All are graduated....

Woke up at the crack of dawn Saturday to get ready for the journey to Son's college for the graduation ceremony.
Of course it was humid and the forecast called for thunder showers.
It was sprinkling here when we left for the 2 hour drive.
15 minutes prior to leaving I went into Daughter's room and told her that we were leaving in 15 minutes, so if she was coming she best be ready by then.
Then I gave her a 10 minute warning.
We had to be at the college prior to 9 am as we had to meet son to get the tickets.
We borrowed my parent's van as we still had to move him out of the dorm.

The sun was still shining in the College's town.
We were early enough to get a decent parking spot in the lot closest to his dorm.
WE met him out side the dorm and walked together to the arena.
He looked rather studious in his cap and gown, and I could see the look of pride in Hubby's eyes.

The seating was bleachers.
We took seats on the top row so we didn't have anyone behind us.
As I am tall, it was very uncomfortable.
My legs/knees extended over the bleacher seat in front of me and when an older man tried to sit in front of me he got poked in the back by my knees when he sat back.
Not a pleasant experience for either of us.
I apologized for my long legs and luckily he moved.
2 petite ladies took his spot and I had enough room to turn my legs sideways and face the stage.
I wasn't about to sit with my legs spread apart for 3 hours...even though I was wearing slacks.
To make it more uncomfortable, It was hot and humid in the arena.
It was so crowded.
They had baskets of hand sanitizing wipes at all the enterances.
I was glad I wore comfortable flat shoes when I saw the women in dresses and heels trying to maneuver around on the bleachers.
Surprisingly no one fell although an older gentleman almost did right next to where Hubby was sitting.
The introduction to the guest speaker took longer than the guest speaker's speech.
Daughter commented that she was expecting the announcer to pull out a small box and drop to one knee.
The speeches and introductions actually took longer than the actaul calling of the graduates across the stage.
There was no rhyme or reason to how they went across stage.
They were not seated in alphabetical order or by major.
So we had to pay attention as we didn't know when Son's name would be called.
He graduated with honors. :-)
The graduates were called by 2 announcers from both ends of the stage and the graduates exited down the center so it went a lot faster than the usual one at time.
It didn't allow for a lot of time for the families and friends to get to rowdy
Half way through the graduates, it got rather loud in there.
I thought that it was people talking until I looked out the open door and saw that it was pouring rain.
We were prepared with rain coats and umbrellas.
After an hour or more of pouring, it let up by the time everyone had to leave.
We went to the reception afterward and had some cookies and tea.
Then it was off to the dorm to move out the stuff.
Thankfully my Son lived in a dorm with an elevator.
We loaded up a trolley and made 3 trips on the elevator to the van.
I was glad that we had the van as all of his stuff would have never fit into my car.
No one wanted to stop anywhere nice for lunch as we were all tired and sweaty so we just went to Wendy's on the way home.

So both Kids are home again and the job hunt begins.
Hopefully they won't have to move too far away.
I gave Son a GPS for his car for graduation so he can find his way to job interviews etc..

My parents would have liked to have gone to the graduation, but it would have been very hard on my Dad, and Mom wasn't about to leave him alone. We would have had to take 2 vehicles because of the space we needed for all of Son's stuff.

And so ends the college tuition chapter of our lives.
YIPEE!!!!

Peace

WIld Week

Things have finally calmed down.
It was pretty hectic and stressful this past week and a half.

Dad ended up bedridden for about 3 days after the trip to the emergency room when they discovered the fracture in his hip/pelvis.
He would only get out of bed to go to the bathroom.
Even with the walker he could barely get around as he was in severe pain.
You could see it in his eyes that he was in a lot of pain.

