March 16

 

    What a day!  After several days of mild, spring-like weather (even a couple of days with temperatures of 70 degrees) winter has come roaring back.  Most of the day we were hit with sleet and freezing rain, but around 4:00 it turned more to snow and started coming down quickly.  I'm thankful the worst held off till the school day was over and the kids were safely home.  I'm not too fond of driving the bus on bad roads.  The drive home from work was another story, though.  The storm had turned to snow so quickly that road crews weren't out yet.  I was glad to find out that Matt and Ashlei were already at the house. 

    Matt lives with Ashlei's family in Pittsburgh since leaving school.  It isn't a decision that thrills Tim and I, but he is 20 years old, so there isn't much we can do, but try to gently guide him when we can.  The last thing we want to do is end up in the same situation as Tim's sister and her husband.  We don't know all that went on, but their son stopped speaking to them (his live-in girlfriend was in the middle of it somewhere) and they weren't invited to his wedding and they only found out about his baby's birth because someone else called them.  No, we definitely don't want to end up like that.  Anyway, the kids came home to spend a couple of days because Matt has been off work all this week after having spent last weekend in the hospital.  He scared us all half to death with a severe pain in his left side and later on, chest pains.  He had several CT scans, ultrasound testing, blood work, x-rays and more.  Everything came back negative while he was in the hospital, but by yesterday when he had his follow up visit, more results had come in.  He has diverticulitis.  It runs in both sides of the family, but to have it so young is very unusual.  There isn't a lot they can do and future flare ups are almost a guarantee, but he's to watch eating seeded fruits and vegetables, nuts and anything hard to digest.  Maybe that will keep the incidents mild and few and far between.  I hope so.  My dad's episodes kept getting worse until he finally had to have a section of his intestine removed.

    Tim is on a project with a tight schedule that requires him to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week in order to bring it to completion on time, but he came home early enough to make it to the bank with his paycheck tonight.  Since Matt and Ashlei are here we ordered pizza from Jioio's for supper.  Jioio's is a local favorite and is different from any other pizza I've ever had.  It's one of those things visitors always have to try, but it's always a love it or hate it thing.  Nobody seems to be middle of the road on the taste.  Ashlei isn't much of an eater because of her digestive problems, but I think we can safely say she loves Jioio's since she actually had seconds!!  We watched the new James Bond DVD, Casino Royale, while we ate.  Megan decided to spend the night at my mom's.

 

 

March 17

 

    Happy St. Patrick's Day!  No parties or green beer here, but normally I would make traditional corned beef, cabbage and potatoes as a nod to our Irish heritage.  The kids don't really like it and protested rather loudly so I skipped it this year.  Matt and Ashlei offered to make us a Mexican dinner instead. 

    Tim worked so it was just me hanging out with the kids all day.  We took our time waking up and getting dressed this morning then headed off to Wally World (Wal-Mart).  I had prescriptions for both Matt and I to get filled, Matt needed a new pair of work pants and we got the ingredients for the kids to make their Mexican dinner.  I treated everyone to lunch at Valley Dairy before we came home.  The kids helped me unload the groceries then Megan took off to find a friend in the neighborhood and Matt and Ashlei went visiting relatives.  I did several loads of laundry and read.  I ordered a rug hooking kit online last week and would love to be working on learning how to do that, but it hasn't arrived yet.

    Matt and Ashlei started dinner as soon as Tim called and said he'd left work.  They did a good job and the food was delicious.  And there was so much of it.  We are all stuffed this evening and will be eating tacos tomorrow, too.  They seasoned the meat themselves rather than use a mix and it was very yummy.  They also made nachos, a cornbread pudding, and Spanish rice that they also made from scratch rather than a mix.  Ashlei might not eat much but she is a good cook.

    Tim drug us all up to Wal-Mart again after supper.  He and Matt were going to change the oil in Matt's car, but he didn't feel like it.  He wanted Matt to get it done at Wal-Mart.  Unfortunately, they were closing when we got there so Matt will have to take it back up in the morning.  Tim also wanted to look at laptop computers for work.  Between Matt and I, we helped him figure out which one would be the best for his needs and he purchased it.  It wasn't too bad and it was the display model so it was discounted and next week Tim will turn in the receipt and get reimbursed.  He and Matt have spent the rest of the evening setting it up and figuring things out.

 

 

March 18

 

    Poor Tim worked again today and Megan spent the night at a friend's so it was quiet enough around here for Matt, Ashlei and I to sleep in a bit.  Not that I was getting out of bed, anyway.  On weekend mornings that Tim leaves for work and Megan is away, Elvis, our beagle/basset mix climbs into bed with me.  He weighs about 60 pounds so with him stretched out on one side and the poodle on the other, I'm wedged in....and not always in the most comfortable of positions, but it sure is toasty warm.

    I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and we enjoyed them while reading the paper.  Matt and Ashlei then went to Wal-Mart again to get the oil changed in the car.  It didn't take long and they were back quickly.  Megan was home by then, too, and the three of them and Megan's friend played Guitar Hero on PlayStation.  It is a neat game where you earn points for playing the songs on a guitar without making mistakes.  The kids like it loud, though, and that does get a little old after a while.

    My mom and John stopped down to see Matt and we invited them to stay for leftover Mexican.  They really enjoyed it and complimented Ashlei on her cooking.  That was nice to see, since my mom isn't exactly fond of Ashlei.  The kids packed up a lot more of Matt's stuff after lunch and loaded it into his car.  I asked him to start cleaning up and cleaning out the room since he isn't living here.  I haven't looked yet to see what state they left it in this time.  Usually it's so messy I just shut the door between their visits.

    Megan asked me to watch the Disney movie Cars with her this afternoon.  I hadn't yet seen it and really enjoyed it.  The tow truck character voiced by Larry the Cable Guy cracked me up.  We had a fun time watching it together and that extended into us doing our nails together.  It was very nice since she is at that stage when everything I do and say either embarrasses her or annoys her or makes her angry.

    I guess I should be heading to bed since it's back to work tomorrow morning.  It sure has been a nice weekend with all of us here...just what the doctor ordered after all the stress of driving to and from Pittsburgh last weekend and sitting at the hospital all day and each time the kids visit Ashlei relaxes a little more and we get to know her a little better.