I've talked about my neighbors the Hands and their daughter and son-in-law, the Orsers, who also live on the street. Today, Chris Orser came over with surprising news. Her father, Bill Hand died last night in his sleep. He was visiting his son in Las Vegas. His daughters had been taking shifts staying with Sadie while he was gone. We knew his health had declined some in the last few months but everyone expected Sadie would go first. She has congestive heart failure as well as the dementia and she has just seemed so much slower and less healthy then Bill.
Their granddaughter called me in tears this afternoon. She lives in Utah with her new husband. She is very like a daughter to us. Death has never touched someone she loves before. I am glad she has her husband to lean on right now. She is such a sensitive soul. Last summer she was heart broken dealing with being separated from her fiance for 3 months. It will be nice to see her soon I just wish it was for a happier reason.
My own children have cried as well. The Hands have been our neighbors for 13 years. Many of them don't remember life before them. Bill has helped them make bird houses, pinewood derby cars and other wooden creations. He has brought over vegetables from his garden and helped us prune trees and remove bushes. We have seen him everyday out walking with his dog and after she died walking with his wife. He played with the children and greeted us all at church on Sundays. He seemed rough at first but he was one of the hardest working selfless people you could ever meet and neighbors were extended family to him.
First my mother and now Bill. The last six months have made the world a lonelier place.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Easter Week
I have been blogging later and later in the week. It's good the semester is almost over or I might start running into the next week. I thought this week would be easier than the last but I forgot how draining it is when someone has surgery. Roy had a deviated septum repair and two nasal polyps removed this week. That took my whole day Thursday and Friday. I had saved my peer reviews to do while he was in the operating room and that was good to have something to concentrate on. Otherwise, I might have worried the whole time. I think that has been one of the positive side effects of me going to school. My life is not entirely wrapped up in my family so I have something else to concentrate on. School kept me from obsessing when my Mother was sick and dieing too. I had other things to focus on.
It's Easter Saturday. The kids are outside running off their sugar high. We do baskets of goodies and our egg hunt today to help us focus on the importance of Easter on Sunday. Last night we dyed eggs at 9:00pm. That was too late for me to be genuinely patient with small children but we were up against a deadline and all my big people were out of the house. Ryan and Audrey were at a party and Tyler, Neal and Melissa were at another party. Finally, Roy was recuperating in bed, but that doesn't change much he has never participated in egg dying. Blake (age 12) was the oldest at home and little Lydia (1 yr) was trying to crack them all. I think it has been 12 years since there have only been 6 kids home coloring eggs. Even so we all 6 colors going constantly.
I am speaking in church tomorrow. I wasn't sure I would have time to properly prepare but Roy kind of accepted for me. I also have a lesson to prepare, a house to clean, shopping to do and a meal to plan. The family is going to a baptism this afternoon and Melissa wants her skirt taken in before her first dance tonight. I think I could handle it all if I wasn't trying to take care of Roy.
The percocet makes Roy loopy and helpless. Still I will take that over what almost happened. His surgery went very well. The Doctor called it "text book". They waited to come and get me until he was in his room so I had several hours to do school work. After had eaten they gave him some vicodin for the pain. Within a few minutes he started coughing and saying that his throat hurt. Then he complained that it felt like it was closing up. Before long we had 3 nurses in the room trying to figure out what was going on. The only thing that helped a little was feeding him ice chips. After a call to the Doctor and they decide it was a reaction to the medication so he was given benadryl. With in 10 minutes he was better. He has taken vicodin before but now he appears to be allergic to it. The nurse didn't want to leave the room after that until I reassured her that I would call at the first sign of more trouble. As always, I handled it fine at the time but when I got home that night, I broke down. He came home to the couch Friday and will probably be there for a few days.
Lots to do and not much time gotta run!
It's Easter Saturday. The kids are outside running off their sugar high. We do baskets of goodies and our egg hunt today to help us focus on the importance of Easter on Sunday. Last night we dyed eggs at 9:00pm. That was too late for me to be genuinely patient with small children but we were up against a deadline and all my big people were out of the house. Ryan and Audrey were at a party and Tyler, Neal and Melissa were at another party. Finally, Roy was recuperating in bed, but that doesn't change much he has never participated in egg dying. Blake (age 12) was the oldest at home and little Lydia (1 yr) was trying to crack them all. I think it has been 12 years since there have only been 6 kids home coloring eggs. Even so we all 6 colors going constantly.
I am speaking in church tomorrow. I wasn't sure I would have time to properly prepare but Roy kind of accepted for me. I also have a lesson to prepare, a house to clean, shopping to do and a meal to plan. The family is going to a baptism this afternoon and Melissa wants her skirt taken in before her first dance tonight. I think I could handle it all if I wasn't trying to take care of Roy.
The percocet makes Roy loopy and helpless. Still I will take that over what almost happened. His surgery went very well. The Doctor called it "text book". They waited to come and get me until he was in his room so I had several hours to do school work. After had eaten they gave him some vicodin for the pain. Within a few minutes he started coughing and saying that his throat hurt. Then he complained that it felt like it was closing up. Before long we had 3 nurses in the room trying to figure out what was going on. The only thing that helped a little was feeding him ice chips. After a call to the Doctor and they decide it was a reaction to the medication so he was given benadryl. With in 10 minutes he was better. He has taken vicodin before but now he appears to be allergic to it. The nurse didn't want to leave the room after that until I reassured her that I would call at the first sign of more trouble. As always, I handled it fine at the time but when I got home that night, I broke down. He came home to the couch Friday and will probably be there for a few days.
