Slowly improving

Ashley is starting to remember more.  Adam and Shalisa Bingham came back (with Chick-fil-A, which was GREATLY appreciated) to visit again.  About 5 minutes after they had left, I asked Ashley if she remembered who had been in to visit her.  "Adam and Shalisa" was the reply.  She also remembered that I had talked about a dog running in to her bike, that I had told her that her parents were coming, and that the kids are at the Mumford's house.  Certainly not ready to take on the Stanford-Binet, but much improved from this morning!

Dr. Ofori is not worried about her at all.  In his experience, the memory issues can last a few days, and the impaired cognitive functioning can last a week or two.  But regarding long-term prognosis, he feels confident that Ashley will be completely back to 100%.  That made me feel fantastic!  He ordered a repeat CT scan in the morning, and is planning on keeping her at least 24 hrs, maybe longer.  I think Dr. Ofori is from Africa, given his accent, but I didn't pry.  He was very pleasant and seemed very capable.  Pretty rare combination in a neurosurgeon!

Ashley's bicycle accident and head injury

This morning at about 7:30 am central time, Ashley fell off of her bicycle and hit the back of her head.  A dog had run out in front of her and hit her front wheel.  She was wearing a helmet and was traveling at about 16-17 mph.  She was unconscious for about 2 minutes, according to Dr. Micah Bahr, who was riding with her, along with Lisa Mumford.  They were training for the Altus AFB triathlon next Saturday, 18 July.  She woke up confused and could not remember anything about the incident. She was able to remember her name, my name, the kids, etc.  But she was not, and is not at this time, able to form new memories.  

It has been about 7 hours since the accident.  The CT scan showed a small fracture in the back of her skull, and very small areas of probable blood in the front of her brain.  She is alert, recognizes me, and can carry on a conversation.  But she instantly forgets anything that I tell her, and keeps asking me why her head hurts and what is going on.  The technical term is post-traumatic amnesia.

We are in the hospital in Lawton, OK, awaiting admission to the ICU.  Dr. Ofori, the neurosurgeon, has just been in to see her.  He feels very confident that she will regain her short-term memory sometime in the next few days.  I feel very comfortable with the medical care she has received so far.

Update: Ashley has remembered something for the first time since the accident.  Our friend, Adam Bingham, drove out to visit us in the ER, and Ashley remembered that he had been here about 20 minutes ago.  Things are looking up!

A New Sister!

This is Lizzy.  

Lizzy has been in our family (our extended Merback Family) for about 3 years now.  Doesn't she look just so snug in the middle in that picture! But yesterday it became official!  Not that we NEED some authority to tell us who we love, who we don't, who is ours, and who isn't but it sure does make it seem more permanent, make one feel more committed, more accepted and more a part of us.   Lizzy was adopted yesterday.  JOey officially comes from a family of 5, has two sisters, I have two sisters-in-law and the kids now have 5 aunts.  Woo-Hoo!  The more the merrier!  Especially when more means Lizzy!  Welcome to the family Lizzy.  I/We love you so very much and look forward to watching you grow, learn, decide, experience and love.

*to be sealed on July 28 in Reno, NV

Summers...Bounty?

My gardening experiment began again this spring.  Joey and I, with the help of some tiny hands,  put in countless hours hammering, churning soil, driving back and forth to the nursery, planting seeds, watering, fertilizing etc.  I had great hope this year.  But I learned my lesson after my square foot gardening hype (I won't go into the failure of that years garden but it was...a failure and even worse because I swore testimonials of the method to friends and family).  So this year I determined to do nothing fancy.  No heirloom varieties, no unique methods, no crazy soil combinations.  Just the standard local recommendations in a raised box bed.  We built five beds in the fall and filled one of them with three blueberry plants and another with three blackberry.  Four of the six died through the winter.  We were off to a good start.  Luckily the online nursery we ordered from had a "guarantee on the box" (take that Callahan Auto;) and sent us some replacement plants.

