It's Been A Long Time

Sorry is been so long since I last wrote. There hasn't been a lot going on. The main thing has been dinner with Branden, Leah's prom date. We wanted to meet him so we invited him over for dinner on Thursday, March 19. It was very nice meeting him. And watching some basketball with him. He came for another meal and ball game on March 26. We had pizza this time. Leah went to his house for dinner on April 2. Then joined his family again for dinner today after church.

As for the basketball, KU won their first game. But they lost the second game to Wichita State. WSU went on to the Sweet 16. But they lost this one to Notre Dame. None of the Big 12 teams made it past the Sweet 16. The good news is the Wisconsin Badgers beat Kentucky to go to the final game against Duke tomorrow night. Yea!

So that's pretty much all that's happened with us. We should have a few more things happening in April & May. Leah's going to prom April 18. Her birthday is May 7. We are celebrating her graduation on May 9. She leaves for her missions trip on May 24. A busy time for her.

The Big 3-0

David turned 30 today. So very hard for this mom to believe. I know he's not a baby anymore but sometimes those days when he was don't seem so far away.

We didn't get to talk to him today. He and Maggie are on their way to Mexico with a group of friends for a spring break vacation. They are in Cancun. What a great way to celebrate your 30th birthday!

Happy Birthday, David!

Spring is Here!

At least for a while. The temp hit 71 today. The forecast is for 72 tomorrow. We've had 5 days so far of above average temps. We opened up the house today. It's hard to believe it was warmer outside than inside. By the weekend we're going down to temps in the 50s. Still that's a lot warmer than just a week or so ago.

Still Winter

I've lost track of our latest snow days. I think we got some Friday, Feb. 27. It was supposed to be only flurries but it snowed most of the day. The snowflakes were small so there wasn't much accumulation. Then there was a good snow Sat/Sun. Of course, it was during the night so I couldn't watch it. We got 3-4 inches. And another bit of snow (maybe) on Wed. March 4. The temps were pretty cold. We didn't go out if we didn't have to.

Winter Jam 2015

Leah went to Winter Jam tonight. We drove her to the Arena as soon as she got off work. We got her there in time to catch up with some of the youth group people. They had a great time. Leah even has laryngitis now. I wish I could have gone. I have loved the ones I've been to. I'm just not sure I could do the walking and stair climbing now. I am so glad Leah got to go with some good friends.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Too many years to want to mention. In my mind, I feel like I'm around 30. (My body tells me another story.) Yet having a birthday is better than not having one. : )

I did have a bad night of sleep. Woke at 3:30. Laid in bed for an hour. Got up and watched an hour and a half of Lawrence of Arabia (a movie I've never seen.) That's when Terry got up so I went back to bed and slept until almost 11:00. Other than that, I have had a good day.

Leah and Ethan had already made my birthday cake. They were out with Jennifer when I got up. They got home shortly after. The girls started making lunch-more like dinner-for us. We were doing the birthday dinner at noon because Jenn had something going on in the afternoon and Leah was working from 4-8:45. They made chicken tostadas which I think is my favorite food in the world. Plus Jenn made her guacamole for me. Love it. It was a perfect birthday meal for me.

After lunch, I opened my gift from the children. They got me a book, 2 very warm pairs of socks and a bag of M&Ms. I loved all of it, especially the M&Ms. : )

Terry and I watched a TV show while we waited for the KU game. We've been watching a British show on Netflix. Like many British shows, it is movie length (an hour and a half) with only 3 shows per season. It is George Gently. He is a police detective. A very good show.

Then the KU game started at 3:00. They were playing TCU. It was a good game. Close score until the last few minutes of the game when KU finally kept a 10+ point lead. I was so tired I was afraid that I'd sleep through part, if not most, of the game. But I got some birthday calls during the game and halftime that helped keep me awake. By the end of the day, I had received phone calls from my brother, sisters, and David.

I took a very late-in-the-day nap. 5:30-7:30. Late but good. Terry was watching TV when I got up. It was only reruns but it gave us something to do while we waited for Leah to get home. When she got home around 9:00, it was time for cake and ice cream! So good! Cake from a box is nice but cake made from scratch is so much better. A great way to end a day of celebrating.

