April 14 th was a long time ago

Well, i have missed my computer and pretty well everything else too. Since i realize all seven of my followers pretty well know well i have been, there really in no big deal about going into details, but as the the weeks go by and winter comes I will go into details...just so I Have a written diary of the past year.

I can't thank my family for their love,prayers, cares, back rubs and all the stuff that they are so good at. They each have special things that are important to me.

They are many things for me to be thankful for--I am still alive and cooking [not really cooking in the kitchen, cooking in the brain}---i was able to come home on a vent so I could live at night---Years ago I would have ended up in the hosp, nursing home or dead====finally after years of always thinking my house had to be clean 24/7 I decided that who cares????----

I realize now that I might have little changes for the better and then maybe 3 or 4 days of feeling crappy. i might have 2 hours of feeling good of then 6 of feeling bad. I just have to go with the tide and try to stay with it......

Graham is just a delight. He could of not came to be at a better time. He makes me smile just thinking of him....

well that is it for this writing, and did i ever tell you all how lucky I am to have 5 great kids and so many brothers and sisters....I guess i really should count my blessings.

Guest Blog by Kinsey

Kelsey, Kassie, and I are sitting here talking to my mom and I thought 'Hey I am the only one who hasn't written a guest post.'

So here it is :)

Firstly, Kelsey is explaining her life plan, which I have already listened to because we drove back from Iowa City together.

Secondly, Kassie is a very cute pregnant lady.

Lastly, and most importantly, mom knows some sign language... which is pretty much the best thing ever. She knows it because of working at Woodward for all of those years.

She knows 5 signs: Food, I love you, Bathroom, Medicine and Thank you.

When she first was put onto the ventilator, she signed 'bathroom' to Bridget, and Bridget thought she meant I love you :)

She always tells her nurses Thank you after they help her :)


Mom and her beautiful daughters

Brought to you by the letter "K"

Guest blog #3
random thoughts of the day...
1) everything smells the same in the hospital

2) Mercy hospital food rocks...and it is fun to order extra food that you know mom doesn't like, so her beautiful daughters can eat it :)

3) Pandora rocks

4) mom says says some pretty funny stuff after about 11.
for example "do you know what kassie has that she has never had before, a growing penis"(kassie is pregnant)
"maybe i shouldn't take another one, I don't want to end up like Dr. House"

5) Thanks Lori for the scotcheroos and chex mix

6) balloons are fun

7) Kelsey rocks at scattergories

8) Kaci had an amazing break today and got to sleep for eight hours and she will be consider the best daughter for a while

this amazing blog was brought to you by Kassie, Kaci, and Kelsey (-kinsey)

Guest post #2

Hey everyone!

This is her daughter Kaci again :)

They tried to reduce my mom's meds slightly yesterday afternoon and they led to her having a really bad night where they had to increase her meds to higher than the original amount. This morning was still hard for her. She had a great afternoon because that is typically her best time of the day when she has the most energy. It looks like now that she will be here through the weekend due to her still needing IV steriods. The doctor's want to keep her here as long as possible to make sure that she has fully recovered because they know the better she feels when she goes home the longer it will be before she has to come back. They are also trying to give her a new drug that can possibly have some bad side effects or will be extremely helpful, so we will see how that goes.

Thanks for keeping my mom in your prayers!!!!

A guest post from her most beautiful daughter :)

This is a guest post from Deb's daughter, Kaci.

On Tuesday night, I called the ambulance to take my mom the hospital because she was having trouble breathing. She is in stable condition but still having a hard time breathing at times. It looks like she will be here at least another day. The doctor's haven't stopped in today yet to give us an update.

Overall she is still in great spirits and as hilarious as ever. :) She just wanted me to tell all of her blog friends (especially Mike) what was going on so they wouldn't worry during her absence.

Have a great day!

30 reasons that I love about my first husband

My oldest girl wrote a list of 30 reasons why she loves her husband. They have been married for 6 years. I can't not believe this part, it only took her 10 to 15 minutes to do it. That is amazing!!! Then of course she is pregnant {7 months} so the hormones are going crazy. I would also say they are still in the honeymoon part of their marriage.