Our garden continued in this vain when our lettuce and carrot seeds seemed never to germinate, our Broccoli and brussel sprouts got overheated and never produced any fruit and our green beans gave us maybe ten little beans.  I realized I didn't fertilize early enough and pulled up the cool weather plants.  About this time the lettuce and carrots finally began to sprout and my tomatoes were showing some promise.  I guess this lightened the blow.  Here are a few of our successes, and failures since that time:

The Swiss Chard has been prolific.  We've been eating Swiss chard pasta, creamed swiss chard, chard on sandwiches...yummy!  Pretty too!  Aren't those raspberry pink stalks just gorgeous!

The herbs are coming along beautifully.  Here's a picture of some chimichurri pesto that we ate with our steaks last night.  It's my own little combination of two of my favorite condiments, chimichurri sauce and pesto.  I used a little bit of all the herbs in my garden (okay, a lot of cilantro, basil and parsley)  and some walnuts instead of pine nuts.  I'm going to try it on a cold pasta salad tomorrow.

Zucchini and Yellow Squash

We've harvested maybe five of these...that's pretty sucky if you ask me.

The same with our strawberries, about five of them but man were they tiny, sweet and delicious!

The tomatoes are huge and bushy.  I've been plucking off the "suckers" like crazy.  We have tens of tiny little green babies all over them and are just drooling over them to ripen.  We've eaten probably ten already.  I can't believe I have to go back to store bought tomatoes in the winter;(

Don't forget the casualties.  

I found these laying in the dirt yesterday, courtesy of Georgie.  Man did she get in trouble.  She was sent to bed early and is not allowed in the back yard all day today. 

Sweet 100, our most prolific variety

So I return to my beginning statement.  This is our gardening "experiment".  I have to look at it that way or I'll go blue with disappointment.  I just keep reminding myself that I'm learning something new each year that will make me the gardner I want to be in my 40's and 50's (although most of the time I have NO IDEA why things aren't working out).  And I enjoy it.  Even if I only get 15 fruits, it's worth it to me (any less than that is NOT).  I love getting out there and getting my hands dirty, seeing the dirt pour off of my legs and arms in the shower and watching tiny little green sprouts that I planted emerge from the dirt.  They're so hopeful.  Gardening is hopeful.  It's new and exciting.  Every day you find something new in the garden.  And if that ain't worth it, I don't know what is!  And If I'm still writing posts similar to this in the summer of 2035 than just send me comment reminding me to keep my day job and, most importantly, to keep my black thumb out of YOUR garden!  

Finally...Fathers Day

Good Morning Daddy!  Good Morning with waffles, good morning with sausage, good morning with OJ.  (Joey will love me for posting his morning face!)  We were on the road on the "real" Fathers Day so we saved our celebrating for today.  Joey and I celebrate most of our special days with yummy food...no gifts.  This Fathers Day was no exception.  

I didn't get pictures of Dinner but as with any meal requested by Joey, there was steak (ribeye), and some more interchangeable sides...green fries, blueberry spinach salad, homemade bread and then delicious "Mom's Brownies" for dessert.  Actually Joey is calling me name to watch "Like Water For Chocolate" and eat those yummy brownies right now....we all know I don't keep a brownie waiting!  Happy Late Fathers Day to all the Fathers in our lives!

Iran and human nature

This is Joey, and this post will not be published, at least not for the immediate future.  I can't seem to express my true opinion freely without causing major consternation amongst our supposedly closest friends and family.

The occasion is another election, this time in the Islamic Republic of Iran.  Hardline conservative incumbent President Ahmadinejad "defeated" the moderate challenger Mousavi.  It did not appear in the run-up to the results that such would be the case.  Voter turnout was 85% (!), and all of the public  celebrations and demonstrations were pro-Mousavi.  He had major support among women, students, young people in general, and the affluent.  Ahmadinejad had support among the poor, the military, and the fanatically religious.  I do not believe that the results are legitimate, with approximately 66% for Ahmadinejad and 33% for Mousavi.