Lots to do and not much time gotta run!
Friday, April 15, 2011
It's Raining
They say when it rains it pours. No kidding. This week it's rained ear infections, throwing up, coughing, talent show, 2nd grade concert, whining water pipes, big graphic design project, 2 tests and a 10 page essay. That's the big stuff everything else seems minor.
It is a huge relief to have the paper written. I have researched, written and talked about the topic so much that I wasn't sure what to write. I didn't want to rewrite everything else I'd already done and put it all together. But I wasn't sure what to do. I'd always hated doing outlines but was an outline that saved me. As I started to write the paper (I started 3 times) I felt like I was wandering all over the place. Trying to tie one idea to another was difficult. I could have gone on and on with personal feelings and experiences but this was a research essay. Once I started jotting down ideas and then putting those ideas in order everything fell into place. I had to remind myself that just because I had researched it I didn't need to put it in the paper. It's like the lessons I teach on Sunday. I always have prepared way more than what I teach. I am so exhausted from the effort that I am not sure it is a really good paper but I will have next week to review it and hopefully I will receive helpful advise from the peer review board. There is still time for excellence if I haven't reached it yet.
I don't know how I would have done this without Roy's support. He has been home this week and it has saved my life. Even better, he has a new appreciation for what I do.
Music is drifting up the stairs. The kids are rehearsing I'd better go coach them.
It is a huge relief to have the paper written. I have researched, written and talked about the topic so much that I wasn't sure what to write. I didn't want to rewrite everything else I'd already done and put it all together. But I wasn't sure what to do. I'd always hated doing outlines but was an outline that saved me. As I started to write the paper (I started 3 times) I felt like I was wandering all over the place. Trying to tie one idea to another was difficult. I could have gone on and on with personal feelings and experiences but this was a research essay. Once I started jotting down ideas and then putting those ideas in order everything fell into place. I had to remind myself that just because I had researched it I didn't need to put it in the paper. It's like the lessons I teach on Sunday. I always have prepared way more than what I teach. I am so exhausted from the effort that I am not sure it is a really good paper but I will have next week to review it and hopefully I will receive helpful advise from the peer review board. There is still time for excellence if I haven't reached it yet.
I don't know how I would have done this without Roy's support. He has been home this week and it has saved my life. Even better, he has a new appreciation for what I do.
Music is drifting up the stairs. The kids are rehearsing I'd better go coach them.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Decisions
Since my last blog a major decision has been made. We are staying. Friday afternoon just as Roy was finishing a prayer about whether or not to accept the job offer in Sacramento the phone rang. It was Farmer's Insurance offering him a job here as a claims manager. We spent the rest of the day discussing the pros and cons of the two jobs. This job will not pay as much as the one in California but with the cost of living difference taken into account there won't be much of a difference. We will need to pinch our pennies but if Roy had not resigned our budget would be the same.
The job could be considered a step down, or a lateral move which is a little disappointing but the upside is he is getting out of sales. He is very good at sales and there is more money there but, he has never enjoyed it. He thought he had been away from claims for too long to go back but, since several people he had worked with before vouched for him they not only considered him but decided to hire him and retrain him. The hours will be much better for family. He won't have the flexibility to set his own hours but he will be working only 45 hours a week instead of the 60 he has been working the last few years.
From my side, I will have to get creative about child care for the last few weeks of school. It is such a relief not to worry about relocating. I spent the whole day Tuesday, helping Roy clean out his office and bringing home anything I want to keep. After that I am not sure how I would have handled the strain of juggling my life, having him gone and trying to move.
When we were considering moving I started cleaning out and Roy rented a dumpster. It was delivered yesterday and we filled it by dinnertime. How crazy is that? Fourteen people and thirteen years can collect a lot of trash! We have also made 4 trips to Good Will. I feel lighter and freer having all of that gone. There is still more to go through but the big decisions have been made and I am feeling good.
The job could be considered a step down, or a lateral move which is a little disappointing but the upside is he is getting out of sales. He is very good at sales and there is more money there but, he has never enjoyed it. He thought he had been away from claims for too long to go back but, since several people he had worked with before vouched for him they not only considered him but decided to hire him and retrain him. The hours will be much better for family. He won't have the flexibility to set his own hours but he will be working only 45 hours a week instead of the 60 he has been working the last few years.
From my side, I will have to get creative about child care for the last few weeks of school. It is such a relief not to worry about relocating. I spent the whole day Tuesday, helping Roy clean out his office and bringing home anything I want to keep. After that I am not sure how I would have handled the strain of juggling my life, having him gone and trying to move.
When we were considering moving I started cleaning out and Roy rented a dumpster. It was delivered yesterday and we filled it by dinnertime. How crazy is that? Fourteen people and thirteen years can collect a lot of trash! We have also made 4 trips to Good Will. I feel lighter and freer having all of that gone. There is still more to go through but the big decisions have been made and I am feeling good.
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