Well then... I hope I don't get critiqued on this post. I'll be sure to keep it politically correct and I'll mind my p's and q's : We found a place that we'd really like to live in in Loma Linda. it' only $50 more than our 1bed 1 bath place we just moved from. it's a 4 bed 2 bath house with a 2 car garage, a yard with big trees, and in a fairly large well established neighborhood. We told them that we wanted it and could be moving in as soon as 3 days from now. The only thing is that we still plan on bidding on a bankruptcy house. the court date for the bidding is March 20th, so we might move, and then move again if we get the house. But hey, I wouldn't complain if we get a house for $75 k below market value. We couldn't afford to keep it though so we'd fix it up and sell it at the end of the summer... which would mean moving again. We'll keep ya'll updated ps Kiera does not like rice cereal-- she spits it out : )
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Monday Jacob turned 18 months old! He had his well baby checkup yesterday, and he weighs a little over 29 lbs-- big boy!! The big news from the day is that I think he started waving. In the morning, I helped him wave good-bye to his dad, and when I stopped helping him, he kept waving. I'd be inclined to think that it was a fluke, but later in the morning the same thing happened with his physical therapist. He's growing up!
I've been offered a job with DataDirect Networks in Maryland. I'm a little shocked that the offer has come so quickly. It pays pretty good, more than what I make here even factoring in cost of living expenses. Not sure what I want to post online about it. But I thought I'd let you all know that I'm seriously considering taking it.
Those poor Jehovah’s witnesses showed up at the door here again . They come here every few months or so. They rang the doorbell and my father-in-law (Craig) answered it. They asked if he'd like to talk about religion and he invited them in and said he'd love to. To make a long story short, he asked what makes the Jehovah's Whitnesses special and what was their "compelling doctrine". Their response was "well, we read the bible." Craig- "So do the Baptists, Catholics, and Mormons..... so what is special about your church" JW's- "we belive in Jesus Christ" Craig- "so do all of the Christians.... " JW's- "We preach the gospel" Craig- "Um... that still isn't original. Tell me why I should listen to you over anyone else" JW's- "Umm... I don't know..." Craig- "Well I'll tell you what the Mormon's compelling doctrine is that makes us different from everyone: We have ...
Today was a big Sunday for the Dastrups . First of all, Jacob went to nursery for the first time!!! It's very exciting, but it was also a painful/frustrating experience trying to integrate Jacob into regular nursery activities and realizing that we are at the beginning of a lifetime of such experiences. The current nursery leader does not have or particularly like children, and she was very frustrated with Jacob's inability to respond to instructions. They put an exersaucer in the nursery room for Jacob to use when the others are in chairs, and of course he made a lot of noise playing with the toys on it and jumping in it, which was very disruptive for the other kids. He did have a good time crushing up his snack and throwing it on the floor, causing the other kids to follow suit. Overall, we don't feel like the nursery leader is very pleased about his arrival in the nursery, but we don't know what to do about it. Hopefully it will get better with time. Benjamin had a b...
Last Grandpa Update For A While: He's a tough old bird. I had a good talk with his doctor this morning. He's doing much better than anyone anticipated he would be doing. Yesterday he was talking off and on (albeit confused...did a lot of talking about tools and jobs, etc. and no, I don't think there were any of his dead foremen in the room). He drank almost two Boost drinks during the day as well as quite a bit of water. I had them bring him in some soup/jello/icecream for dinner and he ate quite a few little bites of each and enjoyed them. This morning he had a little cream-of-wheat and some yogurt and orange juice. For lunch he had a bit of soup and more jello/icecream...not all that much, but some. The doctor and nurses don't think he should be on "comfort measures" any more so we're starting back up his antibiotics & other medications. They're doing physical therapy twice a day. This AM he balanced sitting by himself for a few minut...
