phyllser

I was going to ask the same question, Candice.... have you talked to SIL to get his side of what's going on??? My first PT appt is Friday morning, 8 a.m. Back/hip is feeling a little better today. May try walking the "condo loop" if it ever stops raining. Seriously thinking about heading out, rain or not, to "scoot" over to Surf Shack with Zoey. I can hold the umbrella over both our heads and still keep the scooter's electronics from getting wet. Zoey is aching to get out and is at the door right now! I agree.... great music in NO!! Denise, have you ever heard of Tom Rigney and Flambeau??? He's from CA and most of his gigs are there, but he plays N.O. type jazz & blues. I love him. I think I have ALL his albums! He is my favorite when we go to the JazzFest in Three Rivers each year. Was so sorry we missed it this year because we were in Mexico. Will try to make sure we don't make any conflicting plans next year. That reminds me, friend Jacki sees her oncologist again next week. Her liver enzymes are greatly elevated and scans showed a spot on her spine. They started her on a new chemo... a pill so strong she was instructed to put gloves on to take it in case it should break open!! But when her liver enzymes took a steep climb after one week, they told her to stop it for now. Numbers were already high but skyrocketed after she started the new Rx. They also did an ultrasound trying to see if there is a gall bladder issue making the enzymes go up. She hasn't gotten the results of that yet. So worried about her. Haven't tried ice, just heating pad and that didn't help. Besides, it made me so hot I couldn't stand it. I ate a lot of bad stuff yesterday, too, at the neighbors, and drank way too much wine. We had hot dogs... good ones from Omaha Steaks. They were very lean! And I didn't have a roll. But I did have a little potato salad and baked beans (that Earl made), and some layered salad, watermelon. But, too much desert. Earl made that dump cake thing again. It's sort of like cherry cobbler. Have to get back on track!! Out to dinner tonight for granddaughter's 21st birthday. Going to a place called "The Rock". I already studied the menu online and not sure what I'll order but I think the best thing I can find is oven roasted chicken. Many of the entrees come with either pasta or french fries, but I will see if they'll substitute a side salad. Have skipped Primetimers for a couple of weeks because I don't want to subject myself to those lunch temptations!

Hi, Gals. Still cold and cloudy here. Haven't been very active.... hip pain is awful. I feel like such a whiner. Hip, knee and now shoulder hurting. I've tried heating pad, ibuprofen, nothing helps much. Haven't been able to walk around the condos the past couple of days. Just riding around on the scooter. We've been doing the 3 mile loop every day. Well, one day I started out but had to turn back because the "drizzle" was getting a little heavy! Candice, so sorry to hear about you DD's marriage problems. Hope she comes to her senses. Sorry this is short, but it's late and I have a headache. Tired!

Didn't hear anything on the echocardiogram, so I guess no news is good news. Bone scan inconclusive. Steroid injection in the knee made very little difference. Epidural aggravated my back for a couple of days, but better today and I did two loops around the condo.... one this afternoon and one this evening. I am supposed to go back to see the back guy a week from Tuesday. If no real relief in the knee I will make an appt to see the knee dr the same morning and tell him his injection didn't work. Mad at the vet's office tonight because Zoey has a sore butt from them taking her temperature. They talk me in to injections that probably aren't needed, charge way too much $$$$ and then get rough taking her temp. She squeals in pain every time we try to pick her up or touch her behind. And she got the injection in her neck, so they hurt her taking her temp. She was resisting when I was trying to hold her still so she tells me she has to take her in the back so one of the other techs can help hold her still. I probably will find a new vet. I'm tired of their high prices, high pressure salesmanship and now this is the last straw!! I will definitely show you some more beading if we stop this summer. Did you check to see if Joanne fabrics might have beading classes? The places around Palm Springs are all way more expensive than what our teacher charges, and she comes to us!! Plus she sells us all the supplies and they're way cheaper than the local shops. Check online for Fire Mountain and ask them to send you a catalog. Then if you want to order stuff, let me know because she is more than happy to share her account number and she buys in such volume that by doing that you get the cheapest prices. She has about 100 people buying through her account. I think she said shipping is always $4.95, and you just use your own credit card. But if you want to do that, I have to let her know because she has to call in your name to Fire Mountain and let them know it's okay. Depending on your schedule and Tennielle's, we'll stop to see her one way and your place the other. She is in Madison. Jackie... glad you found us again. Good to have you posting again! Candice, looking forward to hearing some of your music on YouTube!

