The closet that flooded is finally repaired! Yeah! I just have to shampoo the carpets in the bedroom and put my son's room back together. Thanks to Tony I didn't have to work too much this time. just cleanup and painting. It took a little longer than expected due to a much needed vacation to see my expectant daughter and husband durring Spring Break.
It was so great to see them. I took up a Jenny Lind crib, changing table, cradle,bassinette and boxes and boxes of clothing that have traveled around the family. My van was quite loaded. My best friend and her daughter and grandaughter went up to Utah with my son and I. It made the trip go by so much faster to have someone to visit with. The kids either play games, sleep, read books, or watch movies while I count miles and road lines. It is still hard on the back to sit for so long. We got to "Hole in the Rock" and my son was insistent on me stopping. I told Him I'd stop for a potty break, but we weren't going in the gift shop. He reminded me that on our last trip he saw a sword there and I told him if he saved enough money, the next trip I would stop and let him buy it. I had forgotten and he had his saved money in hand. We agreed that with all the stuff already in the van, a stop on the return trip might be more practical. So we proceeded to Salt Lake.
It was a short and mixed emotional trip. My son in laws grandfather passed away and there were some hard feeding spreading throughout his family at the time due to some past experience. I felt so bad for my son in law. He was trying to take the higher road and mend family feuding so as to honor his name sake and comfort his grandmother and aunts. I pray that hard feelings from his parents might be softened and knowlege as my son in law put it that " it is for all men to forgive, but I the Lord will forgive whom I will forgive" Will come back to them. It took a lot of courage to do the Lord's will and let past grievences go. He will be blessed eternally for his efforts to mend the family ties here on earth. I pray for his comfort and the Lord's abiding companionship durring this trying time.
On a great note. I got to feel my granddaughter move inside my daughter. I'm not sure there are words to express my feelings. I am so excited for them, yet afraid that something might go wrong. I will be so relieved when she is born and ALL my babies are safe. I wish I was closer to help more and to see the growth of this little one. I still can't beleive that I am going to be a Grandma. However, after looking in the mirror this weekend and my mother pointing out to me that my gray haired roots were shinning again, "Grandma" seems to fit. Time to get out the bottle of hair dye again!!!!!!!!!!! So much for all natural!
Upon our return home I got news that my 81 yr old mother who is sole caregiver for my 90 yr old father fell trying to move my dad and tore her hamstring, got a hemmorage in her muscle and had some fluid oozing in her hip socket. The doctors said they didn't feed that surgery was waranted as of yet, but would commence with physical therapy three times a week in her home. She has hired a nurse to come every morning M-TH to help get my dad up and dressed. She is on her own on Fri-Sun. I went down this weekend to help so she can heal, my sister is going down next weekend and my brother is going down the following weekend. I am planning on spending the first weekend of every month with them to help with yard and household upkeep. I am hoping more help will come from my siblings. It is hard to see your parents age and lose their capability to care for themselves or each other. I am trying to convince my mother to sell out and move up here with me so I can be there on a daily basis. It's hard to leave your home and deel with change at that age. It's hard to stay home for me and cry because I can't help more.
Well on to my next progect. I am painting my living room and kitchen so I can get the trim and baseboard put back from our remodle job a couple of years ago. So many complications in our life have postponed our finishing.I'm actually not sure there is such a thing as finishing. I think it is more a work in progress!
Love and best wishes for all til next blog!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
Rough few weeks
I started getting spring fever as the temperatures warmed up. I took a break from our never ending house remodeling over the past couple of years. I was so tired of projects, especially after a wedding, a sealing, a 50th anniversary and Holidays. So I went and bought some paint and decided to paint my kitchen and living room. Everything is bright white and I wanted to warm things up a bit. Change is always a good thing.
Then my garbage disposal broke and spewed water all over my kitchen through the air valve by the faucets on the sink. The pipes under the sink shook loose and I had water everywhere. I have cleaned the drawers and cabinets with Clorox cleanup and everything in the kitchen still smells musty.
