The kitchen cabinets are back in and the stove, oven, sink, dishwasher, and microwave are all in working order (finally). The last two weeks have been long. There were contractors here most nights until 8 or 9 pm. Exhausting...
There are still a few small things to do. Sidney isn't into her bathroom yet because the cabinets aren't done. We also need a bit more trim. But the end is in sight one month after the mess started. Not bad I guess...
Kirk was released from the hospital just over a week ago but he went right back in. They changed his mood drugs, removing two and adding two, and it was just a bit too much. So he went back in over the weekend and was discharged on Tuesday. We have actually gotten rid of all the mood drugs except the very mild one that helps him sleep. We are going to try to start back at the minimum possible and go slower with change. He seems to be doing pretty well right now.
Sidney is half way through the school year. She had a rough last six weeks but somehow managed to get all A's. I am very proud of her. The counselor she had been seeing is back so hopefully Sidney can get back on track. She was nominated for the National Honor Society.
We are also nearly a year into swimming with the Sharks. We had a little lunch get together on Saturday as a team. All the kids got a little medal and certificate. We had a swim meet last Sunday and Sidney did well in the 100 Yard IM and the 50 Free. Unfortunately her goggles came off in the backstroke and she was holding them in her hand. It caused her to have some trouble and although she didn't get her B time, she didn't loose time even with the situation.
She also played the piano for a judge at the music festival this weekend. She won a blue ribbon. We are still waiting to see how she did in her theory. If she won a blue ribbon with that, she only needs one more festival to get a small trophy (assuming she gets another blue ribbon). The festival is where kids play for a judge and are graded on their technique, etc.
The last two nights have been the most normal we have had in a while. A proper dinner at a normal time and a quiet evening with no contractors. The cleaning people come tomorrow and then I hope to get Sidney into her bathroom, finally.
The thing I think about most now since the accident is that I am the only one with the memories. Kirk doesn't remember how we met (Bataan Commemorative Death March), or our wedding in Colorado. He doesn't remember the fear of Sidney's early birth (29 weeks) or watching her gain weight and grow. He doesn't remember any of our life together and for that I am sad. I miss him terribly. I am thankful for the care he is getting and that he is mostly content. I am thankful for Sidney who loves me even when I blow it and who is a loving, kind child. And I am thankful for you, all of you who hold my hand and carry me if needed.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Saturday, January 16, 2016
A Small Piece of Normal (Almost)
 |
| Kitchen with attack plastic |
 |
| Kitchen ceiling with repairs |
All the plastic came down from the kitchen on Friday. It feels really weird. The last round of plastic was attack plastic. It billowed out into the living room when the heat was on and would make you get stuck in the pantry. Glad to see it go.
 |
| Master bedroom |
 |
| Kitchen still missing cabinets |
 |
| Sidney's bathroom |
Sidney gets a three day weekend. I am grilling brats tonight and cooking pirogies on the burner on the grill. Tomorrow I will make burgers and otherwise it is microwave. But the freezer is getting empty.
Sunday, January 10, 2016
The Big Mess Continues
 |
| Where the kitchen should be |
 |
| The Kitchen in the Dining Room |
I can grill on the weekends and cook on the single burner on the grill. Weekdays we eat out of the freezer. Things you can microwave. Friday night we stop and get a meal to bring home from somewhere. It's an interesting way to live. Sidney doesn't seem to care much.
My bedroom at least has sheet rock and part of the vanity back in. Oh for normal.
 |
| Walls back in the bedroom |
This is another difficult phase in our lives. Sidney is very resilient but I am really tired and overwhelmed. I desperately need a longer period of quiet normalcy.
Monday, January 4, 2016
Germany and a Big Mess
Sidney and I had a very nice trip to Germany. We didn't do much so the notes will be short.
