Glamour Girl ... Not.

Went to the country Friday night. Ate on the way & didn't arrive until 8:30p. We had a wood rack that we needed to move in order for the power to be ran to the electrical box.

The rack on the left needed to be moved but of course we had been piling stuff all around it. At least it was the rack with less wood. To top it off it was very cold Saturday morning. It was in the mid 30's with a wind chill around 29. Don't let that blue sky fool you. The wind was howling & blowing straight where we needed to work. I found my ear muffs that I love but guess what, they were broken so I had to improvise. I put on my Boggs rubber boots, a t-shirt, a long sleeve shirt & found a thin hoodie to help cover my ears (I can't stand my ears to be cold) & also donned a fishing hat to keep it all in place. Here is the pic, before I put on the flannel lined denim jacket & fuzzy gloves covered by work gloves. Mama Pea, I can't believe I am sharing this but here goes.

Not my best look but it definitely did the trick. Husband moved the wood on the rack itself & I tackled the crap extra stuff in front of it. By the 2nd load I lost the big jacket & the fuzzy gloves & looked pretty much like I do in the pic.

As we were working, one of my cousins pulled up. He had been trying to contact my Mom & didn't realize she was at my sister's & was concerned. I'm sure he thought that I looked pretty silly but didn't say a word, just gave me a big hug. We chatted with him a bit & then he helped us push the boat out of the way (behind the wood pile) & then he helped move the wood rack itself.

We left early this morning so we could stop by my sister's to say hello to my Mom. She's doing great just having trouble deciphering her meds, but in good spirits. My sister took her to church this morning so she was happy to get 'dressed up'. My sister will continue to educate her on the meds so Mama will be straight when she's ready to live in her new place.. Please say a prayer for my sister. Although, she is much more patient than I am it can still be very stressful.

While there my BIL cut us some fresh broccoli from their garden & while we were standing around chatting, his parents new additions stopped by to say hi. They are 2 pregnant females that were given to them. I'm not sure of the breed but they have identical dark brown crosses on their backs (apparently the whole herd does). His Mom calls them Jesus donkeys. They are very protective of the cattle they have. And they are verrry loud brayers (right term?).

Next week, we should find out when the new trailer will be delivered & what our timeline is. Until then, I've got a busy week. Hope everyone is getting back in the groove after the Holidays.

Update on my Mom

This is a post to primarily document my Mom's issues, so skip until next post if not interested.

She had a Heart Cath done on Monday, after a long weekend of tag teaming with my sister to stay w/her,  Had several family members sit with us during the procedure which went well. Had to put a couple of large stints in & then the long 6 - 8 hours of laying flat began. My sister, BIL & niece went to lunch & I stayed, just in case. Mama had been such a trooper up until then, but her back hurt from laying flat so long & she began to complain. Not much but enough for me to apologize to the nurses. They completely understood. She was able to move her left leg but that was it. I had to make her stop trying to lift her right leg & she didn't want to eat lying flat on her back. Can't blame her at all.

Sister came back from lunch & they told us she could go home on Tuesday. My sister asked if I could get her to her house the next day. We don't want her going back to her old home, it's just not safe enough. My sister went by the trailer place & picked out the colors for walls, carpeting, etc. It will be delivered in 4 - 6 weeks. She's going to stay at my sister's until then. If everyone gets too crowded, they will set up their camper, on their property, for her to stay in once she's stable.

For a 77 year old she hasn't had any real medical issues. She was diagnosed w/Type 2 diabetes about 4 years ago. She kept listening to too many others about their preventions & took matters into her own hands. She did take her insulin but changed her diet considerably. She lost about 30 lbs in 3 months & cut out ALL carbs & sugars for over a year. We think that may have contributed to her diabetes not getting under control. Maybe, maybe not. She didn't consult w/Dr. just made drastic changes.

Anyway, the final prognosis was Pulmonary Embolism & Coronary Artery Disease. She is currently on a boatload of medicine which we are going to verify all Meds in the next few weeks. She is getting used to a new routine & according to my sister tonight, getting the hang of it. Instead of just testing & injecting herself once a day (w/the long acting insulin) she now has to inject & test 4 times a day plus injecting herself with a fast acting insulin. She will do this until it's time to do an A1C test (or something like that) to see what her real blood sugar is.

We're following doctor(s) orders until we can research & ask questions about the amount of pills she is on. We think it's too much of certain things but it's just a hunch at this point until we know more. The hospital is definitely not the place to get specific info as they throw so much at you at check out time that it's very overwhelming. I can't imagine being an older person trying to understand it all on their own.

She never had to take any pills until now & they all look alike so we are worried that she will get them confused. So that's another educational item we are dealing with. So for now, sister will fill her AM & PM containers.

Dr. appts for the next 3 months & then we will hopefully be on an annual basis. The best news is that her strength is good (she could climb up in my SUV by herself when leaving the hospital) & she's testing herself & giving all the insulin shots herself. We just have to get the pills situated then we'll be good to go. I think my sister will give her, her car keys back on Sunday so she can go visiting & to her church by herself.

Thank you all for your prayers & well wishes.

So this is how 2015 begins?

Left on the Eve to head back to the Country. Greg had already gone back on Monday. Stopped by my sister's to give the news of the house to our Mom. She was very happy & appreciative. Got to the Country House by 4:00p. Has a nice dinner of steaks & baked potatoes.

We have a dear friend that was disagnosed with Leukemia last June. After her second round of in-hopsital chemo & then a bone marrow transplant she was improving daily & then  started going downhill. They made the tough decision to just let that horrible journey carry itself out & went home to be with family for the holidays. She died on New Year's Eve. Got the news on Thursday. She was a beautiful, charismatic, opinionated, classy, elegant woman. Forever known as the baby whisperer. She could make any baby quit crying by holding, cooing & just loving it. She leaves behind a very loving husband, 3 grown children & 2 beautiful grandchildren. The last one born on the 10th of December. Her memorial will be in a couple of weeks.

On Tuesday & Wednesday Greg had trenched the line for the W & E for our Garden Shed  that we had installed last year. So on Thursday, after breakfast, we went once again to Lowes (I swear I need to buy stock) to buy a few plumbing fittings & more electrical stuff. We got the water running (2 faucets at this point) ... yeah! I decided to spend the afternoon filling in the trench. Manual labor always helps me find solace. I thought about our friend all afternoon.

We then cooked our very southern rendition of New Year's dinner. But, instead of pork roast we decided on pork ribs plus white rice, black eyed peas (w/green onions sprinked on top), collard greens & cornbread. It was soooo good, especially since we hadn't eaten any lunch.

I woke at 5:00a this morning & couldn't go back to sleep. Got up & noticed phone was dead & plugged it in, turned the coffee pot on, got my blanket & curled up on the couch watching MeTV. Just before I made my first cup my text alert went off. My sister ... our Mama had called her & was having trouble breathing/catching her breath. Sister went to her house & took her to the ER in their small town. They put her on oxygen & ran a few tests then decided to transfer her to one of the larger hospitals in the City. I took a shower, packed & drove back this morning going directly to the hospital. They ruled out Pneumonia, Flu, etc. & started her on medication to remove the fluid. By noon she was doing better. My sister went home to gather a few things while I stayed w/Mama. Sister came back & will stay a while tonight & I will head over there in the morning. All her vitals are good so we are very hopeful that medication can control whatever the problem is. No Dr. sighting as of 15 mins. ago but the nurses are ALL so very nice, helpful, funny & they share whatever information they have & answer all our questions as best they can.

Please let the year go uphill from here ....