Blog Entries for 2005
Funeral was yesterday. Lots of flowers and people. Very nice service. Gary did the MC part and did a fantastic job considering. He also opened it up for comments. It all went pretty well. Azucena spent a lot of hours putting together a video of Mom's "life". Once she gets the final version (which will include the funeral portion), then we'll get it up on the web site. Current version is over 500mb, so you'll have to wait for her to finish this and then create a web version.
Visitation was at Adam's Funeral home on Friday evening from 6 - 8. There is a guest book on Statesman.com that's good thru January 14, 2006. This is the cemetery she is located. We haven't submitted her name, but will as soon as we get the dates of her mom and grand parents (UPDATE: scroll down and you'll see Overman, Betty Louise Clark and this is the obit that was submitted).
Jeff, Sue, Gary and Carol have been going through mom's house and creating a lot of garbage. Azucena and I was there today and did our own trash making. Not sure if a dent has been made, but I did see a lot of "EMPTY" notes on drawers, doors, mirrors, etc. Wait until we get into the attic.
Azucena and I also took a lot of pictures home, which we will scan, label and save to disk in a photo album style. Our house is looking pretty crappy since we haven't been home much the past few weeks. I guess now we can get started on it. But first. Azucena is going to get a lot of sleep. She crashed about 9:30. I'm surprised she lasted this long considering the long hours she's been putting in on the video. We'll create copies for everyone who wants one.
Still been busy. Mom and Jeff butted heads for awhile about Christopher house and staying at his house. She really really wanted to leave the hospital to spend Christmas at her house, so the agreement was (and approved by her doctor, only because Hospice was involved) was that she get out on Tuesday, have Christmas on Wednesday, then after Gary and family leaves, stay at Jeff's until she needs constant care, or starts in a wheelchair, then it's off to Christopher house. That's how it was going to work.
How it really happened is like this: Jeff got mom signed out on Tuesday and was home in time for Gary and family when they came in town. Wednesday early morning hours, mom started complaining of severe pain. The pain pills she was taking didn't work (they were for a different type of pain), so she agreed to Christopher house if that's what it would take to get rid of the pain. So, they get her there about 11am and I meet up with all the relatives that have stopped by for Christmas, we pack the tree and presents and head over to Christopher House about 2pm. It was pretty amazing to see this tree and all these gifts come rolling in within hours of their new patient, plus a total of 17 people. Then we opened presents, and after that was done, had dinner that Azucena tracked down for everyone (Ham, sides, sodas, tea, dessert). More people visited Thursday, and former coworkers visited on Friday. Friday evening after Gary left, she got real nasty with the pain medication, so they decided to hook her up to an IV for a Morphine Drip. This pretty much said the End is Near. Her breathing got a bit better as the night went on, and her agitation started going away. Jeff, Sue, Anna and I spent the night and around 7:20am, Anna noticed mom not doing good and Jeff looked up and saw her last breath. I missed it by about 10 seconds. We had a few relatives stop by before Adam's funeral took her away.
Gary and Carol will be back Wednesday, funeral is next Saturday and we will probably have an open house either Friday evening or Saturday after the funeral and other festive's. Should be able to get some rest now, and also get back to work full time.
Been a busy last few days. Longhorns won... !!! YEAH!!!. More on that later.
Mom had a real bad panic attack on Thursday/Friday and has been in the hospital since. She's doing ok considering, but not well enough to head back home. The doctor's prognosis is 3 - 4 weeks, or (50/50 she'll make it to New Years). Anyway, we are looking at Hospice, specifically Christopher's House in Central Austin. They'll take daylong care of her which she probably needs. More on this later too. Since we've all been busy with mom and such, I only have a minute to do this and head back out to visit work (about 4 hours late, since I stayed overnight with mom. Sue did it the first night, Azucena the second. I may do it again tonight, Don't Cry For Me/We/Us, Argentina).
Gary and family are heading to Austin tomorrow and we will probably have an early Christmas. Stopped by mom's house to make sure all the stockings are hung by the chimney with care. Most were, Gary's family is lacking, so they can un-lack when they get here.
I guess mom's determined to use up some of her retirement money since she's been told the chemo drugs aren't going to do her any good. It turns out she is ready for a vacation to anywhere (except maybe Europe). This vacation includes all expenses for Azucena, Sue and Carol. Girls vacation. This vacation could have started tomorrow if everyone was ready. Sue probably is. Mom would have left by noon if possible. Carol is across USA in New Jersey, so the earliest she could be ready may be tomorrow. Azucena is in Memphis, so she wouldn't be ready until at least Friday. This vacation is between 6-8 days before or after Christmas, but not during, so everyone can be here for Christmas. Prelim word has it it may be a cruise. Maybe dad can stay with Gary while Carol is away and babysit. - - I'm back. Just took a moment break and emailed him about that. That's all I've got for now.
