Enso House Hospice...

I went and spent the day with Mike yesterday. I got there and he was up and sitting in front of the fireplace that is out of this world beautiful!! They built a fire just for him. HE was comfortable sitting there, and there was a nice comfy wing back chair for me to sit in, so I got out my knitting and sat. Mike fell asleep sitting up, so it was just me and the silence all around except for the popping of the fireplace. I think it was as therepudic for me as for anybody.

Mike woke up and wanted to go to his room, so we relocated to his room, where he promptly fwell asleep again, and I sat in the big soft rocker and knitted away...a bird feeder right out the window on my right. The view there was so calming, and peaceful, and the rythmic breathing of My Baby Brother gave me peace. He was not in pain, and was resting comfortably. I hope with all my heart that it stays like this until the end.

Phyllis has the watch today, and I will go back tomorrow. I stay until time to go swimming, and then leave. Yesterday I was looking forward to that swim. I was a bit dismayed because the water was so cold, but I swam for 40 minutes until the "ladies of the rowing club" decided that my lane was the best place to practice. ARRRRRGHHHHHH!!!! Bitches! I needed the swim, as I felt like someone had hammered me down to 5'8" from my normal 6'1". The tension between my shoulder blades was horrible.

It is snowing today, BEAUTIFUL on the grass and trees and just warm enough that it melts on the roads! Hey what better kind of snow can you ask for! Should turn into rain by this afternoon.

Well I have things to do and places to go, so I will stop for today...Pray for a quick and peaceful end for Mike please.

roller coaster emotions....

Sherry put Mike in a pallitive care facility on Friday. As I said before, they discontinued all life giving supplements. So We were expecting him to go this weekend. Today he is doing quite well, sitting up and talking, and laughing. It is as if he was just a little sick.

The home is a privately run hospice, funded by Buddists, and it is non-denominational, and so PEACEFUL!! A lovely place, and Mike is the only one there right now.

After last week, not sleeping and grieving, I expected the end soon, but it appears as if he may pull thrugh this crisis and last a little longer than the Nurses said. Whoo-boy! Talk about ups and downs. I have not been sleeping and neither has Phyllis, until this weekend. My kids both came home and we all went and spent the day with Mike, and I got some much needed sleep!

I have been appointed to make a power point presentation of Mike's life...and I have no idea where to start. So I will be thinking of pictures to pull out and get scanned.

I am heading to the pool tomorrow! I NEED to float in warm water for awhile.

Final days....

AS of Yesterday, Mike has been taken off of all feeding tube, oxygen, and pumps, he just has the pump with his pain meds, and they are just keeping him comfortable. He has been moved to Enso House, which is a home for Pallitive care. www.ensohouse.com on SOuth Whidbey. They will keep him there under 24 hour care until he finally lets go and it will be over. Right now he is still lucid and alert, and has good times and bad times, the worst time being the realization that this is it folks! He is scared of dying. He is new to Faith, and I dont think he really understands.

His family was there with him all night last night, and today my family and Phyllis are going to go visit, and take his dog to see him. I have custody of ROCKY until Sherry can take him back home.

I have not bween able to concentrate on any thing other than Mike for a week, so If I have not been by your place, this is why. Sometimes life just gets in the way, and you have to deal with it.

I am much better, and able to sleep again, although I did spend two very restless nights crying, sleeping, crying etc. Now that my Kids are home, I feel much better.

Please keep Sherry and Mike in your thoughts and prayers, and hope for a fast and painless departure from this world into the next one for Mike.

Update: My Baby Brother

Update:

Well, it is not looking good at all. Sherry and Galen made the decision with the Dr. To stop his intravenous feeding, and the Chemo and just give him the drugs to keep him comfortable. He will be released to Home care tomorrow, and Galen will be there until Sherry can take off work. They say that he will just slowly go to sleep and then die. I went in to see him this afternoon and he looked like death already. He was having labored breathing, but his color was good. His eyes are really dark and sunken too. It won’t be much longer. I am hoping along with Phyllis and others that he goes tonight, in the hospital, so Sherry does not have to deal with that alone at home.

Damn it! This is so hard!! He is only 53!

I'm Not ready for this.... :(

Ok, Crisis averted.


Donna you already know, but here is the full story. Mike went in for surgery this afternoon to have his port changed from his neck into his chest. Just as he was being returned to the ward, he quit breathing, turned blue and then purple and they were having a real difficult time keeping him breathing. They moved him to ICU and were working on him and he threw up and then aspirated some of it into his lungs. They took x-rays and there is something in there, but they are not sure (at Least Sherry was not sure ) whether it was vomitus or cancer. All of this happened right at 6:00, so Sherry called Phyllis who called me and we all met at the ICU. I just got home,(11:00) and Mike is sleeping now, which is a good sign, HOWEVER, this could turn into pneumonia at any time, and that will be bad.

