Leaves Are Falling, And So Are My Spirits

 

I don’t have a whole lot of news to report.  I did see the Specialist on the 26th, but he wants a chance to study my records from my hospital stays, and he wants a chance to more thoroughly read all of the Doctor’s notes.  His educated guess is that it may be IBS, a functional bowel syndrome, or non-ulcer dyspepsia. He has suggested trying a couple of different medications on me, but wishes to wait until he gets all information read.  He also made strong suggestions about stress and anxiety, which he feels brings these conditions on. I know since Donnie’s strokes I have had to do all the driving, and at times this has been very stressful.  Also taking care of someone you love ,and watching them die right before your eyes, has been my hardest challenge in my life.

We did get our remodeling finished, and I have a couple of pictures to share with you.  We also replaced our hide-a-bed couch for a double reclining couch, and we love it.  We also had our dinning chairs and stools recovered.  I had the seat part of all of these covered in a very heavy clear plastic.  We are old, and we dribble, so hope this takes care of being able to wipe them down with no damage to the material.  Some of you may think this is a bit fanatical, but it works for us.  The floor is so much easier for us to take care of.  We just run a swiffer over it every day to stay ahead of our Rusty’s fur. I also  bought a corner desk, which gives us a little more room.

I also would like to welcome my newest followers, and apologize for taking so long to do it.  The first are Carolyn, Pamela, and Ralph.  I couldn’t find sites for you, so please, if you have one, share it with me.  The next is Gail, and then Wendy.  I have not felt like reading blogs for a while, but as soon as possible I will check these two out.

I hate that my blog has turned into a health blog, but wanted to share with you that our hearts have been broken.  Our little Rusty has cancer on his face.  We have been taking him to the vet, and he is doing what he can, but Rusty will probably need surgery.  It is on his face, very close to his nostrils.  So far it hasn’t affected his eating or drinking.  He still is the craziest, wound-up dog he has always been.  I would love to hear from any of you that may have gone through any thing like this with your dog.

Hope all of you have a great fall, and we are still undecided about our future travel plans.  It will all depend on what my Doctors do about this illness.

Stay safe out there.  :)

Recuperating

 

I am sorry I haven’t written for a while, but I just got out of the hospital late Monday evening.  For over a month now I have had severe diarrhea and nausea.   I completely lost my appetite, and was unable to sleep.  I was first admitted on the 14th of Aug. and released on the  15th, with the diagnosis of diverticulitis, but just kept getting worse, so , was admitted back in on Tuesday.  I then was diagnosed with pancreatitis.   I was released again on Monday, but nothing has really changed.  I am still having severe diarrhea and nausea.  They are giving me meds. for those 2 symptoms, but I still can only eat very little and have lost about 9 lbs.  I had an upper-GI test before leaving the hospital, but they can’t do a colonoscopy till my body settles back down and is more normal.  After they do the colonoscopy, if nothing is found, the Doctor will then send me to a Gastro specialist.  My family Doctor is in hopes they will do  a scope on my pancreas to see if there is some kind of blockage.

We did get our remodeling done, but don’t really feel like posting any pictures.  I also noticed I have several new followers and want to acknowledge them the way I usually do, and I promise I will as soon as I can be on here long enough to hunt up address’s for their blogs and so forth. Welcome to all, and am sorry this post is just about illness instead of something else.

Thanks to everyone for their concerns, and would appreciate all prayers.  I promise to write more as soon as I feel up to the task.  I miss you all very much and look forward to catching up on all my blogging friends.   

Working

 

Just wanted to let you all know that I won’t be posting for a few weeks.  We have decided to do a little switching around while we have everything all torn up.  Will tell you all about it when we get it finished.  I won’t have time to read blogs either, but I will get caught up when all work is completed.  Have a great summer and I will talk to you in a few weeks. :)

Getting Started

 

My Doctor’s office called on Friday evening and moved my appointment up from the 12th to the 25th.  We were going to wait till after the 12th to get started on the flooring, but now have decided to go ahead with it.  We know it is going to be a long, drawn out process, but I think we are up for it.

My grand daughter, Chelsi came over on Friday evening & gave me a crash course in Wii.  I now know how to turn it on, turn it off, and how to load the games.  We also got it online, and we loaded some pictures to the photo part of the Wii.  We also bowled a few games, and I played golf with it yesterday.  Please don’t ask for a score, because it is very embarrassing, to say the least.  At least I do know how to play a couple of games and it doesn’t seem so intimidating now.

Chelsi crashed on the couch Friday night and I got a couple of pictures of her gracefully sleeping till noon.  How can they sleep so many hours?  Not long after she got up and had breakfast, she got a call from her Uncle Quinton to go fishing, so off she went.  She has loved to fish since she was old enough to hold a pole, and she catches a lot when she goes.  Thanks again, Chelsi for all your help.

My son, Jon also took our truck and detailed it for us.  He was really upset with us because there were so many bugs on the front of it.  He says they destroy paint and chrome.  Something about the acid in them.  He did a great job, and yes we will try to do better about knocking the bug guts off of it after each trip.  According to him, our windshield was a mess too.  It looks really good now, but I am not holding out much hope that it will stay that way. It is not one of our top priorities.  We do keep the maintenance up on the engine and transmission and so on, but keeping it spotless is almost impossible.

