Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Way to Go, Diana!
Diana had been invited & interviewed for a pretty big scholarship just before the prom.
She got a letter from the Ford Family Foundation while we were gone.
It was a thanks-no-thanks letter, letting her know she should apply again next year, but they'd selected all their recipients. (She took it better than I did).
Then today, she got a call from the FFF, saying that someone had declined their scholarship, and she was the first alternate! So did she still want it? Diana gave them a very enthusiastic YES!
We don't have the details yet, but we should find out soon exactly how much it's for, whether it's enough for her to be able to attend the University of Oregon, and whether it's renewable. We should be getting something in the mail soon.
I was really surprised this happened. It's like a miracle.
I'm gonna think we had a little help from above on this...
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Video Tribute to my Dad
A Video of Wolfgang Vetter's life
It runs about 7 minutes.
Thanks, Connie.
A Cognitive Leap
Monday, May 26, 2008
After the Memorial
We had to take photos while we were all dressed up.
Luckily, the make-up didn't run too badly.
Mikael, Connie, Catherine & Aaron.
Cole, Carolyn, Kaleigh & Carl.
Lee, Connor, Diana, Tina & Trevor.
This is the photo we had at the memorial, which the frame shop so nicely framed up for us in a day. My dad was a regular customer of theirs & they did a great job.
The flowers on the right are from Mom & Pop, Donna & Jim. My mom liked the red roses in there - they made her think of the three daughters. The ones on the left were the arrangement through the funeral home.
My Dad
On May 16th, my dad passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was 80 years old and in his 50th year of marriage with my mom.
We weren't able to tell the kids right away - it was the day before Diana's prom, and Trevor is hard to reach at school, so we told them both on Sunday.
Trevor took the train in to Eugene on Wednesday and then we drove up on Thursday. We spent Friday with my family, and Saturday was the memorial.
It was well attended and many people spoke about how my dad had affected their lives. There were a lot of really nice things said about how much he was respected and admired by all who knew him.
My sister, Connie, and my mom did a beautiful job of putting the whole thing together - music, slide show and flowers. The funeral home was lovely and welcoming. I haven't attended many memorials, really, but this was an exceptional service.
I got a copy of the slide show on DVD, and Lee is figuring out how to post it so that our family and friends who weren't able to attend can also see it. I will do a permanent link on the right when we have that figured out.
I am grateful for the last year, and the amount of time I got to spend with my dad. My parents came down to us last June to see their first grandchild graduate high school. My dad was really happy he was well enough to do the drive, and felt so good at that time. Our family got to visit again in August, although my dad was in the hospital the whole time we were there. Diana did get to bring in the laptop and show him the photos from her trip to Germany. I brought either Trevor or Diana with me daily to visit, and Connor and Lee got to visit as well.
In October, I met Carolyn in Portland and we drove up to visit again for my dad's 80th birthday. He was home, but in bed for most of that time, but we still got time to talk and laugh with him then. Even though he wasn't feeling great, he was able to visit with friends and enjoy their company.
Then Trevor & I visited again over Spring Break. I spent a lot of time with him then, and he really appreciated our time together.
I will be forever grateful that he wasn't alone at the hospital when he passed away. My mom & Connie were with him, holding his hands as he went - on his own time. I think it was the best way he could have gone.
My dad had a very full life. He made it through WWII, met and married my mom, and created a name for himself in Los Angeles. He was a wonderful husband, father and grandfather. I think he got a lot of happiness out of his retirement and being with his grandchildren - In his retirement, he created lovely pieces of art in stained glass & jewelry, which many of us have as momentos.
Now he is finally at peace, and his long battle is over. He is with his parents, his brother and other friends and relatives in Heaven.
I know he's in a better place, but I will miss him terribly.
Auf Wiedersehen, Papi. I love you.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Diana's recap on school today
She wore some of her new clothes as well.
The kids/teachers who hadn't seen her at the prom gave her lots of nice compliments.
The buzz around school was that her date was male model! LOL
Don't worry - she set them straight. She said all the guys had seen her, but didn't realise she had a date - the girls had all wondered who the hot guy was :P
In German class, the kids didn't want to have to do a lot of work, so they asked Diana to really take her time describing her weekend when it got to be her turn (in German). Diana talked about 20 minutes about all the stuff she did from Friday through Sunday.
