Bill Scott's Blog

Thinking about you

2007-11-16T08:47:00.001-08:00

Dad,

How can it be that you have been gone for so long already? It will be three years in March. I miss you every day. I wish you were hear so that I could talk to you about life. Why were you taken from us so early?

-Bud

I hope you can see us now

2007-06-06T12:40:00.000-07:00

Dad,

I often think about you sitting in the chair next to me eating peanut butter toast while I was finishing up my homework. This seemed to be our routine after a basketball game or track meet. You would sit in either your chair or mom's chair and crunch away at your toast while I would be trying to get through whatever the assignment was that night. I think about those times now when I am at my desk working, or writing on your blog. I envision you sitting in my visitors chair, with one leg folded over the other. You would have your chin resting on the palm of your hand while chewing off the end of your pinky fingernail. I think if I just turn around, I will see you sitting there awaiting to ask me about my day.

Well, just in case you have been busy, let me catch you up on some of the stuff that is happening. Dade just had his first birthday on Saturday. He is ready to just take off walking without the assistance of any toys. Yep, Nic and Kirk will not know what has hit them when little Dade is fully mobile! You better drop in and check him out. You will not help but smile when he smiles at you.

Mom is doing well. I she is looking forward to watching Ali and Zac at the end of this month. She went out and bought a wading pool for the kids to splash around in. I'm sure Nana will be wet by the time Ali and Zac are finished with her.

Danna and Kevin are doing well. There lives seem to be the most sane of each of us. When I talked to Danna this weekend, she was in good spirits. She is still very busy at Quest. If you drop in to check on Dade, swing on by Danna's place and check in on her as well. I know that she will enjoy having you close.

As for me, I am doing ok. I am getting better at my new role in Embarq. Every day is an opportunity to learn something new. My family is doing fine. Alexandria has finished kindergarten and is looking forward to first grade. Zac is full of energy and can't wait to play baseball when he grows up. On that note, I think he will be left handed!

Well, I should get this message posted and on its way up to you. I love you Dad.

-Andy

What a nice day

2007-03-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

Hello Dad,

It has been a long time since I have written in your blog. I want you to know that mom is doing good. Jen, Ali, Zac and I drove up to the farm last weekend to visit. We stopped by the cemetery on Saturday to say hello. Alexandria told you all about her school and what she is learning. She is very smart, just like her Grandpa Scott.

I wanted you to know I was thinking about you and wish you were here to tell me that everything is going to be OK. I could really use some fatherly advice from time to time.

I love you,

-Andy

Thinking of you tonight Dad

2006-08-20T19:33:00.000-07:00

Hello Dad,

I'm sitting here in my living room watching Boston vs. NY Yankees.

Baseball.

I loved to ride in your pick-up truck listening to the KC Royals play. The sounds of the ballgame over the AM radio are in most of my summer memories. Thank you for teaching me the game. Now that I am a dad, I can see how the game is passed down from one generation to another. Zac like the game. He hits left handed now. I now he is a long way from playing for the Royals, but he tries really hard!

Ok, I should probably close this for now.

Good night,

-Andy

Remembering Dad

2006-03-23T13:05:00.000-08:00

Missing you Dad.

Love,

Andy

Memories of a Man

2006-02-13T20:58:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

Tomorrow is Valentines Day -- I wish I could tell you of wonderful stories about how mom and dad would have lavish nights on the town, but I can't. I think when I was very young, Danna, Nic and I would be dropped off at Grandma and Grandpa Scott's house while Mom and Dad went out to eat, but I am not sure.

I know later when I was in my teens, Dad and Mom frequently dined in Shen at the Depot. I think they spent a few New Years Eve / Birthdays there, but I don't know if they ever went there for Valentines Day.

As I type this entry, I can't pull a memory of the Valentines Day, but Mom and Dad did not need Valentines Day to show their love for each other. It was there every time they parted. A quick three kisses and out the door Dad would go. Always with a smile and an "I love you". It was automatic. I think I would have stopped moving if Mom and Dad didn't kiss three times. It was embedded in their DNA. It was constant.

It says a lot about Mom and Dad to do something that is so consistent that I would remember this act so clearly. I am sure that if you would ask Danna or Nic, they could share their own stories about Mom and Dad's parting habit. I'll try to remember to ask them the next time we are all together.

One more thing before I close this entry. After Jennifer and I were married, somehow the three kiss routine was adopted for our marriage. Thanks Mom and Dad for being a great role model for my marriage.

-Andy

Missing you Dad

2005-08-23T13:59:00.000-07:00

Dad,

I know that I talk to you every day, but maybe if I write this down you will be able to somehow let me know that you have heard me. I miss you. I feel you at times. I hear your voice from memories past. You were such a pillar in my life, at times I don't know if I can make it without hearing from you. Why did GOD have to take you from us all? Who is going to be there to help me deal with Ali's first date or Zac's first driving lesson? I had planned that person being you. I just don't know how that void can ever be filled.

I have been trying to cope with my loss dad. I try every day. I sometimes talk to you on my drive into work. I sure hope that you can hear me when I do. I pour my heart out to you. I ask for your advice a lot. You know, like I did all the time. It may be a work issue or just a hitch in my golf swing that isn't working right. You always listened so well and had a heartfelt response to my question of the day.

Your boy is doing the best he can right now. He wishes that he could hold you one more time and whisper in your ear how much he loves you. If only I had one more chance to say it over and over again. I would love that opportunity.

I'll see you in my dreams tonight Dad.

Your son,

-Andy

Dad's Headstone Revealed

2005-08-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

Mom asked me to publish these pictures of the unveiling of Dad's headstone. I thought it turned out great!

-Andy

Here is a picture of his father's headstone. They are only a few feet away from one another.

Message from Mom

2005-05-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

I thought it is time that I sit down and write a quick note to all those who check the blog. Needless to say life hasn’t been easy. School days are great; I have lots to do, especially now that the end of the school year is near. It is the nights that are lonely. I need to get busy writing thank you notes, I have managed to write a few, but I haven’t found the exact wording to mass produce them.
I have managed to keep most of the plants alive; watering them is quite a chore. I thought I would bring some of them to school to put in the new library, but decided I couldn’t part with any. I’m constantly moving them so they can get their share of sunlight.
After school I have been keeping busy mowing the yard, pulling weeds from my wildflower patch, and spraying the multitude of dandelions in the yard. I managed to get the tiller started and tilled the garden last week. This week I planted a few tomatoes and onions. I need to get the melons planted but haven’t been to town to get any seed. I have planted some of the flowers around the pond, but haven’t brought the figurines up from the basement yet.
This Friday is the RSB Open House to show off their remodeling. Bill was in on the planning, and got to see the first phase of it completed. He so much looked forward to having his own office space. Danna and Kevin are coming down to go with me, and then we plan to go to the Lodge for supper.
A couple of weeks ago I met Andy in Mound City, Mo to pick up Ali and Zac to spend the weekend with me. We had a great time and plan to do that again. They came up Mother’s Day weekend to attend a retirement party for one of the English teacher’s at F.M. On Sunday we had lunch with Danna, Kevin and Nic in Omaha, Kirk had to work and couldn’t join us. After lunch Andy and his family took off for KC while Danna, Nic and I went shopping.
I’m sorry it has taken so long to write to all of you.

Carol

The Daughter In Law View

2005-04-25T18:56:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I thought I would just write a little note to represent the "in-law" view.

The last several months have seemed a little empty as I'm sure you can all imagine. I have been blessed with my escape into poetry to help me get through the hard times. I still love to look back at the memories of my almost 9 years with Dad. I thought I'd share some of my favorite memories with you all!

1) The best memory for me is sharing the news of our first pregnancy with Mom & Dad. We were sitting in Maryville at A & G when Andy and I handed them a grandparent picture frame. Dad jumped out of the booth to give Andy a big hug and shake his hand while Mom cried as we knew she would.

2) I had very few opportunities to golf with Dad. I remember meeting Dad & Marv out at Mozingo one bright sunny Saturday morning. They all tolerated my poor performance and cheered me on with every decent hit I made. It was an afternoon to remember.

3) Being the wonderful sports fan that I am I had many memorable moments bonding over ESPN with dad. Never did I experience such highs as getting to take Dad to Arrowhead to watch the Chiefs vrs. the Steelers and to Kaufmann Stadium to have him watch my poor Royals against his beloved Cardinals. To see his eyes as he took in the action, the sights, the smells and the awesome atmosphere will live with me forever!

I guess those are some of my favorite memories! I hope many of you still check in on this site! We'd love to hear your comments or to have you share some of your favorite memories. Send those to us and we'll get them posted on the site for other family/friends to read about!!

Hope you are all well! Keep our family in your prayers!

Love,

Jennifer Scott (Andy's wife)

We miss you dad

2005-04-07T18:43:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon everyone,

I spoke with mom tonight and she is doing alright. Every day is a new challenge. She appreciates everyone's continued support as she adjusts to life without dad. Her sister Bev was down the other day. The two of them are taking a woodworking class together at the high school. I can't wait to see what mom has created.

If you get a chance, give mom a call and chat. I know that she would appreciate it.

Thank you,

-Andy

Update on mom

2005-03-30T13:02:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon,

I thought that I would write and let you know that mom is doing ok. She came down to Kansas City on Saturday the 26th to visit and have some fun with the kids. Of course she brought her video camera down, so if you stop by, I'm sure that she would love to show you Ali and Zac playing their favorite game "catching butterflies". I'll just leave it at that. We also colored Easter eggs and went to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream. I think that mom enjoyed her coffee and vanilla combination. If she didn't, she sure did a good job of licking the spoon clean. :)

She was on the road shortly after 4:00. Mom wanted to get home before it started getting dark. For some reason the deer just love to jump out in front of her while she drives on the back road of Iowa.

Danna, Nic and I call her regularly. When I call and someone beeps in she will say "I bet that is one of the girls". Sure enough, it normally was. I'll get a few of the pictures posted tonight when I get home.

Better get going.

-Andy

Message from Nic

2005-03-21T12:41:00.000-08:00

Hello all, Nic here again. I know that Andy has posted a few things and mom did as well. I know she plans on keeping the post for a while. It is nice for me to go back and read the 1st entries that dad wrote. Plus I heard many people tell me how thankful they were for the blog. It is nice to know all my ramblings helped keep people informed.

I wanted let you know that we were overwhelmed with the support of the community, friends, and family throughout the past few weeks. As Bill's daughter, I always thought he was a wonderful dad and a great guy, but it was nice to have the support and hear the stories of others who felt the same. Thank you all.

When I was driving home yesterday to hang out with mom, I saw many farmers in the field. I think in the back of my mind I thought dad would pass in the spring. He surely considered all the people that he thought might come to visitation and the funeral and wouldn't have wanted them to miss out on too much work in the field. Or would he want them to have to work extra at night and take away from time with their families. Dad was always thinking of others, I think even in his death.

We have all been keeping busy, as dad would have wanted. I think he would laugh at the number of times we have been shopping lately. He didn't mind going shopping, but surely would have questioned what else we needed. We also have been getting lots of things done at the house. We got the basement cleaned up and Kevin installed a new electrical outlet and a new cable hook up for the tv. Kevin is also hoping to get down to frame up mom's wood shop soon... we will keep you posted.

Not much else to report, just wanted to write, say hi and thanks to everyone...

Nic

Message from mom

2005-03-18T11:10:00.000-08:00

I thought I would write a quick note to let you know that I am back to school. My days are busy which is great, it's the nights that aren't. I have been able to rake a little in the yard, visit with my neighbors Elaine and Susan, that helps. One night I even ventured back to school to watch part of the speech recital.

I haven't started to write the multitude of thank you's yet. Maybe I will start on that this weekend. So for the plants and flower arrangements still look great, but it is a job to remember which one I watered last.

I'll try to keep you posted about what's happening. Thanks for checking.

Carol

Mom's Bill Watchers

2005-03-15T07:35:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

This post is for the men and women that mom affectionately calls her "Bill Watchers". These were the people who volunteered their time to come and sit with dad while mom went to school part time. They were more than just someone who occupied a chair while mom was away. They provided emotional support for both mom and dad as they coped with dad's illness.

I don't know everyone's name, so I will not try to list each of you. I want you to know that your support gave my parent's the strength to make it through some very tough times. Your support and kindness will continue to be called upon in the weeks and months to come.

Thank you for the kindness and love you gave to mom and dad.

-Andy

Memories of a wonderful man

2005-03-14T19:33:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

First of all, I want to say thank you to each and every one of you that take a moment out of your day to stop in and see how my dad was doing. Thank you again.

-Andy

The struggle is over

2005-03-07T16:30:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

This afternoon at 4:30 PM my father passed away. His passage was peaceful. At my father's bedside was my mother, sister Nicole and myself. The family is gathering at mom's house tonight.

Say a prayer for my dad as he is welcomed into HEAVEN. He is in a better place now.

Thanks for all your prayers and well wishes, they came to mean a lot to my father.

Sincerely,

Andy, Danna and Nic

Visitors from KC

2005-03-04T07:16:00.000-08:00

Well Andy and the kids came up today to stay with dad while mom was at the blood mobile. Dad was pretty worn out again today. Yesterday he had his bath when Jill from hospice was there, which always tires him out. He was really sleepy last night while I was there. Mom and I had a wonderful time last night. I brought some more salmon down to grill and we enjoyed that for a late supper. Then I baked 2 batches of chocolate chip cookies for the blood mobile today. Mom had made 2 batches of brownies and a batch of rice krispie treats. I also made a pan of peanut butter bars. So I hope they had enough! : )

Dad got a very nice letter from one of his former students yesterday, too. She graduated from Villisca and fellow NWMSU alum, then went on to become an elementary teacher and girls basketball coach. She said that dad was a great teacher and when she started coaching basketball, she understood why they had to do the things she didn't like to do in practice, she said it finally made sense. It was very touching and I would like to thank her for the letter, of course I forgot to write her name down....

