August 31

Today's my mom's birthday. She would have been 83 today. She passed away in 2005 but I still miss her so much. 

Especially the last few months. 

I just can't stop thinking about her. 

Things she taught me.

Lessons learned.

I miss the sound of her voice. The way she walked. Her hands. She had such long, thin fingers and I still remember the way she would brush my hair when I was little.

I see life through her eyes now. I didn't understand why she always seemed to be in pain, how she was always tired. Now I know what she was talking about when she'd say, "You're not in your 50s." 

Now I get it!

She was only 25 when I was born but I was her third and she had had 7 miscarriages by the time I came along.

I so wish I could take her out for coffee. 

Oh, she loved her coffee! 

I wish she could see Allie. 

We could just sit out on the back patio and watch Allie play.

I remember being in my late teens/early 20s and wondering why in the world she would just sit at the dining room table and stare at the window. What a waste of time!

Now I find myself sitting at my dining room table looking out the window and just day dreaming. 

Thinking about life. And my mom.

"Now I get it!"

One month before she died, Chuck and I had gone to San Diego and her and I went for a walk. We reminisced and laughed and I took a bunch of pictures of her. Not realizing they would be the last pictures ever. 

But as much as I miss her and as much as I'd love to hear her voice again, I know where she is and I know I'll see her again some day! And what a reunion that will be!

Happy Birthday Mom!

The Burn Story Continues - On To The Wound Care Center

We saw the doctor again on Monday. The nurse 'S' came out to the waiting room and called Beth's name. We walk to the back and she weighs her and directs us to the room. She's talking to Beth a little differently, not bad or anything, just different from the usual, "Hi, I'm so-and-so and I'll be your nurse today." 

We sit down in the room and S says, "I have a sister who looks... exactly... like... you!" 

My face lit up! "You do?! You have a sister who has Down Syndrome?!"

"Yep! She's older than you are Beth but yeah, I do!" Awwe! What an amazing visit we had with her. Her sister is 45 and lives with their mom. She's beginning to slow down now but they still enjoy going to concerts.

S was so good with Beth. You know when you meet someone who just knows how to communicate and engage your child? You just wanna hug them and make them part of your family! 💖

Well, back to the reason for the appointment. When the doctor came in, we removed the bandages and we both agreed the burns don't seem to be healing like they should. Today marks 13 days since it happened and they're still very raw and oozing.

So now we have a referral to the Wound Care Center at our local hospital. They were closed when I called so I'll call again to get an appointment. Please pray with us that these burns begin to heal. I'm so, so thankful Beth isn't in a lot of pain, but oh, this can't be fun.

(I'll add a photo to the very bottom of this post. If you don't want to see them, stop reading here.) 😅
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If you're not squeamish, you can click on the photo to make it bigger.
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Boyfriends, Bowling and Burns - Our Week

Beth had been asking if Nick could come to church with us so I texted his mom and we set up a date. She scheduled DART to drop him off at church and he joined us in Sunday school. 

After church we stopped at McDonalds for lunch, then headed up to the theater. Beth and I had already seen Christopher Robin but she was excited for Nick to see it too. To be honest, I don't think he really wanted to see it as much as he just wanted to be with Beth.

I scheduled an appointment for Wednesday morning with our regular doctor to look at the burns Beth got from the hot water bottle. (Beth asked me to take a picture so she could see them, they're on her bum!) We had Allie that day too so we all got up early and headed to the doctors. Chuck and Allie stayed in the waiting room while we saw the doctor. She was concerned with their size and the way they looked and cleaned them for me. She gave me a different medication and said she wanted to see her again in a few days. That appointment is tomorrow morning. She told me what to watch for, but I can't tell if they're getting better or not. I'm glad we're going back.

Beth has an art class and karaoke on Wednesdays so after the appointment we drove her up to All Aboard, then Chuck, Allie and I went out for breakfast. 

   
Special Olympics Bowling started this passed Saturday. The first day is always a little crazy with the coach trying to assign the bowlers to a lane, everyone is trying to pay and there's always lots of questions. The Bowling alley's been sold since last year so many of them were talking about how much it's changed. The same bowlers come every year and it's so fun to see everyone again.

 

When Allie Comes To Play

Sharaya had asked me if I could watch Allie on Wednesdays this month and we've been having such a great time! 

 

 Sharaya cleaned out her room and gave me a toy box with toys that Allie hadn't played with in a long time. When she opened that box, she must have spent an hour and a half playing with each thing!

 It reminded me of when I watched her when she was a toddler. Every Saturday for a few years we'd hang out and play!

 

I love that girl!!

How A Pulled Muscle Turned Into Severe Burns

Beth pulled a muscle in her back on Tuesday and was walking v-e-r-y carefully. I use a hot water bottle on my back sometimes so Wednesday morning I filled it up, wrapped it in a towel and put it on her back. She always says, "Ooooh!" and lets out a big sigh. The heat feels so good!

Chuck and I headed out for our Anniversary (celebrating 36 years this week!) and just drove around Kirkland, went out to lunch and shopped at their Farmers Market. It was good to spend time together.

Seattle is surrounded right now by fires in Northern California, Eastern Washington and British Columbia so our air quality has been very poor the last couple of weeks. That's not fog, that's smoke.

I had to buy flowers! It wouldn't have been a Farmers Market if I didn't buy flowers!

We were gone a few hours and when we got home I went downstairs to see how Beth was doing. I saw she had refilled the hot water bottle but I didn't see the towel. She had put it over on her bookcase and said she didn't want to use it.

I should have known better. I should have forced her to use it but I didn't.

