I think the fog comes from the Clark Fork River, and then creeps up into our valley. Of course sara sees much more fog, as she gets up way before me. When I get up, it looks nice!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Frenchtown Mornings
Mornings here are pretty cool lately.
I think the fog comes from the Clark Fork River, and then creeps up into our valley. Of course sara sees much more fog, as she gets up way before me. When I get up, it looks nice!
I think the fog comes from the Clark Fork River, and then creeps up into our valley. Of course sara sees much more fog, as she gets up way before me. When I get up, it looks nice!
Long drive
This past week, Sara and I spent in Las Vegas, packing up the rest of our stuff. As always, it never seems like there's all that much, but when you start packing and loading the moving van, it takes forever. On the bright side, we got all three motorcycles into the van, as well as everything else that still needed going, with room to spare. Our garage now looks much better:
Every garage benefits from a few motorcycles in it!
The drive itself was, as the title says, long. We loaded up thursday evening with the help of friends, and had breakfast with the Mihy's friday morning, then headed out right afterwards. The damn truck basically shook itself apart above 65mph, so it was slow going. Weather was fine all the way up to Salt Lake (roughly), where we stopped first to say hello to Jen and Kent, then drove the short distance to Shaner's house where we stayed the night.
Pleasant evening spent with Shane and Paula, who had a fantastic dinner waiting for us when we got there, and made a fabulous breakfast the next morning before we once again hit the road (thanks guys! Yummy!). All through the previous afternoon and evening, the radio was announcing a bad storm, which had us worried. But the next morning, no storm had materialized, though it was now predicted for that day. We thought about it for a while and decided to ignore the clueless weather people and go ahead and go.
We hit Pocatello, ID a few hours later to pick up the kids at Giz and Brew's place, which is really cool. I liked the views. We didn't spend a lot of time there, so I didn't get to see much of the property, which is a bummer, but what little I saw, I really liked. It was starting to snow a little just as we were driving up to their house, so we wanted to get back on the road.
Off we headed again, with Romeo in the back and the kids and sara in the front with me. At the bottom of the hill we stopped at a gas station to fuel up and check on romeo, who, we were sure, was just scared as hell after being put in the back of the uhaul, where it's dark and cold and bouncy (down the hill), and we were right. Poor Guy was shaking like a leaf when we let him out and it had only been maybe 10-15 minutes. But we expected this. We calmed him down and reassured him, then headed on. The next time we stopped and checked on him, he was shaking MUCH less, and the time after that, he wasn't shaking at all, and even jumped up into the crate all by himself.
Just north of Pocatello, we started hitting some serious snowfall, as well as slushy snow on the highway. No real problem, however. it's not the first time I've driven in snow, and this was just a bit of slush, though visibility was down somewhat. It also didn't last too long, and the rest of the drive up to Butte, MT (over a pass) was uneventful and devoid of snow.
We hit snow again after Butte, once we turned onto I-90 to head west to Missoula. Visibility was pretty bad, since it was now night, and the blowing snow in the headlights can be pretty disorienting. A good lesson to talk to kids about, who are both going to be driving this next year (auri is already taking classes!). But all in all, the rest of the drive was uneventful as well, and we made it home to frenchtown by 11:30pm.
Before hitting the sack (we were all exhausted, not just from a long drive, but from being cooped up in the uhaul for so many hours in close quarters), we unloaded maybe 1/3 of the uhaul, so we could create some space in the back around the freezer full of food we had packed 3 days previously. Most everything still seemed to be frozen pretty solidly, with only a few juices liquified. We plugged in the freezer, made sure it was working, and went off to bed.
The next day, we unloaded most of the rest, including the motorcycles shown above (yay!), and made good progress distributing it throughout the house. The heaviest items we left for monday, when our neighbor Bob could come help us with them. Then we returned the uhaul and I was glad to be rid of that shaking monstrosity.