I called mom this morning to make sure that she was up and around. She had to be a school by 09:45, and had a few things to do before she went. She said 3 times what a nice day it was today. I sure hope she gets to have her coffee on the porch or outside by the pond with the kids, after school. I also called Andy around lunch and he and the kids made it safely. They were having fun playing, but were perplexed why Nana was not there.... I guess that would be weird, you go to her house and she is gone, hard for little kids to get. They were just getting ready to eat lunch, Andy said that mom was going to try to come home for a bit to see them and check on dad. : )

Yesterdays visitors were Colleen Alley and Jill from hospice. Colleen brought more "sunshine" for dad's room, she brought flowers again. They are very cheery and bright, thanks Colleen!
Today Stan and Shirley Schaaf were out early to the house before Andy got there from KC. So a big thanks for taking time out of their Friday morning.

I hope that the blood mobile went well today, I will tell you about it on Monday. I am headed home tomorrow morning. Mom has a hair cut in Glenwood and plus, I want to see Andy and the kids before they go back to Missouri! Danna and Kevin are going down on Sunday and since the weather is supposed to be nice, they are going to bring the dogs with them. They always have a good time running around the farm!

Hope you have a great weekend and thanks for checking on dad.

Nic

Elbow trouble

2005-03-03T20:37:00.000-08:00

Mom somehow twisted her elbow wrong yesterday and was in some pain. She took some ibuprofen and put some ice and heat on it and was feeling a bit better this morning. She was having trouble pulling dad up last night and she told him that she didn't think she could move him. He said "we're screwed". Which is a strange comment for him to make, but still funny! But she was able to get him repositioned this morning ok.

Dad ate all but one bite of the food mom made for his lunch, which is good. Then he slept most of the afternoon. Bill and Alena Fichter are watching Mark and Benita's children while they are out of town and so they had Isaac with them. They were commenting on how busy the kids were, they were keeping them hopping. Bill was telling mom that some of the tree branches they were trimming may be worth some money. So mom is going to try to find out more about that before she burns them all.

Mom also said that her students pies turned out pretty good. I think she was pleased and happy that another busy unit was complete.

This morning when I called the guy that wanted a fuel tank, Mr. Beetle, was there and had written her a check for the fuel tank. He said she was the only person who called him. They were waiting for Tom Polluck to come help move it with a tractor to his trailer. He volunteered to help, which was very nice. Mom said that Mr. Beetle knew Tom from a management meeting of some kind, small world. So I didn't get to talk to her too long this morning. She said that dad had a good night and was sleeping when I called.

That is about it, thanks for checking on dad.

Nic

More sunshine today and new gravel on the driveway!

2005-03-02T19:38:00.000-08:00

Well another bright morning and it could get up to 50 today. Mom was looking forward to having her coffee and a cookie on the porch. The hospice nurse Karen brought them chocolate chip cookies today! That was so sweet! : ) Thanks Karen!

Mom said that Dad had kind of a restless night, he was up at 3 and 5, but managed to get back to sleep. This morning Karen, the nurse said that dad is getting a new spot on his back, they are hoping to keep it from becoming a pressure sore. He ate about 10 bites of breakfast and took most of his pills too. So all in all, not bad. Mom had called the manor and Glen Howard, because he is going to take Aunt Dorthy to get her hair done. Plus Wayne called about the gravel. Yesterday afternoon mom and dad had more gravel delivered for the driveway. Mom said that he didn't need to bring anymore for up by the cars and that it looked great!

Yesterday afternoon Gordon, dad's cousin, visited and brought ice cream from Pat's Place in Malvern. Apparently dad was sleeping so they didn't get to visit, but thanks for stopping by. Dad enjoyed some of the ice cream last night before he went to bed. Grandma Scott sent a nice card too...

Mom also said that yesterday morning that some guy called the elephant shop wanting a diesel fuel tank with a pump. Mom called around to see how much she should sell theirs for, then called him back. He is going to come over and look at it today, I think. She went out and took a picture of it and emailed it to him, as well. Mom said if he did want it, that it would pay for the new gravel, so not a bad trade if it works out.

The students pies went pretty well too. Mom said that all the pies were done baking and cooling when she left. They ran out of lemon juice, but did some improvising for the last lemon meringue pie. Mom hopes it won't be runny. She said it was a busy afternoon with all the pies and one of her other classes doing a muffin redo lab. They have to change the ingredients and have them still turn out ok, like adding applesauce for the fat, and such.

Today the visitors are Bill and Alena Fichter and Uncle Cliff, I think. I keep forgetting to ask, I should remember by now! Oh well...
Thanks for checking on dad, he is hanging in there!
Nic

Welcome March

2005-03-01T11:45:00.000-08:00

It is hard for me to believe that it is March 1st already. March always makes me remember high school English class with Mrs. Malcom and "beware the ides of March," the warning from the soothsayer to Julius Caesar. Strange what stays with us from our past. Fremont Mills will definitely miss her when she retires. A big thank you from me for making us work hard - I can't imagine how hard college would have been without having her for one of my teachers.

This morning went well for mom. She slept well last night and dad woke up only once. She said he had kind of got uncovered, so she covered him back up and he went right back to sleep. That doesn't seem to be much of a problem for him lately. He did have a few bites of breakfast today and was sleeping when I called. Mom was on the phone with Aunt Kathy when I first called, then Danna when I called back, but the 3rd time was a charm. She had been very productive so far today. She had called James' Grocery for the ham and buns for the Bloodmobile on Friday and a few things she needs for school today. That way she will just have to stop and get them, then head to school. She also called and got Aunt Dorothy's tax appointment with her accountant. Plus she had the letter and envelope all ready to go for the FCCLA Cluster Meeting registration. She said it is amazing how much more you get done when you get a good night of sleep. I agree, plus the bright sunshine helps too!

Yesterday she said that her pie demo went pretty well. She wasn't too pleased with her meringue. She said probably should have rewashed the bowl, because sometimes they don't do a great job getting them clean after they cook. But the kids all thought it looked great. Most of the kids did a great job with the crusts for their pies. This was their 3rd time making crusts, so it should have been pretty easy. Hopefully making the fillings goes ok today, too.

Yesterday's visitors got along fine. Dad slept most of the time. One of the guys hauling grain stopped in to see them yesterday afternoon as well. I didn't get his name, but that was nice of him to stop and say hi. Mom said dad was kind of nauseated in the afternoon yesterday. He did sit up and eat a few bites for supper, then watched or listened to part of a couple of college basketball games.

Today's visitors are Elaine Costello, mom and dad's neighbor, and Jill from hospice. Danna and Kevin are heading down tonight after work to visit.

That about sums it up for today, thanks for checking on dad.

Nic

Nice Weekend

2005-02-28T13:55:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon everyone. Well mom and dad had a nice weekend. Danna and Kevin were down on Friday night & left Saturday afternoon, but not before they did quite a bit of work around the house. Kevin was busy trimming branches on the trees. Mom was quite impressed with how much better it looked. Plus she worked hard & had it all burned yesterday. I will say it did look very good, it is amazing what a few branches trimmed out of the trees would improve the look that much. Mom enjoyed the weather and spent lots of time outside.

Yesterday dad was pretty tired out. He slept most of the time I was there. We did manage to get him up for a few bites of lunch and for mom to shave him. He was feeling pretty weak, so I helped him sit up while mom shaved his whiskers. She was hoping to wash his hair too, but he said no, it was time to lay back down. While dad was resting, mom went over to Tabor. She needed to get some stuff at school and get some groceries for her classes this week. After she got back, we decided to see how the paint I got at Home Depot was going to work out on the old step stool. I got some oops paint for $5, almost a full gallon, quite a bargain. Mom was hoping for more of a blue, but the gray really does look nice. It was looking much better after just one coat. In no time we won't remember it used to be a nasty olive green color. After that mom decided that I should be heading home, so off I went. Not much else interesting happened last night. Dad didn't eat much for supper either and since not much was on tv, they headed to bed early and he only was up once last night.

This morning mom said he was just eating breakfast when I called about 11:00. The nurse had been there and his vitals were good, but he is just tired. He was able to sit up today and told me good morning when I called. Mom said that Lois Aistrope was coming 1st today and then Barb and Leonard Wilkens. She said that today she was doing her pie demo at school. She made the crust last night and had all the ingredients ready for the filling. She was hoping it would work out ok today in class. I told her I was sure it would be wonderful. It is almost time to call her again to see how it went... I will let you all know tomorrow.

Thanks for checking on dad.

Nic

Beautiful Friday.

2005-02-25T12:27:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Brenda Scott!

Well when I talked to mom this morning she was enjoying the great day. She was sitting outside and having her coffee. A couple minutes later, Tom Polluck, who was getting beans out of the grain bin, came up to chat and then Uncle Cliff stopped by as well. Today is Brenda's birthday so
he had to head out to take her to lunch. I let them chat and called her back. She said that Aunt Kathy had called as well, to see if mom needed anything in Shenandoah. She couldn't think of anything. I got the carpet sample for the chair yesterday and will be headed back to home depot to see if I can find a suitable paint for the old step stool to get a face lift.

Yesterday afternoon I had a nice trip back to Randolph, had to stop in Tabor a James' Grocery and saw a couple people I knew. They mostly just look at me like I am a complete stranger, so that was a change. Mom and I grilled some salmon and tilapia for supper. She was pleased with my selection and had some for leftovers today. She also made her chocolate muffins. Danna found these great muffins at Bakers, and mom liked having them with her coffee. But you can't always get them, because they are popular. So I found a mix that is pretty close, so now mom has muffins for the weekend.

Dad was pretty tired out, but did watch some of the TV shows that were on last night. He said "oh that silly show again". Every show was silly and he wasn't finding much humor in any of them last night. He preferred to sleep. He ate a few bites of supper, but it wasn't going
down too well, so he laid down. Mom said that he didn't eat much breakfast today and she was hoping she could get him to eat lunch and take his pills before she left.

This afternoon Paul Barker was the first visitor and then Stan and Shirley Schaaf will be coming over. Danna and Kevin are planning on heading down tonight and they have a couple little projects to do in the morning for mom, before they head back to Omaha. I will be going down
on Sunday, but haven't heard if anyone else is visiting. Mom said we will talk more about the blood mobile this weekend and how we are going to swing that.

Hope you all have a good weekend and thanks for checking on dad.

Nic

Tumble

2005-02-24T12:27:00.000-08:00

Well somehow last night dad took a tumble out of bed and mom was not quite quick enough to catch him. He is fine. He said "I was reaching for the lawn chair" --- so it was kind of a restless night, because he was confused. He was pretty worn out this morning when I called and was
sleeping soundly.

Mom is feeling and sounding much better today. Not having to go to school yesterday really helped her rest up. Yesterday afternoon Pastor John did come for his visit and they had communion. He told Pastor John he wasn't going to eat dinner and he did, so that was good. Dad didn't eat his lunch, but did eat well last night and even had some ice cream
before bed.

I am off today, because I worked on Sunday, so I am heading down to Randolph to hang out with mom and dad tonight. Mom is working on sanding a chair and refinishing it, so I am going to Home Depot to check out paint samples for it and take those down. Then once she decides on
a paint, I will have a few more things to get. Then the projects will begin. When Kevin and Danna come down they are going to really talk about making the back porch into a sun porch and the new shelves and lighting. It should be a pretty quick makeover, since they already have
all the nice new windows in the porch. A few cosmetic changes, cleaning and some new storage and it should be about done... I am looking forward to the finished product!

Today's visitors are Colleen Alley and Jill from hospice. Mom had given the birds more food and water this morning, but decided not to run into the bank. Dad was just a bit to restless for that. But she thought she may have time on her way to school.

Short message today. Not many visitors and since mom was a bit under the weather, she was taking it easy. I am sure the stories about her students making pies will begin soon. Thanks for checking on Dad and have a great day!

Nic

Happy Birthday Jennifer!

2005-02-23T10:59:00.000-08:00

Today is Jennifer's Birthday (Andy's wife)... so hope you have a wonderful day!

Well, mom is not feeling very well. She has a sore throat and is stuffed up. So if anyone calls you may not recognize her voice. The hospice nurse Karen, is still sick today, so she didn't come for her visit. Mom is wearing a mask around dad, just in case. She said that when Danna called last night she didn't recognize her voice. It was pretty bad. She said that it was fine and then she went in to ask dad if he was ready for dinner and thought, wow, what happened to my voice.
Dad had kind of a restless night. He was up at 11:30, 12:30 and 4:30. Mom was able to get back to sleep after each stirring and slept till about 8. They got up then and had breakfast. Dad didn't want to take his pills today. He took 2 of the stool softeners and said that the 3rd was just too big to take, so he spit it out. Then decided to lay back down. Mom didn't figure that it would hurt him much, and he could always take it later.

They have an in-service at school today, so no afternoon classes. That means mom is home today, which is good. Hopefully she will feel much better tomorrow. Pastor John didn't get to come yesterday, he was stuck in Denver from his trip. But he is coming today. So that will be nice to have someone stop in today.

Yesterday afternoon when I called mom said it is just gorgeous outside. She had been sanding on the chair and was going to have her coffee on the porch again. We talked about the Blood Mobile. The FCCLA girls always do the food, so we talked about how mom was going to swing it this year. Mom said that Melissa probably has a plan. I said I would be happy to make cookies or come down, so that will be something to figure out in the next week.

The kids are going to start on their pie unit today. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law managed to get mom 20 new pie plates from the Goodwill, so that all the kids would be able to make their own crust. Should be another interesting unit! : )

Hope you all have a wonderful day and thanks for checking on dad.

Nic

Good Night

2005-02-22T11:49:00.000-08:00

Well mom was sitting on the porch this morning, when I called, drinking her coffee. She said that the wind had died down & the sun was coming down on her black pants, warming her up nicely. Dad slept all night till about 7. She slept well too. They got up around 8 and had breakfast and dad took his pills and then took his 1st nap. Mom was going to go wake him to shave him and then he could rest again before lunch. Last night she said was pretty uneventful. She paused the show she was watching when she was talking on the phone, so didn't get to bed till late, but that was ok. Mom said that Kristy Hoffman Reagan was on the news last night. Marian, her mom, was the 1st visitor on Friday. Dad and Kristy's dad did business together at the bank. She is an RD at Children's Hospital, and was on the news last night, so they both got to see her.

