Bonsai!!!

When Kris and my granddaughters visited Lomie and me over Christmas break in December, 2010, Kris and I tried to make a bonsai tree.  We looked around several places trying to find a shrub to trim up, but didn't have any luck.  Must be a Florida thing.  Kris ended up buying a very small Norfolk Pine at Walgreen's that was (poorly) decorated as a Christmas tree, and she said we'd try that.

We pruned and fussed on it, but it didn't look too much like a traditional bonsai.  Kris said they generally have three primary branches.  That Norfolk Pine just had it's main trunk and radiating branches...no forks.

I kept it in my bedroom and it grew, but just into a normal little Norfolk Pine.  I loved it though, and it moved up here to Indiana with me.  It got a bit sunburned in the back seat of the Cadillac during our drive, so I had to carve a little more off of it...and Kris and I think it looks more like a bonsai now than before!

But Kris was determined that I have a "real" bonsai, so she found a Bird's Nest Spruce shrub last weekend at Lowe's.

Before.

She began whacking and whacking at it -- admitting that it hurt her to cut off so much of the living plant, but such is the bonsai way.  As she trimmed, she quickly saw its primary trunk and two other strong branches.  I held the pot and cleaned up all the clippings.

After.

This was what it looked like when Kris got done trimming.  The next day, we took it outside and Kris and I pulled off almost all the soil and she cut off most of the roots, so we could plant it in a very shallow, clay bonsai pot.  First she ran a wire around the base of the trunk to secure it through the bottom of the pot, then we poured in some bonsai base gravel -- it almost looks like sand, but it is much coarser.  On top we added small bonsai pebbles.  And it was done!

BONSAI!!!

And just like I did before, with my Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, also known as the Norfolk Pine bonsai, I am tending to it like a new baby -- making sure it has plenty of water every day and feeding it plant food.  Such radical surgery is very rough on a wee shrub, so careful attention for the next few weeks is critical.

I keep it on the railing of the back deck on the north side of Kris's house.  It is shady, and I like to go out and sit in the swing several times a day.  I have no doubt that can pamper it.  I've been saving rain water and Kris had some evergreen plant food, so it is seems to taking the transformation very well.

I'll keep you posted when we get a new project started!

Home Alone

Kris, Adrian, and Katie got back yesterday afternoon a little after 5:00 from their week at the Hall of Fame National Dance Competition, which was held at the Pheasant Run Resort, just outside of Chicago.  It's nice to have them home again!

Katie and Adrian in front of the media screen.

Katie and Adrian in front of the stage-right graphic.

I am glad I decided to stay here.  Kris and I had talked a week before they left, and we both agreed I was strong enough to stay here by myself if that's what I preferred.  And I did.  Kris had made several meals and froze them for my dinner each day, and I made my own breakfasts and mocha's. 

I enjoyed the peace and quiet, but I admit I missed having the girls here.  My guard dogs were great company, though, and kept me safe. 

Kris said the studio did really well at Nationals...collecting a good number of high awards and placing 4 dances in the final day's "World Series Showdown."  But Kris came back with a stiff back from sitting on banquet chairs for the better part of five days and said it was good I didn't try to go...that I would have been uncomfortable sitting there, even for a short time, plus going back and forth to the competition site and the hotel several times each day.

Katie got a High Gold award for her Lyrical solo, and one of her group dances (Jazz) made it to the showdown on Friday night. Adrian didn't do a solo, but her group dances did very well, too, getting recognized as the best Tap group of the senior (15-17 y.o.) dancers. 

Kris bought a CD with photos of Katie's solo, so I'll put a few on here.  She sure is a natural performer.  Kris said she completed (and nailed!) one move that nobody else at the competition even attempted.  It is a needle (see photo below), followed by a somersault with no hands.  Maybe a dozen girls did the somersault with their hands on the floor to support them as they fall into the somersault, but Katie was the ONLY one there to do it without hand support!  Kris said she got wild applause from the audience.  The best part was that she had always practiced the move WITH hands, but it had been her goal to do it without.  And when she came out to the auditorium after performing, Kris asked her when she decided to try it, and she said "Right then!  I just decided to go for it."  And she did it perfectly!

Katie's final move...a needle, followed by a somersault with no hand support.