Now we have the house full of boxes again. We had JUST pretty much unpacked the last of the boxes and got the place cleaned up, before going down to vegas to get more junk :-) Now the house is once again full of boxes, which we'll spend the next few weeks unpacking.
Isn't moving fun?!
Every garage benefits from a few motorcycles in it!
The drive itself was, as the title says, long. We loaded up thursday evening with the help of friends, and had breakfast with the Mihy's friday morning, then headed out right afterwards. The damn truck basically shook itself apart above 65mph, so it was slow going. Weather was fine all the way up to Salt Lake (roughly), where we stopped first to say hello to Jen and Kent, then drove the short distance to Shaner's house where we stayed the night.
Pleasant evening spent with Shane and Paula, who had a fantastic dinner waiting for us when we got there, and made a fabulous breakfast the next morning before we once again hit the road (thanks guys! Yummy!). All through the previous afternoon and evening, the radio was announcing a bad storm, which had us worried. But the next morning, no storm had materialized, though it was now predicted for that day. We thought about it for a while and decided to ignore the clueless weather people and go ahead and go.
We hit Pocatello, ID a few hours later to pick up the kids at Giz and Brew's place, which is really cool. I liked the views. We didn't spend a lot of time there, so I didn't get to see much of the property, which is a bummer, but what little I saw, I really liked. It was starting to snow a little just as we were driving up to their house, so we wanted to get back on the road.
Off we headed again, with Romeo in the back and the kids and sara in the front with me. At the bottom of the hill we stopped at a gas station to fuel up and check on romeo, who, we were sure, was just scared as hell after being put in the back of the uhaul, where it's dark and cold and bouncy (down the hill), and we were right. Poor Guy was shaking like a leaf when we let him out and it had only been maybe 10-15 minutes. But we expected this. We calmed him down and reassured him, then headed on. The next time we stopped and checked on him, he was shaking MUCH less, and the time after that, he wasn't shaking at all, and even jumped up into the crate all by himself.
Just north of Pocatello, we started hitting some serious snowfall, as well as slushy snow on the highway. No real problem, however. it's not the first time I've driven in snow, and this was just a bit of slush, though visibility was down somewhat. It also didn't last too long, and the rest of the drive up to Butte, MT (over a pass) was uneventful and devoid of snow.
We hit snow again after Butte, once we turned onto I-90 to head west to Missoula. Visibility was pretty bad, since it was now night, and the blowing snow in the headlights can be pretty disorienting. A good lesson to talk to kids about, who are both going to be driving this next year (auri is already taking classes!). But all in all, the rest of the drive was uneventful as well, and we made it home to frenchtown by 11:30pm.
Before hitting the sack (we were all exhausted, not just from a long drive, but from being cooped up in the uhaul for so many hours in close quarters), we unloaded maybe 1/3 of the uhaul, so we could create some space in the back around the freezer full of food we had packed 3 days previously. Most everything still seemed to be frozen pretty solidly, with only a few juices liquified. We plugged in the freezer, made sure it was working, and went off to bed.
The next day, we unloaded most of the rest, including the motorcycles shown above (yay!), and made good progress distributing it throughout the house. The heaviest items we left for monday, when our neighbor Bob could come help us with them. Then we returned the uhaul and I was glad to be rid of that shaking monstrosity.
Now we have the house full of boxes again. We had JUST pretty much unpacked the last of the boxes and got the place cleaned up, before going down to vegas to get more junk :-) Now the house is once again full of boxes, which we'll spend the next few weeks unpacking.
Isn't moving fun?!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Back Home
Just a short note: We're back home again, after going down to Las Vegas to get the rest of the stuff from the house, we are now back home. It was a long and not always comfortable uHaul ride..
More later.
More later.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Beautiful Fall Day
I just uploaded some new pictures of our little valley here, because the colors are just beautiful. I don't remember living in such a colorful place in a LONG time. Certainly not California, which has two colors: Brown and green. Colorado certainly had nice colors, but i don't remember much of them, especially not in Denver (I do have some fond memories of turning aspen).
