Ladybug Studio

Update

Very little has changed since I last wrote. Or at least, it feels that way. Most notable though is that Dad has calmed down a bit and is no longer restrained. He is still disoriented and living in the past, but seems happy enough to sit and ramble on and on about things that make no sense to anyone else.

He has a sitter with him constantly, to keep him from pulling at his PICC line (peripherally inserted central catheter). This has been a great stress reliever for me, knowing that he has constant company and assistance.

Thursday afternoon a neurologist visited him while I was there. He seems to think that Dad had a concussion and that he will get better with time. How much? Still unknown.

His diagnosis was based on this info I forgot to mention in the last post. On Monday, Dad had a little accident while out driving. I don't know any details, just that he hit a pole. His truck was a little dinged up, but he refused treatment. (stubborn old coot!) He very easily could have hit his head or had whiplash, leading to a concussion.

Friday morning I went to the hospital early in order to speak with the doctor when he came by doing his rounds. He didn't have much to tell me. All they know is what it isn't - not a stroke, not a bleed, no cancer lesions in the brain, not a medication problem. The concussion theory is the popular one at this time.

I just keep hoping and praying that on the next visit he'll be himself again.

* * * * * * * *

To change the subject to something completely different and totally trivial, the iPhone went on sale yesterday and my inner Gear Girl is in a dither about it. When I first learned of the iPhone (in February?) I really, really wanted one. I even saved up enough money to buy the 8G model. Then, believing that the monthly service rates would be too much, I changed my mind and started spending my iPhone money on other items (sunglasses, a watch). But then I learned that current AT&T subscribers could add on the iPhone with unlimited email and web plus 200 text messages for only $20 a month.

So I am back to wanting an iPhone. However, that being said, I was not willing to stand in line for hours in order to acquire one yesterday. So I won't be the first kid on the block to get the newest iGadget. But I will have one - sooner rather than later.

My Dad

This has been a really bad week, starting with Tuesday morning. I got a phone call from my father's next door neighbor, letting me know that my father had been taken to the hospital. His caretaker was unable to wake him and neither could the EMTs.

At first it appeared that he might have had a stroke, as he wasn't responding at all on his right side. His glucose level was so low that it couldn't be measured. He was given fluids and whatnot and taken for a cat scan. Then he started to come around a bit, was able to squeeze with both left and right hands and wiggle the toes of both feet. He seemed to understand us, but wasn't yet able to talk. Less likely then that it was a stroke - though that hasn't been completely ruled out.

He was admitted as a patient, naturally. He was extremely agitated, pulling at his hospital gown, tossing his covers around, trying to get out of bed. I had to keep calming him down, straightening the covers and tucking them under his chin. He would be still for about 2-5 minutes, then he was back at it again. It was beyond exhausting and stressful. His doctor came in and asked him a few questions. Dad was very disoriented - didn't know where he was, what day it was, or who the doctor was. The theory was raised that perhaps it was a medication issue. Dad might have taken a double dose of his pain prescription.

I finally left at 5:00, hoping that after a night of rest, there would be some improvement in the morning.

Unfortunately, that was not the case. If anything, the restlessness and disorientation had gotten worse. Apparently, throughout the day Dad was living in different eras. He seemed to have settled in somewhere around 1992, and was convinced that his parents, both of whom have been dead for years, were coming to take him home. He knew my name and I think he knew our relationship, but he also seemed to believe that I have a brother.

In addition to the chest vest restraint, the nurses ended up putting restraints on his legs too because he just wouldn't quit trying to get out of bed. (He had pulled out every type of IV and even his catheter.) Then he wanted me to take the leg restraints off, of course. He thought he was at home and wanted me to get his pocket knife and cut off the restraints.

The nurse told me that he had been like that all day and didn't seem to be acting any differently with me there or not. I stayed a little longer and got him to eat a couple of bites of his dinner. But finally had to give up and leave.