Eastern WA has more snow and colder weather in the winter, but more sun and warmer weather in the spring and summer. But I do wish they'd bought in Sky Valley instead. But as long as his mom is still alive, they need to be close. They took Jim's car, so I could've gone somewhere if I wanted to. I was going to go to Kohl's & Fred Meyer, but when it started raining, I lost interest. And I thought... why would I go shopping anyway??!! I don't need any clothes, etc. So I stayed home and did nothing. Well, I did make some marinate for some pheasant I'm going to cook in the crock pot tomorrow. I mixed it up in a measuring cup and put it in a zip lock bag with the pieces of pheasant. We got the pheasant from our friend, Jim at Sky Valley. Tracy came over here after work cuz we were planning to go to dinner. But we sat and visited and she had a glass of wine with me and about the time we were thinking about leaving the guys called and they were only 1/2 hr away so we waited and they met us at the sports bar across the street. They have prime rib on special on Wed. nights. Earl and I split a baked potato and brought the other one home. I ate half of my prime rib... it was fairly lean & I cut away all the fat. We haven't gone there in well over a year. They have really good prime rib. Those OK tornadoes hit less than 20 miles from where we used to live. Did any of you see that one news clip of a mobile home being blown up in to the sky?? Amazing! Most of the homes down there are brick and you'd think they'd withstand that wind. Well, almost time for AI!! Exciting. Wish they could both win!! And they will both have careers. But I voted for Scotty about 20 times. We're supposed to go to Spokane this weekend to meet Kurtis' girlfriend and take stuff over for the baby. Tracy & I bought one of those fold up cribs at Target. And Kellie bought a bunch of baby clothes. But, Tracy is quite sick and having trouble breathing again tonight so we may not go. She is still going to work!!! Told her all week she needs to stay home and rest. She is asthmatic, so every time she gets a cold it hits her hard. She's been on antibiotics for 3 days but she's not much better. She just left here less than an hour ago but when she called a few minutes ago she sounded awful again... coughing and wheezing. I keep telling her to use her nebulizer but all she is using is her inhalers. She is one stubborn chick!

Still feels like March here in WA, too! I'm so tired of it. Zoey and I went out for a neighborhood cruise this morning but by the time we went to Surf Shack and Safeway it was starting to sprinkle so I had to hurry home. Then started out again a little while ago.... Couldn't tell my looking out the window that it was raining becuase it's ALWAYS cloudy and the guys were out there cutting the lawn and I just didn't know. So I opened a big umbrella and headed out anyway. But, it's too hard to drive the scooter and hang on to a big, awkward umbrella and then try to see where I'm going with an umbrella partly in front of my face. Anyway, by the time I got over to the mailboxes poor Zoey was shaking and shivering, so we came back home! Earl went to eastern WA with Jim today to see a house they are thinking of buying. It's a secret for some reason, so please no reference on FB. I don't know why you would, but I've been asked not to tell anyone for now! ???? But I already told one of my sisters!! It will just be a getaway home for now. I was thinking of going with them until I gave some thought to 3 hrs in the car each way! They are on their way back, but won't be here until about 7pm, I think, so Tracy & I are going to do dinner together. Waiting to hear from her. She should be on her way home from work by now. Much more successful with my posts since I switched to using the external keyboard!! I can put it in my lap and not keep hitting keys I don't want to hit!!

