LAST AND LONGEST DAY OF MARCH

Today was eventful. Lou had another restless night and was up several times. Then at 2 a.m. she went to the bathroom and almost didn't make it back to bed. Her legs became rubbery and I had to assist. She barely was able to sit on the high bed on her side for me to lift her legs into bed. I brought the bedside commode so that she wouldn't have far to go. She would have no part of it. I became so concerned that she wouldn't be able to walk anymore that at 3 a.m. I called hospice to ask for assistance and request a hospital bed that would be lower to get into and asked about other help. They said that the would order a bed for me. I slept a while but when Lou got up at 5 and again at 6 and insisted on going to the bathroom on her wobbly legs I got up at 6 and dressed and shaved and waited.

Lou went back to sleep and didn't finally get up until 10. I had eaten my breakfast at 8 and fixed hers at 10:30. I decided against going to Kiwanis but needed to take care of some business in town and buy groceries. The Methodist angel Susan Hunter came with food that she and I ate when I got back at noon. I am now in hog heaven. She brought brownies and I have three different kinds to choose from. She fed me like she feeds her husband, pork chops, baked potato and brocolli with corn bread.

The hospice nurse called just after I left for town to say she had just gotten the message I left at 3 a.m. and had ordered a bed and table. She came at 3 p.m. and helped me rearrange furniture in the bedroom to prepare for the hospital bed. She said the workers only set up the bed and wouldn't help move furniture. I took the keyboard upstairs. We moved the bed over but when the hospital bed came in it is too crowded and I may take advantage of Susan offering her husband Roy and her brother to come help move the queen bed upstairs and bring one of the twin beds down. If not Mark said that he and Corky Henderson were coming Friday and would help. It is going to be an interesting night. The nurse ordered an air mattress which is common to prevent bed sores, but I don't know how Lou will like it. I set it on firm. She hasn't see the setup yet. The nurse also offered to put a catheter in so that Lou won't feel the need to go every 15 minutes. I just hope we can catch up on some sleep tonight. The nurse also brought a pill organizer box and put all the pills for the week in the right slot so I won't forget. That will be a help.

Lou continues to have pain and we have switched from hydrocone to liquid morphine when she needs relief. She takes it in a little coke and it goes down fine. Lou is having a great time today reading her quilt from Mary Kathryn with the squares that everyone wrote. She says she wishes that she was really all the good things that are said about her. She said she has been some of them.

Thanks for your prayers.

COMPLETED TASKS

Today was a pretty good day for completion of projects. I e-filed my taxes today and finished the laundry this morning. This afternoon the hospice nurse came with some good suggestions for Lou. Lou wanted handles on the commode under the stairs and the nurse helped me install the bedside commode and that works great. The riser was uncomfortable and Lou felt unsteady on it. The nurse suggested changes in the laxative approach to handling the constipation problem caused by the pain medicine. She also suggested using the morphine in place of the vicodin for supplemental pain medicine. Lou has needed supplemental pain help the last two days. I asked about Lou's sleeplessness and she suggested a couple of pills for that that I gave her tonight.

Then about 3 a charming young woman Cami from San Antonio who will graduate in May from ACU with a degree in speech pathology came to interview Lou with a tape recorder to create a "memory book" that is a project the hospice has just started. Lou had a little trouble with some facts and asked for my help. She will return for more answers because Lou has led a very full life. It will be interesting to see how this comes out. Looks a lot like my oral history project for the Library, but the questions are of a more personal basis. She also asked for photos to be included so we may have to raid the fridge door.

Thanks for your prayers. We heard from a long lost friend when Dr. Charles Ethridge contacted me by email today. I had lost him and wanted to know if his second book of his trilogy had been published. I went to the press web page and it wasn't there, so it may be still in work in the press. His first novel was great in my opinion. You can look him up on Fine Tooth Press.com to read about his first book.

GOURMET DAY

Today we started breakfast with homemade donuts made by Mary Kathryn with an egg and ham casserole. Then Mark, Ashley and Ross took me to church. When we came home Reginald and Mary Gaggino from Throckmorton had brought their gourmet food. Gino had made a special beef dish lined with mashed potatoes with homemade bread from Mary Gaggino. Gino brought his wok and stirfried cabbage with ginger and garlic. Also Mary had brownies that I loved added to the dessert MK had made yesterday.

Then this afternoon all the guests and dogs left about 2:30 and Lou and I napped. Lou said it sure is quiet around here.

Lou started the day with a vomiting spell. Then she went thru 5 changes of disposable underwear with a diarrhea spell. Later while we were at church MK got to change her again. Then this afternoon she had no problems with that. Tonight she is feeling really bad with pain. She took a couple of vicodin that didn't help and I opened a new bottle of morphine and gave her a small amount in her coke. Then at 8 I gave her her oxycontin. I hope that will help her sleep. Last night we were up every hour and three times between 5 and 6 this morning. She needs help lifting her legs into bed. She now needs help getting up out of a chair.

Thanks for all of your prayers.

TWO DOG DAY

This afternoon Mark and MK brought Dottie and right behind them was Ashley and Ross with their new dog Kodiak. Kodiak has a problem. He wandered into Mark's yard and has a habit of running off. Ross was walking with him and let him off the leash. Sure enough Kodiak took off and the hunt was on. Everyone went in a different direction but finally Ashley found him across the fence on Mark's place. So now both dogs are on the back porch until a skunk showed up in the back yard and they brought both dogs in the house.