Watched Texas "squeak" by on Friday. Overall a great game. Saturday, we had several people over for a Rockstead Thanksgiving. All went well, but if we are going to have pot luck, then ARO will need to NOT make so much extras next time. Pot luck was a great idea. Lots of good food came by and very little got wasted. The dressing was some of the best I've ever had. Then the actual Rocksteads got into playing something called Hero Clix. This is a "50" minute game, but it took them about 1 1/2 - 2 hours just getting set up, then another 1 1/2 - 2 hours to play. I had also charged up a bunch of batteries so we could do some RC racing out back, but since it rained that morning, plus with everyone playing some Clix game, it didn't seem important enough to start it up. But, I think I disappointed Kimmie. I didn't know she was looking forward to racing. Jim probably would have also, so I think I failed in my decision making. Doug, Sr. and Ronald have been here since Wednesday, and they'll be heading back to Harlingen on Monday.
Another Thanksgiving came and went. We had a pretty good time with the Overman household. Everyone behaved themselves pretty good. And Charlie Brown had thanksgiving with his pals at Grandma's house. Saturday we'll have the Rocksteads and friends Thanksgiving.
On a sad note, mom's chemo isn't going very well. Her liver is starting to take a turn for the worse. Because of this and other factors, the doctors have told her she can't be on the experimental program any more. After some discussion and the usual Why Me, she said, Hell With It, Let's Go Shopping, so Sue took her to one of the military bases PX/BX while in San Antonio.
Dad said it is snowing in Ohio, probably Reynoldsburg where Wanda lives (if she still lives there). And it got to 80 degrees here in Austin. I gave him an open invitation to stop by any time he want with his golf clubs and he said he may take us up on it. At 50 degrees during the winter and golf courses open year round, I don't think it will be hard to twist his arm.
Cowboys lost, missed a field goal, screwed up in overtime. Longhorns tomorrow. Oh my. What to do. I guess I'll tape it and when it gets out of hand in the first quarter, I can fast forward between plays.
Nothing like having something to say, then not bothering putting it down in writing. Over the past month, we took mom to San Antonio for another round of Experimental Chemo testing. This is one of those type where they have several people participate and they use different doses to see which does best.
We'll be doing Thanksgiving at Jeff's house tomorrow. Azucena's dad and brother are in town. They are visiting Doug and kids for tonight. Saturday, we'll do Thanksgiving at our house with a lot of invited guests, so if you didn't get the invite, you can stop by anyway.
I was thinking we'd watch some football, but that ain't really gonna happen at Jeff. Even if is the Cowboys. Now Saturday, we'll have UT on, so we'll get to view that as we want, even if it is a blowout. We might also do some RC cars out back.
We'll, I gotta say, the hernia thing is not as bad as it could have been. I thought I'd be in "bend over" pain for a week or so and that hasn't happened. A bit sore, yes, but not lots of pain. I sat around mostly for two days before I reread the paperwork for about the 4th time and came across an item that said NOT to sit around for 2 days. Ooops. The worst part was having gravity use the bathroom for you. You don't realize how much "force" you use when you go, so next time, try it on your own, without any help from your body. Just let gravity take over. Took me over 5 minutes to do the job the first several times I had to go. And the pain. Well, not too much, but that's when I realized they had used a catheter while I was knocked out. Other that that, all is pretty good, no gory details. Plenty of people helping out. Azucena "baby"sat for 2 days, although I don't think I acted much like a baby (calling me her "poor baby" doesn't count, does it?). Went to work for a few hours today and took a very solid 3 hour nap. I guess that's because getting sleep is not that easy with stitches in your gut and the pain to turn over or get up/lie down. Anything that's gut related will hurt (sneeze, cough, can't blow nose, etc). You have to use your arms to pull you out of the chair, plop down, take a minute to "stretch" when standing.
How bout them Horn's !!!! Ok, so Oklahoma wasn't all that good, but it still feels good to beat one of your main rivals. Tech and A&M are next. I'm concerned about Tech more than A&M at this point.
