Sunday, December 16 – Saturday, December 22, 2007
Sunday, December 22
What a difference a week can make! While last Sunday was church in balmy Florida, this Sunday found us in Artesia, NM, comfortable with temperatures in the 60’s, but just not the same… seems like Florida was a year ago!
Since Edith is still in tremendous pain, Jim and I attended church at 8:15 at First Baptist and then went by and checked on her before going to First Methodist to attend their Christmas Cantata with Jean. Becky, Nancy, and Jerry each played an important role in this celebration service with Becky and Nancy singing in the choir as well as playing in the bell choir. Jerry played the bass in the church orchestra. What I wouldn’t give for an ounce of their musical talents!
Before joining the clan at the Pizza Hut for lunch and visiting, we once again went by to check on Edith and the puppies.
The rest of the day seems like a blur…we alternated between the two houses, trying to make sense out of the Christmas gifts, the items still needed, and Edith, until it was time for Jim to leave me here at Big V and he return to spend the night with his mom.
Monday, December 17
Jim: Yesterday after the cantata at First United Methodist Church, we went up to the front to try to find Jerry, Nancy, and Becky and tell them how much we enjoyed the presentation. While we were there, I had the opportunity to step over and introduce myself to the orchestra director, Tom Dillon, who is also the Artesia High School band director. In my “other life” as a band director I had the opportunity to see Tom at various competitions, honor band concerts, and conventions, but had not had the chance to meet him.
Tom was pleased to meet a fellow band director and graciously invited me to come up to the music building today to visit and take a tour of the “new” facility. Since I hadn’t seen the inside of the building since 1971, and it had been totally remodeled several years ago, I was pretty excited about the visit.
I arrived at the building at 10:00 and found Tom working in his office; he showed me around the building (I don’t think anything inside is the same as it was when I graduated in 1962 – they left the exterior walls standing and completely redesigned the interior rehearsal halls, offices, and rooms). The superintendent had given Tom almost free reign in the design of the rooms and the purchase of furniture, saying that the music department was to be a showcase for the school and community…wow...what a concept!
After spending a few minutes talking, Tom invited me to ride over to Zia Intermediate School (it was Artesia Junior High when I attended there) for a seventh grade band class. The regular instructor was out sick, so Tom and his wife, Lisa, were covering classes there. Lisa had started the class and Tom would finish it while she went back to her classes at Park Junior High (8th and 9th grades).
After I met Lisa and she left to go back across town, Tom introduced me to the kids and then he started to work. It wasn’t long before he asked me to help a couple of kids in the trumpet section. After helping fix a problem there, he then asked me to help the percussionists and then just walk around the room and assist wherever someone needed help;
It wasn’t long before I was in hog heaven! It’s been about ten years since I worked with a band class of this age and I found that everything came back at once (all the good stuff, that is). What a joy it was to again be doing a little bit of what I had done for 28 years! It was just like getting back on the proverbial bicycle and riding again.
When the class was over and Tom dismissed the kids, we got back in his car and he took me back to the high school. Lisa had to leave her class at Park for a bit, so Tom was covering for her over there. I needed to leave to go check on Mother, so Tom asked if I wanted to meet him at 11:30 to go for lunch…he would just meet me back at the high school and we’d find somewhere to eat. Of course I readily agreed.
After checking on Mother and making sure everything was ok there, I called Barbara and told her what I was doing and then went back to the high school to wait for Tom. He was a few minutes late, so I had time to wander around and look at a little of the campus while I was waiting…lots and lots of changes since I was last there.
Tom arrived and took me out to Park Junior High, a building that didn’t exist until after I left Artesia many years ago. He took me inside and we waited until the class period was over, and then He, Lisa, and I went to Chaos for lunch.
We spent the next hour or so doing a lot of talking. Since Tom had spent many years teaching in Texas, we knew a lot of the same people and had shared similar experiences, so there was no shortage of people, places, and things to talk about. Both Tom and Lisa were interested in the history of the Artesia High School band program as I had experienced it, and although most of you know me as a basically shy and reticent person, I managed to come through with quite a bit of the history of the band and my high school director, Justin Bradbury.