Ike and Sue came to enjoy MK's chili and all the other good things to eat in pita bread. Ike got to telling Ross and Ashley about his growing up 3 miles from Sgt. Alvin York. Of course Ashley and Ross had never heard of Sgt. York or Gary Cooper who played the part of York in the movie by the same name. He told how the York's had a water wheel grist mill and Ashley knew what that was. Ike told about being a medic in WWII in the USArmy Air Force with a P-47 squadron through 17 major battles in Europe until Ike was injured in an explosion of a plane they were trying to remove crew members from. One interesting story he told was how the worst injured were flown back to the US by the WASPS the women pilots who trained at Sweetwater.

Lou had a pretty good day. She was up every hour last night and this morning had three or four accidents requiring clean disposable underwear. She ate a little breakfast and a little lunch plus some supper that Mary Kathryn made.

I failed to look at each of the 128 photos on the wildlife camera and missed the event where something pulled my deer feeder down and bent the spinner so that it hit on the post and wouldn't throw out corn. Mark and I bent it back and tied it back up. I recharged the camera batteries and will see if something gets it tonight. I will look more carefully at the photos.

Thanks for your prayers.

BORING FRIDAY

Lou had a pretty good day today. She needs help standing up and getting into bed and last night she was up every hour. I had to be wakened several times because I was sound asleep. I try to wake and be up by the time she gets back to bed, but sometimes I conk out.

This morning for breakfast she ate some of the raisin bran that I bought her when I went to Abilene. She ate 1/2 piece of cinnamon toast that she always asks for. She drinks a glass of milk so she gets some sustenance. The wind came howling out of the North and I had to go out to get fire wood and build a fire in the clean fireplace that Keith had prepared for the summer season. I waited until it started getting cold after we ate lunch to light the fire. Lou ate her lunch in her recliner. She didn't eat a lot.

In the afternoon I talked her into trying some of the new Ensure. I thought all the cans were chocolate and I opened one. It was berry flavor and Lou didn't like it. I drank what was left and didn't care for it either. We will try the chocolate recommended by Sylvia tomorrow. She did find time to write a note to be mailed.

About 4 Lou asked if anyone was coming today and I told her that she wanted a quiet day with no company. She looked at me and said this is boring. So I gave her the Wall Street Journal and she read about all the rich houses for sale. I told her things would pick up tomorrow when Mark, Kathy, Ashley and Ross all come for the weekend.

She complains about her back having the most pain, but her belly also hurts. She isn't taking too many pills. The oxycontin seems to take care of the pain during the day and at night.

Thanks for your prayers.

THURSDAY'S ANGEL

Lou slept a lot better last night and so did I. She stayed up through the news last night and that helped her sleep. We got up at 8 and ate breakfast at 9. I forgot to tell about seeing a hummingbird yesterday when the Herndons were here. Lou told me to make some sugar water for them so after I did the breakfast dishes I made two quarts for the two feeders. More bird info is that the thistle feeder was covered with finch that showed up. Must be a new flock coming in. When I went out this morning to walk to the mailbox, the two deer mother and yearling just stood there and watched me go by. I even stopped to work on the self deer feeder that the deer haven't learned to operate.

For lunch we heated some of the baked chicken, scalloped potatoes and green beans that Pat Herndon brought yesterday. For dessert we polished of the chocolate pie that was left off.

I have had some cleaning in Abilene for a couple of weeks and needed to pick it up so I asked the hospice if they could help and they had a hospice volunteer who came to stay with Lou. Martha West from Hamby was the angel who came to visit with Lou while I went to the big city. I got back about 3:30 and then filled the hummingbird feeders and put them up.

I am behind on my work. I need to write up news releases on Lou's Stirrup award and get it to the newspapers and still have the taxes to get done, but got started on that yesterday.

Lou always feels blah after supper. She ate a little today. The hospice nurse came while I was gone and left some chocolate Ensure because Sylvia Grider had suggested it for Lou because it isn't as sweet as the vanilla. I offered some to her but she said she would wait till tomorrow.

Thanks for your prayers.

STORMS AND SUNSHINE

The day started cloudy. After breakfast with Sylvia of cereal I started to walk to get the mail and got to the Halsell House when thunder sounded and I realized I might get wet so I walked back to get the pickup. And as I got the mail the raindrops started. But it didn't rain much. It quit for a while. We looked at the TV showing the storm going past and another coming in from the west. I also looked at the Internet NOAA maps. I cancelled my plans to go to Abilene today and got started on taxes.

We got a phone call from the Herndons who had gotten to Cross Plains saying they were coming out. As they called the storm broke with more rain coming in. They got here a little after noon and had to use their umbrellas. They told about driving through hail so small it looked like snow covering the road between Rising Star and Cross Plains. They brought food but we had been heating the quiche that Sylvia brought and added some cantalope that I had bought Tuesday. You worry about the first cantalope of the season, but this was a good one. And for dessert we enjoyed the chocolate merinque pie. Lou even ate a little with us. The Herndons got to visit with Sylvia and learn about her involvement in the Aggie bonfire collapse and memorial work. She was heavily involved in that project.

Sylvia left and we visited with the Herndons about our kids and theirs and stories from the many years we worked together in Fort Worth. Chuck and I designed a couple of wing panels on the B-58 back in the 50s. Then we worked together to change GD's culture from design drafting tables to computer-aided-design in the 1980s. I left in 1990 and Chuck retired a few years later.