Aunt Kathy called this morning to chat. She had a spot on her hand removed and biopsied. It was cancerous, but they were pretty sure they got it. She has to go back for follow up in 6 months. That Scott skin is very prone to that.... our thoughts and prayers are with you Aunt Kathy. She also found out that Great Aunt Peggy moved to a new room in Risen Sun. She apparently was in the hospital and when she got back went to the rehab area, and now requiring more care. One of Aunt Kathy's kids parents told her "your Aunt Peg must not be feeling well because she stopped dying her hair." Anyone who knows Aunt Peg would agree... I can't imagine her without red hair. Hope she is on the mend soon and feels like getting her hair done, too. She is in our thoughts and prayers as well.

Today Mark and Benita Fichter are coming and then Jill from hospice. Pastor John is also coming today too, from hospice. He has been in California visiting his father. I hope they were not in the area that got nasty weather. Mom and Dad are looking forward to his visit.
I think that is about all today... not much new to report. Hope you all have a great day and thanks for checking on dad.

Nic

Busy weekend

2005-02-21T13:47:00.000-08:00

Well mom and dad had lots of visitors this weekend! But first I will go back to Friday afternoon.
Marian came early, so mom could go to the bank to get the FCCLA money counted. They took in $311 selling cookies, without expenses taken out yet, not bad. I was correct about the afternoon visitors, it was Stan and Shirley Schaaf. Also Ed and Marv came out from the bank to chat with dad. Mom was going to have her coffee on the porch and watch the sunset. Danna came down on Friday night to stay with mom and dad. Dad was up quite a bit Danna said, but she did get some sleep. Mom came down once and told him it was time to sleep and he did lay down then.

Saturday Danna stayed till after I got there and we had lunch. Mom had gone to Shen to the chiropractor, get groceries and such. Mom got the Johnny Carson commemorative People magazine, so Danna had a good time looking at that & telling us about parts of it. After Danna left, mom went up to walk, while dad & I watched basketball. We watched ISU beat Kansas, dad kind of napped through parts of it, but I kept him updated when he stirred. Mom and I watched the tape from the remodeling on the house they have done over the years. She was wondering about the windows in the dining room. But after we saw that, we kept watching. It is amazing all the changes they have made to the house. Plus there are still more to come. We talked about making the back porch her sun porch again. I suggested that she build in some shelving on the north side under the windows for storage. We went out and looked at it and thought it would work out. Perhaps a tall cabinet for brooms and shovels and shorter cabinets for gardening stuff and her recycling.

Saturday night Danna and I both went to Lincoln to a surprise 30th birthday party for our cousin, Lex. She had no idea, and that makes it so much fun. Her husband Sean did an excellent job of planning, way to go Sean! I called mom after we got back to town and she said that Andy and the kids were going to come on Sunday. They couldn't come on Saturday because Ali was not feeling well. So the visitors on Sunday were adding up.

Sunday Aunt Donna, Uncle Terry and Kathryn came up from Excelsoir Springs, Missouri. Kathryn must have been on Spring Break. Plus Aunt Bev and Dave came over from Sharpsburg, so they had a full house. I had to work, but the house was buzzing when I called. The kids had a good time. Ali and mom made smores, plus Zac loved the french doors. Apparently he and Ali were playing hide and seek behind the doors. : ) Fun at Grandpa and Grandma's house! Andy told mom the kids slept almost the whole way home, they were worn out! Mom also said that after they left, dad said "well I think the kids had a good time", mom agreed.

Mom called about 8:30 to say they were headed to bed. She was not feeling the best, kind of catching a cold and dad had gagged a bit with supper, so they were just going to sleep. I told her that sounded good and that I hoped she felt better in the morning.

She did, when I called today she sounded so much better. Still sounded a bit stuffy, but not bad. Karen the hospice nurse was there and she was wearing a mask, because she was feeling a bit of a cold coming on as well. Dad's vitals were still pretty good and his sore is still healing nicely. Mom doesn't have school today, because of President's Day, so no planned visitors today. She did get up about 7 and made coffee and got up about 8 to start the day. She needed to bundle up and feed the birds and refill the bird bath, but that was about the only thing on the schedule for today. She was hoping to rest up.

Well think that about does it... thanks for checking on dad!

Nic

Sitting on the porch

2005-02-18T11:33:00.000-08:00

Well, when I called this morning the nurse Kelly was there, because Karen the regular hospice nurse had to go to a funeral for her mother-in-law. Our thought are with her and her family. So I told mom I would just call back.When I called back, mom was sitting on the porch, drinking her coffee. That was such a good change that they made to the house when they added the porch. I remember lots of times I would call & they would be sitting on the porch just enjoying the day/night. The porch also provides mom lots of space for her holiday decorations. But back to today.... Mom said that Kelly said that dad's vitals were good and his pressure sore was getting better, it is granulating nicely. So making dad sleep with pillows under one side or the other is paying off. Dad slept pretty well last night, he was up about 2 and 5 but went right back to sleep.

Today Marian Hoffman is coming to stay with dad, but I don't remember who the 2nd visitor is... so I will have to post that on Monday. I think it is Stan and Shirley Schaaf, but I can't remember for sure.Yesterday afternoon Glen Norton, dad cousin, stopped by as well. His wife, Donna was not feeling well so she didn't come, but that it was nice that he came over. They live outside of Lenox, so it was quite a drive, but at least he had sunshine to make the trip go quicker.Dad told mom that when Jill, from hospice, gave him his bath, he nearly froze to death. So it took him a while to warm up and didn't want to eat much for dinner. He was kind of gagging, but mom did get him to eat some bread before he took his night pills.

Mom did get the pictures sent to Andy of the cakes. The pictures will be small because she puts them in a word document, but you can at least see all their hard work. Yesterday they made an angel food and shortened cake from scratch. She brought them home from school to bake them, because she didn't want to stay late at school. Yesterday afternoon mom was sitting on the back porch drinking her coffee and thinking about how to turn it into a sun porch. That is a project for later this year. She has a list of things to do 1st. The most important is her shop. She is going to convert the area where the chicken house was to her wood shop. The building is coming down, but she will still use the existing concrete, plus adding a little more area to it. Kevin is going to help with the planning of both projects. So I am sure we will have a few work weekends at mom's house this year to get her all fixed up! Which will be fine with me! I am anxious to see how the projects turn out. Andy and the kids are coming from KC this weekend, if the weather cooperates. Danna is headed down tonight and I will also be going down tomorrow. I have to work on Sunday, but Aunt Donna, Uncle Terry and Kathryn are coming up on Sunday. So this weekend the house will be filled with people! Mom said she cleaned the kitchen and only had one thing left to clean, the bathroom. I am sure that she got that done before she left for school. Well think that is about it. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Thanks for checking on dad!

Nic

: )

Mom's cakes

2005-02-18T06:56:00.000-08:00

Here is a Word document with pictures of the cakes mom's students made.

-Andy

Mom's class's cakes.doc

Bright Sunshine!

2005-02-17T14:13:00.000-08:00

Well this morning mom commented about how bright the sun was shining. It always makes the day start off better when the sun is shining!

Yesterday the visitors were Uncle Cliff and Bill and Alena Fichter. Bill and Alena had just gotten home from Seattle. They said they had a good trip, they didn't get home till about 1am, so thanks for coming when you had just gotten home! Mom said something about Bill only getting peanuts on the plane, and he only had 20, or something like that, I was on speaker and she was cutting out a bit.... But that way dad can hear both sides of the conversation, instead of just mom talking to me!

Mom did get to sit on the porch and drink her coffee, yesterday. She said they had a pretty good day at school. They didn't get to have their 7th hour meal because the person in charge was gone. But they had a good conversation about what they are going to do next year after they graduate. Only one of her seniors in that class has applied to college. She was surprised by that and told them that if they were going to do it, they better get busy!

Last night dad was getting cold. Which usually means that he will get sick, but surprisingly he did not. Mom had a good time watching "Lost", we talked about it and found the different things that we got out of it. Amazing how you can watch the same show and pick up on different pieces. Next week should be a good one too, I can't wait.

Last night we got a snow blower. A guy that Kirk works with was selling his. It is a good one, that would have been well out of our price range, but since it is used, it was just about right. Mom told dad, and he said "good". I said since we now have a snow blower, we probably won't get any more snow this year. : ) Which would be ok with me!

I don't believe that the last couple days blogs are getting posted, because Andy's kids have been sick and he has not been working, so I apologize for that. I am without my email too, at home, Kirk got a new computer, so he is changing everything. The old pc becomes the new server and the new pc gets all the stuff from the old pc, plus some new stuff... and so we have been without email at home since Tuesday! It is driving him crazy. But the story with that is that I don't have Andy's email address at home with me at work, so cannot send it anywhere else....

This morning mom said that dad slept pretty good. He woke up about 4 to go to the bathroom and went right back to sleep, but she couldn't get back to sleep right away. So she let dad sleep in a bit today and was running behind. She put me on speaker phone again since she was shaving dad when I called. The next tasks were to brush his teeth and wash his hair. Since he was sitting up I could hear him pretty well when he talked to me. He sounded good, but tired.

Mom also said that the lights were on all night at the new neighbor's, the Davis'. It is hard to tell during the day because the sun shines on the windows, but when she was up at 4, she saw the lights. So, don't know if that was intentional or not, but perhaps they are getting closer to moving in.

Today Colleen Alley and Jill from hospice are the visitors today. She had to change Friday's schedule because Paul has something else going on. I can't remember what for sure... something to do with a family member and a Dr. visit, I think. Sorry.

Well that about sums it up for today. Hope you are all having a good day and thanks for checking on dad!

Nic
: )

Speaker phone...

2005-02-16T13:06:00.000-08:00

Well when I called this morning Karen, the hospice nurse was there. They were just getting ready to change dad's dressing, so mom put me on speaker phone. It is a two person job, one person to hold dad up and one to change the dressing on the wound. It was kind of hard to hear all the conversation and couldn't hear dad at all, but it was nice to chat with mom all the same.

Dad had a pretty good night, mom said that he woke up about 5 to use the restroom and then went right back to sleep and then didn't wake up till 8:15. Mom got up around 7 to make coffee and went back to bed. She said the sun was shining bright when dad woke up at 8:15 and she enjoyed her coffee. Dad did eat his oatmeal pretty well this morning, too. Karen said he looked pretty good and was very alert today. I thought that was good too....

Last night mom didn't get to go to the parent's night game. I got a hold of Sandy, but they weren't able to come and I couldn't figure out anyone else to come by. Mom was fine she said and had papers to grade. I had volleyball last night so talked to her before and after our games. She is trying to figure out more stuff about the farm. Some of it is just a mystery. We will get it all figured out eventually. : ) Also found out that Jennifer's, Andy's wife, grandfather is ill in Minnesota. But hopefully the tests will go well and he will be back on the mend soon. Andy is still hoping to make it up this weekend and Danna and I are trying to find time to come down as well to see the kids.

On my afternoon call yesterday, mom said she was tired. It was just a gloomy day, but it had been a good day at school. They had their last foreign foods meal and it was very good. They also had the cake demonstration and she put a giraffe on the cake and showed the kids how to make roses. Plus mom talked to Mr. Roberts and Mr. Jamison about adult education classes for March. They got the article written for the paper, so they can start having them in March. So it was a pretty good day!

Mark and Benita Fichter were the 1st visitors and then Jill, not Jan, was there from hospice. Last week when Kim and Jill were there they washed the sheets for dad's bed. Mom said that Jill did more laundry yesterday as well. She also wrote a nice note in dad's notebook about what happened during her visit.

I think that about sums it up. Thanks for checking on dad.
Nic

Wishing for Spring

2005-02-15T12:59:00.000-08:00

Well, I am sure wishing that the weather could just be nice like it was yesterday until it is springtime. Sometimes it just isn't fun living in the Midwest when it is nice one day and cold and wet the next! Oh well, it will be spring before we know it.

Well, mom and dad had a pretty good Valentine's Day. Dad ate his soup at supper pretty and was up for quite a while last night. I talked to him for quite a while. I can't always understand him on the phone, he was on a roll last night talking about something. I caught bits and pieces of it, but it was quite a conversation, so I didn't care. I was just happy to hear his voice. He ended our conversation with, "well, I think I will sleep now, here is your mom". Mom said he had been telling her the same thing, but he didn't rest for too long before he was back up. Later when Danna called she was telling him about the flowers and balloon she got from Kevin that talked. Apparently he was quite interested in it and wanted her to bring it down so he could see it, right then. Mom and Danna got quite a chuckle out of it. He was very animated last night. He then got upset with mom for talking on the phone. He said he was trying to get her attention and she just kept talking and talking and talking. (Which may be true, we all call and keep her on the phone most of the night, but she is always very attentive to whatever dad needs!) He was just full of opinions last night.

This morning mom said that dad slept pretty well and was up for breakfast about 7:30. Which was good since today was the day for him to get cleaned up. She washed his hair, shaved his whiskers and brushed his teeth, too. She said he was sleeping pretty good after all that and was still napping when I called. Before rested both Grandma Scott and Aunt Kathy called. Dad talked to each of them, which was good. Mom was hoping that Aunt Kathy could come down tonight so she could go to the boys basketball game. Tonight is Parent's Night, so she may call Glen and Sandy Howard to see if they could come over. Mom said, it is hard to believe that basketball season is almost over, they missed the whole thing. They usually hardly miss a game.

Mom was also doing a few things for school when I called this morning. She had baked some rye bread that one of the students started yesterday for his foreign foods unit. She did redo her grade sheet for grading the cakes the kids decorated. Plus she was going to have to make more frosting for the cake demo today, because Mrs. Wood called and they used most of the other she made in the 1st hour class. Mom also said that Apria came by this morning to get the C-pap machine that dad hadn't used in a while. They got a bill for it and thought it was pretty worthless to pay for it, since he wasn't using it....

I wanted to thank Verlee for the post yesterday. You are very kind. I told mom that you posted a comment and she said that was nice. She said that we have met, just as I had thought, in Harlan, before you moved, it was a long time ago, though! : ) Have fun with the wedding plans! Congratulations to your daughter as well!

