My gorgeous daughter

The first time my Grandma Thompson saw Joan, her comment was, "she had to have been born with a smile", and she seriously was. I wasn't draped, the doctor caught her, held her up, she looked at me and grinned. I swear! She and I were so close it was almost freaky. Don't get me wrong, I love my other daughter, Misty just as much.

Joan has always said that she loves her dad and I the last number times the last number, and she does. Joan was a very healthy baby, but around age 5 she started having some major issues. First was her kidneys. She had severe infection, and at the age of 7 we came very close to losing her because of it. Our pediatrician told us he had never seen a child come in the hospital so sick and survive. We fought this until she was 11, and then she only had a couple episodes after that.

When she was in high school she started getting so sick off and on, with some very serious illnesses. Lots of tests, a surgery, and hospitalizations, but never anything definite. It was so frustrating, and very scary. I still think that she had contracted Lyme disease.



Joan is the single mom to three beautiful, wonderful children. She has never had a bit of support from any of the "dads". She works like crazy. She is the best friend anyone could ever ask for and maintains her friendships forever. She is an aunt to two terrific kids, but I know they both think of her as their second mom. She is there for everyone, 100% of the time. She has a homeless man in town that she always gives her cans and bottles to, and has given him clothes after our flood this past summer. She has always had more kids than her own at her home. We always say that she attracts anyone down on their luck, and would literally give them the shirt off her own back.

6 years ago she had some huge problems with her optic nerve. At first they thought it was a tumor, and after a battery of tests, and lengthy hospital stay, she got better. Again, no definitive answers, but around that time, in doing lots of tests, they did discover that she had a hemangioma on her liver. The past year it has really been bothering her a lot, with pain. She had a liver biopsy, and was sent to various doctors. The thing ended up being 7", basically the size of her liver, and was also attached to her gall bladder. She was finally sent to a surgeon that specializes in the liver. We knew there was a great risk in having the surgery, but the risk of not having it was just as great.



She had her surgery this past Tuesday. It lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes. Three hours later, we got to see her, and it was horrible. She was whiter that I have ever seen her. Her blood pressure was extremely low, and her pulse was very high. She had little to no urine output, even though they were pumping in tons of fluids. She got to where she couldn't breath and was rushed to surgery again. She was back in for 2 hours and 50 minutes. When we finally got to see her she did look better. We were later informed that they were minutes away from losing her. She was hemorrhaging and her kidneys had totally shut down. Never in our lives have we ever been so very frightened. I just kept thinking of all the people I know that have buried their children, and knew that we could be facing that possibility. She had been given 13 units of blood and blood products in just a matter of hours.




She is still in the hospital, and will be for a while longer. She is still receiving blood and blood products trying to get her hemoglobin up. She is still improving, but certainly not out of the woods.

This experience has made all of us different people. We have all realized how fragile life is, and how much we better show our love to each other. I have always known it, but this was a huge eye opener for all of us, and we do know how much we do love each other.

I hope and pray that we have a much better 2011, because this year has really been quite the strain on all of us.

We are all looking forward to a joyous Christmas, and will certainly celebrate the true reason for the holiday.

Keeping busy

Since I got the three rooms done that really needed it, I will post the bedroom soon, I promise, I have gotten into lots of other things to occupy my time. In the purging process, and going thru some things at my mom's, I have run across lots of treasures, and want to display them. I have also gotten into Wendy Vecchi and Tim Holtz not just for scrapbooking and card making, but also a little decorating. What I have discovered, in my purging, I have a ton of vintage items, and some antiques, but wanted more, lol. Goodwill, Salvation Army, Junk stores and garage sales are great for finding some very cool things. I am working really hard to not buy anything, unless I have a plan for. I will be posting some of these things and what I have done with them. One of my very favorite finds was at a garage sale, daughter Joan actually found it, and held it up to see if I wanted it. $2 for a violin, in it's case, along with two bows. YES!!!!!!




Some of these things are items I have already had, the glasses and case came from Don's family, as did some of the jewelry and trims. The rest are purchases from various places.


The Lyre that is holding the violin was a Goodwill find. It is so heavy, and cost a total of $2. The ceramic piece, another cheap find. And old books and sheet music, cheap, and can always use them for lots of different things.

What isn't to love about these cool Funeral Home fans. Got them at one of my favorite places, JB Knacker.

Also got these buttery yellow kid gloves at Brenda's store. Perfect to finish off this table top.



