A Work in Progress

With sub-zero temperatures today and wind chill temps at 40 to 45 below zero, I hunkered down and stayed home. This gave me some long overdue time to do some laundry (yuk) and work on stained glass. About two weeks ago I traced the pattern for this piece onto the glass but then found myself way too busy to continue working on it. This afternoon I cut and ground the 24 pieces of glass. The next step is to wrap each piece with copper foil and then solder the whole thing together, adding a zinc border along the way. The eye of the fish will be made using either solder or paint - I haven't decided which yet. When finished, this piece will be given as a gift.

The "New Adventure" Began...

I sit here this morning knowing that this will be another very full day, as have been the past 6 days, but in a different way. I wrote in the last post about being ready for a new adventure and I have been provided one - and as typical, not in the way I expected. The Eternal Wise One continually surprises me with twists and turns. And in the end I am grateful.

A little history first: Dan's aunt Peggy is a frail, tiny (79 pounds dripping wet) never married woman who has had multiple health problems over the past couple of years. Three years ago she decided she could no longer live in her rural farm home by herself - she and her bachelor brother had kept up the Korinek family homestead for their whole lives (uncle Vic died a little over 4 years ago). Anyway, aunt Peggy decided to sell the farm and take up residence at an assisted living facility. She did well there until her health started giving her problems among which were multiple ulcers (eventually diagnosed and treated). Then the not so fun time followed quickly.

With her having very severe osteoporosis, she sustained a fall two years ago and broke BOTH shoulders! The very day she was released from the rehab unit, all healed, she fell again and sustained a compression fracture of one of the vertebra in her low back. Now, this is a stubborn woman we're talking about and after various treatments that didn't work, she finally agreed to see an orthopedic surgeon. He was new in town and very skilled at a procedure called a kyphoplasty - a relatively safe surgical procedure that decompressed the fracture and inserts bone cement to hold the vertebra in close to normal position, thereby relieving the back pain. Right up to the the moment the nurses took her into the operating room, aunt Peggy was still convinced having this done would not help her severe pain. To our delight and her surprise, that evening she was pain-free and very mobile again. Three months later another compression fracture occurred and we were back again for another successful kyphoplasty.

Over the course of the past year, there were some other, turned out a few but not all, lesser medical dilemmas but ones that still kept me arranging for appointments and running her to doctors and exams quite often. Now, you may wonder...if this is Dan's aunt, why was I the one attending to her? Simple answer: We had long developed a wonderful relationship, eventually I became the only one here whose advice she valued on these health matters and she had named me as her durable power of attorney for health care. She has ALWAYS been very good to both Dan and me and ALWAYS so very grateful for anything and everything we have done for her and with her for the 20 years I have known her and all the years Dan has known her.

Okay, back to the story: Early last fall, you guessed it, another compression fracture and another kyphoplasty. This event was complicated at bit. Though the back procedure was again a huge success, about a week prior to the surgery she became severely dehydrated which necessitated hospitalization for a few days. But the kyphoplasty was able to be done on schedule. And this time when she was released from the hospital, she was transferred to a rehab unit to regain her strength through some physical therapy. While in rehab, she developed abdominal pain. So...back to the emergency room and another admission to the hospital - this time to treat an impending bowel obstruction. After three days she was back at the rehab unit until released back to her apartment at assisted living on Christmas Eve. At that time she was up, walking pain-free with her walker and feeling quite good, until...three days later. You guessed it, severe back pain again. After an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon and another impending MRI, she got to the point that the pain was so severe I took her to the ER again, and she was admitted again. The MRI was done and...she had TWO new compression fractures! Kyphoplasty was done the following day and they were once again successful. So...back to her apartment she went.

All was well until I got a call from the facility's nurse on January 6th. You guessed it again - severe low back pain. I phoned the doctor, had an MRI scheduled for January 8th and stopped in to see aunt Peggy both on the 6th and again on the 7th. When I got there on the 7th, I found her pain to be so severe that she had not been able to even move in bed and had not been eating. Up until Jan. 6th, she had been up and around by herself and going to eat in the main dining room. Well, it was back to the ER again in a wink. They were able to do the MRI almost immediately and gave her some pain medication, which made her sick to her stomach and caused her to vomit. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise so to speak because after testing that, they found she was bleeding somewhere in her intestinal tract. And she was admitted to the hospital.

