Just Carrie

8 more days and Carrie Lane will be 4 years old. I'm thankful for Carrie. She provides the best entertainment anyone could wish for. She's a bright, intelligent, caring little joyful person.

Here she is fresh from her bath; hair still wet and ready to do a few poses.

Bulletin and a Flash and a Knee

We have cool air. I have no clue where it came from and it must have sneaked in last night while I was sleeping. With a fresh cuppa brew in my hand, I swung open the front door to be met my an air conditoned outside. That's what it felt like; as though someone had left the a/c on to cool the trees and grass. 60 degrees never felt so good before and the humidity is gone.

Oh, but wait. That sound? It's the hum of the air conditioning units kicking on. The interior of the houses haven't cooled down from yesterdays' heat so the a/c units are still running. That's alright as I'm sure by the time midday rolls around it will be hot once again.

I'm ready to go on vacation; a holiday to somewhere this time of year is my favorite time to travel. It's off season so the rates are cheaper; children are back in school/college and the crowds have thinned out considerably.

Spring or fall trips are the best. Beat the heat/cold and the crowds and travel for less; what's not good about that?

And now an update on the latest person to fall victim to a metal knee. Brother Joe, Me and now Muesetta have had this surgery within the past 2years!

My sister is on day 4 post hospital stay. Her knee is swollen and painful and she moves slowly. She was having difficulty breathing so she made an appointment to be assessed by her physician. Exudate is being coughed up from that respiratory incident she had before entering the hospital and that might be part of the reason she isn't breathing well plus the fact that she is anemic and low in iron. Iron meds were ordered and a 2 D Echo was scheduled.

She will learn the real meaning of the word "slow" during the following months. Recovery is a long slow road which requries lots of patience and perservence. Good Luck and Speed to her on her journey.

Busy Day; Passport On It's Way

Finally I did it. For the past seven months since I had my knee replacement, I planned on renewing my passport. Today I gathered up all the required documentation and went to the Clerk of Court's Office. I could do a renewal as my old passport still had a few months left on the 15yr. grace period to renew it. Passports are only good for 10 years but you have 5yrs after they expire to get a renewal. After that you have to reapply for a new one. I had a name change since the last passport so I had to send in a certified copy of my marriage certificate and get new passport photos to go with the application and a 75.00 check and Voila...finished.

I didn't even slow down. I left the Clerk of Court for Walgreen to get the photos then to the post office with all the documents to mail. I wanted it all done and mailed today. That was my goal and I'm goal oriented; this can be deleted from my list of things to do.

My feet hurt. Simple explanation. I bought a new pair of walking shoes and it has been over a year since I wore anything other then sandals. I think my feet spread out and enjoy all that free space when I wear sandals and now confining them inside a pair of sneakers is painful. Lovely. Now I'll have blisters for a while.

If I don't get in nap position (prone) I'm going to miss my nap for two days in a row and since that would be too much to bear, I'm going to shut down and lie down and get some nap time.
Nite now!

Child Bewilderment

Carrie spent the night. Bathed, shampooed and toenails and fingernails degrimed during the soak in the tub, she dressed in her pajamas and put her makeup on. Slashes of pearl white eyeshadow brushed liberally on her eyelids, lipstick caked on as though she had a hot bar date, we climbed into bed and flipped on the TV to watch Noggin.

As we cruised through the channels, she saw a dinosaur on the screen. She screamed to halt which I did. Jurassic Park was playing and the dinosaurs had captured her attention. We watched the huge creatures devour the small humans, attack cities and disappear into the night.

She would squeal and hide her head beneath the covers, peak out and watch some more all the while asking questions about what was happening on the screen.

Later during the night, she woke and demanded I turn on a light. She cuddled close; I thought she just wanted to be near me. I tried to slip out of the bed to get to the fridge for something cold to drink and this is when I found out that the closeness she offered me was for her comfort. She wanted to go with me to the kitchen. She grabbed my hand and we slipped down the darkened hallway to the kitchen. I heard her soft voice declaring "there isn't a boogie man; that's just a story". She repeated this a few times on the way to and from the fridge. Back in the bedroom we turned on the TV to watch a cartoon in the hopes that she would settle down. It's now 2AM and from this time forward, I have made a promise to be more selective of her TV viewing.

A lot of lost sleep time here last night but I have plenty of time for a nap today; a nap for both Carrie and me.

Home Sweet Home

She made it home from the hospital. She did survive although not without her share of pain. Just as the other patients on the ortho ward at St. Josephs', she cried out in pain and could hear the other patients screaming also. It must be a horror show on that floor. Nobody had continuous infusion of a pain control; they all had medicine by mouth with the occasional IVP of Dilaudid. This would have been sufficient had the nurses known how to administer for break through pain. If the patient called for the Dilaudid and it was 1/2 hr before their routine Percoset was due to be given, the nurse gave the Dilaudid IVP and then moved the routine med ahead 4 hours. She would not give the Percoset "routine" and this is where the trouble lies on that unit.