Too soon, our time for visiting ran out and Tom and Lisa had to go back to work. Both of them offered me a standing invitation to come up to their band classes anytime I wanted and to pitch in and work with the kids…something I’m pretty sure I want to do. Wow…what a great time I had!
Barbara: While Jim was out having a good time back in the classroom, I was here in Big V putting more order into Christmas packages! Our family has certainly grown and I had to spread everything out on the bed to make certain we hadn’t missed anyone! Plus, I’d get one of the packages ready to mail and find that I had to reopen it since I left something out. Seems like I was spinning my wheels half of the time.
Once Jim returned to the house, we set out to accomplish some important tasks, like mailing packages. We expected that to really be a hassle, but we were proven wrong. That was a good thing!
Another errand was to go by Edith’s doctor to try to find out what in the world was wrong with her back and to get Jim on Edith’s medical release information list. Once there we found out from Missy, Dr. Khan’s nurse, that Dr. Khan was leaving town tomorrow and would be gone until after the first of January. With great determination, Jim set up an appointment for the next day for his mom. Enough is enough! We all needed some help and the thought of Edith continuing to suffer like this was unbearable, especially since Missy said she was unable to get Edith an appointment with the bone specialist in Roswell.
Armed with an appointment time, we returned to Edith’s to break the news to her. I think we expected a little bit of protest since it meant she would have to somehow get to the car; but, it seems to be a relief to her…how could the pain get any worse?
Jim again spent the night with his mom while I stayed home continuing to work on Christmas!
Tuesday, December 18
Jim: After fixing Mother’s breakfast, I left the house and drove back out to Big V to start the activities of the day. This was a “straighten up” day, so we could prepare to start on all the things that had to be done so we could have our Christmas Eve activities here in Artesia and then leave Christmas Day to go to Richardson, Texas.
Once we were done in Big V, we loaded up our laundry basket and took it over to Mother’s house to get started with the washing and to do a few chores over there before going to the doctor this afternoon.
We got Mother to Dr. Kahn’s office around 2:15 to allow us plenty of time to complete any paperwork before her 2:30 appointment. We had plenty of time to do that, since it was after 3:00 when we got into the examining room.
When Dr. Kahn got in to see Mother, he wasted no time in impressing us with his friendliness and willingness to explain everything to us. After reviewing Mother’s charts and examining her, he took time to answer our questions about what had happened, what the prognosis was, and what we needed to do. Since we had a list of about 10 questions that had been posed by various family members, that took a while, but he was very patient with us and made sure he answered the questions to our satisfaction.
Dr. Kahn had previously referred Mother to a specialist in Roswell, but we hadn’t heard from his office and the receptionist wasn’t able to contact him today. Once Dr. Kahn found out that we still had no appointment, he said that if necessary, he would call the specialist himself, and if that didn’t work, he would find someone in Carlsbad to see Mother immediately.
We left the office and returned to the house where, within minutes of arriving, we had a call from Dr. Kahn’s office telling us that Mother had an appointment at 10:30 tomorrow morning with Dr, Osmani, a back specialist in Roswell. Delighted with that bit of information, we began rushing around trying to get prescriptions, and do the hundred and one things that it seemed were necessary before going to Roswell. The biggest hang-up occurred when we tried to pick up the x-rays and MRI from the hospital. Everyone who could help us with this had just been called into the emergency room so…that would have to wait until tomorrow morning.
Tonight…return to Big V for supper and a little down time before I returned to the house to spend the night there. Still, we were elated to know that someone was going to see Mother and possibly get her on the road to recovery.
Wednesday, December 19
The following letter to all the kids best describes the activities of the day:
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Dear Kids,
Sunday, December 22
What a difference a week can make! While last Sunday was church in balmy Florida, this Sunday found us in Artesia, NM, comfortable with temperatures in the 60’s, but just not the same… seems like Florida was a year ago!
