Thank Goodness for Weekends

I am itching to settle into reading this weekend, although it might not happen as long as I would like. I am on a new series called the Sookie Stackhouse books and I am hooked. I can see how Twilight was adapted from this series, although these books are for adults. :)

However, I need to catch up on bookwork on Saturday at the station because my parents are out of town again in Houston. Dad is getting more chemo and they are having it all done down there. He has to go through four treatments, this is treatment number two. He goes back at the end of April and then the middle of May. So hopefully it does stop the cancer from growing. In the meantime, I get to get caught up on the sheets that my mom usually does, but I am slowly teaching myself how to do them.

Then since the parents are away, we have orders from them to go to church on Sunday because of it being Palm Sunday. I think my mom just wants us to go to the bake sale after church for the yummy peanut butter pie that she got last year from there. :)

Rosie has decided to plan out the entire day for us. So we are going to church, going out to breakfast and then going to look at/buy furniture for Tony. (I still have his credit card) Then at some point I have to get my pizza dough started because I told my parents that I would make dinner for them on Sunday night at their house because they get back into town that morning and my dad is going to be bushed. So homemade pizza is in order and I cannot wait to make it!

Have a restful weekend!

Randomness of a Busy Week

Dad came home from the hospital on Wednesday. I even think that he was back to work on Thursday. The man just doesn't know when to take it easy!

I had after school duty all this week. That means that I usually don't tackle the grading until all of the students are gone. So I was a half-hour behind everyday. So it meant that I didn't leave school until almost 5 o'clock everyday. It makes for a long day when you get there by 7:15 every morning! I am still behind on grading and lesson planning and having to finish up the rest of it today.

On Saturday, our school had their Mardi Gras fun fair. We were required to be there for an hour. We were also required to purchase a spaghetti dinner ticket. I handed mine back. There was no way I was going to pay $6 for a ticket. I showed up for my hour despite the weather being totally horrible outside. I have a feeling the person who ordered us to be there did not even show up. It is usually the case.

I have two cats who have been required to go to the vet for the past three weeks. Isabelle has a pirate eye. After going to the vet for the first time two weeks ago, the vet thought that she had an eye irritation and gave us drops. A week later it still was not clearing up. So we take her back to the vet and it is determined that she has a scratch on her eye and he missed it the first time because her eye was so swollen. So now we have a cream we have to smooth on the inside of her eyelid two times a day for ten days. The other cat Jenni has a skin infection. The back end of her is bald. She was taking pills and an antibiotic. I treated her for fleas and now she is still not looking better. So needless to say she needs to go back to the vet this week. It figures that all of this happens while hubby has no job.

My winter coat's zipper broke on Tuesday. I thought that it was a heck of a time to break! So I have been wearing my hubby's large winter coat. It keeps me warm and that is about the only thing that counts at the moment. Plus every store is wiping out their winter coat collection to make room for bathing suits. Blah!

We got our DVR on Thursday. I am totally in love with this piece of equipment and did not eeven know what I was missing. Hubby even went through old VHS tapes that we used to record shows on and disposed of them. He says it is going to save on wear-n-tear of the VCR.

Now this coming week is a four-day week with a meeting on Friday here in town. Hopefully it will be a normal week despite the snow that we are having outside. Happy last week of February!

My day

I usually check my phone during recess while the students are away. However today, I was so completely busy that I didn't have time to check it until 3:30 because I had after school duty. So when I check it I have a text from my sister saying dads rm #xxxx and his phone number is xxx-xxxx.

By this time I am in panic mode. I know my dad didn't feel good last night and that he was running a fever. I had a voicemail from my other sister telling me what was going on, however that was at 8:30 this morning. She tells me that mom took dad to the er because he had a 104 temperature at 4:30 this morning and that he has xxx infection in his leg. I didn't catch the infection part because I didn't understand the medical terminology.

So I try calling my mom and she did not answer her phone. So I call my dad at the hospital. I asked him what was going on and if he was okay. He told me he was fine and to come visit him.

My mom called back and told me what was going on and that he was staying the night to bring his fever down and to get rid of the infection.

So hubby and I went to spend the evening with dad. He had quite a packed room with my sister, brother, cousin, and my mom.

He is getting pumped full of antibiotics and they do not want to release him until the infection in his leg is gone. He has also been running a fever off and on all day and he is sweating like crazy.

Rosie took him some lottery tickets and chocolate. He said that he really wants a cookie. :) I told I would bring one to him on Tuesday.

