A long life, a bittersweet farewell

Sorry for the lack of posts.  I've been sick, hurt my neck, and generally haven't had anything interesting or meaningful to post (good or bad).  

My wife's mom passed away on Saturday.  Not exactly how we had intended to spend Valentine's day but life moves forward despite our calendars.

Anne had been in an assisted living home since last year.  Several years ago, my wife and her sister decided that they would take care of their parents at home for as long as they could.  Both David and Anne had been suffering from various ailments over the years - Alzheimer's, hip replacements, pacemakers, dementia, blindness all of which limited their mobility and activities.  David was in and out of the hospital the last few years with infections and illnesses.  At one point over Easter weekend when we were at the hospital, I honestly thought he wasn't going to survive the night but I was wrong.  David passed away two years ago in hospice care.  

Before her cancer surgery last year, both SIL and my wife decided that they could not take care of her during SIL's recovery and it was time to consider assisted living.  That was a hard decision for them to make and took a lot of heated debate.  Lots of unsolicited advice and opinions were offered by the rest of the family but ultimately it was their call and I respected their choice.

For the past year, Anne has been doing well in the home.  She was well cared for and had been stable for a long while.  Friday afternoon she started having problems breathing and the hospice nurse called us and said she was going downhill.  My wife and SIL went up to the home Friday to spend the evening with her.  She wasn't fully conscious but she seemed to recognize them being there.  They left late in the evening and were planning to go back up on Saturday when the nurse called and said she had passed peacefully.   

Given her age (91) and ailments, we had expected this day would come.  Given that, we were still not fully prepared.  The suddenness of her passing is what caught us off guard.  We felt that we would be sitting with her for at least the weekend or longer.  My wife was torn up from not being there when she passed.  We spent the afternoon with her saying our final good-byes.  My son and his wife were on their way down from Austin but did not make it in time.  We did spend the weekend with them remembering Anne and all of the good times/stories.  

Now comes the post plans.  People keep asking me what we are going to do.  Both Anne and David are from Arkansas.  All of their family is up there and they have a family plot.  When David passed two years ago, we had him cremated and have kept his ashes at home on the idea that, when Anne passes, we would take them back home to be buried with the family.  That is where we are at now.  The problem is SIL is too ill to travel.  She can barely tolerate a trip across town much less a trip across the state.  And flying is completely out of the question.  On top of that, my wife is taking full time car of her sister (still taking chemo), so she is not sure she can go for an extended trip.  We are not sure what we will do at this stage, but we are working out tentative plans for a trip north.

I know a lot of you guys have dealt with this exact same situation and I admire how you handled it on your end.  Grieving comes hard for me.  I know in my mind and heart that this is inevitable, but, when it happens I am still never prepared.  

Putting out fires

As I said earlier, it was an interesting week last week.  Things are backing up at the office, the dogs need grooming, SIL is still having a rough time with her recovery, came home to an a/c leak in the bedroom, and wound up putting out fires (not literally).

First work - it's review time again at the office.  That time of the year where you boil down everyone's accomplishments, tasks, achievements into a single piece of paper and grade them on a very subjective scale.  For me, it's hard to take a year's worth of work and cram it all into one 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, not matter how small I write.  I have hated review time ever since I was in the Army.  And for what?  A meager 1-2% increase?  I'd rather just give them the money and say thanks.  I am especially bummed this year because I missed the deadline to get one of my people promoted.  I tried to make a deal with my boss and accounting.  Even offered up part of my increase to see if it would open the door but no dice.  No matter how much increase I give her, no matter how glowing the review I write, she won't be happy.  As a manager, I'm told I need to grow thick skin and look at this from the business perspective, but I call BS.  For the amount of increase it would take, it wouldn't really break the bank.  

The dogs are up to their their typical antics.  We have been under a drought down here for a while so the local park is full of goatheads and grass spurs.  Every time I take them to the part in the evening, I wind up picking off about 25-50 of those thorny bastards off of each one.  Especially Ms Claire who just HAS to roll in the grass every time.  Gawd, if she weren't so cute when she does it, I'd have give her a Chihuahua haircut.  Still, I am taking both of them to the vet next week for their summer cuts.  Maybe it will cut down on the tumbleweeds of dog hair that roam the house.   

