Nov 28th - We Are So Blessed

Doug & Anthony arrived around midnight Tuesday night. They had an uneventful drive from Indy (Doug slept most of the way).

Thanksgiving dinner was an overload, as always. Doug and Kelsey did most of the cooking. Andy's folks came over to eat and spend the afternoon. They are good people and we enjoy them.

Check out Anthony's "glow".

The photos below are from last week. Lydia and Kelsey had a good time playing in the leaf pile. Doug and Lydia played it the same pile yesterday but I don't have any photos of it.

Having popsicles.

 Late this morning I came back in the house to put a new set of batteries in my hearing aids. I just barged into the bedroom. I didn't realize that Lydia had been put down for a nap, in our bedroom. I got here out of her playpen and we took a nap on the bed. well one of us took a nap. I got up after she went to sleep. I went in and got her when she woke up. She was "snuggly" , which is normal. After letting me rock her for awhile she crawled down and went over and crawled up on Kathy's lap for a few minutes. (All the "kids" were shopping.)

In the afternoon we went outside and "worked". She is getting real good and raising the bucket up and down, so good that I'm concerned that she is going to drive it into the ground while we are moving and bring us to a screeching halt.

There was a large brush pile out in the "meadow" when we moved here. I've added to it. It was large enough that I didn't want to set in on fire where it was, to much on one side of it that might catch fire. Andy helped me and we moved the entire pile over to another area, close by, and burned it as we moved it.

Kathy was feeling pretty good last weekend and then she just went downhill. She was in a lot of pain Tuesday and Wednesday. Her follow-up with the surgeon, in St. Louis, was Wednesday at noon. I think the trip was worse for her than her trip home after surgery. The surgeon told us that everything appeared to be OK. He told us that fluid was building up around the mesh and he thought that was the cause of her pain. Before we left the hospital he had told us to expect the fluid build up. He had not told us that it might cause severe pain. He told us that if she did not feel better by Monday he would have her scheduled for a scan in the Jefferson City area and then, based on the result of the scan, he might have us come back to St. Louis where he would use a needle to draw off the fluid. He did not want to do it, didn't want to mess with her belly again unless it was absolutely necessary. Fortunately she felt better Thursday. She did manage to do a good job of staying out of the kitchen but she was far more active than she had been. I thought she would really pay for it today (Friday) but she is in the kitchen working on supper right now. She is tired but I think she is feeling much better.

This was the first time in many years that Ed & Cindy and at least one of their boys was not with us for Thanksgiving. We kidded about it a little. Even though Ed & Cindy weren't here this year we had Ott's, Andy's Mom & Dad. Of course Andy, Kelsey and Lydia are also Ott's.

We are so blessed to be have friends, family, a warm place to live, all the food we want to eat, etc. GOD IS GOOD! Thank you Lord!

I hope your Thanksgiving was as good as ours. May God bless you and yours.

Nov 24th - Overnight Low 13

It only made it down to 13 degrees last night, which still was pretty cold. It did not get above freezing during the day.

We have a 500 gallon propane tank. Kathy had it filled last summer. Our furnace, ranges, fireplaces and dryer use propane. Other than checking the furnace we haven't used the propane furnace. I checked the tank this afternoon and it is still 45% full. We have to keep the upstairs pretty warm (72/73) to make the downstairs reasonably warm for Kelsey, Andy & Lydia. We have almost all the upstairs registers shut but it still stays warmer up here. Our wood boiler has sure saved us a lot of money.

Kathy still didn't feel up to sitting in the chair/pew at Sunday School/church so she stayed home again. I went and was pleasantly surprised by the attendance. I think there were the most people I've seen while we have been there.

I wasn't sure that my "skirting" around the motor home would keep things from freezing last night, but everything seemed to be fine this afternoon when I checked.

We aren't supposed to have any lows below the mid 20's between now and through the Thanksgiving weekend so Doug and Anthony should be able to stay in the "apartment" over the weekend.

I hope you all had a great day. May God bless you and yours.

Nov 23rd - Its Cold Here in Missouri

Last nights low was 28, todays high is supposed to be 31. Tonights low is forecast at 10 while tomorrows high is only supposed to be 30. The forecast temps here are below those for Coldwater, MI, which is about 240 miles north of us. So much for living in the "south". Here in Missouri we get the luxury of hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Actually it is unseasonably cold. Average highs/lows for late November are 52/32.

Kathy is progressing, but not nearly as fast as she would like. Next Wednesday we go back to St. Louis for a follow up appointment with the surgeon. She made 3 pumpkin pies for me to take up to the church this morning. She hasn't been off the property since we came back from St. Louis. She does get out and walk laps around the circle driveway.

