Assisted Living for Mother

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

Bringing Our Baby Home

The time has finally arrived......Ed and I are flying out of Dulles on July 1st. We'll land in Orlando and our friend, Barbara Elliot is picking us up. We plan to go right to the place we have the coach stored and start RVing! We'll take about a week to return to Virginia.

Taking A Breather....

Things are progressing slowly for Mother. She has started her therapy and hopefully, by next Friday will be able to move into assisted living on a month by month basis for rehab. She is still having a lot of pain and it hurts to see her suffer so much. I think that being right there for her therapy instead of painfully having to get down her steps at home and into a car will be wonderful. Also, she won't have to worry about what to eat.

Several people have said she's going to be surprised how many people she already knows, plus she'll make some new friends. Our cousin (and dear friend), Jim Bowman, volunteers there as a driver a LOT. We know he'll be checking on her, especially when we travel.

The RV shelter is finished but we need to get Mother settled before we go to Florida to get our motor home. I won't be posting for a while but hope to start again when we hit the road!

Mom's diagnosis

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

Friends from Albuquerque

Jerry and Kathy Millspaugh and I have been friends since about 1980 when I joined the Undersea Adventurers Scuba Club, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The club had about 200 people in it and we used to observe that it was half diving and half social. The friends I made there will always have a special place in my heart.

Kathy had bad arthritis and noticed when they vacationed in dry climates, she felt much better. IBM worked out something so Jerry could complete his work from Albuquerque until he retired. They bought a fifth wheel RV, which they call their Roadhouse, and have traveled all over!! They usually spend the spring in Florida to be with their two children and their grandchildren.

This year, they're on a long planned trip to Canada and stopped here in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia for a visit to the Angelil homestead called Blueberry Hill. I took them to see cows being milked in a dairy barn, a house of 30,000 young chicks, and an egg operation. I think Kathy was especially pleased with the flat of eggs given to her.

Janet sorts eggs coming down the conveyor belt. Notice the chicken looking through the window.

Jerry and Ed watch............it's tedious work!

Flat-out Like a Lizard Drinking Caring for Mom

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


.......that's what they say in Australia when someone's super busy! In this case, I'm referring me being busy and to Mother (age 82) being flat-out.

(I'm prejudiced because she's MY mom but, isn't she pretty?)

Mother had gotten along pretty well after her sprained hip ordeal in late March. Her doctor sent home health therapists who really helped her. She had even driven herself to the Wellness Center for her water aerobics class.

But, last Saturday this pain started in her lower back. Her doctor sent her for bloodwork and an MRI. He says it's not sciatica. He mentioned a pinched nerve but I am wondering if it could be a hernitated disc......this is her 9th day in pain. If she stays still, flat in bed, she feels OK but the slighted movement brings on such pain and those type spasms that "grab" you and are so strong they take your breath away.

We'll call the doctor first thing tomorrow and hopefully the MRI will show something! She can't keep on this way.

Anyway, one of the purposes of this post is to explain why I've gotten behind on my email responses. Ed's making some progress on the RV shelter.....got siding on the large wall and a small section of roof installed yesterday. I'm busy with Mother's care and sneaking out to garden as much as possible!

More later.....

Think before you shoot....

Put yourself in your photos!

I would like to make a suggestion that I think is very important. I lived in Australia for a year in 1974 and made a scrapbook when I got back. Now, all these years later, the only photos that really matter are the ones with me in them.

I used to think it seemed conceited to ask people to snap my picture but have gotten over it. One example is the grandmother or grandfather who takes pictures at all family gatherings but never puts herself/himself in them....PLEASE do yourself and your heirs a favor and get yourself into those pictures!

My dear aunt died 3 years ago and she was a world traveler. She had thousands of pictures in a gazillion albums, plus, thousands of photos in boxes everywhere. Out of a thousand, we might find one photo with her in it. We could care less about seeing a picture of a tree or a rock or a mountain.....we want to see Aunt Mary in those places! She could have just bought postcards and left her camera at home.

