A Little Left of Center II

Cute, cute, cute!

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:15:48 GMT

With all the tension in my life the past few days it was a joy to get the following link from my sister this morning.

Take a look and see if it's not one of the sweetest YouTube videos you've seen. It's a total "Ahhhhhh" moment.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jCnAjel02lM

By the way, I don't have an update right now. Doctor hasn't been in to see Dennis yet today so I don't know his status as far as having the chest tube removed and if there is a date set for his release from the hospital. He's still really hurting. He doesn't want to come home - that should tell you how bad it is.

Update on Dennis

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:44:36 GMT

I talked to Dennis about an hour ago. He had another chest Xray last night and after seeing the results, the doctor inserted a chest tube. They sedated him for the proceedure but it still hurt like crazy.

He had a pretty good night. He was able to sleep and relax. I'm sure the chest tube sedation helped with that. I don't know for sure, but I think he will be in the hospital until Wednesday.

He's hurting this morning. I'm going to see him at 10:00 and I'll post another update later.

Thank you for your prayers, good thoughts, compassion, and support! It helps me cope.

Kathy

"It's Always Something!"

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:39:18 GMT

Before I tell you what happened today, I want

you to know that Dennis is going to be fine.

He was outside trimming the tree in the brick planter. He was up about 5 feet off the ground when the ladder shifted and threw him off balance. He grabbed a tree limb but it broke and he ended up falling and hitting his back ribs on the edge of the planter. It totally knocked the wind out of him. He laid on the grass for a while and then managed to get into his office and lay down on the floor. He then came in the house and sat on the second step of the stair case and called me.

He could not catch his breath. His elbow was bleeding and he had a 8" long slash mark on his side and back from where he hit the planter. I told him that I was getting dressed and taking him to the hospital. He said he wanted to wait a few hours before going to see how he would feel. I told him that was not acceptable and I called 911. The paramedics/fire truck arrived first and then the ambulance got here. They evaluated him and didn't give him a choice about going to the hospital.

Good thing, too. He has 3 fractured ribs on his right side and the rib cage in his back. His right lung is collapsed 15% and he had a bad gash on his elbow. He was put on oxygen and give pain meds right away. His chest X-Ray showed some dark spots at the bottom of his left lung and diaphragm. They couldn't tell what was going on there so they did a C-Scan which showed he has a hernia that has pulled his stomach up into his chest area.

That was NOT caused by the fall today. He has had this for a long time. Dr. says it needs to be addressed but not until after he recovers from the fall.

I will keep you posted. Doctor says he'll be in the hospital for a day or two - until the lung inflates again. They didn't do a chest tube because it's only 15% collapsed. They will do another chest X-Ray tonight and in the morning to see how he is progressing.

As Gilda Radner would say, "It's always something."

I'm doing OK. I'm just exhausted and need to have some quiet time.

More tomorrow.

4th of July Celebration

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 07:07:51 GMT

Our 4th of July celebration was a lot of fun. We went to our friend's home in Costa Mesa which is close to the ocean so it was 30 degrees cooler there. That in itself was wonderful.

There were nearly 40 people there and 20 of them were children under the age of 11. It was a joy to see the kids enjoying the bounce house and each other's company. They were together from 2:00 in the afternoon until 9:30 at night and not a single harsh word between any of them. I thought that was amazing. It made the afternoon so nice to hear happy noises from them.

This is Matthew at age 15 months. Hasn't he grown? What a handsome little guy. He had so much fun crawling up and down some small steps on the patio and up and down off a patio chair.

Here's Little Dude with his Aunt Cari. He thought those glasses were so great!

I love this picture of Andrew taking a break from the Bounce House.

Here's Nathan with that 'toothy' grin I love.

Miss Megan and her lovely mom, Shannon.

Sam, Cari and Bryan sharing a few laughs. You can see the bounce house in the background.

I had 3 of the grandchildren, Megan, Nathan and Andrew at our house Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning. We had so much fun. They spent their time playing games, watching movies, creating greeting cards on the computer, and swimming at my neighbor's home. Andrew is going through a stage where he is really afraid of the pool so he wanted to stay with me and run in the sprinkler while Cari and Sam took the other two swimming on Wed. and Thurs. evening. I got a few pictures of him with the sprinkler:

Here he is doing his favorite thing. He puts his foot over the sprinkler and then lets it go so the water spurts high over his head.

