Don't know what we would have done without him!

My son that is. He has the summer off and is staying with us to look after his Dad and also me. When I come home from work, he has or is making dinner for all of us. He also takes his Dad grocery shopping, for walks in the wheelchair, mows the lawn, installed a new kitchen faucet cuz the old one was leaking, and has kept his Dad company while I am at work. He can still go out with his friends in the evenings and even had 2 of his friends over one night and between the 3 of them, cooked supper for everyone. He also spins records in a club every Wed. night. On Monday evening, he will be babysitting his 2 nieces while my daughter goes to her ball game with her Dad. My SIL will be in New York on Monday on business. As my daughter said, "You're turning him into a husband!"

Thanks Mike! You're the best!

I can't believe

that I forgot to post about our wedding anniversary! How sad is that? I guess after 36 years, it's no big deal anymore. I didn't even make or buy him a card. He had a good excuse for not buying me a card as it would have been kinda difficult for him to get to a store on crutches.

DH was running a fever on Monday night and was not feeling well so I stayed home with him on Tuesday as I was concerned that he might take a sudden turn for the worse while I was at work. He felt a lot better in the morning and by lunch time he felt well enough and wanted to get out so we drove to the mall for lunch and then went to Swiss Chalet for dinner.

Our son Mike came to the house on Tuesday evening and he has been taking excellent care of his father this week. He makes him his tea, lunch and last night, a friend of his came over and cooked dinner with Mike's help. Mike has also taken him to the mall and for walks around the block with the wheelchair we borrowed from my SIL.

We are looking forward to tomorrow when my daughter, Janice along with Sierra and Brooke are planning to visit. Herb is really looking forward to seeing his granddaughters. It was Janice's BD on the 10th and we plan to take her to the mall so she can buy herself a BD gift with the mall gift certificate Herb has for her.

Welcome Home Herb!

DH had his ankle fusion surgery on Friday. He was in a lot pain Friday evening but as the days wore on, his pain lessened. I was able to get a wheel chair for him yesterday and took him outside for a bit. He had a big smile for me today when I walked into his hospital room shortly before 11 a.m. and said, "I can go home!" He refers to the hospital as the pill popping palace (can you tell he hates taking any kind of pain pills)? He had a morphine pump at his bedside and was able to give himself doses of morhine when the pain became intolerable. The morphine made him very sleepy and woozy so he was happy when he did not need it any more.

He is on an antibiotic and was also given a prescription for percoset that he told me not to get filled. I got the antibiotic for him and also bought him some Shopper's Drug Mart brand extra strength Ibuprofen to help him sleep at night. On a scale of 1 - 10 he described his pain as follows: Friday before surgery it was a 6, Friday evening after surgery it was a 12 1/2 (extremely painful), Saturday it was a 9, yesterday it was a 4 - 6 and today it is a 2.

He had a short nap this afternoon while I was out getting groceries. His sister brought over a wheel chair for him so that I will be able to take him out for coffee or a walk around the block. He is not allowed to put any weight on his ankle for several weeks but walking with crutches tires a person out very quickly, not to mention how awkward it is.

Sierra and Brooke

came to the hospital with mommy today to visit Opa. Opa was overjoyed to see them. Sierra got right on the bed with Opa and the 2 of them enjoyed snuggling together. Brooke sat with Opa too, but only for a little while. She was more interested in going for walks. Sierra made Opa a get well card with lots of her favourite stickers and she also coloured it. She also put a Dora bandaid on Opa's boo boo and even put one in her card in case he needs another one.

Herb is doing very well but has not been up on crutches as yet. The physiotherapist never came up to see him. I brought in the crutches that he used in 1980 when he had knee surgery but his nurse did not get him up either. I hope they get him up tomorrow as he is scheduled to be discharged on Monday. My son also came in to see him today and he will be staying with us for a few days to help Herb out at home while I go back to work on Tues. Mike is on a temporary lay off from work so the timing is perfect.

