Meeting new grandchild plus Kenley Fun and Bud (at age 62) landing in Pediatrics.

Last Friday p.m. I took off work and headed to Bloomington/Normal to go see our upcoming grandchild.

We do not know know if this little one is a boy or girl, But do know I already love him/her very much!

On Saturday I watched Kenley so that Kim and Clay could work around the house.  Kim actually washed their front windows.

Late p.m. we went to the mall since the land lord wanted to show the house. Kenley enjoyed playing in the ice cream truck and did not want to leave.

Earlier in the day Kenley and I made two trips to the park just down and around the corner from the house.

Come on grandma ...I'm ready.

She loves her swing rides!   On the first trip it looked like it was going to rain, so I carried an umbrella...off we started.... but ---my mind went blank.   Just where oh where was the park from their house. I remembered seeing it,  but   like I said.....my mind went blank.

We started off like normal....When I got across the street and we could either go left or right...I ask, "Kenley, which way to the park?"   And she pointed left.... by the time I got to the next corner I remembered where it was so I turned right and kept walking..... Ya for directions from a small child... they know where they want to go.

Late that evening I had a phone call from Bud.... He was back in the hospital...additional blood clots.

They didn't have a room for him, and when he told me where they put him, I really had to laugh.

He was on the OB/GYN--Pediatrics floor....Yep, he landed in Peds in the overflow rooms.

I did not know they started giving you a sticker when you came to visit someone, but on Sunday when I got home yep.....had to go to Peds to see him.  And the room was decorated for peds too.  We found the wallpaper border around the top of the room to be interesting.

He did get to go home again yesterday....but we have learned a few things.
Did you know coumadin does not dissolve blood clots....all it does is thin the blood so that there are no additional clots....He also has to give himself shots in the stomach for 5 days along with the coumadin....in trying to get his blood as thin as they want it.
We were told that if he had ignored the fact that his leg was swollen on Saturday and he had gone to California with the car that he was to take out there and fly home on Thursday, that he probably would not have come home alive.  The pressure from the altitude in flying would have probably caused the clots to separate and move, and they would have been too big for the heart and lung and there would have not been anything anybody could have done for him.    Therefore, I am grateful that it happened here and not in California so that I would have had to go out to get him.

He has to go to the hospital every morning for blood work, and will not be allowed to fly for 6 months. So his long trips of drive and fly back are probably over.  But they did say he could do shorter runs again if he felt like it.   So tomorrow he is going to Indianapolis for Mark Reynolds from Omni Erection to get bins put in his truck.
Me????  Well today is my Friday here at work.  Tonight I go to Normal again only this time  we hope to have the kids moved into their new house before I come home.  Between Clays mom and dad (Cheryl and Tom) and Clay and myself....I hope to make sure Kim does not overdo it and lift something that she should not lift.  After all, we want a health grand baby when it is due not way too early!!!!

I'm Outta Here....Oh, wait...not till December 29, 2011

For over 31 years I have sat behind this desk.

Yesterday morning, I walked into Bob's office with a question for him.  He answered my question and looked up and me and I said, "Bob I just want you to know that I have decided to retire as of the last of this year."

He knew it was coming just didn't know how soon.

We spoke briefly about my training Julie so that she would know the little things in the portion of the job that I do for the company.  Currently Julie is in charge of the service end of the business. We both know it will be hard for Julie to turn the service portion of the business over to someone else.  (But, that is something she will have to work out for herself.)

So in the very near future, she will train Jo to take over the service portion. To do so and for the convenience of training Jo will move to Julie's desk and Julie to my current corner, and I will take the center desk amidst the training.  I know how to do all the jobs except registering the equipment.  They started doing that portion of the job recently and it was part of Jo's job.  They can train a new person how to do it after I am gone.

SO, THIS CORNER HAS BEEN MY HOME AWAY FROM HOME SINCE March 1993 when we moved into this building. Previously  we had been on Railroad Ave.  I will probably box up my things, or at least most of them and take then home. I'm sure Julie will change a few things after I am gone, but until I am gone hope she will leave things where they are so that I have a easier time showing her where I kept things and why.

She knows how to post invoices and pay as she has had to do that and payroll in the past while I was on vacation. So it is the things like 

1.) Company insurance.

2.) Health Insurance

3.) Work Comp claims

4.) 401 Year end --5500 filing.

5.) Payroll year end. And all the forms and reports.

6) When things need to be paid to keep from getting fines.

ETC.....

