Week 2 Vacation

Our vacation was not going the way that I had planned. 

Suddenly Starla was not as free to do things like we thought, Or maybe like I had thought. And I was disappointed. 

So I rearranged my thoughts and tried desperately to rearrange my attitude to focus on this upcoming week.

It was going to be busy. 

Monday morning Tom and Sophia had a baby appointment. They were finding out the gender of the baby today. I was very anxious while waiting. The appointment was at 8am and by 9:30 I still didn't hear anything. I kept texting, but no response. 

And then I got a text from Sophia. She was going to keep it a surprise until they came up for dinner that evening. 

Starla and I were shopping. I was looking at baby things. I was trying to imagine our new grand baby and whether it was a girl or boy. I think most of the family was hoping for a boy. 

Later in the afternoon Starla prepared lasagna for our supper. I was excited to see Tom and Sophia pull into the driveway. 

She brought a cake. The inside of the cake would reveal the gender of the baby. They had a long series of ultrasound pictures. As I looked at each picture I got more and more excited. At one point I couldn't identify what was on the picture and asked about it. Sophia said, "That's his foot." 

I caught that right away. "His?" 

"You said, his. It's a boy."

Oh yay! A boy that looked to be growing healthy and strong. 

I told them how I have been praying for this baby from the moment I knew of it. 

We called Pops, who was still hunting in Ohio, to tell him the news. He was excited to know that he was getting a hunting buddy.

Then we called Frankie and Melynie to tell them. Sophia mouthed the words, "Melynie is crying." We could hear her. She was really crying. Something was wrong!  When we got her to calm down enough to understand her, we found out that Derrick, our oldest grandson, in the army, had just been deployed and was already somewhere in the Middle East. She had just gotten word that morning. 

She was so distraught. I took the phone and went into the next room. I had prayer for her. She seemed to get a little peace after that and calmed down some. We talked a little more and I told her I would see her Wednesday and that I love her so very much. I told her to trust Derrick to God's hands. And then we hung up. 

In such a brief time, I had received news of a brand new grandson and then news of our oldest grandson. And what a range of emotions!

We ate our lasagna and tossed around boy names. It was so amazing to know that I was now praying for a little boy. 

On Tuesday morning I heard from both Tom and Sophia that they had chosen the name Mason.

In keeping with getting all medical screenings done, I was scheduled for a mammogram and blood work this morning at the hospital in Somerset. 

Starla had plans for today so I had made arrangements to meet up with my sister, Amy for breakfast after my testing. 

The place was packed. The line for registration stretched out of the front doors. But once I got registered it all went very quickly. I was in and out of the lab within 10 minutes. There was a short wait at the imaging department and then the procedure took about 15 minutes. But then I dressed and was out of there.

Amy and I went to King's restaurant for breakfast. We had a real nice time talking about our kids and how our lives turned out. Her and I used to spend so much time together and then we each got busy raising our families. Now we are looking forward to getting "our time" back.

After breakfast I drove back home.

Later that afternoon I got a call from the Dr's office. I was told that all my blood work was fine except that my cholesterol is high. So high, in fact, that the Dr wanted to put me on meds. I asked for 1 month to focus on it and try to get it down by diet and exercise and they agreed to that. So I have an appointment for December 28th for a recheck. They also told me that my mammogram checked out fine but that my Pap smear did not. So further testing was required of that and I should know something by the end of the week. 

So now I was a little concerned. I want to be healthy. I realize that I need to take an even more active role in my own health, at least as much as it is up to me.

I went to bed early that evening. I needed time alone to process, ponder and research.

Our daughter in law, Melynie was having surgery on Wednesday. She had to be at the hospital at 6am. Starla and I were going over to wait with Frankie. I had baked a meatloaf and got them some other food and gift cards so that she didn't need to worry about cooking afterwards. 

Before she went in we had prayer. Frankie went to work for about an hour. Starla and I waited. It wasn't long before she was in recovery and coming out of the anesthesia. She got silly and we had a good time with her.

This is Melynie and our grandson, Derrick.

Starla and I went for Chinese after that, then back home.

What a busy week and it was half over.

I had one more medical test to undergo, a colonoscopy. So Thursday was to be my prep day for that procedure. But first, I was meeting up with my very good friends from when I worked at the nursing home. I picked up Carol on the way and then we met Margo and got into her car and drove to Ruth's. 

Ruth and Ann's home is beautiful. Their table was set so pretty. It is always so good for my spirit to spend time with these women. I am so thankful that God brought such an unlikely bunch together. 

Brunch was nice. The food was good and the company was great. But it was time to go home and start my prep for the next day.

This is Carol, Me, Ruth and Margo

This is Carol, Me, Ruth and Ann

Pops had called me that morning and told me that he had shot a deer and would be home late that evening. I couldn't wait to see him. I missed him so much. 

My sister, Amy was going to waste her day off work by taking me for my colonoscopy, but now that Bill was home, he offered to do it. 

I must admit, I was nervous about this deal. Like childbirth, anyone who had ever gone through it, liked to share their experiences. And to make matters worse, the hospital was running on unexplained delays so the wait lasted over 2 hours. 

But then, it was over. Just like that. Bill asked me how it was and I told him that I didn't think they had done it. But they had and the Dr informed us that he had removed one very small, benign polyp. 

I guess after anesthesia you say some strange things, I know Melynie did. This is a text message I sent my sister. I didn't know that I did, I found it later on my phone:

We are having bacon and eggs and pancakes and cheesey hash browns and coffe and water and I'm really cold and my hand hurts a lot and I'm really cold and I have s headache but John said I need coffee and it will stop and dr Sadat is really nice and sue got me a warm blanket. They messed my hair up. My hand hurts. Bill is being nice I miss you.

After that we got a bite to eat (I was starving) and then went home. 

I got another call from the Dr's office. My Pap smear recheck came back ok. So...I am pretty healthy, except for the cholesterol. And if Pops and I continue on with our diet and exercise, I am hoping that it comes down. 

Saturday was mostly preparing our truck and ourselves to get back to work. The truck was clean. I had worked on it little by little during our time home. But now we needed to restock and repack our belongings. 

I am looking forward to getting back on the road. I always love spending time with my friends and family, but truck driving is my "normal" right now. And it always feels good to get back to normal.

It is fulfilling to see our kids living their lives. I may not always agree with or like the choices that they make, but they are their choices to make. I love the adults that they have become. I am proud of each of them. And when they are living true to who they really are, I get such joy from being near them.  I hope they never let anyone or any circumstance steal from them their real selves. 

We will be attending church today at Wills Mountain Church of Christ, our home church. I look forward to worship with our church family. 

After that we are scheduled to go into service. Who knows where we might go. Thanksgiving is Thursday. It would be nice to share that day with someone, maybe here, maybe Texas, maybe Kansas City. 

And there is a lot of snow in the west and Midwest. I absolutely hate the thoughts of that. 

I'm thinking it might be time to start thinking about what life after trucking might be like. 

Bye Boots.  She was a great walking companion for me these past two weeks. She and I averaged 15 miles a week. I will miss her.