Sunday, August 13, 2023

August 2023

 I've been reading back over blogs from 2010.

 13 years ago!

Some laughter. Some tears. More and more tears.

13 years ago. Still had Bill. Still had Granny. Ralph, Roger. Dad. Stephen . Pictures of Becky without the ravage of loss.

So many changes.  So much loss.

We adjust. 

This past week, I  was in East Texas. Robbie had back surgery.  He is recovering quite well.

I painted the vanity  cabinet in Kathie's hall bathroom.  Robbie  coached me through re-installing the trim. Yay! Who knew *I * could use a NAIL GUN!! to hang trim? (It is  NOT perfect. If you need perfect, hire professionals!) Thankfully, when Becky took down the trim, she labeled where it came from!!

I took Mom and Kathie to town twice during the week I was there. Once to Longview, once to Tyler. FYI, Kohls  doesn't have electric  carts.  I pushed Kathie  in manual wheelchairs. It wore me out! 

I met Tommy and his Ruby in Terrell, Texas this morning.  Then drove home to Colcord.  It added an additional 200 miles to my drive, and I am worn out! Since arriving  home, I am  on my second  load of laundry.  Nickole  is angry, stomping and slamming  stuff around because I  won't  help her create a mask she wants. I bought stuff for her to use on her mask, but I  am too tired to work on it after almost nine hours of driving. When she asked for a specific  solution, my idea of twisting wires made her angry... and my refusal to engage further has really  made her angry.  It's  nearly  9 at night and I  don't  have it in me to participate in the mask project she started in  April at this moment. If I am the jerk right now, I  really  don't  care. I am exhausted. 

We are going to west Texas next weekend  for Stephen  Jones headstone being installed.  Nickole will spend week after next with Glynna.  Once she returns, we are having our Back To School... a solid 3 weeks later than  normal.




Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Aunt Lenny would be proud

This is what a pallet of mulch looks like. The kid loading it was not very good at operating a forklift.

The mulch still needs raked smooth. I was warned off by a nest of red wasps that live in the drainspout. They were none to pleased at me working around their home!

We edged around the house.

This is where Mom's Container Garden will be. There's and underlayment of cardboard. Ought to keep weeds to a minimum.

Tuesday afternoon! Almost done!

The path out to the bench. It will have stepping stones. 

The Container Garden has been started. A storm blew in, so we stopped for the night.
All 75 bags of mulch were used. We need about a dozen more.
But not today.  My arms are so tired, I can barely lift them.

 

Monday, June 12, 2023

It's been a couple of months...

 I stayed in East Texas as long as I could, going home the last day of March. Tom and I were back by the 22 of April, helping paint Dad and Kathie's house.

Days before we came down... I discovered a tick on my left shoulder. It already had been there a few days, apparently.  Our painting trip was cut short and we went back to Oklahoma.  I had developed a target rash from the tick bite.Classic Lymes symptom.  Normally, it's a ten day course of doxycycline.

My test came back negative... but positive for  an older case of Lymes. Looking up what that meant... the bacteria had taken hold in my body. The new bite was like gasoline on a fire. Back in March when I  thought my headache, stiff neck, and flu symptoms were an allergic reaction to food dye (skittles shared on the anniversary of Bill's death)... it was a classic  Lymes reaction. 

I had weeks of exhaustion.  I went to Texas right after our newest  grandblessing was born! Felicity Sage Coder born May 13, 2023!

I did ten days of hyperbaric treatments... twice a day when I could. Back at home... exhaustion  reigned. I  could barely function.  Gradually I  began to get better. I'm taking something like 20 herbal supplements and vitamins!

(Memorial weekend I went to the ER with what felt like a heart attack... I assume. It was diagnosed as stress). Follow up has a referral to get checked by a cardiologist... which hasn't been scheduled yet.  They're  supposed to call me. Eventually. 

So I took Nickole to  her Counselor In Training  summer camp at Christ for The Nations. She will be there until July 20th... staying with Tommy and Ruby in Dallas. I decided a few days at my Mom's and at Kathie's was a good call.

Nickole and I drove down Thursday.  Friday, Mom and I took Nickole to Dallas. Mom and I visited Ikea while we were there.

 Saturday, I  textured the hall bathroom for Kathie. The special texture  roller was NOT working for us. So I did the entire room with a car wash sponge... my shoulder muscles are still screaming!

Sunday... Mom and I drove down and had a wonderful  visit with Chris.  That's  an all day endeavor! But we got home in daylight.... and weeded the flowerbed. 

