Happy New Year everyone!

Typically, I as a rule DO NOT make New Year's Resolutions.  This year I decided to make an exception to this and made a few resolutions - actually more like goals for the New Year. They are pretty basic ones, they include being healthier, keeping up with stuff and getting some of my to-do list (especially work on the house) done.  We'll see how it goes, I'm not of the mind that I if I don't stick to them 100% I've failed. They are really more of guidelines for the coming year. I really do plan on making a concerted effort however to make the changes in my life that are needed for success.

That being said I thought I would do some highlights from the past year - just cause I can.

As I said in my previous post, my dad was released May 27th from the Rehab/ Skilled Nursing Center. I spent part of the summer with Mom and Dad in Silver City, helping them out and getting settled in.

In June Nolan and I celebrated our 25th anniversary - go us! We celebrated with a trip to Fiji in July. (June was spent working and in Silver City). It was an amazing trip and OH so relaxing! Picture fest!

Upon return, I went back to Silver. I also got my birthday present a Nikon D-5100, which I LOVE. I am now the official photographer and yearbook person for the school, so this camera couldn't have come at a better time!

August was back to school - what a class I have this year. A real challenge for me, but it's getting there. The next five months are going to be busy, busy, busy for the 5th grade! We have about 6 field trips planned - I am excited about the opportunities provided for us and will share more about them in the coming weeks.

Dakota was working at Borders, which you know how that worked out. She stayed until the final day and then had unemployment until she found a new job - where? Barnes and Noble! She still attends UNM full-time. In September Dakota moved into her own place and I suffered some early pangs of empty nest syndrome.

For Thanksgiving we celebrated with the girls, then went to visit my folks again for a few days.

December included a quick trip to Colorado to visit the In-Laws and then Christmas at home, a quick ski trip, helping with another move (Coralora and her hubby moved to a new apartment, closer and much nicer!) and tomorrow I'm off to visit mom and dad one more time. Next Monday is the first day back to school and the New Year really begins!

Alright, enough for now. Everyone have a fantastic year! 2012!

Hello xanga friends.

It's been awhile.

I wish I could say that everything worked out, but we're not there yet. After Thanksgiving they placed a permanent shunt in dad. After a few more weeks at the hospital he was moved once again to rehab. A different one this time, but mom and I have concluded that there is no such thing as a "good" rehab / skilled nursing home. He was moved right before Christmas - matter of fact the 23rd or the 24th. He was doing pretty well, working at walking with a walker etc. He was still VERY confused - rambling nonsense much of the time. Everyone kept talking about him having dementia - and we kept telling him he didn't have that before. He seemed to do pretty well, but kept falling as he kept trying to get up unassisted. Eventually he was released. I think he was there 4 weeks. They released (long before we thought he was ready, although we were ready to have him home) and we brought him to my house for a week. He had his follow up appointment with Neurology and they cleared him. That weekend we took him to Silver City. He was becoming uncooperative - not helping us get him up and back to his wheel chair, not eating well etc.

The trip down was a long one.

We got there, settled dad in for the night and he went right to sleep. I should mention one of the problems they had with him in rehab is that he wouldn't sleep. He would be up all night sometimes and only sleep an hour or two a day.

We had dinner and visited with my sister and her kids and started getting mom settled back in.

The next morning my mom couldn't get my dad to wake up. He'd been asleep since 5:00 pm the previous evening. The whole time we were in ICU and worried about something we'd noticed about dad they would tell us the same thing. If he's hard to wake up or becomes unresponsive, that's when you need to worry. We were worried. I convinced mom to call an ambulance. They came and got dad and took him to the hospital. An hour later they announced that his shunt was malfunctioning and that they were life-flighting him back to UNM in Albuquerque. We were in Silver all of 15 hours.

So they life-flighted him back. They replaced the shunt and all seemed to be going well. Then that shunt malfunctioned and they couldn't get him awake. They replaced that shunt. He continued to decline. He had another bleed, caused by another stroke.  He got so weak that they had to intubate him. He also developed a touch of pneumonia. He was on a respirator for 9 days. We truly thought that the end was near and our prayers changed from "please heal him" to "please ended his suffering, thy will be done".  Eventually they took him off the respirator. He was still weak and pretty much unconscious. Finally they decided to yet another shunt - now they've had external shunts almost the whole time, and every time they took it off, he became unresponsive. This shunt they put in a vein, and had drain into the heart cavity - risky but they were out of options. Did I mention he some how got a VRE in the process? Some antibiotic resistant bug.

Anyways, they put in the new shunt and ba-zing! Dad was awake, moving, trying to talk. That was last week. He's now in a regular room, he passed his swallow test and is on a liquid diet and they are talking about releasing him. He is still confused, though not as much. He is starting to have headaches again, which in the past has been an indicator that the shunt is not working. It could also just be a result of all the brain trauma he's been through. The ventricles in his brain are "compromised" from the meningitis evidently. That means that they are enlarged and probably won't ever revert to normal. Dad will never be the same again. Right now we are just thankful he is still with us and showing improvement.

I don't know what's going to happen. I just continue to pray "Thy will be done".

AAAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!

Whew, What a day. It was one of those days that starts out OK, then takes a left turn, leaves the road and heads right into the ditch. You know the ones. The ones that even chocolate doesn't fix. Yep. One of those.

So, I've been teaching 5th grade at a catholic school. This is my second year. Last year I had a class of 23. They were talkative but pretty good and we had a lot of fun. I had some problems - some bullying issues etc., but overall it was a good class. This year I have 16. I thought woo hoo - 16, easy peasy. Ha.  Ha ha ha ha. I wish I was actually laughing, However, I'm not.

I'm considering drinking, but since I don't drink it seems extreme.

Today they really tested my patience. I hadn't studied - I failed.

Then while sitting ruminating with the school secretary after school, I get a phone call that my youngest was in a car accident and that the other lady is being transported to the hospital. ACK! Luckily it was just a precaution and Shanaynay was just fine. Shaken up - and her little BMW undrivable, but fine. She was at fault, and got a warning. She's not in a good space emotionally right now, but physically she's good.

So now I'm sitting here trying to recuperate and planning how to deal with all the repercussionsof the day. I think recovery is going to involve the jacuzzi, some prayer, some TV and the rest of my Reese's blast.

All I can do is ask, "is it a full moon"?