I am very thankful that we finally have spring. The forsythia bloomed a wall of yellow next to the neighbor's driveway. The weeping cherry was quite pretentious with lots of light pink flowers, now the pink dogwood is showing off with a darker pink, and the red bud trees really outdid themselves this year. The PJM's and creeping phlox are in full bloom and the lilies of the valley and lilacs are just starting to flower.
The grass is greening nicely with all the rain we've had. In fact, there are still many puddles in the yard. It's a good thing Andy mowed the lawn before all that rain because he wouldn't be able to do it now. We got so much rain in that 2 day storm that it looked like our house was surrounded by a moat. And we had, and still have, little rivers in our basement running toward the drains and sump pump. Another funny thing about all the water around our house was that the neighbor's ducks were swimming in our back yard.
We had 4 doctor appointments in the last 2 weeks. Andy saw his neuropsychologist who prescribed another medication for him to take, as well as adding a patch. The doctor said it "might" help with memory. He also saw his urologist and that visit went well. He seems to be much better as a result of the surgery he had last June. The other 2 doctor visits were for me. I had a consultation with an internist for a colonoscopy my doctor wants me to have. (Ugh!) And I also had an eye doctor appointment. Because of so much family history of glaucoma, my ophthalmologist is trying to be very vigilant. She says that so far, I have very healthy eyes, optic nerve, etc. but to be on the safe side, she wants me to have a special test at a different office. That has been scheduled for another time. This coming Tuesday, Andy has another appointment with the psychiatrist. How would all these doctors make a living if it weren't for the 2 of us???
It has been difficult to know how to answer people who ask how we're doing. I appreciate everyone's concern, but there really is no answer, except maybe: "some days are good, some days are bad." I was thinking Andy was doing pretty well physically. He was exercising with me and trying to walk more. But in the last week or so, he hasn't been doing as well in that area. He is often tired and doesn't seem to have much energy. He tries to keep busy and not just "veg out." I attempt to think up projects for him to do. Last Tuesday, he spent the whole day in his workshop cleaning up his tools and getting them ready to sell. I think he really enjoyed that - working with his tools. A couple of weeks ago, he was helping with yard work. Then today, he removed the canvas from the swing set. It was getting quite ragged. I asked him if he thought he could design and figure out materials he might need to construct a roof for the swing set. He thought he could but that remains to be seen.
At dinner tonight, he told me he rarely knows what day it is. I told him I didn't mind if he asked me, I'd tell him if he needed to know. His memory doesn't seem to be very good, I'm sorry to say, at least not the short term memory.
One thing that I am really enjoying about his condition is that we are spending lots of time together. He always goes with me on my errands now. If I'm making a number of stops, he'll take along a magazine or his audible book and stay in the car. But if I'm grocery shopping, he will go in with me and push the cart while I read my list and get what we need. Sometimes he'll pack the groceries in the bags at the check out line - if he thinks about it. I really appreciate having his muscles to bring in the groceries when we get back home.
I have been reading another book to keep my thoughts from going too far in the wrong direction. This one is by Brennan Manning, Abba's Child.
I need to digest what I'm reading a little more before I review it. Suffice it to say, it is a great blessing to belong to a Father who loves me unconditionally. And His divine power has given me everything I need for life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3). This verse is always such a comfort to me. A paragraph of what I just finished reading: "Were we forced to rely on our own shabby resources we would be pitiful people indeed. But the awareness of Christ's present risenness persuades us that we are buoyed up and carried on by a life greater than our own. Hope means that in Christ, by entrusting ourselves to Him, we can courageously face evil, accept our own need for further conversion, the lovelessness of others, and the whole legacy of sin in the world around us and in our own heritage. We can then face death just as we can face life and the mammoth task before us, which Paul described as 'putting to death our selfish desires'."
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