Front: Moussa, Aldouma, Thao, Tuyet
Front: Thao, Tuyet, Yumiko, Othman
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Your daily dose of inspiration
Front: Moussa, Aldouma, Thao, Tuyet
Front: Thao, Tuyet, Yumiko, Othman
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Ups and Downs, but mostly Ups
There's been a lot happening here since I last wrote in March. Hard to believe it is now mid-April!
We had to make a second trip to Anchorage a couple of weeks ago. Rich had a scary incident in which he had a great deal of back pain, could hardly stand or walk, and was shaking uncontrollably. I drove him to the clinic, where they rushed him back to the trauma room and hooked him up to all sorts of monitors. I think they were afraid he was having a heart attack and said his heart was beating very fast. They stabilized him quickly and said it was not his heart, thankfully. However, they wanted him to go back to Anchorage for further evaluation since his white cells were up again and obviously something was going on. We again had bad weather and flew out the next day, back to Alaska Regional, where this time the diagnosis was "infectious colitis." There's no way of knowing if it was related to the pancreatitis or just a nasty coincidence. We were sent to a hotel for a few more days, he was put on a regimen of two heavy duty antibiotics and given a note to stay off work for 10 days. We mostly laid around in the hotel but we did get out and walk a couple of times. Here's something we saw on one of our strolls around downtown Anchorage.
So we came home and I went back to work and back to teaching classes while Rich had a little bit of a medically imposed vacation at the house. Not that he was feeling all that great to call it a vacation. The bad thing about antibiotics (well, one of the bad things!) is that they can have lots of side effects and make you feel terrible, which is exactly what he went through for the next couple of weeks. Though he is back to work now and feeling much better, I wouldn't say he's 100% yet. Hopefully this will all soon be well behind him.
Meanwhile, we bought a house in Dallas! Our son in law Miles' parents live there and decided to design and build a new home for themselves. Back around the holidays, it was almost jokingly suggested that we buy their house. As they used to say on "Seinfeld," "yada, yada, yada, now we are homeowners." The "yada, yada" allows me to skip over the months of frustration that we endured from mortgage companies, banks, retirement programs and the ridiculous requirements of the Patriot Act. :) Be thankful I am sparing you all the details! But eventually it was all worked out, whew! We are renting back to Miles' parents for a few months and then we will be renting it out till we are ready to settle down. Still not sure when that will be, but I think we are more and more ready to consider moving after Rich's health episodes in remote Alaska with limited medical care.
And this sweet boy had his 11th birthday at the end of March. He was the first to come into this world and make me a grandmother and what fun we have had with him ever since. Happy belated birthday to our Aidan, who's great at riding dirt bikes, putting together Lego designs of all types and complexity, and putting up with Gigi hanging all over him. :) We love you, Aidan, and miss you lots! Can't wait till our summer adventure!
Speaking of grandkids, we're having TWO more! Bonnie and David are expecting their third in August and Sarah and Miles are expecting their third in October! We are very happy, especially since we thought we were finished having grandbabies. So exciting!
Winter might have had its last stand, though we are never sure. It's sunny one day and snowing the next. But I've seen a few little flowers emerging in the yard, always a good sign.
We had to make a second trip to Anchorage a couple of weeks ago. Rich had a scary incident in which he had a great deal of back pain, could hardly stand or walk, and was shaking uncontrollably. I drove him to the clinic, where they rushed him back to the trauma room and hooked him up to all sorts of monitors. I think they were afraid he was having a heart attack and said his heart was beating very fast. They stabilized him quickly and said it was not his heart, thankfully. However, they wanted him to go back to Anchorage for further evaluation since his white cells were up again and obviously something was going on. We again had bad weather and flew out the next day, back to Alaska Regional, where this time the diagnosis was "infectious colitis." There's no way of knowing if it was related to the pancreatitis or just a nasty coincidence. We were sent to a hotel for a few more days, he was put on a regimen of two heavy duty antibiotics and given a note to stay off work for 10 days. We mostly laid around in the hotel but we did get out and walk a couple of times. Here's something we saw on one of our strolls around downtown Anchorage.
