Good Gooooolly!!!!

The days have escaped me!!!!! Here it is Saturday night and I have no idea where Thursday and Friday went!!!! I think I am in trouble!!!!

Thursday is usually the day we don't have anything to do, (well, I shouldn't say that!!!), but we don't have any appointments or places to go. Lots of times, we just end up talking till it is just too late. But, that's alright. I don't see anything wrong with one day that you can just "veg". On Mon.,Wed.,Fri., we have Cardiac Rehab. Then on Tues., and Fri., we have speech. This week we have two doctor appointments also....so, we don't have a "veg" day.

Well, Norm drove down to Provo, to Speech Therapy. I can't tell you that I wasn't very nervous. My daughter said that she didn't know if it would be better to go on State Street, (down through town) or, the freeway. I told her that I would rather get in a wreck on State Street, than on the freeway!!!! But, I hate to admit it, but Norm did really well. There was only one time when I had to remind him which two lines the car was supposed to be between!!!!

It tired him out to drive tho, cause when we got done with speech, he said that he would rather I drive. I'm thinking he was pretty nervous, but just wasn't saying so.

I had to go "rat him out" to Dr. Mitchell Friday. He just doesn't understand why he cannot do stuff. He had made up his mind that he was going to go weld our back gate that broke a couple of days ago, and.........he wants to roto-till the weeds down in the garden. For a week I have been trying to tell him that I didn't think it was such a wise idea, but noooooooooooooooo!!!!!! So, when Norm was in Speech, I went down to the surgery to see if I could say hi to Jake and maybe he could ask Dr. Mitchell about roto-tilling. It just so happened that Jake was able to come out of the room that he was in and say hi. I asked him if he was going to be seeing Dr. Mitchell and he said "I can. Why???" So, I told him about my concerns and he said that he would ask. I left thinking Jake would call me after Dr. Mitchell was out of surgery. After walking a couple of feet down the hall and I heard a familiar voice say "Mom". It was Jake and he had poked his head into the room where Dr. Mitchell was operating and asked. He said that the doctor said "NO!" So, that was that!!!!! I hear no more about welding or roto-tilling!

Friday was Speech, and Cardiac Rehab. In between that, Christy met us and we went out to lunch. After Cardiac Rehab, we went down to see a friend of mine who had her knee replaced on Wed. When we got home, we were tired, so we had grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner and crashed!!!!

Today, was interesting.....I went to Orem to pick up my grandson, and on the way back, went to Macy's cause I needed some things for a salad I was bringing to a ward party. When I got home, Christy was here with Katie and she was all dressed up in her outfit Christy made for a baby

contest she had been in earlier.

Then Norms sister and her husband came and visited for a while, then we went to a ward party, then we came home and I cleaned my front room cause there is going to be a meeting tomorrow here at our house. I didn't want anyone to have to wade through the dust and dog hair!!!! So, now I am done with the day!!!!

Look at my garden!!! Is this not the most awesome thing????

I have peppers!!!!

and I have tomatoes!!!!

And I have baby rasberries!!!!!

and a bloom on my pumpkin!!!!

And a bumper crop of weeds!!!!

God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done. ~Author Unknown

Well, what d' ya know!!!!!

Norm had a good visit with Dr. Lininger today. He is one of the doctors that work with Dr. Hilmo in the Rehab unit where Norm was. Dr. Lininger keeps track of the rehab patients that have gone home and makes sure all is well.

We had a ton of questions and he was so nice to listen to our concerns and addressed our questions, and gave us some really good ideas. Norm told him that he was having trouble breathing sometimes during the day. The doctor listened to Norms lungs and said they sound really clear, and that should not prevent breathing. So, he is giving him meds to help with anxiety, to see if that helps. We asked him about Norms cough and he thought maybe we could try something to see if it is allergies. A lot of the coughing starts with a tickle in his throat. He just gave us a lot of really useful information. Norms upset stomach could be due to the brain damage....now that was interesting.

But, the most interesting thing was that he said Norm could try driving!!! I am not sure if that is a good thing, cause I hated his driving before. Dr. Lininger said for me to go with him!!! He said that after I did, if I had any concerns, that Occupational Therapy could do a formal driving evaluation. Maybe that is the way to go, because his driving has scared me for a long time now. I will have to talk to Norm. For some reason, I think I would be a bad person to evaluate his driving. So, it sounds like Norm is on his way!!!!

He is doing better and better everyday in Cardiac Rehab. He can excercise longer and faster on the treadmill and the bike. He is now lifting weights and doing pushups. Sometimes his oxygen saturation goes down, but he recovers really fast and it doesn't make him so tired. I think if we can just do something about his cough, I think he will do a lot better with a lot of things. The hot weather doesn't do much for his breathing, but I am sure he will learn how to deal with that.

