Look Who's Out and About!!!

It really is amazing the, seemingly, complete turn around Nana has made in the last several weeks. Things were actually getting pretty bad. It was getting increasingly difficult to just get to the bathroom without falling down. The pain in her arms and hands were getting pretty bad as well. She really was losing the use of her hands. She was sleeping most of the day.

One day we were talking to our hospice nurse, Micki, about her hands and if that was the diabetes taking her limbs. She said she didn't think so, because of the way her fingers would draw up when they hurt. We later found out that it wasn't the tendons pulling her fingers up, but Nana tucking and cradling her fingers and hands, because they hurt. In talking with Nana, I found out that she was having trouble falling asleep at night. Of course, she was sleeping most of the day, but if that was due to the toxins, then she should be able to sleep at night as well. We talked about few things. I told her maybe we were going about this all wrong. Maybe she needed to stop laying around waiting to die. Maybe we should make the best of what we got to work with and make life as good as we can. She said she would try.

Anyway, I talked her into just trying to stay awake a little bit during the day, and to start moving around more. She started with hand and arm lifts and leg lifts. Just a little bit each day. Little by little she had a little more strength and a little more strength. She still sleeps a lot during the day, but less and less. She is moving around the house better, less falls, she actually leaves her room other than just to go to the bathroom. The more she's moving around the more her circulation has improved and her hands and arms don't hurt as much. She is participating more in her showers and bathroom visits because they don't hurt as much. She can actually make a fist again! We talked again and I found out she is only doing it to make me happy, not because she wants to. But as more and more time passes and she can do more and more, I think she is happy with the results.

About a week ago, she was sitting at the table (feat in itself) eating her lunch, when she bit down on her tooth and cried out in pain. She kept trying to eat and really couldn't because every time she chewed on that side it would hurt. We waited couple of days and it didn't get better. She stopped chewing all together on that side, I called the dentist and got an appointment. She got up yesterday morning and got into the shower and off we went to the dentist. (It used to be a shower would really wear her out, that was all we could accomplish in one day.) Keep in mind this is the first time she has been outside of my house (besides the porch) since January. She got into the car and we drove her to the dentist. We got in there and They did an x-ray, and Dr. Elmer examined her teeth. And you know what?? He couldn't find anything wrong with any of her teeth! He explained that maybe since they are all lose on the bottom, it's possible that as she bit down on her food she tweaked the ligament in her tooth, which would make it sore for a couple of days. Since she hasn't been chewing on it for a few days now it's had the chance to heal. She came home and ate lunch and sure enough it doesn't hurt anymore!

Well, we were so happy she didn't have to have a tooth pulled, she was all dressed up and no where to go. As we were walking out of the dentist she said, let's go to Dick's! The supermarket across the street. So we went over there grabbed a motorized cart and she drove all over that place looking at everything for an hour!!! She was so happy. They had their case lot sale just start that day, so I had fun too! I took a couple of pictures, wish I would have taken more, but I guess hind site it 20/20.

We got her home, she didn't waste anytime getting right back in her jammies, ate her lunch and went to sleep! Last night we talked about her excursion, she said maybe we should try that once a week. Maybe we can get her going back to the temple?? We'll see.

Don't get the wrong impression, she just recently re qualified for hospice again. Her health is steadily declining. She can still all of a sudden crash and leave us in a few different ways. But we figure this is a much better way to wait for it to happen!

Where Did All This Creativity Come From??

As I was trying to figure out how to set up a studio in my garage to help me organize and work on the many projects and ideas and crafts I want to do, the thought came to me.
WHY?? Why do feel such a need to create??
I remember mom, years ago, bringing home the huge cones of jute and doing the beautiful art of macrame. She made curtains, plant pot holders, room dividers...you name it!
And she taught any one of us who wanted to learn. I still search for jute, but alas, macrame seems to be a dying art.
That sparked a memory even older of watching mom make wonderful plaques with decoupage. She wouldn't just slap a picture on a piece of wood and call it good. Oh, no. I remember she would buy 3 cards, all the same card. One was the backround. The other two were cut up to give the card dimension. The effect was amazing!
I remember her moving her passion to create spoons! Yes, spoons. She would create 'scenes' on spoons! I don't rememeber all the details but I know she would fill the spoon with a kind of clay and use miniture figures to create different scenes.
Of course, there was her sewing. She could be found on her sewing machine making just about whatever she wanted.
Momma could dance!! She had a very creative side for entertaining.
We would paint statuary.
Mom could create the most unique gardens using all kinds of thrift store finds. Who will ever forget her bedpan gardens? She would even paint pretty flowers on the bedpans!
I could go on but the point is, she shared her creativity with her children. We would sit with her and she would teach us as we made our own creations.
Where did all this creativity come from?? I think I got it from my mom.
Thanks mom, tho I'm not sure if it is a blessing or a curse! I got a lot of creative projects in my head, all over my house, and builiding up in our garage!

The Disaster Weekend...

Okay, here it goes...

We were all stressed out for different reasons. We thought it would be nice to get away for a weekend. Nana's friend Shirley had a cabin in Big Bear and she said we could use it. It was a hot summer day and we all packed into the "tuna boat" station wagon. We all were...Nana, Sandy, Deanna, Me, Donna, Denise, Janet, and her brother (I'm sorry, I don't remember his name, Evan?). Anyway, we were so happy and singing along the way. Halfway up the mountain the car decided to break down. Everyone got hot and irritable. Sandy was gorgeous and decided to hitch hike to the nearest phone to call a tow truck. Sure enough, the next person to come by just happened to be a young guy on a motorcycle. He took her to a phone, then brought her back to us. When the tow truck finally arrived, he hooked the car up to the truck backwards. Sandy, and I don't remember who, maybe Denise, got to ride in the truck and the rest of us stayed in the car. It was kinda fun riding backwards. We waved to everyone along the way.

