20 Year Reunion - Part 1 - Texas (CTA) Edition

The time has finally come - for our 20th High School reunions. Honestly, when I was in school, I never ever considered the fact that I'd be returning one day for my
20th reunion. My how time flies!

At the end of March (yeah - I'm running a bit behind here) Doreen and I flew to Texas for the weekend. My in-laws graciously agreed to take care of our kids so they didn't go batty being bored out of their little heads!!!


We got this cute little rental car out of the DFW airport to zip around in during our time there.











We chose to go down a day early to spend some time with my grandma, cuz we knew once the weekend hit, we were gonna have NO time to visit with her. Am I glad we did or what, cuz it was crazy - fun but crazy!







Friday evening we went to vespers. We got there on time and the place was practically empty, but people started trickling in and by the end of the program quite a few of Doreen's classmates were there and we all just stood around and talked and laughed and caught up. We were among the very last to leave!











Sabbath morning we went back to the school and had Sabbath School, then church (very little of the service was listened to by just about anybody) then a potluck, then a quick change and over to a classmates house to talk more, then up to Fort Worth for a dinner and more talking.

My goodness, I took lots of pictures, laughed a lot, talked a lot, stood alot! We were the last ones to leave the restaurant.

A few of us congregated at Russell's house for another hour or so, not wanting it all to end. Doreen and I ended up back at my Grandma's at about 1:30am. Wheeew. We crashed - up early - breakfast, some goodbyes and then back to the airport to get home!

What a FUN time. It went way to fast!

I can't wait for mine in Colorado the last weekend of Sept!!!

The Family - 2009

Our church scheduled to have a new directory made, so that means pics! Here's an updated picture of the Steve & Doreen Pester family 2009!

Favorite Magazine Writer

When I used to get Sports Illustrated, the first thing I would look at was the 3 or 4 awesome pictures in the front, then I'd flip to the last page and read Rick Reilly's work. I LOVE his outlook on life, sports and everything in between. When the subscription ran out, I missed reading his work.

Not to long ago he left SI and signed a contract with ESPN. Now every two weeks I'm able to once again read what he writes about and THROUGHLY enjoy it.

If I had to pic a favorite Magazine writer, hands down, it would be Rick Reilly!!!

Homeward Bound - Part Deux

Just got an amazing text message from my mom. It simply said,

"Pop's going home tomorrow."

WOW - Wow - wow! I'm astonished.

This morning when I called him, he was all gung-ho. Ate ALL his breakfast. (Which had not yet done.) Then told me when the Physical Therapist came through he was gonna get a walker and get going around the hospital.

Almost sounded like a man posessed! **GRIN**

Well, he did just that. He ate all his lunch and supper and got up, with assistance and took a shower - which he said felt absolutely fabulous - and did some good exercising.

The Dr's checked him out and said he's in good enough shape to head home, not even to a rehab facility. I guess he's being allowed to go home, home and use a home health nurse to help him the rest of the way!

That is absolutely amazing!

All I can say is, "God is Good!"

Home Again

After being with my Pop in a hospital all week I am SO very thankful to be home!

Can't wait to see my precious family in the morning and the cute little gifts I got for my girlieos! :)

Night all or rather an early Good morning!

Almost Home

I'm glad to be back in the South closer to home than I've been in a week ATL, GA. 2hrs & 30 min & I'll be home! Yippee.

The Return

I'm on the plane to fly home. It just hit me - I'm exhausted. Glad 2 have been here, but now am wore out! Gonna sleep good for the next 3 hours!

Sitting up with the Living

So Pop and I are sitting up just chillin! Greg & Herb came by for a visit and we enjoyed chatting. Pop has snoozed a bit then woke up and joined the fun.

He had lunch and the nurses have been in and out, then the Occupational Therapist came in and started him on his exercises - getting him up and around.

This morning after sitting for about 25 min he started to slouch and not feel so good - so we put him back in the bed.

The Physical therapist came in right after that and he wasn't too nice to the suggestion of some exercises! :)

After lunch though, the OT came and he got up did a few strength testing things, then he walked around the bed and to the chair. He's been sitting up and looking and obviously feeling quite strong.

I am HAPPY 'bout that!

So I'm sitting up with the living and really happy to be! (I know that's an improper sentence, but Whoopeeee!!!!)

Long Road Ahead

Well, Pop's doing great.

We did have a little 'event' last night.

