The transition room

Ever wonder what a transition room at a Rehab hospital looks like?
I have. And today I found out. It's the only one at this large Rehab hospital.
The couch folds out to a bed for Susan.


To the left that is Dad's bed, and also his lift that Susan is learning to use on him.
 I haven't actually seen it in use but here's more of a closeup
I know. Makes no sense to me either. But Susan says it's amazing.



Their kitchen seems a bit large for something that will be used only a few days before they go home. 
But I think they use it during his occupational therapy to teach him how to function in a kitchen again. 


Their little dining area.


And by his bed, his children.


Their friend, Jan Thomas, stopped by so we all had lunch together.

And look who else came by....my brother, Scott!
We got into quite the lively discussion about the movie 2016 Obama's America.
Some say it will be known as the greatest documentary of all time.
If you haven't seen it, GO.
It really helped me to understand Obama's thinking.


And then suddenly Scott spots his old friend from high school, Joel Hensley, who is a PT at the Rehab.
Dad's timer goes off every 30 minutes, even during lunch.
Time to change his pressure points.


And if you are wondering what Dad gets for lunch. Here's today's entree.
I really wanted his green beans but I was polite and didn't ask for them.
His food looks good to me, but I know their new home will have even better food. 

Something tells me they will love it there. 
And Blacky gets to go, too!

A little excitement at the Rehab tonight.

So Dennis and I had just said goodbye to my Dad and Susan at the rehab 
(broken back rehab.....not to be confused with drug rehab) 
when we got into the elevator to return back to 1st Floor. 
That crickety old elevator comes to a swaying stop, as it always does. 

Just as Dennis was stepping off the elevator the fire alarm goes off 
and a large door suddenly swooped shut landing on Dennis' hand. 
I was still behind him in the elevator and sort of screamed my way past him. 
I didn't have to worry about this door since Dennis' body was holding it open for me. 
But I wanted out of there!

The alarm is sounding and with my screaming, the receptionist comes running to our aid. 
I'm saying to Dennis, "Let's get the heck out of here. There must be a fire." 
He instead says to me, "Look at my hand." The front of it was covered in blood.  
By now the receptionist is on the phone intercom saying, "Code Red. Code Red." over and over.

We saw no signs of smoke or fire so he says to her, "I'm bleeding." 
She looks at his dripping blood and gasps and then makes another call saying, 
"Someone is bleeding!" Den says to her, "No, it's really not that bad. I just need a bandaid" 
Then here comes 2 nurses with supplies to fix Den's injuries.
This nurse surprised me when she said, "Don't take my picture."

Thankfully she added, "Wait till I'm smiling first."

Here comes the firetruck....


The nurses bandaged up Dennis well and told him to come back tomorrow for a dressing change.

The firemen were leaving just as we were.


As we were walking out the door, I told Den I wanted to go back inside 
and take a look at that door that suddenly closed on us as the fire alarm sounded. 
If we had just been 5 seconds later getting on that elevator 
the door would have been slammed shut before we had reached the 1st floor. 
How freaky that would have been to have the elevator door open to a door that was closed.

Anyway, this is the door that closed over the elevator.
And see that handle on the door? The other side of that door has one just like it.
That's what landed on Den's hand.

We were finally told there was no fire. Just a bad sensor.
But nevertheless, they aren't letting anyone back on that elevator. 
Which is fine by me. Because next time I go to visit my Dad, I'm taking the stairs. 

As we were driving home up the road a bit was another fire truck and an ambulance with sirens going.
I told Den I bet that ambulance was sent for him.
But he didn't want to turn around and go back to the Rehab to find out. 

The good news is my Dad is being moved to a transition room tonight.
Susan will get to stay with him for the next 7-10 days until he is released.
Then they will move into a very nice senior living place just a mile from our house!

It never hurts to ask

A picture of our broken dead refrigerator earlier today.

 Warranty expired: April 20, 2012
Grace period to re-new warranty: August 20, 2012 
Price of warranty: $97.
Never paid it.
Fridge died: August 24, 2012

I called on August 24 
to ask if we could still possibly buy this warranty.

The tech on the phone asked, "Is your fridge not working?"
I answered, "You are right, it's not." 
"Then that will be $277. to re-enstate it today." 

