Wednesday, January 7, 2015

I just checked - I typed the year correctly!  Yea for me!

I should be doing some things around the house but am taking it easy instead.  I slept in today - it was after 11 when I was awakened by our barking dogs...they delight in doing this but at least today it wasn't at 6 or 7 or 8.  Of course I did not close my eyes until about 4 a.m. - I don't seem to sleep much at night...too many stresses.  

Yesterday was Needlework Club (at Woman's Club of Fort Worth) day.  Instead of knitting or crochet or embroidery I took my vintage Singer 99 handcrank sewing machine.  I did finally manage to get the first border sewn onto a quilt top I took, but the first half of the gathering was spent with other members checking out the machine.  A couple of them tried it out.  I found it funny that they asked where to get parts for it, attachments, etc.  It's a Singer sewing machine...low shank.  Parts and attachments readily available.  It's a straight stitch machine without reverse.  The only difference is that it is people powered, not motor powered.  It's perfect for taking to Needlework because there is no necessity to string electrical cords across the floor which is quite dangerous where we meet.  Someone might fall over them.  

I've looked at a few of my unfinished sewing/quilting projects and am going to get some of those finished, I hope, the first part of the year.  The Cranky Treadler retreat is going to be 1.5 weeks from now and I can hardly wait to go.  It lasts 3 days and is just a fun time for us "girls" to have a good time visiting and sewing.  But first, a week from today K and I are supposed to travel to Tyler with my Julia Jackson co-members for a tour of one of the old beautiful homes and gardens, lunch, and then a tour of the civil war picture exhibits.  One of our members is the curator.  Afterward there will be a visit to the cemetery.  Tyler was an important place during the Civil War.  We are looking forward to going while having second thoughts.  We are to meet at 10 a.m., and it is a 2.5 hour drive.  We will need to be on the road at 7 (and that is after we pick up people riding with us), so means we need to be up at 5.  We don't do 5 a.m. any more - haven't since retirement.  It also means that there is a 2.5 hour drive home so it will be a very long day.  K and I do not do well together when we are tired and stressed.

Guess this is as good a place as any to throw in something that has gone on this year.  I was so very ill this year, vascular surgery in February, never got over it and went downhill from there instead.  Lengthy hospitalization in March with abscessed abdomen and kidney problem, and discharged to lengthy long-term home care, only to be hospitalized again because of food poisoning which set the whole thing in motion again.  Due to the necessity of having to have a CT scan with contrast during that time, the docs told me kidney function will probably be lost - in the transplanted kidney received in 2008.  A psychiatrist/psychologist was also sent to visit with me to help me understand what is probably going to be my future (or lack thereof).  I was sent home with the "get your stuff in order" advisement.  I've never told that to K...he doesn't need to know, and I can't put up with the stress from him if he does know.  And I've not told my kids.  Instead I've just been sickly.  Way too much has gone on this past year for anyone to be concentrating on what's happening to me.  Death of my oldest brother so soon after the death of my other brother, etc.  But, I have done some things in preparation.  

I've purchased "final expense" insurance for both K and me.  No worries about place of burial - we will be buried "at home" - which means we will be buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Lipan, Texas alongside my mother, grandparents, aunt, uncle, cousin.  I've also purchased a beautiful pink suit which is hanging in my closet with the tags still on it.  I will be buried in a pink suit like my mother.  Hopefully with no clown make up on!  I've also gone so far as to order the Susie Orman kit for organizing records (Wills, POA's, etc.).  Hasn't happened yet, but will.  I've also become complacent as to whether or not any of this ever gets done.  Why worry about it...just let somebody else take care of it when I'm gone.  Nothing seems to matter any more.  

After returning from vacation K and I were pretty worn out.  Took us a bit of time to recover.  But, we finished up classes with Agape Christian Women's Job Corp (I teach computer skills, K assists me sometimes by doing one-on-one student assistance as necessary).  There was a very nice graduation ceremony (K worked the kitchen on that one...I was not only an advisory board member, instructor, but provided the gathering and marching piano music for graduation.).  We went about our business as usual.  In early November I attended the UDC meeting...sat next to a lady who was coughing/hacking/blowing/sneezing.  Needless to say, within 24 hours I was completely down (my immune system is kept tamped down by anti-rejection meds).  But this time was so bad.  K kept trying to get me to go to the hospital...I refused.  I did finally call the doc and got meds and refill for my inhaler.  He didn't want to put me in the hospital because there were way too many sick folks there.  Within a very few days after I became ill, K came down with it as well.  We were both completely down, to the point that we needed help.  I finally said we needed help.  I knew it would do no good to ask for help from my family, but friends Denise and Gary came to help us.  They brought wonderful chicken noodle soup to feed us to try to get us better.  

During all of this going on, we were contacted by one of my high school classmates about a little dog that needed a home.  We said no, but couldn't stand the idea of the little dog being placed in a shelter so relented and said yes.  As sick as we were we drove to Granbury and picked him up.  We all crashed as soon as we got back home.  His name is Micky (it used to be Tator Tot but I didn't/don't like that name), he's got a lot of poodle in him and who knows what else.  He's an escape artist so we have to be careful about having doors open, and even have to walk him in the back yard with a leash on him because he has escaped out the back yard while K had him and the other two out for a potty break.  He's a cutie...a real sweetie, but he is NOT house broken and that is something I cannot abide.  We were told he was trained, but he isn't.  We were also told he was socialized, but he wasn't.  He's now working on potty training, but wears a diaper in the house.  And he is good friends with Luci and Bennie and the cats.  He will do fine.  

Thanksgiving came and went.  K works on major holidays...so he was at the ATT stadium the entire day.  We had our small Thanksgiving celebration on Friday instead of Thursday - just the two of us.  We probably should have gone to Cracker Barrel and been done with it but we knew Friday would be pure hell with all the shoppers out and about so we did not go out.  We had been planning to do shopping ourselves (I always do Christmas shopping after Thanksgiving, although I may buy a few things earlier in the month).  This year, however, instead of buying gifts for everyone we had to have the heating unit in the house repaired earlier in November.  Dang thing was blowing cold air on those COLD days!  So all the money we put aside all year for Christmas was spent on that and the IRS instead.  November was really, really tough financially.  We were eating whatever we could find in the pantry and freezer the last part of the month.  We could hardly wait until December $$ came in so we could buy groceries.  

