2012 In Review

I started a review of what I felt was important back in 2008, I have continued the same format every year.

2008 is in regular type, 2009 in BOLD, 2010 thoughts are in Red, 2011 thoughts are in blue, 2012 will be in purple.

The children are all employed, and reasonably healthy. Trica our oldest daughter still struggles with Pancreatitis. Ditto..Trica is still struggling..she might just be a tad more cranky too. She has pancreatitis from a Gall Bladder surgery years ago. Trica is on  temporary medical leave from her job as an RN.  She had a very scary episode in October which we now believe was a direct result of a prescribed medication that was taken off of the market in November.   She still struggles with Pancreatitis. Everyone still has jobs, Trica is enrolled at UND and in three years she will be a Nurse Practitioner.  She still struggles with Pancreatitis. Everyone still has jobs, Trica is still studying to become a Nurse Practitioner..she is half done. Trica still struggles with Pancreatitis.

We still struggle with Doctors and Far Guys Trigeminal Neuralgia. We are comfortable with Dr. P he seems adequate. There are no miracle cures..Trigeminal Neuralgia is a rare disorder that you must just learn to live with...easy for me to say..Far Guy is the one with continual pain. Dr. P is still taking good care of Far Guy…nothing is new with TN, it is still one of the most painful disorders known to mankind. Dr. P is still taking good care of Far Guy..no great discoveries are forthcoming to fight this rare disorder. With Dr. P’s blessing Far Guy had several steroid injections in his Trigeminal Nerve.  The results are mixed..some were not so good and made the pain worse..others took the pain away completely for six weeks.

No new Grand-babies..No divorces..a few deaths (two cousins and a very dear friend) This year five friends died.. Rhonda, Jim, Sam, Charles and Pat. Two family members, my Uncle Delbert, and my cousins fiancée. No Grandbabies ( I think the baby years are over).  Deaths we had a few..My Aunt Marie and Far Guys Aunt Esther.  No new grandbabies and no divorces. Deaths we had a few.. Aunt Violet, friends Ardith and Elsie both from Indiana and friend Tammy succumbed to breast cancer.  No Grandbabies..I guess I should really give up on this since our baby turned eleven:) Deaths..My Cousin Rosemarie and Far Guy’s Uncle Willard.

No new pets, and no pet deaths. In 2009 Madison got a new kitten that she named Ziggy. Trica found a new home for her Pomeranian Daphne or "Daffy". Daffy now gets to be the Queen of her castle and no longer has to tremble in fear and hide under the couch to escape her terrorist companion Dakota who had a stroke a number of years ago and has an ongoing thyroid problem and is just not right in the head. I miss Daffy..she loved me. When they all lived with us..she was my constant companion. Paige got a kitty that she named Skittles and Savannah got a  pitch black kitty that she named Luna.  Andy went out and got himself a Sheltie puppy who is named Little Elvis. No new pets and no pet deaths.  No New pets or pet deaths..although Dakota is not looking real good.

Biggest Adjustment..Far Guy's Trigeminal Neuralgia and how it affects our day to day life. Ditto..we must always be flexible.... it just may not be a good day, or a good week.Ditto. Ditto. Ditto.

Biggest Change..Closing the Greenhouse business, a very wise decision. I miss it, but I am getting over it. Well I am way over this one..this years biggest changes..lifestyle..healthier eating..more exercise. Biggest change this year..being able to see without glasses after my cataract surgery. Biggest change this year was leaving Far Guy and Chance on their own while I went to work at the Museum…they can survive without me!  Biggest change this year..hmm..Chance and I having one day a week off while Far Guy works at the Museum..we love our day off!

Biggest Frustration.. Doctors that don't know their butt from a hole in the ground, and the phone ringing. Ditto.. and gaining weight because I quit a nasty habit..that I enjoyed..but now my metabolism is all out of whack.  For now and since July I have been an ex-smoker.  It ain't easy..it has been one of the hardest things I have ever done in my entire life.  I have however curbed the desire to lick every ash tray I see..and those smokers outside freezing their skinny butts off..I envy them..perhaps I will get over that with time..old habits die hard..I began to smoke as a teenager..that was well over forty years ago.  My daughter said "Mom we would rather have you alive and healthy looking and a little fat, than dead and skinny." The phone ringing still irritates me..and now that Far Guy has a cell phone sometimes they both ring at the same time. We are still non smokers..fatter ones.. Ditto..Still non smokers..still fat too. Ditto..still non smokers..still fat too. I still hate the phone ringing and most Doctors irritate the heck out of me.

Happiest Moment..a very nostalgic Ferris Wheel Ride last August with Far Guy. Playing a little "kissy face" stopped at the top! I had to think on this for quite some time.. I had many happiest moments this year and if I had to pin it down to just one moment it would be watching Chance and Far Guy on the lake shore of Lake Superior..watching Chance run between us. The happiest moment this year: When our oldest daughter Trica woke up after being unconscious for more than 24 hours..and she knew who we were. The happiest moment this year was finding out that Far Guy made the Emergency Life Flight to Fargo alive and that he had no Heart blockages..he had treatable pericarditis.  The happiest moments this year were spent with the Grands..at Guitar Concerts, Hockey Games and out on the lake.