He got up to use the portable 'throne' and while he was sitting there he started getting short of breath. When he got back up to climb back into the bed he got really light headed. So they ran and got a machine to measure his stats and his oxygen levels had dropped into the low 80's. They're supposed to be 90 or higher.

The short of it is, he's been in a hospital for just over 3 weeks and had very little exercise, if any. So, he's gotten kinda weak and his lungs are struggling to heal and the exertion was a bit much. Physical and Occupational Therapy are going to be here to day and give him an assessment and then tomorrow he'll begin a routine to helpfully strengthen his lungs and get mobile again.

The Dr just came by and said they'd read all the pathology reports and what they've decided he has is Acute Interstitial Lung Disease. Basically a swelling of the aeroli and a filling up of the empty spaces with 'gunk,' - the technical medical term. Hope we can find the background reason for why this stuff got introduced into his lungs!

Both of us slept well last night. They let him get some good sleep and hence got some good sleep myself! :) The guest bed in this room is MUCH more comfy than the one in the ICU. Almost wish I was sticking around a little longer now! :)

Gonna spend the last day here in Colorado with Pop and Mom, Aunt Evie & Judy and head to the airport about 4:30 to get ready to head home.

Today's Joelle's 8th birthday. Got up early and gave her a call. I sang "Happy Birthday" to her and could tell she got a huge grin on her face. I talked her for a min, then talked with Doreen for a sec as she was getting ready to go and hung up. A sec later my phone rang and it was the cute voice of Natalie saying, "Hi Daddy." Awwww - just made my heart melt. Can't wait to get home!

The room my Pop's now in has a nice window with a beautiful view of part of Denver and the mountains with snow on them. I like just sitting here looking out at the snow on them.

A nice view to have in my minds eye as I fly home on Frontier Airlines tonight!

Higher and Higher

We've moved up in the world. From 2nd floor to 6th floor!

Dad's been eating good meals and breathing fine on his own and seems to be doing well. Mom said that this is the best he's looked in 6 weeks.

He actually stood up to get in a wheel chair to get wheeled up his new regular room. That was impressive. He got winded pretty quick though, but considering what he's been through, that was pretty good!

Went over to Cousin Jeannie's place this afternoon to grab some clean clothes and get myself cleaned too. Had a great time talking with Matt and helping to set up their new plasma screen TV.

When I got back to the hospital some friends from one or two days ago, Heather and Melinda and kiddos stopped by to visit and it was fun thinking about days ago and finding out what's happening with 'em today.

This evening Aunt Evie, Judy, Mom and I went down to the cafeteria and I finally got the whole story from mom, beginning to end. Wow - what a situation/experience!

Sure glad it's coming to an end!

Can't wait to get back to my family. I'm gonna miss Joelle's 8th birthday, but Doreen's going to do something small and special for her tomorrow then we'll have a a proper birthday for her.

But that's all getting ahead of myself. Time to get a little sleep then up and see Pop continue to improve, talk with the Dr and see if we can finally get full report on all the pathology reports that are floating out there in never-never land and grab a plane home.

Should be a full busy and hopefully very good day!!!

Moving

Dad's been upgrade from ICU to a regular hospital room. Yeee haw!

So we're all set and just waiting for the moving team.

This is good cuz it means he's pretty much outta the woods!

Sunday Morning and All is Well

Today is the 6th day since Dad crashed and we all scrambled. He's doing well.

Neither of us really slept the best last night cuz he's having to cough up all the stuff in his chest and with the suction tube making it's noise and the mist breather making gurgles and the nurse coming in giving him some meds and taking blood, along with my bed feeling like I was sleeping on a rock for some reason, well not the best night of sleep around.

However, with that said, I'm really glad he's doing well. We've had some great conversations just chatting, him in his hospital bed and me stretched out on the hospital chair that converts into a bed thingy. It is sure nice he can talk and tell us what he wants.

He's looking forward to breakfast, even though it will still be a liquid only deal - for now.

Dad's sister, Aunt Evie, got here late yesterday evening. She's got a week off and gonna spend it here with my folks instead of going to Tunisia where her son, who is with the state department, is stationed. So she told us she saved Dad's life yesterday because had she headed off to Tunisia - something would have happened to bring her back home. So all credit for Dad getting better goes to Aunt Evie! **GRIN**

Aunt Evie took us all to Olive Garden last night and we had a great time just chatting and catching her up on the details the past 6 days. Then we got to talking about Octomom, welfare and unions. We're against 'em all! :)

Got my ticket to return home last night. Wanted to wait until Dad got off the ventilator and see how he was doing before I bought a ticket to return a couple of days later. So I'll be leaving late Monday night and getting back to Atlanta even later Monday night and then drive the two hours home. At least I won't have to deal with Atlanta's AWFUL traffic!

