phyllser

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JULIE!! :wink2::party::biggrin: Love the new pic!! Good idea..... dr. has documented rash & been on Rx for a couple of years already, but didn't think about pictures. Earl is doing GREAT!! No pain meds since last night, flushing as per dr's orders even though he hates it, taking his antibiotics, up and about, napping now and then. Thanks to all for your prayers and concern!! Yesterday wasn't fun, but..... after all the stress and some tears, it was all fine!! Except my food for the day was AWFL!! Comfort food from KFC, for instance!! Yep... Peroxide! Okay, Gang! I had many pages to catch up on, and now I remember little of what I read!! Welcome back, Eva!! Lori, off to Denver and Florida! Anxious to hear about the ultrasound. Jodi... hope the job interview goes well! And now I am brain dead! Sorry!! Oh... one more thing!! After only 2 weeks in assisted living center, Uncle Ed got in big trouble! There is LOTS of room to walk at the facility... walking trail all the way around the building, beautiful grounds, etc. But, he was seen crossing the road, with his walker, and a car had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting him. They are NOT allowed to cross the road unaccompanied. Limited visibility and cars going way too fast. So he & my Mom & my sister, and I think his daughter were called in to the conference room today for a stern warning from the social worker, administrator, etc! They even threatened them with making them move out if he doesn't follow the rules! They told him if he wanted to go to the store, all he had to do was tell someone. They will either walk him over or send the bus to take him... they have little buses. My sister said they were in there 45 minutes because he threw a fit at first and was arguing with them that he is perfectly safe!! Yeah, right!! OLD PEOPLE!! He is so damn stubborn!!

We got LOTS of rain on Tuesday, some yesterday while we were gone, I think. Did you check out the DHS apts?? I think that's a decent neighborhood and I think I saw the apt. complex you're talking about. Looked nice to me. March mini-reunion sounds great. I will put it on my calendar and make sure we keep the week open. So sorry to hear about your sister... cancer? Where? Sure hope she's willing to mend fences! Earl is doing very well. He had a very restful night and slept in bed most of the night. The pain must not be too bad because he's being very reasonable about the pain pills. I had to remind him it was time to take one last night. And he insisted on making us omelets this morning. Which reminds me... true confessions... my food was awful yesterday. I had my little omelet for breakfast, but... lunch... I went to Goody's and had a Gyro.. ate very little of the pita because it was too doughy, but way too much dressing. I should have ordered the Gyro Salad instead. That was around 11 a.m. cuz I went as soon as they took Earl in to surgery so I could be back by the time they were done. So... we got home about 3pm... I gave him a walkie talkie and one to the neighbors next door and took off for DHS to get the Rxs filled. Got back about 5 pm. Bought Earl milkshake and In-And-Out on the way home from srg center, so that was gone by then, and he'd eaten some crackers. So then I gave him a yogurt and he wanted mac & tuna salad that was in the fridge. Well, then it was almost gone so I had the 1/2 cup that was left and took off again for DHS because I forgot something and he was all upset with me. And he tells me to get myself something for dinner while I am down there. So I got the nasal flushes (or so I thought) and went to KFC and got a 3 pc dark meat dinner w/mashed potatoes and green beans. I guess I was needing some comfort food after all the stress! So I get back to the RV... oh, picked up Zoey on my way out of the park. Cuz.. I forgot to tell you this part... sorry this is such a long story! As I was going in to RiteAid, this bum asks me for money. So... I know he is standing by my car waiting to see if I'm going to give him some "change" when I get back, my dog is in the car and I am a nervous wreck already! So I saw the box of nasal things, grabbed them and went to check out. But.. when I got back, turns out it wasn't the whole kit... just the packets of saline. No plastic bottle mechanism. So Earl was REALLY upset with me then. Two trips to DHS and I still didn't have the right thing and they were adamant about him flushing 3-4 times a day starting last night! So I sat on the couch bawling, he kept telling me to quit crying and eat my dinner, which I finally did! In the meantime, he hobbles down to the neighbor's place.. she goes to the same doctor.... and she had extra kits... the doctor gives them to her every time she goes in, she said. And found out this morning, that Wanda & Larry, on the other side of us, had extras, too! So... I ate the whole damn dinner, including the roll. I did notice that they've cut down the portion size on the taters and green beans... containers are way smaller than they used to be. But the whole evening was a mess. I was feeling so picked on by then that I "deserved" some treats! So... I had a Skinny Cow Truffle (100 cal), and later, a 70 cal pudding, and two small glasses of wine!! UGH!! Bad food day! So.... between that and being exhausted from all the stress, I stayed in bed until 7:30 a.m., skipped TOPS and skipped water aerobics!! So.... now I have to get back on track. Keep us posted!! HUGS!