I spoke with the doctor; he said "no" that wasn't how it was supposed to be done. Then why don't the nurses know this? If those patients had a IV pump giving them continuous pain relief, the patient wouldn't be at the mercy of the nurses who were too afraid to give narcotics. There is no excuse for this stupidity with these kinds of patients. I'm afraid I'm still angry about the whole experience.

Now she is home and the nurse at the hospital told her to take only one Percoset every 4 hours so she wouldn't become addicted. She said she took one and was in pain. I told her to read to me what the instructions on the bottle of Percoset said. She read "1 to 2 every 4 hours as needed for pain".

Again the instructions she received from that nurse was faulty. How sad.

I was given Percoset for 3 months following my knee replacement. For the first week or two I took two every 4 hours. Eventually I dropped back to one and then before the second month was finished I didn't take any. I still have some left as of this writing.

How do you let the doctors there know what is going on with those patients? Do those doctors think these patients are getting their medicines as ordered; not how the nurse thinks he wants them given. There is a communication and education problem on that floor of St. Joseph's Hospital in Parkersburg, WV.

I can only hope that the patient knows what will happen to them once they check in to the orthopedic floor there at St. Joesph's Hospital.

Do some research. Demand the pain be managed by an IV Drip of continuously infusing medication. Don't rely on the nurse to know how the doctor wants the medicines administered.

I'm so fortunate that I live where I do. I never heard a patient in pain while I was on the ortho floor here in Lafayette, Louisiana. I've worked on a lot of orthopedic floors and never seen this happen. Shame on those hospitals there, the doctors and the nurses for their lack of compassion.

A Saturday Update

Finally! Finally she has decided to be her own patient advocate. She calls the nurse's station when she needs something and insists on two pain meds instead of one. You go girl!

Her oxygen level drops when she stands up. The doctor came in last night and sent her for a VQ scan. He is looking for a clot in her lungs. That test came back negative. It seems they are still looking for the reason for her 02 level to be low.

She is also complaining of a vaginal odor. Ok, I know this might appear gross to some of you; to me it's just part of the job. We discuss all those lovely things that do not come up in polite conversation.

Anyway I told her to tell the nurse to call the doctor and get an order for a U/A. She did it. She actually told the nurse there. We have some progress in being involved in our care.

I doubt if she goes home today. They may keep her because of her oxygen levels being low. A doctor had just made his appearance in her room so she had to get off the phone. I'm waiting on an update after this doctors' visit. Stay tuned family for updates that will follow.

An Update: She just called. She is being discharged and is waiting on Bob to come and pick her up. The doctor is going to order a 2D Echo. Still trying to determine why she is short of breath; low 02.
She can be reached at home this afternoon. Feel free to call her.

A Tribute to Wanda

Thank you for sitting at the bedside. Guard duty was your job and you did a wonderful job of observing and monitoring and getting what Muesetta needed.

Wanda used to be a sister in law and when that didn't work out she remained a friend of the family. I was too far away to be with Muesetta for this surgery. I should have driven in but I thought she would be alright. I was wrong.

When I realized that Muesetta was in St. Joseph's Hospital and was with some nurses that were ignoring her pain, I called and asked Wanda to go to the hospital. Wanda didn't flinch. She packed her stuff and went. She spent hours without sleep to stay awake to make sure the nurses were called when Muesetta needed pain relief. She endured the snide snotty remarks from these same nurses without a word of protest. She charted their behavior in the notebook she carried with her. She charted what was done and more importantly what was not done at times.

Eventually our complaints about these nurses reached the right places and we were assured they would be counseled. They also wouldn't be allowed back in her room.

Tired and exhausted she finally left the hospital when she knew Muesetta was out of pain and safe and able to fend for herself. She has went beyond the call of a friend; she has acted as a family member would; as if Muesetta was her own sister and for this I owe her a big thanks. I'm indebted to her for all the time she spent at the bedside; for all the lost hours of sleep and for all the abuse she endured by the two nurses that were so rude to her every time they came into the room.

Not all the nurses behaved this way but it only takes one to make a hospital stay a horror story. Thank you Wanda. Muesetta won't remember all the hours you stood watch over her. Maybe she will read this blog later and know how much she owes you!

Holland?

Conoco called husband and wanted to know if he would do a job for them in Holland. If only I had answered the phone, I could have assured them that he would love to do that job and I would have inquired if this invitation extended to his lovely wife to accompany him as he doesn't do jobs out of this country unless of course said lovely wife gets to tag along.
Alas, husband answered the damn phone. He didn't actually say he wouldn't take the job; he hinted that working out of this country was not a preference.