I haven't spoken with his doctor today. Hopefully he will call me. But I did hear that the MRI results showed no lesions in his brain. There was a fear that his colon cancer had spread. We do know that he's extremely dehydrated, which can cause short term memory loss and disorientation. This morning they were going to insert a pick line IV. More than likely they will have to restrain one arm as well, so that he won't pull that one out too. I'm just praying that if he can finally get some hydration he will start coming around again.

This has been hard to write about. I'm not comfortable writing in a highly emotional vein, so this probably sounds very sterile. But believe me, this is a terribly emotional event. My insides are absolutely in knots. Ann, of course, is in North Carolina and Joy had to go to California since shuttle Atlantis landed out there. Both of them have told me how sorry they are that I'm having to go through this alone. Not that this is about me. Good Lord no, this is about my smart, capable, strong father and what the poor man is going through. But it wouldn't hurt to have a little sisterly emotional support.

Hopefully, Joy will be able to come home this weekend. They've been busting butt out there to get Atlantis ready to piggyback to KSC. I'm just sorry that she won't have much of a rest before she's yanked into this emotional family medical drama.

Sleepy Head

I'm so sleepy I can hardly stand it. I've felt this way since last week, too. I usually rejuvenate over the weekend, but last weekend I just didn't sleep very well. So I am really running on empty. Because I didn't have tennis yesterday, I was determined to go straight home and take a nap. But once I was home, there were things to do and it just didn't happen. I have a feeling it won't happen today either.

I really should skip tennis group on Saturday morning and just let myself sleep in the morning. But one of my tennis friends wants to go and I told her I would meet her there. And I do want to go. It's a lot of fun and a fantastic workout. But I don't like getting up so early. Maybe I'll try getting to bed a little earlier tonight. I have a feeling it won't be much of a problem.

Looking Forward

Sometimes when everyday life gets boring and my routine seems stale, I try to look ahead to see what's coming up. It gives me something to focus on and look forward to. Whether big or small, today or tomorrow, there's always something to get excited about.

Here are some things (in chronological order) that I am looking forward to:

Haircut
I'm having my hair trimmed and colored today. I've been holding off, wanting to do it closer to my upcoming high school reunion, so it's really time now. It will be nice to have my hair looking dark, glossy and healthy again. (plus the grays will be hidden)

The Latest Weight Watcher Magazine
I tried finding it at Target recently, but they must not carry it. After the haircut today I'll go to Books A Million because I know they'll have the newest issue. Our leader told us there are some good articles this month.

Lifehouse
The new Lifehouse album is available now. I previewed some of the tracks today and I'm pretty excited about what I heard. I'll buy the album from the iTunes store tonight. I'm afraid to buy the actual CD because the last couple I bought could not be imported into iTunes (copyright protection?) so I couldn't get the tunes to my iPod without repurchasing them. Which really ticks me off.

Mandy Moore
Her new album also sounds really good. I've never been a fan in the past, but an article that I read about her made me like her as a person. I previewed her album today also and it sounded great. She's matured and gone away from that bubble gum pop that is so hard to take. I'll buy this one from iTunes as well and make my own CDs.

Denise's Visit
My best buddy and her family are coming down from Michigan next week. She'll be here almost two weeks. While she has a ton of plans with her Florida family, I know we'll find some time to spend together. Plus, her family is my family too and I'm always welcome to join in family events.

20 Year Reunion
Another reason Denise will be visiting Florida next week. We have our (gulp) 20 year class reunion the weekend after this. I'm looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time. I was not one of the popular people and they're the ones running the show. They decided to do the entire thing by email, therefore there will be at least half of the class missing. What kind of a reunion is that?

Ann's visit
My sister Ann is coming to visit during the week of July 4th. I'm taking a couple of vacation days in addition to the holiday. We have all sorts of potential plans, though nothing is set in stone yet. There are a few restaurants we might try out, we always go shopping in some capacity, and maybe this time we'll make good on our plans to lounge around by Joy's pool. Seems like we always say we'll do that, but end up doing other things.

Time off
I'm really looking forward to having some time off of work during the upcoming holiday. Sleeping in, lazing around, shopping, eating, watching TV, reading a book, riding a bike, playing tennis, or whatever else comes along.

Baby I'm Back

I hurt my back last night and it's really ruining my day. The pain isn't dreadful, but it's annoying, uncomfortable and makes me feel like I'm coming down with the flu or something. I did it making the bed, for crying out loud. That new mattress is really heavy and I think that lifting it to shove the sheet under it, while keeping the bed skirt from following, was the culprit. Pretty pitiful. I thought I was in better shape than that. Guess I need to do some back strengthening exercises. Once I recover, of course.

I hope that tennis tonight isn't greatly affected by my back ache. We didn't get to play last week because it rained, so I was really looking forward to playing today. Only two more weeks until doubles take a two month long summer break. Singles is having summer play, but it doesn't start until July 12. What on earth will I do with all of this free time?

Halloween

We bought a night blooming jasmine a couple of weeks ago and it's looking really good, surprisingly. It's still in its pot, hanging out in the front flower beds. Every day I have to pull it upright after our daily rainstorm has knocked it over. So it's not getting the best of care. Yet it thrives! The leaves are green and perky and best of all - it's beginning to bloom!

The. Best. Scent. In. The. World.

I have been in love with the scent for most of my life and have only just recently found the source. I call the fragrance "Halloween" for two reasons. 1. Because the first time I remember smelling it was while trick-or-treating as a child. 2. Because it smells like candy. After trick-or-treating, if you put your head inside your candy bag and inhaled, that's exactly what the blooms smell like. Ahhhhh…

For oh so many years I have caught the scent. Always at night. Often while driving with my windows open. But had not been able to track it down. I was talking about it with Tom a few weeks ago and he mentioned it to a coworker. She told him it was a midnight jasmine. I immediately started an internet search. Well, there isn't actually a midnight jasmine, but I figured the night blooming jasmine must be what she was talking about. After reading a description about the plant, I was sure I had found my elusive siren.

The plant itself is not at all pretty. Rather weedy looking, in fact. And the blooms are tiny trumpet shaped things, pale cream colored. No wonder I had not discovered the plant in the past. I was expecting big blooming flowers, not these midgets. But what they lack in size, they more than make up for in fragrance.

Lucky 13

Tom and I have been married for 13 years today. We dated for seven years, so we've been together for 20 years, really. I do find it a little hard to believe. That's such a long time! We're not doing anything to celebrate either. Well, it's Monday and I have tennis tonight and he's still wiped out from playing a double-header yesterday… We went out for dinner on Saturday night, so we can just consider that our celebratory dinner. We aren't even exchanging cards. Neither of us needs it and frankly, after all of the clutter clearing I've been doing lately, the last thing I want is anything else laying around.

Speaking of clutter, the garage sale went really well. I spent most of friday afternoon and evening setting up tables, making little price signs and taking care of any remaining details. Yet I was still scurrying around trying to get everything out and set up Saturday morning while the early birds converged on me like vultures. Joy arrived pretty quickly and that was a huge help. I can't imagine how anyone could have a garage sale without someone helping.

It was pretty hot though. I knew it would be and that's why I had wanted to have it earlier in the spring, but it just didn't work out. There's no shade in our driveway either so Joy and I spent as much time as possible in the garage.

It sure was a lot of work though. I'm going to try really hard to stop collecting crap, so I won't have to have another sale for many years.

0 Days to Launch

There's a bit of a party atmosphere at work today. Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch at 7:38 pm and everyone's excited and anxious about it. There's a feeling of anticipation, even this early in the day. It's really pretty interesting and I'm glad to be a part of it, even on such a small scale. (yeah, graphic artists are so important to the safety and success of the shuttle program)

This morning I went to the sundry store and bought a bagful of STS-117 items. Launch envelopes, patches, stickers, pens and coins. I missed out on the plastic silver medallions I usually send to Elijah, Lilly and Parker though. They were sold out. I am rather late buying my merchandise this launch. But at least I took the stamped envelopes down to the post office so they can be canceled with the launch date. I forgot to do that last time.

My company actually allowed the 7:30-4:00 shift to come in early and leave early today! (gasp!) So not like them. But the building next to us houses the astronauts and they will be heading to the launch pad at 3:45 this afternoon. Finishing the work day at 3:30 will enable us to avoid getting caught up in road blocks and delays.

And I'll be heading straight to Steph's shop for a pedicure. It is way past time. And my eyebrows! They haven't been waxed since February. There's only so much that plucking can accomplish. Then once I'm home, I'll get busy moving the Great Pile of Garage Sale Stuff from the back porch to my side of the garage. (Sweet Tomato will have to spend the night under the stars) I'll set up my tables and try to get stuff grouped into some semblance of order.

I know you're probably sick of hearing about this garage sale, but not nearly as much as I am of writing about it! Hopefully on Monday I'll be telling you about the oodles of cash I raked in…

I Spy… a Love Bug!

I have had a rough couple of days. I've been crazy busy at work, which isn't entirely bad because it makes the day go by a lot quicker. But it's kept me from updating. Then on Monday I was injured during my tennis lesson, which was entirely bad and made yesterday fairly miserably. Let me explain…

We were working on controlling volleys and overheads, Becky and I on one side, Sarah on the other, when all of the sudden a love bug flew into my eye. Of course, my eye's first reaction was to close. On the bug. OMG! It hurt like hell! I dropped my racquet (I think), clamped my hands over my eye and started running in circles. I must have looked a sight, especially as no one else knew what had happened.

Once I'd finally explained, Becky tried to help, but I couldn't get my eye to open. (damn eye!) Finally I was able to blink and Becky used her water bottle to pour water into my eye to flush it. But it hurt like there was something still in there. A wing. Or a leg. I keep a little mirror in my tennis bag, but I couldn't find anything in my eye.

It was quite miserable for a while, but I was finally able to get back into the lesson. Actually, playing was better than sitting as it distracted me from my discomfort.

When I got home and looked in the bathroom mirror, there was a tiny, skinny black thing in the corner of my eye. I swear it was a leg, I really do. My eye was pretty awful all evening. And very pretty too, all red and weepy. When I put eye drops in it stung really bad, which probably means that my eye is scratched.

Tuesday was horrible, but I had to go to work. :: suffer suffer ::

I had doubles in the afternoon, and of course I played. But I wore sunglasses, just in case. And because I'm not used to playing tennis with sunglasses on, I kept forgetting about them and ended up with a slew of fingerprints and smudges. But despite it all, my points added up to the highest and I'm moving up to court 2 next week. Go me!

So, the eye is better today. Not normal yet, still scratchy and teary, but much better.

The Winds of Change

My weekly group tennis lessons are really paying off. Yesterday I played a guy who has easily beat me in the past. I'd win a couple of games, but wasn't much of a challenge for him. Well, things are beginning to change. While he did eventually win the match, I made him work for it: 5-7, 6-3, (5)

The 5 in parenthesis indicates that there was a tie-breaker, in which I had 5 points. He had 7, which is customary so it doesn't have to be written. I just learned this - sorry to be so geeky and technical.

I didn't do as well in the second set, as you can tell. This guy, while a pleasant person in general, gets angry with himself quite easily. (he even threw his racquet at one point!) He was frustrated with himself and started taking out his aggression on the poor tennis ball. Well, after slamming a few over the net, he quickly realized that I wasn't getting to them. So, he continued to hit super hard. Rather ruined the rest of the match for me. Not just because he'd found a way to beat me, but because it took all of the fun of rallying away. Hm. I'm going to have to learn to react quicker because he's sure to remember that the next time we play.

After tennis I went to Pier 1 to buy a rattan hamper, which I put in the spare bedroom, next to the new sofa. I needed somewhere to keep pillows and bedding for the fold out. There was storage space under the futon so I kept the bedding in plastic boxes and slid them underneath. Not so with the sofa. Now it's all organized, out of the way and looks attractive too!

Heather - good luck with your sale! I hope you sell everything and make a lot of money! Looks like my sale is going to be postponed until next Saturday. (only putting off the inevitable) Darned rain!