This little vignette is in one of our spare bedrooms, generally referred to as the "Pepto Room" Because of the bright Pepto color it is painted. I was going to paint it a buttery yellow, like the gloves, but decided to keep it pink, and soften it a bit with some new, or repurposed pieces. Will post more later. Thanks for looking!

The cowboy room

I have been complaining for some time about feeling like our basement area looked and felt like some dungeon. So once I decided that I was going to paint and purge, I actually started with our former garage. When we purchased the house it was a garage, but a year later we had a garage built, so the former garage became my husband's weight room/junk area. At one point we did paint part of it, but nothing that would remotely be looked upon as decorating.



































I knew I wanted a turquoise room, and thought this would be the perfect space. I started out painting the pine paneled wall a beautiful shade of red, then slapped on a bit of the turquoise. It just didn't seem right. The grandkids didn't like the two colors together. So I put the turquoise in the laundry room. Back to pick out a new color, and came up with a carmel color. The ceiling I did go with a pale turquoise. Somehow, went with the cowboy theme. I know it is because of my maternal grandfather, and having lots of items I wanted display.




The oak buffet was my great grandparents. They were married in 1900, so assume it was acquired shortly after that. The gorgeous crocks were from my grandparents.















Between what I had, garage sales, junk stores and Hobby Lobby, this is the end result. We still need to do some work with the ceiling area, where the water pipes are, and we want to put a floor in. Oh we do want to get rid of the old upright piano.


I have had this printer's drawer for many years, just never did anything with it. Pretty proud of how it turned out. The blue padded rocker below was my grandpa's. His thumbnails wore impressions in both arms. Always think of him when I see it. The other chair was a Goodwill find, for $39.

















The pillow was a piece of linen like fabric, that I sewed up and painted with the &. Painted the stairs and put the treads on.



The little blue outfit was worn by my great grandfather, around the mid to late 1800's, in Sweden.






The bench to the right was a Hobby Lobby purchase a few years ago, for $20, on clearance. They now have it for $149. I sewed the cushion for $2, fabric also from H.L. on clearance.


When I put up the dartboard, the wall was instantly ruined from the darts. I covered it
with corkboard
sheeting, but it looked really bad, so covered with fabric, and stenciled on the wording.

The mice will probably leave after Halloween, lol.






Thanks for looking. A little more tweaking to the room, but is going to be our new entry way, and a fun little family area.

Moving on

The past 4 months have been so hard, knowing that my dad isn't a phone call away. Knowing I won't hear his funny stories, knowing the person that has been my protector for 52+ years isn't there to lean on. OK, Don really takes wonderful care of me, but in my heart it has always been my dad.

I decided I needed to pour myself into some projects. I have wanted to purge my house, big time, for quite some time. Not that I have been a major hoarder, but I knew I never wanted my kids and grandkids to have to spend eons going thru my junk. I was going to start with our former garage. We closed it in the summer after we moved into our house, and has been used as a storage room, weight room, and over all junk room, and unclean room, since. Got one wall painted and showed the kids what other color I was going to put in there, and a couple of them very strongly said, "NO". So there I was with two gallons of gorgeous turquoise paint. Well, I sure didn't want to waste it, so looked around and decided to go to the laundry/dungeon.
First off, there was dust that I know has been there the entire 26 years we have been here, and JUNK, CRAP, STUFF, whatever you want to call it. So I dug in. I gutted the room, bleach washed all the walls and floors. I vacuumed all the duct work, and scrubbed and scrubbed. I removed a few shelving units since I really tossed so much unused garbage, and what could be sold, put in garages sale tubs. I then got some concrete paint to do the outside walls. I used a buttery yellow. Looked like yellow cake batter. I didn't take any before pictures, but sure have taken some after.


North wall, shelves, and sorting baskets.
Quilt, squares came from Don's family, and
my grandmother Thomas put them together.
















East wall, washer and dryer. We were going to
revent the dryer, so we could have a window,
but because of structure, not able to do.




West wall, cabinet which is crackled with age, was
in the house when we moved in.




Picture on the left is the inside of the closet that is in the room. Do you know you can spend an entire day painting the inside of a closet, geesh.




This is the toilet area, duh. It just seems so much fresher and cleaner, with the paint.








After I thought I was done, I went to a local "Junk" store, and I found this perfect ironing board, already had the turquoise on it. With my Craft Robo, I cut out the letters. I repainted the wall in the red, so the ironing board would pop. I love it so much. BTW, the little door on the left is the toilet area, and the one
on the right is the closet.








