Eddie's Early Birthday Present

Eddie is a very spoiled child!

He's always talking about the Harley he's going to have someday.

Well, yesterday, Bill & Sheila brought him his birthday present.

(His birthday isn't until August 28th)

He was so excited! The box was sooo big!
He was so excited he had to run outside and start playing with his new toy!

He was really good at running it full blast into the curbs and the neighbors cars!

At every crash, pieces were flying off the poor scoot!

He loves his new toy!

This is an aireal view.

Here it is zooming down the street!
Eddie loves his birthday present!

The Wheelbarrow!

This is Eddie's Father's Day present!!

It's an Industrial Wheelbarrow.

The Got Tools? is Uppercase Living vinyl lettering!

(yes, I still am a independent demonstrator for UL.)

We were supposed to get Eddie a wheelbarrow last year for Father's day, we didn't. He'd never tell us what kind he wanted. So a few weeks ago he told me he thought he was just going to get the old flat wheel off my dad's old one wheeled metal wheelbarrow. I thought, okay, he's going for nostalgia. A few weeks before this, I was at Lowe's and noticed the prices of wheelbarrows!!! No wonder why he didn't get one last year!!!!

So...while he was in Utah last week. I went to Costco. I thought I'll look down the tool aisle and see if they have anything new for him. They had a new head lamp. So, I got him that. Then I ran into the INDUSTRIAL WHEELBARROW!!! I couldn't believe the price! And it's at least two times the size of my dad's metal one and it has two wheels! Then I looked at the price!

Are you kidding me? I couldn't believe it!

After Eddie put it together, and then jumped in to show me how Industrial it actually was...

"You can put a car engine in it!"

I asked him how much he thought I paid for it. He figured it was expensive.

I told him $29.99.

I then found the receipt and told him I was wrong...it was $29.97.

Needless-to-say, he's very HAPPY with his new toy!!!!

Next....a chainsaw!!!!!!

Plans for my 50th!!!

I still have OVER 3.5 years to go until the big 5-0 arrives, but my sister has decided that for her 50th she's going to run a 5K!!! Hats off to her; so not my cup of tea! When Eddie and I heard about her plans, I told him I could think of lots more fun things to do to celebrate my 50th! So, we have decided that our goal is to have been to 50 temples by the time I turn 50!!!!

We've already attended 27 different temples and we hope to add 3 more to that list by the end of the year!!! So that's only 20 in 3 years!!!! Fortunately with the 3 new temples announced in Arizona that's 3 more easily attainable!!! We have the two new ones in Idaho that we hope to attend before the years over and then next year there will be 2 new ones in Utah!! That's 7 right there! I think it's a great goal!!! We love going to the temple! My only regret is that we haven't taken pictures of us outside of all the temples we've been to! We're going to try and remedy that!! I'm excited now!!!!

We will attain it!

Woo-Hoo!!!!!

Our Morning!

This morning while watching the news, we found out that Eric Spillman from KTLA was filming in Pico Rivera! We knew exactly where he was, so Eddie and I jumped out of bed, threw some clothes on and drove over there and took some pictures! It was a story on the laker/celtic game. Neither Eddie and I really cared about the game. We did switch over to the game a couple times last night, and were in hysterics at how bad the Lakers got spanked!
Although they asked to stick around until the 8am live broadcast, we opted to go home. Of course minutes later "da mudder" sent us to McDonald's where Eric had relocated too. Fortunately, we got through the drive thru before 8:00 a.m. Otherwise we would have been background for the live shot!!!
Eric Spillman is very skinny. Nice spray tan though!!! He was accomadating!
It was another crazy adventure!!!

Update!

Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. With Eddie gone, I wanted to get so much done, I really wasn't on the computer much. I did get lots done!!! I'm pretty proud of myself!

On Thursday the 12th, I was up really early and out and about running errands. I got home around 8:30, just as Bubba was leaving. He informed me that Mom was in her wheelchair. Okay?! Mom hasn't been in her wheelchair for exactly one month. After her last excursion, she hasn't had the stamina, and neither do I to get her in and out of bed. Transport takes her everywhere, which is dialysis and doctor's appointments. So, I walk in the house and their she is in her nightgown and shoes, (no socks!) I was amazed and also frustrated. Usually when we take her out we put her in pants so then we at least have a waistband to hold on to! She was up, so I wheeled her over to the table so she could eat breakfast!

Like that smirk on her face?! I think she was pretty proud of herself. Although, when she was putting her shoes on she pulled something in her back and now she's in pain and she's not as helpful as she was with helping me get her changed and dressed! Everytime she moans I give her, "And thus we see why we don't get in our wheelchair by ourselves!" I'm not very sympathetic!! She hasn't put her own shoes on in the last 6 months, actually longer than that! I make sure her socks and shoes are on, so it's her fault she pulled something and it hurts!

Before I had started my errands I had dug up a flower bed, well, that's what it is now! So, I wanted to finish it. I took Mom out with me to see our garden!!!!

It's grown a lot! The four tomato plants you see there that look like a jungle have blossoms all over! There's a crooked neck squash and a zuccini behing them. The tall skinny thing on the right is cilantro. Next to it is curly parsley and then basil. Behind the basil is Sage! The last part has two pepper plants; a purple and a green one. I've never heard of purple, but when I saw it, of course, I had to get it! The big bushy thing is the cherry tomato plant. The four tomato plants that form the jungle are Big Beefsteak, Roma, Yellow Pear (my favorite!) and grape! We're excited for them to produce something besides blossoms. There are two cherry tomatos that we've found, but they're still very green!! The zuccinis are out of control! We haven't harvested any yet, but we will soon!!!

