Limping Along...

We continue to fill our lives even with some body problems. 

Sunday, April 7th, was our son-in-law's birthday. I posted this on Facebook. "I am very slow today...but I get there. Join me in wishing our son-in-law, Todd Tyler, a very happy birthday!! Green Bay all the way for Todd. The second picture is Todd with his sons, Derrick and Mitchell. We are sure hoping you received your birthday t-shirt we sent with Katelyn. Happy Birthday Young Man. Here's to many more. Love Ya Bunches!!"

During that evening, our 6th great grandmonster was born. Rachel was admitted to the hospital Thursday to be induced. By Sunday, she still had not had the baby so a C-Section was performed to bring Phoebe into the world. Here is Phoebe Thompson and her mom, Rachel.

On April 11th we got these pictures. 

Nissa, Phoebe's grandmother through Paul, got to hold her newest grandchild on April 13th. Nissa wears grandmotherhood well.

And today, Sunday, April 14th, Rachel posted this picture of Phoebe ready for church.

She looks like a very healthy baby and we look forward to meeting her this week. 

Monday, April 8th, my day started great with a call from Dr. Lyons office. He had the MRI results and was referring me to Dr. Sajadi, the surgeon. I now needed to wait for Dr. Sajadi's office to call and set and appointment for the consult visit. Progress but still waiting.

This day the United States was set for a Solar Eclipse. This doesn't happen often. When it does, it only covers part of the United States. Kentucky was in the path for a viewing of the Total Eclipse, not a part. Well parts of Kentucky were in the path. Someone posted before the 8th where there would be a possible viewing of the Eclipse in all the United States. I saved the ones for where our family currently lives (Kentucky and Michigan) and for the states in which Claude and I were born (Utah and Louisiana). 

Just about everyone was looking for the special glass you are to wear to look at a Total Eclipse. We were not part of just about everyone. However we were outside when it happened. As it turns out, Georgetown and surrounding areas were covered by clouds making a good viewing almost impossible. We were outside because we were trying once again to work in our yard. We both agreed not to look up. When we first went out, it was in the 70's and the sun was shining. This felt very warm to us. Claude set to work cutting the front lawn and I went to the front and one side of the house to weed. With Claude's sprained ankle and my torn rotator cuff, it is almost comical to watch us. Claude got the grass cut and I got the weeding done with only my left hand. Then we went inside for a break. When Claude was revived, we went outside again. I started on the back yard and Claude edged the front yard. When he finished, we stopped to rest again. When rested, Claude cut the back yard while I weeded some more in the back yard. Then we stopped to rest again. When Claude was ready, he went to edge the back yard while I finished weeding the back yard. As our good fortune would have it, The edger ran out of the plastic that actually cuts the weeds. Now, this is where I am verklempt. He has a roll of this plastic string but it has to be 'manually' loaded onto his edger. I cannot understand why anyone would make an edger without a cartridge of this plastic string that could be just popped into the edger. It takes a ridiculous amount of patience to manually rewind the plastic string from the spool he buys to inside of his edger. He decided not to edge and reload his edger another time. I finished weeding and we went to Burger King for dinner. That's how you roll when you are in your 70's and have limbs that are worn out.

I did have two friends that posted pictures they took of the eclipse. Below are two pictures from each of these friends. Way cool. 

We did notice as we moved to work in the back yard and the hour came for the actual eclipse that the sky was darker and the temperature did drop. For us, working in the yard, this was a HUGE blessing.

Tuesday, April 9th, I was scheduled for a haircut with Jenna Thacker. Claude was to go with me and get his hair cut as well. Alas, Claude was up in the early hours hurling. In the morning, I gave him a pill to help with that. It was only minutes before he hurled again. Ugh. I am not driving as I can't lift my right arm very far. I decided to drive myself to Jenna's. Claude stayed home sleeping off whatever bug he had. I did okay with the driving. It was at 2pm and the roads are not full of traffic. I was able to only have to make a few turns to get to her home and all went well. I got a great haircut which will, hopefully, be easier to blow dry with my impaired limb. I will not drive though unless I truly have to. In the evening, Claude threw up one more time before ceasing that nonsense. Since I am Claude's barber, we will need to find another time for him to get a haircut. 

Wednesday, April 10th, Claude was feeling better. I knew this because he really wanted to go in the afternoon to get a smoothie. It rained a lot this day. Other than our smoothie run, we stayed inside and I did work on my laptop.

Thursday, April 11th, while working in Sandiland, I looked out my window to see our resident bunny. This is a picture through the screen but I didn't want to scare him away. Or her. How does one know? I have since seen our bunny one other time. 

One of my projects in Sandiland was to update my plaque with family birthdays and anniversaries. I needed to add Phoebe. It felt good to get this done. This was a gift from Nissa and I have loved having it over my desk to keep me straight about these dates.

In the afternoon, I went to get my shower. I have religiously carried my cellphone in case the surgeon calls about my shoulder. Wouldn't you know when I was in the shower with my hair full of shampoo my cellphone rings. Later, when I got out, I checked my phone and it was the surgeon. Murphy's Law!! I called the office back and set up an appointment for April 30th. This was the earliest one he had. By the time I have this consult, it will be two months since I fell. Ugh!