So, no gifts this year for children and grandchildren.  I guess it's just as well.  We haven't seen the daughters and grandchildren in a very long time.  Fortunately we are still in touch with my son and his family.  Kinda hard to want to buy gifts for those who don't really want anything to do with you.  I had to come to some pretty hard decisions this year, had to decide to stop trying to have a relationship with those who don't want me in their lives.  It's been terribly hard.  But I made up my mind I would not cry my way through the holidays this year, and I didn't - but wanted to.  I still find it unimaginable that I have no relationship with the babies I birthed and raised on my own by myself.  But there is nothing I can do to change that, and I've given up praying about it because I don't think God is listening to me.  I've lost all faith.  

I received a nice Christmas gift from my DAR chapter...a chapter certificate for my 10 year membership anniversary.  My anniversary was in April of 2014, so it was about time.  I have the anniversary pin already on my ribbon.  Soon I am going to order the national certificate.  Normally the chapter does not order these until a 20 year anniversary but I really don't expect to ever receive one of those so this one is important to me.  It will be worth paying the required $10 fee to have the national paper in my book.  

Guess it's true, we tend to rally before we kick off -- or, if the gods smile upon us we have more time than was originally thought.  I have to go for a checkup and tests with the kidney team this month as well as with the endocrinologist to be sure.  I may have escaped the grim reaper for a bit longer although I am dealing with issues.  Diapers are a part of my daily life now, and no matter how many probiotics and other meds I'm given, I have no warning or control over my bowel system.  I will be having another colonoscopy, but as the doctors say, they have no idea what is causing this except meds, my health situation, etc.  Immodium has become my drug of choice, and whenever possible I stay close to the lady's room because it hits and there is nothing I can do except cry.   Guess that's a little too much information, but it is a fact of life and I've been dealing with it for such a long time and it just gets worse.  

I've been cleaning out various things around here, including vintage sewing machines (sold two of them, hope to sell more).  And I sold our coffee table and end tables.  I have hated them since the day they came in the house!  I've also envisioned and finally have a plan for decorating the den.  I despise the sofa and love seat we have so in a very short time I will sell those.  I plan to replace them with something similar to what we had in the past which is far more comfortable!  I'm going to put my house back "my way" which is country/cottage/vintage style.  I've finally found the drapes I want (of course they are Laura Ashley).  I'm waiting for those to arrive so I can pick out other things.  I'm going to have the den and kitchen painted a silver blue that hopefully won't clash with the denim blue in the rest of the house.  Yep, I'm going back to my blues.  I have a braided rug (9x12) in the blues spotted...just need to save a bit of cash to buy it.  I'm going to paint the two shelving units of our entertainment center along with a tv cabinet that will sit between them.  (We can't use the original center unit as it will not hold our larger flat screen television.)  I'm also going to ditch about half the crap on those shelves (look out Ken, your stuff is going away!).  Likewise I'm going to paint the china cabinet that is in that room that holds all of my milk glass collection.  That cabinet was purchased in 1968 and it needs to be redone.  Again, waiting on drapes to arrive before choosing colors to paint...but can get started on priming pieces as soon as K is home one day to help me haul pieces to the garage.  Haven't told him about any of this...don't want to put up with the arguing and negativity that will come with him knowing about it.  He will know as things progress - it's the best way.  Otherwise he gets in a tizzy, stresses, gets so crazy I can't get anything done.  As the docs say, just tell him one thing at a time.  So that's what I try to do.  

I am currently Correspondence Secretary for the DAR chapter, Recording Secretary for UDC chapter, Historian for USD1812, and Historian and Yearbook Committee chair for Woman's Shakespeare.  I was contacted earlier this week by the Publicist for USD1812 asking if I am willing to train to do her work.  My reaction is to say, "You people DO realize that I am dying?"  The answer is, of course, you're not gone yet.  So I said yes.  I must be out of my mind!  I intend to continue doing as much as I can for as long as I can.  In fact, I was asked if I would be a delegate to Washington D.C. in June and I said yes!  So in the midst of planning my own demise I am also planning a trip to Washington.  I've always wanted to go, and when it was brought up K said go for it.  He's been there, I never have.  And this may be my last opportunity (if I make it).  (To make the trip to Washington means my system has to be cleaned, only certain food intake, and being extremely careful digestive wise for the week before and during...and alot of finger crossing, hoping and praying.)

That's it.  There's no real news.  Life is hard.  And it's getting harder.  

Happy New Year 2015!!!

New Year's Day, 2015.  Time goes by so fast!  I am SO glad to see a new day/a new year!  Brings new hope and opportunities.

I haven't posted news on here since October...I guess things have happened since then.  The last blog was about our trip to Beaumont for convention and on to New Orleans.  When we left New Orleans we did not head home.  Instead we headed toward Ellisville, Mississippi.

My life-long hobby has been family research, instilled by my maternal grandmother by many summer evenings spent sitting on the steps of her front porch while she sat in a chair on the porch and told of everyone in the family, past and present.  Fortunately for me in the 80's she had me spend an afternoon with her and write it all down so all I had to do was find records to document the family.  But for my paternal side of the house I drew a blank.  Daddy knew nothing about his family it seemed, but I had known one of my great grandmothers, his paternal grandmother.  With a little bit I knew plus a tidbit or two picked up from one of Daddy's sisters I had started researching the family bank in 1978.  Through many rolls of microfilm census records I discovered roots in Jones County, Mississippi...in the Ellisville and Laurel, Mississippi area.  It had been my dream to visit Jones County since 1978 and the discovery of my family's involvement in the civil war, loss of lives, etc.  Through this family line I am a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution as well as the Daughters of the Confederacy.  SO, we headed to Ellisville, MS.

From New Orleans we took I-59 North toward Hattisburg (my paternal grandmother was born in Hattisburg).  We had lunch at the Cracker Barrel in Hattisburg but didn't spend time in the town.  Instead we headed on to Ellisville.  I wanted to get to Ellisville to plant my feet on the dirt of my ancestors.

 Ellisville is a very small place, it was easy to see in a very short time.  The main thing I wanted to see here was the courthouse to see the confederate monument, and then the Deason House where confederate deserter Newt Knight supposedly killed Confederate Major Amos McLemore in 1863.  McLemore was at the home of Amos Deason when this happened.   We got some good pictures of both.

