What a Ride

Okay, so I have some friends out there who think my life is a real adventure. There are a lot of days that I really don't see what they do, but today; reflecting over the last few months--it is nothing short of one wild ride.

We start a new part of the LIHEAP program tomorrow. a new optional benefit is being added to the line-up. Normally, we help low income families by paying a lump sum towards their utility bills in the winter. Two years ago, a new law was passed by the Illinois Congress that we offer a Percentage of Income Payment Plan. It is a good deal for families who are trying to work their way to a better life--the downside is right now, the only clients it is available to are Ameren clients. I believe that will change over the next few years. The deal is, most middle class families spend between 3% and 6% of their income to pay their heating and electric bills. Low-income families can pay between 20% and 50%. The PIPP (pronounced Pip-not P-I-P-P) lets the customer pay 6% of their income a month towards their bill and we will pay an additional amount up to $150 a month. Of course, this is the "simplest form", there are a lot of rules, and hoops as normal, but I am still excited about the prospect. We have been running a "Pilot" program for two years, I have 110 clients over 9 counties that have been participating religiously.
Up until now, it has all been by hand, and not under the mandates of the state law. The law requires the PIPP go into effect by September 1, 2011. I have spent most of the summer working with a group of people from all over the state helping lay this thing out and make it run smoothly. As far as the program itself, I believe it is in the best position it could be to begin. We have a new computer system along with it and even though it is not perfect, I believe with time, it will be good. I have also been involved with the look and feel of a lot of this.

This past weekend, we were supposed to get those people we already have in the program into the system. My part was supposed to get done Saturday, that didn't happen due to unforeseen problems with the system. Monday, I worked until 9:15 (I would have stayed longer but Andrew lured me home with Baked Ravioli in the oven). Tuesday, I went in at 6:30 and because the system was down, left at 4. Tonight, I was down to 7 apps that were causing problems. At 7:00 one of the girls from Ameren called and said she had everything she needed from me. I closed my computer.

Now I am looking back over where I have been and what I have become. 11 years ago tomorrow was my first day of my first LIHEAP season. I started working for ERBA 15 days before the previous season was over and just saw an app or two done before we were out of money for that program. I was so very "green" to Community Action. I really didn't know what I was getting into, or how much it would mean to me personally to be "Helping People, Changing Lives". Today I read an article in MORE magazine. It was an article about being able to work for a non-profit. It was so funny because we held a meeting on Monday and I told the girls that I felt like we were the most fortunate of all because people are always talking about helping others, making a difference and seeing change. We get to do all of that AND bring home a paycheck.

Yep, it has been one of the busiest summers of my life, but one I will never forget.

Yep, my 110 families are safe and sound in the PIPP system tonight. And my feeling of accomplishment is almost overwhelming.

Happy Um...Birthday

Yesterday, the kid turned 19. It was an eventful day at our house and we ended up celebrating his birthday at 11:30 last night, approximately 12 hours after the exact anniversary of his birth.

Of course, he started to school Monday and with mine and Andrew's work schedules, Robert realized on Sunday that we would not be in the same house, at the same time before 10 p.m. before Thursday, aka, today.

He knew what he was getting for his birthday and with his college classes starting the next day, he asked if he couldn't possibly open his present on Sunday. So, this is usually reserved for that time in life when your kid is out of the nest, but we celebrated PART of his birthday Sunday evening. He got Dell's equivalent to an Ipad and has been using it daily to take notes at school, so I am glad we gave it to him. It should ensure his test grade from this coming Sunday night being an A.

The second part of his birthday was celebrated with an Ice Cream Cake when he came home from work last night. Andrew managed to get home a few minutes early, so I honestly walked in the door with the ice cream about 5 minutes before Robert had to leave for work. I hadn't ate supper and we had groceries to carry in, so we decided to wait until later.

I went to the doctor yesterday and my prayer for prednisone was answered. Things aren't perfect yet but I already am feeling a difference.

Oh, and yes, I celebrated my 44th last week...highlights was going out for dinner on Sunday, Robert getting me a B&N card for my nook and Andrew paying for my Pampered Chef order. All in all a pretty good time for 44.

Life is crazy, work is crazy, but it's still a good ride.

Happy Thursday!

Getting ready for the crazies.

