September '09

September was all about Bobby recuperating from surgery. He couldn't walk very well, so we got him a cane--that helped a lot. He was in quite a bit of pain down his leg--he was wondering where the advantage was in having the surgery in the first place--there were days he could barely get to the kitchen from the bedroom to eat breakfast. As time passed, he began to feel better. He told his doctor he was questioning the wisdom of having the surgery and was told that it would take longer than 3-4 weeks. He was also told that he was progressing well, even though he still had a lot of pain. That was some comfort to him. Not too much happened to me directly. I was just really enjoying not having to get up and go to work every day. I was sewing and cooking a lot. mmm

August '09

August was a wonderful month. I retired; I had visits from Amy and Christy who live far away--including their boys; Calysta and I spent a week in Houston with Amy; we took the train back to Norman from Ft Worth--an adventure! It was also a troubling month. Bobby had surgery on the bulging disc in his lower back; he convalesced at home for several weeks afterward; he had to use a cane to get around for a while--we weren't sure he would ever be able to walk very far without his cane...

July '09

July was a fairly eventful month, mostly for unpleasantness. For Bobby, it was a lower lumbar disc bulging, as we found out--it was encroaching on the spinal column and the resulting pinch in the nerve was sending immense pain down his left leg. He could barely walk. By the end of July, he was unable to complete a day's work, and went to work one day, turned around and came home. He arrived about time for me to leave for my work--the hospital--so I took him to the ER there. By the end of the day, we knew he wouldn't be back at work any time soon. His MRI showed the bulge in the L5 disc, and our family doc referred him to a neurosurgeon. Yikes! Surgery was scheduled for mid-August. I was eager to get retired, and had started really looking forward to two daughters coming (Amy and Christy). They wanted to give me a retirement party and actually having them come was the best part of my month--just thinking about it.

June '09

In June I'm sure I was thinking about my grandfather Ralph Beaman, Flag Day, and the cemetery where he's buried in San Diego overlooking the swan pond. "Gramps" was buried on Flag Day, his favorite holiday. It was in 1963. Scott was born in June 1970, so he would have been 39 last year. Last June I was on the countdown to retirement.

May '09

In May last year, my weight got a little low and it just happened that I was at my doctor's office where I was told that I really should keep my weight above 125. Well, I decided not to follow that exactly, but instead to keep it between 120 and 125--and I have done that. The main thing I remember about May was that I went to Arizona to see Jared and Ragan's graduations. They both looked great in caps/gowns and, in Jared's case the cowl. Mark and Calysta came with me in a rental car. I think I really like that mode of travel. It was a great trip and I enjoyed seeing the Arizona contingent of the family. I was getting "short-timer's" disease at work--it was really hard to concentrate on anything. One thing: in March my boss was fired--they eliminated her position--and from then on, there was little to no stress at work. Not too bad for the last few months! In May, I gave my resignation so they could post my position for replacement. That felt wonderful. I guess all in all, May was pretty good.

April '09

Last year in April our friend died. I was at work when I got the email telling our group of friends that he was gone. It seems that every memory I have somehow has a component of me being at work. April was also the month my younger brother, Jeff was born. I also had a baby (Wendy) in April. So, I guess for me it was a month of comings and goings. I guess it was a pretty eventful month--good and bad--and WARM. I can't wait for warm this year!

March '09

Last year I was thinking about Grammy being gone for a year. It made me remember the loss I felt when she died, not only of my mother, but also of her mother. Losing loved ones is a difficult life event, and one would think that after much experience with it we would get better at it. Not so... In March I hadn't yet learned that the generations would shift by the end of the year...and of course, I had only 5 more months until I would retire! I thought that would be the big news of the year--I didn't yet know I would have a darling Buttercup. In March I was planning to go to Arizona for Jared and Ragan's graduations.

February '09

Last February was all about Nana's diamond. Daddy brought it up to Norman and I had it mounted in a beautiful setting reminiscent of Nana's ring that I first saw as a little girl on her finger. I was six months away from retirement and wondering if the time would ever arrive.

January '09

Well, what I remember most about last January is that I could finally say, "I'm going to retire this year!" It was music to my ears every time I said it--which was fairly often, as I recall. The winter was mild and I felt as though we had dodged the big cold bullet. Although we had some storms and icy roads, they were generally short-lived. As the month ended and the last of the winter storms had passed, I realized that I would never have to drive to work again in ice and snow. It was a wonderful thing. Bobby turned 67 toward the end of the month, but still didn't really want to retire. He noted that his usual winter maladies--sinus infections, sore and scratchy throat, congested breathing--had not materialized. He felt that it was due to the mild winter. He had started having trouble with sciatic pain running down his left leg. It's a long time ago, and by now not important, but that's what I recall about January 2009.

Wrap-up

So, I read in Jenna's blog that everyone is doing a summary or wrap-up of the year just past. I hadn't thought of that. I'll make an attempt, but really, I barely remember what happened last week... Now, what was I saying? I'll take this up tomorrow for sure.