Tuesday, July 16, 2013

I love the rain and the cool weather.  Today it was in the upper 60's, lower 70's. 

Good news for James.  I am able to restore most of his contacts from the backup on the computer.  He was quite happy. 

Here is how my daily routine goes in caring for James:
In the morning he starts out with a Slimfast shake, a quick acting oxycodon, Mirolax, a shot in the stomach to thin his blood.  An hour or so later he has his blood pressure meds and vitamin and a slow acting oxycodon.  He rests in bed until lunch time.  I fix his lunch then we watch an episode or two of The Walton's.  Later in the evening we have dinner and his meds.  Another shot in the stomach and I change his bandage on his leg.  He is still in alot of pain! 

Today Darrel picked up the rest of the blood thinner shots in Scottsdale and Trina overnighted them to me.  The total cost was over $300.  I don't tell James because it was just stress him out. 

I spent several hours today catching up checkbooks and paying bills.  I also did a little cleaning.  I am experimenting with what to use on the wood floors.  Today I tried WD-40 and it actually looks pretty good.  I have lots of housework to do before our Young Women's presidency meeting on Friday morning. 

This evening James and I watch an episode of the Walton's and a Hallmark movies. 

The guys poured 72 yards of concrete today at Desert Highlands.  Quite an improvement over yesterday!

Monday, July 15, 2013

Happy Birthday Laura!

Hope you had fun in Idaho for the 4th of July!

Gail reported to James that they didn't have a good day at work.  He said the workmanship was poor quality.  They poured 18 yds.  James asked if he added a retardant and he said no, he had forgotten.  Maybe that will help for tomorrow and the rest of the week.

I took Addy, Rowan, and Ruby on a Razr ride to Chocolate Lake and the Village this morning before they left for home.  We actually took two rides and Trina came with us on the second one. 

 When we were finished with our Razr ride the kids wanted to look for bunnies.  Rowan went in the house to get some carrots.  While we were out in the meadow behind our house he was running along and two bunnies jumped up and were running along beside him but he didn't even see them.  It was the funniest thing.  I wish I had taken a picture!  Also, there was a bunny under a tree and Ruby said to him: "Don't worry little bunny, I won't hurt you."  I love these kids!  Darrel came out and announced that it was time to go home with a promise that they would be back in August.  We said our goodbyes and the kids were reluctant to go.

Hunting for Bunnies.

Just as Darrel's family was leaving I got a call from Brother Applegate asking me if I would speak in Church on July 28th.  The topic would be: "Blessings of Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy."  I said I would be glad to.

Rain!  I went into town to try and fill James's oxycodon, quick acting.  I got the extended release when we were in Scottsdale.  The girl at CVS says she doesn't have any available and suggests that I try KMart, which I do.  KMart has some!  They fill 91 out of 120 and it only costs me $27.00.  The pharmacist tells me to come back on Wednesday for the rest.  

My next stop is the Verizon store to get James a phone.  He does not qualify for an upgrade and he didn't have insurance.  My Xoom tablet does qualify for an upgrade so I drive home to get it.  It takes me over an hour.  The traffice is very slow.  I am at the Verizon store another hour getting James's new phone all set up.  It costs around $200 but the guy tells me that without an upgrade it would have cost $600.  This time I make sure he has insurance!  

James is happy to have a phone but is still sad about losing all of his contacts.  I told him I would check to see if his phone had been backed up on the computer tomorrow.  I am too tired today.

Tonight's sunset:

Sunday, July 14, 2013

I receive most of my inspiration in the early hours of the morning.  This morning I woke up a 4am.  and my thoughts were on the amazing mothers I have known and who were an example to me.  These are some of the women who raised their children the same time I did who had a profound influence on me:  First and foremost, Suzanne Kempton who had 13 children.  Sue was patient, and loving and taught her children the gospel by precept and example.  Ruth Gale and Betty Bogle are next on my list.  Ruth had seven children and Betty ten.  Both were amazingly patient.  Betty is probably the sweetest, kindest, least judgmental person I have ever known.  Cathy Arnett and Dianne Heyman also made my top 5 list.  Cathy had 10 children and Dianne 4.  Dianne is now serving as a mission president's wife in Argentina with her husband Ray. 

