" Just a Bit of Irony ?"

Today was the day of all day's for me. Very busy and stress filled.
I shall break it down and skip all of the small details .

Woke up had two cups of coffee.

No time for shower or food.

Dropped off husband at the hospital.

Drove to Wal-mart to stock up on pet food and coffee,which is vital to my days as of late.

Dropped off 78 pounds of dog food , cat food and litter.

Ate a small bowl of potato soup.

Went to another store to buy meat and pay utility bill.

Came home , walked dogs, woke up Kate, went to another store for paper towels because the dogs are not feeling well.

Oh did I forget to mention that it is only 9:00 a.m.?

Went to the drug store for a refill on xanax, as I am needing it now.

Went to the hospital to pick up Jake and take him home.

Grabbed a sandwich and drove to the house that I clean.

Cleaned for two and one half hours.

Stopped at the bank , cashed check.

Came home, took a bath, washed hair. Did dishes, walked dogs.

Oh did I mention that I only had an hour and a half to do this?

Took Katie to her new doctor for her new patient establish visit.

Fell asleep in the waiting room. This has never happened to me.

Stopped at drug store on the way home for medicine for Katie's allergies.

Came home, ate dinner.

Fed dogs, walked dogs and did more dishes.

Decided to buy paper plates.

Was supposed to go to my son's for a Halloween party but Katie had a bad headache and I was too tired so we canceled.

Did I mention that it poured rain all day?

Jake went to the hospital for I.V. Medicine again.

Finally, finally I went upstairs to my get away to do some things that I had wanted to do.

Alone time at last.

Katie was downstairs watching a show that she had been anticipating.

I moved several pieces of furniture upstairs including a bed.

I am done for the night.I am icing my knee now. it hurts.

I am going to sit down and have a beer.

I deserve it today.

Katie comes upstairs. Her head hurts bad. She is hot. I take her temperature. One hundred degrees.

I go downstairs to get her some Ibuprofen, a cold towel for her head and a small bowl of soup.

She has chills now and the fever is rising.

She wants hugs. From me and her dad who is home now.

This is not usual for her. Hugs.

We tuck her in. This is not usual for her.

I have put two quilts and one feather bed over her.

She asked me to make homemade noodles and chicken soup tomorrow.

So I will.

The doctor visit went really well.

I guess it was just a few hours to soon.

Just when I thought that things were calming down a bit.

Just a bit of irony.

" Best Laid Plans" The Conclusion

" The Homecoming "

It was a chilly , dank and dreary day on this 26th day of October 2009.
And this was the day that the secrets were revealed in the little town of "Siebelsville".


Katie had tried and tried to keep it hidden.
Even from her own parents . Although deep down in their hearts they had known the truth all along.


" I don't know how to use the microwave !",
She would say when it was suggested that she heat up a
snack for herself.





Through all of her cries of ignorance the truth finally revealed itself when the trusty old family microwave died.


It was only then, when a new yet slightly used microwave oven
came into the home,
that all of that had changed.




And it was then that
her mother inadvertently discovered her using
the microwave oven,
despite her previous cries of her ignorance to the appliance !


She was quite sure that no one was watching , but mothers can be sneaky at times !






So her secret is out. Now she will no longer be able to play on her mothers guilt to heat leftovers for her when she is hungry.


As for Diana . Well let's just say that she has resigned herself to the fact that she IS obsessed with a clean home .


Weather or not this is truly a problem she does not know for sure.
All she knows is that when she is cleaning she is happy.
Work makes her happy.






She also is very aware of the fact that even though it exhausts her at times,
she simply cannot completely relax until everything is clean and in it's proper place.


Diana is also quite sure that this has something to do with being able
to feel more in control of her life, such
as it is, at this time.


But good , clean , honest , hard work
is good for anyone.


And on this chilly , dank and dreary day ,
she had no idea just how much work
was ahead of her .


Back at the hospital Jake had still been waiting for an answer.
Any answer.








Finally on the fifth day of his hospital stay , the one doctor ,
the one with the answers finally arrived .


The doctor's specialty was dermatology. He had taken one look at Jake's hand and arm , which by this time had healed quite a bit.
He told him that it was definitely a case of shingles
that had attacked his limb. Like a constantly stinging sleeve of wasps!


The not so friendly, I consider myself to be Godlike, dermatologist
then looked at Jake's leg . Which by this time was looking so much better after five days of I.V. antibiotics twice a day and an antiviral
five times a day.




This is when the, you are lucky that I am wasting my precious time on you, dermatologist determined upon sight that Jake had.......


Bacterial Celliulitis on his leg. A very bad skin infection.
which now was looking so much better.