Since Edith is still in tremendous pain, Jim and I attended church at 8:15 at First Baptist and then went by and checked on her before going to First Methodist to attend their Christmas Cantata with Jean. Becky, Nancy, and Jerry each played an important role in this celebration service with Becky and Nancy singing in the choir as well as playing in the bell choir. Jerry played the bass in the church orchestra. What I wouldn’t give for an ounce of their musical talents!
Before joining the clan at the Pizza Hut for lunch and visiting, we once again went by to check on Edith and the puppies.
The rest of the day seems like a blur…we alternated between the two houses, trying to make sense out of the Christmas gifts, the items still needed, and Edith, until it was time for Jim to leave me here at Big V and he return to spend the night with his mom.
Monday, December 17
Jim: Yesterday after the cantata at First United Methodist Church, we went up to the front to try to find Jerry, Nancy, and Becky and tell them how much we enjoyed the presentation. While we were there, I had the opportunity to step over and introduce myself to the orchestra director, Tom Dillon, who is also the Artesia High School band director. In my “other life” as a band director I had the opportunity to see Tom at various competitions, honor band concerts, and conventions, but had not had the chance to meet him.
Tom was pleased to meet a fellow band director and graciously invited me to come up to the music building today to visit and take a tour of the “new” facility. Since I hadn’t seen the inside of the building since 1971, and it had been totally remodeled several years ago, I was pretty excited about the visit.
I arrived at the building at 10:00 and found Tom working in his office; he showed me around the building (I don’t think anything inside is the same as it was when I graduated in 1962 – they left the exterior walls standing and completely redesigned the interior rehearsal halls, offices, and rooms). The superintendent had given Tom almost free reign in the design of the rooms and the purchase of furniture, saying that the music department was to be a showcase for the school and community…wow...what a concept!
After spending a few minutes talking, Tom invited me to ride over to Zia Intermediate School (it was Artesia Junior High when I attended there) for a seventh grade band class. The regular instructor was out sick, so Tom and his wife, Lisa, were covering classes there. Lisa had started the class and Tom would finish it while she went back to her classes at Park Junior High (8th and 9th grades).
After I met Lisa and she left to go back across town, Tom introduced me to the kids and then he started to work. It wasn’t long before he asked me to help a couple of kids in the trumpet section. After helping fix a problem there, he then asked me to help the percussionists and then just walk around the room and assist wherever someone needed help;
It wasn’t long before I was in hog heaven! It’s been about ten years since I worked with a band class of this age and I found that everything came back at once (all the good stuff, that is). What a joy it was to again be doing a little bit of what I had done for 28 years! It was just like getting back on the proverbial bicycle and riding again.
When the class was over and Tom dismissed the kids, we got back in his car and he took me back to the high school. Lisa had to leave her class at Park for a bit, so Tom was covering for her over there. I needed to leave to go check on Mother, so Tom asked if I wanted to meet him at 11:30 to go for lunch…he would just meet me back at the high school and we’d find somewhere to eat. Of course I readily agreed.
After checking on Mother and making sure everything was ok there, I called Barbara and told her what I was doing and then went back to the high school to wait for Tom. He was a few minutes late, so I had time to wander around and look at a little of the campus while I was waiting…lots and lots of changes since I was last there.
Tom arrived and took me out to Park Junior High, a building that didn’t exist until after I left Artesia many years ago. He took me inside and we waited until the class period was over, and then He, Lisa, and I went to Chaos for lunch.
We spent the next hour or so doing a lot of talking. Since Tom had spent many years teaching in Texas, we knew a lot of the same people and had shared similar experiences, so there was no shortage of people, places, and things to talk about. Both Tom and Lisa were interested in the history of the Artesia High School band program as I had experienced it, and although most of you know me as a basically shy and reticent person, I managed to come through with quite a bit of the history of the band and my high school director, Justin Bradbury.