In the evening, the Elkhorn Creek Ward Relief Society held its monthly activity. The theme was "Bloom Where You are Planted". We had great fun sharing how we Bloom Where We Are Planted. Then we made flower wall hanging and filled a little vase with flowers. 

Great activity and lots of fun enjoying these 'sisters' company.

Friday, April 12th,  I was so productive in Sandiland getting things done. I even stopped for a while and read my novel. 

Claude was looking at a repair project on the shutters in the front of our home. The wind got under one and blew till the vibration took the top screws out of that shutter. The middle and lower screws were loose. Claude tightened them and put a bit of duct tape on them so they wouldn't blow anymore till he could figure out the best way to repair them. As we sat in our living room in the evening, Claude said, "If I have the right stuff..." and I interrupted with "You always have the Right Stuff!". This is a phrase from a movie. Claude looked up and grinned. It made him so happy to hear that little phrase. These are the moments in life that bind you together in happy ways.

Katelyn sent us pictures of Raelyn performing in her school program. She is in the white dress at the right end of the front row.

Saturday, April 13th, Claude felt impressed we needed to start our day with a biscuit. We hopped in the Jeep and did just that. Watched Pratt Landscape mow the lawn of the Georgetown Community Hospital. Good start to our day.

When we got home, our neighbor, Catherine was outside. Claude pulled into the driveway, and I went over to visit with Catherine. One knows these will be long visits as Catherine lives alone and really appreciates the time to talk to others. We had lots of catching up to do. While we were talking, we heard sirens. They turned into Ward Hall Estates. Hmmm.... Soon the fire truck was also coming into the neighborhood. We looked across the neighborhood and could see smoke rising from a house a couple of blocks over. They were fortunate and got it out really quickly. 

Our Bailey was able to go on the Oldham County High School Band Trip over Spring Break, April 2nd - April 9th. When she was returning home, Bailey made and album of her pictures and shared it with us. Gotta love technology! They marched at Disneyland and took a very short cruise. Bailey is a seasoned cruiser so she enjoyed that as well. These are a few of my favorite pictures from her album.

Claude got his 'right stuff' and repaired the shutter. I must say it is great to have a handyman for a husband. 

Sunday, April 14, 2024, has been a good Sabbath Day so far. Excellent Sacrament Meeting and Relief Society lesson taught by Elizabeth Christensen. Elizabeth shared her favorite quote from the play "Camelot". It is: "We are less that a drop in the great blue motion of the sunset sea. But it seems some of the drops sparkle." Cool. I think I want to be a sparkly drop.

The lesson I am learning as the week progressed is how grateful I am that Claude and I have stuck it out through our marriage. With both of us a bit lame, it is nice to see us helping each other, being patient with our slowness but still working together to try and get things done. I will state firmly that being married for a long time gives you many blessings in your relationship. It saddens me that so many can't because of situation or just don't even try because it is easier to quit. But I am particularly grateful this week as we work together to care for ourselves. It is a good thing.

What a Week...

Life is full of moments that must be flexible. The plan was for Hayden to take part of his spring break, ride the train to Michigan Wednesday, March 27th, the Ropers pick him up and he visit them. The Ropers would leave Michigan Saturday, March 30th with Hayden in tow and come to Kentucky for part of their spring break. The Roper's, Claude and I and Hayden would attend Easter services Sunday morning, Hayden's family would join us in the afternoon for a meal and visit. They would take Hayden home with them and he would ride the bus back to Chicago on Monday, April 1st. That is a very good plan. However...

Hayden got to the Ropers home and then came down with whatever went through the Roper home before Hayden arrived. He was not well enough to drive down on Saturday. So, the Roper's stayed home with plans to begin their trip on Sunday. This would give Hayden a day to recoup. However, it meant Hayden would only be here Sunday afternoon and leave Monday on a bus ride while he was still trying to build strength. 

On to plan C. The Ropers did leave Sunday morning and drove Hayden to Chicago to his dorm. Then they drove to Kentucky arriving about 5:30pm. Whew!! The little great grandmonsters were ready to be out of the car and play in the back yard. Claude and I had pulled the toys out in the shed. They knew the drill from their Thanksgiving visit and went right into the shed to pick out the toys they would play with. 

Raelyn fixed my hair when we got inside. 

Kennedi made friends with her great grampa. 

Play Doh was really used this visit. We kept the tub in the house and it was pulled out on multiple occasions. The longest they ever played with anything was with the Play Doh. 

Katelyn played the piano and Joel tried to help her a bit. 

Monday, April 1st, we would have a little outside time in the morning. Rainstorms and severe weather was on the way. Our day was filled with learning about Claude's new watch, Play Doh, outside time, more beauty shop, learning to roll down hills, coloring Easter eggs and hiding them, traumatizing great Grampa with our stylin', and more coloring. Raelyn figured out how to decorate pictures with my cellphone. I quickly learned to take two pictures. One I could have and one Raelyn could color on. Raelyn taught Emelia how to do this and they enjoyed creating artwork on their pictures. 