This is only the beginning of some huge projects I have taken on during the summer. I shed lots of tears, but I think I got a lot accomplished while working thru some of the grief. Will try and post some more, a lot sooner.

We are all doing very well, considering. My mom amazes me with her spunk, and willingness to move on. She says that Sundays are the very worst days, but she is always talking bout the the future, which we all feel is great.

Broken Heart

I have told people for many years that I knew I would be pretty prepared for the death of my mom. She has had several heart attacks, and emergency trips to the hospital. She is 82 years old, and just know that the time will come. I thank God every single day that I have both she and my dad in my life. I may be 61+, but just knowing I still have my parents is so comforting.

When I talk about my dad, it is not my biological father, it is the man that raised me. In 1957 my mom took my two brothers and I left LYLE, an extremely violent drunk. Had she not, it is most certain that there would have been a more violent end. A few months later she met a very handsome young man. This 21 year old man became my dad. He was 21, my mom was 30, I was 9, Ken was 6 and Gerry was 3. They dated for 3 weeks, and got married. He has been the greatest dad any girl could ask for. No, it wasn't always easy, but my mom, my brothers and I, NEVER were scared from then on. We knew this man would do everything in his power to keep us safe. I ended up with two sisters, and Mom and Dad celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary last Dec. Dad has been an amazing caregiver for mom, and we always felt great that he was 9 years younger.

May 27, I got that phone call, my Daddy, my hero, the greatest man I have ever known, was gone. No pain has been greater, except Nov. 8, 1974, when I lost my very best friend, my beloved brother, Gerry. Never in our wildest dreams, did we think we would lose Dad before Mom. What a horrible void in our lives. We are all doing pretty well, Mom is being such a strong example for us, and I know she has some really rough times, but she is marching on.

I am just thanking God for every moment and memory that I have had with my dad, and all that he taught me. No man will ever measure up to Dad, but because of the example he set, I married a pretty close second. Thanks Dad for everything you ever did to show your love for all of us.

try like crazy to catch up

Eight months since my last post, sorry. It was one of the worst winters I ever remember. The snow just kept coming and coming and coming. And to make it even worse, we had very little sunshine. When it is dreary out, so am I. Just don't function well at all. Just had no energy for anything. It does turn out that besides major depression, I am also suffering from some anemia. We are working at tracking down the cause of that.

October 2009, I turned 61 and now the countdown to Social Security, lol. Just have to look at the positives. It was a pretty rough month, having to grieve the loss of our dear mother, and adjusting to having Katisha a couple hundred miles away. Not much else went on.

November 2009, just keep missing Katisha. We had Thanksgiving with my family a week before Thanksgiving, and then had my folks here on Thanksgiving day, along with the girls and their families. Had a great time. Also, in November, I lost one of my very favorite cousins. I hate that families drift apart, and we don't spend as much time together. As kids, spent every weekend with cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Just isn't like that any more, and now we seem to get together at funeral homes. Just makes me sad.

December 2009, Winter hit Iowa so hard, and depression hit me like a ton of bricks. We had one of the best Christmases ever, or maybe the best. Part of our Minnesota family made it down, but didn't get as much time together because of the crappy weather. Katisha was home a lot at the end of the month, which was great.

Jan. 2010............Weather continues being horrid. Kids in and out of school constantly. The worst Winter my mom even remembers, and she is 82. Katisha moved back home, mixed feelings, but do love having her close. Jan. 15 we got a huge surprise, daughter Misty married Mike Wild. They went to Florida on vacation, and got married while they were there. So now I have a son-in-law, and two more grandchildren.

Feb. 2010...........More horrid Winter, and depression. Feel so out of touch with everyone. Did go to Dr. and got some help.

March 2010.....Started off with my mom having another heart attack and having an angioplasty. I just hate thinking that some day I may not have my parents. Feel like such a wimp, but I can't help it.

April 2010.....Appears as though Winter is going to leave, thank God. Spring is finally showing itself. Not much else going on. Don and I still spending lots of time together.

May 2010.....Not really much new going on. Been busy scrapbooking, and spending time with my friends. It is graduation season, so we have been to some open houses, and have a couple left. Our second grandchild Tyree, will be graduating, so on to the real world for him.

I was going to post some pictures but have to get them from my other computer. Gonna post, since it has been so long. Later..............

September

Joan, Grandma and Misty. This was Agnes' 98 birthday party. Have you ever seen a more beautiful woman than my second Mom?

