This past week was uneventful, until last night. . . when Grandpa died. . . .
This was the last school week of Labs. We had our final practicum which was catheter insertion. I practiced on Joshua’s monkey stuffed animal. Poor monkey. . .
I passed the practicum even though I had the hardest evaluator. And I kept making stupid mistakes. But I’d catch myself and correct it. I kept saying, “I broke sterile field, so I would get a new kit and start over.” I probably went through 18 “imaginary” kits. I just didn’t want to fail over something like sterile field. Glad it’s over with.
I did have the teacher evaluating me who is notoriously hard on students. She was very nice and I didn’t find it difficult to perform in front of her. Well, aside from the jitters I would have had with any evaluator. The students in my class are hard on this teacher. They often complain about her teaching style and methods, but I don’t have a problem with it. She gives us all the information we need to prepare for her lectures before class starts. But the other students act like they are walking in blind and leaving completely uninformed. That just isn’t the case. Maybe she needs to make it more clear that she gives us the class preparation guide before class begins. They all prefer our other teacher’s teaching style, but I don’t. The teacher they are hard on isn’t the most ‘lively’ or entertaining teacher, but she knows her stuff and has many years of experience. When she tells me something I know I can take that for the “gospel truth.” Our other teacher is fun, young, and energetic. She shares a lot of experiences and stories. That’s what the other students like about her. Honestly, it takes up a lot of class time and she doesn’t finish her lectures. She ends up having to go home and record more lecture for us to watch later. But I can’t ever watch them because the time I have for lecture is just the time that I am in lecture! So, I appreciate that the other teacher is able to stick to that schedule and get all the information in. I do like both teachers. Their methods and styles are different.
Our bathroom remodel is coming along. Here’s where we stand currently. Our remodel guy is very slow. I knew that going into it as he did our kitchen backsplash. We made a schedule when we started this for progress payments to give along the way. We finished those progress payments a week ago and the next payment due was scheduled for when the project was complete. We are no where even close to complete because he is so slow and only works 4 or so hours a day. So on Thursday he was getting ready to leave and said, “Smaller progress payment tomorrow. Maybe $2,000?” I said, “Not according to our agreement. We don’t owe you anything else until the project is complete.” He gave me a look and said, “I’ve gotta have something.” I said, “So do I. I need a bathroom.” Then I said I’d talk to Garren and see where we’re at and get back to him. On Friday he worked a little faster and even had some things in progress on Saturday with the plumber and electrician. So I guess he’ll work a little faster now that he knows he doesn’t get paid again until he’s done. He’s probably about 3 weeks out! That’s my guess.
Last night we went to my dad’s office for our yearly tax meeting. We buy him dinner and have a meal together then we do our taxes. While we were there my Uncle Mark called Dad and told him that my grandpa had died. My dad said they were expecting it and he had gone over the day before to give him a blessing. He didn’t think it would be so soon though. I was glad we were with him when he got the call. We stayed for an extra thirty or so minutes to just chat and try to comfort him.
This is a picture of me and Josh with my grandpa and Dad and Uncle Mark. I took my kids over a few times to do puzzles and games with him so they could get to know him a little bit. I’m glad we had that time together. I am very grateful for my Aunt JoAnn and Uncle Mark who had Grandpa living with them for the past few years until he went to a group home. It is challenging mentally, physically, and emotionally to be a caregiver.
Unfortunately, I don’t have many memories with my grandpa. He lived in Hawaii and California and didn’t visit often. But from what I experiences I did have with him I know he had a strong testimony of the church and he was great at family history. When he would come visit he would always show us what progress he’s made on the family tree. Dad said he had made comments recently that if he wasn’t useful he didn’t want to linger. So now he can go and be useful in the Kingdom of God. As Grandma Joyce said, “On to new vistas.”
Joshua gave a talk in church today. The subject was “Love Thy Neighbor.” I recorded it for my parents. Ones of these days I’ll be smart enough to upload it on here. He did such a good job. He made eye contact, he spoke clearly and confidently. . . most of the time, and his talk was focused and concise. It was very good. Until I figure out how to upload it, here’s a picture of he and I.
And, finally, here’s a picture from this week of Sugar thinking she’s a lap dog.
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