I liked today. Chelsea and I slept until shortly after six and it was almost light when we started on our walk.

I got caught up on our bills and in quicken, emailed a couple of people, washed and folded a couple of loads of wash and got over to see Dick shortly before 9 so I could tell him that I had to go and pick up or SHARE order. It was all ready so I was back to the Care Center by 9:30and able to visit until shortly after 11AM.

Then I left to take care of Chelsea and go over to Bobbie's house. We sent to Jumes for lunch. I had a tuna melt, one of my favorite things. Then we proceeded to go to the Sheboygan County Quilt Guild's annual show. It was at a different place this year, the South Alliance Church out past Deertrace Shopping Center in Kohler. A bigger place and it made for a nice show. Lovely quilts and Bobbie and I ran into a lot of old friends. The shops represented were great too. I bought one little wool kit that will be to set my single cup tea pot on. It is so cute.

I was home by 4. I took care of Chelsea and prepared a serving of Crab Louis to take with me to the Care Center so I could sup with Dick. He is feeling much better today. I took his CPAP machine to him last night and it seems to be making all the difference in the world. DUH!!! Where was our brain? Well, we know now.

I came home at 7. We watched the Wisconsin game until it became too painful. Somehow it reminded me of my Grandpa Deeley and the Milwaukee Braves. They were Milwaukee's team before the Brewers, you know. Grandpa LOVED the Braves and would sit up in his room with his radio and listen to every game. He had his own way of keeping track of the score and how they were doing. Grandpa used a cane. I his Braves won, he trotted down the stairs swinging that cane like it was a fashion statement. If they lost, he NEEDED it, descending slowly and with great difficulty.

One game, the Braves fell way behind and were making lots of mistakes. It got to the 9th inning and he figured they were done and came hobbling down the stairs in disgust. When he got to the main floor, his son, my Uncle George, said something to the effect that they were really coming back and Grandpa roared and headed back up the stairs. I guess he made it for the end and he never gave up before the LAST ball was thrown after that.

Love

Mary

What a disjointed day. It was 48Degrees when Chelsea and I went for our walk this morning. Great walking weather but it was a bit too dark for my liking. She seemed a little tired and sat down a couple times as we moved along. She also managed to pick up a few burdocks that I had to cut out of her fur before I fed her.

I made some phone calls, sent some emails and gathered up clothes to take over to Dick. Got there at a bit after 9AM. Did I tell you that Dr. Moreno is going to the hospital to see Dick and check out the wound on the right foot? He is so good. One of his nurses, Brian, works there too and will check us out and let the Doctor know when is a good time. I am amazed and so grateful.

Took Dick down to the Beauty Shop this morning to get his beard cut. He is all set now. The beautician did a really nice job. He looks good.

I left at about noon to take care of a few things and then went to the Dairy Queen to have lunch with my bank friends. Marlene, Joyce, Ceil, Barb and Alice were there. I am the one with problems right now and they will all be storming heaven on Monday. Our friend, Betty is in Connecticut taking care of her daughter who had a very serious stroke, so pray for Julie too.

Joyce was getting teased because she had a "date", a lunch with the widower of a friend of hers. She said that her daughter said the she can't get a date and her mother has two beaus. So she must have someone else that she does things with too. She is a kick.

After lunch I was back in time to watch Dick do his therapy. He is doing really well with the transfer board. He does get exhausted quite easily. But he is plugging along. We had supper together. I went into the dining room and ate with him and the "guys". I think it is good for him to get out of the room. They had scalloped potatoes and ham for supper. It was quite good. Tomorrow, I am going to bring my supper from home and we will go into the sun room. His appetite is really poor.

I left at about 6:30PM and picked up Nancy to go shoot pistol out at Rhine. We both shot 3 targets. Nancy started off with a bang but I think she is trying to think too hard now. Maybe trying to remember too many things. She will get it back. I am my usual self. OK - but no whiz kid. When I got home I received a call from Dick, he needed something, so I loaded Chelsea into the car and we took it over. He was glad to see her and she was very excited to go to see him.

Now I am home and trying to get to bed by 9AM. Tomorrow I have to pick up Share. I want to find out if they are in California too. Bret would like to find something like this.

Mother Teresa said "I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much!"

AND
Pericles said "What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others."

Have a lovely weekend. Even if it rains it is still warm enough to be pleasant. Enjoy!

Love

Mary



I

Guess What. I got to sleep until 6:07AM. Aren't digital clocks something. When I was a kid they were not and we would have rounded the time to 6:10AM. We saw another little dog that was new to us this morning and Sara Behr called a nice hello as we walked by her house.

I did stuff around the house and got all ready so that I was able to be at Plymouth Care by 9AM. Dick is all cleaned up and breakfasted by then so we can kind of settle before he goes to therapy. This morning was a bit different though. We had a CARE meeting this morning. The nurse, the social worker, the activities director and the physical therapist all met with us at 10:30AM to review Dick's care and discuss the wins and goals. He is really doing quite well in his therapy. We are concerned that he has a few breathing issues and of course are trying to somewhat be on the same page as to his care after the surgery on Monday. The hospital has contacted both the Care Center and me as to the time (2:30PM). He has to be there at 12:30 and arrangements have been made for Custom Care and Transport to pick him up at 11:45AM. I will meet him at the hospital. That way I will have the car there.

