Angelrose's Journey

[cm8]

, Happy Easter, resurrection day to all!!

 

[Angelrose]

I had a busy, busy day. I spent an hour this morning vacuuming up the water in the tool room. Many, many trips emptying the wet vac into buckets and then hauling them outside. But that room is done. I have the fan on in there to dry out the floor which will take a few days. Karen called to ask if I had any eggs. She had run out and needed some to make her brownies. I had a dozen and she came over with Jesse and picked them up. Jesse and I did our usual routine of letting him redesign my fridge magnets and then run down the hall into the big living room, back down the hall to get "his" flashlight, through the dining room, into the kitchen to turn off the oven light with my helping with the sounds, the back down the hall into the big living room again. Karen was looking at me like I was crazy. LOL I told her this was our rountine whenever he came over.

This afternoon I went over to their house. Jesse gave me a big hug and I gave him all his toys. I had to help him open all the blister packs. How I love blister packs. But he enjoyed them all and so did his friends. His friend Sammy calls me Gramma too. After Karens sister and her family came, we all went outside to watch the kids find the Easter eggs. You should have seen Jesse running around to find them all. All the kids did well and his little cousin actually showed him a few eggs to find. After then found them, they weren't interested in them anymore. They wanted to play on the swing set. While they were all playing, the grownups came inside and had our dinner. When the kids finally came in they had their dinner. The stuffed shells that Karen made were delicious and so were her brownies. Chuck's friend Chris made a key lime pie and a lemon merangue. I only tried the lemon. Ohhhh I did over indulge. But everything was sooooo good.

The kids played a little while longer and then everyone got ready to go home. When Jesse came back in to see daddy, he feel and scraped his toe. Oh my goodness did he cry. First daddy had to kiss his toe and then mommy cleaned it off and had to kiss it too. Then he got down to run to Gramma for her to kiss it too. I guess all the kisses worked because the tears stopped and he said goodnight to me and went upstairs for his bath. On the way upstairs, Karen said Goodnight mom. LOL I think that was a subtle hint. I knew she was exhausted and so was Chuck. It was my usual time to leave anyway.

I had such a good time. I know Ron is smiling at our whole day.

 

[snapppyd]

I am so happy you had such a nice Easter AngelRose!

Let's hope we are finished with the rain for a little while.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Dear AngelRose, I just found your thread & wanted also to give you and
tell you that your situation touched me. My Aunt Mary lost my Uncle Joey last June and he was the same age as your Ron and they were married probably as long as the two of you. It's been rough of course but family & God are getting her through. Take care of yourself & know that there is another person here who cares. PS after I posted this I started reading your trip report and got absolute chills (& tears in my eyes) realizing YOUR name is Mary & my uncle went to heaven on June 16 2009 so close to your Ron...Comforting to know that they have met & are looking after all of us !

Ruthie

 

[minnie56]

Sounds like a perfect day Angelrose! I am happy that you feel Ron looking over the day because he did and always will.

You sound like the kind of Gramma my Mum was to my girls..she let them do whatever they wanted at her house! LOL...they used to love bringing special fridge magnets home with them and she was fine with that. Next time they wanted another 'special' one. They used to go and stay with her for a few days here and there and I wasn't encouraged to call as I might want to come and take them home hehe...they would sometimes come to the phone and tell me Nanny (they called her that) makes the BEST 'toast' ever!! I sure knew my shortcomings in a hurry! Enjoy these times..I think there's nothing like the relationship between grandmothers and grandchildren.

 

[Angelrose]

Ruthie, thank you for your huggies. I can always use them. I'm so sorry for the loss of your uncle Joey. Strange, that your uncle died the same day as my Ron. I can see them introducing themselves to each other in Heaven. Each one telling the other how much they loved their Marys and how they are looking out for us. It is hard to cope without my Ron, but my family and faith keep me going.

minnie56, I did have such a wonderful day on Easter. I think that is so cute that their nanny makes the best toast! Well, of course she does. She's their nanny. You're "just" the mommy. I remember Chuck telling me that his grandmom played with him, much better than I did. I still have a mental picture of that in my mind.