Please consider taking pictures that will mean something to you and your children in the future. People are always happy to snap a picture of you (they won't think you're vain and if they do, who cares?)....and there's always the self-timer feature on cameras these days. I rest my case.

p.s. Oops, "gotta" unrest my case to mention......

1. TRY your best to label the photos the moment you get them. Many people, like me, plan to do it later, then years later you find this sleeve of pictures and you have no idea where or when they were taken. The same goes for digital pictures......put a caption on them when you download them into your computer.

2. I've also learned that putting a caption below a photo in an album is great. But, most albums fall apart after 10-20 years and labels fall out. Do label your albums for enjoyable viewing, but also (They have acid free pencils made just for this.) label every photo on the back of the photo itself. (They have acid free pencils made just for this purpose.)

OK, now I really rest my case.

Lunch with Leslee (from Alaska)

May 1, 2008 - This is Part #2 from Email Mistake Yields New Friend

TA DA! Email pals meet in person in Harrisonburg, VA.

Mary May Angelil, Leslee Orebaugh from Alaska, Lois Brown Horne

I was not disappointed at all.........quite the contrary, Leslee was absolutely delightful! She's lively, self-confident, open and has had a fascinating life. We all have so much in common and talked over lunch for more than three hours! Lois went to the Iditarod Dog Sled races in February so they had lots to discuss.

I look forward to spending more time with Leslee, keeping touch through email, and maybe visiting her some day but I have NO thoughts of moving to Alaska (BRRrrr... )

Roots in Singers Glen

The Dedication Day for Old Salem, our moved and restored 1833 log cabin church was April 27, 2008.

This was the mother church for our church and several others. I am especially fond of this project because my great great grandfather, Levi May, was the assistant builder back in the early 1800's.

Old Salem has been re-established as a chapel that will serve as a memorial to the Christian congregations that shaped the character and culture of northwestern Rockingham County, Virginia.

Email Mistake Yields New Friend

It never ceases to amaze me what a small world it is. Email has opened a whole new world of possibilities, as illustrated by the emails below.....

November 16, 2007 - I received an email that was a comment about a joke. I was a bit leery because I didn't recognize the email but I hesitantly replied saying, "Do I know you? Your name isn't ringing a bell."

November 17, 2007 - leslee@ replied, "No, and it shouldn't ring a bell. You sent this to Carol Nesselrodt and I mistakenly thought I was replying to her. My error. Sorry."

November 17, 2007 - I replied, "I don't know Carol either but it's fine if she wanted to share a cute email. With names like Nesselrodt and Orebaugh you must be from or connected the Shenandoah Valley so I KNOW you're a nice person!

November 18, 2007 - leslee@ replied, "Oh, you are so right. We are from the Shenandoah Valley. You must be to in order to recognize their origin. Again, sorry for any trouble I may have caused.

Oh, by the way, I am in Alaska (have been for 20 years) and today it was 31 degrees and no snow. We had about a 1/2 inch last night. We probably will not see the ground again until March. My cousin emailed and said the valley had some cold weather."

November 18, 2007 - I replied, "Wow, I've never known anyone who actually lives in Alaska. I've heard wonderful things about it! How did you happen to end up there?"

November 19, 2007 - lesslee@ replied, "How did I end up here . . . well you will never believe a flip of a coin but that is exactly what happened.............. "

.......And that's how it all got began....... a series of emails as I got to "know" Leslee and her fascinating life story.

December 23, 2007 - lesslee@ wrote
”Subject: we are closer than you think
We are so much closer than you think. I had a good laugh yesterday when I was telling my cousin and best friend (Carolyn Jean Bradburn Arnett) about how you and I met. She says you have been to her home and than you went to school with another of my cousins (Phyllis Mason Flick). So, how's that for a small world.”

April 29, 2008 - Leslee is here in Harrisonburg, Virginia!

She’s visiting Carolyn (her cousin and best friend). On Thursday, Leslee, Lois (my friend since first grade), Phyllis (her cousin, my good friend since high school) and I are going to have lunch together. (Carolyn has to work :( , poor dear.)

