Awaiting the Results

Hmmmmm - so much for trying to do more timely posts. I had my surgery on Monday and spent Monday night and Tuesday mostly sleeping. We were hoping for some news regarding the results of the biopsy today, but did not get them (hopefully Monday). I suppose anyone who wants to see pictures should check Duane's Blog to take a look at the pictures he posted (he is ever camera ready). It was really great to have him here until Wednesday - no comfort like that of a loving son (child).

Max has been hard at work while Wanda and I have lazed around the house playing sudoku and reading "rag mags". Kathy brought over a wonderful lasagna, salad, bread and "to die for" chocolate/strawberry dessert Monday night, which was greatly appreciated by all. She then brought over a bunch of great colored pencils and books along with another sudoku book to keep me busy. I have been having a great time with the colored pencils - I love to do pencil coloring just like my mother used to do! She then brought strawberry shortcake - ahhhhh I am doing nothing but laying around and eating (I need to be up and about soon)!

Wanda and I ventured out today while Max was taking finals. We had our toes done and that was a real treat. The pedicure along with the leg/foot treatment and massaging chairs, not to mention the nice colored nails was a much needed uplight (followed by Starbucks and a Wal-Mart trip).

Wanda has to go home tomorrow and I will be sad to see her leave. I am sure things will be back to normal starting next week and hopefully I will get the camera in action and do some postings.

Still looking forward to a relaxing weekend. The weather has turned really beautiful and it is nice to have the windows open and experience a nice breeze.

Later . . .

Today is the DAY

So Max, Duane, Wanda and I are off to Kaiser Walnut Creek for my surgery. No food or COFFEE for me:(

May be a couple of days before the next post, but I will try to not make it 2 weeks.

Later . . .

Two Weeks!

I cannot believe that it has been two weeks since I have posted. Let me try and think what I have been doing . . .

The dogs are both well - thank goodness there was nothing wrong with Darci that a diet won't cure and Kodi's foot is all better (since I made him wear a sock for a couple of days to stop licking and picking). I think I was able to pull a sticker out and that was the problem.

We did manage to get some vegetables and flowers planted and I managed to mow the lawn. The result of the mowed lawn was Kodi sported green feet and a bottom from running and playing on the wet grass. He always looks so funny when every white spot on him turns green.

I occupied my time the first week with cleaning out kitchen cupboards and sorting through things that needed to be thrown out.

I spent the day Thursday in Manteca with Max's mother (Ann) while Warren (Max's step-father) had a pace maker implanted. Then on Friday Kathy, Paul, Max and I headed out for David Walley's Resort and Spa in Genoa, Nevada (we lovingly call the place Wally World).

We had a really great time spending the week there. Not only did Max do homework on a VERY slow dial up connection, we went to the local Starbucks to access the internet because something she needed for school was timing out before it could load due to the slowness of the connection, we accomplished a VERY difficult fish puzzle, I conquered four star Sudoku puzzles, Kathy read a Dean Koontz book, we did Thrift Store shopping, checked out the BLM land office for places to off road, Paul checked out bicycle shops researching for a new bike purchase, checked out the local "oldest bar in the state", visited the local "general store" for soup and ice cream, had some great food at the local eateries, had good food at the condo (filets with blue cheese to die for), sat in the hot tub in the snow and still found plenty of time to gamble. If you can imagine Kathy played the penny slots machines for FOUR hours on ONE DOLLAR! Unfortunately, I did not manage to conquer the Craps Tables (would have loved to repeat the $1000 win from a previous visit), but we did have many hours of fun there and the Three Card Poker and Black Jack tables!

We had to come down to Sacramento for a day because Warren had surgery to replace an artery in his leg on Tuesday. We came down to stay with Ann until he came out of surgery. Max did homework, Kathy taught Ann how to do Sudoku puzzles, I did Sudoku puzzles and Paul read bicycle magazines. It certainly made the time pass quickly. Warren came out of the surgery doing very well and his recovery looks very promising. We stopped by the hospital to see him on the way home Friday and he was being released to go home.

Duane came down for the weekend today (he will be here for my surgery, staying until Wednesday) and we went to look at light weight travel trailers http://www.trailmanor.com/. We were very impressed with how they looked and how easily they set up and came down. (Check Duane's blog for pictures).

Hopefully I will do better with posting and not let so much time lapse between posts.

Later . . .