It has been very, VERY good to be here. The roller coaster thing with hearing occasional news updates on the phone were helpful, but the pits! I liked being here and able to talk with the Dr's and nurses and be able to see for myself how he was doing, good or bad and what the plan of action was etc!

The nice thing about being at a teaching hospital Dad's got an Attending (Teaching) Doc with a Brand New Doc and then about 3 residents that are looking clinically and educationally at his situation and discussing treatment plans and what not. That along with the latest greatest info and medication, I believe has helped as well.

He's had some great nurses, who all work 12 hour shifts here. So Mike, the Australian was his first RN on Tuesday evening. He did great - other than freaking Mom out with talk about a possible lung transplant! Let's see, Wed Day was Amy a new ICU Trainee and John her trainer. She's a Mexican lady with a funny sense off humor and John was very efficient, a good teacher it seems and reminded me a little of Steven Segal with the same short dark ponytail hair. Next was Chrissy, on Wed, Thur and Fri night. She's the Gretta Van Sustern on Fox News' On the Record voice Twin. Sounded exactly like her. Thur and Friday day was Morgan, the short ice cream fan who reminded me more of a dancer than a RN. Then Sabbath Day was Nichole and her really cool therapeutic shoes for people who have to stand all day. Tonight, Sat night was ???, she never said her name when I've been around - interesting. She wears these really freaky 50's style glasses with the wing tips and they're lite blue with sparkly things all around the front - very throwback to the 50's with a bit of color now. Interesting!

With that said, I firmly believe that if someone is in the hospital, you need someone else there as much as possible to be an advocate for the sick person. Sometimes Dad needed something and the nurse was no where to be seen and no responding to the call button and I'd chase whomever I could to help Pop with whatever he needed at the time. I learned that when Doreen was in the hospital giving birth (at different times) to our kiddos.

They really have good people here at The University of Colorado Hospital. Oh yeah - better clear that one up too. In an earlier post, I thought the name of the hospital was Denver University Hospital or DUH... well I was wrong. Sorry - now I have corrected it. :)

The ladies, (Mom, my sisters, Judy and Aunt Evie) should be arriving shortly. We'll sit and chat and 'pester' dad for a while. Staci and Cindi will be leaving around noon to head home to get back to families, work and life in general. (Kinda feels like we've been in a holding pattern this last week.) I'll head over to Cousin Jeannie's to grab a shower and help Matt & Jeannie hook up a huge 57" TV they recently acquired downstairs before heading back to take up my night watchman post at the hospital one more time before I head home Monday evening myself.

I've been very blessed to be able to be here, but hanging out in a hospital is not my idea of a really fun trip! I've been really glad to be here, but I can't wait to get home, I miss my wife and kiddos and my home, my bed and even my job. Plus, I need to get a racquetball league game played so I don't have to take a forfeit and automatically get dropped into the one loss bracket. I need to get beaten fair and square by my next opponent! :)

More later...

Huge Strides Forward

Dad is doing fantastically. (Is that a word?)

They pulled the tube and it's been really interesting to watch the transformation.

A first, he kinda just laid there with a mask with a cool mist for him and a suction tube to hold to suck all the gunk up he's coughing up. His voice was extremely raspy and we could tell the relief he had at getting that mess out.

We hung around with him for a while and then walked down to lunch. We were gonna grab lunch at this neat salad place, but it was closed due to the weather. We ended up settling for Subway. How disappointing.

When we got back had fallen asleep, so we went to the ICU waiting room and sat and chatted and talked/texted with friends and family on the phone with updates. Then we had some friends come by and visit, which was really nice.

I finally ended up back here and Pop's looking great. His voice is stronger, he's got some life in his eyes and doing well.

He's eaten some jello - to break him of this fasting program on which he's been. In fact, Pop's lost close to 80 pounds. He went into the hospital in Montrose at 260lbs and now, he's down to 176. Nice if he'll eat a bit better and keep it off. It's a weight loss program that works, but BOY is expensive and really hard on the family around!