Thanks to everyone for checking on dad. We really do appreciate it! Hope you all have a great day!

Nic

Happy Valentine's Day

2005-02-14T14:22:00.000-08:00

Busy day here, so the entry is late in coming in, sorry!

Well Friday afternoon mom said that all the cakes were done, she has pictures of all of them, I will try to get them from her & post them. Just as a fun thing to look at after you read the days happenings. Mom also brought dad home a chocolate chip cookie from the FCCLA girls. She said they sold every cookie they made! I would say that was a success! I think they were making some more today too!

They had a pretty good Friday night. Danna dropped Kevin off while her & Sue went to the visitation for a friend from high school's grandmother. They watched a movie, but I don't remember which one. Then once the girls got back, Sue cut dad's hair. So it was a good trip all around.

Saturday I went down so that mom could go get her hair done. Dad's hair cut looked great. Sue did a wonderful job! : ) Thanks Sue! Plus mom was looking quite fabulous too, once her hair was done Saturday afternoon. Dad & I watched a college basketball game while he ate lunch. He was up about an hour before he decided it was time to rest. So he missed the good Missouri game, but we did watch a pretty good game between Pitt and Notre Dame. I did manage to run mom's Rainbow. Every time I use it, I want one more, oh well, someday! Once mom got back we looked at the new garden book I got in the mail. It was very cool, it had proposed landscaping and the layout for each type. We talked about many possibilities for the farm and for my house. I am anxious to do some planting around the yard. I only have a few ideas, so looking at all the magazines helps. Mom has lots of ideas, too, so that is good!

Saturday night mom and dad watched a movie and dad stayed up for the whole thing. They watched "Never been kissed", I told mom that was a good Valentine and she agreed! Then on Sunday they had a lazy afternoon until Danna and Kevin stopped by, and then Aunt Kathy came too. Mom and Kevin made up a new stand for her bird bath that Aunt Donna gave her. It was on the porch, but she was afraid that the birds just couldn't see it. So they made a new stand so it can be in the front yard, in a visible area. I hope that she gets a few birds bathing in it soon! : )
When I called this morning the nurse was there and they were ready to change dad's dressing on his pressure sore, so she couldn't talk very long. She said that they had a good night and that dad was up once to use the bathroom and then she woke up and saw the sun shining, so she knew it was time to get up! Dad woke up a bit later, after mom had made her 1st cup of coffee.

That about sums it up. Happy Valentine's Day and thanks for checking on dad.

Nic

A better day

2005-02-11T10:50:00.000-08:00

Well mom thought that dad had a better day yesterday and that he looked better. But he was still very sleepy. He didn't want to eat much lunch, but he did drink some broth. He was sleeping again yesterday afternoon when I called. Mom said that Kim with hospice is actually from the Omaha office and so she had a trainee with her today to take over for Desi, who hurt her back. I think that her name was Pam. I will find that out for sure later. The 1st visitor was Colleen Alley, she thought that another person was coming too, but she didn't make it...

Mom had a full day at school. The FCCLA kids were making cookies to sell for FCCLA week and had used all but 2 1/2 bags of chocolate chips, I bought them 10 bags. They had used all but 9 of the 30 Crisco sticks and all of the brown sugar. So Melissa was headed to Shen and was going to pick up more supplies for today. They apparently didn't get all cleaned up, because mom had to clean up after she got there. She said that was odd.

The class that is decorating is doing pretty well. They are supposed to be done today, but mom was skeptical about a couple of them. They are still going to have the cake decorating demo on Monday. When they were cleaning up found out there was no hot water, apparently the hot water heater got turned off, so Skeet relit it. Mom was happy to get hot water again, so she could stop boiling it to do dishes.

Marv and Ed also stopped out yesterday afternoon. Last Thursday when I was headed back to town I saw a cop by Gregory's. Apparently he got Ed on his way to work. That stinks for him. But I was glad that the people in front of me slowed down. : ) They were telling mom and dad about the progress on the new edition in the bank. They are moving the safe and safety deposit boxes this week. They are getting a big crane or something from Glenwood to do that. Plus they are painting the walls, too.

This morning when I called, Karen the hospice nurse answered. Mom had run into the bank and post office. I said that was good, mom has been needing to get to the bank. When I called back she said that Jay was gone, so didn't get everything done she wanted to... but she was glad to get some of the little things done.

They slept in again this morning and mom was sleeping hard when she heard knocking about 7:11, dad had slid down to the end of the bed and was knocking on the entertainment center to wake mom up. She was in a deep sleep! : ) So they had breakfast and watched the birds. She said he was up for about an hour. Aunt Kathy called this morning when dad was up, so she got to say hi to him today and I think is going to come down on Sunday afternoon. After that he was ready to nap. Mom was trying to wake him up for dinner when I called. Paul had just pulled in, so it was nearing time for her to leave for school. Stan and Shirley Schaaf and are the later visitors today.

Marylin and Ann came out this morning from the bank to say hello and check on mom and dad. Mom was pleased to have a visitor or two this morning.

Danna is stopping by tonight. On Wednesday, I think, there was a car accident around Shen and one of Danna's classmates grandmothers was killed. Danna and Sue Stouder are going to head to the visitation tonight, and drop Kevin off in Randolph to hang out with mom and dad. Then after they get back, Sue is going to cut dad's hair. Which will save her a trip later this week.
I am headed down on Saturday this week. Danna has to work and mom has a hair appointment with Sue. So I am going to stay with dad and help mom out with a few things at home. It will be strange not to go on Sunday, but Andy is thinking about coming up for a while on Sunday afternoon.

Thanks to Jo for you comments on the blog. It is nice to hear reassurance from someone who doesn't even know us all, from someone who has gone through this. : )

Well, I think I will close for now and get back to work. Hope everyone has a good weekend and thanks for checking on dad.

Nic

Honesty

2005-02-10T11:20:00.000-08:00

Well Kirk and I had a good visit last night. We watched "Lost". Dad got up and had a few bites of supper, then wanted to rest. He was very aware last night. When we came in, he put his hand out to shake Kirk's hand. They don't normally hug, but shake good-bye or hello... so that was nice. Kirk did load a program on her computer so she can do her grades at home, too. I looked at mom's new yard magazines she got in the mail. We are making bigs plans for this spring ans summer, hopefully we get some of them done. Dad slept most of the time we were there, but did wake up when we were heading out. I told him I would see him Saturday, he asked what day it was, I said Wednesday, he seemed to ponder it and then said ok.

Yesterday afternoon there was one extra visitor, John, the hospice minister. Mom and dad really like him. When he got there, mom was still gone, so he talked to Uncle Cliff. Dad did recognized his voice when he came in, mom said that she asked him this morning if he remember his visit, he said "shaved head John". (Because he does shave his head) The minister stayed a while and chatted with mom. They talked about lots of things, including if mom and dad had talked about the funeral. Mom said yes, and they talked about things for it and what was still undecided. This lead mom to ask dad some questions last night after we left, since he was up. They worked out a few more things and then dad said, we can talk about that in the morning. So that was that. Mom said she was glad to get his opinions, and was glad to get a few more things in order.

This morning she also said that Danna was going to check with Sue about coming down to give dad a haircut. He really needs one. She is hoping she will come down on Saturday or Sunday afternoon. It is nice to have a friend of the family that cuts your hair in times like this! : )
Mom said dad slept all night. He stirred about 5 and had to go to the bathroom, but went right back to sleep. She did get him up about 9 for breakfast. Then shaved him, brushed his teeth, washed his hair and cleaned up in general. He said "what's next" after all of that and mom said "lets take some pills", he said ok. After that he was ready to sleep again and was still sleeping when I talked to her about 11.

She said she was working on her grade sheets, something didn't save right from when Kirk fixed it last night, but she was getting it done. She was also going to write up more stuff for Mrs. Wood, her sub for the mornings, for the next units. They are still decorating cakes today, I will have her send me the pictures after they are done and have Kirk post them for you all to see. It is kind of neat!

This afternoon Colleen Alley and Kim from hospice are staying with dad.
I did want you all to know that dad is sleeping more and eating less. I think that probably means that his time is drawing nearer. As those are more signs. I could be wrong and he could rebound, but I wanted to be honest with all of you who do read this. The most asked question I get about dad is "how is he doing", it is so hard to answer. Since I started writing the messages I have tried to figure out how to answer it, and it is impossible. So what we say is "he is hanging in there" and he is, he is really strong. I wish there was a better way to answer it yet, but I don't think there is.

Thanks for taking time to check on dad.

Nic

More snow

2005-02-09T12:32:00.000-08:00

Well it did snow most of the afternoon yesterday. Dad did sit up and watch it snow for a while, but slept most of the afternoon. Mom was enjoying the birds outside when I talked to her about 4:30, there were a male & female cardinal at the feeder. Plus she could see one of the owls in the trees. Danna has named the two owls, there is a female, (we think) Amber, and the male, Sparky. Mom couldn't tell which one was out last night... but enjoyed seeing it none the less.

Mom said that her kids are doing a pretty good job decorating their cakes. They didn't all clean up very well, so lost some points on that... but she has to bake more cakes! They are going to have someone come on Monday to demo a few things, like taking a picture and painting it on the cake, so mom is going to bake cakes for her to use.

When I called after volleyball she said dad was again not feeling too well. He had an upset stomach and didn't want to eat supper.

Mom said he was still not feeling well this morning and didn't want breakfast either. Mom did get him to take his pain pills and he was resting when I called this morning. Mom had cleaned off the car & scooped the sidewalks. Aunt Bev called and she enjoyed her coffee on the porch while talking to her. The nurse Karen had called to make sure she could get in, mom assured her that the plow had been down the road. She was going to be there about 12:00. Uncle Cliff was coming to stay with dad this afternoon.

Mom has a tax appointment and is going to get groceries in Shen. Oh and get her drivers license renewed in Sidney, her two month window is almost up! All because there is no school this afternoon at FM. Yeah for mom!

Kirk and I are going down tonight to see them. Kirk is going to install a program on her computer so she can do her grades at home. Plus then we can watch "Lost" together. It has become a favorite. Kirk watches because I do, but at least it is interesting! : ) They are finally having a new one on tonight. This will save mom and I some time on the phone tonight, we can just discuss it while we are watching it! : )

I think that is about it. Hope you all are well and thanks for checking on dad!

Nic

Early riser

2005-02-08T13:03:00.000-08:00

Well, last night dad was not feeling too well. He didn't want to eat supper, but did get some extra attention, since Danna and Kevin were there. I called a couple times and once mom was giving him a back massage. Someone sent mom a hand held back massager. It is really cool, but it didn't have any return address or a note in it... so whoever that was, thanks. Not much else to report from the night...

Today dad was up early. He woke up about 06:15 and since he didn't eat much last night, mom asked if he was ready for breakfast. He thought that would be fine, so she made oatmeal and he ate the whole bowl. After that he did lay back down, but didn't really get much more sleep. He was just kind of restless. Mom decided about 7:30 to read some funny stories out of a book someone gave her. It is about silly things little kids do. When she would laugh, he would smile, so she read them and decided if they weren't funny she would laugh anyway, just to see him smile. He did lay down again after that for a bit, but still not wanting to sleep. So then mom decided she would shave him and wash his hair. So he is all ready for visitors today. Plus Kim, from hospice will come and clean him up some more this afternoon. But 1st Benita and Mark Fichter are the coming over to stay with dad.

After that mom said that Aunt Kathy called and while we were one the phone Lois Aistrope called. So she was keeping busy, beside cleaning up around the house. She decided that it was time for more coffee and her chocolate muffin and would call Lois back. Tomorrow afternoon mom has her appointment with the Tax man, Kurt, in Shenandoah. So she will see how much more information she needs to find before he can do the taxes. She has been preparing for a while, hope it goes well!

I wanted to thank those of you who do post comments on dad's blog. I know many more of you are reading, which is great! We really do appreciate the support! And just want to try to tell you how things are going. Thanks again for checking on dad.

Nic

Snow...

2005-02-07T13:38:00.000-08:00

Well mom and dad got about 1/2" to 1" of snow last night. In Omaha we got more, luckily in the southern part of town we didn't get too much.... here is the recap of the weekend.

Friday night Danna went to stay, so mom could sleep upstairs again. She also thought that her electric blanket was on the blink, so Danna brought her a new one. Mom said it was so nice to be warm upstairs! She was very thankful for the new blanket. Saturday Danna stayed so mom could go get groceries for school for the week. Mom also baked more cakes. She thought she would just make all 18 cakes that were needed for her 9 students. (she did get them done on Sunday!) Mom got a few phone calls on Saturday from Aunt Betty, Andy and me... I am sure she talked to other people too, but I know those for sure. It was a pretty quiet day.

Yesterday dad was tired. He slept most of the time I was there. When he woke up he told mom he was just depressed and worn out. He just wanted to sleep all day. He did eat some lunch and ice cream while watching golf. We also convinced him to let mom shave and wash his hair. After that, Mom went over to the school to take all the cakes over and l stayed there with him. It was pretty quiet. He did watch tv for a while, but was more interested in sleeping. Mom did watch part of the super bowl. I talked to her a couple times during it, she was busy putting information about the farm expenses for taxes. She thinks she has enough for the accountant to start, then he can tell her what else she needs. Dad always took care of most of that, so she is slowly learning about it now.

This morning when I called mom said they kind of slept in today. They didn't get up and around till about 9 and when I called at almost 11, the nurse, Karen was there. Mom said she would tell me his vitals later. She also said that Virginia the social worker from hospice was coming, too. This afternoons visitors are the minister from town, Jack, and then I think, Leonard and Barb Wilkens. I could be wrong. She told me last night and I was watching the super bowl and didn't write it down.

So not much happening of interest, but thought I would let you know about the weekend.

Thanks for checking on dad,

Nic

Happy Birthday Paul

2005-02-04T12:20:00.000-08:00

Today is Paul Barkers birthday. He is one of dad's teaching friends from when he was a teacher and coach at Villisca High School, in Villisca, Iowa. He is dad's guest today and we are very thankful that he decided that he would still come over on his birthday! I spoke to him earlier and said it was much colder the year he was born. I am sure his parents told him stories about how cold it was! : ) So thanks for your help and Happy Birthday Paul!

