SURE WAS HARD TO SLEEP LAST NIGHT!

Here I am on my trip to Northern Utah to visit my 95-year old Grandma Christina. When I get home, I'll download some pictures for you to see. We stayed in Logan last night & got to take Grandma with us to dinner, then visit with her, Aunt Patsy, & Uncle David. Later, back at the hotel, I found a computer that Dad didn't know was around & I tried not to let him know about it. This is important later in my story.

Dad & Mom were tired from traveling all day from Southern Utah, so they quickly plopped down to go to bed. I'm still on Arizona time, wasn't tired, so I watched TV for a while. Finally, I got tired, turned off the TV & promptly fell asleep. Sleep didn't last for long. Soon I hear all this noise like "khhghghghkhkkghkskkghkskkk" (or make your own AWFUL noise here...). Dad has had 2 massive strokes, quintuple heart bypass & wears this mask over his face because he has really bad sleep apnea & snores loud enough to wake the alive, the dead, the unborn, whoever...When he wears the mask thingie, you pretty much just hear the machine going & it can end up putting you to sleep like white noise. Everything was fine till Dad "adjusted" it. That's when the AWFUL noise started. Ok, all adjusted...back to sleep...pretty soon it happens again...took the mask off...AWFUL noise, digging around in his big glass for some ice. Ok, got the ice...crunch, crunch, crunch...AWFUL noise while the mask gets adjusted...back to sleep. Multiply this by about 3 more times, including him getting up to go to the bathroom which is another fun time because you have to include hearing him bang around with his walker & all other accompanying annoying noise that goes along with someone getting up in the middle of the night. Oh, also...the bathroom light was on all night so when the door was opened, bright light lit the room. At 3:30 a.m. (I know because I had the clock on my side of the room), the AWFUL noise once again. Dad gets up, clunks around, goes out of the room & hobbles down to the front desk where they show him where the computer is--SHAME on them!! That is why some of you got a bunch of e-mail today. About an hour later, the door bangs open, clunking around with the walker & smack into something which causes a loud "OUCH!" then back into bed, AWFUL noise again...back to sleep. Another hour...AWFUL noise again, clunking around door bangs open & out he goes for early breakfast...back to sleep. Who knows when later, door bangs open, clunking around, "Here's some orange juice...there's breakfast down there." Yawn...time to start a brand new, bright, happy, restful day! I get up & get ready...got to breakfast...come back & Dad's sound asleep! (I warned Dad that I would be posting this. He said he would never talk to me again. I said, "You promise?") I LOVE YOU DAD!! Can't wait for bedtime tonight in a new hotel here in Salt Lake. I'm putting on my iPod & headphones.

MEMORIES

(I'm on my trip to Northern Utah to see my 95-year old Grandma & can't post pictures of the visit till I get back home, so I got this idea from Jodi's blog.)

So, go ahead & leave a memory for me. (Not too embarrassing, ok?)

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you (unless I've already left one, since I'm doing this in response to all your memory posts).

BEDROOM--BEFORE & AFTER

I know, this has taken FOREVER to post--I'm sorry! This first picture is how my bedroom looked before we painted it & put in new bedding & drapes. The room was a little outdated considering I had a bunch of roses on the wall, bedside table & dresser. Plus, the drapes that I picked out when I bought the house were awful! I hated them from the beginning.

Thank goodness Shannon so nicely volunteered to help me paint!! I don't know what I would have done without her help. I had painted my living room & hallway right before Christmas--yep, dumb time to do it, but I had just gotten new furniture & my parents were coming so vanity caused me to undertake this awful job during the busiest time of the year. It had taken me 4 days doing it by myself (stubborn me--Shannon had volunteered then too, but I couldn't bring myself to inflict that kind of awfulness on her), getting up & down the ladder with a bad back & afraid of heights was NOT fun--the ceiling is higher than normal. Afterwards, I felt like a crippled old lady. So, when Shannon volunteered this time, I gladly accepted. She didn't know what she was in for.

