Happy 87th Birthday to Bud's Mother.

Saturday afternoon Grandma Jean (Bud's Mother) had a open house reception at the nursing home in honor of her 87th birthday.
Bud and I were blessed to have the kids come home from Bloomington for a while and we were able to enjoy our granddaughter, Kenley.
Here she is playing with some of the toys that were left over from Kim's childhood and the toys that were given to me at my Grandma shower at Curves before she was born.

After her nap we went to the nursing home, where she got to meet her Aunt Evie (Bud's sister) for the first time.
We also got to do lots of Kisses to Great grandpa Jerry.

Then photos of Bud and his sisters with their mother and step father.

(Jerry & Jean Sheppard with Judy and Evie and Forrest (Bud)

Grandma Jean wanted a 4 generation photo.

Great Grandpa Jerry was happy as could be. Grandpa Bud and Great Grandma Jean looking on.

On the way out the door Kenley got her first balloon.

It was great to see the kids again. And grandma Jean did have a good turn out in her celebration.

P.S. I DO NOT EVER WANT TO LIVE IN A NURSING HOME. THIS PLACE IS WAY, WAY TOO DEPRESSING.

Obsession

Daily our neighbor (E. Funkhouser) is cleaning up the leaves that have fallen from the tree.
Let me see there must be all of 10 on her side yard and on the street. Yes, she has been know to rake up the street too. She must have the cleanest yard around. She rakes them in a small pile then puts them in her plastic container that you see on the edge of the street. (This container is one like I would store cookies in, the size of a cake pan).
She will be outside doing this 3 to 4 times a day.

My daughter said she was obsessed.

Until this week end I thought her name was Munchhouser But Bud corrected me and told me it was Funkhouser. And since her husband passed on, I am sure she doesn't have much to do so guess cleaning her yard does give her something to do and we as neighbors get to see her nice clean yard.

Opps for UPS.

Saturday morning Bud had heard on the scanner that there was an accident on Route 48 just around the corner from us. They had called in the firedepartment, Bodine Enviormental Services, Wanted to know where they could get dirt to absorb the liquid that was coming from the spill. They did not know what chemical it was but it was running out of the truck and down the storm drain. They also had called the Railroad since it was blocking the railroad track.
When we went out for breakfast this is what we saw.

An 18 wheeler laying on its side. NOT GOOD.
Cops and fire men everywhere. But they did have Route 48 open.
Oh look, this guy had two trailers, but only the cab and first trailer were on their sides.

Yes, it is a UPS Ground truck....Not Good.
I never did find out what the liquid was that was coming from the truck. But whatever it was they were taking precautions.

Paco Talking and Whistling

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Every thing Paco says has been repeated to him numerous times. When we first got him I told Bud he could not teach him anything bad. Only good things. When he stayed with Veda and David for the week we were gone, Bud told me he would probably come home and sing Jesus Loves Me to us.

Only it was the cardinal outside that he mimicked

When we lived in the apartment under my friend Janet. I used to tell him "You gotta be quiet, Janet's sleeping" Bud didn't believe it until he heard it for him self. Yesterday morning he even told me "You gotta be quiet" I think he knew Bud was still in bed and he too needed to be quiet until Dad got up. Hope You enjoy the video I made last night of him talking.

Paco whistles. He loves Law and Order and he also has a foot feddish. He will actually go to the bottom of the cage and sing to my foot if it is anywhere close to his cage. He whistles Yankee Doodle and Dashing Thru the Snow.... But gets them all confused at times and puts them all together.

When it gets dark outside and we start to get ready for bed he will tell us nighty night over and over again,until all the lights are out and the living room is totally dark and quiet.
Hope you enjoyed the videos. Kim actually showed me how to upload them. Thanks Kim.

Baked cockatiel?

This is Paco........ in our house we tell him that he lives in a $200 condo and he should be glad we bought it for him and tolerate him when he gets noisy.



On different occasions Bud has told him that he would look good with a apple stuck in his mouth and wants to know if we should bake him....or if we should call 1-800 adopt a bird. (All in fun---

If he gets too noisy we simply cover him with his Orange tablecloth blanket that is fastened to his new cage.



No this is not the new cage, but the only photo I could find of him this morning on my computer here at work.



Last night when I got home from work....Bud was sitting at the table on the computer. The minute I came in he informed me that I needed to strip and change clothes into something much lighter then I was wearing....AS SOMEONE (pointing the finger at me) had not turned the air conditioner on when I left for work and that it was 104 degrees in the trailer when he got home a few moments ago.....

Told me poor Paco was sitting at the front of the cage (not to the back when he goes when the air is on and he is cold), BUT WAY UP FRONT WITH HIS WINGS SPREAD...JUST SITTING AS THO HE WAS MELTING OR BAKING.



Poor little guy didn't know what to think....Mamma didn't mean to leave the a/c off... Just forgot to turn it back on and set it at 80 degrees so that would be the highest the temp would get inside.



So now the air conditioner is back on and in a very short time you will think we are trying to freeze you out.



Here are some of the things I would miss if you were not with us:

Your sayings: (Let me see if I can remember them all)

"Morning" you tell me every morning when I get up.

"Night" The minute I turn off all the lights and head for bed.

"Pop corn" Any snack that you get.... be it popcorn, sun flower seeds, pretzels, or your favorite cheese its.

"Mamma.".... Tho you don't know the difference between Mamma and Daddy yet.

"Paco Pretty Boy"

"I know"

"I'll be good"

"Gotta be quiet"

"Awe, ah"

And yes, I would miss your foot fetish...(When I sit on the couch and my foot is by his cage he will come down to the bottom and sing to it). It is always the same song. Wish I knew what he was singing.

