Camels are Ugly

By Mike

Another fun find we discovered amongst the boxes and boxes of loose unorganized papers was this photo of Charlotte on a camel from her trip to Egypt.

The End of an Era

By Mike

Two pictures to share - a before and after pic.

For any of you who have been inside of Charlotte's home, you know about the back corner next to the laundry.  For as long as I have known Charlotte, that corner contained this freezer.

Well - given the age and general condition, and noting the cost to ship something of this size across the country, it was time to remove the freezer and defrost it one more time.

So here is the "After" shot.  The doors open nicely and it's not so much of a squeeze to get back there.

A stack of sticks!

By Mike

There is no Internet at Charlotte's house. We were smart and had her phone and Internet turned off back in July when we determined Charlotte was going to live with Sheelagh - there was no sense in paying for something that wasn't going to be used. Fortunately, there is public wifi at the nearby library.

For the past several years, Charlotte has spent a great amount of time making hand-carved, unique walking sticks and wands. Some of here sticks are quite elaborate and very very neat! She collected a whole bunch of sticks of about the right shape and size then she would store them in piles around the house to dry and prep for carving.

Here is a picture of all the sticks we found stashed in the corners and closets throughout the house. Most of these haven't been touched; the bark is still on etc. some of these have had their bark stripped.

And to think this pile isn't even all of it. There are sticks in the outside sheds and a this does NOT include the sticks she has finished or was in the middle of working on. We're not sure what to do with those yet.

A Fun Find

By Mike

We've had some time to filter through some stuff. We've tossed a couple bags of expired food. We've dug up all the weeds in front of the basement window. Alicia has sifted through many boxes of paper looking for treasures among the trash. There is PLENTY of work here, so we are busy more than anything else - and believe me when I say this week is only the beginning.

Here is a fun little find from our efforts. This is Charlotte's ID when she was working as a bus driver for Murray District. As you can see, the badge was well worn from years of faithful service.

In the past now

By Mike

For the Thanksgiving break, we decided to ditch town and drive to Charlotte's house so we could winterized the house, clean up the yard, and maybe get rid of some of the unnecessary clutter around the house.

This was waiting for us when we arrived. It is an unfortunate reminder of Charlotte's radiation treatment. The yellow circles with the "X"s in them are the focal points to help direct the radiation.

We have no way of knowing how effective the radiation treatment was. But that is all in the past now.

Huffed and puffed and blew the trees down

By Sheelagh

So we had a exciting Sunday last week. We knew that extreme weather was on it way--which is pretty normal for this time of year. I think that we got the outer edges of a tornado that took out half of a middle school south of us and did some major damage to a town about 40 minutes southeast of us.
We lived in Kansas for two years but I have never seen anything quite like this storm. We saw trees going by the doors that walk out of our basement!
This picture is of our oldest getting some "man lessons":) we had about 3 whole trees down and a lot of limbs that still need to be cleared up. Too bad we don't have a fireplace--just a fire pit outside and it is waaaay too cold to enjoy that.

Mom is not talking these days and hardly touches her food. She still enjoys sprite though and I think would drink it all day if she could. She sleeps a lot and even when she is awake she isn't really awake.

Keep sending emails! We read emails everyday and I think that she is a little sad when there isn't anything to read.

The fun of midwest life

by Alicia

So, on Sunday, the midwest had some crazy weather. The tornado sirens went off.  Thankfully Sheelagh said Dave had just pulled into the garage and was able to help mom get to safety.  A tornado did touch down close to them, but they faired ok.  Just some broken trees to cut down.

As far as how Mom is doing.  She is bedridden.  She is still able to feed herself.  Mom has had severe confusion, not really aware of where she is.  Sheelagh said that a few days ago, she still said "I love you", but that's few and far between.  

She is still on steroids, not to help with swelling, but for a pain management.   We all wonder when her time will come.  Somedays you have the "why me" but then you pull up your boot straps, and count all the blessing you do have.  Mom, is still with us, and we have learned so much from her, and are still receiving lessons on patience, understanding and service

To lighten the mood.  Found a fun family photo.  This photo was most likely taken around the holidays.

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It goes on

by Alicia

Unfortunately, the benefits of the steroid is starting to wane. Mom has not been able to get out of bed for over a week. Her legs and arms are becoming very frail. She has not complained about headaches, yet. Sheelagh was saying the other day, she complained to mom how hard it was to be a mom after a hard day. She leaned her head on mom and got a hug! I am very jealous.

Here is a pic of mom with a beautiful quilt her visiting teacher made her. Her hair looks different - don't freak out though. It was all sorts of crazy lengths and Sheelagh gave it a little buzz to even it up.

Happy Birthday!

By Sheelagh

We made it! Today mom turned 72. Here is a quick pic of her birthday lunch. I picked up sandwiches etc from Penn Station Subs and some freshly squeezed lemonade (mom does not like fountain lemonade--she always says it tastes like horses sweat, I am going to take her word on that one!)

Tomorrow night we will have her birthday dinner part 2.

Birthday wishes

By Sheelagh

Mom turns 72 next Thursday!
We celebrated with Alicia and Graham while they were both here and now are gearing up for birthday...the sequel.

I was asking her tonight what she wanted for her birthday. I asked her if she wanted "new garments and her kids to get along"--which is what she said for every birthday when we were younger....she laughed and said that sounded good--I reminded her that we already get along and she doesn't wear underwear:). We both had a good laugh at that one.
She did make another meal request. We will be having pulled pork ---with slaw of course, onion rings and strawberry rhubarb pie.
Sounds yummy:)
It is a good thing she doesn't make meal requests that often, we would have all gained 50 pounds by now.

Update 11/1

by alicia

Here is a pic of mom "playing computer". She is not able to really navigate her computer any more, but she will sit in front of it, scrolling her finger on the track pad "working" on something.
We have a new hospice aide now, and she is wonderful. She comes Monday thru Thursday and helps mom shower and get her out of bed. It is such a blessing to have a hard working and caring aide.
Next Thursday mom will be 72!