After looking around a bit we headed on to Laurel where we had reservations for the night.  We drove around Laurel - found ourselves in the old area that didn't look so great and not all that safe, but was interesting to see.  Finally got our bearings and headed in the right direction toward the hotel.  This was quite an experience in itself!  We were at the Comfort Inn, which looks nice in pictures.  But you never know what you're going to get.  After checking in we were sent to the back of the hotel via the driveway where we entered through what looked like a service entry.  The smell of cigarette smoke at the doorway was thick; and then we rounded the corner to our room.  Oh my gosh, it was pretty bad.  There was a 1" gap between the door frame and the door, worn out furniture in the room, and really sicky carpet.  But we had nowhere else to stay that night so we hauled in our overnight things.  It wasn't long before we needed to go find food.  In going back out to the parking lot we discovered that we were in trucker/utility worker heaven.  This hotel is where LOTS of them stay.  So lots of smoke, beer, milling around the parking lot.  We managed to sleep, and left the place after eating our free breakfast - which wasn't all that great.

We managed to find our way to downtown Laurel and to the courthouse where we took pictures of the courthouse and the town's confederate monument before heading to the Laurel/Jones County Library to visit the genealogy department.  We found the library, but the department was closed - would not be open until 1:00 p.m.  Oh, no!  We wondered around a bit and then decided to drive the 7 mile old roadway to Ellisville to get a feel of what it might have been like in the older days to travel between the two places.  (Ellisville and Laurel are both in Jones County, MS, but both of them are a county seat.  Yes, two county seats in Jones County.)  The drive didn't take long at all and we spent a little more time driving around Ellisville before heading back to Laurel and driving around there a bit.  We had lunch at a place in "downtown" Laurel, and had decent food.  Afterward we headed back to the libary where we met with genealogist Susan Blakeney.

Through my affiliation with a couple of Mississippi Facebook pages Susan had known I was traveling to Laurel.  She had quite a bit of information for me as well as a number of hints for finding additional information.  One of the great prizes/true treasures of the entire trip was the "gift" of discovering exactly where my family was located.  Susan had a book that laid out the land locations of the area from that time period.   I have family throughout this area, but my GG Grandfather and GGG Grandfather owned what is shown in sections 3 and 10, and my GG uncle was in section 4.  Several of the families around those squares are related, as well as others on this page.  Another page shows where the land is located in relation to the actual town and roadways.  We were very close to the location as we headed out Highway 84 to head to the Mississippi Archives in Jackson, MS.  I shall be grateful to Susan forever for helping me find this part of my roots.  

After a good visit with Susan and the genealogy department in Laurel, Susan encouraged us to to ahead and head out to Jackson so that we would not be in so much of the heavy traffic that starts in the late afternoon.  So we said goodbye to Laurel and I felt like crying when I left.  I did not visit grave sites in Ellisville or Laurel, because quite honestly no one knows where my GG and GGG grandfather's are buried.  I'm sure they were buried on family land, or at the cemetery at Indian Springs Baptist Church.  

The drive to Jackson was uneventful, just seemed long.  We talked about my returning to Ellisville and Laurel in the future...how it would be better for me to fly in somewhere rather than drive.  It's a long trip from where we live.  

Got to Jackson, MS...reservations at a Holiday Inn close to downtown Jackson because we were going to head to the Mississippi Archives bright and early the next morning.  Whoa!  When we made reservations no one told us 1) that the hotel was located at the entrance to the fairgrounds, and that 2) the weekend we were going to be there was the opening of the State Fair!  Oh my gosh.  traffic everywhere!  We got there late afternoon, and after checking in, hauling in our gear, resting a bit, we decided we needed to go out to get food.  The entire parking lot was roped off, to disallow cars in or out, the side street where we had to exit the parking lot was blocked off by police who were directing fair traffic, and when we attempted to ask a question of the officer she cursed out Ken!  Told us to back our car up and turn around, we were NOT going to exit.  A discussion with hotel management ended with them telling us we could either walk down to the fair grounds or across the street and walk to find something to eat.  Of course I don't walk distance and duration so that wasn't going to happen.  The hotel was allowing fair goers to use the hotel parking lot (for a fee) while inconveniencing hotel customers.  We finally found our way out (in the car) one exit that was approved by the city and the hotel, managed to get out on the big 4 (6?) lane main road, and finally found a Taco Bell.  We were afraid we would have no place to park when we returned, or be unable to get into the parking lot.  But hotel employees were at the entrance to the parking lot (taking money from those wanting to park there), and fortunately they recognized us and the car.  We learned a lesson - next time we will make reservations directly with a hotel and ASK if anything major will be going on during our expected stay.  

The following morning we made our way to downtown Jackson to the Archives.  What a wealth of information this place holds.  We spent a wonderful day looking up lots of information and getting assistance from the employees.  I didn't have cash so couldn't pay for copies of information (stupid me - I know better than that).  So, I took pictures of information found in books (along with pictures of the book information) with my cell phone so I have it!  One of the greatest treasures found was the record of the murder trial of my GG grandfather.  It's not a transcript, but is just an entry in the court minutes book.  I have been looking for this tidbit documentation since reading and presenting a review of the book, Free State of Jones:  Mississippi's Longest Civil War,  in 2013.  My GG grandfather was a deputy sheriff/sheriff in Jones County, MS, and the trial came about because a man was killed resisting arrest (yep, even back then).  My GG Grandfather was acquitted.  

We left the Archives about 2:00 and headed to Vicksburg.  In all my years I have never been to the memorial park at Vicksburg...and I will never go again.  It was not my main reason for visiting Vicksburg.  Instead my aim was to visit the Cedar Hill Cemetery, the final resting place for an estimated 5000 confederate soldiers.  This place is hallowed ground as far as I'm concerned.  These are my kinsmen, either by blood or by the fact they were invaded by the north and fought to protect themselves, their property, their families.  We got to Vicksburg early enough to visit on the day of arrival.  The roads/lanes through the cemetery are old and narrow, and we were sad to learn that vehicles are using this cemetery as a throughway/short cut to get to another location.  While we were stopped to visit graves we were honked at to move.  We finally decided they could just wait, as we had driven quite some distance to see the place and I wasn't leaving until we did.  Needless to say we have many pictures taken in this cemetery.  A few are shown here.  Read more about the cemetery at http://www.vicksburg.org/departments/cemetery.  

After a nice overnight stay and breakfast at the Mariott, we packed up and headed to Vicksburg National Military Park.  A huge place, but as a southener I was greatly offended by it and all the glorification of the north.  To me these are attackers, not men of honor.  They are destroyers, molesters, thieves.  Yes, it was an educational event, something I should have done a long time ago, but it weighs heavy on me.  My GG Grandfathers died at the hands of these invaders, as did my GG uncles.  Allen B. Weeks, Robert Washington Palmore, Matthew T. G. Kilgore, Samuel Kilgore, Peter Kilgore, Hosea Weeks, and others.  I cannot drive through this place and honor these people.  I am sad that this is on southern soil.  We spent several hours at this place, and when we went to the visitor's center I could not bring myself to purchase a single souvenir.  I have all the souvenirs I want from that horrible place...ancestors who died in it and ancestors who suffered living through it.  What is even more sad is that history has been rewritten claiming that southeners fought because they wanted slavery.  So false.  My family didn't own slaves.  Most southeners didn't.  It was over states' rights.  It didn't become attached to abolishment of slavery until 2 years into the war, in 1863.  But historians (northerners) choose to rewrite history, to tell a different story, and teach that falsehood to school children.  