The first day was kind of busy for us (Shanon working, me puttering), so by the time we got together, all we had time for was to buy the paint, rollers, move the bed away from the wall, etc. Fine by me. I just wasn't looking forward to it, ya know? It was weird sleeping in the middle of the room. My cats kept looking at me like I was goofier than usual. The next day we got started. Shannon had this WONDERFUL idea of using this new little edger thing (called Shur-Line) so you don't have to tape the ceiling, corners, & baseboards. You end up doing very little touch-up or taping. It was GREAT! Anyway...we were only able to paint a few hours each night because she was so nice & helped me after work, but we got it done in about 3 1/2 days. We also painted the computer room that connects to my bedroom & then I had this wonderful, bright idea that since my bathroom also joined my bedroom, it had to be painted too. The second day, I told Shannon that I was happy she was there so she could paint the high places--remember I don't like heights--& after she had been painting all the high places all along, she said, "I don't like high places either." How cool is that? She braved it out for me?

When we got into the bathroom to paint, I got in the shower to tape above the tile, stepped onto the stupid fiberglass seat & promptly broke a big hole in it. I thought fiberglass was strong! I guess not for standing but for sitting??? This project was fast becoming VERY expensive. I could just envision me having to put in a new shower if the hole
(can you see that awful thing???) couldn't be fixed. I was talking to my Dad about it & he had what I thought was a goofy idea to have Matt (Jodi's contractor/builder husband) just tile over the 2 seats. I thought, "Well, that's going to look really bad." But, I mentioned it to Matt & he said that the idea was a pretty good one--we would get some cultured marble the same color as the shower & he could cut it to fit the seats & put them on top for hardly any cost at all. I still have to get in touch with someone who might have scraps I could buy. (I'll do that when I get back from my trip to Utah.) Meanwhile, I'm taking showers in the spare bathroom. Do you know how fun it is to plaster the shower curtain against the shower walls so the water won't leak through to the floor, only to find out that the water somehow mysteriously leaks through anyway. I always have big puddles on the floor. Again, my cats seem to understand there's something really weird going on with the new shower situation. They follow me to the bathroom, sit there for a minute, & then lay down to wait.

Anyway, here's a picture of my "new" bedroom, Jodi made the green pillow out of the material that I bought. I just happened to find 2 new lamps that match the pillow material almost exactly at "my favorite store" (Bed, Bath & Beyond). If you see on the picture of the old bedroom, the lamp was TOTALLY ugly so of course...great reason to BUY new lamps! YAY!

I couldn't find a bedside tablecloth to match the terra cotta color that I wanted so I bought cheap white sheets, dyed them (but they turned out too light), dyed them again (just a little darker), added more brown (a little darker) & fourth time added "Scarlett" (just the right shade I wanted). Then, I tried cutting it out & found out the sheets were too narrow--my luck of course, so I was going to have to make ruffles. JUST GREAT! Me sewing--remember, I DON'T SEW! Well, that day, I just so happened to go to a different Bed, Bath & Beyond & lo & behold!! Yippee!! They had a terra cotta table cloth for $14, then with the coupon, it came to about $11. So, I got it. See...


So anyway, I hope you like the "new" bedroom. I still have to get a few things like pictures & that kind of stuff. And I'm not used to something so fancy (the bedspread's all this fancy, shiny material), but I'm getting used to it.

I'M SAD TODAY

Yesterday, my little 86-year old neighbor, Irene, passed away. She's had heart trouble for a couple of years, in & out of the hospital with congestive heart failure, etc. But, just in the last four months, she's gone down hill really fast. Irene started getting dementia which progressed quickly. She did some goofy things while still at home that caused us all to worry about her living alone. She didn't have any kids but was close to her niece Carla, so Carla took her home to live with her family last month. I immediately missed her because I used to see her every day when I took her mail to her, fixed her medication box, helped her around the house, & just visited with her. I went to see her a couple of times at Carla's & she was getting pretty frail. The other day, Carla's daughter called me & told me that Irene probably wouldn't be around much longer according to the Hospice nurses. I quickly went over to visit & she was so deeply asleep that she didn't wake up at all. I held her hand & told her I was there & she scrunched her eyes a little, moved just a bit, breathed heavier & I got the feeling she "knew" I was there. Carla told me that Irene had been arguing with people that had already "passed on" for the last week & chewing them out because they wouldn't answer her. Then, she would look off to the side, not focusing on what was going on around her. Carla asked her what was going on & when she finally replied, Irene told her that her Mom & Dad were standing at the door asking her to come with them & that they wouldn't come to her. Carla told her that next time they came for her, that she should go. She said, "Okay," & tried to get out of bed. You just knew she was ready to go. Even though I knew it was Irene's time to go & that she would be much better off where she was going to, it made me sad when it finally happened. Now my "listener" & friend is in a better place, but I miss her. I know I'll see her again & just want to say, "Irene, I miss & love you."