 

[ksumn1]

My grandmother gets Reminisce. It's such a great magazine. Such beautiful
scenery. It really opens the door for my grandmother to talk about when she was a girl. They were cotton farmers...5 girls and 1 boy and the girls were expected to work like a man. Planting and picking cotton, growing their own food, laundry day, church socials. Things seemed so much simler and less complicated then. More of a focus on family and fellowship and less on materialistic stuff.

IDK about everyone else, but I've been busy, busy. Both my girls play ball (tball and softball) so I feel like I spend 1/2 my life at school and 1/2 my life either on the way to practice, at practice or on the way home from practice. Throw in Easter, midterms and the occasional family function and I am never home, much less on the DISboards!!

Spring is such a beautiful time. I can see why it was Ron's favorite. Sorry to hear you have water in the basement again but a least you get to see Jesse. How is Karen doing? Is the pregnancy progressing well? I know you just can't wait to see the new baby.

Just wanted to check in and say Hi and hope everyone's well.

 

[Angelrose]

Hi ksumn1. Good to see you here again. Karen is doing well. She is just into her 4th month. She still gets very tired all the time. She had an ultrasound and baby is doing well, but is very shy. We still don't know if it's a boy or girl. Probably by the next ultrasound we will know.

 

[Angelrose]

Hello my friends. I had to tell you all of a strange experience I had last night. I don't know quite how to describe it. I was sleeping on my tummy on Ron's side of the bed. All of a sudden I felt something. I guess it was Ron's spirit laying completely on top of my body and entering my body. I woke up and I heard a noise in his bathroom. It was very strange. I don't know how to explain it any better. But, I guess Ron's trying to tell me he's still around and is with me.

 

[snapppyd]

Where did everyone go? Is everything alright?

 

[minniecarousel]

I was just thinking of Angelrose the other day.

I know the first anniversary of Ron's fall is coming up later this month, Angelrose. Hang in there. Know that you have friends still concerned about you.

 

[Angelrose]

Hello snappyd and Julie. I'm sorry I haven't been on lately. I have been dealing with a lot lately.

First the vents in my car's dash didn't work. I couldn't get any air out of them. Well, the place where Ron took the car was a ways a way and I had never been there before. A friend told me what exit to get off on the Garden State Parkway and it was just about a mile and a half on the RIGHT. Good deal. Well, I hadn't been on the Parkway in over 20 years. I completely forgot about the tolls. OK everybody in New Jersey may now take a moment to laugh their heads off. I panicked when I saw the sign toll ahead. When I got close I couldn't see anyone in the cash toll booth, so I pulled over on the side to go into the little building. You may continue laughing. The woman looked at me like I had three heads and did give me change. I did tell her I hadn't been on the Parkway in a long time. She told me I could have gotten change at the cash toll both. There was someone inside. OK I got through the toll both. I even got off on the right exit to Manahawkin. I went about a mile and still didn't see Gardner Chevy. I saw other dealerships, but not that one. So I thought maybe a bit further. A bit further there was nothing. OK NOW I am really panicking. I went over this bridge and found myself in Brant Beach I think it was. Luckily I found a CVS that was open before 8am. I asked if she knew where Gardner was. She said no, but I would have to go back to Manahawkin and showed me how to get back on 73. I went back over the bridge and stopped in a Shell station and practically begged the guy there if he knew where Gardner was. Blessedly he said yes. All I had to do was go to the next stop light and there was a bank, Gardner was the second driveway. I FOUND IT! It was on the LEFT side of the road. And I was there right at 8am. Good thing I started an hour early. The trip should only have taken half that time. That bill was only $300. I was very happy to get home.

The next drama was when I finally got all the water out of the basement. Great. Only now I have a leak in my water pipe. Oh YIPPEE. My son tried to fix it with some stop leak goop. It didn't hold.