Here is Longdog2’s site.  She did get back to me with an address, and corrected her dashboard so it could be found. I would also like to welcome new follower Phyllis.  Her and her husband, Leonard are full-timers.  She is from New Jersey, and he is from Louisiana.  Check them out.  She writes a very interesting blog. Also welcome to Michael. He is trying to figure out the full-timing life style.  He is a very talented writer and you won’t be sorry you checked him out.

My best Buddy(Willie), and Herbie(my little brother and her husband), brought me a very large zucchini and a head of cabbage.  I love cooked cabbage so fixed it the next evening for part of our supper.  Thursday I tackled the zucchini, and made six small loaves of bread, and a chocolate cake that she gave me the recipe for.  It is all good, and we will be eating on the bread for a couple of weeks.  It freezes very well, so can be kept that way.  Thanks again guys!!

Rusty has been jumping this same poor, little rabbit ever since we moved to this spot.  All I can say is he must enjoy it, or he would find a different spot in the mornings.

 

I know that isn’t a very good picture, but the little sh-t won’t sit still long enough for a good picture.  I think he has figured out that Rusty can’t get him, and is just teasing Rusty.

We got lots of rain again on Wednesday or Thursday.  This is hard to understand.  The west is begging for rain, and we are getting it by the buckets full.

Later… :)

Nothing Going On

 

We left early Thursday morning for Colorado Springs, Colorado.  We made it as far as Junction City, Kansas on the first day.  That was around 600 miles, and almost too far for us.  We had to make several stops for Rusty, and for ourselves.  We stayed at the Motel6 there and were very satisfied with the room and our treatment.  They even gave us a senior discount.  Every little bit helps.

We made it to Colorado Springs late in the afternoon on the first, and Jay, my stepson,  had also just pulled in from Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

It was so good to see all of the kids.  Was I ever surprised when I got out of the truck and hugged my grand son, Jacob.  He is now taller than Grandma.  12 years old and already taller than me.

Sorry, I didn’t get one single picture this trip.  We just played games, ate a lot, and in general, just had a lot of family fun.

Colorado, and most of the western states, are under a burn ban, so, we didn’t even get to have very many fireworks.  Jacob loves them and we did have a few small ones that could be set off in the street, and were very safe.  We did see lots of them being shot up in the air, which was really dangerous.  Colorado Springs is such a beautiful city, I would hate to see part of it destroyed by fire.

We started back on the 4th and made it home yesterday about 6pm. 

I did do a bit of shopping while out there.  Seems like Jennifer, my stepdaughter,  and I can always do that together, and she always knows where the good buys are.  Now some of you are going to think this is very childish, but I bought a Wii.  I got a very good deal on it, and have wanted one for a long time. I got the Wii, 3 games, and the four paddles you need to play the games, all for around $200.00.  The kids all talked like this was a steal.  There is so much I don’t know about it yet, but Chelsi and Mariah are coming over today to help me figure it out.  I was told that once you get it set up you can leave it hooked up and just switch from Wii to TV, so this is what I will do. I also understand that I can rent movies, and go on line with it.  It also has a photo storage capability. Jacob set it all up on their TV, and made sure all was working well before we left.

Jennifer, bless her heart, burned about 50 movies for us over the last year.  She knows that sometimes we are in spots where we can’t get TV. or just plain get sick of what is on, and need something to watch.  This settled it for me, we are going to spend at least 1 month on the coast of Texas, way out of reach of any cable or Wi-Fi.  It looks like an interesting park, and I have wanted to go there for a while now.  We will probably check it out in January or February, in the new year.

Not much else going on.  We do intend to get started on the floors the first of next week, and I want to check out a new double recliner for the RV, and maybe get the chairs recovered.  This time I will have a heavy plastic put on the seats for protection.  Our stools have it, and it doesn’t look bad at all.

Want to welcome my two new followers, Karel Van der Merwe, and Longdog 2.  I couldn’t find a site for either of you, so, if you have one please contact me with the info, and I will be glad to post it here. Hope you enjoy the ride along with us.

Later… :)

Winter Family Reunion

 

Let me start out by saying this has been a dream of Donnie’s older sister, Wilma for the past few years, and since she was diagnosed with breast cancer this past year, she decided it was this summer or maybe never.  So many of their family, cousins,  Aunts and Uncles, have passed and so she wanted to do it before any more left this world.  All of her kids but one were able to come. Crystal, her oldest daughter and her family just couldn’t get away, but the rest were here with all their family.  Donnie’s 2 kids couldn’t make it, and Nathan, Lois and Wayne’s son couldn’t make it.  Several of their cousins did come and their only surviving Aunt is now in the Nursing home and couldn’t come.  We had a ball with everyone that did show up, and the food and drink was abundant. 