But still I asked, because it never hurts to ask:
"Could I please re-enstate my warranty for a lesser amount?"

And this was her prize winning answer:
"Well....we can give you that warranty for $97, but next time be more careful, okay?" 
(meaning don't let the warranty expire in the first place)

I said, "I will. Thank you very much!" (and I will.)  



 The last line of that receipt is my favorite.

but there's a reason I keep going back to them 
year after year after year.

Making lunches to go

They are BPA free, so no worries there.

While in Oregon I discovered a blog 
about Mom who made a pledge 
not to serve refined or processed foods 
to her family for 100 days.

Once you get there, just scroll down a little.

She may inspire you.
I wish I still had someone to pack for!
Tyler back in 1992, with his friends Cindy and Katie.


And furthermore...


In addition to my previous blog post... This one would also be very hard to forgive.

I found it in today's newspaper.
I just cringed reading this. These poor people!



I remember when my first husband had his kidney removed.
It was the longest and hardest recovery of all his surgeries...
and then to have the nurse throw it away??

Of course in my husband's case they did throw it away because it was so damaged.
But the man in this article was planning on donating it to his sister!
And how that poor nurse must feel....

Let It Go


Dennis and I both read this new book, and I would say equally loved it. 

It's about a man who loses both his wife and 2 of their children in a car accident by a drunk teenage driver.
Not only did he work to forgive the drunk driver who took half his family, 
but he also felt it was his responsibility to help this young kid. 
If he didn't, he felt this kid would spiral down and have a tragic life.
Not the usual way of thinking for a victim.

To me, this book is spiritually empowering.

I know I showed this short video before on my blog,
but here it is again if you missed it.

And of course the book is so much more. 

My list for today


1. Den and I wanted to see Hope Springs today 
but then we heard it was raunchy.
So instead we saw this one:

I couldn't figure out how to like it. 
Dennis said it was the poorest story line he has ever seen in a movie.
I'm pretty sure it was written and directed by a 10 year old.


2. Richie has learned how to press the pause button while watching his Baby Einstein.
He must feel like he can control the world now!


3. This one made me laugh.
I think it reminds me of what my little boys would have said back in the day.


4. For every 30 minutes my Dad is in his chair, Susan does this to change the pressure points.



The days must be so long for both of them.


That's it for now.


There something going on in this town that I don't know about.



We were taking this little sweetheart home this afternoon.....

...when we drove past a new development just going up and
I said to Dennis, "I can't believe what I just saw....
those new homes look like something from the 1950s!"

So after we returned sweet Violet to her Mom... 
(She was clapping btw as she saw where we had stopped our car!
She LOVES her Mom.)....
We went right back to take a look.

Sure enough, these houses look like something I grew up in. 
1950s style homes are not so unusual, 
But these are new homes just being built.

How many decades ago has it been that houses were built 
with unattached garages?



I think I could go for a garage not attached. 
Less exhaust from our cars would get inside. 
But I wouldn't like walking from the garage 
to my house, after dark.
The windows are the older style too.
So I wonder, what's up with this? 
I couldn't even find out who the builder is 
because there were no signs up yet. 

See the resemblance to my childhood home?
The same looking pillars.
Same shaped windows.
Long rectangular porch.


Wait a minute.
I just realized I got it all wrong.
I looked up the stats just now on my childhood home (above) 
and it was built in 1925! 

I guessed I just thought I grew up in a 1950s house 
since it was the 1950s-60s. 
So this means, 
those new homes we saw today, are from the 1920s.

The plot thickens...




Family Camp 2012 inside look

Pictures from my daughter in law Amy, of Family Camp 2012
I'll start with Logan and Amy...

Their 7 children on skit night.
I so wish I could have seen it. I wonder if anyone video taped it?


The whole fam including Grandma Karen!


Kylie!

Macie!

Chandler!

The twins

Austin!
Laurynn
As you can see, from above and below, Téa's opinion of Camp has improved through the years.



I don't know why I like this last picture so much of
my son Logan with my brother Scott in the background.

And so ends Year 51 of Family Camp!

But wait!
Here's Logan and I,
Family Camp 1981.  
 

Look what happened last night

  Just a little pre-graduating gathering for our DIL Amy.... Not everyday a Mom of 7 and a Grandma of 7, graduates from college. It was not ...