Ok, now I'm going to spill the beans. I went to see a doctor about a small pain problem I was having and he told me I had a hernia. I saw a hernia specialist and he said I had 2 hernias. I scheduled the outpatient operation (bi-lateral, Laparoscopy surgery) for today at 12:30. I got home about 4:30 and have taken it fairly easy. I really can't do much except have soup tonight and tomorrow. Pain is not too bad, but I'll take the painkillers just in case. They said I wouldn't remember anything since I was going to be knocked out, but they didn't even give me a chance to count backwards. They must have given me something while I was still in the pre-room because they didn't even get 20 feet and I was out. Woke up about 1:30 and was in and out and probably made a few comments along the way. I hope that was Azucena's hand I kissed.
Jim and Evelyn came by with a Get Well balloon and pie. Will get to the pie tomorrow, yum-yum.
Work can't be too happy, miss a week for Hawaii, in for 2 days (mostly playing catchup) and gone again for another week. Thanks to Patty for the hard work she's done to allow this without my freaking out.
Got back from Hawaii on Sunday afternoon. Had a pretty good time overall. First day started off real well, then ended up in pretty bad shape, but it cleared the way for the rest of the trip (Don't ask, because I won't tell). Spent some time in Hanauma Bay, Makapu'u point/beach, Bellows AFS and beach, Radford High School, Hickam AFB, The International Market Place, Hilo Hattie's, Bellows again, Molokai Lookout, Blowhole, Pali Lookout, Mililani Town, plus a few others. Journal wasn't all that great this time, but I had difficulty with Gary's Blackberry and kept it to a minimum.
Spent lots of money, especially at the Hale Koa hotel exchange and Market Place.
Saw a wonderful magic show. Mark Mauricio was the magician www.magicislandtv.com. Also a fun Luau with Glenn Medieros as the host.
Left on Saturday at 9pm and got in town Sunday at 2pm. 5 hour difference and total 8 hour flight time.
Yes, I'd go again. ARO is already threatening me for our 25th anniv.
Uncle Jimmie has a wedding on Saturday at 2pm in Easterly, Texas about 100 miles from our house. This means about a 2 1/2 hour drive. With the storm brewing (oops, sorry, Hurricane), and all the traffic that will be heading our way, it might be closer to a 3 hour drive. Now on the way back, it might be a 6 - 8 hours because of all the hurricane traffic they will be driving with (Did I say Easterly was on Hwy 79 north/east of Austin, just north of Bryan?). They should get lots of wind and rain. Late bulletin, we just got word (about an hour ago) that the wedding is now further east at 7pm on Friday night instead. If it aint the weather on Saturday, it will be the traffic on Friday.
J&E are back in town and they might come by with Kimmie on Friday to give a farewell to Randy as he heads to Hawaii Sunday morning.
Hurricane is also causing interesting situations at work. TML has graciously opened their doors this weekend for city officials who are in town and need a place to check email and other stuff (I know, why email when their city is shut down, but it happens. People still have ways to get through). Also, several cities have an Intranet which means if their servers are still running, then they can get work done. I'll be at TML on Saturday working with them and Patty gets Sunday, since I'll be out of town (yep, they still allowed me to take off, sweet of TML, isn't it).
I'm placing bets on when Jeff and family make it back on Friday. Let's see, 2 1/2 hour normal drive, traffic been moving at 1 hour for every few blocks, traffic could be dying down, I'd go with... OH.... 2 am.
I'm back. I'm changing it to 5 hours after they leave. (update 10/5/05 - traffic was non-existant - took the normal 2 hours)
Ok, so sue me. I haven't been keeping it up any.
We had a trip to Washington D.C. at end of July. You can read the trip journal to see if there's anything important. We did have a pretty good time at the zoo and seeing Panda "Butt". Got to try some Brazilian food.
Update on mom. Not looking too good. She's getting quite a few tumors which is causing more pain with the clothes she's wearing than outright pain, but she's still a pain in the butt.
Gary came and visited a few weeks ago. While here, we went through a few boxes of photos and labeled what we could. Also while here, we decided to do a trip to Hawaii with Jeff, Gary, Randy and Mom. Mom and I will be on the same airlines there and back. Jeff and Gary will be flying on their own and we will meet up on Sept 25 and depart on Oct 1. Not sure what we will be doing. Since the three boys will probably be rooming together, Gary really has the honors of sleeping on the floor since he initially said he would stay in mom's room. I'm pretty sure we are doing the Arizona Memorial, but that's as far as I can figure out. It won't be pretty, but we'll survive. (Special thanks to ARO and Carol for getting the flight, room and car details worked out.)
How bout them Horn's. Great game, huh!. About as good as when they beat that Other Big 10 team, Michigan. So sorry daddio. Ya lost twice now. You'll have to wait until next year.