Another note about yesterday too, the early afternoon visitor Colleen Alley brought flowers. She said "I thought you could use some sunshine." How nice, she didn't even know mom or dad, but she goes to church with Debbie Wake in Tabor and wanted to help. The amount of support just amazes me sometimes. So thanks for the flowers and I cannot wait to see them!

Last night dad was up a lot during the night, so he was sleeping today. The nurse Karen was there as well and worked dad over pretty good, so that always makes him tired too. Mom also said that Paul was the only person coming today. Stan and Shirley Schaaf were both feeling a bit under the weather, so they were not able to come. So mom is just going to come home early. She is making cakes for her foods classes cake decorating unit. She is going to have the class make some, but each student gets to frost and decorate a 2 layer cake. Since she heads home right away after school, it is hard to get cakes done 8th hour and get them put away, so she is doing it at home. She did get 3 done last night and was 3 this morning. Only 11 more to make!

Yesterday afternoon mom got a new wildflower magazine in the mail. I saw it in my Mary Engelbriet magazine and thought it was right up her alley. So I ordered it for her and she was very excited that it came. She has big plans now for her wildflower patch. : ) I may even have to order some seeds. She was able to enjoy the nice weather yesterday outside on the porch, drinking coffee and looking at her magazine.

Danna is headed down tonight to visit after work. I am not sure if Kevin is going or not, he did help mom with some things on Tuesday night. They were able to get all the Christmas decorations that were outside put away.

Not much else to report. Hope you all have a great weekend. Thanks for checking on dad.

Nic

I don't know how mom does it.

2005-02-03T14:39:00.000-08:00

Seriously, I don't. Last night I stayed with mom and dad overnight to give mom some much needed rest upstairs. This way she doesn't have to worry about dad at all during the night. Well that is in theory. Dad actually slept pretty well. He only woke up once to go to the bathroom, but had a hard time sleeping after that. But until that time I was listening to all the noises from the oxygen machine and everything, it was hard! I wasn't really sure what I was listening for. But once you hear him stirring, you know. Needless to say, I am a bit tired today. But we had a good night.

When dad woke back up about 7:15, I was having breakfast and when I walked into the room, he was calling for "Carol", he was shocked and said, "oh Hi Nic, where's mom?" I told him she was upstairs and asked if he was going to nap some more or if he was ready for oatmeal. He said "oatmeal, I guess" Since I had to leave for work, I had to go wake mom up... But they had a good morning.

Last night I had dinner with mom and dad, then made some chocolate chip cookies. Dad enjoyed one and even told Kirk, while I was on the phone with him, that they were good. :-) That of course made me smile. We watched some tv and mom called her sister Donna, because the flowers from yesterday were from her. They are very pretty and smell great! I am sure mom will look forward to planting the bulbs outside as well, later! Andy and his clan were all sick yesterday with the flu! Yuck. So we didn't get any phone calls to the house till he called just after 10, then Danna called too... so it was a quiet night.

Today Colleen Alley was coming for the early afternoon and then Kim, from hospice was the late afternoon spot. Mom did get to enjoy her coffee and muffin on the porch today, she was very excited that it was so nice out today. I am too, and hope to walk outside later today...

Hope you are all having a great day and thanks for checking on dad.

Nic

Slept well.

2005-02-02T08:21:00.000-08:00

Another good night for dad. I didn't get to talk to mom much last night. I had volleyball and we played late. I talked to her before I went and she called to tell me they were going to bed about 10:15 when we were done. But since Danna and Kevin were there last night, I am sure they had a good night.

Dad woke up twice last night, but went right back to sleep. Last night he was thinking he was going to a college baseball game. Mom asked him if he wanted to rest before he went and he said yes, so he went right back to sleep. : )

This morning dad was pretty tired still. I am sure he is still catching up from when he was sick on Monday night. He did have breakfast and mom got him cleaned up, had him shaved and washed his hair again... he was all ready for the nurse to come. They are going to change the bandage on his pressure sore again today. It has been getting better, since mom is very good about not letting him stay on his back, he is always propped up with at least one pillow, laying to the side a bit.

Bobby Benton brought over some flowers today, some azaleas and some tulips. Mom could not read the card for sure, so I will update you on who they are from tomorrow.... Dad was pretty sleepy this morning when Bobby was there, but did manage to say HI and Thank you. Mom was ready to enjoy her 2nd cup of coffee, hoping that she would get to relax before the nurse got there. Karen, the nurse will be back today. Then Jane and Randall Smith are coming to stay with dad today. I am headed down after work tonight to stay with mom, so she can get some sleep again. : ) Kirk is in Portland for work. He left yesterday and will be back tomorrow. He gets to conduct a training session at a district meeting. What fun! So I thought it was a good time to go stay with mom and dad! Hopefully we have a good night, I will let you know tomorrow!
Thanks for checking on dad. Hope you all have a great day!

Nic

Long Night

2005-02-01T11:55:00.000-08:00

Well last night dad was not feeling very well. He got sick two of the three times I called. I was thinking I was bad luck! He had a pretty good day, but the night went sour in a hurry. He was trying to eat dinner about 7:30 and got sick. That was the end of call #1 last night. Then I called back, I think around 8:30 or 9:00 and he was sick again. I did manage one more call without him getting sick, thankfully... Mom said it was going to be a long night and it was....

This morning was better, he had breakfast and was sleeping when I called. Mom was watching the Jane Paulie show and they were talking about true age. She was excited because coffee and chocolate were both supposed to help keep you young, (along with exercise and drinking one alcoholic beverage everyday)... I thought that sounded good too! : ) She was ready to go out to burn the trash and then have her chocolate muffin and drink her coffee. All in the name of staying young, I am sure!

Yesterday afternoon dad had a couple extra visitors. Marv and Ed came out from the Bank. The new hospice nurse was also there yesterday and called last night, I think, her name is Karen. She will be back tomorrow to check on dad again. Today Mark and Benita Fichter are coming out for the early afternoon and then Desi must still be too sick to come, so Kim is coming down until mom gets home from school. Danna and Kevin are going back tonight, to give some night-time relief.

Not too much else to report today... hope you are all well and thanks for checking on dad.

Nic

More sleep!

2005-01-31T11:44:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday from Nicole. Again I didn't get any entries in the blog, sorry about that!
Friday afternoon dad had some other visitors, a high school classmate and his wife dropped by, Roger and Paulette Erwin. Hopefully I spelled their names correctly, sorry if I did not! Danna stayed the night and was in charge of getting up with dad through the night and she said he was only up twice. Which was another good night of sleep! Mom did make it down to her chiropractor appointment and to get groceries and such in Shenandoah and saw Aunt Kathy while she was there. Mom enjoyed the afternoon, did some stuff outside and dad watched the Senior Bowl and some basketball on TV. All and all not a bad day.

Saturday night dad slept well again. Mom was shocked. He got up a bit late and had breakfast late and then went back to sleep. Mom decided to start shredding and going through the stuff on the desk. Dad was still sleeping when I got there about noon. Mom and I worked on organizing all the bills and statements for Aunt Dorothy and getting rid of extra papers around, waiting for dad to wake up a bit. We had lunch about one... and just when we were finishing up, Uncle Cliff and Aunt Brenda came to visit. We watched basketball and talked about lots of things. Mike is going to Scholar Day at Central College in Pella next week and I was trying to remember what went on when I was there, but that was a while ago and my memory fails me! But that was fun thinking back to 1991! : ) The only thing I remember was that one of the professors asked a current event question that I did not know the answer to, and that I visited with the basketball and volleyball coaches. Not very helpful. I am sure they have changed things up a bit since then, and I am confident that Mike will do wonderfully!

Today on my call I couldn't believe what mom said, dad slept through the night! He didn't wake up once and try to sit up! Today the new nurse was coming and the social worker, Virginia. So mom got dad all cleaned up for their visit, shaved his whiskers, and washed his hair too! Hopefully that went well. Mom also said that dad was pretty with it today, he asked if she was leaving this afternoon. She said yes, and then he asked who was coming to stay with him. So she told him, Cliff was coming and then Barb and Leonard Wilkens. He also asked about us kids. That was refreshing and he remembers talking to Andy on the phone last night! : ) { Both of Andy's kids are sick, so hope they are feeling better today! : ) }
That is about all that is new. Thanks for checking on dad!

Nic

Sleep!

2005-01-28T13:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday! Nic again here, mom said that dad slept pretty well last night. He only woke up two times and went right back to sleep. She said when he woke up at 2 or 2:30 he asked if he had to go to work in the morning, she told him yes, and that he better get some sleep. It worked, or he just was calm enough to sleep most of the night! So mom was up and about this morning cleaning away. She had coffee earlier and was getting ready to make some more to enjoy it today! That is of course after she goes out to feed the birds and put the new insulator around the bird bath. Last night mom and I made an insulator for the north side of the bird bath. In an attempt to keep it from getting so cold, out of Styrofoam from the packing around the dresser. Amazing what you can do with some Styrofoam and duct tape!

Today at noon we, are having a conference call with the insurance case manager, Donna, to make sure we all understand hospice care. We all kind of have different ideas about hospice, so she is going to make sure we all get it today. Then we won't all be telling mom things to ask about. Makes sense. Danna is going to head down to Randolph for the call, Andy set up a bridge for us to call, Kirk and I are going to call in from here in Omaha, and Donna the case manager, is calling from Des Moines. Barb the nurse is also going to make her visit around the call.
Danna is going to stay this afternoon, then Stan and Shirley Schaaf are coming for the later visit today. Danna is then going to get the proofs from Mark Jewell of the pictures we had taken before her wedding reception in November. She is going to stay tonight because she has a haircut in the morning in Glenwood, also to make sure mom gets some sleep. : ) Mom has a few tasks for the night, but they should have a relaxing night.

Last night, I did go home to visit and got there just before Sandra Gregory brought over ham balls. We enjoyed them for supper and then put some in the freezer for later. Thanks, they were very good! I think Danna and mom are going to have them tonight as well : )
Dad knew who I was when I first got there, but he was slightly confused right before I left. I attribute that to being tired... He knew I was Nicole, just not sure on my last name... Not much else to report. The nurse was there yesterday to fill in, so she gave dad a bath and got him all cleaned up. He looked pretty good and sat up for a while after he ate his dinner. He must of got tired of watching the Apprentice, because that is when he wanted to rest again. Too bad Donald, he wasn't interested who got fired! Mom was working on some stuff for school and we did get the thing for the bird bath done, but that was about it. We just chatted and watched tv.
I think that is about it, hope you all have a great Friday and hopefully I will get a post done tomorrow and Sunday too! Thanks for checking on Dad...

Nic

1-27-05 message

2005-01-27T11:12:00.000-08:00

Greetings from Nicole. Well, two long nights for mom and dad the last couple days. Dad is pretty confused, so he doesn't think it is time to sleep and keeps getting up. Of course mom gets up too. Sits with him and tries to convince him to sleep and to make sure he doesn't try to get out of bed.

Yesterday mom did get her errands done and stopped at the grocery store. Uncle Cliff stayed until about 2 PM. Today a new visitor from Tabor, Colleen Alley is coming for the 1st part of the afternoon, and Desi with hospice is still sick, so Barb the nurse is coming. Dad was sleeping when I called and mom hoped that today would go ok for someone new. I am going to go down after work today to visit, so will have more stories tomorrow.

I did talk to dad twice on the phone last night. The 1st was on my way home from work and mom handed him the phone and said "say hi to Nic" and he said, "hi ya Nicker" which made me happy and he talked to me a little while later when I called too. There is just something about night that he gets more confused and makes him not want to sleep....

Hope you all have a good day and thanks for checking on dad.

Nic

1-26-05 message

2005-01-26T11:04:00.000-08:00

Good Afternoon! Nic again here. Well, I didn't get to talk to mom yet this morning, Uncle Cliff came down so she could run some errands, because they don't have school this afternoon. I ported my cell phone and in still in the process of it, so my communications have been halted thus far today.

Yesterday afternoon, Randall Smith stopped by for a visit. Randall was the person who initially hired dad at the bank during the winter months. He did enjoy those months and then eventually became a full time part of the Randolph State Bank. Dad did love his job at the bank. He enjoyed helping the farmers so much. Not only did he get to work with the farmers, use his math skills, but he also got to golf again! At Thanksgiving mom got out some old tapes of all of us and one was them on their honeymoon. They went to a coaches clinic of some sort and went golfing as well. Mom taped it over to vhs from her old film a few years ago. The tape was before she golfed, so she manned the camera. Little did she know that would be her spot for years to come. I think there were tapes of every event we were in once she got her new camera in 1986 or 1987. Everyone used to tease me in high school about it, but they sure enjoyed watching the collaboration tape she made for our 10 year reunion! Sorry, got a bit off the subject there....

Yesterday afternoon, Desi from hospice was sick, so Barb the nurse came instead. She was there until about 4 o'clock. That was after Mark and Benita Fichter left.
Last night Danna and Kevin did bring the new dresser down. Mom was pleased to get it home and decided that it looked pretty good in its new home. They also got dad up in the wheelchair and kept him up watching tv, in hopes that he would sleep a bit more overnight. I will let you know if it worked. They had a pretty good night.

That is about all the news on this end.

Hope you are all having a good day and thanks for checking on dad.

Nic

1-25-05 message

2005-01-25T09:04:00.000-08:00

Good Morning everyone. Nicole here with another installment. I forgot to mention yesterday that Aunt Kathy called yesterday morning and that Barb Wilkens came with Leonard yesterday afternoon. Sometime I will not have to add on to my previous days blogs, but oh well. It still gets posted.

Yesterday afternoon, mom also mentioned that Ed Thompson from the bank also came out to visit. Mom had also ordered some Mary Kay from Lois and she brought that over as well. Mom confirmed that she did indeed drink her coffee on the porch and was looking forward to doing that again today!

