Grandpa and Grandma Lee and Tweety

It's not a mockingbird, but I don't know any song about parakeets. And this is one of the many songs my mom used to sing to us.

Rose and John bought mom and dad a parakeet for Christmas. His name is Tweety and he has become fast friends with mom. He chirps at her a lot, especially, if she leaves the room or falls asleep.



When she goes over to the cage, he cocks his head to one side, is very calm and acts like he's listening to every word she is saying. Mom sometimes will whistle to him and he will sing/chirp right back to her. I think they are the best of friends!

Now, when Rose goes over there he starts flapping his wings and flying around the cage in a panic. She thinks Tweety must hate her. But, maybe he is partial to white hair. He was nice to me when I was playing around with him. (P.S. - I don't know what the little circle is on the side of Rose's head - must have been something on my camera lense)

My mom still takes good care of my dad. She insits on ironing his clothes before he gets dressed, even if he never leaves the house. I thought the pants were fine - I wouldn't have even put them through the touch up cycle on my dryer.

And when I was going to take his picture, she insisted that she comb his hair first. (I tried just running my hands through his hair, just to straighten it a little, but she was right behind me with a comb.)

Mom told dad to smile. The Parkinson's gives him the "mask-like" affect, but if you look carefully you can see a hint of a smile. Dad is so much stronger now. He is easier to get up and around and seems to have his appetite back. I wasn't so sure he was going to bounce back this well when I last saw him in the hospital! I'm sure we can thank Rose for her great care and mom for being his best friend, nurturing him and giving him a good reason for wanting to stay on this earth!

Lemonade Award

"When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!"





A big thanks to Jaime for my very first blogging award! I think most people who read my blog know her since only family members read my blog and she is family. So everyone knows that she is the most consistent blog commenter around and it is always positive, encouraging and much appreciated. Now answering this award has caused my old brain to learn new things - like putting in links to other blogs. This is was a real challenge and I give thanks to Becca for showing me how to do it and of course Jaime for giving me the opportunity.

First of all here are the rules for this award:

1. put the logo on your blog or post

2. nominate at least 10 blogs which show great attitude or gratitude

3. be sure to link your nominees with your post

4. let them know they received the award by leaving a comment on their most
recent post

5. share the love and link this post to the person that gave you the award.


Now it is my turn to pass this award on to others. I only chose six people to honor (because a lot of others I thought of have already been given this award). I wish I were as talented as others at expressing myself in writing, but here goes:

1. Amy - she is my youngest sister. I honor her for something about which she never blogs. Nearly 2/1/2 years ago she helped me find an assisted living place for my Aunt Judy, near Judy's children in Arizona, so they could be more involved in her life. It took a lot of work, but she did it quickly and efficiently. But, that is not all. She continues to be Judy's health/financial/social advocate. She takes her to medical appointments when needed, pays her bills, and takes her to visit relatives when able and buys her clothes and personal items. Judy has Alzheimer's, diabetes, and other health complications. Whenever I apologize that she ended up having all these responsibilities (instead of Judy's children) she brushes it off and tells me it is good for her to help others. And when I get negative she sees the positive. So a big thanks to Amy for handling all this quietly and with grace.

2. Pauline - she is my daughters' (Maria) mother-in-law. I appreciate her the most for the many times she has flown here from Salt Lake City to visit, but mostly to help Maria during her 3 miserable pregnancies. When she was here she worked her fingers to the bone, keeping the family life going smoothly. She would go shopping and fill the cupboards with lots of food, do mounds and mounds of laundry, play with the kids, and did everything she could think of to help find ways to encourage Maria to keep food down (none of which worked well). Maria, truly, could not move without gagging, much less cook dinner and care for her kids and the house. After each were born she was back again to help. I so enjoyed the times we both got together with the kids. It was fun and we were the goofiest grandma's around. This she did while she has her own medical issues and is still dealing with them at this moment. Thanks Pauline for all this!