Too soon, our time for visiting ran out and Tom and Lisa had to go back to work. Both of them offered me a standing invitation to come up to their band classes anytime I wanted and to pitch in and work with the kids…something I’m pretty sure I want to do. Wow…what a great time I had!
Barbara: While Jim was out having a good time back in the classroom, I was here in Big V putting more order into Christmas packages! Our family has certainly grown and I had to spread everything out on the bed to make certain we hadn’t missed anyone! Plus, I’d get one of the packages ready to mail and find that I had to reopen it since I left something out. Seems like I was spinning my wheels half of the time.
Once Jim returned to the house, we set out to accomplish some important tasks, like mailing packages. We expected that to really be a hassle, but we were proven wrong. That was a good thing!
Another errand was to go by Edith’s doctor to try to find out what in the world was wrong with her back and to get Jim on Edith’s medical release information list. Once there we found out from Missy, Dr. Khan’s nurse, that Dr. Khan was leaving town tomorrow and would be gone until after the first of January. With great determination, Jim set up an appointment for the next day for his mom. Enough is enough! We all needed some help and the thought of Edith continuing to suffer like this was unbearable, especially since Missy said she was unable to get Edith an appointment with the bone specialist in Roswell.
Armed with an appointment time, we returned to Edith’s to break the news to her. I think we expected a little bit of protest since it meant she would have to somehow get to the car; but, it seems to be a relief to her…how could the pain get any worse?
Jim again spent the night with his mom while I stayed home continuing to work on Christmas!
Tuesday, December 18
Jim: After fixing Mother’s breakfast, I left the house and drove back out to Big V to start the activities of the day. This was a “straighten up” day, so we could prepare to start on all the things that had to be done so we could have our Christmas Eve activities here in Artesia and then leave Christmas Day to go to Richardson, Texas.
Once we were done in Big V, we loaded up our laundry basket and took it over to Mother’s house to get started with the washing and to do a few chores over there before going to the doctor this afternoon.
We got Mother to Dr. Kahn’s office around 2:15 to allow us plenty of time to complete any paperwork before her 2:30 appointment. We had plenty of time to do that, since it was after 3:00 when we got into the examining room.
When Dr. Kahn got in to see Mother, he wasted no time in impressing us with his friendliness and willingness to explain everything to us. After reviewing Mother’s charts and examining her, he took time to answer our questions about what had happened, what the prognosis was, and what we needed to do. Since we had a list of about 10 questions that had been posed by various family members, that took a while, but he was very patient with us and made sure he answered the questions to our satisfaction.
Dr. Kahn had previously referred Mother to a specialist in Roswell, but we hadn’t heard from his office and the receptionist wasn’t able to contact him today. Once Dr. Kahn found out that we still had no appointment, he said that if necessary, he would call the specialist himself, and if that didn’t work, he would find someone in Carlsbad to see Mother immediately.
We left the office and returned to the house where, within minutes of arriving, we had a call from Dr. Kahn’s office telling us that Mother had an appointment at 10:30 tomorrow morning with Dr, Osmani, a back specialist in Roswell. Delighted with that bit of information, we began rushing around trying to get prescriptions, and do the hundred and one things that it seemed were necessary before going to Roswell. The biggest hang-up occurred when we tried to pick up the x-rays and MRI from the hospital. Everyone who could help us with this had just been called into the emergency room so…that would have to wait until tomorrow morning.
Tonight…return to Big V for supper and a little down time before I returned to the house to spend the night there. Still, we were elated to know that someone was going to see Mother and possibly get her on the road to recovery.
Wednesday, December 19
The following letter to all the kids best describes the activities of the day:
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Dear Kids,
It's a little after 8:00 pm (New Mexico time) and we're all finally in our respective places for the night.It was a long day for all of us today, especially for Granny. Barbara and I went to Artesia General Hospital early this morning to pick up the films of X-rays and MRI's that had been done earlier. Then we went to Granny's house to load her up and take her to Roswell for an appointment with a back specialist. We got away from Artesia a little before 9:30 am and arrived at the doctor's office at 10:15. After filling out pages of forms, we sat...and sat...and sat.