As much as I enjoyed my week here last week, I missed Kris making breakfast for me.  She asked me yesterday what I wanted today for breakfast, and I said sausage gravy and biscuits.  Oh boy...it was mmmmmm mmmmmm good!

Stormy Weather

It's been suggested that I make a blog post once a week, so here's this week's update.

Fort Wayne got a BIG storm (but little rain!!!) on Friday afternoon.  Kris and I decided to wait for the storm outside on the back deck swing because Kris said, "I forgot what rain looks like.  You want to go out with me and see the rain when it comes down?"

So we sat and talked for about 5-10 minutes, and Kris kept checking the NOAA Radar on her iPhone to see how close the storm was getting.  We could see it was getting dark to the west, but didn't think too much about it.  Adrian and Katie were kind of worried because a severe thunderstorm warning was in effect for Allen County, but we were not the least bit concerned.  Kris said she almost felt like the weather people were just "crying wolf," because of the severe drought that Indiana has been under all month.

Well, the wolf came charging at us.  One second it was dark and eerily quiet, then -- quick as you could blink -- high winds hit and nearly bent the young trees flat.  Kris has mostly mature oaks and walnut trees in her back yard, and we could see branches starting to fly.  I said, "Let's get the hell back in the house!"  So I got up off the swing, and the wind about carried me away.  Kris got up after me, and she said my eyes were as big as golf balls!  I think hers were, too.  We were both pretty scared and agreed it was the strongest wind either of us had experienced.  All those years in Florida and the threat of hurricanes, and I never saw anything like this!

The next 15 minutes, the wind was fierce.  We could hear branches hitting the roof, and rain was blowing straight west-to-east as it was coming down.  When the storm passed, Kris went outside to inspect things from the front yard, and there were branches and leaves all over, but no damage.

Throughout the greater Fort Wayne area, though, there was lots of damage.  Kris and I took the girls to Crazy Pinz to meet some friends and bowl around 5:00, and we saw some tree damage on our drive there. We dropped them off and drove back home, and we heard on the 6:00 news that a 91 mph wind gust was measured at Fort Wayne International Airport, and that over 118,000 people in the county were without power.  

Downed trees in Fort Wayne

Estimates are that power won't be fully restored until at least Wednesday...as I write this, there are still over 66,000 people without power, and that it will be months before the damage is all cleaned up.

So we sure were lucky not to be hit hard here.  Adrian and Katie have lots of branches to pick up, but it's good for them to have chores.

The girls have their "nationals" dance competition starting next Monday, the 9th, in Chicago.  It goes all week, through Friday, the 13th.  Kris had planned on taking me with her, since when I first got here I was too weak to look after myself, but she came into my room this morning and said, "I have something to ask you, and I want you to think about it for a few days before you give me your answer.  Do you want to go with us to Chicago next week, or do you want to stay here?"  I said, "I don't need to think about it for a few days. I want to stay here!" 

She wouldn't have given me the option if I was the least bit uncertain or lacking strength, but I told her I felt better than I have in 4 months, and she certainly agreed that she thought I was capable of being alone for 6 days.  She's going to prepare some more ready-to-go meals like she did for me over Christmas when they visited me in Florida, so all I'll have to do is pop them in the microwave for my dinner.  I want to make my own breakfasts though.  And there will be plenty of Ensure for the evening.

Another reason Kris thought I'd be OK here alone is that she bought me a cell phone on Monday.  It's one of those Consumer Cellular "simple" phones with big buttons.  There's no contract, and it's just $10/month.  It's made just for nonagenarians like me who don't want internet or text messaging or all that other mess on a phone.  Best of all, it has Kris' phone number programmed as my "emergency number," so all I have to do is click a button fast 3 times on the back of the phone if I want to call her for anything, and there's a lanyard, so I can wear it around my neck.  I have strict orders to wear the phone when I'm out on my daily walks and when Kris is gone on errands or working.

Kris is going to call me around 8:00 every night, and I will e-mail her every day.  And Kerry Ohlwine, Kris's friend who drove to pick us up when our tire blew on the way back from Florida, is staying in town while the dance competition is going on because he's the head groundskeeper at a local golf course and has to work.  His wife, Staci, and his mom are taking their daughter, Katelyn, to Chicago for the dance competition.  Kerry has my phone number, and his number is on my "names" list on my phone now, so he'll be checking in with me and vice versa, too.