Things Are Going Well

Terry took his catheter out this morning. His appointment with the urologist was at 4:00. The doc checked him over, then took an ultrasound of the bladder. Things looked okay. Hopefully, that will continue. Nevertheless, he is to see the doc again in 3 weeks. 

Terry said it felt good to get out of the house. However, the trip to the doctor did wear him out. He was glad to get home. A restful evening was in order.

No More Zipper

Terry got his staples out today. Yea! Yes, they did look like a zipper running down the middle of his midsection. All looked well. Check up in 2 weeks. He also went to see a urologist. A quick check there. He's to leave the catheter in until Friday morning. Then we head back to see the urologist in the afternoon.

David flew back to CO yesterday. It was a short visit for us. It probably seemed pretty boring to him. We didn't do much but sit around the house. Terry's still not feeling great--no energy, shortness of breath. Thankfully, they did have the trip to Pittsburg and Fulton so it wasn't totally a do-nothing-fun visit. But we are so thankful that he got to come. It lifted our spirits immensely.

Pitt State

One of the reasons David came to see us was to join his siblings on a visit to Pitt State. He got to visit his alma mater and add some personal stories to the scheduled tour. Another good college visit for Leah as she considers what to do next year.

After their time in Pittsburg, they drove on to their Aunt Beth's where they spent the night. Most of the aunts and uncles and some of their cousins joined them for a pizza dinner. Aunt Brenda and Emily couldn't make it because of illness. Much too short of a time with family but glad they got to do it.

Side note:  Terry did get to come home from the hospital. A nice, quiet day at home.

Surprise!

I found out this morning that David was flying out to see us. A lot of texting was going on between the siblings. Then Leah told me around 10:00 that I had to pick David up at the airport at 12:50. Terry was taking his morning nap so we decided to keep it secret and surprise him when we brought David home. And it worked! Dad was surprised and happy to see his boy.

Unfortunately, we put David right to work. The other surprise of the day was Terry not feeling well and all that followed. After so many days of feeling good, today he was feeling pretty crummy. While I was picking David up, Terry talked to the surgeon. The doc decided he wanted Terry to come in right a way. So as soon as we got home with David, we turned around and took Terry to the doctor. David went with me. I'm so glad he did. Terry got into a wheelchair at the doctor's office. I could push him but David did a much better job, especially with making turns and going through doorways.

The doctor couldn't find anything so he thought Terry should go back to the hospital for some tests. I think the doc was worried about heart issues, pneumonia and/or blood clots. Back to St. Francis we went. David drove the car so we could be dropped off at the front door. What a blessing! That walk from the garage to the main lobby at St. Francis is way too long.

The testing took quite a while. We got to the hospital around 3:30. The last test was done about 8:30. The doctor came by at 9:00. He said all the tests were good. Yea, but now what? The doctor said Terry's problems could be his body having trouble processing the fluids following surgery. Not much to do about it for now. Terry is spending the night at the hospital so they can keep an eye on him. If he does okay through the night, he will get to go home tomorrow.

Short But Sweet

Jason came out for a short visit. He's been off work because he had knee surgery 3 weeks ago. He was feeling good enough to make the long drive. We didn't do much since Terry's still recovering from surgery. But I guess sitting around the house doing nothing is at least a little bit more fun when there are others with you. We had a nice time just visiting. He went back home this morning. I am so glad he chose to make the trip to come out and see us.

Home Again

I can't believe they let Terry come home today!  I was expecting that to happen on Sunday, maybe Saturday. I got to the hospital around 11:00. Not too long after that they started talking about letting him go home. I had thought about staying with him all day anyway. Now I would definitely stay and wait til they released him. We got home at 3:00.

He really is doing well. He's getting in and out of chairs and bed okay. I thought that would be a lot harder for him because of the incision down the middle of his midsection. He is having a little bit of trouble urinating probably because of some residual swelling from the catheter put in for surgery. That will be something we have to deal with at home over the weekend. But I know he will rest so much better at home. Much less noise and interruptions. He's still not eating much but he drinks plenty of water. As long as we see improvement each day, we will know he's getting better.