Just did an internet search for Randy Overman, and I am shown as a supervisor who got a sexual harassment warning for IBP, a grandparent in Ill., employee of TML and husband of Azucena Rockstead. Search for rockover.com gets us www.rockover.com/br. 3 pages on Google and not a one on our web site. Don't know if that's good or bad.
Now I forgot what I was going to write about. I do know that ARO is in San Diego right now. Will be back on Thursday, I think. Maybe Wednesday. 18 goes into 72 how many times? That's how many days she'll be gone.
I'll ramble for a bit here... Kimmie says Jarek(a) is in his/her terrible 2's. Soon will be a teenager and will start to mouth off, but it sounds like he's doing it already... 4th of July was fairly fun. We were at Jim's cousin's house and turned our backs on their fireworks to watch the ones in Cedar Park and everywhere else in the horizon... I must be brain dead because I can't even ramble. I spend 6 hours last night getting about 1 hour of good sleep. My mind was so active I couldn't get it to go to sleep... We spend over 10 hours on the golf course Sunday. Azucena's idea of a great time. Actually it was pretty good. We got in 35 1/2 holes before we had to call it quits on account of darkness. Would have made it 36 with 1/2 hour to spare, except the people in front of us decided they wanted to chat more than play and no rangers around to tell them to speed it up. We did pretty good though. I think I had a 100 on both events (9:45 and 4:30). Azucena didn't do too badly either. Mid 50's on at least 2 - 9 holes. Met some fun people... Kimmie is becoming a card shark. She is hooked on Hold Em. We played Saturday in her honor... Ramblings over. Going to bed. Goodnight. Thanks for the read (Still can't remember why I started this tonight. As she says, "Oh Wells".)
We are off to the races on Thursday (races are Truck, Fri night; IRL, Sat night). If you need anything, please let us know.
Doug and his kids should be joining us on Friday evening and staying through Saturday's race, Leaving Sunday. Should be interesting. We are going only because of Danica. At least that's the excuse I'm giving for ARO, since she's missed the last two summer races. It's a shame we can't get there Wednesday early. They are giving wrist bands for autographs later that evening at the bowling alley and including most, if not all, the INDY car drivers and possibly some TRUCK drivers.
Too late. You had your chance. Store is closed. If you need anything from the tracks, you'll now have to order it online. So Sorry, goodbye :(
Enough for now. I'm at work and had better get back to work.
By the way, JEFF, you can come by and pick up your catfish oil and cooker any time. Although you won't need the extra oil jugs anymore since it's all over the garage floor in front of, and under, the refrigerator. Ugh. I hope Febreeze will help with the smell. Cat litter definitely helped with the sopping up. Just wish I was quick on the action like Azi was.
Had an enormous cookout that turned into only big. Lost 2 because they were with their mom, lost another ?10? because Ceci and her side were not feeling well. Ceci's new band members were suppose to show up and we were going to talk them into being a band for us. Outside of that, it was hot and pretty good food.
I wonder if anyone got sick of watching Wonder Woman. This was going pretty much non-stop since noon this morning. Yes, Azucena has all the episodes now (I think. Three seasons, right?)
I guess the card macho's want to play cards Texas style. I'll relax some before I join in.
We'll be doing some serious fireworks on Monday, I take it. What little stuff we bought at HEB, is now on our dining room floor and in the trash can. Enjoy your fourth.
By the way, Gary, we had fun, with what we had. Sad to see you go, but glad the girls and mommaCarol came along.
**Kimmie's latest for Jarek** - Jarek actually took flight for the first time last night. I let him out of his cage to eat and he flew from the table to my chest. Granted it was only about two feet but I was very proud! You will not even recognize him as the same bird since he has gotten feathers and bulked up a little. I am still hand feeding him but that will change within the next week or so. (ed note: She brought him/her over to the cookout and showed him off. Anna and some of Gary's kids fed 'im and let 'im walk around on them.)
Latest news on Jarek...
"Jarek is doing fine! Still has a heck of an appetite and is getting more and more feathers each day. He has started flapping his wings periodically and has even leaped off my hand one time (luckily if was only a few inches above my desk). Maybe he will be flying soon - the info I've read said they start at about 21 days which will be next weekend. Wow, my little boy is growing up." Kimberly said so excitedly.
Visited with mom yesterday and she has taken her last chemo, for now. Although she's lost a lot of hair (my beige hat looks good on her bytheway), she was looking pretty good. She said they think the chem was working pretty good but won't have the final verdict until next week. She's going in for xrays and such this week and will get the results then.
Kimmie, this is for you.