We arrived on December 21 tired and jet lagged so we really did nothing that day except a nice walk and a quick trip to the store. On Tuesday, December 22 we got to eat my nieces best ever Spaghetti Bolognese. We stay with my niece and nephew and their two kids when we go over. My niece, Jas, is my age and her husband, Mark, is English and about Kirk's age. They have two kids, Katharina 19 and Matthew 16. They also have the biggest, furriest dog ever and 4 cats. We went to the Christmas Market on Tuesday as well and enjoyed a couple of glasses of traditional hot Christmas wine and some tasty bratwursts. The food was being sold out of a fountain that had been drained for the winter and a wooden bar added around the edge. There was a ladder to gain entry for the staff. We also saw the most unique advent calendar. It is the windows of a school with paintings in each window. A new painting indicating the day is revealed each day. We also went on the Ferris wheel which was fun.
On Wednesday Jas made a tortellini casserole. Like everything she make it was super tasty. We also went to see "Star Wars". It was shown for three days in English. We surprised Sidney, not telling her we were going to the movie and just that we had to go shopping. She figured it out when we walked into the theater. It was great. Unfortunately Jas, who was the primary person to see the movie, got super sick and couldn't go. We enjoyed the movie but were sad to not have Jas with us.
Thursday was Christmas Eve. That is the day that all the festivities occur in Germany. Santa Claus is not a tradition but instead the Christ Child delivers gifts sometime during the day of Christmas Eve. That is also when the gifts are opened. We enjoyed a nice dinner of racolette with Mark, Jas, Kat and Matt as well as Jas's dad and step-mom. Raclette is social way to eat. There is an electric grill in the center of the table and on top you cook meat, onions and mushrooms. And each person has a small tray that you put veggies topped with a slice of cheese that you put underneath the grill. The veggies warm up and the cheese melts. There is a lot of passing of food and cheese and trays so it is really fun. After dinner we opened gifts.
I went for a nice run on Christmas morning. It was cool and pleasant. We had my half sister, Dorina, and her two younger boys, Steve and Jason, over for dinner. Jas and Mark cooked a turkey, stuffing, roasted vegetables, red cabbage, potato soup, and knodel. We also had a gravy that I had not had before. I was made of vegetables which were cooked until soft and then blended. It was almost like vegetable soup puree gravy. It was very nice. Steve and Jason used to be small boys and now they are tall young men. It has been a treat to watch all the kids in Germany grow up. I also got to see Carsten, my nephew, and his wife Jenni and their 1 month old boy Jonathan. Made my day. Jonathan is a cute little baby.
December 26 is Boxing Day, another holiday in Europe. We ate leftovers for dinner and went for a walk in the woods. We were looking for a little water fall for Jas to take some photos. We found the waterfall and Jas went to the far side. Sidney joined her and ended up hopelessly stuck in mud. She got out onto a rock but her shoes were completely buried in 6 inches of mud. I got her off the rock to dry ground in her socks and got onto the rock in order to dig out her shoes, all while trying not to endure the same fate. I got her shoes out and had to rinse them in the stream so she walked home in cold, muddy, smelly wet socks and shoes. The shoes are still in Germany. The mud stunk terribly. I called the shoes a loss.
My half brother, William, came over in the evening and we had a nice visit. Then Mark, Jas and I played Ligretto. It's a fun card game kind of like solitaire for several people and its fast an furious. Mark and Jas play a lot. I got my tail kicked on my first set of games.
I started the morning of December 27 with another run. We had fish sticks, potatoes, and broccoli for our big meal before heading to the Technical Museum in Speyer. It was a great little museum. Lots of antique vehicles including cars, motorcycles, trains, helicopters, planes, boats, and submarines. You could walk through many of the planes, helicopters and subs. They also had a space section with a great deal of NASA stuff and also a lot of information about the Russian space program. That was great. They had a special English Exhibit with English cars and motorcycles. There were three Player pianos that play themselves and usually have a piano or organ, some brass and other instruments. The were fabulous. One even had articulated statues that actually played the bell or symbol. It was a really great museum and we had a ton of fun looking around. There was also a German single person torpedo submarine. These missions were basically suicide missions for the mariner as his tiny sub was attached to the torpedo. After the museum we picked up some delicious Turkish Kabobs.
On December 28 we started the day with an English breakfast of bacon and sausage, beans, toast, eggs, and stewed tomatoes. It was quite nice. Then we were off to Heppenheim to walk around the lake and play on the various playgrounds. Unfortunately Heppenheim was completely fogged in and really cold. We did play for a while and took some nice photos but we were happy to head back to Fahrenbach where the sun was out and it was a bit warmer.