Finally, at 1:00 pm we were called to an examining room. About 1:45 Dr.Osmani finally came in to see us. We were a little perturbed at having to wait so long, but he explained that he had worked us into his schedule at Dr. Kahn's request. He apologized for the wait, and immediately began winning us over with his manner. We were extremely impressed with the way he explained what the problem was and how he could go about helping to solve it. He really did a great job of teaching, taking us step by step through the X-rays and the MRI shots.The bottom line is that he could work Granny into his surgical rotation tomorrow if she decided that this surgery was what was necessary. He explained that he could prescribe a back brace, but it wouldn't solve the basic problem (fractured vertebra), and then looked at Granny and said, "Besides, you wouldn't wear it anyway." We all got a laugh out of that, because he was dead on with that diagnosis.
We decided that Granny would go through the surgery, so he set up the orders and we went over to Eastern New Mexico Medical Center to take care of business there. Again, we were met with multiple forms, contracts, and waivers to fill out. When that was done, Granny had to have an EKG, some more X-rays, and some blood tests. We finally finished at the hospital at 4:30 pm. a little over 6 hours after first arriving at Dr. Osmani's office. It was extremely painful and tiring for Granny, but she was a real trouper about it all. We got her back home to Artesia around 5:30...a really long day for her.
We have to go back to Roswell tomorrow morning (Thursday) and be at the hospital by 11:15. The surgery is scheduled for 12:15, and should take less than an hour. She'll be in recovery for about an hour after surgery, and if all goes well, she should be able to return home tomorrow afternoon.
The surgery will consist of cutting a couple of 1 centimeter holes in her back, inserting a needle/tube into each side of the damaged vertebra, blowing up a small balloon to pneumatically lift the vertebra into it's original shape, retracting the balloon, and then inserting another tube to fill the vertebra with a substance that will harden like bone. It's really amazing how the whole process works. Dr. Osmani said that restoring the vertebra to its original size and position should also relieve the stress on the nerves, thereby decreasing and/or eliminating the pain caused by pinched nerves. If all goes well, she should be up and around like normal within a couple of weeks.
We ask that each of you remember Granny in your prayers as she goes through the procedure tomorrow. One of the complications for her tomorrow is that she will not be able to take any of her pain medication after midnight, so she will be very uncomfortable from the time we leave Artesia until the give her a local anesthetic prior to the surgery.
Believe it or not, that is the "condensed version." We'll be happy to share other details if you ask. Thanks for your prayers and expressions of concern. We'll keep you posted on how everything goes.
Love...Us
Thursday, December 20
Jim: Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, etc, etc. (Barbara: Now he’s 63, too!)
As with yesterday’s entry, the following letter to the kids seems to sum up the day:
Thursday, December 20, 2007, 9:00 pm
Thursday, December 20
Jim: Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, etc, etc. (Barbara: Now he’s 63, too!)
As with yesterday’s entry, the following letter to the kids seems to sum up the day:
Thursday, December 20, 2007, 9:00 pm
Dear Kids,
Here is a bit of follow-up on today's activities.
We picked Granny up at 10:00 this morning to take her to Roswell. She had to be at the hospital at 11:15 to register for a 12:15 surgery. As we were driving, we discussed the fact that 63 years ago today she was on the way to the hospital in El Paso at 5:00 am to have me; so, I guess it was some kind of cosmic justice that today we would be taking her to the hospital for a surgical procedure. At least we didn't have to leave until 10:00!
Jerry and Jane were waiting for us when we arrived at the hospital and helped get Granny inside, where we waited a few minutes until they took her back to a small cubicle where she changed clothes and got ready for them to prep her for surgery. Since it was crowded in there with the five us, and because Jerry and Jane rarely get to see Granny, we let them visit with her until they took her out of the room, while we went to the store for some necessaries.
