The End of the 'Vette

Charlie wrecked the corvette last Sunday night and pretty much wrecked himself in the process. He was in an induced coma from Sunday to Wednesday evening to support his lungs. The kidneys were damaged, but have recovered nicely and he is breathing and coughing on his own.

Now that the organ systems are working satisfactorily, they are starting on the bones. He has a fractured pelvis, fractured ribs, and a C-2 cervical fracture. He is going to get a halo brace on Monday so that should be fun.

He is a fairly good patient, but I had to run some interference this afternoon when the nurse insisted that he HAD to lay on his right side for 2 hours. That is the side with the most pelvic damage and he does not tolerate that position at all. He told me she was a bitch and didn't know how to do her job. I thought she was a little over zealous and could have compromised, but she wouldn't. But I supported her and calmed him down. Then she gave him extra medicine and he was totally snowed until around 7 this evening. After insisting about the 2 hours on the right side, she left him on his back for over three hours and I had to go ask her about turning him. The night nurse is much more reasonable and Charlie is awake has been able to chat. Even called Chuck to ask about the house and farm.

I want to be able to remember the funny things he has said, so I guess this is a good place to record them. When he was first off the vent and beginning to wake up I spent the whole night, Wednesday, telling him what happened. He would ask, "What happened?" Answer: "You were in a wreck""Where was I?" Answer: "You had taken David home and were coming across 291 to go home." "What was I in?" Answer: "The "Vette." He would digest this, then doze off. In 10 to 15 minutes we would start over. Sometimes the questions varied. "How bad was the car damaged?" Answer: "Worse than you were." Chuck had a better answer: "We'll probably need to get a new one."

Thursday I went home when Chuck arrived at the hospital so I could get some sleep. I slept until 4 PM, then went back to the hospital. He had digested the information somewhat, but still needed reminders about where he was and what had happened. He asked me during the night Thursday night, 'What happened?" I asked him, "What do you think happened?" His answer: "I acted like a fool." (Pretty good answer).

Today he is coming to terms with how badly he is injured. At one point he looked at me and said, "I'm pretty fucked up, aren't I?" I replied, "You sure are, but the good news is there is nothing that can't heal." When I asked him if he was scared he said, "I wasn't, but I am starting to be now that I know how much damage I did."

During the night last night he said, "I think God is testing me." I told him, "No, God isn't testing you. God wrapped his arms tightly around you to protect you, or you wouldn't be here right now.

Baby, it's COLD outside!

I am home this week. I have a four day Mock Survey at one of my favorite facilities here in Kansas City. I gave some thought to having a different consultant do the survey to provide 'different eyes', but decided that I didn't want to fore go the chance to be at home an entire week!

This has been a very cold week. Yesterday I headed out about 6 AM as I wanted to arrive in time to observe the early morning activities. I leave from a heated garage and when I got out of the car at the facility was amazed at how very COLD it was as I walked from the parking lot to the door.

I finished up around 3:30 and went to pick Griffin up at day care. It was his special day to stay with Grandma. I planned to take him to Wal-Mart to buy a new train for Grandma's house, but I was so cold by the time I had him buckled in that I decided he had enough trains! We went straight home. Griffin is such fun. He plays with his trains and watches Thomas movies. He loves to get the Play Dough out and make his trains get 'stuck'. After his bath we worked two puzzles several times. I was amazed at his concentration and ability to match the colors and pieces.

SO..... This morning I got up around 6:30 and went downstairs with Bouley. He was complaining and wanting food. I didn't have a can of cat food in the kitchen, so went to the garage to get a can. I opened the door to the garage and immediately realized the garage door had been open all night. The good news is that is wasn't my fault. Charlie had arrived around 8 and came in through the garage with groceries. HE didn't close the door.

The problem became apparent when the toilet didn't flush. When I checked the tank was empty. The water to the tub didn't flow. The pipes were frozen. Charlie fired up a space heater in the garage and we left the door to the house open in an effort to thaw the pipes. The bathroom sink was not frozen, so I turned the hot water on thinking that would help thaw adjacent pipes.

THEN, Charlie called out to ask how to turn off the water to the house. Why? A pipe was burst in the garage and water was pouring ( and I do mean POURING) into the garage. We found the shut off valve in the basement and successfully avoided any water damage to possessions.

As we figured all of this out Charlie was pretty calm and collected, but became more agitated as time transpired. The 'Thomas' music Griffin was listening too started to be a bit much. I moved Griffin's movie to a different room while Charlie endeavored to find a plumber.

I was just happy that I had washed up prior to needing to shut the water off, however, I had not brushed my teeth. HMMMM. I went to the garage to get a bottle of water and discovered they were frozen solid. No tooth water there. I would brush my teeth at Hillary's when I took Griffin home. When I buckled Griffin in I noticed a bottle of water 2/3 full that was not frozen, so I was able to brush my teeth.

Charlie found a plumber and I told him how happy I was that I was going to work and he was staying here to deal with the mess! The plumber actually arrived within the 30 minutes that was advertised. The pipe was fixed before noon and Charlie is a few dollars poorer.

It's supposed to get warmer. I'm headed to Florida on Sunday.

Great Hotel

This year we are at the Mandalay Bay for the Polaris Annual Meeting. Our rooms are in THE Hotel tower and are wonderful suites.


My living room, where I spent yesterday evening catching up on some reports. Since I don't gamble, I have a great time chilling in the surroundings.

Another view of the Living Room.

The closet/TV wall of the bedroom. I ended up with two Queen beds instead of a King, but I wanted to check in early and that was the only type of room clean. Fine with me. I can only sleep in so much space anyway and the second bed is great space to dump stuff.

I actually had two bathrooms. This one which also has a great big tub and a glass shower stall , and a second 1/2 bath off the living room.

I will be packing up in a few minutes and getting ready to head back to Kansas City. It's always a long week here when you spend all day in meetings. I haven't been outside since I got here!

Dessert

Since Molly and Hillary have shown us such healthy food, I decided to post the very pretty desserts I have had this week. Unfortunately, I didn't get this bright idea until I had eaten the first two.


This was a mint/orea lilttle goodie on a shortbread cookie. The fancy diamond shaped topping was dark chocolate.

This was a very pretty and tasty creme brulee with fresh fruit and whipped cream and a chocolate curl.