So on Tuesday the 11th of March, my son came in and said his carpet was wet in his closet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The piping for the hot water heater is in between his closet wall and the water heater closet. We have had problems there before and had to rip out the dry wall and have the plumbing fixed. Then of course we had to repair the closet wall. Well two years ago we got rid of our 21 year old carpet and put in all new flooring. Now I have soggy new carpet and a ripped up wall again. I just starting crying yesterday. It is so expensive to replace things as they fall apart and I have done all my own work for 25 year to save $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ I chiseled out old tile and laid new ceramic tile. I've ripped down pony walls and redid the dry-walling. I've rota tilled outside. Built a wall between my entry hall and the laundry area. I've ripped out cheep cabinet bases and rebuilt them with plywood. Any way you get the idea. I'm getting old tired and broken!!!!!!!!!! The plumbing leek was the last straw. It has taken a toll on my body and the doctors told me this last year that I couldn't do this hard labor any more.We had bad builders who put in polybutaline piping that had been banned in construction now. There was a law suit against the company a bout 10 years ago, for fixing and replacement. However, the stipulation was that you had to have a visible leak at the time of the suit. Of course my problems started about a year after the time period expired. I'm always a day late and a few dollars short! Any way my son is back in his brother's room sharing until we can dry out and re fix again. Luckily a good friend from church does construction and came to my rescue. I told him I'd pay him to just fix it.
My son also had a project for History on Family History, so I have spent the week gathering my stuff and scanning baby pictures and family pictures for him to use in his report. Needless to say, my spring projects are on hold for a while. Maybe next week.
My youngest son has a report on Mozart so I am helping him gather info. He has to write a biography, have a poster with both hand drawn and printed pictures. He has to dress up like Mozart, because they are doing the presentations like a wax museum of the people. He has to do a demonstration of what made him famous, so we are now learning a short Mozart piano piece for him to play on the keyboard. Wow! I don't remember these kinds of projects when I went to school. We're talking 4th grade!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought I was done with school. I keep asking the kids "When do I get my report card.
Well on a good note, Spring break is coming up and I get to go to Utah to visit my oldest baby who is having the baby this summer. She just had a little pooch at Christmas. She sent me a text pic of her tummy. So CUTE! I cant wait to feel the baby. We have a home to live in, and we will own it free and clear in two years. My husband has a great job and I can stay home, and my children are all happy and healthy!
It felt good to vent. Best wishes to all for now and God bless you all.
Then my garbage disposal broke and spewed water all over my kitchen through the air valve by the faucets on the sink. The pipes under the sink shook loose and I had water everywhere. I have cleaned the drawers and cabinets with Clorox cleanup and everything in the kitchen still smells musty.
So on Tuesday the 11th of March, my son came in and said his carpet was wet in his closet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The piping for the hot water heater is in between his closet wall and the water heater closet. We have had problems there before and had to rip out the dry wall and have the plumbing fixed. Then of course we had to repair the closet wall. Well two years ago we got rid of our 21 year old carpet and put in all new flooring. Now I have soggy new carpet and a ripped up wall again. I just starting crying yesterday. It is so expensive to replace things as they fall apart and I have done all my own work for 25 year to save $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ I chiseled out old tile and laid new ceramic tile. I've ripped down pony walls and redid the dry-walling. I've rota tilled outside. Built a wall between my entry hall and the laundry area. I've ripped out cheep cabinet bases and rebuilt them with plywood. Any way you get the idea. I'm getting old tired and broken!!!!!!!!!! The plumbing leek was the last straw. It has taken a toll on my body and the doctors told me this last year that I couldn't do this hard labor any more.We had bad builders who put in polybutaline piping that had been banned in construction now. There was a law suit against the company a bout 10 years ago, for fixing and replacement. However, the stipulation was that you had to have a visible leak at the time of the suit. Of course my problems started about a year after the time period expired. I'm always a day late and a few dollars short! Any way my son is back in his brother's room sharing until we can dry out and re fix again. Luckily a good friend from church does construction and came to my rescue. I told him I'd pay him to just fix it.