Not many of you know, but Kimmie is a new mom. Yep, a mom. Can you believe that? Of all things we think of when we see Kym, being a mom is not one of them. Well, she's a mom to dogs/cats/birds, but we don't ever think of her as A MOM. That all changed when we found a day old bird in my front lawn (Last Sunday). It had dropped about 2 stories from it's nest. (Grass was 2 weeks overdue for a mowin, so it was a plush fall.) Well, Kim elected to take the "starling" home and see if she could take care of it until it is ready to leave the roost. So, without further ado, I'll include some of the commentary straight from Kimberly's email. Hope you enjoy as much as we did. By the way, JAREK is the birds name. Don't have any clue where she got it from. (Jim, Azucena, Randy, Evelyn, Kim) I guess it's better than babyboo!
Kim (K in JAREK); next day after baby is found - "Just wanted to let you know the baby bird is doing fine. My vet agreed that he is extremely young and his chances of making it are slim. The vet advised me to feed him wet puppy food. It stinks but he seems to like it! "
"I take him to work and a co-worker watched him this morning when I had to go to a meeting and several others have offered to babysit. Apparently, there are a lot of animal lovers up here. Even one lady who has raised a few baby birds herself (but not quite as young as this one). He is still eating like a pig so I guess that is a good sign! " Thanks to all the co-workes who are helping out.
From Azucena (The A in JAREK) - "If you go to the website, starlings can be tamed but they can be ornery too." (Sounds like interesting conversation. Sorry if I don't include all the conversation going back and forth. Evelyn (E in JAREK) has some comments going on too, like babysitting.)
From Evie - "Actually an imprinted starling should not be returned to the wild." Imprinted. Curious word, that.
Kim - "Jarek is still demanding regular feedings and eating like a pig. Today he even opened his eyes a tiny bit while I was feeding him. I turned him so he could see me better and he immediately maneuvered himself so he was NOT looking at me. I am trying to not take if personally!"
How the name got to be:
Randy (R in JAREK) - "By the way, does IT have a name? How does Kajer sound? Jarek? (not much you can do with our intials, is there...)"
Kim - "Well I have been calling him Dudley but I really like Jarek."
Evelyn - "I like Jarek. It sounds like one of those characters from Star Trek DS9"
Kim: Almost finally...Jarek is still doing well. He has his eyes open most of the time and this morning he started standing up! But, of course, he only does this when he wants food - I guess he thinks I might miss the subtle hint of him screaming with his neck stretched and mount wide open.
Finally, for now anyway...Jarek paid a visit Friday night. We all got to see mommy feeding him/her. Very curious little bird. Kim is the lucky one getting to see the hourly growth of feathers, wings, color. Those feet are pretty darn long, though.
Cute how he times his dumps. Right when Azucena handed him back, it didn't take 2 seconds for JAREK to let his mom know he was home again. Azucena's got warm hands so he settled in real good in her palms. I'm still wondering how he can hold his head up with that huge beak.
Races came and went. For all you die hard Danica Patrick bandwagon fans, tough luck. She finished 13th. Not bad though. This was a tough track for her and she did pretty well considering all the media hounding and such. Now that she didn't finish in the top, maybe she can get some peace. We, however, had a pretty good time, although Azucena got onto her bandwagon pretty good herself. But she's still on the bandwagon. Someone she can root for and pay attention to in the IRL. Sadly we won't see them again this year like we have in the past. They've always raced their season finale at Texas, but because NASCAR has a late event here, they decided to do away with IRL's last race. And yes, we spend some money as usual. Each time we go, we are pretty sure there's nothing else to get, but alas, we were wrong again. This time is was mostly Danica's stuff. Next time, it will probably be Brian Vickers stuff. Azucena has the hots for him as a replacement for Terry Labonte. Very warm at the track and it rained pretty good on Friday night after the race. And our tent did not have the rain fly on, so it got pretty damp in there. That's all for now. I'll leave you to your imagination for the rest of it. But I will tell you Doug, Doug III, Marcus, and Richard came up in time for Saturday's IRL race. They also played poker with across the road neighbors till wee hours in the morning.
Thought I'd try something a bit different. Here is small note from our beloved Azucena. Did she have a great day on Saturday or what! Not even the front 5 of the back nine could damper this spirit. And to think that I know her..
"Well Randy and I went out and played golf today (Saturday) at Star Ranch. Since we started at 4:30 pm it was only $19 a person and included range balls.
Well, we were playing with 2 young guys who were pretty good and had already played 18 holes earlier. Randy and I were initially struggling but it seems once they guys left, our game improved. I sunk a long putt as they were driving away and on the next hole, I got my first birdie.
