No, Beans, we're not going to discuss events that happened in Europe from 20-25 February, 1944 when the Air Force launched ~3500 bomber missions against aircraft manufacturing plants in Germany. I remember discussing that in AFROTC in college, but it is more "blah, blah, blah, bombers..." memory. However, for a decent description of "War of Attrition" in action, I'd recommend this wikipedia article about the campaign. A lot of good lessons were learned from the missions. Including the importance of the mission my "last ride" was built for.
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| Yep, Beans, all that just to get a picture of an F-15 in the post. Source |
On with the post, see I'm in a positive mood this week, as opposed to "Somebody" who seems to be more prone to an "Off with their heads" position.
Not that there's anything wrong with that. We certainly could use a bit of it. Pour l'encouragement des autres, doncha know!
Anyhow, Big Week ahead. GC#1 is expected any day now. MBD and her OB Doc have decided on NLT Thursday one way or another. All is progressing normally and She (GC#1) is expected before then, but....What do I know about giving birth?
I know there was a lot of stepinfetchit, little sleep, a lot of "No Dear, we don't ever have to do the sex thing again" involved. With Little J, they wouldn't allow me into the OR (C-Section), so I got a couple hours of sleep with his opening act. On the second (MBD), they also made the decision for a C-Section after 24 hours of labor. I was looking forward to a nap when the nurse told me to get the scrubs on and get moving.
Gentlemen, if you ever get the opportunity to hold your wife's hand during a C-Section, I've just got one word of advice. DON'T look on the other side of the curtain! Trust me on this!
So, MBD and SIL are the only ones authorized, other than hospital staff, to witness the actual arrival of GC#1. Therefore, our plan is, on notification that they're headed to the Hospital and at a reasonable hour of the day, Mrs J and I will head to C-Stat and get things set up for homecoming.
Not that MBD hasn't been doing that for a while now, but Mrs J will be staying for a week or so to provide mothering help. (As an aside, Bill, yes, we secured the electronics, only one had a password, it's been changed.)
My Job? My job is to cook several meals and freeze them, then RTB and take care of the critters as well as any paying guests we may have at the guest house. Oh, and finish the table.
The only thing salvageable on the table was the top. The old leg support (round) frame is beyond my woodworking skills to fix, The new, rectangular support frame will have to be cut and assembled. Replacement legs have been purchased. Then the staining part comes. I think it'll take a week, or the rest of my life. It's a coin toss.
Ahhh, the joys of Grandfather-hood.
Pictures of GC#1 to follow.
Peace Out, y'all. We're winning.
**Late Breaking news update. While I thought Thursday was the NLT Date, apparently that date is still up to the scheduling gods. We shall see.
Everything sounds shipshape....er.......airworthy (ahem). Just remember no plan survives intact upon first contact with the enen....wait....uh...first GC .........:)
ReplyDeleteWell, if GC#1 is anything like her mother, her father will have his hands full and she'll have me wrapped around her little finger in about a nanosecond.
DeleteCan't wait!
Best wishes to all hands! Praying for a happy outcome!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Boss!
DeleteI have been in your shoes, albeit some years ago with the youngest daughter who is now pushing 41.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes for you and your family on the impending arrival of your first grandchild.
ORPO Sends.
Thanks Glenn, I'll keep you in mind for advice when mine starts getting near teenagerhood.
DeleteHoping for a great outcome!
ReplyDeleteThanks CM
DeleteHoping for nothing but an easy experience and healthy outcome for all, Juvat. I was present for all three births although no C-Sections. The youngest, Nighean Dhonn, was the most exciting of all: arrived at the hospital and within 15 minutes we had a child. I have never seen delivery nurses look so nervous as when they could not find the doctor.
ReplyDeleteAlso, appreciate you soldiering on the face of such challenges with animal care and table refurbishment.
I would think that excitement is something to be welcomed AFTER the birth, not before or during. I've been asking the Big Guy for Cool, Calm and Collected for MBD. Glad things worked out well for you TB.
DeleteOne must do ones duties.
Thanks, TB
Hope everything goes to plan! May your tribe continue to increase. You'd figure a doctor would realize that babies can't read calendars. They drop when they are ripe normally.