Today... Mom and I went over to Kathie's. She had a Doctor appointment.  Mom and I painted the newly textured  bathroom.  Then we went and got a pallet (75 bags!) of mulch... 6 compressed bags of potting soil, and a bale of peat moss. It's  eleventy  billion degrees in  Texas today. We parked the truck full of mulch and such.. and came inside. 

I  put together an Island we got  at Ikea on Friday. Once it cooled off, we started unloading and placing mulch until rain started about dusk.

Tomorrow... Tuesday... I  need to unload and place the rest of the mulch. Did I mention it was 75 bags? Seventy. Five. Bags.

I will be channeling my inner Aunt Lennie.

We need to bury Ralph's  cremains in the next couple of days. Then home again to Oklahoma. 

I hope your  day is  blessed!


Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Some Things Take Time to Process

 My previous blog post was about losing my Dad. I think I wrote it on a Thursday. Late Friday night, my step-dad Ralph was "having trouble breathing". Instead of calling me, or my brother Robbie (we were at my Dad and Kathie's house, ONE MILE AWAY!), or an ambulance, Ralph drove himself and my Mom to the ER. He was admitted to the hospital after some testing, because "his heart enzymes were high". (About 3700, with normal being <34). On Monday afternoon, the 10th of February- Ralph was sent home, with instructions to follow up with both his cardiologist and his Primary Care physician. As he was being dismissed, the nurse mentioned that Ralph had had a "type 2 myocardial event". This was the first we had heard anything about a "heart attack"! If the Doctor had said anything to Ralph about it, he had not told Mom.
We stopped at the pharmacy on the way home, to fill the new prescriptions. When Mom and I returned to the car where Ralph had waited, he was very agitated. He thought we had been in there for hours! (20 minutes, pretty quick for a pharmacy.) He said that he had passed out three or four times while we were in there, and Something Is Wrong!
I was all for returning immediately to the hospital, but Ralph insisted on going home. It was midafternoon when we arrived back to their house. (I had stayed with Mom while he was hospitalized.) Ralph was having a bad afternoon. He kept telling us, "Something is wrong". Every time he would fall asleep, he would stop breathing. He would awaken with a gasp, and they cycle would begin again. He didn't want Mom to sleep, she had to be awake to make sure he kept breathing. Just as darkness fell, Ralph said that yes, we should go back to the hospital. We loaded up, and went back to the ER. They took Ralph back to triage. They took blood, ran tests... and waited several hours before drawing more blood, and running more tests.  I mentioned the stopping breathing to the Doctor. She said,  "That is classic sleep apnea. Follow up with his Primary Care for that!" (Ralph had never before shown any sign of sleep apnea).
Later, the Doctor came in, and told Ralph, "You're going to be fine! You just need to follow-up with your primary care physician later today (It was the wee hours of Tuesday morning). You had a mild heart attack (I think she said Myocardial Event) Saturday morning, but your enzymes are trending down! Your enzymes were at 3700 Saturday, 2750 when they sent you home yesterday afternoon, and you're at 2450 now... trending down. The ER is for EMERGENCY CARE. You go home, you make an appointment with your Cardiologist and your Primary Care doctor. DO NOT COME BACK TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM. Not Unless your pain is at a 10! The worst pain you have ever felt in your life! Just follow up later today with your other doctors!"
He was dismissed, and we went home. I got a few hours of sleep. Mom did not. When Ralph would fall asleep, the breathing stopped. He kept telling us over, and over again... Something is Wrong! Something is Wrong!
Mom tried getting through to the Primary care and to the cardiologist... One was completely unavailable and would return our call later. (Didn't happen!) The other scheduled an appointment for the following Monday- a week out! "Sorry, we just don't have anything sooner!"
ALL. Day. LONG. Ralph would tell us, "Something is not right!"
About 4:30 or so, Ralph said, "I hate to make you drive up there again, but I need to go back to the hospital." I didn't argue.  It took awhile to get him loaded into the car, because he was exhausted after only a few steps.
Back we went to Tyler. I got help getting Ralph out of the car and into a wheelchair. He kept saying, "They need to hurry, I'm not going to make it. They need to hurry!"
We sat in the lobby for 15 minutes or so. In Triage, he gave them the symptoms again, repeating, "Hurry, I'm not going to make it! You need to hurry!" 
The nurses wheeled him down the hall, with Ralph repeating, "Hurry, Oh hurry!
So, they got him into a treatment room. The nurse asked him to get out of the wheelchair and on to the bed. "I can't", he told her. She helped him up and onto the bed.
"Mr Wiggins, I need you to take off your shirt and get into the hospital gown." Ralph just stared vacantly off into the distance. The nurse repeated her instructions firmly, several times. Ralph stared off. The nurse waved her hand in front of hime, snapping her fingers and repeating, "Mr Wiggins? MR WIGGINS!"
I had stepped into the hallway so he could undress, but the door was open.