Then on to Shreveport!  We had reservations at a place that was a bit west of Shreveport (Hampton Inn).  Oh my gosh!  It was horrible!!!  I was terrified to lay my head down in that bed.  I was finally so tired I had to...I put a towel over the pillow I was so afraid of bedbugs.  We couldn't wait to get out of there!!!  It was so bad we worried all night about our car in the parking lot, expecting to get up and find it either gone or vandalized.  Thankfully it was still there and ok.  

We made the obligatory stop in Monroe, Louisiana at Duck Dynasty and had someone take our picture under the sign.  And visited the gift shop where we bought some t-shirts.  And then it was time for Ken to take over the driving (I had done most of it on this trip) and bring us home.  

We learned several things on this trip.  1) Making reservations online without recommendations is a gamble.  You don't know what you'll get.  2) Don't combine vacation with convention...it requires taking too much luggage.  Thankfully we were smart enough to pack separate bags for the two legs of this trip.  3) We're glad we had a comfortable car because we spent a lot of time in it, and it was nice to have a larger vehicle.  It gave us room for the scooters as well as the luggage.  And 4) we wish all of our friends could have gone with us.  

Until next time...that's it for now.  Another update will, hopefully come soon, as there are other adventures that occurred between vacation and the end of 2014.  For now, have a wonderful new year.  May God bless everyone with a better, happy, loving 2015.  

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Wow!  What's happened since June??  Lots, and yet nothing important.

Needlework Club continued throughout the summer - I continued to knit fancy scarves - some are donated to sell at the Christmas boutique (Woman's Club of Fort Worth).  I worked hard on the yearbook for the Shakespeare Club.  I worked on a draft of a yearbook for another organization but it wasn't used -- I created in MSWord after first speaking with the printer about how to set it up but there was some kind of misunderstanding on the other end because it was wanted in a different software.  So, that one was taken over by someone else.  I also managed to complete eight (8) patriotic table runners which were going to be used for a certain organization, but after completion of all of them I received a call letting me know someone else was being given the job of decorating/refreshments so now I have eight lovely table runners.  They all look like the ones in the following picture - some with red tassels, some with white, some with navy.  I'll do something with them - not sure what.

The General Edward H. Tarrant USD1812 had a tea celebrating the anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner on September 13, 2014.  As a current officer I was part of the committee - which means I was a part of the committee that worked themselves just about to death to make it happen!  My goodness, that was hard.  We didn't have it catered and didn't have it at a place that set up the room for us so we had to set up tables, furnish and fix all the food, drinks, etc., do the decorating, handle every aspect of it.  I was also in charge of the Voice table - (sell tickets, people put ticket in bag next to item wanted, drawing is held)  We were all totally washed out after that event!

The following weekend, September 20, the Six Flags Chapter of the DAR hosted the Constitution Celebration luncheon at a local country club.  I was on that committee, too, but was just a peon in the grand scheme of things, thank goodness!  Although the tables were decorated by the chapter, at least there was no set up and tear down of tables, no preparation and serving of food, etc.  It didn't take long to pick up the decorations afterward.  

September started club/organization year, so I've been going to meetings and doing that kind of work.  As the Historian for a couple of groups I try to stay up with what's happening and collect whatever is possible.  I'm not a scrapbook person so they will be lucky I'm doing anything at all.  I'm also the Recording Secretary for one organization and the Correspondence Secretary for another -- that keeps me busy as well.  

K and I went to Beaumont for a state convention the first week in October.  We purchased pics taken by the professional photographer but those haven't come in yet.  It was a good time.  We were there with many friends and acquaintances.  I am on a state committee (having to do with software and creation of on-line fillable forms), and I received an award...our team is bringing this organization into the 21st century!  We had two formal nights at convention and because K wasn't supposed to be escorting either evening, we saved his beautiful new black western dressy outfit for the big Saturday night President's event.  He got to wear it to the banquet but as we were seated in the big hall awaiting the program to begin he was suddenly sent to the hotel room to change into his uniform because the camp in charge of the escorting hadn't planned for all the number of ladies who would need to be escorted!  So, western rancher one minute and soldier the next.  

At the President's Banquet on Saturday evening - with fellow chapter members and spouses.

Bringing in the "important" ladies -- no, I'm not one of them...

On Monday prior to leaving for convention on Thursday morning, after looking for about 15 months, we got a "new" car (new to us).  The Saturn I drive was totaled in the tornado that hit Amarillo the end of May 2013 (early June?  Can't remember).  That was when we were on the way home from Colorado.  The car still ran fine, and has been a great vehicle but had over 50K miles on it.  Insurance paid off the Saturn and we bought it back for very little.  Likewise, we managed to sell it for very little!  

My first intent was to purchase a very large vehicle like a Ford Expedition - that way we could pull a travel trailer as well.  We finally settled on something not so large but larger than the Saturn Vue (originally the tow car for our motorhome).  We found a 2011 Chevrolet Traverse LT with 21K miles on it and had it transferred to Fort Worth so we could see it.  After a test drive we made the decision to forego getting something that will pull a travel trailer and instead get the Traverse because it has plenty of space for the mobility scooters in the back plus passengers.  It has a 3rd row of seats which fold down but even with the scooters in the back the 2nd row of seats can remain up.  

After the last meeting on Sunday morning we got gas in the car and headed for Baton Rouge, LA.  We stopped at some little place and had lunch at Shoney's but then drove on to Baton Rouge.  We stayed at the Siegen Inn - after wondering around, fighting, getting lost, and finally finding the place.  We had Whatburgers for dinner because it was next to the hotel.  The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel, packed up again, and headed for New Orleans.  

I drove to New Orleans, and for the most part the entire trip.  Because K freaks out in strange places.  But, I missed the turn in New Orleans and we ended up down by the sports dome - which, thankfully, wasn't too far from where we needed to turn to get to the French Quarters.  We finally found our way to the Le Richeliu Hotel, checked in, found our way around to the parking lot, got help to get all our luggage into the hotel, and then got a taxi to take us to the Natchez River Boat!