When we got back, she was on her way to wherever patients go while they await their turn with the surgeon.
When we got back, she was on her way to wherever patients go while they await their turn with the surgeon.
Since it was a little after noon, we invited Jerry and Jane to join us for lunch in the hospital cafeteria to eat and visit for a while. After eating (and it was a surprisingly good meal, by the way), we went to the surgical lounge to wait for Dr. Osmani to come tell us all about it.
We waited, waited, and waited some more.
We waited, waited, and waited some more.
At 2:00 Barbara found someone on the hospital staff who was able to check on the situation and was told that they took Granny into the operating room at 1:50; it seems that there had been some interruptions in the surgical schedule and they were a couple of hours behind.
While we were waiting we received a call from Barbara's sister, Carol, who said she was on the way up to sit with us. We all visited for a bit until Jerry and Jane had to leave; they said they would check in by phone and would return later if we were still there.
At 2:30 Dr. Osmani came to the waiting room and told us that everything had gone very well and that Granny had been an excellent patient; the prognosis for a speedy recovery was very good, but they would have to wait until she woke up, assessed her pain level, walked, and voided her bladder before they would be able to do anything else.
About 4:15 they wheeled her back downstairs so she could fully wake and wait for the final diagnostics before leaving. Jerry and Jane returned at nearly the same time, so we all visited some more while Granny got over her grogginess and started talking. She was soon ready to try walking and said she wanted to go to the bathroom. We watched in amazement as, assisted by the nurse, she walked down the hallway, standing straighter than she has for a long time. She said she had a little pain, but nothing like what she has been experiencing for a long time.
While we were waiting for the hospital staff to finish with Mother, I called Guy Chevrolet in Artesia to see what we could do about the Vibe that they serviced this morning. When I talked to the service manager, Eddie Guy, he said he could deliver the car to the funeral home parking lot (Jean’s suggestion) and lock the keys in it; we could pick it up when we got back to town and come in tomorrow to take care of the payment…you just have to love small towns!
By 5:00 pm she was dressed and sitting in the car, ready for the trip back to Artesia. She said she was comfortable, but very sleepy...all she wanted was to get into her own bed and sleep for at least ten hours. After driving to the funeral home to let Barbara pick up the Vibe, we got Granny back to her house around 6:00; she was able to get out of the car on her own and into the wheelchair and then I pushed her into the house and to her room. Barbara helped her change into her nightgown and get into bed while I fed the puppies and straightened up some things.
Again, Granny said she just wanted to sleep, so we turned out the lights and left; Ernie would be over in a few minutes to spend the night with her.
According to Dr. Osmani, Granny will be up and walking around (no marathons or low hurdles, but still moving better than she has in a long time) and will be relatively free from the excruciating pain that she has suffered for so long. We praise God that He has provided doctors with the knowledge and skills that allow them to provide this kind of service to their patients to not only alleviate the pain and suffering, but start them on the road to recovery and a better life...what a wonderful Christmas miracle for our family!
Again, we thank our family members and friends for their prayers, concern, and encouragement through this time and request that they continue lifting up Granny during her recovery.
Love to all…Us
Barbara: Jim and I both felt very blessed that Jerry and Jane were there to relieve us for a time and for the fact that we had someone to visit with. Then, when my sister Carol called and said she was coming up, we were elated since Jane and Jerry had things they needed to do. There’s only so much conversation Jim and I can have to talk about in one day so Carol’s coming gave us an opportunity to visit with her and at the same time make the minutes go by more quickly.
Jim: After we finally made it home to big V, we went over to check in with Jean and let her know how things were going. She evidently guessed that we would come by and had some kind of signal arranged with Jerry and Nancy to let them know we were at her house, as they were there just a few minutes behind us to bring me a birthday present, a beautiful new kitchen knife for slicing and dicing.
They, too, were interested in How Mother’s day had gone, so we gave them the condensed version before we all had to leave…seems it had been a long day for everyone.