Jake's wonderfully warm and friendly family doctor agreed with
the most likely very good at what he does but has the personality of an ice cube, dermatologist, to release him from the hospital!


Diana's husband is now at home with a pick line in his arm
which enables him to return to the hospital twice a day for
a total of six hours per day, for ten days to receive the antibiotics.
He is also still taking antivirals five times a day.


Jake is not allowed yet to put to much pressure on his leg.
So his lovely wife has much to do and care to give!





Needless to say he still isn't feeling very good. But really who would with all of those anti every things flowing though their veins?





Somewhere, sometime this couple started changing.
The change is called aging.


She with her strokes and arthritis.
He with his shingles and COPD.


While they realize that there are most likely many more
challenges ahead in their marriage,
they still can't help but wonder,
where did the time go?


Yet no matter how rough the road may get and how fast the time
will fly by,
They will always have each others hand to hold.





" The End "



Epilogue:

First Diana would like to say that she is extremely tired of writing in the third person! So it ends right now. At least for the time being until another time perhaps !


Now the most important thing that I would like to do is to Thank everyone for praying for my husband. I think it's going to be awhile before he can go back to work but he is healing. Just not as fast as he use to or would like to. We still haven't gotten all of the test results in and have two or three more specialists to see.


But for now through God's grace we are here together and I know that we will make it through all of this.


And finally while I am aware that this series most likely was a boring story to most, to those I apologize, for me it was a wonderful stress reliever!

Love Di

Coming Up ....

On the next episode of
" Best Laid Plans "

Rumor or fact . Will they be releasing Jake from the hospital soon ?

And what of the mysterious ailment ,
have the doctors finally
come to a conclusion ?

Will Katie's kitchen secret be revealed
against her will ?

And what about Diana's habitual cleaning ?
Has she given into it or
given up on it ?

Stay tuned......

All of the answers will be revealed soon !

"Best Laid Plans" Part Four "Baffled"

In the last episode of " Best Laid Plans " we left off with Jake being admitted into the hospital.

Three days later we find him still in his hospital room .
He has been seen by three doctors as of this date. Tomorrow he will have a visit from two more. They have taken approximately forty vials of blood , some of which will be analyzed locally , some will be sent off to other states.



In the meantime he is being treated with very strong I.V. antibiotics every twelve hours . Also antivirals five times a day . They are monitoring him closely and now suspect that the original diagnosis of the shingles may have been wrong .



The good news is that the infection is looking better.
Tomorrow he will be having a skin biopsy .
Some of the blood work results should be coming back by then and some won't be back until Friday .



His disposition in general is good .
But his heart is filled with worry for himself and his family .



There is much speculation most of it leaning towards a strange infection .



In the meantime the doctors are..........





Baffled !



Katie continues with her feelings of paranoia over contracting the H1N1 virus as they are now not allowing anyone under the age of eighteen into the hospital .








Unless of coarse it is for an emergency.
She did manage to sneak a visit in the parking lot with her father in his wheelchair.


She even hugged her dad and told him that she loved him .
Now that IS dramatic !



Through the generosity of family there has been an addition to the household ......






A microwave oven !



This helped in calming Katie's odd and strange obsession
with the microwave oven. Her circle walking and head tilting has ceased for now .



Katie was so excited that she celebrated it's arrival by baking Greek cookies in the standard gas oven ?







And what is the secret involving the kitchen that Katie is hiding from her family ?



Or thinks she's hiding .



Diana's guilt over her visit with.........







The handsome young orthopedic doctor , has long since subsided .
The relief from the knee pain has helped her forget about her
selfishness !



However now that her knee pain has subsided
will she continue her obsession with..........







Housecleaning ?


But is it truly an obsession, or just a way
of keeping her worry at bay?



Will the doctors that are caring for Jake
admit that they don't know everything ?
Or even possibly anything ?


And more importantly ,
will he be able to come home soon ?

And what about Katie's little secret ?

Yes , what about Katie's little secret ?


To be continued.......


NOTE: I just want to let everyone know that Jake and I so appreciate all of your prayers and well wishes. I feel blessed to know such caring and thoughtful people!
I also want to apologize for not commenting back to everyone lately. I really do not like when I am not able to do this. But, most of my time has been spent running back and forth from the hospital to home.
I have been following every ones posts early in the morning but just have not always had time to comment .
Hopefully things will get back to as abnormal as it usually is around here and I will have more time!
In the meantime know that I am watching you !
And love you all !

" Best Laid Plans" Part Three "The Mystery"

In the last episode of "Best Laid Plans " we found Jake at home with a supposed case of Celliuitis. In today's episode we had a surprise twist.


