Musical Chairs

Friday, Feb 1st, the took Pepaw to the ER by ambulance.  He had sores on his legs (from diabetes) that were infected.  The infection became sepsis.  His blood sugar, blood pressure and fever were fluctating.  Saturday Libby had a tournament in Mulvane and both little girls had basketball games.   Memaw cannot be left alone, so when he's in the hospital we have to scramble to make sure someone is with Memaw 24/7.  So we got the weekend covered and got all of the girls to their games.

Then Monday night, they had to take Memaw to the ER.  She had been to the doctor that day and they had changed some of her medicine.  Her blood pressure had spiked very high which is particularlly dangerous for someone who has had a stroke.  So Bob had already picked Libby up from her basketball practice after school, so she and Bob were already up at the hosptial with Pepaw when Lena called to say they were taking Memaw to the ER. 

I was at basketball practice with Madi and Carlie.  So Bob took Libby to stay with Amira at Memaw and Pepaw's house while Lena took Memaw to the ER.  Memaw was still in the ER at 9pm.  They'd told us that they wouldn't admit her but they wanted to run a bag of IV antibiotics through her before they let her go home.  Libby needed to go to bed so she could go to school the next day.

So Bob picked up Libby AND Amira and brought them to our house.  By the time Memaw was done at 10:30pm, no one felt like trying to get Amira back home.  So she spent the night with us.  Then Bob took her back to Arlena early the next morning when he went to visit Pepaw before his school started.

Whew!!!

Reflection on 2011

I didn't post anything for the whole month of January.  No I didn't abandon my blog.  It's just been even crazier than usual around here.  I went to my first Physical Therapist appointment last week (that's a whole post on its own).  And as he was look at my back issue he asked what was going on in my life......well let's see.

In January I was just getting settled in at my new job at Via Christi.

• On January 28th, Lena's baby Amira was born and I got to be there for her birth.  That same night, we found out that my 55 year old Aunt Marsha had passed away. 
• In February we moved in to the 3 bedroom 2 bathroom trailer house permanently because we got tired of running around like crazy people trying to clean up our house in town every time they had a showing.  We thought it was only going to be for a few months.
• Late in February, I took Libby by myself to a basketball tournament in Ark City.  Between games I ran her to a department store and had a major grand mal seizure (never had one before) and was transported by ambulance to the hospital.
• In May my Memaw went to the funeral of her first husband in Indiana.  While there she had a massive stroke.  They transported her to a major hospital. We weren't sure if she was going to make it.
• As a family, we decided that my Memaw and Pepaw didn't have access to the health care they would need on their rural farm. So we started working on getting her moved to Wichita.  We could not find a way to transport her.
• Finally in June she was well enough to ride in a car, and my Sister-In-Law and Pepaw drove her (while she was on a matress in the back of their mini-van) all the way to Kansas and we got her into a Rehab Facility.  Carrie (my Sister-in-law) decided to stay in Wichita to help take care of Memaw.
• Pepaw brought his large RV up from Oklahoma and parked it on our land, and he and Carrie lived there while Memaw was in Rehab.
• Lena totalled her car in July.  She had to wait on insurance money before she could get another one, so she and Amira rode the bus to her school and baby sitter until she could get another one.  And we also helped pick her up and get her places.  She stayed with us alot that month that she didn't have a car.
• In August, both Frank and Libby were in Junior High.  And Bob started his first year as our head football coach.  He wanted to make a good impression so he was immersed in football.
• The first week in August I took the kids to get School Supplies at Walmart and had my second grand mal seizure and during the seizure was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher which gashed my head open and required six stitches and twelve staples and caused a concussion.  I had to have an MRI and was officially diagnosed with Epilespy.  I couldn't drive for 2 months, and had to carpool with my friend Sarah who blessedly lives a few houses down and works nearby the place I was working.  It SUCKS not being able to drive BTW. 
• Our whole routine also changed as Madi and Carlie went to their new grade school and the kids began riding the bus for the first time.  Frank was playing football, Bob was coaching football, Libby was playing volleyball.  I couldn't drive anyone anywhere.  And I was terrified that I would have another seizure.
• Dec 7th we found out that Memaw had to leave the Rehab facility THAT DAY.  We had no place to put her.  They were working on selling their farm in Oklahoma, but it wasn't done yet. They couldn't buy a house here in Wichita until their house was sold.  So we rented a hospital bed and moved Memaw into our living room.  Along with a lift, port-a-potty, wheel chair, etc.
• Then we had Thanksgiving and Christmas sandwiched in there.
• Then Dec 30th, we learned that their house in Oklahoma was finally going to close on Jan 7th.  So we rented a UHaul and went down there to pack up and move 30 years of house stuff and farm stuff.

