Naps are Wonderful Things

Well, folks, today was my first day back after Easter Break. I felt great at work - walked all over, talked to people, sorta moved some stuff - really got some stuff done. So . . .

By four o'clock as I was rolling into the carport, my body had decided that enough was enough. I went in, talked to Brent for a few, and then took a nap. An hour nap during which I did not move after falling dead asleep. An hour nap which was the most blessed thing I have had over the past three days.

Do you remember taking naps as a child? I remember summers at my Grandmama's house where we ate lunch right at twelve - while my grandfather listened to the livestock report on Channel 9. Right after lunch, we washed the dishes, and then we went to bed - no questions asked.

My Grandmama had a chenille bedspread on her back bed, with the chenille making a pattern that always made me think of a garden - like the English gardens you see in pictures and such. I would trace my finger around the design until I fell asleep. That's why one of my most favorite possessions from my Grandmama's house is a chenille bedspread with that kind of pattern in it. I doubt that it is the same one, I remember there being pinks and greens in the pattern, and the spread I have is actually all white, but it doesn't matter. It reminds me. And that's enough.

As Friday comes upon us

Well, I would say I have enjoyed my Easter vacation, but I have not vacated nor rested much. On Monday I actually did have a day where I sat around watching bad tv wondering if I should put real clothes on or if my pj's would take me through the day - I think I actually changed over to sweats - only to go pick up dinner . . . gotta love take out Chinese food.


Tuesday Brent and I - mostly Brent - cut out the new and expansive sections of our flower bed out front - what my cousins Cindy and Alan will be coming down next weekend to help with. The hard part was rolling the sod and picking it up - seriously. It weighed a ton. Who knew grass could weigh so much. But Brent pulled the trailer around back, and we attempted transplants in bald spots our dogs have created. We're still watering daily folks, so wish us luck.










Wednesday we took that piece of equipment back, and we got another one - a carpet cleaner, because, girls, if you are going to have men and dogs in your lives, you are going to have spots on your carpet. So after picking up the cleaner, and going for lunch in Choco-hoco land, we came home, and as it was such a beautiful day (the weather has turned out much warmer and nicer than I thought it was going to be), we decided to go fishing for a couple of hours.

Now, let me stop here and say that fishing always sounds better to me than it really is. I don't know why I don't remember from one trip to the next how much I suck at it, or how frustrating it is, or how uncomfortable those seats are in the front of the boat - but anyway . . . We went fishing, and it was actually nice and peaceful. We go up Bear Creek, which is actually not too far from the boat ramp, and it's all trees and birds and quiet. Blessed quiet. So overlooking the fact that I only caught one fish, and so did Brent, it was a nice relaxing trip.



Then we came home and cleaned carpets - until eleven o'clock. That's right - crazy - yes -- but the proud owners of some clean carpet? - yes as well.

Today I was all excited about getting to see my friend Todd. He's home for a long weekend to visit with family and friends. I got up, returned the carpet cleaner (after Brent had cleaned the couch, chair, and ottoman), got my oil changed, ran a couple of other errands, and then came home. Todd showed up sometime after lunch and hung out helping with odd jobs and such around the house.

While all of this was going on, Brent had gone out fishing again - only caught three today - but still had a good time.

And tonight I have worked on a display for school -something for Book Fair - which I will post pictures of once it is done.


Tomorrow, I plan to have lunch with Cathy, and finish a couple of projects around here.


So - if you have made it to the end of this post without falling asleep from the mundaneness of it all, thanks!

Happy Easter

Brent, Daddy, and I went down to Acre Station to walk around the house and look at stuff. Daddy always takes advantage of those times to tell me where every plant came from. I hope I can remember enough to pass some on to the nephews. What I really hope is that at least one of the nephews cares enough to even want to walk around and look at plants.

So, I thought I would include a few pictures from the trip. Didn't take many, but here's one of Daddy, looking very stoic . . .

And here's a patch of spring growing by the front door - actually growing right by where the flag pole used to be.

So, Happy Easter, and Happy Spring!

Saturday Morning Crafts

Well, I couldn't let my spring break begin without a craft for Saturday morning. On the way back from Greensboro on Tuesday Lisa A. and I stopped at World Market in Durham - if you don't know what World Market is, you are really missing out on something. http://www.worldmarket.com/home.jsp

I have been looking for some handmade paper to cover a lampshade in the living room and wouldn't you know it, they had tons of it.

So here it is guys - come by the house for a better look when you are in town.

And just so you know, as I was making this, rose petals kept falling from the paper. Like maybe someone somewhere in a factory has the job of sticking some rose petals and leaves on regular paper to add to the handmadeness of it. (That's right, handmadeness) So here's a picture of the mess.

Riley's Birthday

My nephew turned 6 on March 20th - the first day of spring - and since my sister doesn't want me to post pictures of the boys on the Internet - damn you Internet freaks out there - I am posting this one which is actually a little funny -

Happy Birthday, Riley!

Children's Birthdays and Sibling Gifts

What in the heck does that mean? Well, my parents, being the kind and loving grandparents that they are, began a ritual way back when the second child of my sister's was born, of giving the sibling a gift on the birthday of his brother. So, today is Riley's birthday. Riley gets a big gift. Hunter and Colin, his brothers, get small gifts. Has my sister told Mama and Daddy to stop doing this? Yes. Have they any plans to stop doing this? No.

It's sorta embarassing watching Hunter search for a gift when there is absolutely no reason for him to get one. And it takes away from Riley's birthday, or Hunter's birthday, or Colin's birthday, when they do it.