Your whistling like a cardinal.

Your whistling Yankee doodle and then incorporating "Dashing thru the snow" with it.

Your whistling like Janet's telephone.

I probably missed a few things that you do to amuze us. Or mimic when you hear and see things. You are afraid of the blue straw....I think you think it is a snake. At first you would run to the back now you try to attack it.

Yes, buddy I would miss you so I am glad that you are okay. Even if Mamma didn't turn the air conditioner on and you thought it was extremely hot in there.

32 Years Later

32 Years ago We said I DO...... Happy Anniversary Forrest (Bud)

Sept. 9, 1978

I look at these two photos and I really almost have to laugh....oh how we have both changed in the last 32 years.

Today I am at work, and Bud is on his way to Tennessee to pick up a car.

Unless plans change we will be eating stuffed peppers this evening.....and I truly hope I don't need to fry him an egg sandwich at midnight like I did 32 years ago.

God is GOOD!

The verdict is IN......... After much waiting and waiting....I finally called them again, and the answer I received, " There are no calcification's that need to be dealt with at this time..... The only follow up needed will be an additional mammogram in 6 months to make sure there are no changes."

SO, Scar tissue can create havoc and cause lots of pain. Back to using the Castor oil solution and try to keep them as soft as possible and hopefully the scar tissue pain will go away and STAY AWAY!
Since Doctor commented about my gall bladder scars too, so guess I must either use it or Vitamin E oil on them too to try and soften them up a bit also.



In the mean while, I am Thanking God that it is NOT CANCER.....The big C that has dealt blows to our family in the past.....Both Mother and Sister had it and passed on into eternity.....


THANK YOU GOD AND THANK YOU TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO HAVE PRAYED FOR ME THESE PAST WEEKS OF WAITING.

Friendship Company Picnic.

Last night there were 10 ladies who gathered at Michelle's house for the kickoff of Friendship Company.

Our annual hot dog roast.......good fellowship and good FOOD.

Getting there and setting up around the fire pit.

Roasting hot dogs. And later marshmallows.

One by one they seemed to leave for home.

Yet this is the best part of the evening.....

Pulling your chair closer to the fire and just sitting there visiting.

It is always good to get together with the church gals and have a wonderful evening.

Saturday Fun.

Saturday morning Bud and I went to Normal to spend the day with the kids.
Some wonderful food and fellowship.
Playing with Kenley.

Spending some time in the back yard.

Laughing at the faces grandma is making.

Kenley and grandpa C.

We took meat that Clay so kindly cooked on the grille. Kim made the wonderful hash brown casserole...

And Kenley had a day full of smiles for us.

Thanks for a wonderful day.

STILL WAITING----------

Bluntness-------
August 18 ---- I did my mammogram and they did a ultra sound the same day.


Then I get the letter from the hospital stating that the ultra sound didn't show anything significant....but that my doctor would get back to me as to what my follow up should be.

OH---YES--- The doctor is out of the office for a number of days.....but the nurse would talk to him and get back to me..

When she did call me back I had the surprise of my life..... NOW I have to go in and do a MRI.
I know he had told me if the MRI shows no cancer then it isn't there...SO perhaps this is what it will take to ease the fears of my family.
They didn't want me to wait to get into the hospital to get it done they scheduled it for Sept. 1, at South Shores Imaging Center.

That is great since it is just down the road from the office and I don't have to take as much time off work to go get it done.

Have you ever tried laying perfectly still for almost 45 minutes with your breasts hanging through a hole in the table, with your hands above your head? And one arm has a IV in it so they can put the contrast die in? And in the other hand a panic button if I needed them to stop.
Glad I couldn't see that I was in this cylinder...... I might have hyperventilated..... If I opened my eyes all I could see was the floor below me.

When it came time to put the die in she stated that the die would not only give me a warm fuzzy feeling but I might taste it or smell it......Well let me tell you it smelled like a dirty diaper to me.
Thank God the smell didn't last long or I would have had to cough, and I surely do not hold still when I cough.

All done, and I go back to the office knowing that the waiting game has once more started..
HOWEVER less then 2 hours after I got back to the office the girls from the Women's Health Center called (The place that did the mammogram and ultra sound just recently)....and stated that Dr. wanted me to come back in to the Hay Street office and do ANOTHER ULTRA SOUND..

Now my panic button almost came on.... WHY? They just sent me a letter stating the ultra sound showed nothing What are they seeing on the MRI?
NO ---they won't tell you anything. Could I please come back in that day and do another ultra sound? Yes, I could and would.... hopefully the wait will be less by getting it done the same day.

The same little gal did the ultra sound...only this time they told her where they wanted her to look and they must have told her it was deep or to press hard at one place I had to let her know that it really hurt where she was filming and taking her photos.

She left the room and I told her to tell Dr. Locke to bring his needle in and we'd drain them.
She snickered and said he may want to see for himself if her pictures were not what he wanted.

When she came back she stated that my doctor should have the results in a couple of days and that then they would tell me what the next step would be, if it was additional biopsies or what.

LORD A MIGHTY.... IF They keep cutting this one to pieces it will totally collapse. I can already feel where they took stuff out. How many more lumps can they take out of these fibersystic boobs of mine?

So, No Lynette, I don't know what is going on yet.
I still know and trust that GOD DOES KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON AND HE HOLDS MY FUTURE IN HIS HANDS!

Until then, I am counting on my blogging friends, family and church family to keep us in your prayers. And thank you in advance.