In the meantime we are having a heatwave. I turn on the air conditioner and......nothing. No cool air is coming out. sighhhhhhhhh

I call Chuck to ask if he knows a good air conditioner guy. He does and I call. The man was very nice. He told me I have no freon at all left and I had a leak that was not repairable. Another YIPPEE. The salesman called a few days later and it will cost me right around $5,000.

These last few days I have very uncomfortable upstairs. They are coming tomorrow to do the whole thing. New unit, new pipes, new blower.

The last thing was my son, who has worked at the same place for 14 years, will have to look for a new job. They didn't get the government contract through no fault of their own. Dirty politics going on and that's all I can say about that.

He is devastated. His stress levels are out of this world. Plus the new baby is coming in September. He will most likely get a new job with the company that got the contract but probably at a pay cut. He's lost his seniority and his vacation. I feel so bad for him, but all I can do is give my support and hugs.

He felt bad about telling me that they couldn't do presents for Mother's Day or take me out to lunch. We will just have a family dinner at home. I told him no birthday presents either. It doesn't matter where we eat. Just that we are all together.

I had a pool man come out for a price on opening my pool this year. He quoted me a good price and I told him all the things I wanted done. He was so kind. I had to tell him about Ron. Of course, I still cry when I talk about it. He said he knew just how I felt. He lost his wife two years ago at 54. So he knows what I am going through. The funny thing is he lives in the same development that Chuck lives in. Strange world.

I was doing well dealing with all these things. But as it gets closer to the day when he fell (May 25) I get very weepy. I can't believe it's been almost a year. He passed away on June 16. I don't know how I'm going to deal with that.

I got a call today from someone who wanted to speak to Ron. It was a man from the investment company Ron dealt with. I had to tell him that Ron had passed away last year. He felt so bad. He spoke with me for a few minutes and gave me his name and number if I needed him to do anything for me. I explained that my son is handling all my finances now. But it was hard to have to tell yet another person that my Ron is gone.

I will try and post a little more. When my air conditioner is all set up it will be cooler up here. Right now I can hardly breathe up here.

Thank you all again for your support. I really does help me.

 

[minniecarousel]

Oh, goodness, you really have your hands full! (what is it they say: "When it rains, it pours"?)

Poor Chuck - it is so tough to be let go from a job. Good news that he will probably be rehired by the other company. Many people have taken pay cuts. My DH found a job after a year of being out of work at 2/3 his previous salary. It's happening all over the place. Best wishes to him.

I hope your AC gets fixed OK. I know when ours was out last summer, I couldn't sleep upstairs.

 

[Angelrose]

I got a call early this morning from the ac man. He told me they would be here at 10am but they will have to finish up tomorrow. There is just too much work for them to finish today. DRAT! Another hot, humid night trying to sleep. But if its all done by tomorrow I will be a happy person. They have been working since 10am.

Chuck called to see how things were going and I brought him up to date. Things may be looking up for him. He sent in his resume last night to one of the companies that got the contract and he got a call this morning for an interview tomorrow! There is talk that he may even get a raise! Praying that that is the case.

Thought you might like these latest pictures.

Jesse is looking more and more like Chuck.

 

[angie@dvcstore]

Omg thats terrible! I hope everything turns out ok please keep us updated

 

[Angelrose]

The ac is installed and really did well cooling the house and getting rid of the humidity. The man found a leak in a hose before he left and fixed it. He told me to check it in a hour. Well I waited two hours and went upstairs to find water all over the floor and not from the hose at all. I called Chuck and he and Karen and Jesse came over. It seems the drain is clogged. I will have to call them tomorrow and see if they can blow it out. If not they will have to install a new drain. More expense.

Chuck's interview went well. The manager seemed to really like him. The tech man gave him a test in a computer language that he didn't know because he's never had to use it before. But it seems that a lot of people that failed the test got jobs anyway. Even the tech guy said not to worry about that. He should know in 2 or 3 weeks. Now Chuck is very upset about failing a test that he had no knowledge of. Karen and I both told him not to stress so much about it. He will get that job or something better. But just in case, please keep him in your prayers.

