She's driving again! Beware of ice

It will be seven weeks this Thursday since the lung transplant patient's surgery. While Alison continues to heal, she achieved another milestone this last weekend when she drove her car for the first time since last September!!

Driving is something most of us would have to admit we take for granted. We just hop in the seat, turn the keys and go when and where we want to go. The reason Alison had a restriction was mainly because her sternum needed time to heal. To put her new lungs in place, the bone had to be broken, and unlike skin, takes quite a bit longer to heal. 

For Alison, being able to drive her own car again brought huge smiles to her face. Mama Garvin teased that she might need lessons to reacquaint herself, but no worries there.

Because she still needs to have someone with her all hours of the day, Alison enjoyed spending a night out of town, with friends, but returned to her parents' home in West Union before the weekend ice storm.

Now she wonders if that was the best decision considering she has a lovely two-car garage at her home in Cedar Falls.

West Union caught the brunt of freezing rain that resulted in broken branches and trees all across town Sunday into Monday. That included quite a large tree branch that fell on Alison's silver two-door parked in her parents' driveway. 

UGHHHHH! From outward appearances it doesn't seem there is much damage. What a relief!  But later that day, the patient stepped outside the front door to retrieve her dog, and her feet went out from under her and she fell on the ice. Although worried she might have injured her healing incisions and sternum, A. says she is just stiff and sore, from the fall.

It goes without saying that everyone in this family eagerly awaits the arrival of spring!

Le Peeeew!!

My sister phoned this morning with some news that had me chuckling because she said she sure could have used my gun last night.

That struck me funny at first, because I was with her until about 9 p.m. at One Block Over's "quilt night," and wondered what kind of trouble she'd gotten into at that late of hour on her way home. Seems my younger sibling thought their darling-faced Golden Doodle, "Bella" needed some Fresh Air before the family retired around 10 p.m. But the air was anything but that 10 min. later, as Joleen called for the dog to return to the house.

Living on the edge of the "wild" as they do, with a fairly large pasture of unmowed grass behind a grove of pine trees ... nocturnal varmints emerge in the dark looking for a meal in the backyards of the city's residents.

Unfortunately, Bella had an encounter with PePe Le Peu, or his cousin.

So with the clocking ticking toward 10:30 p.m., Joleen searched the internet for a cure, and soon the pair was giving their dog a bath of vinegar and baking soda – in OLD CLOTHES she informed me, in case they needed to throw them away afterward!

Apparently their quick action was beneficial, as after one bath outside on the deck (brrrr!) and another in the garage, they deemed Bella indeed had lost most of her 'Le Skunk' perfume.

In the future, Bella will likely be restricted to the front yard for those 'just before bedtime do-your-business excursions.'

The Pony Express could have delivered it by now

On Sunday, Feb. 6, I ordered some dye for fabric (the latest craze I am into.)

Thursday of last week (Feb. 10) I finally received a confirmation my order had been shipped. Hallelulia, a cause for celebration.

Tuesday, Feb. 15, now NINE days since placing my order, I decided to use that handy tracking feature offered by Fed Ex.  And therein lies the problem.  Just how effective is it for a package to depart Belleville, Mich. on Feb. 11, destined to travel WEST to Iowa .... but instead it travels first to New Berlin, Wis.  Monday it arrives in Kansas City, Kansas. Uh, hello? Is that the most direct route to Iowa, via Kansas? 


The Pony Express could have had my package here by now! As it is, the shipper Fed Ex, is suggesting my pkg. should arrive by Thursday.


To be clear, my complaint is with the corporate system that's determined shuffling packages from shipping site to shipping site is more effective than a direct route. As for the local Fed Ex delivery persons -- I have nothing but praise regarding their service. When temperatures were below zero, we've even had our delivery guy phone ahead while packing that day's order to be sure we'd be around for pick-up when our delivery was a case of wine. That's customer service! Perhaps the corporate office could take a cue from it's laborers who obviously better understand customer service.

Matriarch of the Pape family?

In celebrating my Aunt Kathleen's 85th birthday Saturday, Feb. 12, it was discovered that the party was cause for marking an additional milestone. Not only has Kathleen been fortunate enough to be the only one of Henry & Mildred Pape's six children to reach that grand age, she just might be the only one in her family of Pape lineage to have had such longevity. Good clean living? What's your secret, Kate?

The cake of strawberry and white layers she holds was baked by daughter, Jayne Weber and the decorative frosting added by granddaughter Brianna Weber. Daughter Julie Routh and her husband, Don, and their daughter Nicole and great grandson, Owen Larson, were among the others in attendance. 

Bella is one today!

The Garvin family dog wasn't left out of the fun, today, as she celebrated her first birthday - party hat and all! We gathered to mark the parents' return from Arizona & Alison celebrating her progress since having a lung transplant.

Bella received many nice gifts, for which she thanks her owners. She was a good sport, wearing her party hat.

Not your traditional football game

Most of the time at our house, my hubby holds the remote. I don't usually mind, because there's not a whole lot I'd rather be watching on television.