As I told Leslee on the phone, I feel like I'm going to meet a movie star and should ask for her autograph! Who would guess a mistaken email message reply from Leslee to me on November 19, 2007 would have opened such a plethera of connections!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

May 1, 2008 - Click here for: LUNCH WITH LESLEE, My Email Pal!

The Word for Today - Benign

It is with great pleasure that I report the Word for Today is "BENIGN".
"How do you spell relief?" B-E-N-I-G-N!

(If this doesn't make sense to you see my last post - Life's Lumps.)

Life Has Lumps Sometimes

Like a good girl, I had my yearly mammogram a few weeks ago. A week later I got a letter and a call from my doctor saying there were some suspicious "lumps". I went to the hospital for a Diagnostic Mammogram on Thursday. After the first film, I started feeling light-headed and asked for ammonia. It didn't help any that this test squished me even harder than a normal mammogram. The technician had me sit on a tall chair for the rest of the pictures and it was all I could do to get through it. I had tried to tell myself that this was "nothing" but I think my body's reaction showed more how I really felt.

A few minutes later, Dr. Norris, the doctor reading the film, came in. He said the suspicious area showed up and he wanted to do a biopsy. I told him I was "allergic" to pain so he said he'd give me some Zanex ahead of time to help me cope. Meg, the coordinating nurse, called me at home and we set up the appointment. She was very descriptive and the whole procedure sounded awful. I had a very rough night with not much sleep.

Ed took me to the hospital Friday morning at 9:30. Meg, the nurse, was very supportive and understanding since she'd had 3 biopsies herself. (We later learned she had cancer, surgery, chemo, etc. But she was determined to get back to normal life. She's perfect for this job.)

While in the nurses' area signing the 2,000 forms, there was a nurse who looked familiar to me. I asked her name and before she finished saying it, I knew who she was. Sandi and her husband, Charlie Collette were in my scuba club in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida! They moved up here 5 years ago to Briery Branch, which is about 15 miles from Singers Glen. Charlie was a boat captain, has retired, AND they now have a motor home! Everyone was entertained listening to us discuss the various people we remembered.

Then, it was time for the biopsy. The machine is in a large van, shared by several hospitals. I was on a table on my stomach with my poor boob hanging down through a big hole. They REALLY squished, squashed, and squeezed to take more films from various angles. They decided which shot gave the best view and then clamped down hard in that position.

About the time Dr. Norris started giving me the Novocaine shot and inserting the "tube", through which he withdrew tissue, the nurses started asking me about scuba diving and had me chattering through it all. I told them that I thought they squeezed me to give me so much pain that I hardly noticed what the doctor was doing. I was on the table about 20 minutes. Dr. Norris said the lump seemed smaller than he had expected and he didn't think it was cancerous. If it is, they've caught it very early so can nip it in the bud.

Ed brought me home and I slept all afternoon. Today I feel weak - like limp spaghetti - and my poor squished boob is tender. But it's over. Now I just have to wait till Tuesday evening for the results. Breast cancer does not run in my family so I'm reminding myself of that. At least the biopsy is behind me.

Never again will I think, "Oh." when someone tells me they had a biopsy. Lumps are lumps, wherever or however they appear in our lives.

RV's Need Homes, too!

Ed has worked diligently at getting a shelter constructed for the RV. He's spent hours considering which design and construction materials to use. Then, as with any construction project, once you get estimates and hire someone, you're pretty much at their mercy ........oh, and the weather plays into this, too!
Our two acres is all hills. The only flat piece of land was between Mother's sheds and barn. So, that's where it's going. The sides are up and surely do look tall, don't they?

After a day of putting in rebar and a couple truckloads of gravel, they poured the concrete today.

Maggie's Murder Mystery Party

Some people think nothing ever happens in the boonies but that's not altogether true! Saturday night we went to a Murder Mystery Party at Maggie's house in Singers Glen. (Maggie is the gal who house-sat for us while we were in Florida January-March and she's also my hairdresser.)

It's the 1st Annual Deadwood Poker Tournament Party!