 We had a reservation for the late lunch cruise up the Mississippi.  That was so much fun.  K had never been to NO, and had not been on the mighty Mississippi.  It was a wonderful way to relax, calm down, enjoy ourselves as well as a great buffet meal...one of the best meals we had in NO.  Afterward we hired a bike taxi to take us to Jackson Square where we caught a carriage tour around the French Quarters.  The picture below is an example of the bike taxi we used - somehow I failed to take a picture.

These guys and gals develop great muscles pedaling these things!

The carriages are pulled by mules, not by horses.  So this is a bit different from Savannah.  We had a great tour - the guide was knowledgeable and made it a pleasant trip.  

After the carriage tour, K and I walked through the park at Jackson Square and then hired a bike taxi to take us back to the hotel.  There was no way I could walk it.  At convention, with the wearing of the dress shoes and all the walking I did some kind of twisting of my knees and could barely walk - in fact was limping.  Back at the hotel K and I put the batteries on the scooters and then headed toward Dawson Street and the French Market cafe for supper.  The hotel had recommended a couple of places but they were inside a bar and there was no way K was going in there.  I can't remember what either of us ordered, but it was nasty/awful and neither of us were able to eat it.  In fact, both of us felt a bit ill afterward.  Fortunately we take our own snacks/food with us when we travel so we had some things back at the room.  Unlike most of the tourists who visit NO, we did not stay up late and wander the streets or do a lot of partying/drinking.  We went to bed early because we had a bus tour of NO scheduled for the next morning.  

The bus picked us up at the hotel about 9 a.m.  It took us all over the city, including a cemetery tour (New Orleans is below sea level...burials are above ground.  A few pics are included here.  

The bus also took us to see the levees that broke during Katrina, took us to see various housing areas of NO, but could not take us down to the 9th ward because of so much reconstruction.  NO is full of history, and it was interesting to hear all the information.  We learned that a Creole is the offspring of a black woman and a Spanish or French male, or the other way as well.  Apparently Beauregard was a Creole.  

We also made a stop at City Park - a very nice place where we had a short break, were able to get something to drink, stretch our legs.  Ken managed to snap a picture of the gazebo at the park before we hopped on the bus to continue.  

The bus also took us around Robert E. Lee Circle and the driver quickly pointed out the monument as well as the location of the Confederate Museum and the World War II Museum.  

But he said they weren't supposed to talk about the Lee monument or the Confederate museum because some found them offensive!  That made me angry.  I am a southerner, my ancestors were southern, we were invaded by the people from the north, our properties were stolen and destroyed, our women were molested and raped, our children killed/hurt/molested, etc..  Offensive?  You bet, I'm offended - I'm offended that I'm supposed to act like my ancestors were criminals and that what happened to them was deserved.  No, they were not criminals and they did not deserve what happened to them.  It wasn't about slavery - the bit about slavery did not come into play until the middle of the Civil War - it began about states rights.  My family didn't own slaves.  (The pic to the right is not of Lee but is of Beauregard that we passed on the way to see City Park.)

The bus tour was a great way to lean about NO.  We enjoyed it for the most part.  

In lieu of finding a place for lunch, after the bus tour we grabbed a bite at the hotel restaurant/bar and then hailed a taxi to take us to the Confederate Museum.  

As usual, places like this make me want to cry.  I am not that far removed from the Civil War...my maternal grandfather was born in 1870, and I remember my paternal great grandmother who was born in 1865.  The history I was told as a child was fresh.  Three of my great great grandfathers died in the war, as did at least two gg uncles.  To me the war was like yesterday.

We were not allowed to take pictures inside the museum, but that is me standing in front of it.  Fortunately they had a wheel chair I was able to use inside because by this time my knees were screaming.


The World War II Museum is located across from the Confederate Museum.  At first I wasn't too interested in going but decided since my father-in-law had spent his life in the service and been involved in WW II the least I could do was go while we were so close.  I am so glad we didn't miss it.  This was one of the highlights of the trip.  As one who worked in the aircraft business most of my life, I found the museum with the actual planes and equipment to be well worth the tour.  I'll not post pictures because it was difficult to get shots of the planes and these need to be experienced not just seen in pictures.

By the end of our museum tours, I was pretty far gone, although K had pushed me all over the place in a wheel chair (I really, really need to get mine back home - it's been missing for a very long time - I loaned it out and it has not been returned.).  We made our way back to the hotel via taxi, stopped at the desk to inquire about a place for dinner, got our scooters and headed out to eat before it got too late.  We ended up at the Praline Connection which is on Frenchman and Chartres (I think).  Small hole-in-the wall place but they helped us with the scooters.  I had some sort of crab stuffed something or other and some "normal" vegetables; K had who knows what but experienced greens - which he had not eaten before.  We had bread pudding which was not very good.  Afterward we went to a little store to get bottled zero coke and then headed back to our hotel room.  We always try to be back just about dark because we are two old people on mobility scooters and after dark we are just sitting ducks for someone wanting to do harm.  And we are not partiers.  So back to the room, separated and packed our stuff, prepared for the next day.

The following morning we rose early, and via our scooters made our way back toward Jackson Square and Cafe DuMond.  K needed to experience the bad coffee and square donuts with powdered sugar which are part of NO tradition.  I don't care for either - would much rather have real donuts!  Then we did a little souvenir shopping on Dawson Street - I finally found a miniature tea set for myself and we picked up some t-shirts and whatever K decided on.  After that it was time to head back to the hotel, move our luggage to the car, check out of the hotel, and hit the road toward Mississippi.  I'll talk about Mississippi in a next blog.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

My brother passed away about 7 a.m. on Thursday morning, June 19, 2014.  The last few days have been sad ones, especially for my extended family.  My sister-in-law Jerrie has been a real rock for my brother who has been in ill health for several years.  She has loved him and taken care of him for quite a long time.  There are not enough words of praise to give her for that.  She and my brother Joe had been married for 53+ years, married as children at the age of 17 and been together through all the good times and bad times and in between.  They found strength in one another and in the three children they raised, and in the grandchildren and great grandchildren as they came along.  It was hard to watch them all have to go through the final goodbyes.  I can't imagine how tough that was for them.  As difficult as it was for me as his sister, I know it was many times over tough for all of them.  I pray for strength for my sister-in-law to get through the coming days but I know she will have many days that will be rough.

