Wednesday, August 3, 2011

It is hotter than all get out here! It was 110 degrees today; the A/C is working overtime! So hot that there are power issues in Fort Worth and where I work is requesting that folks unplug all unused items, wear cooler clothing, and telecommute if possible. So, I worked from home today. Fortunately it is a quiet week and I didn't have meetings today.

So what's been happening since I last posted a real message? Lots, but probably not important to anybody but me (us).

I was in and out of the hospital during the fall and even in December. Being a kidney transplant patient isn't much fun because the immune system is kept so far down that there is no way to fight off illness. So, to the hospital for me!

Thanksgiving was a very lonely, but we lived through it. The Christmas season was fun. I sewed and sewed and sewed and sewed and finished everything I had planned. We went to several holiday gatherings and attended the annual Christmas in the Country at the little church out NW of Weatherford, Texas. It is now owned by our friend David McKenna because it is adjacent to the land he owned originally. He didn't want someone else purchasing it after it was decommissioned as a Methodist church so he bought it and the land it is on. So, we have a Christmas Sunday out there in December -- he and Liz clean it up, the pot belly stove is lit, we all take pot luck food for dinner after service, and then have a Chinese Christmas exchange. We always have a great time. This year we came home with a used kitchen disposal which we immediately put in the trash!!! I think we have a used toilet seat around here somewhere that we're going to take next year wrapped in fancy packaging. This year we took nice things (I made a lap quilt and Christmas pillow cases).

Ken had his final neuro surgery and was relieved of the horse collar he had been wearing for almost a year. thank goodness - he was really tired of that.

On Christmas Eve I had all the bags packed for the family and so we drove to Grand Praire and dropped off packages for my two daughters and their families. They don't have anything to do with me and I'm not allowed to have anything to do with the grandchildren either. It is a very painful situation and I miss them terribly, but it is what it is. Because it was raining, we were allowed to go into the house to leave the bags and gifts, and we actually got to see my grandson Jacob. He is so beautiful. We also got to see his baby sister who was born in 2009 and whom we had never seen before. I got to hold her for a few minutes, but then we had to go because we had many places to go before nightfall. I cried after leaving there because I knew I would not get to see them again - and I haven't been allowed to. I didn't get to see my other daughter and her family -- all gifts were left at the home in Grand Prairie and then distributed to the rest of the family.

I could dwell on that, but I am choosing not to. There are issues on BOTH sides of the fence, and apparently they are just so HUGE that they can't be overcome. I have always loved them, will always love them, will miss them forever, and will always hope that things change. But there is hurt and pain on both sides of the fence.

We didn't decorate for Christmas - there wasn't any need for just the two of us. Maybe we'll feel better about that in a year or so. For Christmas dinner we joined other friends at the home of Candy and Mike Copeland. We had a nice time.

We spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day at home. We don't like to get out with the crazies so we stay home and enjoy a quiet time.

I landed in the hospital again in January - pneumonia one more time. This time I thought I was going to die...turned out I didn't. Good thing, because it got worse later!

We decided to finally have the kitchen overhauled/renovated/ repaired. We called our friend Mike Young who came gave us an estimate and talked to us about design. We had much done. First, we had the interior of the lower cabinets overhauled. In several of them we had custom pull-out shelves installed so that we can actually get to the things in the cabinets! In the other lower cabinets we had shelving extended so that we have two good shelves in each cabinet. We had the countertops replaced. We were going to replace with granite but where we live we would never get the return on the investment, so we chose to go with the rolled formica that looks like granite. We had a new special order stainless sink installed...it is one of those farm-house sinks with the small vegetable sink on the right side. We also had a new disposal installed and it's on the side under the small sink. We wish we had put it under the large sink -- so, we are going to have another one put in under the big sink!! We also had slate tile installed as backsplash. Ken and Mike wanted to talk me out of that but I really like it and it grew on them, too!

We also had our "bar" raised -- it separates the kitchen from the den. We didn't use it as a bar and didn't want it as a bar. So we had it raised so that it is a pony divider wall. The reason we had it raised instead of just changing the top to a non-bar top is because we had a custom cabinet built in the breakfast area that was supposed to be the same height as the bar wall but turned out taller (it separates the breakfast room from the den). To make them even, we raised the bar wall instead of having the cabinet remade. That cabinet is really nice and is the perfect size inside for things like appliances.

We also had another custom unit built and installed. It is a bar cabinet in the corner of the breakfast room and has a custom upper cabinet unit over it. Perfect for storing seldom used items.

We had tile floors installed in 2010. We really like the kitchen.

Our wood floors in the den needed some work due to stains from our wonderful doggies in the past. Mike decided he could repair them so we decided to go with it. Unfortunately the original installers had done such a good job of gluing them down that it was impossible to get them up and do the "cut in" repairs. Mike and his helper finally had to get jack hammers in there to get the floor out and were never successful in getting all the glue and such off the concrete slab. In the meantime, dust, cement, debris, whatever is flying all over the house, on the furniture, in the furniture, in the air system, etc. And the glue and stain odors are extremely strong.

I became so weak I couldn't get out of bed the last day they were working. Finally that evening Ken forced me to the car and took me to the emergency room where he wheeled me in to the reception desk and told them in no uncertain terms that I had to have oxygen. Yep, pneumonia again, but this time 10 times worse than January. I was in the hospital for about a week.

The day I came home I could tell there was still dust and dirt everywhere. I could breathe it. Even though Mike had cleaned up, I could tell. Sure enough, I put on a mask and sat in the den floor with ken and we began to pull furniture out of place and it was everywhere. We spent my first night home from the hospital cleaning up piles and piles of debris, dust and dirt. Ken cleaned the return air vent and changed the filter.

In March we decided to plan a vacation since we had not had a vacation since 2003 except for short weekend trips or work related trips. We decided to plan for Las Vegas since Ken had never been there. So, we scheduled a trip for 12-15 May.

In March or April, can't remember which now, we went to Fredericksburg, Texas with a group of friends. It's called the annual wildflower trip but there were no wildflowers this year. we stayed at the Country Inn and Cottages located outside of F. It's a converted ranch. Lots of deer and very peaceful. We went into F., but we were content to stay out at the ranch where every evening the owner comes out about 5:30 or so and starts to feed the deer and the belted cows and the bull (hand raised/friendly). Its like watching something out of National Geographic watching the deer coming from everywhere around - jumping fences, crossing the road, running out of the woods and down the hill. They are so close you can walk out to them to take pictures and they don't get spooked.

On the back side of the property are Elk. There is a fence but they come right up to the fence and will lay down there. So one gets a very close up view of them as well.

There is also a swimming pool on the property, two hot tubs, the very big main house, several cottages, a former winery that has been turned into a cabin with 3 bedrooms, and the former chicken houses which have been turned into motel type rooms (small). All of them are nice - we were assigned to the former winery which we shared with friends Phil and Myra, Pam and Patsy.

I will continue the tale of our spring and summer thus far in a different post.