During the course of this most recent hospitalization the doctors found multiple esophageal ulcers. The MRI of her back showed ALL previously untreated vertebra were fractured and other problems none of which could be treated either surgically or with therapy. For this once very recently independently mobile little lady, her future fate was sealed. She would be bed-ridden for the duration of her life. The ulcers were being treated with IV then oral medications with success (so far), and she had to receive a blood transfusion to boost up her blood count, but decisions ultimately had to be made. To make this very long story a bit shorter, yesterday she was admitted to a nursing home - this will be a permanent living situation for her this time. Through the course of each hospitalization I spent many hours each day with her and kept in close contact with her doctors. Aunt Peggy ultimately made the decision to go to the nursing home - she is after all of sound mind and very capable of making those decisions...IF she has good and complete information (that's where I come in - as her advocate). I'm not saying this to in any way boast; I'm saying it because it's the way it has been and still is.

Throughout every medical and surgical dilemma aunt Peggy faced, Dan and I have been very attentive to keep other extended family up to date on what was going on and what was being done to help her.

Today will be another very full day attending to transporting many of aunt Peggy's personal belongings from her apartment to the nursing home, and then sitting with her for a time. In her mind, her fate is sealed: once permanently in a nursing home she feels she is now in the proverbial situation of having one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. She cannot even move in bed without severe pain and is stuck there for the duration. She is refusing to eat much - but I for some reason have been able to coax her to at least eat a little soup from time to time. Don't know how long she'll agree to even that. Aunt Peggy welcomed me with open arms into her life 20 years ago and into her life decisions over the past 5 years even with my "warts" and all. She has NEVER judged me in any matter and I am so very grateful for her trust in and genuine love for me - a love that is returned to her in great appreciation and abundance.

A New Year

As I was driving Simon home after spending the weekend with us, he told me that he thinks this year is going to be a fun year. We talked about his upcoming class trip to the State Capital in Madison - he is very excited to go and last fall his class was learning all about the State. Of course, he had to tell me all about the things he learned. Gosh, I didn't know we had a State Insect!!! And if I would have guessed, I would have guessed it is the mosquito. Wrong! It's the honey bee. Anyway, I've been pondering Simon's declaration that this will be a fun year and how anticipation is such a good thing in the eyes of a child.

I sit here today knowing that an important piece of my life has changed. I am no longer employed in ministry at our parish - a place where I have been privileged to walk with a great many people through the sorrows and joys of their lives for ten years. My last day was Dec. 31st and it was a bittersweet day - one where I was relieved to leave behind all that frustrated me and all that took me away from being fully present to Dan due to meetings and often weekend commitments. And yet, it was sad and really hard to leave the office that day and leave my keys behind knowing that I will no longer be working with some very wonderful other women on staff and no longer officially engaging in the work and ministry I have loved for so long. It's the people I will miss most of all. I have no job prospects nor any idea of what I will do in the job area next. And yet, that is not a pressing issue for now. Maybe this is so because this is all too new; too fresh. Or maybe it's because there is so much to do around the house. And I think a piece of it is because I have had virtually no time to work on crafting stained glass for way too many months - a hobby I thoroughly enjoy. But I knew it was time - time to leave. What I do know is that I need to take time to wait and ponder and listen to the voice within my heart to discern what the next adventure will be. And I do believe I am quite ready for a new adventure with all the excitement and joy it will bring...whatever that new adventure will be. In that respect, Simon is right: this is going to be a fun year.

November Update

Sure has been a while since I've posted...again. But it's been even longer since I have worked on any stained glass. After a very long hiatus, I started and finished a purple tulip piece last Wednesday - it's in the slide show below. It's the first piece I've done since July!

This has been a rather trying month. Dan's 86-year old aunt Peggy sustained another compression fracture and after three weeks of doctor appointments and a hospitalization for dehydration, she had a kyphoplasty (a surgical procedure to decompress the fractured vertebra, and this is the second time she's had this done - on two other vertebrae). It was a huge success, as was the first one. The time commitment on my part was great - tending to getting her to appointments and such, which I didn't mind at all. My arthritis has been acting up a lot for quite some time now causing increased joint pain probably due in part to the change in seasons and in part to stress. And work has been...shall we say challenging? Not the right word, but... Anyway, last week I handed in my resignation, effective Dec. 31st. I have no clue as to what I'm going to do next, but I'm confident something will turn up. Most important for now, I could really use some down time - time to watch and wait, time to ponder and reflect - time that has not been available for way too long.

New Addition

Gosh it's been a long time since I've written! Life has been so busy with work for both Dan and me. Seems finally last weekend we were able to catch our breath for a bit. On the way home from breakfast out on Sunday, we noticed a camper for sale just down the road and around the corner from our home. We called the number on the "For Sale" sign and toured it that afternoon. After tons of questions and some bargaining by Dan, we became the proud owners of a used 1996, 23 foot Jayco camper in excellent condition. On Tuesday, after all the paperwork was done and the check given to the seller, we brought it home and parked it in Mary and Jody's camp sight behind our house. Throughout the week, as time permitted, I set to giving the inside a good once over and stocking it with supplies. More pictures are on my Photo Album site (link on the right).

