When I wrote last we had no idea life would get crazy Tuesday morning. Mom has had a light stroke. Her right arm and leg have been mildly affected. Her speech and clarity of thought are fine. Here’s how it all happened.
We put the kids on the school bus in front of Kenny’s house. Mom likes to watch us from her bedroom window. Tuesday morning she got up a little after 7:00 and went to the bathroom--twice. All this happened on the second trip to the bathroom.
Mom usually takes hold of the bed post to steady herself as she walks by. This time she couldn’t make her right arm work well enough to do that. Thinking it odd she continued on to the bathroom. At the bathroom door she felt her legs were getting weak so she hurried to the toilet. Once there she realized she needed to call for help so she pushed her lifeline button. The lifeline service called our house right as the kids and I were walking out to go to the bus shop. I went straight to Mom’s. Vicki got the kids on the bus and followed. The ambulance was just a few moments behind her. When I found Mom she was very cognizant and coherent. Her inability to do much with her right arm was the biggest thing we noticed.
Mom was taken straight away to Skyline Medical Center where she has been responding well to treatment. She was moved to their rehab floor last night and begins therapy in earnest today. We feel the damage from the stroke is minimal and I am optimistic that she will be able to regain her motor skills well enough to live independently once again. It’s just going to take time to get there which will be frustrating for her. Her spirits have remained good all this week though.
We appreciate your keeping her in your prayers.
Joe
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Farewell Winter
Spring is here so I suppose it is time to say farewell to winter--not that it’s going to feel like it over the next few days.
BUSINESS TRIP. I consider myself very fortunate that my job does not require me to travel so that I get to be a regular part of my children’s lives; however, I did get the opportunity to take a business trip to Orlando the week before last (March 9-13). This is big for me. Until this trip the only times I had ever traveled outside of Robertson County were for conferences and meetings in Gallatin, Lebanon, Murfreesboro, and Nashville--oh, and once to visit a colleague in Cookeville.
My travels took me to one of the Hiltons on Disney World property (Bonnet Creek) where I attended a conference that offered all sorts of training for software I use at work. Suffice it to say that I feel like I’ve done a grad school course in four days. It was intense. I did get to enjoy one evening at Downtown Disney and another with being treated to dinner at Chevy’s (a Mexican restaurant) with Aunt Linda, Uncle Bob, Jim, Dianna, Alex, and Chris.
One funny story from my trip happened when I was in line to board my plane home at the Orlando Airport. The lady standing beside me looked at the carry on bag by my feet and said, “I just have to know, are you traveling with a dog or a cat?” Everyone in line got a good laugh at my reply when I said, “Neither--dirty clothes.”
GETTING THINGS DONE. I got home from Orlando late Thursday night (the 13th). Spring break began for us when school let out the next day. Vicki and the kids took off for Georgia early Monday morning where they had fun with the Jones family. They came home this past Thursday (the 20th). I spent the week here at home knocking out a big to do list. It has been both relaxing and productive and I am glad to have a break in the schedule to get some things done. I was also glad to see my family get back home.
Speaking of getting things done, yesterday Vicki and I decided to tackle one of our storage rooms upstairs. What we really need is something like the Room of Requirement as it appears in the Harry Potter universe when the various characters need to hide something. Unfortunately we Muggles live in the reality where the insides of our rooms are limited by the space that contains them. We put in several hours trimming down and cleaning things out. (Jim, I did find a ticket where you and I went to Disney World on March 17, 1986. This was probably my first visit to Epcot. Remember the belly dancer?)
GROWING UP. There’s a picture I’m looking at as I type this. It was taken one Father’s Day when Jenna was two or three. Seems like yesterday. She’s growing up. Friday Jenna and I went to the bank to open a checking account for her.
Another big step Friday was the cell phone. Jenna has had a cell phone in the past but it was nothing fancy or with a contract. She decided not to keep it given the poor reception it had here at the house. (One almost had to stand on one leg with an arm in the air on top of the picnic table to use it.) Jenna is probably the last of her friends to get a smart phone but we had told her not before she turned 16. Well, her 16th birthday is on the horizon and with a special deal allowing Vicki to add another line to her contract cheaply before the end of the month we said, “close enough.” Jenna has a used iPhone.
FUN AT THE MOVIES. In all this coming and going we did get the chance to have a little family fun. Friday afternoon we all went out to run a few errands. We met Michelle and her daughter, Maegan, for an early supper and then went to the movies. All the girls went to see Divergent while the boys took in Mr. Peabody and Sherman. I don’t recall seeing Mr. Peabody much as a kid but I thought the movie was cute.