Wow! You sure have been busy!! You make me tired! I'm walking once around the condos everyday..... about 3/10 of a mile... 10 minutes. Not much relief in my knee but I'm going to start trying to make it around twice. And now that things are slowing down a bit, I will call and see if PT place got orders faxed from my dr. yet. It took about 24-36 hours for the lidocaine he injected to wear off. Then the pain was pretty much back to normal. Aching behind BOTH knees tonight. Don't know what that is about. Had the epidural (another steroid injection) in my back today, too. So that's over with. Not bad at all. Knee injection was worse. I am to go back in two weeks for possibly another back injection. I will make an appt for the same day with the knee guy ( same building) if the knee pain isn't better by then. Have to push myself to do anything because I just want to sit here. So, get out around the neighborhood every day and usually down to the lake besides taking a walk. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!! Hope you got to go out for dinner to celebrate!! Are you working on any of your beading??? I need to start on some of my unfinished projects. I think I posted this, but... ortho doc said the bone scan was "suggestive" of hardware failure but not conclusive. That's why the steroid injection. He said he prefers to treat it conservatively for now. But, like I said, if no relief soon I will make another appt for 2 weeks from today to go tell him it didn't work! I'll just keep bugging him all summer if I have to. I'm not anxious to have another surgery, but I am anxious to be more mobile and get some relief from the pain. He keeps telling me it will be a much more difficult surgery and a much harder recovery than the last one. Voted a bunch of times for Scotty.. online and on my cell phone. I hope he wins but have to admit, Lauren was excellent tonight, too. They are both so worthy and so talented! I keep hearing that the wind down there has been pretty awful for Sky Valley folks on FB. Larry & Wanda & Rick & Dolly are all still there. Larry & Wanda moved their 5th wheel (with our permission) to our spot for now because they bought a used park model for $5500 and moved it to their site. Larry is in the process of fixing it up. I think they are going to leave the 5th wheel down there somewhere and try to sell it. Rick & Dolly (behind us) found a steal deal on a double wide mobile on the other side of the ponds so they're busy moving in to that. And remember last winter's "Palm Tree party"?? The one where my evil twin so misbehaved??!! LOL! Well, this week the four of them are moving all those palm trees the guys planted that afternoon to their new digs. So the neighborhood will be a little different this coming winter. Wild weather has had me watching a lot of weather channel. Two different pastors we were close to when we lived in OK... one still there, the other down near Dallas, both touched by these storms. (Well, we still keep in close touch with both couples, actually Had dinner with both when we were in Ok & TX last summer.) The couple from TX has strong ties in Joplin. They are going there in the next few days to help some friends who lost everything in the tornado the other day. We saw a few in the years we lived in OK, but only one very bad one in the OKC area .... think it was under Bill Clinton's reign... he came to survey the damage. It was an F-4, I think, 3/4 mile wide,too, but only on the ground for about a mile in the metro area, and it bounced around. It did a lot of damage to the Boeing building where Earl worked so his office was relocated for a while. But, you can't really appreciate the magnitude of the damage from the pictures they're showing on the news. To be up close and personal to those mounds of rubble that used to be homes is unbelievable. Cars tossed about like Matchbox toys. Semis overturned on the highway. We've seen it all, but not to the extent that Joplin experienced. And it never came closer than a mile from our house.

