Truly Thankful

I absolutely love my Granddaddy. He's my last surviving grandparent. He’ll be 90 in January and has always been a tough old bird. He’s as smart and sassy as they come and his favorite things in life are ballroom dancing, cranberry juice, and playing the nickel slots. He still drives to Philadelphia, MS on occasion just to gamble – so watch out if you’re on that stretch of highway.

Since we have lived in Atlanta, I try to see him on his birthday and occasionally get to see him on the side when we make it down to visit. Since we generally only make it down about 3 times a year – this is tough. We usually get berated, albeit underhandedly by some family, for not stopping by when we’re in town. But the truth of the matter is you just can’t fit in everyone on one weekend visit.

On November 3 this year, we received a call that my grandfather was in the hospital. He’d been ill for a month, and we weren’t made aware of the situation. I was torn about whether or not to make a trip to Columbus to check him out. After briefly chatting with him on the phone the next day, I headed straight down to find my usually smooth and suave grandfather, with the quick wit of a much younger man, looking absolutely horrible and quite disoriented.

His ailment – a gangrenous gallbladder. Trust me; it looks even more hideous than it sounds. Photos from the surgery the following day showed portions of his gallbladder were black with decay. In fact, putrid would be a good adjective. I can’t imagine the pain he suffered. The surgery, however, was the easy part. Recovery was another story.

Though I remained positive about his small successes; the next week was extremely rough. I sat with him every day, feeding him, watching his mind go in and out, and playing watchdog because not every nurse does what he/she should. It seems for every good nurse there’s at least three that are just asking for you to take ‘em out.

Seven days after his surgery he was finally transferred back to Spring Harbor, a retirement community that aids with fulltime care if needed. He’s been a resident here for several years and the staff is crazy about him. Because I knew he would receive much better care, I came home to recover and to see my boys.

The following days were a struggle for my granddaddy. On November 19, things were looking so bleak it didn’t look like he would make it. We were told it would be just days. He was nearly impossible to rouse, all his blood work was off, and when he was conscious he was hallucinating. So we left that weekend preparing for the worst.

Then, out of the blue, things turned around. I’ll never forget walking into his room, leaning over his sleeping body, laying my hands on his chest, watching his baby blues pop open, and hearing him say “Heeeeeey there!” I almost cried.

As Thanksgiving week rolled on he got stronger and stronger. I was SO excited when I saw him pick up his water for the first time since his surgery (20 days!) and drink from a straw then pick up a banana and eat it by his self. By the time the weekend came around he was strong enough to walk to the door with aid of a walker and his wit could roll with the best of ‘em.

We saw a good bit of family on our visit home, and I never once thought to pull out my camera and take a picture. I was kind of bummed about it on the way home since I’m a photo nut, and we only see some family every few years. But then I realized that the one picture I really wanted for Thanksgiving I already had. I took it 4 days before Thanksgiving with my phone – My granddaddy on the mend.

Picnics

I was so excited we finally got to take the family on a picnic I couldn't stand it. They have no idea how giddy this makes me, or we’d do it more often. Beautiful crisp day; sitting on the Chattahoochee river bank enjoying their fried chicken, mac & cheese, black-eyed peas, and rolls – makes this mama’s heart smile. This is about 200 yards from the Lanier damn and the water is so clear it’s ridiculous – the difference between here and home is really amazing. After lunch we headed out on a hike. It was a new trail for the kids, so they were entertained. Good Times!

37 Candles

In celebration of my dust collecting, my hero took the day off from work and took me hiking and fishing.

Colby got me new pair of boots

Izzy got me a down vest – yes, he’s still attached to this outfit right now.

Lee got me a Wii Fit Board – which I absolutely love because it thinks I’m 28!

I don’t like cake – so Lee always makes me brownies. This year he surprised me with these cute little candies that say Happy Birthday. It’s the little things like this that make me fall in love with him all over again. So here I am, one step closer to 40 and loving it. The aging I can do without, but I’m crazy about my kids, my hero, my life and my Jesus. I’m blessed!

Take 5 #005

-1-

I had to go in for some blood work for my routine 3 month visit to the Rheumatologist. Of course I had pushed it to the last possible minute; because I am, after all, a procrastinator. So there I was ready to walk out the door and I couldn’t find my car keys. I looked everywhere and started to go into panic mode.

I ran downstairs looked around my desk, then ran up stair checked the upstairs desk, my nightstand, my dresser, the chest, the kitchen, my purses, my jacket pockets, my gym bag – nothing. I made this cycle approximately 15 times: up the stairs, down the stairs, up the stairs, down the stairs, for about 20 minutes. Then I noticed my keys were in my pants pocket. What makes this so ridiculous? When I tuck my keys into my pocket, I leave half the keys hanging out… so they jingle when I walk…

-2-

Whilst in the garage last week hanging neon green spider webs with a 3lb metal construction staple-gun for our Halloween Shindig, I had to climb the ladder 5000 times – inching it across the floor little by little as I made progress. Unfortunately, I forgot the stapler was on top of the ladder when I went to move it and the stapler came crashing down on my head.