I been married almost 33 years and it would take me a good 15 minutes to come up with a handful of reasons why I love my husband. I most likely could get a list of 30 if I had at least a month to do it in. So that is my plan, when I am done I will share it with you all. unlike my oldest who thought I should not share her list with my blog readers. [which are 75% family, 20% old friends and 5% my new blog friend mike ] She thinks it is a private list.

So I think it would be a good idea if before anyone get serious about anyone they should make a list of 30 reasons why I love this person. Both people should do it. We should make it a law in our house from now own.

It I had to make a list of 30 things that makes me upset about my husband, it would be a lot easlier list to make, starting with the OMG leaking kitchen sink one, that I have been complaining about for 26 years. After I get done with the one about what I loved about him, I will do the other one [things that upset me]to make things equal out.

Random thought: All of this 30 stuff reminds of a song from my day, "30 ways to leave your lover", I can't get the song out of my head. So I guess I will be singing it all night.

finally someone I don't know makes a comment

Finally after months of writing postings, someone, I don't know makes a comment on my last posting. That made my day.

That just makes me want to jump right out there and write another post. But due to Net zero error 17, it just takes to long. Right now I am at the Perry library and I have 8 minutes to get this done before I have to get off their computers.

The good news is my son in law is coming to visit me tomorrow from fl. and he is going to check my computer.

So thats the key to my heart, if you read my blog, comment on it. It makes me smile.

WHAT R U ERROR 17 Net Zero

WHAT R U ERROR 17

I get on the computer, click on yahoo., click on mail box, click on in box, click on first email, read it,hit reply and then:

Net Zero HSpeed has encountered a problem and needs to close. We apologize for this inconvenience. ERROR CODE 17

So i start all over again. click,click,click,click, read it, hit reply and then again: NET ZERO HSpeed etc. ERROR CODE 17

and this will continue until I just give up and go else where, like this blog.
The Net Zero HSpeed doesn't seem to care if I am writing a post. I think it prefers me to do postings instead of surfing the net or checking my emails.

Which takes me to the point that I don't think I have high speed Internet, that is what I have been told my a reliable source. This source also told me I could not get this HSpeed out here in this rural country side.

Is that what Net Zero HSpeed means, that I do have High speed. So does this mean that Net Zero cannot figure out that I don't have HSpeed. You think as smart as these computer people are they would just leave me alone with my low speed dial up. Why are they messing with me?

So maybe I have push a button that I should have not push or someone is messing with my computer. I would appreciated any person knowledge concerning this computer crisis I am having.

Oh , I forgot, I am a PC, I am 55.

THE SALT COMPANY

I attended "THE SALT COMPANY" parent banquet last night. I was quite impressed with what these students had learned while they attending their services during the week and weekends. I decided that religion should not be hard to learn, that it should be easier like it is done here at "THE SALT COMPANY". There is nothing wrong with making it more enjoyable and or fun.

I also believe if a child was raised this way, maybe they would continue throughout their life with it, as they did as when they were first introduce to it. If you enjoyed something, you will keep coming back. As you do you will learn more and more.

Every time that I have been to 'THE SALT COMPANY" or to their church I have been impressed. They know how to communicate to people and spread the word. I am should Jesus is looking down and saying, WOW, now, that's just what I want!

It is a small world after all.

Now go to Kelsey blog, "pretty much awesome", find the post entitle, "Yeah, I'm freaked out". It was posted in Feb. and has 13 comments to it. Now read them!!!!!!!

so there you have it, It is a small world after all.

Random thoughts

So my eldest daughter called me to ask if I had plan all my children to be born in the fall time and if so, why? I did not want the decision making of having to decided whether or not to hold a child back in school or let them start if they had a summer birthday. I figure the best way to avoid that was just to plan my pregnancies so I would give birth after Sept. 15, the cut off.
This seem to work out just fine for me.

I was reading a blog today about Shawn Johnson, a old mom like me was complaining because her kids thought it was crazy, that she was so pro Shawn. Her kids could not understand it, because it was not like Shawn was one of her kids. So there, I am not the only one out there that gets involved in and claims every Iowan who does anything good outside[or inside] of Iowa.