Tuesday, April 2nd, was a rainy yucky day. Lots of very bad weather around us. We were blessed it wasn't on us. University of Kentucky shut down. The Library in Scott County shut down. Tornados were confirmed in four locations near us. So, all day was spent inside. Hence, fewer pictures. Kennedi is learning to play with the rocking horse. My new set of reader's arrived in the mail. We gave them a good trying out. We had Frank's Donuts for breakfast. Grilled cheese for lunch. Pizza for dinner. It was a good day despite the weather. I was grateful we brought in extra toys from the shed so there was plenty to play with inside.

Wednesday, April 3rd, was another cold day with rain at times. The kids got a little outside time but not much. We gave the three oldest their Pinocchio's we bought them in Florence, Italy. The author of Pinocchio is from Florence and you find Pinochio's all over the place. Raelyn and Emelia decorated cupcakes. Grampa introduced Raelyn to Blood Oranges.

In the evening, Kennedi decided to take up residence on great Grampa Claude. This series of pictures are their bit of time together and the fall of the remotes. Kennedi looks like she is trying to communicate to Claude she has a plan of what to play. Then she surveys the basket with the remotes. There were four in there. By the time she was through, all four were on the ground. Poor Grampa Claude had to reset his sound bar after this interchange. Small price to pay for a little great grandmonster time. 

Thursday, April 4th, would be the day to return home for the Roper family. Raelyn reminded us that we needed to do Pee Pee Bear. This little bear was purchased in Xian, China and is made of terra cotta like the terra cotta warriors. The little guy always brings giggles to the kids. We would go to KFC for lunch before the Ropers left town. 

Friday, April 5th, I would finally get the MRI on my right shoulder. Because we are aging and both a bit broken, we were ready for rest after family left. We actually slept really late this day. It was a good thing to do. 

My appointment was to be at the hospital by 1:15pm for a 1:30pm MRI. We sat in the waiting room for a good while. But the MRI went fairly quickly. I am a bit claustrophobic. The had me put my shoulder into a hard plastic cuff that fit over my shoulder. Agony to pull up and onto that shoulder. Once I was set up, the table moved into the MRI machine. It is a little tunnel and I was in from my waist up. To deal with this tiny space, I simply closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep again. Since I slept late in the morning, I was really not sleepy. So, I tried to think of things and get my mind relaxed and concentrate on not moving a muscle except to breathe. I was supposed to hear soothing music. Over the noise of the MRI machine, that was not really possible. Occasionally the tech would say something to me letting me know how things were progressing. The volume must have been turned up so you could possibly hear the music. Her voice was sharp and loud and it all ran together. Never really knew what she was saying until the end and she said something like two more things to take. When I was finally out of the MRI machine, she was very appreciative of how still I was able to be. Hallelujah. She said she got really good pictures. I was given a CD with all the pictures to take to the surgeon. 

Claude was surprised at how quickly I returned. We gathered up and headed into the sprinkles outside to Bojangles. We had neither eaten at all and this seemed like a nice brunch for us. As we waited in the drive-thru another car pulled up beside us. The passenger, a nice lady, came around to my window and handed us this little duck. This is a Jeep thing. It is not uncommon to come out of shopping or dinner and find that another Jeep driver had placed a Jeep on your windshield. This one was particularly cute and is the color of Claude's Jeep. It was a little dragon duck. 

This weekend, Saturday, April 6th, and Sunday, April 7th, will be General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I would do laundry through the day Saturday. Claude and I would gather the toys from the house and collect them in the dining room. Claude cleaned the kitchen. We started putting things back out and in their places as we live. This takes a bit of time. I would get this Blog updated. All these things are done between sessions of conference. 

The Young Women at Church had a fundraiser for camp this year. They made cinnamon rolls. We purchased a dozen for $13. They were delivered just before the 1st session of conference. Claude put them on the stove to rise. Between the 1st and 2nd session of conference, I baked and iced them. Before the 2nd session started, we each ate a cinnamon roll. As I finished mine, I said to Claude, "I don't think one will be enough." Claude replied, "I don't think a dozen will be enough!" These were yummy and we are very grateful to the enterprising Young Women in our ward. 

When we watch General Conference, I usually pull out a spiral notebook and make note of who spoke and some thoughts they shared that touched my heart. This time, I found it difficult because I can't get my right arm to reach to the top of the page to write. I have to lift it with my left arm to get it in place. I realized I was not going to get the entire thought that I wanted to remember. The beauty of all things digital is that these talks will soon be on the Gospel Library app. I had a whisper from the Holy Ghost that told me not to worry about getting the entire thought. Write words or a part of the thought, then put three dots at the end. That will be my clue as I re-read these talks to mark that thought and attach key words to find it again. I love General Conference.

What a week! Parenting is definitely something to be done when you are younger. Claude and I are still a bit broken and we wear out much more easily. Chocolate milk is loved by all generations. Thank heavens we bought Pee Pee Bear. Our backyard is perfect for little ones to play in. I need to buy more Play Doh. Hoping I hear from Dr. Lyon next week about seeing a surgeon. Love watching General Conference with my hubby. Such a full week.