Stay safe Janet!

Gary has the same problem with his blood pressure going real low when he stands up but he is strong enough to balance himself and grab on to something to keep from falling.

Sorry you have to deal with the carpet. Sounds like she might have to go back on the Vancomycin. I have a friend who is dealing with an elderly father in Florida who has chronic diarrhea from C-Diff, is extremely weak, and is on Vancomycin. The problem is that her mom is NUTS and won't care for him at home and just leaves him sitting on the porta potty for hours becasue he too, has accidents and she won't clean it up. He ended up back in the hospital and was discharged today. My friend called the social worker the first of the week and they got him into rehab, because clearly he can't go home. I don't know what is going to happen when his rehab days are up. It's a bad situation.

That is so sad Gayle. I have Mom wear the adult diapers. She doesn't mind when she has the diarrhea, but when it's back to normal so are the panties...lol. That poor man....things like that break my heart.

Mom has her walker right next to her wherever she is in the house. When she stands...she wobbles really bad. We're also dealing with her ankles being swollen...very badly. We are using a higher concentrate of dialysis fluid to help get it off, but we can't do it for very long because of her blood pressure. I've already started her on the Vancomycin so hopefully it will kick in quickly.

I hope I'm wrong, but if this keeps up she'll be back in the hospital before the weekend is over.

This is not what I did, but what I am going to do. About 4:00PM yesterday, one of Gary's cousins and his wife (they're just a few years younger than us) called to say they were on their way to Austin from Oklahoma City. It was a completely spontaneous trip (sort of). They are leaving from Galveston on Sunday for a cruise, and since Austin is not too far out of the way from Oklahoma City to Galveston, and since they had never been to Austin, on the spur of the moment, they decided to spend Friday and Saturday nights in Austin. Okaaaaaaaay! Now, we are entertaining relatives all day today and this evening. I must be fair, they said if we were busy, it was fine since this was completely unexpected by them and us. In reality, Gary and I didn't have any plans this weekend that couldn't be changed, and we are happy to see them and show them our favorite city - Austin! It's a good thing my housekeep came this week so the house is at least presentable. :eek:

I had a grandkid couple of days. I had the 2 younger ones Thursday night. They were just so good! It is really easy to have only 2 here instead of 3. I bought them three On Demand movies, and it was well worth the $12.00. They were so happy! Such cuteness and sweetness is amazing! I love them and just want to eat them up with kisses!

Mackenzie came over yesterday, and slept over until late today. I love her so much! We also had a very nice, quiet time together, chatting, playing a game on my ipad, making Easter eggs, and watching the same movies as the little ones. She is more demanding of attention than the little ones, but they have each other. It fascinates me to watch an almost 14 year old's antics!!! I taught that age for years, and I love it!!!

Now, I am doing absolutely nothing but relaxing, which I definitely deserve!

Well, today has been a day from hell! Got up early because the darn dogs started barking. Tonight they are sleeping in the garage, they have been barking all day and I'm so ready to get rid of at least 3 of them, but don't know if I could actually go through with it. Grrrrrr!

I did get my fridge cleaned out....WOW...it was worse than I thought. I'm so glad I did it today..needed the help to work off some aggravating stress. After that I showered and decided to take a nap. When I woke up I started playing a few games on my IPad. Well, it hurt her feelings saying I left her alone all day like I didn't want to be with her. Guess I lost it a bit, but I told her there are times I need ME time and today was one of those days. So sick of explaining myself, but I asked for it and I got it. No one to blame but me.

Tomorrow she is going to my older brother's house for Easter. When they get here I'm going to tell them that Rick,Ricky and I will be gone for the day so they will need to call before bringing her home and that we probably won't be home until at least 7:00 pm. Not totally true but mostly. I need ALL day! I can't wait!

We had such a busy weekend. We spent all day Saturday (day and evening) showing Gary's cousin and his wife around Austin. We had loads of fun, but my, it was exhausting!

Then yesterday (Easter), I fixed a late lunch for mom Gary and I which took all morning. I picked mom up after church and we had a really nice visit and lunch.

Then I took her to Walmart for some things and that took a really long time with lots of walking around to find everything. By the time I got home, I was exhausted again! LOL!

I spent Easter at Jessie's yesterday. We had an Easter egg contest, which was lots of fun, until Brandon's favorite egg broke. We also had an egg hunt, then Steve made a delicious dinner, and I found stuff I could eat.

