Last Night

So I went to the disappointing hockey game last night featuring the Lightning vs the panthers and it was exciting when they tied it up and just before the game went into the shootout I glanced over and saw the cutest blonde out of the corner of my eye. I then stared at her for a moment and suddenly realized that I was looking at none other than Chelsea Hightower!

Now those of you that watched SYTYCD (So You Think You Can Dance) know EXACTLY who I am talking about the hot leggy blonde on this last season shows but for those of you in the dark. Look here: http://www.chelsiehightowerdance.com/

She was attending with fellow dancer Chelsea Traille. They both seemd to be having a good time rooting for the bolts, unfortunately it was the first time I have EVER been to a loosing game by any of my Tampa Bay Team since the Buc were in orange and quite frankly, I don't like it... but hey that's my own issue at least I drank good beer while there but I digress. I managed to geta pen from one of the concession people and get them to autograph my ticket. I did this for two reasons one. I admire them, and two I can remember how cool it was for people to ask me for my autograph back during my "15 minutes". I found it to be really neat and I wanted them to experience it as well. Anyway just wanted to share...

David

Monday Monday

OKay so I headed into work today and beat the supervisors in. I sat down at the counter space next to my Manager Ernie's fridge and worked on the spreadsheet containing the morning numbers. I sent that to Brian (my supervisor) when they got in at 9. I was basically given the directive that I needed to be in the field QCing jobs by the vendor. OK. So not being very prepared I headed out. I loathe disorganization. The only cool thing is I am back in the field. I have to get the latest version of Microsoft's Streets and Trips (2009). I have found a place online throuh Pricegrabber with a great price on the software. I already on the GPS from a previous version. The company did finally get us 2008 but it came just a month ago and 2009 is out. Well, at least it's better than nothing. The place I am getting the software from is called Software Media ( http://www.softwaremedia.com/ ) Check it out sometime.



I also got a chance to use my free Chick-fil-a coupon for strips. I love the place. I am sitting in the parking lot typing this too you on my "Lunch break" listening to my Zune.



Nice weather today taht's for sure. I prefer the 70's that we get in Florida. Probably my favorite weather. I like visiting cold places with snow and stuff but I am glad I don't have to live there. Fireplaces are also cool. But constantly wishing my feet were warm... not so much.



Well, back to work.

settling

okay well I am settling into my world again. I went this morning and had a new doctor take a look at what is wrong with my left foot. For the past few months I have been enduring a sharp pain in the upper metatarsal portion of my foot. I asked my primary care doctor about it and he refereed me to the podiatrist next door to him she game me a curt diagnosis or arthritis. I felt in my gut that she was full of shit but wanted to get a second opinion. Thankfully, this doctor was wonderful and thorough and he even let me watch as he shoved a 4" long needle into my foot. Seems I have Morton's Neuroma which is common in dancers after we stop dancing and is due to changing footwear and stress on my foot. Basically the toe bones are rolling and crushing into the nerve on my foot which is why I get a "toothache" sharp pain. He even gave me a cut sheet with diagrams and such so I could best explain it at work and to my Friends. Gotta love people who love their job! I have to go back for a follow-up next week so I keep you posted.

This weekend I had Miranda and we spent the weekend like most family's do, basically doing our own thing. I must say sleeping in and playing on the computer is EXACTLY what I needed. *Sigh* A few more weeks and I will be good I think. I am playing a game called "Mount & Blade" made by a couple in Poland. You can google it but basically it is a really cool open ended game which is why I dig it. I was turned on to it by my Brother-in-law and now I am hooked.

I tried to watch the World Series last night after the Bucs screwed up their game and the Rays fared no better, I turned it off in like the 3rd inning when it was 4-1. I understand now that Tampa Bay sucked all around thsi weekend with losses by The Rays, Buc, Lightning, and Bulls.

Tonight is Card night and I can't wait I hope to have a full house tonight!

I need to mow the grass so bad but I didn't feel like spoiling the weekend with yard work. It needs it bad. As I left for the doctor's this morning I noticed that Verizon was once again destroying my yard. Last week when putting in Fios in my neighborhood they systematically took out my electrical, cable, water and sprinkler lines. Gotta love. I even made them pay for a plumber to come and check out my system there was 2 cups of sand in my hot water heater which I drained personally as the plumber would not do it. He did however replace all the aerators on my faucets. what a huge difference! if you live in an area with hard water then I would suggest just unscrewing the aerators off and doing it yourself at home depot or lowes. It was an easy thing to do and you can begin to imagine what a difference it makes in water pressure. It seemed like a miracle. coupled with the lime and deposits the sand virtually rendered my faucets useless. Now they work great!

That's it for now, back to work

Back

Okay so I am back from St Louis and I feel like my world is in shambles. I know I have to get back to work and hunker down with my bucket of grit and get to it, but I have like a bazillion things to do around the house and fortunately after speaking in email with my Manager I have until Monday to get settled which is GREAT! I will post up some photos and decorate this blog when I am feeling creative again I promise...

bedtime

okay i am getting ready to crash. I spent almost the entire day calling all my mom's accounts (credit cards, organizations, outsatnding medical bills etc.) to explain that she was now deceased. Most of them were cool. One was idiot and actually asked to speak to the card holder. Don't worry I blasted her. A few want a faxed copy of the death certificate when I get it. So that will all be completed shortly. I sill have to write the poem for my mom. I have a title. It will be called "Bucket of Grit". but that is about as far as I have... I played the new game today on my desktop PC and it was VERY cool. The graphics are quite nice and the game, being open ended is fun. Work called and they are going to provide some food for mom's memorial service. That is really nice of them. I love where I work. Bright House is a great company. Lastly, this blog will get fancy soon as it has now been relocated by AOL to blogger.com as you can see and I have more bells and whistles here, so stay tuned.