They left in sunshine but looking at black clouds in the east where they were headed. I had about 0.3" in my rain guage. Sylvia called when she got home saying that she drove through heavy thunderstorms all the way home. Even drove under a Sonic shelter to get out of hail in Hamilton.

About 6 the turkeys showed up and now there are two toms strutting around puffing up their feathers. There are 8 hens and two toms now.

Lou did pretty well today. She took a few extra pain pills during the day to keep the pain down. She is fussing about not being able to remember things and I told her it is due to the medications she is taking.

Thank you all for keeping her in your prayers.

ANOTHER STIRRUP AWARD!

Lou got a phone call this afternoon telling her that she has won the Stirrup award for the best article in the Roundup for 2008. Her story was "The Grandmothers" of the Western Frontier in the April 2008 Roundup. Her article tells about the strong women who lived in the West and Lou cites many authors including Elmer Kelton who wrote about strong women. Jane Gilmore Rushing was the primary author cited and in one paragraph Lou writes 'Rushing had written two novels before she realized that a strong grandmother or grandmother-to-be starred in all of her fiction. She recognized that she had created a template for describing strong women like her Grandma Adams, who settled the Western frontier and raised children who themselves would become the solid citizens Rushing described later in her memoir, Starting from Pyron.' Lou won the Stirrup award for 2006 for her article on Tom Lea. So with two stirrups she can ride straight ahead.

Lou had company today. Lydia came to clean the house while I went to Kiwanis and bought groceries. She tried to feed Lou who didn't eat breakfast this morning. She was so concerned about being constipated and after I gave her a Sennalax with her pain pill last night that she took another one last night. She wanted another on with her oxycontin pill this morning. So sure enough she now has diarrhea. I was hoping that she would have an appetite. I did get her to drink half of an Ensure when I got home.

This afternoon as Lou was talking to Candy Moulton editor of the Roundup about her award Dr. Sylvia Grider came in from Bryan. She had called from Cross Plains where she had stopped to exercise and look at the stained glass windows in our Methodist church. She was delayed a day coming to see us because a homeless man had damaged two stained glass windows in her church St. Andrews Episcopal in Bryan and it was her job to get them taken down to be reconstructed. She brought food. Every time she comes she brings a quiche, this time ham and asparagus plus my favorite and chocolate meringue pie. Lou finally ate a little food some quiche and pie and a little of her applesauce. Sylvia will be here overnight and maybe till Thursday. She and Lou co-authored several books.

Thank all of you for your prayers.

MONDAY IS WASH DAY

Lou had a pretty good day today. She is getting a little weaker and needs help getting to her feet but she walks with her walker OK. She ate breakfast at 9 and at 11:30 she said she was hungry but when I got the food prepared she said she wasn't hungry. However she ate a little food, some fruit and her ice cream with a splash of Komora. (I can't afford Kahlua.) She slept well last night only getting up a couple of times. We got up at 8.

I got the laundry started but kept forgetting about it as I tried to get Turbo Tax loaded into my laptop. It is a real pain. Why they don't make it easy is ridiculous. I thought I could get the data from 2007 from the desktop computer with a memory stick, but it isn't that easy. I hope to get it figured out tomorrow.

The hospice nurse came this afternoon and at Mark's suggestion (he is an expert on acid reflux) she brought some Prilosec and gave Lou one.

As usual tonight she was hurting a lot as she went to bed. I put out her pain pill and a Sennalax at 8 but she didn't take them until she got up to go to bed and I saw them by her chair. She read the Sunday and Monday Abilene Reporter-News papers today. She doesn't hurt too much during the day but it hurts when she gets into bed. I have to help her get her feet up into the bed.

Thanks for all of your support. She got several cards in the mail today including 3 cards from TWU including one from Ann Stuart and Jane Erwin.

I am waiting for the rain but I may have to wait a long time. But we keep praying for rain along with our other prayers.

LOU CHECKED HER EMAIL TODAY

And read it again and again. She loved the photos of Charley Korbell and his new grandson. She answered some and reread many. I didn't think she would ever turn it off. I ate my supper and hers got cold waiting.

She had a pretty good day today. Kathy's family all left just after I went to church. I took 7 copies I printed of the Flame. I print them on my ink jet printer to get the color in. The Internet recipients get it in color.

I checked my wildlife camera for the last two nights and it was mostly raccoons. But there were a couple of unusual animals that I decided to share.

One photo caught Mark and me working on the camera. The other photo was Keith and his grandson Christopher working on the deer feeder.

Lou will have big week this week. The Hospice nurse will be here Monday, Lydia cleans house Tuesday, Sylvia Grider comes in Tuesday, Pat and Chuck Herndon from GD in the 1950s will be here Wednesday with hospice coming back Thursday. Then this weekend Ashley and Ross plan to bring Kodiak back to see the country.

We really appreciated seeing our son and daughter and so many of their families this last week. Mark called this afternoon from the airplane taking him for a business trip to Las Vegas. He isn't a big gambler and would have rather had the meeting in San Diego but he wasn't making that decision.

I am still waiting for more rain. It is cloudy but no rain in the forecast for today. It has been pushed back to Tuesday.

Thank you for your prayers.

SATURDAY CELEBRATION!

