New Sampler for the Stairwell Wall

Yesterday I got a call from Hobby Lobby that my frame was ready for my sampler. I got the sampler stretched on the mat board so it was all ready to take to Hobby Lobby this morning after I dropped Woody off at dialysis. I spent quite a while this afternoon deciding where I would hang it on the sampler wall. In the end I moved one sampler to another spot on the wall and let the new one take its place toward the top of the stairs. The photos show the new sampler, the sampler wall looking up the stairs and then looking down. On the one shooting down, you can see the new sampler...closest to the top of the framed pieces. It fit perfectly in the place of my oldest sampler. The one I took down, I found a new place for towards the bottom of the staircase. I also took down all the samplers one by one and dusted them and then hung them. I hadn't done this job before Cheryl and Rachel came because they were all straight and wanted to leave well enough alone! I used the laser level and got them hopefully straight once again. I also changed the bumpers on all the photos to the silicone type that "hold onto" the wall a bit better than the felt ones that the framers had put on all those many years ago. All the samplers are dated in the 1990s except for one that dates to the 80s and the new one with 2021...a bit of a time warp...I guess those dates show a gap of when I wasn't stitching much. Plus once I got a pleasing number done for the staircase, I went on to stitch other things. Now I'm thinking of adding to the stair sampler collection once again...lots more space...can go higher! While I was rehanging samplers, I got a call from the shoestore that the sandals, that I had ordered back when I bought the shoes to wear to the wedding, had come in. So I left in plenty of time to get the shoes before I picked up Woody. In the end it took a little longer than planned as the ones I had ordered didn't fit quite right. So then I had several of the staff pulling varioius and sundry pairs of sandals down from their shoe wall. In the end it was their oldest employee (96) who found the ones that fit best and that I liked. I still had plenty of time to get to the dialysis center...well before Woody ended coming out. I went in to the waiting room to keep cool while I waited. I was looking through a fiction catalog for the church library when all sorts of activity started to happen. One of Woody's PD nurses came hurrying into the hemodialysis and used the code to let him in the hemodialysis room. Not far behind him came Woody's other PD nurse...hurrying and also letting himself into the hemodialysis room. Next a police car or two arrived with lights flashing and they piled into the waiting room and eventually into the dialysis room. At this point it was obvious that someone was in trouble...and I assumed that it was a dialysis patient...of course I had no clue as to who it was...could have been Woody as far as I knew. One dialysis patient did come out and she asked one of the policemen a question and the policeman said that "she" was breathing again...so at that point I knew that it wasn't Woody. By then a rescue squad truck from the fire department had arrived and not long after that an ambulance arrived. So...drama in the dialysis center this afternoon and Woody and I were in the midst of it. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but Woody said that it was obvious that it was touch and go for a while. In the end she was not taken by ambulance. Woody heard them say that she needed more dialysis so were hooking her back up. Woody was finally wheeled out to me and by the time I had him in the car and the wheelchair back in the center and I was ready to drive away, both the rescue truck and the ambulance were leaving. A rather action packed end of the afternoon! I got Woody home and into the wheelchair and rolled back to the front steps. He sat for a while to gain enough strength to be able to walk up the steps using his walker. I went inside to get a drink of water and Kathy called. She asked if Woody needed help...he had just said "no" to me, but since Kathy called, he decided that he could use Nathan and a strong child. So in the end, Nathan, Esther and I got the wheel chair up the steps. Woody has decided that perhaps it is time to get a ramp installed that would go up to the back door. Nathan talked to some men at the church the other day who were willing to help us out by building one. Woody needed a bit of time to think it through and this morning decided that perhaps it is time to do it. Nathan will let the gentlemen know that we are ready for a ramp when they are ready to build one. Woody did come upstairs this morming and ran off his own crossword puzzles and check out things on the computer. That was the firt time he had traversed the stairs since before his surgery. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Happy 12th Birthday, Elijah!

