The Good. The Bad. And The Ugly!!!

Hello all. Saturday after surgery and I guess I am more like my Dad then I thought. I feel good. Nothing like so many I have known and heard of. Peggy said it is a Weber girl thing and I guess she is right. Today we went to Walmart to grocery shop. It was fun, riding the electric cart through the store, and we got tons of stuff done...groceries bought. I just pointed. I didn't hit anyone and got good at those 3 point turns I never need anymore. LOL. I actually ran into my GP there so she was able to see how well I am doing. It was tiring though and my ankle is puffy but I came home and took a nap and will ice the leg the rest of the evening while we catch a movie.

Surgery was Monday and the schedule went without a hitch. John got a little spooked waiting for them to bring me to my room because I...no...THEY were delayed....but I eventually showed up. All went well and I had no problems with the anesthetic or anything else. I was even OK with the cathater. They usually drive me nuts but the person who put it on must have done a good job. Thank goodness since I was glued to that bed for 10 hours. It was pretty early when I got to my room. Just a little after noon. They got me all settled in and tons of names with extensions were written on my white board. New procedures. Everyone carries phones in their pocket. You need something call. Your nurse, your care co-ordinator, your PT, whoever. Now...the care co-ordinator had introduced herself to me before I went into surgery. She will be with me the whole way to be sure I am getting what I need when I need it. Boy that sounded so good. She will be there before, during and after for up to 6 months follow up. Sounds good right. Not happening as far as I can see.
The first problem hit when I got in the room and was getting instructions on calling anyone I needed. My phone did not work. Of course that would be remedied ASAP but sadly it did not get replaced for 24 hours. Not only that but the care coordinator never came back. The one person who would have fixed ALL my problems was not a phone call away. I spent 24 hours on a deserted island, at least that is what it felt like. If I needed anything I hit the nurse button but it would be 30 to 45 minutes before anyone appeared. I was also in a room farthest from the nurses station. It was pretty awful. When my PT person walked in the room on Tuesday afternoon I just melted down in tears. She did A LOT to be sure the rest of my stay was better. Still not great...but better and at least I could move more.
On top of all the lack of care in general they "LOST" my beautiful brand new robe. It was picked up by laundry never to be seen again. They are reimbersing me but first we will fight about papers they want filled out. Why do I need to fill out tax forms? Does not make sense to me.
I had some problems getting on the right pain meds. The typical stuff that does not need spelling out.
The doctor wanted me to stay until Thursday even though I was beating all the expectations to pieces on my walking and flexing but I begged to come home Wednesday. At least here I was surrounded by love and care and could get some much needed sleep. John picked me up about 8 PM Wednesday night and it IS wonderful to be home.
Both nursing care and PT has been out once and will be back next week but everything is going well.
The walker is a pain in the butt but a single foot cane is not enough on the average so I will have the nurse arrange to get a good cane brought out on Tuesday when she comes to visit.
Other then that I am sitting here starved...waiting or the Shrimp Pasta to be ready. John is cooking. I fixed the bread like always. Tomorrow will be busy with weekly yard work that NEEDS doing. I cannot do most of it but will be out there to cheer John on.

Nick and Maggie started school on Monday. Sadly I have not had the chance to talk to Mags about her days yet. I was too sick Tuesday night for a visit, but I have seen Nick. He tells everyone Gramma got a new leg. He thinks the staples are holding the new leg on. If anyone comes in he wants to show them. It is a regular strip show around here. LOL. That is going to end though. Things are now at their PEEK of ugliness. The pictures came out good DH said. It is really that ugly. "Thanks Hon."
I am wearing these white stockings so don't really see it that often. My ankle is as bruised as my thigh and I cannot figure that out.
The point here was...Nick...he is liking this first grade thing very much. Still has to be pulled back on task and sometimes make the wrong choices....following the lead of a bad boy and throwing food at lunch....but he is learning what is acceptable and how to deal in such a large group. He is smarter then a whip and I hope he will not get bored waiting for others to catch up in reading. I am still waiting for first day pictures. Will add those later.
Couple pictures of my "new" leg. Lordy it is ugly.

Our trip to Chicago.

