Catching up!

It's been awhile since I have been on here. All is well .... just been very very busy!

Brian, Kelly, and Ty moved into their "new" home last weekend. They bought a fixer-upper last Fall and Brian spent the year gutting it and rebuilding it from the studs in. He created a downstairs bedroom, laundry room, and 2nd bathroom, and he totally redid the wiring in the kitchen, built a pantry, installed new cabinets, and repositioned the sink to an outside wall! The house has a huge vaulted ceiling living room in the rear of the house that gives them so much more room than they had before. He still needs to finish some trim work downstairs, gut the upstairs, knock out a wall to make an open den and separate bedroom this winter, and next summer he is removing the enclosed front porch and pouring a cement floor to make it an open porch with pillars and an overhang. I am just so proud of him for all he has accomplished! And I am so proud of Kelly for living through all of the renovations and changes. They have created a wonderful home for their family. And I am so happy for all of them!!

Ty is growing by leaps and bounds! He is 20 mos old now, and his favorite word is "no". :) He has a fairly large vocabulary, but he has discovered that this word has immediate consequences so he has latched on to it. The only trouble is, he deprives himself of some things he probably would really like to have because his constant answer is "no" when we offer him things. Oh well ....terrible twos ...here we come!!

We miss Craig, Jesse, and Rocco so much! Rocco is 8 mos old, crawling everywhere, pulling himself up, and standing alone for a few seconds at a time. His daddy walked alone the day he turned 9 mos old, so we'll see if Rocco is gonna be able to match that. He is such a happy and delightful boy! But .... he seldom ever sleeps! He is a real night owl. He seldom goes down for the night before midnight, and usually is awake a few times between then and morning. Jesse is so exhausted! They have talked to their Dr about it, but she said some babies don't get their sleep patterns regulated until they are 10 mos old. And for some, they don't get regulated until they are two yrs old! Let's pray he is in the first category instead of the last!

Most of you know that Steve is selling his cows. With a grandson 16 hrs away he just decided that he is tired of being tied down with them. We want to be able to travel more. And as he ages he is having more aches and pains that twice daily chores don't help. Anyway, since this blog entry is titled "Catching Up" I have to share a scene with his cows I observed the other day....

He has part of them sold already, but not delivered. So he has been running them in two different pastures. Well .... the other day I looked out and noticed that the two herds are now positioned nose to nose over the fence. It was so interesting seeing how all the cows were "chatting" over the fence with their long lost pasture mates. I could just envision them catching up with each other.

"Hi Myrtle! How the heck have you been? How is the fodder on your side of the fence? Good! Wow! That's great! Ours is getting a little stemmy now, but is not too tough yet! How are you feeling? I have been having a little bit of morning sickness ... and this calf has just started to kick a little .... but otherwise ... I am feeling fine! Just tired as usual! Oh .... dear ... I am so sorry to hear that .... yes .... well ....that sometimes happens. Well, Myrtle I hope you get over that indigestion thing real soon. The nice green grass should help to clear that up! Well ..... It's sure been nice catching up with you! I'm gonna go munch a bunch. Let's catch up again soon!"

:)

Craig, Jesse, and Rocco come to visit!

I don't know if anyone is still reading this blog or not .... but I just have to share this anyway!

We just had the most wonderful visit with Craig, Jesse, and Rocco! They came from VA to spend a long weekend with us. We had 26 friends and relatives over to our house on Sunday evening so they could bond with everyone. The group included 4 little guys under the age of 2yr .... so a good time was had by all!

I tell ya ..... Rocco is just the most adorable little guy. He is not fond of sleeping .... he is a real night owl .... but when he is awake he is the happiest most jovial little guy around! He is so much like his daddy was when he was little. Not that he isn't still a jovial and happy guy! ;)

Following are just a few pics from the weekend. There is one of my mom with him, one of Steve and I with him, and the last couple are of Ty and Rocco together. We have discovered it is impossible to get a pic with both of them smiling at the same time .... but we tried!

Oh, for the record ..... Ty is 17 mos and Rocco is almost 6mos.

Enjoy!

Released!

I got released from the Doctor!

I got to lift my grandson, Ty!

I am back at work earning a paycheck!

Yea!

Life is good again!

:)

Catheter Removal - Soon!

Two days left until the Foley Catheter is removed!

Please pray that everything starts working again like it is supposed to.

It's been 7 weeks since I have held Ty! And 5 weeks since I have seen him!

And that is way too long a deprivation for this Grammie!

:(

Free Piano!

Anyone want a free piano!

I have been trying for weeks to find a new home for it.

I even called the local nursing home to see if they wanted it for their rec room. Nope.

The piano came into my life when I was in first grade. My grandparents bought it new for Jeff and I so we could learn to play. And I have spent hours and hours on it! Playing .... composing ... singing.

But now that I am a Grammie ... my priorities are changing. I want the room for other things. Learning things for my grandsons. Space for riding toys and building blocks and other little boy toys.

I still have a tiny keyboard I can peck out my parts for our praise band. And some day I hope to get a smaller electronic keyboard I can put in the den.

But for now ... the big piano needs to go... to make room for instruments of new memories!

Anyway want a free piano!

:)

Liberating Realization! No One Cares! :)

Due to complications from my surgery, I am still walking around with a lovely catheter, and the huge hideous bag that accompanies it.

Because of that ... I have been staying close to home, and feeling rather housebound. No church, no restaurants, no social engagements. I'm just too self-conscience to let anyone see me with the darned thing.