Last night dad had his afternoon shake, but lost his dinner. He was chilling and mom has determined that is usually a sign that his may not keep down the meal. But he was feeling a bit better before he went to bed, but mom said it was a long night. Dad was up a lot last night. He was chasing cows. He would rest for about 45 minutes to an hour and then be up again. So they were both pretty tired this morning. Mom did say that he had breakfast and gotten him cleaned up and shaved. He was napping again, but expecting him up anytime.

This afternoon Mark and Benita Fichter and Desi from hospice are the visitors. Hopefully dad will get some sleep and not be up so much throughout the day. He needs his rest. Danna and Kevin are also planning a visit tonight after work. They are going to pick up the dresser and take that down to the house. I think that Chad, Kevin's brother is going to go as well, to help carry it in and up the stairs! : )

One last thing, mom's owls are back. She heard them yesterday morning when she was burning the trash. There are two of them this year. She saw one of them this morning and hopes to get some good pictures with her new binoculars.

Hope everyone gets a chance to enjoy this nice weather we are having. Have a wonderful day and thanks for checking in on dad.

Nic

1-24-05 message

2005-01-24T11:22:00.000-08:00

Hello again! Happy Monday, daughter Nicole again, 1st one change from the Friday blog. Stan and Shirley Schaaf did not end up coming out on Friday afternoon, because Danna decided to stay all afternoon. Also Andy & Jennifer drove up from KC to stay with mom &amp; dad Friday night & left on Saturday afternoon. He may also have a blog from his time at home.

Saturday Mom and Jennifer drove up to Omaha to Nebraska Furniture Mart, I met them there. Mom has been wanting to get a new dresser. She gave me an old oak dresser, that the drawers are hard to pull out in October. So she was trying to replace it. Mom was able to find a new dresser, it was not in, so Kevin and Danna will get the joy of bringing that down to Randolph. : ) We are very happy Kevin has a truck. While the girls were shopping, Andy stayed home with dad. Since dad was tired, he was a bit "out of reality" as we call it, he was not quite in 2005. Dad did not sleep well on Friday night, so mom took a nap in the afternoon as well. Since it was so cold and windy, she decided not to go to the Corner Conference Tournament game, but the FM boys did get 3rd, I think... So I stayed in Omaha Saturday night, too, instead of staying with dad while she went to the game.

Yesterday I ventured down with a few things mom needed for school and lunch. Dad slept pretty well on Saturday night, so that was good. They were both feeling a bit more refreshed. Mom had been busy, she had washed dad's hair and shaved him. So he was looking quite nice! : ) After we ate lunch mom went over to Tabor to get groceries for school and then she made some notes for Mrs. Wood, her sub for the mornings. Just before she got home, we had a visitor, Julius Schaaf. We had a nice chat with him and learned a lot about things they are making with corn. Julius is on a national grain board and is traveling a lot, so we were eager to hear about his adventures. I didn't write down which board, sorry... but it was nice to have another visitor! : )
I also talked to mom a few minutes this morning. They again had a pretty good night. She was expecting a busy morning. The Apria people were coming to install dad's cpap on the oxygen machine and the nurse Barb was coming. We also learned on Friday that Barb is not going to be dad's nurse much longer. She is going to start working in a hospital again, too much traveling in the winter for her. I am not sure when the new nurse will be coming, but I am sure Barb will help in the transition. This afternoon Dave Aistrope and Leonard Wilkens are the afternoon visitors while mom heads to school.

Mom was looking forward enjoying a bit of the nice weather we are having, if she had time, she probably drank her coffee on the front porch!

Thanks again for checking in, I did intend to put new blogs in all weekend, but Andy and Jennifer's trip to Randolph changed that. But we were very happy to see them and that they had a safe trip!
Nic

1-21-05 message

2005-01-21T11:07:00.000-08:00

Daughter Nicole here again to keep you update on what is going on in Randolph, Iowa. Yesterday afternoon there was another visitor, Pastor Jack from the church in town stopped out. When I was driving home from work, I called mom back again, using my hands free on the phone, and we talked about the day. Wednesday when Bill and Alena Fichter came over, they brought an angel food cake. Mom said dad drank his shake (ice cream and carnation instant breakfast, to get some calories in him) and had some angel food cake. We also enjoyed the sunset last night... it was very pretty. Then mom got ready to head to the basketball game at Tabor. Glen and Sandy Howard came over to the house while mom went to the game. Mom said it was nice to see a game, but FM lost.

Today I called home about noon. Danna came down this morning, since mom had a hair cut in Glenwood. Danna brought her a Starbucks, so she was happy on her way to get pampered. She said she called her sister Bev, using her hands free set for her cell phone, they talked until she was in Glenwood and had to go. She said dad slept pretty well last night. He woke up around 1am, again at 5am, and then he was up at 7am. She said they talked for about half an hour and then he rested for another 40 minutes and then it was time for breakfast. Danna is staying till 2:30 this afternoon and then Stan and Shirley Schaaf are coming till mom gets home from school. Since it is Friday, Barb the hospice nurse was also there this morning. She usually works dad over pretty good, so he will sleep good this afternoon. His pressure sore is continuing to improve, that is good news, but still requires him to not lay directly on his back. So far it has been an ok day. I will write again tomorrow with information from the rest of the day and any visitors that may drop in tomorrow.

Again, thanks for taking time to check in.
Nic

Update from Nicole

2005-01-20T11:14:00.000-08:00

Daughter Nicole again here, I will attempt to keep this updated on a more regular basis. It had not occurred to me when I call home to see how things are going, I could take notes. From them I could create a daily blog for all those people who are curious. Sorry for being selfish with the info... Enjoy the post...
Also, I must note I did have an error in my previous blog, we visited on Friday, January the 7th. Sorry.
As I mentioned on my last post mom started back to school in the afternoons, so there are daily visitors to stay with dad and we wanted to recognize them and again show our appreciation. To keep this from being a huge blog I will simply put the days, plus the visitors. Last week Kathleen Vanatta sent some yummy pumpkin bars, and Benita Fichter made a yummy chocolate pie.

January 10 - Marv and Ed from the Bank
Dave Aistrope
also the hospice nurse Barb and the social worker, who's name is escaping me.. sorry

January 11- Mark and Benita Fichter
Desi from hospice

January 12- Cliff Scott (dad's brother)
Barb the hospice nurse

January 13- Me... Nicole Larsen
Benita Fichter brought some banana pudding
Dave Aistrope brought two salads that Lois made

January 14- Paul Barker
Stan and Shirley Schaaf

January 15- Danna & Kevin Hamele
Another visitor that I did not have written down was Gordon Scott (dad's cousin) did visit... I think on Saturday, but I am sorry Gordon... I will make sure to write it down next time...

January 16- I visited again... Mom was excited about the 50 pounds of bird seed that Kevin and Danna brought the day before... more food means more birds to watch! I convinced her to run to Shen. She wanted to get some stuff to reorganize the shelf over the washer and drier while she was off school Monday. I did a few tasks and made some chocolate chip cookies for them to munch on all week...
Cliff and Brenda Scott visited in the afternoon as well

January 17- mom did not have school so she was home with dad
Barb the hospice nurse visited
Susan Costello brought some medicine for dad that she picked up in Shen

January 18 - Mark and Benita Fichter
Desi from hospice
Danna came down after work and brought supper for her and mom

January 19 - Cliff Scott
Bill and Alena Fichter
Barb the hospice nurse also visited in the morning

Larry Giesmann dropped by in the afternoon.
That brings us up to date... hope I did not forget anyone

January 20 - Paul Barker
Desi from hospice
I talked to mom this morning and dad was having a good morning. He doesn't always remember what he has, but he usually knows he is sick, just doesn't remember when and why... Dad woke up around 8 this morning, so dad was just getting up again from his nap. Mom had been busy, she got all the wreaths down and the stuffed Santa off the porch. Plus she fed the birds, she told me there were 12 finches eating while we were on the phone...

Last week I also emailed a friend of mom and dad's from Westside, the old AR-WE-VA days. She was on the last basketball team that dad coached and is now running the paper in town. Janine is going to post the blog address in the paper, so that his old students and friends in the area can check on how he is doing.

Hope you are all having a good day. We thank you for your interest in how our DAD (Bill) is doing...

Nic

Pictures of mom and Dad

2005-01-19T11:22:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

Here a two pictures that Danna took with her camera phone of mom and dad the other day.

The first picture is dad talking on the phone with me.

Here is mom and dad kissing for the camera.

Thanks for checking up on dad.

-Andy

Update from Nicole.

2005-01-13T06:44:00.000-08:00

Well the first week in January brought ice and snow to Iowa and Nebraska, limiting the visits to see dad and mom... They didn't even get to go back to school at F-M till Friday... more days at the end of the year. We shoveled out here in Omaha and waited for a break in the weather to be able to go home. Finally Friday the 6th, Kirk and I decided to venture back. Southwest Iowa got more ice than we did here in Omaha, but also less snow. Mom was worried about us getting in and out of the driveway, but we managed. Dad was sitting up eating when we arrived. He had a pretty long day. The nurse usually tires him out on her visits and she was there on Friday. While dad continued to eat his egg, I made waffles for us to eat. One of Kirk's Christmas presents has turned out to be pretty handy. : ) We joined dad in his room and enjoyed our late dinner. Once we were done, he was ready to rest again. He was awake for part of the night, just listening to us all chat. Kirk had a $2 winning scratch off ticket, from his stocking, so he got two more tickets and managed to win another $2. Mom got to scratch that on off and was very happy and dad asked what was going on? I think his response was good job. He drifted off to sleep, we told him
good night and ventured home.

I went back for my Sunday visit, but stayed away from dad most of the day, because I was just not feeling quite right. There were many visitors to the house to keep him company. Aunt Bev and Dave came over for dinner and brought some yummy vegetable beef soup. After that, mom
was just starting to give Aunt Bev a perm, when two of mom's FCCLA girls came over to visit. They kept us entertained in the kitchen while we watched the perm take shape. Andy also came up from KC. He sat with dad and they watch the NFL Wild card Games. Dad even managed to sit up in the wheelchair for part of the game in the living room. A bit of a change of scenery never hurt anyone! A good day.

Then Monday mom started going back to school in the afternoons. In order to do this, there are volunteers, friends and family, who come stay with dad while she is gone. It can be a challenge, as people are very busy, even in the winter, but we appreciate everyone's consideration and help! I ended up traveling back to the farm on Monday night as well with some more medicine. I was again greeted by dad sitting up and eating his eggs for supper. It takes him a while, but he gets it done! I am happy he is eating some protein again! : ) Mom said he slept most of the afternoon, but had been up almost as long as she had been home from school. That was a treat and he was stronger. We had to rearrange the covers and he was able to help me lift him up. We get very excited about the little things. After that he was ready to rest. I was really happy again when I was leaving, because he told me "toodlelou", I don't recall him saying that much, mom did, but it still made me smile!

I better get to bed, I have the afternoon visit tomorrow, so I will try to write more tomorrow...
Nicole

Weekend update

2005-01-04T12:52:00.000-08:00

Hi All! Daughter Danna here with an update to Dad's Blog site. Nic and I are going to be trying to keep this updated with the latest on what's happening back in the metropolis of Randolph Iowa. Thanks to Andy for loading up all we send! I hope everyone's holidays were Merry and you are all looking forward to a peaceful and prosperous '05.

Our holiday began with a little scare. Nic & Kirk headed down to Randolph on Christmas Eve to spend the evening with Mom and Dad. Andy's family as well as Kevin and myself had planned to join them Christmas morning. Dad ended up having a very difficult night and Mom gave us a call to come down, just in case. Kevin and I packed up and arrived in Randolph a little after 1:00 AM. With the kids already in bed, Andy and Jennifer decided to spend the rest of the night in KC and then come back first thing Christmas morning. Those of us in Randolph spent the evening in the "toy room", which has been converted into an additional bedroom for Dad. We chatted with him and around 3:30 AM he began to sleep more peacefully. Our first Christmas wish was granted.

Christmas Day was a mixture of happiness and concern. It was a blessing to have the entire family together for lunch and gift exchange, but we continued to worry about Dad throughout the day. We were lucky to get to have Grandma Scott with us this year. She rotates Christmas's amongst Kathy, Cliff and Dad, so it made it extra special to have her their this year. Andy and Jennifer also brought along Diane, Jennifer's mother. She is always a delight and gave Mom a wonderful scarf and inspirational poem to accompany it. I'm certain Mom will cherish both for a long time to come. We enjoyed watching Ali and Zac opening their gifts and of course were anxious to see which one they liked best. Blocks and trucks ruled.

Since Dad was still feeling weak, I went to Omaha for Kevin's Christmas, then came back to help Mom Christmas night. We had a very nice evening and I enjoyed waking up in my old room again! Mom and I spent the day on Sunday cleaning up after Christmas and watching movies in the Toy Room with Dad. I headed for home about 4:00, just as my Aunt Kathy and Renee's & Matt's son Justin arrived. They were on their way back from Shenandoah and stopped in to wish all a Merry Christmas.

Monday the 27th was Mom's birthday. Mom had lots of visitors that day as Aunt Betty, Uncle Dennis, Aunt Donna and Aunt Bev all came down to visit Dad and Mom. Mom & Dad enjoyed the company and Bev gave some great pointers on helping Dad move around. That evening Nic, Kevin and I came down to celebrate by cooking waffles and eating a Dairy Queen Ice Cream cake. Dad was feeling better and enjoyed watching Mom open gifts.

On the 28th Nic and Kirk came down to spend the night in Randolph. On the 29th I came down. Mom and I enjoyed a chuckle when Dad asked why I was getting all dressed up on the morning of the 30th. Of course, I was getting ready for work and had been hanging out in sweats most of the weekend.

The 31st was Dad's birthday. He enjoyed visits from Uncle Cliff and Debbie Wake. Mom made a quick trip to Glenwood for a haircut at Sue (Dougherty) Stouder's shop and supplies for a birthday casserole for supper. That evening Nic & Kirk, Kevin & I came down to celebrate. We enjoyed a couple of adult beverages and a Ham & Cheese casserole. Dad had a tough day that day, struggling to keep things down. Not the best Birthday present, but he enjoyed the company and the cards.