James took a shower this morning and got ready to go home.  He put on the ASU shirt I got him for Father's Day and a pair of khaki pants.  That shirt is his favorite and I must say he does look good in it. 

While we were waiting I went down to the cafeteria grill and got a patty melt and some chicken strips to share with James for lunch.  I am afraid I ate the most.  Both were so delicious!

We waited until about 2:30pm for the hospital to discharge James.  Our first stop was the CVS pharmacy on Indian School Rd.  We leave the four prescriptions the hospital sent us home with and come back an hour later.  Out of the four we get one.  There was no quick acting oxycodone.  This drug has been so abused according to Darrel that it is very had to get.  We did not get the muscle relaxer because it was too expensive.  They only had a three day supply of the blood thinner shots I am suppose to give him.  We leave town with James laying in the bed I made for him in the back.  He complained it was awfully hard so next time I will put in an air mattress.

When we arrive at the cabin Darrel and Trina and their kids are there.  They came up to spend the weekend.  Trina had a nice dinner ready for us.  Ruby was so concerned about James and wanted to help him.

James and "Nurse Ruby"

Eating dinner

When it came to changing James's bandage and giving him his blood thinner shot Ruby wanted nothing to do with those things.  Thank goodness Trina was there to help me. 

It was nice to be able to sleep in our own bed.  There is no place like home!

Saturday, July 13, 2013

I left the house a little before 8am for the hospital.  I listened to 2 Nephi 8-9 on the way over.  I tried to call James but his phone went straight to voicemail.  I just thought he was on the phone  I stopped at the McDonald's on Indian School and Hayden for some oatmeal and orange juice for James.  When I get to the hospital I ask James where his phone is.  He doesn't know.  We begin a search, but no phone.  The night nurse, Mandy, cleaned up and moved everything around and now James's phone is gone.  I am so upset that in her attempt to clean she was so careless as to lose his phone.  I can think of no other explanation.  James seems to think she threw it away in the See's candy bag he had.  His Superman watch I got him for Father's Day is also missing.  He wants me to go outside and check the hospital dumpster.  I think his judgment is a little impaired because of the drugs he is on. 

James is feeling a little better today until he gets out of bed to get cleaned up, then he feels the pain!  While he is us Lisa, the nurses aide and I change the sheets on the bed and look for the phone.  No luck. The sad thing is that all of his contacts both business, personal and church are in that phone.

Lloyd and his wife Tracy come by for a visit.  Tracy finds the Verizon number for us and we call and stop the service on James's phone.  Tracy is a 6'5" black girl from Long Island, New York.  She and her Mom ran a cupcake bakery there.  She has been a member of the Church for 3 years.  She and Lloyd met via the Church singles site on the internet.  She seems nice.  I like her. 

The Desert Highlands job starts Monday so Lloyd and James have a meeting to make sure everything is ready.  Gail is coming down from Oregon to help with the job.  James did not ask him to but did tell him about the job.  That is just the kind of brother Gail is.  The stress of the job is that they want it done in one week. 

Lance and Karen Schneider came by for a visit this afternoon.  They brought dark chocolate covered almonds from See's.  They are James's favorite. 

Sheri, Ian, Alex, Ben, Max, Evan, and Michael also came by for a visit this afternoon just as Karen and Lance were leaving.  They brought James some chicken marsala from Olive Garden.  Usually this is one of his favorite things to eat but because of his loss of appetitie he just couldn't finish it all. 

James and Evan

After eveyone was gone I went down to the cafeteria and got us some dessert.  This lemon cream cake was delicious!

This evening we watched a movie called "Firelight" about a young girl who went to prison and then turned her life around and provided the inspiration for others to also turn their lives around.  It was good.

James got his bandage changed this evening.  This is something I will be doing when we get home.

Why is it so red?

My favorite character from Glee died today.  He played Finn Hudson.  His name was Cory Montieth.  He died of a drug and alcohol overdose.  So sad.  He was only 31.  Although I no longer watch Glee I enjoyed Finn's character because he was so good, most of the time.

Friday, July 12, 2013

I try to leave for the hospital but one of James's workers, Lauro (Christopher Gallegos) is here looking for a check.  I call Cindy at Comprehensive Business.  She sent the check on Wednesday so it should be here sometime today.  It is hard to communicate because Lauro does not speak very good English. 

