Category Archives: Stress

Eleven Days Ago

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We were involved in a bad car accident. No accident is good but we’re lucky we didn’t take my car when we headed to Long Island.

ImageYou can hardly see me but I’m in the passenger seat, holding my ribs and trying to breath. This was the front of Tom’s car.

ImageAnd the back end. We wondered how the tailgate was still attached.

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The person hit us low and hard.

ImageThis was the front of her car, which should tell you she wasn’t slowing down for traffic.

I saw her in the side view mirror about 2 seconds before she hit us. After that it was just boom, boom, airbags, dust, boom. (Her hitting us, us hitting trailer in front of us, us hitting the cement divider after getting tossed upwards and then sliding sideways.)

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The ambulance took us away and we spent about 3 1/2 hours in an Emergency Room.

X-rays and tetanus shot for him. Blood test, IV and CT scan for me.

All in all, we left the house at 8:30am and returned at 8:45pm and never got more than 2 hours from our home. Wes yelled at us for being away so long…he had no idea that he was just lucky we came home.

I’ve got bruised ribs and a possible fractured vertebrae (still waiting for results of a second CT scan) and Tom has a cut finger (?) and a possible concussion.

We’re lucky to be alive and for that I am very thankful.

Not the best bedtime story but it has a good ending, no?

And, to all a good night.

Three Days – Day Two

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And so continues the saga…

I forgot to include one of yesterday’s stops – and it was a really important one!

Cooooookies!

A visit to The Bakery, in Commack. I bought so much stuff that I had to leave some of it in my car, because I knew I’d just have to take it back out when I left.

Up and out, with a quick trip to Targhay (Target, for those not familiar with the fancy name) for essentials.

When staying in a hotel that’s clean and not creepy but not four star, one of the essentials is having your own tissues. If you’re one of those people that never needs tissues – unheard of – or someone that likes blowing your nose or wiping your eyes with sandpaper, then you’re good to go.

Kleenex box thru a fisheye lens

Popped over to Dad’s, “suited up”

Ain't she purty?

and set to work.

Here’s the before and after, which took me approximately 3.5 hours to clear. (Rox – look away!)

I had already removed a huge box of papers, before snapping the picture.

This is a beautiful typewriter desk that my Dad made for my Mom. The large door at the top swings and there’s a sliding platform inside.

I’m amazed at all of the pieces that my Dad made. I was living there when he made them but still, it breaks my heart that most of them will have to go somewhere other than my house or my brother’s.

With Mom’s words of “Check everything” echoing in my head, I only managed to clear out those little drawers along the top. I’d say that 95% went into the garbage – tons of dog pedigrees, recipes cut from the newspaper, etc. – but there were a few things for me to hang on to.

See ya, tomorrow, for the stunning conclusion!

Who's that gal, wearing the "Mom made this" top? I think there were bell bottom pants, to match!

Another Month…

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Where did January go? Here’s a quick round-up:

Dad – Still not settled anywhere but has had multiple trips to the hospital. His mental state has declined and he is now a “problem child”. This limits which places might consider accepting him. We’re visiting him when we can but he’s farther West from his house, and visiting hours are very limited. Visits are not a happy time.

SIL – She’s still hanging in and is surprisingly “sharp”, considering all of the pain medications she is on. She’s stubborn (in this case, it’s a good thing) and my brother is with her almost 16 hours a day keeping her company, helping to feed and turn her. I’m pretty sure he’s keeping her going, since the hospice care doesn’t seem as wonderful as the place my Mom had been. The hospital she is in is much farther East on the Island so a trip to visit her isn’t the same trip that we can see my Dad.

Today is the one month anniversary of their wedding!

Wes – He’s great and thanks you for asking.

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Dad’s house – Doing the best we can, seeing as it’s only me and Tom (with an occasional hand from a friend) trying to clear a whole house. As near as I can figure, it takes at least a week to do a room – the basement is a whole different ballgame. Taking into account that we can’t stay in the house and I don’t drive at night, that means only about 6 hours a day for working there (when I’m there by myself). Hotel bills are gonna be huge and we can’t really spend more than a day or two at a time, because of Tom’s work, chiropractor and doctor appointments. The lawyer’s office keeps asking if we’ve put it on the market yet. That kills me.

Garden – I have catalogs but still no room in our garage for seed-starting. Anything that I may want from Dad’s is living in my garage.

Knitting – I’m still knitting and, right now I’m working with some friends on a Super Secret Knitting Project. (OOOH! Cryptic!)

That’s about all. I don’t spend a lot of time on my computer but I’m always doing stuff on my phone. Twitter, G+, Instagram, texting,Email. I’d love to hear from people other than thru the blog…since I’m really slacking in that department. I don’t Facebook.

Here’s my take – and I’m stealing the quote from someone else so I’m probably messing it up:

“I want the message, just not the medium.”

I think about my blog a lot but there’s really nothing new going on. Like I said last time, I’ll try to be better about posting but…gah…