When they came in tonight Chuck handed me an envelope. In it was one of the Mothers day pictures. I thanked them and went to play with Jesse. Karen said, "Mom, did you read the bottom of the card?" So I went and looked. It was signed, Chuck, Karen, Jesse and ......................Baby Girl! We're having a GIRL!! I am so excited.

Now if I can get the ac working properly, get a plumber to fix the leak in the pipes I will be all set. LOL

 

[ksumn1]

I hope all your A/C problems are finished when they repair the drain tomorrow. I know you're tired of water everywhere.

I'm very sorry to hear that Chuck lost his job. It sounds like his interview went well. Hopefully, he'll get the job. I know it's stressful being unemployed, and having a baby on the way just makes it worse.

That being said, I'm thrilled to hear you're going to have a baby girl joining the family. You had all the cars, dirt and puppy dog tails and now you get a chance to experience all the little dresses, bows, sweeetness and everything nice. Although as soon as Kayleigh could walk, she attracted dirt and loooves all types of bugs. Right now she has a caterpillar and a frog that she "saved" that will need to be released in the morning.

It's funny how God closes a window and opens a door...isn't that the saying. While the job issues are definately a concern a baby is an absolute joy. I bet you can't wait. Looks like next trip you may be dining with the Princesses!!

It was good to hear from you. I know the Anniversary of Ron's passing is coming up but I hope all the wonderful changes will help a little with the sadness.

 

[Angelrose]

Thanks ksumn1. I called right around 6:45 this morning and I was surprised to hear an actual person. She took my name, address and phone number and said someone would call me. Sure enough, they called around 7:30 or so. She said someone would be here today but couldn't say when. She said she would call when they were on their way. She did that and he came and looked everything over and did blow the drain line, but there were other leaks and with the trap where it was, it was just not going to work. So hopefully, tomorrow they will be here to install that.

The ac does work beautifully. I had it set at 72 and it stayed that way without it coming on all morning. Nice and comfy. Around 2 I started to feel a little warm, so I dropped the temp to 71 and it came on just for a few minutes before everything was cool and dry again. It came on a few more times in the afternoon. At 6 it automatically went back to 72. The house is very comfy right now. It hasn't come on all evening. I am very pleased.

Of course the real test will be this summer.

I can't wait to start buying PINK! Zoey is due around September 12 so I will have plenty of time to pick out the perfect PINK.

 

[Angelrose]

The ac is working great and the plumber fixed the leak. Thank goodness that's all done. Chuck came over yesterday and put all the ceiling tiles back in the basement and started to take apart the work bench he wants to take home. We went to a lawyer to get my will made. I can't wait until that is done too. Chuck and Karen are getting theirs done too.

Karen and baby Zoey are doing well. Jesse is going to gymnastics and loves it. Of course, what little boy doesn't enjoy jumping around?

I had a nice day today. We have an historic town close by called Smithville. This weekend they are having a Mayfest. All kinds of hobby booths are set up and the regular shopkeepers at Smithville have a sidewalk sale. There are many food booth to choose from. One of the shops had their Vera Bradley on sale for 40% off. I got a couple of bags. I also bought a beaded keychain from another vendor. It was getting a bit warm for me to walk anymore so I headed home.

It was good to get out and laugh a bit. I remember how much Ron loved to see all the crafts. I think I may go back tomorrow just to get something to eat. I do love the Gyros and the funnel cake. So healthful!

 

[minniecarousel]

That sounds like a great day. And glad to hear that all is OK with your AC. We haven't even had ours on yet. We get 90 - 100 degree weather in the summer, but we're having an unusual Spring. We rarely get rain this time of year, but we have and are supposed to get more on Monday.

So glad to hear that you'll be adding a granddaughter to the family! Can't wait to hear stories about Jesse as a big brother.