My son also had a project for History on Family History, so I have spent the week gathering my stuff and scanning baby pictures and family pictures for him to use in his report. Needless to say, my spring projects are on hold for a while. Maybe next week.
My youngest son has a report on Mozart so I am helping him gather info. He has to write a biography, have a poster with both hand drawn and printed pictures. He has to dress up like Mozart, because they are doing the presentations like a wax museum of the people. He has to do a demonstration of what made him famous, so we are now learning a short Mozart piano piece for him to play on the keyboard. Wow! I don't remember these kinds of projects when I went to school. We're talking 4th grade!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought I was done with school. I keep asking the kids "When do I get my report card.
Well on a good note, Spring break is coming up and I get to go to Utah to visit my oldest baby who is having the baby this summer. She just had a little pooch at Christmas. She sent me a text pic of her tummy. So CUTE! I cant wait to feel the baby. We have a home to live in, and we will own it free and clear in two years. My husband has a great job and I can stay home, and my children are all happy and healthy!
It felt good to vent. Best wishes to all for now and God bless you all.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Playing catch up
December 2007
Dear Friends and Family,
This has been truly an eventful year for our family. We are all doing fine and our family continues to grow in more ways than one. In January our 2nd oldest daughter announced her engagement to her high school sweetheart of 5 years. We began to set in motion plans for an August wedding. We got the dress ordered and started stocking up on supplies for the decorations. We found material for the bridesmaid dresses and our plans came to a halt.
Last February I had to have an emergency hysterectomy because I was hemorrhaging. That kept me down for a couple of months and left me tired and anemic, but I am constantly gaining on it. I am still blessed to be able to share what limited music ability I have at church by being the ward music director.
In April my dad, eighty nine years old, underwent surgery on his neck to fuse the vertebraes together. They had twisted until the spinal cord was pinched and calcification had grown in between. His discs were deteriorated. They went in through the front of his neck and scraped out the calcification. Then they had to realign the vertebraes and pin them together with a plate. We knew the risks at his age were high. If he didn’t have the surgery and kept falling with his dizzy spells he could be paralyzed the rest of his life, however at his age the anesthesia could cause problems. He went through surgery well, but he had a terrible reaction to the anesthesia afterward. He hallucinated and thrashed out at the nurses and mother. He also couldn’t swallow because of moving his vocal chords and esophagus out of the way for the surgery. They put him on thickened liquid diet, yuck! He was placed in a rehab hospital and moved from El Paso to Las Cruces. This didn’t go well either. He thought we had put him in a nursing home and he wanted out. Mother ended up putting a cot in his room and staying with him. The doctors thought his reaction to the surgery was causing Alzheimer’s and depression and gave him medication that he didn’t need that made his mental state worse. They sent him home with a neck brace and put him on home health care to rehabilitate him. He just has gotten worse and worse. He is now almost completely wheelchair bound and can hardly converse. I miss my dad! My mother has been a saint. She works way to hard and her health isn’t what is should be. We celebrated daddy’s 90th birthday at Thanksgiving in Silver City. All of the kids were there and several of the grandkids.
Steve is still working hard at Transcore and still loves playing golf. He has been such a support to our family throughout all our experiences. He is such a great husband and father and we love him dearly and don’t often enough give him the praise he deserves. He continues to sing in his church Choir and share the talents God gave him.
Kristin is still attending UNM. She has been quite busy. She is in the Relief Society Presidency in her singles ward at church. She is in the institute choir and just did a wonderful Christmas program. She attends religion classes. She is pursuing a degree in elementary education.
Eric is now a junior in High School. He has become interested in Computer Art Design Architecture (well besides girls) and is doing quite well. He has plans to pursue this field for a degree after he graduates. He is the only priest left in our ward at church and has to pull a lot of weight in his church responsibilities. It is tough at times and he misses many of his friends that have either been split into another ward area or have graduated and moved on to college or missions. He has many young men looking to him for guidance and examples. A few new young men will become priests soon. He is still such a help to me at home. I don’t know what I will do when he leaves home. He has me spoiled. He better pass down his skills to his brother Aaron before he goes anywhere!!!!!!!!!!
