Friday, December 17, 2010

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year

Well to say it has been an eventful year would be the understatement of the decade for me.

January started out somewhat calm. I was worried and praying for my Aunt who was battling pneumonia. But Cody was on the mend finally and we were looking forward to our year of racing. We were trying to figure out what projects could get done in the small amount of time we had left before racing season started. We had already decided to wait to put the diesel motor in the motor home as that is a HUGE project and Cody wasn't quiet up to it with his hand yet.

We were enjoying the relative peace. Then Wiskey got sick again and we had her back into the Vet's for another surgery. She had eaten more stuffing and had blocked up her stomach again. (She had done the same thing while we were at our last race of 2009) She came through the surgery fine. But she has become once expensive doggie. Cody suggested we call her "supercharger" because with all the vet bills he could have bought a supercharger for his Camaro!

Then in February I had Traci's annual meeting with her caseworker. I was able to increase my care hours for her to the point we could afford for me to stay home. Cody and I talked and talked and talked about it and we had decided that I would continue working until the end of the year and we would take the time and the extra to pay off bills and put some money into savings for emergencies. It was such a great plan, but it fell apart the very next day. That is when Dad fell down the stairs.
I remember so clearly hearing the crash. I came flying down the stairs to see Dad on his side at the bottom of the stairs. He was trying to stand up. I called 911 and told him that he was going to stay on the floor until the Paramedics got here and told me he was fine. Well he wasn't. He broke 8 ribs, punctured his lung and cracked his pelvis. He spent the next 5 weeks in ICU sedated and hooked up to all sorts of machines.
Cody took over cooking and caring for Traci, as I was working and spending my time at the hospital. I don't really remember much of March. I was meeting with so many Doctors and nurses and caseworkers. It was a very scary time.
I do remember coming home from the hospital one night to bloody kitty prints on my floor. While Cody was cooking dinner, Tiger had hurt himself. So after we couldn't get the bleeding to stop it was off to the ER Vet with the cat.
After months of hospitals and rehab centers and being pulled in 500 different directions Dad came home. I had requested FMLA from work hoping and praying that I could get Dad back on his feet enough so that I could go back to work. That was not to be. It was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make. I mean I loved my job. It was fun and the people I worked with were awesome, and I couldn't even imagine working somewhere else. Not many people can say they loved their job like that. Even on the worst day's I still looked forward to getting up and going into work the next day.
So now I am home and don't really know what to do with myself. Dad has physical therapy, and occupational therapy and doctor appointment and doctor appointment.
We start to settle into a routine and just as we are getting it all worked out, Dad goes back into the hospital with a intestinal blockage. The Dr's are starting to irritate me with their wait and see approach but they finally do surgery to remove some scar tissue. Now we are back to PT and OT and follow up and trying to get Dad back to a healthy weight.
Once we get back to a good spot we take a week long road trip to visit Dad's siblings. We head to Idaho and see Aunt Rosemary and we also saw Dennis (my oldest brother) and my Sis in Love, as well as my Inlaws. Then we head to Elko to see Uncle Jim, (and Kids) Aunt Sharon was in the hospital so we were not able to visit with her. We also missed seeing a couple of cousin's but we were able to see the majority of the family.
We got home and Dad came down with a fever the next day. I took him into the Dr and he had pneumonia. So we battled that for almost a month total, and now we are back to being mostly healthy.

Cody and I were able to race this year. Cody did great going to the finals in 50% of the races he attended!
I of course blew up my engine 1/2 way through the year. I was doing well before that and had even made it to the Semi-Finals!
Cody lost in the final round at the team race in Canada.

I was so proud of him. He had such a great year. He finished 3rd in the points at Madras and he missed 6 events!
We had a blast as usual at the Halloween Classic! I love that race! Then we got home and Cody started in on the diesel motor for the Motor home, and I started getting ready for Thanksgiving. Cody's Mom and Dad flew up for the holiday and although I only had them for a few days we had a great time!
Now we are settling in for the winter and working on getting things done for next year's race season.
With all the changes we have had this year, I am still happy to say that they year was good. It is ending much better than it started.
I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a Blessed New Year.