This has been a month of ups and downs. On the 4th we got a call that they were taking Don's mom to the hospital. She was suffering from diarrhea and dehydration. Being 98, it is so much harder for her to bounce back and recover. On the 6th we were called in because things looked very grim. Don's nephew David, Don and I were in the room, and she actually still had a good sense of humor, and of course her mind was still clear as could be. We were told by the nurses that she might not make it through the night. She ordered us home and promised she would be there the next morning, which she was. Her kidneys were failing, her lungs were filling, and her heart was having to work way to hard. She held on until Thursday the 10th. She was at peace, and we all got to say our goodbyes. I miss her so much. The first 6 years I was married to her son, she didn't like me very well, but from then on, she was one of my very favorite people, and best friends. I love you Mom and miss you so much.

Don and I haven't been able to take a vacation for a couple of years. It is hard to do with daycare. Even tho I officially "retired", I still have Teddy and Grace, and another little girl that I watch after school. Joan called me in August, and said she had some vacation time she needed to take, so we decided it was time to do another trip. One of the things I/we have wanted to do is see all 50 states, and with only 14 left, decided to conquer a few on our list. We left on Sept. 11, and drove to Minneapolis, and spent the night with Katisha. She has such a beautiful apt. and appears to be very happy. After breakfast we took off on our adventure.



We headed northwest, towards N.D. (check off one more state). It is a very pretty state. We saw buffalo and antelope. We saw the Badlands of N.D. We spent the night in Dickinson. Got up the next morning and headed for a very long drive, to Whitefish, MT.








Glacier National Park is such a stunning place to visit. We only spent one day in the park, saw thousands of beautiful sites, but there are a million more to see. I actually stood bare footed in a glacier lake. It was so wonderful. I really would love to take Tyree here. He would just love it all.





We moved on to Washington State. WOW, we totally fell in love. The entire state smells like what Heaven must smell like. We stayed in the most fabulous hotel. No bells and whistles, but immaculately clean, and the most amazing woman working there. Susan is a true gem.

We also enjoyed Mt. Rainier so much. It totally took my breath away. The true highlight was the Grove of the Patriarchs. WOW, 900 year old trees. They were just amazing, and one of the most peaceful places I have every been. Would love to go back, anytime.

From Washington we went to CA. First we had a huge amount of traffic, from the morning left WA. Portland, OR. was a nightmare with traffic, and it didn't let up all the way to CA. We did spend the night in Medford, OR. When we left Medford, fog, and when that cleared, smog. Then it was hundreds of miles of mountain traffic to get to our hotel, which was very conveniently located, right outside Yosemite. Yosemite was gorgeous, especially the huge Sequoias. They were so amazing. Then there were all the gorgeous views we had to pull over and observe and take pictures.

We left CA. to head to Salt Lake City. Once we got out of the park, YIKES, those mountain roads, we were on our way. We stopped in Benton, CA to go to the bathroom and get gas. There were signs posted for 167 miles to next gas station. This sign didn't mention that it was that far to the next bathroom. Well, I would sure like to meet the person that can drive that far without stopping to ............... Longest drive of our lives, and no we didn't make it. I know TMI.

We arrived in Salt Lake City at nightfall, and had a little problem finding our hotel, but we did make it. We decided at that point that we were ready to head home, instead of taking in Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore. We were both feeling homesick.



I talked to my friend Janalee, that lives in the area, and we agreed to have breakfast. She came to our hotel at 9, we drove to Starbuck's and spent two very short hours with her. I really hated leaving her. I haven't shared with her, that I cried all the way to WY. Never get to spend enough time with this woman.



Got into WY, and drove through snow, yikes. 103* one day, and two days later snow. WY has the perfect name, Big Sky Country, you can see forever. Gorgeous country. We saw so many herds on pronghorn antelope. Just amazing. We spent the night in Laramie. We took off in the morning and headed home. We arrived at 8:30 p.m. It felt amazing.

Our trip was amazing, gorgeous, breathtaking. I truly believe that there is no way you can see this beautiful country, and not believe in God. Once I edited all the pictures Don and I both took, we ended up with 988, lol. Will have to take out a loan to get them all developed, and then there is the scrapbooking, lol. Only 9 more states to go.

Sept. was a month of many highs, and some very low, lows. Don and I traveled almost 5,000 miles. We listened to C.D.s for about 300 miles or so, the rest of the time we talked. Pretty amazing considering we spend about 24 hours a day with each other, and have been together for 42 years. Yup, we do still love each other, very much.