We left DFW on Thursday, August 21st. The flight left on time. The weather was great and first class is truly wonderful. Renting the car went without a hitch and cost all of $2.75. Love it.
We drove to Naperville and popped in on Tracy Ferak. Becky's good friend. She just added another baby girl to her family and we visited for a short time, meeting not only the baby but her 3 year old daughter Isabella for the first time. Tracy has a lovely home and it was a quick but great visit.

Mia and Isabella

We then drove down the road in Naperville and stopped into my hairdresser for 25 years...also a very close friend for those years....and surprised him. It was nice because he was not real busy so we also had time to catch up on news and share pictures of the girls weddings and grands with him.

Sue and Ed

Then off to Dad's to see his condo and pick him up for dinner. PIZZA!!! It was BEYOND BELIEF. How do we survive without it? Two of the waitresses from 12 years ago...still there. NOTHING changes there. We had the great cheddar cubes for starters and then ate tons of pizza. We ordered one to take with us and had that reheated in the microwave on Friday night at 10 PM and again....WONDERFUL.

Dad had a hamburger but took home the left over pizza from dinner.

We then drove around the stomping grounds where we raised the girls. It is beyond belief the growth in that little town. They even put up a mall with Macy's in it since we've been gone. There is NOTHING that the town does not have now. The neighborhoods we are so familiar with all looked the same except for the trees, which are so much bigger then they were 11 years ago. The high school is now a middle school and the high school...well...unbelievable. When I think of the conflicts we put up with...the dance team....in getting a tiny space for practive because of the little gym and one common area....my mind is boggled by what they have now. It was fun to see the changes and yet the things that stay the same.

We took Dad home then and drove downtown. Good timing too. The Bears game started at 7 so we missed the mess passing Soldier's Field. After checking in we took a short walk to get some coffee. It amazed us how gentrified downtown is. I could live there in a fancy condo with no car....maybe for a year or two. It would be fun to live like that and a beautiful place to do it. Maybe in the new building Trump is building? I can certainly afford a million for a condo.

Friday we did not rush to get up and left the hotel around 11. We walked to the Wacker and Michigan where the tour boats are leaving from temporarily while the original place is being rebuilt...mind you to accommodate the handicapped. I was in trouble then since I had done some steps earlier. Walking up and down steps and slopes is murder on the knee. Getting down to the boats has maybe 75 stairs. Yikes. John went down alone to check the status since there were TONS of people getting tickets and standing in line waiting to board. There are a few boats that go out and it was looking like the wait would be forever. We got pretty lucky. We only stood in line for 30 minutes and boarded a smaller boat then the usual. The tour was a delightful hour and a half out on Lake Michigan and down the Chicago river to learn some history of the buildings.
I had been on these tours many times with my Junior Misses but John had never been on one and we both truly enjoyed it, despite some gray skies and a little drizzle. The water was a bit choppy too but we sat in the back of the boat so stayed dry. Wonderful thing to do if you are ever in Chicago.

John and Sue with Navy Pier behind them.

Some shots of the skyline, Navy Pier and lake front from Lake Michigan. Cloudy day but beautiful nonetheless.

We walked back to the hotel, cleaned up a little and took a cab to Navy Pier. Another surprise for us. We had not been there since the rebuild except during the Xmas holidays 13 years ago and everything was shutdown. What a fun place for all ages. Too much walking but we traversed the whole thing then had lunch at Bumba Gumps Shrimp Place. That was disappointing I am sorry to say but Pizza at 10 that night washed away the distaste of lunch.
Some shots below from Navy Pier. There is a garden...or whatever it is called...up on the second floor. So beautiful. I'm glad we found the elevator.

Garden on/in Navy Pier.

Below are 2 pictures. This sculpture is on the walk outside Navy Pier. It is Bob Newhart and his couch. It is amazing how real they look. The couch really looks like a couch. John and I chatted with Dr. Robert Hartley, Bob Newhart. Wonder if he is really that small?

We again walked back to the hotel where I iced my knee and John checked in at work email. Enough resting!! We're off again. To Millennium Park in Chicago. An all new area near in Grant Park. Millennium Park
This Cloud Gate structure is the most amazing thing we have ever seen. We could have walked around it forever looking at the city from different aspects reflecting in it...especially with the sun going down changing the reflection moment by moment. Awesome thing to see. Hope the pictures give a fairly decent idea of how awesome it looks. We sat and watched the little ones play in the water and just enjoyed people watching.
It's not like a pond water or deep water. It is like splashing in one huge puddle that runs between two of these huge buildings with water running down them. The following are pictures of cloud gate but Chicagoan's call it The Bean.