These pictures are pretty much what we see out of our living room/dining room window (though the pictures were taken from the patio/balcony (adjacent to the dining room).
The pictures can be found on our photo album page here.
These pictures are pretty much what we see out of our living room/dining room window (though the pictures were taken from the patio/balcony (adjacent to the dining room).
The pictures can be found on our photo album page here.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
A Very Long Day - Part 2: Midnight, PTC, Soccer
Previously: "A Very Long Day - Part 1"
While Jan was resting from his fall, I spoke with the vet about midnight (11am). Jan and I discussed our options, taking into account all the information we had on Midnight, her diagnosis(s), age, health, preferences and tried not to be selfish at the expense of our beloved friend. Many tears, and a couple of choked up phone calls later, the vet gave her the injection while we held her in our arms (2pm). The kids came home from school and we shared tears, regrets and memories of our beloved cat (345pm).
Parent Teacher Conferences (PTC) started at 430pm. Yes, same day. All the teachers sat around the edges of the large common room (where the kids eat lunch) and the parents took turns chatting with each teacher as they came available. It worked amazingly well. In summary, the teachers seem to genuinely care about the kids. Many of the teachers love our kids and believe they will be successful in their classes. Each of them have things to work on...organization topping both lists : ) I sent an email with the PTC results/grades to those I thought would be interested.
We rushed home at 715pm to pick up the kids, heat up some baked beans and head for the End of the Season Soccer Potluck at 730. Amazingly, we were on time :) The beauty of a small town:) Due to some unkind words he had received during the homecoming assembly, Jamie had not wanted to attend the event; but we didn't give him a choice. A couple of players & mothers had gone out of their way to call and come by to be sure Jamie was invited. As we walked in the door, Auri disappeared to hang with her friends. Jamie was more of a butterfly flittering here and there, returning to stay by us, only to leave again. Over the course of the evening, Jamie received a Letter in soccer (YEA!!!), a CD of pics, a photo collage of him playing on the team and a Frenchtown Soccer Sweatshirt (which we can take down and have his name put on). As they gave out awards for the best players, all-conference, most improved etc.... Jamie leaned over and wispered, " I'm going to play next year." It was a good night. :)
As we finally collapsed (gently in Jan's case :) into bed, it was hard to believe that it was only One Very Long day.
A Very Long Day - Part 1: Jan's Fall
Some days are just longer then others and yesterday was one of the longest days of my life. I swear that by the time we went to bed, it felt like we had lived through several days.
It all started with a loud CRASH, followed by an eerie moaning of obvious pain. I flew out of bed and found my own little nightmare. Jan had gotten up to go to the bathroom around 5 am, felt a little lightheaded, slipped on the rug, tried to catch himself (in the dark bathroom) and landed hard hitting the tub and toilet on his way down. I helped him to a sitting position. He was delirious. "Jan, Look at me." He did not know me, or anything else, he could not focus his eyes or follow a thought, "Do you know where you are?"....."Where I are?".... He started sweating profusely, skin clammy, pulse thready, he kept trying to get up, I made him stay on the floor. The phones were all downstairs. The kids were asleep, three floors down. "Shit" I waited for him to sit calmly and ran downstairs for the phone. I was going to call my neighbor to help me (he is a pharmacist), but I knew Jan would need x-rays so, I called 911 instead. They were on the way, I toweled Jan off and stayed with him. After 10 min (can we say eternity??) from the initial crash, Jan was suddenly back with me. Like a flip of a switch, he recognized me. "Do you know your name?" "Jan (his voice sounded like he thought I was out of my mind)" "Do you know my name?" "Sara" I started to tear up. "Do you know where you are?" "the bathroom" He thought I was crazy. I told him that he did not know the answers to those questions a few minutes ago, that he had fallen. He had no memory of the fall. I told him that 911 was on it's way and that I felt he needed to go the hospital to be checked. He stayed on the floor, while 911 showed up. I ran down to let them in and let them by Kizsie (our rott) who is still on house arrest since her surgery. Emergency personal stayed for about 40min (including waiting for the ambulance to arrive from Missoula) and then loaded him up and took him to the hosp. Auri woke up from the dogs barking and the flashing lights. I gave her instructions for the morning, leaving her responsible for the animals, her brother and getting to school on the bus and flew to the hospital (ok technically I was in my car). CAT scan, xray.... diagnosis: Concussion, poss fracture ribs (x-ray inconclusive), no major head injury, no punctured organs, lots of soft tissue injury. He has an abrasion on his cheek, a small cut on his hip, and multiple aches and pains, but he is otherwise ok.....whew. We were back home by 845am.
