Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Life gets in the way

Things sure can get crazy fast around here. I haven't had time to blog much at all, or I haven't felt like it. The kids had a week off for Spring Break so we tried to do things around here because funds are kind of tight, especially with the price of gas sky rocketing. So we went to Liberty Park, the Bean Museum, a couple of movies and the zoo. It was a good week, even with G. and I getting hit with illnesses.

The next week my dad went into the hospital because of a fall down the back steps. He was in there for almost a full week and wasn't happy about it. I was over there trying to give mom and dad help and support.

This week we are trying to get some help and services for him at home. They really need a ramp up the back steps and we think he would do wonderfully with one of those scooters that they advertise on tv. It's just getting things in motion and seeing if they qualify financially. We also had a yard clean up and hot dog roast on Monday night. I love those! We used to have one every Spring but that's kind of fallen by the way side. I'm hoping that we can bring that tradition back.

So with all the craziness going on I haven't had much time to post. Hopefully I'll do better and post more often.

I was informed by my oldest daughter that there are 21 days of school left before summer break. My how time flies.

Here are three of my favorite shots from the trip to the park.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Stuff.

Dad is doing fine. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. If he'll listen to his dr. this could help him with much of the pain that he's had in his shoulder. If he doesn't then it won't. He's not very good at taking directions.

I'm in the middle of mucking out my office/craft room. I'm trying to get it situated so that I can get back into scrapping and card making and other crafts. Right now it's a bigger mess than when I started. I actually remember to take a before picture so I can take an after photo. I really need to get to work on j's scrap book. She's the only one that doesn't really have one so I need to bite the bullet and get her pictures printed off and get to work. That's part of the reason for me getting this room in shape. The other reason was, well, because it was a sty. I've kind of gotten the rest of my house in some semblance of order so I felt the need to purge in here as well.

I'm looking forward to Mother's Day. Yes, Mother's Day. I'm going to try to get all of my family together for a big family picture for my mom. That's all 7 of my siblings and their kids, which is upwards of 70 people. I'm hoping that if I give them a month's notice that they will be able to get off work a little early and be there for this picture. My friend Erin is going to be the photographer. She rocks! I know that my mom will love this. So the present for my mom is figured out. Go me!

So I need to get off here and get my hiney in gear so I can maybe post the "after" pictures of my office in a day or so. Wish me luck!

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Nerves

This morning my dad is heading into surgery for another procedure to his shoulder. He tore his rotator cuff in a fall last year and had to have that repaired but it didn't take. So this morning they are going in to see if they can fix it and give him some relief from the pain. Last time it was just a scope. This time they are putting him under general anesthesia. This makes me nervous because my dad has an artificial heart valve and is on blood thinners so that he doesn't throw a clot. To go through the surgery he has to go off of these blood thinners and so the danger of him doing so goes up.

We almost lost my dad two years ago...right about this time of year. I'm nervous. My dad is nervous and so is my mom. That sends my nervousness up a notch. I know everything will happen as it is supposed to. But prayers for peace for whatever happens would be muchly appreciated.

This is a picture of dad and the big pine tree that was blown over in their back yard a few years back.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

New Day- New Look

It's a new day. I've got to get a move on. I'm having a Pampered Chef party here at my home on Saturday night and I still need to get the invites out. I also need to take my car and get it inspected and registered. The Durango is in the shop again so we have finally put a battery in the red Ford wagon and I will go back to driving that and Ty will drive the little GREEN car to work. Gas prices being what they are we really can't afford to drive the Durango unless we are going somewhere as a family. It's frustrating but it's something we have to do. I'm going to go and get the invites filled out this morning and then after the car is inspected and registered I'll take those puppies around.

Not too much else to blog about. The weather here has been down right miserable. Wind and blowing snow. And of course the Durango chose that weather to break down in. I'm just grateful that T. had a full tank of gas and that he had three different people check on him to make sure he was o.k. Two highway patrolmen and a UDOT worker. T. spent four hours waiting for a tow truck to come and pick him up. Thankfully we have that covered through our insurance and it he didn't break down too far from our mechanics place so the tow only cost $12! YAY!

We are definitely being watched over. Because not only was the tow cheap the part that we think went out should still be under warranty. Thank goodness! If it had waited to go out another week or so the warranty would have been up. Yes we will have to pay for the labor but hopefully that will be it. I'm sure our mechanic is tired of our vehicles. He's a good guy and is very fair. I'm grateful for that. You can tell he feels for us when they break down and that he's not thinking of the dollars and cents of it all. He really cares about the work that he does and that he is being honest with people.

So enjoy the new look of the the layout. I'm liking it so far. I don't have time to tweak it too much. Maybe another day.