Aaron is in 4th grade this year and still loves school and reading. He is having a competition right now with one of the boys in class to see who will finish the Harry Potter series first. His first love is knights and dragons though and he has completed several books on the subject. I am still trying to get him into some other genres. He is a great boy and so obedient. He loves God and it shows in all he does.
Our summer was spent making wedding decorations dresses and invitations. On August 4, 2007 Danielle married Chad. She was beautiful and the wedding was so tender and beautiful. It was the first time in a long while that we as a family were able to do music together. It was such a rewarding experience. The kids were having a house built and wouldn’t be able to move in until Nov. so they lived with us for a while. I think they are enjoying having a little privacy now! Danielle is so busy. She got a job as a nurse tech III in the emergency room at Presbyterian Hospital. She works there 36t hours a week, goes to school at UNM and still works her job for 10 hrs a week at Defined Fitness Gym. Now that they moved out neither her husband or us get to see much of her.
After the wedding, we (including Danielle and Chad) drove to Utah to be with Matthew and Katrina our oldest. Danielle and Chad honeymooned in the mountains just NE of Salt Lake. Matthew and Katrina being married civilly 3 ½ years ago, were sealed (married for eternity) in the LDS Salt Lake Temple on August 8th. A day we will never forget. They made vows and covenants to God to follow all his commandments and live righteously so to be man and wife not until death do us part, but for time and all eternity. Their children will be born under this covenant and be sealed to them as a family for all eternity. We drove back home on the 12th and moved Chad into the house.
In September we celebrated Mom and Dad’s (Leo and Susie) 50th anniversary in Santa Fe. It was wonderful. Mom and Dad Catanach have also had a rough year with health and stress. Dad’s dementia is continually getting worse and it wears on Mom so much. All of Dad’s brothers and sisters were here for the party. We ate, danced and got acquainted with family again. We hope to stay in touch more often.
After trying to have a child for the last couple of years and going through some frustrating months even seeking help from infertility specialists, Katrina called us in October to tell us that they were pregnant and we were going to be grandparents. They were just getting ready to start some infertility meds when they found out. It is always hard to hear that it will happen in the Lord’s time, but all things happen in His wisdom and timing. It is great to see her so happy. The due date is July 4th, 2008. Isn’t it ironic to have such an independent child have an Independence Day baby! Ha! Ha! They are coming home for Christmas and we are so excited.
Through all the trials and joys this year we have been greatly blessed by the companionship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and God our most kind a gracious Father in Heaven. It never ceases to amaze me how much abundance, love and support they pour upon us for even just small little requests. At times I feel my needs are so small and insignificant compared to the needs and trials of the world, and yet no righteous request from me is too small to be granted by God in His time. I feel His constant companionship in all I do. I recognize His hand in all matters of our lives. The more we read his Holy Scriptures, Pray, and ask His guidance, the more blessings he bestows upon us. It is easy to use life’s busyness and excuse our way out of doing His will. If there is one thing I have learned in life is that tomorrow may not come, so live every day as if it is your last and you will be standing before God this day for judgment. Time is a short and precious thing. Make the best of it and have no regrets. If we slip, fix it now and don’t procrastinate.
