Plugging Back in to Normalcy

we didn't shift for long, but we shifted nevertheless.

from husband/wife to patient/caregiver. and it's not really obvious at the time that it is happening, but i find it very obvious now that we are working on returning to normal. and i'm very happy for the shift back no question about that….but there is an adjustment. i think this whole incident is seen as an anomaly and not a perpetual cause for concern with the doctors. which is good. but we are still on edge a bit.

so while chris rests, watches movies and generally bums around, i'm doing laundry, working on a graphic design project (yeah, me as a graphic designer…it's ok, you can laugh…..) and paying bills. all good normal things to do.

tomorrow he plans to do some work and i plan to blog about the roadtrip weekend that tori and i had. by friday we should have all the normalcy back in place.

24 Hours

24 hours ago Chris and I were getting ready for bed.

24 hours ago his heart started to beat way too fast and very irregularly.

23 hours ago we were in the ER and Chris had been given a bolus of medicine, an EKG, a cardiac monitor, an IV, blood drawn, a chest x-ray and oxygen and was diagnosed with atrial fib.

21 hours ago chris was admitted to the telemetry floor of the hospital where his heart rate could be monitored constantly by the nursing staff. he was confined to his bed as standing up sent his heart rate into orbit.

19 hours ago i got home from the hospital and sent emails to the family, close friends and chris’ boss to let them know what was happening and then i went to bed for a couple hours.

16.5 hours ago i woke up and typed more emails and posted on my message board to my dear friends. meanwhile chris was meeting with his internist followed by his new cardiologist. meds were increased.

13.5 hours ago i was back at the hospital with chris and he was still struggling with atrial fib and a racing heart (albeit slower than when we arrived in the ER)

13 hours ago chris got a 2D echo and we spent an hour with pastor matt. he prayed with us.

10 hours ago he was eating lunch and chris h. stopped by from church to pray with us. we were finally starting to see some more downward movement in both the heart rate and the blood pressure. but the atrial fib was still an issue.

8 hours ago i left chris to get some sleep and ran home to eat a sandwich, make arrangements for the kids to get to their various activities and ironed a scout shirt.

6 hours ago i picked up the girls at school and took them to see their Daddy. when we walked in the room he excitedly told us that he had FINALLY converted to a normal sinus rhythm and they would not need to sedate him and shock his heart back into a normal rhythm. thank God.

4 hours ago chris had dinner, got rid of his IV medicine and finally felt pretty good (as long as you ignored the total exhaustion of going 12 rounds with a boxer and not getting hit)

3 hours ago i returned to the hospital after dropping connor at scouts and picking up a mint cookies and cream shake from steak n’ shake for the patient.

2 hours ago chris was moved out of his teeny tiny double corner room (with his 93 year old roommate who’s been married to his wife for 65 years…they were so cute) and was put into a private room that was much less claustrophobic.

1 hour ago i left the hospital to pick up tori from rehearsal and connor from scouts while chris fell asleep watching a lousy football game.

right now chris is unfortunately getting 2 more belly shots (they burn rather badly) but hopefully that will be his last needle of his stay.

tomorrow morning he will see his docs and be discharged and i will bring him home. thank God.

who says that time flies?

MSU v. Iowa Game

back in october, we took a trip to MSU for our “we hope it can be annual” MSU football game. last year, we didn’t take zo the game because 1. she was little and really didn’t dig loud noises, 2. we were given 4 free tickets. heh. so this year, we definitely wanted zo to be with us.

the MSU v. Iowa game was chosen because it was on a weekend that the kids had friday off. turned out to be a night game under the lights. kinda fun. would’ve been even more fun if the spartans hadn’t lost the game in the last 2 seconds…but never mind that.

here are a few shots from the weekend. it rained ALL.DAY.LONG. and it was cold. but luckily, the skies cleared right before game time so we did not have to sit in the rain…just the cold.

