Happy Birthday Otto

Today was a great day, for a lot of reasons, but mostly because I thought today would never come. Three weeks ago I visited my grandfather in the ICU- he had fallen and suffered cracked ribs, a nicked artery, internal bleeding and a collapsed lung. Tomorrow is Otto’s 90th birthday and today we celebrated! I thought I had said my last goodbye. How could I underestimate a man who was on the front lines of WWII and came home? He has a fighting spirit. Otto is not home; he’s in a rehab center (don’t call it a nursing home- the goal is for him to go home in 100 days or less). He’s doing remarkable well. Here are a few highlights from our day…

Lien Mai and Lily checking out the view...



Otto and Lily playing a game...

Honey and Otto, Me and the girls...

Sherry, Tack, Hal, Alvin, my Dad, Otto and Honey...

Me: "Otto, doesn't Honey look pretty today?"

Otto: "Beautiful."

Me: "You should give her a kiss."

Otto: (flashed me this smile...)

Otto and his siblings: Hilmer, mickey, Tack, and Margaret (turning 95 this year). Guss and Leo didn't make it to the party.

Lien found a great tree outside...perfect for climbing. I had to get a few shots.

My Favorite...

Back in Ft Worth

"I don't want to go to school. I don't want to go to school. Mommy NO AIRPLANE!!!"

This is the phrase Mai was crying as she got in the car yesterday. She's figured it out. If Daddy s driving Mommy's car, Mommy is going on the airplane.

Web cam at night is helpful, but I still hate leaving one week a month. It's only for a year...that's what I keep telling myself. Two years from now my monthly trips will be a distant memory.

My car knows the way to the airport. I usually go to the airport once or twice a year, usually to pick someone else up. After three trips in two months, my car knows te way. I realized I no longer have to look for the airport exit, or terminal exit, or what lane to get in to go into the parking garage. My car just knows the way.

Adam at the front desk already knows me by name.

April continues

I will get Easter photos updated sooner or later. He’s an update…

• Add 2 more birthday parties to the April agenda.
• Mai woke up at 4:00 am this morning with fever. It’s strep…again! We now have an appointment with the ENT to get her tonsils removed.
• My grandfather is out of the ICU and in a nursing home. He is sitting up and eating solid food…baby steps, it’s a beginning. Hopefully this is a trend and he’ll enjoy his 90th birthday this month.
• We had a very quiet Easter: church with my parents and lunch at Pappadeaux. Then Mai woke up in a coughing fit and threw up, and the fun began (hence the fever at 4 am).
• Oh, and Lien stuck a wad of paper towel in her nose today at school and got it stuck.

Life is never boring.

“Busy month” is an understatement

This is my April…

I just got back from a week in Ft. Worth. I’m home for two weeks, and then I go back to Ft. Worth for a week. In the meantime I have:

• 4 kids’ birthday parties to attend,
• a two-day training seminar,
• three egg hunts,
• Easter Sunday,
• a doctor appointment,
• a friend coming to town,
• a HOA board meeting,
• hosting a luncheon at work,
• Mai’s REAL 4th birthday (at least we already had the party, but I have to send muffins, juice and a poster to school),
• work about to explode with projects from the stimulus package
  
  And none of that matters compared with my grandfather being in ICU with cracked ribs, internal bleeding and only a 50% chance of living to see his 90th birthday on April 27th
  
  I really don’t know if I should laugh or cry…but I’ll make it. If you don't hear from me for a while, you'll know why.

I love Texas

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Texas? I love it particularly in spring...

Every year we go to Washington on the Brazos State Park to take photos in the fields of Bluebonnets.

Lien...

Lily...

and Mai (yes, she is wearing Mittens- she would not take them off)...

When you exit the beautiful fields, you follow a winding trail through the woods to get back to the park....

Random stuff

I'm in my hotel in Ft Worth, for the first of two week-long trips this month. I want to be home, I miss my hubby and girls, but don't want to complain about it because my husband is home alone holding down the fort.

I am NOT in the Roach motel this month. I have booked the Embassy Suites for the rest of the year! I feel like I'm at the Ritz- little shampoo in the bathroom, free breakfast buffet, and a hot tub. This is a good as it gets...when I have to be away.

We went on our yearly trip to Washington on the Brazos State Park last weekend. I think it's the best place to see a miraculous wonder of God's creation- the Bluebonnet. I'll post pictures when I get back home and I'm on my own computer- no photos on the laptop. The north can keep their fall leaves, DC can keep their Cherry Blossoms. If there is no other reason to live in Texas, it's the Bluebonnet in spring.

Mai might need her tonsils out. Large tonsils can cause sleep apnea in kids, and poor sleep can lead to crankiness and whining...and Mai is the queen of whining. Remove the tonsils, cut down the whining? Ah, if only it were that simple. I'll keep you posted.

I'm going to get chips and salsa at the manager happy hour reception.