Joe
BUSINESS TRIP. I consider myself very fortunate that my job does not require me to travel so that I get to be a regular part of my children’s lives; however, I did get the opportunity to take a business trip to Orlando the week before last (March 9-13). This is big for me. Until this trip the only times I had ever traveled outside of Robertson County were for conferences and meetings in Gallatin, Lebanon, Murfreesboro, and Nashville--oh, and once to visit a colleague in Cookeville.
My travels took me to one of the Hiltons on Disney World property (Bonnet Creek) where I attended a conference that offered all sorts of training for software I use at work. Suffice it to say that I feel like I’ve done a grad school course in four days. It was intense. I did get to enjoy one evening at Downtown Disney and another with being treated to dinner at Chevy’s (a Mexican restaurant) with Aunt Linda, Uncle Bob, Jim, Dianna, Alex, and Chris.
One funny story from my trip happened when I was in line to board my plane home at the Orlando Airport. The lady standing beside me looked at the carry on bag by my feet and said, “I just have to know, are you traveling with a dog or a cat?” Everyone in line got a good laugh at my reply when I said, “Neither--dirty clothes.”
GETTING THINGS DONE. I got home from Orlando late Thursday night (the 13th). Spring break began for us when school let out the next day. Vicki and the kids took off for Georgia early Monday morning where they had fun with the Jones family. They came home this past Thursday (the 20th). I spent the week here at home knocking out a big to do list. It has been both relaxing and productive and I am glad to have a break in the schedule to get some things done. I was also glad to see my family get back home.
Speaking of getting things done, yesterday Vicki and I decided to tackle one of our storage rooms upstairs. What we really need is something like the Room of Requirement as it appears in the Harry Potter universe when the various characters need to hide something. Unfortunately we Muggles live in the reality where the insides of our rooms are limited by the space that contains them. We put in several hours trimming down and cleaning things out. (Jim, I did find a ticket where you and I went to Disney World on March 17, 1986. This was probably my first visit to Epcot. Remember the belly dancer?)
GROWING UP. There’s a picture I’m looking at as I type this. It was taken one Father’s Day when Jenna was two or three. Seems like yesterday. She’s growing up. Friday Jenna and I went to the bank to open a checking account for her.
Another big step Friday was the cell phone. Jenna has had a cell phone in the past but it was nothing fancy or with a contract. She decided not to keep it given the poor reception it had here at the house. (One almost had to stand on one leg with an arm in the air on top of the picnic table to use it.) Jenna is probably the last of her friends to get a smart phone but we had told her not before she turned 16. Well, her 16th birthday is on the horizon and with a special deal allowing Vicki to add another line to her contract cheaply before the end of the month we said, “close enough.” Jenna has a used iPhone.
FUN AT THE MOVIES. In all this coming and going we did get the chance to have a little family fun. Friday afternoon we all went out to run a few errands. We met Michelle and her daughter, Maegan, for an early supper and then went to the movies. All the girls went to see Divergent while the boys took in Mr. Peabody and Sherman. I don’t recall seeing Mr. Peabody much as a kid but I thought the movie was cute.
Joe
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Finally, Some Snow!
Last Sunday the temperature dropped from the high 50s to the 20s. Rain moved in, turned to freezing rain, then sleet, and finally snow before tapering off the next morning. Since it happened this way TDOT was powerless to do anything about the roads. The kids didn’t go to school until Friday. I only got Monday off. Today our snowman has shrunk to the size of a coke can.
SNOW, BEAUTIFUL SNOW! I fell in love with snow in my childhood. Of course, I have not lived anywhere that snow has been a major inconvenience or hardship for me as an adult like it is for folks north of us, or here when I was a boy for that matter. For me, snow was a ticket out of school, and we got lots of snow days. Of course, we paid for it by never getting a spring break and having to make up some snow days on Saturdays. It was worth it. Snow makes a wonderful playground.
The snow we got this week has been the only snow that really covered the grass--much less cover the roads--this winter. Ben came in with a slab of ice that was 1.5 inches thick saying, “Hey Dad, this is under all the snow in the yard.” Had we not gotten the sleet and snow after the freezing rain the ice would have truly paralyzed us. As it was you could get a little traction if you really had to be out and about.
The kids went out and played. They found an icy hill to sled on and all sorts of things to do in the woods. The boys played so hard they wore themselves out and would be sound asleep by the time I got home from work. Good times, great memories.
