I was doing some FAA work and was talking to Tony about it when I could hear my mom and Kimiko at the front door. The girls whipped around me and almost spun me about like a top in their haste to greet them. They fussed over the girls and right on their heels was Rigby. Everyone came in and we all got treats. After I did my work and sent it off then I made coffee and we had a mini breakfast. (Yes, I did some work as the FAA needed some information for a meeting and I am the Program Manager and needed to update them)
We all sat around in the living room and chatted and Kimiko noticed the difference since last time she saw me. I have gone from them making me coffee to me making them coffee. But my coffee making skills are not the best, either it is too weak or too strong. Jeff is the coffee maker in the house. He also barbeques as the one time when we were dating, I was the chef at the BBQ grill. I had hot red coals and then put the chicken on the grill in which the chicken caught on fire. We had charred chicken on the outside and raw chicken on the inside. I think we finished cooking it in the microwave but I don’t remember. Ever since them, Jeff has grilled and his meals are superb. He ever grills the Thanksgiving Turkey on the grill.
We went and did our morning walk to the barn. Tess raced around and found a ball and made sure that mom or Kimiko tossed it for her. The sheep were ecstatic and they raced to the barn for their bread. I had a good time watching them feeding the animals. Mom and Kimiko were having the time of their lives. My mother, the city girl, now has a piece of farm girl in her. Her love for the animals is evident in her actions from spoiling the girls to feeding the sheep. Kimiko is the same in her love for the animals. She has five cats that she rescued and dotes on.
The walks to the barn are not a walk for me anymore but more of a walk of family and healing. You can heal physically but you also have to heal emotionally too.
I look forward to having my mom and Kimiko visit. You are close to your parents when you are a child and then you grow up and leave. You see your parents for special occasions and off and on as you lead your own life. Soon your parents are old, your children are grown and you are left behind. Time rushes by and you wish you had spent more time with your parents.
I am glad that I had the surgery. Not only to fix my heart but to be able to spend time with my brother and mom. We had the talks that you keep putting off because you think you will have time later to tell them. Such as telling someone you love them, laughing at the childhood stories and little things. My brother calls each day and we have long talks, first to update him on my progress and if he doesn’t think I am doing enough he will lecture me. Then off to talk about other items in life. We have gotten closer and we haven’t been this close in years. We got close when he was in his terrible car accident and this has brought us closer.
My mom is truly an angel. I am so blessed to have her. She is compassionate, loving and the “best mom” in the world. My brother and I are very protective of her. My mom is a very traditional Japanese lady from Tokyo. Japanese are taught not to show their feelings and have an unemotional face. She has come a long way since then.
After lunch we had sushi. Kimiko brought it and we also had Japanese Shrimp Salad. The girls were sure they needed some sushi but that got voted down. By now, you should know that the girls got more treats. They have learned if they sit nice and show their pitiful eyes that they will be amply rewarded.
One example is when mom and Kimiko feed the bread to the sheep. They make sure the girls get a piece now but if you add up 5 pieces of bread, numerous dog biscuits and leftovers from lunch then you can see why the girls think my mom and Kimiko walk on water!! Tess and Nan also got my hotdog that I had made for me for breakfast. I had cooked it and put it in a bun and then left the kitchen to send my report to work. Mom saw it and decided it was for the girls so when I came into the kitchen to eat it. My mom told me she fed it to the dogs.
Am I going to tell my mom that she can’t spoil the girls? No way!! I did that once and I got the lecture. Believe me; getting the “Japanese Mom Lecture” is not what you want to have a second time. So I let my mom spoil the dogs as well as me. She did teach Nan how to sit and take food gently from her hand,
We went for another walk after lunch. We went to the mailbox to get the mail. Bad move on my part. It was a sunny day and the dogs raced around us. I showed my mom and Kimiko the bee hives that are on the corner of the upper pasture. The walk is over ¼ mile round trip.
We got home and they picked tomatoes and the string beans from the garden before they left to try to beat traffic. I went down to the barn and let the other dogs out and we all had fun. Kael was the only dog that was able to take the ball away from Tess. She will let her pups grab the ball from her and get away with mayhem. But if another dog does that, they will get rolled and feel the jaws of death from Tess. Then that particular dog never attempts to do that folly again.
Tess would be proudly be carrying the ball to me. Kael would swoop in from the side and rip it out of her mouth and cart it off. Tess would follow him until he would drop it and she would pick it up and bring it to me. I remember when she had her last litter and she was outside going potty when Dan ran up to her. Dan is the pup from her second litter and was almost three years old. He ran up to her and saw she was heavy with milk and started to nurse. She stood there and let him. Audrey called him off as he was going to town on nursing. We were amazed. (He didn’t get very far as Audrey was quick to call him off)
It was late afternoon when I went into the house. My chest really started to hurt bad so I took ½ perco. The mailbox walk was too far and I really began to feel it. It has been a long time since I hurt that much. Finally I took a long nap to see if that would help. The girls cuddled next to me and they knew that I was in pain as they were extra gentle. Nan licked my arms and legs and any part of my lower body that was exposed. Tess did the cleaning of my face and each time I would move in pain, she would give me a soft kiss; I fell into a deep sleep.
I woke up and still hurt. We had dinner and I gladly took my nightly pain pill. It took the edge off but I still had some pain in my chest. I will not be doing the mailbox walk for along time. It doesn’t seem like it is that far but it is. Also I was pretty active over the weekend and that probably didn’t help.
Today I woke up and my chest was hurting but not as bad. We went to the Cardiologist and we got great news. I do not have to have another surgery. The hole is at 1.7 ratio and that is acceptable (see prior blog for more info on the visit). Jeff took me and then went to work. It was nice of him as there was no way I was able to drive. My chest hurt when we drove over bumps. I forgot how much pain I could have in my chest since it has been a while since I had that much pain. I can’t believe how much I hurt.
Needless to say, I didn’t do much today. I did my feeding chores and just puttered about. I did talk to my hay guy and the hay was beaten down by the last two weeks of rain and had gone to seed. So we will not be haying my field. I did manage to talk to him about mowing the field down and will pay him for that. That way, we can practice on the field and do big outruns. He will try to do it this weekend. Next year, we will plan on getting two cutting from the hay field.
I had ice cream and my nightly meds. Finally my chest didn’t hurt so much. Now at 11:30 p.m., I am not in pain. It still hurts and is tender but at least it doesn’t hurt so badly. I guess I had a little setback but now I know the mailbox walk is off limits.
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