this was taken in the hotel room and i absolutely loved it….but it’s a bit blurry. oh well, i used it on a sb page anyway. love the kids’ expressions.

seriously…it was freezing (and misting). think this would make a good christmas card pic? no?

we made sure to hit SBS (the student bookstore) and a new place to stock up on green gear and then we met up with chris’ best friend kevin and hit one of our old stomping grounds for lunch. of course, back in the day, the place was called “Dooley’s” and was an irish pub (um i use this term loosely considering it was an off campus bar that served mainly pitchers of cheap american beer) and underneath in the basement was a dance bar called “Sensations” (which most of the boys called “Frustrations” if you get my drift…). anyway, the building is still there and on the front porch of “Harper’s” was an inflatable sparty (see blog banner) and well, we just figured that was a sign. it’s a microbrew now and the beer was pretty good (but we laughed because it was served in plastic cups) and the tables and floors were appropriately sticky. ahhh college.

we parked the car on campus and walked almost the entire length of campus (it’s 2 miles) to get to the Breslin center where we could watch the annual green and white basketball game for free.

love this basketball arena. see how close the fans are to the floor? it’s sooo loud!

love the way they decorated the key.

there really isn’t a bad seat in the house. hope we can make a real game this season, but my guess would be we’d be up in the upper deck. course that’s where we watch the football games so what’s the big deal?

after the green and white game, we walked past the stadium and ran into the band. the tubas were warming up or making sure they were all uniformly shiny or something. but it was fun to listen to the fight song as we passed.

zo preferred to walk campus on kevin’s shoulder’s (really, who wouldn’t?). and i am bummed this is blurry. i’ve been messing with camera settings but the trouble is i forget to PUT THEM BACK when i’m done messing. this is the only proof i have the kevin was with us.

once again we were up in the nosebleed section. but this year, we were AT THE WALL. yep. i managed to buy 6 tickets at the back wall of the stadium. it takes 10 minutes of hard hill climbing to get there and 20+ minutes of moving like cattle to get back down and out of the stadium after the game. but the view is great and no one is kneeing you in the back.

this was as close as i could get with my telephoto.

at halftime, the girls insisted on staying to watch the band (even though they were freezing and wanted hot chocolate) i’m glad we stayed it was a lot of fun to see the band.

and when they weren’t on the field, the band is in the end zone. student section is to the left of them. ahhh i remember those bleachers…..sigh.

the weekend was not the best as not only did the spartans lose but my FIL was gravely ill with legionella pneumonia. thankfully, he is finally on the mend but it was a scary weekend. we were just grateful that we were in michigan already and could all make the trip to see him at the detroit hospital before coming home on sunday.

here’s the first page from the weekend.

supplies can be seen here.

Tying up the Loose Ends

i don’t think it is actually possible to start a new year completely fresh. there are always loose ends that need to be tied up. but for me, there are lots of loose ends. because by barely existing the last few months, i left a lot of things undone or partially done. and what i found was that the thing i was worst at was finishing. so my focus is on finishing things. checking them off the list and then throwing out the finished list.

so this week is a week of loose ends and project wrap ups. such as:

putting together the yoga calendar (this is not exactly a loose end….this project has just finally gotten to the point where i can do my part of it but it needs immediate attention)

getting chris’s expense credit card account cleaned up. forgot to transfer money from his first expense report 6 months ago (probably spent it on groceries or socks) and so we owe the account. finally figured out how much.

get 2 new toilets. this is just a project that we’ve been waiting to have the money to do. we’ve got a guy coming over this week to take care of this for us. just as soon as i pick out my bowls….

putting the laundry away. can’t remember the last time i did ALL the laundry all at once. now i need to get the rest of it sorted and put away. of course, tori just cleaned her room and found an entire bin of dirty laundry for me…..so maybe i’m not so caught up.

need to make a check list of little home projects. nothing big (like toilets) but things like WD-40 the master bedroom closet door, the pantry doors, new lightbulb for the deck light, re-hang the quilt over the couch in the family room, put our smoke detectors back up…they’ve been off the ceilings for a couple years now due to a short that kept making them go off all the time. should probably fix that.

so here’s to tight knots.

and just so this post isn’t all words…here’s my latest page…

supplies can be found here.