3 weeks in Holland? What a wonderful trip and I wouldn't even care if the tulips were in bloom as February would be the month he would be required to be there. Do the tulips bloom in February?
I could wander the streets and canals and bicycle around on my own while he of course held up his end of the bargain by working. Hey, some body's gotta do it and moi doesn't any longer.
I need to get my passport renewed asap. What IF he did say yes to this trip? What IF I didn't have a passport and missed this trip because of that one little technicality? Why, I would just have to kick my butt for weeks for that snafu.
I'm making a list of things to do and a passport will be numero uno on that list. I've been meaning to do it since I had this knee replaced 7 months ago. It's time. I can walk fairly well now as long as I have a few rest breaks.
I think I may be getting all excited for nothing. I don't think this trip appeals to hubby at all. Since 9/11 happened and we invaded that little country in the middle east, he has this idea that not many people care for the citizens of the USA so he prefers to not test that supposition by actually presenting himself for inspection. Coward! I say. Live a little; smile a lot. They will love us.
Lets' get those passports in order and GO!

Sleepless in Parkersburg

She called last night, it was 8:30 PM. She said it was starting to hurt again and I told her to call the nurse's station. She didn't want to call them "they might get mad", "they might be busy". Again I tell her to call the nurse. She refuses. I'm aggravated. Does she want me to call for her? No, I won't do it. When she hurts bad enough, she can be the bad guy and call for some relief. I'm done. I can't do anything from here. It's up to her to ring the damn call bell. I tell her that. If you call me and then won't do what I tell you to do, then why do you call? Passive/aggressive behaviour has never been my strong suit.  I'm clinging to the end of my rope.

Even though the manager assured us she would be alright and attended to, I don't trust the staff there and with good reason. Once burned, twice shy.

I have no idea how she did last night. Wanda wasn't with her. She either called for pain meds or she didn't. I do know they didn't release her today. She is being kept another night and maybe it's to allow her another day of meds by IVP.

Wanda and I haven't slept a lot in the past three days. Standing guard is tough duty. Even guards need to rest.

I went to bed relatively early last night and I rested.
I've already mowed, edged and put everything away. I'm going shopping for an a/c window unit for the little house, a dvd/vcr combo player and a new wristwatch. That's my plans and I'm stickin to em!

Lili and Ha

Yesterday I had a "me" day. I managed to get to the hairdresser for a much needed haircut. I'm back to an "80's" shag cut. Maybe I should say I had it layer cut all over. I think it's the same thing; saying shag cut just makes it sound dated. Changing what we call it doesn't change the outcome. I watch as one term has to be deleted because it now has negative conatones; it suddenly becomes politically incorrect to use the term any longer. The tag is changed and within 20 years that tag has to be changed once again because of the negative tones associated with it. We give it a fresh name and it is supposed to shed it's past dirogatory references. I don't know if this is successful but it's done anyway.


Back to the "me" day. After the haircut I headed to the salon to get a pedicure. I've been having my manicure and pedicures at the same place for 10years now. Lili and her husband manage this place. I'm sure you've noticed the nail techs in these places and usually you've noted they are of Asian descent. Well, Lili and Ha are from Viet Nam. We see them sitting at their little tables holding the clients hands while they clean, file and polish our nails. Their English is broken; their smiles are timid. They drop their heads and smile when talking to you. I think they are embarrassed because of their broken English.


I've been around through all three of Lili's pregnancy. In her broken English I decipher what she is trying to tell me and sometimes she has to repeat herself many times before I figure out what she is saying.


Lili came to the USA when Saigon fell and she left with her father who was a Major in the South Vietnam army and was an ally to the American Army. He had to leave and take his family to keep from being murdered by the North Vietnam Government when they reentered and took over South Vietnam again. She met and married another Viet Namese here in the States and both went to school to learn to be nail techs.


Ha is a thirty-something female that speaks better English although she sometimes searches for the correct word to use when we are in conversation. Usually she knows the word but has to repeat it a few times to get the pronounciation correct. I so enjoy my visits with these young women and I'm always in converstation with them. We laugh and giggle about anything and everything.


In depth, Ha is an extremly educated lady. She would finish a degree in a college in Viet Nam and re enter once again for more schooling. She is fluent in Russian, is a registered tour guide in Viet Nam hence her desire to learn the Russian langauge. She has a 14yr old daughter that lives with her parents in the country home in Viet Nam. Ha only works for 6 months, then she leaves to live in her homeland for the remainder of the year with her family. Her boyfriend is a shrimper or a "fisher men" as she calls him and he works for 6 months and also returns to Viet Nam for the other 6 months of the year. They will both retire in their home country. Ha glows when she speaks of her home land; she loves it.


Both Ha and Lili want me to save my money and go home with them for a vacation. I'm assured I can stay in the country house and they will escort me around. I laughingly tease them about getting me there and dumping me to flounder around on my own.


They laugh, giggle and promise me that wouldn't happen.


I got my pedicure, collected my hugs from these ladies and I was on my way to enjoy my highly polished nails and my new haircut.