I got my last run in on December 29 before a pretzel and cheese breakfast. My last run was unfortunately proceeded with not great news from home. There was a water line leak in the master bedroom that flooded part of that room and the bath room. My neighbor had been trying to handle it without telling me but it was too big of a disaster and professional help was needed. Therefore I had to authorize the work. My neighbor did a great job getting help to move all the furniture and save everything that could be saved. I owe him for the rest of my life. Then we were off to Felsenmeer to climb up the boulders. We have been here several times. It is the discard pile from the Roman Granite quarry. It stretches from the bottom to the top of a good sized hill and is popular attraction for the kids who try to find their way up over the boulders sized as small as pig to as big as a car. Dinner was sauerbraten and homemade spätzle. We also cooked the goulash soup that would be tomorrow's dinner. All told we spent about 4 hours in the kitchen cooking. We played Yahtzee which I won and Ligretto which I also won....
December 30 was our last day in Germany. I went for my last walk up into the woods. It is so very peaceful and nice. It was Mark's birthday so we did some work around the house to prepare for the party. That is also what the soup was for. Both William and Dorina came to the party and it was so very nice to see them again. We had a nice evening or eating and being social, knowing our relaxing time was coming to an end. The trip was all we had hoped for to see family and relax. The only thing we didn't get was snow... Sidney was very sad. I have more pictures from Germany that I'll get posted later.
We departed early on December 31 for the long trip home. Everything was going along great until I went to turn up the heat in the house so it would be nice for our arrival. I looked at the video footage while I was in the app and saw water everywhere. I really mean everywhere. I called the neighbor who went over and their was a new leak resulting in water pouring out of the kitchen ceiling. The leak source was actually above the second floor above Sidney's bathroom. It had run all over her bathroom and closet and down to the ceiling of the kitchen. The entire ceiling in the kitchen had water on it. It then poured through the ceiling all over the first floor. Only the dining room and study were spared. Looking back at other recorded video, it started somewhere around 4 am and I saw it close to 4 pm. We couldn't stay in the house when we got home. It was too overwhelming.
We spent New Year's day trying to move back into the house. We had to get groceries and the dog. We also had a pile of laundry. And we tried to start taking stock of the damage. I however way underestimated.
A crew came on January 2 to remove the bathroom cabinet from the master to rebuild it. The particle board that the box is built of absorbed the water like a sponge and if not disposed, will mold. The guys ended up working all day. They had to take Sidney's bathroom cabinet, the mudroom cabinet and all the kitchen cabinets on the floor but one. They also had to take two upper cabinets. It was an all day nightmare. They removed the stove, oven, and sink. The microwave is out but at least usable. Every thing from the cabinets is in the dining room. Half my bedroom furniture is in the living room. Sidney and I are living upstairs using the one remaining full bathroom. All the cabinets will have to be rebuilt.
There are guys here today starting the wall and ceiling demo in Sidney's room. I an not sure what else they will get to. I think they will have to build an enclosure in the kitchen because there is so much to remove. Hopefully tomorrow I will get a temporary kitchen sink. We also know there is still water in some places. In particular under the stairs. I think they will chase that tomorrow.
The first leak will be covered under the home warranty I have just learned that the second won't. I'll have to use my insurance It will be far more expensive and much slower. I am pretty down about that. I have learned that I will turn off the water when I leave. I will be using the grill a lot to feed us. It also has a burner so I can use that to cook stuff in pots. And we will eat a lot of leftovers from the freezer. Camping in the kitchen.
The exterminator has come and expects to have the problem solved in short order. I feel much better about that. I'll keep you posted with progress at home.