After Wednesday night's phone call from Diana's house cleaning employer, she went to bed wondering why this had happened. When she woke Thursday she once again found herself believing that everything happens for a reason.


Why did she know this now. This early Thursday morning half asleep and feeling that something was not quite right ? It didn't take long to find out. Despite the I.V. antibiotics that her husband had received the previous day , he now could not walk on his own. His pain had clearly intensified as he tried to walk to another room. Diana had to help hold him up. The rash on his leg had gotten much worse and had red streaks running up the back of his thighs.


After a short conversation in which she stressed the fact that in no way would she be able to carry him from room to room , it was then decided to take a trip back to........





The E.R. !


After seven hours of different opinions , more antibiotics , and even a personal visit from their own family doctor, it was decided that Jake would now be admitted into.......






The hospital !


In the meantime Diana almost ran her head into a brick wall trying to make her young teen , Katie ,understand why she could not have a friend spend the night on Friday .







All the while poor Katie is walking around and around in circles .
Very confused . For some strange reason , every now and then she stops and stares at the microwave oven for several minutes tilting her head from side to side .
When the words " pot" or "pan" is used she runs , screaming into another room .







Diana did a selfish thing today . She kept her appointment with the orthopedist . She left her husband alone in the hospital . What sort of woman does such a thing ?


She threw caution to the wind and raced to her appointment . She felt guilty for leaving her husband all alone . Yet she felt excited about the prospect of possibly being pain free for six months .
There was also another feeling that she was having.
Fear .
Fear of the inevitable pain that she was going to experience from this selfish act .
She was getting two shots today . Cortisone and Synvisc .





When her handsome young doctor entered the exam room she said to him , " I have a 2001 Kentucky state quarter that I will give you if you don't hurt me. "
The doctor laughed . The doctor administered the shots after numbing the area .
Diana bent over in pain as tears welled in her eyes.
The handsome young doctor then said " I guess I'm not getting the quarter. " Diana weakly replied " No." , as she slid the 2001 Kentucky state quarter back into her pocket.
He apologized .
She forgave him .


Will Jake's mysterious aliment
be diagnosed properly before Monday ?


Will Katie's odd obsession with staring at the microwave oven
continue ?


And what about Diana's guilt ridden trip to the handsome,
young orthopedic doctor ?


Yes , what about that ?


Stayed tuned to the next episode of

" Best Laid Plans "

Coming Up Next On " Best Laid Plans "

On the next episode of " Best Laid Plans "

Has Katie gotten over her fear of contracting the H1Ni virus ?

Has Diana remembered how to heat things up in a saucepan ?

Has Jake been admitted to the hospital after all ?

Is there a new or possibly used microwave oven
in the future of the Siebels
Household ?

And will Diana be able to get the shot in her knee that she needs to continue to take care of her family ?

Stay Tuned !

" Best Laid Plans, Part Two, The Saga Continues "

I did it again . I made plans . Only this time I DID have the thought in the back of my mind that things don't always turn out as we plan.

In spite of my husband being home with the shingles and my arthritis stabbing and burning , on Monday and Tuesday , I managed to get my house clean , secretary work done , and a delicious meal planned for Wednesday evening . I did this all so that I could maybe , possibly , on Wednesday morning , get back into Katie's Frayed , denim quilt that I am working on .



Wrong . When I woke up Wednesday morning I found my husband in severe pain and feverish . But this time it wasn't from the shingles . Actually this was the first morning that he didn't feel the shingle pain . This was a good thing . He hadn't had to take a pain pill for that in twelve hours . Instead he was in pain from this......





A rather small argument ensued over the fact that he wanted to go back to bed , and I told him , too bad we are going to the hospital . So I took him , kicking and screaming out of the door , to the E.R.

We were pretty sure that this wasn't the shingles , I was a little worried that it might have been a reaction to the medication . It turns out that he has cellulitis . Which simply stated is an infection of the skin and the underlying tissues . He had a sore on his leg and they suspect that his immune system wasn't quite strong enough from the shingles to fight off the infection . So we spent four hours in the E.R. while they administered I.V. antibiotics .

So after the visit to the E.R. , where while I was there , saw approximately ten to twelve teens coming and going with masks over their faces , to which our friendly nurse confirmed the fact that there is H1N1 flu in our county , we went home . I took a quick trip to the local pharmacy to purchase some antibiotics after getting my husband back into the house .

Oh darn , I forgot to buy some surgical masks while I was there !