Praying for you as you embark on this wonderful journey!

Was going to say "GOOD MORNING", but I see by the clock, it's too late for that! Hope you're all having a GREAT day. My hip is considerably better today. Was well in to water aerobics when I realized it wasn't hurting!! I made it through the whole hour, taking it easy on the exercises, backing off on any that hurt. Then I went in to the hot tub for 1/2 hr. A lady in our water aerobics class is going to keep Zoey for me Wed. morning. Earl's surgery is tentatively set for 11 a.m. After church and pot luck yesterday, I spent the rest of Sunday on the couch watching football, reading the paper, etc. Maybe that one day of almost total rest helped my hip. Having a fairly cool day w/overcast skies and a gentle breeze. Very pleasant. Love having the windows open instead of 2 a/cs blasting frigid air down on me!

We should have had you sing for us in Vegas!! Will check FB. Your DGS is amazing!! Outstanding results, especially for his young age! Good work on the food plan and water aerobics. I think I will look for that Honey Milk next time we are at Walmart. My hip is feeling better today. I was well in to water aerobics when I suddenly hollered to everyone.... "HEY! I'm doing it and it's not hurting!!" Some of the exercises hurt, but most of them didn't and I really took it easy so as not to aggravate it again! But I did the whole hour! Praying the week goes well for you.. accomplish what needs to be done wihtout too much pain! You're doing GREAT TX!!! Early morning phone call!! Yikes!! Scary! I have never had a hot flash! My sisters would like to kill me when I say that! Menopause was uneventful for me. Well, except for the antidepressants!! LOL Hope you are all having a GREAT Monday!

I use those toe separators and I still smudge them.. 2nd toe insists on crossing over on top of my big toe. Can't control it. Told the last gal that did my pedi before LV, and she ended up doing my big toes about 3X each! She was so patient. Sat on the floor to redo them last time. I tipped her well! Earl usually saves coins... especially when we're at home. These days you have to be creative about how to cash them in. Banks want to charge you for taking coins sometimes... like 10%!! Especially if you put them in one of those machines. So sorry about those shoes!! Hope they find you another pair. That must have been frustrating. So someone else grabbed them and bought them??? Think you should try to find a way to make that trip to NY!! I want a new refrigerator, too. The one that was in the condo when we bought it makes awful noises... sounds like coffee perking!! But it won't quit! And you know Earl!! I want one of those French door types... and we only have a 30" space, but my neighbor found one, I think at Sears, that would fit in that space. Maybe next summer!

Didn't know my BD was on Thanksgiving this year until I looked at the calendar yesterday! Jacki is halfway through her chemo now, so I think she will be on 5-6 week reprieve then, before she has to start 6 weeks of radiation... 5 days a week in SF!! I talked to her last week and asked if she was sure she still wanted us to come up for Thanksgiving and she insisted YES. So I guess we'll go. She is a trooper! Drives up to SF once a wek... has to leave at 4:30 a.m. to get up there for her treatment. Then comes back the same day. Chris offered to fly her if she ever needs a quick trip on the weekend when he is not working. I think it was about 2:30pm when we got home. Was probably at Target around 11. Then we went to Costco. So the bowling thing was at Fantasy Springs? Went to dog park tonight for a little while. Only small dogs tonight, so Zoey had a good time. Earl would like me to go to the pool with him but I have no energy.

