The Coffey Grounds

Sorry for the sporadic posts lately.  The last 2 weeks have been a total blur!  And we have lots of pictures to share.  Since there are so many, I put them all in our Web Album.

Let’s see…where to start.  I finished finals on December 11th.  Yea!!!  I was really happy to get this grueling semester behind me.  Mike was on vacation for the next two weeks, so on Wednesday the 17th we started on are bathroom remodel project.  Demo was the first step and as always - the most fun! I love the destruction part of remodeling.  Now we are working on putting it all back together…not nearly as much fun!

On the 19th we headed to Houston to start the many Christmas celebrations.  On Saturday morning, we celebrated Christmas with my Mom, Jessie, Jamie, Jay, Morgan and Birgit.  You may remember Birgit from many years ago.  She was a foreign exchange student that stayed with my family about 9 years ago.  She also came back to visit for our wedding and Jamie and Jay’s wedding.  Birgit is studying at Trent University in Canada for a while, so she came down to visit us for the holidays.  It was great to see her and catch up.  On Saturday night, Birgit went with me downtown to see my old friend Brent in the Theatre Under the Stars performance of White Christmas.  It was great to see Brent perform.  Afterwards, we went out with some old friends from La Porte.  It was great to catch up with them.  On Sunday, we celebrated Christmas at Grandma’s with the Hampton family.  This was our second year doing a present swap type of thing and it was a blast.

On Sunday night we came back come to continue working on the bathroom.  Unfortunatley, the bathroom is taking quite a bit slower to put back together because Mike’s contract project is going live really soon (they have been in beta for a few months) so he has been working on that project quite a bit more than expected, so the bathroom has been on the back burner a little.  I still think it will be possible to finish before I start the spring semester (January 20th.)

On the Tuesday before Christmas we went to the Trail of Lights with Joseph, Jane, and Cameron.  As always, it was a blast.  It was especially fun to go with Cameron and see him “ooh” and “awe” over the displays.  Then, on Christmas day we went over to Joe and Sandy’s (Mike’s parents) for Christmas with the Coffeys.  This was our first Christmas in Austin ever!!!  It was really nice not to have to drive anywhere far for Christmas and wake up in our own bed.  Mom, Jess, and Birgit came up and met us at Joe and Sandy’s for Christmas dinner. Afterwards, Mom, Jess, and Birgit came over to our house for a small Christmas celebration.  They stayed two nights and left Saturday morning.  We fit in a few activities and went shopping.  It was great to spend time with them and see Birgit.

On Monday the Bronstad’s (Jason and Melissa) and the Flores’ (Cathy and Marc) drove into town for our annual get together.  We used to see each other more, but now Jason and Mel are in Chicago, so we don’t get to see them as often.  We had a blast and drove out to the Gristmill for dinner.  We stayed up late talking and playing Apples to Apples that night then went to the outlets on Tuesday for a little retail fun (and some pretty great bargains!)

On Tuesday night we went out with Brandon and his girlfriend Rachel to Chuys.  It was great to catch up with him (Brandon is one of the two people that introduced me and Mike.)  We also went to check out the 38th Street lights which was fun.  We hadn’t been in a few years and while it wasn’t as bring as usual, there were a few great houses with great political themed displays.

Yesterday (New Year’s Eve), Mike was off work, so we stayed home most of the day catching up on things around the house.  Then, we went to one of his co-worker’s house to check out their new twin boys born Christmas day.  They were soooo cute, small and sweet!!!  Then, last night we went over to friend Resha and Gabe’s house for New Year’s Eve.  It was nice and low key and alot  of fun.  It was also nice to see their house.  Gabe basically was the contractor on the house and really made alot of great choices.  It was nice to see that you can get such quality construction and it gave us a few ideas for when we build in a few (or more) years.

Today is nice and quiet.  I slept in till 11am (which hasn’t happened in years!) and have just piddled all day.  Mike has been working on contract stuff.  But, I think he is going to stop soon so we can watch Quantam of Solace.  We’ve been wanting to see it for a while, so that will be fun.  Tomorrow will bring more bathroom work.  I’m hoping we can get everything roughed in so next week we can start laying the stone (if it comes in by then!!!)  I can do some of the tiling myself while Mike’s at work, but right now everything we are working on is plumbing stuff that requires Mike, so I can’t do much alone.

Other than that…not too much is new.  We are just enjoying the season and have loved seeing many of our friends and family over the past few weeks.  I’m sure the next few weeks will seem dull in comparison!  But, I think that will be needed to rest up for the spring semester.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

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Aunt Carol just sent me an update on Clay. He is being released today!!! What a miraculous recovery! He is having some intermittent memory loss, but the physicians feel that this is likely due to the medications he is on. Also, he cannot drive for the next month. What a miracle!! We are all so thankful for this Christmas miracle! Thank you so much for all the thoughts and prayers!

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Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy new year!

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I am so happy to report these great updates from our cousins.  Clay is now out of a coma (after more than a week) and is breathing on his own and talking.  At one point he asked for his wife because he needed to go to the bathroom.  To me, that’s a particularly good sign because he’s recognizing body functions and is reacting and making judgments on who he wants to help.  All very good signs of cognition!

We found out that Cousin Andy’s does have a malignant tumor in the pancreas.  Yes…that’s pancreatic cancer.  But, this story has ALOT of hope.  The cancer HAS NOT spread and the physicians think this case is curable after surgery, chemo, and radiation.  The reason pancreatic cancer is usually very bad is because it has usually spread to many vital organs which are near the pancreas before it is cause.  It is quite rare that the cancer is caught before it has spread!

So, the Hampton Family has MANY things to be thankful for this Christmas Season!

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Hi there!  Christmas break is going well so far.  We are starting demo on the bathroom tomorrow.  What’s the delay?  We were a little late ordering the stone, so it won’t start getting here until next week (if we are lucky.)  But, it all worked out.  Mike needed to do some contract work, so he’s just done that for the last two days while I have been moving stuff out of closets, cabinets, etc.

Update on Clay - he is still in a coma in ICU in Memphis.  After three days with normal intracranial pressure, they will start brining him out of the induced coma.  Grandma said that it might be today or tommorrow when that happens.  At that point, they will know more about any cognitive damage.  At this point, it’s too soon to tell.  Please keep the Auttonberry Family in your prayers.

Andy should have gotten news about whether or not the tumor is benign yesterday at MD Anderson.  When I talked to Grandma yesterday we still hadn’t heard anything, but are still hoping and praying for the best.

Will keep you updated….

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Hi there.  I’m sorry for the lack of posts lately.  I have been in my own world lately and basically in survival mode the past two weeks.  Last Friday was the last day of classes and we had finals this week.  I finally got finished today and am reveling in not having ANY reading!  And while I have a ton of stuff I need to do over the break, it feels strange after such a tough semester not having anything I have to do.

But, after a post-final exam high, I talked to Mom and received some very sad news regarding two members of the Hampton Family.  On Monday, cousin Clay was in a car wreck in Memphis and is currently in an induced coma due to head trauma.  He is in the ICU and listed as “critical, but stable”  condition.  From our last update, the physicians were going to reduce the meds that are keeping him in a coma today to see how he respond.  Becky, Jimmy, and the family are in Memphis with Beth and everyone is keeping Clay in our thoughts and prayers.

Also, Andy and Tammy were in Houston today at MD Anderson.  Andy was diagnosed in Louisiana with pancreatic cancer.  He  immediately went to MD Anderson and they said that they weren’t sure if it was malignant, so they were running additional tests.  We are all hoping that the tumor is benign and that it’s not cancerous.

Needless to say, there is alot of praying going on in the Hampton family right now.  Please pray for both Clay and Andy and their families.

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I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We had a great time!  Mike and I left Wednesday morning for La Porte.  We got there in time for Mike and Jessie to go see a movie.  Then, that night we met up with some old buddies from high school at our old local fav - Gringos.  John and I see each other quite a bit in Austin, but it’s always fun to hang out with him.  But, its been a while since we’ve seen David and Kristin and thier kiddos (who were soooo cute!) For Thanksgiving, Mom cooked a feast.  I counted one dessert per person - yes…one whole dessert!  We had a great meal with everyone including Uncle Kevin.  Here are some family pics we took on Thanksgiving:

Mom and I drove around to look at some of the hurricane damage.  It was so sad.  Here are some pics from houses on Toddville road:

And here is a house down the street from Mom’s house that has been abandoned (which unfortunately is all too common:)

The day after Thanksgiving we worked on a Family project we have been meaning to get to for a while.  Unfortunately, it involved alot of mold and dust which induced a massive allergy attack.  This meant I spent the rest of the holiday pretty stuffed up and sick.  It’s finally clearing up, though.  On Saturday we traveled to the Woodlands to spend the night with wonderful friends Cathy and Marc.  We always enjoy visiting them and love the Woodlands.  We had a blast enjoying a Guiness at the Goose’s Acre in the Woodlands and watching all the games that impacted the Longhorns ranking and Big 12 possibilities.  (Don’t get us started on the BCS right now.)

After a wonderful brunch on Sunday, we drove to Spring to meet Joe and Sandy (Mike’s Mom and Dad) to pick up Mike and Joe’s new “project.”  Mike and Joe bought a 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback as a “project car.”  Though, all Sandy and I see a clunker with rust.  Here a a few pics of the “project:”

Now, we are back and getting into things.  I had two finals today (they went well - yea!) and two next week.  Mike will be in Guadalajara, Mexico, this weekend for a quick work trip.  It was a last minute trip, but worked out well because I need to study all weekend for finals.  Our bathtub will arrive this Friday and I just ordered the vanity, so we should be set to start the remodel the week of the 16th.  While I’m excited, I’m not looking forward to the mess - especially since the house looks so nice with the Christmas decorations.  Oh well…that’s the way it goes.

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I found this on a website recently.  It was obviously written from a Republican point of view.  While I’m NEITHER a Republican or Democrat, I thought it was just tooo funny not to pass on…

The election day is over, the talking is done.
My party lost, your party won.
So let us be friends, let arguments pass.
I’ll hug my elephant, you kiss your ass.

No matter your polictical belief, you gotta admit…that’s funny!  Oh yeah…I case you already didn’t know, Jessie is actually going to Obama’s inauguration!  She signed up for a school trip long before they even knew who was running.  Given the historic nature of this event, you can imagine how excited she is!

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Wishing everyone Happy Thanksgiving from La Porte - where things are pretty depressing after Hurricane Ike.   I’ll try and get out and post photos.

All is well at the Hampton house.  Mom has been baking up a storm - I have counted one dessert per person (not serving - a whole pie or cake!)  Seriously…I don’t see losing any of 10 lbs I’ve gained this semester anytime this weekend!

I guess the diet starts Monday…

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I was thinking the other day that I haven’s written about any of my “adventures in nursing school” stories.  And boy to I have many.  There was the classic time when a patient at Austin State Hospital told me that I was communicating telepathically with them, or the patient that had no short term memory so I had to keep repeating every few minutes “my name is Michelle and you are in the hospital.”  Another big event happened this week…

One of the “big” events in a nurse’s training is when she (or he) starts an IV on a patient.  And that finally happened this week!  Up until this point, I had practiced on my friends and Mike (he’s been very supportive, but is a horrible stick) but I had just not had the opportunity to do one on a patient.  Finally, I got that chance!  It wasn’t one of my patients, but the nurse I had been working with had another patient that had pulled their previous IV out and my nurse had been avoiding putting one back in.  So I said “I’ll take it!”

And here was the patient description I got: “they’re an HIV positive, former IV drug user with bad veins.  And, oh yeah…they’re also an unmedicated schizophrenic who has random seizure ‘attacks’” (self induced “seizure” attacks, that is).  Oh yeah….I know how to pick em!

My instructor and I went into the room to assess the veins.  Let’s just say they were slim pickins!  Many of the veins were blown from drug use and the rest were pretty thin.  I picked a “good” one and went to get supplies.  My instructor made sure to tell me that the patient’s veins were pretty bad and not to feel bad if I don’t hit the vein.  A few more wacky events transpired - think random temporary blindness and another “seizure” and then I finally got my chance.  Not to brag, but I hit it on the first shot and it went beautifully!  I got the IV hooked back up and went on my merry way!  I was on cloud nine the rest of the day.

Hopefully I’ll get to do some other cool stuff in the next two clincial days we have before the semester ends!  I’m still itching for a catheterization.  I could frankly do without ever having do colosotmy or trach stuff.  If I can avoid those forever, I won’t feel shortchanged!

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