Meanwhile, we bought a house in Dallas! Our son in law Miles' parents live there and decided to design and build a new home for themselves. Back around the holidays, it was almost jokingly suggested that we buy their house. As they used to say on "Seinfeld," "yada, yada, yada, now we are homeowners." The "yada, yada" allows me to skip over the months of frustration that we endured from mortgage companies, banks, retirement programs and the ridiculous requirements of the Patriot Act. :) Be thankful I am sparing you all the details! But eventually it was all worked out, whew! We are renting back to Miles' parents for a few months and then we will be renting it out till we are ready to settle down. Still not sure when that will be, but I think we are more and more ready to consider moving after Rich's health episodes in remote Alaska with limited medical care.
Winter might have had its last stand, though we are never sure. It's sunny one day and snowing the next. But I've seen a few little flowers emerging in the yard, always a good sign.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
And March marches in
Rich and I took an unexpected trip to Anchorage last Sunday and just returned home today. He'd been feeling awful for several days last week; this is the guy who NEVER misses work and has hardly taken a sick day in 20 years so I knew something was terribly wrong when he called in sick. He could not eat, didn't even want to eat, and could not get comfortable enough to sleep at all. Friday he went to our local clinic where it was suspected that he had a gallstone and gall bladder issues and they wanted him to head to Anchorage immediately. Unfortunately, by that time of day, the last plane had already left here so we bought tickets for Saturday and he had to tough it out through another night of no sleep and nothing in his stomach, poor guy. Saturday we got up early for what turned out to be no good reason because the weather was nasty and all flights were eventually cancelled. Another day with not much to eat and another night with no sleep. Sunday we managed to get out and had to go directly to the Emergency Room at Alaska Regional Hospital, where they were expecting us. Our taxi driver was very interested in the situation in the Ukraine and told us if we had a different president: "Boom, Boom, Boom!"
After hours of lying in a hospital bed and having blood tests, an ultrasound and a CT scan, we were told it was not Rich's gall bladder but his pancreas which had become inflamed and was causing all his pain and discomfort. He may have had a gallstone, which might have initiated everything, but it was not visible by the time we got to Anchorage. Apparently the treatment for pancreatitis is to "rest the pancreas," which meant only liquids and food that will liquify at room temperature. We were released to go to a hotel to "rest" his pancreas for a few days and then see a doctor for follow up lab work. Imagine Rich's dismay after not having eaten for several days already to be told he had to do the same for 48 more hours. The next day we took a taxi to Fred Meyer and stocked up on fun stuff like plain broth, jello, popsicles, and water. Oh, I did get some good snacks for myself. :)
Basically we spent the week holed up in a hotel. It was not all that much fun. Our hotel did not even have Pay-Per-View or HBO so we couldn't rent a movie and we missed our new favorite show "True Detective." Even Comedy Central was fuzzy and kept going off the air so we did not get our "Daily Show" and "Colbert Report" fixes. We mostly laid around, read, watched TV, napped, ate our snacks, and got on the computer. Toward the end of the week, we did walk to the mall where I got a new pair of jeans after noticing that mine were about to bust through at the knee and Rich got some tennis shoes. Other than doctor visits and grocery shopping, that was about the extent of our excursions.
One day we went to a family practice clinic where Rich signed on as a patient and had his repeat labwork done. A young woman picked us up in her cab to take us back to the hotel, asking "Are you using Medicaid to pay for this?" She then launched into a discussion about environmental issues, which led us to believe we were mostly on the same page about such things, till she eventually looped back around to what appeared to be her primary complaint that women have too many babies in order to "get a check." As a former social worker, I could not keep my mouth shut and told her that was just untrue. So then I got a lecture about how she sees this all the time in her cab and how many women have told her they are just having babies to get a check. I said this is anecdotal but not supported by research and that her perspective is probably a little skewed due to her experiences on the job. She was not buying that at all. She seemed pretty ill-informed as she also noted that she did not understand why women in China want to have 11 children (we supposed she had never heard of the one-child policy). As we approached the hotel, she stated that she did not want to pay taxes to support other people and that "women having too many babies is the biggest evil in the world." I mentioned a few other things that were taking a lot more of her tax money and that there were probably a few more evil things to be concerned about, we gave her a nice tip, and wished her a good day. I am sure she was happy to get us out of her cab.