 I needed a break; a diversion from all the hospital drama of late. What better way to enjoy a few hours then with these delightful young brave women who left their homeland with their limited language knowledge and are able to a support themselves, save money and are not a drain on the welfare rolls of the United States unlike some of our own born and raised here  and living off the system.
I'm proud to know you and be your friend!

The Power of The Internet

After three days of worry and lost sleep someone listened. Do you know why they listened? The Internet. That's the only thing that made an impact on the fiasco that has been the mistreatment of a patient at St. Joseph's Hospital in Parkersburg, WV.
This morning I called the hospital to speak to the patient advocate. Every hospital has one or two or more. The hospital wants you to think this job relates to protecting the patient when in reality it's to catch any problems that might result in a law suit for the hospital.

LPN Nurse Pat Mulvaney came into the room last evening and said to the patient " You chose to have this operation. You didn't have to have it so you need to just get used to the pain and quit complaining".
Thank you Nurse Ratchet. You have no right to make a judgement like this on a patient in your care!
I had had enought of the unprofessional and the abuse being heaped on my sister.
A few days ago I tried to contact the doctor on this case to discuss the pain management. No response. Nobody wanted to help. I spoke with two supervisors and the floor manager and a few of the nurses. No body was interested. Nobody cared.
Today while talking to the patient advocate then later when the nurse manager called I mentioned that I had placed my complaints on the internet.
VOILA! The doctor called.
We talked, he apologized for all the unreleived pain from this surgery. After a lengthy conversation, I found at the end of this conversation his real reason for calling.
"One other thing I wanted to bring up", he says. Someone has posted on the internet about this. The hospital is worried that people will get the wrong impression about the hospital and the care there".

Ah ha...now I see why I was contacted. Nobody cared until they realized that the internet was being blasted with this story. Now everyone is concerned about the patient? I think not. As usual it's about the hospitals income. It's always about the income potential.
I told the doctor I posted that information and of course I knew he already knew who did it and this was the call to fix it.
I told him I wasn't afraid of slander nor libel. Nothing I said was untrue. What could he say? He tried to get me to say I would remove it and I knew that's what he wanted to hear.
I refused. I told him maybe the hospital needs to reeducate their nurses on pain management. It was too late for my sister. She was being discharged tomorrow. Maybe some other patient could benefit from this experience. Personally, I would never use this facility. Too risky. Too late. Too many didn't care.
I'm done with it all. This will stay posted. I must say this in closing. I don't think all the fault lies with the doctor. He depended on the nurses to give the pain meds. I told him that was the problem. If she had had a "drip of Dilaudid" she wouldn't have had to be at the mercy of a bunch of heartless ignorant non caring nurses!
I'm done now.

Ha and Lili

Yesterday I had a "me" day. I managed to get to the hairdresser for a much needed haircut. I'm back to an "80's" shag cut. Maybe I should say I had it layer cut all over. I think it's the same thing; saying shag cut just makes it sound dated. Changing what we call it doesn't change the outcome. I watch as one term has to be deleted because it now has negative conatones; it suddenly becomes politically incorrect to use the term any longer. The tag is changed and within 20 years that tag has to be changed once again because of the negative tones associated with it. We give it a fresh name and it is supposed to shed it's past dirogatory references. I don't know if this is successful but it's done anyway.

Back to the "me" day. After the haircut I headed to the salon to get a pedicure. I've been having my manicure and pedicures at the same place for 10years now. Lili and her husband manage this place. I'm sure you've noticed the nail techs in these places and usually you've noted they are of Asian descent. Well, Lili and Ha are from Viet Nam. We see them sitting at their little tables holding the clients hands while they clean, file and polish our nails. Their English is broken; their smiles are timid. They drop their heads and smile when talking to you. I think they are embarrassed because of their broken English.
I've been around through all three of Lili's pregnancy. In her broken English I decipher what she is trying to tell me and sometimes she has to repeat herself many times before I figure out what she is saying.
Lili came to the USA when Saigon fell and she left with her father who was a Major in the South Vietnam army and was an ally to the American Army. He had to leave and take his family to keep from being murdered by the North Vietnam Government when they reentered and took over South Vietnam again. She met and married another Viet Namese here in the States and both went to school to learn to be nail techs.
Ha is a thirty-something female that speaks better English although she sometimes searches for the correct word to use when we are in conversation. Usually she knows the word but has to repeat it a few times to get the pronounciation correct. I so enjoy my visits with these young women and I'm always in converstation with them. We laugh and giggle about anything and everything.

In depth, Ha is an extremly educated lady. She would finish a degree in a college in Viet Nam and re enter once again for more schooling. She is fluent in Russian, is a registered tour guide in Viet Nam hence her desire to learn the Russian langauge. She has a 14yr old daughter that lives with her parents in the country home in Viet Nam. Ha only works for 6 months, then she leaves to live in her homeland for the remainder of the year with her family. Her boyfriend is a shrimper or a "fisher men" as she calls him and he works for 6 months and also returns to Viet Nam for the other 6 months of the year. They will both retire in their home country. Ha glows when she speaks of her home land; she loves it.