 Codes were called. Mom was sent into the hall. Suddenly, Ralph's room was The Place To Be for medical personnel. All hands on deck. 
They shocked his heart. Twice. Violent CPR. For 13 minutes. 
We could see all that was happening. A macabre ballet, as each person did their job. At least 15 people crowded into the small treatment room.
Ralph's heartbeat was finally restored. He was taken for a base line brain activity scan. He was on a ventilator. He was settled in to a room in ICU, but we were warned there was little hope after so long of CPR. We went home to rest, some time after 10 pm for whatever the next day might bring.

The next morning, we were back at the hospital before 6 am. Ralph had improved just a bit during the night. By afternoon, the breathing tube was removed. He ate some jello that was fed to him. He ate ice, sipped some water. He was mostly "out of it", but before we left for the evening, he told Mom to be sure his shed was locked! That was our Ralph for sure.

The next morning, Thursday, came the hard talks from the Doctors. The heart enzymes were 72,000>.  Ralph's heart was severely damaged. They could not do a test to see if it was repairable, because the test would shut down his kidneys, which were operating at <3%. Dialysis was not an option, because his heart would not survive the stress of dialysis. So... Ralph was sent home on Hospice care.
My son Daniel arrived Friday afternoon, and helped Robbie, Ruby, and I get the bedroom set up for Ralph's care. (Dan is a paramedic). The Hospice worker put me as primary on giving Ralph the medications that would help him breathe more easily and reduce his stress. (Mom was in dire need of sleep. She had had one night of rest since the entire ordeal began the previous Friday.) 
Dan slept in the bedroom, due to his beautiful Dante wanting to roam the house and chase befriend Mom's kitty. I slept on the couch, where I could hear Mom call if she needed me. We were up and down all night. Ralph needed to urinate, but his kidney function was so low he couldn't go. I gave him the medications alternating every 2 hours. At one point, he was having so much trouble breathing, I called the Hospice emergency line and spoke to the nurse. She dispatched a nurse who arrived early Saturday morning. He evaluated Ralph, and suggested I give both meds at the same time. He was reassuring us that the first week of hospice care is hardest on the family. That we would figure out a routine that worked for us, and we could transfer Ralph to their care facility if it became too much for us.

During the day Saturday, Ralph ate a few bites of breakfast, and a bit of lunch. He assisted Mom on getting him onto the bedside potty. He spoke briefly to visitors.
After he fell asleep in the early afternoon, Mom laid down on the couch for a nap. Dan went to visit Kathie. I was on the computer, messaging with a friend, who has been down the same road. She was telling me of her relative's final days. I had just remarked that it sounded like Ralph's day Friday, and this morning. I heard Ralph call out. It was time for the medication, so I went back to check on him.

He wanted to sit up and get to the bedside potty. To preserve his dignity, I had been stepping out so that Mom could help him, but she was asleep. I called out to her, but exhaustion had taken its toll. She was OUT. I called over to Kathie's for Dan to come right back. It is only a mile. I went back to Ralph, who alternated trying to sit up, with passing out completely. I got him laid back down, and noticed he was staring far away.
"Mama?" he said. "MAMA!" with strength, and the joy of recognition in his voice. 


I thought he was gone, but he struggled awake. "I can't catch my breath," he said. He struggled to sit up again. I got him the medication, but he spit it back out, his mouth too dry to swallow. I felt like I needed to pray for him. I asked God to send his Holy Spirit to ease Ralph's way.
Dan arrived, and we saw we were too late to get him on the potty. Mom woke up when Dan came in. She came in as Dan and I took off Ralph's wet clothing, and changed the pad beneath him. Ralph assisted, lifting his hips and rolling one way. Then, he wasn't assisting.
Robbie and Ruby arrived. We were by his bedside, when Dan listened to the faint heartbeat stop. 
Ralph Walter Wiggins passed at 5:22 PM. 
I had called the hospice nurse and let her know things were declining in a hurry right after I had called Dan, but before he had returned. I called her back to let her know he has passed, less than 24 hours  after arriving home on Hospice care.

We lost my Dad on the 5th, and Ralph on the 18th. Less than 2 weeks apart.
I may or not post about the Memorial services next time.

