live each moment.....

i titled this post before I wrote...cuz thats what has been going on in our life for the last while. I'd post the whole quote if i knew it properly, but its not my forte-I love those wonderful quotes, but am terrible at quoting them-thats Alyssas forte!! Anyway, its not everyday, or just anyone that gets the opportunity to have a second chance, or even a wake up call to realize that life is short and lets make the best of it!! Here's our families story...

Last Thursday evening, at 1120 pm, our phone rings and its Anita asking what she should do with my dad. He was having severe chest pain, and looked rather unwell. Sounded like classic heart attack symptoms to me, and suggested he needed to go to hospital. Quick discussion ensued and conclusion was they would take and we'd go from there. I hang up the phone and my mind is running amok with all these thoughts!!! My dad had spoken to my sister by phone that day, and he had visited Rol's house, my house, and had gone to Rogers for night. That along with Beth being home for the weekend, gave me one of those spine tingling shivers that is indicative of something not aligning positively. Del very quickly and wonderfully knew that I would not relax and wait at home and we left to join Rog, Anita and dad at the hospital. By the time we arrived, they had dad hooked up to the appropriate machines...(the wonderful fellow staffers i work with!!) After tests and assessments, a phone call to the city by our doc had dad in an ambulance and transferred to the city. We went home to 'sleep' and prepare for the day ahead. To make a long story a little shorter.......from one hospital to another following a CT, a diagnosis of a dissected aorta it was! Consultation with appropriate specialists and surgery was ruled out as an option....... from ER to ICU to regular room, to home tonight. To rogers house tonight. And rotated through our homes for the next few days. The plan is to treat this by keeping the blood pressure on the low side. This for a man who had not been required to take medication till now. Ahhh my stubborn wonderful father. This will be a challenge for everyone.. us not to smother him, and him to give up some of his independence! Yes, he has been given the gift to see another day, but there is no guarantee of how many or how long. Quick note of explanation-dissected aorta...tear in the lining of the aorta, the main blood vessel leading away from the heart-dad has 2 tears in his aorta.
So he is tiring easy, has dizzy spells when moving about, and is having some memory issues. Hopefully time and plenty of rest and T'LC will help with these issues.

And that is what we've been 'doing' the last week. Amazing how lifes priorities change with one phone call! Life keeps going around you, and you blink and try to catch up!

So, tomorrow my dad is hanging out at our house......I guess its time for me to play chess or checkers...will be interesting!

Love spring!!

What to watch on a saturday at home??? By myself??? Lol!!! Well, actually its me, Kyle and 3 of his buddies. and of course they are playing video games, and I get the remote to myself. There's nothing to watch!!!! 5 minutes at each show!!! Lol!! Now I'm onto 'dance your a** off.' Hve never seen this one before, but I'm slightly intrigued. Del & Jayde are at a weekend away-Jayde's last weekend of hockey. Kyle has retired his equipment for the season. This next week I will throw Jaydes stuff into the washer! Yes!! My vacation time has come and gone, and I'm back into regular hours at work. feels like i never left!!! Worked a 12 hr day today, first of 4 shifts in a row. Only 3 to go!!! Spring is on us....the thaw is on. Water levels are rising in the ditches, snow levels are going down. Bring on the sunshine!! Boys are registered once again for soccer, against what I had thought we would do. I vowed last spring that we were not attempting that again...but they have come up with some valid points of why they should.....so we will go for it! Some things to think about, that have crossed my mind this last month. -how much does it take to awake that mama bear inside you, and come out growling??? I found out my inner mama bear is alive and well!!! Lol!!! Even tho they don't need me to fight their battles/issues, mama still gets worked up and wants to help them thru whatever comes their way-and yes, it takes alot of willpower to parent for their future-be a guide, supporter, and not a control freak. Yes they have to make decisions and live with consequences. -how to trust people around you and believe in that???? People, whether family or friends, will always let you down. no one is made perfect, and we all have to give and take. Just sometimes theres a little more of one and less of the other! And we still love each other thru 'thick and thin'. -politics is over -rated!! Like seriously-do we need to spend millions on another election???? I'm tired of the constant 'bickering' among parties, jockeying about who has screwed up more?? Peace and love!!! Come on!! lol! -music-loved watching American Country Music Awards!!! Some great performers!!! Wasn't that emotional to see the piece by Darius Rucker and the special needs adults???? What a wonderful experience for them!!! Definite tear jerker!!! And Carrie Underwood!!! Wow!! Yeah, I'm a music fanatic!!! Almost as good as the 80's, eh Michelle??? :-) -relationships require work. Hard work. effort and energy required. yeah, I'm back to people..... -oh, yeah..... made me realize what i love to do at work.. Yes, i actually like my job somedays. or what i get to do somedays. Somedays i actually get to make a difference in peoples lives!!! Somedays I actually leave work feeling like a made enough a difference in someones life that I know it was meant to be!!! No rush like that rush!!! And yes, somedays i feel like I haven't done enough to make a difference.....and therein lies the challenge to do better next time!!! -alot of hurting people out there......yes, we all know people that are needing some extra TLC. Some people won't admit it, but will absorb love/attention like a sponge. And maybe that little extra we give will be the difference between life and death for them. Yes, it could be. Thats enough deep. I watched about 7 min of that dance show. the end of it. hmmmm, don't know if i'd watch it again. Good intentions of that show, but you gotta be awfully strong emotionally to be there. So, my TV is back to a music show! thats my kind of entertainment!! Good beat, great sound, awesome vocals...love it!!