If you would like my new cell phone number, just let me know and I will send it to you.

That's about all the exciting news for this week.  Oh, I've gained another pound, so that's 23 so far. And in case you think I'll be lonely while Kris and the girls are in Chicago, think again!  I'll have my two puppy dog best buddies to keep me entertained and watch out for me.

They are 1/2-Chihuahua, 1/2-Pekingese -- Butch and BeiBei.  They are brother and sister and look just alike, but they're from different litters.  BeiBei is 4 and Butch is 3.  It is hard to tell them apart, and sometimes -- I swear -- I think they have ESP, because their behavior is nearly identical, too. 

Guard Dogs -- Butch (left) and BeiBei (right)

Butch (left) and BeiBei (right)

I didn't think I'd like having dogs and cats around when I came here, but these 2 dogs are about the best-natured dogs I've ever seen.  But...ha!!! They get upset when Adrian tries to take them off my lap.  I get a kick out of that!

Living with Kristina

I have told you that I am now living with my daughter, Lola Kristina, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  She and her two daughters, Adrian (who will be 15 on July 3rd) and Kate (who is 13 1/2), are taking very good care of me.  Since I got here on May 27th, I have let 2 notches out on my belt and rest with the snap on my shorts undone.  As I mentioned in my first post after arriving in Indiana, when I was admitted to the hospital, I only weighed 115 pounds.  I weighed today for the time since I've been here, and I can't believe it -- I weigh 137 pounds!!!  Every morning with breakfast, I have two cups of hot mocha, and with dinner I have a cup of hot chai.  Heck, I didn't even know what either one of those drinks were before I moved here!  Now I can't imagine having meals without them!

1021 Perry Woods Cove, Fort Wayne, Indiana -- My new home!

I wanted Kris to tell you a little bit about our day-to-day life here and how I'm fitting in, so she agreed to help me with this blog post.

Kris moved to Fort Wayne in September, 2002, to accept a VP/Marketing position at a bank that was relocating its corporate offices here.  Her housing addition is on the far northwest side of Fort Wayne, in an area that is the city's fastest growing area.  A new hospital was just completed in March about 3 miles from her house...Parkview Regional Medical Center.  It is right off I-69, and when being built, was the United States' largest hospital construction at the time.  It has 9 stories and over 450 beds.  I never want to see one of those beds, but thought it was a good indication that the area where we live is thriving.

After 2 1/2 years at the bank, Kris lost her job, and the timing was just awful...two year's into George W. Bush's second (disastrous) term.  She said it was a very shocking, stressful, and humbling experience -- always being recruited to take a new position -- 12 years at her first bank in Bloomington, 12 years at her next bank in Muncie, then getting sweet-talked into coming to this job in Fort Wayne, only to have the rug pulled out after just getting settled in.

But as the old saying goes, "When one door closes another door will open."  Kris's two daughters had started dancing at a nearby studio -- Steppin' Out Studio of Dance, which is about 2 minutes from her house -- in the fall of 2004 when it first opened. A year after losing her job, she contacted the owner, Beth Berry, and told her she needed to cut back on the number of dance classes the girls were taking for the 2006-07 dance year.  Beth's husband called Kris back and said, "You are not going to pull those girls out of any classes.  We'll work something out."
 

Steppin' Out Studio of Dance

Kris started helping out the office manager, Ashlie, on some registration work.  She immediately noticed how nearly everything was done by hand.  So she began computerizing things.  With the exception of the accounts payable (monthly dance tuition) information, everything else was done with a pencil, paper, and a calculator.  Putting together class schedules, figuring up monthly tuition, sending information about the dance schedules, costume invoices, and all other correspondence...it took tons of paper and endless rolls of stamps.  Kris bartered the girls' tuition that dance season by putting all relevant information on Microsoft Excel for quick invoicing and reports, plus set up e-mail contacts for all the parents and other tasks Beth needed help with.

