Cody Chronicles

 I am feeling real down today, over the death of my cousin, and risidual issues from the stroke. The doctor said this would be normal, but, I am not liking it too much!
 Last night I took a pretty bad fall, where I had to scream for help to get up, that was a sight, since Cody was the one helping me.
 He drives me crazy with a capital C, but, with out him there would be no humor here! He says it like it is, has no filters, and in a lot of situations I just pray he doesn't open his mouth, BUT, he does.
 He told a old family friend who is about 82 that he was the oldest man he had EVER seen, yet my 76 yr old dad, he tells you look younger than everybody in the family, which that makes his day!!! Or my dad is paying him on the side!!
 Yesterday driving home from respite he tells Megan I think black men are attractive, I have NOTHING against black men, do I hear Denzel Washington? and nothing against gays, BUT< this is the first we have heard about it, when I asked him he said, you & Megan are far too intelligent to understand. I do not think intelligent was the word he meant!!!
 Over the weekend I was trying to tell him something and it was the day I was struggling with my words, and he was getting annoyed, and said, ARE YOU AUTISTIC TOO???? I just laughed my butt off, and proceeded with no, I just had a stroke Cody. His answer, well thats not fair it's not Thurs or Sunday!! AT first I thought WHAT? and then realized he loves coke, and we only allow him to have then twice a week, and those are the 2 days, so he thought stroke was coke!!! God, do I wish a coke would make it all go away!!!
 Enclosed is a pic of my friend Kathy, who was my maid of honor, & Cody, who was the best man when we renewed our vows. He was so proud to hold the ring, but, a few nights before, he said, MOM, don't you think Kathy is too old for me??? She loved that one!! Or as he calls her Kaffy, who lives in Californ near holwood.
 Once we went into someones house that was not well kept, to be nice, and Cody lets out, with MAN THIS PLACE IS DIRTY,YOU NEED TO CLEAN IT!!! You honestly never know!
 In Feb we had friends from NY visiting, Lenny was my boyfriend for 5 min in 1977, and as we are driving, Cody comes out with Lenny, do you love my mom?? OMG Cody, sometimes I wish I had a nuzzle for him like we do for the dogs!!
 He is a very good Uncle, though, he loves Jolie & Maddox so much, but, he doesn't get that they are babies, especially Maddox, who is 8 mos old, he will "tell" on him, it's hilarious, it's like ok Cody should we put him in time out???
 My kids can drain the life out of me, but, I can't imagine life w/o any of them, they each add a little something different to it, and each one has their own personality, no 2 are the same, thats for sure!

A Time For EVERYTHING

 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven
A time to be born, and a time to die
A time to plant, and a time to uproot
A time to weep and a time to laugh,
A  time to mourn and a time to dance
A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain
A time to search, and a time to give up
A time to keep, and a time to throw away
A time to tear and  a time to mend
A time to be silent and a time to speak
A time to love and a time to hate 
A time for war and a time for peace.

