Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Granny Update

Per Mandy's request and in an effort to let others know about the on-goings in our family I thought that it might be a good idea to update everyone on my grandmothers.

Nana (Fran's mom's mom) - Nana is doing really good. She is still working and she and her husband Bob are very busy with rentals, business, dr's appts, and other tasks that they have on their plate. Nana is a wonderful person and a blessing to our family. She has been so helpful to Francie and I (as have others) in getting settled in to where we live. She has had a wonderful Christmas and if the good Lord wills will continue to do the things in her life as she can.

Granny H (Jack's mom's mom) - Granny H has been doing good. My uncle and aunt from the Windy city came in for part of Dec. It's been good to see them since we haven't been able to do so the last several times that they were in. Since they were in it gave my mom (and her sisters) a break from having to take care of my grandmother. The timing couldn't have been better (see Granny D update for reasons), and for the most part Granny H has been doing wonderful. We did have a slight scare last week as her blood pressure was very high and she was complaining of a headache. With her history of strokes this was two things red flags that need to be dealt with immediately. Since it was at night (btw why does this always happen at night? Why can't people just get sick during the day when Dr's are actually in their offices?!?!?) we took her to the ER and after a few hours (3-4) and some new blood pressure meds they sent her back home with instructions to the family to keep a close eye on her blood pressure. Other than that things have been going good. Christmas time was a wonderful event and more posts on that hopefully will come soon. But all in all Granny H is doing really well. Granny D on the other hand......


Granny D (Jack's dad's mom) - for followers of our other blogs this might be somewhat repetitive, however I'll try to be as brief as possible (which for those that know me can be somewhat difficult). The last part of 2008 has been one thing after another with Granny D. Here is the timeline.....

Sept - my uncle (her son) passes away. Very unexpectedly and very difficult on the family and my grandmother.
Oct - Granny falls at a local restaurant and cuts her knee. No damage other than the cut which is about 6 inches long going across the knee left to right. 13 stitches are inserted to close the cut and Granny is sent home.
Oct (a week later) - Granny says that the stitches pop open. The story changes and still to this day is somewhat uncertain to exactly what happened. However whether they popped open or not she did admit to using scissors at some point in the process. Surgery is performed, infection is cleaned, cut is cleaned up, staples are applied, and a immobilizer is applied to where she can't bend the leg or touch the staples. She spends a few weeks in rehab for strength and treatment.
Nov -Granny with my aunt head to FL for the winter. During a stop at my cousins house Granny falls and the staples come loose. While in the hospital they find a spot on her lung. Scare is given that it might be cancer and we go down to meet the rest of the family just in case it is. The spot ends up being pneumonia and after a few more days she goes and stays with my cousin at her house. Dad stays with her to help with Granny and the kids. Before she leaves the hospital to go to my cousins the doctor takes the staples out. As you might have guessed, while staying at my cousins the cut pops back open and more staples are applied. After about a week Granny and dad come home.
Dec - Granny calls dad saying that she is dying and for him to come down immediately. Dad goes down to Granny's house (she lives next door to my parents) and they make the trip to the ER. Granny goes back in the hospital (4th trip since Oct) and is given treatments for the infection in her body. While there she gives us a scare on the heart and blood pressure. Making a long story short she finally gets to go back home a few days before Christmas. She's now been back at home for 8 days (at the time of this blog). And if she makes it through today, it will be the longest period of time she has been at home without having to make a trip to the hospital since she fell in Oct (at least according to Fran). We were able to find someone to stay with her during the day. This has been a HUGE blessing for her and the family. I try to go see her as often as I can, however with everything else going on in our lives it can make it quite difficult. Hopefully Granny D will continue to improve and be able to stay at her house for many more days, weeks, and months.



So there is the update on the Granny's. I hope that this wasn't too long, and I hope that each and everyone of you have a wonderful new year. Even though the end part of 2008 has been very difficult for my family, 2008 as a whole has been a good year for us. Fran became a Dr., we moved to our hometown, we have our health, jobs, a roof over heads, family, and many other blessings - we are so blessed to have what we do and I'm very thankful to our Heavenly Father for those blessings.

Happy New Year!!

Jack

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Merry Christmas

It's funny how Christmas makes you reflect on the past. We have dedicated our Christmas tree to sentimental, meaningful ornaments which means that each one tells a story and reminds me of something. I could stare at it for hours.

My life has been filled with many Christmas memories, both good and bad. I remember waking up as a small child to find Santa's presents in my grandmother's living room floor. One year (when I was 7) I received a doll house that you had to put together. Santa's elves had brought it to me unassembled and by 7am, it was done! I remember being so proud of myself for putting it all together alone. I also remember being in the hotel in Memphis when my grandfather was in the hospital with his heart problems. Mom went to the hospital gift shop just after it closed and convinced the clerk to let her in to buy a little Christmas tree for our hotel room. I was 13 and I was so sad that my grandaddy was sick and we weren't home for Christmas.

This year is one of mixed blessings for our family and it's difficult sometimes to wrap my mind around. I pray that as you enjoy the next few days-- eating big meals, opening gifts, and thanking God for the birth of his Son-- that you have some memories to look back on. Merry Christmas. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and give you peace.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Critical Windows Update

I try not to combine blogs, however I did want to take a moment and mention a posting that I just finished on my Tech Blog. It's regarding a critical windows update that came out yesterday (12/17/08). Please take a moment to read it and follow it's advice. Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Friday, December 12, 2008

It's the most chaotic time of the year...

Neither of us has been able to post in several days, so I thought I would write a quick update today. This is the first weekend in three weeks that we will be home and I am thankful for that. After San Diego and Thanksgiving, we spent the weekend seeing Jack's grandmother who was in the hospital out-of-town. If you follow Jack's prayer blog, you know all about that. Bless her heart, she and her family need prayers right now...but that's another story.
Last weekend we went out-of-town to celebrate Jack's mom's 60th birthday. Her twin brother and his family joined us too. We participated in some holiday events while we were there including looking at giant Christmas trees and decorating gingerbread houses and cookies.




The gingerbread cookie thing was one of my favorite parts of the weekend. Jack's cousin-in-law did the most creative one which is the "gingerbird" complete with a beak and yellow claws. My sister-in-law's was pretty good too. She is a nurse so she made a ginger patient with a neck-brace and cane. Good times.
December seems to be going unusually fast for me this year. I adore Christmas and everything that goes with it. Taking down my tree in early January is depressing to me. As I have been grading final exam papers, I've been listening to the all-Christmas radio and trying to get in the spirit of the season. This year, though, everything is so different and busy that I haven't been as excited as usual. I made myself put up our tree. I only have a few gifts bought. We haven't decorated the outside of our home at all. Bah-humbug. Hopefully after some much-needed rest and a few days off I can bring myself to enjoy this Christmas. If not, maybe I'll just make my gingerbread man walk around quoting lines from Shrek.