New Blog

Maggie and I are starting a blog for training and beyond. Here it is if you all want to check it out. Pictures to be added soon.

Eric & Peggy

Peggy asked me to jump on the blog and give a quick update. Peggy is attending her dog training class and Eric is up there with her. He's been sick and last night got worse. Eric is now in the hospital in Skagit County due to a bad foot infection. Dad has gone up there to help out and Peggy's hired a night nurse to help her in her personal needs at bedtime and wake time. AS I get more info I'll keep y'all posted.

My apartment search

Okay, now some info aside from hospital visits.

I have been doing an avid apartment search for our move in April. I tell ya, rent is not cheap. At least compared to where we are now. So far, the cheapest we are finding is 900 + utilities. Which with our math, comes to about 1250/month. That's a far cry from the 720 all inclusive that we pay now. But I guess we pay for location, since it is a tourist location and most places are on the water, or right near the water.

Dad and I will be going to Bath on the 25th to view several places. Probably at least 4, to make the trip worthwhile. I really hope that we can find some place nice. Something that we can call home for a while. It would a load off my mind to not have to live between 2 or 3 locations.

So, if all goes well with the viewings, hopefully I will be able to put a deposit on a place either that day or that week. Woohoo!

Not much else new going on. As soon as I have residence established, I will be putting in my app for school. Going to get my culinary certificate. As soon as I get it, I can get bumped up to at least 14/hr, rather than the 11 I make now. And it will be beneficial for my long term goal of opening a bed and breakfast, so....

Okay, that's it from me. Have a good week to all.

No surgery-She's Coming Home

Well, this time her visit was short lived. Mom does have an absess, but it's not on her intestine(good thing). It actually was on the lining near one of her incisions. They did something to it today to start it draining. So, if all goes according to planned, she will be home Sunday and she just has to keep hot packs on the absess and keep it bandaged.

So, yeah, mom just needed some excitement in her life, so a trip to the hospital, seemed to do it for her.

Uncle Doug, don't worry, she will still be in tip top shape for your visit. And thanks for the number. I have it in my phone now.

More later

MOM- IN THE HOSPITAL AGAIN

Hi- Mom had been complaining about a lump around her incision, well gram finally convinced her to talk to her doctor. They are admitting her to the Pittsfield hospital as I type, because they think that she may have an abscess(sp?) on her intestine. They are going to put her on IV antibiotics for the weekend and do some tests I think starting saturday and based on what they find out, they may have to send her to waterville again for more surgery.

My understanding is that, this isn't nearly as severe as what she went through, it is possibly just a sore caused from all of the stuff that went on. Mom just started noticing the lump this week, or started mentioning it hurting, so if anything, it was caught early, so it shouldn't be any reason for major concern.

Gram is going to keep me updated if anything happens this weekend and as I hear information I will certainly pass it along. I will be back in Pittsfield on Monday, maybe earlier, so if I get an update when I don't have computer access, I will call Uncle Doug with the updates.

I have faith that whatever this is, an abscess or otherwise, that mom will be just fine. She has in general been feeling okay, just a little extra tired and not eating quite as much, but that may be due to the recent pain.

Uncle Doug- Could you please give me your number again, so I can program it in to my phone and not have to paw through the address books? Thanks. Also, thank you for the card and gift. They were greatly appreciated.

I have more to write about me, but in another post.
Talk soon.
Me.

The Time Has Come

I'm just going to post this here so no one can say I didn't tell them. The time has come when Eric, his doctor, and I have decided that it is best he stop working again. Things have just become too stressful at work, and his responsibilities kept increasing causing him to spend more time on his feet. His last day was today. And before you ask, yes we will be OK financially. Not great, but we'll get by without too much trouble.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TARJA ROSE

I want to wish you a very happy day and may good fortune shine on you through out the comming year. Have you found an appartment or house in Bath yet? See you in about 86 days.

Our Second Family Book

I posted this in a comment to Tarja's last update on Linda, but I thought I should start a new post so everyone can comment on this subject alone.

I have Tarja's story and some poems. I'm anxious to get started on the new book.

We will need someone to write the introduction again. Tarja and David did a great job last time.

And we need to decide if we want the same cover or if someone needs to design a new one....