Mother's Day last weekend.  I hope all you mothers out there had a great time (or at least some peace & quiet).  I went over to my mom's last Saturday to spend time with her because I knew I would be tapped to help SIL on Sunday.  Good time spent with her and my brother.  She's still going strong 91 and not signs of letting up.  Some of the discussion was around nursing homes.  My dad is the eldest boy of his family and his younger brother was moving into a home.      

SIL is still having a hard time.  She restarted Chemo and it is really kicking her ass.  was nauseous for most of the weekend.  So much so that we took her back to the ER on Monday to get things right.  I spent the day on Sunday with her and her cats to give my wife a break.  While there, I was watching some videos on my iPad and there was a loud pop and the power flashed off and on for a moment.  Sounded like it came from the back yard so I went out to investigate.  Heard the neighbors out but could not see anything until I spotted a small cloud of smoke coming from behind their fence line.  SIL lives on a small creek/bayou and it is usually unmowed (unkept) so there is a lot of grass.  With the drought I mentioned earlier, I realized that any small fire could get out of hand, so I tried to get the hose on the hot spots but the gate was locked.  I picked up a fire extinguisher and sprinted down the block to get to it from the other side.  A neighbor had the same idea and we tackled the fires together while someone called the fire department.  There were three small fires burning and we got most of them out with our fire extinguishers before they ran out.  By the time the fire department showed up, it was pretty much all over.  The grass was so dry that it could have gotten ugly real fast.  Never figured out what caused the fire - the power line transformers were intact and none of the fuses were tripped.  We think that one of the local tree rats (aka squirrel) might have made contact with the power lines and, well, met his maker.  That's enough drama for one day.

Normally I try to do some Mother's Day meme, but I just got behind (aka lazy) and overlooked it.  With all of the Let It Go parodys out there, but this one I found pretty darned awesome, so I offer it up to all you momma's out there.   

Summer plans

I haven't pulled the trigger on the Marathon, yet.  They just opened up registration for the Run for a Reason sign up on Thursday, but the general lottery doesn't open up until the 5th.  I  am debating taking my chances in the lottery and letting the running gods decide my fate.  Still, I started this gig 5 years ago for a reason.  Not sure I am ready to hang up my laces.  I appreciate everyone's support/encouragement, but as some pointed out, this is up to one person - moi.  Like they say in the movies, the buck stops here.  I hope to call the ball this week.  

Meanwhile, in non-running news, the weekend has been pretty quiet/uneventful.  That old 90 year old lady across town is doing well.  Definitely feeling better.  She is going back to the doc this week to get a check up and hopes to get cleared to enable them to head north to South Dakota for their international rally.  She's one feisty old broad.  Not one to let a little thing like getting a new pacemaker keep her from hitting the road.  