Anyway, Mom and my Sisters used this special waterless shower cap the hospital has to wash his hair and he's feeling like a new man!

We feel like a new family again! Nice to have dad back.

Tube Free

Well, my Pop is finally tube free! PTL!!!

It truly is a good sight to see that Pop's sitting up on his own breathing normally and able to talk and be somewhat normal. They're giving him a bit of oxygen and he's got a suction tube to help with all the 'gunk' he's coughing up and he's still on an IV but that's all the 'extra' support he's getting.

Now, we're gonna just wait and see to make sure he doesn't crash again - hopefully!!!

We've had a feeling of relief go through the room!!!

I know I'm relieved anyway!

Progress

Well, Pop's been off the vent breathing on his own since 5ish this morning. He's been doing great and looking good.

The Dr's made their rounds this morning and decided he's doing good enough to pull the tube out completely.

So they've taken him off his feeding tube and pulled everything out of his stomach so there is no chance of any regurgitation causing problems post tube extraction.

After a couple hours they'll come in and pull the tube and that's a good thing, the thing for which we've been waiting.

This is encouraging! I like these little steps forward. And even the big steps!!!

Getting Stronger OR What a Weird Day

Dad was off the vent for almost 4 hours this morning doing very well. His breathing was a little fast, but better than when he's tried before. That was encouraging!

They haven't pulled the tube out just yet, basically because they are wanting to make sure that he will be successful off the tube and not have to be reintibated. (Not sure if I spelled that correctly.) Also, he still has lots of mucus coming up and it's easier to get it out with a suction tube inline than to cough it out when he's still kinda weak from this whole traumatic experience.

So this afternoon, he tried once again sans ventilator and did extremely well. In fact the Dr was seriously weighing options about to extract the tube or not. In the end, she decided to play it safe and leave it in overnight so he can get a good night of rest and possibly have it removed tomorrow if he continues to improve. Good move in my un-expert opinion!!!

One think I think has really helped is they put a 'slurry' in his feeding tube yesterday and I really think that has helped his energy and he actually looks a little more lively now! Wheeeew - what a relief. He's been cracking 'hand-jokes' and writing things down on a dry erase board and notepad that are quite humorous. He sat up and watched some TV this afternoon. So he's making progress. We'll see what's next!

On the weird day part of today...

They actually had a fire at the hospital - it wasn't a drill. Course the nurse came and calmly closed dad's door completely. Later she said that people are all the time burning toast or bagels and setting off the fire alarm. Nothing much to really worry about, this time! :)

Then, it's springtime here in Denver and they're expecting 10 to 20 inches of 'spring' by about noon tomorrow. Oh My Word!!!

I went over to cousin Jeannie's (where everyone else is sleeping - in Lakewood) and grabbed a shower and some clean clothes. Then I stopped at a store and picked up another long sleeve shirt and pants. I packed mostly shorts and t-shirts for spring weather not sleeping in a igloo (the sub zero temps in the hospital) or dealing with a full blown winter storm.

I'll try to remember to post a few pics of it when I return home and get the shots off my camera.

Well, another night - straight ahead - in the ICU of Colorado's University Hospital...

Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring!

Trying Again...

This morning, bright and early, they've turned the ventilator off again trying to see if he can breathe successfully on his own.

He's been doing really good, except his breaths per minute are a bit higher than they'd like to see.

Well, that's because he breathes a bit shallow normally. So, it's right on the boarder-line on whether they'll pull the vent tube today or not. I sure hope so, he's more than ready to have that thing out.

He and I had a pretty good chat this morning, most of it was one-sided since he can't talk yet. He was able to write a few questions down and get some stuff cleared up in his mind.

So, now we wait a couple hours and see. They'll draw some arterial blood to see how his oxygen levels in his blood are - then a couple hours later the Dr & residents will be by and decide to keep the tube in or pull it.

Fingers crossed...

Medical Two Step

Well, Thursday is done and I'm grumpy. But I guess it's the medical two step. Two steps forward, one step back.

The people here are very good, but very busy so It's felt like a real struggle to get any info on the biopsy pathology reports, they either don't have them here, or waiting for them to arrive, or want their own pathologist to look at the slides. So we're in a holding pattern.

Meanwhile, they took Dad off the ventilator for a while today. In fact the one Dr asked me to kinda clear us all away from his bedside, cuz they weren't happy with his breaths per minute. Then a short while later another Dr chased us all out of the room for a bit to see if it would get any better.

