10 November 08 - 15:24Good News, well, sort of

Last Tuesday, Mom, Cindy, Becky and I all went to the the doctor's office to hear the results of the PET scan.  It was a very tense time as we didn't know what we would hear.  Well, the cancer looks like it is still just in the thorax area.  Nothing in the bones or liver or brain yet.  That means mom has about a year or maybe a bit longer to live.  She does want to see her new dogwood trees bloom in the spring, and see Cindy's daughter get married in September.  It looks like that just may happen.  That also gives more time to clean out the house and sell it.  Maybe the housing market will be a bit better late Spring.  I sure hope so as mom may need all the money that she can get.  So we all went to McGraths and celebrated.  Seems weird to think of it as the "last" this and the "last" that.  We went to the gem and mineral show on Friday, and she commented about not making it to any more. ... (more)

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02 November 08 - 16:01A Busy Saturday

Of course, when I call my Saturday busy, it's nothing like our kid's Saturdays, with all their kids' activities.  But mine was fairly busy.  Of course like most Saturdays, Bill and went to the church and ran off the bulletin for Sunday, then visited his mother in the nursing home.  She still wasn't through eating and so we went into the Alzeimer's Unit where she eats her meals.  (Closer supervision there)  She was eating ice cream and kept looking at me and grinning like she knew something I didn't know.  Sort of like when kids taunt each other with "neiner, neiner, neiner".  Maybe it was because she had ice cream, and I didn't have any.  She just sort of ignored Bill.  Once in a while she would look at him.  Sometimes the meds don't work quite as well as other times.  When she was done eating we took her back to her room.  I straightened up her clothes in her closet. ... (more)

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29 October 08 - 11:22Living and dying

Not sure I can carry this through, but I'll try.  I have a wonderful mother who has had 90 years, so it's not like her life is being cut short like so many people's life is, but it is still hard to deal with the fact that her cancer has come back.  She is having a PET scan today to see if it is in her bones and other places besides in her chest area.  She is still independent and lives along so that is a worry.  Fortunately I only live about 12 miles away, but the unfortunate thing is that I'm now the only child (that's an oximoron considering my age).  My only sister was killed when she was not quite 24 years old.  I worry about being able to help her and getting the help I need to make sure she is comfortable through this last stage of her life.  I remember the nightmare of my father dying from a brain tumor and the length of time that he fought to live, and I get scared all over again. ... (more)

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23 January 08 - 13:57Growing Up

Since our children have all grown up and flown the coup, I've decided that most of the things that I have to blog about would be totally boring, so I'm going to add stories about growing up in the 1940'2 and 50's.  Things were a whole lot different then than they are now.  Kathy

                                          FRIENDS

Growing up, my best friend was Karol Woods. We knew each other from about age 2. Her dad was also worked at a dairy and then later worked at a dairy plant. Our friends all centered around the dairy business in the first years we lived in Oregon. When Dad bought some land from the Gilhams, a few years later, the Woods also bought some land from them and lived just up the road from us. ... (more)

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22 January 08 - 19:10Searching For our Keepsakes

In Sep 1984 our home in Bothell Washington was burglarized.  Certain keepsakes were taken and never recovered. 

Our daughter's "post card" album.  It included letters from her great uncle during World War II. 

Complete set of Silver Plate that belonged to Bill's sister before she died of polio in 1950. 

Springfield Military rifle, model 1903A3, Cal. 30-06, Serial number 3547871. 

 And last but not least - a Savage Lever action Model 99EG Cal 300 Sav.  Serial number: unknown.  Distinctive mark: Lyman peep site replaced the open site.  Mfg. 1952-1953.  This was given to Bill from his father.  

I know this is a weird way to start a blog, but we thought it was worth a try to get this information out into the public arena.

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