The Chicago Symphony was performing at the concert shell but we were not at all prepared to sit on the grass and we wanted to get to the Buckingham fountain for the first show...so again WALKED down to the fountain. It is as we both remember it. What a treat. We talked about when it was built and had no clue, but our good old iPhones and Google we could look up any history we wanted on the spot. It was built in 1927 so it is no wonder we cannot remember a time that it was not there. Again delightful...and the same.


The light show is done to music. The shots John took with the camera came out dark but the ones I took with the iPhone came out much better. It was great to see again. Being there brought back so many memories from our youth. And I mean youth because I can remember going there before I even started School. That would make it before Peggy was born and it was just 3 of us girls. We would sit by the lake and dance and sing as a trio for Mom and Dad while we waited for the light show.

Thank goodness we nabbed a cab and headed off to the hotel because we were both pooped by then.

This AM we had a relaxing breakfast, people watched and decided to get the car out of hock and drive through John's old neighborhood and the first apartment we lived in together. It was fun to think back and again to the familiar yet see all the changes.
We then headed to O'Hare a little early figuring to relax there for a couple hours. That's where the fun ended. LOL. Travel today is not fun. But I will just say we did not arrive home until close to 10 PM instead of 5 PM. John had to drive back for our suitcase and we ended up awake until 2 AM.

Today we prepare for me to head to the hospital in the morning. If my nerves were not bad enough, we got a letter confirming the insurance approval on the surgery and it not only has John as primary insured but John getting the surgery. Sigh. This scares the pants off us. We are attempting to get this straightened out today but it may not be possible so he will be on the phone in the AM before and while I am under the knife.

Hope you enjoyed my travelogue. Your probably hoping I do not travel often. LOL. This is so long. But again...it was delightful. Chicago is definitely a place to see. Mayor Daley has just an absolutely AMAZING job in that city over the years.

Quiet Sunday

Busy...not busy. Hard to say. I am making an attempt to get life as in order as possible before this surgery. Not knowing what to expect when I come home...my ability to do normal tasks...and not wanting to be a total nag, I am attempting to talk about things ahead of time with John. Hope it works. I do not want things to get ugly and even when he is working from home he really does not see the daily care of keeping my house, pool, pond, bird and all the other things running smoothly.
We cleaned up the buggy, infant carseat and base yesterday. I don't know if I mentioned it but I found the travel system with 2 bases on Craig's list. The seller in my town. It was $100 dollars for the set and it is PINK. LOL. It was pretty dirty but I stripped it of all the cloth and sunshades and straps and did a heavy duty wash. It came out like new. Then we took the bodies outside and did a scrubbing and washing with the hose, soap and water and truly...they are like new. Becky will be removing the carseat from her wishlist and they will only need to purchase one base if that. I heard something about someone giving her one but it may be too old. They do have expiration dates. Even with that....a new base is $30 so we have saved a ton...especially since the infant carseats do not last long unless it is a tiny baby. Nick was out of his by the time he was 4 months old. LOL.
We also went out last weekend and bought a little swing. I do not want to turn my LR into a baby room again and want it to be easy to get it out of the way at night. This little thing is great. I even went bumming at Kohl's and bought two cute one piece outfits. It was weird. I have been in boy clothes mode for years...except when I took Maggie shopping....it was nice to be able to drool and buy. Girls clothes are just too cute.
Last night we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant with the Pearce's and our neighbors and their son...Elliot. It was a lot of fun and the food was great. Then we brought Nick home with us so the boys could swim and that we did until about 10 PM. Then Papa and Nick watched a movie and we got the boy to bed about midnight. Love that boy though. He woke up at 10:45 this morning. I hope Emily is the sleeper he is.
Tomorrow I head to the hospital for all the pre-op test. That'll be fun. NOT.

Our gifts to each other.