Last year when I did the year end stuff I tried to log everything and show in detail what I was doing and why. Stressing to her the importance of making sure things balance on a weekly/monthly basis because it makes year end easier to do.

She told me yesterday that she is scared to death.  There are so many things that I do that I cannot really sit down and make a list of things for her that I do.  After all I have learned the things I do across the past 31 years.  Had someone told me 31 years ago that I would know so much about a business and do this much for them I would probably have told them that they are nuts.  My little mind would not be able to contain all that info and do all that.

For 7 years I did it all ---everything was done by hand.  Then we finally got computers.  When it was more then I wanted to handle by myself I was given the option of what portion of my work I wanted to do.

I chose Payroll and Payables ---and that included all the checkbook, and details....And we hired someone to do the Receivables/Service portion.  I know how to do that portion, but certainly will not miss helping answer the phones and taking those 100+ service calls on the first hot day of the year.

In the past year I have noticed that the general public's attitudes is really bugging me. The older I get I simply do not want to deal with those nasty people on the phones...on the brave nasty ones who come into the office in person and start screaming at you.  (We had one man scream at a fellow worker and made her cry and she quit soon thereafter). I'm afraid if I had not been out to lunch that day when it happened I would not have been able to keep my big mouth shut, I would have told him off.

With knowing that every year it gets worse and worse, and that I am not getting any younger. Plus by the end of this year I will have grand baby number two to enjoy too.  And that Bud's health  is not the best, weighing all the factors.....It was as tho God was telling me "Verna It is time to get out of the bookkeeping portion of your life and simply retire."

I have been doing bookkeeping for someone for the past 41+ years and before I make a error that cannot be reversed I will continue my life in the next phase of life.... Hopefully more simple, not as many needs so, not as much money is needed to live on. When we sold things and gave away and threw away last year and moved into our 39 ft travel trailer, I proved that we don't have to have nearly the amount of earthly things we thought we had to have to be happy.

So, I am trusting God with my future and looking forward to not having a alarm wake me up at 5- 6 every morning and having to be at the office for work at a certain time.  Not having to pay bills and listen to customers complain.

A friend of mine told me yesterday if I miss the complaining all I would need do is call her, she could fill me in complaining about things so I would feel at home....Thanks Judi.

So December 29th, 2011 Should be my last day here at this business. I will do all I can to help get her started on the year end stuff. But, when I walk out of here that day, I hope I do not have the stress in my life that I had from working here.

Someone ask why I wasn't working the 30th....that is the start of a new payroll that is actually payroll for 2012. So I will make the Thursday my last day here.

Misc. and fun Friday night and Saturday.

Thursday evening last week when I got home from work Bud told me to put my things away and come outside to talk to him.  I wondered what was going on, but just put my purse inside then went outside to join him in the lawn.

He then informed me that he had called the doctor and wanted to get in to see him because his left leg was hurting so badly, and that he could hardly walk on it.  But they didn't seem to be able to get him in for about two weeks since our doctor had been out ill himself.    He wanted to know if I would go to the emergency room with him since he could hardly walk on that leg.

So 5:30 p.m  we were at DMH emergency.  Got registered and they took us in for him to be seen by the doctor there.  After blood work, and lots of waiting.  They came in to do an ultra sound of the leg that was hurting.  We knew there was something going on (even tho they can't tell you anything), The guy who was doing the ultra sound---talked to one of his coworkers which stopped in and did some looking also. They kept logging things, and I just knew  -----  Before the doctor ever came in to tell us. We were pretty sure that he had a blood clot.   The good news was the clot was in the vein closest to he surface and not in the artery.  Had it been in the artery they would have slapped him upstairs in no time flat.  But since it was in a smaller vein - they injected him with a big, big shot straight into the belly.  He said it really stung...Oh, well, gotta do what you gotta do.  Also told him he should probably wear those wonderful white TEC hose (Look like white support pantie hose).... I was giggling about how he would look wearing his white hose and his brown shorts.... Even the nurse had to snicker when he told her that I should have to leave I was being mean to him.   

He has been wearing those ugly TEC hose since then. And I am going to insist that he wear them when he does his long trips driving and flying.

Sunday Morning he leaves for California with a car and flys home on Thursday afternoon.

On Friday evening after work I headed to Bloomington/Normal.  Kim had ask that I would come up and watch Kenley so her and Clay could do some packing since their house is almost done and she hadn't really started packing.  And with her being pregnant I do not want her lifting things.

That's what Grandmas are for isn't it to help with little ones and enjoy them?

She is a little busy body.  Using her blanket as a cape and carrying the monitor.