WTH.... I don't know what happened to my post. Must have pushed a wrong key! Anyway.... I think Andrew is destined for retail management. He will excel there... but maybe with a different store after he gets some more experience. Looking forward to having Zoey and Bella meet, and the other dogs, too. They will have a wonderful time. She doesn't do too well with big, aggressive dogs...but she'll do fine with your little ones. We are going to Three Rivers for Thanksgiving... and my birthday happens to fall on Thanksgiving this year. Should have asked where you were bowling today. We were out and about and just looking for something to do. We went to Target where Zoey thoroughly enjoyed visiting with all the shoppers who stopped to OOOOOH and AAAAh over her! Good to hear from you. Sorry that you are SO busy! And that you have to keep working. Retirement is not too far away! Hang in there!! Happy Birthday to Tim. Hope he is closer to you when the next birthday rolls around. I think the sinus surgery will go fine... getting through the initial 24-48 hours will be interesting, but, hopefully it will go well! Last time he flipped out in recovery insisting he was getting off the gurney as soon as he woke up because he had to pee! They hit him with a mega dose of demerol and he was out for the rest of the day!! Which made us the last to leave the day surgery unit... around 4 p.m. when everyone else was gone by about noon! So I bought a paper back and I just downloaded a couple of new games and an audiobook to my iTouch!!! I still have to find someone to take Zoey for a few hours while we're gone. If I knew we'd be home by noon, I'd leave her here in her crate, but not knowing how long we might be gone, I'm going to ask someone to take her for the day. Stay connected!! Do you have Skype???? I forget!

Hi, Dave! Welcome to LBT and to "BandLand", Dave! I am a "Snowbird", so in CA for the winter. There are groups in the NW. I think there is one that meets in Marysville, for instance. Hoping someone here can give you some better information. Also, there is a "mentor's" thread called "I'm here to help" that is a very good online support site. There is a guy there from TX.. a truck driver, who has recently been posting there and just started his pre-op diet, so it's not all gals on that thread.

CONGRATS TO JAKOB!!!! WELCOME TO BOTH OF YOU!! Yes.... YOU CAN DO THIS!! Congrats on the casino win!! You did such a good job responding to everyone..!! Can I just say "DITTO"!! LOL Earl's surgery is next Wed. It seems like he is starting to worry about it. That's one reason why he said we HAD to go to the base yesterday to get our Rx reflls. He seems to think he's going to be laid off for a long time! I think he'll bounce back pretty quick once we get past the initial post-op day or two! I can tell he is getting nervous about it.

Yeah, it was definitely an accident... just playing rough. When I wouldn't play any more, I put my hand near the floor and told her in a stern voice... "You hurt me"! And she kept licking my thumb... so she knew.. It was one tiny little puncture and just a spot of blood. She is a smart cookie! Hugs on the homework and paper you're working on! I thought about the walk for obesity... I'd have to ride the scooter! Hope you enjoy the bowling fund raiser! What store is it that Andrew works at??? He will be manager some day. He seems like a "take charge" type. He gave some excellent input and must have done it in a highly effective manner based on the response. UGH!! Fleas!! We've had them a few times with cats.

Forgot that your surgery was that far away. But you planned it that way so you'd be off over the holidays, right? I'm mad at Zoey. We were playing fetch and she bit my thumb when we were wrestling over a toy. So I quit playing with her for now. Earl had sinus surgery about 8-10 yrs ago on the left side. I don't know why they didn't do the right side then! So this dr. is doing the right side. Sure hope it helps. Every night he goes to bed about 9-10 pm and by midnight he is out in the recliner because he has a sinus headache. I was thinking about going to urgent care today but then Earl went in to a panic because he was almost out of one of his Rx. So we spent the day going to the Navy/Marine base at 29 Palms instead. So... taking Ibuprofen a couple of times a day. Can't walk hardly at all. All week I barely made it from the locker room to the pool and then to the hot tub. I'll make it to the 28th! Glad you're back!! We missed you! Yeah, Mom & Uncle Ed are ecstatic about their new digs! Going to Scrabble, Pinochle in the afternoons, out to lunch earlier this week... shopping trip next week. My Mom told my sister... "we don't have to do anything but eat and sleep!!" Love the "STAR" photo! Checked out the Von's neighborhood yesterday when I went to DHS to refresh my memory....I think it's one of the nicer parts of DHS. Middle school is just down the street from Von's and fairly nice residential area. GRAPES.... too funny! There are worse things to binge on.

Is your kitchen ready?? Protein drinks?? Something to mix them with?? I bought a "Magic Bullet" and used that a lot the first few months.... and we still use it... especially like it for grinding coffee beans. When the time draws closer you might want to get some SF popsicles for your freezer. How about things like Gas-X strips, liquid tylenol??

