"Lovely" Weather and Jerry Update

Good Heavens!  Jerry and I woke up this morning to weather so warm outside, I had to turn the air conditioner on.  I was outside in a short sleeve, thin knit tee.  I was planning to have a very long swinging session today on the patio,
BUT NOOOOOOOOOOO!

Our daughter and Phylly both sent me messages telling me that the weather was going to get awful starting tomorrow and last for a week.  Since we were in the wrong town for Jerry's next surgery -- installation of the Mediport and staple removal -- we immediately started packing up AGAIN and loading the car.  In Oklahoma, you do not want to travel when the roads are icy.  Even if YOU are capable of driving in a blizzard on top of ice, most people who live here AREN'T.

My mother, for instance, who grew up in Boston, MA never gave a second thought to what the roads were like.  She could drive in any conditions.  My father grew up in Ohio and he wasn't afraid of any road condition either, but he also thought he was a Race Car Driver that somehow ended up being a Draftsman for Motorola, and he drove fast and carelessly.

He was taking me to school one day when I was a Senior in High School here in Oklahoma City.  I don't know how my two sisters got to school, but for some reason, I was going with him.  He was driving too fast, and I was TERRIFIED and kept begging him to slow down.  He just told me to be quiet.  I doubt that we had any seat belts, and Daddy wouldn't have worn one if the car did have them.  We were driving down Grove which was a two-lane road with fields and fence on one side, and homes on WOODED lots on the other side.

Did you get they were "WOODED" lots?

I was holding on to the dash in front of me for dear life!  Daddy acted like it was a beautiful sunny day outside, and was driving way too fast!

All of a sudden, Daddy lost control of the car and we started going around and around and around in circles.  As we went around in the first circle, we went OFF the road and into somebody's front yard.  As Mother always said, Daddy MUST have been a really good driver in spite of the speed because as we circled around and around, Daddy somehow got the car to circle AROUND and BETWEEN the trees.  Tree after tree went flying by the window, and I was absolutely TERRIFIED!  Daddy acted like it happened every day, and just kept going.  SOMEHOW, he got back on the road, and we continued on to the High School going too fast.

I decided RIGHT THEN AND THERE that I was NEVER, EVER getting in a car with him again, but the fact that I was 17 and he was my father kept that from happening.  In my house, the kids did WHAT they were told -- WHEN they were told -- and HOW they were told.  You didn't talk back or ask why.  You just did it.  So, being more frightened of my father, than I was of the icy roads, I did have to take another ride with him after that.  It was even more icy and it was at night.  It's a wonder I didn't have a nervous breakdown!

And WHAT was my point?????????????

Oh, yeah.

We hurried back to our other house in Edmond, and that is where I am typing this post to you right now.  It is much colder up here -- 150 miles North -- than it was at our other house this morning, but it may be colder there too by now.

Jerry and I stepped out of the car in our summery tees, and we about got frostbite before grabbing a coat.  That's Oklahoma weather though.





So HOW is Jerry doing by now???

He is doing WAY TOO GOOD, if you ask me.  He is back at his desk on the computer early in the morning and back on it in the evening as soon as dinner is done.

This morning, I asked him to please help me carry the ice chest -- him on one side and me on the other -- and he informed me it wasn't even heavy and he could just carry it himself.  I informed him in my OUTDOOR voice that I was the one who filled it up, and I was the one who knew how heavy it was, and why couldn't he just HELP ME and carry his half.  He stopped complaining and carried his half.

A few minutes later, he carried his briefcase (also known by the employees as"the black hole") out to the car.  That thing weighs 50 pounds, at least.  What could I do?  Nothing.  Thank goodness staples didn't start flying off his belly into the grass!  He also has a large cut on his arm from having a skin cancer cut out yesterday.  

I was RIGHT THERE when the doctor told him it would be a long time -- maybe 8 weeks -- before he could do any heavy lifting.

THANK GOODNESS I was there to hear it because Jerry, obviously, was not listening!

And BELIEVE ME, I am NOT one who lifts heavy objects because anything over 10 pounds causes my lower back to crunch and get very painful.  BUT, I will do all the lifting SOMEHOW when the doctor has told him he can't do it.

Last trip, I was putting things on my desk chair and rolling them out to the car.  Jerry was barely lifting himself at that point.

More waiting.  One week to go before the Mediport gets put in.  Then 4 days.  Then Chemo.  Jerry is dreading it, but I don't think it will be as bad as he thinks.

Hugs, Joy