ragged but it gives him something to do. Today we went to the bank, safety deposit box and picked out a dress for my mom to wear. They moved her to the local hospice today. It is a very nice place (too bad it isn’t for something more pleasant).

I went to the hospital twice today; this morning we met with the lady from hospice who told us they were moving her there at 3 today. After that we ran our errands, had lunch and I had about 30 minutes to come home, visit with Marty then go back to the hospital. The 3 pm appointment was the first one that actually started on time so we were only in the hospital about 15 minutes. Which was long enough for someone to scrap the back fender of my car. Grr!!!

My mom is no longer on an IV for fluids or nutrients. The nurse that looked at her said based on how her feet looked (which indicates circulation) she felt it was a matter of days. It is hard to say.

While they moved my mom to hospice my dad and I went to have coffee and pie (which yes I ate) then we went out to hospice. Marty joined us there about 4:30.

Tonight Marty took me out for a quiet dinner and a glass of wine.

Tomorrow we are going to the bank to get my name on as my dad’s beneficiary on things but that shouldn’t take too long.

I made a lot of phone calls today; that wasn’t fun.

Again thanks for thinking of me and my family. I appreciate it!

Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Marcy, you are so calm and efficient. I really admire how you're taking care of everything like this.

I went to the gym this morning and have been doing not much of anything since then. I just went down to the party room to study but it's reserved for a function today so now I'm back upstairs. Oh well, nothing to do but power on...

 

[deegee]

Marcy-you are handling everything with such strength. I image your dad is very thankful for your help. Lots & lots of hugs to you and your family. I am looking forward to buying furniture and decorating, with help of course. I think I told you once before that we lived in our old house for 15 years and I never hung a single picture on the wall. Our consultant at work just finished a project in Denver. I bet life in small town West Virginia is a culture shock for him!

Dee*Jay-my old work laptop & bag weighed 15 lbs, which was really hard on my shoulder/back. They so kindly bought me a tiny 10 inch laptop that weighs nothing so that I have no excuses for not bringing it home!

Zoe-wow! The condo problems just won't end! That's crazy. How did school go?

Work this week has been the same old ridiculous schedule. It was officially announced today in a full staff meeting that I would be working out of the office for the next 5 or so years, and my department will be merged with another. Part of the craziness of my schedule has been the brainstorming and planning meetings to figure out how to reorganize the 2 departments into one. The manager of the other department is also being pulled out to work on the project, so her assistant manager will be taking over both departments. We're making good progress with the planning, but we have to get everything in place so I can start transitioning out of my job. I had strawberries & Greek yogurt for breakfast, no lunch, and I made grilled pork chops, veggies and couscous for dinner. We went to DQ for a tasty treat, and I had a light berry smoothie. I have been really tired this week, so I'm off to bed early. Good night!

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone!

Dee Jay, I am not calm and efficient inside. Trust me. Power on, lady. You are certainly in the home stretch now with your studies.

Deegee, I think my dad is becoming very dependent on me. He isn’t sleeping and really stressed. I feel bad for him. I think it would be so fun to pick out things for your new house. We are still working on ours. I imagine your consultant is having a culture shock. Sounds like you continue to have lots of stress at work with transitioning to your project. 5 years is a long time. Is Matt getting more used to / accepting of his job?

My dad and I ran around most of the day. I told him most of these places couldn’t and wouldn’t help us since he doesn’t have a death certificate but he wanted to go talk to them. He tells them his life story plus what’s going on but at least everyone was attentive and listened to him. We did get some things accomplished – he got my name put on his life insurance policy and we talked to the minister. We are looking at doing an afternoon funeral then a reception with cookies. About an hour later the internment hit me; usually you do funeral, internment then reception. We’ll have to figure that out.

I found out my dad was running around cleaning house and trying to change sheets so out of town family can stay with him when they come for the funeral. We (I think) convinced him not to offer to let anyone stay with him. He has too much on his plate to worry about company. He said “but they let us stay with them” and I pointed out that was something like a vacation. I told him people can stay at a hotel for the day or two they are here. He then wanted to know if my aunt and uncle could stay with us. Both of them have health problems and I doubt they could use a standard tub shower very easily. They usually want to stay at a hotel anyway because they want a king sized bed and my guest rooms have queen sized beds.