HOW FAST ARE YOU?

I got this idea from a friend. Kind of fun trying to type really, really fast without making mistakes. I had to try a few times because I was doing it while babysitting my friend's baby & he kept walking in front of me--LOL! Anyway, give it a try, see how you do:
80 words

Speed test

I BLEW IT!

Man, I blew it...again! Last night Jodi, Shannon, & I were IM'ing each other & talking about what else? The high price of gas? The monsoon we're having? Who we're going to vote for? No. Those are all important topics, but not as important as...

CHOCOLATE!!

We were talking about the "triggers" of when we eat chocolate, like "your time of the month," being female, or my favorite: just thinking about it. Do you know how hard it is for me to decide when it's my "time of the month?" I've had a partial hysterectomy for crying out loud. So, the "studies" tell us that women crave CHOCOLATE more during that time. Well, apparently for many women, including myself, all month is "my time of the month!" My trigger this time was just the IM'ing about CHOCOLATE! I've been trying to be "good" to lose some weight, but after thinking about CHOCOLATE for over 2 hours after IM'ing, I found myself in the kitchen with a "couple" of Double Stuff Oreo cookies & a glass of milk. Not completely CHOCOLATE, but I was cool with it because I could have a CHOCOLATE cookie & something else sweet too. Wow, I guess I've been trying to be "good" for a while because I forgot that the "double stuff" part of the cookie is just a bunch of Crisco with a lot of powdered sugar in. After two cookies, I felt so guilty about eating all that sweet Crisco, that I had to raid my CHOCOLATE shelf of my fridge (yes, a whole shelf devoted strictly to CHOCOLATE--my whole family can attest to that one) & ended up eating a couple of Kit Kats! Yes, guilt is another trigger! The craving has temporarily subsided...until I proofread this.

GOOFY GRANDMA'S ATTEMPTS AT MADISON'S DANCE RECITAL PICS

I have a bunch to post so I thought I'd get the oldest first. This is happy little Madison after her dance recital. She did such a good job. This is the 2nd of her dance outfits (as most of you "dance" moms know, they normally do 2 dances). Below in a previous blog, you saw the tutu.


(Here's Mom Jodi bringing the "superstar" out afterwards.)











I also have video, yep, video...now, if I could only download it all! The first dance, I thought I was recording it & when the dance was all over, lo & behold, as usual..."Goofy Grandma" strikes again! I had left the camera on "Standby." I definitely need a photo class or something. So, we lost the first dance. I got the WHOLE 2nd dance! Yippee!!

Madison is the 3rd from the right--can you see the little girl that's bouncing all over the place? She's very bouncy. She also pretty much knew the whole routine. She was so excited to be up there that as they were leaving the stage, she needed "prompting" from the little girl behind her to leave. She's a ham! (By the way, I understand the video looks far away but I even had it on Zoom. Again, am I doing something wrong???)

Does Dad look like he had fun?

This one looks a little better, huh? (I think Dad just works too hard & was a little tired. He's a great Dad & supports his kids in whatever they do.) Madison got a little "camera shy" so she kept running off with Olivia & it was difficult to get a "good" picture. Oops, there she goes again! Ya know, ya have to keep running to get a shot.


Afterwards, we went to Dippin' Dots with the whole family & I proceeded to try to show Madison how to suck up Dippin' Dots through the straw. Daddy vetoed the continuation of that project. Can you say, "Awww, shucks Dad?"

I KNOW, I KNOW, I KNOW...

I'm sorry I haven't posted for so long...I've been busy painting like I said I was going to do, camping, babysitting, doing my 3 church callings, etc. I have soooo much to catch up on. Anyway, I'm babysitting today so I can't download pictures of my pretty new bedroom, but when I get home, I'll try to remember to take pictures to show you & tell you the "wonderful, exciting" story of my painting experience. Needless to say, I may have to buy a new shower now. (Maybe that will keep you curious about why...)