We are mucho busy over here as well.  Typically, our summer plans have been chaotic.  Back when we did the scout shtick  every summer I spend a week + in scout camp with my son.  Two summers I spend two weeks at Philmont.  When my son went off to college, we kinda got our lives back but we didn't have any solid vacation plans and my job had me jetting off around the states for various audits.  This year seems to be even more packed with work stuff.  We have an ongoing major software validation for our new plant that will eat up most of June with testing/reports.  I also have a number of audits to conduct this year which will have me on the road way more than I have in the past.  I mentioned earlier about the number of placed we need to visit and it has only grown since then.  Most of the Midwest sites (aka Minnesota) are being done by my boss or one of my buyers.  I've been tagged with the international road trips this year.  Looks like I will be headed back to Belgium late June for a couple of audits.  I had hoped to work out a short side trip to London, but I am traveling with a coworker this time and will not have as much leeway as before.  I still need to make a hop out to California for an audit in July but the logistics still need to be worked out.  The big one is a week plus trip to China in late July or early August.  Got to audit/tour/visit a supplier in Hong Kong and, since we are going all that way, I am trying to coordinate a visit with several suppliers at the same time.  My philosophy is, if I am going to do an extended flight halfway around the globe, we are going to maximize our time in country.  Last fall, when we flew to Manila, we had just enough time to do the audit and then fly back home.  I am hoping for a few more days to get in a few more companies and see some local sights.  Going into China will be a new twist for me.  Oh, sure, all this international travel SOUNDS all sexy and glorious, but we are talking about a 22+ hour flight to Hong Kong and a 14+ hour flight to Belgium.  I love to travel but, to spent one entire day of my life strapped inside of a metal tube with 300 other bodies flying 35,000 feet above the globe is not all that glamorous, despite all the air miles and hot towels.  At least I know enough to plan accordingly.  Nano's charged up, scoped out the on board movie listing, loaded up on Advil PM, tagged several books for the ride.  I haven't made the jump to at Kindle or Nook.  I'm old school - prefer turning pages and using a bookmark.  Besides, I have never been told to turn off my book while taxiing to the runway.  With that much chair time, my plan is to polish off one or two good books while in transit.  Top of my list, a compelling ready by Lotta Joy - Treadwell.  Something I have been looking forward to for some time.  With an increase in my travels over the past few years and I have gotten into a habit of collecting books for the flights/airports.  It makes all the delays and flight times more tolerable.  I tend to get somewhat compulsive about my reading - when I get hooked on a story, I cannot put it down until the final chapter.  Looking forward to some interesting stories during the long flights.  

Mother's Day, strange cars and dog stuff

Had an good Mother's Day.  Spend a few hours over with my mom and dad at their house before going to my brother's place for burgers.  Of course, I took the furry kids with me just to keep them from getting bored and get them out of the house.  They made the rounds mooching off of everyone, getting more a few handouts and generally enjoying being the center of attention.  Claire, being the consummate mooch, was just soaking up the extra attention.   

Saturday the annual Art Car parade.  It is the annual celebration of the creative & kooky side of Houston where the canvas comes with wheels.  Lots of cars with all sorts of unique  and interesting themes.  This show has been going on for a while (this year is the 26th Annual parade).  I've known of the parade for a few years but only attended the parade for the first time last year and made a mental note to attend this year.  Got to see lots of different cars/displays.  Some of the old favorites were there, many new ones.  Not sure what the rules are and what you can or cannot do, but I think the primary requirement is for it to be mobile.  

I was considering taking the dogs as they would enjoy the outdoors and sights & sounds, but the parade posting said to leave Fido home.  Turned out that nobody paid any attention to those instructions as I saw lots of furry critters along the parade route.  May take my two next year.  

And speaking of dogs, an update on the dog front.  Grayson has been pretty patient with his whole procedure and post op care.  Not exactly happy with the horse collar he has to wear, but way happier than the cone of shame.  He did pretty well all week and didn't have any problems, although the collar does generate a bit more sympathy (aka attention) than normal.  The biopsies came back on Thursday negative - so no cancer or other issues to worry about (thanks for all the prayers and blog juju).  I took him in on Saturday to get his staples pulled and get checked out.  He seemed much happier and glad to lose the collar, but later in the day, when I checked him out, I notice that they had not pulled all the staples.  Several were still in place on his back and side.  Did they just miss those?  And the incisions on his neck are still oozing a bit.  The technician said to just put some neosporin on the wounds but I ain't happy with the way they look so I am headed back to the vet today to get him checked out.  So far, this hasn't slowed Grayson down a bit, but I am concerned with the neck wounds and how they are healing.  

¡Feliz día de la madre!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers out there!

Through the mounds of diapers/pampers, formula, late night changing, sleepless nights, clothes permanently stained with spit up, scrapes, banged up knees, fender benders, arguments, grey hairs, wrinkles, and lost vacations, you've always been there for us.  They say it takes a special person to be a mom.  Someone with the patience of Job, someone with the wisdom of Solomon, someone to mend hurt and make everything alright again.   

