Gordon and Woody Be Blogged

Howdy all.

Gordon here. I know, pretty rare that I post on this blog. I've been pretty dedicated to the food site and haven't really had much to say in the last year or so.Two weeks ago my grandfather died. He has been really sick for about 10 years now. He has been on oxygen for that time and been in and out of the hospital for the last year. My family had been expecting this for some time now but it still hit me like a stack of bricks when it actually happened. I've never really lost anyone that I have been close to and it is still a pretty raw wound.

Some of the memories that I have of my grandpa still bring a smile to me. When I was little he promised to buy me a Cadillac. One day when I was playing he came to me with a hot wheels Cadillac and said he was delivering on that promise. Another time when I was about 11, my mother, grandparents and I took a trip up the west coast, up to Canada in my grandparents RV. I remember playing cards most of those nights and listening to the bug zapper do its job as we played. And lately I remember how happy I was to find out that my grandparents would be able to come to my wedding in Portland. Here is a picture that we took that night:



I think I am going to miss playing cards with him the most. I've never palyed someone at hearts that could beat me so easily. I'm glad that I was able to get the extra years there at the end, yet I still feel like it wasn't enough.

Posted by Kung Fu Joe at 8:49 AM | Permalink | Comments  

I thought I would go ahead & write a new blog. As all of you know if has been one hell of a month & it's not even half over yet. Gordon & I have endured a lot of heart ache this month… not only this month but this year. But we seem to keep our heads above water & get through it each time just barely.

The baby making is put on hold for right now, there is just way too much going on emotionally right now so we are just gonna hold off. Plus, we are kind of up a creek without a paddle in the financial situation plus I am so freakin bored staying at home all day! I am not motivated to do anything & I just become more & more of a recluse & insomniac. I really need to get myself busy with working & on a schedule again. This Wednesday I have an interview with the County of Orange, so please pray for me. The last time I had an interview for a County job I completely blew it… I was so nervous I just kept rambling on & on & I think that really turned them off. So please pray for me that I keep my composure. I also have another interview next week on the 26th for an Admin position, so we will see how that goes.

I have taken on a project all on my own efforts to scan all of my mom's photos & the woman has like a billion! I have been going through so many memories & it is just so unbelievable. I will see a pic & I will actually remember that day or event & if not that I will at least remember the pictures hanging on the wall or the toys that I used to play with, it is so awesome going down memory lane right now. The only thing that sucks is that I see how freakin skinny I used to be & it depresses me! I was a really descent size right when I met Gordon & then I just ballooned up! I am determined right now to start a diet starting on Monday. I am going to start a diet & exercising routine & I am so determined to do it! So again, please keep me in your prayers for that adventure. I love to cook & I love to eat & we eat really healthy, it's just my portions & lack of exercise that are killing me. I seemed to start gaining a lot of weight when I was working two jobs before we left to Oregon. I sat on my but for 12 hours a day at a desk & didn't go out or anything. I think keeping busy with Bible studies & what not was what kept me fit & healthy, I really miss that activity in my life & hope to get it back. I will hopefully be able to get Gordon on the same routine if I am lucky.

So please keep this little family of ours in prayer… we really really need it right now. We have been going through so many trials & tribulations; it is so hard for us right now.

Posted by Kung Fu Joe at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments  

Gordon ended up spending 9 hours with Grandpa at the hospital & was rather exhausted by the time I came over around 1 or 2pm. I had to force him away & get some food down his throat. We ended up eating & headed back home around 6pm.

We just received a call an hour ago from his mom & sister Kathy that Grandpa passed away at 8pm tonight with his daughter Diane (Gordon's mom) & his wife by his bedside. They made a painful decision to remove his breathing tube because at this point his kidneys were also failing him & he is just way too old to go through any kind of dialasys or anything like that.

Gordon is pretty heartbroken right now, which I am sure the rest of the family is also, so please keep them all in your prayers. I am not sure what they have planned as of yet but we are soon to find out.