rest in peace my dear cousin Joanne Christiansen, you were only 33 years young! 
 Last summer I went to Orlando with my friends and asked them to drive me, the 2 1/2 hrs to see my Palm Coast family, which consists of my Aunt B, Uncle D, cousin Joanne, and a whole bunch of other cousins. I told my friends, I know it will be my last visit with my cousin Joanne. I am pretty sure she didn't recognize me, I would love to think its the weight loss & blonde hair, but, I know better.
 That visit was bitter sweet, it was great seeing them, all, but, I also saw a young woman who turned into a vegetable, she was down to 80lbs and my aunt & uncle had to do everything for her, it was so very sad, for her & for them!
 So, today in memory of Joanne, I will enclose my last picture with her.
 Joanne loved careoke, and it has been ages since she has been able to participate in that, she has had no quality of life, and spent a lot of days not knowing who her family members were.
 My AUnt B & Uncle D are 2 amazing people, I can remember them as far as I can remember back, my Uncle D is my God father, and he has always been there for me, and he always had such a happy disposition, STOP LAUGHING AUNT B!!! except when he spent 5 long days with Cody...LOL, Trust me the Pope would struggle for 5 days with Cody.
 My aunt & uncle had a son, Donald, he & I were the same age, and in 7th grade he passed away from complications from spina biffida, they were told they had a genetic defect and it wasn't a good idea to have children, they also experienced miss carriages, and a still birth. SO, they adopted Joanne! I can still remember, as a kid, how they were absolutely glowing, she was everything to them!
 They are the type of people that just adore children, and if you are part of their world, you know it, they deserved to have many children. 
 Their life was always difficult, they worked hard for everything they had, and they deserved ever bit of it, they were kind, thoughtful, & loving, and if you were lucky enough to be in their family, you were a better person for it.
 When in wal mart in 2007 AUnt B referred to me as her niece, and my heary sunk, I felt so special, because in reality, we are related differently, my dad & Uncle D are first cousins who grew up together, so we always called him uncle, but, he is actually my dads cousin.
 ANytime we went to FLorida they showed us a good time, and treated us like royalty, we especially loved our trips to Friendly's oh how I miss that place!!! Someone have a vanilla fribble for me, please!!
 In HS I worked in JC Penney and they would come in through the mens entrance, all 3 of them, and stop and talk to me, if it were slow, and Joanne would talk & talk & talk, sound familiar?? 
 In 1982 I had my son Daniel, and she & Daniel would play together, and I will never forget, Joanne had Sesame St sheets, and Daniel LOVED the count, and I could not find sheets with the count on them, ANYWHERE. Well, Joanne had Sesame St sheets with the count, and she said the count had teeth!! and it bothered her, so she gave them to Daniel!! Daniel was so excited & happy, and he could care less if there were teeth or not!
 You take all the funny moments for granted, and we all get caught up in our own "stuff" and forget to spend time with the ones we love, weather it's in person, on the phone, by emails. Those who mean the world to you, let them know, because you never know when it is too late. We all think we have forever to live!
 Cody & I went to see them in Sept 2007, and Jennifer spent a few summers there and I have been back atleast once a year since 07. Things won't be the same w/o Joanne, or Jo Jo as she liked to be called.
 My poor Aunt & Uncle know,know no other life, but to care for their daughter, that has been their life, routine for well over a year now, it is going to be so hard for them to "find" a new niche in life, Thankfully, they have 2 little granddaughters, and I can personally tell you, grandchildren are the best medicine!!
 Joanne was way too young to die, a few years ago, 07 she was diagnosed with MS, and she sure didn't have long, it just doesn't seem fair.
 I remember my sister in law Tammy's shower, my mom was angry with me, so I left the shower and sat in the spare room, and Joanne came in, asking me what was wrong, and trying to talk me into going back to the party, she was that kind of girl.
 I am sorry she suffered so much, and am glad she is in a better place, no longer suffering, but, I worry for my aunt & uncle, because she was their life, their everything, it is hard enough losing 1 child but 2, how do you get past that? how do you not get angry with God?

 Your AZ family is here for you, when you need us, we love you, and rest in peace Jo Jo   XOXOXO

TEQUILA SUNDAY

  From the sounds of things, it seems as though I have had a liquid breakfast, Tequila, that is. My words are so scrambeld, and I can't handle 2 people talking to me at once, it provokes very strange responses, Cody said mom, what is wrong with you, and this is NOT what was meant to come out, I said, I am teething!!! Cody- teething like Jolie? You look like you have all your teeth! Well honey, at my age, you don't start getting teeth, you start losing them, and thats when you sell everything you own to get dentures!
 I was trying to have a conversation with the UH this morning, and was getting very frustrated because I could not say what I wanted to, he finally said MAYBE YOU SHOULD'NT TALK TODAY!! 
 Oh would he love that!!! News flash, you will listen to my gibberish all day before I will shut up...LOL 
  Life post stroke, is a day to day thing, I can honestly say I haven't had a day, yet, that I feel "normal", normal may be a new normal, now, I feel like a blind man walking with a cane, just trusting the cane to lead me in the right direction! 
  Now, to try & make the best out of a situation like this, I can have a lot of fun, and you all know thats what I do best!!
  I have the most fun with Cody because he take what I say literally, and wanted to make sure he wasn't having scrambeled brains for breakfast, and whats that drink Tequila? I don't want any of that either! 
 For those of you who know Cody could you imagine him after a shot of tequila?? I don't even want to go there!
 OK, so now how many times does it take a stroked blonde to make a long distance phone call ? the answer,too many! I went to call my BFF in LA, and hit dial on the phone, not hard, right, well I guess with all things being politically correct a man answers & says, YOUR CALL DID NOT GO THROUGH!!! Really?? I think I have enough intelligence left for that conclusion, so I call again, hit the "kathy" button, and get Phoenix swimming with the Dolphins, HUH?? Please tell me where in the heck you can swim with Dolphins in the middle of the desert, so, now I am losing my patience just a wee bit here, and try ONE more time and after all this I get voice mail, sooooo, Kathy if you read this call me!!!
 My kids are watching my FB posts to make sure I make sense, because they have that little, or in my case big white jacket in their cars, they are a little to anxious to get me to the funny farm, Cody says he will go if he can pet the animals!!!  LOL
 On a good note, the puppies breakfast did NOT consist of poop, and I am counting the days until they rip up this carpet and put down the wood floors, another thing to make my life easier!!!
    Happy SUnday, everyone!