Today our Texas Tech granddaughter drove in from Lubbock. When she came in her mother took her upstairs to show her a letter from Texas A&M University accepting her as one of 20 students into the accelerated Nurses training program. Another 20 were accepted into the regular program. She will start in June and 18 months later will have her nursing degree and can start paying back the loans for seven years of college. She is a beautiful woman who will make a great nurse. The profession has been enhanced today. She will have to leave tomorrow to go back to work at 3 p.m. She is taking care of a 94 year old woman in a nursing home as her works her way through Tech.

Today another Lubbock resident visited Lou. Sue's son David Taylor works for Names and Numbers in Lubbock and said they have just had one of their best quarters. He won a trip and will go to Cancun and in spite of all the advice he is getting about going to Mexico. He said they will stay in the resort and go swimming in the pool so he feels like it will be a vacation to enjoy. He has won a trip almost every year. His only regret is that he couldn't take advantage of a trip to Hawaii because his wife had had an operation and couldn't make it.

Lou has had a fairly good day today with all the family here. She was able to take a nap this morning and this afternoon. She had a better appetite and even said she was hungry at noon.

I have had a lot of help with my son-in-law cleaning the fireplace and moving the firewood back to the pile and clearing the front porch of firewood debris. It is great to have all the help with the food and dish washing. My granddaughter-in-law, and two granddaughters helping their mother with the food is a real pleasure. Two great grandsons are a delight.

Thank you for your prayers for Lou.

FULL DAYS

Last night we had another traumatic experience. Lou went to the bathroom and I heard a loud bump Lou called out I fell! The hospice nurse had brought me a wide belt to use in helping her up. I put it around her, but couldn't get her up in the bathroom. She scooted on the floor to the bedroom where I finally picked her up with the belt. Next time I may have to call a neighbor to help. The hospice nurse said to call them but they are at least one hour from here. The Lord was watching over her because she didn't break any bones and her arm bones are really small. And she didn't break her hip. She got a small abrasion on her right elbow that I put a bandaid on.
The hospice nurse suggested a bedside commode and Lou agreed to one so it was delivered this afternoon. I don't know whether I can get her to use it.

She are a normal breakfast and has had no diarrhea problems today. She was up about every two hours last night and I got up each time to help her back in bed. She slept this morning while I went to get the mail. Mark and Mary Kathryn came about 11:30 and MK made quesadillas with quacamole for lunch. Also a ginger cake with Kool Whip for dessert.

Mark helped me fill the deer feeder. I looked at the wildlife camera chip for two nights and the hog came in about 11 p.m. on the 17th. He wasn't there the next night. So I didn't get him when I shot at him.

This afternoon I finished editing the Flame for the church and published it. I needed to get it done and missed a couple of stories that came in after I went to press. But I am about out of time this weekend.

Mark and MK left about 6:30 and we saw a white pickup drive up a few minutes later. James Nichols brought us a copy of his new book CATTLEMEN, COWBOYS AND RANCHES. It is a novel that looks at all the ranchers around Cross Plains. The cover is a photo of Rusty Reed in front of his Box R ranch gate. As James left he looked at my attempts to garden in the front yard and had suggestions. He said roses need bone meal as well as tomatoes but peppers need sulpher and he puts one paper match under each plant and that provides all the sulpher they need.

Then at 8:15 Kathy, Keith and Val came in followed later by Jim, Mandi and their two sons, Christopher and Brent. So Lou has had a lot of visitors.

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers. The guardian angels were working overtime last night.

GOOD AND BAD DAY

Lou started the day off rough. She was constipated yesterday and last night vomited. This morning she was still very nauseous and took several nausea pills. She felt terrible and I gave her two sennalax with her pain pill this morning. She couldn't eat any breakfast and slept most of the morning. She ate a little lunch in her recliner and I ate my lunch with her.

This morning we got to watch the gobbler show who is boss by strutting around the front yard. My photo isn't good but you can see him fan his tail. He put on quite a show. The hens didn't seem too impressed.

The hospice nurse came at 2 and helped with new pills and the promise of more help. Lou is using disposable undergarments now and they will supply them for her. Also Ensure will be supplied but Lou doesn't like the sweet taste. After she left Lou got over the constipation in a big way. We changed about 6 of the disposables in a short time. She took extra pain pills tonight because she was hurting. I hope that the pain pills will let her sleep better than last night when we were up every hour.

Thanks for your prayers.

SLEEPY WEDNESDAY

Lou spent most of the day sleeping in her recliner. This afternoon she went out on the front porch and we saw our first flower of the spring. It took good eyes. It was two tiny yellow daises about 1/2" in diameter. Lou also had a dove talking to her and we saw some interesting birds in the trees. The peewees are nesting. But Lou got a UPS package with Proflowers that are now in a vase and should open more tomorrow. We aren't sure what they are but I am guessing Peruvian lillies.

Lou has taken a lot of pain pills today and tonight she got nauseous as she got into bed and vomited up all she ate today. I didn't think to give her a nausea pill early because she didn't mention any problem.

Today we saw 8 turkeys. Don't know where that extra one came from. I bought a thistle feeder and all of the finch have gone north. No bird has tried to eat a thistle seed.

Thank you for your prayers for Lou.

