Monday, August 30, 2010

Tales from Texas

The air conditioner at our Houston house stopped blasting out cold air one day last week. Fortunately, we have a one-year homeowner warranty that was included when we bought the place, so the cost to repair the unit was covered. We were only without a/c for about 22 hours, but with the temperature in the upper 90s and the high humidity, it was like living in a steam room for a day. I'd love to say that I sweated off a few pounds, but for some reason that didn't happen.

Jim, Jacob, and I drove out to visit Jean and Jenna on Saturday. It was nice to see familiar faces, and we had a great time. The kids went swimming in Jean's awesome apartment pool while we adults sat in the oppressive heat watching and perspiring. We then went to check out the Katy Mills Mall, and especially liked the huge food court & the Texas-themed store there. Adam is flying to town from Colorado for the upcoming Labor Day weekend, and we plan to get together with Jean and Jen again. It is fun to have family nearby when we are so far from "home."

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

We have Bananas

Jim, Jacob, and I departed Colorado Sunday afternoon and pulled into the driveway of our Texas house Monday evening. Upon our arrival, Jim was eager to show us the fruit that he had recently discovered growing on our banana tree. The three of us scurried to the backyard to marvel at the wonder of nature - imagine, our banana tree was actually producing bananas! Well, one clump anyway. As we stood admiring the splendor, I began to feel stings on my flip-flop-covered feet. I glanced down and noticed that ants - many, many fire ants - had crawled onto the bare skin of my feet and were having a field day biting or stinging or whatever it is they do. I hopped off of the grass swatting at the critters, and saw that Jacob was doing the exact same dance simultaneously. Jim, wearing shoes and socks, looked on amused and without sympathy. He did go out and purchase some fire ant repellent to put on the lawn. Note to self: watch where you walk and never go barefoot.

Other than dealing with creepy bugs in Texas, we are having a great time down here. Our pool temperature hovers around 90 degrees, and contrary to popular belief, that does cool you off. We have had a number of chores to take care of both inside and out, and it is especially nice to jump into the water after working in the sweltering yard. Among other things, the wooden pole holding up our mailbox rotted, broke, and tipped over the other day, so we had to go out to buy a new post last night. Until Jim finds time to install it, our mailbox is out at the curb precariously perched on two old milk crates. Yes, we are the classy neighbors.

The bananas.

We got in 18 holes of putt-putt before we left Colorado.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Go West Young Man

Ten days ago, Adam hopped into his loaded-down Jeep and headed west on I-80. He had much to do prior to the start of his grad school year in Colorado. Besides the normal college orientation & registration stuff, he also had to get a Colorado driver's license, buy Colorado insurance & plates for his vehicle, sign the lease at his apartment, switch his address at the bank, arrange for his utilities, etc. He has been busy from the minute he stepped foot in his new hometown.

Five days ago, Jim, Jacob, and I hopped into our loaded-down (mostly with Adam's stuff) CRV and traced Adam's western trek. We met up with him in Colorado and have been shopping and helping him move into his new apartment ever since. His unit is very nice, but a bit disheveled at the moment. I like the fact, though, that now it is Adam's turn to declutter and organize his belongings. I have certainly had enough moving and unpacking to last me for a while!

Adam left from the condo on the 12th.

Here is Adam sitting in his new, barren research office in Colorado.

A room with a view - this is looking west from Adam's office window. See our CRV in the parking lot!

