Once again

Well, the last time I blogged I thought I was on the way to a complete recovery.

TV has been warning us about the stomach flu or norwalk virus that was going around. I was trying to be careful, but I quess I got careless and we ate out. Wednesday we tried a new place in Grand Saline and that is the only place I can think of that I could have been exposed. Hubby didn't come down with it. We had different things to eat. I did hear the cook say that 3 people who worked there had called in sick. We should have got up and left.

I started feeling ill about 9: Pm and by 9:30 I couldn't leave the bathroom. I couldn't even walk down the hall to call Melissa. I got as far as the kitchen and kept calling until I got her up. She helped me until about 11:00 and we called P. P made the call to 911 and got an emergency truck they took me to Athens to the hospital. I don't remember much about the ride except I was freezing to death and they wouldn't cover me up. To make a long story short, they kept me over night and all day Friday. I didn't see the doc until late Friday night, he said if I could keep breakfast down on Saturday I could go home. He didn't show up until 2:30 on Saturday. He did allow me to come home. I was very impressed with the hospital everyone was so friendly and helpful. I even liked the doc, he was a older man but seemed very interested in my problems and welfare. I'm still very weak but Melissa and I have managed to get all the linens from my bed washed, dryed and put away. We have Melissa all ready for school tomorrow, she just can't be absent any more.

I really don't know what I would have done without when I was so sick at home. She took good care of her grandpa while I was gone. We just got her drivers license in time. P had to work on Saturday so Melissa and grandpa came and picked me up. Today she went to the drug store and postoffice by herself. She is so please that I let her drive and do my errands.

I'm just going to play it easy all of next week so that I can get my strength back.

The new friend I made at the Methodist church showed up on my doorstep with a beautiful vase of flowers. She had been missing me at church. She stayed and chatted a little while. I haven't been able to go the church since before Christmas. I had really good intension of all of going today but the trip to the hospital stopped that.

I really need my second son to send me some more of his books, I quess that will have to wait until after his book signing. I have several people wanting them.

John the manager of the village we live is found P book that Melissa gave to his wife. He picked it up and would let his wife touch it until he finished it. He ask where it came from, his wife said look at the author. He was suprised that it was my son's he was very impressed and said he was really enjoying it.

Long Day

We finally got Melissa her drivers license today. We have been trying for months, the State of Texas has been having us jump through so many hoops, I was afraid she would never get it. First of all we had to have her SS card, that had been lost some where. We had to go to Tyler and ask for a duplicate. We waited for that too arrive. She had to have 3 kinds of ID. She took her first written test right after Christmas and missed one too many of their trick questions. The license office is only open while she is in school. So this is a big problem, they are threating if she misses school for any reason. She had another dental appointment today so she took the day off and we tried about 10:00 this morning to take the test again and get in the driving test. She too the test this morning and passed it. But, she couldn't take the driving test until 1:45 this afternoon. Her dental appointment was 3:00 in Tyler. We hurried to Athens got our hair washed and cut. Raced back to Canton to meet the 1:45 driving test and rushed off to Tyler to the dentist. We stopped on the way into Tyler for hamburgers and made the dentist with 5 minutes to spare. We had to buy a tooth brush so Melissa could brush before her appointment. They are really, really, unhappy with her about not brushing and not brushing long enough. I'm at my wits end what to try next to get her to do this. Yugo may have to disappear for ever if she doesn't get with the program. It would be a terrible thing to loose all her teeth after her mom and dad had them straightened. She has another appointment with her DR. tomorrow I may have to get her and the counsler involved.

Hey, my back was lots better today, it didn't start hurting until about 2:30 this afternoon and boy was it hurting when I got home about 5:30. The cold pack and then the heat packs really help. I am going to take another muscle relaxant when I go to bed tonight and mahybe it will be better tomorrow. My doc in Kaufman said I should let them do the shots but I don't want to if I can help it. I am going to try the chiropractor tomorrow and see what he says, he really has helped me more than anyone else.

P is still playing nurse maid to her 7 baby goats. She had 9 baby goats but they have lost two of them. One of the little ones was rejected by its mom and P has been feeding it by hand. So the little one thinks P is her mom. They call this little one floppesy because one of its ears flopps over all the time. It is so cute but a real pain to take care of. P took one of them to school for M class to see this afternoon. I don't know how that came out.

Well, you can see we are busy, busy, hubby had to shift for himself today as Melissa and I were gone all day. This school year is really flying by, but I suppose Melissa thinks it will never be over. I have to write her a check for her annual tomorrow, how did they get so expensive.

Hey I'm back

It has been a long time but I think I am among the living again. I came down with some kind of bug just a couple of days before Christmas. Melissa and I didn't get our baking done but we had plenty to eat. We had 11 for dinner on Christmas, Bruce got here just in time for dinner it was so great to see him. He didn't get to stay for long enough. I really didn't get to enjoy every one at Christmas like I wanted to because I was so sick.

I am still dealing with a bad back, how can you do that much damage to your back by coughing. I've had a x-ray and a MRI and I have seen 4 doctors, a massage therapist and have another appointment with a new doctor tommorrow. Tommorrow is a pain management doc they are talking about streching again or else shots neither sounds good. The pain is getting more managable. I have finally stopped taking the pain pills, yesterday was rough but today is better. Everyone that was here has come down with this bug, some of them so soon afterwards that they didn't get it from me. I feel so bad that I gave this horrible bug to so many people. But, everyone in Texas seems to have had it or is coming down with it.

One of the best things at Christmas was the time I got to spend with Eddie, I didn't know how much I had missed him. He has always seemed more like mine instead of a grand. Eddie is at such a crossroads of his life and needs as much support and guidance as he can get. All we can do at a distance is pray for him and his decisions.

Melissa has decided she likes East Texas and wants to live here, she likes taking care of grandparents. We still haven't got a drivers license, they never seem to be open when she is not in school. Her grades have been great. P and I were wondering what Eddie and Steven's high school would have been like if they had gone to school here. I don't know what hubby and I would have done, while I have been sick, if she wasn't here.

NCL keeps sending me E-mails and flyers about cruises with the ice storm here in East Texas it is looking better everyday. Not sure our finances could stretch so far to include another cruise so soon.

I've had plenty of time to read while I have been laid up with the effects of this bug. Pat brought his newly published book down. He has left me some copies and it is such a temptation to just give these away. Hubby is still reading on it, he reads awhile and trys one of his westerns and then goes back to Pats. I finished it and was very pleased with the plot and the conclusion. It is more difficult to read than most of what I am reading it is written at a higher level. The amount of educational information is a little overwhelming. The latin names are a trial, but I just say this is Sam, or Pete of Joe and go on with the story. Hubby, Jean and I read some of the drafts of this book many years ago while taking one of our trips in the old motor home. Jean would be so please to finally see this story in print. Melissa read the book and wanted to give it to Altameta so we gave it to her. I haven't talked to her to see if she has read it. Melissa took it to school and showed it off, some people wanted her to give it to them.