On the first day of 2005 Uncle Cliff came down to visit again while Mom ran over to get a few things at school. In the afternoon I came down. Mom and I spent the rest of the day tidying up around the house. Mom was pretty tired because Dad didn't sleep much overnight. I was glad she went out for a quick walk while I sat with Dad. She was excited to get all the way up the hill and back before it got too dark. Dad was still having trouble keeping down food and lost his soup in the evening. He enjoyed a good back rub from Mom in the evening and watched some of each of the many good football games. He smiled to hear that Iowa won. He would have really enjoyed seeing all of that one. Same with Texas.

Dad didn't sleep well again on Saturday night. Nic came down on Sunday and spent the day helping out Mom around the house. She went back to school as she was having trouble running a program for grades. Nic enjoyed spending time with Dad while she was out.

I was planning on going down to stay last night, but Mother Nature had other ideas. The freezing rain and potential for snow kept me in Nebraska for the evening. A phone call with Mom told me that Dad had been feeling poorly in the morning, but was feeling much better last night. He even sat up on his own in bed with little struggle and was able to sit up for some time with little assistance. He was also able to get over to the commode! These are all very good things in our minds.

There is the update. From here it should be shorter as we won't have to play catch up. Thanks to all who are checking in.

2005 is here

2005-01-03T09:54:00.000-08:00

Hello, this is Andy. I wanted to let you all know that dad ushered in the new year with mom. They watched the countdown on TV. Dad has had several visitors this past week and wanted me to say thank you for stopping by and saying hi.

-Andy

Update on Dad's condition

2004-12-28T09:23:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

This is Andy writing for dad. For those that do not know, my dad has brought hospice back into the home to make him more comfortable these days. He is on oxygen and very weak. I'm sure that he would love for you to drop by and say hi or call just to chat with mom.

Dad was able to get mom a Christmas present with some help from Santa's elves. The whole family was at the farm Christmas day to celebrate the Holiday in style. We had dinner together and watched the food disappear. I don't think that anyone left the table hungry.

After dinner each of the kids ( Danna, Nic and I ) spent time in Dad's room talking, listening and remembering.

In the days since Christmas, mom has celebrated her birthday and had many relatives and friends stop by to visit. So go ahead and give mom a call and drop by to say "hi".

-Andy

2004-12-16T08:11:00.000-08:00

Today was ok. I was able to sit up for a little while. But tonight I was so cold I had to lay in bed with the electric blanket on to keep warm.
Visitors: Erin the county nurse stopped to see me and say good bye, now that hospice has taken over she can't come.
Jim Ahern, our old veterinarian stopped by
Marv from the bank.
Carol worked on Aunt Dorothy's Christmas cards. I managed to write the checks for her tenants while she addressed the cards. Carol had Dorothy sign the cards after school at the manor. Then she worked on our Christmas letter. We hope to get those in the mail this weekend.

We didn't have the tv on tonight, just listened to the radio.

Time for bed.

Love ya,

Dad

2004-12-15T09:31:00.000-08:00

Today I managed to do a little walking, I made it to the kitchen once and to the living room to watch a little of the Chiefs game. I had a very hard time getting back to bed so I won't do that again. Visitors: Marv from the bank.
Danna brought Sue Stouder down to cut my hair.
Time for bed, hope the Chiefs manage to win.

Love ya,

Dad

Better day today

2004-12-15T08:10:00.000-08:00

Today was a little better, at least I kept my food down, and was able to get up and walk a few steps.
Visitors: Bill Fichter, a friend from church and the community
Susan Costello, neighbor and fellow bank employee
Hospice worker, she got me signed up for their services.
Carol shaved me tonight, she laughed and said it looks ok because your not bleeding.
Time for bed,

Love ya,

Dad

Not a good day

2004-12-14T09:30:00.000-08:00

Today was a bad day. I vomited 4 times and had a temperature of 101 in the afternoon. By evening the vomiting had stopped but I wasn't much better.

Visitor: Marv from the bank and Bobby Benton made a delivery from the flower shop.

Hope for a better day tomorrow.

Love Ya,

Dad

Watched some basketball today

2004-12-12T17:45:00.000-08:00

Carol went to Glenwood to get her hair cut this morning. Danna and Kevin came down to help put up the snow fence. They brought Mom down for a short visit. We had a strong south wind today so my room was really cold. I managed to walk out to the living room to watch a little basketball this afternoon. I don't think I will do that many more times as it was very hard to get out of the chair.

Carol fixed a roast for supper. I ate a little potatoes and gravy. That was a nice change from the chicken soup I have daily.
Time for bed.

Love ya,

Dad

All cleaned up.

2004-12-12T09:46:00.000-08:00

Carol didn't go to church this morning. She went outside to pick up stuff that blew around during the night. She was able to get the waterfall box for her pond drained.
The wind changed from south to north so my room was much warmer today. This morning I got cleaned up, nice to have a shower and wash my hair.

Visitors: Carol's sister Bev and her son David came to return the coat Carol left in Sharps. They brought potato soup.
Nic also spent the afternoon.

Didn't walk much today, my legs are giving me a lot of trouble. I slept a lot today, but did manage to shave tonight.

Time for bed.

Love ya,

Dad

Not much happened today

2004-12-10T17:44:00.000-08:00

Friday Carol went to Shen for her back again. I hope it feels better this weekend. After supper I shaved, but didn't feel like watching TV.
Visitor: Ed from the bank brought me the sports page and other local papers.
Not much news, time for bed.

Love ya,

Dad

Slow day at home.

2004-12-09T20:39:00.001-08:00

Another long day, I wasn't able to walk as long as I usually do in the morning. My legs are not wanting to go where I want them to go.

Visitors: Ed and Marv from the bank.

Danna came and brought a poinsettia. She was stopping to visit Grandma Scott on her way home.
Tonight Carol and I worked on our Christmas letter. I didn't make it to the living room for any TV tonight.

Just seems to sleep.

Time for bed.

Love ya,
Dad

Slow day at home.

2004-12-09T20:39:00.000-08:00

Another long day, I wasn't able to walk as long as I ususally do in the morning. My legs are not wanting to go where I want them to go.

Visitors: Ed and Marv from the bank.

Danna came and brought a poinsetta. She was stopping to visit Gandma Scott on her way home.
Tonight Carol and I worked on our Christmas letter. I didn't make it to the living room for any tv tonight.

Just seems to sleep.

Time for bed.

Love ya,
Dad

Back online

2004-12-09T09:56:00.000-08:00

Carol is back at school after several days off. She received word Thursday morning that her mother had passed away. Visitation was last Sunday with the funeral on Monday. Tuesday she went back to Sharps to go through some things at her home.
Thursday visitors: Sandy Howard brought ham cheese, buns and chips.
Friday visitors: Marv from the bank and Nic came down for the afternoon. She made cookies for us and kept Carol and I company.
Saturday visitors: Pastor Jack brought communion,
Harold and Karen Holloway brought ham, cheese and bread for Carol to take to Sharps.
Sunday visitors: Andy and Jennifer came up and stayed with me until they had to leave for the visitation.
Kathy came in the evening to heat up my supper and keep me company.
Monday visitors: Marv and Ed from the bank stopped by.
Cliff came to heat up my lunch and keep me company for a little while.
Tuesday Andy and Jennifer headed back to KC.
Tonight I managed to sit in the living room long enough to watch "Lost".
It's about bedtime.

Love ya,

Dad

Message from Andy Scott

2004-11-30T06:58:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

My mom has asked me to post this picture taken of the family on Thanksgiving. I hope you all enjoy our bright smiling faces!

-Andy

Packers on MNF tonight

2004-11-29T19:18:00.000-08:00

Monday came and Carol had to go back to work with a light snow cover. It is different to see snow on the ground. Our hope is not to see very deep snow. Our snow moving equipment is not good. We have always had good help with this problem.

I felt okay today, but I slept most of it. I did get 3 sequences of walking done (2 to 5 laps) and (1 to 2 laps). The legs seemed fairly strong today and walking wasn't painful.

Nic and I did ok picking winners this week with Monday night football to be played. We have the Packers tonight/opponent the Rams.

Sister Kathy called today.

Packers are winning at halftime 21-10.

Love ya,

Dad

New windows installed

2004-11-28T12:16:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning and all is well. Kevin and Danna arrived at 10:00 to put in the windows. It is a little more involved getting the old ones out than I thought. They had the first out and ready to go by 1:00, but it was snowing already. By 2:00 they had the work all done and were ready for a late lunch. The windows really look good.

The Chiefs were normal today. They lost to the Chargers (34-31). They can score, but so can the other side, plus they have some defensive secondary problems.

After supper, we got cleaned up - a shave and shower, clean bedding and clean clothes.

Visitors: Cliff and Brenda came to visit after we got the windows replaced.

Clean and off to bed.

Love Ya,

Dad

Iowa State Loses to Colorado

2004-11-27T15:04:00.000-08:00

Andy and the kids were the alarm clock this morning. But not until 7:30 which was normal for us. They left after dinner, so the tempo in the house really changed. They got home about 3:00.
Iowa State about won the Big 12 North twice, but it was not to be. But they are co-champions with Colorado and don't have to go play Oklahoma next weekend. They will get a bowl trip, hopefully south eastern US so they will have warm weather. Carol listened to the radio during the ISU game as she worked on the computer and it was ahead of the dish tv by about 5 seconds, so she knew the bad results before I did.

Carol and I played solitaire after supper. Tomorrow Kevin is going to put the two new windows in place before the first snow storm. We don't need snow!

Love ya,

Dad

Calm has returned to the house

2004-11-26T12:07:00.000-08:00

Andy and the kids were the alarm clock this morning. But not until 7:30 which was normal for us. They left after dinner, so the tempo in the house really changed. They got home about 3:00.

Iowa State about won the Big 12 North twice, but it was not to be. But they are co-champions with Colorado and don't have to go play Oklahoma next weekend. They will get a bowl trip, hopefully south eastern US so they have warm weather. Carol listened to the radio during the ISU game as she worked on the computer and it was ahead of the dish tv by about 5 seconds, so she knew the bad results before I did.

Carol and I played solitaire after supper. Tomorrow Kevin is going to put the two new windows in place before the first snow storm. We don't need snow!

Love ya,

Dad

Turkey Day

2004-11-25T12:02:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is over. We had the customary dinner, turkey, potatoes, dressing, green beans, corn, bread, banana cream pie and pumpkin pie. I had a couple bites compared with what they ate.

We had a strong south wind all day so it was cold in the house. Everyone got to their later meals ok.

I was ill the rest of the day, but was able to keep a little supper down.

No tv for me today. I listened to pro games on the radio which were not good.

Love ya,

Dad

Day before Thanksgiving

2004-11-24T17:01:00.000-08:00

We made it through another day. Carol got to the Doctor for her sore back. She is about as slow bending as I am. So she should take it easy because tomorrow is Thanksgiving and Andy and the grandkids, Kevin and Danna, Nic and Kirk are coming for dinner. Andy is staying over night while the others have evening meals with the other side of the family.

Carol got her flu shot today. Iowa lost to North Carolina and we watched the Tim McGraw concert on tv.

Off to bed.

Love ya,

Dad

Dull Day

2004-11-23T15:58:00.000-08:00

Another dull day at home because I slept most of it.
Visitor - Ed Thompson - bank friend delivered the Omaha World-Herald sports page and talked.
Carol and I watched "Jim" and "Donny" on TV before watching ESPN North Carolina /Tennessee. North Carolina won. They will play Iowa for the Championship. Off to bed.

Love ya,

Dad

Way to go IOWA STATE!

2004-11-22T20:05:00.000-08:00

Well, we spent the day trying to get our supplies for next week. Carol got her hair cut this morning, and we started to clean me up after lunch. A shave, shower and rub down were completed. As we were completing this, Iowa State was pulling off a large upset of Kansas State (37-23). Somehow ISU scored 28 points during the last nine minutes of the 4th quarter. The only bowl eligible at 6-4, and play Missouri for the North Championship next Saturday. Coach has pulled another turn around and his cup is really half full now. He is even doing this with a quarter back from Iowa.

The day has been uncomfortable, but it is about over. Sometimes you sleep good and wake up feeling great. Sometimes you don't. Today was one of those days. Well, I have a clean body and clean bed, so I hope Sunday is good.

Zac had a birthday party in K.C. today, We didn't go, but Danna and Nic did, so they will have pictures.

Love ya,

Dad

No Sunshine

2004-11-22T19:30:00.000-08:00

We keep missing that bright sunshine. It was a quiet Monday. I slept most of the morning.
Visitors: Marv Penning - bank friend - delivered the World Herald sports page.
Danna and Kevin - brought Pizza Hut supper for themselves and delivered some snow fence for us. They picked up some wedding bills.

We watched the first half of the Patriots/KC Chiefs Monday night football game. The chiefs are down 17-10. Priest Holmes is injured and can't play. I won't stay up for the end.

Love Ya,

Dad

Sunday with friends

2004-11-21T20:07:00.001-08:00

Sunday is the day and the sun is out. It probably won't end up bright and sunny. Off to a good start with breakfast and a nap.

The Sunday World Herald had a nice story about ISU. It is true, Dan McCarney will be the only coach in the Big 12 North that can sleep in peace if that's possible in football coaching.

Visitors: Cliff and Brenda Scott - stopped in for a visit and look at wedding snapshots.
Mom and my sister Kathy Pearce - stopped in for a visit and to look at wedding snapshots.
Nicole, also came for lunch and helped Carol get the bird bath back on its heater after Kevin got it fixed. Also they did more planning for dinner Thursday. Nic and I are doing ok on our NFL game picks. There haven't been to many upsets.

Bed time.

Love Ya,

Dad

Sundy with friends

2004-11-21T20:07:00.000-08:00

Sunday is the day and the sun is out. It probably won't end up bright and sunny. Off to a good start with breakfast and a nap.

The Sunday World Herald had a nice story about ISU. It is true, Dan Mc wil be the only coach in the Big 12 North that can sleep in peace if thats possible in football coaching.