The next morning I asked how her back was and she said, "It stings." I wondered how a pulled muscle could sting so I asked her to show me. She pulled down her shorts and Oh. My. Word.

She burned herself with that hot water bottle! I don't know how she didn't feel it and pull the bottle away! I was on my way out the door to go to work, so I cleaned the sores as best I could, put some neosporin on some gauze so it wouldn't stick and then taped it to her. That's all I could think of to do at the time.

As soon as I got home from work I took her to the doctor. The Physicians Assistant was actually grimacing as she looked at the sores. It looks like two giant blisters formed and then popped. I'll spare you pictures but the 2 that broke open are about 3-4 inches in diameter. Plus there are many other smaller blisters that haven't opened yet, some black and blue areas... it looks really bad. 

The PA said all we could do is put on some Lidocaine with Aloe. Everything I found though said 'do not use on raw surfaces or blistered areas'. I ended up just putting it around the blistered area, but man, this is gonna take some time to heal. 

This is my arsenal of things I'm using or thinking of using or wondering if I should use... I honestly don't know what to do. The PA did tell me not to use the neosporin anymore.

Thankfully she isn't in much pain, I hear her downstairs laughing and yelling at the TV. Every time I check on her she says she's doing 'okay'. But this is gonna be a long healing process.

Our Weekend

I took Beth to Supercuts on Friday and she got her hair trimmed. It looked so cute when we left the salon but I haven't been able to make it look like that since!

On Sunday we went out to lunch after church. Sharaya and Allie had made plans and Chuck had to work so just the two of us went to Hamburger Harry's. They have THE best burgers I've ever had! Then we went down to the beach again. We're beginning to love the view from 'our' bench. :)

As we got up to leave, we noticed the ranger station was open over by the pier. They had a touch tank inside where we got to check out all kinds of sea life. It was fun!

  

So how was your weekend? Do anything fun?

CPAP Issues and Insurance Woes

Beth hasn't been wearing her CPAP machine very much and she says it's because the air blows into her eyes. Chuck and I have tried adjusting the mask but nothing has worked.

The doctor who prescribed it was here in Edmonds.

We had to go to Everett (25 minutes away) to get the small machine to do the home sleep study. And then return it to Everett the next morning.

We went to Mill Creek (15 minutes) to get the CPAP machine. 

Well now that the machine isn't working for her, I called the doctor to make an appointment and was told he doesn't accept our insurance. 

(Beth had to change insurances a few months back when her Primary Care Physician stopped accepting the insurance she's had for decades. But she's had Dr. T for even longer so we switched insurances. And that was after she had the sleep study done.)

So I called the place where we got the machine and now we have an appointment for later this week. I'm not sure what will happen if they don't take her new insurance!

Have you had any insurance issues lately? 

Time Is Just Flying By

I've been telling myself for days, "I've got to write a post!" But time is just flying by and well...

Let me look through the pictures on my phone and see what we've been up to this week. 

Oh yeah. That's why I haven't posted! 😊

Mondays and Tuesdays are 13 hour days for me but when I got off work Monday night I ended up going down to the beach to watch the sunset. It was so peaceful and just what I needed. The days are getting shorter and I won't be able to do that too much longer.

Chuck and I are watching Allie on Wednesdays this month so after my Kids Ministry Meeting we took her down to the beach. The temps have been in the 80's and 90's, perfect beach weather! Allie and I put our feet in the water but oooh, it was SO cold! I was surprised to see other kids (young teens) in the water up to their waists! Oh my word, no thank you!

We all went to Panera for dinner then came back and used our new fire ring for the first time. I would have taken more pictures but my hands were sticky from the s'mores. 😀

After work on Thursday Chuck and I went down to Centurylink Field and got to watch the Seahawks in their pre-season home opener! The atmosphere in the stadium was electric, it was so much fun! The girls bought the tickets for Chuck for Father's Day this year, the perfect gift!! Thank you girls! Knowing we'd be doing a lot of walking he wore his knee braces and brought his walking stick and when we got there they sat us in regular chairs on the center landing area and they were prime seats! We were right on the 50 yard line! We had such a great time!

 Well, the kitchen floor is dry now and I need to switch the laundry. 'Til next time!

Keeping Busy

We went to a giant yard sale at our church last week. It's a fundraiser for a men's home for those coming out of addictions. Beth looked and looked and finally came away with a folder to keep her papers in. Oh, there was SO much stuff to choose from!

We went to see Christopher Robin and it was so good! It immediately brought up childhood memories, of reading the books and having my imagination come alive with those beloved animals.

  
I came home and got out the book I read as a child. You can tell it's well loved. 

We went shoe shopping. I bought a nice pair of gray, comfortable shoes. And she bought...

Neon pink and purple shoes. I wish I had her boldness and carefree attitude about things! She doesn't care about surface things: how people look, or their stuff. She does care about how you treat people, if you're honest and kind. She loves these shoes so she's buyin' em! I have so much to learn from her.

Thank You

I want to thank you all for your comments and encouragement. Blogger has changed some things and I no longer get your messages in my inbox. I've gone on to come forums and everyone is dealing with this same issue. Maybe it's time to update my blog and make a few changes...

I haven't forgotten about you! I appreciate each one of you! 

An Update On Her Job Hunt

Beth's job coach has spent hours looking for a job for her:

"I've been trying to follow up with McDonalds but the general manager isn't returning any of my calls. When I go in, he is always unavailable."

"I've tried to get her into the school district but they won't carve out a position for her."

"I went to Papa Johns twice but the manager wasn't in."

"I've tried various doctors offices but no luck."

"I've tried at the City of Edmonds but they don't have any positions available."

Please continue to pray with us that Beth gets a job soon.