Within a year, Kris became a paid employee, taking over the office manager position full-time, so Ashlie could begin teaching dance classes at the studio.  Earlier that summer, owner Beth Berry decided to move to Los Angeles with her youngest daughter, Adrienne.  Beth's older daughter, Rachel, was in her senior year there at Chapman University.  She was majoring in film production and broadcast journalism, and during a visit to see Rachel, Adrienne was encouraged by one of Rachel's professors to talk with some talent agents to see about becoming an actor!  She was signed within weeks and, among other shows, has been on Disney (Hannah Montana), Nickelodeon (Victorious), and Fox (Glee). She's also done commercials, music videos, and magazine and catalog modeling.  Before they left for California, Beth told Kris she wouldn't be able to go if she couldn't leave the studio in Kris's good hands.  Beth and Adrienne still live in L.A., but Beth comes back to Fort Wayne 3-4 times each year to make sure everything is going smoothly and to supervise the June recital.

Kris has enjoyed getting to know the other dance parents and seeing the students grow in their love of dance and all that comes with it...poise, confidence, and building friendships.  Her business and marketing background comes in very handy.  Recognizing that an important business development strategy is ongoing information-sharing with the dance parents, she started a monthly newsletter, redesigned and expanded the studio's website, and set up a facebook page.

Two receptionists now work the front office, and Kris has moved to an office on the far-end of the building, so she has the privacy to focus on the business-end of things, handling all the financial operations and pretty-much everything else that's part of the dance studio business that isn't teaching dance.  There are currently 9 teachers, the 2 receptionists, and Kris.

Kris's Office (pictures of her girls each year they have danced,
a small flat-screen TV, and refrigerator for cold drinks)

Kris's Office (desk)

Kris's Office (credenza and Chinese scroll)

Beth, of course, is very much involved from California -- with ongoing phone/e-mail/texting with staff and parents, assigning students to classes, ordering costumes, and overseeing the recital responsibilities.  The studio has almost 400 students, and in only 8 years of operation, is Fort Wayne's largest dance studio.

Before I got here, Kris said it wasn't unusual for her to go to the office around 7:30 in the morning if the girls wanted to be driven to school instead of riding the bus, breaking around 2:00 for lunch, then working until dance classes were finished around 9:30 at night. Working weekends was part of the mix, too, especially when the girls were off doing things with their friends.  As a result, though, Kris's house showed the lack of attention.  When we were driving to Indiana, she told me that she knew I would be disappointed that the house was a mess, but that I would be her inspiration and motivation to get things back in order.  I told her that my military background was helpful to instill the discipline to keep things neat and tidy, and that she just needed to "have a system."  So we've been making progress, day-by-day.  Although Kris doesn't want me to, I've been helping straighten things up, too.  I told her that cleaning is just as good for me as taking a walk, so she quit fussing about it.

As luck would have it, I got here just when school was over for the year, and summer dance activities are somewhat more limited, so Kris has had time to stay with me most of the day, then take the girls to dance Tuesday-Thursday from 5:00-9:00. The studio's recital was the weekend after we got to Indiana.  Kris and the girls had hoped I could go, but I was still much too weak.  If it was held now, I feel sure I would be strong enough to go.

Adrian's Tap (class of 5)

Katie's Lyrical Solo

Adrian had been making breakfast for me most days, but she has had P.E. summer school the past two weeks from 8:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.  She has one more week of that.  So Kris has made breakfast for me, and our main meal is at about 3:00 p.m.  We watch some cable news, alternating between Fox and MSNBC, sitting on the back deck porch swing and talking, doing household chores, picking up Adrian from Carroll High School after P.E., and running other errands. Kris is keeping me busy, I'm continuing to walk every day, and I am very happy to be resuming my blog and re-connecting with friends and family through e-mail. 

This is the living room of Kris's house.  Before she lost her job at the bank, she began collecting antique Chinese furniture, and now each room has 2-3 pieces. Each room also has Chinese paintings or antique scrolls.

And here I am at my computer which is on top of Katie's Chinese desk.  The antique oak bed that Kris had stored in the garage is very comfortable, and with flannel sheets and a comforter, I'm plenty warm, even though the girls like having the AC on.  I just keep the vent off in my room and keep the door closed most of the time.

