It's been awhile. A lot of things have happened... Hmmm... Where to start?
School let out in June. Our last day was actually Monday, 6/4/2007. It was our 1/2 hr day. I picked the kids up at their normal times and dropped them off at the grade school. Then I sat and waited. I only had 7 grade school kids on the bus. It probably took about 30 minutes for them to all straggle back out to the bus, but as soon as they did we were off and running. I got them all taken home, Did all my "Have a great summer!" wishing and headed home. Since the Escort died and we are down to 1 car I just parked the bus in the driveway and figured when the car was here then someone could follow me up to the school to drop the bus off. When Hubby came home for lunch he said "lets go" so I drove the bus to the bus barn and he followed me in the car. I dropped the bus off, took my paperwork in and officially went on summer break 
June 11th I received a phone call from the secretary at the bus barn. She wanted me to come in and discuss my route for next year and some changes they wanted to make. Before school had let out I had filled out a survey and let them know about the overcrowding and unsafe conditions on my bus and bus route...
1) too many kids
2) the road at the base of New Boston blacktop is dangerous. I have almost been hit numerous times by Semi trucks and cars coming down that hill and around that curve too fast. I can’t see them coming til I am out in the road. I suggested moving that stop to the top of the hill at the entrance to the new housing division they are putting in. In the fall there will be 3 kids getting on and off at that stop and I really would like to get that stop moved so I don't have to go down into that barn lot. A stop at the top of the hill on 92 would much safer since it is open road in both directions.
3) take 2 of the students off my route and put them back on the other bus. They could have her turn her afternoon route around and they wouldn't need to be on the bus any longer than they are right now and I would gain 2 more spots on the bus. plus it would take about 3 minutes off my bus route.
Those were my main concerns. When I got into the meeting I got a rather pleasant surprise. Of course one driver didn't show up at the meeting but the other one was there. This is the way things are right now as far as changes... Altogether I have had 8 students taken off my bus and have had my overall route shortened by about 15 minutes I am guessing. I will know better after I ride my route and re-time it. I am reasonably sure I wont have to leave at 6:35am anymore. It may even be closer to 6:50am. 
So the news from that meeting was good. I will need to redo my maps and my schedules etc. but that is something I do every year anyway.
Moving on... Sara left on June 15th for her 2 week missionary trip to Ketchikan, Alaska. She not only flew, she also took a 2 day ferry trip to get there. Before she returns she will get to see Anchorage and also Denali State Park where Mt McKinley is located.
Sara came home from Alaska on June 29th. She had her fun while she was in Alaska. She had just got to Ketchikan on the morning of June 18th and into the camp when she decided to play on the monkey bars. You guessed it! She flipped around and hit her face and nose right into the bars. The camp directors were sure she had broken her nose so they called me and took her to the Air Force base to be treated. After xrays and an MRI they decided she had a mild concussion and some cuts and swelling, but no broken nose or face. I was glad about that. Of course we were en route to Ashtabula when all this happened. I received my last phone call from the youth leader late that night and he assured me all would be ok. I made numerous phone calls to her the rest of the week and other than being sore she was fine and having a good time.
On Sunday June 17th, (Fathers Day) Ron got a phone call from his mom while he was at work. His father died the Friday before, June 15th and they found him Sunday morning when hubby's sister and husband took his groceries to him. He was still in bed with his oxygen on so it looks like he died in his sleep. We made arrangements and Monday morning the 18th we (Ron, I and baby) headed north for a 10 hour drive to Ashtabula, Ohio. We got there in time for the visitation Monday night. Tuesday, Hubby spent the day helping his siblings clean his fathers' trailer and go thru his things. The funeral was Wednesday morning and Thursday morning we headed to London, Ohio to visit Hubby's mom. We spent the weekend with her and came home on Sunday night.
Monday it was time to run all the errands I needed to get things back to normal. I did the laundry and cleaning and picked up some groceries... When we got back home I put things away and then I stepped out onto the porch and water was pouring out of the washer and down the basement steps. It sounded like a waterfall. I ran over and shut the washer off and sent Alex outside to find Ron. He couldn't find him so I ran into the computer room thinking he might be there, sure enough he and my brother, Paul, were both in there. I told him I needed him on the porch that the washer was overflowing and I headed out. I stepped off the step onto the porch and.....
BLAM!!!! I screamed and started to fall. As I looked down I saw my foot going the wrong way and felt that awful searing pain! I screamed to Ron that I thought I had broken my ankle and I fell. Ron came up behind me and slid down onto the floor and picked my leg up and held my foot up and Alex grabbed some ice. Paul called 911 and asked for an ambulance and I cried and screamed. I screamed "I don't have time for this!" Everyone was upset and I was just in pain. Alex got a pillow for my back/head and I half sat half laid where I had fallen. That was sometime around 3:30pm. The ambulance people showed up sometime around 4;15PM and then they had to decide how to get me on the stretcher and out to the ambulance. Before I would go I had Alex get a pic of my ankle.
The Ron helped me and I scooted onto the stretcher. They took me out the back door and Ron and one person took the foot of the stretcher and the other lady and Paul took the front of the stretcher and carried me down the stairs and out to the ambulance. Miranda grabbed me a band aid before I left. They wanted me on oxygen so I held the mask to my face. They wanted to splint my foot but it hurt too badly so they decided to just let it dangle off the pillows. They told me they had never seen anything that looked like my foot before. It took about 30 minutes to get to the hospital, Ron followed in the car. They took me straight in to a room and the Dr and nurses came in. Some of the details are kind of foggy now, but I remember them giving me 2 shots of morphine in an IV they had started. The Dr wanted some xrays so they did that. It was very painful when they wanted to lift my ankle to slide the film under it. Then the Dr came in and said my ankle was dislocated as well as broke so they had called an orthopedic Dr in to look at me. But the emergency room Dr said I needed to have it "reduced" immediately. In case you don't know, reduced means they wanted to straighten and fix the dislocation. I asked if he could wait til the other Dr came in cuz it was very possible I was going to need surgery to have my ankle fixed. I figured they could do it all at the same time while I was ASLEEP! No deal... The ER Dr said it had to be now! Ron stood beside me, they put the rails on the bed up, a nurse stood on the other side of me and the Dr was at my feet. He put his hands on my foot, I grabbed the rails, and he pulled and twisted! I screamed and rose up in the bed. Man! that hurt! The Dr apologized and the xray people came in again for more xrays. They took them and in walked my daughter, Lily and Stephen, her husband. Sometime around 7:30pm or so the Ortho Dr showed up. He said from the looks of the xrays I had broken my ankle in 2 places. On the inside and the outside, and I would need a plate and some screws to put it back together again. He was also not sure but it looked like the bone may have broken thru the skin. If so I would need another trip to the OR room in the morning to get that area cleaned out again. At 9pm they were wheeling me into the OR room. They got me on the OR table and the anesthesiologist told me he would take good care of me and then he said "this is where I say good night" The next thing I knew I was feeling the nurse pull the tube out of my throat and I was waking up. I don't know how long I was in the recovery room but I don't think it was long. They wheeled me up to room 474 and got me settled in. For the time being my foot was in a splint and the Dr said the bone hadn't come thru the skin so I was lucky. I had to spend the night though. The next morning the Physical Therapy Lady came and showed me how to use the crutches. The Dr said no weight at all on my foot for at least 3 weeks. I went back in on July 3rd for xrays and the Dr. put me in a cast. They tried to get my foot at a right angle but it wouldn't move all the way up so they did the casting with it as far up as it would go. I picked out a very pretty bright pink... They told me to keep the cast dry and keep my foot elevated above my nose for at least 50 minutes of every hour. That first week in the cast was the pitts. I actually got claustrophobia a couple times and broke out in bad sweats. July 4th we all went down to the bay and watched fireworks. Miranda wanted Domi, one of my granddaughters, to come over so she spent a few days with us. The fireworks were nice but I was glad to get home and prop my foot back up. My next appt to see the Dr. is July 20th. I am hoping by then the xrays will show that I am ready for a walking cast. It's all a wait and see thing.
July 10th I called the casting room technicians and complained about what felt like a hot spot in the cast. It felt moist and nasty, almost like a raw spot or something. They told me to come in at 3:30pm so Ron took me in. They cut the cast off. There was a large red area, but no sign of moisture, They figured maybe it wasn't padded enough. So after a thorough checking and a washing they recast it with extra padding this time. They were having trouble getting my foot to move to a 90* angle and the lady helping the technician let go of my foot or something and messed the cast up (a dent got put into the hell of the cast) so they had to wait for it to dry and then cut it back off. The 2nd time they had me lay on my stomach to see if they could push my foot into position. It hurt like hell but they finally got it where they wanted my foot to be. Only problem was they flattened the bottom of my cast out so it is right on the bottom of my foot now and I don't feel like I can get any air past that spot. My foot was in alot of pain on the ride home, when I finally got home and got in and got it propped up it felt better. It took a few hours but it finally stopped throbbing and aching. I am back to keeping my toes above my nose for 50 minutes out of every hour.... Here it is the 14th and it isn't doing too bad. It still gets hot and uncomfortable but the spots that felt like they were cutting into my foot have stopped hurting. I don't know if I have worn them down or maybe the swelling in my foot and ankle has gone done, I only feel them once in awhile now. The back of my calf is aching and crampy though and my other heel and leg is achy. I think it must be from laying in bed so much. Oh well... 6 more days and I go back in and see the Dr. I am sure once I get the walking cast I will feel better. At least I will be able to get around easier and probably can even go to town and Ron said he would help me get on the bike and we would go for a ride. I am really looking forward to that. I will have to wear the cast for Catie's wedding though. No way I will have it off before then. Her wedding is the 18th. I am thinking that hopefully the following week the cast will come off. That will give me 1 week of freedom before school starts.
So that's my news.... My summer break is going to be spent in bed in a cast and then the remainder of the time in a walking cast. i should be good to go about the time school starts. Although hubby did mention physical therapy. I hadnt thought about that, but I bet I will need some kind of therapy to get all the motion back in my ankle....
If you bothered to read this far thank you I have missed my Xanga friends.... Take care everyone 
It seems like unless I am constantly reminding them nothing gets done. Hubby stopped by the store on his way home, another $172 in groceries, etc... Man! I need to get back to running my own errands.. In all honesty though I would have been in bad shape without him to keep things going around here while I am laid up in bed. I am still hoping that come Friday the Dr. will decide that I am ready for a walking cast.. Alex just popped in to say he had some pizza in the oven so it looks like a pizza night. Hubby had to run over to my brothers house to help him cut a piece out of a house dehumidifier with a plasma cutter. Something my brother is doing on the side for someone else. I hope he gets back home in time for some hot pizza... He didnt get lunch today cuz they were short handed at the store. No other news from here... I know... BORING! Have a great night everyone 
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