Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Things found!

This weekend, although very busy, was very nice. We entertained our daughter and her family from Kentucky. While spending so much time outside, we were able to see some things we might have missed otherwise. Like these marsh marigolds that are blooming at the edge of our property.



Or my Iris that have begun to bloom!

We might have missed these lovely 'Bleeding Hearts' that are in full bloom now!

We would not have found this baby rabbit that our dog was chasing and was rescued by our Kentucky daughter. She also found and held a tree frog for all the kids to see, but it was so fast, we were unable to get a shot of it. See, it pays to get outside and smell the fresh air and enjoy nature!

Sunday, May 18, 2008

A House..........returned!

I know, strange title, but that's the way I feel. Like my house has been returned to me! Not that our guest was a bad guest. Just not a close friend that I would have enjoyed having stay with us for 2 1/2 weeks. I think I mentioned before that we really didn't know him very well. His wife was one of my dearest friends and she passed away in Illinois last November. He showed up out of the blue April 30TH. He drove here because the company he worked for went out of business and he no longer wanted to stay in Illinois. He wanted to return to Michigan, the state where he was born and lived most of his life. He did call when he was about 3 hours away from where we live to let me know he was on his way......TO.MY.HOUSE! Needless to say, I was a little shocked and surprised but managed to make the most of a difficult situation. He left before 9:30 AM Saturday.

I am now breathing a sigh of relief.....for a few days anyway. Thursday, Rachel and her family arrive from Kentucky for the long holiday weekend. It will be nice to see them and it will be different than our last guest........she is our daughter and it will almost seem like a homecoming!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

What next? Maybe I shouldn't ask!

I am bone tired tonight. I still have my out-of-state company and today I spent the entire day taking my hubby's uncle to the Veteran's wound clinic in Grand Rapids. He has an open wound on the bottom of his foot, and several new sores on the top of the same foot. He is in poor health to begin with having congestive heart failure, remission of cancer in his kidney, has suffered a stroke in the past, was in a farming accident and has lost all fingers and thumb on his left hand, had the big toe on his right foot amputated due to an infection in the bone, neuropathy, and they are still doing tests to see if he has cancer of the larynx. There was no one else to take him so the task fell unto me.

After arriving there at 11:00 AM, we waited until after 1 PM to get in to see a doctor. They took the dressing off and it began to leak and ooze fluid onto the floor. It was extremely swollen and the swelling was spreading up his leg. He was running a fever of 101.8 degrees. They evaluated the wound and decided he needed to be hospitalized. They asked if I could drive him to Ann Arbor to the Veteran's Hospital. When I told them I could not because I had other commitments and wouldn't be back in time, they arranged for him to be transferred by ambulance. I waited with him until the ambulance arrived and he was safely inside before I left to go to his apartment and remove all the old bandages and dressings and take them to the dumpster provided by his apartment complex. I then removed all his soiled bedding and bagged it in plastic bags to bring home to wash. I then cleaned the refrigerator out of anything that had already spoiled or wouldn't last until he was home again, locked his check book and money he had given me up in the safe and came home. Upon getting here, I called the Grand Rapids Press and had them stop service until further notice. I then called the US Postal Service to have them hold all mail until further notice. Then I prepared dinner for me and my company, cleaned up the mess and went shopping for the items my hubby wanted before the sale ended. I am now doing laundry, our own and hubby's uncles and am waiting for hubby to arrive home from work so I can see him for a bit. It is now 11:26 PM. I have been up since 6:30 AM. I need to rise at 6:00 AM to go to my sons home and get his children on the bus as he has a court date at 8:00 AM and his fiancee needs to go with him due to the circumstances of this particular case. I need to turn in as soon as hubby gets home and I talk with him for a few minutes. So, on that note, I will sign off. Hopefully, I'll be back soon!

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Update on my guest!

I was able to talk with him and discovered that he is very fearful of his future. He knows of no place that will hire a man of his age (60 in a few days) and after his economic stimulus check is gone, he will have no money and no place to live. A light bulb went off in my head and I asked him if he filed for spouse's survival benefits through the Social Security Administration. His response was 'no, I didn't know there was anything like that.' So we looked online at their site and found information on all the paperwork he needs to take to them since they don't allow this to be filed and applied for online. The good news he is going there on Monday and is even thinking about and considering my suggestion as to going to the Veteran's Administration too, to see what help they might be able to provide. I feel he is making some important decisions in his life and is showing a willingness to make an effort to work through this and recover and join the real world again. I think it will be a long rough haul for him!

Friday, May 2, 2008

An unexpected suprise!

Little did I realize when I awoke yesterday that I would be hosting my late friends husband and her dog. He showed up at my house, after a quick call telling me he was almost here after driving from Colorado Springs. Seems he decided he couldn't take that job he went out there for after all. He is too depressed to begin life again in a different place, and the altitude made him and the dog sick. So I now have a homeless, unemployed man and his dog in my home. Am I happy about it? Not really. Tom and I talked about it and I said "What would Jesus do?" Tom said 'I don't know', but I have to go to work, good luck! He wasn't trying to be funny or sarcastic, he really had to leave for work so he wouldn't be late!

Well, the dogs are kind of adjusting to each other. The other dog is also a girl dog and is close to 10 years old. She has longer hair than Prancer and is also shedding. And is used to sitting anywhere in his house, on any piece of furniture she wishes too. Prancer is only allowed in her chair in the family room or on the old couches in the upstairs living room. I have tried to encourage the dog, whose name is Lady by the way, to use the floor for stretching out on!

I think Del (that's his name) is only planning on staying until his economic stimulus check is direct deposited in his checking account. And according to the schedule, he should be getting it my no later than tomorrow. One can only hope! He is down to $20. in his wallet and $112. in his checking account. He is a veteran, and when I knew he was coming, I called the veterans' administration to see if they could possibly be of any help to him. They told me that as long as he was honorably discharged from a branch of the armed services, and he was homeless and had no income and no job, they need to get him into the system with the paperwork first and go from there, but they should be able to help him. I think he is in need of some counseling for severe depression. He seems to have many reasons why he can't go fill out the paperwork. I think he may be contemplating suicide, but he hasn't brought that up at this time. It just seems from the way he talks about having nothing to live for, that it may be on his mind. He does own a shotgun that he brought with him, but is locked in his trunk and unloaded (he says) at the present time. I do fear for his safety. Does any one have any helpful ideas. What do you suggest? Will you pray about it? "What would Jesus do?" I'm patiently awaiting an answer from HIM on this one