Today is nearly a month since I last blogged.

This is the second time trying on this one I blew the first one away because

it seemed so whiney. I am so very good at complaining and forget that I  have

so many things to be thankful for!

I am very grateful that the wound that I had surgery for is healing quite nicely,

It is closed, when I wear this cast it is very well protected. I have to keep it

on for about nine more days.  They don't want anything rubbing on the

wounds and potentially making then open up again.

       My Storm Trooper Boot!



The other thing I thank my God for is the wonderful friends that are praying

for my healing, and for Mom as she is slowly getting weaker every day it seems.

It is really hard to see her losing more weight and strength. We took her off of

all her extra meds this week, and yesterday was one of the first days I saw

her since then. It seemed that she was way more forgetful and extremely sleepy.

I guess this is quite normal, but it is still hard to see it.

That being said, I thank God regularly that I have my mom and that she is 

not in pain. I'm pretty sure she doesn't like where and how she is at this stage 

of her life and in this condition, but she does not complain. I pray that somehow

I can grow old as gracefully as Mom has, because even though she is not the same

Mom anymore, she is still a lady. She is amazing!

I am very grateful also for my friends who have so graciously brought us food

on occasion. It has been so appreciated. I'm certainly not losing any weight,

but I can't blame those offerings anymore than I can my own cooking!

I really need to try harder to feed us nutritionally and not just my comfort foods!

Well -- I think I have rambled on enough for today. Maybe I should rename my blog

Grumbling Mumblings!



Merry Christmas

A little late I know, but there is a reason:

This is the reason it's late -

Friday, December 23rd  I had the small hole in the top

of my foot debrided, the 5 remaining screws taken

out, except for one that has broken off and is laying toward the

bottom of my foot (on the xrays).

Doc didn't want me moving my foot around a lot,

so he stuck it in this thing, with a wound vac ---

(that is the meter thing at my knee that has a little tube thingie

connected to the wound covering on my foot - I guess -

I haven't SEEN what Doc did)! ---

and told me to stay off of it.

I have tried. Hope I have done a good job of it.

For all of you who wonder how one can sit for so long -

You can come watch me sit for the three more days of wearing

this wound vac and cast - I hope.

Depends, I guess, on whether this has helped my foot to finally heal.

Don't know what the other case scenario is...

I don't think I want to know.

* * *

So - it is what it is.

I sit and veg in my chair some more.

Trying to teach myself to knit socks again.

I haven't been able to do that yet, but I am working on it.

But this forced immobility may help me to learn how!!

* * *

We had a very quiet and fairly uneventful Christmas.

We haven't even opened the gifts that are under the tree.

Could be because they are all stuff we chose when we were

out shopping together. Or stuff we got at parties.

I will show the one fancy thing we got when Lee gets the stand for it fixed.

It is beautiful!!

* * *

We are very thankful for the real reason for this season -

Jesus our Lord and Christ the Messiah.

Emmanuel.

So VERY grateful for our God and Father Who sent Jesus

to be our substitution on the cross for all our sins.

We thank God that Jesus was able to carry those sins

because He was / IS so holy and sinless.

What a thrill!

What an incredible Gift!!!

Thank you, Lord!



October 2011

  David 

We were blessed to have a visit from David, our bestest son, in October.

He was here for about 8 days, and we had a wonderful

visit with him - possibly the best ever.

Both of these pictures are from my phone,

so they aren't very good quality when translated to Blogger

through my email. I took them when we were at Mom's visiting.

I love the generation pictures, Dave with his Grandpa Frank behind him,

and of course Dave and Grandma Lois.

She really enjoyed the his visits while he was here.

* * *

We have been rather busy the last few months, hence my giant lapse of blogging.

The end of July we had to move Mother from her two room suite in

assisted living to the skilled nursing wing.

She was quite ill at that time, and it took about a month for her

to get back to normal.

Now she is doing really well, compared to how she was on July 21st or so.

Thank the good Lord!

* * *

My dearest sister has been here twice since the end of July.

Mary came to help me get Mom's stuff out of her assisted living quarters.

It took us five solid days to get those 2 rooms cleared out!

Most of the stuff is either at the Etcetera Shop

in town, in a storage unit, or in my house.

Mary and I were so busy I didn't take any decent pictures of her.