HEY!!! Watch those comments about shooting SNOWBIRDS!!! I resemble that remark!! I got mine!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Voices in your head.... that concerns me!!! LOL Someone put a "Breadless Pizza" on one of the cooking threads. Don't know where I heard this, but I think you can use a thin layer of cheese and melt it for the crust. Wonder if FF cheese would work. Dominoes has an extremely thin crust pizza that we get once in awhile when we're really craving pizza. If DH would just get something other than pepperoni on it, I'd be a happier camper, though. I don't enjoy pepperoni because it is too greasy and salty. I'd be happy w/onions, bell pepper and mushrooms! Hmmm..... busy day!! A lot accomplished!! So sorry about Hawaii.... that I can't go, too, that is!! LOL I used mine a lot... and we still use it. DH, especially. He grinds the coffee Beans in it, for one thing. Clean your ears????? Come and give you hugs when you pretend to cry???? (That's pathetic manipulation, isn't it??) Zoey is too small to drink out of the toilet, but she sure likes to watch the water go down!! Yeah, too bad you missed the demo of Yoga moves Janet and Joyce gave us!! I have pictures!! Have you seen them??? I can eat shrimp, but have to cut it in small pieces (or take small bites) and CHEW, CHEW, CHEW, and it goes down fine. :smile: :party::hurray::party::hurray::party: YOU ROCK!! Chicken salad and tea sounds nice. We had salad, too. Mine had tuna on it. And now I'm having a cup of coffee... even though it's at least 95 outside!! I am sitting inside with the a/c! Not crazy about the new SBX flavored coffee packets. Wonder why they put sugar in it??? You're doing great with your exercise! I wimped out on most of my water exercises yesterday and today. Hip hurts too bad-sciatic type pain--left butt, down the left leg, tingling in the foot. I stay in the pool and keep moving for most of the hour, but just too painful to do most of the exercises. Or I do some jumping jacks or something, and it aggravates the pain and I have to take a break. Appt is 2 weeks from tomorrow. Asked DH today if he had any strong objection to me going to see a chiropractor in the meantime. He does!! I am getting desperate and thought I might try it and see if it helped. DH has sinus surgery a week from today. Follow-up appt and CT scan yesterday after 2 weeks on antibiotics showed blockages on the left side of his face. So... going to get it fixed. Right side was done about 10 years ago. Don't know why the guy didn't do both sides at the time! Zoey was groomed yesterday and she did so much better this time. Was sitting calmly having her face trimmed when I went back to get her. I couldn't believe my eyes!!!

Yes, Zoey did MUCH better this time! And I loved the groomer at Petsmart... I will make sure I ask for Theresa next time, but all of them seemed very nice and much different from the Petsmart people at the one we went to in WA. They said she did try to bite, but once they let her know who was in charge she was fine. She wouldn't let her grind her nails, though. But she was able to clip them. That one picture I took through the glass, they were still clipping her face and she was sitting still and being a little angel! The last picture was taken Sunday when we took our neighbor, Joy, to see her husband in assisted living in Santa Ana. She sat in the back seat with Joy all the way there and all the way back, and she LOVED Max, too. We took them out to lunch... and 5 of his relatives, too. So we're waiting to be seated and one of his daughters said "9 adults and a baby", so Max says in a LOUD voice.... "NINE PEOPLE AND A DOG!!" I said, "MAX, SHHHHHH!!!" But... the host never heard him anyway. Zoey was in her little red bag. I put it on the floor next to our table and she never made a sound all through dinner and no one noticed she was there! The sinus thing is structural, but causing infections. So Dr. said he can keep giving antibiotics or fix it, so Earl opted for fix it. He did a CT scan and showed him exactly what was wrong and how he would fix it. I should have gone with him, but I wanted to go shopping at Kohl's and take Zoey to Petsmart! I figured he didn't have the patience for all that. Yes, we need our peeps back!!!! Candice should be back today, I think. Linda is so busy. Steph and Karri don't like us anymore!! :smile::frown::grouphug: Janet must be still taking a "time out"?? Who am I forgetting?? Don't think I can do much at water aerobics this morning. Hip hurting still. Appt is 2 weeks from tomorrow. Strange how the pain can stop for a week or more and then comes back with a vengeance! Couldn't do many of the exercises yesterday but did my best to keep moving anyway.

Yuck!! That doesn't sound like much fun!! Busy day... water aerobics.. didn't do much... pain in left butt and down my leg, knee..... no matter what I did it hurt! Anyway, after that... lunch and off to Earl's dr appt. Had him drop us off at Petsmart... had Zoey groomed, shopped at Kohl's for about an hour, then Walmart, bank, Starbucks and by then Earl was back. Dr. did CT scan of his sinuses. Told him he can keep putting him on antibiotics, or he can fix it!! So... surgery next Wed. Hope it takes care of the problem! Out to Mexican food with neighbor's and our beautician... for Larry's birthday. Good time Zoey looks great!