Rich's lab work was better, thankfully, but he still did not feel great the rest of the week. We cabbed it back to Freddy's another day and replenished our food supply. We made the mistake of going to the store around 4 PM and when I called to get a cab to take us back, I was told it would be 45 minutes to an hour. "Is that okay?" I said, "No! Thanks anyway!" and called another cab company (by then we'd learned several taxi phone numbers by heart) only to be told it could be just as long. When I lamented the wait, the dispatcher curtly told me "It's rush hour! It's always like this!" as if I should have known. Thank goodness a cab showed up fairly quickly. When I told the guy how happy I was, we talked about the traffic and rush hour briefly and then he said he tries not to complain because it really does not do any good. I told him he was a wise man and I needed to hear that. :)
On our last day we moved to a different hotel closer to the airport so we'd have a shuttle ride in the morning. In the "small world" department, the cab driver who took us from one hotel to the other was good friends with a guy we know in Unalaska. I ditched Rich that night and went out with our friends Jeanette and Paul--it was great to see them and we had a fun time at "First Friday" downtown, where different bars, restaurants and shops display various artists' work. At the first place we stopped, one of their friends was the featured artist with beautiful photos from Israel and Jordan--all of colorful, interesting, and unusual doors. We made several stops, had drinks, dinner and good conversation. I was glad to get out for awhile, though we were all sorry Rich did not feel up to it.
This morning we caught our plane back home. The flight left on time, the bumps weren't too bad, and we even landed a few minutes early. *Red letter day!* After taking a nap, we went to the store and stocked up on low fat/no fat food items so Rich can take good care of his pancreas. He does NOT want to have another flare up, that's for certain!
And on a happier note, it was our sweet granddaughter Ally's 7th birthday today. She's smart and funny and cute as a bug, a girly-girl with a big personality and a mind of her own! We love her and miss her lots!
After hours of lying in a hospital bed and having blood tests, an ultrasound and a CT scan, we were told it was not Rich's gall bladder but his pancreas which had become inflamed and was causing all his pain and discomfort. He may have had a gallstone, which might have initiated everything, but it was not visible by the time we got to Anchorage. Apparently the treatment for pancreatitis is to "rest the pancreas," which meant only liquids and food that will liquify at room temperature. We were released to go to a hotel to "rest" his pancreas for a few days and then see a doctor for follow up lab work. Imagine Rich's dismay after not having eaten for several days already to be told he had to do the same for 48 more hours. The next day we took a taxi to Fred Meyer and stocked up on fun stuff like plain broth, jello, popsicles, and water. Oh, I did get some good snacks for myself. :)
Basically we spent the week holed up in a hotel. It was not all that much fun. Our hotel did not even have Pay-Per-View or HBO so we couldn't rent a movie and we missed our new favorite show "True Detective." Even Comedy Central was fuzzy and kept going off the air so we did not get our "Daily Show" and "Colbert Report" fixes. We mostly laid around, read, watched TV, napped, ate our snacks, and got on the computer. Toward the end of the week, we did walk to the mall where I got a new pair of jeans after noticing that mine were about to bust through at the knee and Rich got some tennis shoes. Other than doctor visits and grocery shopping, that was about the extent of our excursions.