Monday, August 16, 2010

The Substitute

This year's birthday party for Jim and Eric was set to begin at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday at Jean's house. Jim was due to fly in from Houston for the shindig that morning. We purposely booked him on the first Delta flight out that day so if there was any sort of delay, he would at least arrive in Detroit mid-afternoon on the second flight. Almost as if we were experiencing some sort of self-fulfilled prophecy, the aircraft for Jim's early a.m. flight developed a mechanical problem before take-off and the passengers were shuffled back into the terminal to await further information. There were still hours until the next Houston-Detroit flight was scheduled, so we were confident that the issue with the first plane would be fixed long before we had to concern ourselves with rebooking Jim. When the mechanical problem lingered on without resolve for 30 minutes, then 60 minutes, then 90 minutes, I began to check out alternate flights for Jim on the internet. Unfortunately, I noticed that the second IAH-DTW flight was already running three hours late that day. Jim then phoned to inform me that his original flight had just been officially canceled and he was in a huge line waiting to rebook. I suggested that he either call Delta or wander down to a different gate agent. A short time later, he let me know that he had successfully confirmed himself onto the next flight - but, wait a minute, that was the one that was delayed three hours. By then, Jim was tired of waiting in lines, so he simply phoned Delta and was able to rebook onto the third Detroit-bound flight of the day, which didn't arrive until 6:34 p.m., but that was still earlier than the second, now-delayed flight. Whew!

So, the party started at 2:00 p.m. without one of the birthday boys. We ate, chatted, and laughed. Eric opened his presents, while Jim's gifts sat in a pile awaiting his arrival. We had cake, with Jacob sitting in to pinch hit for Jim during the ritual singing of "Happy Birthday." Jim's flight got in around 6:45 p.m., and he joined in the festivities around 7:30 p.m. He received a Delta voucher for his troubles, but can you really be properly compensated for missing your own birthday party?

Jacob blew out Jim's candles in his absence. We then sent this picture to Jim's cell phone. He was still in Houston at the time.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Freed

After six nights in the hospital - five of them in either Critical Care or Intermediate Care - Richie was discharged Wednesday evening. Once his condition began to improve, he rallied dramatically. Besides his blood clots, he also endured an episode of atrial fibrillation, the installation of a "central line" into his jugular vein, numerous new medications, etc. Apparently, the doctors at U of M decided that Richie's embolisms will dissolve on their own in time, and are not in danger of leaving his lungs. Jacob loves being a caregiver, and was able to spend a lot of time with Richie in the hospital. He plans to sleep over at Richie's house until his parents arrive from Missouri sometime this weekend.

CCU

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Bilateral Pulmonary Embolism

Sorry I don't have time to write a more thorough update about Richie's crappy medical condition, but it has been a very long two days. It is almost 2:00 a.m., and I am going to try to get some sleep tonight because I think another long day is in store for Saturday.

In a nutshell, Jake and I brought Richie to the ER on Thursday because he was very short of breath. After a few hours, he was diagnosed with Bilateral Pulmonary Embolism - blood clots in the lungs. His immediate course of treatment was to begin a blood thinner to discourage any new clots from forming. The next step was to try to discover where the clots - yes, more than one in each lung - had come from. Lastly, it still needs to be determined how best to get rid of the clots already there. (Option 1: allow them to dissolve. Option 2: use clot-busting drugs. Option 3: thread a catheter to the lungs to remove them. Each option, of course, has pros and cons.) The shortness of breath came on quite suddenly for Richie, beginning last weekend, and growing progressively worse each day.

The doctors tried all day Friday to stabilize Richie's vitals, but his O2 level is just too low, even with supplemental oxygen. He has a nasty cough and is not allowed to eat or drink anything. He was moved to the Respiratory Critical Care Unit just before midnight.

Jake and Richie in his original room. Richie has proclaimed hospital beds to be hideously uncomfortable.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Real Estate Blues

We received another bid on our long-for-sale house last Friday. Things were looking good with the offer until we spoke to our relocation representative today. We will find out more information on Wednesday, but I am no longer confident that this latest transaction will pan out. Jim and I have decided that if it falls through, we will just take the buy-out money. Then I will whine about how many times I cleaned and scrubbed that house for showings, only to end up handing it over to the company. It is too bad that we had to put our home on the market during the worst economic downturn in recent history. With so many foreclosures out there, who would buy a full-priced house? (Apparently not many people!) We'll see how things go tomorrow, but I suspect that I will not be doing any happy dances. I'll let you know what happens.