Well here I am in Brownsville Oregon. Aunty Barbie stopped by to visit me and encouraged me to update my blog with all that has transpired in the last 3 weeks since I got home. She says she keeps checking it to see what I'm up to and if there are others this might be an easy way to keep people up to date. So here I am, not sure if there are readers, but this ones for you Barb and Gary!!! So much has happened since I got home but none of it was what I expected. I spent the first week working very little and sleeping a ton. I went to Bend and visited Cherie, Ricki, Buddy and Wasabi but since I still haven't found a place to live I had to leave them there. We had an amazing couple of hot days there and Cherie and I and the dogs hit the reservoir for a wonderful swim. Buddy still afraid of the water explored the shore line and Ricki spent most of her time swimming in circles chasing her tail and fetching a ball. Then next day Cherie and I left the dogs home and floated the Deschutes River...AWESOME!!! I hated to leave but I headed back to Portland. I was finally getting over jet lag and realized that I needed to clean up my rooms (both aunts spare bedrooms) and pack for Alaska when I got the call that Grandma Morris was in the hospital. For a week I drove back and forth between Portland and Brownsville, working, visiting Grandma, helping Uncle Bill take care of Grandpa and the gardens and keeping everyone fed and help Melissa find a nursing home for Grandpa. The day before Grandma came home, we found a place for Grandpa. I brought Grandma home canceled my ticket home and 3 days later Bill and Sharon went home. Margaret and Zach showed up that day and helped me clean all the windows inside and out and clean up the flower beds. The week Grandma was in the hospital it was above 100 degrees and fried a bunch of the flowers, tons of dead heading kept us busy and in the sun. (she picked a perfect week to leaver her house with no AC!) To back up a little, Grandma took Grandpa and Gunner and Angel to the beach, lost Gunner, lost the keys to the car, lost Gunners shoes...eventually found all three lost items and headed home. Melissa picked up Gunner and about the time she arrived home Grandma called and asked her to come back and figure out what was wrong with her. She had sat down with a stitch in her side which had a turned into a sharp pain in her gut and couldn't get up off the couch. Melissa took her to the hospital where the doctor asked her what she thought was wrong. Grandma said she thought it was appendicitis so the tests started. He came back saying good news it's not appendicitis but bad news it was worse and as soon as his team arrived they would be putting her under for emergency surgery on a perforated intestine. She was going septic and they had to take all her "stuff" out wash it and put it back. As you can imagine, anything that comes out of a box never goes back in the same way and her biggest complaint is "it just doesn't feel like he put it all back in in the right place!" Grandpa is really confused and his story changes all the time. The most disturbing part is he doesn't recognize Grandma, he thinks she is his mother Merrill. Anyway, starting Monday this week, it was just Grandma and me. Food isn't sitting well in her stomach still so food is interesting. This week: The corn has grown taller than me and watering the garden takes almost 2 hours each night. The deer are eating the zucchini plants that aren't in the dog run (grr!) I have transplanted many baby plants around the house inside and out (we'll see if they make it!). We have run around town shopping, visiting the doctor and Grandpa. We have cleaned out the fridge (trust me that was a big job...expired 2007??? I'm so glad I move a lot!). We have canned 20 lbs of green beans, put up zucchini and tried to figure out what to do with Grandpa...
For myself I have read 3 books and have a couple more checked out from the library. Started knitting again. Walked Angel every morning. Finished approving the graphic design part of "Granddaddy's Hands." And slept in EVERY DAY! Oh and officially caught up on my blog :)
Things left to do? Clean carpets. Go through closets. Clean out Pantry (both!) Go through and clean out meds. Figure out finances and Grandpas future. Paint living room pink???
Grandma is frustrated at her slow recovery. She is only 14 days from going under the knife and 7 days from arriving home. The Doctor said it takes a young sprite 6-8 weeks to get back to normal. She is doing great and now I know where I get my shear determination and stubborn streak (and my habit of being way to hard on myself!) Grandpa is doing great too, the home is very good to him and he is doing well even though his memory is worse. Uncle Bill tells the funniest stories about Grandpa in the nursing home...wish I would have wrote them down while they were still fresh. I have two more weeks without work after this weekend. I am wishing I had my animals with me, other than that, I'm getting rested up but frustrated at my limitations as a grandchild. I'm enjoying the down time and the special moments hugging my Grandma when she needs it and making memories...more later :)
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