[This is a cross post from my mom’s blog.] I’m back at my desk in DFW. It seems like I’ve been gone for a month even though it’s only been a week and a half.

While at the ranch, I was able to take measurements of whole bathroom, the doors, the bed, and even the front porch and walk. We “rebuilt” Mom’s bed. It was 36 inches tall. Now it’s only 18, the height required for her wheelchair. I have a rough plan for building a ramp from the font walk up to the porch. We’ve discussed the bathroom rebuild and have some ideas there. Dad is going to talk to a contractor soon so he can get an estimate on rebuilding the shower, etc.

Speaking of Dad: He’s always been a workaholic. He’s always been the type to get up early and work all day long (“You’re burnin’ daylight!”). But I’ve never seen him like this. He really is running raged all the time. Managing the ranch is a full time job, but now he’s caught between that; getting the house wheelchair accessible; cooking and cleaning for himself; keeping up with insurance claims, lawyers, medicare, doctors, nurses, etc., etc.; and driving back and forth between the ranch and Mom every day (almost) to ferry clothes, food, and all sorts of other comforts of home. I know we’re all focused on Mom and praying her healthy, but keep Dad in your prayers too. He needs it more than he’ll admit.

As for Mom, she’s doing amazing! She really is moving on to a new phase of her recovery. On Wednesday, around 6 PM, after getting her banking files transferred to her new laptop, she kicked me out! She said I needed to get on the road home and that she didn’t need me. (Not in a mean way, of course.) She doesn’t need anyone to stay with her over night. She doesn’t need anyone to help her onto her wheelchair or into the bathroom or to get her salad out of the refrigerator. She’s not 100% independent, but she’s coming along so fast. It seems like every day she achieves a new freedom. Way to go, Mom! We’re all very proud of you. (But do be careful. Don’t over do it.)

I know, I know. These are boring and not at all funny or whimsical. But this is all I got for now.

I’m typing this from my mom’s PC at the ranch in La Grange. I drove down after church this morning. That may seem confusing since my last post told of my driving down to Austin, but that was two weeks ago.

I had to leave the hospital while Mom was still almost totally incoherent (which was very very hard to do). I got back to my job for just long enough to get a big project done before we (Tammy and I) left on a long scheduled mission trip to Westcliffe, Colorado. Our original plan (pre-accident) was for Tammy to fly to Amarillo to spend some time with her parents. Then I would drive up in time for my parents’ big 50th anniversary party there in Amarillo on 6/12. Then we’d drive on up to CO with the rest of our mission group. After the mission, we’d stay in CO for several more days to see our old friends and enjoy the state we miss so much. Then back to work on Thursday, 6/24.

Naturally, all that got scrubbed. The anniversary party is postponed indefinitely. Doing what I can to help out Mom and Dad takes priority over a CO vacation. And, having already scheduled the time off from work makes this a bit easier.

In case you have not been following Mom’s progress on her blog (sandraladd.wordpress.com), she is on the road to recovery. It will be a very very long road, but at least she’s on it. She’s awake, coherent, and fairly active. She should be done with surgery (unless they decide she needs a skin graft for a large open wound on her ankle). She is out of the trauma hospital and on to a rehab facility in Round Rock (north of Austin) where she will be learning the tricks to living in a wheel chair, which she will face for the next 6 months while her hip and foot heal. Everything looks optimistic, in terms of a return to normalcy. It’s just that that return is a long way off (a year?) and right now she is uncomfortable in many ways that we bipeds would never think of. (ex. How do you go to the bathroom when you can’t get out of bed?)

I’m tired and sunburned from the mission trip (which went really well). Tammy stayed in DFW because she seems to have a cold or something and we can’t risk Mom catching anything. I was told to come to the ranch (rather than the rehab hospital) for tonight. So, I’m sitting here in the all-too-quiet house feeling rather lost and unhelpful, but hopefully that will change by morning. Once I have something that sounds less pathetic and self-centered, I will cross-post it here and on Mom’s blog.