Ugh! Low grade fever and chills. Had backache and headache last night, not today. Just feel yucky. Think I got flu from Tracy and she got it from her two little granddaughters. I've already done too much this morning and now Earl wants to go to Walmart! Our Walmart on a Saturday afternoon is a ZOO. I really don't want to go. WA state TOPS does a "Walk" every May.... in CA we do it in the fall. But this one is statewide. So, even though I was feeling crappy and knew I had a fever, we went at 9 a.m. I rode my scooter though. Last year I walked. But.... with back & knee issues and not feeling well today, I rode! We did two loops... probably about 3 miles. When we got home, Zoey and I took the other scooter and went to Surf Shack and Target. Now resting with my blankie. Been doing better with food this week. Made some really good stir fry type thing last night... not fried, but sauteed in some butter spray and a little olive oil.... onions, green peppers, minced garlic, zucchini, diced tomatoes, cilantro and other Mexican seasoning. Then Earl put the prawns in when we were almost ready to eat and cooked a little rice. We'll have the leftovers for dinner tonight. Had an Adkins protein drink this morning, then my SF, FF latte, Healthy Choice soup for lunch.... 120 calories. Ortho doc reviewed bone scan with me yesterday. He said it was "suggestive" of hardware collapse but not "conclusive" so he prefers to treat it conservatively. He seems very reluctant to operate on me even though he's been telling me for 4 years that the right knee needs to be converted to a total. He's gradually changing his tune and I am wondering if it has something to do with inadequate Medicare/Tricare reimbursement or if my fat thighs are his problem. Last time he was very worried about infection and healing because of that. I had no problems at all.... good recovery, no complications, successful rehab. I think I was walking 1/4 mile within 2-3 weeks. I worked very hard because I knew I had to get back in shape quickly so we could leave for CA. But, looks like no surgery this year! But he gave me a steroid injection in that knee. Those are always so pleasant. It's the 5th time for me..... had 1 steroid, 3 hylagen in that knee before they operated on it the first time. Big long needle injected right in to the joint. I'm actually a pretty good patient, though. I didn't hit him or anything and only winced fairly quietly once or twice. It doesn't hurt as much as you'd think it would. He put in some Lidocaine, too, so the pain was better pretty much instantly. Hylagen injections did nothing for me, but the one steroid injection I had in it probably 10 years ago or more, gave me about 6 months of relief. Since my weight loss, techs usually have no problem finding my veins. But this guy... for as many years as he said he's been working there doing that, he was awful. But I do have deep, very small veins and they roll. As soon as he touched one with his fingertip it wiggled away. The nurse got in right away when she came down. I tried to tell him where I had a good vein... on the outside of my elbow, but he went over about 1/2 inch too far and couldn't find it. Nurse went in to my hand. Still have a huge bruise on the inside of my elbow because of the poking around he did and the vein he blew. Diapering little boys is not so fun when they pee in your face, which happened to me many times! Boys are easier in some ways, girls in others. Think we're going over to Spokane with Tracy & Jim next weekend, speaking of babies! We're going to meet DGS's GF, Taniesha, and take her a bunch of baby stuff. DIL gave us baby clothes she got on sale at Kohl's and a little round walker thing when we were there last month. And Tracy and I bought one of those fold up cribs at Target the other day. Baby is due in July... a little girl whose name will be Kayla, I think she said. Kurtis is still in New Orleans with Steve painting trains. Hope he's saving his money like he said he would. He needs to have funds to rent a place to live if he goes back to Spokane before the baby is born, which I think is his plan. Steve would like him to stay and go back to school when they move on to Houston. Kurtis doesn't have a HS diploma or a G.E.D. Neither does Steve, for that matter! He quit school at about the same age as Kurtis did.

Okay.... try, try again! Still can't get "Multiquote" to work!! Sorry for your troubles with DD, karla! Frustrating! Echocardiogram today, review bone scan w/ortho tomorrow morning. Then the med things for the week will be over. Next week I will concentrate on getting back to gym and set up PT. Enjoying sunny weather this week! We skipped primetimers yesterday and took our little jaunt down to the lake. Going again in a few minutes. Good day to skip Primetimers... saw on FB that lunch was fried chicken, fried okra, potato salad, rolls and cobbler!! We had salad!! Retirement party sounds like a GREAT success, Linda! Sorry to see your family go, I'm sure! But what a great time to spend with them! Congrats on your retirement! Gotta go!

Okay.... try, try again! Still can't get "Multiquote" to work!! Sorry for your troubles with DD, karla! Frustrating! Echocardiogram today, review bone scan w/ortho tomorrow morning. Then the med things for the week will be over. Next week I will concentrate on getting back to gym and set up PT. Enjoying sunny weather this week! We skipped primetimers yesterday and took our little jaunt down to the lake. Going again in a few minutes. Good day to skip Primetimers... saw on FB that lunch was fried chicken, fried okra, potato salad, rolls and cobbler!! We had salad!! Retirement party sounds like a GREAT success, Linda! Sorry to see your family go, I'm sure! But what a great time to spend with them! Congrats on your retirement! Gotta go!