My ex was there, and the kids were so happy. He is losing his hearing, and it's annoying to talk to him!

Jessie then bathed 5 dogs which are going home today and, hopefully tomorrow. They are so cute! They're malamutes, about 35 pounds each, but really are babies. I just loved them up!

Today...I'm not sure yet.

It sounds like everyone had a good Easter! Janet, I'm glad you got some time to yourself!

Good Friday is a stat holiday here, so we went into the city to see a classic car show, then did some shopping for groceries. Scott's parents were supposed to be at our place around 6-7 that evening and I was making homemade burgers to barbeque. We were in Walmart at 3:15 and Scott got a text from his mom saying they were about 20 minutes from the city. :( We RUSHED home and they were about 15 minutes behind us. I didn't have time to get much done before they walked in, and apparently having a few dirty dishes in the sink is a big deal. They were supposed to leave at 4:00 Saturday, so we decided to just stay home for the weekend instead of visiting my family at the lake (they invited us out for Easter), because we wouldn't get there until late. WELL, Scott's parents left around noon :( We could have gone to the lake, but I already had a turkey thawing so it was too late to change our plans.

The rest of the weekend we went through our WHOLE house and filled boxes and boxes and boxes of things to put in a garage sale, and then donate whatever doesn't sell. It really felt good to sort through things. I hang on to so much useless stuff. In my town, they have one weekend with a town garage sale. You can pay $2 to have your address listed in the town newsletter with a map, or you can also rent a table in the school gym. They put a big ad in the city newspaper too so a lot of people come out for it. It's the weekend before we leave on our vacation, so it will be a little bit hectic for us! But I've never had a garage sale before so I'm excited for it!

I love garage sales, Lindsey......wish I lived close enough to come!!!! I think that Jaci's having a garage sale next weekend!!

I spent last week cleaning my house and getting ready for Easter. My Mom has just realized that her house is just not big enough to host family things so pretty much everything will be here, I think, from now on. But she still brought plenty of food.....potato salad, chocolate and lemon pie.....my favorite!!! I made grilled hamburgers and the girls all brought salads and stuff to go with it. A meal that's simple and not too much work. I've decided that we don't have a have a HUGE meal every time we get together.

My brother was planning on going somewhere but I heard about an incident at his home with my neice so I let Mom know that he wasn't invited. I'm tired of all the drama that always goes with him. He's back on drugs.......because he's got a new girlfriend with the same problem. Not a good combination!!!

I did have on of my brother's daughter's come with her little son. Natasha is expecting another baby and has been so very sick but she decided to come. I've become much better friends with her since we've both been on FB. She's had a really hard life and she lived with us for a while when she was just a couple of years old. We also tried to get custody of her when my brother divorced his nice wife (who wasn't Natasha's mother) because we knew that my brother wasn't a good parent (nor was her real mother) to raise her.

Anyway, after we ate my daughters and daughter-in-law went out and hid the Easter candy then the kids all went out and found it. The little ones got to go first to make it more fair and the oldest girls were thrilled to be able to still be able to find the candy!!!

They also played volleyball in the front yard and Amy brought her Wii and we played with a dance studio game. It's where you follow the dance moves. I even did it.....as well as my Mom and Glen!!!! It was fun but was a work out!!!!

After that everyone pretty much went home. It was a great day but I was so tired.

On Saturday we had a Easter Picnic with Glen's family. I don't usually go but this one was planned at Glen's brother's house right close to us. We usually go out in the country somewhere but we had a 80% chance of rain.....which we didn't get. I find that I just really struggle with Glen's aunts that are Althea's sisters. I think it's because they all think just like she did. Anyway it was nice to visit with some of the cousins and see the grandkids!! And the weather was beautiful!!!!

Diana, your family functions always seem like so much fun. I know you're not thrilled with some on the 'other side' but you know Glenn has to appreciate it.

Sorry that your brother has gone back to drugs, not a good thing. You were right not to have him and possible drama at your place. I do hope he gets it together before it's too late.

Forgot to add... Today I ran my route of course, then went to town to run some errands. It was raining so Mom decided to stay. I took my cherished ;) laptop in to be checked out. The updates were failing to update and as hard as I tried ( with help from MS online ) I just couldn't figure it out. Hopefully they will and all will be right in my world again...lolol

I have Dean today!! He's taking a nap at the moment!!! He's learning sooo much!!! He's been learning to talk!!! I just love it!!!!

