Originally, each post from this month appeared on its own separate page. They were combined here in February, 2022.
Posted Tuesday, February 1, 2005 at 10:00 p.m.
Wendi saw Dr. Steven Lyon, the E.N.T. (Ear, Nose & Throat) specialist, at 9 a.m. The trouble with her voice is not due to sickness, but it’s because her throat is extremely dry. “Your mucous membranes,” the doctor told her, “look like parchment!” Several of her medications cause dryness, and she will discontinue two of them for a while. She was also instructed to use a vaporizer and a certain nasal spray which we will pick up tomorrow.
Posted Tuesday, February 1, 2005 at 10:00 p.m.
Charlie saw Dr. Neil Jain, the allergist at the Dean Clinic by Shopko, at 11 a.m. Everything is okay; he wrote new prescriptions for meds, including a new Atrovent nasal spray to be used only as needed.
Posted Tuesday, February 1, 2005 at 10:00 p.m.
We went to visit Mom (Grandma) in the hospital from 4:50 until 6:11 p.m. today. Eight family members were there for the visit. Grandma was hooked up to oxygen, but her I.V. was not connected. She had eaten a few bites of oatmeal and drank a little milk this morning; this was the only food she had taken in 48 hours. She drank a little water while we were there.
Her face was puffy, and her hands and arms were swollen. They had removed the wedding ring which Grandpa had made for her from a quarter, because of the swelling. Her heart is tired, and various bodily systems are beginning to shut down. She will likely be with us for only a matter of days now.
The hospital staff told Grandma this morning that she was dying and asked her if she was afraid to die; she had told them “No.”
Grandma was only able to open her eyes, turn or nod her head, and move her hands, but she could hear everything we said to her. Each of us took turns talking to Grandma and holding her hand. Several of us cried. Fortunately they had moved Grandma to a new room only this morning; there is a “Family Comfort Room” adjacent to this room for the benefit of distraught loved ones.
Wendi told Grandma that we would try to get back up and see her on Friday. With great difficulty Mom responded verbally with “Okay.”
We took turns hugging and even kissing Grandma before we left. Grandma took Charlie’s hand twice and didn’t want to let go.
Posted Wednesday, February 2, 2005 at 8:34 a.m. with later additions
Charlie’s mom (Joe’s grandma) passed away quietly very early Wednesday morning. “She slipped away between bed checks,” we were told. She was found dead at 4:25 a.m. and we were notified at 7:25 a.m. Since then we have been in touch with family and friends by phone.
Final arrangements have been made through Whitcomb–Lynch–Albrecht Funeral Home (formerly Overton) in Janesville. Visitation will take place at Roxbury Road Church of Christ, 2103 Roxbury Road, Janesville, at 10 a.m. Saturday, February 5. The funeral will follow at 11:30 with Pastor Dave Fremstad presiding. Burial will take place afterward at Milton Lawns Memorial Park in Janesville.
All things live, all things die.
There is never truly an end, only a new beginning.
The line between life and death is a thin one,
but also one of sorrow and pain.
Everyone crosses the line though at some point.Written by Joe Petitt, February 2, 2005
Posted Wednesday, February 2, 2005 at 6:48 p.m.
Two contractors were here today to do Weatherization work: E & D Water Works replaced the water heater and venting, and also replaced the bad gas valve in the kitchen. They were here from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Arch Heating & Cooling was here to look at the heating system; the furnace itself has a cracked heat exchanger and several other problems related to age and wear; it was replaced today before 5 p.m. Extensive work including replacement of all heating ducts will take place on Thursday.
Posted Tuesday, February 8, 2005 at 3:18 p.m.
We took Stormy to the vet on Monday, February 7 at 2:20 p.m. for a distemper booster shot. The doctor found a tapeworm in her, so he gave her an oral capsule called a drontal, to kill the tapeworm. He said the tapeworm was probably from the mouse the cats killed, so we asked for two more doses of the drontal for Shadow and Sunny.
Stormy weighed 2.96 kilograms (6 pounds, 8.5 ounces) today.
Posted Monday, February 28, 2005 at 1:15 p.m.
A friend of Joe (and of the family) stayed with us from Tuesday, February 8 to Saturday, February 12, due to overcrowding at his home. The stay was pre-arranged by his parents and us. Everything went well.
Posted Monday, February 28, 2005 at 1:15 p.m.
On Wednesday, February 9, Arch Heating & Cooling finished the bathroom heating duct and register, as well as adding a register upstairs. They also installed a new intake to the furnace in the basement. Later that day, Rock County Appliance replaced our faulty oven with a brand-new Frigidaire. Look, Ma, no more deadly fumes!
Today (Monday, February 28) two men came to finish the job. Insulation in the basement was beefed up. New energy-saving lights were installed in the bathroom vanity, the living room and the basement. One of the workers built a platform over the heating ducts in the closet and also fixed one of the new ducts which was disconnected. Now we will be able to use the closet for its intended purpose, and we’ll have proper heat in the bedroom and living room.
Also today, our clothes dryer was properly vented to the outdoors. Thank goodness—no more nasty lint all over the house… The old window air conditioner in the kitchen was removed, and the window was fixed… They also gave us a new carbon monoxide detector.
Posted Monday, February 28, 2005 at 1:15 p.m.
Our black, brown and white striped kitten, Stormy, underwent surgery on Tuesday, February 15. She was spayed, and her front paws were declawed. The surgery went well, but she ran a fever afterward, so they put her on an antibiotic along with some pain medicine. They also ran a test for feline leukemia, which returned negative. In addition to all this, she received a microchip for identification.
Posted Monday, February 28, 2005 at 1:15 p.m.
Wendi saw Dr. Lyon on Tuesday, February 15 about her throat. The moisture had returned, and everything looked good, but her voice was still hoarse and she had a nagging cough. A tiny camera attached to a snake-like tube showed a sore in her throat near the vocal cords. The doctor gave her a cough suppressant to allow the throat to heal. So far she has seen no noticeable improvement.
Posted Monday, February 28, 2005 at 1:15 p.m.
After two-and-a-half weeks of testing various layouts, fonts and colors, the new version was released at 12:42 p.m. on Thursday, February 17, 2005. Not much was changed; in short, if it wasn’t broken, it didn’t get fixed.
font-size-adjust rule is added to the styling in case
the default sans-serif is larger or smaller than Verdana.
On February 21, the main style sheet was re-done in PHP so that certain browsers (Internet Explorer 5.0 for Windows, and Opera 7) will receive “tweaked” editions of them automatically. The next day, a new PHP style sheet was developed for version 4 browsers. Now everyone will receive one (and only one) style sheet; separate screen and print styles are incorporated into the main style sheet.
Minor content updates were made to a few pages to reflect changes in the new version, on February 23.
New background colors were introduced for each section on February 26. Lemon Chiffon was chosen for the navigation bar. Umm’s Colors was then updated with the new colors.
Posted Monday, February 28, 2005 at 1:15 p.m.
A nasty virus gave Joe sniffles, sneezing, sore throat and cough as well as itching and pain in the eyes. We took him to Urgent Care on Saturday, February 26; they gave him some eye drops. So far, he hasn’t missed any school but is quite miserable.
Posted Monday, February 28, 2005 at 11:04 p.m.
A page in our inspirational section contains material quoted from Erma Bombeck, that I received in email a few years ago. The email stated that Ms. Bombeck died of cancer, but in fact this is incorrect. An observant visitor sent us the correct information; then I searched Google and found a CNN article from 1996 which also told about it. I have included the visitor’s response on our page, along with a link to the CNN article. Thanks again, Al.