We bought G3 iPhones. LOL. Yes...John also wanted in on the band wagon seeing how much Becky, Chris and I love ours. I am busy trying to get his set up. So different on a PC. It was hectic. Real close to like buying a car. When we got there we got a number. No black or even 8Gig were left, just white 16 so we figured what the hay. John definitely wanted 16 for work and for movies when he travels. Now I will be able to do movies too. Will be nice in the hospital. They are 3 bucks to rent. Not too shabby.
Not much of a line...maybe 6 people but now they activate in the store instead of buying and coming home to do it so that takes a while. About 45 minutes later...we were inside the air conditioned store in this line....we got called up. When they started our activation we hit our first problem. We have a corporate discount on our AT&T account. The Apple store cannot do activation with it on there so we were told we had to go to the AT&T store, about a 2 block walk in the same mall area. OK, out in the heat, we walk over there. WRONG!! The store can no longer do it and all I had to do was call 611 from my phone and POOF!! it was gone. The good news was we did not have to get back in the line...but we still had to wait 15 minutes for a person to be available. So we started again to find out that we had to call AT&T AGAIN because John's phone number, which was on a pause, had to be reinstated by AT&T. They activated mine while he got his reactivated and after that we were good to go but by then we were exhausted.
We then came home to take care of the dogs....went to the DMV to get my handicap placard for after my surgery and out to dinner to a new restaurant. It was a very nice place and we will go again. We hit the DMV at 4:30 but I lucked out. The handicap placard area was EMPTY even though the lines for licenses and plates were miles long. I could not have stood another line. LOL.
All and all a good anniversary. Thanks to all for the good wishes.

August 4th

35 years ago today we were married. Where does the time go? I certainly hope only friends look at this picture. LOL. Since John has recently shared his photo album from his time in Vietnam, I think we will share the wedding album. The boy will not recognize his Gramma and Papa and knowing a 6 year old mind he will ask where Mommy's picture is. For our anniversary we are going to Chicago to have pizza in a couple of weeks. Today we are going to attempt to buy each other 3G iPhones. There are still lines we hear at the Apple store so it will be a shot in the dark.

I was just 20 and John would be 25 in a month.

On another note we finally got Emily's room ready this weekend. Considering how crowded it is I think it looks nice and is functional. We did not want to disturb Nick's play room so Nick's/guest bed is in the same room with the crib. If both kids stay overnight we have a futon in Nick's room to open up. Now I just have to finish knitting the blanket and find a bumper pad somewhere. I also ordered soft pink blackout curtains for the window.

Whew....But wonderful!

While it is fresh...after a cleansing shower that is. We had a wonderful Friday evening into the night.
We had invited Colleen, Jayson and Maggie over for some swimming and dinner and since Becky was off today with Nick they also joined us. Chris a bit later. Everyone arrived around 4 and Becky and I swam with Maggie and Nick while John slow cooked wonderful barbecue chicken and Colleen and Jayson visited with us. Maggie had Nick's vest so he swam without and gets more amazing each time.
After dinner the Pearces went home but the Wiles stayed to visit. I called our neighbors, the little boy Nick take swim lessons with and asked them to join us. They were delighted. With the horrible heat of the days here, too much time is spent inside so kids especially, are bouncing off the walls. By then it was 8:00. The pool felt so wonderful the ALL of us ended up in the water. Good thing I keep extra suits around for my girls and Jayson had brought his. We all swam for 2 hours. REALLY swam. Diving and doing all the tricks for our kids and grands. Sommersaults, handstands and all. Lucy was a joy also...chasing everyone around the pool. It isn't all that often that we do such serious pool play time and it was wonderful. My leg will be sore tomorrow but it was well worth the wonderful time.

Beautiful Saturday

I am posting this after a wonderful afternoon/evening. Becky's in-laws drove in for the first time since the wedding. They are about 4 hours away in OK but are home bodies from a small town and have their comfort zone. I can relate to comfort zones very much since I do not drive far. John does, but not I. We had a wonderful wonderful visit. I bit the bullet and went in the pool with Nick. I despise letting anyone see my ugly knee and thigh but I know Nick would not put his full effort into his swimming skills without me since he is used to doing it with me. I decided it was time for him to go off the diving board...jumping...and swim to the stairs...all the way across the pool. He was awesome. EVERYONE was shocked, except me of course. I knew he could do it. He was cute. I told him he could swim face in for a while then turn over and swim on his back then over again and that is exactly what he did. I am so proud of him. We were in the water for about 2 hours and he never even asked for his vest today. We went in again after dinner and he wanted his vest so I told him I did not have to go in with him then. He decided I was better then the vest. LOL.

