For those of you who are trying to keep track, Tom has been home from the hospital since the 21st.  Is it sad that I totally had to scroll back through my facebook status updates to figure out exactly when we came home?  Yes.  I believe it is.

His surgical site is doing great, healing faster than expected, IMO.  He was allowed to do 20 minutes up in his chair, three times a day, for the first week after he was released.  For the next 3 weeks we can increase his time up by 10 minutes, still not exceeding 3 times a day.  After that, if all continues to do well, Tom should be able to stay up in his chair much longer without too much difficulty.

Pressure sores / bed sores / pressure ulcers (or whatever other name they are called) are a huge hindrance to Tom’s life, for obvious reasons.  This is the first time Tom has had surgery to repair a wound. This is the first time Tom has had surgery that involved a long term hospital stay afterwards.  I believe that was the hardest part about this last wound – the hospital stay.

I’m glad Tom was able to make it back to our house for his birthday.  Not that we did anything, mind you.  But, its much better to stare at your own walls instead of being forced to stare at hospital walls.

Tom’s also due for a new wheelchair, since we believe that the one he has currently is worn down, especially the seating.  I don’t believe it caused the last pressure wound.  But, I definitely think it didn’t help it any at all.  He has a PT evaluation on Tuesday, and hopefully we’ll get to see some new wheels by the end of this month.

Now, we just have to make sure he’s good and ready to sit up in his chair by the middle of September.  Yanno, it would super suck if the guest of honor couldn’t attend all of Fowler Fest in mid-September.  Mind you, if his body isn’t ready to be up in his chair throughout the event, we’ll set up his air mattress in the yard.  Ain’t no way we’ll let him miss out on any of it.

And, on a completely unrelated note:  The constant spam comments that I’m getting on my blog are driving my absolutely insane.  I mark about 20 as spam a day.  Its super obnoxious.  And, secondly, I’m getting frustrated at WP’s automatic updates not automatically updating.  I mean, how convenient, huh?  Oh, right.  Not so much.

So, if you’ve been watching me on facebook, you’ve noticed that Tom’s had a hell of a time last month. Thank God May is over. Let’s hope that we never have another May 2010 again.

Tom’s stuck in bed with a horrible pressure wound. Our neighbors helped us figure out a way to get Tom outside on an air mattress, thankfully. I call it Tom’s palace. I feel its fit for royalty!

The first day the palace was built, though, we didn’t get him out because it was too hot and Tom wasn’t feeling up to moving around. The second day, we had to take the palace down because of a storm that came through… of course, the storm lasted all of 20 minutes. And, then, the humidity and heat kicked up again. Today looked like rain all day long, which made us hesitate to put the palace back up again. We honestly can’t wait to use it… but we’d hate to get out there and get stuck in the rain!

I’ve found some photo booth software online for $40. It can be personalized per event and can be uploaded directly to the internet or printed off. I’m super stoked about this, and can’t wait to find $40 to buy it for Fowler Fest.

How much would you pay for photo booth pictures, btw?

My domain is coming up for renewal, and I can’t quite find the change to renew it yet.

The van’s licenses are due, which also means its time to pay my personal property tax. (Yes, I know they’re due at the beginning of the year… I never have the money to pay them then. And, the penalty is minimal.)

So, I guess I’m just waiting for someone to shake the money tree over us.

Past that, we’re chugging right along.

Fowler Fest is in September.  I have several months to work on this, and several other things I should be working on this moment.  But, my brain is focused on two aspects of Fowler Fest that I would like to include this year.

One being a silent auction.  Super simple to accomplish, IF I had any items to auction.  And, I don’t have any.  Or any funds to buy anything.  So, I’m looking for ideas… from you peeps.  Got any?  Ideas, that is…  I don’t feel that Fowler Fest is able to ask companies for donations, so that’s kind of out.  I mean, right?

Secondly, I totally want to have a photo booth.  But, renting one is waaaay out of the budget (since the budget is non-existent).  So, I should totally be able to finagle one, right?  I’ve got a digital camera, a lap top… there’s got to be a method here, right?  I need someone to help me connect the dots on this.  I know its completely possible.  And, if I can find a way to print out the pictures while they wait… I mean, how awesome would that be?

So, this is what my brain is tossing around without much luck currently.  And, I’m throwing it out there in the big bad world of the internet for help.

Help?

Gemme?

Thx.

I suppose my only complaint about Fowler Fest 08 would be that our comcast remote control for the bedroom television has walked away.  I mean, really though, who steals a remote control?  So, I can’t quite figure out what has happened there.  We’re still looking around the house.  Maybe its in the freezer, or something.

I would go so far as to say that Fowler Fest 08 was a sucess.  Our intention this year was to throw a good ol’ fashion party with loud music and keg beer, and to recoup our cost of the whole shindig.  Which is exactly what happened.

The sheriff was promptly called at 11 PM with a noise complaint, but shook his head in disbelief when he got here.  He had said he rolled his windows down, and strained his ears to hear anything.  I told him that we had milked the time for every last second, but promptly unplugged at 11 PM.  He was appreciative, and left pretty quickly.

Both kegs were drained completely, I was told.  Interestingly enough, I didn’t have a drop of alcohol this year.  I was throwing back the Diet Cokes like no ones business, though!  And, honestly, I didn’t mind not drinking.  I think I’m on to something here with this paxil I’m taking for anxiety.

There were a couple near-altercations that were quickly resolved with a little help from a sober homeowner (that would be me, by the way).  Not between any of our friends, mind you.  It was between drunken neighbors.

And, one kid (I say ‘kid’, I sure hope he was 21) tried doing a keg stand on my keg, which I abruptly stopped also.  I strongly let him know that he was not at some college frat party and standing off of my keg was not okay, and to drink out of a glass like a human being.   He quickly apologized and stepped away.

Past that, there are some pictures on myspace and facebook.  If you have any pictures of Fowler Fest, please let me know.  I’d love to get copies!

We’ll be having Fowler Fest 09 next fall.  Start saving funds so you can come too!

I believe every year since Tom has been hurt, we’ve had a party.

Well, at first they were benefits.

Now they’re more like a huge crowd of people that need an excuse to get together to listen to live music and drink beer.

After five years, I’ve finally realized that this is nearly an expected annual event throughout our friends and family.

Thus, our annual autumn benefit/party will henceforth known as Fowler Fest.

And, to celebrate this year’s Fowler Fest, I have created Crap.

(Yes, that is ‘Crap‘ with a capital C.  You’re welcome.)

Therefore, even if you are unable to attend the amazing wonder that has become the annual Fowler Fest, you can still own some Crap that can and will make your friends and family jealous.

So, go forth, and purchase Crap!

(And, if you really do buy something, send me a photo of the item being used / worn!)

PS – Calling these items Crap no way infers that these items are truly Crap.  In fact, I like ‘em.  So, you should too, dammit.