I'm afraid I contributed to her heartache without meaning to.  In using my phone to send several pictures of Joe's visitation to a cousin in Louisiana, I accidentally got one of them posted to FB instead of private message.  Unfortunately it was one of him in the casket.  Although I deleted it immedately upon learning about it, I certainly managed to alienate the family with that screw up!  They were hurt by it and naturally upset by it - I would have been, too.  I wouldn't have hurt them for the world, not any of them.  I care way too much for all of them.  I wish I could undo the damage.  All I know to do is ask forgiveness.

K and I got to the cemetery early (graveside service only).  We were standing outside the car so we were not burning gasoline running the a/c.  Someone in a car across from us got out of his car and asked if I was Dorthy.  He asked me if I knew who he was - but I didn't.  When he introduced himself I was shocked.  He was my boyfriend from way back when I was 13-15 years old!  He was older than me and decided to join the Navy so of course we went our separate ways.  In my mind I remember him, but I didn't remember him in person at all.  

Thought we were going to go out of town a couple of days to relieve pressure for a bit, but as it turns out, K made plans with his guy friends and I decided to stay around the house.  With losing both of my brothers in less than a year, I realize that time is pretty short.  Has made me think about things a lot - like why in the world save things for "some day"?  Such as the good rugs we keep rolled up in the front bedroom and put out only when company comes.  So I pulled out the large one and put it down in the den in the sofa/tv area.  Might as well use things up/wear things out.  No point in protecting them any more!  

Today's been nice - it has rained most of the afternoon...in fact, it has been flash flooding.  Our yard is singing in delight - what's left of it after the drought the past couple of years.  We've got to get out and seed or sod the yard...we barely have grass.  But lots of weeds!  Got to get after it.  Maybe I can work out some pain, depression, or whatever by working in the yard.  I've got to do shrub trimming as well - K doesn't do that...he doesn't do a good job of it.  

When I'm stressed or life is crushing in around me, I tend to handle it by either curling up in a ball inside, or withdrawing completely, or a combination of anxiety and activity.  When K woke me up on the 19th to let me know Joe had died, I was just numb.  I knew it was going to happen, and knew that he was ok, that the sadness to come was going to be for those of us left behind.  But all I wanted to do was cry.  I knew I couldn't go to his family because they had far too much to get through, and even though I'm his sister, I knew the right thing for me to do was to allow his family be together without me being around in the way.  I guess I went into the "anxiety and activity" mode, knew I had to keep myself occupied.  I had started stitching the binding on a table cover for my Singer 66 treadle machine at Needlework on Tuesday.  I spent the days after Joe died in my big rocker in the bedroom in front of the double window using the natural light to help me see where to put the blind hem stitching, and in my mind and heart went through the days and years of my childhood family.  And that's how my heart really said goodbye to my big brother.  I managed to get it finished and it is now on the machine.  I also managed to put together the crochet blocks of another table cover.  These blocks have been completed for 2 - 4 years.  It's now as finished as its ever going to be - with lots of mistakes in it - and its waiting to be washed and blocked.  I don't care that it has mistakes in it...those just represent many mistakes of life.  It's just going over a vintage sewing machine cabinet so it will be ok.  A pic of the rooster table cover is included here.  

I've also started uploading my digital pictures to Walgreens and having 4x6 prints made of the ones I want to keep.  I decided to get them all printed and into plastic sleeves in notebooks regardless of whether or not they are in chronological order.  I think its better to do it this way than to just let them be lost in space when I pass on.  Maybe someone will want them.  Who knows.  At least they'll be available.  I wish I had some current good ones of my kids and grandkids because I would like to display them.  I took down all the ones I had before because they were so out of date.  

With all the deep cleaning that's been done around here in the last month - and not quite finished - I decided when my former cleaning lady called to let her come out for a usual cleaning.  The house was not that bad - I had spent my time taking everything imaginable apart to clean "my" way.  I was quite shocked when she let me know after her girls had finished that it would be $145 since it had been so long since she had been there.  I let her know that wasn't going to happen since the house had not been bad when they came to clean.  I also let her know that it would be the last time I would use her...I'll be cleaning it myself from now on.  That's because when I took the house apart to clean I discovered SO much had not been cleaned while using the team.  Guess I'll save myself $200+ per month doing that.  I need the exercise anyway.  I do one room a day so it's not a big thing.  For instance, I took an entire day to clean the master bedroom - took the bed completely apart to clean, cleaned the bed as well as the floor and baseboards.  I did this heavy part while K was at the mission one day.  Here are pics of the bed part of the room!  (Got rid of plastic plants!)  I wrested that king size mattress and the foundation pieces by myself.  That's BJ testing it out to make sure all is ok.  I've been doing this type of cleaning all the way through the house.  Have more to go.  Getting rid of things, cleaning out.  Going to go through things every time I clean a room again and just keep on getting rid of stuff!  Of course there are some things that I will hold on to forever.  

So what else has been happening?  We got news that K is being awarded some sort of something or other by the SCV camp.  He's southerner by marriage so is an auxiliary member of the camp, and supposedly he is receiving the first-ever something or other awarded to an auxiliary member.  We'll find out at the meeting on Tuesday, July 1.  Hope I remember to take pictures.  

Speaking of organizations, I was elected Recording Secretary for the Julia Jackson chapter of the UDC.  Installation was held in May.  I'm including some funny pictures - K nor I are the best picture snappers!  I was asked to provide piano interlude during the military service award ceremony - K managed to get only one picture...and he took it while I was trying to get the music spread out before I began playing.  Oh well, in a hundred years it won't matter.  Just comical.  And then there's the pic of me as Recording Secretary with our newly installed President, Betty.  It was hat day for our May closing luncheon/military service awards ceremony/installation of new officers.  I had a better internal image of myself in that dang fascinator than what it appears here!  (lol)  The dress is my new one for the year.  It has the sleeves that have the slit opening down them in the center and my left bra strap kept falling down.  Plus it was purchased before the abdominal abscess so it was a bit big and hangy because of weight loss.  With my Grandma dress shoes I look like a throw-back to the early 1900's.  Betty was smarter than the rest of us - she wore pants!  The group picture is during installation.  

In addition to becoming an officer for our UDC organization, I have the honor of being the Historian for our Daughters of the War of 1812 chapter.  (Because my ancestors, on both sides, have been in this country since the 1600's, I'm eligible for just about any lineal organization around.  That and a dollar won't buy a cup of coffee any more but it does give me something to do and keeps me from going crazy...maybe.)   A couple of pics of that installation are included below.  Please note that the purple suit turned up once again!  It goes to lots of events.  First pic of us with installer Ruth, second without her.  We are holding up different spices because we are the spices of the chapter (lol).  Ruth handed a different one to each of us as our names were called, with a cute reference of our position to the spice.  I received cinnamon - and then forgot to bring it home with me, leaving it on the table in the club room.  