Here he is giving his Spiderman toys a bath.

It's awesome being a grandma!

Prayers Answered

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:03:31 GMT

Jordyn's tests came back today. She does NOT have Cystic Fibrosis. What a huge relief for everyone in the family.

Her doctors put her on two strong anti-biotics and will check her next week to see if the medications helped clear the mucus in her lungs.

If the medications don't work then they will order further tests.

Thanks for the prayers!

I've had 3 of my grandchildren here for a few days. We have had a wonderful time! More about that tomorrow. I'm tired and Megan wants to go online to her Webkinz website.

Running in Mud

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:31:59 GMT

It's been one of those weeks! I feel like I'm running in mud. I have things to do and I'm living one of those awful dreams where you just can't get to what you need to get to. I get started only to find out I don't have all the supplies I need to finish. Ahhhh! When these situations arise, I find it hard to press through and, as Larry the Cable Guy says, "Get 'er done."

It's becoming clear that I could use a personal life coach who would follow me around with her/his hand pressed to the small of my back pushing me to finish my projects. Wouldn't that be great? I would have her/him dress as a cheer leader & carry a megaphone to shout, "Go, Kathy, Go!

In the Wedding News category, we are meeting with the groom's parents on Saturday to discuss the wedding, guest list, and financial obligations of both sides. As parents of the bride, we are responsible for 99.9% of it. Yikes...We are paying for everything except the rehearsal dinner. We are happy to do this for our daughter. We gave her a choice between a big wedding and taking the cash. She has always dreamed of a big wedding so that is what she chose. I don't blame her. I made the same choice 37 years ago and have never regretted it.

We have chosen the site for the wedding and reception. It's a beautiful old building that will dress up nicely for her Italian theme. We aren't Italian but she and Sam became engagedin Italy while doing their Semester Abroad and they both love the country and culture very much. I think it's going to be lovely.

My son and his wife got married 11 years ago. Cari and her brother are 10-1/2 years apart in age. I had forgotten how emotional and edgy things get when planning an event like this. It wasn't so bad for Bryan's wedding because he was the groom and left everything up to Shannon to decide. But, this wedding seems to be a lot more dramatic and emotional since I'm dealing with the bride. Jeez, I can't even ask her a questions about the details without her coming unglued. She thinks I'm trying to control EVERYTHING when I've told her she has final say on every detail. I just like to make suggestions but I don't care if she takes my advise or blows it off. Part of the fun, for me, is the planning and throwing out ideas and suggestions. Evidently, that is NOT part of the fun for her. LOL I have had to bite my tongue and hold my breath so I don't step on her sweet little toes.

God give me strength to get through the next 9 months. I've got my seatbelt on **** it's right over my mouth. LOL

Prayer Request

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:34:43 GMT

You may remember a few months back, I asked for prayer for my daughter-in-law's niece, Jordyn. Jordyn is the 2 year old daughter of Shannon's brother. She is undergoing tests to determine if she may have Cystic Fibrosis. I'll copy and paste Shannon's email so you can read the details:

My little niece Jordyn needs prayer again. When she was in the hospital a couple of months ago with her surgery from her belly button not healing and forming a pocket that became infected, her white cell count was extremely high. They did the surgery, but the LA pediatric doctors recommended her see a lung specialist because she has always been very congested and always had a cruppy type cough. They thought it was asthma last year but that never was the case after many breathing treatments. Now yesterday my brother took her to LA to see the lung specialist and they found a very large blockage in one of her lungs. They need to do more tests on the 25th of June. The doctor told my brother it may be severe allergy or the scary one is Cystic Fibrosis-which is, severe mucus built up in lungs that forms constant lung infections, sometimes death. This is common with kids around 2 being diagnosed. She turned 2 this past April, little scary.

Please pray its not that severe.

Sincerely, Shannon

I would appreciate everyone praying for this little girl. She's really adorable.

Thank you...

Love, Kathy

Fun with Minnie Mouse

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:06:17 GMT

Before we left for Italy, my friend and fellow journal-er, Linda from Long Climb Back Up, sent me a little Minnie Mouse dressed in French clothes and carrying the French flag. She got it when she visited her daughter and spent time at DisneyWorld, Florida.

She is so cute! I got the idea to take her along and then take pictures of her in different settings. Here are some of her pictures from the trip:

Minnie at the breakfast table in our first bed and breakfast inn in Milan, Italy.

