Jerky Day!

We leave for vacation one week from today, so I’m making a batch of jerky to take with us for snacking on and having for lunches. I am REALLY ready for this trip! We have a full week ahead of us before we can go, but there is a definite light at the end of the tunnel.

I took Daddy back to see his primary care doctor on Wednesday. His kidney function has been declining over the past three months. Even though he also has bad fluid retention in his legs, the doctor had to reduce his “water pill” to take pressure off of his kidneys. He did more blood work and said if it continues to decline, he will have to send him to a kidney specialist. The good news, though, is that the echocardiogram showed his heart function to be good. I take him back to the pain management specialist on Monday to see what they want to do about his back pain. Then on Tuesday, I take him for a venous reflux sonogram to see if the swelling in his legs is due to valve failure in his leg veins (which the doctor strongly suspects). That will be the last (I hope) doctor visit until after we return from vacation.

Dennis and I went over to Sheila’s last night. Dennis is working on a bench/storage unit that fits in front of her fireplace (which she doesn’t use) and covers up the (brick) hearth. She was concerned about the probability of Nam falling and hitting his head on the bricks and wanted something (useful) to prevent accidents. Dennis had the base put together and wanted to make sure that it fit just right, which it did. Then he made a trip to Cabela’s to exchange a game camera that was defective, so Sheila and I had time to work on plans for our trip to Vietnam, as well as discuss other things pertaining to Nam…which is our favorite pastime these days!

I attended a mandatory training for CASA Thursday evening. Our CASA office has incorporated a new program into their website that will allow advocates to securely communicate with our supervisors and turn in our hours as we do them, rather than send in an hourly report at the end of the month. It is really going to streamline things and make our jobs much more efficient. I’m already enjoying the “time reporting” function and look forward to the time when all of our communications are conducted via the program. It will take time for all of the advocates AND staff to get up to speed on how to use it, so it will be a work in progress for a while longer.

Next Friday is our volunteer appreciation luncheon for CASA. I haven’t attended the last couple of years, so I look forward to being able to go to this one. Dennis has been “conscripted” to be the official photographer for a photo booth they plan to set up. He really doesn’t enjoy going to this type of thing (he never HAS gone in the past), so I figured this would give him something to occupy his time. Ha!

Daddy and Bobbie will come over for dinner tomorrow, which will be last time for 3 weeks. We will be gone the next 2 Sundays on vacation. Then the Sunday after we return, we will be in Shreveport. Dennis will be holding a short meeting for them Saturday and Sunday. Sheila plans to accompany us on that trip. Looking forward to visiting with the folks there!

Plans have been made for Sheila’s adoption shower in October. Things are really getting exciting and “real” now! She is so excited and busy making plans and buying stuff for Nam! She has some really cute stuff picked out for him on her amazon wish list. It will be fun to see what all she gets. I’ve already ordered a couple of things from the list…and will probably order some more (if what I really want to see her receive isn’t bought by someone else!). We could be leaving to go get him in just a couple of months! With everything we still have to do to prepare, it doesn’t seem like that far off anymore. I am sure ready to get that new grandson home and love on him!