Here's mom outside in her nighty!! That's the lemon bush on the left. Eddie is really trying to get the yards and plants under control. The lemons on the lemon bush are SO JUICEY!!! We've probably used more of them this year than we ever have before. We also love to throw them down the garbage disposal!!! It smells so good!!!

This is the flower bed I dug up! I hadn't finished yet in this picture. I should go outside and take a picture now of what it looks like. That's my mom's arm. She sat out there and watched me for awhile.

Right after I got home, and found "da Mudder" up, she started falling asleep. I told her that's one reason why we don't get her up, she falls asleep too easily. One of these days she's going to fall asleep and roll out of her wheelchair. Another reason is because she might be able to "throw" herself in the wheelchair, but it's another story having to use body strength to get out of the chair and into bed. Now remember, Eddie is in Utah when all this is going on, so I had to get her back in bed myself, and she didn't have pants on. It wasn't fun and it wasn't easy. I could go on, but I'll stop there. She did get back in bed, but she's not very helpful now when trying to work with her because of whatever she pulled in her back and no I'm not taking her to the doctor's to find out she pulled a muscle. I'm kinda tired of Doctor's at this point. She does have to see Dr. Shinn on Monday! That's regarding the surgery on her arm last Friday.

So there you have it, my whining and murmuring about my week. I'm glad to have Eddie back home. He's out right now teaching with the missionaries. My mom hasn't returned from dialysis yet. I should be outside doing something! Maybe I'll go take pictures!

I haven't had a coke in 14 days! The first day was the worst day! Between the no-caffeine and the sugar crash the first few days were rough. I'm trying to avoid carbonation too, but every now and then it's okay. Just my own personal choice! Not trying to do anything specatacular. Just get healthier! Baby-steps! Giving up my liquid caffeine is huge!!!!! I still eat chocolate!

Drugs!

I just don't understand Doctors these days. I think they get way too much money from the drug companies. I just took my Mom to the Doctors, because everyone kept telling me too. Because she's "confused!" So, we go to the doctors and she gives her a prescription for a drug that is normally given to Bi-polar and Schizofrenic people! I think my mom's just old and old people get confused!!! The doctor kept saying my mom has hallucinations, which she does, but I don't think taking this pill is going to help. In the doctor's defense, she did only prescribe a 14 day supply and said if it didn't work, we could stop it. I did look it up on-line and what it says is even worse than what I was thinking...so I'm going to dialysis tomorrow and getting a second opinion before I give her anything!!!!

Eddie is gone and my mother is hungry, so I have to cook! I surely miss him. My mom just said that her ribs hurt because they got poked! Now she's talking about dinner. So, I'd better feed her. She's describing artichokes to me right now. I've never made an artichoke in my life! We are watching the food channel, so that might be what she's talking about. Who knows!

She did ask me earlier today where her enchilada or taco went. I gave her the look, and she said, "I didn't have either did I!" Maybe she'd like that better than an artichoke!

Another fun adventure!

Yes, "da Mudder" was in the hospital overnight.

Her "access" was clogged so they couldn't do dialysis on Thursday.

Friday we were at the hospital at 7a.m. for "de-clogging."

Radiology couldn't do it, so they did surgery.

They wanted to keep her over-night for observation.

She was released around 1pm and went straight to dialysis.

She has lost more weight. She's at about 150 now!

The fun continues!

Ponderings on Death

I always thought that watching a loved one die would be a peaceful, happy experience. Especially with the knowledge we have of life after death and eternity and families are forever!

I've never actually experienced the dieing process unless you count the last few weeks with grandma and that wasn't a daily thing. I did get to find her dead body. That wasn't fun, but I was kinda relieved she was dead because she would not have been happy that I had taken Yvonne with me to find her!

My mother's life is slowly winding down and she's getting closer everyday to the other side of the veil. She could leave us tomorrow, next week, next month, even next year. She's not the same person she was even 3 weeks ago and I would love to help her make the transition a happy, peaceful one, but she's goofy and sometimes cranky! There are times when the things she says are truly hilarious! We all laugh. She laughs too! Sometimes she's cranky and accuses us of things that aren't true. That's when she reminds me of grandma and I don't like those times.
I understand that if it's frustrating for me, it's probably more frustrating for her. I try to be patient and I try to be kind and try to overlook the crankiness and remember the sweet mom who taught me to be a responsible human being. (Whether I always was or not is irrelevant!) I try to remember the golden rule and "to do to her as I'd have done to me."

Breaking news: She just asked me "Where does Betty live? No, Where does your aunt live? I went through a list of aunt's I knew...
"Auntie Dot lives in Idaho."
"No, that's not the one."
"auntie Marge?"
"no"
Those are my only aunts!
She started again asking where Betty lived and then shook her head no and asked,
"Where does your aunt Rosemary live?"
I told her I didn't know, that the last she knew she lived in Alaska. Aunt Rosemary is one of my mom's best friends through-out jr. high and high school. Probably hasn't seen or heard from her since the 70s.

That's just a snapshot of how my day goes.

She then told me she wants to go to Bluff Road tomorrow with a camera. She wants to take a picture of our "other house." Probably wants some Chocolate from Willy Wonka too!

Calgon take me away!

Even though I know what I know about death, I still wonder about the actualities of it! Rick Springfield wrote a song titled, "April 24, 1988." That's the date his Father passed away. I've always loved the lyrics because I have the same thoughts!
April 24, 1988
"I know all your life you wondered
About that step we all take alone
How far does the spirit travel on the journey
You must surely be near heaven
And it thrills me to the bone
To know
Daddy knows the great unknown."

My mother says.....

Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory is across the river from our house!

She saw the Oompa Loompas there and they were singing!

"Oompa Loompa Doobadee do...."

Happy Sunday to you too!

Cuckoo!