Thursday, February 9, 2023

Trying for words

 This is the fourth day since my Dad passed away. He's been sick a long time. For years, the Doctors talked about a heart valve problem. Surgery was risky- so much so that it was better to leave the valve problem until such a time as it HAD to be done. Once that time came... Dad was too frail to undergo surgery. Last month, in January, Dad had his long-awaited appointment with a Parkinson's specialist. We had been told about 5 or so years ago, that he had Parkinson's. January 23rd, 2023, we learned that he does not  Did  not have Parkinson's, but some form of dementia, to be determined. His next appointment was set for the 23rd of this month. It's a moot point now what he did have. I am convinced it was Lewy Body dementia, but we will never know.
Dad's heart began to fail during the past few months. He was starved for bananas all the time. It was the one food- bananas and peanut butter! That my brother Robbie (Dad's primary caregiver) was able to get him to eat. Last Thursday, Dad had a lot of swelling and fluid retention. Second time THIS YEAR that he has retained fluids so terribly that his feet were the size of footballs, and the swelling was going up his legs. He went to the Doctor's office, and lab work was ran. Dad had too much potassium. The diuretics were not working. He was advised to return to the hospital at once. It was late in the day, Kathie opted not to battle dad back to the hospital, they would return in the morning for follow up lab work. 
Friday, Dad was noticeably worse. He went in for labs, then headed home. Arriving at home, the phone was ringing. bring him to the ER! Labs are worse, he is in critical condition. Kathie called 911, asked for an ambulance that would specifically take them to the hospital that they needed to go to. The ambulance arrived, and refused to transport dad to the hospital where his Doctors awaited. They would take him to a hospital that was 4 miles closer to dad's house, but in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION!!!. or help my brother load him into the car for my brother to drive him. Since the Doctors awaited him at their preferred hospital, brother had them help load Dad into the car. I was on my way down from NE Oklahoma... brother called to ask me to please hurry. As I got near dad's house (en route to the hospital) He called me again.. stop by the house for forgotten items, but don't linger, come ASAP! He had ER personnel help him unload Dad, and then as he went to park... who should also arrive? The ambulance driver who refused to take Dad to the very hospital that they had requested when they called 911!
I arrived to the hospital moments before Dad was taken to the ICU floor. Once they had Dad in a room, we were permitted in with him. They had a CPAP mask on him... the full faced, triangular mask like you see in movies on fighter pilots! Dad has always had a terrible phobia of having his face covered. He fought, and fought. we told the nurses, He will do better and stop fighting if you just PLEASE take off the mask and use a nose cannula! They fought Dad some more. I was AMAZED at his strength, as he grabbed the nurse's hand that was trying to put the mask back on him. I had to pry his fingers off her hands. He settled a lot after the mask was off, but his O2 numbers were awful. The nurses all said he should be in  Critcal care ICU, not the moderate ICU. They called to transfer him to the critical care ICU. They told us they HAD to put him on a ventilator. All of us knew, Dad would never go for a ventilator! The nurses called us into the hallway. "If we do NOT put him on a ventilator... He is going to die. Soon. If we refuse the ventilator... they will remove all the drugs to reduce the potassium, and he will get only comfort care, Morphine for pain. Ativan for anxiety.
Kathie looked to Robbie and I. We all three know Dad's wishes. Kathie said she didn't want to defy his adamant wishes, but if Robbie and I insisted, she would.
What do you do, when you know your loved one has said for years and years, before any dementia set in... DO NOT RESUSCITATE ME. I REFUSE A VENTILATOR! PLEASE LET ME GO! 
Robbie and I agreed.
How hard is it when you know you just doomed someone to death? It's hard. Pardon me, it's FUCKING HARD! (I look at that sentence... and cannot make myself delete it. You know I don't use that sort of language. But, there it is)
The nurses turned off the IV of medicine that reduced the potassium. Dad was given morphine. he was given Ativan. 
And the wait began. 
He had not eaten nor drank, nor pooped or peed... already for many hours. He ripped the catheter off. The bed was not wet. When he seemed very agitated, the nurses came and gave a drug. The 'death rattle' was obscene. They vacuumed his throat, and showed me how. Why was I afraid he would drown in the secretions? He was dying.  He HATED the suction. The faces he made, clamping his gums on the vacuum tube, and frowning so hard! They started using a nose suction hose... until one nurse said, this is hurting him. See how he hates it? Let's not do it as often.
Kathie and I, and Robbie stood vigil. Robbie went home to rest, taking Kathie Saturday morning. I stayed. They returned in the afternoon. Later, in the evening, my brother Eric showed up. He had made the 300 mile drive from OK City in 10+ hours. I had been up since 5:30 Friday morning, when we finally persuaded him to leave at 8:45pm Saturday night. I slept in fits, 20 minutes on the chair or floor a couple of times, almost an hour on the daybed. Dad's numbers gradually decreased. Sunday morning, I awaited brothers Robbie and Rick's return. I had basically been awake since Friday morning, with a 375 mile drive and just cat naps . Kathie and I went to their house for a shower and a nap on a bed. I had just fallen asleep when Robbie called. COME QUICKLY! THEY TURNED OFF DAD'S Defibrillator!
I woke Kathie. We dressed and raced towards the hospital. Rick hadn't shown up as promised. Robbie called us again, begging us to hurry... and as we spoke, our dad flatlined. He was pronounced dead at 11:13 AM Sunday, Feb 5, 2023. My brother Robbie, and his beautiful wife, Ruby, were present.
Dad beat the horrible dementia diagnosis. How horrible to know your brain is betraying you. Easier to believe your body has done so,