My tee shot landed just over a club length from the hole but I missed the first putt thinking I was shooting for birdie, sunk it on the second try and found out it was a par 4 not a par 3. On the front 9, taking penalties and everything, I actually got a 47 beating Randy by one stroke.
On the back 9, I fell apart, I guess I was getting a bit tired. But Randy kept on and got a 48 on the back 9 too. My game improved significantly after I called his Dad to brag about my birdie, but I was still tired. We didn't finish until almost 9pm. If it had been as dark when we were playing the 16th hole, we probably would've given up but since it was the 18th, we stuck it in. Shockingly, we didn't lose any balls on the 18th hole.
Randy wasn't able to find as many balls as he usually does, probably because we were on the fairways most of the time so we weren't in good ball hunting territory.
Anyway, that's it. We're pooped but I'm sure we'll try that again.
Azucena"
Kinda like bowling your first 200, and also like beating Randy at bowling for the first (and only) time. Kinda like when I beat ARO at Chess (for the first and only time).
Hope everyone got a chance to see racing history this past Sunday. Danica Patrick got a lot of people watching the Indy500 for the first time, including a few at my work.
Well, guess who is out of town. Yip, ARO. She got up about 4:45 this morning and had a flight to LA, and will be back this evening.
On the sour note, I had to get up at 5:15 because our water heater sprung a slow leak. Had to get an $800 all bills paid replacement. Took awhile since they brought the wrong size (courtesy of me) and then the wrong brand. Oh, well, could be worse. I could have asked Jeff to help me with it (just kidding Jeff). I'm sure it would have been much cheaper this route, but I didn't have the time and too many connections. Plus, recent law (within last 10 years) says we need a drip pan, which we didn't have, and not sure if we would have gotten one, but all is working now. Should have hot water when I get home.
P.S., ARO had a 61 on Wednesday at Lions Muni. She's in a weekly golf league of 4 from work. She was tired when she got home, too.
Been a busy few weeks. I'll try to cram it all in here if I can. Dad showed up on my birthday, dad left yesterday. Mom came by for Mother's Day dinner today. The end.
Just kidding. That was all correct, but you probably want more info, no? Or is it I want to give you more info and you could really care less (if you did, then you wouldn't be reading, but what do I know).
Ok, We had a lot of golfing, time off and a lot of fun. My golf went haywire pretty quickly and it took the last trip to the golf course to figure it out. Back in October, I found out if I step back about 1/2 foot from my tee off, I could get better accuracy for more often. I was also able to put a lot of power into it. During our 2nd day of golfing, I lost the touch. Last day, I found out why. Instead of taking the 1/2 foot back and bending forward some, I was squatting (imagine Pete Rose at the plate). I lost lots of control, hit short, topped, missed, Tin Cupped it (watch the movie if you don't know what I mean). So my last game had much improved tee shots. 99 score. Broke 120, so I'm happy. Dad left yesterday morning. We had a great time. He stayed at Jeff's house for several days, which gave him time to spend with his grandkids (Ben, Katie, Anna).
Today was Mother's Day. We invited all the related mothers that we have (my mom, her mom, Sue, Angie (Carol is in New Jersey, so she wouldn't have been able to make it)), plus the rest of the relatives in town. I missed some of the presents that were given out. Mom O brought Corsages for Mom R, Azucena and Sue. True, Azucena isn't a mom, but she does have cats, dogs and fish, so realistically, if not technically, she's a mom (She'll say she's got me but that really doesn't count). We got her mom a cell phone. This is a bit tricky since Mom R has limited use of her right hand, uses a wheelchair and resides in a nursing home. So we had to find a phone that would allow her to place and receive calls with relative ease. Also a phone that with a push of a button, turned into a "loudspeaker". She's now on our phone plan. The phone also allows her to contact her kids directly without going through the nurses. Also allows us to call her directly without going through the nurses. Mom O also got a phone for Mother's Day. Last Sunday, she mentioned she wouldn't mind having one. The challenge on this was to find one with larger buttons and easier menu access. The phone I have has the Up, Down, Left, Right surrounding the OK button. I don't particularly like this because many times I hit the OK when trying to go in a direction. But, we think we solved this with their phones. There is an U, D, L, R button without the OK button getting in the way. This works great. Since she's doing chemo, this gives her something to have available if she starts having problems on the road or at home. Both loved their phones.