Kirk will be admitted into the Poly Trauma Rehabilitation Unit at the VA for a couple of weeks. They want to bring him in to understand more about his injury and see if there is anything else we can do to help him. He is sleeping better with a mild sleep aid and started Day Hab or Day Care. He goes 4 days a week and seems to be enjoying it. It is a facility that provides an opportunity to do all sorts of fun activities including crafts, games and movies. He continues to have occasional out bursts but they are far fewer and he seems to be fairly content. I don't expect anything ground breaking from his admission but I welcome anything I can learn about him and how to make his life better.
 |
| Sidney in the Cockpit |
We arrived on December 21 tired and jet lagged so we really did nothing that day except a nice walk and a quick trip to the store. On Tuesday, December 22 we got to eat my nieces best ever Spaghetti Bolognese. We stay with my niece and nephew and their two kids when we go over. My niece, Jas, is my age and her husband, Mark, is English and about Kirk's age. They have two kids, Katharina 19 and Matthew 16. They also have the biggest, furriest dog ever and 4 cats. We went to the Christmas Market on Tuesday as well and enjoyed a couple of glasses of traditional hot Christmas wine and some tasty bratwursts. The food was being sold out of a fountain that had been drained for the winter and a wooden bar added around the edge. There was a ladder to gain entry for the staff. We also saw the most unique advent calendar. It is the windows of a school with paintings in each window. A new painting indicating the day is revealed each day. We also went on the Ferris wheel which was fun.
 |
| The fountain converted to a wine and food bar |
 |
| The Advent Calendar |
Thursday was Christmas Eve. That is the day that all the festivities occur in Germany. Santa Claus is not a tradition but instead the Christ Child delivers gifts sometime during the day of Christmas Eve. That is also when the gifts are opened. We enjoyed a nice dinner of racolette with Mark, Jas, Kat and Matt as well as Jas's dad and step-mom. Raclette is social way to eat. There is an electric grill in the center of the table and on top you cook meat, onions and mushrooms. And each person has a small tray that you put veggies topped with a slice of cheese that you put underneath the grill. The veggies warm up and the cheese melts. There is a lot of passing of food and cheese and trays so it is really fun. After dinner we opened gifts.
 |
| Jonathan |
 |
| Sidney and Bella (Newfoundland) |
My half brother, William, came over in the evening and we had a nice visit. Then Mark, Jas and I played Ligretto. It's a fun card game kind of like solitaire for several people and its fast an furious. Mark and Jas play a lot. I got my tail kicked on my first set of games.
 |
| The name not he side of the plane is "Cimber" |
I started the morning of December 27 with another run. We had fish sticks, potatoes, and broccoli for our big meal before heading to the Technical Museum in Speyer. It was a great little museum. Lots of antique vehicles including cars, motorcycles, trains, helicopters, planes, boats, and submarines. You could walk through many of the planes, helicopters and subs. They also had a space section with a great deal of NASA stuff and also a lot of information about the Russian space program. That was great. They had a special English Exhibit with English cars and motorcycles. There were three Player pianos that play themselves and usually have a piano or organ, some brass and other instruments. The were fabulous. One even had articulated statues that actually played the bell or symbol. It was a really great museum and we had a ton of fun looking around. There was also a German single person torpedo submarine. These missions were basically suicide missions for the mariner as his tiny sub was attached to the torpedo. After the museum we picked up some delicious Turkish Kabobs.
On December 28 we started the day with an English breakfast of bacon and sausage, beans, toast, eggs, and stewed tomatoes. It was quite nice. Then we were off to Heppenheim to walk around the lake and play on the various playgrounds. Unfortunately Heppenheim was completely fogged in and really cold. We did play for a while and took some nice photos but we were happy to head back to Fahrenbach where the sun was out and it was a bit warmer.
 |
| Lea and Peach giving each other a bath |
 |
| Ceiling in Sidney's Bathroom |
December 30 was our last day in Germany. I went for my last walk up into the woods. It is so very peaceful and nice. It was Mark's birthday so we did some work around the house to prepare for the party. That is also what the soup was for. Both William and Dorina came to the party and it was so very nice to see them again. We had a nice evening or eating and being social, knowing our relaxing time was coming to an end. The trip was all we had hoped for to see family and relax. The only thing we didn't get was snow... Sidney was very sad. I have more pictures from Germany that I'll get posted later.