Memorial Service March 4, at 2;00 PM
Prichett Community Center. 1092 hwy 1404, Big Sandy/ Prichett TX 75755

Friday, October 7, 2022

October is for O'Possums

 Today is (my #4 child) Benjamin's birthday! It's a few days past the Taylor family reunion, and my sweet mom Rose's birthday
Rose was admitted to the  ICU through the ER yesterday. They are moving her to a regular room today, or letting her go home. Her BP meds aren't doing what they ought to for her. So the medical personnel are trying to stabilize her BP before allowing her to go home.
I am wanting to rush down there... but we are waiting to see if I should.
Meanwhile... cleaning the house and washing the clothes and pacing the floor!

We have had a literal invasion of  Opossums into our house. Mr C was hearing a scritch-scratching coming from the walls that separate our bedroom from the bathroom. He removed the pipe access panel, and set rodent traps under the (enclosed) bathtub. The access panel was left off, to remind him to CHECK the rodent traps.
No rodents have been caught, despite repeatedly baiting the traps.

Dante, Daniel's collie, has been very excited about SOMETHING in various places around the house. Our first glimpse of that something was in the room addition, near the stored dog food can. It was a wee little possum! Big enough to not need mama... but pretty small. Sam tossed a shirt over it, and it calmed right down. He picked it up and relocated it away from the house.

After trying to figure out HOW the little thing got into the house... I realized it was probably through the pipe access panel, which has been off for several days.

The next morning, Dante is trying to get his big fluffy self under my bed. He's determined! Not being a dog... I looked off the opposite side of the bed.
There was a baby possum cowering in the corner. I summoned Sam... who relocated this baby farther away from the house. Holes burrowed under the house were stopped up with big rocks. I put a couple of live traps, baited with sardines, under the house.

The next morning... third day of the invasion, Mama Opossum had taken the bait. She's not huge. I relocated her a mile and a half from the house, in a woody area. The live traps were re-baited.

This morning... Dante cornered another baby inside the house! Four possums in four days... three of them babies INSIDE my house! This little one was also relocated. There isn't anything in the live traps this morning.

We have nothing at all against Ugly Kitties. They are perfectly welcome to hang around OUTSIDE and eat bugs, or even join the kitties in chomping on kitty kibble... OUTSIDE!
These who have figured out how to get INSIDE have to leave.

The holes into the house will be stopped up. We just want to be sure ALL the critters are OUT before we close off the water access again.

Day one baby set free!

Day one captured

Day one trying to hide

Day four baby

Mama

Day Two baby... Dante is proud!


I thought he was just rearranging my pillows. Made him get off the clean sheet on the futon.





Friday, September 30, 2022

End of September

 Today would have been my youngest brother's birthday. Roger has been gone 9 years and 9 months today.
We all miss him so much.
On this day 13 years ago, Roger, Chris, and I had dinner at outback steakhouse. It was Chris' last dinner in the free world, and the last time he would get to spend time with Roger. Three weeks away from the birth of Kimber Ann.
Today, Daniel will finish his coast to coast bike ride. It isn't an ordinary day to finish an epic ride... it's an epic day... He's riding into a edge of Hurricane Ian! He laughed at our fears for the ending of his ride.






Dan will sit tight in Norfolk VA until Sunday morning, then catch a train for home.

Friday, September 23, 2022

Past mid September, past the Big Trip

 Becky and I really had a great time on The Big Trip with Ruby and the cousins. It was as close to a Camp Cowgranny as we had this year, and Cowgranny had very little to do with it. I am so grateful that Becky decided to invite me along on this trip. I have always wanted to see these places across America. We only did the western states.... reaching a saturation point of nomadic living. The kids were less than thrilled with new scenery, and the adults were tired and just wanted our own beds.
http://www.coddiwomplePB4UGO.blogspot.com is still up and running, but I am slow at adding all the pictures. Nickole is writing reports on many of the places we visited, and names we came across while traveling.

Back at home... Mr C and Sam have been keeping the garden picked. The freezer was full of tomatoes waiting to be canned. They bagged and froze a lot of okra. I am still getting okra like crazy. The tomatoes are covered in blooms, but may not have time to produce much more before first frost. (Not that we feel in ANY danger of frost at this point... It's still in the 90's here.) I spent 3 days canning tomatoes. Today, I am making some of the delicious green tomato relish/ salsa I look forward to at the end of the gardening season each year.  (My neighbor Bandi sent over the tail end of her garden produce, as she's too busy to cope with it right now, and there are a lot of green tomatoes in the box.)

As folks may, or may not know... Becky is getting married on October 22nd. She will become Mrs. Darrren Mejia. Darren is a small business owner, and has a ministry degree. He's got a song or two circulating... not sure if they are YouTube, Amazon, or what. Becky will gain two daughters, Avery and Mariah.

In May of 2023, we are expecting our 14th grandbaby through Benjamin and Paula. The cancer was removed from Ben's body, and the doctors don't feel that either radiation or chemo is necessary at this time. They will continue to monitor him. (Meanwhile, don't even say the word "okra" near Paula. The new baby is causing extreme aversion to the very thought of okra, and the scent makes Paula ill.)

Tommy and Ruby are planning to come up for Thanksgiving this year. Everyone is welcome! I know Becky plans to keep the Jones tradition of Open House at Nola and Doug's with the kids.

My Dad is hanging in there. Parkinsons is terrible. It is gradually robbing him of his mind, bit by bit. He often realizes that it is happening, and that is a hard thing. I am trying to see him as often as I can.

Tuesday, August 2, 2022

August Steamrolls in

 It's August, Y'all. We're only in the mid 90's this week, after a good stretch of 100+ days. We got some blessed rain... though that is making it warm and humid, I am grateful for every drop. I pray my Texas family gets rain soon.

A lot of things are going on. The garden is just starting to give me tomatoes every day. If I canned today, I might put up 3 pints. I am postponing canning until tomorrow or Thursday. I am on my second batch of fermented pickles. The rain has revived the lemon cucumbers... We have had cucumber salad in various guises almost every day. (Tonight it will be made of lemon cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, dressed lightly with a balsamic fig dressing from Trader Joe's).
In a week, I will be canning tomatoes every other day or so!

Nickole is working hard on getting as much of her homeschooling for the coming term done as she can, before we leave. Becky and I, (and Paula for Jasher) are preparing for school on the road. We don't want to take a lot, nor overwhelm the kids with assignments. Travel itself has so much to add to a persons education. Lessons on the road will stave off boredom as we drive. Most of the kids have e-readers, but I also found a book series for kids that is set at various National Parks.
(The Campground Kids, by C.R. Fulton)  I anticipate reading aloud from these.

I've been working on getting the trip blog up and running. It still needs work. I need to link to Daniel's trip. Coddiwomple   https://coddiwomplepb4ugo.blogspot.com/ is the address.

Mr C and I have our 38th! anniversary tomorrow. We don't have any sort of celebration planned.

May you have a blessed day!

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Summer Bummers

 I think I live a quiet, sedate, completely normal life. Sometimes a bit of chaos gets tossed into the mix.
I am always believing that Life is just about to calm down and be normal.

Normal is a setting on the washing machine.

As of today, I am four weeks away from leaving for our Big Trip. I am gathering what I can gather. Listing my lists. Slogging through whatever comes along each day.

My Dad has had a turndown in his life since the first part of June. Everyone is coming to grips with the new 'normal' for him. It's a sad place when you know your mind is betraying you. The Parkinson's disease is slowly stealing his life away, and he realizes it. He's fighting against it.
His brother came to see him from California. Dad improved so much while his brother was there. Mr C and I drove to Texas and got to see Uncle for a couple of days. Two days after Uncle flew home, Dad had (another) bad fall- this time breaking his wrist. It's a simple break, straight across one of the bones, it should heal fine.

I got home from Texas on a Monday evening. We started getting things caught up, you know, back to our normal routine. Son Ben has given the fight against the suspicious mass in his nether region a hard battle. It's been just over a year of he and Paula throwing everything they can at it. Having done all, Ben felt backed against the wall. He made the Doctors appointments, and armed with the results of all they have done, was diagnosed with a solid mass tumor. It had to be removed. I flew down within a couple of hours of the call, and sat with Paula as the tumor was removed. It had to be sent off to Pathology for diagnosis. It was a seminoma- one of the most treatable forms of cancer. We will learn later this week what the next steps will be for Ben.