I thought I would give you all another update. I went into the hospital last night to see Jack. He has alot of people there. Kurt drove in yesterday from Denver to see Grandpa this weekend. Lynettes kids have been there alot, all week as have all Jacks kids of course, and their spouses. And we have seen Saudra's and our kids there too of course. Except BJ who I think will get in to see him when she wakes up from her graveyard shift. He is still pretty out of things, but is needing less and less morphine. He was awake for probably 1 1/2 hours of the time I was there. But he is really not conversational. With alot of effort, he will answer very simple questions (usually just yes or no questions). He tries to say more than he can get out. 95 % of the time when he talks it is in a mumbled whisper, making it nearly impossible to understand. JoLyn was there yesterday for much of the day, and she said that at one point of the day, she "had to get out of the room, because i...
Grandpa Update: Yesterday was a very hard day for him. Every cough (and he had lots) was excruciating for him. Had to give him morphine every hour (2mg) All I could do was hold his hand. Of course with that much morphine, he was almost always out of it and when he did talk, I couldn't understand most of what he was trying to say. I had a good talk with his doctor. We decided that we would discontinue antibiotics and send him to transitional care and see which way it goes before deciding on hospice. The doctor said he was very skeptical that he could return to the state he was in before this accident, but it's possible he could surprise us all. Once they moved him to the TCC (room 268) I found it interesting that the nurses there weren't nearly as busy and could actually spend time, get his morphine on time, etc. They put a patch behind his ear that they said would help keep so much phlegm from developing in his throat which made him cough. Why they didn't ...
Our little Kiera is 3 months old today!!! Crazy!!! she is as cute as can be (as you can tell). She is always too busy looking around to look at anyone. She has an expanding vocabulary and loves to babble (especially in the middle of the night). She has rolled over a few times and loves to stare at her daddy. You are all missing out.
Grandpa Update: The surgery went fine. The Dr's were happy. When he came out he was in a lot of pain so they gave him morphine which put him back to sleep. Nothing much more to tell than that. I'm just about to head out to the Hospital again. Thank you Cambrie and Brigham for sharing your knowledge and experience. It's nice to have people in the medical field in times like this.
'nuther Grandpa Update: He's doing better. Brett stayed the first part of the night with him and I relieved him at 2am. He was asleep and still doing some gurgling. I had the nurse vacuum out his throat and he sounded better. About 3:30 he woke up and said "oh Hi son!" I talked to him for about 30 minutes. He wasn't carrying on a real intelligent conversation but he would respond to almost everything I said. He then went back to sleep. After Saundra showed up this morning he did the same thing. Both times he was hurting and they gave him morphine and put him back to sleep. Either way, he's still not up to fielding phone calls. This morning the nurse said his pneumonia sounded a lot better. They had decided last night that they are going to go ahead with the surgery. The surgeon said they had to fit him in today "after the elective surgeries and between the scheduled ones." The nurse said they were stuck between a rock and a hard pla...
Another report on Grandpa Groneman . I and Kim went in there (to the hospital) to see Grandpa at 3 separate times today. He is going downhill. He is on antibiotics for the pnumonia , but he sounded and looked worse today than he did yesterday. When I went in at noon, his oxygen tube had come out of his nose, and his breath was gurgly sounding...and he really just didn't even look like Jack to me. I decided that I needed to get the oxygen back where it went, even if it did wake him up. When I did, he opened his eyes and said "oh, hi sweetheart" and then his eyes rolled up into his head with his eyes still open. I asked him how he was doing, but he never responded. His breathing was irregular and very rattlely . NOT looking good. Kim went in a few moments ago, and he described the same thing...Jack recognized him, but as soon as he did, again, the eyes rolled back into his head, and he was non responsive, again. Kim said he would stop breathing for quite a whil...
More update on Grandpa Groneman: Now they have moved his surgery to Wednesday morning. This is because he has pnumonia, and because the O.R. is so busy-booked until then. But they want to get the pnumonia under control first. It was weird. The intern said the x rays looked good, no problem. The Dr said he didn't know what the intern was smoking, cause he does. Grandpa did have a better day, after having several hospital employees convinced that he was on his way out of this life last night. They are only giving him 1/2 as much morphine at Kim and Saundra's request, because the full dose does bad things to him. He's not enjoying this at all, bless his dear heart! And the drugs make it so he doesn't remember much. He didn't remember the Bishop this evening when he went in, nor did he remember that Chad and Brett were there this morning. It is a miserable situation for him, and one that he is altogether too familiar with...having done it so recently with No...