Just lost a big long post!! This is very annoying. Later.....

Thinking of Linda tonight... her retirement party. Bet they had a GREAT time. I had a very busy day. Bone scan was much more involved than I expected. They said this morning would be quick... just get the radioactive dye injected. Well... I was there over an hour. Radiologist couldn't find a vein. Then he finally got needle in and got too aggressive injecting saline and it collapsed. So then he tried another place... literally digging around in my arm trying to find a vein. Finally he called for the I.V. team. By then I was freezing & very uncomfortable flat on my back on this very narrow, hard table. He brought me a warm blanket. I.V. nurse didn't have too much trouble, but I have two bruises near my elbow and one on the back of my hand. Then I had to go back 3 hrs later for more pictures..... 3 different views, almost 10 minutes of staying absolutely still each time. I was cranky by the time it was over! Go in to review it with the doctor on Friday. Echocardiogram on Thursday. Are we having fun yet! Dinner at Tracy & Jim's tonight. He made "healthy" spaghetti... whole wheat noodles, gr. turkey, sauce w/diced tomatoes. It was very good. Tired. It's late!

Here I am! I've been reading, but just hiding and escaping to FB and silly games. Bummed over the knee stuff, but more so over Jacki's situation. Spot on T8 is NOT good news. Kind of a bad sign when it moves to bone. Her sister flew down there yesterday so they're having a good time... Red Hats, out to lunch, just enjoying. Bone scan is Tuesday. I saw ortho doc on Monday and he referred me to back guy in their clinic. I saw him yesterday morning. So, now I am scheduled for injection in my back 8:30 a.m. on Tues. Then at 9:45 a.m. I have to be on the other side of Everett at the hospital for dye injection for the bone scan on my knee. Then I have to go back at 1 p.m. for the scan. Thurs 1 p.m. is echocardiogram and Friday morning follow-up w/ortho to review bone scan report. So doesn't that sound like a fun week?? Spine injection is supposed to be first of a series of three. I didn't know that when I agreed to it. I told the doc I didn't think the pain was bad enough to do that right now but he encouraged me to do it. And he said he'd fax orders for physical therapy to the place I went to last summer. Primary care doc was supposed to do that but I don't think it's happened because they haven't called me, and Monday afternoon dr's office fax machine was calling our phone over and over until I called and told them. So I think they were trying to fax the order to me instead of to the PT place! Anyway.... today was grandson Charly's birthday, so we are going there for lunch to celebrate his birthday tomorrow. And Sunday it's Lindsey's 21st birthday. She LOVES Red Robin and we take her every year since she's been here at the U of WA on her birthday. Last year I told her I'd buy her a drink on her birthday! So we're taking her there on Monday..... after I go to TOPS!! Speaking of.... my stupid scale is So erratic, but it looks like I've lost at least 3 lb since we've been home, but the scale fluctuates between 3 and 7 lb down!!! So I take the highest weight... then if it's a lower number, I can be happily surprised. At any rate, the scale is going down. Linda... congrats on your retirement! Wish we could all be there at your party to help celebrate!! We are coming through WI in August, so maybe we can stay at Te's on the way one night, and at your place on the way home. But..... only if you can handle Zoey and Candy, too!! When we travel we've had success by confining Candy to one room by herself. Then she doesn't freak about being in a new place. I was surprised with how well she adapted to even a motel room when we came home for Christmas. Well, it's almost midnight so I suppose I should go to bed. Oh... what happy news. Showers moving in according to the weather report!! Geez! I guess one day of sunshine is all we're going to get for now! Thinking of you Denise! And worried about our son. Hope they are paying attention to the flood reports. I think he has his trailer parked fairly close to the river. He told me on Mother's Day but I can't remember if he said 1 mile or if it was more. Painting trains down there.