Happy New Year!

that’s right. i’m starting a new year on november 1st.

see here’s the thing…this year has been difficult. (job loss, weight gain, death of my grandmother, turning 40, poor health for me, almost losing my FIL to pneumonia last weekend, dropped balls, forgotten appointments, etc) so i decided that it needed to end. and just like that i’m making it happen. i have never been very patient so why not? i feel like i’m not dragging towards the end of the year now but that i’m on the upswing. and i want to be on the upswing for christmas this year. remember last year? yeah, i’m not going to do that again.

today is the recovery day before i hit the ground running tomorrow. i had planned to hit it running today but a sick kid (tori) and after a very long week of sleepless nights i’m only at about half mast myself….so it’s a laundry, blog post, take a nap kind of day. oh that and making lists. see, that’s part of my new year plan. lists. so that’ll start on monday along with regular blog posts, catch up blog posts so this blog can still continue to be a family history document, more info on topics that i’ve been researching or learning about and lots more scrapping as i can now share my sb pages again (everything i’ve scrapped in the last few months have gone to projects)

so i’m excited for it all to begin. i haven’t felt this good about a restart in a long time.

and while i work on getting all my ducks in a row, here’s pictures (and a page) from last night’s halloween festivities.

supplies can be seen here.

a zebra, a 50 girl and a um, masked/caped/scary dude.

i don’t think the girls even knew connor did this…

zoe the zebra and sarah the cowgirl. a perfect set! zo lost her tail along the way. which is a bummer because a backside pic would’ve been really cute…..

this is blurry but the story is great. this guy was HUGE. scared the beejeezus out of milo. he came to the door alone and said nothing. all he did was pull his skeleton hand out of his cloak and GIVE ME a pack of peanut m&ms (my faves!) and then he left. i don’t think i’ve ever been “treated” on halloween before. oh, and i believe i know who you are (your daughter told my son) but your identity is safe with me reaper.

ok, back tomorrow with the new game plan.

i hope your new year is fabulous beyond your expectations.

peace.

For Sale

2008
Acura MDX Loaded!!!

Includes the desirable Tech and Entertainment package which includes a DVD player and a
terrific navigation system!

This vehicle has just less than 43,000 miles and has been well taken care of.
I am a salesman and purchased this vehicle to last a while and due to a job
loss must part with the best vehicle I have ever owned.  The miles are
highway only and I made sure to change the oil every 3000 and rotate the tires
every 7500.

My beautiful red truck comes with the balance of the 4 year/50,000 mile warranty
and the following extras:

Upgraded 19” chrome wheels and low profile tires

Chrome side steps

Roof rack

Extra set of Weather-tech rubber mats for the front and middle seats

3 sets of wireless headsets for the DVD player (3 kids)

this is the hardest thing my dh has had to do in a really long time. i know that it’s just a car, but we absolutely LOOOOVE this car. it’s great to drive, fantastic in the snow, and is really comfortable with all the leather, heated seats (front and back!) and well…it’s great. i hope we can own another one someday.

i hope we can find a nice home for her.

Grandma

it took me awhile to wrap my brain around my life again after the funeral. it was a quick trip. nik and i flew out on tuesday morning and were back home by dinner on weds. and the most surreal part of the whole trip was leaving the cemetary and walking into the airport 10 minutes later. not sure why i thought we’d have a longer drive but it was a bit of a shock to tell you the truth. we had to have a beer.

i decided to take pictures at the funeral and visiting hours. if i hated them, i’d never let them see the light of day, but there was no way to retake them, so i just did it. i don’t have the lens for big group shots (it is on my wishlist) but some of the smaller shots i ended up liking.

the flowers were stunning. grandma always loved lots of color and lillies.

my aunt maxine and her daughter danielle saying goodbye.

my aunt with a rose from the funeral spray. the flowers were going to be returned to the church after the graveside service so they could be made into bouquets for the alzheimer home across the street from the church. grandma would have appreciated that.

my way of saying a final goodbye.