WARM WINTER DAY

Lou had a pretty good day today. The temperature got up to 80 degrees. This afternoon Lou went out on the porch and watched an airplane go over and the bees and bumblebees working the peach blossoms. She was in pain this morning and didn't shower, but put on her robe and took some pain pills. At 11:30 one of the Methodist angels came to stay with her while I went to Kiwanis and did the grocery shopping. Tonight Lou said that she was going to have to get up and shower in the morning. She eats a lot of Tums.

Carol Bennett who had a lot of work to do, took the time off to come and stay with Lou and feed her. I ate the rest of the egg salad for supper. I know she should have been home taking care of Wallace, her husband, and I imagine she went back to fix his lunch. I saw her son who should have been in Kiwanis but wasn't. He was wearing a new uniform that said Brinks Security Systems. He has been in that business for years and Brinks didn't have a local outlet, so he has added that franchise to his business. I said that he got in the business to haul his cash to the bank in a Brinks armored truck.

You seem to appreciate a photo every once in a while. The wildlife camera got this photo of the pair of deer that have been most prominent lately. Looks like a doe and her yearling fawn. They are eating the deer block I put in the tub. The photos didn't show the hog but during the night there are nothing but raccoons eating that block. All night. The camera takes a photo every two minutes and I get a lot of coon photos. I delete them and put the chip back in to see what will come the next night.

Thanks for the many emails supporting Lou and me during this time.

EVERY DAY IS DIFFERENT

Yesterday Lou stayed awake all day decompressing from all the visitors Saturday. After Kathy left she read all the papers and started reading the novel manuscript for TTPress. This morning she woke feeling better than she has ever felt in the morning. During the morning she had 3 events that the disposable underwear helped me greatly. But today she sat in her recliner and slept all day. She wasn't hurting too much. The hospice nurse came after my nap at 3 and brought refills on pain pills as well as some new nausea pills. Lou had no problem with nausea today. She ate a good breakfast and almost all of the cinnamon french toast I made. She ate well at lunch and about her same meal at supper.

Today when she was awake she watched the deer playing in a frisky way that we haven't seen before. We watched the turkeys and the two fox came out during lunch so that we could see them. It is interesting that we have the turkeys walk right past the cedars where the fox live. One day I saw a fox eyeing the turkeys but haven't seen any attacks yet.

I got the laundry done and only have one pair of jeans to iron. Last night I had an epithany and remembered that I had a new copy of Quicken that I could put on the laptop and move my tax work downstairs so that I can be where Lou can see me. I spent a lot of time trying to get it working and will start completing my tax work tomorrow. Ought to get it done well before April 15. Hope I don't owe too much.

Keep Lou in your prayers.

BUSY SATURDAY

Lou had a lot of company today. Daughter Kathy came in last night and this morning brought my brother Robert, his wife Tommie Lue and their granddaughter, Bryse who is 8 years old and shown in the photo.

Our son Mark came with Mary Kathryn and their dog, Dottie. MK brought Lou a beautiful quilt that she had made of squares with 36 messages from family and friends from the September birthday party. She used ovarian cancer material that is a turquoise color, which is one of Lou's favorite colors.

Then Lou's personal hairdresser, Diana Livesay from Stephenville who is Sue's daughter came with Sue and Ike and dressed Lou's hair. Lou says that her hair is getting thicker and needed cutting.

I have had a lot of emails responding to my mailing to our family and friends who don't read the blog to update them on Lou's conditions. One email said that they had a friend who spent 6 years in hospice care. So Lou may have time to read and evaluate that manuscript that she has.

Your prayers and thoughts are all appreciated.

KIWANIS PANCAKE DAY

Lou had a fairly good day today. Didn't eat much. The pain pills are not causing constipation. To the contrary Lou had two big episodes of diarrhea this morning that finally got her into the disposable panties which is a major attitude change. She hasn't needed them but put a clean one on tonight. Last night after she had gone to bed she got up and took two nausea pills that she thought were pain pills. As a result she slept almost all night. They may work as sleeping pills.

I got an email saying that they wanted to see my ugly feral hog so here it is. I haven't seen him since I took the shot at him but I haven't turned the wildlife camera on since then.

Tonight Sue offered to stay with Lou while I took Ike to the Kiwanis pancake supper. Ike didn't want to go so I took the opportunity to buy some breath mints after Lou objected to my garlic breath from Kathy's spinach she left for me. I also tried to find some hog amunition for my .410 but none in CP. I called Mark and told him to look for some in Fort Worth. So I went to the pancake supper and increased my weight by eating the M&M pancakes that are my favorites. Syrup and two sausages add to the girth. I ate with the Stephensons and Judge Roger Corn from Baird. After I picked up a flower arrangement from Tim's Florist for Lou. They were sent by Missy and Larry Lebahn. Beautiful bouquet.

Thanks for your prayers for Lou.

LOVELY COLD RAINY DAY

Lou has spent the day by the fireplace in her recliner enjoying watching the turkeys and the rain. She had a rough time when she got up. She was nauseous. Took a nausea pill before her shower but ended the shower by vomiting. She then has a spell of diarrhea that lasted for three times. She started in her clothes but changed to her robe for the day and rested in her chair.

We didn't get much rain last night but this afternoon is has rained at a good click. I haven't seen the rain gauge yet but we have had at least an inch. It started running off some. I expect the grass to be green next week.