Seriously, ladies??? KID ROCK??? Isn't he the guy who is so crude many stores won't even sell his CDs???? C'mon!! Wow! Your recovery is not going as well as I thought it would! You certainly have had some struggles!! But, glad you don't have to go back to work. Ortho doc told me this morning that he's not sure he can do anything for me. He's sending me for a bone scan. If it confirms that hardware in the right knee, the partial, has loosened, then he'll convert it to a total but it will be a difficult surgery and a more difficult recovery than the left knee. If it doesn't show failure, then there's nothing he can do for me! GREAT news either way!! Every visit he tells me that they never should have done a partial in the first place, especially since I was 100+ lb heavier. He said the hardware is too small to support all that weight. They should have done a total and not a partial. More bad news.... when our good friend, Jacki, had her CT/PET scans 2 weeks ago, showed no liver cancer, which they were worried about because her liver enzymes were elevated, BUT, spot showed up near T8 on her spine and her tumor marker blood work is up, so... more chemo has been added. But... on to brighter stuff... CONGRATS on the new grandchild, Linda!! Good Mother's Day news!! I had a GREAT Mother's Day weekend. Lots of good stuff... flowers, movie gift cards, mani/pedi, phone call from Steve! Hope you're all having a wonderful Monday!

Good Morning! It's been a busy few days! I've started a post several times only to be interrupted or distracted! And then I have this lap ornament that doesn't like me typing on my key board. But I have kept up with your posts. Ortho appointment this morning and have to leave in an hour, so must keep this short so I can drink my coffee and read the paper. Had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend and hope all of you did too! Loved the "Stories from The Shack" last night and Danny Gokey was GREAT!!

I'm getting really fed up with this new laptop. Seem to be forever accidentally hitting keys that do weird things! Just lost my post AGAIN!! Frustrating and annoying. It happens almost every day and usually when I'm almost finished typing a long post! Then I get mad and don't feel like typing it all over again! I think my external keyboard is still in the RV. May have Earl get it for me. Can plug it in to a USB port and use that instead. Still trying to get unpacked. Yesterday I saw my primary care doctor. She gave me Rx for NSAIDS that she says is easier on the stomach..... Meloxicam. She said its been around for a while but I never heard of it. She said I can go back to my therapy place and she'll sign whatever they order! Glad for that because they'll supervise me exercising in the pool for an hour a couple of times a week. Today we both had dental appointments, too. Next week I see the ortho doc. So that about sums up where I've been and what I've been up to!! Still have to get dog and cat to the vet, too. Linda, glad you're able to get out and walk. Wonder how Karri is doing tonight. She posted photo of I.V. on FB! Saw that a little bit ago. Janet....... DOCTOR?????? Karla..... really frustrating to hear about some of the things the school pays for and others that it denies!! Doesn't make any sense. Candice..... enjoying the photos, etc. of your road trip! Looks like fun! Especially the time in New Orleans with Denise. We're all jealous!! Denise..... my Zoey puts everything in her mouth, too. She especially likes to eat paper and kleenex! Day we got home we had dinner at youngest daughter's. She's not a great housekeeper and has 3 kids under 10 yrs old so we have to watch her closely when we're there. Forgot for a few minutes and found her lounging by the kids' bedroom doors chewing up a purple crayon!!

Hi! Arrived at.our friends' in Salem a couple of hours ago. Short drive today. Tomorrow we'll stay near youngest daughter's so we can have dinner and a visit with them. Then we'll drive the rest of the way home Friday morning. Only Bout 50 miles. Denise, sounds like you had a great visit with Candice and Peter. Enjoyed the pictures on FB! Linda, good to see you post. Doesn't sound like your recovery has been a picnic! Hope you're feeling much beter son! Janet, when did you say you see the doctor again? Waiting to hear what he has to say. Just concerned that it seems like you had a sudden onset of symptoms you haven't had before.