Friday, December 21
Happy Birthday to daughter, Heather Marie Little Dondis, in Richardson, Texas!
Jim: After waking up in my own bed for the first time in a week, we surveyed the situation and decided that there was much to be done if we were going to have Christmas as planned and promised this year.
First on the agenda was to make shopping lists; there were a number of things that needed to be accomplished today, and nearly all of them required a trip to one or more stores or business establishments.
Once everything was accomplished at Big V (including getting a loaf of bread ready to be baked), we set out to take care of business with visits to the cleaners, Guy Chevrolet, the propane supplier, the bank, and the post office.
Around 12:30 we went over to check on Mother. Imagine our surprise and excitement to find her sitting up in her recliner! She had gotten up, showered, dressed, fixed breakfast and lunch, fed the puppies, and now was just relaxing. She said she was relatively pain free; most of the aches and pains she had were from the surgical procedure. She’s not well yet, but is well on her way! We feel we have been given a Christmas miracle!
Since it was about time for lunch, we decided we’d go back to Big V and eat. The weather was nice but high winds were predicted for the afternoon, so we voted that I should take care of some outside chores while we were at the place, the biggest chore being to rearrange some of the things in the large barn so I could get our big trailer backed up inside and put away for a while.
After all that, we headed off to Wal-Mart to do the grocery shopping. Our plans for Christmas Eve include a big noon meal at Mother’s house with my brothers and their wives, as well as dinner with the Terpening and Francis clan, and we needed several things so we could do our part. Mother also needed a few things now that she can be up and about, so we made the rounds through the grocery department, finding most of what we had on the list. I even managed to work in a much needed haircut while Barbara was doing some shopping for a few more gifts and the groceries.
We took Mother’s things back to the house and put them away, got some laundry going, and said goodbye for the evening.
Tonight…start another loaf of bread, visit with Jean for a bit, and then kick back and relax in our own home.
Saturday, December 22
Don’t know why, but we both woke up at 4:30 this morning and couldn’t go back to sleep, so we decided to just get up and get the day started. During the course of the next few hours I baked a loaf of bread and got another one started, Barbara worked again on sorting out Christmas gifts, we worked together to get some more presents wrapped and put in the proper stacks, and we tried to do a little straightening, something that is getting more difficult because of the shrinking amount of space due to all the projects we have going inside.
Later in the morning we went over to Mother’s house so I could start a pot of pinto beans while Barbara finished with some laundry and we both visited with Mother, who was tired, but showing continued improvement in getting around.
Jimmy Clint sent us a picture of Jaycie and a gingerbread house that she and Cathey had made. We thought that this would be a good spot in today’s entry to show it
off. Since Jaycie is on Christmas vacation from Lubbock Independent School District, she has time to do some fun things around the house.
Barbara: Now, it’s not that we hadn’t been to Roswell enough this week but that’s where we were headed after leaving Edith’s. Carol and her family were having their family Christmas celebration and she had asked us to join them for at least a little while. So…that’s what we did!
Carol is the Susie Homemaker of the family. For example, the lunch spread was boundless. Just a few of our selections included a yummy veggie salad, deviled eggs, ham, tortilla wraps, tamales…you name it, she had it!
It’s always such a treat at Carol’s house to see how efficiently she can get her large crew through the lunch line with minimum fuss and bother. Just look at this mob…Lynette’s husband, Michael, had driven to Alamogordo to get Lynette and the kids and then on to Roswell; so he was a tired young man. Couldn’t leave him out of the photo session though (he never moved a muscle when the flash went off). I put his photo right above Nettie and the kids. (The sleeping baby is Carol and Cal’s great-grandson)
Happy Birthday to daughter, Heather Marie Little Dondis, in Richardson, Texas!
Jim: After waking up in my own bed for the first time in a week, we surveyed the situation and decided that there was much to be done if we were going to have Christmas as planned and promised this year.
First on the agenda was to make shopping lists; there were a number of things that needed to be accomplished today, and nearly all of them required a trip to one or more stores or business establishments.