Well, remember how I said yesterday, that it was the "same old, same old" ???? And that among other things that did not come up yesterday....I said "nothing broke". Today made up for that.

Here is our dynamo grandaughter EmberLee. She is four years old. The picture on the left is when she had hair...the one on the right is after her and her little neighbor friend decided to play beauty shop!!!! Ember's mom decided to really give her a hair cut, thinking she would never touch her hair again.....but she loved it short!!!!

Anyway, today she was playing on the monkey bars at a family friends house and fell off. She landed right on her elbow!!! Ty took her to the doctor and it is broken, and may have to be pinned. Jake is having an orthopedic surgeon that he works with, look at the ex-rays tomorrow and then they will decide. Now, how is that for having "something broke". I guess even if they have to set it, it will have to be done in the O.R. cause she has to be "under".

Ty said that after the doctor put the sling on, and they got home, Ember wanted to take the sling off, cause her arm didn't hurt anymore!!! I sure hope she doesn't take it off when no one is looking. You talk about hurt!!!!! Guess we will all have to wait till tomorrow.

Interesting day. I am not going to say anything about "same old" again!!!!

My life has a superb cast but I can't figure out the plot.

~Ashleigh Brilliant

Same old, same old!!!!

Today was the same old things, but how good that is!!!! No high cumadin levels, good blood sugar levels, no uspet stomach, no feet hurting, no back ache, nothing broke, it's all good. I never thought it would be such a relief at the end of the day, to say.....same old stuff!!!!

Norm had speech today, and that was good, as usual. The therapist is working on some things that should help him with concentration and watching more than one thing at a time. Hopefully, those things will help to prepare him to drive. I think that may be a ways away, but one never knows....he certainly has shown us so far, that we can not predict anything, where he is concerned.

The speech therapist also wants him to keep sort of a journal on a daily basis to help his memory. He is already keeping track of his appointments and stuff by keeping everything in a planner type thing. It is really helping.

When one talks about speech therapy, you would think it was mainly for speech issues, but they work a lot on memory and stuff like that. It really helps him and teaches him ways to remember.

It is beginning to get pretty hot now, during the day, so, by the time we get home from appointments, it is too warm to do anything outside. Plus, now that it is warmer, it is more difficult for him to breath, so, he needs to use the oxygen a little more. But, that's o.k.

We got some planting done this evening. Our garden is really late this year, but I think we will get some veggies. It is hard not to be able to make our garden as nice as it usually is, but there is always next year. Norm is getting stronger so he is able to do a little more and he has always enjoyed the garden.

So, things are about the same, but that is good!!!!

"There is no such thing in anyone's life as an unimportant day."

Fathers Day Picnic

We didn't get to church today. Norm and I were all ready and he decided that he just didn't feel well enough to go. Christy had come up, from Spanish Fork, to go with us, but, Norm just couldn't make it. We had a nice visit tho and she gave him a beautiful scrapbook that she stayed up till all hours of the night, working on. She is very talented and it turned out really nice.

Jake, Ty and the kids came for dinner and we had invited Chad Buttars, our good neighbor over. He brought Craig, his son, and we had a really nice time sitting around visiting. Jake made his special "drunken chicken" on the Weber. It was really good, but there just wasn't enough!!! We all could have eaten several. Just think, some poor chicken lost his life, so we could have Fathers Day dinner!!! So did a cow too, cause we also had hamburgers. I had made potato salad and pasta salad, Jake and Ty brought a watermelon so we had plenty to eat!!! It was a really nice time, but Norm got pretty tired. It was good for him to get his mind off of that fact that he didn't feel very well tho. He loves to talk to Chad about airplanes and cars, and of course loves to visit with his son and his family.


My daughter in law took most of these pictures, with my camera, in my backyard, and tried to steal my camera so I couldn't use them on my blog. She wanted to use them on hers, but I stole two and watch her have a "hissy fit" now, and jump up and down screaming!!!!!


The family is one of nature's masterpieces.
~George Santayana, The Life of Reason

Happy Fathers Day!!!

I have always wished I would be asked to speak in church about my father. We have never been especially close. In fact at times we haven't even liked each other much, but in spite of our "issues" he has taught me so much. Perhaps some of it was not his intention, but never the less, I learned from him.

Dad, your guiding hand on my shoulder will remain with me forever. ~Author Unknown

So, I would like to pay tribute to my father....

Neil James Grady

Born : April 10, 1913 in Alberta, Canada. Son of Leo Thomas O'Grady and Anna Madeline Sullivan. He grew up on a farm in Minnesota, where among other things, my grandfather raised flax, and operated a little general store that was owned by my great grandfather, Luke Thomas O'Grady.