Haven't done anything exciting that I recall.  Life is full of crooks and turns and I seem to always be taking the wrong ones and hacking people off even when I don't mean to.  For that I am truly sorry.  Don't know anything to do but to pick my butt up and go on with life and whatever it's going to bring next.  

Much love to my children and grandchildren - you are my heart.  

Sunday, June 15, 2014...Father's Day

Not a single soul has had the decency to call and wish K a happy Father's Day.  I know how he feels; I know how badly it hurts, because no one wishes me happy Mother's Day.  These days are horrible.

Yesterday was Flag Day - sponsored by the Mary Isham Keith chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.  All chapters within the district plus all the other heritage organizations participate.  K and I were there.  It was held at an outdoor pavilion of a veteran's park in a nearby small town.  As historian for one organization and a member of several organizations, I took pictures.  I'll share a few here.

Our young Navy cadets out of the unit at the Joint Service Base did an excellent job presenting the colors.  They range in age from 10 to 17.  

Dr. Judith Carrier, former head of TCJC/TCCC, is the current Regent of the Mary Isham Keith DAR chapter.  Since MIK was the hosting organization, we were pleased to have Judith as our "MC" for the event.  I was sitting behind Diane Dyess, Regent of our Six Flags Chapter of the DAR and it was either catch a profile picture or the back of her.

Our Daughters of the War of 1812 was well represented at this event.  The lady with the tiny baby fosters children while they are in the "in-between" cycle of adoption.  This tiny guest was absolutely adorable.  We are often blessed with little ones like this coming with her to meetings and events.)

Diane Dyess, Christean Jenkins, Pamela Rhoads, Peggy Jones, Dorthy Casten, Joann Durham

Both the Six Flags and the MIK chapters of DAR were represented at the event.  It was a great Saturday for such a ceremony -- not too hot, a good breeze.  I can't recall the names of everyone in this photo, except the lady in the red jacket is Anita Daniel, in the green is Diane Dyess, yours truly in the white jacket, Arlene Pricer next to me, and on the right end is Bettye Rogers.

I can name a few of the ladies in the MIK organization...That's Dr. Carrier on the far left, Linda Johnson next to her, Sonja Starnes stepping away from the group, Sally Allsup (Chaplain) in the white; Virginia Brown next to Sally, sweet little Paula Smith in the black jacket, Joann Durham dressed in red/white/blue with the hat, and again Bettye Rogers on the far right.

Betty Rogers was the speaker for the day.  She is retired military, and during the Vietnam war was in charge of a flight hospital (aircraft outfitted as a hospital) that flew into country to pick up the wounded and flew them out providing medical care.  She shared several stories with us about those days but unfortunately we could not hear much of what she had to say -- the microphone needed to be held very close to the face for amplification and as most of speakers do, she tended to move it away from her and turn her head.  I think we need to invest in one that pins to the shirt.

Our Sons of Confederate Veterans were also represented at the event.  Several of us are members of several lineage organizations, thanks to our ancestors who fought, bled and some died for this country.  Since this was mostly a DAR event, however, our SCV camps were low in number.  But here we are - yours truly and hubby K, along with Diane and Jack - members of the Griffin 2235 camp of the SCV.  (I didn't wear any of my ribbons that day...just my flag pin.)

Instead of going to lunch with the rest of the attendees, we elected to head to Cleburne via the new tollway with intention to eat lunch there.  The tollway dumped us out in an area of Cleburne where we did not recognize anything.  We continued on what we thought would take us into the actual town but still could not get our bearings so pulled off to check map on phone.  That's when I noticed I had a message from my niece - about my brother Joe.  Joe has many medical issues, including diabetes, heart issues, frozen lungs, etc.  He has been ill a long time and this time has been hospitalized since Monday of this week.  There is not any more that can be done - he will be moved to hospice care.

This is so very hard.  Joe and wife Jerrie have been married since they were 17 years old - 53+ years.  He has been the rock of our entire family since he was a very young man.  It seems impossible that we are losing him.  Seems impossible that just yesterday we were kids playing at the creek, riding bicycles, begging mother to let us play in the rain, etc.  And now we are the old generation - the grandparents/great grandparents.  Time has come and gone.  I hope to go see him tomorrow - he can now have visitors.  They wouldn't allow it before now.  He can also eat and drink whatever he wants - no more restrictions.  So today his daughter took him a burger from Sonic and a malt.  He and I are the last of "our" family, but he and wife have 3 adult children, 5 grandchildren plus several step/foster grandchildren, and several great grandchildren.  Saying goodbye is totally tough; God give us strength.

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Note:  I lost two friends over the past 3 weeks.  Friday was the service for friend Jan.  Over the past year I've lost several other friends.  Perhaps it is morbid, maybe it's just realization, but during that service on Friday as I looked at the casket at the front of the chapel, it came to me that it won't be long before it is my turn to get into the box and have the lid closed for the rest of eternity.  I find it terrifying.

Saturday Night, June 14, 2014

Haven't posted in a long time - although I've thought about it.  Because life has just seemed so "real"...one thing after another!

Because the holidays of November and December are so painful (I long for my children and grandchildren and cry my way through the holidays), I look forward to January as a healing month.  Unfortunately that was not the way it happened this year!  Having spent way too much $$ for Christmas, January was also to be "catch up time/take a breather" month.  We were knocked off our terre firma a bit much when K's disability check was not deposited in our account on the 15th.  A call to our local SS office revealed that he had been terminated as disabled ... they claimed he had been working for the past year earning over $1800 per month!

We made a trip to the local SS office, sat for 2 hours waiting our turn to speak to someone, and then received hateful treatment by the representative.  She claimed he had been working, that he had earned all this money, that they had sent letters to us in November telling us he would be cut off, etc., etc.  They handed us print outs of the letters we never received.  We asked for reconsideration because he certainly had not earned that kind of money -- and who would know better than the SS office?  They have records of his earnings!  I had all of his income records with me, along with our bank account information where his deposits are made.  They made copies of his W-2's but didn't want to see anything else.  In addition, we completed a form seeking appeal.  We left totally shocked at the way we had been treated, as well as the misinformation they were giving us.