Bed time.

Love Ya,

Dad

11-19-04 Message

2004-11-19T20:02:00.000-08:00

I watched "Jag" and "Medical Investigation" in the living room with Carol. So that was a little better! The nurse was here today and my vitals were pretty good. Blood Pressure 106/62, Respiration 84, weight 164. We are set up for our next medicines and I need to get a little more sitting up time.

Visitor: Marv Penning - bank employee, News - new female employee at the bank, she is to be the loan clerk. She formally worked at City National Bank in Shenandoah.
Paul Barker - teacher friend - stopped for a visit.

Time for Bed.

Love Ya,

Dad

P.S. Cheer for the Iowa State Football team on Saturday. ISU Conference Champs!!!

Water line is now fixed.

2004-11-18T19:26:00.000-08:00

Another very quiet day. The only visitor was the plumber that fixed our water line. So now we have plenty of water and water pressure. Carol got to shower at home tonight.
I listened to CSI and ER from bed tonight. Changed the pain patch today.

Love Ya,

Dad

Bad Day

2004-11-17T20:41:00.000-08:00

Bad Day! It started with a surprise lose of breakfast about 10:00. I was just getting up from my nap for a bathroom break. The next thing I know, I am looking for a container. Most of it made the bowl, but some made the floor. It could have been worse.

Visitor: Tom Pollock delivered his bin rent check for 2004. He chatted for 2 hours. We spent a lot of time talking yield and profit strategy. He has done many hours of calculating 50/50 lease dollars compared to cash rent dollars. He uses this for working out leases with his landlords.

Worse news of the day - water line is broke and leaking by the north water hydrant. The plumber, Stacy Newman, said it will take a couple of days to get all the equipment and parts in place to do the work. So we have to go out to the well and shut off the pump when not in use.

Visitors: Danna and Kevin Hamele. Kevin returned Carol's bird bath heater all fixed. The thing is probably 25 years old. Danna and Kevin brought me a Beach Boy CD to play along with solitaire. Danna tried it out.

By bedtime I was really stiff and tired. The medicine worked good and I slept most of the night.

Love Ya,

Dad

No message today

2004-11-16T08:46:00.000-08:00

Dad did not publish a message today.

-Andy

Slept most of the day

2004-11-15T20:07:00.000-08:00

Not much to say today. I slept most of it. At least I wasn't sick at all today. Of course it was a cloudy dark day which didn't give me much energy.

We are going to have to work on getting our medicines renewed. We put the last 3 day pain patch on tonight.

Monday night football has been the Eagles beating the Cowboys at halftime. Our picks came out pretty good. Maybe our best week this season.

Bedtime - I'm not going to watch the rest of the game.

Love ya,

Dad

Message from Andy Scott

2004-11-15T11:50:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

My mom asked me to let you all know there is a way to post your own message to dad from this website. It is really quick and easy. At the bottom of each posting, you will see the word comment. Click on it.

You will see a new statement Post a Comment. Click on it.

You will see a choice to post a message as Anonymous. That is the choice you want to make.

A dialogue box will appear. Write your message and select Publish Your Comment.

That is all you should need to do!

Thank you,

-Andy

2004-11-14T11:45:00.000-08:00

Sunday was off to a slow start with breakfast at 9:00. After noontime ice cream it was time for the KC Chiefs. They played good part of the time, but forgot to score enough points to win. Record (3-6)

Visitors: Nic, Colette and Woody Hamele, and Danna and Kevin. They opened all the gifts from Friday night's reception. They got many dishes, some shop tools, some towels and cash. I hope they have plenty of room.

Kevin was disappointed today because the Minnesota Vickings lost to the Packers. Kevin and Danna stayed around to look at wedding pictures and watch the movie Clear and Present Danger with Harrison Ford.

Time for more sleep.

Love ya,

Dad

Fun with the Grandkids

2004-11-13T11:43:00.000-08:00

Saturday was a walk in the park compared to Friday. Andy, Jennifer, Ali, Zac and Carol went to the bank to look at the remodeling. It is moving along and might be done by year end 2004.
I slept until noon, and after dinner watched football with Andy and Jennifer. The grand kids played inside and outside. They and Grandma picked up sticks and got a fire going around the big tree. The shared some smores to finish their job.
The Huskers went down to defeat again. (5-5) Now they must wait until the Colorado game to see if they are bowl eligible. The Kansas/Texas game gives the big 12 North some hope when one of them has to play to champion of the south. Time for more sleep..

Love ya,

Dad

Danna's reception is tonight.

2004-11-12T11:40:00.000-08:00

Friday has arrived and it was a nice day. I felt normal but nervous about all the activity. Andy and family arrived about 3:30 so things were falling in place. I had showered and shaved earlier in the day so all I had to do was get dressed. The tux fit ok and the red sweater was big but warm.
We arrived at Mark Jewell's at 5:00 and got family and wedding pictures taken in an hour. Off to the lodge for supper and friends. We arrived at 6:30, and my wheel chair was waiting. I spent the evening by the fireplace visiting with friends and family as they would stop to chat. Larry and Myla Giesmann, my college roommate, stayed by our side. The rest of the family was at various tables around the room. The crowd numbered about 250 with well wishes for my daughter and husband, Kevin Hamele. It all went pretty fast and Carol and I left around 9;30. Andy and his family spent Friday night with us and returned to KC late Saturday afternoon. I think everyone had a good time, but I'm sure I couldn't do it again tomorrow.

Love Ya,

Dad

11-11-04 message

2004-11-11T20:38:00.000-08:00

Today was a trip to Glenwood for a haircut. It has been a month since I have been outside. The temperature definitely was colder and there is not much crop left out to combine.
The reception is tomorrow and the tux fit okay, but the sleeves were a little short. Carol has to lengthen them tonight. We had a fitting last night before bed. I did manage to write out monthly bills tonight. There is not much change from month to month.

Carol spent the evening decorating for the reception at the lodge. She has a lot of things to do tomorrow morning. Most are minor, but mean a lot to the bride.
Cross our fingers for tomorrow.

Love Ya,

Dad

Danna coming home

2004-11-10T08:01:00.000-08:00

Wednesday is about over and all is well. Danna called from Vegas as she and Kevin were waiting for their flight home. They should be in Omaha by midnight
I am going to quit sitting in the recliner. It makes my legs ache when I get up. Plus it is much easier to write sitting here on the couch. I have to try on my Tux tonight and shave before I go to bed.

Tomorrow starts a busy segment of our lives. I get a haircut after school. Then they decorate the lodge Thursday night. Friday we have pictures at Mark Jewell's at 5:00 followed by Danna and Devins reception at 6:30.
Visitors: Marv and Ed from the bank stopped by.

Well better close so I can get started.

Love ya,

Dad

Watched the CMA awards tonight

2004-11-09T19:03:00.000-08:00

Tuesday is almost over. We are watching the Country Music Awards on TV. There hasn't been a lot of surprises.

All meals went okay today. Eating a lot of soup, cake and ice cream. I don't know if it is a balanced diet, but who cares. I slept a lot again today. It seems like a hour sitting up was all I could handle. Tomorrow is suppose to be gloomy and rainy. That could mean sleep all day to keep warm. I should have done some exercises today.

Visitor: Marvin Penning - bank guy stopped for a visit.

Nic got back from Vegas today and called this afternoon. She was a little tired. Kevin and Danna leave Vegas late Wednesday.

Love Ya,

Dad

11-8-04 message

2004-11-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

A Monday that wasn't too bad. I didn't get much done, but at least I wasn't sick. We tried another IV this afternoon and it blew out in two hours. We got it shut down before any damage or body trauma occurred.

Randy Wirth was here today and repaired some shingles from the storm in May.
I spent most of the day resting but it was still a good day, I wasn't sick.
The Vikings and Colts are playing Monday night football. Close game.

Hope for a good Tuesday.

Love Ya,

Dad

Chiefs Lost

2004-11-07T09:08:00.000-08:00

Sunday got off to a good start. I had breakfast and went back to bed for a nap. The Chiefs came on at noon, so I took to my chair in front of the tv hoping for another big win. The win wasn't in the cards and Priest Homes was injured.

Danna's wedding was at 5:30, and we got the call right on time. We heard everything pretty good. Brenda, Cliff, Tom and Kathy joined us for the wedding. Andy and Jennifer listened in on the cell phone. Carol served chili after the ceremony.

Visitor: Mom came down and watched the 2nd half of the Chiefs game with me. Time to pay monthly bills again.

Love Ya,

Dad

Iowa State Beats Nebraska

2004-11-06T09:06:00.000-08:00

Saturday started with a shower and general clean up. Breakfast went well. The county nurse came to load the new IV. We got it started, but it only lasted a couple of hours. This really shakes me up, but we got the pump stopped and the nurse came back and took out the IV. We may wait until Monday to try again.

Well, It was Iowa State's day to beat Nebraska. Iowa State's skill people are young - red shirt freshman QB and receivers. Need to beat Kansas State and Missouri to win the Big 12 North. Probably won't happen but it would be nice for a change.

Roger and Paulette Irwin stopped to visit. Roger was a classmate in high school. Carol is trying to decorate another pumpkin. Danna and Kevin (plus the rest of the wedding party) left Omaha this afternoon for Vegas. Danna called when they got there. There were off to get the marriage license.

Kathe Fichter loaned us a speaker phone so we can hear the ceremony.

Love Ya,

Dad

Dish TV

2004-11-05T09:03:00.000-08:00

Today was a busy day. We got Dish TV installed. This took some work to get a tree limb cut down. Rick and Dale Malcom got that down for us. Dish was ready to go by 1:00.

The county nurse was back to start the IV again. It worked this time. Nic and Kirk visited after supper. Kirk put in a new phone jack and Nick helped Carol with some pumpkin stuff. Nic is flying to Las Vegas for Danna's wedding tomorrow.

Rod Carter did some dirt and gravel leveling on our driveway.

Love Ya,

Dad

Carol home from school today

2004-11-04T09:01:00.000-08:00

Carol was home from school today. It was a pretty tough day. We have decided to have the county nurse give me an IV because of how weak I felt. We also changed pain and nausea medicine. The first IV blew up in three hours, but the pain pill and nausea medicine worked.

Visitor: Sister Kathy spent the evening with us. Carol and her tried to figure out how to decorate Danna's pumpkins for the wedding reception. By bedtime I felt pretty good. Ate some soup for supper and the pain has been minor.

Love Ya,

Dad

Election Day

2004-11-02T07:08:00.000-08:00

Election Day is here, and it is very close. Carol had parent-teacher conferences tonight. We watched the results on TV with Danna and Kevin. They were disappointed with the gambling results in Nebraska. But there are a lot of votes to be counted. At 11:00 they don't know who won Iowa.

Today was all about stomach gas. It kept me down all day. I hope it will pass during the night. See ya tomorrow.

Love ya,

Dad

Nap time

2004-11-01T07:03:00.000-08:00

This was a cool, cloudy and rainy day. I took advantage of the mood and got a good 2 hour nap in the morning and another one in the afternoon. I did some walking and my leg exercises this afternoon.

Visitors: Paul Barker - a friend from Villisca, stopped to visit. Marv and Ed - guys from the bank brought me the World Herald. Tomorrow is the day! Carol and I will vote after school. We will hope there is a clear cut winner and no legal delays.

Love Ya,

Dad

Happy Halloween!

2004-10-31T07:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Haloween! Visitors today were Helen Mains, Donna and Terry James - they brought some food and had chili for lunch. Nic brought some things from Danna and some cheese for Carol for school. She helped Carol with the fence around the evergreen trees.

Kathy, Brendsa and Cliff stopped by to visit. We ennjoyed watching the K.C. Chiefs beat the Colts. It was a little hard on the nerves, but they played a good game. By the looks of the other scores, the KC & Colt game may have been the best game Sunday. Maybe the Chiefs have found their game.

Tonight Carol and I watched the movie Antwone Fisher Story It was pretty good.

Only 2 days until election day. Everybody get out to vote.

Love Ya,

Dad

10-30-04 Message

2004-10-30T06:58:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a nice day. Iowa, Iowa State and Nebraska all won their football games. None of them were on TV for us to watch, but the radio did a good job with the play by play. The wind really blew last night and is still blowing today. It blew down some sticks and branches plus it moved our TV antenna and broke part of it off. Our reception is not as good, plus we lose the picture once in awhile.

Next Saturday will be the showdown for the Big 12 North Leadership!

Carol is feeling better today. She got a hair cut this morning. Danna, Nic and their friend Kyli spent Saturday addressing wedding announcements. They got about 100 of them done. Nic brought ours down and they are very nice.

Danna & Kevin came down to visit. We watched the movie "Monsters, Inc" it was a cartoon but quite entertaining. They gave us some wedding details. The wedding is Sunday afternoon. They fly out of Omaha Saturday afternoon. It sounds like it is going to be very nice. They will be back here Thursday to decorate the lodge.

Time for bed.

Love Ya,

Dad

10-28-04 message

2004-10-29T08:25:00.000-07:00

It has been a good 24 hours. I have had a couple of close calls, but I have made it to 10:30. It was nice to set up and enjoy the day. Carol is feeling ill tonight with a sore throat and general tired feeling.

Visitors: Cousin Gordon and his wife Mike stopped on their way to the Farragut/Villisca regional volleyball game.

No baseball tonight and ER was a rerun, so I spent the evening reading the Beacon and Opinion Tribune. On to Friday - hope it is another good day.

Love Ya,

Dad

10-29-04 Message

2004-10-29T06:56:00.000-07:00

Today was another good day. After I got up today I was sitting in from of the computer the rest of the day.

I did some walking after Carol got home from school and did my upper body exercises. The exercises were a little tough since I hadn't done them for some time. But I got them done.
Carol went to the doctor after school. She had blood drawn and a culture taken of her throat. She has a cold and is really worn out. She slept during the best TV show. She is wearing a mask so she doesn't expose me to her germs. But since she is caring for me she now gets to get a flue shot. She was happy about that.

It is about bedtime. Hope for another good day tomorrow so I can enjoy the football games.

Love ya,

Dad