Hi, We're stopped for the night in Sutherlin OR at a really nice RV resort. Only driving 125 miles to Salem tomorrow. Stopping there to visit friends. Thursday we'll stay south of Seattle so we can see Jodie & Al & the kids and we'll go home Friday morning. Trip is going well. But it's so cold up here!! And rainy! Back & knee are so, so! Was able to take a short walk outside yesterday and again today without too much pain. I've seen a couple of pictures that Denise has posted, of Candice in NO. Looks like they're having fun. Karla, sorry about your grade. Doesn't sound fair. Janet, sure hope your dr is able to shed some light on why you've been feeling so tired, and the vertigo might be part of it. Waiting to hear about your blood tests.

Hope you find alcohol soon!! Can't believe you don't have your own "stock"!! Clamato juice and beer????? BTW.... "Colorado BULLDOG", not cowboy!! LOL! Did you get the mocha mix or whatever it was??? Hey... if you can get a SF, FF coffee creamer, diet pepsi, then all the calories are in the Kahlua and vodka! Vodka isn't too bad! HAHAHA!! Shut up, Janet!!! LOL Won't be drinking much here. Jacki can't have alcohol... I think because of the chemo drug she's still having to get every 3 weeks, and Stan must have quit, too. So when they stopped in last night when they got home from Temecula, he had crystal lite and she had a cup of tea. Zoey usually sleeps between us, too. But when I came to bed last night she decided to curl up on my chest... her rear end was over my shoulder, sort of, with her head just about under my chin. I tolerated it while I read my book on my iTouch for a little while, but I can't stay on my back for very long, so eventually I had to turn over on my side. So then she planted herself on my back! Half way???? Not by a long shot! Jacki and Stan are 320 miles from Sky Valley, and not exactly on the way! It's about 30-40 miles back to Hwy 99 and then a couple hundred to our son's in Mountain View. We'll stay there until the day after Easter and then it'll be another 3-4 days home. We're not stopping at my sister's in OR this time because they'll be in Salt Lake. Sounds like you had a busy day! But boring!! HAHAHA! If you drank you coffee black, you could go to the lab anyway! My 2nd cup had to be Via this morning. I slept until a little after 7:30 a.m., almost an hour later than usual, so all that was left for me was 1 cup. Of course, I DO use a 16 oz cup, so I shouldn't whine about having to use instant for my 2nd cup because Earl drank the rest! Hope you have an OUTSTANDING week, you and Karla, too... working girls!! You would not have liked the roads we traveled yesterday!! I-5 through Tejon pass is just AWFUL!! We bounced around more than we ever had... not to mention a SPEED BUMP in the Flying J parking lot right in front of the RV pumps!! HUH????? WHY would you need a speed bump there?? Cupboard doors flew open and dishes were deposited all over the floor, among other things!!

Hi, At Jacki n Stan's in Three Rivers. Went in the pool for. Little while after dinner. Long tiring day of driving. Will stay here for a few days.

That's Janet with the thigh muscle pain. Me.... my back a big problem last couple of days. Going to try to do water aerobics, but we'll see. Hot tub will feel good. Two more days to get ready to go. Have to tackle my couch problem and my make up desk in the bedroom!! Big mass of clutter in both places. Finished a bracelet last night... yellow glass pearls w/ sparkly seed beads. Turned out nice. Want to make matching earrings. Had to go to teacher's for more yellow beads yesterday. Under estimated how many I'd need. Promised her my LAST stop for more supplies before we leave! Not that she minds... but that's the 2nd time this week I told her that!! Hope things go better for you at school today! Are there storms in your area??? I know there's big snow storm somewhere up there... MN, ND?? We didn't care much for Paul either. But wish Stefano didn't keep ending up in the bottom three!! He's one of my favorites! Song Haley did last night was amazing!! Yes... the weekend.. and our last one here until fall! Boo hoo!! Had a little farewell potluck for us last night. It was fun and I did NOT drink too much. Earl told me they were ready WAY early, so I had him bring my beading over... it was nice and cool on the patio and hot inside... So I ended up sitting there working on my bracelet while visiting instead of drinking wine and eating chips until we were ready to eat! Peripheral circulation problem??? Maybe. Self-diagnosis not good.... make dr appointment!