When Herb came to the hospital prior to his surgery, he was asked on a scale of 1 - 10 how bad the pain in his ankle was. He told them 6. Yesterday it was 12 1/2 and I could tell that he was in a lot of pain. Today he told me it was a 9 1/2. He is on an antibiotic, tylenol 3 and he still has the morphine pump as well. Every time he gives himself a morphine shot, he gets very sleepy and falls asleep. The instructions for the morphine pump says that he should give himself a shot before he gets up but he is afraid that if he does, he will fall flat on his face as it makes him so woozy. When he had the cartilage removed from his knee in 1980, he had to turn down the pain meds as he could not get up and walk around while on them. The nurses at that time were amazed at how he gritted his teeth and forced himself to walk the day after surgery. The only time he accepted the pain meds was when he was in bed and not planning to get up and at night.

He has been doing exercises in bed, wiggling his toes and lifting his leg and moving it in the air from side to side. He has a half cast on his ankle along with flannel wrapped around it. He will be getting a full cast in 2 weeks but will not be able to put any weight on his ankle until they xray it to make sure the bones have fused properly.

He is in very good spirits and was so happy to see his little munchkins and his children today.

DH's surgery

went well. He is in good spirits even though he is in a lot of pain. Surgery was performed at 1 p.m. and lasted 3 hours. He was brought to his room at 7:15. I stayed with him until 8:30. He has a morphine pump and is able to give himself a dose when the pain becomes too much to handle. DH has a very high pain tolerance but did give himself 2 doses of morphine while I was with him which made him very dopey.

I will be going in to see him again tomorrow as well as Sunday and we are hoping he will be able to come home on Monday.

Happy Birthday Janice!

Has it really been 30 something years since you were born? I can't really be old enough to have a daughter in her 30's who now has 2 little girls of her own. I hope you enjoy your day even though you are working. I hope Rob spoils you and gives you an awesome gift! I love you and hope to see you this weekend.

Here is the card I made for her:

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Here is my beautiful daughter with her 2 little cuties, Brooke 1, and Sierra 3.

Happy Birthday Brooke!

Brooke Angela joined our family on 07/07/07

It's hard to believe that Brooke is already a year old. It seems like yesterday that she joined our family. She hasn't started walking yet, but is cruising around furniture and can take a few "Frankenstein" steps. This is the ice cream cake that Opa bought for her from Dairy Queen. She had another cake in Ottawa at her grandma's house a week ago.


I have the feeling that she enjoyed the cake Grandma Smith got for her too.

This is the card I made for her.

I love this picture of her:


Here she is with her mother, my daughter Janice:
She looks a lot like Janice at the same age.

Happy Birthday Brooke! I love you!

DH and his right ankle

DH has been diagnosed with severe degenerative arthritis in his right ankle. He had been scheduled to undergo an ankle fusion on Oct. 31, but was called yesterday that it has been rescheduled for July 11th. He is happy that he won't have to wait until Oct. and will not have to have the Cortisone shot that was booked for July 10th. He will have a very long recovery period. He will be in a cast and on crutches for 6 weeks and then will be in a walking cast for another 6 weeks. His ankle gets very swollen by the end of the day and he has been in a lot of pain for several months. He has a very high pain tolerance and has been going to work. Just this past week he was asked to drive a sit down fork lift as his employer thought it would be easier for him, but just stepping on and off the fork lift has given him pain.

DH is tall - 6'1" and I always had to walk fast to keep up to his long stride. Now, he has to ask me to slow down so he can keep up with me!

Bluebirds and daisies.

This design by Blue Ribbon designs is a freebie on their website. I ordered the Crescent Colours Floss last week and will be making this into a Needle Roll.

Update on NN189

If you ever need something that you feel cannot be found anywhere, don't despair, just post it on your blog or yahoo group or forum and sooner or later, someone will be able to get it for you or tell you where you can get it. Years ago, I would have been SOL!

I got an email from Marie-p in CT and she also posted on my blog that she knows of a shop in VT who has 2 skeins of NN189. I have emailed the shop owner and have requested that the floss be mailed to me.

I am doing the happy dance!

Thanks Marie, you are the best!