For weeks, people have been pouring into the small western town of Deadwood for the biggest poker tournament this side of the Mississippi. As the tournament concludes, a celebration party is planned at the Deadwood Saloon.

Bonnie Banker, Marshal Dalton, Sally Starr, Holly Hickok (Maggie), Black Barbara, Minnie Money, and Harry High-Stakes

Mitch Maverick, Gambling Jack, Montgomery Money,
Clay Coldwell, Jesse Wales

Here's Montgomery Money (Ed) and Minnie, his daughter, (notice her bustle).

I was Black Barbara, an outlaw. ("She's been in town all week and no one knows quite why.") I borrowed the dress and hat from a lady who grew up in Singers Glen and keeps such items for the Singers Glen Opera every 5 years. My friend, Beth, came and helped me dress. I never could have gotten it put together without her. The bustle she pinned stayed put and once I put in the five antique 10" hatpins that Uncle Bob loaned me, the hat stayed on. It was awesome to wear an authentic dress and hat made long ago. Several of us studied the dress and were amazed with the hand stitching and the hand worked buttonholes.

We didn't solve the mystery as to who murdered Mitch Maverick, but we ate some good food and had some laughs. There were several people I didn't know and if I see them on the street, I'll have to say, "Hello, Bonnie Banker" or "Hi, Gambling Jack" because everyone stayed in their roles all evening!

Mother's Mishap - The Rescue Squad...

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

The Rescue Squad took Mother to the Emergency Room Sunday night, March 30th, with severe hip pain. They did an X-ray and a CAT scan but found no fracture. Her doctor saw her Monday afternoon. He agreed with the ER doctors that it appeared to be a hip sprain/strain and prescribed bed rest.

Mother could not think of anything specific she did to bring on such pain. It is my sister, Anita, who saved the day. About 9 p.m. that evening, Anita called from Ohio, having just talked to Mother, and asked us to go check on her. Maybe Anita's motherly instincts sensed the pain in Mother's voice. And, sure enough, we called the rescue squad. Thank you, Anita!

Her doctor is sending Home Health nurses in for several weeks. One is an Occupational Therapist who helps with life skills such as bathing and gives her exercises. The other one is a Physical Therapist who focuses on exercises to build leg and arm strength.

For me to manage all her meals, meds, and sleep at her house was taking its toll. We were blessed to find a lady to come in to help out with various household needs. Ed has been a Godsend through all this.

I think there is light at the end of the tunnel......Mother started feeling a bit better yesterday. She has "graduated" to a cane and has put her bedside potty chair into storage. We're in the process of adding grab rails in the shower and bathroom for added safety.

Tomorrow, the therapist plans to start working on getting up and down the outside back porch stairs. Mother's looking forward to going back to her Wellness Center for her water aerobics class three times a week and for just getting out in general.

But....but, it's spring now, isn't it?

We're back in Virginia and.........wait, how could this be - - SNOW?? During the night I got up and as I glanced out I thought that the moon surely was bright - NOT! The ground, trees, and bushes were covered with snow, although there was none on the roads. It melted quickly this morning but as I sit here at 3:30 p.m., I'm looking out the window at snow flurries. Maybe having St. Patrick's Day, First Day of Spring, and Easter all in one week, confused Mother Nature??

It's amazing how much there is to do after being gone for 10 weeks. I'm almost caught up with the laundry and Ed's already making calls to get the concrete pad poured and the RV shelter built. This is one time that I'm glad I'm a pack rat because I'm coming across quite a few items from our other motor home. Also, I have enough clothes for 3 wardrobes so don't need to buy any more -- but please don't tell Ed that, OK?


BTW (by the way) I'd surely like to hear from you, either by email or click "comments."

Catch up Posts

As I learn more about blogging, I am learning how to make things easier for our readers. That said, I'm going to lead you to two posts that were added/updated. Click on the titles here: St. Pat's Day and Heading Home & Pelican Place & Mary's Grandchildren

Also, my scuba diving buddies are living in their RV full time (They're called full-timers.) and they're both computer geeks. Click here for a sample of their newsletter. You might want to subscribe: Geeks On Tour Newsletter

St. Pat's Day and Going Home Soon

We are here at The Great Outdoors for one more night. Tomorrow, we return the coach to Coastal RV and will go over the additional things that need to be fixed. We'll leave the Explorer and get our Mercury.