My husband slept on and off all day . By this time I was no longer interested in quilting or the computer . But at least I had a good dinner planned , or so I thought . My daughter-in-law had to stop at the grocery store and was going to drop off a couple of the ingredients that were needed for the " Campbell soup's Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole". One of our family favorite's that I haven't made in a long time.

Katie came home from school before Amy arrived with the groceries. Katie wanted a little after school snack and decided to heat a small bowl of nacho cheese for her tortilla chips.

This is when I heard " Mom , whats up with the microwave ?".
" What do you mean what's up with the microwave?" I say.
" It's not doing anything ."
Alright I will get up and see what the problem is. Mmmm the door won't open and it won't start . Lights and timer are working . What to do , what to do . I will try unplugging it and plugging it back in.
Still nothing . It is around 10 years old . It worked really well for a long time .
It is dead.
With a bowl of the last bit of nacho cheese that we have,
stuck inside of it because the door won't open.





My very first thought upon the discovery of the death of my microwave was , " I forgot how to thaw meat without a microwave. ".
Oh I really do know how , but not in a few minutes !
We are all getting hungry now . What to do , what to do .
Amy to the rescue ! She also brought over a couple of frozen pizzas ! I'm telling you she is priceless . She also brought chocolate milk and cookie dough ice cream for her father-in-law !

Together, Katie and I managed to pry open the door with a pry bar to retrieve the nacho cheese.

I overcooked the pizza but it was still edible. Let's just say that I have been having a little trouble focusing lately !

Now the evening is winding down . My husband went to bed early . Oh hell , he couldn't stay awake if he wanted to ! Katie and I are both tired as we are watching ABC's new show , " The Middle ", which by the way is very similar to my life .

My phone rings . It is the woman that I clean for on Thursdays . She is canceling this weeks cleaning . This is the cash that I was going to use to go to the orthopedic doctor on Friday to get my shot of Synvisc in my knee .

O.K. I give up . I am going to bed .

Will my husbands infection keep spreading up his leg as it appears to be doing ?

Will Katie's constant paranoia of H1N1 subside or not ?

Will my husband ever get well enough to go back to work ?

And the big question , will Diana remember how to thaw meat without the microwave ?

Stay tuned for future episodes of
" Best Laid Plans ".

" An Eight Question MeMe "

One of my fellow bloggers, Marcy from " Blessings Each Day " has tagged me with a MeMe.

Being the extremely interesting and fascinating person that I am, I just knew that you would all want me to answer these questions so that you can finally put your curiosity to rest.

First I thought it would be a good idea for you to have a visual of me. Since this is all about me after all !



There, now that you have a good idea of how I look on a daily basis, lets continue on shall we ? I know that you are anxious.

The Eight Question MeMe

1. Six names that you go by.

1. Mom

2. Di

3. Diana

4. Mrs. Siebels

5. That crazy lady that lives down the street.

6. Bitch , it's not what you think . After twenty years of marriage, the biggest arguments that my husband and I get into anymore are short. He calls me a bitch, I call him a bastard and then it's done !






2. Three things that you are wearing right now.


1. My tee shirt that say's " Sorry, mind closed until further notice.

2. Dark blue sweatpants, yes I am the fashion statement !

3. My black comfy slippers.





3. Three things that you want very badly right now.

1. I want my husbands pain to go away.

2. I want my husband to feel good enough to go back to work.

3. A hot tub.





4. Three things that you did last night/yesterday.

1. Ran all over town trying to get FMLA and supplemental insurance forms filled out and faxed.

2. Bought dog and cat food at Wal-Mart.

3. Watched " Dancing with the Stars " then went to bed.





5. Two things that you ate today.

1. Nothing it's only 7:10 a.m.

2. Does coffee count ?





6. Two people that you last talked to on the phone.

1. My daughter-in-law, Amy.

2. My daughter Katie, the phone is my tracking device.








7. Two things that you are going to do today/tomorrow.

1. Go to church to do some office work.

2. Work on Katie's quilt.




8. Your three favorite beverages.

1. Diet Coke.

2. Water

3. Merlot




Now, I am supposed to choose five other people to pass the MeMe along to. But, since I don't feel like obligating anyone this morning, I have decided to just let you take it if you want to.

So if you are reading this just consider yourself tagged !

Tag your it !

" Drivers Education, In the Beginning "

My daughter Katie will be 15 years old this December. As with most teens in this age group their thoughts are overcome with driving.

Driving , driving , driving. It's all that I have heard for the past year. And while she has not yet received her drivers permit , my husband and I feel strongly about her having plenty of experience behind the wheel before we let her loose on the streets.
Your Welcome !

In the beginning Jake and I had a plan. I would teach our son to drive then he would teach our older daughter to drive and then it would be my turn again with Katie. My husband is only home about four days a month so most of her experience would have to be with mom.