But the other night while I thought he was viewing, "Grumpy Old Men," I looked up from my laptop computer to see scantily clad women in shoulder pads playing football.

Lingerie Football, that is.

Perhaps I've been living under a rock, but I didn't know it existed. MTV broadcasts the Lingerie Football League featuring women in a 7 on 7 tackle sport.

While I'm all for women engaging in a physically challenging game such as football if that's what they choose – I don't understand why it's necessary to sport "boy shorts" and bikini-like brassieres that require readjusting after each play. Could it be implied that the organizers of this league believed the only way there would be spectators is if there's a well-shaped, athletic physique for men to leer at?

The women on these teams are very athletic – and play without any of the padding and protection their male counterparts have in the NFL. Oh yeah, in one photo on this page you'll see shoulder pads -- protecting what? 

And perhaps saddest of all? The women on these teams must have careers outside of lingerie football because it doesn't pay too well (according to the announcers.) I'd be more impressed if the women earned a living wage and weren't required to dress like Victoria's Secret models while men hoot and holler from the stands. 

Adjusting to life as Alison wants to live it!

Last weekend, after unpacking and getting in a bit of pulmonary rehab at the local hospital, the lung transplant patient relished time with her best buds down in Cedar Town. At the end of her stay with a friend who has a lower level apartment, she remembered she'd left a necklace behind. "Do you want me to get it?" asked one of the girls. And Alison could proudly respond, "No, I can get it" and she bounded back down the stairs and jogged back up them, never getting winded.

It was a cool moment for them all to realize no one had to wait for her to catch her breath as she climbed the stairs! The exercise work-outs continue and adjustments are continually made to the amount of Tacrolimus she needs to take. Earlier this week, Alison and her mom made chocolate chip cookies – which I was fortunate enough to sample. Yummy!

Bella the dog, is happy to have Alison home but has to share the limelight with her ... usually everyone thinks Bella The Golden Doodle is pretty cute when she carries around one of her toys or finds an envelope from the trash to tease them with. That is, until the envelope was part of the yet unopened mail and it was important insurance papers the family dog carried in her mouth!! Disaster was averted!

Since Friday is Bella's first birthday, Alison bought her a new chew toy ... and one of her friends made birthday party hats for the celebration .... I think a photo from that event will be needed .... Alison?

Not done writing yet!

Whoa ... y'all probably think I've been on a little vacation from writing! Not really .... I've just had a few assignments for the area newspapers which included attending some meetings and doing some interviews ... look for a feature story on Alison to be published soon in the Fayette County Union and Fayette Leader .... when I get a chance, I'll post it here in my "pages" feature where you seen Dan Pischke's story ...

In addition, I was so close to finishing the second book in the Stieg Larsson trilogy, "The Girl Who Played with Fire," and I just couldn't put it down! But alas, tonight I finished the book and now I can download book #3 to my new Kindle!! Cause for celebration!

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For those who haven't heard, the parents have returned from the land of sunshine. Notice I say "sunshine" and not necessarily warm temperatures! We haven't seen them yet, but we're anxious to sample some of the oranges they brought back from Uncle Don and Aunt Kay's backyard tree in Sun City! Nothing like a fresh orange whose origins you know!

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Coming next ... that lingerie football!

And everyone is home in WU!

Even the threat of yesterday's blizzard continuing to rage on today wasn't going to keep the Garvins from leaving Iowa City today.

As soon as they could get Big Daddy Garvin there to haul out that recliner that he'd taken down to have in their room, they were outta there!! He wouldn't even let the girls watch the last five minutes of Day of Our Lives before they said, "So Long, Iowa City, Nice Knowing You!"

Joleen and Alison counted 41 cars in the ditches or median of I-380 between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. Visibility was likely very poor Tuesday night, resulting in some of those crashes.

Back in West Union, Bella has likely spread herself all across Alison's lap giving her kisses and letting her know how much she missed her.

Hope you enjoy your first night home, Alison! Even though it's only 4 degrees on the thermometer (and going to get colder) the writer of the blog is headed to Sumner tonight to see, "The Little Fockers." Tomorrow, maybe I will blog about an issue I have with lingerie football. Yeah, can you believe it? It's a real women's football league and they play in their underwear!

And the answer is . . .

Woo hoo! Woo hoo!!  The bronchoscopy showed no levels of rejection!! So Alison is being released from UIHC's care .... but then wouldn't you know it?  The biggest snowstorm of the year -- maybe ever!! decides to move through nine states in the Midwest, including Iowa.

So Joleen & Alison are spending the night in their "home away from home" the Baymont!  Although there's 40 mph gusts of wind here in Fayette County and we have 8 inches of fresh snow on the ground  ... the Iowa City area is getting hit hard with snow right now. (Contrary to an earlier report Scott didn't make it down there.)

Anxious as they are to get back to WU ... they'll wait out the storm. Alison still has her 5 lb. wt. restriction so Mom will pack the car with all that they accumulated over the last few weeks since the transplant surgery, Jan. 6.

Thanks to everyone for their prayers, concern, and thoughtfulness during the past month!