We waited a couple of weeks, never heard from them, and began calling from time to time.  Each time we were assured it was being handled.  It wasn't.  A phone representative finally send our call to a main SS center in Kansas City.  I received a telephone call on Thursday of that week from a representative there who told me she had no idea why the FW office had done this to K, because her records showed he had worked two weeks out of the year full time, and the rest of the time intermittent part-time work (stadium).  She and I went over the records she had vs what I had and they were the same.  She advised that she had already been to her supervisor as soon as she saw the mess, and she had been instructed to expedite reinstatement.  Needless to say, expediting with the government takes a while.  It was March before we learned that K's disability had been reinstated, but that it would take 30 days or more before he would receive current and back pay funds.  Thankfully it finally came in April.

In late January I accompanied Betty Abdo, President of our chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, to Salado for the State forum.  That was the weekend of the 24th and 25th of January, and we drove there on icy roads but fortunately did not have an accident.  A business meeting, of course, and somehow I found myself on a State committee tasked with converting printable forms to online fillable forms.  That task has been ongoing since January but thankfully has now been declared completed and the forms have been provided to the masses for their use and discontent.

In February I transferred from the Mary Isham Keith chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution to the Six Flags Chapter.  MIK is a very large chapter, and therefore it is very hard to become involved in the workings of the chapter.  Transfer permitted me to become involved - probably more so than I need to be!  But it is more fun to be involved.  As of right now I am co-chair of the Constitution Day event which will occur in September - a big deal for the DAR, and Six Flags is the host for that event for our District this year.  I attended the planning meeting this past week.  In addition, I find myself in charge of producing the Yearbook for the chapter because the Regent's computer crashed, restoration could not be done (she thought she had it backed up, but alas, no), so everything is being recreated.  So, I'm working on the yearbook.  I had it about completed when I was told that it needs to be done in Publisher - a software I don't have, and a program I know ZERO about.  So I guess somehow I'll be coming up with that program and learning how it works.

On February 10 I had vascular surgery on my left leg...it was not done in the hospital but in the doc's office.  There was a screen set up over my chest across the table so I would not be able to see what was being done.  So I'm on this table, sans undies, with folks on the other side of the screen working on me.  The doc advises me that he is going to begin at the ankle and be injecting 20 numbing shots up the inside of my leg and into the groin area.  NOT a pleasant experience!  After that he advised he was going to start at the ankle with an incision and insert whatever (no idea what it looks like or is or what all entails because I could see nothing) to work upward through the large vein of the leg.  All of this was done because the valves in this vein of this leg were worn out and no longer pushed fluids back up out of the foot/lower leg.

After surgery I was told that I could not sit down, had to walk/stand for 20 minutes, could not sit at home, had to be up on my legs.  We did the walking, went to the car, stopped for food, and I spent the rest of the afternoon evening walking through the house, standing beside the sofa doing dance steps, and finally going to bed for the night.  That's when the discomfort/pain, moaning/screaming began.  I continued the walking/moving the following day and throughout the weekend and then returned for ultra sound check on Monday.  I was told the leg would be painful for an extended time, that it would take a while to recover, but I could stop getting up during every commercial.  The doc wanted to go ahead and schedule surgery for the right leg -- I smiled and left...no way.

I never got better...just started going down hill healthwise...felt sick, weak, cold, chilled, couldn't get over it.  I continued to try to move forward - even went on a quilting retreat but was just not well.  In March I celebrated my 66th birthday (no cards, no phone calls, no visits from those who matter the most to me).  My health continued to go down, and I found myself more and more curled into a ball covered with a blanket unable to go about my business.  During the night of Thursday, March 13, when I turned over it felt as though I had pulled something in the groin area of my right side - the area where my transplanted kidney resides.  I didn't think too much about it except the pain continued to get worse through Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  And my abdomen was as big as a basketball and hard.  On Monday I called my transplant doc and went for an ultrasound of the area.  I knew I had an appointment with the doc on Wednesday, so was trying to hold out 'til then instead of spending $$ going to the ER.  But I was no longer able to endure the pain, was doubled over, went to bed, tried to get comfortable, but just couldn't.  K gave me two choices - he could drive me to the ER or he could call an ambulance.  I let him drive me.

The ER staff started me on morphine and dilauded for pain...nothing touched it.  The on-call transplant doc was able to look at the ultrasound results made earlier on Monday and yes, there was fluid and infection in the area.  I was admitted to the hospital but by this time I was pretty much out of it.  I was so sick, I didn't see any way I would make it out of that place.  I was out of it, and as of today I don't remember the first 4-5 days of that hospital stay.  I nearly died so they say.  Tests were apparently done on Tuesday...lots of blood work, lots of antibiotics started, lots of fluid.  Dr. F. had to go out of town on Wednesday but left instructions for a procedure to be done to drain the site so cultures could be grown.  None of that happened while he was gone, just pain meds.  He was not a happy camper when he returned on Thursday.  It didn't take long for me to be sent for a couple of things...first, a CT with contrast - a no no for transplant kidney patients.  There was no choice.  Usually the transplanted kidney is dies after that.  Then I was sent for another procedure - first a big syringe with a big long needle inserted to draw off fluid to see what it was -- massive infection.  Sent to lab for culture growth.  Then they knocked me out and an incision was made to drain the area and insert a drain that could be attended to by the nursing staff.  Tests indicated the transplanted kidney was affected.

I was placed under the care of an infectious disease doc (Youree), and cultures indicated my bad luck -- an intestinal bacteria (fecal) had somehow entered my system and went to the weakest point...the transplanted kidney and abdominal cavity.  That info allowed determination of correct antibiotic to use to combat the infection.  I was placed on a 42 day regimen of IV antibiotics through a PICC line placed in my right arm across to the heart area.  Once I finally began to improve (a few days), I was discharged home to continue the IV antibiotics, reporting to Youree's infusion clinic every 7 days.

Cause of the infection?  Most likely occurred as a result of the vascular surgery done in February.  Who knows for sure.

I was doing fine on the antibiotics...had reached the final week of infusions.  The last day was to be Thursday, May 1.  On Monday, April 28, K got Subway sandwiches for us for lunch.  I ate about 1:30 or so, and about 5:30 became violently ill...nausea, vomiting, pain in the abdominal area, cramps, the whole shabang.  Again, K took me to ER, I kept throwing up.  I was admitted to the hospital, tests were run, and thankfully it was not a return of the original infection...instead it was food poisoning.  But because of my already weak condition, I had to stay in the hospital that week.  The antibiotics were increased, but I was declared finished with the IV meds on Thursday and the PICC line removed.  I was discharged home late Thursday.

Did I lose weight with the ordeal?  Yes...approximately 20 lbs.  Was it worth it?  Not hardly.

I'll blog about other spring events in another post.  It's been a busy/frustrating year thus far.  And it is going to be a sad one as well.