Our regularly assigned hospice nurse came today for her first visit bringing more nausea pills. I was about out of them. She is Robin Dezern and I told her that I worked with a Tom Dezern at General Dynamics in Fort Worth. She had heard of him. Her husband was a manager with GD in Abilene until they closed and he chose to stay in the Abilene area and now works for the city. His family has been in Clyde since the early 1900s. She told Lou to take pain pills as needed and she has taken both the oxycontin and a couple of vicodins tonight before going to bed. Her friend Valerie Mathis from California called to tell her she has a manuscript at TTPress. Lou had been helping her with it.

I checked the wildlife camera for last night after putting out a new deer block. About 4 in the morning the hog showed up but he didn't bother the block. It was covered all night by raccoons. Then this afternoon after we ate I looked out and the hog was there. I got my .410 out and got a shot just at dark. I doubt that I hurt him but I did get one shot off. I doubt that my #4 shot will do any damage. It is for small game and that hog isn't small.

Lou is going to have a lot of visitors this weekend. Kathy is coming back in Friday night. Diana, our beauty operator niece will be here Saturday. My brother, Robert, called and will come in for a visit from Antlers, OK. I graduated from high school there and he stayed on the old home place. He is bringing his wife and a granddaughter who wanted to meet us. No telling who else will show up.

We appreciate all of your prayers.

BUSY DAY FOR LOU

Lou commented that this was a busy day. We started the day with our daughter Kathy and her daughter Valerie who were busy fixing breakfast and doing laundry. Then at 10 Lydia came to clean the house and the Wilcoxs went back to San Antonio to go to the Spurs game tonight.

I got to go to town, get a haircut, buy wildlife food, groceries and attend Kiwanis. There was a former Kiwanis president, Dr. Richard Chaffin now from Lubbock and in his RV for a three month tour of Texas and Arizona. He was our Methodist pastor for 5 years, liked CP bought a nice two story home and retired here until the 2005 fire that took the church and parsonage also took their home. They spent a lot of time in the RV and finally returned to Lubbock where they had a lot of friends from being a pastor there.

When I got home the hospice team made their first visit. I had asked them to come today because I was almost out of nausea medicine and they will provide medicines, keeping me from having to get someone to stay with Lou while I drive to Abilene. They were very nice and Lou was comfortable answering their questions and signing their forms. Tonight I read their information and it helped a lot to understand what will come.

Then Sue came bearing gifts as usual and bringing Ike to visit with Lou. She enjoyed a glass of wine with us. Lou then ate her usual supper. And then she got a great phone call from Judith Keeling at Texas Tech Press.

She went to bed hurting but took her pain pill just before going to bed and it hadn't had time to get digested.

We are looking forward to the promise of rain for the next three days but Lou is not looking forward to temperatures with highs in the 30s. I am not going to publish the wildlife photo of the ugly feral hog who came back last night.

We appreciate all of the prayers and support.

DOCTOR VISIT

Dr. Hancock visited with Lou and said that he doesn't want to cause her more pain with additional chemo treatments. He was glad that she is doing better each day from the last treatment and he ordered hospice care for her. Our son with his wife and daughter were in the meeting and after we took our granddaughter Val to eat at Macaroni Grill. Lou had a bowl of soup that she enjoyed a little of and Kathy brought it home along with the remnants of my meal to have for supper.

We got back at 2:20 in time for Val and me to go to Abilene. I had my glasses adjusted last week and the next day dropped a soft package on my face that knocked the glasses out of line. I needed them adjusted so we went in and I got some larger nose pieces installed and they are much more comfortable now. We took the time to recycle, buy groceries for the week at HEB and I left a bunch of clothes for cleaning. It has been more than a year since I had been in the cleaners.

Kathy and Val are returning to San Antonio because they bought tickets at a school fund raiser for the Spurs game tomorrow night. It was a $500 package that they got for a lot less and think they are really good seats. They have invited our main BB fan Dr. Sylvia Grider to be their guest for the game. She has hosted Keith and Jon-Marc this weekend to see an Aggie BB game and two baseball games, so they need to pay her back.

Lou made it home fine and is feeling her usual blah tonight and took her pain pill early with a couple of stool softeners to restore her functions. She has appreciated having Kathy and Val here. Tomorrow we will have Lydia so that I can get a haircut and go to Kiwanis. And the house will be clean when I get back.

Thank all of you for your prayers. I even got my first text message from granddaughter Ashley keeping us in her prayers during this special time.

SUNDAY AND CHURCH

Kathy stayed with Lou while Valerie and I went to church and enjoyed seeing the stained glass windows that added a lot to the feeling of being in a church. The windows were designed by artist-in-residence Mary Barton and made in Fredricksburg and installed this week. Valerie got a little emotional during the joys and concerns as she expressed her appreciation to all of the church members for supporting Lou and me during this time.

Kathy made a great lunch. We all got a nap in the afternoon. Sue and Ike came about 5. I went upstairs and worked on the bookkeeping to get my taxes done and got another month of mileage in the computer. Sue brought bags of gifts for Kathy, Val and Lou from her Mary Kay inventory. She is trying to clean her house up.

Lou said she is feeling blah. She has concerns about the visit to the doctor tomorrow and I think it is bothering her. We will get up early to leave by 7:30. Keep her in your prayers.

SATURDAY VISITORS

We finally got to meet Kodiak, Ashley and Ross' new dog. He is a puppy but big. Very well behaved. Ashley and Ross came in shortly after noon with specialty pizzas and Vanessa came in from Lubbock a few minutes later to enjoy the pizza. Lou isn't a pizza fan so I had made her a grilled pimento cheese sandwich at her request and she ate all of 1/4. As she says she isn't hungry at lunch.