But today ... that all changed! I got up my nerve (actually I was out of chocolates and needed a chocolate fix BAD!) so I stuffed the bag and as much tubing as possible into a green plastic grocery bag, hooked it all to my pants pocket, and set out for Aldis and Wallyworld ... in a town far far away. ;)

And ya know what? I discovered a liberating realization. No one cared! :)

The older folks who saw me all gave me sweet understanding smiles. The middle aged folks were all too harried with their own lives to even look at me. And the younger folks were all too worried about who was looking at them to bother to look at me. And even the WalMart greeter (who I was afraid would want to check the contents on my bag - but she didn't) wasn't offended. She just gave me the sweetest smile and wished me a truly good day.

Wow! All these weeks I have been staying home cause I was afraid I would shock or offend people! And no one cares!

But seeing how I still care, I'm still gonna stay home from church, restaurants, and social engagements until I get the danged thing out. But it is so liberating to know I CAN go out ... in a town far far away ... if I so choose!

Guess I'm not as housebound as I thought.

Millie!

My younger daughter in law and I have developed a close relationship. But we have struggled with what she should call me. "Sue" seems too impersonal. And she is very close to her own mom, so calling me "Mom" doesn't seem right. And "Mother-in-law or Mom-in-law" is too much of a mouthful.

So! I suggested she call me "Millie", which I shortened from MIL (mother-in-law). And she is! It is an affectionate term she can use for me, the other mom in her life.

Pain ... And the Journey of Healing

Well, I'm 11 days post operative now, and still in a lot of pain. I guess I thought the recovery process would be like this ... I would be a little bit better every day until ... Viola! ... I was pain free.

But I am finding this journey of healing to be a lot like the journey of life. We may have a day or two of smooth sailing ... but then the storms begin and we may get blown sideways or backwards for awhile ... or the winds die down and we just drift along in a sea of sameness.

But it is all a journey none the less. And each day is a new day to embrace. So we sail on ... doing the hard work required ... while keeping a watchful and hopeful eye on the horizon.

And someday ... hopefully soon .... we will arrive at our destination ... which is a port full of wholeness and health ... from the physical ... spiritual ... mental ... or emotional pain we are working to heal.

Surgery!

After spending 8 weeks being worn down by heavy bleeding, I was finally able to have surgery to remove the offending feminine body parts. Complications arose ..... but I am now on the road to recovery.

The hardest part of the process is that I can't hold my grandbabies for 6 weeks. I have seen Ty a couple of times since then, and he keeps reaching his arms out to me and tugging on my pant legs so I will pick him up and hold him, and I can't. And I cry. He finally toddled over to where I was standing, took me by the finger and led me to where he wanted me to go. I was so overwhelmed that he figured out a way to keep me in his life in spite of my restrictions. He is truly my special buddy! I only hope I can have as close of a relationship with little Rocco. Just hard to do when he is 16 hrs away! :(

All in all ..... the surgery will be worth it in the end. I am already feeling stronger now that the bleeding has stopped. Just gotta get over a few more hurdles ... and I will be better than ever ... in a few weeks!

Missing Others

Do we ever stop missing the ones we love .... and have lost?

My brother passed away 5 years ago this Memorial Day .... and I still miss him like it was yesterday. And my parents still miss him as well.

Their dilemma now is how to divide their estate. They have one remaining child and five remaining grandchildren. How do you divide one estate to make it fair for everyone?

You can't. Not unless the remaining child drops out of the line-up.

And that is OK with this remaining child. No amount of inheritance .... no amount of estate .... will ever bring my brother back.

And that is what I would treasure the most.

Money comes and money goes.

But loved ones are only here for a while.

I miss Jeff.

I love Jeff.

But I know his love will stay with me ...... forever.......

Long after estates and inheritances are gone.

Rocco at 6 weeks!

Craig and Jesse just sent us some new pics of Rocco! We haven't him since he was 2 weeks old! My! What a cutie he is! Enjoy!

Near and Dear .....

I can honestly say there has only been one man who has ever been near and dear to my heart!

Oops! No .... I guess there have been three!

Um .... no ... uh .... four! No ..... five!

Ahhhhhhh ...... no seven!!

Whew!

Yup! I can honestly say ....there have only been seven men who have ever been near and dear to my heart .... !

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Steve

Brian and Craig

Dad and Jeff

Ty and Rocco!!


Tee hee!! :)

Grammiehood!

You know ...... I have always considered myself to be a youthful soul .... a little bit adventurous .... and a little bit rebellious. :) But there were times in my life when the role I had to play did not fit comfortably with my soul.

The stay at home farm wife early in our marriage was disastrous for my emotional state. We had no money, so I could not go anywhere. And cooking and cleaning all day were not compatible with my adventurous spirit.

Then the babies started coming ... and I started to feel a little bit more comfortable in my role. I could play with them ....take them for walks along the creek ... be involved in their school activities.

Then the empty nest stage occurred. And even though I love my boys dearly, I loved having an empty nest as well! Now I had time to take off and explore the things I had been missing out on in life. And I was working, so I had a little bit of extra income to be able to afford some nice vacations! And I had the enjoyment of seeing our sons become the men I always hoped they would be.

But .... you know .... as good as that stage was ...... I think this stage of Grammiehood is the best of all!!

I get to love my babies .... and not be tied down by them! I get to play with them ... and be adventurous with them! And I get to see the amazing parents our sons and daughter-in-laws have become! And that is the best part of all!

Yup ....... life is good. I finally fit my soul. Even though on the outside I am a plump, gray haired, matronly, middle aged woman. On the inside, my soul is still a kid!

And that is good!

Another grandson!! Yeah!!

We have another grandson!!

Craig and Jesse became the proud parents of Rocco Aaron Florschuetz on 3/2/10. He weighed in at 7 lbs 10 oz, and was 20" long! We are going to VA to see them in a couple of weeks! Can't wait to get my arms around all three of them!