I beginning to think my quest for better hearing is a test to teach me patience. When I originally when in to pick up the first set, and have them programmed, the $2,500 hearing aid did not work, right out of the box (the $1200 "microphone/transmitter" for my deaf ear worked OK). They gave me a loaner to use while they sent mine off for repairs. I picked up my unit on the 14th and everything seemed OK, although I'm not convinced I can hear that much better. The things "eat" batteries. A set of batteries went dead Tuesday afternoon and when I replaced them with some that I had purchased from Walmart the hearing aids would not work. On my way home that night I bought more batteries, from a different store. After installing more batteries the hearing aids again quit working after less than an hour. Thursday afternoon I took them back in and was told that the $2500 unit had again quit working properly. I'm supposed to get them back next Wednesday. My $200 "trial period" runs until the end of the month. As it now stands I think I will just give them back at the end of the month.

I spent two and a half days this week help a guy from the Baptist Builders work on a house over near High Point, MO, about 20 miles from here. I don't know the whole story but I think the High Point church is buying the material to winterize the place a lady now calls home. Her 57 year old husband died rather unexpectedly last summer and she is living in a "factory built" building behind her daughters house. The building was built in Versailles and moved to the site. The actual building portion is 16'x28', not including the loft above the front porch. Tuesday, my first day, I dug a trench around the perimeter so that we could stuff insulation under the perimeter and install the white skirting you see in the photo. It was plenty enough pick and shovel work to make my muscles sore <grin>. Wednesday and again Thursday morning I worked on the interior. She currently has no running water, nor sewer. The toilet you see in the bottom of the photo is the one that is supposed to be installed in the bathroom. Most of the interior plumbing is done and I think all the wiring is done. I'm not sure how long the lady has been living it it. She walks to her daughters, less than 100 yards away, to take showers and get drinking water. She seems like a very nice lady who is very thankful for the help. She seems to have a very positive outlook on life.

 On a trip out back (to take a leak), this old cook stove is one of the many "jewels" I saw. Beside her daughters house, which doesn't look nearly as nice as the shed at our house, there are at least 6 trucks, around 1950's vintage. I didn't take the time to look closely at them but from the road they looked to be in pretty good shape for trucks that were over 50 years old. No idea how long they have set there.

Doug and Anthony are coming for Thanksgiving. With Kelsey, Andy and Lydia staying in the downstairs there really isn't much place for them, and their dogs, to stay in the house. I've held off winterizing the motor home so that they could stay in it. I had set 20 degrees as the lower limit on thing freezing when it was not winterized. Tonight will be far colder than that. I'm going to go over and get 20-25 bales of straw this afternoon to use as skirting. In the morning I will know if it can stand 10 degree temps without freezing.

I've been cutting a little wood, mostly more of the junk stuff lying around. I still haven't cut up the 20' plus log from the dead tree I cut down earlier this year. I think it is still a little green so I'm cutting up other junk to burn. Some of it is really junky stuff but it burns and is fine for daytime use. In the late afternoon I add some good wood to make sure we have a fire throughout the night.

May God bless you and yours.

Nov 18th - Long Time No Post

Not much exciting happening here in central MO. Kathy is mending. She is now walking several "laps" around the driveway in front of the house, several times a day. She has not wanted to go anywhere yet, that gives you an indication that she still has a ways to go. We go back to St. Louis on Nov 27th for her follow-up appointment with the surgeon.

Weather here has been variable. Several nights ago we had a low down in the high teens and yesterday I think the high was in the 70's. We have had a few very light showers but could still use several inches of rain, at least our pond could.

I haven't been doing much. I had a routine check-up with my "family doctor". I routinely see my "family doctor" once every 6 months and my Endocrinologist once every 6 months. They are part of the same doctor's group and seem to work well together. Because the appointments are staggered I see one or the other of them every 3 months. I'm starting to think that is a little overkill and my have them start stretching out the time between appointments in the future. My cholesterol is good but my triglycerides are still high. Triglycerides have come down some but I still need more improvement. Dr. Johnson said he will give me another 6 months on the triglycerides. I can get them down with a combination of a better diet and more exercise or he will give me another pill to take. He strongly prefers that I do it on my own, he is definitely not a pill pusher.

I still haven't gotten heavy into wood cutting/splitting. I've been cutting/splitting more a little more than have needed but haven't really started building a supply to last over the winter. I have enough wood left over from last year to last us through the winter. I'd just like to get the rest of the wood still laying around the property cleaned up. Also, I have several more dead trees that should be cut down, the wood split, and put under roof while the wood is still solid.

With Tom's help, he told me how to reconnect some wires on my splitter, I've got the splitter running. Yesterday I did some work on it  (it was the first time I had used my acetylene torch since I left Lebanon) and now have it set up next to the out building where I store wood. I still have not taken the hydraulic pump off to have a the seal replaced. I can use it with the leaky seal but I need to get it fixed.

I did some raking and leaf burning a few days ago but it is almost a loosing battle with all the trees. We had some fairly strong winds that past couple of days and they did more to clear away leaves than I did with my raking and burning.

Lydia hasn't been spending as much time with us while Kathy is recuperating. We did baby sit a couple of afternoons and evenings. She loves the baby carriage her Aunt Cindy got her. She occasionally crawls in it and just sets for a few minutes (she NEVER stays anywhere very long)

She crawled up in the chair next to Kathy and set there "reading" a sale ad. I was surprised at how long she was there.

