Well....

there has been quite a bit of emotion for me of late. My dad was transferred to Cleveland Clinic in the hopes that they would be able to take care of his problems. The mitrol valve was leaking, he was fighting some pneumonia, his kidneys weren't working properly and he was plum tuckered out. His kidneys have not been up to par for some time and he had the mitrol valve replaced about 11 yrs. ago.We about lost him then as the valve pretty much disintegrated as they were opening his chest. Needless to say, we were anxious that time was wasting.When he was finally scheduled for surgery on Thurs. morning it was not a pleasant site that we walked in to. Dad was having quite a difficult time breathing and was very tired from lack of sleep. We were glad the time had finally arrived. We left home about 3:20a.m. in order to be there before he went to surgery. After the 4 hours of prep, the actual operation took only about 2 hours and all went well. What a relief to my Mom! So, it was a long day Thurs. Dad is coming along well except for the kidneys which they're keeping a close eye on.
On a lighter note, we are on the countdown for Nathanael's wedding this coming Sat. He leaves WA. Tues. and flies into Pittsburg where Becky will pick him up. We won't see him until Fri. when we go to Southington and probably won't get to spend much time with him before the wedding. Of course, then they're off and running! We may get to see him before they actually head back to WA.
Hannah is doing well. We're getting anxious for the baby to arrive. She is being very patient.It actually sounds as if Andy is getting more anxious that she is!I still hope to make it down for the birth but, she'll be in capable hands if I can;t make it.Tom's sister,Karen, has offered to be her Doula. She has been doing this for about 11 years and I hear she's very good. That all helps Hannah (and I) to be relaxed.
I completed my workshop for Doula training- one important step to my certification. I'm looking forward to getting it all complete!
Aaron volunteered to be layed off since he will be leaving for boot camp May 24. His boss was going to lay 3 guys off and asked Aaron about it. Works out in one way but, it sure doesn't bring in any money! It will sure be different not having any of our kids around for a while. We won't even be able to talk to Aaron for 13 weeks unless he would get a special privilege. It wasn't quite that long for Nathanael and he got a few special calls from his Petty officer.
We are working on our garden. We doubled the size this year so I thought I'd put a small pond in the middle for Tom. He really enjoys them. When I told him what I wanted to do he really took off with the idea. He dug it out Fri. night- in the shape of a heart. He said he couldn't think what shape to dig until he thought of me- is that sweet or what! It has 2 shallow parts, one a bit deeper and the the tip of the heart is about 3 ft. deep. We'll probably put some feeder goldfish in and maybe a bullhead! It will be good for the bees, too. It should keep them from going to the neighbors pond! Their boy is very allergic to bee stings-something Tom didn't know when he got the bees. I did post some pics of the proceedings. The picket fence in the garden is where my herbs will be planted and on the 3 other corners there will be wildflowers. We're majoring on cabbage and tomatoes but will also put in some beans and a few other things. We plan to do plenty of kraut this year and the flowers are of course for the benefit of the bees.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day. I'm so glad Spring s here!