After that week, Mary went back home to Alaska to work her

last week of work so she could retire!! YaY!! She has joined the  ranks!!

* * *

In September, Mary and Roy (also finally retired) came

back down to Kansas to visit for about 10 days.

We so enjoyed having them here.

They drove around the lower western 48 for about a month and a half.

We were visited during the early part of their tour.

They managed to hit 10 or 11 states on their drive.

Then they had had enough driving and sitting on rental car seats.

I again failed to get decent pictures. Good grief!!

* * *

David came to visit during October. He also talked his

second cousin Maia into

coming down to Newton for a couple day visit.

That was great fun - having both of them here.

Maia is alot of fun and interesting to have around

- enjoyed the two day visit

very much!

The time with David was very special for both Lee and I.

* * *

The end of October was Judgement House at church.

I helped with doing make up for scene 2 and

Lee was in the prayer room all 6 nights

of the presentation.

* * *

Last weekend I had the opportunity to speak at a retreat in Wichita.

This was the pilot retreat put on by the newly formed

Essentials for Married Women board.

The retreat was Friday night and Saturday til 4:30 p m.

It was a very nice time at the Vineyard Fellowship

and after I was done speaking Saturday afternoon,

I could relax and enjoy.

I enjoyed all of it, but this was a pilot for me too

since I had never thought of myself as a retreat speaker.

I was just one of 6 speakers, so it was less stress than

a whole weekend of speaking would be.

The ladies at the church were so gracious and

it was very well organized.

It all just showed me again how wonderful

our heavenly Father is in His care for us.

I would never have considered that I would ever

be a speaker anywhere - at my home church or anywhere else,

but God will use whoever is willing to say yes to Him!

Remember that if you say "No Lord," He is NOT your Lord!!!

* * *

My brother, Jon Wallace

My older brother, Jon, would have been 70 years old today.

He has been gone for 35 years, having died of a myocardial infarction when he was 35 years old.

Wow - I wonder what he would have been like had he lived to this age.

He had 3 little boys and a wife when he died, the youngest wasn't a year old yet.

Now he has 5 granddaughters and one grandson - his namesake!

There a lot of what ifs that come to mind when considering all he missed.

He was a promising orthopedic surgeon in the U S Navy when he died. He was on TDY and in Guam when the heart attack happened. They tried for about an hour to revive him.

What an awful thing to happen.

My heart still goes out to his widow and sons, even though they have all moved on and lived their lives. And for Mom who lost her first born so very young. Losing Jon was hard on the whole family.

Anyway - Happy Birthday to Jon. It is good to remember him today.

(I would put a picture in here if I could scan my pictures - but alas, I have no decent scanner! Bummer..

Trodding - Slowly

Mom was moved to skilled nursing at Presbyterian Manor a week ago Friday.

They allowed her to go back to a normal diet - no more pureed food. It has helped her eat a little more. If she eats half of anything on her plate, we figure she doing really well. Then later after another blood test, they took her off of thickened liquids so she would get more fluid. That has helped a lot. I don't think I could drink glop either!

My precious sister came down from Alaska a week ago Saturday. Boy, was I glad to see her!
Having her here to help clean out Mom's 2 room suite was a God-send! It took us the better part of 5 days, but we got 'er done.

This is just another part of the "Process," I know, but grieving each step is something I wasn't expecting. It's just that we seem to be losing a little more of our precious Mom with each step. And she is losing more and more freedom, because of a body that just doesn't want to work right.

When Mom first got to skilled, they were taking her to meals and everywhere in a wheel chair. Now, she is back to using her walker quite a bit. Glad for that in a way, but it is hard to watch her try to get her feet to move, and to see her body bowed down a bit more. I really hate what Parkinson's Disease is doing to her, but can't do a thing about it.

Mom has been really quiet the last week or so. This after being so very chatty when she was fighting off a UTI. That is probably why she was hallucinating, and was so very weak. It seemed like, on that Thursday, she was at the Gate! But the mansion must not be ready yet, because she is still here.

Having my sis here was a real high for Mom and me. She had to go back home last Saturday so she could work one last week, then retire. Finally. It will be so good to have her done with that period of her life. She has worked all her life, since about 14 years of age. She has been much more industrious that way than I ever was. I am so proud of her for putting in THIRTY years in that lab at the hospital where she lives. That is quite a feat, in my book. Way to go, sister mine!!