She started the day with two accidents but isn't constipated. She was up twice at 6 went back to bed but didn't sleep and up at 7. She dressed this morning because she knew we were having company.

Ross helped me fill the deer feeders and they had to get back to FW for a friend's birthday party and left at 3. Kathy and Val had taken care of our great-grandsons during the funeral of Mandi's grandfather and didn't get away from Devine until after noon. They got here at 5:15. So Lou had the girls to talk to.

I have set all the clocks up and tomorrow will get to see the new stained glass windows in our church. The church was completed in June but the windows were installed this week on the South side, the side that looked out on the town. It will make a huge difference in the worship atmosphere of the church.

I will post them to the CPFUMC blog.

WARM FRIDAY

It got so warm today I opened the doors and windows to let the house air out and Lou didn't complain about being cold. She had a good day today with only one trip that resulted in a laundry run. We are not having constipation problems and I am trying to ration the stool softener pills with the pain pills. Lou is doing well on the oxycontin with only an occasional vicodin for back pain. She is walking and gets up without help except for an occasional one.

She was refreshed by a visit tonight from her sister Sue and Ike. And being Friday she agreed to eat salmon with me. Sue asked me how I was going to fix it and I told her I open the can and divide it between us, add some crackers and for Lou add a dish of applesauce and I add grapes and an apple with a few dark chocolates for my heart. Lou has also agreed to drink a little wine for her stomach's sake. So we are doing well today.

We got some photos from Laurie sking in the Austrian Alps. Since it is so hot I ought to post some. After three tries I loaded them one by one. The two girls are Laurie's daughter Madelaine and her friend.

EVERYDAY IS DIFFERENT

This morning was different. Lou woke at 6 and headed for the shower where she washed her hair. But she didn't dress. She put on her gown and robe until after breakfast. I have been asking her all week if she would like to go with me in the car to get out of the house and she has been in favor but didn't finally agree until today. She dressed in the morning in her normal sweatshirt and jeans. We took a nap and then she agreed to take a ride. She insisted on wearing her Keds that are way too small with her swollen feet. But we got them on and left about 3:30. We drove to Cross Plains and visited with Pam Harris at the drive-in window of the bank.

Lou wanted a coke so I bought gas at Exxon and got her a coke. We paid our bill at Lawrence and then at Tim's Florist. Someone knocked on my window and it was the Baptist preacher Ron White who told Lou they were praying for her. He then asked if she was diabetic and when she said no he gave her a mint. I dropped off my check at the Library. We then left town going West on 36 and turned North at the East Caddo Peak to drive back through the country following the signs that Childress Farms put up when they were selling Christmas trees. The roads were corduroy and the scenery was brown but we saw a lot of old familiar country.

After looking at Cottonwood we drove past our house to look at the Spring Gap new ranch gate that is ornate. It is a work of art with all of the game animals and birds including reindeer, jack rabbits and every other animal and plant on the place. Lou was impressed. She was able to walk back to the house and enjoyed being outside. The pain pills seem to be working.

We appreciate all the Baptist prayers as well as all the others coming to Halsell Hill.

AN UNEXPECTED DAY


You never know what to expect from Lou. This day was different. This morning when Lou woke and was lying in bed she said that I would have to take her to the ER because she hadn't had a BM for three days. I reminded her that we cleaned up two messes Monday and it was only Wednesday. She didn't like me arguing with her. She is worried that the cancer is building and is going to squeeze her colon so that she will bloat like the day I took her to ER and we found that she had cancer that had a tumor that had pressed against the colon, blocking it. Then when she got up about 7:45 she didn't bathe and dress. She asked for her robe and spent the day in her gown and robe. She was hungry for breakfast and after eating she had a normal BM so she can quit worrying for a day or so about that problem, but it remains in the back of her mind. She had a fairly good day in her chair and didn't sleep a lot.

She got a lot of great mail today. In the last couple of days she got a personal card from Ann Stuart, TWU Chancellor regretting her missing the Regent's meeting. Today she got another engraved rock from Charlie Korbell that quoted a poem that meant a lot to him and wanted to share it with Lou. She also got an inspirational card from Ashley that included photos of Ashley and Ross as well as some of Lou that she had taken. Then there was a letter addressed to Lou from Tim Dill who is in prison. He said he woke up last Sunday thinking about Lou and wanted to share some of his devotionals with her. He postscriped with a prayer attributed to Ambrose of Milan (340 - 397). She has a lot of people supporting her with their prayers and comments. And we appreciate all of them.

TUESDAY AND THE IRONING IS DONE

I got the ironing done and also wrote an apology to Jada vonTungeln at TTPress to apologize for the misunderstanding about Rushing archival material. I failed to realize that she was talking about the archives of Lou's work with the Press on her book. We thought that they were getting rid of Rushing archives in the Southwest Collection. That wasn't the material she was talking about. Anyhow she sent Lou's material to Dawn Letson at TWU who will be getting most of Lou's writing archives eventually anyhow. Glad to get that cleared up.

Lou is feeling a little better today. This morning she said she was hungry but only wanted the usual breakfast of Cheerios and cinnamon toast. She slept hard most of the morning. This afternoon I finally got her to look at her email and she is enjoying that. She got one email with a lot of good advice on how to lead your life. She read that one to me. Sounded good to me. She was wanting to know if the Spur judging was finished and could get rid of those materials.