I pray that we all recognize His hand in all things and show gratitude for His greatest sacrifice in our behalf. He sent His only begotten son even Jesus Christ to this earth to set an example for us to live by. Despite the miracles, love and shedding of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane in our behalf, he was cast down, tortured and hung on a cross for all mankind. As we celebrate Jesus' birth this Christmas season may we more remember that as he was born, yet he lives. He was resurrected, His body reunited with His spirit as we too can be resurrected and live again after this mortal life. As a parent I can’t imagine making that kind of a sacrifice with my own child. God loved all of so much that he wanted all of us to return to him and together with his son Jesus Christ created a plan of salvation so that we might return to him. We don’t have to sacrifice as greatly as Christ for our salvation. We just have to believe, take upon us His name, follow his example and try to live our lives the way he has shown us. We have to live this life not only during the holidays but all year. May we turn to him daily and ask what we need to do to make a difference and do as he asks. He is always with us! “Knock and it shall be opened unto you ask and ye shall receive….” Miracles do still happen every day and will continue to happen because God loves us. May God bless you and your family this Christmas and throughout the year to come is my prayer in Jesus’ name, Amen
With all our love and best wishes for everyone now and always,
Dear Friends and Family,
This has been truly an eventful year for our family. We are all doing fine and our family continues to grow in more ways than one. In January our 2nd oldest daughter announced her engagement to her high school sweetheart of 5 years. We began to set in motion plans for an August wedding. We got the dress ordered and started stocking up on supplies for the decorations. We found material for the bridesmaid dresses and our plans came to a halt.
Last February I had to have an emergency hysterectomy because I was hemorrhaging. That kept me down for a couple of months and left me tired and anemic, but I am constantly gaining on it. I am still blessed to be able to share what limited music ability I have at church by being the ward music director.
In April my dad, eighty nine years old, underwent surgery on his neck to fuse the vertebraes together. They had twisted until the spinal cord was pinched and calcification had grown in between. His discs were deteriorated. They went in through the front of his neck and scraped out the calcification. Then they had to realign the vertebraes and pin them together with a plate. We knew the risks at his age were high. If he didn’t have the surgery and kept falling with his dizzy spells he could be paralyzed the rest of his life, however at his age the anesthesia could cause problems. He went through surgery well, but he had a terrible reaction to the anesthesia afterward. He hallucinated and thrashed out at the nurses and mother. He also couldn’t swallow because of moving his vocal chords and esophagus out of the way for the surgery. They put him on thickened liquid diet, yuck! He was placed in a rehab hospital and moved from El Paso to Las Cruces. This didn’t go well either. He thought we had put him in a nursing home and he wanted out. Mother ended up putting a cot in his room and staying with him. The doctors thought his reaction to the surgery was causing Alzheimer’s and depression and gave him medication that he didn’t need that made his mental state worse. They sent him home with a neck brace and put him on home health care to rehabilitate him. He just has gotten worse and worse. He is now almost completely wheelchair bound and can hardly converse. I miss my dad! My mother has been a saint. She works way to hard and her health isn’t what is should be. We celebrated daddy’s 90th birthday at Thanksgiving in Silver City. All of the kids were there and several of the grandkids.
Steve is still working hard at Transcore and still loves playing golf. He has been such a support to our family throughout all our experiences. He is such a great husband and father and we love him dearly and don’t often enough give him the praise he deserves. He continues to sing in his church Choir and share the talents God gave him.
Kristin is still attending UNM. She has been quite busy. She is in the Relief Society Presidency in her singles ward at church. She is in the institute choir and just did a wonderful Christmas program. She attends religion classes. She is pursuing a degree in elementary education.
Eric is now a junior in High School. He has become interested in Computer Art Design Architecture (well besides girls) and is doing quite well. He has plans to pursue this field for a degree after he graduates. He is the only priest left in our ward at church and has to pull a lot of weight in his church responsibilities. It is tough at times and he misses many of his friends that have either been split into another ward area or have graduated and moved on to college or missions. He has many young men looking to him for guidance and examples. A few new young men will become priests soon. He is still such a help to me at home. I don’t know what I will do when he leaves home. He has me spoiled. He better pass down his skills to his brother Aaron before he goes anywhere!!!!!!!!!!
Aaron is in 4th grade this year and still loves school and reading. He is having a competition right now with one of the boys in class to see who will finish the Harry Potter series first. His first love is knights and dragons though and he has completed several books on the subject. I am still trying to get him into some other genres. He is a great boy and so obedient. He loves God and it shows in all he does.
