Focht Family Blog

We are back in Statesboro. We made it back on Friday. Nathan washed the RV on Saturday. The dirt and salt were driving him crazy!! It now looks brand new. It had a wonderful bath and wax from Nathan and his father. We took his parents out to dinner on Saturday to thank them because his dad helped him clean the outside and his mom watched the kids so I could clean the inside. It was gorgeous for one day… however now that the kids are back in here it doesn’t look like I did much! :)

Monday my mom and I took Samantha in to get her throat checked to make sure her strep was clearing up. I can’t remember if I said it before but her pediatrician called in antibiotics for her because I emailed him with her symptoms and pictures of her throat that I took. I love that he helps us out like that. He is a wonderful doctor. I wish I could find a doctor that good that took care of adults! After her appointment we went to my mom’s father’s nursing home. She was having problems with them getting their checks for his care in a timely manner so she left them checks dated for each month so they have them in the file and can deposit them monthly. They want to write my grandfather up as a success story because they now have him up and walking. That man is going to live to be 110!

This is the same grandfather that we rushed home for in August because he was dying in the CCU. We had them pull everything when we got there because that is what his will states that he wants. They said he was still going to die because he had infections and couldn’t eat. He got well enough that the hospital transferred him to hospice. He was only on a liquid diet at hospice and again they said he would die within a few weeks. Mom got rid of his TV and clothes. Then he became so healthy while at hospice that he wasn’t allowed to stay there anymore because he wasn’t declining. He was transferred to another nursing home, mom bought him new clothes and a new TV, and he is still going strong. He seems to be getting nicer to everyone and the nurses all like him.

After the nursing home I drove by Samantha’s old school. I was going to see if they could test her with their national standardized test that they do. They were actually testing this week so I thought maybe she could sit with her old class but when the principal checked with the person who runs the diocese schools they said she wasn’t allowed to test someone who wasn’t a student. I have been having such a hard time finding someone who can test her with a test that covers more than just reading and math that I finally ordered the testing supplies myself for one of the national tests and I will just give it to her. However, we managed to get to the school just as the classes were heading to lunch so the principal allowed Samantha to stop in and say hello to her old classmates. She also got to say hi to her old teachers. She was very happy since she has missed some of her friends.

We then stopped at Houlihans and had a nice girl’s day lunch. Here is mom and Samantha at the table. The waitress tried to get a picture of all of us but she didn’t do something right with pushing the button and the flash didn’t go off so the picture was too dark to see anyone.

As much as I love my boys it was nice to have a little time with just the girls. Samantha has been having some problems with attitude lately and we have a deal that for every 7 days that she is attitude free that we will do something fun that is girls only, like getting our nails done. In two days she has 1 day that she was good. The pediatrician actually recommended that we write a contract with her of things we expect of her and consequences if she doesn’t do them and then have both of us sign that way the consequences are already set.

Tomorrow mom and I are taking a little time for ourselves and we are going to a spa in town to get a massage, a facial and a pedicure. I can’t wait. I haven’t had a facial in over 5 years and it has been over 3 years since I have had a massage or a pedicure. My last pedicure was a couple of day before Josh was born because I wanted my toenails to be pretty at the hospital. :) Wednesday I have doctor’s appointments in Savannah and Thursday Nathan has meetings in Savannah and he is also going to take all of the stuff from my mom’s trailer and put them in our storage unit so her trailer is empty when it is dropped off. Friday is Josh’s eye appointment and then we are headed to Ocala.

Unfortunately I had a bit of bad news today. My other grandfather has suffered from Parkinson’s for years. He decided to have a stomach tube a few months ago when he lost his ability to swallow. They tried to rehabilitate him but he has had a few set backs and had a few bad infections. He has now decided to have his stomach tube removed. He is tired of fighting. He is in a hospital in Ocala and we had already planned on visiting him on Friday. He will be moved to hospice on Friday so we will visit him there instead. They figure he should be coherent and awake for at least 24 hours but maybe as much as 3 days. Then he will most likely fall asleep and not wake up. The whole process could take a week or more. They are not planning on having the memorial for him until some time in April so I don’t know if we will make it back for that or not. Personally I would rather visit someone while they are still alive then to go to a funeral. My grandfather has lived an exciting life. He was a christian psychologist, he wrote books on marriages and family, he traveled around the world speaking to people. He out lived two wives. My grandma died of cancer when I was a child and his second wife died of a cerebral hemorrhage when I was a teenager. I had just returned home from a two week trip with them when it happened. He remarried again and she is by his side while he goes through this final journey.