It all started with a loud CRASH, followed by an eerie moaning of obvious pain. I flew out of bed and found my own little nightmare. Jan had gotten up to go to the bathroom around 5 am, felt a little lightheaded, slipped on the rug, tried to catch himself (in the dark bathroom) and landed hard hitting the tub and toilet on his way down. I helped him to a sitting position. He was delirious. "Jan, Look at me." He did not know me, or anything else, he could not focus his eyes or follow a thought, "Do you know where you are?"....."Where I are?".... He started sweating profusely, skin clammy, pulse thready, he kept trying to get up, I made him stay on the floor. The phones were all downstairs. The kids were asleep, three floors down. "Shit" I waited for him to sit calmly and ran downstairs for the phone. I was going to call my neighbor to help me (he is a pharmacist), but I knew Jan would need x-rays so, I called 911 instead. They were on the way, I toweled Jan off and stayed with him. After 10 min (can we say eternity??) from the initial crash, Jan was suddenly back with me. Like a flip of a switch, he recognized me. "Do you know your name?" "Jan (his voice sounded like he thought I was out of my mind)" "Do you know my name?" "Sara" I started to tear up. "Do you know where you are?" "the bathroom" He thought I was crazy. I told him that he did not know the answers to those questions a few minutes ago, that he had fallen. He had no memory of the fall. I told him that 911 was on it's way and that I felt he needed to go the hospital to be checked. He stayed on the floor, while 911 showed up. I ran down to let them in and let them by Kizsie (our rott) who is still on house arrest since her surgery. Emergency personal stayed for about 40min (including waiting for the ambulance to arrive from Missoula) and then loaded him up and took him to the hosp. Auri woke up from the dogs barking and the flashing lights. I gave her instructions for the morning, leaving her responsible for the animals, her brother and getting to school on the bus and flew to the hospital (ok technically I was in my car). CAT scan, xray.... diagnosis: Concussion, poss fracture ribs (x-ray inconclusive), no major head injury, no punctured organs, lots of soft tissue injury. He has an abrasion on his cheek, a small cut on his hip, and multiple aches and pains, but he is otherwise ok.....whew. We were back home by 845am.
Goodbye Midnight
We had Midnight, my cat of 17+ years, put to sleep yesterday. On monday night, I noticed she wasn't doing so well. She wasn't really eating, walking around very little, and basically just laying in dark corners. We'd noticed some other signs in the preceding days, and I kinda got scared. She weighed next to nothing (5 pounds, I'm told, which is down 2 from her usual 7 pounds).
So we took her in to the vet first thing tuesday morning, and left her there to run some tests and see what's going on. To be honest, I was surprised that she was still with us tuesday morning. That's how bad she seemed to me. Heck, when we got to the vet, I wouldn't have been surprised to find her passed away in the cat carrier.
They tell us they gave her IV water and glucose, as she was dehydrated (I tried to get her to drink, to no avail). We waited all day for the vet to call us with some news or results, but they never did, which kinda pissed us off. We finally got a hold of a night-shift vet at the hospital, who told us what the chart seemed to indicate: kidney failure, as well as liver failure. Both of those basically lead to the cat not eating or drinking.
