Welcome to 2014

Look how peaceful and beautiful Arkansas looks.  Unfortunately, it's also very cold and quite depressing.  This is a plot of land in my dad's neighborhood, but not my dad's house.  I took this picture while on a walk with his dogs.  

Here are the dogs - Bear (on the left) and Max. They are long-haired chihuahuas and very sweet boys.  I can understand why my dad loves them so much and they love my dad.  They miss him a lot too.  

I arrived in Arkansas on Friday evening and spent every day at the hospital with my dad.   Though everyone told me he was doing much better, he seemed so sick and miserable to me.  He had trouble staying awake and we didn't get a chance to talk much, but I did tell him I loved him and fed him ice chips every time he asked.  I felt pretty useless, though I did keep my stepmom company and took my turn doing the long drive to and from the hospital.  While I was there, it was unclear what my dad really wanted.  I don't think he was sure either, but today my stepmom let me know he's decided to go home on hospice.  I'm very sad but very relieved he will be comfortable and cared for as he moved towards the end of his life.  And most importantly, he will be with "his boys" (the dogs).   

Tom was wonderful about sending me support. love and pictures while I was away.  Sitting for hours in the hospital, I would text him these desperate pleas for cheerful updates.  He told me about their donut runs and their garage clean up.  It brought a smile to my face.  Here's a picture he sent me. 

 The kids are not on their way to an ugly sweater party just our local park.  He told me he found these in the back of the drawer.  They were back there for a reason!  I guess he was avoiding doing laundry.  Anyway, I just hope he didn't see anyone we knew at the park.  Of course, a little while later, I got a picture of them hanging out with my friends.  Eek!  At least they are really good friends who just texted to tease me about how fashionable my kids looked.  

 Yesterday, they went on the "Stanford dish" hike.  It's a paved trail that takes you around the radio telescope on the Stanford campus.  Looks like a beautiful day.

 I spent yesterday in the hospital and in airports.  I spotted this gem in the Atlanta airport.

No, I didn't buy it.  I got a trashy magazine about Tori Spellings's marriage drama.