Then we'll go south to Rockledge to return Barb's cooler, pick up some mail, and buy some oranges for Mother. At which point, we hit the road......and will arrive in Singers Glen, Virginia on Wednesday night.

I need to start packing and will have to do some figuring. I want to leave as many things here as possible because there are lots of items we still have from our other RV that will make life more convenient. I plan to bring some of the little things on the plane when we return in a month or so.

p.s. Today we went to a huge shopping center about 20 miles west of here where Ed finally found his pastrami on rye at Toojay's Deli. I had corned beef, cabbage and carrots so now I should have good luck, right?

Playing House

When we were kids on the farm in Virginia, Daddy let us use an old chicken house as our playhouse. He even put a couch and an old table in there. That's kind of how I feel in the RV!

I've pointed out to Ed that we have 30 days to report any problems and even if we don't get them fixed right now, they'll be noted and Lazydays will take care of it later. Those 30 days are slipping by!

We found Coastal RV on U.S. 1 south of Titusville and they fixed everything that we had found up to that point....they have worked with Lazydays before so they just billed Lazydays directly without having us as middlemen.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Barbara returned from Jim's last Saturday and I knew we were in her space. I've been in her position before and it's taxing.........even though we're clean and quiet, you know about "your space".
Barb works at home, which made me all the more aware that we needed to move on! She was gracious but I felt she needs some time to herself. Barbara is a medical editor and works soooo hard - getting in 8 hours a day. She works at home from 4:30 a.m. till 1:30 p.m. I admire her self-discipline, especially after she showed me what she does. Doctors dictate notes, sometimes in their bathroom or cars, and a computer interprets it and types it out. Just as with literal language translation, this doesn't always make sense.

Barbara sits with headphones hearing the doctor while looking at the same thing on the screen. She goes in word by word and changes phrasing, correcting grammar, and any other detail you could imagine. Friday we packed our Mercury with the things Mother couldn't carry on the plane and things we wouldn't need in the RV, such as our winter coats. We left the Mercury at Coastal RV and off we went in our motorhome and tow car. We're staying at The Great Outdoors, a fancy resort with park homes and RV lots. They gave us a few free nights, in hopes that we'll buy, of course.

Back to the "Playhouse Concept". It's such fun to have everything right at your fingertips! It's a good thing Walmart is nearby because we go get a few things every day. It's amazing how many things we take for granted, such as dish detergent, dishtowels, bathroom cleaner and spray, drawer organizers, etc.

It looks like we'll leave the resort Tuesday morning, which will put us home on Wednesday night or Thursday morning. The weather is perfect today - 75 degrees with sun and a breeze. That's it from the Angelil's Playhouse for today!

Space ShuttleLift-Off at 2 :28 a.m.

"Spurting flames into a pitch-black sky, space shuttle Endeavour momentarily turned night to day as it blasted off at 2:28 a.m. ET Tuesday on a marathon mission to deliver the first Japanese section of the International Space Station." USA Today

We saw this Japanese section when we were at Kennedy Space Center a couple of weeks ago so I was motivated to get myself awake at 2:20 a.m., put on my jacket, shoes, and glasses and stand in Barbara's driveway (we're house-sitting for her here in Rockledge, FL about 20 miles from the Space Center).

All of a sudden, a huge area of sky was brightly lit - so bright that it looked like the Northern Lights, except it was all yellow from where I was sanding. I can't imagine how many watts must be produced to light such a large area! Then, I saw the fireball from the shuttle rise for only a few seconds until it disappeared into the thick cloud cover. (I didn't take this photo.)

Ed said he'd just watch the videos but this morning observed that they keep the cameras so close on the shuttle that you can't get a sense of the overall picture, which makes me all the more pleased that I got up for it!