We finally got to the cabin. Sandy and Nana went for a walk down the road to a phone booth to try to call Danny to pick us up. Meanwhile, Deanna and I made dinner. We were all tired and the younger kids were driving us crazy (no offense, but you were). We thought "At least we'll have a good dinner". We made spaghetti sauce with penne noodles instead of spaghetti noodles. It was awful!! We didn't allow for the altitude and the noodles were so sticky and gummy it was nearly impossible to swallow. So much for a good meal. Sandy and Nana were unable to reach Danny, so we decided to relax and macrame to keep our minds off of everything so far. Notice I said "so far".

Deanna and I went to the phone to call. No answer. Nana and Sandy went to call. No answer. We did see some wild donkeys running around. That was pretty exciting. Dee and I called. No answer. Nana and Sandy called. Again, no answer. By this time it was about 12am. Dee and I called. Yippee! Finally Danny answered. He and Don were on their way with the Tully Steak meat van they used for work. All we had to do now was wait for them to get there.

We watched some TV. I remember watching "The Legend of Lizzie Bordon". I don't know why it stands out in my mind, but it does. Every time I here anything having to do with Lizzie Bordon, I think of this weekend.

Just after 1am they arrived. The large freezer in the van had stopped working for some reason, so they had to plug it into the cabin for about half an hour to recharge it so the steaks wouldn't thaw.

Finally, we woke up the kids, packed everyone in around the freezer and were on our way. About fifteen minutes into the drive Janet gets car sick and throws up in the carpet bagget purse. We switch her up to the front with Danny and Don, clean things up a little, try to ignore the horrible smell and we're back on the road. "Yes, we'll soon be home sleeping in a comfortable bed" we thought. Not so.

Halfway down the mountain..."Uh, Oh" said Danny "We're out of gas". We came to a stop not too far from a house that happened to be part of a gas station. At 2am it was closed, of course. So what do we do? What else? We send Sandy to knock on the door of the house to plead for gas. And of course, they see her and open up. "Okay, we have enough gas to get home, now we'll be there and in bed soon". Not so.

We get to the freeway and "BOOM!!". You guessed it...a flat tire. Now it's about 2:30am and we are stuck on the freeway with a flat tire. Danny and Don get out the spare. A huh, it's flat too. They take the tire off and roll it down the off ramp hoping to find an open gas station that will fix the flat. Amazingly enough, there was one not too far down the road. They get the tire fixed, roll it back up the ramp and put it back on the van. We got back in the van. This time Danny, me, Janet, Dee and Don were in the front. (At that time there were no seat belt laws). Guess what happens next?

Yippee, Yahoo!!!!!!!!! We dropped Sandy and her kids off and finally at about 4:30am we pulled into the driveway. We didn't even take the stuff out of the van. We went straight up to bed. I think we slept until about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. What an adventure! The whole time we were saying to ourselves, "Some day, we'll all look back at this and laugh". I don't know if anyone is laughing. I think we are all in disbelief that it all really happened. It sounds like a crazy story someone made up. But, I promise...it happened!

(I tried to write everything I could remember. If anyone remembers anything else, please feel free to add to it).

The Meat Truck!

Heather's memory reminded me of the Meat Truck incident. Forgive me, I know I don't remember all the details I was young but this is what I do remember...

We went up to or tired to get to some cabin, I think in Big Bear, and literally got snowed in. Then when we were trying to get home Nana's car wouldn't start, or maybe it just got stuck in the snow. Danny ended up coming to get us, but the only vehicle he had was his work truck. He delivered frozen meat somewhere. So there was a big freezer in the back. We all piled in the front and the back. I don't even remember just how many of us there were, but there were a few of us. We really didn't fit, but we had to make the best of it. The back had no windows, now that I'm thinking about it, it probably was a cargo van, not a truck.

Anyway, I just remember it was a very long, bumpy ride and Janet said she was going to throw up, with not much warning. Nana was emptying her bag, Sandy was trying to contain it in her hands. As she was throwing up in the bag, the rest of us were yelling at Danny to stop and let us out. The smell was absolutely horrible, as you probably well know.

I remember Nana having to get back into her bag because there was a small zipper pocket she didn't empty before she let Janet do her thing in it. She definitely didn't want to keep it after that!! So if this is the same bag, Heather, No it didn't survive this incident!! Thanks for the memory, it's funny now, but sure wasn't at the time!!

Let's Take a Blast from the Past!

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Nana's purse...

Okay, it's been too many days without a new memory or something, so...

I was remembering this purse that Nana had when they lived in the house on Apache. It was made out of tapestry fabric. One day I looked at it and said, "That purse reminds me of 'Gone With the Wind' and the bags the carpet baggers would carry around." Nana looked at it and said, "It does. I guess this is now my carpet bagget purse." I said, "Don't you mean carpet bagger?" She said, "No, carpet bagget." Then we just laughed. From then on we always called it that. I don't know if she had it much longer. During our "Disaster Weekend" (which is a whole other story I'll write about later when I have more time. Unless someone wants to write about it) her carpet bagget purse became Janet's throw up bag in the back of a meat van. I'm not sure if it survived that. Love to all!!!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a fun get together for Independence Day! Gina and Jenn and their families decided to come spend it with us! Charlotte came too. Nana was doing pretty good, as far as Nana goes. These days she can't seem to wake up very good before 6pm. She was able to sit up and visit with who ever came in and out of her room. We even got her out on the porch for a group picture! I'm not sure why it turned out blurry, but here it is anyway.

She was able to watch the fireworks from her window.

For more details on the day, you can visit my blog, there's more pics over there too!!