Not sure if we'll head to any campgrounds yet this season but perhaps may at the end of this month of early in October. When I told friends of ours that we had purchased it, I was asked how I talked Dan into getting it. My reply: It only took me five years! Oh the joy in thoughts of being able to get away on weekends. Fortunately there are a few campgrounds relatively close to home as Dan continues to work 6 days a week most weeks.

But for now...it's set up and ready to go in our back yard. I've already used it for a meeting with someone - very nice indeed! So...Mary and Jody, there's still room for you when you are able to come up this way. We'll just reconfigure the "camp sites"!!!

Too Quiet; Too Still

Over the past two days both of the little baby Eastern bluebirds died. The adults are still around, mostly in the evening, but there will be no little ones to watch take their first flight. Some would say, "They were only birds". But they were much more than a mere "thing". They were a part of this beautiful creation - creatures of wonder that brought great joy to my heart. It saddens me deeply that they did not survive.

Captivated by Nature

This is fast becoming one of my favorite times of year. The yard is alive with activity! The raised vegetable garden beds are looking good and everything is growing well...so far. Even the pumpkin and watermelon seeds I planted a couple weeks ago have sprouted and are developing new leaves. If they all produce, we'll have lots of pumpkins for carving (and canning) and an abundance of watermelon to eat come early fall. I'm hoping the cucumbers do well as I really have a taste for grandma's pickle recipe this year.

Besides the garden, watching the birds has been a joy. A couple weeks ago the baby Eastern bluebirds hatched and just last week, one day, I was late for work as I spotted the little ones perched on the crossbar of our clothesline post just as I was about to head out the door. It was captivating to watch as one by one each little one took flight...all but one, that is. This little straggler needed some encouragement from Father Bird. But eventually he (or she) made a short but glorious flight. I have found it both amazing and delightful that they are still sticking around so long this year. Each evening I watch as they come out from hiding and flutter around the yard. I can't remember them ever staying so long after leaving the nest. I Imagine Mother Bird will soon be laying her second batch of eggs in the little white birdhouse. And then I can start all over keeping watch. The hummingbirds are coming around enmass. Their antics are delightful. Early this afternoon I saw a doe standing on the road and the gopher that resides way too close to my gardens greets me each morning as I leave for work. For living out in the middle of nowhere, so to speak, there sure is a lot going on!

Late last week we got an over abundance of rain. So much so that nearly the whole yard was flooded three times in one night! Luckily there was only a tiny amount that seeped into the basement and the sump pump didn't even have to start up.

Been working on a few stained glass pieces - they're in the slideshow. Health things have keep me busy...or not. With all the wet weather and higher humidity, my RA has been acting up. Add to that increasing osteoporosis and a battery of tests. So far nothing too serious. And, I've been running with Dan's aunt to doctor appointments as well.

Be sure to check out the newest pictures of Miss Amelia on my photo album site. She came for a visit yesterday and was quite the socialable little lady!

Time Off

Been a few weeks...again! Lots of things have occupied my time since I last posted. The weather has been up and down - nice warm and sunny days mixed in with cold ones. We even had frost one morning the week after Memorial Day! The three baby Eastern Bluebirds have hatched and are being well cared for. They're growing nicely and I imagine will soon be testing their wings. Yesterday I saw a female Oriole sitting on our clothes line post with some string in her beak. She's either building or adding to her nest.

The garden is planted and doing well so far and the flower beds are planted as well. A few shrubs that had seen much better days have been removed. The swing set is disassembled and pumpkin and watermelon seeds were planted where it used to occupy space. My final paper for school has been written, submitted, and reviewed. And...the fire wood pile has grown significantly in anticipation for the next two winters. Amid all this activity, we made a trip to the cemetery on Sunday before Memorial Day to plant flowers at my dad's grave. I usually had made a wreath and floral arrangement of silk flowers but this year wanted to do real flowers.

You'd think with having 10 days off I would have worked on stained glass. Well, no, I just didn't have any energy for that with all the work that needed to be done around the house. But, I went back to work yesterday and when I got home, after taking the dogs for a walk and backing a batch of chocolate chip cookies, I started in on stained glass again. I completed two small flower pieces (they're in the slide show) that will probably make it to the holiday bazaar. There is a great connection with going to work and busying myself with stained glass. I have been finding the situation at work to be frustrating and immersing myself in stained glass really helps take my mind off, well, literally everything else. Kind of like an oasis in the desert. Still sacred time...