 |
| Master Bedroom Walls |
We departed early on December 31 for the long trip home. Everything was going along great until I went to turn up the heat in the house so it would be nice for our arrival. I looked at the video footage while I was in the app and saw water everywhere. I really mean everywhere. I called the neighbor who went over and their was a new leak resulting in water pouring out of the kitchen ceiling. The leak source was actually above the second floor above Sidney's bathroom. It had run all over her bathroom and closet and down to the ceiling of the kitchen. The entire ceiling in the kitchen had water on it. It then poured through the ceiling all over the first floor. Only the dining room and study were spared. Looking back at other recorded video, it started somewhere around 4 am and I saw it close to 4 pm. We couldn't stay in the house when we got home. It was too overwhelming.
 |
| Kitchen with nothing left |
We spent New Year's day trying to move back into the house. We had to get groceries and the dog. We also had a pile of laundry. And we tried to start taking stock of the damage. I however way underestimated.
A crew came on January 2 to remove the bathroom cabinet from the master to rebuild it. The particle board that the box is built of absorbed the water like a sponge and if not disposed, will mold. The guys ended up working all day. They had to take Sidney's bathroom cabinet, the mudroom cabinet and all the kitchen cabinets on the floor but one. They also had to take two upper cabinets. It was an all day nightmare. They removed the stove, oven, and sink. The microwave is out but at least usable. Every thing from the cabinets is in the dining room. Half my bedroom furniture is in the living room. Sidney and I are living upstairs using the one remaining full bathroom. All the cabinets will have to be rebuilt.
 |
| Why the cabinets had to go |
There are guys here today starting the wall and ceiling demo in Sidney's room. I an not sure what else they will get to. I think they will have to build an enclosure in the kitchen because there is so much to remove. Hopefully tomorrow I will get a temporary kitchen sink. We also know there is still water in some places. In particular under the stairs. I think they will chase that tomorrow.
The first leak will be covered under the home warranty I have just learned that the second won't. I'll have to use my insurance It will be far more expensive and much slower. I am pretty down about that. I have learned that I will turn off the water when I leave. I will be using the grill a lot to feed us. It also has a burner so I can use that to cook stuff in pots. And we will eat a lot of leftovers from the freezer. Camping in the kitchen.
The exterminator has come and expects to have the problem solved in short order. I feel much better about that. I'll keep you posted with progress at home.
 |
| Damage tot he kitchen ceiling |
Kirk will be admitted into the Poly Trauma Rehabilitation Unit at the VA for a couple of weeks. They want to bring him in to understand more about his injury and see if there is anything else we can do to help him. He is sleeping better with a mild sleep aid and started Day Hab or Day Care. He goes 4 days a week and seems to be enjoying it. It is a facility that provides an opportunity to do all sorts of fun activities including crafts, games and movies. He continues to have occasional out bursts but they are far fewer and he seems to be fairly content. I don't expect anything ground breaking from his admission but I welcome anything I can learn about him and how to make his life better.
Saturday, December 19, 2015
It's Been a While
I didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted. The last post was right after we moved Kirk. I am happy to say he still appears to be very content. He isn't sleeping very well so we are working on that. I'll give a further update on him shortly.
Sidney and I had a quite Thanksgiving. We didn't go get Kirk because I want him to settle in there. We delivered meals with Meals on Wheels on both Wednesday and Thursday of Thanksgiving week. It was wonderful to bring smiles to peoples faces. WE not only delivered complete meals, even with a small pie, but we delivered carnations, small Christmas trees and homemade place mats. It was really a lot of fun.
We shared a Thanksgiving meal with friends before having a relaxing afternoon and evening. The following weekend was fairly quite except for running Sidney to and from swimming.... It never stops.
There have been many changes at work. The oil field environment is challenging right now and many people have either retired or been let go. My boss retired and I miss him dearly. It's just not the same....I need the change to slow down a bit.
Sidney was supposed to have a swim meet December 11-13. Coach didn't get us registered in time and it turned out OK. Sidney's girlfriend in Katy had her birthday party that weekend and so I was able to surprise her with a trip over. It was a lot of driving for a short weekend but we had fun. We also got to visit our old church in Katy which is always refilling.
