Busy Times

I don’t mind saying that we are coming and going so much we don’t know what direction we’re heading. Take last weekend as an example, Vicki was away on a Women’s Retreat with a group from church, Jenna spent Friday night with friends, the boys were committed to help someone with their Eagle Scout project, and Mom developed a really bad cough.

UPDATE ON MOM. Mom is still in the hospital receiving therapy. I think she is making progress but it is slow. She wears out more easily now. I am still optimistic that she will regain most of what the stroke has affected but it will probably take much longer than any of us have anticipated. I think fatigue will be a real factor in the speed of her recovery.

I do want to say that she really appreciates all the prayers on her behalf as well as the calls and cards. That’s what is keeping her spirits up.

As far as Mom’s stay in the hospital goes, we have met some of the nicest, most caring nurses and doctors. They have really been wonderful to work with, especially the nurse and doctor that got on top of that bad cough Mom developed over the weekend. However, I don’t think Mom will be writing a thank you note to the hospital chef this time as she has been known to do in the past. (To be fair, the food hasn’t been bad. Her diet has been restricted to things that are easy to swallow as a precaution.)

APRIL FOOLS. We didn’t have too much in the way of April foolery at our house this year. Mom’s being in the hospital had me preoccupied although I did have an opportunity to get our secretary at the office that I couldn’t pass up.

Kenny, too, tried to get us by saying they had put police tape up all around where we park for the bus. Everyone knew the date and was on their guard when they heard him call.

The best joke of the day belongs to Ben. He replaced the filling in one of Vicki’s Oreo cookies with toothpaste. She chewed on that cookie for several seconds thinking it was a mint filling cookie placed in the bag before she finally realized it was toothpaste.

CHECKING UNDER THE HOOD. I had an appointment with my doctor one day last week. When Nate heard I was going to the doctor he asked what I was sick with.

“Nothing,” I replied, “It’s a regular checkup.”

“Why would you want to go to the doctor if you’re not sick?”

“Well,” I explained, “sometimes you just need the doctor to keep an eye on things. It’s good to have someone check under the hood every now and then.”

Nate was taken aback. “Well, I like my hood covered!”

COINED A NEW WORD. We bought a two seat papasan for the boys’ room last year. They have placed it in front of their Wii. Granted, a papasan is not a standard piece of furniture in most people’s homes so the word can be hard to recall. I got a chuckle this morning when Ben wanted Nate to bring something downstairs and told him to look on the “tufon.” Tufon (not futon, and definitely not papasan) probably has the best chance of sticking in their minds.

Joe