2012 Notes:  Chance is in good health, he takes a baby aspirin every day to help with his stiff joints.  He is as spoiled as ever…and rarely is left alone.   I am not sure who is most forgetful Far Guy or Chance.  Chance feigns forgetfulness every evening after his first treat..and more often than not Far Guy forgets and gives him a second treat.  They are quite a pair.

Happy New Year’s Eve..stay safe..use a designated driver or call for a ride..or  don’t drink alcohol..have a soda instead! :)

Far Side Whatnot

I finally finished that darn book.  The Third installment of the Hunger Games..The Mockingjay.  I liked the first two but the last one just dragged and dragged. I had to force myself to read it.  For me that is not fun reading.

Right now I am reading at lunch all about the U.S. – Dakota Conflict of 1862.  What a scary time to live in Minnesota.  One of my volunteers at the Museum shared that his Grandmother lived in the Morton Minnesota area and she left an oral history.  I am interested in reading it.

I have been approached by a Television Producer to arrange some interviews at the museum for a Public Television Show called Postcards.  I am not familiar with it.  However it sounds like good PR for the museum.

Work is going fine..busy, hot and a little dusty.  We had a work day yesterday.  We did not accomplish everything on my list..but we made some headway.  Those rooms in the basement must be back together really soon..before July 29.  How many days away is that..10 days..panic??  Not yet .. maybe in a few days.

Far Guy has had real good luck with the injection to take away the Trigeminal Neuralgia pain he has had for the last four years!  No pain…yet…fourteen days and counting! HOWEVER he is still suffering with the two dry sockets from when he had two troublesome teeth pulled sixteen days ago. He wonders if he will ever be “normal” or “pain free” ever again. I keep telling him to be patient. He is tired of being patient.

Chance is doing something strange since Miney and Little Elvis were here.  Whilst they visited..he may have missed a meal.  Far Guy would make three dishes of food and put them down..his finicky ways may have resulted in Miney eating his supper one night.  Ever since they were here he eats his food all gone like no ones business. There is no taking a bit and wandering off to play ball..and no sitting with him until he finishes encouraging him “Good Boy..Good Boy.”  I wonder if we should be worried as he has been finicky for most of his eight years..and all of a sudden he isn’t? 

Shell Lake and a Great Blue Heron July 2012

I am tired.  Working in the heat and sweating all day long must be exhausting because I have a nap after work most days.  Maybe I am getting am old:)

Busy Week Updates

A busy week continues..

Our Son in Law Andy had surgery for the removal of a bone spur on his elbow, it went well. We returned home last evening. The little boys are so busy. They are off with friends and hardly have time for old geezers. Grandma does know how to get a hug..blocking the TV while they are trying to play video games with their friends ..works for me. Hugs were given, Grandma was happy!

This morning, Jess had her baby, little Renee Arvilla was born by C Section at 32 weeks. The wonders of Facebook, I got to see photos right away. Renee weighs 3 pounds and 14 ounces, you can pop on over to her blog Feelin' The Wind, and say Congrats! We live just down the road from the proud grandparents, and Jess was a fixture at our house while growing up, she now lives far away in Louisiana. We thank God for his goodness in the safe arrival of this very precious little girl!

Far Guy and Chance had an interesting morning. They were called to the Fire Hall to check out why the security alarms were going off. As Far Guy left the house I hollered "Don't go in there alone." A Deputy was waiting, their first search was fruitless..so Far Guy sent in Chance..he had a great time searching but came up empty pawed too..it was most likely a bird or a chipmunk. Far Guy says the mosquitoes were so huge that it might have been them. There is a joke that pokes fun at the Mosquito as being the Minnesota State Bird..those of us who live here, know it isn't a bit funny.

Today is my day to catch up, Far Guy is feeling pretty good, so our many different activities will continue. We did have an interesting visit to the Dentist..during the last very painful "Flare" that Far Guy had, he kept telling me that something was different in his mouth. Indeed it was ..it seems that after all these years..he is getting a wisdom tooth, it is just poking through the skin..he will have to have Oral Surgery.. that could be a big bump in the road..as it is on the right side of his face..which in Far Guys case is his Trigeminal Neuralgia side. The Monday visit to the Dentist for a normal teeth cleaning caused him a great deal of pain. His teeth are just one of the triggers for the nerve pain. Luckily Mondays Dentist visit did not put too much of a damper on the evenings festivities, I tagged along ( I was bribed by the promise of some Onion Rings and a burger at a local bar) where a few of his classmates were meeting. We got to see blog reader Ann, and visit with her! The eventual arrival of the classmate Pharmacist was enough to jar Far Guys memory..that he had forgotten to take his 3 o'clock medications.. see that new wisdom tooth is worthless. :)