My mother's cousin was visiting the day after the ER day and kept telling my sister and I how upset and stressed out my mother was.
Well DUH!!
All she was doing was stressing us out by saying...oh, your poor mother doesn't know how she is going to get him to his Dr's appointment Mon as he can't walk...
I told my sister if he couldn't get out of bed Mon that she should call the ambulance to get him to the hospital to get his pain medication regulated.
The appointment was at 3pm, so I asked my mother if she wanted me to go with her and my sister to the Dr as between the 2 of us we should be able to get him out of the house and into the car...maybe.
So I left work early Monday.
The Bulldog (my supervisor) didn't say anything, we basically communicate via e-mail as she seems to not like talking to me directly if she doesn't have to...and the feeling is mutual.
BTW, she hasn't yet asked me how my Dad was doing or how I was doing.
WE made it to the Dr's office and luckily they had a wheelchair that we could use.

He saw the surgeon who was putting in the Chemo port.
HE was the same Dr who took out both parent's gall bladders.

Tues I was late for work as I had to go see my Dr. as they wouldn't give me a refill on my high blood pressure medication without seeing her first.
I ended up with 2 scripts.
The blood pressure meds and an anti anxiety/depression pill.
The feeling like all I want to do is cry is gone.

My Dad finally went to see a pain management Dr, who gave him pain patches and another drug to relieve the fracture pain.

I took Friday off from work to go with my mother to take my Dad in for the port insertion surgery.
My BIL drove us all to the hospital.
While he did a lap around the parking area, I ran in to get a wheel chair.
The surgery took 15 minutes, but we were in the hospital for 6 hours.
We had a heck of a time getting him in and out of the car and up 3 steps into the house.as the pain medication wore off and he could barely walk.

Yesterday was day 1 of Chemo, and he is doing well.
The pain is under control.
He has a schedule of what drugs he takes when and is walking without pain.
My mother said that he walked by himself up the ramp into the Chemo place with his walker.
He looks a lot better too.

Today he had many visitors, so he is in good spirits and got out to sit in the sun and get some fresh air.

Mother's day was ok.
Son is still at college till he graduates Saturday, but he did call me.
Daughter gave me a card and said that she and her brother were going to take me out for dinner and a movie when he gets home from college.
Hubby got me a card and lottery tickets..I won $4.
also got a Gnome on a stick for the garden.
My sister, Daughter , 2 nieces, my mother and I went out for dinner to Roby Tuesdays.
Hubby and my BIL kept my Dad company.
I picked up the bill and paid it which seemed to bother my sister...which is why I did it....I usually end up paying more that my share anyway so I figured I would just pay for the whole thing and she left the 20% tip.
After dinner, daughter went to the store and made us hot fudge brownie sundaes...Yummy.

Looking forward to the graduation Sat.
He is in the 1st group so we have to be at the college by 9am
No sleeping in for me as it takes 2 hours or so to get there...argh!!!
I'm not a morning person and they are expecting thunderstorms.
After graduation we have to move out all his stuff from the dorm.
I won't be wearing a dress that's for sure.
Maybe some Khakis and a nice sweater set.

Finally ....NO MORE COLLEGE TUITION BILLS!!!!!!
YIPEE!!!
Now all they need are jobs that pay enough so they can go out on their own.

Happy DAys are here again...for a little while anyway...

Post interupted

My last post was cut short .
The phone rang and it was my Mom.
"We have to take your Dad to the emergency room as he is in severe pain and the pain medication doesn't seem to be working....can you go with us?"
They called the doctor, but he couldn't prescribe anything stronger over the phone and told him he had to go to the emergency room.
I told her I would be over in a few minutes as I wasn't dressed yet.
She said that would be fine as she had to get dressed herself.

I asked Hubby to go over to see if my Dad needed help getting ready and to distract him from thinking about his pain.
After taking a quick bath and getting dressed, I walked over and took the keys from my Mom, who was relieved not to have to drive and off we went to the emergency room.
Driving as carefully as possible I tried to avoid the potholes and braked slowly as to not jar his back and cause him more agony.
We chatted about everything and anything just to keep him from focusing on what was hurting...at least that was my goal.