I went to a class on how to make some fancy kind of collage today. It was fun, and the artist who taught it pulled me on the side, and told me that mine were the best. I felt like teacher's pet, and I liked it!!!

It's not really anything I would want to do much, but it was a very nice technique.

Okay....let us see.....please.

Judy, that sounds fun! I'm not crafty at all, but I love to look at crafts!

I took my computer to the genius bar at that Apple store today. It has been freezing up 1-2 times per day. Also, I couldn't update my calendar on my iPad becasue I couldn't sync my iPad becasue my computer operating system was too old.

They couldn't find anything wrong with it to cause it to freeze, so they just installed a new operating system, thinking that might be why it was freezing up. So far, so good, everything seems to be working fine except my school email. I need the domain name which I will have to get at school on Monday. Then I should be able to download all my email stuff from school. I have email on my iPad and phone so it is fine.

It always makes me so nervous to do a computer upgrade, I always think something terrible is going to happen. LOL! I do love Apple though, I spent 2 hours at the store today with my computer and it only cost $29.00 for the new operating system. They installed it for me and didn't charge me anything.

I got my laptop back yesterday and spent most of the morning putting it back to the way I had it.
It wasn't letting all the updates update...lol and was running slow. Could not figure it out so it was restored to original condition. All updates loaded and working great. Lost some of my favorites links, but I probably didn't need them anyway....I hope.

Still need to download Skype again so will have to do that some time.

We have had such a busy weekend, but we got lots of things accomplished. So far my computer is running great after the trip to the genius bar and the operating system upgrade. Keep your fingers crossed. LOL!

Today I watered the yard. It is a BIG chore, dragging the hoses all over the yard. I like to be outside, so I don't mind and it is good exercise.

Then we met a couple who want to rent our house in Austin and they want to buy it if they can get approved for a loan. They are from Mexico and don't have any credit - they don't have bad credit, just none. So, they are working with the bank to establish some credit so they can buy the house. I sure hope after they live in it, they'll still want to buy it!

The husband works for a moving company so he unloaded the attic for us. He was so very very nice and wouldn't take a penny, although it was hot as the devil up there! Now, Gary and I have to go through everything and bring it over here (NOT MUCH), take it to Goodwill or to the dump. They want to move in July 1 and we'll be gone pretty much till then, so we have to get the house cleared out before we leave May 25th. WHEW! Lot's to do!

That's great, Gayle!!! Too bad that you have to hurry and get things out but, knowing you, you'll have everything gone through and put away or given away before you know it!!! That was really nice of the man to help you clean out the attic!!!

Wonderful Gayle! it' always nice to have a renter and even nicer if they want to buy. We have a rental in town and sometimes it's a pain trying to take care of two places. I sure wish I had your energy! :)

LOL! Janet! I have NO energy today. I'm so tired I had to come home at 3:30 and take a nap. I know I'll be up all night, but I just couldn't go any longer!

Gayle, have you ever thought about getting one of those little tractors that water your lawn? I have an old one and they work great!! You just hook them up to the hose and lay the rest of the hose where you want the tractor to water and it will follow the hose then you don't have to move your sprinkler all the time. I love mine!!!

Glen went and got me some dirt for a new flower bed that I'm making. I had to dig up some plants that I already had planted there. I can't wait to get things moved and growning......it's going to take a few years to get it the way I want it!! I love hostas and that's what I'm mostly planting!!

I love host as too. Lynne has some big beautiful ones.

$29 for a new operating system is so inexpensive! Toshiba wants you to promise them your home and 2 grandchildren for a new hard drive!

Last night I lost my internet service on my laptop, ad thought, "Here we go again!" I really don't want to do what you are having to do, Janet. Restoring all my stuff is so much work! Then I went on my i Pad, and had the same problem!

It wasn't my router, so I figure it was my cable company. I have our town's phone company providing phone, cable tv, and internet. I have to say I was glad because service would come back, and I had nothing to worry about.

I haven't transferred anything to my iPad from my PC. I don't know yet what I want to transfer. Actually, I have in mind to take my pic, music, and I don't know what else yet off of my hard drive and onto back up devices. I don't need them on my laptop, and am always afraid it will crash and I will just lose them. I have to decide what to put them on. I have had very bad luck with external hard drives, flash drives (my favorite) don't hold enough, and neither do sd cards. Someone told me to use dvd discs. I really have to check it out.