It didn't. So he's back on the ventilator. They want the resting breaths per minute somewhere between 16 & 24 and dad's hasn't gone below 32 when the ventilator's not breathing for him. Kinda like right now, everyone's gone for the evening, it's just Dad and me and he's breathing about 17 to 19 breaths per minute. I think he's feeling pretty frustrated. Not sure how to encourage him.

They gave him some nourishment in a feeding tube this evening. The nurse upped his meds this evening too so he'll get a good night of rest and we'll try the whole thing once again.

He made such good progress once we arrived here and now he's stalled out. Mom & Judy went on a couple of walks today. We all walked over to the Marble Slab Creamery for some comfort food! Yummmy!!!

Both Staci and I have finished a book and Cindi's workin' on hers. I gotta try and find another one somewhere. I've been playing my DS a LOT today. My brother-in-law loaned my Call of Duty 4 and I've been taking out my irritation, frustration and general all around grumpy mood on the bad guys in the game. Helps a bit! :)

Tomorrow I really hope to have some good info back on the biopsy, tests and pathology reports that have been floating around in never-never land forever!!!

But for now, I'm gonna crash in the room with my Pop, praying he'll get well soon!

Thursday in Denver University Hospital - DUH? Waa ha, ha, ha!

Yeah - ok - they have some different initials for it. Just don't remember what they are! Oh well. I needed something to chuckle about!

They people in this place are far from DUH! They're pretty sharp, getting things figured out.

A new day begins, full of hope.

Dad did great last night. I only remember 2 alarms coming from the machines he's hooked up too pumping stuff into him and checking his vitals constantly. One of them was an alarm that one of his drugs ran out.

Another hopeful sign is that his dependency on the vent has decreased. His PEEP number through the night has gone from an 8 to a 5. That's how much pressure is required to push air into his lungs. The Dr told me they'd like to see it at 4 before they try to take out the tubes.

She was just in and they're gonna do a couple more tests today and maybe get that puppy pulled outta there!!!

More to come...

Wed in Denver University Hospital Ends

Well, another day has gone by. Pop's doing a little better that he did while in the Montrose hospital. Those guys did their best, which was good, but these guys really seem to know their lung stuff!

Today they temporarily took Pop off the ventilator two times. The 1st was mid morning and he didn't do so well. He struggled, his Blood oxygen level dropped a bit and his blood pressure jumped a bit.

As the day progressed though, he seemed to be doing better. He responded to questions and instructions, reacted to a couple of jokes and his numbers remained steady. A couple of times he was getting pretty insistent that the tube be removed. He'd tap his feet on the foot board part of the bed and point at the tube with his restrained right hand. We'd ask him 'yes or no' questions to find out what he wanted and finally got to the question of if he wanted the tube out and he'd nod yes. :)

Late this afternoon they turned the vent off completely and let him breath on his own. He actually did pretty good with it. His number of breaths a minuted jumped but then he relaxed and did well. Though after a while you could tell he was beginning to fatigue. So they turned the ventilator back on.

He seems to be resting a lot more peacefully tonight than he was last night and that is a very good thing. Some good sleep will do him lots of good!

I got out of the hospital for a bit. Had to run to a store to pick up a razor for a shave and then over to my cousin's house, where everyone is staying for a shower. The 1st in over 48 hours. I needed it!!! Didn't want to scare all the nice people in the hospital off!!! Boy did it feel nice to get clean!!! Picked up a hoodie to wear in the hospital too. They keep it quite cool in here.

Right now, Mom, Judy (mom's best friend), Staci & Cindi have headed back for a night of sleep and I'm the night watchmen with my Pop. Along with Chrissy the RN, and Susan the CNA, and Mike the Australian Charge Nurse, and Dr F the resident and Dr ?? the Attending Dr, and the other patients in the ICU ward here. We're a cozy little family!!! :)

Quality Hospital Time

Is there such a thing a quality hospital time???

Well - if there is we're having it right now. Lots of time to sit and chat in a 20x20 room with a couple of chairs, a roll-about bed, a portable table, a sink and a hospital bed in the middle of the room with lots of tubes coming from it going to 3 different stands.

My Mom, my two sisters and I are just hanging out helping to keep Pop calm while he's wanting the vent tube out, but not 100% ready to breathe on his own yet.