Busy Weekend

The weekend just seemed to speed by. On both Saturday and Sunday we went to Pleasanton to watch Michael participate in the Northern California Special Olympics. His basketball team did really well and came away with a Silver Medal. The team that took the gold was an extremely aggressive team and basically intimidated all the other teams. By Sunday afternoon you could see the influence the aggressive team had on all the remaining teams – there was some serious blocking and ball stealing going on. We did breakfast/lunch with Kathy and Paul on both Saturday and Sunday. Michael bought a new recumbent bicycle on Sunday afternoon (sorry I have no pictures cause it is really cool) and we all went out for Mexican food to celebrate (the bike and the Olympics). This was the eliminations and I don’t think his team will go on to Sacramento for the finals. I have not taken any pictures in a while and I know I need to.

We are having a hard time finding time to plant things in between the rain. Hard to believe California is having this much rain this late in the season. I am sure it will all work out, but we have both vegetables and flowers that need to be planted. Yards need to be mowed and I hate to do it when the grass is so wet – not good for the blades of the mower.

Kodi has a big sore (abscess) between his little toe and the next one. Darci has some sort of lump on her hip – God, I wish we had dog insurance! I made an appointment for Darci for tomorrow afternoon and just found the abscess on Kodi this afternoon. I will talk to the vet and see if I can just get some ointment for Kodi’s foot. I would prefer not to have to take him in, but she will probably want to see him and check it out for herself.

Later . . .

Almost the end of the week . . .

Wow – where did the week go? I know I have been busy, but I am not sure what I have been doing. I guess I could mention I finished the video game I was playing (ya think that is where my time was spent)? We did have Kathy, Paul and Debby over for dinner on Wednesday night. Max put a couple of tri-tips on the barbeque and I baked some potatoes and after dinner we watched a NOVA special on “String Theory”. It was a three part series, which we finished tonight at Kathy and Paul’s after a lasagna dinner. It was quite an interesting series, but a bit over my head with all the quantum mechanics and scientific talk.

I pulled out my Irish scone mix that I brought back from Ireland with me and made a couple batches of scones. Whoa, I must say I did a good job (had to add milk and raisins and bake) and they tasted terrific! Now that I have accomplished the scones I am going to have to give the brown bread mix a try. Making something from scratch or making something from a mix – okay, I will choose the mix (how very simple it turned out to be once I found a measuring cup with milliliters).

I did mess around with my sewing machine and found an interesting embroidery pattern of a “sunburst”. I put one on the back of one of my “practice” shirts and it turned out really nice. I am thinking about putting a pattern of them on the back of a denim jacket that I have. I will practice a bit more with colors and sizes, but that was a fun project.

I finally caught up on my letter writing. I had many thank you letters to send to people in Ireland. I also made some disks with the pictures I took while I was over there. I made some prints for some people and added them to the letters I wrote. I also had a nice long phone conversation with my sister Kay who lives in Nebraska as well as my sister Joy who lives in Ventura. So I guess this week has been somewhat busy.

Max is doing homework, the dogs are sleeping, fireplace is keeping us cozy and I am thinking about starting a new video game. (Keeps me busy and off the streets)! Oh yeah, Max has been riding her bike every afternoon when she comes home from work. I have been riding with her when my knee will allow and today was one of the days that I did not make it (I continued to sew while she rode).

Not sure what the plans for the weekend are, but we would like to go pick up some straw and get the newspaper and straw layed in the garden. I am thinking there will be a bike ride taking place sometime this weekend if I can get some ibupropen in me and feel up to the challenge. I need to do what I can and take ibupropen while I can because the week before my surgery I cannot take any anti-inflamatory medication (tylenol is accepted, but it just does not work the same).

Later . . .

Blue Bike Monday

After paying bills and working out finances on Sunday, I realized we had way too much money in our checking account. After some panic trying to figure out WHAT I forgot to pay, I realized I had forgotten (if you can imagine forgetting) our TAX REFUND! Since the refund came from Max's income, it seemed only fitting that she should be able to buy the bicycle that she has been wanting. So after a trip to the local bike shop, numerous test rides on different bikes amd excellent information from the sale person (lady). Max is the very PROUD owner of blue & silver hybrid Multitrack Trek! It is a fantastic bike and very comfortable to ride. She wants to start riding her bike back and forth to work and this will be a very good one for that purpose. I am envious, but since I cannot really do much riding until I get my knee fixed, I will wait until I CAN actually ride to think about getting a new bike.