Becky brought the disc with the clips of Emily moving around a little and I will post them here. I hope everyone can see her as clear as we can. It is her face and arms. You an especially see her nose and mouth. Becky says she has her Daddy's nose. She was moving tons since Becky had drunk that sugar drink to check for diabetes so Emily was bouncing off the walls and had her head pushed into the placenta quit a bit but I think if you look you can see her as clear as we can in the picture to the right. That is the 4D. Amazing how far these things have come. Enjoy. In the third one with 4 shots in it the 4D is quick but she opens her little mouth...looking for her thumb probably. We have seen her sucking her thumb in other pictures. This only took me 2 to 3 hours. Sigh.

Swimming lessons.

Are going very well. The boys are ready to start diving next week.
I changed this up a bit. Edited it. I made mini movies of each boy instead of the dorky way I had them. I am learning...slowly but surely.
First one is Nick swimming...second is Elliot.

July 14th to the 18th.

Phew she says...as she wipes the sweat from her brow. What a busy week and I am exhausted but it was fun, and Nick is just as tired, so I feel justified since I am so much older.

This week Nick was at a day camp at Lifetime Fitness. It was swimming and rock climbing. The hard part being he was out at 1:00. I picked him up twice and Becky picked him up the other 2 days for me...then brought him here. The busiest part though was all the play dates we had set up after camp....and on Wednesday when there was no camp and he was here all day.
He and the young boy across the street have become such great friends since having swim lessons together in my pool once a week. We are doing even more pool time after lessons. No vests on the boys so we are in the water with them. Two reasons for that...one it is too damn hot to sit outside and NOT be in the water. It really is fun though. Just tiring. On Wednesday we took the boys to a Bounce place. 3 rooms full of different bounce castles. They were in Heaven. How can they bounce and slide for 2 hours I will never know but they did and loved every second of it. Afterwards we took them to Red Robin for lunch and being tired ourself we opted for an afternoon rest but the boys cried to play more. Sigh.
It is a relief to have Papa here today to tend to him. They are in the pool now waiting for Mom to pick him up after work. That'll be a scene. LOL.
Papa took him for a haircut this afternoon. The guy who does John has done the best haircuts on Nick ever so John or I take him in so Becky and Chris don't have to. Below is a picture of his new haircut.

You can see why he loves to go to Jim. It is always a fun experience. However he whined for 5 minutes about messing up his hair in the water. I promised I could fix it.
Next week we return to summer normal and before I can turn around he will be in 1st grade. Lordy me. Where does the time go. Nick in 1st grade. Maggie in Kindergarten. Wasn't it just yesterday they were born?
BTW, Nick is doing awesome in the water. Actually "swimming" is a struggle still but his confidence level and treading water skills have gone above and beyond. He can now play in the pool for hours and tread water all over the pool with no fear of depth. It is scary as hell.

My knee

Most people are not aware of my knee problem. Last year it was looked into and my left knee is bone on bone. In an effort to keep me pain free I got 3 gel injections. They worked fairly well for about 5 months but I was back to misery in April. I opted for injections again...they really do not want to replace it because I am too young. (That is what they said last year anyway.) So I started injections again but after 3 there was NO relief and I am finally starting to feel a little better after the 4th. They go up to 5. The doctor and I need to talk, but I am thinking since these injections only last about 5 or 6 months I am done playing a waiting game. If I wait the injections will just start wearing off when I start keeping the baby and I absolutely could not do surgery then so I would be back to misery and back to miserable shots that may not work again. My other option is to get it done now so I will be pretty much recovered by the time Becky goes back to work in January. This is scary. My Dad flew through his recovery...but I am not him. What makes it worse is Dad said he would NOT come and help me. LOL. John, of course would be here and the big project he was on is over so it is a good time to work from home. Cindy...my neighbor will be here for us and a few other neighbors said they would be glad to help...like picking up Nick from school if we needed it and bringing him here. Once he is here I can handle him. He is such a good boy. Anyway...keep me in your thoughts as I attempt to make this decision.