...and, are we keeping the same name (Vol II), or does someone want to propose a new name for the second book?? I'm open to all possibilities.

Mom needs some cheering up

Hey all. Mom is doing quite well, but she got discouraging news from the doctor on Tuesday. Her Therapist approved her to drive, but her doctor, doesn't want her driving until all the snow is gone. Here in Maine, that can be late April and sometimes later. So, she has been a bit discouraged about this news. She's like, maybe I can take a blowdryer and melt all the snow away.

She really just wants her freedom back, so this feels like a set back to her. So, if any of you want to send her a pick me up card or message, that would be really cool. I think she would really appreciate it.

Other than this news she really is doing quite well. She will never regain her balance 100% and will have to always have a cane with her, but she is taking this all in stride. Also, she is starting to take a lot more risks, when it comes to foods that she eats. I am actually quite proud of her accomplishments thus far.

It's amazing how being hospitalized for a ruptured ulcer, can affect so many other aspects of living. However, on a positive note. Her original illness COPD, that she had to take so many meds for, seems to be doing excellent and is actually not taking medicine for it at all. The Dr. was very surprised at how clear her lungs were. Of course, she hasn't smoked in 5 months, so that may have something to do with it too.

Okay, I guess that's all on mom right now. I will keep you posted as always. I perhaps will write more later, about me, but in the meantime, everyone take care.

Oh, I enjoyed reading all the comments that stemmed from my email address. They were quite fun to read and I too have seen the same study.

And thanks Aunt Ruth for all your help with the editing, everyone here, loves the story.

Talk soon
Me.

Wonderful News!!

Last week my boss called to tell me that she was working on trying to get the OCC to approve my Team Training with Apollo as official duty time so that I could get paid as if I was going to a training class that I had requested for my job since Apollo will be my on-the-job assistant. Because there was no precendent for such a request, I had to put in an official Request for Reasonable Accommodation. So with the help of David and Maggie (my upcoming classmate who writes briefs for the U.S. Supreme Court) we got it done. I was told yesterday that it has been approved!! So now they are paying me to be there and giving me mileage and per diem too!!

Suwannee River Poets

The new editor of the Chiefland Citizen came to our last poetry group meeting and was nice enough to write a great article which appeared in today's newspaper. Here is a link to the article. Sorry, their website doesn't display the photos but they were just of the four individuals reading some of their work.

Suwannee River Poets Article

I Did Good!

Remember when I had my last cholesterol check and the doctor wanted me to improve my numbers? Well, today I finally got the results of my second cholesterol check which I took back in January '07.

7-18-06 -
Triglycerides - 136
Cholesterol Total - 261
HDL - 60
LDL - 174
Chol/HDLC Ratio - 4.4

1-19-07
Triglycerides - 96 (Down 40 points)
Cholesterol Total - 191 (Down 70 points)
HDL - 46 (Down 14 points - This is good cholesterol. Don't want to see that go down)
LDL - 126 (Down 48 points)
Chol/HDLC Ratio - 4.2

Weight Loss - 12 lbs

I told her I had tried to do as many of the things as I could that were on her list of things to change/improve. Oatmeal every morning, a handful of almonds every day (problem there is I want to eat more than a handful!), switch to Smart Balance margarine, take Fish Oil/Flaxseed Oil capsuls (I took Alie's advice and used real flaxseed on my salads), a glass of red wine every day, and lose weight. I did not do the red wine but she said I should, either that or blue/purple grape juice.

So, that report made me happy today. Now I just have to dread getting that colonoscopy this summer!

Just Like Christmas!

I was packing up some rooted cuttings for shipment yesterday (more on that later) and got a big surprise. I had a trash bag full of packing peanuts in the garage. When I dumped the contents into the box I was packing into, something strange fell out.



Oh boy! A gift I never opened! It felt like Christmas 2004 all over again. So I quickly opened it, and got the best gift a son could ask for, his momma's love!

For Fred

The address that I use is Tand6@juno.com, not Tarja6. Hope this helps.

It's official

Dave got his job offer from the resort, so we are all moving to Bath in late April. Very excited about the move. Not just because of the job, but because of the opportunities and places available to us. Very cool. More later.

Me.