Square Zero

 Tomorrow is 2 weeks since my stroke, and 1 week home from the hospital, and I am having what you would call a BAD DAY, The doctor said, there would be days like this, hey wait, isn't there a song, "mama said there'd be days like these?"
 Well today is one of those days and it is only 2 pm. I have one of my AWFUL headaches, and have taken every medication I own and no relief, quite frankly I am tired of sleeping, and my arthritis is bad.
 Did I mention we will be over 100 today, the heat triggers my headaches, so this oughta be fun!
 Ok,  I guess if we can't laugh at ourselves, then we are doomed, I still have scrambled brains as I call it and when I try to say too much, it comes out very confusing, most people know what I mean, sometimes, I just want to cry, and others I can't help but laugh. ON the phone with Kathy this morning, I wanted to say I am back at square one, and I said square zero, when I tried to explain, I only made things worse, luckily, she knew what I meant all along.
 I have had my UH say many times, what did you just say? and when I try & repeat it, it doesn't sound any better, and then I get upset/ I think my 8 mos old grandson's vocabulary is more advanced than mine!
 This morning I wake up to a nice quiet house, Jenn went to the water park, Cody & Terry were at Cody's game, I still can't manage those things yet, crowds confuse me, and I literally can't talk. I feel bad that I can't go, and my other problem is I can not wake up before 10am, and I HATE that, I used to be a morning person.
 Ok, so back to the quiet morning, I head for the bathroom, and see that Lacey, my pad trained shih-tzu, and right now, yes, she is a SHIT ZU!!!, had pooped & the 3 puppies were, now hold on, this isn't pleasant, eating the poop, and it was ALL OVER THE PLACE!! tiny, pieces. Now, I am OCD when it comes to cleaning & this is not going over to well with me, In fact, I am crying to the big dog Crissy, who happens to turn 7 today!
 Ok, what kind of flake starts crying to their dog?? Now the smell is making me sick, and I have to walk past it to go use the bathroom. 
 At that very moment I was ready to fuel up my broom stick, and head east, and come back when the puppies do not have poop on their menu, and the kids are grown up, & moved out!!! Wouldn't you know, I couldn't even find the dang broomstick!!!
 I have said a lot of funny things, unintended, but, truth be told, I want the old me back, and wonder if I ever will be back, my friend Julie says I am the funniest person she knows, will I still be? Will I ever be able to babysit my grandkids, in fear of dropping them? Will I ever be comfortable in public trying to talk, when I used to be the life of the party? And my oldest son just turned 29 yesterday, I have been cleaning up shit for 29 years, please tell me this will end, too!
 Megan just called and said she is taking Cody to Fountain Hills, PRAISE THE LORD,
 Now if I can only get that bus running a lot of us are in favor of, for our retired or disabled husbands, the bus will pick them up in the morning & drop them off at dinner time, the line is growing so get your tickets now, ladies!!!
 Happy 7th birthday to my dog who doesn't poop!!!!

Heat, than there is HEAT!!!

 Welcome to Phoenix, Arizona, todays high is expected to be 100, but not to worry, it's a DRY heat, all that means is you know how it feels when you open your oven door, and you get hotter than hot air, just blown in your face? Well, here your oven door is your front door, car door, store entrances etc.
 Yesterday was our first 100 degree day and April 1 is way too early for that, the power company here is called APS, and while watching the news and hearing of the record breaking temperature I said cha ching for APS, and God help the rest of us!
 So, what do you REALLY do when it's 100+ here? Well, it is like your winter back east, not a heck of a lot.
 Now if you are my 16 yr old daughter, you lay by the pool and tan yourself, remember those days? Except we did it at Fire Island,with cool ocean breezes.
 If you don't own a pool or belong to the Y or community pool, you are in for some long, hot days.
 Being at the pool in public creates a whole new sets of problems, do I REALLY want to be seen in my bathing suit, I can give you a QUICK NO, on that one, but, you learn to toss your pride to the curb, and go for the bathing suit!
 I do not do well in the heat, it intensifies my headaches, and right now that makes me nervous, because of the pain I am already in. it means school is almost over & the 2 teens fight like cats & dogs, and as always Law & Order & sports will be on the TV 24/7.....LOL
 Now, if you were a TRUE friend you would have the NERVE to come visit me during the summer, any takers?????                                        Have a great Saturday, everyone!!!