My sister and I worked on the obituary tonight. I have about 70 pictures scanned of my mom and her with our family so that is done.

I am debating if I am brave enough to get up and do a eulogy. I am leaning towards “NO”.

As for my poor mom; she is obviously failing more. Her limbs are swollen and her breathing is very rugged at times. Poor thing. I really noticed in the pictures I put together when she started to look sick. She has been battling one health issue or another for about 10 years now.

Tomorrow my dad wants to go talk to the funeral home. Both my parents did pre-planned funerals so a lot of the expense and arrangements have been made already. The guy at the bank talked him in to doing a trust instead of putting my name on everything. I didn’t want to say anything but I wasn’t comfortable tax wise, financial wise or liability wise having my name on all his stuff. I am certainly going to nag at him to take care of that afterwards. I quickly chimed in to just list all 3 of us girls on it and say all his possessions should be sold and the proceeds split between us 3 girls. That way the executor of the trust takes care of it and my sisters won’t be my problem; they’ll be the executor’s problem. It’s a win win.

Marty and I were going to set on the deck and have a glass of wine when we got home tonight and it started to rain. Oh well. We still had our wine.

Sorry to ramble on – I had to blog this out somewhere.

Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Marcy, you are truly amazing. And it's so good of you to do all these things with your dad. Yes, I understand that not much progress can be made on some of them without an actual death certificate, but it sounds like he just needs to talk at this point so it's good he's having the opportunity. And I didn't realize you had TWO sisters. I think at least one lives close to you... yes? What about the other one?

Deegee, out of the office for FIVE YEARS? Honey, that's not an *assignment* that a whole new *job*! I weighed my book BTW--it' s not really 12 lbs, just 9.6. Still a monster though! My work laptop is tiny and light but I have NEVER brought the thing home. We have access through Citrix (sp?). Honestly, the only time I ever logged on to that was when I first got there and wanted to make sure I could get in.

I gave up last night in major frustration over a certain concept, had a glass of wine, and went to bed. This morning it all came together (well, I *think* it came together; I guess I'll know better once I start doing those multiple choice practice questions). The CB and I are driving up to Michigan for the long weekend. It may rain but I'm taking Billy Ray anyway. Makes me sad to think he could get wet, but he is a *CAR*!

OK, off to pack and study a bit before we go.

 

[marcy]

Hi. I hope everyone has fun plans for the holiday weekend.

Dee Jay, do you think it was the wine or sleeping on it that helped clarify that concept? I'm going with the wine and you can't stop me from believing that will help me in the future. Have fun on your trip and Billy Ray will be okay in the rain. I agree that my dad just wants people to listen to him. Dee Jay, I have 2 sisters. One lives about 35 minutes away and one lives about 90 minutes away in the opposite direction. The closer one came in and sat with my mom about every day. The other one was on vacation so didn't get to come visit my mom since she went in the hospital last Tuesday.

My mom passed away about 2 this afternoon. Her breathing was more shallow and less frequent today. I went back after lunch and found a girl with her. She asked me if I wanted to know her status and she showed me the signs she was very close to passing. She was having apnea episodes and then would start breathing again with less breathe. The girl left us alone for awhile so I said my goodbyes before my dad showed up. I told him the nurse had said she was close but I don't know if he knew what I meant. My dad was talking a lot and not noticing she was breathing less but I could tell she was close. He got up and went to the bathroom and she had another apnea episode, I held her hand and told her I love you and she gasped then she didn't breathe again. I pushed the button and told them I thought she was gone all this happened while my dad was gone. When he came back I told him she was gone. I am SOOOOOO glad I had a chance to be alone with her for awhile to say goodbye and that I was right there at the end. It makes me really sad but makes me feel better too. I am also glad my dad was not there at that moment. It was strange it started raining really hard right then too. I am mostly fine just having some crying spells. We took my dad with us to pick out flowers then ordered some take out for dinner. My dad is going home after Wheel of Fortune. An uncle is flying in tomorrow and going home Monday and will be staying with us. My sister who has been on vacation will be up tomorrow as well. The funeral is Thursday.