And that’s all I’ve got to say about that.

Hey gang. In case you’re not following me on Facebook or Twitter (Why the heck not?!) here’s a quick update.

I’m in Austin at Brackenridge Hospital. My mom was in a serious car wreck yesterday (Thursday 6/3). Nothing life threatening but not great. Tammy and I drove down last night. My sister made it in from up north this morning. We’re all pretty tired and frazzled, but holding up.

Mom is still pretty well zonked out on pain meds. (This is a good thing!) She mumbles something now and then, but I think she’s still not real sure what’s going on yet.

She had surgery yesterday to remove her ruptured spleen. Everything else looks good internally. She has a concussion, but it’s not serious. The worst news is broken bones. She has a fractured left hip/pelvis, a fractured right ankle, and a crushed right heel.

She’ll probably have one surgery early next week for both the hip and ankle. The heel is the worst and will require a separate surgery late next week.

Please keep the prayers coming: Obviously for comfort and healing, for doctors and nurses, and for family peace and sanity. Also for the other driver who is here too, but, for privacy, they can’t really tell us anything. We’ve inferred by their reactions to question that he is in much worse shape.

For further updates, follow me on Twitter or Facebook (trint99) or check out the blog my cousin set up, which my sister will try to keep up to date: sandraladd.wordpress.com.

Not that she’s been anywhere else. I mean, it’s not like she’s home from a battlefield or jail or anything. But she is home from work.

God has blessed us and we figured out that, by tightening our belts just a little, Tammy could quit her job in Dallas and find something that, though it will pay less, will be closer to home! Tandy (not the computer company) was very good to Tammy, but between the 60 mile round trip through horrid traffic, the 5 AM alarm clock, and the… well… hostile work environment, it came to the point were the money just wasn’t worth it.

What’s even better, with our First Time Home Buyer tax credit, we have enough in savings that Tammy can take a month or so off before she starts looking for a job closer to home.

Having just finished her first full week without a job since High School, Tammy is doing great. She is just getting the tiniest tinge of cabin fever, but she’s loving getting up with me and hanging out in the mornings before I head to work. So far so good. Next week, she’s actually pretty booked up, between dentist visits, meeting to counsel and encourage youth, and volunteering at the church.

I’m so thankful that we were able to get her home. It was definitely a “God thing” and now, we trust that He will find her the perfect job when the time comes.

Next week is Spring Break and you know what that means! What? No. Vacation? Who takes a vacation on Spring Break?! We’re going on a mission trip!

We had plans to return to Galveston to rebuild in the wake of Hurricane Ike. But the ministry with which we were going to work had some funding issues so we had to make a quick change of plans. Our missions coordinator got in touch with the churches we worked with in New Orleans a couple of years ago. They’ve still got plenty of work to do rebuilding the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. (Can you believe that?! Five and half years after the storm!)

Plans are still very fluid (even more than usual), but it looks like we are going to be insulating and sheet-rocking a house that has stood stripped to the studs for four years.

As a perk, we will be able, on Sunday afternoon, to visit many of the homes and people we helped on the 2007 and 2008 trips.

Last night, while looking for some unrelated files on my backup hard drive, I stumbled across the raw video from our 2007 trip. It was more emotional that I expected. It stirred up those feelings of sadness for the loss and joy for the help and hope we were able to bring. It’s going to be a great trip.

As usual, please pray.

DFW saw record breaking snow yesterday. We got nearly 11 inches at our house.

The good news: Both Tammy and I came home early Thursday. We both had the day off Friday. Our power, internet and TV have stayed on the whole time. We got to build our first snow man together (A whopping seven footer!).

The bad news: Opening night of my dessert theater show was canceled (Friday). Ticket holders will be welcomed Saturday. Some how, we’ll get all the folks for both sold-out shows into one fantastic performance. My folks could not change their plans to come see the show Friday, so they won’t be able to see it. Nor will they get to see the updates to the house. But that will come eventually.