Linda-- Always love to hear about your "Cora time"! Sounds so fun! Rad. trial.... that should be interesting! I did a drug trial on BP med once... turned out to be approved... Losartan... and now that's what the dr. has me on. My feelings, exactly, on the funeral. But... times have changed! I think the dog has respiratory issues because of her short snout and the hair lip. Then if the spasms last too long she goes in to panic mode. Earl has follow up visit w/ENT today. His last day of antibiotics, too. Not a whole lot of improvement, except that the sore throat is gone. Ear is bothering him now. My pain issues... stem from the back but pain is more sciatic in nature... left butt, down the back of my left leg, knee and tingling in the foot. Undoubtedly some nerve impingement. I FINALLY got an appt w/spine clinic, but not until the 28th. In the meantime, I barely made it through water aerobics yesterday. Almost quit several times, but just kept pressing on through the pain and kept moving through the exercises I couldn't do. Janet- glad you had a nice dinner w/Andrew. Yeah, you don't need FOUR dogs! DST time.... I'd probably agree w/you if I was a morning person!! LOL! But I"m going to hate it when it gets dark an hour earlier, and it's going to screw up our dog park time for me and Zoey BIG TIME!! As it is, we go over a little after 6pm and it's already getting dark. Last night there were 8 people and about 10 dogs there when we got there. She mingled with the dogs a little bit, but what she really loves is sitting on everyone's lap and giving kisses to all the people!! That's sort of NOT why we are there, but... she prefers socializing with the humans and not the dogs! Hugs on missing Michael. Doesn't seem like 2 years! And so sorry about the rift with Karri! You two have such a good relationship, and whether she realizes it or not, she needs the tough love sometimes... we ALL do!! And hugs to you, too, Karla, on missing your Dad!! Relax... you'll make it through the week. Hope everyone has a GREAT day. Water aerobics for us this morning... I"ll do what I can. Then Earl's dr. appt at 2pm... I might have him drop Zoey and I off at Walmart or Petsmart! Zoey needs to be groomed! And 2 young guys are coming to wash & wax RV and car... us and the next door neighbors. We were all siting outside... Larry & Wanda arrived in Sky Valley about 3pm yesterday.... and these guys came by with a "deal" if we both did it. So hope they get here early enough.. before we have to leave for Dr., so they can do the car first.

Praying for Robert, Cheri! God is good!

WELCOME!! Glad to have you join us! You're about to start a remarkable journey.

I'm enjoying "Blue Bloods", too! Hope you had a nice dinner w/Andrew! Happy Monday Morning!! Sounds like you had a good weekend.... except for the Alexa stuff. So sorry about her break up. MEN!! Or in this case, BOYS!! :puke: Long day yesterday driving our neighbor, Joy, over to Santa Ana to visit her husband....in assisted living there, waiting for bed in Alzheimer's unit. We took him out to lunch... along w/six other family members...grandchildren, daughter, DIL. They had a good visit. Nice place, but not as nice as the one my Mom & Uncle Ed just moved in to. At any rate, we left at 9 a.m. and didn't get home until 5 p.m. Quick dinner of leftovers and took Zoey to the dog park for a little while. It's getting dark so early, it's hard to get over there before everyone is ready to leave. But then I heard there were 10 dogs there last night and she would've been pretty intimidated by that!!

New flavors are NOT sugar free and are 60 calories. That's the one down thing about them... but there is vanilla, caramel, mocha, cinnamon,.... and two more I can't remember. Maybe Hazelnut. "Make" Earl eat yogurt!! HAHAHA!! Yeah, right, Karla!!! Like I've been trying to "MAKE" him get his flu shot for the last 3 weeks!