Today, I am going to Jessie's to help Brandon with math. It's raining out and I'm happy to stay home until then!

Judy, DVDs will hold about 7x more information than a CD. We use them at work quite often if we're burning a copy of a large project for a client, including photos and drawings.

I agree, that's really cheap for a new operating system!!! So far we haven't dealt with any Apple products, but I might switch over someday. Our cellular provider just got iPhones this week, and we did look at them, but we might go with Android instead when it's time to switch!

We had quite a day yesterday! First of all, we were driving to work in the morning and got stuck behing some traffic. I was watching in the side mirror as the car behind us tried to change lanes, and changed lanes right into the side of a city bus that was coming up quite quickly beside us! The bumper exploded and flew forward, hitting our car. Scott stopped and checked, but luckily there was no damage to us.

Last night, Scott had overtime work to do at home, and he thought it would take until about 2 a.m. to have it finished. I fell asleep on the couch downstairs and went up to bed around 9:30. Since he couldn't WATCH the hockey game (his team, Vancouver, is in the playoffs), he had it turned up loud on the stereo upstairs. I couldn't sleep through that anyway, so I flipped through a magazine in bed. All of a sudden I heard what sounded like power surges.. loud electrical buzzing. My lamp started flickering and going out. The sound kept happening. Scott yelled at me to come look, so I found my way up to the top floor (in the pitch black, even the streetlights were out!) and we saw huge sparks on top of a power pole at the end of the street. It was surging too, on and off, and it was so bright! Sparks were flying about 10 feet in the air and there was fire at the base. It was really crazy to see! I called my dad (he's a lineman for the provincial power company) and he said it was probably a substation blown from faulty or old wiring, and they'd probably be sending a crew to fix it and we'd have power back in the morning. Well, we had power back in the morning! But Scott didn't get his work done. Oh well! His company is a bit more lenient than mine with those issues!

It was fun to do this, but not really something I would want to pursue. I can see combining mediums, like picture #2, which is pottery, and some stones and rocks I glued on.

Yesterday, other than the disappointing Hospice visit, most everything else went okay considering...lol. This year really isn't starting out the best but hey...it can only get better right? Outside of the fact that we are having a bit of a financial crunch and taking care of Mom....I bought my IPad 2, I thought I deserved it...but couldn't afford it so I charged it. Then I bought a new mattress and boxsprings...remember? Finally got Rick out of the bedroom, but had to move Mom in......I had to charge it. With everything going on....I called the Vet so I could send Ricky after some Flea/heartworm meds for the dogs. Well, two of them needed their annual and they won't give heartworm without a heartworm test. So...I had to take Penny and Emilee for their annual and then Brenna for her heartworm test. Then I was allowed to buy the Sentinel,final cost....$400, of course I had to charge that too. So now I have credit card debt of over $1500. TOTALLY SUCKS!!

I guess I know now why I've been such a nervous wreck ...LOL. I'm not complaining at the moment, but seeing this in writing....I probably should be. Oh well...I know there are others worse off....way worse off....the flood victims, tornado victims...so many others.

Janet, I know you are worried about $1500 of CC debt, but you are so responsible, and you will pay it off, it's just the way it is right now. Of course, there are so many people worse off, but the debit worries you and I can understand, but it will be OK, it's a small amount comparatively speaking!

So true and just by writing it out makes it seem so small. I'll get it paid off....just hope my husband doesn't find out.

It is not a good feeling to owe money, but I agree with Gayle. You will pay it off, and your hubby will be none the wiser!

It's time you got things you have been wanting anyway, and $1500 is not a huge debt.

YUK! :mad: I have to go to a hoity toity dinner tonight! I just hate these kinds of events. Our advisory counsel is here for a meeting tomorrow and there is a reception/dinner for them tonight at the Longhorn Village, a hoity toity retirement center and golf club WAAAAAY out by the lake. Most of the counsel members are very well to do, that is their duty as counsel members, to find money for the school of nursing. It makes me feel so uncomfortable. Also, the drive out there will be a nightmare. The reception starts at 6:00, so that means I have to leave my house at 5:45 to get there and I'll be driving with the thousands of other people who live out that direction as they make their way home from work. Damn! I just hate this sort of thing.