When Kris and the girls are gone, I usually am in here.  I have a large flat-screen TV to watch and my computer to tinker on, so I'm pretty-well set!

Best Father's Day EVER!

 Father's Day 2012

After all I've been through the past month, I have to say that this would definitely have to be the Best Father's Day EVER!  I know for sure that the decision to move back to Indiana with Kris was the right one.

Fort Wayne is really starting to feel like home now, and I'm feeling stronger every day.  Today "my girls" got me a wonderful Father's Day card and made dinner.  Kris asked me what I wanted, and I said meatloaf.  The rest was a surprise.  They made mashed potatoes and gravy, stir-fried green beans, and a fruit salad with 8 different fruits -- pineapple, peaches, oranges, cherries, blueberries, strawberries, red raspberries, and bananas.  Now I'm stuffed.

Here's what my Father's Day card said:

A good man leaves everyone he meets feeling
a little better than they did before.
He's a pleasure to be around,

an inspiration in good times and bad,

a gift for all seasons.

The things you've done

and the truly good man you are

make you someone very special.

Have a Happy Father's Day!

I did!  Here are some more pictures from today, taken by Kris's friend, Staci Ohlwine.  She and her husband, Kerry, stopped by after church.  They are the friends who rescued us from I-69 south of Fort Wayne after we had our 2nd flat tire of the day. 

Back Home Again in Indiana

I am once again a Hoosier! 

I now live with my daughter, Kris, and my two granddaughters, Adrian and Katie.  Fort Wayne is my new home.  And I have a new e-mail address: rlaughlin2@gmail.com

So how did this all come about?  Well, it is not a pretty story, but I am feeling much better about things now than when this sordid tale began.  My stamina and strength started fading early in 2012, and I got to the point where I had no appetite and no energy for anything but the most simple of chores.   After collapsing on the driveway on May 17th, when taking my trash to the curb, I knew I had to call 911.  So they carted me off to the Hudson Medical Center, and I spent the next five days there.  

After several tests, pokes and prods, I  learned that my pancreas "is shot."  It caused a blockage that didn't permit the common tube from the pancreas and liver to let bile flow, so in a matter of days (before being hospitalized), I became jaundiced. It was a condition nearly impossible to screen for, so earlier diagnosis was really not possible.  By the time jaundice is detected, it is far too late for treatment in nearly all cases.

However, what the docs were able to do for me was to put a stent (plastic tube) in to permit bile to move again, and they told me that it will provide me with relief.  The interesting thing is that I was never in any pain before this.  I was just weak and lost quite a bit of weight.  I only weighed 115 pounds when I was put in the hospital. 

Kris flew to Florida on Sunday, May 20th.  Her girls were still in school, so she had to make arrangements for them to stay with other folks in Fort Wayne while she came to be with me. On Monday, May 21st, she was able to bring me back to my house.  I wasn't jaundiced anymore, but I was still very weak. 

Realizing that I couldn't live alone anymore, I agreed to come back to Indiana with Kris.  It was hard for me to leave Florida -- I truly loved it there -- but I had to do it.  Kris and I had often talked about moving back (after she adopted the girls), but Lomie and I felt Florida was home, spending 26 years there.  Kris had no trouble convincing me that she and my granddaughters were thrilled that she would be kidnappng me back to the Hoosier state.

We met with a Realtor on Wednesday to get the house on the market, and on Thursday, Kris met with a woman who owns a company called "Everything in the House," to take care of selling the furniture and other things we left, plus clearing everything else out of the house.

Kris packed up what we needed to take from my den on Tuesday and part of Wednesday, finished packing things from my bedroom also on Wednesday -- taking mostly summer clothes, but a few long pants and sweaters and a jacket for later.  Lomie's room was pretty much already sorted through, because I spent a lot of time doing that after she passed last August. Thursday and Friday, Kris boxed up a few things in the living room and kitchen.

On Saturday, after loading the last few boxes in my Cadillac Eldorado, we were ready to head north shortly before noon.  Kris said the car looked like the Clampett's from The Beverly Hillbillies.

It was Memorial Day weekend, and Kris had mentioned earlier in the week, when we were deciding when to start the drive to Indiana, that she didn't want to drive through Atlanta on a Friday afternoon before a major holiday.  So I thought, "Why not Thursday?"  But that idea was quickly abandoned when Kris told me there was a lot of stuff she still needed and wanted to go through...photos, old dishes and cookware, crocheted pillowcases and such, and other momentos from her childhood.