Busy Time at Fresenius Dialysis Center

Most of Woody's morning and afternoon was spent at the dialysis center. First he went to the peritoneal dialysis side of the center. His nurse connected him to do a small amount of fill and then drain him...he filled fine but the drain time was very slow. At first I was to do the low volume fill and then drain next week, but since things didn't want to drain, I told the nurse that I wasn't comfortable with doing it at home. He agreed and Woody will go next Tuesday after his hemodialysis and attempt it again. He did flush Woody's actual line with a syringe and got things flowing better. He would have done more but it was time for Woody to go to his hemodialysis. Today, Woody just had to walk down the hall and through two doors to get to the hemodialysis waiting room. After I left Woody for hemodialysis, I ran a quick errand to Hobby Lobby to get some things that I need to get my sampler ready for framing. I am getting things set up to work on it so it will be ready when I get the call that the frame is ready. I spent the afternoon reading, stitching, and getting caught up on our wash. I finished a book, got a load of wash done and put away, and got the guest bed remade...so can have guests again! Woody was once again totally zapped after hemodialysis this afternoon. He managed to get into the car, but told me on the way home that he thought that he needed Nathan come to get the wheelchair out of the trunk to get him inside. They did come to his rescue...Nathan, Kathy and Elijah...and managed to get him into the house and to his recliner. Over the weekend we were on our own to get inside and it was not easy...he took lots of rests and it took a very long time for him to see his recliner. We even had to call on a neighbor on Saturday to help him to his chair. We will both be glad when he no longer has to go to the center for dialysis...home dialysis should begin in a couple of weeks. I didn't mention about the "exciting" time that Cheryl had getting back to AZ. Her plane got diverted to Dallas because of an unruly/uncooperative passenger who got escorted off once they landed in Dallas. Her flight was delayed by an hour, but she did finally get home. Cheryl is one who takes great pains to make sure that she has a direct flight...her planning ahead didn't work for her this time! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Slowly But Surely

Woody and I have just returned from the Monday Night Furnace Room Prayer Meeting. I was his driver tonight...much to his dismay! At the moment, he is resting in a yard chair getting up enough energy to make it up the four steps and onto our front porch...not easy for him at any time, but since surgery especially difficult. Today he has spent most of the day resting. I think that he got really good rest during the night last night and also several good naps during the day. He didn't have any appointments this morning or afternoon so he stayed in and rested...hopefully good for healing. Tomorrow he has an appointment at the dialysis center to check that his peritoneal catheter still works. He is going in tomorrow to flush the line to make sure that it is still working. The surgeon has okayed a low volume flush. We will probably find out how soon he will start back on dialysis at home. I know that Woody will be glad when he doesn't have to spend 4 or 5 hours at the dialysis center three times a week. He will have hemodialysis after his appointment with the peritoneal dialysis nurse. I haven't done a lot since Cheryl left on Friday...have been lazy and resting up. There is still plenty of food left so I haven't even had to cook. Once Woody gets in the house I will make him his evening shake. I have been reading and doing some stitching on a Christmas ornament. Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Happy Fourth of July Weekend

Bye!

And...she's gone! Cheryl should be in the air as I type this winging her way closer and closer to Arizona. it's pretty quiet around here. Melany and Erin came this morning with a two-fold purpose...1)to take Woody to the surgeon's office and 2) to take Cheryl to the Nashville airport. Melany also brought us lunch. So I am now calling her our personal caterer! She has brought lunch tonus twice this week plus fed us last week at the wedding and then at their house...made a lot less cooking for me! The meals that I did plan worked out very well and I had to do very little cooking while she and Rachel were here. Woody's appointment went well this morning. The surgeon said that he should be good to go till he sees him again in a week and a half. Tomorrow will be an interestijg experience as it will be the first time that he will venture out with only me. He has dialysis tomorrow. Then we will venture out Sunday for Sunday School as it is his week to teach (three teachers take turns). He was pretty worn out by the time he got back from his trip to the doctor this morning. He did sit on the front porch for a little while this morning after he and Melany returned from the surgeon's. I really enjoyed having Cheryl and Racheo being here...it is going to seem strange for a while not having them around to visit with! The porch seemed rather lonely when I sat out there for a little while this afternoon. The weather was so nice just about the whole time they were here...we had some rain but not too much...had some warm temperatures but not too hot or too humid. We all had a nice time all around...now Woody...perhaps not as much since he had surgery in the midst of their visit! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Party Must Be About Over

Cheryl and I just ate the last two slices of Abigail's cheesecake...a sign that Cheryl's visit is close to coming to a close. Abigail brought it over to us the night before Rachel arrived...so we have been nibbling on it ever since. Tonight is Cheryl's last night here so we decided that it was now time to eat those last to slices...all left...some crumbs and the box. We enjoyed it thoroughly! Good cook, Abigail! Woody was pretty much able to take it easy today...not that he wanted to do much! He has had quite a bit of pain and decided that he would give in to taking a pain pill...not the best of days...but it is only day two after his surgery. Tomorrow is the infamous "third day." I'm hoping that he doesn't have a bad third day! Tomorrow he goes back to the surgeon to have the catheter taken out. Melany is coming in the morning and will help get him to the doctor before she whisks Cheryl off to the airport. Cheryl and I ran errands this morning...a stop at WalMart, Hobby Lobby, and the pharmacy...that was our "excitement" for the day! Cheryl got to enjoy porch sitting today when it was raining. We did have to come in when the thunder started rumbling. Now it is time to put a few dishes into the dishwasher and come close to calling it quits for the night. The tradition used to be to stay up all night on the last night of a visit...this started with our mother and her sister, our Aunt Lois. But not sure that these sisters will be able to keep our eyes open that long! I'm pretty tired...not sure about Cheryl. I have been the party pooper this visit...I think too much going on besides the visit! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!