Melt Down Alert!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Self-pity is our worst enemy, and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in the world.
- Helen Adams Keller

K, I'll feel better in a minute...maybe two!!!!

Movin' Along!!!!

Well, I don't know what to tell ya. Nothing really "happnen" happnen. But, like I have said before, that is a good thing.

It is hard to get anything done when it is this hot. Just sit around and exist. We do get some done when it is cooler in the mornings and then when it cools off later. The weeds are overtaking my yard, but, well, I guess they will just have to go for it, cause they are ahead of me now!!! Don't think I will ever catch up. Norm is out there whenever he can, sitting in his chair, pulling weeds around his beloved radishes....I told him tonight that with any luck, he would have the garden weeded by winter!!!! He didn't think that was funny. And, that is only one garden. You should see the weeds in the other one!!! Don't even want to think about that.

We went to Cardiac Rehab today, and took Katie with us. She loves it there and is so good. Of course, everyone loves her too. Who wouldn't???? She really does watch her grandpa, and waves to him all of the time. Today she came up to him and "tickled" him. I can't believe she is almost a year old. She is such a happy baby and soon is going to be keeping her mom and dad very busy. She is crawling now and is trying to walk. Oh my!!!! She is a busy little thing and very opinionated. I love to watch her when something or someone gets in her way!!! Watch out cause she will go right though. What a pleasure it has been to have her in our lives this past year. I am fortunate to have been able to see her be born. I will forever be grateful to my daughter and son in law for allowing me to be there. She is the third grandchild I have been privileged to see come into this world and what a choice experience that has been.

Anyway, Norm is making progress every day. I know that I say that a lot, but it is true. Usually when we go to Rehab, I drop him off at the door and go park the car. so, he gets up there to the second floor sooner than I do. Today when I got up there, they said that his oxygen sats were 88 and quickly went up to 91. That was so awesome. He is using less and less oxygen all of the time. Even when he was exercising, he had his oxygen turned down to 2, when before, he was using it at 6. This is real progress. The heat makes it harder for him to breath, but he is really doing well. I wonder what it will be like when it is cooler.

One thing tho....we are going to have to buy him a bunch of new clothes. His shirts just hang on him and he can't keep his pants up, they are so loose on him. He has his belt into the last hole and has even made a couple of new holes, but, he still can't get them to stay where they are supposed to be!!! His church suit just hangs on him too. His white shirts look awful cause they are so big, but his suit covers that up some.

He is doing fantastic. Every once in a while, I think about him lying in his bed, in a coma, and I remember thinking that he may never come home, he may not ever know us, and on and on and on......and now, he even argues with me!!! Never thought I would think that was so cool. He even drives by himself now. Not a lot, but he does some.

My little buddy Clancy is still not doing really well. Right now he is blind. We are hoping that it is something that will go away, but it is going to be a waiting game, to see if he ever sees again. The poor guy is so confused and scared cause he can't see anything and I keep bugging him about putting meds in his eye. The poor thing has his regular eye drops twice a day, for the rest of his life, now, temporarily, he has and additional ointment twice daily, another antibiotic drop four times a day, serum every two hours, and then, he takes two different pills twice a day. Of course that isn't so bad cause he loves cream cheese, and I can hide them in that. Perhaps it is a good thing he is a dog and doesn't know what is ahead of him. He just trusts.

He lives to dig. In fact when we moved here, we didn't know what we were going to do to keep him from "getting the critters" all over the yard. So, we picked out one of the flower beds in the back yard and gave it to him to dig in. He never has made holes anywhere else, unless we tell him "get the critter, right there!!!"

I don't think he will be able to dig anymore. If he does get his sight back, it won't be worth it for him to get dirt in his eye, and then another ulcer. Our pocketbook much less him, could take this again. I sure do miss him tho. He just lays in his cage with his little collar on, so he can't scratch his eye. I feel so bad for him. Norm and I are just praying that we don't have a real difficult decision to make in the near future. Don't know if I could do it. He has been my "best buddy" for a long time. This coming Oct. he will be 10 and I have had him since he was 6 weeks. Can't imagine him not being here. K, I'm not going there!!!!!

Once you choose hope, anything's possible.

~Christopher Reeve

Well, one of these days!!!!

One of these days things will be normal, whatever normal is. I don't know what has happened the last few days but it seems like a whirlwind. Don't know where it went!!

