When your other half is only about 1/3

March 26, spring a few skimpy patches of snow remained

March 26 drying on clothesline

I write this in April, another snow winter blast here yesterday just when we had enjoyed high 60 degrees and 70, we thought it was spring, but Old Man Winter returned, although not as severely as last April.  Still yesterday we had icy rain, then snow, over night thunder and lightning which continued to this morning and then sleet.  A wintry mix, a common Midwest term with which I have become too familiar  for crappy spring winter weather, continues through tomorrow.  March 26, photos here show springtime, I had clothes hanging on the line to dry, as my sporadic spring cleaning began. 

Moved table and stuff from study to TV room

 I face some intensive projects this spring, replacing the carpet in the living room and hallway on the main floor, upstairs and replacing pad from seepage in the study downstairs, with restretching the carpet.  That seepage, never happened before but this March with sudden melt and heavy rain, the ground leaked.  What a mess, but still way better off than others with flooded basements.  I discovered it while Jerry was back in the hospital for a brief time and somehow managed to move all the furniture out of the way.  Fortunately I found a company to come the next day to steam clean the carpet to avoid mold and the young man pulled out the soaked pad for me. A heavy duty rental fan from Heth Hardware in place over the weekend ensured full dryness and neighbors and friends helped with carrying the 50 lb. fan downstairs and returning it for me. 

 I have had to do most everything around here with Jerry not being at full capacity and strength. That is why the title of the other half only maybe 1/3.   It has been a long long siege of health challenges with him since his lung operation November 7, just when he was finally mending.  March brought a flair up of the adhesion in his gut from the 35+ year old surgery in CA way back (happened last year too Easter), and we were blessed that it healed without follow up surgery.  He was home only a week until our PCP on a follow up visit sent him back to the hospital, for what would finally be determined bacterial pneumonia. He has been home about three weeks now and I operate on the fear of what next and how can this keep going, but truthfully we have been blessed and are very thankful.  

March 21, Us thru it all

Jerry's follow up with oncology just the other day now, was good news, all tests show no cancer, and that is a huge  blessing.  Meantime.  three days a week he goes to pulmonary rehab to try to get his lung capacity and strength back to where it was pre pneumonia.  And yes, he had the pneumonia inoculations, including the heavy dose for seniors but truthfully, there are so many diverse bacteria that can strike and his lungs being compromised from surgery hosted the infection.  Thankful that we live here with care from Mayo, who pull out all stops as they did analyzing and testing for legionella, streptococcus, etc. ruiling out everything else, they get to the root cause before proposing treatment.  Well it has already taken me over 2 weeks to complete this post, yet again why I prefer Facebook or FB as we know it.  A day by day entry and everyone is kept up to date.  Here, I write for "amusement" or posterity. 

April 11, snow again

I began writing this post to include our recent snow "bomb" April 11, so here it is.  but now all is menlted and the green grass emerges, surely soon the tulips will show buds and the daffodils will emerge.  This is different from CA where the daffodils preceded the tulips.  And at least this is not the bigger snow dumps we had last  April when Easter came earlier and the two heavy snowfalls meant getting the plow guy back to clear our driveway.  I recall one day I did not go over to the hospital where Jerry was with the adhesions.  Wow  I sometimes say this has been the Winter of our discontent but really all this started a year ago with hospitalizations.  Enough  and now we go  forward.  One last snow shot, with sun rise, looks mystical with that blue sphere, likely a reflection from the window.  But I do prefer the green grass and clear drive.  

View from front window. April 11.