Emergency room waiting rooms are interesting places. you see the whole spectrum of illness...from a bump on the head of a pudgy toddler to a possible broken collarbone of a pale teenage boy dressed in black.
Stupidly, I forgot to bring something to read or do....so I just had to watch people for amusement while I waited and waited...
3 hours or so later...
They discovered after x-rays that he has a hairline fracture in his pelvis/hip.
Nothing they can do for that...
Gave him a prescription for pain medication.
Which turned out to have the same generic name as the generic name of the pain medication he already has....but the numbers after it are different...so I told them it must be a different concentration..
ARGHHH!!!
I should have went into the exam room with him too.
Hopefully I am right in thinking that the pills are stronger.

Dad is soooo depressed.
He just had bone scans and x-rays a few days prior and this wasn't on them. "How could this have happened so fast???"
He basically spent the rest of Sat. in bed, just getting up to use the washroom.

We think he over did it Friday.
My parents have their washer and dryer in the basement.
With mom's knees being so bad, it is difficult for her to go up and down the stairs carrying laundry.
So, after much convincing, they finally decided to get a new washer and dryer and put them in the family room as connections could be made to the water and gas lines from there.
That way, no one would break their backs trying to carry the old appliances up the basement stairs.
My BIL decided to do the installation that Friday as the appliances arrived a few days prior.
Well, Dad being Dad, felt he had to get in on the fun and went up and down the basement stairs several times...
I asked him how the heck did he do that ......and he said that he just held on to the rails on the stairs....of course all I could think of was what if he would have fell... then come to find out that he went down there while my Mom was out grocery shopping...
Friday, he also went to the doctor and for blood work and to the hardware store.
I can just picture him hobbling around the hardware store with his walker....
It's got to be difficult wanting to do stuff, still having your mind as sharp as ever and having your body fall apart.
Unfortunately, I think he learned the hard painful way that there are things that he can no longer do, or ever do again....

Peace People.....

The results are in...

and they are not good. :-(
My Dad has bone cancer.
It has spread to his hip, ribs, leg and arm and is still in his spine.
So it's Chemo time.
Which they told him has a 50% chance of working.

He wants me to shave his head next week.
Which should be quick considering he is balding anyway.
I asked him if he was going to shave his beard/goatee.
no, just going to let it fall out...
well maybe it won't fall out.
But it says in the brochure that all my hair is going to fall out along with my eyebrows and eye lashes...

May is going to be a crazy month.
Son graduates from college...finally.
He has an associates from a 2 year community college.
And now will have his bachelors...3 years at a state college (SUNY)
Graduation is in 2 weeks.
He is staying there till graduation.
We are going tomorrow to get some of his stuff so we won't have to try and move a lot of stuff after graduation ceremony.

I bought my father's old car for him for a graduation, he needs a car anyway present.
My daughter is having a fit.
We gave her a car when she was in her 2-3 year of college and signed it over to her when she was 21.
He never has had a car...and he is 23.
But in her mind he is getting a newer car than her and it's not fair...
OMG!!!
Let's see....
He lived off campus during his first 2 years at the community college which was 2 hours away from home and had to walk everywhere including the grocery store.
A 23 year old guy needs a car...

Clap your hands stomp your feet...

Clap your hands, Stomp your feet...
(can you guess the next line?)
Polka music can't be beat.

But polka music at the dentist's office?
While getting a deep cleaning on all your teeth?
"Roll out the barrel, we've got a barrel of fun
It's called Novocaine and it will make you numb"

Yeah...polka music while getting tortured.
Apparently one of the dental hygienists is from Porto Rico
and had never before heard polka/polish music.
(So she had been fortunate up until then?)
So one of the dentists decided that she had to hear it...during work.
Can't just loan her the CD.
Nope, must play for all at the office to hear.

Luckily, it was only the music and no singing.
I have nothing against polka music.
I've danced the polka at weddings before. It's fun...
But didn't appreciate it at the dentist.
Especially when they turned off a good radio station to put on the CD.