It has been a real tough two weeks... two weeks ago on 06/01/07, my Uncle Dick died, & today on 06/13/07 Grandpa Zuber passed away.

Posted by Kung Fu Joe at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments  

I ment to post this yesterday:

This has been a very strange day & not only a strange day but a strange two weeks also, so much has been going on.

This morning started off with Gordon & I attending a short orientation about infertility treatment. Gordon went back to work around 11am & a half an hour later he was calling me on his way back home from work. Gordon had gotten a call from his sister that his grandpa was in ICU. His grandpa is in his 80's & has been having a lot of pnemonia attacks since last year, so everytime Kathy calls we expect is to be something bad with grandpa.

Gordon & I rushed down to Victorville & the best they can give grandpa right now is 4 days. Right now he is on a breathing machine & very heavily sedated because he keeps pulling out his breathing tube but on purpose. I think he just wants to give up right about now & he is ready to meet the Lord but his loved one's around him aren't ready for that & who can really blame them?

Please pray for Gordon, he is really quiet about his feelings all the time but I know he is scared. He has never had anyone in his family pass away nor even a friend. Me... I have had way too many people I know & care about pass on. So I know Gordon is going to be rather fragile when the time comes, so please pray for me also that I can be strong for Gordon.

We might be here for a couple of days, so anyone trying to get a hold of me, I will probably pick up the phone but can't come out & play.

So many crazy things have been going on the past two weeks. I had an interesting weekend with Tom & Amber but we will save that post for another time, wouldn't be appropriate for todays post.

Update on Grandpa as of 06/13: Gordon & his sisters took shifts last night sitting by his bedside. Gordon has been there since 2am this morning. He called me this afternoon & said that Grandpa has made no progress. Please keep the family in your prayers, they really need it right now.

Posted by Kung Fu Joe at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments  

I’m writing this blog right now with the idea in my head that I don’t have much to say, but then again… I always have something to say.

As I posted in my last blog my Uncle Dick had passed away. He died a week before he was to enter the Old Town Tustin Chili Cook off that he entered almost every year. In his place my cousin Billy took over with some help from Dick’s family, the Duffs. It was so awesome to see people there in memory of Dick & in support of my cousin, not only him but all my cousins from that little family are so loved by so many of us, we had to do it for them & their dad. All in all they ended up coming in 2nd place for the People’s Choice Award & came in 1st for the overall Chili! My Uncle Dick would have been so proud & he was definitely there smiling down upon everyone.

Needless to say, I was there almost all day & of course it was warm & sunny with a really nice breeze… but we all know that I am one butt white Irish girl & needless to say I got burnt up from the sun! I had on a tank top so just the top of my boobs & shoulders got blistered… and I thought I was doing well in the shade but it just goes to show you it doesn’t take much for me. The ironic part of it was I was telling my Cousin Billy’s friend Carl that day how Billy would get blistered when he was younger & how he would get me & my other cousin Joey to sit on his back & peel the skin off. We would have contests of who got the biggest piece & they would mount up in a little pile by Billy. We were laughing about that & here I ended up getting blistered myself… I guess maybe I should invite one of Billy’s kids over to peel me huh?... LOL… just joking!

So I am a mess right now… I am not only PMSing but I have a huge bruise on my boob (don’t know how I got it), my boobs & shoulders are now blistered & I am in pain & to top it off I had a major melt down yesterday… I had a major anxiety attack, probably the biggest one I have had in a long time. So I was a big mess yesterday. But I am OK right now, the anxiety is still there but talking it out with Gordon yesterday really seemed to help me a lot. I found out that some feelings I had he has sometimes also, so it didn’t make me feel so alone & so completely different than anyone else. I was seriously feeling like one awful person yesterday inside & out.

So here is a pic of my beautiful sunburn, I wanted people to see a little glimpse into the pain I am in right now… it hurts just looking at it!

Posted by Kung Fu Joe at 8:46 PM | Permalink | Comments