I stood there for a moment in shock with my hands on my head, essentially waiting to pass out. When I realized I wasn’t going to hit the floor, I thought to myself Hmmm – doesn’t really hurt at all; so my plan was to continue onward with my task. That’s when I noticed blood on my hands. Super, I thought, now I get to drive one-handed to urgent care looking like a dork holding a cloth on my head. And then they’ll have to shave my head for stitches …making me TRULY look like a dork…

As luck would have it, I was able to stop the bleeding with pressure. No complaints from me on that one. What I did find absurdly pleasant about this entire incident was it wasn’t nearly as painful as I thought it would be. Migraines are so much worse, I’d much rather be hit in the head. So bring it on, staple-gun.

-3-

Lee was on a call from work; so to kill time, I decided to channel surf and came across Housewives of Atlanta. I’d never seen the show before, but several facebook friends mentioned they make time for it – I wished I had not. That’s one bizarre show – with some women in desperate need of attention. Just proves money doesn’t buy class.

-4-

My doc prescribed me a painkiller this week – thank the sweet Jesus. I asked Lee to take it in to CVS so I could get some chores around the house accomplished. He dropped in off and went to the gym. When he came back home, I read the label --- Atenlolol. That’s weird, I thought. I thought that was a heart medicine.

I looked at the name: Friend, Valrie

Maybe they put it in the system wrong…

Dr. Phiscle

Who’s that?... Wait a minute … I don’t live on Appaloosa Court…

Stupid pharmacist gave Lee someone else’s prescription.

1) I’m glad I read the script – ‘cause I normally don’t. But you can bet your sweet marbles I always will now.

2) Had I not read it, would I be dead as I already take another heart medication?

3) Would Lee have gotten a large settlement?

-5-

To the family:

We’re headed home for Thanksgiving!

Nothing Motivates a Man Like Money

For a sometime, Lee has been kind of half way trying to shed a few extra pounds.

On September 2^nd, Lee’s co-workers began a pool for a weight loss competition.

Feeling a little large lately? Never Fear! It is time for another weight loss competition.

The Rules:

Twenty dollars gets you in

Final Weigh In will be on October 30^th

Winnings are split between the most pounds off and the highest percentage lost.

Official scale is down here on the first floor behind Everest.

Anyone can join at any time, so spread this offer around

Lee was unaware of the pool until two weeks into it. But never-the-less, he decided to give it a go. As his wife, I can honestly say he was totally committed from the start (for the time he was with me anyway!). He was devoted to his workouts and kept to his diet – even on his BIRTHDAY! He lost 22.5lbs in 6 weeks, and he won buy ½ a pound!

Upset of the season! Lee just weighed in and came in at 187.5. His starting weight was 210, which means he lost 22.5 pounds! His percentage was 10.71% which even beats Toms at 10.26%

I'm so proud of my man!

The Great Pumpkin Race

Nothing gets my boys revved up for Halloween faster than a pumpkin carving race. It’s their time to be goofballs, gorge on popcorn, and strut their talents for on another like roosters in a cock fight. The news papers come out, the carving tools are dusted off, and Lee vanishes… no doubt because he’ll most likely get in trouble for not doing it right, but once those pumpkin lids come off, the race in on to see who can claim first prize.

No matter how you cut it, pumpkin gutting is by far the most aggravating part of the procedure. Isaiah “can’t stand the tentacles – they just won’t come off!” And as if that wasn’t funny enough, “tentacles” mistakenly turn into “testicles” and it was just too hilarious for Colby and I to hold it together long enough to correct Isaiah’s mistake.

Because we’re geniuses, we outsmarted the market, kicked the crazy intricate patterns to the curb and designed a few of our own. The joke, however, was on us as it took us forever to get our pictures drawn on paper – much less transferred to pumpkins.

Let me just make a pit-stop here and say when you’re old, transferring is a painful process…when you’re outside in the cold…and it gets dark. Your hands block the meager glow of the flashlight, your knuckles seize up and lock into place from your death grip on your poker, and your back and neck ache from slumping over trying to eyeball just what in the world you’re doin’. Yet, you trudge on ‘cause you “just have a little bit more”. But once you’re finished transferring, you’re golden! Or so you think.

Nothing matches the joy of finally having your design on your pumpkin… except for carving it out! Just as painful as transferring – because your fingers are permanently cramped into place – only you get the satisfaction of actually getting to stab your frustrations out on something. I use the term “stab” loosely since those little carvers are about the size of toothpicks.

This year’s winner was yours truly.

…followed by Monkey who came in only 5 minutes or so behind me.

Colby came in a distant third – like way distant – like an hour. ‘Cause his eyes were giving him trouble – bwahahahahaha!