I told the gal cleaning my teeth that every time I hear polka music that I will now remember this moment.
As she was having a bad day, I told her that at least she is at the good end of the dental tools.
Must keep them happy when they are working on your teeth.
Nothing worse than someone having a bad day taking it out on your teeth....wasn't about to let that happen.

Very informative! The Human Body

It takes your food seven seconds to get from your mouth to your stomach.
One human hair can support 3 kg (6.6 lb).

The average man's penis is three times the length of his thumb.

Human thighbones are stronger than concrete.

A woman's heart beats faster than a man's.

There are about one trillion bacteria on each of your feet.

Women blink twice as often as men.

The average person's skin weighs twice as much as the brain.

Your body uses 300 muscles to balance itself when you are standing still.

If saliva cannot dissolve something, you cannot taste it.

Women reading this will be f inished now.

Men are still busy checking their thumbs.

The alphabet meme.

I borrowed this from "Just Eat Your Cupcake" Maria. It took an hour to write...Enjoy...

A.

Age: Older than the internet, younger than plastic, not as old as Walker

Annoyance: People who think they are better than everyone and feel that they should be treated as such

Allergic: Possibly cats

Animal: must be, as I’m not a vegetable or mineral

Actor: No favorite, I like Mel Gibson, The actor that plays Wolverine, THe guy from LOTR...Veggio something or other

B

Beer: Occasionally, if it’s ice cold and CANADIAN Although Magic Hat from Vermont is good too

Best Friend: Died, But Marly & Elly are my 2 best buds now

Best feeling in the world: Feeling loved and appreciated

Best weather: 75-80 degrees, sunny with a slight breeze and a few whispy clouds

Been in love? Yes a couple of times

Been bitched out? A lot lately at work, just because my boss feels she can....not really, but I feel like it

Been on stage? Yes, graduation ceremonies

Believe in life on other planets? Yes....sometimes I think I am from another planet

Believe in miracles? Yes, there is always hope

Believe in magic? No

Believe in God? Yes, a higher power, something has to be responsible for creating this place we call earth..

Believe in Satan? For every Yin there’s a yang, so yes, we have seen his work through terrorists

Believe in ghosts? Yes, I’ve seen one

C

Car: yes, at least 10-12 people in my area have the same car in the same color...I think I should start a club, 3 of us parked next to each other in the supermarket’s parking lot ...it was funny.

Candy: mmmm Chocolate

Color: I love most colors, blues, greens, Sky blue pink, depends on what the color is on

Cried in school? Yes...more than once. In 5th grade because during the Christmas gift exchange, who ever had my name didn’t get me a gift. The teacher gave me one of hers.

Chinese or Mexican food? Mexican, as the Chinese restaurants around here are iffy

Cake or pie? Both

Countries to visit: Australia, Germany, England, Ireland, Scotland


D

Day or night? Day, I have trouble seeing at night

Dream vehicle: Don’t have one at the moment, but it would have to run on something other than gas, have lots of head & leg room, a good stereo CD player, Lumbar support seats

Dance in the rain? Yes, only in the summer

Dance in the middle of the street? Yes

E

Eggs? Scrambled, Fried, deviled

Eyes: 2 myopic hazel green

Everyone has: a good side and a bad side and a story

Ever failed a class? NO


F

First crush: In 2nd grade a boy named Roger

First thought waking up: I don’t want to go to work, what am I going to wear.

Food: Love food, and it shows. Love to cook food when I have time...mmmm food

G

Greatest fear: Being very old, sickly and alone

Gum; The old fashioned sugary kind, Wrigley’s Winterfresh. (Artificial sweeteners in gum give me the shits, only chew when constipated )

Get along with parents? Yes

Good luck charms: no, nothing would help my crappy luck

H

Hair color: Blonde, grey and dark blonde....going ECO, stopped dying my hair to stop putting chemicals on my head and in the waste water

Height: 5' 10.5

Happy? Trying to be happy in spite of my self

Holidays? Celebrate the traditional Christian holidays

Health freak? No, too lazy


I

Ice cream: mmm ice cream, too many favs to name

Instrument: no musical instruments for me.