He is happy that he gets his own room because he is on the Oncology floor of Memorial and there really are no set visiting hours. So technically we could all go see him at 3 in the morning. :) My cousin was joking with him that one of the tow truck drivers would be there to see him at that time in the morning.

So hopefully the antibiotics are working and his fever will go down. I ask that you keep him in your prayers.

Happy Flying

My parents are leaving today for Houston. This should be dad's final chemo treatment for awhile. He then gets to take his "Chemo Holiday." He will still be required to get his blood drawn and get scanned every so often here in South Bend and down in Houston. They will be back home on Tuesday night. Please keep my dad in your prayers this week. :)

Good news, bad news

So last week was a whirlwind of activity. My parents and Laura left for Houston on Monday and they came back Wednesday. After the tests that my dad had on Tuesday, it has been concluded that chemo is working and he will only need two more sessions. One here in South Bend at the beginning of the new year and the last session down in Houston at the end of January. Then he gets to take a "Chemo Vacation." Yahoo!

The bad news is that hubby was laid off from his job on Thursday. He went into work on Thursday afternoon where they told him at the beginning of his shift that they were laying him off along with 11 other people. They also mentioned that they would pay him for Thursday and that he could stay or go home. Gee that is a hard choice, stay or go home. He went home. They also told him that they would not fight him on unemployment. (Gee thanks a lot!) So we filed unemployment on Friday over the Internet. Now we just have to sit back and wait to find out what he will receive.

My Father

My parents made it to Houston safe and sound on Tuesday evening with no problems. They did however get lost when they made it towards my aunt's house in Montgomery, but they made it there and enjoyed a yummy steak dinner.

They met with the doctor on Wednesday in Houston. They answered all of the questions/concerns that my parents had. My dad, however, is not a candidate for the experimental pill. So they scheduled him for a bunch of medical tests that probably required a bunch of poking and scanning of his body and a scan of his brain yesterday (Thursday). Then they scheduled chemo for Friday (today).

He will have chemo every 21 days. His first round was today. His next round will be in 21 days back here in South Bend and then after that it will be back to Houston for his third round of chemo. So by the time Christmas rolls around he will have lost his hair. Hubby just told me that him and my father will be bald for Christmas. :)

The images from the brain scan and countless MRI's that he had shows that there are no masses of tumors on his brain or on any other part of his body. This is a good thing because they thought that would have been the case due to his spread of cancer.

So they are trying different combinations of chemo, hoping to stop the spread of the cancer. The doctor says that the outlook should be good after these rounds of chemo. So now only time will tell. One thing that my mom told me is that on this particular floor of the hospital, there are 30 doctors dedicated to stopping the spread of prostate cancer. My dad's doctor is a lady in her mid-thirties heading this experimental study. So they feel she knows what she is talking about.

I know there is more to tell, but Rosie couldn't explain it to me because she said that she is not the one studying to be the nurse in the family (as she put it). Only Laura could do that, however Laura is feeling crappy and went to bed early. When I was talking to my parents tonight, their phone died because the battery went dead. But they will be home Saturday afternoon.

I just ask that you please keep my father in your prayers.

The Call

My father has finally received the call from Houston. He is going to Houston for a promising new drug treatment that will hopefully slow the growth of his cancer.

He leaves on Tuesday with my mom and Nana in tow. They will be renting a car at the airport, driving and then staying at my Aunt Rosa's house in Montgomery.

This will be my parents first trip to Texas. It is probably a good thing that they are going in the fall time when the weather is cooler!

I remember...

I remember when school pictures used to take months to get back from the photographer. Now two and a half weeks later and I am handing out school pictures to the students today. It is amazing how far photography has come.

Being a teacher, we get our picture taken for the yearbook. This then entails the photography company giving us our own packets of pictures. When I first started teaching, I thought it was a little weird getting pictures of myself like I was still in grade school. Now seven years later, I just hope that I took a decent looking picture. Also what in the world do I do with the packets of pictures I get every year? I get to share....

Now imagine I have seven years of photos like this. The only thing it reminds me of is that I get older every year. Blah!

Also I ask that you say a prayer for my Dad, he is going in for radiation treatment Thursday afternoon.

Life

So today I thought the students were being calm and then 5 minutes before lunch it is like they lost it! So I spent the entire afternoon trying to get work done. Needless to say we got a few things completed. I was happy to drop them off at computers at the end of the day. Then when the computer teacher left after school she dropped off letters to me from the students. Each student wrote me a little message wishing me a happy thanksgiving. They all wrote cute messages and they thanked me for teaching them. Gee it is really kinda hard to dislike them after that! But still I am glad tomorrow is Friday!