Evelyn would have been proud of our usage of the dinnerware set she dropped on us. 12 total place settings were used. Also the salt and pepper, both sugar bowls (sugar and sweetner packets), both creamers (coctail and tartar sauces), 2 serving bowls, 3 serving platters, 1 bowl and 1 broken plate (don't worry, we still have over 12 plate settings). Could have used the salad bowls. Oh and glasses and 2 pitchers. Whew. Glad we got everything set up last night. Jeff deep fried catfish, also had boiled shrimp, potato salad, cole slaw, fried okra, salad, tea and cake. Mom O liked her catfish well done, and I liked mine midlin done. Jeff worked them both in. Thanks a bunch, there bro. Great job.
On to other news. Cecilia has started up a new band. The email I got from her said her band is called the Rockstead's, or may be just Rockstead. She has the same drummer as before. Haven't hear the band yet, but they will be in Harlingen again this summer for the Blues on the Hill. Rumor has it (sorry Ceci, this is a rumor because I didn't hear the whole conversation) that the Rockstead's may be going on some sort of tour. One of the band members has connections... Good luck with your band. If it's anywhere near as good as the last one, then you should be in great shape.
We'll that's all I'm doing for now. It got long and that means you are reading a novel and not a journal. Sorry. But that's how it goes. If you are still reading, then you haven't fallen asleep and I'm proud of you. It's late and I'm going to bed. (By the way, Azucena is on her way to Houston. She was in DC last week from Sunday through Thursday. Forgot what's in Houston. She'll be back on Tuesday, but head out on Wednesday to DC??? again and be back again on Thursday.)
Didn't take long to go golfing. Jeff picked Crystal Falls. If you don't know, that's on the other side of Cedar Park and way on the edge of the mountains. Nice view and homes. Talk about your golf course. 2nd hole is 3 levels. You go up one level to tee off, unless you play the Senior Citizen tees, then go down 2 levels to finish the 80 yard par 3. Watch out for that wind. Then hole 11 is about 100 yards (as if I can really remember the yardage), and drops about 30 yards. I couldn't see where my ball landed, so I took 3 shots overall, and surprisingly, all 3 were within feet of one another (yea I know, feet could be hundreds, but I'm talking 10 - 15, so there smarty pants). Didn't keep track of the first 9, but 2nd 9 was 49. I aim to do 2 over par per hole and I'm happy. I did and I was. But, this is one tough course, and not very forgivable. I lost more balls than holes played through the first 5. I may have lost about 10 altogether. Jeff, Gary, Charles Salano (Charles, you'll need to email me on your last name, sorry) were one set, me dad and Azucena were another. Ana went to keep the peace.
Charles went to school mostly with Jeff, in Hawaii. Became pretty good friends. He lives in Minnesota, I think.
Birthday boy here has an answer to the riddle below, what cost $15 and requires me to stay home for most of any 6 days over the next two weeks. I took Friday off to visit mom (because of Chemo, voice is hoarse, no strength, but is able to buy 50 potted plants), and then after lunch, ARO and I were to pick up my present from Jeff's. ARO hinted by asking if I needed new golf clubs and that definitely wasn't the answer to the riddle. Then Gary asked, so I knew something was up. Gary is visiting from New Jersey and brought his clubs. We stopped by Jeff's around 3 and on the table I saw some golf tees. Yeah, funny joke. Anyway Azucena led me around his house and I was half expecting to see golf clubs. As we made our way back to the dining room, we had our answer: Dad. Azucena used her frequent flyer miles and $15 to fly him down here (from Ohio) for 2 weeks. As we walked back and I saw him, the only think I could say was "AWW SHT!!!!!". Not what I was expecting. Great surprise, great present. It was almost given away when we drove up because he was outside and had to hustle inside, but I wasn't looking so it didn't matter. So, I need off 6 days for the next two weeks so I can go golfing with dad and anyone else who wants to tag along. Which means, by the way, that this $15 present is really $45+ each day of golf.
Update on mom, she's doing fine so far. She cut her hair short one evening. She was sounding a bit hoarse on Friday when I saw her in the morning. She talked about not having much strength and stamina, which ONE is understandable, TWO, what the hell was she doing buying 50 potted plants (this makes 300+)? Guess who will do the tilling for these? Yep, Gary. Oh-ho, thought it was me didn't you... Well, it's not. It's Gary, who is also down here as a surprise for me, but he's leaving Tuesday morning. BUT, if Gary wasn't here, then I may have been the one doing the tilling, which is fine with me.
Riddle me this. What costs $15 and requires me to stay home for the most part of 6 days. I can pick any 6 and I can change them with about a days notice. I really won't have time to take the dogs in to the vet unless I go realllll early in the morning. Any takers? Me neither. This is suppose to be my 45th birthday present. Yep 45. This year. April 22. 45. If you have the answer, I'm taking them at the above email. You can remain anonymous if you'd like.