My BFF came over to make sure I was okay - you know called me names and teased me a bit so that helped me too. Marty of course is being super.

Well, take care. Thanks for listening to me through all of this. It's been helpful.

Marcy

 

[deegee]

Marcy-I am truly so sorry to hear of your mom's passing. I'm wishing you peace to bring comfort, courage to face the days ahead and loving memories to forever hold in your heart. I'm glad you were able to spend time alone with her today. You have been so amazing to help your dad out right now. Those things need to be taken care of and I know it wasn't easy. Hugs, hugs, hugs to you. I bet Marty is being a sweetie. He sounds like a great guy.

Dee*Jay-I bet Billy Ray is ready to stretch his muscles, even in the rain! You'd love driving him here in WV. None of our roads are straight and they're a lot of fun to drive on with the right vehicle. Matt's Pilot-not so much. The Infiniti I used to have-a blast. I think I have finally gotten our director and deputy director to understand that this out of the office project is like I am leaving my job and completely starting a new one. We have an awesome office atmosphere, which is why we have little turnover despite workload and crappy pay. I'm being pulled out of that and put in another location for 5 years with more work and no raise. If they don't come through with a raise at least, I need to look for another job.

Food today was really good until Matt brought me home a piece of coconut chocolate pie from his fantasy football draft get-together this evening. Wow, it was good. We finally had our cable hooked up today. When I got home from work, I discovered Matt had stolen my entertainment center, big red chair and ottoman and put them in his man room upstairs now that he has cable. My great room downstairs has a tv on the wall and a couch. It looks even more pitiful than before! I'll have to post a pic tomorrow. We had planned to move the stuff from downstairs to upstairs and completely start over downstairs, but I thought we'd move it up after we got new furniture. I haven't even picked anything out! I'm off to bed early tonight. I tried to go to bed early last night but ended up staying up until 2. Good night!

 

[Linda W]

Marcy,

I just happened to log onto this section and saw that your mother passed away.

I want to let you know, how very sorry I am. I know how difficult it is for you. I lost my mom to cancer almost 3 years ago. I was able to say goodbye to her and also to my dad when he passed. I am positive, she knew you were there. The hospice always told me that they CAN here you, so I am glad you talked to her.

Sending you a great big hug and a basket full of healing dust.

Love, Linda

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone.

Deegee, thank you for the very kind words. I appreciate it. Too funny that some of your great room furniture has been relocated to the man room. I can’t say I am surprised. I certainly know how that goes. At least he left you a TV and a couch. At least you’ll be filling up the room again with your interior designer. What color scheme are you going for in your great room?

Linda, it is good to hear from you and see your beautiful pad. Thank you for the big hug and basket full of dust. It helps. I am sorry about your mom and dad but I am glad you were there with them. They say hearing is the last thing to go and even someone in a coma can hear you talking to them. I had quite a few good chats with my mom over the last week or so. Have you been camping this summer? How are the grandkids?

We were busy today with phone calls, a few errands and family. My uncle from Alabama flew out today for 2 days; he is having surgery on Tuesday so he won’t be able to be here for the funeral. My sister, brother-in-law and nephew from Colorado came up to visit and my other sister ran in to say hi so our house was full. We ordered pizza for lunch and then had some soup and frozen custard for supper.

We are watching TV now, my feet are propped up and hopefully I am done with chores for the day.

Take care.
Marcy

 

[Linda W]

Hi Marcy and all,

I am glad you had good talks with your mom. I am sure it was comforting for you.

We don't camp anymore. We sold our 5th wheel. Instead we go to Lake Tahoe a few times a year. We love it there and so do the grandboys.

Ryan is 13 now and 5'11" He calls me shorty, he towers over me. He is in 8th grade, one more year and he will be in high school. UGH.

Andrew will be 12 in October and is in 7th grade. I don't watch them, during the week anymore, being my daughter is home during the day. I really miss watching them though, but I see them at least once a week.

Please take care of yourself, during this very stressful time.

xoxoxox

 

[Dee*Jay]

Marcy - just posting quick on my ipad to say how sorry I am to hear of your mom's passing. I'll write more when I get back from this trip and have better reception. Hugs to you my friend.