None of the children were going to make it up to see him today anyway. Jennifer has a cold. There are signs all over the hospital saying to stay away if you have a cold (or flu.) Leah worked all afternoon. Then this evening she was an usher at a play put on by Christian Youth Theater. Her friend Caroline was in the play. Ethan can't drive by himself yet so he was stuck at home. 

Final (hopefully) update on unrelated news:  I stopped by the police station on the way to the hospital this morning and got the report made/filed. That really went pretty easily. I think the last thing we will need to do is close that account and start a new one. I will probably look into that next week some time.

Generous Friends

Kathi and Louise came down from Lawrence to visit. Terry was in good shape today. He looked good and the loopiness was gone. However, we could see him getting tired during our visit. We spent an hour and a half with him before lunch. Then we went down to the cafeteria for lunch and to give Terry a break/rest. Jennifer joined us as her work office isn't too far from the hospital. She returned to work and the rest of us went back up to Terry's room for a quick goodbye before heading home. Leah had to get to work. Kathi wanted to visit her nephew Andrew before they headed back to Lawrence around 3:00. Plus they had to stop at Braum's before leaving town. So their visit was short but sweet. How incredibly generous of them to make that long trip just to make a hospital visit! I went back up to the hospital around dinner time and spent the evening with Terry. It was great to see him doing so well.

Another update on the unrelated news:  I got to sign the two papers related to the forged checks today. The $1400 from the cleared check will be returned to our account. It may be a few days before that happens. My last thing to do is to make a police report. Tomorrow.

Role Reversal

Terry and I switched roles today. He was the patient having surgery and I was the one sitting around waiting. I was blessed with Pastor Rodger sitting with me during the wait. The surgery took two and a half hours. The laproscopic method didn't allow the surgeon to reach the tumor so he had to cut Terry open. Once he did that the surgery quickly came to an end. So Terry will have to spend a little more time in the hospital and recuperation may take a bit more time as well.

But surgery went well. They got all of the tumor. It will be a few days before we get the pathology report on the tumor. Terry was pretty loopy once he got to his room. Some of his comments had us laughing. Now it's just time for him to work at getting better. We'll do what we can to help him.

Update to the unrelated news from Monday:  While waiting during Terry's surgery, I spent some time talking with our bank about the forged checks. One had already cleared the bank. It was for $1400. They were able to put a stop on the other one. It was for $1375. Whoever did this obviously doesn't know us. I don't think that second one would have cleared the bank cuz we don't have that money these days. There are two papers that I need to sign but they need photcopies of the checks first. Hopefully, those will arrive tomorrow.

College Visit

Jennifer took Leah and Ethan to Lawrence for a campus visit. They toured the campus on a bus because it was cold today. They got to spend some time at Allen Fieldhouse. They talked with an advisor. Got to ask a lot of questions. It was a good visit.

Totally unrelated news:  Terry took a phone call from Wells Fargo Bank. They wanted to know if these 2 checks they had were actually written by us. No they weren't. Someone had forged them. It may take a couple of days to get this worked out.

Phog Allen

Pay Heed All Who Enter; Beware of "The Phog"

riding the bus on Daisy Hill

An Update

It's been a week since I last wrote so I thought I should update. It's been a pretty boring week for us. Terry still doesn't have a job. Leah does have a job. Homeschooling continues as usual. Nice weather today. Set a record with the temp--70. Will probably set records the next 2 days as well. Then January weather comes back. In the meantime, we'll enjoy the April weather.

My brother Jason had knee surgery on Thursday. He seems to be doing well. I'm sure the sitting around the house will get old fairly soon. My Aunt Karen came to Fort Scott to visit Uncle Bob (her brother.) I'm sorry I missed the opportunity to see her since it doesn't happen very often. She does plan to come back in June when FSHS has its all school reunion. Looking forward to seeing her then.