Even with the air conditioner running in the car, it couldn't have been hotter driving.  It was 97-98 degrees outside all day.  About 30 miles south of Atlanta, at around 4 p.m., we got backed up on I-75.  We moved only a mile or two in 2 hours, then were detoured west 8 miles (then north) to get back to I-75.  A semi had wrecked at 1 p.m., then caught on fire. 

Throughout the trip, we hit rest areas for most of our "pit stops," but I was still so weak, that walking was a struggle.  Kris steadied me to the door of the men's room and waited until I came back, then walked me back to the car.  The only other times we stopped was to gas up or go to a drive-up for sandwiches and cold drinks.

We continued north for a few hours more on Saturday, and stopped for the night at a motel just south of Chattanooga around 10:30.  Sunday morning, we got back on the road by 8:30.  It was still blistering hot outside.  We made good time until we got near Horse Lake, Kentucky, when the left rear tire blew.  Luckily, Kris was in the right-hand lane and within 30 yards of a rest area.  She called 911, and we were towed about 2 miles to a tire center (owned by the tow driver).  About an hour later, we were back on the road. 

Kris and I had been enjoying our time driving together, and when passing through each state said "Goodbye, Florida...Goodbye, Georgia...Goodbye, Tennessee...Goodbye, Kentucky...HELLO, INDIANA!!!"  We were feeling pretty good and looking forward to being in Fort Wayne before dark.

If bad luck comes in 3's, though, we should have known something else was ahead of us.  And our bad luck #3 was about 40 miles away from Kris's house on the north side of Fort Wayne, when another tire blew -- this time it was the right front tire!  Two blown tires in one day?  Seriously?  Once again, we were fortunate to be in the right-hand lane, and coincidentally, we were -- once again -- about 30 yards from a pull-off, this time it was an abandoned weigh station.  Kris called 911 again to get a tow truck.  We knew the car would need to be towed to Fort Wayne, because we needed to get home.  She also called friends to come pick us up.  State troopers stopped and checked to see if we were alright, and one of them told us that the extreme heat was taking its toll on tires over the weekend.  My tires were less than 18-months old, but I guess since I had only driven mostly to Winn-Dixie every week or so, they were not ready for the long-distance inferno.

When Kris's friends got to the weigh station, we told them about our Sunday ordeal.  The tow truck showed up about 5 minutes later, and we decided to take the car to the Wal-Mart tire center about 3 miles from where Kris lives.  We got to Kris's house about 10:30 that night.  The girls were outside with flashlights and had crepe-paper streamers decorating the outside yard light and front door.

I am occupying what was Katie's bedroom.  While Kris was in Florida with me, she had the girls bring in her oak bed with a 6-foot headboard that was stored in the garage.  Katie's twin bed was moved into Adrian's room, so they are sharing a room now.  I am close to the living room and bathroom.  Kris set up my computer on a desk in my room, and she brought me a two-drawer file cabinet so I can re-organize all my papers.

Adrian has been making breakfast for us quite a bit, and Kris makes lunch and supper.  Every night before I go to bed, I drink an Ensure (the muscle-building varity). My appetite has improved each day and so has my strength and endurance. 

On Thursday morning, May 31st, Kris got a call from the Realtor.  There was a very good cash offer on the house!  5 days on the market and we got a very good cash offer!  Hooray!!!

On Saturday, June 9th, I mentioned to Kris that I thought I needed to spend more time up.  Early on, I had just been getting out of bed to eat in the living room at a little table put in front of the Lazyboy, or go to the bathroom.  She said she had gone to sleep the night before thinking the very same thing!  So I decided to try to walk some outside every day.  Kris walked me down her driveway -- it's sloped a little -- and I walked to the next house's driveway and back.  I have been making 3 or 4 walks a day, plus going to get the mail, ever since.  I take my cane with me, but don't use it unless I need it for balance. My distance gets longer each time.

I plan on making more additions to my blog now...so if you want to check in, the Nonagenarian Non-Sense is now 91 and getting better every day.