Sidney has been having a rougher time at school lately. She is not turning work in and not getting very good grades on tests. I am frustrated and not sure what is going on. Hopefully a break will help us both get back on track. We have been able to get in a little hiking which has been a treat. Stormy is happy too.
I traded in both cars the day after Thanksgiving and bought a new Prius Wagon. I am really happy with it. It is very suitable for us and gets great gas mileage. It is much bigger than the old Prius and more useful than my car was.
Kirk has had a lot going on in the last few weeks. He has had several doctor visits at the foster home and he has been one to the VA facilities several times. There are still more questions than answers but every doctor, nurse, and other VA representative I have talked to have been fabulous. They are caring, concerned and take all the time I need to answer questions. I have been so amazingly happy with the care he is receiving. The care at the foster home is provided with love and the care from the VA has been really great. Kirk spent a whole day at the hospital Tuesday getting tests. The doctor he was seeing specializes in looking at what a patient can do or not do and understand what part of the brain is affected and how. I spent about an hour on the phone with him Tuesday answering and asking a lot of questions. His work will continues but I have another name for a condition Kirk exhibits. I already know the name for the difficulty with words, Aphasia. But I also learned that Kirk can write but he can't read, not even what he just wrote. It is apparently a very unusual rarely seen condition that is making them wonder more about the head injury and if there is something else contributing to his problems. The condition is called Alexia without Agraphia. More work will be done to try to understand what happened and maybe a why.
Sidney and I are off to Germany tomorrow. Yes, we are running away. Our niece and nephew invited us over for Christmas and we couldn't pass it up. The last time I went to Germany I came back with a broken hand, two black eyes and road rash as well as had an emergency landing because the plane had smoke in the cockpit. Hopefully this is a less adventurous trip.
I think I am starting to feel a hint of peace regarding Kirk and our lives. It is only a hint and is mostly about his contentedness and the care he is getting. And it all has been just happening without me having to fight every step of the way. I don't think I have felt that hint during this whole long experience. I pray that it continues and grows ever so slowly. I still am heart broken and that will take a very long time to change but I would love to have peace with where he is and his happiness.
I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and a very Happy New Year. Thank you for loving us, standing by us, and even carrying us for another year.
Sidney and I had a quite Thanksgiving. We didn't go get Kirk because I want him to settle in there. We delivered meals with Meals on Wheels on both Wednesday and Thursday of Thanksgiving week. It was wonderful to bring smiles to peoples faces. WE not only delivered complete meals, even with a small pie, but we delivered carnations, small Christmas trees and homemade place mats. It was really a lot of fun.We shared a Thanksgiving meal with friends before having a relaxing afternoon and evening. The following weekend was fairly quite except for running Sidney to and from swimming.... It never stops.
There have been many changes at work. The oil field environment is challenging right now and many people have either retired or been let go. My boss retired and I miss him dearly. It's just not the same....I need the change to slow down a bit.
Sidney was supposed to have a swim meet December 11-13. Coach didn't get us registered in time and it turned out OK. Sidney's girlfriend in Katy had her birthday party that weekend and so I was able to surprise her with a trip over. It was a lot of driving for a short weekend but we had fun. We also got to visit our old church in Katy which is always refilling.
Sidney has been having a rougher time at school lately. She is not turning work in and not getting very good grades on tests. I am frustrated and not sure what is going on. Hopefully a break will help us both get back on track. We have been able to get in a little hiking which has been a treat. Stormy is happy too.
I traded in both cars the day after Thanksgiving and bought a new Prius Wagon. I am really happy with it. It is very suitable for us and gets great gas mileage. It is much bigger than the old Prius and more useful than my car was.