Mousavi's supporters have been rioting in the streets and are being brutally controlled by the state police and religious militias.  They are asking what happened to their vote.  They want the results investigated.  They will get no such satisfaction.  The supreme Ayatollah has already declared his support for the "official" result, and with that tyrannical decree comes the death of any free inquiry.

I am struck by how much kinship I feel with the protesters.  In Iran, just as in the US, Europe, or any other part of the world, there are people much like myself.  There are women who feel repressed and want social freedom and mobility.  There are freethinkers who suffer under the oppressive nanny-ship of religious conformity and control.  There are homosexuals who hate themselves and yearn for social acceptance of their truest expression of love.  I am fortunate to be in the US, where I am completely free to think as I want, even if I am demonized by certain sections of society and my family.  They, on the other hand, are in a prison from which there seems to be no escape.

My thoughts and my empathy go out to them at this time.  Thomas Paine mercilessly ridiculed those who were content to tolerate English rule on the American continent, declaring, with astounding shortsightedness, as they stood with hands on the shoulders of their children, "Give me peace in my day."  These are the times that try men's and women's souls in the Islamic Republic of Iran.  I hope they continue to either actively or passively resist state corruption and religious oppression.  I hope.

Jedi Training Camp

Remember how I said I made Isaac choose one of those 3 options to do for his 5th birthday.  I lied.  You see, Isaac LOVES Star wars...I mean, OBSESSED!  And what better theme is there for a birthday party than star wars?  I dare say none.  And what if on his next birthday he doesn't like Star Wars anymore!?  I can't risk that!  Besides, he was turning 5 and that is just huge.  What's a mom to do?  I think you can all guess what a mom is to do...throw a freaking awesome (easy and cheap as pie) Star Wars Jedi training camp PARTY!  

Invitations were sent out to 8 perfectly talented little earthlings to attend, as padawans, a Jedi training camp.  It does seem like planet Earth is underrepresented on the Jedi cousel, doesn't it?  Things of great importance went down at our house on May 26th!  Here are some pictures to prove it:

Some of our Padawans hyped for training!!

While waiting for the other guests to arrive 

they played Anakin Anakin Darth (Duck Duck Goose).

Once all our Padawans had arrived the training commenced!  They started by making a lap around the house to test their speed.  Then their balance was tested on some old boards we had lying around.  After this they attempted to mount a "flying personal aircraft" (our horse swing):

Then their piloting skills were tested on a scooter that they had to weave in and out of some old buckets.  We called our old cable spool table a human chopper and tested their courage by rolling it over them as they lay down on the ground.  They then used "the force" to close the shed doors without touching them.  (Joey hid inside and closed the doors without them knowing).

Their favorite part of Jedi training was probably the "light saber skills" test.  Each padawan had to fight off water balloons being thrown at the them with their light saber.  It was a hit with both the fighters and the throwers!

See the sheer joy on Isaac R's face!  It's just so fun to throw things at people!  Destroy...destroy!!

After their Jedi training an URGENT message arrived on our doorstep from the Jedi Counsel.  The kids got really excited about this.  It informed them that Luke had crashed his X-wing on the planet Tatween (sp?) and their help was urgently needed to rescue him.  Since none of them had light sabers yet (I hid theirs just after they came in) they were to find some reserve light sabers hidden for emergency use throughout the galaxy.  With clues leading from one light saber to another they searched the house and yard until all of them were found.  They were then ready to complete their mission.   

After finding Luke they, of course, had to fight Darth Vader...

...to the death!

They were all rewarded afterward with an official Jedi "uniform" in a special ceremony.

Last but not least was birthday cake.  A delicious, edible lightsaber!

Make a Wish!!

Happy Birthday Isaac!  Thanks for helping me to plan your party (he really did)!  Congrats Jedi friends on a great day of training!