ReplyDeleteI remember our little ones, 36 hours of labor for number one. About 16 for number two, and number three couldn't read the calendar and started ringing the door bell every Wednesday for a month. Then maybe 4 hours of labor and there he was. We managed to avoid the Cesear births, the last one was at home, 30 feet in the air.
Praying for an easy birth and a smooth recovery.
Wow, 36 hours? I'll stop griping about our pair of 24's. Would be nice if MBD was in the 4 hour range also. But, what will be, will be.
DeleteI'm not sure I get the 30 feet in the air part, though.
Thanks STxAR, hang in there!
We were living in a town house / batchelor pad on Drug Creek in Houston. Tara Gardens Apts. 3 stories tall, 1 room wide. The youngest was born on the top floor. ;)
DeleteMy daughter has us all beat, 72 hours... And it wasn't letting up, I don't know how she did that. Tougher than I ever thought possible.
Good gravy, 3 days? WAY tougher than I could possibly imagine.
DeleteYour table reminded me of the time when the movers to destroyed my wife's antique Chippendale table that was given to her by her grandmother. It was repaired but they had to manufacture most of the legs. I don't know that there are many Craftsmen that do that sort of thing these days. Maybe a retirement job for you if you were so inclined.
ReplyDeleteWood turning is the next step in my woodworking evolvement. One of my projects for my "home alone" time is moving my mini-lathe from my way too crowded soon to be replaced woodshop up to the new house. At that point, I'll start to learn that skill or simply turn wood into sawdust, which can do wonders for the stress level either way.
DeleteIt's big up northeast and in midwest, often amongst the Amish or Mennonite communities. Good furniture restorers are out there, just if they are good (and not Amish or Mennonite) they are also pricey.
DeleteSince 2019, there's actually a lot of home businesses established to do all sorts of reproduction/repair work. Seems people decided they could work from home and have a side business or two.
As to the replacement shop, juvat, what ya getting? Huh? Huh?
My existing work shop is a 10' X 15' shed. It worked pretty well at first, but since a sheet of Plywood is 8' long, cutting it on a table saw takes more space than I had available. Complicating that is other tools and benches and "stuff" ("Stuff" having a reproduction rate that would put a rabbit to shame.)
DeleteSo, I asked and Mrs J consented to a 20' x 30' Lofted Barn, which I'll add a small room on the back to shelter our well from the WX. See how I talked her into it? Worked like a champ. Course asking for her help with the table and chairs inside the old shop helped (and also let us use the garage for that project. Which is much nicer than the old shop.)
I want to learn how to run a lathe!
DeleteMe too. First I've got to get it out of the box, though.
DeleteHolding the wife's hand needs, I believe, more instruction. Make sure she is grasping your palm, not just your fingers. This is very important if you recently had the tip of your ring finger surgically repaired after misusing a hedge trimmer. Four years later the memory served well.
ReplyDeleteWSF, where where you when I needed you 37 years ago. Trust me, I have trained my Son-in-Law the proper way to offer your hand to ease her pain whilst simultaneously retaining use of it for yourself. Fortunately, it was my throttle hand which didn't require much finger dexterity, the right hand on the control stick might have been a bit more problematic.
DeleteAh, yes, the wifely clutch and crush of one's hand. Know it well. And when only her lizard brain is engaged, do not get one's fingers, hands or any other body part near the choppers. DAMHIK.
DeleteZackly!
DeletePrayers up for nothing but cool, calm and collected...and for everyone involved to be healthy!!
ReplyDeleteAm pretty sure GC#1 already has her Grandpa wrapped firmly around her little finger...not even born yet, and already an over-achiever!!
And yes, speaking as a mom who had an emergency section--(busted my waters early by squatting down to get stuff out of the lower drawers instead of bending over, which was hard to do, developed a sloooow leak, so about 32 hours later the doc decided to do a section as the pitocin--what moms are given IV to expedite/initiate the kid to get a move on and move out--was doing notathing) the best baby present I got was from the husband's Aunt Mary. The kiddo was born on 12/20, which meant we were went home on 12/25...on the COLDEST day of the year with -20 wind chill...so hubs got us home, upstairs (where the bathroom was), and snuggled down into bed and went off to Aunt Mary's for Christmas dinner. He came back about 5 hours later with 2 cookie sheets filled to over-flowing with turkey, ham, dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, a separate container of gravy, another of rolls and an apple pie.