Minnie waiting for her cafe latte in our 2nd apartment in Florence.

Minnie on my bed in our hotel in Paris.

Minnie at lunch with us at The Hard Rock Cafe in Paris, France.

Minnie sitting on the window sill of our room in Venice.

Minnie sitting on my bed in our B&B in Verona.

Minnie at ZaZa's restaurant in Florence.

As you can see, she had almost as much fun as the rest of us did. I will admit, there were some times when she was just too tired to go on so she stayed back at our hotel while we went on ahead. Overall, she was a good traveler. She never complained about riding inside the back-pack and she got home in great shape, flag in hand!

Birthdays, Father's Day and Life In General

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 17:57:06 GMT

Yesterday was Cari's 24th Birthday! Happy birthday, sweetheart. Her dad picked out the cutest birthday card for her. It's an Anne Geddes picture of a little baby dressed as a flower and stuffed into a clay pot. It says inside, "You were born to brighten the world and you do it so well."

It's a perfect card for her. She is an awesome beam of positive light in the world. We are so proud of the woman she has become. She, Sam and a group of friends when to the Angel game last night and then out to dinner. They had a wonderful time.

Today is Father's Day. We are going to my son's home to celebrate and to also celebrate Cari's birthday as a family. It will be a fun day. For me, it's about spending time with the kids. Haven't seen them in two weeks and I need a munchkin fix.

To be honest, I've been down in the dumps. The thing that has had me so down is the increase in gasoline prices and grocery prices. It wouldn't normally affect me so much but business is slowing down for my husband and I see the third bad recession we've been through during our married life on the horizon. I don't want to have to go through that again. It's very difficult and puts a gray cloud over our life.

Then this morning, I was looking at the front page of our newspaper and it showed a picture of a bridge in Iowa that had 16 houses jammed underneath it. Sixteen houses that were washed away by storm flooding piled in broken pieces under that bridge. It's just a tiny picture of the overall disaster in the Midwest. So much loss and you know so little help will be forthcoming. The Katrina Disaster still hasn't been cleaned up and now this. My heart breaks for all of those who lost everything and those who are left with sever damage to their properties.

What I'm feeling after reading that, instead of being under a gray cloud I feel so grateful to have what I do. Our home is standing under the bright California sun safe and warm. We have money in the bank that will see us through any recession. It's money intended for retirement but if we need it, it's there. We know we will not lose our home and we will be able to live comfortably. As always, we will have what we NEED if not what we WANT.

Before posting this, I read my last entry again and then I printed it out. I want to look at it often and remind myself that life is what I choose to make it and like my favorite saying, "Attitude Is Everything" I know I can be happy in most any circumstance.

Hope everyone has a blessed day. To those, like me, who lost our Dad's recently, I hope you can find a lot of joy in your memories of your dad today. He's still close by and I'm sure he would want us to spend the day remembering him with love and fondness rather than sadness.

Life Plan (only a suggestion, of course).

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:02:45 GMT

I received the following in an email today. I thought it was so positive and uplifting and I want to share it with all of you.

Life Plan

1. Take a 20-30 minute walk every day and while you walk, smile. It's the ultimate antidepressant.

2. sit in silence for at least 10 minutes a day. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. Always pray and make time to exercise.

4. Spend more time with people over the age of 70 AND under the age of six.

5. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants AND eat less foods that are manufactured in Plants.

6. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat broccoli, almonds, and walnuts.

7. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

8. Clear your clutter around your house, car, desk and let new and flowing energy into your life.

9. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot

control.

10. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that

appear and fade away like algebra class........but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

11. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a layman, and dinner like a beggar.

12. Life isn't fair, but it is still good.

13. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

15. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

16. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

17. Don't compare yourself to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

18. Ladies - go on and burn those 'special' scented candles, use the 600 thread count sheets, the good

china and wear fancy clothes now. Stop waiting for a special occasion. Every day is special.

19. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

20. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: In five years will this matter?

21. Forgive everyone for everything.

22. What other people think of you is none of your business.

23. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time!

24. However good or bad a situation is, it will Change.

25. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch with them.

26. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

27. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need. God provides, remember.

28. The best is yet to come.

29. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

30. Do the right thing!

31. Call your family often.

32. Each night before you go to bed, complete the following statements:

"I am thankful for _______________________"

"Today I accomplished _________________________."

33. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

34. Enjoy the ride. Remember that this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a Fast Pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.