Later that evening she finally wore out. The sale ad pages looked like a "rats nest" all around her.

It is a beautiful, sunny fall day here so far this morning. I need to get out and at least pretend to be doing something.

May God bless you and yours.

Nov 8th - Happy Birthday Doug

Today is our oldest son's birthday. He is 46 today.

We are still in St. Louis. They are talking about the possibility of Kathy being released tomorrow, but I hope they wait until Sunday. Actually I thought it wouldn't be until Monday. She is doing well. I'm not sure how many laps she made around the floor today. I was with her for 3 of them and I wasn't here when the physical therapist had her walking and stepping up and down on a step this morning.

Yesterday was the first they allowed her to have even water/tea by mouth. This evening she is to "feast" on cream of chicken soup and sherbet. If all goes well she will get some solid food tomorrow.

Later this evening her IV's come out and she will take pain meds orally. (She hasn't been taking a lot of them. She controls the morphine and I don't think she has hit it for some time. They have given her some type of Acetaminophen/Ibuprofen through the IV, she likes it. It must be some type of time delay stuff because they dump the entire little bottle of it into the IV stream in just a few minutes and then she doesn't get the next bottle for at least 6 hours.

Kelsey & Lydia came for a visit Wednesday afternoon and stayed overnight. We waited until the cafeteria in this unit closed so we had to walk the half mile over to the main cafeteria. The walk consists of going through many enclosed walkways between buildings. Lydia thought they were just great.

One of the buildings that we went through has glass walls that slope outward. We were on the 2nd or 3rd floor level when we passed through it. Lydia is looking down at a lighted courtyard with people walking through it.

The device hanging off the end of the bed is a small pump that inflates and deflates "wraps" on Kathy's lower legs. They had it off during the day and Lydia was fascinated by the hoses. She just knew they had to connect somewhere and was going to work with them until she got them plugged into something. Kelsey is helping her attach the hoses to the wraps.

Thanks for your prayers, and thank you Lord for answering them.

May God bless you and yours.

Nov 3rd - Been Awhile

All is well here in Missouri, we have not dropped of the face of the earth.

The weather remains beautiful. We received 2.4" of much needed rain over a couple of days last week. It came down slow and there was no run-off. Our pond is 3' from being full. I doubt that another 2-3" (far more than is being forecast) would come close to filling it up.

The leaves are turning and they are absolutely beautiful. I had not expected to see nearly as much red as we have. Last year was much dryer than this year and I don't remember there being much color. This morning in our Sunday School all the old geezers were commenting that this was one of the most colorful falls that any could remember. (Maybe because we are old geezers we just can't remember <grin>. There might be three other people in the class who are younger than Kathy and I.)

I received my hearing aids last week. Kathy tells me I can hear better, but so far I'm not sure I can hear $3,700 better ($2,500 for the hearing aid in my "good" ear and $1,200 for the microphone/sending unit in my deaf ear.) Actually the hearing aid that I am wearing is the $3,300 model. My new $2,500 unit did not work right out of the box, so they loaned me their demo unit to use until mine came back. I will wear it for 2 weeks and then go in and get the one I ordered and try it for 2 weeks. At the end of that time I can give them back and it will only cost $200 for a re-stocking charge. I could also decide to upgrade to the more expensive unit if I can tell a difference. Wind noise cancellation is supposed to be one of the advantages of the more expensive unit. So far I haven't noticed any wind noise. Either it works well, or I just am not bothered by the noise. They are unbelievably comfortable. I can't tell I am wearing them unless I touch them. That is kind of scary because I'm not sure I would know if I somehow lost one.

The Pastor has been sick for the past 2 weeks. He is expected to be back next Sunday. We missed getting to hear the man who leads our Sunday School class preach last Sunday. We left early because Kathy wasn't feeling well. Today one of the other guys in our class had the message. He did a really good job.

Tomorrow we will stay overnight in St Louis. Kathy is supposed to be at Barnes hospital at 6 AM for her hernia surgery. They have told us that the surgery will take a long time and that we should expect her to be in the hospital for a week. I've reserved a room at a hotel near the hospital and plan on staying there until she comes home.

I've been whittling away at a big old dead oak tree that I cut down last week. The trunk would make a 22' long, 21" diameter log. After that it branches into 2 - 18" diameter branches. I've gotten the small branches mostly cleaned up (still have to drag a few over to a burn pile) and have the 18" limbs cut up. I've split everything I've cut so far, by hand. It splits pretty good. Tom got me straightened out with the wiring on my log splitter and I've had it started but it still isn't running right. I've ordered a new, badly needed, air filter. It is supposed to arrive this week. After I get it on I will see if I can get the engine running more smooth.

Yesterday I mowed the lawn for what I hope is the last time this season. I may need to run over the lawn again just to chop up all the leaves. We have a LOT of leaves.


Lydia loves to come out and help me, no matter what I am doing. Below is a photo of her trying out a cupcake Kelsey made.

I hope you all had a great week. I/we would appreciate your prayers for Kathy, and her Doctors, over the next week. May God bless you and yours.