They just did an broncoscopy to check and make sure that all is well in his lungs. They let us stay and 'watch the show.' Kinda disappointed they didn't provide popcorn during the show though. LOL

His lungs are looking good. Not sure if it's the steroids or the antibiotics or even what caused the problem in the first place. It - at this point - appears he has something irritate and inflame his lungs, and now they're trying to pinpoint the cause to avoid the problems in the future and then get in completely cleared up now.

Just playing a waiting game, they may try to pull the tube out tomorrow and see how he does on his own.

More updates latooooor!

CO Trip- Its a new

CO Trip- Its a new day they're doing tests & more tests. Pop rested well last night. Theyre decreasing his dependence on the vent. More info soon

CO Trip- Pops restin &

CO Trip- Pops restin & so will I - in more than a plane seat. Hopin the AM may bring a few more answers, less unknown & a bit more improvement.

CO Trip- Flew 2 DEN

CO Trip- Flew 2 DEN then 2 GJ. Rode 60 mi w the Pitzys 2 Montrose 2 see Ma n Pa. Then he got T-ferred 2 DEN & I drove back 2 DEN w Ma Judy & Siss

CO Trip - I'm @

CO Trip - I'm @ Den Univ Hospital w Pop. He's doing somewhat better but still on the vent. Exatly 24 hrs ago I was gettin up in TN 2 drive 2 ATL.

CO Trip - Finally @

CO Trip - Finally @ the Hosp. Thats good & bad. Its tough seein Pop like this. Waitin on transport to take him to Den Univ Hosp after 2p.

CO Trip - A tight

CO Trip - A tight 30 min t-fer in Den & a sprint down the concourse got me on the flight 2 Grand Junction, barely. Only 15 people on this plane.

CO Trip - usually enjoy

CO Trip - usually enjoy traveling alone, its peaceful & I relax, read or people-watch, but I really wish my fam was w/ me 4 support & distraction

CO Trip - Got up

CO Trip - Got up @ 2a, 2 drive 2 ATL. Checked in & walked the 4000ft 2 concouse D to get some walking in & just cuz my heart feels very heavy.

CO Trip - Im sitting

CO Trip - Im sitting in the ATL airport waiting 4 my last min flight 2 CO cuz Pops lungs r not doing well. I luv 2 fly but am dreading this one.

SonRise Participation

Southern Adventist University's Sonrise service is a blessing to walk through and lots of fun being a participant!

Thing is, all four of us are plum tuckered out!!! The weather was overcast and kinda windy resulting in a chilly day! It wasn't bad when we actually started our part of the event.

We were Jerusalem Travelers. The first scene is inside the Collegedale SDA church and then people head out the back door and through the field with all sorts of cool animals (Camels, chickens, a donkey, some goats a 3 day old zebra, a 6 month old lama, a rabbit a puppy and a cat) to Jerusalem. We're to kinda keep people moving and entertain/distract them until the previous group is far enough ahead they can open the gates.

Natalie went around with one of the college ladies moving people along have a fun part and Joelle stood down by the animals shouting, "Jesus is coming to Jerusalem." It was extremely precious!!















Joelle obviously spent extraordinary amounts of time in the field petting all the animals and loving it!

Doreen and I did various things, mostly harassing the guards and getting arrested!

After we repeated our part a number of times we actually went with a group all the way through the resurrection.

Awesome - MOST awesome!!!

SonRise Characters

Let me introduce you to a set of characters that will be traveling to Jerusalem at Southern Adventist Univsersity's SonRise service on Easter Sabbath.

Here is Esther and Sarai...













...and Obadiah and Miriam. We're really looking forward to it and it's going to be lots of fun and I pray many people will be blessed!!!

Moldy Teeth

Doreen needed to make a mold of a set of someone's teeth for a process evaluation at school. I was the lucky volunteer!!! (I was actually very glad to help out!) So here she is mixing up the goop that will take the impression.







This stuff sets extremely fast once it hits the 'ready' stage, so she stuffed it in the template and stuck it in my mouth and held it there for a bit till it completely set and had a clear impression of my teeth. Boy was that the weirdest feeling stuff and it didn't taste bad, but it was just odd all the way around.






And here's my soon-to-be Dental Hygienist with the excellent molds she made of my teeth! Neato!!!! :)

Water Witching

DISCLAIMER: This is not a post for or against the topic. I know nothing of it except our friends were able to do it to find a water well for their home and were successful!