Both Ha and Lili want me to save my money and go home with them for a vacation. I'm assured I can stay in the country house and they will escort me around. I laughingly tease them about getting me there and dumping me to flounder around on my own.
They laugh, giggle and promise me that wouldn't happen.
I got my pedicure, collected my hugs from these ladies and I was on my way to enjoy my highly polished nails and my new haircut.

I needed a break; a diversion from all the hospital drama of late.

I Should Have

At 11PM my phone roused me from a half slumber. I stretched my arm out and fumbled for the phone, flipped it open and heard my sister from her hospital room 1000 miles away whimpering in pain. At the sounds of her distress, I came instantly awake and asked her what was going on. She was hurting and the nurse told her she would be back in 2 hrs.
2hrs? She was going to lay there and be in pain for 2 hrs? NO! I told her to call the nurse and ask for something for pain. She wouldn't call because she had already been told by the nurse it would be 1AM. I insisted she give me the number of the hospital and from 1000 miles away  I rang that number.
My call was transferred to the nurse's station where I was put on hold. I'm livid. I'm on hold and listening to the canned music while my sister is laying in that room writhing in pain. While listening to that phone, I grabbed my cell phone and redialed the hospital. When the switchboard downstairs answered, I requested to speak to the nurse supervisor. I was put on hold for 30 seconds; then the nurse supervisor answered the phone. I'm sitting here with two phones connected to that hospital and I'm angry. The ortho floor nurse had now answered phone #1 and the supervisor was on phone #2.
I quickly told the nurse on 1 to go to my sisters room and give her something for pain. I know I didn't ask nicely; niceness was long gone. Meanwhile I moved to phone #2 and talked to the supervisor. I told her I didn't expect my sister to lay there in pain. There is a law against that; she has meds ordered!
Yes, they quickly went to her room and gave her 2 pills for pain. I'm sure they noticed when they got to the room that she was in severe pain. She basically had a leg amputated and then put back together again. A total knee replacement involves removing the damaged knee and then shaving off the bone from the end of the femur and the other end of the tibia and jamming that metal knee spike into each of those bones. Do you not think the after effects of this procedure would be painful?
My problem with their mode of medication is this. She has pain meds ordered P.O. (by mouth) every 4 hours routine. Every two hours she has Dilaudid IV PUSH ordered for breakthrough pain. If I walked into the room and had a patient in severe pain which med do you suppose I would select to administer?
IV medicine would have given her instant relief. They chose the medicine by mouth that was routine.
I'm back to "stupid" once again today. 

It is now within 30 minutes of the time she can get an IV push of Dilaudid for breakthrough pain. She asked the nurse and the nurse told her she would have to wait 30 more minutes. I was livid once again.
I called the nursing supervisor. She tried to get all huffy with me. She told me my sister had apologized earlier for the way I had talked to them. I told her there was no need for my sister to apologize and that she had asked for something for pain and was told she couldn't have it for two hours. I also told her that I wanted her to have her IV push now. She tried to tell me it wasn't due till 2:15. I then told her that any med on the MAR could be given 1/2 hr earlier then noted and done legally! She wasn't happy; she nastily said "you seem to know the law".......and to that I said..."yes, I do". She wasn't happy  but she said she would take care of it. I stayed on the phone with my sister till the nurse showed up with the IV  push. It didn't take long for her to get to the room. I wanted to stay on the phone to make sure they came right away.
I should have been there for her. I should have driven up there and stayed in the hospital with her. I should have and I didn't and for that I'm LIVID with myself!

No Patience with Stupid

My sister is out of surgery and with the sedation and pain medications on board, she is in a fog which is a good place to be if you are in pain. I hesitate to call right now; she has called another family member to phone me to let me know she is alright.
After waiting a few hours, I decided to call and if she was unable to talk, at least she would know that I did phone.
I dig out the number I had hidden in the dark depths of that jumble of stuff in my purse; I dial the number.
Someone anwers and I don't recognize the voice. I ask if this is Muesetta's room and they tell me their name; I apologize and redial. Again this person answers, denies being my sister and again I apologize.
My other sister calls, confirms the number she gave me earlier was correct and we are stymied. Sis calls the hospital to question this; the staff tells her that must be the patient in the other bed in the room answering the phone!
NOW! I ask you, how stupid do you have to be to not realize you are in a two bed room and the phone call might be for the other person in the room?
Does stupid last all damn day and did you enter the hospital stupid? You can't deduct that since you aren't the person being called, it might just be your roommate?
I sit here fustrated and patientLESS with the patient. Hellllllllllooooooo, Focus! Pass the phone to your roommate if it isn't for you!
Will I post this? Yeah, I think I will. I can always come back later and delete the damn thing.
Right now I'm going to the patio and sit and listen to the soothing sounds of the rain patting the concrete. I need it. I also would like to have a damn cigarette too but I know that's not going to happen either and that too shall pass.