Giving Grandma those I didn't do it looks.

And not holding still so Grandma could get good pictures.

We tried to get one of her and me, but at that point it simply was not going to happen.

Taking our monkey and teddy and playing in looking in the mirror on closet door.

I took her for a couple of stroller rides and then she went down for a much needed nap.

After nap---Mommy let her watch Elmo on TV.

She was ignoring Grandma---like she was saying....Grandma mommy doesn't let me watch much TV I gotta see this.

Finally I did get her to peak at me while she was watching her Elmo and enjoying her snack.

Later we went to the park.  She loves the swing.  And my brother had called me so I was on the phone and daddy was pushing her.  I missed it when she said  "Grandma"...

Oh, well, am sure she will say it in the next couple weeks.

In the morning when we stopped by the new house, so they could show me the colors of the rooms and progress of it being completed.  When we got to her purple room and she was showing me her bedroom we were able to pick her up and get a "Grandma and Me" photo.  I love this photo even tho my hair is a mess!

So cute in her little piggy tails.  She loves dancing in her closet and wanted us to join her and she closed the door.  In the guest bedroom she run to the closet and squatted to look thru the register hole that goes into the master bedroom closet and started calling Mommy and Daddy to see her through the vent.

So stinking cute!

This coming Friday--- I am only working till noon, then I head up their way to see the ultra sound of Grandbaby number 2....  Then I plan on staying the night and helping finish the packing. 

We were able to pack up the blue glass in the spare bedroom when Kenley was taking her nap. So their house is looking  more and more like the new house best be done soon.

Memorial Day week end.

On Memorial Day week end Bud and I traveled to Crofton, Kentucky for the Beachy Reunion.

We stayed in the Super 8 at Cadiz, Kentucky. 

On Saturday a large group of us walked down to the lake.  I simply couldn't resist taking a few photos to show how lovely it was there.

 There were some Amish guys down there fishing.

 I sent Bud a text message, and his reply was,  find me a lot, I'll go get the trailer.

Besides meeting some of my first cousins that I had not seen or spoken to for years, and years.  I was privileged to spend a bit of time with 3 of my brothers and their wives.

Back row left to right Myself, and Bud, Levi and Anna,

Front row left to right Clara and Daniel, Gertie and Edward.

Sitting in the truck the first day we see the tractor and trailer pull up,  and they unloaded their families out of the trailer.

This is where I discovered that my oldest brother Edward and wife Gertie were there.  As the people came out of the building, I was naming them one by one.

ALL of a sudden Bud looked at me and said, "IF YOU SAY SOVILLA AND SHE COMES OUT NEXT --I AM GOING BACK TO THE HOTEL  AND STAYING THERE."

I really laughed.....after all my sister - Sovilla- passed away a number of years ago from cancer.

My cousin Willis's wife Betty was one of the drivers that brought a load down.  It was nice to see her.

I have seen her at different times when she took a load to South Dakota to the Ortman Clinic.  And tho she was not a family member on this side of the family, it was still lovely to see her.

We wanted to get up early and go outside to see if there were any deer here the next morning, But  both mornings that we were there we did not get up early enough to see any.

I had taken my swim suit along, but others declared that the water was much too cold, so I didn't even bother putting it on.

We had a nice room, but guess in the future I must rent or reserve a motel room that doesn't allow pets. The room was clean but it smelled like dog.  I MEAN DOG  BIG TIME!  Needless to say--of course it made me cough even more then normal.

On Sunday we decided to take the scenic route part way and go a different way then from the one we went on Friday.

So we crossed over into the Land Between the Lakes.

This is lovely, but I am glad I wasn't driving or it would have made me dizzy. 

On Monday we traveled to Petersburg to Tom & Cheryl Brockmans for lunch. (Our son-in-law's parents).  Since Kim, Clay and Kenley were there also we got to spend some time with them.

Kenley enjoyed the baby pool that Tom had put up for her.

She loves to be outdoors. But mommy had to keep putting sun block on her fair skin so that she wouldn't get burned.

We also went for a golf cart ride and she really liked that too.

So all in  all we had a WONDERFUL MEMORIAL DAY week end with family and friends!

Thanks Bud for taking me to my reunion and being such a good sport even if 3/4 of the people there were Amish and 1/2  the time you couldn't understand what they were saying.

Even when you and Levi told me in dutch where the tea was and gave the rest of my family laughs because you said it in dutch.  (Levi told him how to say it), and normally it wouldn't come out very plainly when someone who doesn't normally speak dutch, it came out very clearly.