August is trying to sneak up on me and unfortunately, the laid back times that we have had for the last 6-8 weeks are coming to an end. I'm not sure, but I think I might be okay with that. I honestly think I function better when life is a whirlwind.  I always used to anyway. The UC has changed all that but I have renewed faith in some things with that so we shall see. I stopped ALL of my medicines Tuesday because I felt like I was getting worse with it than without it. I started back on the sulfa medicine yesterday because it is the one that I truly thought was working. When I don't take anything and I am having a flare, I start having a problem urinating. It's weird that my colon could affect that but I physically feel like my colon is so swollen that it is cutting off my bladder. Anyway, I started back on the sulfa meds at noon yesterday and about 3:00 this morning, I woke up needing to pee. I know, it's graphic, but facts are facts. I was REALLY happy that I knew my kidneys were working. I also found a low residue diet yesterday online that is supposed to help people with colon problems. I had originally been told to just make sure I cook most of my veggies--and I had but low and behold, I found out a lot of the foods I have been eating are things that I am NOT supposed to be eating while I am having a flare-raw OR cooked. Broccoli is one of the mainstays of my diet. I knew it was a natural blood thinner and I couldn't eat it if I was bleeding but we eat cooked broccoli at least 3 times a week, cauliflower too for that matter. They are both on the "avoid" list, no matter how they are prepared. Anyway, there were many things on this list that I eat on a daily basis. I am looking forward to seeing what changing the diet does. I really have a renewed energy about this getting better. Sunday and Monday, at Springfield, I was so miserable that I had decided I was probably going to be doomed to surgery. Now at least I have hope for a while. I go back on the 24th, hopefully I will have improved by then. Most people who have this seem to have a flare that last a few weeks and then it goes away for a year or so. Most people don't have more than one flare a year. Honestly, in the last 2 years, I have had 5 really, really normal weeks. Unfortunately, it was only while I was on the prednisone, which doctors say with my age and the dose I have to take (20mg), I can't do on a regular basis.


Anyway, enough of that....on to our "real" life.

I started teaching classes again last Tuesday night. As always, totally different bunch of people. It's going to be a good class and I have 1 more new one joining us this week.

For the most part of the last two years I have been involved in the planning stages of a new program to help low-income families with their utility bills. We are in the final days of the preparation. I get to start actually testing the new computer system for it this coming Wednesday. Everything is supposed to kick off September 1.

The 8th, Andrew goes to a new doctor at Terre Haute for his back. We have friends who believe this guy can help. I have been praying fervently that they are right. 46 is too young to be walking with a cane.

Robert starts school on the 22nd. He GETS to go buy books anytime after next Tuesday---to the tune of about $600. Of course, most of his graduation money went to buy the $1,000+ worth of tools and boxes he needed for school. So very, very thankful he got the scholarships because in the realm of things, we aren't paying much for him to go to school.

To top it off, his car goes to the body shop next Monday, at least he has the El Camino up and running so he can drive it to work next week.

I still have pictures from our St. Louis trip to post, maybe sometime this weekend.

That's life in a nutshell. Happy Saturday y'all, enjoy the weekend!

First One to Fly the Coop

Sunday August 10th, one of my "other" sons left for the Army.  Sure am going to miss this kid being around all the time. This is the one who comes home, even if Robert isn't here yet, let's the dogs out, answers the phone if it rings, raids the fridge and always loves my cooking. He turned 18 on the 20th. Hope he had a happy birthday--as happy as it can get when going through basic anyway.  Already looking forward to his first trip home.

AAGGGHHHH!!!! or ahhhhhhhhhh.....

This post was originally intended to be put up Sunday, was having trouble loading pictures and then ran out of time to work on it.

Talk about a crazy roller coaster ride of a week. This is the epitome. Monday we trekked over to French Lick Indiana for a long overdue daytrip. We started out our trip with a two hour trip on the train.

Andrew's dad was visiting, I think he enjoyed the trip too.

 We saw some absolutely beautiful countryside.

Then we met with some excitement. A group of train robbers.

Yes, they robbed us, at gunpoint if you asked them too. (They were taking up donations for local charities).

Then we decided to check out the hotels. Someone asked which one we stayed at, neither of them THIS time. I am planning on Andrew and I going back by ourselves for a day or two though. This is the French Lick Hotel, it has the new casino attached to it.

The following picture is the closest I will ever get to a casino. Andrew absolutely forbids it. There was a sign that said no pictures but this picture was at the security guard's suggestion. Guess she thought it was funny :-).

So when we go back, I will choose to stay at the West Baden Hotel. It is WAY more laid back and relaxing as you can see below. Both have spas and I will want to take full advantage but French Lick is the exciting one (it reminds me too much of work though, these are the kinds of places we get to stay when we go to national conventions--lots of activities and lots of busy-ness). West Baden, I could sit out on the porch and watch the fountain and the gardens and be perfectly content.

So, life gets back to normal a bit and then this.........

Yes, it is Robert's new car. Last Thursday morning he was headed to a friend of ours to buy tools for school. People think it was a joke, but he really was stopping to save a turtle. The turtle was hit by a semi while Robert was falling into the culvert. We have a lot of good people in Jasper county. One of those "Catch the Spirit, Live the Dream" days for me. The guys with the towing company were so very careful. You cannot tell there is anything wrong with the car just by looking at it. Underneath it, there is some cosmetic damage but had Ron Slane and his company not took the time to get it out, they could have pulled it straight out and totalled it. They had to hold the front end down with a second truck to keep it from flipping. It will be fixed but I am so very thankful to God for watching over him that day and for saving the car that he absolutely loves. I only had my own "first car" a couple of months when I totalled it.

So, this week hopefully will be more calm and relaxing. I hope!

Let the Good Times Roll

So, everybody who has the Cars song stuck in your head now, you're welcome...I did it to myself too, the minute I typed the Title.

I took a long weekend with the holiday being Monday, I decided a couple months ago to take Friday off (Doctor's orders--more downtime and summer is the easiest for me to do that). About a week ago, I found out my FIL was coming for a visit so I decided I would take Tuesday off too. I would have taken the week except for this one report that is due Friday. I can't do it until I get an invoice from Ameren (which will come Tuesday or Wednesday) and then it takes me two or three days to complete it--might as well face fact, I gotta be at work those three days. ANYWAY, I saw this as a perfect opportunity for a day trip. We haven't taken one since March and my loyal readers know that just isn't like us. Of course, we had a week's vacation trip planned for last month and Andrew's vacation was denied--twice. So much for our trip to PA.

The summer before my dad died, we went to French Lick and rode the train. When we went to the cave in March, we went through French Lick and said we would like to go ride the train. I looked it up and low and behold, there is even going to be a robbery that day!  So, tomorrow we are heading for a train ride and the adventure of being robbed--it's good to know these things ahead of time, ya' know?

My camera is loaded and I am ready to take pictures that are blog-worthy, let's see if I make it :-)

BTW, went to eat at the bowling alley while Robert was working last night, that was fun. Of course, our goal was to see how many dishes we could dirty. Unfortunately it wasn't many.

Bob got here yesterday afternoon, we went and ate and watched a stupid, stupid movie on Netflix but hey, the popcorn was good at least :-). Today we are off to church as normal, then just vegging the rest of the day. Hamburgers on the grill tonight. I am packing a picnic for tomorrow's lunch and planning on a trip to the Black Buggy at Washington for dinner. Tuesday, Andrew has to work, and I have a conference call for a couple hours that morning so I think Robert and Bob will head to Effingham to the Corvette museum.

That may be this week in a nutshell.

Facing the Music

So, I went to the doctor a week ago today. My report was not what I expected and I think I have spent the last week letting it sink in.

I really thought I was doing great. How many times have you went to the doctor thinking something was really wrong and the doctor basically tells you that you are fine?  That didn't happen.  I was going back though after the rounds of prednisone and I was expecting, "You look like you are doing great, have a great day and call me if you have a problem." I was expecting them to schedule a colonoscopy just because they had told me last time that they would like to have a more detailed look than what the one at Effingham got.

Well, after a couple minutes with the doctor, I said, "I think I am really doing well". He says, "Not really, I think you are on the verge of another flare-up and if we can't get these under control, your colon won't last you five years". I believe I was in shock. Okay, so here is the partictulars. When I was in my last flare, I couldn't go more than 45 minutes without being in the bathroom, and eventhough I was getting 2 to 3 hours of sleep at a time of a night, I would make it up for it with a minimum of 10 trips to the bathroom the first hour I was up--and always, always, there was more blood than anything. Now, there is no blood THAT I CAN see, and I am down to between 7 and 8 times a day, with 2-3 of those being within 2 hours of getting up AND I am able to sleep all night. Seemed great to me compared to what I had been doing.

The doctor says I can't say I am in remission until I have 4 or less trips to the bathroom a day, I haven't done that in over a year and a half.  He says he won't do another colonoscopy until I can "cool down" and to start two new medicines, one, that if it works, I will take for the rest of my life and the other, a suppository-yea.  They also did blood tests that showed my inflammation is still twice the normal and my platelets are high, which means even though I can't see it, I am still bleeding.

No exercise other than walking (I had started working out with some girls at work three times a week--that's done), no heavy lifting ( I didn't tell him I carried most of the 22 lb bricks to Andrew the week before--not to mention helping loading all of them at Menards) and the big one, I HAVE to learn to take it easy more. At that, I am failing miserably. I can't make myself sit down when I see things that need done and around here, there are always things that need done. I know my house being a mess drive me nuts so I can't just come home and sit in the middle of a mess and even pretend to relax.

So, that's that. I go back on the 24th of August and if he thinks I am doing better, they will schedule the colonoscopy.  He is also wanting to do an upper GI because he said he can't rule out Chron's without it and Effingham didn't do one. He doesn't want to do too much at one time though so that may have to wait awhile.  I believe the suppository is working, it is supposed to help the inflammation, and I have been having really weird feeling cramps, so I would say that is my colon coming down from the inflammation--I hope anyway. His biggest fear about the new oral medicine was that I would have an allergic reaction, so far, so good there, and hopefully it too, is starting to do what it is supposed to, although I haven't really seen a difference yet, I will pray I will soon.