I flew home Sunday, as Nickole had an orthodontist appointment today. She goes back in just over 3 weeks to get her braces off!

Meanwhile, the day Uncle flew back to California, my Mom took sick to bed. She's had a fever and terrible cough. The fever comes, goes, comes, goes. her throat was so very sore. She finally went to an urgent care clinic. It's covid. This sent the entire family in that area in for testing, as well as their friends. All came back positive. Mom's been the most sick, but she did just get over pneumonia less than 2 weeks ago, so her system was down anyway. A call to Uncle in California sent that household out for testing. Yep... it's a big quarantine party in two states.

Meanwhile, I am just getting started on the blog for the big trip. Coddywomple is in its early stages.
I hope you have a great day today! Prayers for my family are really appreciated.

Thursday, July 14, 2022

Heat Waves

 It's hot here in N E Oklahoma... but not as hot as my Texas family has it! I just looked at the forecast- you really can't guess too much more than a week out! But the Weather Guessers are predicting it to be over 100 every day between now and the first of August- with the exception of this coming Sunday,  at a mere 97* . The Texas family has had heat of 114 for several days... not counting the "heat index". That's a straight up number taken in the shade! Looks like Texas is looking to break the 1980 heat wave record of 100 days over 100*.

Mr C and I went down to East Texas this past weekend. Tom hasn't been down to see my folks in quite awhile. My Uncle Doug was in from California, getting a visit with his brother (and sister in Ft Worth) while he still can. Dad has done fair to middling on memory. Still doesn't think his house is his own home, and is seeing stuff. Uncle just goes with the flow. Yesterday, dad's primary doctor changed his provider to a home health care (Hospice) provider. (Non-terminal Hospice) So Dad will have a visiting nurse coming out. They will send someone to help clean and prepare light meals a day or two per week. I am hoping it gives my brother, and sister-in-law a break.

Got back to Oklahoma Monday evening, to our first fruits from the garden. Three baseball bats... er, zucchini. They hadn't been more than two inches long when we left Saturday morning. We also got several cucumbers. The little "lemon drop" cucumbers are loaded on the vine. I anticipate a large harvest of them not too many days from now. Meanwhile, I have sauce simmering to make a lasagna with zucchini instead of noodles. I'm running on the last case of my home canned tomatoes from last year. However... our tomatoes are coming on strong this year. I don't have any near ripe yet, but in the next week, I should be canning. The green beans are giving me a handful of beans every day. The okra is short, but covered in blooms. That should also start giving us fruit (or veggies?) within days.

The house painting is slowly coming along. Tom's been working so much OT, Bob has been doing all the painting he can, whenever he can. The heat dictates a very short window of time to be painting in the mornings.
Daniel and Sam rigged up a Dante containment field, to keep Dante on the property when Sam leaves for work, during the Big Trip. they built it primarily from pallets- available at $1 each from a local supplier. It will give Dante a bigger yard than he would have in town, and saves my house from bored doggy destruction. I'm not sure what day Dante will come to stay... but I need to be in Texas on the 17 or 18 of August.

The current 'plan' (loosely called a plan) is for me to arrive in Texas the day that Becky and Daniel return from trek. Dan works the next day. Becky and I will load and organize the trailer that day that Dan is working. (Becky will need to do Trek laundry and sort through trek stuff that needs to go with us vs. stuff that does not.) Dan gets off at 7:00 am, and he wants us loaded and ready to go when he gets off. I am guessing we are picking him up in San Angelo, saving him two hours of travel that will be used to move on towards the west coast. Taking turns driving, we will push for the 30 hour drive to be made with as few stops as possible. (We have 3 drivers available.)


Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Not as "Settled into Summer" as I would hope...

Kimber Ann (Grandchild 3.2) came home with Nickole (2.1) and I when we returned from our camping trial run. We had an entertaining week. To the local swimming pool... where I actually got my swimsuit wet. Other than wading in the Gulf this past week, and last year- I haven't done much swimming. (The swim test in what? November? that proved I wasn't nearly as over Long Covid as would have thought!)
I went down a waterslide! 3 times... I have never gone on a waterslide before. Then I sat out waiting for the girls to tire of the pool. I waded a bit in the shallow end. Another day, we went to the new Splash pad in Gentry, followed by a trip to the library.