Life...returning to normal. July 7th

Monday evening. I have had my dinner, alone. Life is back to normal. John is in DC and the dogs and I are lazing around. Decided I would add a few lines on our 4th of July holiday.
We were invited to Colleen and Jayson's home for the holiday so off we went. The Pearces also joined us. The Wiles had just had their patio set delivered so they were so happy to have their first guest as a married couple, cook on their new grill for the first time, and show us around. John and I had not been out to the house yet. Can we say disaster? LOL. They have not had time to unpack and get very organized yet since they just moved in, but WHAT a GREAT old house. They have spent most of their time painting and it needs work but has so much potential. The whole back of the house was added onto and is like a huge sunroom. It looks out onto their huge patio and that has a huge tree. A real climbing tree that brings back to my mind the many hours I spent sitting in the tree in the yard I grew up in. A great time was had by all. John and I left before dark to get home to the dogs but Becky, Chris and Nick stayed to walk the couple of blocks to watch the fireworks.
Again...I just cannot get over the joy and love my daughter shares with her new husband.
The rest of the weekend John and I spent getting caught up on some of our own household chores, including pulling the crib out of the attic and taking stock to order parts that will be needed. Quiet time basically. After the confusion of household repairs from the hail damage and then guest it was much needed down time. I took a few pics of the house.


Nick built a birdhouse for his new baby sister. It turned out so cute. He wants to do more. The boy is getting into art projects. He sent a picture to Gramma this evening.

Wedding Day. June 27th

Well we did it. Married off the our last daughter. It was hot...like hell hot..and humid, but it was all beautiful. The joy in my daughters face, like nothing I have ever seen in a brides face, said it all. Jayson's family went above and beyond to pull all this together. It was wonderful to have Dad here and looking so great. Also, as always wonderful to have Mel and Dave. Our best friends. Colleen's second Mom and Dad. The pictures I have put in were taken by Becky's hubby and a great job he did. I will add the professional pics when we get the disc.

Hubby and my father standing in the room when we arrived. This was the homeowners association building where the girls got hair and makeup done and clothes on. Add Nick to that group.
This shot was taken from the HOA building looking down on where the ceremony will be.
Becky, Chris and Nick.
Chris followed the photographer. It will be fun to see how good her pics are. She does awesome work.
Colleen and Maggie.
Can't wait to see more of these from the pro.
BFF!! Maggie loves her Aunt Becky so much. Story behind these dresses. The day we shopped and found Colleen's dress Becky ran into Motherhood Maternity because it was a few doors down in the mall. She spots this pretty yellow dress and BINGO. Good to go for about 30 dollars. Maggie picked yellow. Maggie was going to wear her dress from Becky's wedding but dyed yellow. It could not be dyed. A friend told Colleen she had a pretty yellow dress from her daughter. It is perfect is it not? The girls look so pretty.
Colleen with her 2 Dad's. They walked her up the aisle together. David Colleen's right...DH on her left. The close ups will be great.
Colleen with her 2 Moms. I am on her right. Mel on her left.
Mom and Dad and Colleen
Becky, Emily and Colleen

Jayson's Grandfather and Father are ministers. His Grandfather did the prayer before and after. You can see him standing there but I don't think you can see Jayson's father. Later in pro pics. However.....Delvin did tell them a LITTLE KISS!!!! LOL
Colleen will be 30 in August. YIKES!!! I have never seen such JOY in her face like I saw that day. I pray the pro photographer was able to capture just a hint of that but I will never forget it.

The kids did not even get a cake lined up because of the last minute rushing. Rita...Jayson's mother and her family and friends were just awesome. They set these cheesecakes up to give the impression of a tiered cake.

And when all was said and done at the end of the night, and we all survived the heat and sent Jayson and Colleen off for a couple nights alone, Maggie and Nick headed home with Chris and Becky.

I meant to add these pictures and forgot. I am just learning how all this works. These two pictures were taken with an iPhone at the rehearsal on Thursday night. Maggie and Chris made such a picture standing there looking at the boys on the swing.


The rehearsal was Thursday night. Jayson's parents have a home in this subdivision. In fact you can practically see their roof from where Maggie and Chris are standing. (Not really.) It is about a block down from where the house you see is.
After rehearsal we were all invited back to their beautiful home for fajitas and all the great stuff that goes with them. It was wonderful. Their hospitality is outstanding and as I have said before, I am so grateful to have them in my Daughter and Granddaughters life.