We'd just like to publicly congratulate Chad on his running! 5-6 miles a day is really great! And while good running shoes are expensive, when you think about all the money that overweight people spend on hypertension meds, type II diabetes meds, plus all of the doctor visits due to weight-related problems, I'd say that you come out ahead. Not to mention that you will look better, feel better, and sleep better! Talk about an investment! That Provo River Canyon 1/2 Marathon is the one I ran last summer, and it is a great way to start. The trail was beautiful and 97% downhill! If we end up in Utah, I may just come run it with you! Again-- good work, Chad! We are rooting for you!
Grandpa Update: Last night was a rough night. Grandpa was doing OK last evening. We wanted to talk to the surgeon but he still hadn't shown up by 7:00 and Grandpa was sleeping so we decided to go home, get dinner, etc. At about 11:30 PM the hospital called and said his vital signs were bad and he was unresponsive. When we got to the hospital he was totally out of it. He would open his eyes sometimes and he was nauseated but he didn't respond to anyone. We could tell he was in pain as when he got nauseated he would grimace hard. We had them give him some more morphine and Phenegan (sp?) which settled him down somewhat. I stayed the night and about 6:30 am he woke up, still pretty much out of it but he said "Hi son" then went back to being unresponsive. He gradually became more responsive as he drifted in and out of sleep. About 8am he woke up and was about half responsive (answered questions) and not. He knew he was in the hospital but he didn't know wha...
So, from our phone conversation with grandpa tonight found out that Grandpa is worse off than we thought. He didn't even sound like himself. Our conversation went something like this: Cambrie and Steve: "Grandpa! this is Cambrie and Steve-- how are you doing?" Grandpa "hey kids, I'm doing ok" "we hear you had a pretty nasty fall" "yes, it was nasty all right" "how ar you feeling" "I'm doing ok" "so we hear you are having surgery tomorrow" "um.. no, where did you hear that? I'm not having surgery.. .are you sure you're talking to the right person?" "well who is this?" "Jack ...... Jack Banner" "oh, sorry .... wrong grandpa... and wrong Jack. But we hope you are doing well too!!! get better soon!" "ok, good luck finding your grandpa!" I'm glad that it wasn't grandpa afterall because it sure didn't sound like him!! Turns out he was in roo...
Grandpa's Situation: You all know what's happening, but I want this recorded just to have the history. Grandpa broke his hip today. He was getting out of bed and reached for the wall to steady himself...but the wall wasn't where he was expecting it to be. He fell and hit his head and, now we know, broke his hip. I heard him yelling through the furnace vents. The paramedics came (if one more paramedic/fireman would have shown up we would have had to build an addition.........reminds me of the joke "how many paramedics does it take to screw in a light bulb?") We didn't know for certain he had a broken bone until they did x-rays in the emergency room. He had about 9 stitches above his left eye. The medicine doctor says his EKG shows some heart fibrillation but he's not going to worry about that until after his hip surgery. I was hoping to see the bone doctor this evening, but he hadn't shown by the time I left. I'm hoping to see him in t...
Saga del Chad: Running & lead arrows Thirty thousand feet above the state of Iowa, I was reading in my latest book I use to keep myself entertained on long flights. This one is the english translation of greek & roman mythology. Some of it's interesting, some of it is confusing. Anyway, I read a tale involving our favorite February mascot, Cupid. This tale taught me something I didn't know about cupid. Our favorite February mascot carries TWO kinds of arrows - Gold & Lead tipped. The promoters of Valentines Day only seem to mention the Gold tipped ones. It turns out the lead tipped ones have the opposite effect - they're anti-amorous. Sometimes Cupid is mean and shoots a person with a gold tipped arrow, and the other person with a lead tipped arrow. Methinks cupid's been using too many lead tipped arrows around me. I propose we revoke Cupid's rights to the arrows. Today's a nice day in Provo, and I decided I needed to step up my running a n...