But Mama doesn't care. She says she is old and she can do what she wants. And I say I am old and I can tell her I think she should stop doing it. At least I can tell her that three times a year - next scheduled discussion - July 30th.

Elevator Etiquette

Okay, I know, I fuss way too much about what other people do, but after spending three days getting on and off of elevators at the middle school conference in Greensboro, I have to fuss about people and their elevator etiquette.

If you are getting on an elevator, you wait for everyone to get off first. No, the elevator is not going to run away from you. No, you are not going to have to wait too much longer, really.

If you are waiting for the next elevator, let the one you just said no to get gone before pushing the button - pushing the button too early only makes the elevator doors open again and again and so forth and so on and she told two friends . . .

So, those two things out of the way - you are free to ride elevators again - go forth and prosper . . .

Conference in Greensboro

I am going to use the NC Middle School Conference as my excuse for not recently adding entries.

Keep checking back - more tomorrow -

Daylight Savings Time

Okay, as much as I hate the whole general idea that I have lost an hour somewhere, I am really happy with more light at the end of the day than at the beginning. I feel like I can get more done - when I am not visiting sick parents in the hospital.

What I love is that spring is here. One day you look out at the yard, and it's all brown and yucky, and then the next day, you look out and there's green here and there, and it grows and grows until your grass is back. And the flowers are blooming. It's so cool.

But I am still really tired, but we can blame that on the surgery and not on daylight savings time.

So I'm looking forward to a long warm spring. How about you?

Rise of the Machine

After talking to Rob, I realize that I should tell you guys a little more about the Boston Scientific machine Daddy had installed.

It's a combo defibrillator and pacemaker. The coolest thing is that in the middle of the night a few months from now, there will be a phone call made from a control unit in my parents' house to Dr. Frazier's office. The two machines will talk about my dad's heart rate, any shocks he may have received, and eventually, when the scales and the blood pressure machine show up, these will conference call with dad's machine and the phone thing and will let Dr. Frazier keep up with Dad's weight and blood pressure as well.

Then there's the machines in the hospital that they use to talk to the thing in Daddy's chest. Looks like a laptop. Communicates wirelessly. Can be stopped with a magnet. But funny thing - when the tech guy took the magnet off of Dad's chest, he threw it right on top of the cart with the two computers - and by the way, one had a touch screen - too cool. So they can talk to Dad's heart and can withstand a powerful magnet.

But that's it for the machines - except it makes you wonder - what kind of world will it be in a few years where machines can control your heart, call the doctor, and keep track of your weight. What will they be in charge of next?

Pronunciation Guide

And just in case you are actually reading the previous entry, Daddy is pronounced Dead-dee - I don't know if it's a southern thing or just a my family thing, but I thought it would be good to let you know.

Defib's and Kicks to the Chest

Daddy had a defibrillator and a pacemaker combo thing "installed" yesterday. It makes for a really long day when they tell you to be there at seven but don't take you back for surgery until eleven. And then we didn't get up into his room until after four or so to see him after recovery.

Mary and I stayed until we saw him in his room and made sure that he had eaten his lunch. Then we left.

At two this morning, Mama calls me and says the hospital has called, and Daddy is having trouble and wants her there. Then they call back and tell her he wants to be sure that she calls us. She called me, I called Mary. I drove Mama over, and Mary met us there. It has been a very long day with a definitely heinous morning.

Apparently around 1:30 this morning, Daddy sat on the edge of the bed to pee and began being kicked in the chest by his defibrillator. He was shocked 13 times in about thirty minutes. THIRTEEN times. Needless to say there was pee all over the floor.

The only way they could get the debrillator to stop was to slap a huge magnet on his chest just over the mechanism. And then start pushing meds that would slow his heart down. Apparently, just resting - or rather just peeing - caused his heart rate to shoot up to 180 beats per minute. Crap like that can blow your heart up - or make it seize up - or just hurt it really, really badly.

So we got there at 2:00 and waited for the doctor. Mama slept in the recliner in his room, and Mary and I went out into the waiting areas to try to cat nap on couches and chairs. It wasn't too bad, but it wasn't all that great either. I fell asleep and woke up to find Mary gone - she had gone to find a couch she could stretch out on. Then we began calling subs and such - this was 5:30 - 6:00. To kill time, we moved our cars from the North 40 out front to the parking lot closer to the Heart Center - I think I almost killed my Mama by walking her from the front of the building, but she didn't want to be pushed.

Anywho, the doctor finally came in around 8:00. He said this is amazingly the first time he has ever seen anything like this. The 24 hour harness recording they did on Daddy weeks ago gave no signs that his heart would race like that at rest, so they are going in tomorrow to oblate (a fancy word for close by burning) a node in his heart that should help to keep his rate down. They have also set dad's mechanism to go off when his heart rate goes over 200 beats per minute - it had been set at 180. That was the cool part - seeing the whole mechanism they use to send messages to the defib. And Mama and Daddy will be getting this thing they plug into the phone line that will keep Dr. Frazier's office "in touch" with the pacemaker/defibrillator. Amazing.

So needless to say I got Mama back to Washington and have spent the majority of the rest of the day sleeping off one sick headache. Luckily Brent was gone today delivering Bella (the dachshund we were fostering) to her new home, so it was very quiet.

And now for the highlight of the day - Mama asked the nurses if they were using dirty syringes - Jesus God how embarassing . . .