Plans and pages

The visitation and funeral are tomorrow and weds. so nik and i are flying out tomorrow morning. she’s going to go thru chicago so we can make the trip to cleveland together. it’ll be a quick trip as we’re coming back home on weds, but a necessary one. we both want to go.

while we are there, we are actually going to be staying at grandma’s condo. and we’ll get to see our cousins danni and beth. i can’t remember the last time i saw beth. danni we get to see every couple of years. it’ll be good to catch up even if the circumstances aren’t ideal.

this weekend i ended up doing a lot of scrapping. most of it i can’t post as it’s for an upcoming project but i did manage to do a couple pages that i can show off. i haven’t made 7 pages in 3 days in a really long time. it felt pretty good.

all products are from my favorite digital store….designer digitals. they are having a contest for another ipod nano by the way. you can check out all the fine print here. free stuff is always fun!

it’s tough to get photos of a 13 year old swimmer…hence the back shot. but at least i could record his 2nd year of swim team.

this page was a saturday scraplift at DD. which means we were to be inspired (in my world that means COPY!) the pages that is chosen. i played around with the crop of this photo and then did very little else. i just love it.

Jane Ellen Thomas Richard

i’m so glad we were able to take these pictures with grandma when we visited ohio in june. we always made sure to take pictures when grandma could visit because you just never know……

but apparently 93 and 1/2 was old enough. grandma fell ill 2 and 1/2 days ago and was admitted to the hospital. she went as she wanted to go. no nursing homes, short hospital stay, going to sleep and not waking up. i am glad for that.  i know that last couple days were scary for her and i’m grateful that she passed peacefully and without a prolonged nursing home visit.

connor wasn’t able to join us on the trip to ohio, but she spent time with the rest of her great grand kids and even got to watch wesley open his 4th birthday presents. my niece in the purple is named after both of our grandmothers: jayne evelyn. and i think she’s got the chutzpah to carry on both their legacies.

oh man, i hadn’t really looked at this one yet….love my aunt’s laugh. so her. and it was really nice of them to color coordinate and not wear busy patterned clothes. apparently old dogs can be taught! (love ya dad!!!)

as i sit here typing and crying (just a bit…but i’m a sap) i am toasting my grandma. she did things her way and most of the time, that was a good way to do it.

cheers grandma! may the way be easy, the jewelry be sparkly and the wine be cold.

love you.

Divine

had 9 people in the house for the past 6 days (on and off) and we’re
getting ready to head to mammoth cave so a big post is not in the
cards…but here are some quick highlights:

nik and chris walked the rock n roll half marathon in chicago on sunday. nik’s 2nd one, chris’ first one. both can still walk although it was pretty funny to watch them move on monday…..

connor just got registered for 8th
grade. football starts up next week and then we are balls to the wall
when school starts. i always look forward to school starting but as the
schedule gets more hectic, i don’t get AS excited for the start of it
all….

tori and zo are in swim lessons. tori just passed into
level 10 (the highest level) by swimming 8 laps of freestyle, 2 laps of
breast and 2 laps of butterfly. her butterfly is getting better, but
it’s still rough. zo will HOPEFULLY get into level 3 tomorrow. send
brave girl vibes to her at 12:30pm tomorrow please.

my sister
taught me how to work my new blog…..i won’t link to it yet. still
needs tweaking but i’m excited to have my own site.wheeee!

and
i haven’t had much time to scrap with all the people here but i did
manage to whip out this page with some new products that are coming to
DD soon…..

just love how this girl is growing up. simply divine.