I think gal at C.O.D. hit the nail on the head with her "reverse sneeze" theory. But, you're right...she gets plenty of exercise... walked, play ball and throw the toys inside, and take her to the dog park every night for a little while. Just got back, in fact. She got in trouble. Got away from me and ran out in the street because she saw a golf cart coming. By the time I caught up she was on their laps licking faces! Then she didn't want to go with ME!!! SNOT!! I got some of the new flavored instant coffee at Starbucks today.. If you bought a pack of it, you got a free tall drink. SO I figured that was a good deal. New flavors come in 6 pack for $6.95, but if you get a free drink, that takes away the sting of $1+ a drink for instant coffee!!! :biggrin:

Hugs, for the challenges you are facing! You can do it! What happened after that last date? I thought you really hit it off with that guy. I must have missed something after that. The pills the vet gave us were broken in to 8 tiny fragments. Gave her one before she was groomed in WA, and it didn't seem to do much. She still bit the groomer!! LOL!

OOOPS! I thought I was all caught up but I had all of the posts since this morning to read yet!!! Glad you got the 6 lb back! Your face is lovely!! Doesn't look 55 to me!! Thanks for your perspective! Hadn't thought of it that way. I do remember that when we lived in OK and DH would go to WA on business, the grandkids always looked forward to grandpa taking them out for ice cream! Good point! Congrats on that health eval!! That is GREAT!!! What a testimony to the benefits of weight loss!!! I think Julie can probably somehow wrap an ice bag around that TENS unit if she wanted to. I think that's what my PT guy was doing. Loved meeting you, too, Linda, but wish we'd had more time to visit. Tried to sit next to different people each time we got together, but, alas, still didn't have enough time to spend with each one! Yes, Jodi... can't tell you enough how much we appreciated all that you and Jeff did to make our Vegas trip more enjoyable! I LOVED that limo ride!! I think I saw a comment you made on FB saying you expected to be spending more time in Vegas in the coming months!! :tt1: Hope all goes well!! Do you want an arrow from Cupid, too!??? LOL Hmmmmm... I still have sedatives from when she was spayed. Wonder if I should use that next time she has a freaky episode???? So... you have a monster truck???? LOL

15 Minutes an hour makes a lot more sense than 3 hrs at a time!! Hope it's helping. Sorry your night did not go well again! Our sleep was interrupted by a very restless, distressed dog last night. Not sure what was going on... chatted with a random stranger about it today who stopped me to admire my dog and she said her mother's dogs (short snout) do the same thing and the vet called it a "reverse sneeze", and then sometimes the dog goes in to a sort of panic attack... which pretty much describes what Zoey does once or twice a week. Last night it happened after midnight! So I was walking her around the neighborhood and trying to calm her until after 1 a.m. The she insisted on sitting in front of the bedroom window just above my pillow! And she kept whimpering. Finally Earl took her out and held her on his lap in his recliner for a while and she settled down... until she pounced on top of my CPAP mask at 6:45 a.m. Then just sort of sprawled across my face. Needless to say, I put up with that about 30 minutes before I gave in and got up! Your weather sounds so nice! Hope you are enjoying it and not working too hard. Busy w/shower, etc., it sounds like! Scary thought... hunters on your property! Yikes! Dangerous! You better equip that Caddy with bullet proof windows!!! We enjoyed the beautiful weather today, too.. Went to College of the Desert street fair. Zoey had so much attention! She loved it. Then we went to Trader Joe's, Starbucks and Walmart. By the time we got home... 5 hrs after we left, she was exhausted. She and DH are both sacked out! I did find her an orange vest type harness at C.O.D. that I will attach her "therapy dog" Patches to. Glad things are going well so far. Saw on FB that Nael has arrived in Damascus and Nels is having fun building tents in the LR!! Fun! Sorry about the colds. You're going to do fine! He'll be home before you know it! I forgot... how long will he be gone? His family must be ecstatic to see him! Too bad you couldn't all go this time. How they would have loved to see you and Nels!! Thought of you the other day... DD #2 called to ask me about John Deere toys we bought our youngest grandson... about same age as Nels... he'll turn 5 next week. We bought a truck/flatbed/tractor combination... I think down here at the fair in Indio, several years ago. Apparently big brother accidentally stepped on the flatbed trailer the other day and broke it. So, Thomas was somewhat distraught. Acted very subdued all day and got in trouble at pre-school and after talking with him about the events of the day... he said he was sad about his broken toy! Being that we bought it at the fair... no way to replace that exact one. But, I did a little research on Amazon.com, and Jodie sent me some JD toy website links to show me what it looked like.. and photo of an excavator that he said he'd like! So I was able to order some exquisite JD toys for his birthday, complete with shipping and gift wrapping! He will be a happy boy on his birthday! Got the excavator and a sort of a monster truck thingy w/flat bed and tractor.