Galen got here in time to give Mike a massage, and watch him go to sleep, so then we all discussed what Sherry should do if he crashes again. She did not know what to do. SO You know me, Big Mouth, I said as Oldest member of the family I suggest a no-resuscitate order from here on in, especially if they cannot guarantee that he will have any better quality of life than he has had this week. Phyllis agreed with me and Sherry started crying and said she felt guilty for thinking that way. We assured her that there was absolutely NO GUILT at all, and that was the way he was raised.

So now we are all at home waiting for morning to see what happens next. Keep him in your prayers, thoughts whatever. I hope he goes soon, and peacefully.

the Recipe...

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx

Ok folks if this link worked (which it may not) the recipe is here. If it did not work...I got the article and recipe from my daughter's site chemystery.livejournal.com It is from MOTHER EARTH NEWS and the article is called Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day.

I also noted that the smell of baking bread brings a lot of lurkers out of the woodwork! ;) Welcome guys, and do come back.

Bread in only five minutes!!!!

My Daughter called me one day and said she was baking bread...ok...Only costs 50 cents a loaf to make. Ok...

She sent me the recipe and I tried it. OHMIGAWD!!! YUMMY!!!

Only I used a package of yeast that I had sitting around in a drawer and it did not rise. So I added more water, flour and NEW yeast to the old batch...Are you all old enough to remember the I LOVE LUCY episode where she is making bread and she puts it into the oven and it opens the oven door and floods the kitchen with bread dough? Yeah, that was my bowl of dough! I had to scrape it off the counter and put it into TWO more bowls to get it all in the fridge where it was sposed to stay until I was ready to bake it.

I waited until the next day when I had time, and then pulled out enough to make one loaf! It was so good that even Bob came over on a Wednesday to have a piece! He ended up taking a loaf home, we ate a loaf, and I finished baking the rest so I can start with new dough today.

It makes the best sandwiches! I put a few slices of deli roast beef and meunster cheese and horeradish on it and it was as good as any deli sandwich you could have...could have used some sprouts though.


Aren't I getting to be miss susie homemaker?

Your Life Path Number is 5

Your purpose in life is to life freely and collect experiences. You love life - new adventures, new people, new ideas. You are very curious, and you crave novelty in all forms. You tend to make friends easily, and you enjoy the company of all types of people. In love, you are fun and even a bit intoxicating. But you won't stick around for long. You are impulsive and spontaneous - which sometimes leads you to do things you regret. Sometimes you can be overindulgent with food, sex, or drugs. You have many talents, so many that you are often scattered and unfocused.

What Is Your Life Path Number?

This is not anything like me. I found this over on Rainy Day Thoughts, and liked it, so I did it too, only I think I am more a seven like she is. I do NOT make friends easily. I am not intoxicating, I do not have Many talents, (a few though)I am very traditional...not at all free thinking...

This one fits my daughter or my sister more than me.

Enough is enough!

For over three years now I have had DISH network and LOVED it! It has only gone down twice in that time, and both times it has been during an absolute white-out blizzard!. Can't fault them for that.

HOWEVER....In December, Dish Network and the Fisher Company fell out of negotiations to renew their contract with KOMO TV and ABC. Thus all during Christmas, I had NBC, And CBS, and everyone else but ABC! Did not bother me that much, as I was sick the whole time, and did not care what was on, because I slept through it anyway.

Yesterday I tried once again to contact a real LIVE person at DISH and got put on hold for ever so long. I also emailed and thus far, not even the courtesy of an automated "We got your email but..." response.

I am switching over to DIRECT TV on Monday. I hate to do it because I really have no problems with the DISH Network, but it does not appear that they really are trying hard to resolve this impasse! The recorded message that they have on Channel 4 is even over a month old, so I doubt that they have even got any updates to tell us about.

This morning, I tried once again to contact them to no avail. They are messing with my life!!!! I can't watch the VIEW!!! a whole month with no Goldie, or Joy, or Elizabeth or Babs or even Sherry (I don't care for her anyway) But I miss the HOT TOPICS!

Come on DISH! I'm Old, I'm Cranky, deal with me....

OmnipotentBenevolentEmpress

CRAP!!!!!! IT DID IT AGAIN!!!!! ARRRRGH!!!!!!!