Mom's Birth Date and Muggie's Surgery Date

I just did a post on the above title. Blogger was having trouble saving it. I waited and tried again and finally just closed out thinking it would be saved as has happened in the past.
Imagine my chagrin when I signed back in and found all my typing was gone leaving only the title to my blog. I realize it wasn't a great loss as literature goes but it was mine. It was my thoughts and feelings that were ignored by Blogger; callously thrown out; not worthy of being saved and reviewed. I'm hurt and a little angry. Let's not let this happen again or I will have to retaliate. I have no idea how I would do that. I'm sure there must be a way to relieve fustrations with Blogger.

My sister should be in surgery now or preparing to enter the surgery suite. I have been on the phone with her since 5AM this morning to keep her company. Sometimes she has to ditch me and call back later as the hospital staff makes periodic visits to get her ready for surgery. She had to have an IV started so she had to hang up and call back. They did an antiseptic wash of her knee; she had to call me back and on and on.
I should have driven in and spent a couple of weeks there so I could be with her while she was in the hospital. My error. I may still do that. Throw a couple of suitcases in my car and do a two day drive although the thought of that doesn't excite me at all. I used to make that drive at the end of each semester when I was in college. I'm older and lazier now but I find that after I get a few hundred miles behind me I don't mind . It's just starting out knowing how many hours and how many miles lay in front of me.
Today is my Mom's birthday and I miss her. We all miss her. She could be trying at times but then who isn't? It's a matter of opinion. She cared for us all her life. She cooked, cleaned and played games for hours with her children and enjoyed herself. She taught us to dance; something else she enjoyed all her life. One's mother is the one person in our lives that isn't jealous but proud of our accomplishments; that knows us from day 1 and loves unconditionally. You may not see eye to eye with her; you may not always mesh smoothly with her but you will always miss her.
Happy Birthday Mom and Good luck with your surgery sis!

Needy

One half can of coffee left, no milk and the wheat bread heels are facing each other so it must be time to make a stop at the market. Carrie spent the night and I warned her that she was drinking the last of the milk and there would be no more for the morning. She informed me that Coke, Pepsi or Root Beer would be fine with her.

We went to bed and an hour later she requests more chocolate milk. I told her we were out and she said "I'll just have plain milk instead". I had to explain to her how chocolate milk became flavored from the "plain" milk. She drank some Pepsi instead. When she wakes and I get her dressed, we will do a trip to the store.
Yesterday I finally cleaned the automobiles. The big car both inside and out got scrubbed and the Toyota just got an exterior body bath. I was soaked in sweat. My hair was dripping moisture when I was done. Normally I don't mind cleaning the vehicles; yesterday I minded. I hate being hot and being hot enough to sweat is gross. I can't imagine how the workers here that work outside cope with the heat and humidity. I would be one angry worker at the end of the work day. Even shopping in this weather is not appealing. Moving from car to store and back to the car again is enough heat for me and makes me wonder why I even bothered leaving the house if it wasn't a trip that was necessary.

My sister has her surgery tomorrow. She is in a quandry about the sedation. The doctor said she could request the femoral block but he doesn't do it that way anymore. He told her he doesn't do the pain pumps that she can request by pushing the little button. She will be managed by meds that are by mouth or injection. I like the pump that puts it directly into the vein. You get instant pain relief instead of having to wait till the muscles absorb it or the stomach breaks it down to get it into your system.
The first three days will be the roughest for her and I'm sure if she complains long and loud they will keep her out of pain.

I've managed to organize, do dishes and get a shower before Carrie arises. This is a good sign. It's much easier to get more done while she sleeps. No interuptions to slow me down equals more work accomplished.

I'm off to finish my coffee and some news before the TV gets rechanneled to Noggin or some cartoon show!

Still Hopeful

I made an early morning errand run yesterday; I did not get my hair cut nor did I get a pedicure, both of which are past due and needed. I did not get the cars washed. Usually I set a goal for myself; it inspires and instigates me accomplishing much of what I get done. Yesterday was a big fizzle. I did nothing I planned on doing and in addition to that, I just did nothing at all.

I did hold the sofa cushions down on the sofa. You never know when they might just float up and away and if someone must be the one to hold them down, I'm the person for that. To be truthful, and why not? there doesn't seem to be enough of that going around, (see the tv news channels) my foot had a bad day yesterday. The burning was back along with the staggering gait when I would go from a sitting position to a standing and walking. Granted, I have noticed some improvement with the Celebrex but maybe this will take some time to resolve the inflamation of the achilles tendon. I'm waiting and I'm hopeful. 