Your dad is a wanted man! Yep, it is a true story, but in this case he is wanted alive. Some headhunter dude(a person who was hired by this company to find the man they need) back in Cambridge Massachusetts contacted your dad this week and said that he has been looking for someone to work for a computer company called "Shared Insights". Someone who used to work at Novell recommended Kim, and this guy has done some research on the web, and decided that Kim is the man for the Job. They want to make him Executive Vice President. Problem is, we don't have any desires in our hearts to move to Massachusetts. And there is also the problem of Grandpa Groneman, and the fact that I am the one person in my side of the family that is the most available to help with problems like we just had with my dad needing medical help and someone needed to be with my mom while it happened. Keith and Garth both support their families, so they are working. Ann has her job (and she is saving...
So I was awake last night in my room while my roommate Jason was sleeping. It's fairly normal for him to sleep talk, but almost always it's a mumble that I can't quite put together into recognizable words, but last night, was different. He rolled over to sleep on his right side and in the process blurted out, "I'll see you at the judgment bar . . . " I was amused.
Report on Grandpa Haslems procedure: The Dr came out afterwards (a procedure that usually takes 45 min, that took over twice that long), and talked to mom and I. He said that dad had a block in one of the main arteries of the heart, and that he had a really hard time punching through it. He thought that he might have to call a surgeon to do open Heart surgery, to clear the problem. But he did finally clear the problem, and put a stint in to hopefully prevent it from happening again. He said it was a good thing we got him in there. The sad thing is that he has been waiting since his initial visit about the problem for about 5 months so that they could finally do this. That is without having the National Health insurance Hillary would try to bring in....heaven forbid! But if it is like this now, what would it be like then? This next presidential election is scarrey already and it isn't for a whole 1 1/2 years! Kathy came briefly to see dad before he went into surgery. ...
Thanks to everyone for their gifts so far! Mom and daddy for the money and the car seat covers, etc and Brett for the gift card! I shall use them well :-D So I have a story....last thurs., 2 of my roommates were riding on the bus back here and when they got off, a guy neither one of them knew but had seen on the bus b4 chased them off the bus and introduced himself to Chelise. He asked her on a date for fri and chelise said yes. So she went and had a good time but all of the roommates were really nervous and was just about to go out looking for her when she came home. We then found out that the guy was a little to foreward on the date... He put his arm around her and held her hand and chelise, being the sweet spirit she is, didn't want to hurt his feelings by saying no. She felt horrible and dreaded what he would interpret that as. Sun, he called and asked her on two more dates....one for today and one on fri.... well, she didn't realize that today was going to be val...
Advice from Dad time..... Be very careful if you plan to buy a TV/VCR/DVD/PCTV card etc. in the next couple of years. HERE'S WHY. Starting March 1st, manufacturers can no longer make/sell analong only equipment. HOWEVER stores can still sell their inventory so you'll see what appears to be great prices on this stuff. You really don't want to buy something that will only work for another 2 years.
A day in the life Friday night we had an Italian themed stake party. Bruce Sundstrom (a few houses down from us) works for BYU doing sets for movies and he brought a bunch of stuff to decorate with and transformed our cultural hall into an Italian bistro. We had marble pillars, a pond, a sidwalk cafe, arches over the doors, etc. etc. They had a comedian and magician from Las Vegas (lds) perform. I was quite disgusted at the audience. Everyone was standing around talking and the comedian came on stage and everyone just kept on talking....all the way through his performance. There was a handful of people that stopped talking long enough to pay attention, but most didn't. I was embarrassed for him. I'll bet he never comes back if asked. When the magician started his act, it was a bit better, but still a LOT of people just kept on jabbering through it. Brett brought a date to it as he had nothing better to do and it was free entertainment/food. Smart boy. Saturday Bret...
Well, we made it. 2 days of working like crazy and now all of our stuff is in the Nelson's garage. It was tough with Kiera around, but I must say that everyone who said it would be harder to move once the baby was born than it would be to move while pregnant was DEAD WRONG. I never could have done that while pregnant. The elders quorum and missionaries helped us move. We had a big chip taken out of a piece of furniture (gratefully it wasn't one of my favorites anyway), but the terrible thing was that the missionaries bounced our headboard of our $500 bed down the stairs. It was wrapped in our comforter to help protect it, but they bounced it down the stairs. I still haven't dared to take off the comforter and survey the damage (say nothing of what it did to the comforter). Oh, yesterday while we were cleaning our appartment I had Kiera on her tummy on the floor and she rolled over onto her back. I was surprised, but I put her back on her tummy and she immediately rol...