J

Jewelry: not a jewelry person

Job: Work at a financial Institution/Corp. Peon

K

Kids: 2, one of each


Keep a journal? No

L

Longest car ride? Arizona to somewhere in New York State... 2nd longest=NY to Florida

Love: my hubby, kids, parents, siblings, friends ......... the usual people

Laughed so hard you cried: yes, Marly can testify to that

Love at first sight? No, lust maybe, love no

M

Milk flavor: Chocolate of course- 2%

Movie: a good romantic comedy or Science Fiction or Epic drama (I’m a Star Wars/Star Trek Lord of the Rings Fan,,,I know, rare for a girl )

Mooned anyone? No....

Marriage? Still married to my 1st husband

Motion sickness? Some, have been known to feed the fishes if I go sailing with a migraine

N

Number of siblings: 2

Number of piercings: 2

Number 5

O

Overused phrases: OMG, Really?, I’m sorry, What?,

One wish: To win the lottery and never HAVE to work again.

One phobia: Driving in traffic, DC traffic, not knowing where I am going

P

Place you'd like to live: Hawaii

Pepsi or coke? Used to be Pepsi, before I gave up soda pop
Q

Quail? No, never shot or ate one, but did hit one with my car

R

Reason to cry: Someone I loved is very sick or has died

Reality tv? Yes, I like “Survivor” and “Big Brother” and “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Project Runway”

Radio station: Easy Rock

Roll your tongue in a circle? yes I can ;-)

S

Song? “Hero” by Nickelback

Sushi? No, too chicken to try

Skipped school? No

Slept outside? Yes, in a home made tent when I was a kid...hated it, felt achy and cold in the morning

Seen a dead body? Yes, been to wakes...but I don't see dead people

Skinny dipped? No

Shower daily? Of course unless I am in bed sick then I may go a day without

Sing well? Hell no

Sing in the shower? Nope

Swear? Rarely, only when I am bloody well pissed off

Strawberries or blueberries? Both, fresh locally grown

Scientists need to invent: A CURE for all Cancer, and AIDS, and all diseases, especially those that strike children

T

Time for bed: 10 pm ish

Thunderstorms? Love a good thunderstorm as long as the power doesn’t go out and I am safe at home

U

Unpredictable? Yes, sometimes, always expect the unexpected, but not too often

Under the influence: of what? no illegal drugs or alcohol...maybe that's what i need!!

V

Vegetable you hate: Lima Beans, brussel sprouts

Vegetable you love: does anyone actually LOVE vegetables...really? I like fresh asparagus and corn on the cob

Vacation spot: Someplace other than here, warm, would love to go to Hawaii or Arizona

W

Weakness: No will power when It comes to dieting

Which one of your friends acts the most like you? None of them, otherwise I wouldn’t hang around them

Who makes you laugh the most? My husband, my kids and Elly

Worst feeling: That I lost something, like my purse, or hurt someone accidentally

Wanted to be a model? No

Where do we go when we die? The morgue, funeral home...at least our bodies do, our spirits go on to another dimension whether you call it heaven or hell is your choice

Worst weather: Cold, Windy Blizzard

Walk with a book on your head? Not usually

X

x-rays? Yes, want to see them? I have some lovely lower GI ones

Y

Yellow: actually I am wearing a yellow sweater and yellow LLBean cardigan....but I ain’t yeller

Yesterday: All my troubles seemed so far away....

Z

Zoo animals. Make me sad as they are not free,

Zodiac sign? Virgo...duh ..September's girl

So, now you know way too much information about me. And hopefully you didn't dose off.

Thanks for the prayers for my Dad.
His spirits are up as he is looking forward to my brother's visit and seeing his other 2 grandkiddies.

Happy Easter.