I'm going for a mall walk today. It will be cool inside and I can look for a pair of good walking shoes while I'm there since I didn't get that accomplished last week. 
Already this morning I have more accomplished then I did for the whole day yesterday. I watered the flowers and trimmed the roses. I didn't even know that needed done till this morning when I noticed the dahlias were laying horizontal instead of standing up nice and tall as they usually do. The rose vine had engulfed the little Toyota wrapping it's tendrils around the tires; it was time. I feel I'm slacking off a bit around here. Thankfully there is not that much to keep up with after lawn mowing and a few flower trimming. Since I have no children that drip and drop everything they carry around with them, my house doesn't require a lot of constant cleaning and after saying that I'm thinking of the "Carrie visits" when housekeeping is kicked up a notch to compensate for the pleasure of her company.


I'm outta here. Breakfast is waiting.

The Gulf and Cameron

One phone call from Peg and I was gone for the day.

Peg runs a delivery service. She delivers personnel to offshore ports and retrieves same to deliver back to their base. Right now she has to drive the vans herself as she looks for a few drivers to hire. She didn't want to make the run yesterday by herself so she called me to go with her.

We went to Cameron, Louisiana. This is an area that was devastated by Hurricane Rita a few years ago. Hurricane Rita hit within a month of Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans. We were right in the middle of these hurricanes and narrowly missed getting hit. Rita came close; within 20 miles of this town but luckily we were spared.

As we entered Cameron the concrete pads lining the road were the only evidence of where homes had stood before Rita blew through. Rows and rows of homes gone. An occasional electric meter on a pole to mark the place where someone had lived. Some of the homes are being rebuilt but many lots stand vacant and overgrown with weeds and debris. The places that are returning are built on elevated soil; soil that has been built up to hopefully withstand the Gulf waters that get swept in from the high winds of a hurricane. Other homes are built on 20ft stilts; the water can rush in and beneath. Me? I would have to move. Once wiped out that badly, I wouldn't stay for another round of wind and water. These people live within sight of the Gulf. Too close for comfort for me.

We entered the parking area, faced the van toward the channel and opened the doors to gather the cool breeze blowing in off the Gulf. We are on the Intercoastal waterway. The waterway looked to me to be as wide as an interstate if you combine both north and south lanes and the median strip. In this channel travels huge ships hauling their cargo to different  ports along the Gulf. As this huge ship quietly and slowly navigated this channel, dolphins could be seen leaping out of the water directly at the prow of this great ship. I watched them leap in synchronized movement  beside this behemoth water vessel; I watched until the ship had passed from view.
Soon the crew boat arrived and the passengers started stripping off their life vests, unloading their sea bags and disembarking to return to their homes; some being away for a few days and some for a few weeks. Just a slice of their normal work day this sea travel to work that allows them to afford a decent living and to support their families during a time when no job is certain.

6 hrs later and I was returned back to my home. Dinner and a little TV ended my day. Today? A haircut and a pedicure and I'm done!

Good Luck Sis

Ah, the relief. Right now anyway, the foot pain has ceased except for a little soreness. The burning is almost gone and I can almost walk with a normal gait. I'm thrilled; I just hope the improvements continue.

My sister starts her journey thru hell next Tuesday. She will have her knee replaced and take a trip on the ardous path of rehabilatation which sucks big time. I'm sure she will do not worth a damn  fine although she has lots of patience less patience then me so I might have to remind her to shut the f*** up cool it and let it heal. She is not a whiner, although she can be a woose at times she has endured other major surgeries without a whimper and cried like a baby but I won't tell on her.

I have been editing pictures all morning. I'm printing them for family members; Carrie's dad, and grandparents to name the most important ones.
My other goal for today is to clean out the automobiles. I keep eyeing the black clouds overhead and wonder why I even think about washing a car but as happened yesterday, the black clouds blew in, I didn't wash a car and the clouds blew back out again without ever dropping a bit of rain. I'm going to go for it today and clean them without a thought to whether it rains or not.
I'm outta here to complete that goal!

Sears Photos

Cleaned by Photoshop

The Burn is On

The pain in the heel has been replaced by a burn. It feels as though my heel is on fire. Is that a sign that it's getting better? I'm taking my third dose of Celebrex and was told that it should start taking effect within 48 hrs. so I'll be monitoring closely it's effects.

Carrie and I dressed up and went to the mall. She was photographed in her new clothes, nix the new shoes. I let her wear the new shoes to the mall but they weren't coordinated with her outfit so we left them in the waiting room while we convorted about barefoot for our picture session.

We had lunch then went for a ride in these little rip off mall crusiers; they don't go anywhere, cost 75cents for 30 seconds of thrill a minute fun...

then we headed home. Carrie is shown here with a compact mirror she got in her McDonald's kids meal. She is discovering she has hair on the bottom of her eye. I asked if she just found this out and she said "yeah". The next 10 minutes she used the mirror to check out her nostrils. It was a discovery type of day!
I'm outta here to take my pictures to photoshop and make em pretty!
  