Grandma the Crazy Driver Yesterday I was putting Benjamin in the car for a trip to the grocery store when he asked me, "Remember when Grandma Groneman was driving us to the airport and she started to go when you weren't in your seat?" At first I had no idea what he was talking about, but after he continued to try to explain the incident for a few minutes, I finally remembered-- how in all of the chaos of my forgotten purse and meeting up with Dastrups to get Benjamin's car seat, Mom started driving away while I was still buckling Benjamin into his seat. I told Benjamin that I remembered, and he said, "Yeah. I guess Grandma is a crazy driver!" Aren't you glad that he hasn't forgotten you yet? ;)
Goodbye Ontario Tonight is our last night sleeping in Ontario California. Tomorrow is moving day -- buckets of fun. I just love hauling everything I own down 3 flights of stairs and watching it get haphazardy (sp?) put in a Uhaul and hope that it all survives the transport without too much damage and then unloading part of it into the bedroom at Steve's parent's house, part of it into their garage, and part of it into their neighbors garage. we will be staying with the nelsons until we find a place to live. it will be a max of 2 months i dont think our computer will be hooked up, so i dont know how often we will be blogging
News from the home front: Today I went over to babysit my mom while my dad went to the hospital to talk to his dr. about the test results from all his testing that happened about 9 days ago. I knew there was a reason they didn't just call him with the test results on the phone. The Dr says that Dad is a heart attack waiting to happen. He has a pretty good sized bloodclot sitting in the bottom of his heart, which if it came loose and started to travel, would likely kill him. His dad died of a heart attack. So he is scheduled to go in and hopefully they can suck it out, going into the large vein/artery? in the top of the leg up into the heart. He is scheduled to have this done on Feb 22. I think it should be sooner, but he has had the problem already (the pain that made them decide to do the testing) for probably 8 months, so not too likely that 2 more weeks would kill him. But it could. And if it did, then we'd sure be in trouble with my mom! I guess usually with som...
This morning I was getting Benjamin some breakfast in the kitchen while Jacob played in the living room. After getting Smidge his food, I walked into the living room, but there was no Jacob! That has never happened before, and I felt a little panicky as I ran down the hall calling for him. Brigham had left the bathroom light on, and I found him in the bathroom trying to crawl into the tub (he loves his baths). It was such a surprise! It's good that he's getting around so well now, but I guess that means I need to watch him more closely!
So, Cambrie, I hear that it is 83 degrees in LA today. Are you cooking too? It is 51 here. So, I thought that I would jump on here and tell you all of the wonderful and illustrious events that are a part of our lives.... So, now that I am done with that ....I guess that I will share some of Buffy and Cambries plans, so that I can say that I contribute to the blog. Breanna plans on becoming a California girls this summer! Yeah, she wants so get out of Utah Valley for a while, and she likes the idea of making more money, and playing with Kiera...so she is going to move in with Cambrie and Steve for the summer, and she'll babysit one day a week while Cambrie goes to work, and then work as a CNA herself. She should be able to make a whole lot more money there than she can here, so theoretically, she COULD come home with alot more money. Of course, beings that one of her greatest talents is spending money, this may not be the case. But she will hopefully get rid of the urge to ge...
$$$$$$$$ So Brigham and I made about $450 yesterday in about an hour. "How did they do it?" you are probably asking yourself. By donating a tiny part of the mucosa from our nasal passages for research. So they essentially yanked out a tiny piece from our noses-- a little uncomfortable (mostly from a social aspect-- having someone peering up your nose and having strings hanging out of your nostrils as the anesthetic numbs them) but it was so worth it! For those of you concerned about how you will finance your trip to Baltimore, we may be able to hook you up if you are willing to participate in some research. Two lucky individuals may be able to participate in the above mentioned study ($200 each-- some bleeding for several hours afterwards)if the it isn't over. Then there is another study that we lovingly refer to as the "woo study." It is very simple. You fill out a questionnaire about your health, woo in a bucket (or turn in one of Kiera's dirty dia...