Although my sister has my weekend all planned out for me. She is in the process of moving back home (long story and involves an ex boyfriend who is finally out of the picture!). So guess who gets to move her....Jenny!!!! . She has a new house lined up but first my mom and I are having some work done to it and it will not be ready for about three months at the earliest. So the plan is to move all of her furniture into the house and she is only to take the bare necessities to my parents. Then on Sunday I am meeting her at 9 in the morning to rake leaves at the house that she is planning to sell. My parents also told me to take my hedge clippers over there so do some trimming. So that is what I am doing all weekend.

I am trying to get my hubby to help move, but he has an insane work schedule this weekend. He normally gets Saturday and Sunday off and back to work Monday. Well because of the short week next week, he has to go in on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday but then then gets Wednesday off and doesn't have to be back at work until the Monday after Thanksgiving! So I doubt he wants to do much of anything on Saturday, plus he has to get up at the butt crack of dawn to have a blood test. Yucky!!

My parents are in Vegas enjoying the somewhat warmer weather. My dad had another test on Monday and they will not get the results until Monday when they meet with the doctor. When he had his MRI done a few weeks ago they found three spots on the his hip bone area. One doctor was assuming that the cancer had spread, so they went to another doctor who wanted to be sure that the spots are actually cancerous. So over the past week an a half he has been poked with needles get bone biopsies done. We know that two of the three spots are nothing and now we are waiting on this past test to tell us about the third spot. If all is clear hopefully they will schedule surgery sometime next month to take out the prostate. So please just keep him in your prayers.

I am off now to get dinner for my hubby. Just so I can take it to him at work and we can enjoy a nice romantic dinner in the car! Lucky us!!

Blah

So I really should go to the gym and work out, but my ear is telling me otherwise. I have ended up with yet another ear infection. It came on Saturday night at the Halloween party I was at and then by the time I went to bed it was just throbbing. So on Sunday I went to the Urgent Care place yet again and the receptionist says I recognize you. Gee that's great when the Urgent Care people recognize you! So I do have a pretty ugly ear infection because the doctor said she couldn't recognize any landmarks in my ear. Gee there are landmarks in my ear! So I have a heavy duty does of antibiotics. The only good thing that could come out of this was that I did call my ear doc and I can still proceed with the surgery on Friday to get my stupid tube put back into my ear granted that my ear is not hurting me. I have plenty of faith in the lovely horse pills I am taking!

It was great to see Jen & Ezra, Amy & Brent, Rachelle & Mark, and the family, and Emily on Saturday afternoon. Too bad the bookstore wasn't open!! I then managed to run back home, make the apple pie drink for the Halloween Party later that night. The party was great on Saturday night. It was just beginning to get interesting, but Jay dragged me home because he didn't feel good. I made lots of cookies and cupcakes and my brother had me make a recipe for apple pie. It is a drink with Captain Morgan. I guess it turned out pretty good, I guess it needed more Captain though. Anyway here is the concoction:

1 gallon of apple cider
5th of Captain Morgan spice rum
1 cup of sugar
3 to 5 cinnamon sticks

Boil apple cider, sugar, and cinnamon sticks for 5 to 10 minutes. Let it cool down. Put the Captain Morgan in the empty gallon container and then add the apple cider. Put in the refrigerator and enjoy. However I recommend you make this a day before you actually want to drink it because it took forever for the concoction to cool down.

I lost a student today....well not actually lost but mom decided to move over the weekend to another town without telling anyone. The student's grandma showed up there on Saturday and there was a moving van in the driveway. The parents are in a midst of a very ugly divorce and I thought dad was getting custody. So it will be a long and ugly battle. I feel sorry for the student to be put in the middle of all of this. So now I have 13 students. Should be an interesting year!

So my dad had his MRI done today to make sure that the cancer has not spread. Because the two other tests that he had could not tell if it had spread to his hip or not. He will get the results on Wednesday and if everything is okay then they will proceed with surgery in the middle of November. My mom has decided if she can go through four c-sections my dad can do one prostate surgery and then they will have matching scars! So if you could send some prays his way I would appreciate it.

Well I think my ear is going win out and not partake in the working out exercises and I must now decide what I need to make for dinner. Chili sounds good even though I don't like the stuff. I don't understand, I just don't question my food choices anymore. I think I am growing up however my ear decided that it didn't want to because how many adults do you know that get tubes placed in their ears! Okay I'm done rambling. Have a wonderful night!!