Dennis, Donnie’s younger brother, grilled 18 chickens, his son Darin made pulled pork BBQ, and they also grilled brats and hot dogs.  We had creek fries, German potato salad, baked beans, some delicious salads that Melanie, Lois’s daughter, made.  One was a pasta salad with cherry tomatoes, and fresh parmesan cheese.  Eric, Wilma’s son, made green beans in a Dutch oven over coals, and he also made a delicious apple crunch the same way.  There was home made cookies, banana pudding, I took a fresh fruit platter, and so much other stuff.   Too many foods to list them all.  I am sure no one went away hungry.

In this collage starting top left is Eric having a water gun  fight with some of his nieces and nephews, next is Wayne ,in front of house.   The shutters on the house were hand made by my husband when he remodeled the whole place .  Next is Donnie’s two cousins, Earl and Carl, talking to Valerie and Wilma.  Another picture of Wilma and daughter, Valerie.  Next is Denny’s  wife, Beulah talking to Carl, a shot of the guys bringing the picnic tables up from the lake, and the last is Denny cooking all that chicken.

 

One of Denny and Beulah’s grandsons broke his leg jumping out of a boat.  You can see him in middle top picture, Wayne acting silly with a patriotic hat on, next are Don’s two sisters, Wilma and Lois, and bottom right is Don’s cousin Earl and wife Bertie.  They are also very good friends of ours.  We do a lot of scooting around with them when possible.

 

This is just everyone enjoying all the great food.

This is Don and his siblings.  Lois, Dennis, Don, and Wilma.  Top right is some of the young cousins and bottom is Don’s family with 3 cousins.

A good time was had by all, and for once the weather was almost perfect.  Low 80’s with a slight breeze.  I got a small sunburn, but nothing I am alarmed about.

Want to welcome my newest follower, Levonne.  She too is a very talented writer and photographer.  Check her out.  You will be glad you did.

I have been having so many computer problems.  A week or so ago my Hotmail quit working, and from looking on my own, and some help from Rick, I found out that thousands of users are having the same problems.  Still having lots of trouble leaving comments and getting into my dashboard.  May all be connected, not really sure.  I have also had some people tell me it is something Explorer 9 screwed up.  Who knows, I just know it is frustrating has hell.

Thanks for all of your encouragement and suggestions on our flooring decision. This will be a slow process , just simply because we don’t have to be in a hurry, but I will let you know how it is progressing.

Lest you think there is nothing to see here, when we get back from Colorado, I also intend to show a little bit of what Perry County has to offer.

 

Flooring Problem

The floor guy finally showed up yesterday, and almost immediately started giving us reasons why we might not be able to have vinyl laid.  His main reason for not doing it was the fact that our flooring, under the carpet, would soak up the glue used to glue vinyl down.  I said that is funny, because Donnie put vinyl tile in our bathroom, toilet room, right after we got the RV and it worked just fine.  Then he started telling us it would be a real job just getting our old carpet out.  Duh!!  Isn’t that their job???  Anyway, I finally just said, “If you don’t want to do it, Just say so”.  He swore he wanted to, but just didn’t want to stick us with a job that may not wear right.  Ok, so now Donnie and I have decided we can do it ourselves.  After all, we used our own lumber from our land and built a 1600 square foot house, so I think we can handle doing this.  Donnie is a Carpenter, and I make a damned good Carpenter’s helper.  We think all that needs to be done is after we get the carpet up, and the floor good and clean, we will paint it with some kind of sealer, and the clue will work just fine.  Nuff said…. :)

Last Saturday we went out and had breakfast with Herb and Willie.  We saw one of  our old friends at the restaurant  and talked for quite a while.  It’s always good to catch up with old friends.  Later in the day we went to Herb and Willie’s to play Pegs and Jokers.  Willie had all kinds of candy sitting around.  Two of my favorites are circus peanuts and spice drops, and she had both of them on the table.  I ate candy till I almost got sick.  We had a great time, and I did survive.

Want to welcome my newest follower, John, Life in a Volkswagen bus.  John is a very wonderful writer.  He is in Taos, New Mexico right now, house-sitting for a friend of his.  Check him out.  He has just started his blog and needs our support..

We went out to Mark and Shannon’s on Sunday for a very good meal.  She made a meal for all the Fathers in her life.  Her Dad, Donnie, Mitchel, Mark, and Mark’s step dad, Tex.  She grilled pork steaks, made a wonderful potato casserole, corn, beans, and I took a couple of fruit pies.  She also cut a watermelon up and made a fancy bowl out of it, then stuffed it with all kinds of fruits. It was great seeing everyone, and we had a great time.

Our Winter reunion is Saturday, so I have been making Judy’s pretzels to take, and I am also making a big fruit platter with Carmel dip.  My gang here in Indiana love Judy’s pretzel recipe, so have to make them when we all get together.  I also need to make some ahead to take with us to Colorado.

I may not post again for a while, unless we do something that is of interest.  I am sure everyone is getting sick of hearing about all of our family gatherings.

Thanks to Rod, I did find a Motel 6 that will let us have Rusty in the room with us, when we stop for the night in Kansas.  I had asked him a few months ago about pet-friendly motels, and he got right back to me with the info.
You all stay safe and cool… :)