At the hospital, James looks better than he did last night, but he is still in alot of pain.  I bring him his favorite breakfast, oatmeal and orange juice from McDonald's.  Darrel comes by for a visit on his way home from school. 

For lunch I get James a salad with beets from the cafeteria downstairs and a chicken mushroom swiss sandwich from the grill.  He doesn't like the sandwich, but I do. 

While James is napping I remember I need to make a deposit into National Bank.  The closest one around, according to MapQuest, is 4040 E. Camelback Rd. in Phoenix.  While I was gone Zaki came by for a visit.  He is gone by the time I return.  We play a game of Five Crowns.  Stacy, Paul, Michael and Joshua come for a visit.  James is not very good company because he is so groggy. 

Michael visiting at the hospital

Paul, Stacy, Michael and Joshua leave to go to dinner at Lola's Chicken and Waffles.  They bring me back chicken and waffles.  They were very tasty but I could only eat about 2/3's.  James didn't want any.  He had Ensure for dinner.  At this rate I am going to gain weight while he is losing.  Skinny and Fatty.

I leave for home around 7:45 as James gets ready for bed.  I leave his phone on the table on the right side of his bed where he can reach it.  There is also a See's candy bag there.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

I had an appointment at the dentist this morning.  It seems the impression for my crown was lost and I had to have a new one made.  The last one kept falling out.  I hope this one is better.  Afterwards I went to the bank and then on to the hospital.  Lloyd was there when I arrived talking to James about the job he is doing for him at Desert Highland Golf Course.

They came and got James around 11:30 to take him to the surgical waiting room.  I went with him.  We waited until 1pm for them to finally take him into surgery. His anethesiologist is Dr. Gilbert and his surgeon is Dr. Ortega.  Just down the street in downtown Scottsdale there is a jewelers called Gilbert Ortega.  I just thought that was funny. 

Sheri came to stay with me and brings me a drink.  We go for a ride and end up at McDonald's for a hot fudge sundae and a chocolate dipped cone.  She waits in the surgery waiting room with me until around 3:30.  She leaves to take her boys to Hamilton pool.

Josh and Evan at Hamilton Pool

I wait until after five o'clock when Dr. Ortega finally comes in to talk to me.  He tells me that James has three metal plates in his leg which will stay and a screw to attch ligaments which may come out. He said he had two bones that were completely shattered. ( Later I learned that James also has a rod in his leg.)

While I was waiting for James to come out of the recovery room I went down to the cafeteria and met Zaki.  He didn't know the surgery was today and he came for a visit.  He waited for awhile and then decided to leave.  He is very pleasant to talk to and we had a nice visit. 

James finally returns to his room around 7pm.  He is miserable!!  I stay until 8:30 when he finally goes to sleep.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

I got a call from Presidential Realty today about getting our house ready to put on the market.  I told them this wasn't a good time and to call me back next week.

On the way to the hospital I stopped by Lois's to get an apricot pineapple pie for James.  I arrived at the hospital around 9:30, my usual time.  James had a Slimfast shake and apricot pineapple pie for breakfast.

For lunch I got turkey enchiladas and green beans for lunch but they were both disgusting.  Luckily Sheri and Kim were on their way over and they stopped at Whataburger and got us each a Whataburger Jr.  Yummy!  After we ate lunch Sheri, Kim and I left to go to Sweet Tooth Fairy to get cake bites and cupcakes.  On the way we stopped at See's and got dark chocolate almonds and dark chocolate truffles for James.  When we got back from the trip, Sheri and Kim visited awhile and took some pictures.

We have such sweet caring daughters!

After Kim and Sheri left James and I played a couple of rounds of Five Crowns.  I won both so I am afraid it didn't do much to cheer James up.  

James has his second surgery tomorrow.  He sent me the sweetest text this evening:

"Goodnight sweetheart.  Be sure to ask in your personal prayers tonight for the Lord's tender mercies to bless us with more of the love and passion that keeps us close and in each others hearts and minds, and which helps us remain hopelessly in love with each other.  The love I feel and experience with you so often for me, is a sacred feeling which can't be described in words.  It leaves me with a feeling of gratitude never to be forgotten; a feeling which I can only attempt to describe as euphoria because of the lack of adequate vocabulary in the English language to express it. The bottom line is you are loved beyond my ability to express with words alone.  

Good night sweetheart!"

This almost made me cry.