Society for the Preservation of My Sanity

Lemme see if I can coherently give you a quick rundown....

Thursday night 7/27:

• the Lindas all came over so Mr. Linda could look at the You-Know-What.
  
• both Corey and Casey had to go to work at around 9pm, so they left whilst the Lindas were still here
  
• then the Lindas left around 10pm or so just after Tommy sliced into his right thumb on purpose then threw the pocket knife with which he was doing the slicing almost stabbing Mr. Linda in the face. all the Lindas sped away as I threatened to beat Tommy with my massive purse if he didn't go to the ER.
  
• after we stopped the bleeding, I finally put Tommy to bed and settled down with the TV to wait on the boys again. don't like going to bed til they get home. thankfully, this time they get back around midnight! so we all hit the hay!

  Friday 7/28:
  

• the phone rings at about 5am. it's MIL calling to tell us that, guess what? FIL is back in the hospital again. okay, what now? they're not sure. pain from back to upper chest, etc., etc. he's in observation. we both head up to the hospital to see what the heck is going on again.
  
• I end up staying there til about 8pm just to keep MIL company (and from going bonkers, too)

  Saturday 7/29:
  

• we go to the Lindas' house for Mr. Z's 6th birthday party in the afternoon. i don't even remember what went on that morning... don't ask. we take Tucker with us. at around 4:30p or so, we decide that it's now or never for going to mow FIL's massive, ginormous, hulking yard/field grass-growth area. so we secure Mr. & Mrs. Linda's word that they won't kill our boy and leave Corey behind and off we go to mow... with two dinky mowers.
  
• by this point, I'm exhausted and Tommy's not doing much better either. so while he and Casey mow, I decide well, what the heck, I'll "tidy up a little". understatement. of. the. year. heh! ;)
  
• they mow and I chase body powder around and do laundry for almost five hours straight. yes, you read that right. the one mower runs out of gas. they use the other mower to go get more gas (from shed -- did I mention this is a 12 acre place?) for it, but then it runs out of gas, then it just stops running all together. and... there's not a drop more gas on the whole place. so we load up to get Corey and more gas.
  
• finally get back to FIL's and head straight on up into the back 40 since we have the jumper cables with us. Got first mower gassed up, then since it's dark and neither mower has headlights, we need Explorer for lightage. follow first mower way back into woods (where IL's keep a walking path mowed) to find non-running mower. Get it started and finally we start out, but it's dangerous in dark, even with SUV headlights. it's slow going.
  
• we finally make it back down to the shed to put up the one mower (other stores in a shed at top of hill) to find it all locked up... MIL has come home while we were up in woods. so we open it all back up and put up mower, then knock on door hoping she won't call 911. she doesn't.
  
• we finally head back home. Corey was fed sustinance at the Lindas but we had not eaten since cake at 2pm...and before that? um, nothing much. so Case, Tommy and I were pretty starved. (there wasn't much in IL's fridge, so we didn't even try to eat outta there) we stop at waffle house, eat then go home and fall into bed (after showers!) at around 1am. sheesh!

  Sunday 7/30:
  

• Tommy and Corey go to work around 7:30am to help Dad with that bad leaky mess job I mentioned in an earlier post. thankfully, they are home in plenty of time to watch our favorite church service. awesome service!!!
  
• sometime or other yesterday, they figure out that FIL's gallbladder is the culprit of his pain now. I am giving him hard way to go about making sure he sees to it they get all his rotting parts out this time. he laughs because he likes me.
  
• they're talking about doing the surgery on Monday when Tommy has to drive to Indiana for work and I have to be in Lex for a doctor's appointment. nice. see? FIL is always making trouble. (he's laughing)
  
• I have to go get groceries because I've been trying to get them for the past three days without success. I insist on going alone because the last two days of traveling around with the other male personages of my household has made me want to jump out of the vehicle while driving over the speed limit down very curvy roads. just ask them.
  
• but then I sitll have to rush because guess who has to go see guess who else again today after spending like 8 hours together the day before! what's with these teenage hooligans?!?!
  
• i don't remember anything else. my neck and shoulders hurt like heck.

  Monday 7/31:
  

• Tommy leaves at 6:45 for his trip. I leave at 8am. Mom goes with me, of course, so we stop at the hospital quickly before we leave. the doctor had already done the final test to confirm the gallbladder was the actual problem. nasty problem... causing infection in liver and blockage where it should empty into intestines. hence, the pain. ugh!
  
• it takes longer getting through my appointment, but somehow I don't mind. the final report was...

• my A1c reading was 6.7% which is fantabulous! target is under 7%, so whoo-hoo!
  
• average blood sugar was 143. my hard target is 130. target range is 100-160. cooool!!
  
• i have lost 8 pounds since I was there last (4 months), so 2 pounds/month woah! and I've lost 13 pounds since the beginning of the year.... without really trying other than just not eating when I'm not hungry... and then um... well, trying to not BE hungry as often as I can. heh

• i get reports during the day from MIL. FIL does great with his surgery and is up walking around by the time we get back into town and go up to the hospital to see him. they say he'll be released in the morning. PTL!

  Tuesday, 8/1
  

• went with Tommy to ear doc. he's been having trouble with his left ear for quite some time now. tried several different things, but nothing has helped, so...
  
• the audiologist did her tests after the dr. looked and could see no fluid. the tests show he has some low-tone nerve damage. I was ready to jump on my soapbox about all the unprotected exposure to guns and engines, etc... but doc stops me and says that this kind of damage is rarely produced by exposure to that kind of noise. more likely it could have been a virus or something like that. they ordered an MRI which he goes for next week to make sure there's nothing besides the nerve damage that they can't see.
  
• if it is nothing else, then his only option will be a hearing aid. doc seemed to try to 'assure' him he didn't need to think about it til it affected his daily life. we both looked at each other and said it does!
  
• doc says the new digital hearing aids are nothing at all like the old ones. much more adjustable and not like a simple amplifier... they can be adjusted to various tones, etc. but they aren't covered by insurance and run about 2K. ahhh, there's the rub. well, we'll manage it somehow. God will provide what he needs I'm sure.
  
• the entire time we were gone, his phone was beeping and buzzing and ringing. no wonder he's half loopy. I hate that thing. the man was off from 12pm on, and the phone never stopped. that just is NOT fair. gargh.

  So... there you have it. now I'm going to bed!