What in the **** is happening? This is the THIRD time I have written this post and lost it!

DUH!!

Well 99% of my last post did not get published. It was a really long post too. But for all of you who already commented, Thank You. It was not intended to be a dig for best wishes. Actually most of the post was about my daughter. I will try to recreate it tomorrow, My eyes are full of clorine and I need a shower, so I will do that in the morning....

Another Year older and deeper in Debt...

Yep, I turned 63 last Sunday, and So did Bill at Prairie point

So STOP ALREADY!!!

This is a house that slid down a hill and plopped right in the middle of Hiway 20! Blocking that route!



We are now officially cut off from the rest of the US!! All of the cross Mountain passes are closed due to landslides, or avalanches, and I-5 is closed at Chehalis due to flooding. US 101 which is the hiway that runs around the Olympic Natl park, and on down to California is closed in many spots due to either flooding or landslides. Between Portland and Seattle, there are 10,000 semi's daily that are stopped and can not get through with their loads. All of the alternate routes are closed due to flooding. It may be 5 days before the water goes down and they survey the road beds to make sure they are safe again.



THis is our famous Snoqualmie Falls, which is technically larger than Niagra Falls, and it is so full and flooding that you can not see the river below!




This is what we looked like last week. there was over 6 feet of snow in the higher hills and in the mountain passes just last week! THen it warmed up and started raining on top of all of this, which made for really full creeks and rivers. It is Historic flooding!

This is what happens when you pave Mother Nature and thumb your nose at her and build on a slope that once had trees on it to stabilize the mud and rocks. People just are stunned that their brand new McMansions are sliding down hill and crashing onto the road below. DUH!!! Maybe this weather will make all those Californians that ran up here and bought up all our cheap land, go back where they came from.

You won't believe this, but the city of Seattle had made a ruling to go green with their snow removal, and not use salt, as it would impact the salmon streams. So the people that moved up here are screaming mad that their roads were full of snow and ice and they were not happy. DEAL WITH IT FOLKS! I was snowed in for over two weeks. Did you hear me scream? NO! I knew it would eventually melt, and I was all prepared for it!

The north Cascades hiway 20, Stevens Pass hiway 2, Snoqualmie Pass I-90, White Pass hiway 410 Cayuse Pass hiway 12 and I-5 South to Portland are all closed for at least 3 more days. The sun is sposed to come out later this afternoon, but the rain is still falling in the mountains and the rivers will not all crest until later tomorrow.

Sun would be really nice about now...

birds of Winter

Having spent most of the entire month of December in bed sicker than a dog, I had a chance to watch the tiny little birds at the suet feeder, and the platform feeder that was heavy with snow for almost 3 weeks.

The Ruby Crowned Kinglet is one that for several years I had been trying to identify, and it was not until last summer that I saw him stick his ruby feather up through the olive colored ones. He hides it well. He is sooo tiny. Even smaller than the Black-capped chickadees!

Today, as I was drinking my morning coffee, the feeders were rather busy. Spotted doves, two kinds of chickadees, house finches, kinglets, Downy woodpeckers and Hairy Woodpeckers, and the tiny little nuthatches. It was a busy place. Even Jupiter, the nasty bird-killer from next door, was slowly sneaking up on his own personal hors'dourves tray! Sadie chased him off, and off flew the rest of the crowd.

Yesterday, I was watching them all and suddenly they all just dissappeared. A Cooper's Hawk dropped down out of the canopy of the alders and tried so very hard to have his lunch at my expense. He lost!

I am ever so slowly getting my self back together. My cough is still there, but getting better, and I can actually breathe. I spent New Years Eve unconcious! Tylenol 3 with Codeine sure makes you sleep. But then I am a cheap drunk anyway, you just whisper "narcotics" and I am OUT like a light. I could never get addicted to illegal drugs, I miss too much of life. I am still waiting for Christmas! My kids came over on each weekend, Donna right after Christmas, and Tim on New years. I will Cook my Christmas Prime RIb dinner when they can all be here. Tim works most weekends, (overtime) trying to meet a deadline on re-painting a NOAH research ship. He Loves his job!

Today I have a pot-luck and Board Meeting for The Coupeville Festival, so I am going to try and not cough in public! I'm not contagious any more, but try telling that to people!

Hope you all had a good Holiday season!

white christmas!

Sherry took these pictures and gave them to me, because she knew I was so sick in bed, I have had Brochitis, and just slept for two weeks. I even cancelled dinner for Christmas. I didi not want the kids driving that far in this stuff.