The accompanying directions were to remove 2 shelves in the fridge, and slide the cookie sheets right in...we had a side-by-side fridge she had picked out for when hub's grandma had needed a new one...we had bought the house from his grandma...We ate off of those 2 cookie sheets for almost 2 weeks, there was that much food. I didn't have to cook at all, just run the microwave. It was WONDERFUL!!! And fast forward 9 years later when I had a major surgery, my sister, who lives in CA, cooked up a bunch of meals, froze them, filled a cooler with the meals covered with dry ice and shipped them to me. Again, didn't have to cook hardly at all, except to run the microwave. Best presents in my life ever!!
So good on you for cooking up a bunch of meals!!
Remember--we will need to see the after action pictures!!!
12/20? That's a great day in my life as my Mother was born on that day. Were it not for her....
DeleteGlad things went comparatively all right for you.
MBD has requested I cook my Cassoulet (Chicken, Andouille Sausage, and Bacon with Cannellini Beans) recipe, my Chile Verde recipe (probably going to do two just in case, my primary recipe is a tad spicy) and my Chicken Noodle Soup recipe (which is lots of Chicken and Noodles and very little soup). MBD''s MIL is making the Breakfast Casserole which MBD says is wonderful, so...I think we're good to go.
Never thought of dry ice to ship meals. Good thing to keep in mind JIC.
Will do.
Thanks, Suz!
Well, hope your overly eventful week will be surprisingly uneventful. Smooth sailing (do you propheads call it 'smooth airing?') and all that.
ReplyDeleteIt's always nice to have prepared foods ready for the event. One of the things we, as a nation, used to do in our communities, the whole 'support each other.' I remember it was a big thing on military bases growing up. Wonder if it still exists?
Take care, prayers and hopes go out to you and yours. And watch out for stupid deer, it's the time of year they tend to wander onto roads at just the time you need to get somewhere.
Thanks Beans,
DeleteBoth my kids were born on Military Bases and yes, the squadron wives took over the logistics. There were a few tragedies between Little J and MBD and, MAN! did the wives pick up the ball and run. So. yes, one of the major things I miss about the military.
Re: Stupid deer. Roger! Just got back from Lowes, 9 miles away. 10 deer dead on the side of the road. Mrs J suggested we switch for Mass at 0730 on Sunday to Mass at 1730 on Saturday. I countered with 0900 Sunday. Dark is Dark after all.
Does Texas at least allow you to keep what you road-kill?
DeleteI don't know, and from what I've generally seen, I'd have to be near death from starvation and even then....While the sun heats Texas quite efficiently, I don't think it quite gets warm enough to cook the venison much past the stench stage.
DeleteNo Beans, I found that out once upon a time. Considered poaching, possession of an illegally taken deer. But the game wardens freezer is always full somehow. Perks I guess. Since Sam Houston owns them I figure he outta pay for the damage they do, but somehow the state has a one way street on their pets. They get all the fees and none of the responsibility.
DeleteWhich is par for the course, STxAR. Par for the course.
DeleteI was surprised at the selection of tools that Mrs. J had assembled for the "C-section". But, to each her own.
ReplyDeleteOur third, Noelle, was born 0900 - yep, you guessed it.
One of the most significant moments of my life was when I was presented with "Ava". Daughter of my baby daughter. Cannot even describe the feeling of overwhelming joy!
Yes, D4, the Table's C-section is going well. We are in a priority pause at the moment. But I think I'm going to go and make the initial cuts for the underside frame. Shouldn't take too long and if interrupted won't be difficult to pick up where I left off. Staining is definitely scheduled for the "After" time frame.
DeleteI very much look forward to a similar moment, Dave. At this point, I can only imagine.
Ah yes, NOW the fun begins... Hope you're prepped for a LOT of road trips back and forth. :-)
ReplyDeleteYep, It'll almost be like they're back in College, only now THEY get to be the Parents.
DeleteCongrats on GC#1!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, DrJim.
DeleteHUZZAH1
ReplyDeleteHUZZAH1
HUZZAH1
Indeed!
Delete