I google " Shawn Johnson" the other day. A blog came up and in it, this girl stated she gave the rest of her votes to Shawn because if you don't the government will actually come and kick you out of the state of Iowa. I thought that was so cute. It made me laugh!!

Speaking of good kids. Kaci spent spring break setting up a kids camp in Texas. I am sure Kaci will have a post up shortly about her trip.

FYI:I would think that if someone [other than Kelsey] spent Spring Break in FL. that they most likely would make a post about it [ not Kelsey, she all ready did].

dreams of hambugers

I had a wild dream the other night. I dreamed, I was at a restaurant and I just got done eating half my sandwich. The waiter was all upset because I only ate half of it. So he went back and made me 30 more and put them each in their own plastic container. So here I was going around showing everybody in town, acting like I just won the lottery. Then I woke up. Which was probably a good thing. It would of been pretty embarrassing to be that happy over 30 grease cheeseburgers.

good weekend for Iowa wrestling team, bad push by Metcaf [could very well be spell wrong]
good weekend for Iowa state girls BB team.

Dancing with The Stars

So tonight, I was watching "Dancing with the Stars", just really enjoying it. During breaks I would switch it to NCIS, so I could keep track on what was going on that show, too.

i accidentally push the remote and I seen "American Idol" was on. I can't believe I miss watching AI. I guess this DWTS has won me over. Of course with Iowa's own, "Shawn Johnson" on it, it makes a difference. I honestly had never watch the show before..

I did watch "Do you think you can Dance last year", maybe that got me interested in dance. Two of the dancers from that show are on DWTS, which I think is neat. I also think that cowboy Ty is so cute.

So i guess AI will have to do without me this year. I think Shawn will be in the top 3 on DWTS[that is what the MBs are saying], so I will be watching channel 5 and voting for her.

A mothers job is never done

A mothers job is never done. You worried the whole time you are pregnant with your child. After several hours of terrible labor [unless you have a c-section, which makes the whole birthing just wonderful] , you have this child which you will worry about for the rest of your life. It is a life sentence, which is good most of the time. but then there is times:

Here I sat this morning waiting for my youngest 2 daughters[21 and 22] to called me to tell me they had arrived in Fl, safe and sound. It got to be about 6pm, no call. So fearing the worst, I Tex their cell phone, "If you are a police officer, the girl who this cell phone belongs to is........from....,Iowa". I received a Tex from my girls, shortly after that, that they were indeed fine.

My 2ND oldest daughter[25] was going to Texas with a group of college kids she works with to do community service down there. She told me they were taking a charter bus and a 15 person van. Without even thinking about it I told her to ride the bus, it was probably safer. You always heard of 15 person van accidents. She goes mom I am driving the van. I wonder if she heard my heart plump.

so my son [31] stop by last week, his eyes were completely swell shut. He had been to the emg. room, they gave him shots and sent him home. He was to be back at the doctors at 9am. All that night, all I could think about was a friend of mine who had a stroke that stem from infection in his face. I called him twice during the night to see how he was doing. Well he did recover, but I am sure I added a few gray hairs to my head over all the worrying I did.

Now my oldest daughter{28] is having her first baby this June, a brand new generation to worry about.

color coded bingo markers

So I was sitting at Bingo Wednesdays' night. I had my good luck statute, "Wilbur" and my coin purse of good luck out. I looked up and there this lady standing in front of my table looking at my Bingo markers. I thought this is weird. Finally she goes you have a purple lid on your green marker. I thought OK and I have a orange lid on a red marker, I was thinking she must be a little "Monk" like the TV show.

I just looked at her and told her nicely, it does not bother me. She just shook her head at me. I got looking around at the other Bingo players, I was the only one whose markers were not color coordinated. Wow and I thought they were weird ones.

Dancing With the Stars Shawn Johnson

Tonight, starting at 7pm until 9pm on channel 5-----Dancing with the Stars-------Iowas' own Shawn Johnson!!!!!!!!

I have read several articles, most believe she has a good chance at winning it all... It is so neat to have someone from Iowa making news.