One day we went to a family practice clinic where Rich signed on as a patient and had his repeat labwork done. A young woman picked us up in her cab to take us back to the hotel, asking "Are you using Medicaid to pay for this?" She then launched into a discussion about environmental issues, which led us to believe we were mostly on the same page about such things, till she eventually looped back around to what appeared to be her primary complaint that women have too many babies in order to "get a check." As a former social worker, I could not keep my mouth shut and told her that was just untrue. So then I got a lecture about how she sees this all the time in her cab and how many women have told her they are just having babies to get a check. I said this is anecdotal but not supported by research and that her perspective is probably a little skewed due to her experiences on the job. She was not buying that at all. She seemed pretty ill-informed as she also noted that she did not understand why women in China want to have 11 children (we supposed she had never heard of the one-child policy). As we approached the hotel, she stated that she did not want to pay taxes to support other people and that "women having too many babies is the biggest evil in the world." I mentioned a few other things that were taking a lot more of her tax money and that there were probably a few more evil things to be concerned about, we gave her a nice tip, and wished her a good day. I am sure she was happy to get us out of her cab.
Rich's lab work was better, thankfully, but he still did not feel great the rest of the week. We cabbed it back to Freddy's another day and replenished our food supply. We made the mistake of going to the store around 4 PM and when I called to get a cab to take us back, I was told it would be 45 minutes to an hour. "Is that okay?" I said, "No! Thanks anyway!" and called another cab company (by then we'd learned several taxi phone numbers by heart) only to be told it could be just as long. When I lamented the wait, the dispatcher curtly told me "It's rush hour! It's always like this!" as if I should have known. Thank goodness a cab showed up fairly quickly. When I told the guy how happy I was, we talked about the traffic and rush hour briefly and then he said he tries not to complain because it really does not do any good. I told him he was a wise man and I needed to hear that. :)
On our last day we moved to a different hotel closer to the airport so we'd have a shuttle ride in the morning. In the "small world" department, the cab driver who took us from one hotel to the other was good friends with a guy we know in Unalaska. I ditched Rich that night and went out with our friends Jeanette and Paul--it was great to see them and we had a fun time at "First Friday" downtown, where different bars, restaurants and shops display various artists' work. At the first place we stopped, one of their friends was the featured artist with beautiful photos from Israel and Jordan--all of colorful, interesting, and unusual doors. We made several stops, had drinks, dinner and good conversation. I was glad to get out for awhile, though we were all sorry Rich did not feel up to it.
This morning we caught our plane back home. The flight left on time, the bumps weren't too bad, and we even landed a few minutes early. *Red letter day!* After taking a nap, we went to the store and stocked up on low fat/no fat food items so Rich can take good care of his pancreas. He does NOT want to have another flare up, that's for certain!
And on a happier note, it was our sweet granddaughter Ally's 7th birthday today. She's smart and funny and cute as a bug, a girly-girl with a big personality and a mind of her own! We love her and miss her lots!
Sunday, February 23, 2014
This is what February looks like
ESL/GED classes have begun again so I am teaching on TTh nights once more. I have a smaller class this time, and mostly new students. I have to admit that I was quite bummed out to realize that many of my favorite students are working night shift this session so they will be attending the morning class. I really do miss them but I love my returnees and am enjoying getting to know my new students.
I had no idea that such a website existed but one of my cousins posted something on Facebook about DonorsChoose.org and I have become somewhat addicted to it. School teachers from all over the country post items they need for their classrooms or projects they would like to have funded, and individuals or groups make donations to help them achieve their goals. First off, I think it is a crying shame that school teachers have to pretty much beg the public to help them buy sometimes the most basic of needs like books, art supplies, music supplies, PE equipment and so on. The state of public education in some locales is just appalling. Most of the schools are classified as high or moderate poverty schools. I know that teachers, for years, have purchased supplies out of their own pockets so I am glad there's a way for them to get some assistance. On the other hand, I am ashamed that some school districts have so little money that they cannot buy enough books for the whole classroom, paintbrushes for an art class, or fans to keep a room cooled off enough so that the students can concentrate. If you have a few extra bucks, check out the site and see if there's a classroom project that resonates with you. You can sort by "lowest cost" to see which projects only need a small amount of money to be completed.
KUCB did such a good job that we got a shout-out on Protect My Public Media's blog. If you click on the link at the very bottom of their blog, it will take you to our full album on FB and you can see lots of great folks from our little island town.
What's happening in your corner of the world?
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Family and Friends: Nothing Sweeter
Abilene State Park
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)