He went right from there into therapy so by the time we had lunch, together, he was exhausted. I went home after lunch and caught up on a few things and phone calls, then took Chelsea over to see him for a few minutes. She likes the ride and is glad to see him but is not a cuddly dog so we only stay about 15 minutes, then I take her back home.

I came home again for supper. I had made a Crab Louis for lunches. It was such a large amount. So I emailed Michelle and told her to come and share. She was glad because Jim doesn't like crab (his father's son) and she does. We like to share such things.

I stayed with Dick until they were ready to hook up his IV for the four hour drip, then came home. I am so tired. At least I have been sleeping through the night.

Chelsea and I did some watering and a bit of culling of the dead plants in the planters today. We filled the birdbath too. Don't want our feathered friends being thirsty.

When I was a little girl, my Grandma Deeley bought me a bunch of packets of seeds that were all named for bible things. There was St. Joseph's staff, I wish I could remember what that was, but the one that really stood out was Mary's Thistle. It was indeed a thistle. It has fuzzy leaves going one way crossed by rather smooth leaves that went the other. It grew quite large too. Dad patiently planted all of my seeds with me. Some did OK but the Mary's Thistle became legend. Every year after that Mary's Thistle would show up SOMEWHERE in the garden. Dad never knew where but he would look for it. Usually there were several and he would always keep just one. It was a fond memory of his Mom, my Grandma, for both of us.

Love

Mary

Hi. This has been a busy day and a rather good one.

I got to sleep until almost 6AM and had a really good sleep.

Then I met Nora and Leif at the Family Restaurant in downtown Plymouth for breakfast. They are here until Thursday and Sunday I was beginning to think that I would not get to spend time with them. I remember coming home for visits when I lived out of state and time gets short and there are so many people to see. But they made time. I saw them Monday at Mother's and today. We had a nice visit and catch up at breakfast. Then they came to the house with me so we could drop off the veggies that Jeff and Kathy had sent for me. (Beets, kohlrabi, tomato and a gorgeous red pepper. I am going to fix that beet one evening and bring it to Dick for a special dinner. He LOVES fresh beets and I am trying to tempt him. His appetite is not good.) Then we all went over to the Plymouth Care Center so Nora and Leif could visit with Dick for a bit. That was good for him and for me. We had a lovely catch up visit. I was able to complement Leif on his journal of their Danube Cruise. Stenn has certainly set the bar high with his wonderful journal of his and Bing's trip to China for the Chinese New Year.

After they left we eventually got down for Dick's therapy. After that I left for home to take care of Chelsea, do the grocery shopping and have lunch. We always pick up our lottery tickets on Wednesday and I found out that the prize is up to something like $170 million. We buy a ticket every week and with all that has been happening I have not been paying much attention. It would be nice to win, but I wonder if it would make much difference. Could it buy better care for Dick? I don't think so. But maybe I could bring him home sooner with live in help. Sounds good, Right?

When I got back to Plymouth Care, I rested for a bit, then went to Fr. Van Beeck's prayer service in the chapel. I was delighted to see that my friend Maryanne Robinson was playing the organ. Fr. Van Beeck talked a reading from Proverbs which pretty much asked God to give us enough, so that we don't waste time better spent praising Him searching for the necessities and not so much that we get caught up in the power of possessions and things.

Jim and Michelle stopped by after work. A pleasant visit for Dick. They were sent, I think. I was just getting ready to go home to feed and "medicine" Chelsea and hurry back to have dinner with Dick. They were there to save me one trip. We were sure glad to see them.

Dick and I had a nice supper, a brat sandwich, beans and a cookie. Then just relaxed together until about 7 when we figured that I had better get home because there was "stuff" to do before I go to bed.

I am almost done now and Chelsea thinks it is WAY past bedtime.

I have a lovely article about "Thin Places." The definition of a thin place is a place where the veil between this world and the Other world is thin. Sounds interesting doesn't it.

Be happy. We are because we are there for each other. I'll be there for you if you need me.

Love

Mary

This will not be a long blog.

Chelsea got me up at 5:45, too late to go back to sleep so we went for out walk early. It is really dark at that hour these days but pleasant walking. It was not very light when we finished either.

So I showered, folded clothes, made a few business calls and just picked up around her.

I got to the Care Center at about 9AM. Just in time to go down with Dick for his physical therapy. He was really tired today and rather short of breath. I hope that clears up soon.

I went home at about 11:30 so that I could walk Chelsea and eat my lunch before we left for the Clinic. Custom Care and Transport Service, Tim, picked us up at 1:15. We saw Dr. Mc Calla who is the infection specialist. He adjusted the time between his doses of antibiotic and said he would see us next week. HOWEVER

our next stop was x-ray and then Dr. Fehrman.

