We were without water for two and a half days. Therefore there were dirty dishes in the sink and piled on the counter...a lot of them. Dan had a pile of dirty work clothes on the floor in front of the washer. The kitchen floor was in desperate need of a good mopping. Many signs that we had no water.
Last night we got the water back. Kayla came home after physical therapy and a band lesson to the sight of clean dishes in the dish drainer and no dirty ones in the sink. The washer was going and no more dirty work clothes on the floor. The kitchen floor was freshly swept and mopped. She apparently paid no attention to any of these things because after she had been home for about an hour she suddenly says to me..."You didn't tell me the water was back on!" Made me laugh.
The average marriage lasts 24 years. The odds of reaching 50 years of marriage are 42%. Today, February 17, 2010, my parents have beat the odds and the average marriage life span. Because they fell in love and got married there have been 7 more marriages and 19 births. There have been countless days of laughter and countless days of tears. There has been life and death. There have been surprises and routines. There have been hugs and kisses and fights and yelling. There has been plenty of money and there has been near destitution. There have been big houses full of children and there have been small houses with just two people. Out of all 18,262 days these two people have loved each other, no matter what. They have never given up on each other...and they never will. No matter how you count the time that has passed it is a significant amount...and to spend it with someone you love...there is no better way.
Valentine's Day. What is the big deal? The last few times I have been in Wal-Mart the aisles with valentine things have been packed. Everyone wants to buy their sweetheart a bunch of flowers or a heart shaped box of candy to show they love them. Silly, silly, silly! I don't want any of those things...not saying I wouldn't accept them, but I wouldn't put any love attached to them. I want my sweetie to show me he loves me by cleaning up after himself, by doing a load of laundry when I am running behind, by cleaning out my car, by taking me for a drive, by making supper, by just plain saying I love you. Sure I got goodies for the kids and we made valentine cupcakes to give to friends...but we do those things all year too. I often send the college kids packages and there are often homemade goodies on our counter waiting to be eaten. My kids know I love them because I tell them (and I give them money when they ask). Dan knows I love him because I tell him and because I make him supper and let him watch the boring shows on TV and wash his smelly pig clothes. At my house it is valentine's day all year long...we don't save just one day to say it.
The big day is over. The surgery has been done and the knees are mending. My patient is recooperating on the couch. Now comes the hard part, the part where I have to worry.
Is she moving her knees enough? Is she moving her knees too much? Is the pain under control? Does she have a fever? Is there too much blood?
I was amazed at how quickly she learned to adapt to walking with crutches. She has learned to get up and down from the couch. She has learned to get in and out of bed. So many things you take for granted when you are able to move around on your own that get so much more difficult when your knees are "taken away".
For Kayla I think the worst part of the whole ordeal was putting the IV in her hand. She was upset and worried about that and shed a few tears through it. Then when she went into the operating room a few more tears, but the nurses were great and helped her out. All the nurses at the hospital were really kind and attentive and I think that helped her anxiety as well.
If she continues to improve like she has been it will take no time at all before she is back to normal. Youth is on her side...as well as determination and just plain stubbornness. When she first got up yesterday it hurt a lot so the nurses told her she might have to spend the night if she couldn't walk. That was all the push she needed...the stubborn girl said she wanted to try it again and she walked. There was no way she wanted to spend the night and if she could do something to prevent it she would!
The healing has begun and the journey is all down-hill from here...with good knees!
Announcing...some of my favorite things...in no particular order other than how I thought of them :)
1. The color pink 2. Unexpected phone calls from Brian and Becky 3. Listening to Kayla practice her instruments 4. Clean laundry 5. Windsong perfume 6. Sunshine 7. Fall/Autumn 8. A clean house 9. The smell of hay/silage 10. Waking up to sun shining in the window 11. Baby kittens 12. CSI and CSI New York 13. Lazy Saturday mornings 14. Iowa State Cyclones 15. Making quilts
This has been a tough winter here in Iowa. Numerous blizzards and I can't count the number of times we have been unable to get out of the driveway, let alone down the road. We spent 36 hours with no electricity, thank goodness for the generator. The one tractor that has a loader got a flat tire so that was an unexpected expense to buy a new one. Then the pressure tank in the well sprung a leak so we had to buy a new pressure tank. That well has caused a lot of trouble...we go through a lot of pressure switches and fuses. I shudder to think of all the times we have had to chase pigs in, load pigs, vaccinate pigs...good thing they make us money! The wind howls through the old windows and the upstairs never gets completely warm. We run heaters in the mud room so the pipes don't freeze under the bathroom and we run heaters in the living room and bedrooms so we don't freeze. Some days the sun shines in the windows and we think it is silly to have all these heaters...but then the wind starts to blow again. The roof on the shop needs to be replaced, it leaks and there is ice on the floor. The garage door doesn't sit exactly level on the floor so if the wind and snow really blow it makes a drift in the garage...sometimes to the steps! The cats know the sound of the garage door going up and immediately run when they hear it...and if we don't get every one of them out we have to deal with poop on the floor. But even though we have all these troubles and inconveniences I would never move into town. The good far outweighs the bad. Smelling the freshly turned dirt in the spring. Watching the crops grow all summer long. Hearing the dry corn rustle in the wind. Knowing my kids could go outside on a summer day and scream and yell and run around and it didn't matter if they were loud because there were no neighbors close enough to hear them. Hearing the sound of the pigs running around the barnyard and the slamming of the metal feeder lids. Smelling the fresh straw being loaded into the haymow. Watching the grass grow and then watching my farmer mow it down with the tractor. Having lots of cats who have more cats, but it doesn't matter because they keep the mouse population down. Watching the harvested corn and beans being loaded into the silos and the watching them being unloaded to be taken into town. Knowing that my farmer is happy here, in the place where he grew up, where our children grew up, where we will grow old together. Yes, farm living is the life for me.
Yet another day of snow...and this time when I say we are snowed in I really mean it! Dan drove the pickup down the gravel road, using 4-wheel drive, and got stuck. The loader tractor has a flat tire so he has no way to scoop us to the highway...like he has had to do so many times this winter. So far school is two hours late, but Kayla won't be going even if they do keep it on. I emailed work, again, to tell them I won't be coming. I hate using my vacation time for snow days! I guess even if we could make it to the highway we wouldn't be able to see...Dan says visibility is rotten out there. I don't mind spending the day at home with my family but I sure am tired of snow and winter!
February 26, 2010