Sunday Morning Hospice

On Friday according to what Beth told me, Mom showed some of the classic signs of dying where a person become really lucid and aware for a brief time then they fade and this coupled with a gut feeling, I thought that Mom would finally get some rest (i.e. die) and I called and had Kim call everyone to the place to say goodbyes. We called the few remaining relatives that could not make it down, namely Scott, Jennifer and Tom my aunt Teeny’s family. I also put in a call to mom’s friend Barbara and Mom’s friend from church Mary also came down with Father John and his wife. We had a bedside communion and prayers that personally seemed to go on for a long time. But t was nice for mom and I am sure it brought peace to Kim, Beth and Dayv. We all cried and talked to Mom one last time and she talked to us. The kids (Miranda and Alyssa) went down to the playroom and played video games. Then they had a Scategories game in the room which was good idle chatter I suppose. Then as the day progressed it mostly turned into us worrying about the pain she was in from her moving her leg, arm, back, tailbone. So I made a decision to eliminate her pain with a constant morphine pump instead of trying to get her to swallow anymore. We tried a few last times to get her to swallow but even with coaxing from Beth and me it was a long arduous battle. She has not had food or any substantial water since about Monday or Perhaps Tuesday. The head nurse of hospice whom I met at the hospital said that people that get into the routine of going without food or water do not typically live longer than two weeks. I am not sure what to think really. We all know Mom is a fighter and I am not sure if she was ready to go or not it seemed like she might be but I couldn’t really tell and now she is just sleeping/snoring so I have no clue. I am alone with her in the room right now and I turned on her easy listening channel on the cable box I brought from my house so she can listen to the music she likes anyway. The people and the environment here at hospice could not be better. The only weird thing I experienced was the check in process which could use some improvement. We wandered in from the hospital beating the ambulance somehow. (I know I drive fast but wow) When we came in I stood at the counter for a good 3 minutes while three women had idle chatter about some jewelry or window ornament one had acquired or something like that. Then after I signed the log and was told where to go we entered the room and seconds later Mom arrived. The next few minutes I spent bewildered at the incompetence of the female ambulance person while Dayv and I once again assisted with getting her moved off the stretcher to her bed. Then we were greeted by a nurse that I later found out had 14 years experience but she was very abrupt. She said without explanation that she had to inventory all the things we were bringing into Mom. I actually lied after about the fifth time of having to slow down so she could write and repeat myself and said we had nothing else. When I met with the very nice social worker Susan I shared both of those stories with her so they can make improvements.

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I guess they call this deathwatch and it is not very entertaining, fun, amusing or anything truly positive other than you knowing it is close of someone’s fight and that in our case I hope she goes with a peaceful sleep.

 

Poem

Sucks ass it does, Mom is in pain and the delivery agent is currently a pill that unfortunately takes a few minutes to work. He leg is swollen in her inner thighs. We had a shift change and I couldn’t locate the new nurse, Ashley. I decided to giver one of the pills we brought and just to tell you what a complete waste the medical system we have is. She took the pill she was going to give mom and threw it in the hazmat disposal box. The pissy part is that the insurance company will then be charged for the medication that she just destroyed. Then we wonder why insurance is so expensive. After it’s all said and done I may just let the insurance company in on all the crap that is out there that the insurance company is unaware of.

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I also flipped Mom over to her right side and in the process we moved her left arm and it was stuck under her side so we took it out of the brace that is used to secure it to her chest because during the x-ray of her chest we discovered the pain she had in her shoulder was due to the fact that it was dislocated! Long story short her wrist and fingers still get swollen and they hurt so she cried and grabbed her hand and bent it and then it hurt worse of course because it hasn’t been moved. So I had to calmly convince her that it was best to keep it in the brace even if her fingers are under her side. That seemed to immediately clam her down and she then nestled in under the covers for her snooze.

 

Mom tasked me with writing a poem in honor for her and to recite it at her funeral. I haven’t written anything in at least two or three years and I started off with a rhyming poem which I hate and now I am troubled and brooding because this particular poem and its significance and value to those who will be listen. The last time I had this type of task was when I was writing my vows for my wedding. Just so you know typically poems just come to me. I see something or feel something and immediately get inspired to write it down. Most of the time I write, I don’t even have to edit the piece before I publish it.  So being tasked with this type of pressure writing coupled with my lack of sleep (I am pretty sure I am working on like 10 hours over the past 5 days),  the obvious stress. The not so obvious stress, of family workings, my work, my home, my budget, my mom’s budget and who knows what else.  I am sure I will get something but the only thing that comes to mind immediately is Teddy Bears and Strength.

 

Anyway we will be off to hospice tomorrow and however long I have left with my mom I will cherish the moments like today when I escaped her out of the hospital and we went on an “excellent adventure” to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Roser Park together to explore. She will be transferred by ambulance sometime in the afternoon. I had a good chunk of friends and relatives visit today and that was nice. I hope to have the same and more when we arrive at Woodside. Beth comes in the AM with her family tomorrow and will be staying at my house while they are here. Scott is also due down this weekend. I am sure he will stay with Gram which will be great for her.

 

It’s scary to sleep right now because I don’t want to wake up and find that I slept through my Mom’s demise and I also don’t know if I want to watch it either so I am torn. I want to be by her side and comfort her and hold her and whisper to her that I love her but I know that I need sleep. I am guessing I could gamble tonight and take the sleep and I may just try to do so in a bit… I’ll let you know.

 

David