Prior to Max getting off work and going bike shopping, I decided I needed to take the cover off my sewing machine and do some sewing. I have had a couple of blankets I have been wanting to make and decided Monday was the day to get started. For not really knowing what I was doing besides sewing two pieces of material together (cotton material top and fleece bottom), I managed to get one finished (with several phones call to my sister Joy for guidance and encouragement). I think it turned out nice and it is very warm (Denise this should look familiar). I am going to try to make the other one, but I think I am going to lay it out on the kitchen floor to cut the pieces. My cutting table is just not big enough and every other floor in the house has carpet. This type of sewing is at least giving me a bit of confidence and I am looking forward to the day when I feel ready to tackle an actual quilt!

Later . . .

Busy Weekend

We finally made it outside to the back yard to do some work. You will just have to use your imagination as to how bad the yard looked prior to the photo (trust me - you could not even see dirt in the garden area and all the dogs toys were hidden under the grass). Max started pulling weeds while I mowed the grass. I had to set the mower's wheels up higher to be able to make it through the grass, but that was probably the best thing to do anyway. After I finished mowing, I helped with the weeding of the garden. Thankfully it was not a difficult job because the ground was so wet. It is always nice when you can pull a weed and have the ENTIRE root come out of the ground. We filled our "green waste trash container"(which is pretty good sized). It is amazing how nice the yard can look with just a little effort. My jasime is starting to bloom and I love the smell, but I also love the way it looks back there in the corner.

We went to a really cute, quaint Italian restraurant (Baci Cafe) in Pleasanton for dinner. First off being the water drinker that I am, their water was GREAT! They had a pitcher with water, ice, slices of orange, apple, lemon, lime, strawberries and mint leaves. The flavor of the fruit and mint was very subtle and I loved it. I had an excellent bowl of butternut squash soup and Max had a great Greek salad. Our meal choice was skillet fried skirt steak with red pepper sauce accompanied by garlic mashed potatoes and baby spinach leaves. The dinner was excellent and we finished the meal with coffee and cream brulee topped with fruit. Not too pricey considering restraurants these days - it was very nice and completely worth it.

After dinner we went to Lowes to pick up vegetable seeds for the garden. I picked up some additional Humming Bird feeders to try and entice my little friends to return to the yard. They seem to continue to come back, but they want to feed off the rainbow colored glass wind chimes hanging at the kitchen window. I bought a feeder with some colorful glass that hangs above two feeder balls (I have not taken it out of the box yet). I am going to put it outside the kitchen window and move the other wind chimes and see if that will bring them back to eat. I also picked up another colorful glass bottle feeder (still in the box) - I know they are out there and I want them eating in MY yard.

Max is working on updating her resume for a job posting at LLNL (requires a BS in Technical Management, which is what she will have the end of June). This would be a manager position away from locating, working with a different group of people in the same building. She really wants to get away from the stress and pressures of locating. She has a midterm to do later this afternoon and we are just having a lazy day around the house with the dogs and a cozy fire. Darci loves to lay in front of the fireplace and get toasty warm. She will be really warm to the touch when she comes for a pet (she likes to lay in the sun during the summer too).

I think I will play my video game while Max does her midterm.

Later . . .

Orthopedic Appointment

Since I mentioned the appointment with the orthopedic surgeon, I guess I should share what happened. To make a long story short – according to the MRI, my x-rays, my symptoms and her manipulations, I appear to be a good candidate for arthroscopic knee surgery. I have some degenerate arthritis in the knee and also a torn meniscus (that is cartilage), both of which could be causing me pain; however, the promising aspect is all my pain is on the side of the tear and none is on the side with the arthritis. The surgeon thinks all indications are the pain is coming from the torn meniscus in my knee. She showed us the tear on the MRI and said she could almost guarantee that in the last two years (I had the MRI a couple of years ago) the tear had become bigger – hence more pain. I do remember going bowling some time after the MRI and REALLY messing up my knee and the pain increased from that point on (never tried bowling again). When I try to pinpoint the area of pain, it coincides to the precise area of the meniscus tear. The surgery is done on an outpatient basis and you can stand on your knee the same day (I WILL be having a conversation about local anesthetics and feeling pain before she starts).

The only down side of all the knee information is she wants me to complete everything I need to do connected with my breast cancer before she will schedule surgery. The hard part is my knee fricking HURTS and is limiting my activity and the breast cancer is painless (at this point). Of course she did point out the fact the pain in my knee is annoying, but not life threatening – OKAY, so point well made and well taken. She wrote the order for surgery, but would like to have me referred to an oncologist so she can discuss my treatment plan and the possibility of surgery. So for the knee surgery I am in a holding pattern, but at least I am confident it will be fixed in the near future (walking around Disneyland pain free with my grandkids is be my goal).

Later . . .