Our summer was spent making wedding decorations dresses and invitations. On August 4, 2007 Danielle married Chad. She was beautiful and the wedding was so tender and beautiful. It was the first time in a long while that we as a family were able to do music together. It was such a rewarding experience. The kids were having a house built and wouldn’t be able to move in until Nov. so they lived with us for a while. I think they are enjoying having a little privacy now! Danielle is so busy. She got a job as a nurse tech III in the emergency room at Presbyterian Hospital. She works there 36t hours a week, goes to school at UNM and still works her job for 10 hrs a week at Defined Fitness Gym. Now that they moved out neither her husband or us get to see much of her.
After the wedding, we (including Danielle and Chad) drove to Utah to be with Matthew and Katrina our oldest. Danielle and Chad honeymooned in the mountains just NE of Salt Lake. Matthew and Katrina being married civilly 3 ½ years ago, were sealed (married for eternity) in the LDS Salt Lake Temple on August 8th. A day we will never forget. They made vows and covenants to God to follow all his commandments and live righteously so to be man and wife not until death do us part, but for time and all eternity. Their children will be born under this covenant and be sealed to them as a family for all eternity. We drove back home on the 12th and moved Chad into the house.
In September we celebrated Mom and Dad’s (Leo and Susie) 50th anniversary in Santa Fe. It was wonderful. Mom and Dad Catanach have also had a rough year with health and stress. Dad’s dementia is continually getting worse and it wears on Mom so much. All of Dad’s brothers and sisters were here for the party. We ate, danced and got acquainted with family again. We hope to stay in touch more often.
After trying to have a child for the last couple of years and going through some frustrating months even seeking help from infertility specialists, Katrina called us in October to tell us that they were pregnant and we were going to be grandparents. They were just getting ready to start some infertility meds when they found out. It is always hard to hear that it will happen in the Lord’s time, but all things happen in His wisdom and timing. It is great to see her so happy. The due date is July 4th, 2008. Isn’t it ironic to have such an independent child have an Independence Day baby! Ha! Ha! They are coming home for Christmas and we are so excited.
Through all the trials and joys this year we have been greatly blessed by the companionship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and God our most kind a gracious Father in Heaven. It never ceases to amaze me how much abundance, love and support they pour upon us for even just small little requests. At times I feel my needs are so small and insignificant compared to the needs and trials of the world, and yet no righteous request from me is too small to be granted by God in His time. I feel His constant companionship in all I do. I recognize His hand in all matters of our lives. The more we read his Holy Scriptures, Pray, and ask His guidance, the more blessings he bestows upon us. It is easy to use life’s busyness and excuse our way out of doing His will. If there is one thing I have learned in life is that tomorrow may not come, so live every day as if it is your last and you will be standing before God this day for judgment. Time is a short and precious thing. Make the best of it and have no regrets. If we slip, fix it now and don’t procrastinate.
I pray that we all recognize His hand in all things and show gratitude for His greatest sacrifice in our behalf. He sent His only begotten son even Jesus Christ to this earth to set an example for us to live by. Despite the miracles, love and shedding of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane in our behalf, he was cast down, tortured and hung on a cross for all mankind. As we celebrate Jesus' birth this Christmas season may we more remember that as he was born, yet he lives. He was resurrected, His body reunited with His spirit as we too can be resurrected and live again after this mortal life. As a parent I can’t imagine making that kind of a sacrifice with my own child. God loved all of so much that he wanted all of us to return to him and together with his son Jesus Christ created a plan of salvation so that we might return to him. We don’t have to sacrifice as greatly as Christ for our salvation. We just have to believe, take upon us His name, follow his example and try to live our lives the way he has shown us. We have to live this life not only during the holidays but all year. May we turn to him daily and ask what we need to do to make a difference and do as he asks. He is always with us! “Knock and it shall be opened unto you ask and ye shall receive….” Miracles do still happen every day and will continue to happen because God loves us. May God bless you and your family this Christmas and throughout the year to come is my prayer in Jesus’ name, Amen
With all our love and best wishes for everyone now and always,
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