Once everything was accomplished at Big V (including getting a loaf of bread ready to be baked), we set out to take care of business with visits to the cleaners, Guy Chevrolet, the propane supplier, the bank, and the post office.
Around 12:30 we went over to check on Mother. Imagine our surprise and excitement to find her sitting up in her recliner! She had gotten up, showered, dressed, fixed breakfast and lunch, fed the puppies, and now was just relaxing. She said she was relatively pain free; most of the aches and pains she had were from the surgical procedure. She’s not well yet, but is well on her way! We feel we have been given a Christmas miracle!
Since it was about time for lunch, we decided we’d go back to Big V and eat. The weather was nice but high winds were predicted for the afternoon, so we voted that I should take care of some outside chores while we were at the place, the biggest chore being to rearrange some of the things in the large barn so I could get our big trailer backed up inside and put away for a while.
After all that, we headed off to Wal-Mart to do the grocery shopping. Our plans for Christmas Eve include a big noon meal at Mother’s house with my brothers and their wives, as well as dinner with the Terpening and Francis clan, and we needed several things so we could do our part. Mother also needed a few things now that she can be up and about, so we made the rounds through the grocery department, finding most of what we had on the list. I even managed to work in a much needed haircut while Barbara was doing some shopping for a few more gifts and the groceries.
We took Mother’s things back to the house and put them away, got some laundry going, and said goodbye for the evening.
Tonight…start another loaf of bread, visit with Jean for a bit, and then kick back and relax in our own home.
Saturday, December 22
Don’t know why, but we both woke up at 4:30 this morning and couldn’t go back to sleep, so we decided to just get up and get the day started. During the course of the next few hours I baked a loaf of bread and got another one started, Barbara worked again on sorting out Christmas gifts, we worked together to get some more presents wrapped and put in the proper stacks, and we tried to do a little straightening, something that is getting more difficult because of the shrinking amount of space due to all the projects we have going inside.
Later in the morning we went over to Mother’s house so I could start a pot of pinto beans while Barbara finished with some laundry and we both visited with Mother, who was tired, but showing continued improvement in getting around.
Jimmy Clint sent us a picture of Jaycie and a gingerbread house that she and Cathey had made. We thought that this would be a good spot in today’s entry to show it
off. Since Jaycie is on Christmas vacation from Lubbock Independent School District, she has time to do some fun things around the house.Barbara: Now, it’s not that we hadn’t been to Roswell enough this week but that’s where we were headed after leaving Edith’s. Carol and her family were having their family Christmas celebration and she had asked us to join them for at least a little while. So…that’s what we did!
Carol is the Susie Homemaker of the family. For example, the lunch spread was boundless. Just a few of our selections included a yummy veggie salad, deviled eggs, ham, tortilla wraps, tamales…you name it, she had it!
It’s always such a treat at Carol’s house to see how efficiently she can get her large crew through the lunch line with minimum fuss and bother. Just look at this mob…Lynette’s husband, Michael, had driven to Alamogordo to get Lynette and the kids and then on to Roswell; so he was a tired young man. Couldn’t leave him out of the photo session though (he never moved a muscle when the flash went off). I put his photo right above Nettie and the kids. (The sleeping baby is Carol and Cal’s great-grandson)
Though no one mentioned it yesterday, each of us in our own way has a difficult time with 
Christmas. We each remember Missy Jo who died 4 years ago on the 28th leaving behind two precious children, Allie and Cameron. Each time we see the children, we grieve for our loss; but rejoice for two happy, beautiful children who are reflections of their mother.Eventually, the visiting had to stop for it was time for Jim and me to get back to Artesia. We still had laundry, baking, etc. to do.
“Life is a work of art, designed by the one who lives it.”…Anonymous
Grateful for God’s Blessings,
Jim and Barbara
As we were finishing this week’s entry, we received a group of pictures of Alexander and Abby from Heather and Andy…just had to find room for them here.