HAPPY 29th BIRTHDAY DANIEL

  April 1, 1982 Thursday 5:50 pm, Daniel Charles Mowbray Jr. makes his entrance into the world, after 8 1/2 hrs induced labor. Believe it or not, he was my largest baby of the 5, 7lbs 8 1/2 oz and 21  inches long.
 Unfortunately, he did not cry and before I had time to collect my thoughts, he was being air vacced to a NICU at Stonybrook University Hospital. He spent 7 days in there, and the air bubble eventually desolved itself.
 The day we were due to pick him up, APril 7, we had a blizzard & my aunt was murdered, if I can use 1 word to describe my life, eventful would be it, for as far back as I can remember!
 Daniel had colic for a while, which was trying for a first time mom, but, was an EXCELLENT baby, he didn't get into anything, I thought I had this mother thing down pat, and when Daniel was a year old, it was time to do it again!! 
 The boys were dressed a like, they were 21 mos apart, but when they say they are all different they are not kidding!! Scott got into everything, but, apparently not enough, because Megan came 2 years late,r 6 days short of Scott's second birthday.
 Daniel was obsessed with sports, & everyone who knew him, knew he would end up doing something sports wise as a career. And that he did, he had  a talk radio show, been a sports writer, and now edits basketball games.
 Daniel was always a good kid, I never had any problems with him, he played basketball all through middle & HS, and graduated with good grades, then went on to radio broadcasting school.
 Along the way he had various  relationships, some serious, some, not, but, right now he is in a serious relationship with a very nice girl named Jessica, whom we love to death, they compliment each other, very well!
 When Daniel was only 2 years old, he was able to read, a Book called THE COUNTS POEM, the Count from Sesame ST. I was amazed that he could read, and he would talk in the counts voice, it was hillarious!
 I may not say it enough, but, I am very proud of Daniel & all his accomplishments, I know that the divorce affected him, a lot, and my remarrying, and having more children affected him, and for quite sometime, I had depression issues that also affected him, and I am sorry for all of that, you know the old saying, if I could do it all over again,well, that does apply here. I could have done things a lot different than I did, but, you can't change the past, if you dwell on it, you are not allowing yourself to move forward & change things, so, onward & upward!!!
 Happy 29th my son, I LOVE you!!!!   XOXOXOX

The Mail Order Bride

 You meet all kinds, where ever you go, and the hospital is no different,

 Yesterday, I reported about the young Mexican girl on her first day, and the couple that had a hairdresser, & masseuse, and snacked on Red Lobster.

 Today, I am going to introduce you to Verna, she was a slightly over weight woman, average looking, blond, shoulder length hair, which she wore in a pony tail, and a bit of make up. Her accent was VERY strong, and I could tell it was probably Russian, I had her the day before with my other 2 MRI's, she was the one with the kind soul, & very nurturing, I am not sure if she had kids, but, she would have made an excellent mom.

 I would rather not go into detail about how my day was on Fri. I will just say, I had the most pain I have EVER had in my life, and remember, I had 5 childbirths with no medication, epidurals etc. I have had kidney stones more than a few times, 2 back surgeries, & a hysterectomy.

 What was causing this pain was a bowel blockage, something far beyond constipation. The nurses had no clue as to what they were dealing with, and I could not sit due to the pain. This went on for hours, as did waiting for my pain meds, which would have HELPED a great deal, instead, I waited 4 hrs later than my dosage, which means I went 8hrs in between.

 Now its about  5pm and I am due for another MRI, so my Russian tech comes, and I am explaining to her that I am having a hard time sitting etc. SO, she now knows what is going on. 

 She said to me, well listen up, I am a mail order bride, I lived in NY for 15 years, I was so happy that she was from my NY, I could have done the Irish jig, she explained how her family wanted better for her and she went to NY expenses paid to be his bride, and they are still married, they moved to Phoenix 6 years ago.

 She then tucked me into the MRI tunnel, almost like my mom tucking me in when I was a kid, she played nice relaxing music, and told me she was going to keep me longer to give me a break & relax me, she massaged my shoulders, & rubbed my legs, which felt wonderful, and then she gave me the MRI, I honestly was able to block out some of the pain, at one point I did hear myself tell God to take me now, because I can't live in this kind of pain, and I remember wanting an anesthesiologist, to put me out of my misery.

 Being skeptical after all I have been through, this MRI was seeming to last a long time, and my back was hot, and for a minute I thought, she is cooking me!!!

 The crazy thoughts that go through your head!! I must say, this woman knew what she was doing, soon after the test was done, I said, I needed to use the bathroom, I will say it hurt like hell, but, it got things moving, and the entire fiasco didn't stop until late Sat night.

 I think this will be the last blog on my hospital stay. For all of you kind people who ask how, I am doing, I am ok, no where near up to par, sleepy all the time, still having the headaches & neck aches, off footing & neurological issues, but, the doctors feel they will all go away in time, so I am just happy, because it could have been a lot worse~ 

 Thank you again, & keep up your prayers & good thoughts!!