My son was pretty easy to teach. I think that the male teen population have one up on the girls . I do believe that teen girls have their heads in the clouds so to speak.
The only incident that I had with my son was when he ignored the stop sign in the mall parking lot where we almost hit another moving vehicle and I thought I was going to die. Other then that he did good !

When my husband was instructing our older daughter, he told me of the first moment that he had ever heard her cuss. He was telling her which way to go on a road , when she noticed that he was having her drive on the entrance ramp to the highway , she yelled " You bastard " ! It was to late by then. She had to learn how to merge .

My daughter-in-law being the sweet and brave person that she is, decided to let Katie drive her Trailblazer down a country road two weeks ago. And while I was told that she only had to grab the wheel once or twice , I was still VERY apprehensive about letting her drive my much beloved little Ford Focus station wagon. A car that I had wanted very badly and finally got.

That's what started the DAILY " When are you going to take me driving ?" question.
I knew that it was coming. And I knew that it would be soon. So last Sunday after church let out , I decided to see if she could handle the prized little wagon.

There are a lot of country roads that surround the church so when I got to the parking lot exit, I put my wagon in park and got out of the car . Oh my Katie was so excited. Oh her mother was so nervous. Not a good combination.

After she got buckled in, adjusted the seat and mirrors , asked if she should put her foot on the brake before putting the car in drive , off we went . Almost into the ditch ! After I realized that it would be a better idea for us to start out in an empty parking lot so that she could get a better feel for the car, I quickly said " That's it your done.".

After that close call , we both agreed that it would be better to wait for an empty parking lot day. So today since I had a little bit of work to do in the office at church , my husband , being the sweet, sweet man that he is , agreed to give our girl a little practice behind the wheel. Better him than me I say !

And here they are, heading towards my prized little wagon ! I know that you can't tell by the photo , but Katie is walking rather swiftly !

Entering the car where all of the necessary
adjustments will be made before take off!

An excited Katie making her adjustments.
A very cool husband !

Well she backed out pretty good !
Now the maneuvers start.

They practiced for thirty minutes.
She's doing good .
I am still glad that Jake is with her, he is a great instructor.
Me , not so much !

Lesson over . Car in one piece . Happy teen . Good father .
Relaxed mother .
A good combination .

" A Very Busy Week "

For those of you who aren't aware, my husband has been home all week with a case of the shingles. A little virus that lays dormant in our bodies once we've had the chicken pox. I had the chicken pox as an adult and it was not a pleasant experience. It may come out for an attack and it may not. You just don't know.

My husband has been a brave solider, it is very painful. I would have been a cry baby. Yes, this much I know for sure. He is on the mend however as he can now bend his fingers. The virus attacked his hand and arm. Since my dear husband makes his living driving a truck, well there isn't much of a living coming in right now !

But God is watching over us and I do believe he will be holding us in his hands.

It has been a busy week for me. Lots of work inside and outside of the home. My highlight of the week however was Tuesday afternoon. My son and his wife had an appointment in town and asked me if I could take care of my grandson baby Jack and see Sarah , my granddaughter off of the school bus.

Of coarse I said yes but I must admit that I was feeling a bit apprehensive as at 16 months, baby Jack and I have not really bonded. He is , in my opinion, the true definition of a mama's boy right now.

When I arrived at their house, Jack was still asleep upstairs in his crib. Amy left with the baby monitor turned on. It wasn't long before I started to hear noises coming from Jacks room. Since he wasn't talking or crying, I waited a few minutes before going up there. It was only when I started to hear crickets chirping over the monitor that I thought it best to go investigate!

I opened up Jack's door and found him quietly laying in his crib awake. Well he didn't scream the moment that he saw me, this is good. He had a crib toy hanging on the side of his comfy, cozy looking crib. He pushed a button on it to show me how it lit up and made cricket noises. So Far no tears, this is very good.

We went downstairs where I changed his diaper and we continued to have fun together. This was the first time I had been with him when he wasn't screaming for mommy. And we had a wonderful few hours together. I felt as though we had finally bonded. This was a very good feeling !




Here he has the bed head goin' on !

We also had the pleasure of having our granddaughter Sarah spend the night on Sunday. And contrary to what her parents say , she is always well behaved and polite when she is at grandma and grandpa's house !

Although it may be hard to tell with the smirk she has on her face !




As little time as she gets to spend with her grandpa, they enjoy each others company very much. Can you see any pain in this man's face ? He is a rock !





So you see, even through all of the pain and problems that life throws in our path,
God sprinkles a little sunshine down on us.