Texas Trip 2009

2010-01-03T14:01:00.000-08:00

I went to Texas to see my Momma & Daddy on Decmeber 1st, 2009. Now, keep in mind that this vacation was planned in January of 2009, so I'd had 11 months to plan for this trip. I flew into Amarillo airport on December 1st - and got in at about 4:45 p.m. The planes had been delayed out of Dallas because of the ice, so I was just a bit later than my original landing time of 4:30 p.m.

I'd updated my Facebook status in Dallas to say, "Flying into Amarillo from Dallas in 1 hour 15 minutes!" When I go off the plane in Amarillo, I checked my texts and was excited to see one from my friend Joe Cannon (graduated with me in 1995, is now a highway patrol in the Amarillo area) asking, "Do you think your dad would mind if I met you at the airport to say hi?" I was so excited!!!! I got to the gate and there he was. He walked me to baggage claim where my Daddy and Brie (my niece) waited for me. I was so excited to see everyone!!! Joe and Daddy talked "Marine Speak" while we waited for my bag - and off we headed to Fritch to see the rest of the family.

I hadn't seen my sister Kim in about five years - and she had arranged to drive up to visit me while I was in town. (She lives in Blue Ridge, Texas - south of Dallas - so it is an 8 hour drive she made to come visit me!) When I got to the house my Momma, my grandma (we call her MaMok), my uncle Brad (Daddy's brother), and Kim waited with dinner. We had SO much food - and it was so wonderful to be home again!!!

Kim brought me an adorable Christmas ornament, as she does every year, with our names on it (she does this every year and I love her to pieces for it!). We got to go shopping during the week - watch some TV - visit with Uncle Brad and MaMok . . . really awesome family time that week.

While I was there, my dad admitted he'd been having a lot of headaches since his bout with the flu. My Daddy never gets sick - not "throwing up your guts" kinda sick. He even told me while he had the flu, "This is the first time I've thrown up since 1982!" For him to get the headaches for weeks after the flu, we'd begun getting concerned. Jaime, my baby sister, is now nursing and had recommended he get an MRI done. She pointed out that he had been shaking his head a LOT over the past few years, that he had the persisting headaches for some time, and that the doctor she worked for worried about his memory loss and repetitive mannerisms. We managed to talk him into going in for the MRI when he found out Jaime had already scheduled (and paid for) the test.

He went in for the MRI, and the MRI tech did not want him to leave. When Daddy insisted, the MRI tech called my sister and told her that he was leaving against medical advice. She told him to go to the emergency room, that the neurologist would meet him there. Daddy said he was hungry and that he wanted to go to Furr's. Jaime was livid - she was mad he wanted Furr's instead of seeing the situation as important, but went ahead and met us at the ER after lunch.

When we got to Baptist St. Anthony's hospital, they scheduled a CT scan. When Daddy got back from that test they told him it would be 1/2 hour before the neurologist came in. 7 minutes later the Neurologist assistant came in and asked, "How are you , Mr. Waits?" Daddy said, "Fine". The doc said, "Well, you look better than your Xray! They scheduled his surgery for 3 p.m. It turns out, Daddy had a blood mass pushing against his brain. It was an old mass, Daddy thinks it is from a time he got attacked by a fellow solder outside of a bar. (They got haddock blocks and beat my dad upside the head with them." The doctor said that had this mass suffered a blow he could have wound up a vegetable or he could be killed. We were certainly glad he had gone in for the MRI when he did!

They went in and shaved 1/2 of his head. They drilled two holes and inserted tubes to pull out the fluid caused from the bleed. After the surgery the doctors came out and told us that was awake and alert.

Daddy was put in the neurological ICU unit on Friday night December 4th. December 5th, he was still in ICU but he had visitors - family and friends alike!

On Sunday morning I went to visit him before I flew back to Oregon. Daddy was alert, talking normally and concisely, and was eating and drinking normally.

Sunday afternoon I got a call from my brother just as my flight landed in Portland. He had come up from Austin to see Daddy, and said they had upgraded him to a private room.

I called on Monday 1/7th and they had already released him. He was home and back to normal.
On Tuesday 1/8 he was at the coffee shop showing off his battle scars to his buddies!

Daddy & Momma had recently acquired a new dog - Sassy. She is 1/2 Yorkie and 1/2 Maltese. Such a pretty dog, though!!! Daddy was beside himself with worry for his baby . . .

Daddy is doing great now! No pain at all. :) I'm just so glad I was there when all of it happened. If I hadn't been, I'd have been up here in Oregon freaking out!!!

2009 in the Lukins' Household

2010-01-01T17:19:00.000-08:00

It was a year of changes. Some were good. Some were bad. Some changes taught lessons while others simply left scars. Those are the ones that are best left alone and undisclosed. We began the year with one goal - to make new friends. Toby and I found love on the Internet, and we decided that the Internet might be the best place for us to start our search. We've ended the year by making some really amazing acquaintances. I, personally, have met a couple of folks that I really wish I'd never started speaking to in the first place! (Live and learn, man!) Nevertheless, our phones have never seen so many text messages!!! The girls have grown. They have changed.

Jordin is now 16 and anxious to get her permit. She is involved heavily in band. She made Drum Major and is spending more time with friends than she is with us. It is disheartening. Teenagers suck. We also remember, however, how at 16 we wanted little to do with our parents and everything to do with the opposite sex. While she isn't disclosing a boyfriend, we suspect there is one. *Gag* We're proud of her. Her grades rock and she is a good kid. We just like to complain about her lack of communication. :) (LOVE YOU JO!)
Krystal is now 13, has a boyfriend (*GAG*) and is doing GREAT in school. She has a best friend that we really like (Ashley) and she is just a really awesome kiddo.
Katie is 9, and is driving us insane! (*Giggle*) Katie has her own sense of style. She will wear a skirt, pants, costume jewelry, two headbands, and purple lip gloss . . . then proudly announce she's ready to go! Thank God she is still into the "little girl" things - and she is NOT interested in boys. (Yet. *Gag*)

Toby was working for Martin Bros. Sign Company out of Salem up until the spring of this year. The company was sold to Meyer Sign Co. out of Tigard. Toby was laid off in June and began working for Ramsey Sign Co. out of Portland in July. He is still there and is enjoying his job.

I've now been at WOW for 4 years, 1 month, 2 weeks, and 2 days

September 16th we were forced to put Rachel, our beloved Beagle, down. She'd been having seizures that were debilitating her. She was in pain, she was not keeping fluids down, and it was her time to go. It broke our hearts. Okay, lemme rephrase that, it broke MY heart. I've never put a pet to sleep before. I lay her on the table at the vet and pet her, talked to her, the whole time the fluid went into her veins. As she fell asleep, I told her how much I loved her. We buried her in our backyard beneath the cherry tree. I still miss her. I still think I see her out of the corner of my eye from time to time. I think the hardest part of her passing was the fact that I didn't have her soft snores to fall asleep to every night. The silence made it hard to sleep for awhile. Roscoe was bereft for a couple of days, but is now doing much better with her absence.

My father went through something pretty serious in December, but I want to do a separate blog on that . . . more to come!

The Lukins Life

Texas Trip 2009

2009 in the Lukins' Household