She & Trae are intending to have World of Warcraft dates on Mondays, I think. Too bad he's Alliance... Still, he's got that Boy Scout thing going for him. This might go on a bit further than just the "thing." I think they are texting back & forth a bit :) Whee! You go girl!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
After Prom...
This is Diana right after the limo dropped her off, with her friend, Becki.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
A new favorite
Dang!
Diana doesn't have much to complain about with her 'normal' four-inch heels, eh?
I wonder if they wad up cotton like Connie did when she danced in toe shoes for ballet?
Diana liked these ones best, just for the confusing footprint.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Happy Mother's Day!
Who thought he was rather clever.
So he wrote a poem,
and sent it home,
To the greatest mother ever.
Happy mother's day Mom!
The best part was the pretty dang positive phone call today. He's keeping up with his classes and his team in Civ class won the Concrete Frisbee competition!
Yay!
Happy Mother's Day!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
A Thong
Prayers for my dad
He's in the hospital, on morphine, and it's looking like it's getting pretty close to him going home to the Lord.
Thank you.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Sunday - going home
We flew San Diego to Phoenix (not my favorite, very bumpy), and then Phoenix to Eugene.
We had the most awesome flight attendant on the way home.
The first thing I noticed was that he was wearing Danskos like the kind I use for work. He knew all about the thing Diana is doing, and was thrilled to meet her.
The two of them had tons in common, and she's drawing him as a chibi here.
He was a big Anime/Manga fan, and has attended conventions & done cos-play as well. He basically spent most of the flight talking with Diana (I think he handed out the pretzels a little late) and at the end of the flight, he had her announce the final prep for the passengers on the plane using the phone.
Riki and Diana exchanged webpage info, and I'm sure they'll keep in touch. All these anime kids are like family to each other. They both cheered each other up immensely. Too funny.
Thanks for a great flight Riki! You were fantastic!
Cool Gift from Renee
Diana had to open it immediately, even though it was after midnight.
This is an oyster in a little tuna-sized can, that you open and then get out the pearl.
There's a necklace that goes with it, but I don't have a photo of that since Diana hasn't taken it off yet.
Just a way cool gift & Diana was thrilled to get a real pearl that she got out of the oyster herself!
Monday, May 05, 2008
Saturday in SD
Hello San Diego!
We arrived Friday evening, and managed to hook up with Renee & Patrick. They treated us to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.
It was WAY FUN seeing Renee again, and meeting her guy. He is very nice and knows a lot about music & anime & other stuff, so we all had plenty of conversation going around
Thanks very much for dinner!!!
I think Nae likes San Diego very well :)
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Thursday, May 01, 2008
The Curse of the Thyroid
However, before I was diagnosed, I recall standing in line at Knott's at the parachute jump ride with Carolyn & my dad. I was looking up at the parachutes, and Carolyn told me to stop, because my neck looked "gross." I'm like, how does a neck look gross when you're 14?
So, we get into the little basket thing for the ride, and it goes up and all of a sudden, I get hysterical. I'm a little ball on the bottom of the basket, screaming bloody murder. It was so bad that when we came down, they let me off and Carolyn & my dad continued for the other 2 rides up & down. I had been on that ride before, as well as roller coasters, etc. without a problem.
Fast forward to the 90's. Lee & I are going to take a trip to Albuquerque to visit his sister Karen & her family for Thanksgiving. I'm petrified of flying, and I can't use my 'normal' method of dealing with valium + Irish coffee, because I have small kids. At the time, I had insurance that allowed for "mental health" and part of the benefits included counseling or hypnotherapy.
Froggy had a doctor friend that also taught self-hypnosis, so I went to see him. In figuring out my phobia of heights, he put together the thyroid condition and the onset of the phobia happened at the same time. Turns out the thyroid pushes against the pituitary gland (at least that's my best recollection), which affects emotions - like fear.
So even though the thyroid part was taken care of, I'm still left with an totally unrational fear of heights. On the plus side, I did learn the self-hypnosis technique that allows me to fly in an airplane and not have panic attacks. On the down side, I have to work at it and focus to get through it. The best thing I took away from the self-hypnosis therapy was that when I feel the fear build up, I should let it pass through me, vs. letting it take me over. The self-hypnosis helps keep the fear at bay - but sometimes it does build up anyway.
So - yeah - curse of the thyroid.