Isn't our daugter cute? We think so. Lately Kiera has been giving me hickies on the neck and shoulder. She will suck on any piece of skin on me that she can find... but she won't take a pacifier! I am not a pacifier!! Don't you just love it when people make mistakes in your favor? To make a really long story short we had supplemental insurance policies and canceled all of them but one. However, after I had been hospitalized twice I called and re-instated one of them in july hoping that I could get $ from it too. I found out the next day that I woun't get any $ from it since I didn't have it at the time that I was hospitalized so I just canceled it again. However, they sent me $ for my hospitalizations. I called and told them that they had made a mistake, but they said "we show that you had your policy through July". I told them that I had only reinstated it for 1 day in july, but they didn't care- the guy said "it says so right here in my c...
The Most Common Groneman Contest- So far, mom is winning by getting only 10 answers wrong dad got 20 wrong chad got 15. Here is Steve's version of the answers. If you haven't turned yours in yet, no cheating off of steves. What was the common Groneman sunday dinner in the 90's? Iceburg lettuce, corn left in the microwave, orange rolls (eaten before the prayer), desert (main course) What are the 2 Groneman family secret passwords? Moo juice & cackleberry Name 3 nicknames we had for sandy? Dog, here boy, and Razzlefrazzle In what month was Sandy's birthday? Aug Name 2 food items hid under the carpet in England? Brett's yummy leftovers, and human remains What does Christa always get for Christmas? Presents...probably cereal What nickname did Chad hate? Chat When Brett was little, how could you tell if he was tired? He'd gnaw on his wrist Name the 3 most food most frequently eaten on april 11 th? Mush, B-B-Qd meat wit...
I'd like to file a complaint: I'm sending this complaint into the void since there is nobody to complain to. Did you know that there is a new rule in APA format that you are only ever suppose to have one space after a period--nomatter where that period is? I am so used to hitting the space key twice at the end of sentences that it is automatic. So, I now have to go through all of my papers and delete extra spaces at the end. Whoever decided to change the rule deserves death by beheading. Thanks, I feel better now that I've vented.
COMMON ANSWERS UPDATE January Results (who's yor daddy!): 65 Kim Groneman 97 Cambrie Nelson 412 Chad Groneman 466 Christa Dastrup 1415 Breanna Groneman (Where is everyone else?...you party poopers!) This confirms what I've had a suspicion about all along.....Buff just doesn't think like the rest of us. (A Gazelle?!?!?) Let's ALL see how we do in February. Enter the competition here . (And don't forget to respond to the email they send to make your entry valid)
No Gift Duplicating (per person) Remember when we all get the same gift for the same person (Pirates 2, anyone)? Let's not do that. Buffy hasn't posted what she wants for her Birthday. Dad has. But I've purchased something for Buffy's Birthday that she will want, which was announced earlier today. I know Dad wants it. Someone else can get it for Dad, but I've got dibs on it for Buffy.
Life is a little shakey around here When I was a kid I couldn't figure out why anybody in their right mind would want to live in California when everybody knows that it's suppose to fall into the ocean..... So here I am living in southern California. Maybe I should include 3 life-jackets on the groneman family wishlist page. Anywhoo, we survived yet another earthquake yesterday (3.3 very near where we live). Kiera slept right through it-- but then again she is used to that rocking feeling. Earthquakes are pretty wierd because you can hear them coming. I've now felt 5 quakes since we moved here last year. Don't worry though-- california is still afloat!
[SIGH] As you can see from our phone record here, Grandma doesn't want us to get any sleep around our house. The first three calls were wondering if Breanna was home yet and was OK. She said on the 3rd call that she was watching out the window for her. On the 4th call (just before 1AM) she was wondering how Marilyn was doing since she was probably worn out from taking care of Grandma's twin babies. We let the message machine answer them all, but it still kept us up. Well, we researched it and found out Comcast has this nice feature where you can make a list of phone numbers, then easily turn blocking of those numbers on and off. We've started blocking her number every night. Keith solved the problem by forwarding calls at night to his cell phone and turning the cell phone off. It's only a matter of time before she starts calling someone else now she won't be able to get through to us. The problem is that if Grandpa really does have an emergency, he won'...