So through noboy's fault....just that crazy thing called life....in the month of January we ended up with five adults (one of whom was in a wheel chair), four kids, three dogs (two mine and one theirs), three cats (Carrie is allergic to them BTW) living in a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom trailer house.

Oh, and did I mention that we were also building a house during that month, Madi and Carlie were playing Rec Basketball on Saturdays, Frank was wrestling at the Jr High, and Libby was on the Varsity Basketball team for Junior High.  Oh and Frank also call 911 on us...but that's another post too.

So that brings me back to why I went to see a Physical Therapist.  I hurt my back while we were doing all that moving and it wouldn't heal up.   So when the PT asked me what was going on in my life, I started rattling all this stuff off.  He looks at me with his mouth hanging open and goes "Well, you've got a few things on your plate!"  A Yep!!!!

Libby Regarding Summer at the Lake

Oh how I wish Memaw could read this!!!

This summer I went to Oklahoma To vis my grandma at the Ufalla Lake.  My cusin Jody, J.C., Ema and Samal.  My Uncles and Aints to.  I swam in the lake.  And I Drove the 4 wheeler in the forest with my cusins Megin and Buba and Frank.  Frank almost ran over a dear.  We sall lots of dear and rabbits.

And then my Aint had 3 cookouts in a row.  First night I don't know because I wasn't ther I was at my grandma's house.  The 2nd ay they had Fish they Fried us some Fish.  The 3rd day we had hamburgers and hot dogs. The Food was vary vary good.  That was the bestest thang I ate.

Then I go fishing with my grandpa evry morning.  It is vary fun.  I got to cut the fish.  And clean the fish.  And when were Done, I got to spash bleach water on the tables and floors.  And then get the hose and sprad the tables and floors.  It sormed bad 2 will we were cleaning the fish.

Then I went to My Memas house and we cleaned the houl house.  When we came back to the lake nobody was ther but us.  I was leving to come back to Kansas.  We met my Dad at Ponca City.  We at at a realy good Cina Star bufet.  The End

Living Life in a Fish Bowl

Usually and I tell stories about my kids….but I’m going to tell one on myself today. There is absolutely nothing normal about me or my life. Nor can I have a typical vacation. Memorial Day and the Redden Reunion turned out to be no exception!!



Bob and the kids went down on Wednesday. I had to work and didn’t go down until Saturday morning. So we had two vehicles down there. We had a great day on Saturday and went to the Reunion on Sunday. Bob and I had rented a nearby hotel room because my in-law house was full. Two of my Sister-in-laws were there along with one of their husbands and my grown niece. We decided we’d stay in the hotel room with all four kids on Sunday night and then get up that morning and head back to KS. We were going to stop by Tulsa on the way and see the older kids’ birthday family as well.



About 5pm on Sunday, I start throwing up. We go back to the hotel hoping it will pass quickly. Bob took the four kids down to the indoor pool so that I could rest. He was in the exercise room, watching the kids through the glass wall. He saw Libby dunk Madi and Carlie. And then she dunked Frank. We’ve told her and told her to leave him alone and he’s have severe issues with his temper and anger right now. When she dunked him, he chased her all the way out of the pool with murder in his eyes. She got up on a pool chair to get away from him and still her pursued her and punched her on the leg as hard as he could. All this happened before Bob could get to them. When Bob pulled him out of the pool, he got aggressive with Bob and started cursing at him and got in his face. Bob pushed him (not slammed him) up against a wall to contain him. Another gentleman at the pool saw this happening and tried to intervene. He was Christian man wearing a cross and told Bob something along the lines that he needed to parent in a Christian and loving manner. Bob explained to him that we believed the same way he did, but this was somewhat a special situation.



When they came back to the room, I remember them telling me that Frank had hit Libby. But I don’t remember them saying anything about the guy at the pool. Frank continued to be aggressive and angry. By that time I was really, really sick and we decided that I needed to go to the ER. I’ve had gastric bypass surgery. And when you get a stomach virus, you get really sick, really fast. We asked Memaw to come stay in the hotel with the kids. So we found ourselves in a small town ER on a holiday weekend near a very large lake. We sat in the waiting room for two hours with me throwing up into a bag as the police brought in handcuffed drunks, people who’d been in fist fights….you name it.



