A SAD, SAD Day

You may also find this post on Frances May's blog at http://howisfranmay.blogspot.com/

Thursday, July 31, 2008 was a very hard day for my sister, my brother, and me. Mother has been in the hospital for 3 weeks and this week had refused her meds, food, and liquids. Anita (from Ohio), Phil (from Texas), and I spend a lot of time by her bed and she was lucid some of the time. We all had a chance to talk to her and listen to her wise and loving words, although it was hard to understand her. She made it clear that she was ready to go and that she wanted to go” today”! She did not seem to be in pain but she was miserable and suffering. Anita asked her if she was afraid and she said she wasn’t. It really felt like she would go at any minute.

We met as a family and decided to stop all the meds and IV’s, except for her pain patch. The plan was to move her to the skilled nursing section of VMRC (Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community) the next morning and Hospice would be involved with her care there.

BUT……the puzzling and frustrating thing for her doctor was that her vitals were all good, her back Kyphoplasty worked and her back pain is gone, her kidneys are fine, etc. so physically, there was no reason for her to die. He attributed it to a deep depression and tried his best to encourage and motivate her, telling her that if she would try, she could be walking out of there one of these days. She didn’t respond. (Yes, he had put her on an anti-depressant.)

RV Shelter Coming Along

I realize I forgot to give an update from starting the RV Shelter in April.


Ed, Mike Stroop (his faithful helper - teacher) working on the "knee wall."

The sides are up!

Ed with shelter coming along.

Ed on top of the world!

The finished product picture coming soon.

Hospital Stay for Mother

You may also find this post on Frances May's blog at http://howisfranmay.blogspot.com/

New Presidential Candidate (Wait for video to load, then click picture below to start.)

Our First Trip - Part 2

We had a good day with Barbara Elliot and left on Wednesday to visit our dear friends, Jan and David Clements, who live near The Villages (near Ocala) in the Stonecrest development. They surprised us, showing up at our rig as soon as we pulled into the Southern Oaks RV Resort. We spent the evening with them - life is so convenient as they can use their golf cart to get to most any shopping or eating place.

On July 4th, we went to Jan and David's for a cook-out, along with Diane (a sister), Roger, Matt, Anita (her other sister), her finance Ron, and Sierra (Jan's Weimaraner). Ron presented a drama he had written in 1976 where he "became" Thomas Jefferson - it was very interesting. A thunderstorm prevented the golf cart parade and contest. Later I helped Jan with her computer and Ed helped Dave with his TV. We had a wonderful time with lots of laughter and good conversation.

We then started North for a night in Savannah , one of the largest ports in the U.S. We drove into town and had fun walking along the old Riverfront area. We had $1 beers and some fantastic nachos at one of the many neat restaurants there.

Sunday night we stayed in Hillsville, VA, which is just over the NC border and were overjoyed at the cool weather.......we love sleeping with the windows open. It was frustrating that they had WiFi but we couldn't get on the internet.

We got home on July 7th and yes, the RV did fit into the shelter that Ed built. Now I'm eager to get all our "stuff" into the coach and put away. It was hard not to buy various things but we already have 2 mustards, ketchups, etc. from our stay in Florida last winter. We only bought a small mustard, bread, bologna, milk, and cereal.

Today I'm off to spend some time with Mother. She's still in Assisted Living and dealing with terrible pain. Tomorrow I'm going with her to the hospital for an epidural steroid injection to her lower back. Oh, how I hope she can get some relief.

Nice Nest - 1st Trip Part 1

Here we are, at last in our nest on wheels! We flew into Orlando yesterday and Barbara Elliot (the dive buddy we housesat for January - March) met us and took us to the RV repair place where we had it stored.

We're checked into a county park called Manatee Hammock on US1 in Cocoa. There are many little glitches and a gazillion things to learn how to do but we're getting there. In fact, Paul, the technician from Coastal RV, stopped by on his way home from work and helped Ed figure out a few things.

The RV has been parked at Coastal RV on US1 in Cocoa since March. 12 RVs were broken into -- flat screen TVs and other electronic equipment were the target. They broke the passenger window in our coach which will be covered by our insurance and they put a temporary plexiglass window in until we can get it fixed...............we thought nothing was taken.

During the time we were carrying our things in, I noticed the bedspread was missing but thought to myself how smart it was to put the new bedspread away so it wouldn't get dirty when they were working in there.

As we're getting ready for bed, Ed opened the space underneath to get the blanket and bedspread out. After searching every nook and cranny, we realized they weren't there. Ed, the optimist, said maybe they got it dirty and were having it cleaned. A call this morning confirmed what we really thought - they were stolen. Paul said they took the mattresses from 2 units and several other bedspreads........obviously to use for packing around all their TVs and other goodies.

Insurance will cover it but I doubt we'll find the same one - and I really liked it.......oh, well, it could be worse.

We're off to spend the day - what's left of it (It's already 11 am......retirees don't "do mornings" well) with Barbara. I'm "aquiver" with excitement because I'm going to Bonworth's, my favorite clothing store and Beall's, the place for deals.

Do you "Bling"?

Step right up, folks, here's your BIG chance for the buy of a lifetime!!

In one of the shops at Dulles Airport, I saw blue bottles and white frosted bottles that looked like wine bottles for sale. They had the word "Bling" on them in shiny, glittery letters. And, what a total bargain - the large ones were only $49.94 and the small ones were only $29.95.

I sort of rubbed my eyes like they do in cartoons and had to verify with the clerk that I was seeing what I thought I was seeing and sure enough, the contents of the bottles were plain, ole water - as in drinking water!!!

Young people have been brainwashed to think that they must have the fancy Starbuck's coffee for $4 or more and that there is something wrong if you drink tap water.......you must pay money and get tap water in plastic bottles. Guess this Bling H2O is the next step in brainwashing!