My Dad

  I thought I was ready to post again but maybe not ----- Our Grandpa Sparky, my dad, passed away Oct 26th.  (I type this through tear filled eyes)  We celebrated his 93rd birthday Sept 19th, he got sick the first week in Oct, was in ICU and rehab and ICU again. Dr. S pulled him through the first time in ICU, but gave him 2 units of blood to perk him up.  The second time he got sick his body was too tired, the Congestive Heart & Kidney failure was too strong.  Dr S couldn't get the water out of his body and he slipped peacefully away from us.  We all know he's in heaven but miss him terribly.  Mom is doing ok -- she's a strong woman, a survivor and has such a zest for life.  He always said the prayers at family meals and on Thanksgiving she did that,  -- she did a great job, thanking God for our Sparky.

A blogging friend said I'd know when I was ready to start writing again, and that it could be a healing place.  She's right-- thanks for listening..

Mom's Birthday

Today is Mom's birthday - she's 83. I can tell her age because she doesn't read my blog...lol...

Saturday night we had her birthday dinner with some of the family. Two of our grandchildren live out of town, so it's hard to get them all here at the same time.

She reminds me more and more of my grandmother every time a picture is taken of her. She continues to loose weight - sometimes trying, sometimes not. When she was younger she weighed 300 pounds and it was difficult to even know she was pregnant with me. After loosing the weight she has always been careful of the amount and kind of food she eats. She didn't indulge in french fries or fried foods and still ended up having high cholesterol. !! Sometimes the hereditary just kicks in no matter what you do..

The 2 youngest grands made some cards for her, which she always enjoys, and they could hardly wait to give them to her.

The disaster for the day was the ants getting into her cake (which I sat on the table) and Miss S finally today has stopped telling everyone how the ants "ruined Grandmas birthday cake - they know better than to do that!" They both are growing like weeds - getting so tall. Miss K is in the blue shirt - she looks just like her daddy, freckles and all...


The last piccie is our DIL, Miss S painted a chicken for her - that's a long standing joke between the kids.. she really doesn't like chickens (her decor is Tuscan) and when Miss S saw it in Wally World she told her mom she had to paint that for Auntie R.. "she'll be sooooo surprised" "she can put it in her bedroom to look at every day"..

And so goes the latest days of our lives !!

My "Special" Dad

This picture is one of my favorite. It's our youngest GD with my dad, he will be 92 next Tuesday and she's 2! I'll start this post by praising God for bringing him through surgery yesterday. He had bone cancer several years ago, its been in remission, but for the past two years he has had several places removed off his face, neck, arms and has had his nose reconstructed. Yesterday the doctor operated on his left arm and had to go deep to scrap the bone to clean the area. Dr. K. also removed a spot on his neck that was cancer but Dad came through surgery just fine. It scares all of us when he goes to the doctor, he has already said he's not going through radiation or chemo -- he is very thin, has other medical problems and says he's ready to go when God decides to take him home. My mom has a pace maker, she's 82, and naturally our concern is for her also. But praise the Lord they are okay although tired from yesterday. Next Thursday we will find out what the pathologist said about his arm and DR. K said we would discuss treatment, but we already know dad's not agreeing to any treatment.

Mom and I sat in the waiting rooms sewing - she's making a yo yo pillow and I was embroidering on a GD's panels for her quilt. I thought of how much she has taught me, my sewing and quilting have been the best therapy for me through the years. I told my DD that when I'm anciently old and go to the nursing home and I'm sewing in the air to please explain what I'm doing. haha What would you like to have if you were stranded on a deserted island? DD says "Mom would want her sewing bag". I have sooooo many UFO's it's not fynny. What would some of you want on a desert island??

Today my DH goes to Dr. R , the cardiologist, for his checkup. With all this, I'm so glad my health is okay and the fibro is not causing too much pain. I've found the best thing for me to combat the fibro is VEMMA. It's all natural and helps in so many other areas - cholesterol, depression, staphe infection, diabetes, weight, etc etc etc. I can't take Lyrica, it left me too woozy, I couldn't function properly at work. I still continue to take a mild sleeping pill (I started that when God took our DGD to live with him in heaven) but VEMMA PM, for sleeping, will be on the market in November - I'm anxious to try it so I can stop taking pills.

Our weather has been a little cooler in the mornings but still is in the 90's by the afternoon. I'm ready for the coolness of Fall... my flower beds need attention and pine straw needs to be put on them. It's just been too hot to be outside on the weekends or when I get home from work.

Thank for letting me ramble, I better stop blogging and start doing something more productive.

Hope all of you have a great weekend.... Dad's birthday party will be Sunday afternoon after church. He's looking forward to it -- he knows we will cook his favorite dishes. !!