Yuck!!! I hope the food is good at least!

Food was GREAT! :p Company, not so much :thumbdwn: But I survived and got home about 9:30. Now, to finish packing for Houston tomorrow (going to see the kids! YAY!), off to work by 8:00 tomorrow, class tomorrow afternoon, THEN I get to drive to Houston (4 hour drive - fun NOT!).

But I'll get to see my kids, so it will all be worth it! :D

Oooh! Nice! Have a safe trip!

Yesterday, I went to Cobbleskill to Walmart's. I love Walmart's! Bought some craft supplies, some hardware, and computer ink, all at excellent prices.

Say what you will about their corporate policies, the store is well stocked, clean, great prices, and has great variety. For people on a budget, it cannot be beat!

With the money I had saved, I went across the road and got a mani/pedi, with french tips! Fancy me;)! Then I ordered a pair of sunglasses from an eyeglass store and came home. Nice day!

Today I'm going to the skin doctor. I want to have my eyeliner tattoo redone. It has faded out, and I seem to be on a beautification quest these days. I think the eyebrow thread got me thinking!

Then, I better stop shopping for a while. The girls' birthdays are in June and Brandon's is in July. I think money is the best for all three. Kass wants horseback riding lessons again. Mackenzie wants clothes, and Brandon likes to have his own money so he can choose what he likes.

Today was so pretty out and didn!'t feel too bad out either. Left Mom here and I went to down to run a few errands and get some groceries. It was getting to be slim pickins on food choices. That was about it.

Oh my husband fixed the dryer today also. The heating element went out so the dryer would run, but not heat up. He checked on line to see what to check and waalaa it's fixed. He did good.

I went to Mackenzie's softball game at 11:00, then Kassidy's soccer game at 1:00.

Mackenzie is a sub at this point, but on her turn at bat, she got a hit! She brought home a home run because another girl was on third! Her coach told her she was very pleased with her progress. She loves softball!

I have no idea what Kass did, although I saw her kicking the ball, and plunging into the group when a ball came their way. I really don't understand soccer, but she loves it! She looked so cute with her pink socks/knee guards!

Brandon hung out with us. He is just not into sports at all! I hope he finds his niche in something to feel successful at in school.

It was freezing this morning, raining on and off. Then the sun came out and it was beautiful! Then, freezing again, with more rain. We were glad when the game was over.

Then, I found 2 yard sales, and bought a crystal lamp, with a nice shade, and a set of beautiful, hand made pillow shams. Great prices too!

It was a really fun day.

Yesterday I spent the day cleaning. Changing bed sheets, dusting, sweeping and mopping, all is done and feels good to have it so. Took most of the day, but that's okay. Had pizza for supper...always love pizza even if it is frozen..lol.

Not sure what is going to happen today, I've learned not to expect anything for Mother's Day, because I don't usually get anything. Mom will be going to my brother's house for supper. She's been wanting steak so they are going to fix steak on the grill. That will give me some time to do whatever I want for myself. I may run to Wal Mart...just to shop.

We are in Houston with the kids. We didn't do anything special today but we have had a good day. My left ribs/shoulder is killing me from sleeping in a different bed so we went to the mall and I had a chair massage. It felt good. Now we are fixing roast, potatoes and carrots for supper. My sil is fixing my fave chocolate pie and I fixed a lemon icebox pie for Gary as he doesn't like chocolate (I know, he's crazy).

Today was nice....my son wished my a Happy Mother's Day first thing this morning, that's a first. Then a little later he came in and brought with him a hanging swing to put on the A frame we have. Our other one finally fell apart so this is a wonderful gift as I love to sit in an outdoor swing.

Mom went to my brother's house around 2:00, they ate at 5:00 and was ready to come back at 5:30. She was so tired and crying...saying she didn't feel good. She places a lot of sentiment on holidays (wonder where I got that from..lol) and didn't want to feel as bad as she was feeling on Mother's Day. I felt so sorry for her.

My husband then fixed biscuits and gravy for supper...I love it. There are even enough for breakfast in the morning. I sure hope Mom feels better tomorrow.

YAY! Janet! Now we can swing together in the yard (vicariously).

I'm glad you had such a nice Mothers Day. I'm sorry your mom is not feeling good.