Kirk has had a lot going on in the last few weeks. He has had several doctor visits at the foster home and he has been one to the VA facilities several times. There are still more questions than answers but every doctor, nurse, and other VA representative I have talked to have been fabulous. They are caring, concerned and take all the time I need to answer questions. I have been so amazingly happy with the care he is receiving. The care at the foster home is provided with love and the care from the VA has been really great. Kirk spent a whole day at the hospital Tuesday getting tests. The doctor he was seeing specializes in looking at what a patient can do or not do and understand what part of the brain is affected and how. I spent about an hour on the phone with him Tuesday answering and asking a lot of questions. His work will continues but I have another name for a condition Kirk exhibits. I already know the name for the difficulty with words, Aphasia. But I also learned that Kirk can write but he can't read, not even what he just wrote. It is apparently a very unusual rarely seen condition that is making them wonder more about the head injury and if there is something else contributing to his problems. The condition is called Alexia without Agraphia. More work will be done to try to understand what happened and maybe a why.
Sidney and I are off to Germany tomorrow. Yes, we are running away. Our niece and nephew invited us over for Christmas and we couldn't pass it up. The last time I went to Germany I came back with a broken hand, two black eyes and road rash as well as had an emergency landing because the plane had smoke in the cockpit. Hopefully this is a less adventurous trip.
I think I am starting to feel a hint of peace regarding Kirk and our lives. It is only a hint and is mostly about his contentedness and the care he is getting. And it all has been just happening without me having to fight every step of the way. I don't think I have felt that hint during this whole long experience. I pray that it continues and grows ever so slowly. I still am heart broken and that will take a very long time to change but I would love to have peace with where he is and his happiness.
I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and a very Happy New Year. Thank you for loving us, standing by us, and even carrying us for another year.
Sunday, November 22, 2015
The Move and Life
I had jury duty on November 2. One of the most boring days of my life. I ended up on a panel but not going to jury. So the good news is that I am off the hook for three more years. And I got to read a book.That day was followed by three days of training. As it turned out I have had the training before. Apparently it never got recorded so three more days....
Speaking of work it has been rough lately. We had voluntary retirements and my boss and one of my coworkers are retiring. There are many other retirements and also a few layoffs. Really need oil to rebound. And I found out that a beloved coworker in Houston died last weekend. He apparently had been very sick with cancer but it was fast also. He spent the time with his wife and grown kids. I went on many of my international trips with him and he showed me all over and around Aberdeen several year ago. He is from the Aberdeen area. I will cherish his memory in a special place in my heart.
Sidney's swim coach moved the team to a different pool some time ago. It is a good 30 miles from the house, all the way across town. It's a really great pool but so far away. I have help on Tuesdays which is saving my bacon. But still I drive her 180 miles each week to swimming. We are managing though. I plan meals that we can warm up in the microwave and never fast food. The meals aren't always perfectly balanced but they are usually leftover home cooked stuff. Maybe we will be able to make it through the rest of the school year....
Sidney and I finally completed East Brae in legos. I did Brae Alpha some time ago and it was a lot easier. I had to restart East Brae several times but I think it is finally right.I have also had some help getting the Ford running. I drover her to church this morning. It was nerve wracking as I have not driven her in several years (Kirk usually drove since he was stronger) and I haven't driven her ever with just Sidney and I. We had one stall at a stop sign but we got there an back fine. I think the stall was just her fit after not running for a year and half. The person who helped me gave a small but special part of life back to me.
I move Kirk on Friday. I had some help from guys at work and we used one of their trucks. He doesn't have much stuff but it was a puzzle to get it all into the truck to minimize scratches and the like. It was very hard to say goodbye to Rainbow House. I know the staff were fond of Kirk. And they took such good care of him.
After loading the truck, we headed off the the new place. We took a minor detour and saw a lot of San Antonio because there are 2 Beverly Drives with the same house number. Started at the wrong one. But we got him to the new house, run by Mary Ann. It is a VA Foster Home and she has three men who live there. One had a stroke and the other is a double amputee having lost both legs. And then Kirk is the last resident. The friends who helped me move Kirk really liked Mary Ann and she has sent me several pictures and updates. He seems very content. Because he is at a VA Foster Home he will receive visiting doctors and nurses as well as can have bloodworm and shots at the house. Also there will be a social worker, dietician and Chaplain who visit. Mary Ann will take him to meet me at any specially appointments so he won't get lost anymore. And the VA will organize Day Care if they seems like it will be a good fit. |
| My Box Turtle |
Monday, November 2, 2015
Move Update
I am sorry I have been so delinquent on the blog. I certainly have not been doing a good job with posts. I think of so many things to write and then life interferes.