I've also got a secret about Azucena and being a MOM that I might tell if provoked enough.
I have some somber news regarding my mom. I'll have to lead you into this, so bear with me. Also keep in mind that I may not be exact or precise with my notes here, so take it for what it's worth and don't read too much into it.
A few years ago, mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. They operated and removed the right breast (I think this was it). Did skin grafts and the usual reconstruction. Recently, after getting checkups on a regular basis, she was told to come in for additional work because the cancer may have spread to her left breast. After she got back from her visit with Gary in New Jersey, she had her checkup. The doctor who has been working with her gave her the bad news. He had been keeping an eye on a dark spot on one of her lungs. This dark spot never moved, but the other lung sort of exploded with cancer cells (this, in the space of about 2-3 months). These cells also spread to other parts of the body. This new cancer is called Small Cell Carcinoma (I hope it's spelled correctly). Anyway, this is a fast moving, blood distributing cancer. In other words, surgery is out. Well, you can wipe out what is found, but since it moves through the blood stream, you'll never get rid of it, it'll just move on. All the Overmans here in Texas went with her on Wednesday to South Austin Medical Hospital to listen and question the doctor who will work with her. They are going to give her Chemo medicine (IV style) starting next Monday. She'll get two forms of it on Monday, then one form on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then do this all over again every 3 weeks for 4 attempts. After that, it is a wait and see situation. This type of treatment is suppose to work real well again this type of cancer. They also have a Chemo group meeting every Monday. Sue will be with her this coming Monday, which will be tough on both. They are going to go slow with the IV this time to make sure she doesn't have any reaction. So, with the Chemo group and the slow IV drip, they will be there from about 8am to 5 or 6pm. Next time, the IV will only last about an hour or so. They do have beverages and light snacks and reading and other stuff to keep her occupied.
I'll try to keep you up to date as I find out more.
Sorry folks. Really gotta keep this updated. I'll try better, but that's just talk. Hopefully it'll be more action.
A few weeks ago, we had a Father Ray stop by for dinner. Jim & Evelyn were here as well. Was Kimmie here? Can't remember. She's here sometimes and not othertimes (busy with school). Anyway we had a great time, listened to some good stories and wonderful food.
This past Sunday, we went to St. Pedro (?) for Nini's Right of Confirmation. That's what I think it's called, but if not, please use the email link above to let me know. I'll make a correction in your honor. Anyways, Azucena is Nini's sponsor for her introduction into the Catholic church. When we were done, if I had been thinking ahead, we would have taken mom's Valentine gift(s). We weren't too far, but didn't think about it until we were about half way back. We did stop by Tokyo Steak House for dinner and celebration. Great food and yes, I did catch the shrimp.
Robert is suppose to stop by soon. I'd like to throw a welcome home party the day before he gets here. What do you think.
Azucena has been checking out the Woot.com site and decided she wanted to get a CD/MP3 digital jukebox for the living room. This has a 40gb hd (about 600 cds?). Anyway as soon as we hooked it up, she decided we need to upgrade our Receiver to accommodate it. So Saturday we went on an expensive shopping spree. Not only got a real nice (and I mean NICE) receiver, but also a steering wheel chair thingie combo for our playstation driving games (www.playseats.com). Well, last Sunday morning, before 5am, there were a couple of lighting strikes and apparently they took out the receiver. Actually, we think it took out the cable box, which we just found out isn't showing proper colors. Because the cable box is hooked into the receiver, then it took out the receiver as well. Also, our cable modem bit the dust. Surprising since all these are either on a UPS or surge, but we think it came in via the cable line. Bummers. I should be able to resolve this fairly easily.
That's it. It's late, I'm done, good night.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!. Hope all is well with everyone. I know we had a GREAT New Year Celebration around 7pm today. TEXAS WON!! Whoo hoo!. (Sorry dad). Last night we did the fireworks no-no at Jim and Evelyn's house, but since they don't live in Round Rock (street on left and on right are in RR), then it was totally legal. Had a pretty good time. I was forced to dance to the Disco fireworks (bright flashing lights) (they have no shame, nor do I, I guess, since I agreed). Azucena bought Robert and I a need two wheeler r/c. I'll have to track the name down for you. I picked up an inflatable "NASCAR" r/c. Not NASCAR sanctioned, but has the bells and whistles of one. Pretty large and with slick tires, does a mean spin.
All lights and other decorations have been taken down and put up (most anyway). It's been a pretty interesting end of year. It's late and I'm tired, so I'm closing and going to bed. Sorry couldn't be more informative.