Tuesday, September 2

I get up to a very messy house this morning, thanks to a wonderfully busy weekend.  I quickly put things is order before the kids arrive.  It is orientation day for two schools that some of my former babies will attend, so they come and leave and then come back again.  By the end of the day we have a full house.

Sara waits for me to finish with the kids today so I can go with her to visit my dad.  He is having trouble getting his dinner to his mouth, dropping food because he is so shaky.  He is also talking about being in a stadium, and waiting for someone to film something.  We ask him where the stadium is and he points out the window.  He tries to explain about some movie being made there.

Sara gets the resident who comes and talks to my father.  He answers all of the questions he is asked right, and has no problem following the requests that are made of him, pushing hands and legs against resistance, following things with his eyes.  Everything seems fine.  Then I ask him about the football stadium, and we get this confused answer.   The only thing the two residents can come up with is that he may be confused from having dialysis treatments two days in a row.

He is scheduled to have the rest of the index finger on his right hand removed tomorrow.  There is infection in the bone that needs to be removed, and this seems to be the only way to eliminate it.  Usually Monday, Wednesday and Friday are his dialysis days, but since he had a bad reaction last time he had an operation on the same day, Sara has asked that they do the two procedures on separate days.

We get my father settled back into his bed, and tuck him in for the night.  He seems tired and will be up early for his operation. 

Sara drives me to knitting, and I want to show her the yarn bombing we have done.  I am surprised to see that it is gone.  It has looked so pretty on Sunday when I stopped by to check on it.  We talk about it at knitting, and hope that someone has taken it down and done something creative with it, like decorated their dorm, or needed it for their winter wardrobe.  I am afraid that someone took it down because it is a form of graffitti, and they didn't like seeing it there.  So many people seemed to enjoy it, but it the end, it was never meant to be permanent.

Wednesday, September 3

I get up and manage to get all of my gardens watered this morning.  It has been hot this week, and I have been so busy, I haven't been able to get to them.

Sara comes early, after stopping at the hospital.  They took our dad in for his operation before she got there. 

We only have a few children today, a new baby and a new two year old among them.  It is always nice to be able to start our new friends off slowly, it is overwhelming to be start daycare.  It is also easier to be slow while dealing with my treatments and time needed to tend to my dad.

We take an M&M walk today, this is the way we teach the new children how to follow the rules of walking around the neighborhood.  They want an M&M, so they listen very carefully for what to do.

It is an early day, everyone is gone by four forty five.  Steve has gone to Connecticut to cover a fast food rally in the morning.  He is driving some workers from RI to Hartford.  I run out and just miss the bus.  I see it go by as I am walking up my street. I want to go visit my dad before I have a meeting at church this evening.  Usually the next bus comes quickly at this time of day, but for some reason it seems to be taking forever. 

Dad seems to be doing much better this evening.  His index finger on his right hand is now gone, and he has a bandage up to his wrist.  He feels good, and is much easier to understand.  He is not shaky today, and he doesn't drop his food.  I visit as long as I can before I have to leave.  He is tired and wants to go to sleep.

I get to Prucom just as it is starting.  This is our first meeting of the new church year.  It goes well, and is productive.  I feel more comfortable than I did a year ago when I first came on this committee. People are glad to see that I am doing much better than I was at our last meeting, which was just as my whole cancer drama was beginning.
Cathy gives me a ride home, and we catch up on what our summers have been like.  It feels good to be starting the church year again.

I check my email and find a heart wrenching post from Steve's blog. It makes my whole body go numb and he is not even home to talk to.  I try to call him, but there is no answer.  He calls me back, but my ringer is still off from my meeting earlier.  Finally we get to talk.  He is okay, but I feel sick inside.  It amazes me, that after being together for almost thirty years there are still things to learn about each other.