While we were gone, Frank put on his very best show for Memaw. He was throwing a fit and screaming and banging on the floor. We didn’t get home until 4am. Monday morning we sleep in, but we were both exhausted. We both NEED to be at work on Tuesday. We decided to drive the two vehicles home, but I got 30 miles away and called Bob and told him that I couldn’t drive safely. Bob didn’t want to leave his truck in OK, so he called my FIL and BIL. They came in Pepaw’s truck. My BIL Mike drove Bob’s truck home, Bob drove me home, and Pepaw drove his truck. I was so mortified!!! I slept all the way home. We had to cancel the visit with Frank and Libby’s birth family. We got home about 5pm, and had only been home a few minutes when my Mom called. I was half out of it. I told her I’d been throwing up…but I guess I didn’t tell her about the ER or about having the in-laws drive us home.



The next day Frank had a doctor’s appointment, so my Mom brought him to Wichita and I met them there. My Mom goes “What did you think about what they guy said to Bob at the pool?” And I go “Huh???” So she tells me all about it. I’d had no idea. So we have the meeting with the new doctor, and the Frank goes home with Mom. She asked him if he was good while he was in OK. He said “Mostly, except for the part when Mom was in the ER.” And my Mom goes “Huh?” and Frank says “Yeah, we all went back to the hotel room and then Dad took Mom to the ER.” And my Mom goes “And they left you in the hotel ALONE?!?!?!” And Frank says “No, Memaw came and stayed with us.” And then he got to telling Mom about Uncle Mike (my BIL by marriage) and how much he liked him. And he said “Yeah, Uncle Mike drove my Dad’s truck home.” And Mom goes “He did, why would he do that?” And Frank said “Because Pepaw was driving HIS truck.” And Mom goes “Well where was your Mom and Dad?” And Frank said “Well Dad was driving Mom in the minivan because she was sick.” Sooooo…she finally gets it all put together.



So later than night, Memaw calls Bob and tells us she’s really concerned about Frank and how awful he was acting at the hotel. They talk nearly an hour and Bob explains to her that we are in the process of changing Frank’s doctor and therapist. I took a bath, and then called my Mom to see if they made it home alright. Well apparently as soon as Memaw had hung up the phone with Bob, she’d called MY Mom and they’d discussed the situation.



And I love them all dearly and they are wonderfully supportive…and thank God we are all on the same page about what needs to be done for Frank. But I laid there in bed after I hung up with my Mom and thought “I feel like I’m a goldfish living in a round goldfish bowl. I don’t know what’s worse….that everyone can see everything that I do……or that I’m swimming around and around in circles….or that everyone is watching me swim around and around in circles!!!!”



At least my life is never boring.

Manic Monday

Wow. School starts on Wednesday, so today was our "dry run" to practice getting everyone into a routine. There was much screaming, wailing and gnashing of teeth, and it wasn't all from me.

Memaw and Pepaw are staying with us the next few days because we didn't have a babysitter. Madi wailed for close to an hour that she couldn't get up because she got NO sleep last night because Memaw snored all night.

Libby bawled for an hour because her contacts hurt when she put them in....she wailed and screamed. I wouldn't let her take them out. Frank got in trouble for shoving Libby....couldn't hardly blame him....I wanted to shove her too.

The only one who had a great morning was Carlie. Tonight is the Meet Your Teacher day. She woke me up at 4am asking if it was time to get up yet. I told her no...and she preceded to wake me up every thirty minutes until 6am asking the same question. At 6am....when I got up.....she sprang out of bed tearing around the house getting her clothes on and eating breakfast. She was ready to go at 6:15am....a world record for her.

I got to work and had to wait for a train to go by. While I was waiting and thunderstorm hit. I had an umbrella, so I decided I could run in from the parking lot. The sidewalk was flooded and by the time I made it to the office I was literally soaked to the skin from the waist down. I was so soaked that the vitamins in my pocket were melted.

I was freezing to death, so after it stopped raining I ran over to Kohls and got dry shoes, socks and pants. What a way to start the week!!!!

Playing with Fire

They go through a WEEK of fire safety at school. They hear about it on the children's TV shows they watch. We've TALKED about it. And yet, Libby, freshly 10 years old, decided to play with matches this weekend.

I had been working out at my in-laws's farm. I had my tools on their wooden front porch. I had taken matches and lighter fluid out to an area of the yard where I was burning a pile of old wood. When I was done, I set the matches and lighter fluid on the porch with my tools. My kids are between the ages of 6 and 11, and I THOUGHT all had enough common sense to not play with matches.

But I continued my yard work, and a little later in the day went up on the porch to pick up a tool, and I notice two burned matches on the WOODEN porch steps. Sigh. The two little girls are probably not coordinated enough to strike a match. None of the grown ups around would strike one on a WOODEN porch in the middle of a heat wave in JULY in OKLAHOMA. So that left two suspects.