We have had to take my little buddy Clancy back up to Salt Lake to his Eye Doctor three more times!!! The ulcer on his eye is getting deeper and is becoming quite a serious issue. I am not sure what the outcome will be, but I pray that after all is said and done, I will have my happy, bouncy little friend back. He is so sad, and tired of hurting.

Today when we took him in, they changed his meds all around and they did something else that I had not ever heard of. They drew some blood and spun it in a centrifuge to make serum and that is one of the things I am putting in his eye. It is a ton of work, cause I have to do it every two hours, during waking hours, but if it helps, it will be worth it. I only have to do it for two more days, so that is not so bad. They put him on some big-time oral antibiotics and then we had to go to Costco and get some antibiotic eye drops. I tell you, that little dog is a money pit. But, an awful cute one!!!! He has been a good friend for a long time....so, I need to do what I can for him.

We had the best cucumber the day before yesterday!!!! I didn't expect any yet, as we were so late with our garden, but I just happened to find it. It was so good. We just like them sliced with salad dressing. Then, when we get some tomatoes, we just make a salad with them and cukes. It is so good. Next year our garden will hopefully get started earlier and we will have more of a growing season. Norm and I had such fun canning last year and want to so more next year. This year, we are just going to have to take what we can get!!!

I am just dying to get back into my sewing room. My brand new sewing machine has been used very little. I have so many projects I want to do, and no time!!! Christy and I went to a fabric store a couple of days ago, and I found out how to make some really cute table runners, and I want to make some Christmas gifts too. And then there is the small matter of the fact that I need clothes!!! Might be nice to have something to wear. I need to make Ember and Katie some things too. Do ya think I have enough to do???? Also, I need to take the sewing classes over, that are available through the place where I got my machine. I learned a lot from them before, but had to stop when Norm had his surgery.

Cardiac Rehab is going well, except Norm is getting in trouble because he doesn't walk on the days we are off. Chad is getting frustrated with him and says that if he doesn't start walking, he is going to have us come five days a week instead of three!!!

Norm is on the treadmill now for 30 minutes at a time!!! He rests once and still uses his oxygen, but he is doing really well. Then, he is still lifting his weights and spends 30 minutes on the bike. His recovery time for his oxygen level is getting shorter all of the time, so that is a real plus. Maybe soon, he won't need oxygen from a bottle!!! He will probably have to use it when he sleeps for a while, or maybe forever, but we can live with that.

His diabetes seem under control too. Things are looking up. Of course, things have been going steadily upwards for a while now, and we are not complaining at all!!! He can move around so much more and do more outside. He even walked by himself a couple of times. I like to go, and usually do, but once he went by himself. Thank goodness for that phone our good neighbors lent us cause when he is alone, anywhere, I can call.

So, all in all, things are good. I can't complain. Hopefully, my little four-legged friend will recover soon and then things will even be better.

Tomorrow we get to have Katie!!! That always is fun. We have to take her up to Salt Lake with us tomorrow when we take Clancy in and it makes me nervous to take her so far. Christy always leaves me with the car seat, but I just don't like to take her too far. She's really good tho, and likes to ride in the car. Guess we'll find out how it goes.

So, again, all is well. Just busy!!!!

May you always have work for your hands to do.

May your pockets hold always a coin or two.

May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.

May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.

May the hand of a friend always be near you.

And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

~Irish Blessing

Good Friends

Meet what is probably our very best friends ever. This is Rich and Sally Spoon and we have known them for about 17 years.

When we lived in Middletown, Rich, Sally, Norm and I did everything together. We would go somewhere together and talk and laugh for hours.

They were here to visit their daughter who lives in West Valley this last week and spent a couple of hours with us. How wonderful it was to see them but I realized how very much I miss them. And, how much I miss California, and our "home" ward, You can't be in a ward for 13 years and not have the people become a permanent part of your heart. A big part.

Sally and Rich told us about everyone in the ward and how they all are. It made me so homesick. I love Utah. We have been here for about five years, and have met people that will forever be a part of our hearts, and our kids and grandkids are here. It would kill me to have to leave them. But, I sure do miss my friends. Sally and Rich are the best. They have so many trials and are stronger than anyone I know. If you didn't know them, you could never tell that their lives are one constant, big struggle. I love them so much and would love to have a house big enough so we could all live in it together. I would never get tired of being around them, but I am not sure if they feel the same way!!!!

Ah, how good it feels! The hand of an old friend.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow