Original date of this post is May 31, 2017
So Scott fell off the ladder on Saturday about noon, and here we are 4 days later, and he's in the ICU at the hospital in Rockford. We go there every day, sometimes Carolyn goes more than once, and we're trying to hold it together, and we're praying for a miracle. And we're waiting. It's horrible. I hate waiting under the best of circumstances and this is so far from the best, you can't even see the best with binoculars.
And now it is today, September 24, 2017.
It's been four months since Scott's accident, and I said right from the start that I was going to pray for a miracle, and that we would have a miracle, and that is totally what we got. We had people all over the world praying for Scott's recovery, and after two months in three hospitals, he has had an almost complete recovery, and we are fully expecting the recovery to go on until he is completely Scott again.
He's got a plate in his head where a piece of his skull had to be removed to allow for the brain to swell, and to drain the blood from the intracranial bleed. He had a Pneumothorax caused by a broken rib, he had tubes here, there and everywhere, and he spent several weeks unable to communicate. Now he is doing beautifully, and he is expecting to go back to work at his same job at the beginning of November. He is going to be able to drive again in another week, and he's looking forward to that. His speech is good, but he has some minor memory gaps, and sometimes his thinking goes way out into some weirdnesses, but he is still recovering, and he will continue to improve.
In other news:
Maddy is going to public school instead of home-schooling with Carolyn and the boys. Back in the summer when we didn't know how Scott would be doing in the Fall, Rachel decided it would take some of the burden off of Carolyn if Maddy went to public school. Ash started working full-time with Rich, and Maddy needed some kind of day care during the summer, so we enrolled her in the Discovery Day Camp at the YMCA. She enjoyed it and is looking forward to going back next summer. She enjoyed it so much that Carl and Soren wished they could go to Day Camp, too! When it was almost time for school to start, Scott was home from the hospital, but it still seemed like a good idea for Maddy to not be in home-school, so that things would be easier for Carolyn. So we shopped for uniforms and school supplies, and Maddy is enrolled in her neighborhood elementary school, in the Second grade! It's going well so far.
Last week we started noticing that we had a lot of wasps around the dining room windows, and also they were sneaking into the house, so Rich has tried spraying them with wasp killer, but it's not working enough! We have an exterminator coming on Tuesday. I can't wait, because it's just getting so waspy at my house! Today after church I came home and there were at least 10 of them in the kitchen, flying around the sink and harassing me! I killed about 10 of them, and then took my sandwich upstairs to eat in my bedroom with the door closed. There were four dead wasps on the floor by the stairs, so I had to clean those up before I went upstairs. Eek!
What else is going on? Well, we finally had air-conditioning installed in our hundred-year-old house, and that is just lovely. Rich still grumbles that we don't need it, but he turns it on sometimes, too.
We got a kitten to be a companion to the dog, but the kitten is so shy that we've hardly seen her since we brought her home three weeks ago. She is starting to allow me to see her around feeding time, so eventually she will probably be a normal pet. Rich says she's defective.
What I'm knitting today? It's hats and mittens for schoolchildren again. I made a LOT of hats and mittens last year and gave them to my friend Shelley to take to the elementary school where she works, to give to kids who needed them. This year I'm planning to takea bagful of them to the school Maddy attends.
What I'm reading today? I'm not sure yet. I finished a pretty good book yesterday called Between a Rock and a Hard Place, by Marty Wingate. It was a cozy mystery with a lot of gardening and botany in it. I really enjoyed it. I haven't decided on my next book, but I'll find something tonight and report back on it later.
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
While You Were Sleeping
So Saturday morning at 7 a.m., Rachel dropped off Maddy to visit me for a couple of hours so she and Ash could do a 5K run/walk. Maddy and I watched some cartoons and nibbled a little bit of breakfast, and then her mom and dad came back and we all went out for a real breakfast at a restaurant. Rachel and Ash needed to eat after their athletic activity and Maddy and I just wanted some bacon!
I went back home after that, and then Scott and Ash showed up to borrow the expanding ladder out of the garage so Scott could take out his storm windows, and they noticed the box by the front door containing the parts for a bidet that I ordered from Amazon, and they decided that would be a brisk little job, so they went upstairs and installed the bidet attachment to my toilet in less than 30 minutes, then they took the ladder and left.
I went upstairs to admire my bidet and try it out (cold water! Wooo!) and then I gave the toilet a good scrubbing, using a pumice stone on the hard water stains, and was giving it a final rinse, when my phone rang. I rinsed my hands and answered the phone call, and it was Carolyn's mother. She said that Scott had fallen off of the ladder while taking out storm windows and was on his way to the hospital by ambulance! What?!? He was just here! Installing stuff!
I grabbed my purse and was out the door before I even hung up the phone, and as I drove the hospital, which is about 4 blocks down my street, Rachel called. She said what they needed me to do was to go to the house to stay with the kids, while she and Ash went to meet Carolyn at the hospital. She said she'd been trying to call someone to help Ash give Scott a priesthood blessing, but no one was home, and who could she call? I told her to call Brother McDonald, who is the father of Scott's best friend from school, and then I drove past the hospital and on toward Scott's house.
When I was at the corner stoplight, I saw the ambulance coming wailing up the street, lights flashing, and oh my goodness, it was horrible! I called Rich from my cell phone (he had gone in to work for a half-day), and I couldn't even talk. I said, "Rich! Rich! Rich! Rich!" and finally I was able to tell him what was happening, and he said he was leaving right away!
I went to Scott's house, and Rachel was still there. She had sent Ash ahead to meet Bro. McDonald at the hospital, so they could get to Scott as soon as they could. She said that the boys were next door at the neighbor's house, and then she left, and Maddy stayed there with me. I walked next door, but they don't speak English, and the father of the family and the grandfather were sitting on the front steps looking grim. They gestured for me to go in, and the kids were in the house watching cartoons in the living room with the two little boys that live there. The children's grandma came out from the kitchen and indicated that she was going to feed the kids lunch, so it must have been right around noon when this all happened. I nodded yes, they could stay to eat, and I told the boys to come to Maddy's house after lunch.
So Maddy and I went back to her house, and she played a video game, and I sat in the big chair, texting people and freaking out. Rachel called and said that Scott was going to a hospital in Rockford by helicopter, and that she and Ash and Rich were going to take Carolyn to Rockford in their car. Rich was going with them so there would be two priesthood holders there in case they needed to give him another blessing. Carolyn's mother called and said they were going to drive here from where they live, and would be here in about 9 hours, and I was so glad to hear it, because we needed more adults to take care of the kids, and also her dad is a doctor and her mom is a nurse, and they would be able to help us understand what was going on, as well as being here to comfort Carolyn.
So the boys came to Maddy's house after lunch, all of them barefoot, and they watched Maddy play a video game and I continued to monitor the phone as they reported from the hospital that Scott was going to surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain from the bleeding inside his skull, and OMG, I can't even tell you how horrible it all was! I have to take a break here.
I went back home after that, and then Scott and Ash showed up to borrow the expanding ladder out of the garage so Scott could take out his storm windows, and they noticed the box by the front door containing the parts for a bidet that I ordered from Amazon, and they decided that would be a brisk little job, so they went upstairs and installed the bidet attachment to my toilet in less than 30 minutes, then they took the ladder and left.
I went upstairs to admire my bidet and try it out (cold water! Wooo!) and then I gave the toilet a good scrubbing, using a pumice stone on the hard water stains, and was giving it a final rinse, when my phone rang. I rinsed my hands and answered the phone call, and it was Carolyn's mother. She said that Scott had fallen off of the ladder while taking out storm windows and was on his way to the hospital by ambulance! What?!? He was just here! Installing stuff!
I grabbed my purse and was out the door before I even hung up the phone, and as I drove the hospital, which is about 4 blocks down my street, Rachel called. She said what they needed me to do was to go to the house to stay with the kids, while she and Ash went to meet Carolyn at the hospital. She said she'd been trying to call someone to help Ash give Scott a priesthood blessing, but no one was home, and who could she call? I told her to call Brother McDonald, who is the father of Scott's best friend from school, and then I drove past the hospital and on toward Scott's house.
When I was at the corner stoplight, I saw the ambulance coming wailing up the street, lights flashing, and oh my goodness, it was horrible! I called Rich from my cell phone (he had gone in to work for a half-day), and I couldn't even talk. I said, "Rich! Rich! Rich! Rich!" and finally I was able to tell him what was happening, and he said he was leaving right away!
I went to Scott's house, and Rachel was still there. She had sent Ash ahead to meet Bro. McDonald at the hospital, so they could get to Scott as soon as they could. She said that the boys were next door at the neighbor's house, and then she left, and Maddy stayed there with me. I walked next door, but they don't speak English, and the father of the family and the grandfather were sitting on the front steps looking grim. They gestured for me to go in, and the kids were in the house watching cartoons in the living room with the two little boys that live there. The children's grandma came out from the kitchen and indicated that she was going to feed the kids lunch, so it must have been right around noon when this all happened. I nodded yes, they could stay to eat, and I told the boys to come to Maddy's house after lunch.
So Maddy and I went back to her house, and she played a video game, and I sat in the big chair, texting people and freaking out. Rachel called and said that Scott was going to a hospital in Rockford by helicopter, and that she and Ash and Rich were going to take Carolyn to Rockford in their car. Rich was going with them so there would be two priesthood holders there in case they needed to give him another blessing. Carolyn's mother called and said they were going to drive here from where they live, and would be here in about 9 hours, and I was so glad to hear it, because we needed more adults to take care of the kids, and also her dad is a doctor and her mom is a nurse, and they would be able to help us understand what was going on, as well as being here to comfort Carolyn.
So the boys came to Maddy's house after lunch, all of them barefoot, and they watched Maddy play a video game and I continued to monitor the phone as they reported from the hospital that Scott was going to surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain from the bleeding inside his skull, and OMG, I can't even tell you how horrible it all was! I have to take a break here.
Saturday, May 13, 2017
This one is for my friend Sheila.
Rachel comes to my house on Monday and Tuesday to take the dog for a midday walk while I'm sleeping (Scott walks the dog on Wednesday and Thursday), and sometimes when I wake up, I find that she has made dinner in the slowcooker and the house smells like delicious food! Here is the recipe for Rachel's Slowcooker Beef Stew, with only 5 ingredients!
1-2 lbs of stew beef, cut into one inch-ish chunks, or just leave them big, like Rachel does! We usually use 2 lbs, because we like a lot of meat. You can even use frozen, straight from the freezer!
Half a bag of baby carrots, or you can cut up a couple of big carrots into chunks. No need to peel them!
2-4 potatoes, depending on the size and how much you love potatoes. Peel (or not) and cut into biggish chunks. If you're using thin-skinned Yukon Gold potatoes or any kind of fingerlings, you don't need to peel them. Also? If you use fingerling potatoes, you don't need to do much chopping.
One small onion, chopped.
2 Tbs of Beef stock powder (I use Orrington Farms Broth Base and Seasoning) or a couple of boullion cubes.
4 cups of water
Some salt and pepper, which doesn't count in the number of ingredients, because bitch, please.
That's it! That's the whole recipe, and I know there are six ingredients, but one of them is WATER, so it doesn't count. You know you've got water in your kitchen. (If you don't, you have bigger problems than what I can solve with a Beef Stew recipe!)
Set it on Low, and let it cook all day while you're at work. If you have a timer on your slowcooker, set it for eight hours. If you are starting this in the middle of the day, like Rachel does at my house, set the slowcooker on High, and let it cook for 5 hours.
One half-hour before you are ready to serve this, mix 2 Tbs of Corn Starch with a half cup of cold water, and stir into the mixture. Let it bubble and thicken the stew while you change into your pajamas and turn on the TV, then eat a big bowl of stew with some buttered toast while you sit on the couch and watch Netflix.
You're welcome.
1-2 lbs of stew beef, cut into one inch-ish chunks, or just leave them big, like Rachel does! We usually use 2 lbs, because we like a lot of meat. You can even use frozen, straight from the freezer!
Half a bag of baby carrots, or you can cut up a couple of big carrots into chunks. No need to peel them!
2-4 potatoes, depending on the size and how much you love potatoes. Peel (or not) and cut into biggish chunks. If you're using thin-skinned Yukon Gold potatoes or any kind of fingerlings, you don't need to peel them. Also? If you use fingerling potatoes, you don't need to do much chopping.
One small onion, chopped.
2 Tbs of Beef stock powder (I use Orrington Farms Broth Base and Seasoning) or a couple of boullion cubes.
4 cups of water
Some salt and pepper, which doesn't count in the number of ingredients, because bitch, please.
That's it! That's the whole recipe, and I know there are six ingredients, but one of them is WATER, so it doesn't count. You know you've got water in your kitchen. (If you don't, you have bigger problems than what I can solve with a Beef Stew recipe!)
Set it on Low, and let it cook all day while you're at work. If you have a timer on your slowcooker, set it for eight hours. If you are starting this in the middle of the day, like Rachel does at my house, set the slowcooker on High, and let it cook for 5 hours.
One half-hour before you are ready to serve this, mix 2 Tbs of Corn Starch with a half cup of cold water, and stir into the mixture. Let it bubble and thicken the stew while you change into your pajamas and turn on the TV, then eat a big bowl of stew with some buttered toast while you sit on the couch and watch Netflix.
You're welcome.
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