I visited a VA Foster Home for Kirk on Friday. It is a smaller home with only room for three residents. There are two men there already. The first is a 65 year old veteran who had a stroke. The second is a 46 year old double amputee. The lady who runs the home will go visit Kirk this week and make a decision as to if he can live there. I am quickly running out of time as he has to be moved by November 29, a day that seemed so far away four months ago when we found out Rainbow House was closing. I feel like I didn't do a good job looking for options. If he moves to the VA Home, many things will hopefully get easier including appointments and even the move because the VA will move him.
Sidney is busy which means I am busy. She had a swim meet this weekend, all three days. At least this one was in town which made life's easier and it only ate about 6 hours of each day instead of 8 or 10. I have shared a video and some pictures on Facebook. Sidney gets yelled at in the video and it's pretty funny. All the kids get their turn of getting yelled at..... And yet they all love Coach.
She has been swimming outside all summer and through October. Yes the water got really cold in October. She comes out blue or purple. Coach had been looking for a pool and found one but it is a good long ways away. We are going to try it. I have help on Tuesdays and we will see how it goes. The concerns I have are really how to keep us fed and get homework done without doing it late at night. This life is a juggling act. And I usually drop something.
I am not sure if I wrote that I managed to fix the grill and a toilet myself and I changed the smoke detector batteries and furnace filters. Small things I know but normal things. I also feed us real meals that I cook immediately four nights a week and reasonable (most of the time) left overs on the three super busy nights.
Sidney saves me so many times and she doesn't know it. I am still deep in sadness and grief and wondering if I am doing the right things and making the right choices. She wrote me a beautiful note on a really bad day. On anther day I was captivated by her reading me poetry and she was so engaged and beautiful. She is such a loving, talented, smart, sweet person. Still a wonderful blend of Kirk and I. I also think back on our amazing life of the invincible three. It didn't matter where we were or what we did or didn't have, we were happy. And I don't know what comes after that as two....
I'll let you know how the move develops. I pray I am making the right decision but I never know until it happens.
I visited a VA Foster Home for Kirk on Friday. It is a smaller home with only room for three residents. There are two men there already. The first is a 65 year old veteran who had a stroke. The second is a 46 year old double amputee. The lady who runs the home will go visit Kirk this week and make a decision as to if he can live there. I am quickly running out of time as he has to be moved by November 29, a day that seemed so far away four months ago when we found out Rainbow House was closing. I feel like I didn't do a good job looking for options. If he moves to the VA Home, many things will hopefully get easier including appointments and even the move because the VA will move him.
Sidney is busy which means I am busy. She had a swim meet this weekend, all three days. At least this one was in town which made life's easier and it only ate about 6 hours of each day instead of 8 or 10. I have shared a video and some pictures on Facebook. Sidney gets yelled at in the video and it's pretty funny. All the kids get their turn of getting yelled at..... And yet they all love Coach.
She has been swimming outside all summer and through October. Yes the water got really cold in October. She comes out blue or purple. Coach had been looking for a pool and found one but it is a good long ways away. We are going to try it. I have help on Tuesdays and we will see how it goes. The concerns I have are really how to keep us fed and get homework done without doing it late at night. This life is a juggling act. And I usually drop something.
I am not sure if I wrote that I managed to fix the grill and a toilet myself and I changed the smoke detector batteries and furnace filters. Small things I know but normal things. I also feed us real meals that I cook immediately four nights a week and reasonable (most of the time) left overs on the three super busy nights.
Sidney saves me so many times and she doesn't know it. I am still deep in sadness and grief and wondering if I am doing the right things and making the right choices. She wrote me a beautiful note on a really bad day. On anther day I was captivated by her reading me poetry and she was so engaged and beautiful. She is such a loving, talented, smart, sweet person. Still a wonderful blend of Kirk and I. I also think back on our amazing life of the invincible three. It didn't matter where we were or what we did or didn't have, we were happy. And I don't know what comes after that as two....
I'll let you know how the move develops. I pray I am making the right decision but I never know until it happens.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)