I had over 12" in my yard, Which is extremely RARE for us here in Puget Sound. WE did get cold too. down into the teens F. Then up to the high 20's during the day. BRRRRRR we did not lose power though. That is a good thing.

I have not been out of the house in ages and I am getting real cabin fever!! Bob was completely snowed in, so I went and got himf for Christmas Eve and we just sat quietly enjoying the silence of the night,. I like to spend Christmas Eve in a quiet manner. A rare one indeed around here.

It started raining today, so most of the snow is now slush and ice on the roads.

Tim's first christmas out of prison, and he was snowed in too! Ah well, I cancelled the prime rib dinner and said I would have it when everybody was feeling well.

right now I could not stand to smell it cooking! and I make suce a great one too.

Time for more drugs. I am alive and posting...

OK! OK!!!

Alright already!!! I'll POST!!

I have been duly chastised for not posting in so long. The point is I have a LOT to say, but don't quite know how to put it on paper. Have you ever had bees buzzing around in your head looking for a way out? That is how I feel. I have not had a good month, both mentally and physically, and just did not want to let the world in on it. I have tried to write. I sit down at the computer, and my mind goes totally BLANK!

 

I promise I will get better, I am alive, I am still in a tremendous amount of pain, but I do live! I will post. In fact today I ventured out in the 8" of snow that we got this week, and drove into town, snapping pictures all the way. I will edit them tomorrow and post then.

 

In the mean-time. I am here, I have not quit blogging. I WONT quit unless I loose power. I just may not blog every day. I wont be a quitter like some people I know! Wink wink...

Hope you are all well and ready for the holidays...stay warm!

Dear Santa....

I am the Photographer for the fill in show...Dear Santa...here are a few candids from it.

Dear Santa....

I am the Photographer for the fill in show...Dear Santa...here are a few candids from it.

Flying saucers!

Every Fall, our weather does some very strange things, one of them being the weather patterns over Mt. Rainier. Back in the 50's someone saw this cloud formation and thought it was a flying saucer over the Mountain. From this came the reports that Washington State was being invaded. It slowly went away, and now it only pops up again when the clouds form. These are called Ventricular clouds, and are formed by the warm air meeting the cold air, and swirling...similar to tornadic action, but not nearly as powerful.

Yesterday, the clouds appeared again, and in the most vivid of colors. KOMO TV had several pictures on their website, and I stole this one!

I just LOVE the flying saucer clouds...oooooo, let's get another rumopr started!!

CRAP!!

I have been cat-sitting DOttie's cats for a week while she flew to St. Louis for Thanksgiving. Today was the day I was to take them back home.

Her baby, Tyler is a LOVER but he is a PEST! I spent all night last night shoving him off of my head where he kept wanting to sit and drool on my pillow. Nothing worse than cat drool on your pillow!! YUCK!!

So finally I gave up around 830 and got up. As soon as my feet hit the floor, he disappeared! now Tippy her Siamese, was right there, so I got her into her carrier just fine, but no Tyler. (Tippicanoe and Tyler too!!) ((Seriously!!)) Tyler was still no where to be found.

I had appointments lined up all day, and had to get going. I put Tippy in the car, and went back to see if I could find Tyler. Nope, no where, not under the bed, not in the garage, not under the tree, nowhere! I bribed him with food, NOTHING. So I headed back out to the car, and realized that I had forgotten SADIE, so I went to go back in, and I had locked my keys IN the house.

I trudged in my birkenstocks around the back in the wet grass, to get in the back door, on the way around, I stepped right in Fresh Doggie-doo. ARRRGH!! I am wiping my shoe on wet grass, to get it all off, and my foot comes out of my shoe, and being unsteady on my feet anyway, I lost balance and planted my shoeless foot right back in the smelly shit! CRAP!! As I was trying to walk with my toes pointed up, I dragged my cuff into it also!! DOUBLE CRAP. So I get on the back porch and am balancing on one foot to get my shoe off, my sock off, and peel my pants off so I would not track itinto the house. Right there in the back yard I stand almost NEKKID!! and COLD!

I got in, changed clothes, got the keys went back to the car, and FORGOT TO GET SADIE!!
Back into the house, got the dog, got the list, got the camera and headed off to do my list of chores...

As soon as I got home last night and flopped on my bed to distribute my meds into the weekly slots, up right in the middle of it all jumps Tyler. He was all friendly and ready to say he was sorry. SO I called his Mommie and told her that I found him and would bring him in tonight on the way to swimming. SHEESH!!