BASKETBALL IS OVER. The Upward Basketball season has come to an end. Nate’s team played a hard game last weekend but lost. There was supposed to be a makeup game last week (they had snow here one Saturday while we were at Disney World) but all the ice and snow we had took care of all of that. We went to the award night Friday night where there was pizza and games.
PINE CAR RACES. Pine car races have been a big part of our routine every February since Ben was in Kindergarten. Now that Nate is in the 5th grade we are winding that tradition up. Nate had a car in the Awana Grand Prix a week ago Wednesday (the 26th) where he came in fifth place. He went on to run his car in the county RA race yesterday but didn’t make the top five. We were asked to set up our track for the Cub Scout Pack’s Pinewood Derby last Saturday but Nate didn’t bother to make a car because he’s already crossed over to Boy Scouts and is now ineligible to compete as a Scout.
It’s sort of sad to see this come to an end. I told someone at the RA race yesterday that I may make a car for myself next year and race with the leaders now that I don’t have any boys doing cars any more.
AN ERA IS ENDING. Mrs. Mary Yates passed away and her funeral was last Saturday. She was 94. Her husband, Mr. Robert passed away in May 2011, and with Aunt Mar and several others of their generation gone I really feel like an era has come to an end.
Mrs. Mary, Mary Bell as Mom and Aunt Mar always called her, has been a close friend of our family for as long as I can remember. It was normal for her and Aunt Mar to call and chat before going to bed which could easily be after midnight. Mr. Robert and Mrs. Mary had no children and weren’t closely related to the rest of the Yates family in our community. That didn’t matter. They loved everyone and all their neighbors came to know them as Uncle Robert and Aunt Mary. If the Lord graces me and Vicki to live as long and stay in good health as they did I hope we can be like them.
Joe
SNOW, BEAUTIFUL SNOW! I fell in love with snow in my childhood. Of course, I have not lived anywhere that snow has been a major inconvenience or hardship for me as an adult like it is for folks north of us, or here when I was a boy for that matter. For me, snow was a ticket out of school, and we got lots of snow days. Of course, we paid for it by never getting a spring break and having to make up some snow days on Saturdays. It was worth it. Snow makes a wonderful playground.
The snow we got this week has been the only snow that really covered the grass--much less cover the roads--this winter. Ben came in with a slab of ice that was 1.5 inches thick saying, “Hey Dad, this is under all the snow in the yard.” Had we not gotten the sleet and snow after the freezing rain the ice would have truly paralyzed us. As it was you could get a little traction if you really had to be out and about.
The kids went out and played. They found an icy hill to sled on and all sorts of things to do in the woods. The boys played so hard they wore themselves out and would be sound asleep by the time I got home from work. Good times, great memories.
BASKETBALL IS OVER. The Upward Basketball season has come to an end. Nate’s team played a hard game last weekend but lost. There was supposed to be a makeup game last week (they had snow here one Saturday while we were at Disney World) but all the ice and snow we had took care of all of that. We went to the award night Friday night where there was pizza and games.
PINE CAR RACES. Pine car races have been a big part of our routine every February since Ben was in Kindergarten. Now that Nate is in the 5th grade we are winding that tradition up. Nate had a car in the Awana Grand Prix a week ago Wednesday (the 26th) where he came in fifth place. He went on to run his car in the county RA race yesterday but didn’t make the top five. We were asked to set up our track for the Cub Scout Pack’s Pinewood Derby last Saturday but Nate didn’t bother to make a car because he’s already crossed over to Boy Scouts and is now ineligible to compete as a Scout.
It’s sort of sad to see this come to an end. I told someone at the RA race yesterday that I may make a car for myself next year and race with the leaders now that I don’t have any boys doing cars any more.
AN ERA IS ENDING. Mrs. Mary Yates passed away and her funeral was last Saturday. She was 94. Her husband, Mr. Robert passed away in May 2011, and with Aunt Mar and several others of their generation gone I really feel like an era has come to an end.
Mrs. Mary, Mary Bell as Mom and Aunt Mar always called her, has been a close friend of our family for as long as I can remember. It was normal for her and Aunt Mar to call and chat before going to bed which could easily be after midnight. Mr. Robert and Mrs. Mary had no children and weren’t closely related to the rest of the Yates family in our community. That didn’t matter. They loved everyone and all their neighbors came to know them as Uncle Robert and Aunt Mary. If the Lord graces me and Vicki to live as long and stay in good health as they did I hope we can be like them.
Joe
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