I sat them both down and neither one of them new anything about the matches. My children think I have magical powers. I tell them that I KNOW one of them did it and even more precisely that they played with TWO matches. Libby finally said that she did it, but Frank did it too. Then Carlie chimes in "No, he didn't. I was there and saw you do it, and Frank didn't do any."

So Carlie and Frank got a swat for not telling on her. And Libby got several swats....for playing with matches...for lying to get Frank in trouble. Bob asked her later why she lied and said Frank did it too. She replied "Because I wanted us to be even. If I got in trouble I wanted him to get in trouble too."

When I asked WHY she had played with the matches, she said that Madi had gotten the box of matches wet with the water hose. So Libby was checking to see if the matches still worked. Gee, she'd HATE for me to have a box of matches that didn't work.

She also got Memaw riled up, because while they were spending the night in the camper, she put a towel over her bend legs and baby doll between them and proceeded to "Give Birth" with much grunting and groaning.

So I am telling this to one of my co-workers today. And he proceeds to tell me about his 12 year old daughter who has 400 friends on her facebook account, and has apparently given out her name and phone number to strangers on the internet. Because someone left a message on their phone at midnight asking for sexual favors.

I thought about it a moment, and then decided that maybe playing with matches wasn't so bad after all!!!

She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy!!!

We spent the weekend helping out my in-laws with their acreage. They brought in dirty, and we filled in holes and leveled out areas so that it would be easier to mow. It was fun to play in the dirt, and I think my hubby looked pretty hot on the tractor!!!!

Happy Birthday, Memaw!!!

Memaw is 49....er 59.....er 69 years young today! She had so much fun playing the kids' DSes that we got her one for her birthday. Two peas in a pod!!!

New Years with the Pools

Memaw and Pepaw came to bring in the New Year with us. We had a quiet evening with the kids and Arlena. We had tons of snacks, funny hats and noise makers. We actually had to bring in the New Year twice...once when the ball dropped in Times Square and once again when it was Midnight our time. The little girls barely made it...they were drooping when Midnight finally rolled around.

Mrs. Pool, I was really afraid for your kids!!!

When I was a high school teacher, I had been asked to go to a conference in Oklahoma City. My kids were ages 6, 5, 2 and 1 at the time. So Bob asked his mother, Arlene, to come down while I was gone and help him watch the kids.

I had also hired a high school girl that year to come and clean our house for us once a week. I told her that I was going to this conference, but that my Mother-in-law would be at the house, so she could go ahead and clean at her regular time.

Well Memaw took our new mini-van to the school to pick up Frank and Libby. Bob was at practice. When she got home, she said she was about to pee her pants, so she told the kids to stay in the car while she ran in the house to go to the bathroom, and then she'd come back out and unload the little girls and take them in the house.

Well while she's in the bathroom, she hears the Panic Alarm go off in the Mini-van "Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep..." She finishes her business and goes back outside. The kids (Frank and Libby) have locked themselves inside the mini-van....with the keys in there....and the two little girls....and have also somehow managed to set off the panic alarm.

**I** have the second set of keys in my purse with me....in Oklahoma City!! She tries to get the kids to unlock the door and they just look at her. Somehow she finally pursuades them to open the doors and she's able to get the little girls out....but even though the doors are unlocked, the panic alarm is still going strong. She presses the panic button, but it won't go off.

Note: When the doors are locked and there is movement inside the vehicle, the system assumes someone is trying to break into the car and sets off the alarm. The way to turn it off is to hold down the Panic Button for 10 seconds. But Memaw didn't know that!!!

Neighbors begin to call the house asking if She knows the car alarm is going off. The alarm continues to go off for another 15 minutes until it finally shuts itself off.

So when I come home from the trip, I ask how things went. Memaw tells me "Oh, we had this little issue of Frank and Libby setting off the car alarm, but we got it taken care of."

I really didn't think any more about it until I went to school the next Monday. The girl who cleans my house comes up to me during class and goes "Mrs. Pool...are your kids okay?" I'm like "Yeah, last time I checked....why wouldn't they be?" And Erica says "Well I was at your house cleaning it when your kids locked the keys in the mini-van and set the alarm off. And I was afraid for your kids!!!" And I respond "Yeah, I know about that, Memaw told me about it. Why were you afraid for them??" And she says "Well I went out there to try and help her turn the alarm off and get the kids out of the mini-van. And we couldn't figure it out. And when the kids finally unlocked the door, your Mother-In-Law was yelling and screaming and chasing them across the yard. And Mrs Pool, I was really afraid for your kids!!!"

Hmmmm....Memaw had neglected to tell me about that part. LOL.