Mom, I may get my mechanic skills and the ability to cuss from dad, but I owe my brains, my sense of humor and good looks to you.  You taught me right from wrong, when to say yes, when to say no, when to turn the other cheek, when to not run, when to laugh, when to cry.  Not every mom is June Cleaver, and I might be slightly biased, but I think I got the best.  Thanks for all of your love and guidance over these many, many years.  And thanks for the butter scotch pies.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Family time

Super bowl weekend.  Anyone really gearing up for it?  Honestly, if your team is not on the sidelines in New Orleans, what's the interest level?  Not really planning anything special, but I will probably watch tonight's game if only for the over hyped commercials.  But I have even seen a few of commercials on the net already.  Not even sure if we will make it back in time for kick off.  My mom is turning 90 on Monday.  My older brother (the one who lives in a yurt in Seattle) made it a point to fly back down this weekend for her birthday.  Since Monday is a school night for many, the family is planning a big birthday dinner party at an fancy Italian restaurant across town.  Everyone is going to be there.  Sons, grandsons, DILs, wives, and 2 grandkids.  Should be a fun time.  We even got the restaurant to open back up just for us (normally closed on Superbowl Sunday).  Mom is still pretty spry for a 90 year old lady.  Both her and dad are still out roaming the countryside  in their trailer.  They are even up in Montgomery today at a rally with their Airstream club.  So far, they have show little signs of slowing down and I am happy that they are as active and mobile as they are.  Stephen found this little nugget on the Internet for her birthday.  

Trailer life is for the birds

Stephen and Rebecca came home late Friday to attend the party as well.  Good to see the kids again.  We went out to Outback last night with them and her parents and afterwards we went to their home to play a board game called Acquire.  An old fashioned board game that is a cross between monopoly and risk.  You buy and sell hotels and try to make as money as you can:

• Acquire is one of the older games to be played at ManorCon. The players form chains of hotels on the board, and then buy shares in them. As the chains expand, their value increases. Eventually takeovers start to occur, with the larger chains swallowing up the smaller ones. When this happens, the shareholders in the smaller chains are bought out, with a nice little cash bonus going to the two largest shareholders. Of course, their are new chains appearing all the time, a few of which grow to be large, but most get swallowed up by the large chains before they have a chance. Eventually the hotel market becomes saturated, at which point the players count up their money and the value of their shares, with the player with the highest value winning.

We had never played it before so it took a bit of learning but we finally got the hang of it.  We haven't done board games in a while and, despite my grumpy nature, it was kind of fun (in a geeky way), but it requires some thinking/strategy.  I think I'll stick to something simpler like Mexican train.

With all the technological devices available and video games, it is nice to sometimes go old school with the family.  

Motherhood

Nope.  Still not done with my shopping.  I am still hunting for the right gifts for the nephews, parents, but keep striking out.  Spent most of yesterday searching for ideas, but kept coming up empty.  I even made the trek to the mall yesterday for several hours but only came away with something for momma thanks to James Avery.  I will be out again today to try and tie this one off.      

In interim, to all the hard working moms out there cooking and wrapping for the holidays, this one's for you...

Mother may I?

Happy Mother's Day!

Here's a toast to all the hard working, dedicated, tireless moms out there (especially to my mom and my wife).


Once again, men and boys everywhere are scrambling to buy last minute cards and flowers and a boxes of chocolates for the most important woman in their life.  


Happy Mothers Day terri, abby, meleah, judy, ShadowRun300!!!


We have so much to be grateful for. You brought us into this world, loved us unconditionally, showed us how things are done, healed our hurts, paid our bills, and set us on the path of life. No mere card or flowers or cheesy bauble or hallmark memento can ever express the gratitude I/we owe. I couldn't even hold a candle to what you ladies do, thanks for making it all happen. It may be just one guy's opinion, but I think the hardest thing of being a mom is letting your children go. 

Thanks Mom!

And remember, you made me what I am so, in some way, you are to blame...

89 and holding

I forgot to mention that my mom celebrated her 89th birthday yesterday.   We went out to dinner with her and my dad and my older brother last night.  Hard to keep up with those two.  88+ years old and they're still traveling the highways and byways of America in their trailer.  They just got back from the valley for two weeks and will be off again in another 3 or 4.  If you want to see them, you almost have to make an appointment.  

89 years young and still kicking 

Geez.  We figure the only way we'll ever get them to slow down will be to take the wheels off their trailer.