Dad was an only child and born very early. I've heard stories about my grandmother making my dad a bed out of a cigar box and putting it in the warming oven part of a wood stove...to keep him warm. In those days, a baby that was born early like that, was just turned over to the parents and told "do what you can". My grandmother kept his skin moist and didn't pick him up much or play with him, wanting him to conserve his enery for staying alive. Obviously Dad grew up happy and healthy. This picture was taken when he was about a year old.

During his school years, he worked hard, learning everything his mind would soak up. During the last of his high school years, he earned a certificate in welding, and became quite accomplished at it. He learned quickly and was very adept at mechanical things also.


He went on to college, working his way through and paying his way with odd jobs, some of them welding and various other things. During his college years he learned about "midget racing" which became a passion. It defiantly was not my grandmothers passion, as she refused to attend any of his races.

He raced for a while with a few men that eventually became rather well known in the racing circut during those years. There are stories told about how they would take a regular car engine, cut it in half, and make an engine to put in their race cars. They worked hard, and raced hard.

I am not sure exactly how he went from racing to flying, but he hit flying with a vengance!!!!

He took a job at a place called Rankin Academy in San Jose, Calif, where pilots were trained for the Army. Dad trained some of these pilots. This is where he met my mother, who worked in
the control tower for the airport.



This is a picture of Dad and one of his classes. (Dad being on the far right. When he married my mother, he went on to fly for United Airlines as a co-pilot. That job required a lot of travel and with a family, it was difficult, so he left United.

Eventually, we ended up in Hathaway Pines, California, a small town of 152 people, at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and bought a small gas station. He was a very accomplished mechanic and we had people come from all around, to have him work on their cars. I loved it at Christmas time, because people would give my dad gifts and a lot of them were See's Candy. In those days, it was not nearly so expensive, so, we ended up with three or four three pound boxes!!!!

Once, for his birthday, my mom gave my dad an airplane ride at the local airport. It had been years since he had flown and his licenses had lapsed. He had commercial, multi-engine, and instructors ratings.

This well thought out birthday gift, again sparked my dads love of flying and he renewed his private pilots license, and went on to renew his commercial rating and his instructors rating....again, teaching greenies to fly. He also flew for parachuters who wanted to "jump". It was a joke with him, as to why anyone would want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane!!!

He gave airplane rides at the local county fair (Jumping Frog Jubilee) after joining the Calaveras Flying Club. We lived for a long time, in Hathaway Pines, with my dad working hard at the gas station we owned, and my mom working as the postmistress at the tiny post office that was attached to the garage.

My fathers unspoken wish had always been to own his own airplane. He became part owner of the airplanes owned by the flying club, but that wasn't good enough so finally, after many years, he bought a small Cessna 172 which would hold four people.


He flew that for a long time, supplementing his income and helping to support the airplane, by giving rides, and to take people to various destinations.


After quite a few years flying small passenger planes, he realized another dream of his and that was to build his own airplane. He had done quite a bit of areobatics and wanted a plane he could "play" with. This is a picture of the beautiful result of, and all of the hard work it took to realize that dream....
Here you see "Lil Spook". A modified Starduster 1. He bought this plane from a man whose father had started it, then suddenly passed away. It was not even one half done. The man who started it was a lot taller than Dad so it became necessary to take apart what had been done, and lower the "turtle deck". Dad became a "certified airplane mechanic" for that particular plane, so he could build it himself, according to the strict regulations. Dad built this beautiful airplane from the ground up. It is a fabric covered plane and he even did the fabric himself.

I must tell you a little story about this picture. We were on our way to a small airshow and I was in the plane next to him. Our friend was taking the pictures of Dad. I was watching my dad fly his beloved little plane and for some reason looked away at something, then turned around to look at Dad again and saw the bottom of his plane!!!!!! He was flying upside down!!!!! He had said that he wanted to practice flying in formation, but I had no idea that he meant being upside down when he did it!!!!!


Here are some pictures of my dad later on in his life....



with my brother Dennis, his son Patrick and my dads great grandsons Aaron and Ryan.









Dad is now in an "assisted living facility. He is 95 years old and failing a little, but still teaching us all.

I guess what I would like to say is that although my dad and I were not "best buds" and probably still aren't.....he always worked hard to provide for his family and make sure we were safe, fed and clothed. He was so strong.

The thing I would most like to say about him and what I admire the most about him, is the fact that he was always willing to work hard to realize his dreams and to accomplish what he wanted in life. How many of us realize something that is a real dream. He taught me about the value of our time here on earth and what we can do with it if we want. He taught me that we can realize our dreams if we want to.

The dreams he had for himself, are different from the dreams that I have for myself, but he did teach me that I could get there. Anyone can get there.

When I was younger, I once said to him " I can't wait until tomorrow". His reply was "you are wishing your life away". I have never forgotten that.

He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it. ~Clarence Budington Kelland