How about University of Northern Iowa men's BB team winning their conference. Another reason to be proud of being an Iowan.

random thought: Has anybody else notice that we don't get as much junk mail as we use to, it must be effected by the economy too. Junk mail Monday is no more, I remember I used to get at least 15 pieces of junk every Monday. I miss my Junk Mail Monday.

I also believe I don't receive as many off the wall telephone calls [ do you need new sidling?, credit card insurance etc.]

so there is a few more people out there with out jobs and they were not best paid jobs. God bless them.

For the love of sisters.

I will continue to say this until I die, people will come and go through out your life, but your sisters will always be there when you turn around. If it is to be good news or bad, they are the ones you want to tell the most. They are the first ones to help you rebuild your ego after a set back in life. They also are the first to pat you on the back for accomplishing goals that you have set for your self.

They have been where you have been, so they sometimes know what you will do before you say it. A sister can bad mouth you all they want, but let another person cut you down, and your sister is there standing up for you.

Friends will come and go and if we are lucky are paths will continue to cross and we will maintain a long life friendship with a few of them. No problems like that with sisters, they are yours and they are not going anywhere. They are a phone call, an e-mail or text message away 24/7.

You are lucky you have 3 sisters, a lot people don't have one. How jealous all those people must be of all of you. {and you know what, they should be]

Potassium

I got the blood work back from my doctor yesterday. I had problems with Low Potassium since the summer of 1995. At that time I took POT CHLORIDE 10MEQ once a day. This just seem to be a problem in the summer, as long as I ate a banana every day I was find the rest of the year. Therefore I only took the medicine in the summer time. If I sweat a lot, it was more a problem.

So you all know how I have trouble adjusting to temperature in and out of my home, cars or anywhere. I have a lot of hot flashes too. I have also continue to eat one banana every day. My blood work came back at 3.3 for Potassium, so it is a little low. I am on POT CHLORIDE 20MED now.

I have just took this for 3 days now. I don't know why but I actually feel about at least 40 or 50 percent better than I usually do . so i don't know if this relative or not, if I am just having a good day, or maybe this was part of the problem all along this year. time will tell :-]

So there is somethings else you all make sure you get check as you get older, your Potassium level. [genetic make-up, the gift that keeps on giving]

Things I fear

Things I fear: water or better yet just the fact that I do not know how to swim. I do not put myself in a environment where I will have to deal with not knowing how to swim. I avoid going out on boats. If I get talk into this, I am the first one on with a life jacket. I do enjoy sitting on high ground and watching the water. One of my best memories is sitting at Boston Harbor watching the world go by.

Heights: Once I was painting the old house, I made it up to the roof, thought I was doing fine. Then I looked down, I froze. I sat for at least an hour up there, before one of the area farmers on his tractor saw me, came to my aid and got me down. I have never been on a step ladder since and that was 28 years ago.

cockroaches: One day I was helping a client take out her trash. I pulled a trash bag out and notice her screaming and pointing at my shirt. There on my shirt was 1 and half inch cockroach, it was the biggest one I ever seen. My heart was jumping all over the place.

Speaking in front of groups: My body does exactly what they say bodies do when their owners are scare of speaking in public. This is why I was always so proud of my kids when they were in speech, Drama and also 4-H. { that deserve a posting to itself,coming at a later time} Now I just don't put myself in a environment that I might have to do this sort of speaking thing. To get a feeling of what it is like for me, think about the last race you ran. Remember how you felt at the end, sweating, out of breath etc. that exactly what I feel like and I am just standing there.

swim or not to swim

Much to my surprise I find out today that my 4Th child who is 22 years old, does not know how to swim. This has me totally awake now, I should be sleeping. I know we never got her swimming lessons but I figure she had pick it up all those summers camping.

I guess it is better to find out now, if I had known that back when we went to Battle Lake every summer. I would had kept a closer eye on her. So now that you are an adult, you will just have to be carefully around the water. Remember if you can't swim when you are sober, drinking does not make you a better swimmer. It might make you a better dancer or singer but again does not help when it comes to swimming.

So this is another way that I left Kelsey down, first I did not let her go out for dance when she was growing up. If I would have let her go out for dance , according to Kelsey, her world would of been totally different now. Almost like Disney World, I Suppose!