The Red Beet

What a fantastic evening & scrumptious dinner at The Red Beet in Palmer with my LADIES!! Me, Susie,Char,Hannah,Jamie,Willow,Alice & Nikki! SO much fun, we laughed and laughed, a few happy tears, too!

And as promised here are a few photos of the kitchen:

This is where Sally makes the "MAGIC" happen! And this is the food wizard herself, making it look easy!!

Her food is AMAZING, the coffee-sublime! The ambiance is down to earth and so tasteful. Just a wonderful, comfortable space. We love it! Thank you Sally for doing what you do so well!!
We had such a good time and the ladies have promised to try to get together here once a month! YAY!
Life is good....

Volcanic delay!

The volcano (Mt. Redoubt) is setting my itinerary! It has been blowing it's top and causing flight cancellations. So, I am booked for Sunday and crossing my fingers. My Mom is really doing well, what a haul she's been through! She finally got her replacement glasses TODAY! The hospital lost her glasses during her surgery, so she has been without all this time. It was a huge relief to get them today.

I have been able to visit with some of my family and friends & reminisce about our childhood or the good ol' days. Some of them good, some bad...the sharing of the stories was all good! Wonderful to reconnect! Thank you Grace, Krystal, Susie, Jamie Alice, Kim & Andy. Lovely strong ladies. Tomorrow we are going to get a group together to go out to dinner at the Red Beet, a fantastic(!) restaurant here in Palmer. I'll try to take a picture of the kitchen to post here...it is a-m-a-z-i-n-g!

I am looking forward to my trip home to see my family. But I am taking the time to savor the end of my visit here.

Life is sweet!

Going home...

Ah, I have booked my flight back to my home, sweet, home!

Friday, March 27 & I can hardly wait. I miss my family and my pets and my home.I ordered seeds online today. They should be there waiting for me when I get home.If the weather is warm enough I will get my chickens ordered, too!

My Mom was released from the hospital on Friday the 13th. She continues to recover at home. She is on oxygen temporarily. I think she will be able to stop using it after her check up this Wednesday. I helped her do the application for social security disability, hopefully they get that approved in a timely fashion (right!).

We are considering having the entire family go up to Alaska for the summer. Depends on Lloyd's job at the mill. If the mill stays going, we'll stay put. If not, Alaska, here we come, for awhile.

Holly's groundbreaking ceremony is April 11th and the renovation work on her house starts April 22nd. I am sooo excited for her and the girls to have this dream come to fruition. Hopefully, Holly will finally get the financial breathing space she has been striving for, for years now. And having a home, with garden space, in town, for her and the girls...wonderful.

Lukas will be turning 15 on April 9th. We need to plan a fun day for him...maybe bowling?? We'll see what he wants to do. He sure is growing up fast! And what a fine young man, too. I love you, buddy.

Life is good & I am going HOME <3

Night Watch

Here I am in my Mother's hospital room. I have had a good night's sleep last night and a nap (and a double shot latte!)this afternoon in anticipation of being here and up over night. She had her epidural catheter removed today and 2 of the 5 chest tubes, also. Pain management takes on an entirely new meaning with the epidural out! Now the narcotics come in to play, ie: let the head games begin. In addition, it will take a day or so for a routine to settle in that will balance the pain coverage and her ability to cope, comfortably. On a positive note, her recovery is continuing to go very well. She would argue that the myriad of new IV's, blood tests, tape rashes, coughing fits, trips to far reaches of the hospital for various tests, shift changes, personality clashes with nurses, tv show interuptions, crappy food, changing meds, fevers, dressing changes, and many dignity defying events-SUCK! (and they DO!) Overall, she is recovering-slowly but surely.

Holly has done an excellent and amazing job of being at her side since her upgrade from critical care to progressive care. The nurse to patient ratio is lower and we all agree that there needs to be a family member with her at all times in this part of the hospital. That boils down to either me or Holly with her 24/7 or both of us here with her!! And as Murphy's law will prove every time- we both left, with other family here for a 2 hour, middle of the day break and all hell broke loose! She passed out and collapsed in my brother and her husbands arms (low blood pressure and weak legs combo from the epidural). She was unhurt, but scared the bejesus out of Grant and Archie!! Then today Holly went down to the cafeteria and the tape from Mom's brand new IV stuck to her face as she dozed off... When Holly returned a few minutes later there was what looked to be an IV in her cheek (it was just ON her cheek) and blood burbling out of her hand, all over the place!! So, I had to basically swear to Holly that I wouldn't leave the room while I am on duty for the next couple of days & nights. Holly went to get some well deserved rest. She is so good with my Mom. She is so amazingly patient with her. My Mother also has the greatest respect for Holly's intelligence and trust in her capabilities. Therefore, she is able to relax when Holly is at her side. Holly was afraid my feelings would be hurt at being relegated to #2 nurse on the list, but- it just makes me proud of how awesome she is!! I'm good-but Holly is "REAL GOOD"!!
Alaska is beautiful and I love the chance to visit with my family.
But, man do I miss my home, sweet, home!! And my sweet peeps who live there with me. *sniffle, sniff*

Life is good. Funny & hard & good.

Flying Colors!

After one whole week in the hospital to get her strong enough for surgery-She came through better than the surgeon expected!! She is amazing & her surgeon did an amazing job! She did not expect to live through the surgery & we basically all said goodbye Thursday evening. She is stronger than she seems and she even surpised herself this time! It has been very intense emotionally. It is nice to be in Alaska, it feels familiar, it is beautiful. It is really hard being away from home. The kids are doing a good job keeping things under control but...I feel helpless about things that need to be done there. And I miss Lloyd. He is sick and I am not there to comfort him. :( Or get comfort from him. *sniff* I am pretty drained so...I have more to say but I need energy and time to sort my thoughts first.

Life is precious

I'm so happy that my mama is still alive!