Right now, Tammy is enjoying the Olympic opening ceremony. I’ve snuck out during the parade of nations to give you all an update, but I’d better get back in there soon.

P.S. She’s only shed one tear so far, while they were profiling the torch relay.

Remember a month ago when I said I was in this year’s dessert theater production? I said, “That means that I have a new accent to master and I won’t see my wife awake for the first two weeks of February.”

Well, here we are. My Brooklyn punk accent is pretty sharp and my poor, abandoned, but still loving wife did not see me awake yesterday. Tonight, we got about an hour. Sorry, dear. I still love you! Try not to forget what I look like and don’t shoot me when I come into the bedroom at night. Okay? Thanks. You’re the best.

The holidays are over. What a whirlwind! Life’s been completely nutty around our house.

Over the last month we bought a new car, several pieces of furniture, and all the pieces and parts to complete our home theater. None of that was purchased on credit… well… except for the car, of course. But our car payment is actually lower than it was before and the loan has no interest.

We traded in Zippy, Tammy’s yellow 2003 Mazda 6, which had crested 100k miles and was showing it’s age. We bought a brand new, white 2010 Toyota Corolla S the week before Christmas. I’ve never bought a “real” new car, never thought I would, but we needed something with very low miles and good gas mileage and the used cars we looked at were very nearly the same price as the sale prices on the new cars. I guess the old rule about losing two grand when you sign the title doesn’t always apply. By the way, the new car has been christened “Frosty.”

In the mean time, Daisy, my 2003 Nissan Xterra is now paid off, so all that outgo can now be redirected to savings. (That is, saving up a big down payment for the truck that will replace Daisy when she wears out.)

As for the house, what a difference a month can make! The dining room is done; new table, chairs and rug; and it came in about $300 under budget thanks to holiday sales and some shrewd bargaining. The guest room is done; bed, mattress set, night stand, curtains and blinds; again about $200 under budget. The media room has a Craigslist love seat that’s less than six months old.

Our HD video projector, HD receiver, and 5.1 surround sound speakers are all in transit. I had set myself a $2000 budget for the home theater. When I consulted a local home theater specialty store, they literally laughed at that number. They said they’d never sold a package for less that $4k. (Gulp!) But they were kind enough to give me some advice on what brands and technology to look for. I was able to find the exact products they were pushing and my finished theater will come in at about $1500. Who’s laughing now?!

And finally, our big project over the NYE weekend was decking the garage attic with nine sheets of 3/4 inch plywood. It went up with no real drama. Tammy was a trooper and helped me get it done in half a day. The attic, now fully decked from edge to edge, is huge. We stored all our Christmas decor, winter and summer sporting goods, including 90% of our camping gear, and the attic is less than half full. (I can’t store some of my gear up there because it’s not climate controlled.)

Now we face a new and exciting 2010. (That’s “twenty-ten.”) We’re hosting youth events starting the end of January. I got a role in Stage Right Theater’s dessert theater (which plays every year around Valentine’s day). It’s another murder mystery, this time set around a New York Italian restaurant. That means that I have a new accent to master and I won’t see my wife awake for the first two weeks of February.

Whew! That’s probably not all, but it’s all I have time to share. May your 2010 be blessed and full of God’s love, hope and fulfillment.

I just read an article about the angriest Americans.

I recent study interviewed 1800 American adults to track down their angriness. According to the study the most angry Americans are A) under 30 years old, B) raising children, and C) have less than average education.

So, let’s see. I’m 36. No kids. College graduate. Hmm. Yep.

Clicky clicky for the full article.

Well, it’s about time! I finally got a new Work From Home Friday video put together. Please excuse the truly awful quality. The video is grainy, the lighting is bad, the audio, the editing… I could go on. But, hey! At least it’s better than nothing!!