3. Maria - she is my daughter (and I probably shouldn't brag about my own kids) and has had many trials with her pregnancies and newborn babies. (All her babies had/have severe colic and allergies. Through it all she manages to keep a sense of humor and can makes us all laugh about her problems. Many of us would have become bitter and a hermit. I can't honor Maria without mentioning Eric. He is the best at taking over a lot of home responsibilites during the hard times. Yesterday, when for some reason we were talking about how hard it would be for her if something happened to Eric, she said she would totally lose it. "I can't even handle it well when he gets home late for work", was her reply. So Maria, I don't know if your sense of humor helps you much, but it sure makes life more pleasant for the rest of us.

4. Jamie - she is my daughter-in-law (I told you most of my blogging friends are family). Her blog makes me chuckle. She is not into a lot of "fluff", but tells it like it is. She has a dry sense of humor and that fits in well with our family. Her husband, James (our son), has OCD and some social anxiety which often can be very stressful, for him and for her. But I appreciate her seeing the positive in him, too and picking up the slack in other areas. James may keep the house unusually neat, tidy and organized, but she has a steadying influence on him and is his anchor. Jamie, we don't say it often enough but, you are much appreciated!

5. Debbie Till - she is a very good friend, but does not blog. In fact she does not actually have a computer, but uses her son's whenever she has a need. Debbie is one of those people who has a knack at nurturing others. She worries about me, tells me to slow down, and really listens to me. We can share our real feelings (positve and negative) and never feel embarrassed. Our relationship doesn't require a lot of tip-toeing around or walking on eggshells with each other. She and her husband are the most frugal people around. If you want to learn how to stay out of debt, she is your example. Thanks for being there for me Debbie! Now I will have to go over to her house and get her on this website to show her this award.


6. Melissa - I met Melissa first through Becca who is her neighbor. Then we became blogging friends. She has the most upbeat, humorous and positive blog. I love her perspective about things that would normally throw someone else for a loop. I also love all her comments to others and my blog. She can put into words just exactly what I feel, but she does it in such a clever and more interesting way. Her comments are always accepting and understanding. I love that my grandkids have her kids for friends. And next time I have to plan an fun party, I'm enlisting her help. Her party ideas are always most unique. Thanks Melissa, and I consider you family!!!

Update on Great Grandpa Lee

It turns out he did not have pneumonia. Instead he had a condition (atelectasis) where the aveoli in his lungs (which exchange carbon dixode for oxygen) had collapsed. This can be caused because he is not as ambulatory as before. The Parkinson's makes it harder for him to breathe in deeply as before. So they sent him home with a spirometer (to blow the ball up to a designated spot). We're hoping they will give him some PT to help his stiff muscles, a nutrtionist to give ideas of altered foods that he will not choke on, and hopefully an increase in his Parkinson's medication.

When I talked to Rose on the phone I could hear mom in the background and she was very excited - talking and laughing!

Rose really has her hands full, but she is still cheerful as ever.

A Little Bit of a Scare!

Dad was admitted to the hospital early Monday morning for weakness, nausea and pneumonia. Mom came later in the day and that made him happy.

Granddaughter, Jenny, came to visit with a froggy balloon! That perked him up.

Myron and Sue came to vist with an autographed copy of their son (Arthurs') first published book. ("Partners Again") Myron read the first few pages and had mom laughing out loud. It is a book geared to 10-12 year old boys.

Both catching a little catnap! He's was stable when I left this evening. They won't release him until his oxygen levels are normal and his vomiting/aspiration his resolved. A big thanks to Myron and Sue. Ed, Mary Jane and Carrie Anne who have offered to stay with him for a periods of time so Rose could take a much needed break!

It's always scary when someone his age gets pneumonia, but with Parkinsons' disease it makes it even more worrisome. It's hard to see him become more and more dependent on others to care for him. This is the man who always took care of us and worked such long days, and for a greater part of his life he probably averaged only about 4-5 hours of sleep a night to be able to accomplish that.