Yeah.... congrats, Karri!! Great news! New Orleans... now I remember!! Is she going to see Denise while they're down there??? Did get all the phone calls, etc., done, so mail, paper, phone, internet... all taken care of. Things coming together... dog groomed, last laundry done, shopping for trip home, "farewell" potluck w/neighbors tonight. Cancelled today's appt at pain clinic for back issues, so today could barely walk!! Went to TOPS... not good... picked up 4 lb again! Up 4, down 5, up 4 again! Should get better now. Been tight last couple of days, too. Intended to go to water aerobics after TOPS and could barely make it from meeting to locker room so took a shower and went home! Been limping around with my stupid cane all day. Very discouraging. But... could be worse. Knee wasn't hurting much today. Wonder what is going on with your thigh muscles??? That is strange. Does sound like a good physical is in order. DO IT!!

Hi, Zoey had Petsmart appt this a.m., so we skipped exercise, too... didn't go to water aerobics. But I will be there in the morning. Took her to the Petsmart on Ramon Rd near Gene Autrey and didn't like those groomers either. Mobile groomer quit on us so had to take her somewhere else again. Very windy today, especially over there... Earl had to put on brakes going towards DHS on Gene Autrey because couldn't see a thing!! Just like a winter "white out" back home. Just watched last two episodes of Survivor. Waiting for Earl to get back from pool so we can watch "Idol". It recorded on east coast feed. Swelling finally went down in my feet/legs! Weigh in tomorrow.... face the music time! Have been pretty good this week with my feed, but last week... ????!!! Not so much! I didn't totally blow it, but I did eat a lot of desserts and drink a lot of drinks...not all of them were my SF margaritas! Time to pay the piper! Preparations to leave proceeding nicely. Earl doing most of the physical work, but I am getting inside stuff reorganized... sort of, and I've taken care of the mail at both ends, phone/internet on vacation suspend, DGD will take care of getting same turned back on at home.... She works for Frontier.... which used to be Verizon, so she can take care of stuff like that for us. I cancelled the paper... took it off automatic pay because someone in my home was bxxxxxxxing about that incessantly. So they will refund the yearly subscription fee they just took out of our checking account and we will start anew in the fall! What else... cancelled tomorrow's dr appt because decided he'd probably not do an injection in my back anyway because we're leaving in a few days and won't be here for follow up, and realized the MRI is now 5 1/2 months old so maybe that would also be a problem. Back has been better, but not the knee. So.... remind me where Candice went..... camping somewhere right?? Anyone heard from Linda again?? Karla.... what's new with you??? Janet.. saw your 'brother' post on FB... touching. Always wished I had a brother... three sisters. CBL

So very, very sorry to hear that, Linda. My heart goes out to you and your family. Will be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. Hugs, GF!!!

As you can see, I'm working hard at catching up this afternoon!! There is a LOT to read, so forgive me if I don't respond to everything, but just read one of your posts from when I was gone, Jodie, and it really touched my heart... the judge's decision w/Dassi and the distribution of the $$ in her trust. I am so sorry that you are having to struggle with all of this! It just doesn't seem fair not to be able to use those funds for what she needs NOW!! Hoping it somehow all works out for both of you! This is probably a bold and inappropriate comment, but wondering if this new guy that you REALLY like may be part of God's provision for you??!! Please forgive me for saying that, but can't help that it crossed my mind! Seems like you two have really "CLICKED"!! You are a lovely young lady with much to share and a lot of life ahead of you. I know we'd all be tickled pink if you found someone to be a longtime "companion"!

Lori, Just found your ipad questions. As I said, still trying to catch up on a week+ worth of posts!! You're probably way ahead of me in the learning curve by now! Like I said... if I'd quit playing Angry Birds on it I'd probably be more proficient by now! I bought the blue cover and then I bought a binder type thing at Walmart. I didn't take it to Mexico, but I'm thinking that I need to put it in a purse or bag of some kind if I'm carrying it around! I think I will eventually be using it more than my laptop.