This was not a happy meeting. They unwrapped the foot and things are not good. The x ray shows a small break at the bottom of both the tibia and the fibula. The choices are: l: going in again with the odds stacked really badly against him and using plates and screws putting it back together or 2: amputation. I told Dick that I would back any decision he made. He decided on amputation. It appears that this will get rid of the problem infection, make healing much easier and the recovery time is at least half the time of the operation to repair. It is not easy but in many ways we are relieved now that the decision has been made because this has been looming like an elephant in the living room for some time. The surgery will be on Monday. Please pray for us. Right now we are both VERY tired.

Love Mary

Here is a Haiku that I wrote yesterday.

Riding the cool wind
I can fly to anywhere
In the whole wide world.

A charmed day. Chelsea and I headed out on our walk at a bit after 6AM. It is so pleasant this time of the year. I got back and prepared a couple of pieces of mail, showered, fixed breakfast and greeted Dick and Brenda when they woke up and before I left.

I had to tell them what there was around to prepare for breakfast.

Then I zipped over to Plymouth Care to bring Dick his iced tea and give him a morning kiss before heading to Sheboygan Falls for bible study. Interesting readings. The Jewish people always felt that children suffered from the sins of their parents and that the children were not responsible for their deeds. Ezekial refuted this long before Jesus came along and stated that we are responsible for our own actions. The Gospel is the one about the two sons who were asked by their father to work in the vineyard. The first said NO and then went, the second said YES and then didn't go. Hard to understand but again we are reasponsible for our actions.

Then I went to Mom's. Nora and Leif were there and the four of us had a nice visit. I brought them up to date on Dick's condition. We are planning to get together on Wednesday and they will stop in to visit with Dick.

WE had lunch in the sunroom at the care center with Richard, Brenda, Jim and Michelle. A perfect end to Richard and Brenda's visit. I stayed until about 3:30PM and then ran some errands before I came home to be with Chelsea and feed her and me our supper before going back to spend a couple more hours with Dick.

Barbara called tonight to let us know that they are with us in all of this. So many good people praying. Miracles will happen.

We have Dick taking Tums for the calcium now. Richard was the one who suggested that. Calcium and vitamin D are so important. I remember when the boys were little that they would get colds and sick more in the winter when the sun was not out giving them those vitamin Ds. We made them plural and I would chase them around and pinch them and say Vitamin D Vitamin D and they would giggle and run away from me. We had fun.

All done now and ready to get prepared for bed.

C O W S

Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that during the mad cow epidemic our government could track a single cow, born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she slept in the state of Washington? And, they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give each of them a cow.

Love

Mary

A very nice Sunday, both quiet and eventful.

Chelsea and I had a nice morning walk. It is kind of dark when we start off these days so I am bringing a flashlight along. But by the time we get home it is light.

Did a bunch of bill paying and clothes folding and other stuff around here until close to 9AM, then headed over to the Care Center when I was sure Dick was done with his breakfast. We just sat around and he did some dozing until I had to go home to take care of Chelsea and fix my lunch. When I went back, Jim and Michelle were there which was a nice surprise. It was a nice afternoon, so we took Dick out onto the patio outside the main dining room. We also found a nice soft serve ice cream machine. Such a deal, free ice cream and a pleasant garden to enjoy it in.

Dick and Brenda arrived at about 4 this afternoon. At that point, I went home with them to get settled and then we went back again prepare for our little party. I brought wine and n/a beer, Bobbie and Bill joined us almost immeciately with homemade peach ice cream and Dick and Brenda ordered pizza from DeO'Malley's down on Mill Street.

We had a nice get together and meal in the banquet room. Then Jim and Michelle left for Milwaukee and their Eagles concert. Lucky them. The rest of us proceeded up to Dick's room to watch the start of the Packer game. We all left Dick at about 8PM as they were going to hook him up to his antibiotics. He is back to every 24 hours and each one takes 4 hours. So that is tiring for him. At 8 I am really getting tired anyway.

We will watch the rest of the Packer Game (I hope I last, it is only the half and already almost 9) and then go to bed.

It was kind of fun today. Two nursing home dogs came in to visit. The first was Katie, a poodle/bischon mix. She came into the room and immediately jumped up on my lap for a cuddle. Her mistress said that she is really supposed to ask first but she probably could tell that I would like it. The second came in while Jim and Michelle were there. He just ambled in all by himself and greeted everybody, very politely but kind of wet for all who were willing to be slurped. His name was of all things, Bart.

I seem to be rambling a bit tonight. Chelsea is being a real pest as she wants to go to bed RIGHT NOW and I am distracted by the game which is not going well.


My sister Nora is in town. I will see her and Leif at Mother's tomorrow after bible study and we will arrange a place and time to get together again. Their time is really getting all booked and I would really like to spend a bit of time with them. It is hard when one is only in the area for a few days and everybody wants some time.

We are supposed to have a pleasant week and we are looking for good news on Tuesday when Dick sees Dr. Fehrman. At least we will be able to see what is happening under that big ball of bandages.

Take care - until tomorrow.


Mary

So