The garden sprang up amazingly fast while I was gone. I've harvested enough green beans from Sam's Hugelkultur mound to have two meals. Another day, I took Kimber and Nickole to the Tulsa zoo, where they worked on an AHG badge requirement. Stephen and Ruby came to visit us over this past weekend. We watched Tom, Bob, Sam, and Kimber set off a short fireworks display on the 3rd. On the 4th, Stephen and Ruby headed back to Dallas with Kimber. Becky met them there on the 5th... so 'Ber is home.

My Dad's reports haven't been great. He's still dealing with things none of the rest of us can see- but to him, they are quite real. My Uncle from California is flying out this coming weekend, so Tom and I are driving down to see everyone in Texas. Pray for Uncle and Aunty's home... once again, it's near one of the big fires. They are packed up and ready to flee if the evacuation notice is given... and it's not given lightly.

My mom has had troubles this past week. Bronchitis and pneumonia have slowed her down. Her routine doctor's visit today said her lungs sound good, but pneumonia can take months to fully recover from. Step mom had two days of medical visits... first to the ER, then her Ophthalmologist to learn she's got a scratched cornea. Those are VERY painful!

Tom and I are finally paining the exterior of the house!



It has been chocolate brown with hunter green trim since we bought the place. It's going to be a buttery yellow, with sage green trim. Bob and Nickole both disliked my choices, based on the sample swatch. But seeing it on the building has changed their minds.


It's looking like a second coat may be needed, and none of these pictures show a completed wall, as we don't yet have one! But you can see where it's going. We are only able to paint in early mornings, and Tom only on his days off. The temperatures are HOT this week. Today's heat index is 106*. Bob got out and painted anyway.



Friday, July 1, 2022

Trial Run

 Becky and I had a trial run with the trailer, and only 3 kids - while the bigger three were at their most recent summer camp. (LightHouse Church in Midlothian Texas. It's where so Stephen (Tommy) and his beautiful wife Ruby attend. Tyrel, Nickole, and Kimber got to go. Dan was, once again, the Camp Medic.

While the kids camped, Becky and I learned about setting up the trailer without seasoned help. We decided that a "pre-flight checklist" was a good idea. There are so many little steps to be done in setting up (and breaking down) camp. I hope we have another opportunity to do this before The Big Trip.
Our plans are to camp along the way. Sightseeing, hikes, and a few base camps with day trips.

While we were together, we figured out an itinerary for the first few weeks of the trip. We're sure it will need tweaked as we travel. First of all, we defined what we wanted to gain from the trip.

 It's primarily a cross country sightseeing trip. That will involve traveling almost daily. We planned the drives to be under 6 hours per day, with several days less time than that, and so far, only one long day across a stretch of desert. There will be a lot of circling around, because there just ISN'T a simple, straightforward route to see all the sights we want to see!

We have made our plan starting from dropping Daniel off to start his ride.
I am a list person. I love logistics.
Our planning phase is taking quite a bit into consideration.
Ruby wants to go with us until a specific date, then fly home. Getting her ticket in advance will cost less, but involve some finer tuning of plans up to that point.
Figuring out where to stay, and what we can do/ see while on a fairly tight schedule is still in the works.

Yes, we plan to blog... maybe even You Tube video as often as we can. But... for our protection, only a few family members will know exactly where we are headed next. And the blogs/ videos will be delayed in publishing by a few days.

We have lists of set-up & breakdown of camp. I need to transfer those onto chore cards... many hands make light work! We will cross-train on as many jobs as we can, but not everyone is capable of doing every job. Everyone is capable of doing SOME job.
We have a list of meals we can make, and grocery checklists to go with each meal. (We don't want to get camp set up 20 miles from town and discover we missed a primary ingredient for a meal!)
Some of the meals are what we called "planned overs" when my kids were growing up. Deliberately cooking extras to serve at another meal. (Beans from one meal go into burritos at another. Grilled chicken today has enough left to add to a salad tomorrow.)

Our Trial Run gave me a better idea of the space we have available and the best ways to use that space.
Ideas for adding storage or managing the clutter that comes with so many people traveling together.
We intend to do some modified homeschooling on the road. That's a bit more to carry and store, but will keep the kids on track academically, and stave off boredom. We learned that we really do need some boredom busters when we are stuck in place. (I kept five kids in a campground that was 105* outside, no playground, no beach or pool. When it got hot, we had to stay inside... and I didn't have little kid games or books, no toys. This was a lesson learned!)
The four oldest girls are all American Heritage Girls. They can be earning several badges on this trip.

I'm considering making a new, trip specific blog. If I do, You will be the first to know. (all four or five of you who read my blog now!)