Wednesday we finally talked to the doctor in charge of midnight, and the prognosis was pretty much what we figured. It's not like you can cure liver and kidney failure. To extend her life, we could do an IV therapy and see if that kick starts the kidney again (chances not good), as well as take her home and do months (or weeks) of subcutaneous fluids. I did that for one of Val's cats a few years ago, and it was no fun for the cat or us, and the cat just wasted away slowly anyway. I didn't want to put midnight through any of that.
In addition, we could try to force-feed her to see if the liver comes back. Chances there are equally slim. Also, she's had irritable bowel disease all her life, meaning that anytime she eats more than a few bites, she generally throws it all back up. So force-feeding combined with that didn't sound the least bit appealing.
Plus we didn't want her to hate us the last part of her life, constantly being force-fed and needles for subcutaneous fluids stuck in her. I've done some of that when she was younger (she had an episode of diabetes, so I had to give her insulin shots every day), and everyone's given medicine to a pet, i.e. shoving a pill or dropper down her throat. Anyone who's done that knows that the pet learns very quickly what's coming and generally disapproves, to say the least. I didn't want to have to do that to her in her last days.
Also, consider that midnight always hated other cats and dogs (darn prima donna..), and now she was stuck in a noisy animal hospital. I didn't really want to leave her there either, nor could I really bring her home to let her "waste away" at home. That ain't right, either.
So with a VERY heavy heart, we had a neighbor drive us to the vet (neither sara nor I figured we'd be in any shape to drive home afterwards), and had her put to sleep.
I know it was the best thing to do, but it still breaks my heart. I've had midnight for a very long time. You kinda grow attached. I'll miss her.
So we took her in to the vet first thing tuesday morning, and left her there to run some tests and see what's going on. To be honest, I was surprised that she was still with us tuesday morning. That's how bad she seemed to me. Heck, when we got to the vet, I wouldn't have been surprised to find her passed away in the cat carrier.
They tell us they gave her IV water and glucose, as she was dehydrated (I tried to get her to drink, to no avail). We waited all day for the vet to call us with some news or results, but they never did, which kinda pissed us off. We finally got a hold of a night-shift vet at the hospital, who told us what the chart seemed to indicate: kidney failure, as well as liver failure. Both of those basically lead to the cat not eating or drinking.
Wednesday we finally talked to the doctor in charge of midnight, and the prognosis was pretty much what we figured. It's not like you can cure liver and kidney failure. To extend her life, we could do an IV therapy and see if that kick starts the kidney again (chances not good), as well as take her home and do months (or weeks) of subcutaneous fluids. I did that for one of Val's cats a few years ago, and it was no fun for the cat or us, and the cat just wasted away slowly anyway. I didn't want to put midnight through any of that.
In addition, we could try to force-feed her to see if the liver comes back. Chances there are equally slim. Also, she's had irritable bowel disease all her life, meaning that anytime she eats more than a few bites, she generally throws it all back up. So force-feeding combined with that didn't sound the least bit appealing.
Plus we didn't want her to hate us the last part of her life, constantly being force-fed and needles for subcutaneous fluids stuck in her. I've done some of that when she was younger (she had an episode of diabetes, so I had to give her insulin shots every day), and everyone's given medicine to a pet, i.e. shoving a pill or dropper down her throat. Anyone who's done that knows that the pet learns very quickly what's coming and generally disapproves, to say the least. I didn't want to have to do that to her in her last days.
Also, consider that midnight always hated other cats and dogs (darn prima donna..), and now she was stuck in a noisy animal hospital. I didn't really want to leave her there either, nor could I really bring her home to let her "waste away" at home. That ain't right, either.
So with a VERY heavy heart, we had a neighbor drive us to the vet (neither sara nor I figured we'd be in any shape to drive home afterwards), and had her put to sleep.
I know it was the best thing to do, but it still breaks my heart. I've had midnight for a very long time. You kinda grow attached. I'll miss her.
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