We have some friends, Scot & Patti, who just built a beautiful new home and in the process did some 'water witching' to find water on their property to have a well dug.

Well - Doreen wanted to give it a try. One day we were over there for lunch and so afterwards we went and gave it a shot.

They got a metal hangar, cut it and bent it a couple of times then the 'witching' began.

Patti did it and then Doreen gave it a try. The hanger actually dropped at exactly the same place when Patti did it.


Of course the girls wanted to give it a try. Joelle had a hard time holding it properly and when she walked over the 'water' area, it jiggled but I don't think she was holding it right to work.







Natalie gave it a shot and couldn't hold it correctly at all and it didn't work at all for her.

I tried it once and it jiggled for me - but I'm not sure!

Scot showed us how he did it and the whole time was saying, "I don't believe, I don't believe, I don't believe." It didn't work and was SUPER hilarious.

Patti's dad has found a number places, including two in Africa, with water under the land and wells were put in and fresh water delivered to the people living there.

It's very interesting!

My Pop Report (Long Story Short)

Well, it's been an interesting week and a half.

Last Friday while we were in TX (look for a post on that trip later) my Grandma told me about how my Pop had walking pneumonia for at least two weeks.

I was surprised to hear it and bothered by the lack of proper treatment.

I planned to call the next morning and insist he go see a Dr for treatment when Mom called my phone that evening and told me Pop was in the hospital.

Turns out he has a bad case of double pneumonia and his blood pressure dropped really, REALLY low and he was dehydrated.

So they put him on an IV and started pumping fluids into him and other treatment for the pneumonia.

Turns out he didn't react well to the treatment and ended up in the ICU. He was there for a day and then back to a regular room.

While there the pumologist (I'm sure that's spelled wrong) wanted to do a lung biopsy to see what else was going on cuz the CAT Scan couldn't see much.

Yesterday he had a lapriscopic (also spelled wrong) surgery where they took a tissue sample the size of a plump and sent it to pathology. Then he spent the night on a ventilator and in ICU.

Today they got him off the ventilator and he's doing a bit better.

Still no report on the biopsy.

He's still got a long way to go. Hope they find out what it is soon and get working on a treatment plan for it!!!

Parent Teacher Conferences or Progress Reports

This week Doreen and I went to the kids school for our Parent/Teacher conferences to get a report on how our kiddos are doing.

Man - we're EXCITED about what we heard!

The best part is that Joelle brought up 4 sections in her Skill/Character Development area. She's showing more respect and reverence for Bible and Spiritual aspects of class. Her handwriting is much more legible. She also works well cooperatively and takes pride in the quality of her work. Awesome! We're excited that she didn't go down in any area! Woo hooo.

One awesome story Mrs R told us once while Joelle was taking a spelling test, she saw the words in another students desk and very quietly and discretely told the teacher, and not to get the other kid in trouble, but because she could see them and she didn't want to cheat. Wowwww! She told us a couple other stories like that and we just came out of that conference walking on air!!!

In the comment area of her grades Mrs R wrote, "Joelle is learning to stay on task better. Her handwriting is exceptional and her work is neatly done. It is great to see her confidence grow." Yesssss!

So, with that news, we went over to Natalie's teacher. And we walked out of that one with an even bigger smile, if that is possible.

Mrs. P told us that Natalie is right on where she needs to be in learning all the new concepts that get introduced each semester. She is such a helpful student and is a joy to have in class.

Mrs. P told us that Natalie reads to the class and she believes that Natalie's reading at a 1st grade 2nd semester level. Yeee hawwww!

She wrote in Natalie's report card comment section, "Natalie has progressed in all areas of the Kindergarten skills requirements. She has progressed in the area of reading especially. She reads to me and our class each day. She just completed a 1st grade reader. This is exciting."

Oh yeah - I have to definitely agree!!!

That was two great meetings. I hope to have the same type of them all through school. Don't want any of the other kind!!!

Here comes the last semester of school!

Socialism... Does It Work??

A friend of mine just posted this on her Facebook page and it so appropriate considering the way our country is being taken right now!

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An economics professor at Texas Tech said he had never failed a single student before but had, once, failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked; and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich - a great equalizer. The professor then said ok, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism.

All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A. After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. But, as the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too; so they studied little.. The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame, name calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great; but when government takes all the reward away; no one will try or want to succeed.

Could it be any simpler than that?