She has enjoyed watching the Tom turkey and his harem. They are in the front yard almost all day. I turned down an angel who offered to stay with Lou for me to go to Kiwanis today, but I felt that I should stay with her. It has been a good day. Lou wanted tomato soup for lunch with a grilled cheese sandwich. I added cottage cheese and tomato but I ended up eating that salad. I polished off the last bowl of Bonner's soup and enjoyed that.

Lou has enjoyed the Lenten Devotional booklet from our church. They are anonymous but Lou said the first one sounded like Arlene Stephenson. Which reminds me that I owe great thanks to Tom Stephenson who went with Rev. Wallace Bennett to pick up the library from Rev. Jack Payne that Mark and Mary Kathryn had picked up last Friday and stored at their home. I am glad there are so many people taking care of projects I initiate.

We heard from our French daughter who is skiing in the Austrian Alps with her family this week. They had a birthday party celebrating those who are celebrating zero birthdays including her husband who will turn 60 this year. She was glad that her adopted son has a job with almost 50% unemployment for his age group. He just finished schooling in heaters and air conditioners. He is still bringing his laundry home on visits.

Thanks to all of you who send your prayers.

MONDAY IS WASH DAY

Have you ever tried to put a mattress cover on a mattress. I washed ours because of the stain from several days ago, dried it and tried to put it back. When I put one corner on it came off when the next corner was put on. It took a bunch of tries to get two corners to stay and then I was to get it back on. I spent the rest of the day finishing the laundry, and now have to get the ironing done. That is supposed to be done on Tuesday, but last weeks pants got pressed on Saturday. So much for a disciplined life.

Lou is doing about the same today. She is eating the same request everyday, but this morning I made pancakes and she ate a few bites. She drinks milk and orange juice for breakfast. For lunch she asked for a toasted ham and cheese sandwich and added ice cream with a dash of Kamora for dessert. Tonight she again had her 1/2 toasted ham and cheese sandwich with an applesauce for fruit. Again she drank milk. She likes to have small coca-cola during the day. She is controlling her pain fairly well with the oxycontin timed release pill morning and night. It has not caused the predicted constipation. On the contrary she has continued to have accidents. I have quit giving her the Sennalax that the pharmacist recommended. It is a tough balancing act.

She has been watching the turkeys. The six hens now have a big tom with them. Hopefully they are planning large families, but with fox around who love eggs, I don't know whether they will raise any turk chicks. When I was moved to a farm in 1942 we purchased some turkhens, half turkey half chicken. They didn't do too well as I remember. I remember the eggs were larger than chicken eggs. My father tried everything that grew. We had bees, chickens, cattle, hogs and raised every kind of plant. We killed and butchered our own meat. We made sauerkraut from cabbage, had our own black berries, boysenberries, and the one crop I hated to harvest, okra. One year we contracted with a new canning plant to raise so many acres of green beans. We picked them, took them in a horse drawn wagon to the cannery where they talked us into working for a shift canning the goods. An interesting life. We also raised sorghum cane one year, cut the cane with knives, again in a horse drawn wagon took them to the sorghum mill where we hitched a mule to the grinder lever, squeezed the juice out, burned the stalks under the copper pans that cooked the sorghum. We got half of the production for our trouble.

Here at Halsell Hill we raise wildlife and last night my wildlife camera caught one rabbit. Haven't seen any during the day and we have always had rabbits out here, but they do get scarce at times. I put the deer block back out but only the raccoons have eaten them.

The amaryllis has put up another stalk and the blossoms are opening. I cut the old stalk off that had blossomed several times, and immediately another stalk came up so that you could see growth every day. My daughter had some great photos of the first blossoms but I failed to put them in my computer to publish in the blog. Maybe next time I will get them.

Thank you for your prayers for Lou. Several friends have said they keep up with the blog so I try to post every day. You may get tired of my rambling. If so let me know.

COLD WEEKEND

It was 90 degrees Thursday, cooler Friday and downright cold Saturday and Sunday. The blossoms on the peach tree got zapped. The turkeys are still wandering around with the deer. I put the deer block out last night and it is still here this morning. The cold weather required a fire in the fireplace for Lou. Thanks to the wood cutters, I have lots of wood to burn.

We had our daughter, Kathy, here since Friday night and Lou really enjoyed just talking to her. She made me buy groceries today after I went to church so that I wouldn't have to leave Lou tomorrow. She helped us clean out the fridge and some cabinets. We also got reports on Vanessa who had a date with a chemistry lab fellow student, and Keith working the home show in SA. Said they had the largest crowd ever. So much for the recession or more people want to fix their homes instead of buying.

Everyone at church asked about Lou and sent their love to her. Even Eva who had to work at the grocery store sent her love.

The Rushing archives story has created a storm. Phyllis Bridges talked to a TTPress person at a meeting in New Mexico and they were upset. Tonight I got a call from Mary Vines in Lubbock who read the story and contacted a friend with the Southwest Collection who was burned that he worked hard to gain just such collections and they were getting rid of them. I expect something will change on that subject. Lou has a lot of friends and sends her love to everyone. She is still feeling blah, but Kathy cheered her up and all of you help out. Keep her in your prayers as she makes some tough decisions about her future.