Hope

1. find some money. Tally up limits on credit cards. Select one and call the airport.
2. Reserve a flight; darlin, I'm on my way. I have to say, it would have been helpful had you offered to pay for a small portion, maybe even half of this fare. After all, you will be reaping some benefits from this visit.
3. Internet seach completed on marriage requirements abroad and for this broad. It would have been helpful if you had volunteered some information on this subject; I understand you are busy with your life but me becoming part of it soon would have led me to believe you would have shared in some of the requirements.
4. Pack and wait.
5. Deplane for a visit of 4 weeks with you my love.
6. Photo sessions, town visits and back to our room right above your mom's rooms below. It would have been nice to have a place of our own for our tryst.
7. Deplane at airport of origin 4 weeks later and a single woman still. No marriage, poor job prospects and hopefully pregnant. Isn't that how it's done? A baby in the equasion could just tip the scale that leads to the altar.
8. Wait. Again with the waiting. Another year, another visit.

6 of one.............

Ice packs and Celebrex and I don't know which one is the most effective. I've taken only one dose of the Celebrex but I've put ice packs on my heel frequently and I can stand up and walk without hesitating and hobbling forth. Could it be the ice packs that have decreased the swelling?

Everyone I know that has been prescribed Celebrex refuses to take it because of the side effects and one of those being kidney damage.

I paid 120.00 for that medicine yesterday. I'm going to take it at least for a while. Hubby said, just do the ice packs and see if that helps before resorting to the Celebrex. If we have an FDA that approved this med shouldn't that mean that it was tested and found safe for human consumption? Vioxx was removed from the market place because of the side effects it provided. Will Celebrex be the next NSAID to be removed and at what damage to the people that took it?

I just made a visit to the mall. Visiting the mall is something I rarely do. It's not a place that I go to for entertainment or to just hang out. Awesome sales are in progress and though I went there to buy some shoes, I browsed the racks along with everyone else in the store. I spent some money but what I bought cost a fraction of what it would have nomally cost had this stuff not been on sale so I don't feel bad about my little shopping spree.
I found something for Carrie to wear when I take her to the studio to have her photographed. I want to do that sometime this week. It's been a while since she had this done.
I'm off here to catch up on some news, some lunch and some nap!

Afterwards

Both husband and I had doctor's visits this afternoon. He has a clean bill of health, no meds needed and no more tests ordered.
My problem is an inflamed achilles tendon. Celebrex was ordered along with exercises. The exercises are the same ones I have been doing for the past two weeks. Let's hope the Celebrex kicks in and takes care of the inflamation. I was amazed. My ortho surgeon didn't charge a thing for this visit today. His specialist charges don't come cheap so I was surprised when I checked out and he had indicated "o" on the charges.

Hubby leaves in the morning back to the job he left to make his doctor's appointment today. He may be gone for the remainder of this month. 
I am going to start a walking program and get a pedometer to count the miles or steps which ever the case may be. 

Wice and Graby is simmering on the stove. This is Carrie's favorite meal and since she is hanging with us today she will have her special meal with us. 

I have to go check on the rice. I'll return tomorrow.

Waiting and Deep Breaths

I feel as though I'm sitting here waiting and I am. I'm just waiting. I'm unable to get involved in any activities because of this waiting. I'm waiting till 1PM; that's when I have my doctor's appointment and that's exactly why I usually don't make appointments in the afternoon. I prefer to get up at the crack of dawn and get to the appointment. If I have an afternoon appointment I spend my morning waiting and waiting.

I'm not looking forward to this appointment although I want to get done what needs to be done but I'm anticipating an injection in my foot of a steroid. Deep breaths, deep breaths. I am fighting a whine I feel coming on. I never try to hide the fact that I'm a big coward when it comes to a doctors' visit.

I comfort myself with the thought that it can't be worse then childbearing. Hey, you use what you need to get you by; this is what I use to gauge pain and tolerating said pain.

I'm outta here to continue the waiting game.  Only two more hours to wait.

Amen!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/09/11/notes091109.DTL

Lies and The Liars that Tell them....Al Franken Book Title

Nothing angers daughter more then to have people tell her that Carrie looks like me. Is there a resemblance? I think we do have the same face shape but after that I don't know where the resemblance stops.

Truths and untruths. An untruth is a nice way to avert the use of the word "liar". Now where the heck did that come from you might ask?

I was having a brief conversation with someone a few nights ago when innocently I broached a question that didn't require an evasion of the truth but that is what I got which of course set my brain to wander. Yep, I meant to use the word "wander" instead of "wonder". My brain meanders along on a path of it's very own once derailed by something and that something was an "untruth".

The question was simple, the answer was evasive; then the answer ended as a lie.

Stumbling around for the lie to my question was so obvious. A stutter here, a stumble there and an answer that was immediately changed and this should have been such a simple answer to give. How many times do you stumble around when someone asks you your name? It was that simple sort of question that was asked.

Then of course a followup question was asked. More stumbling and stuttering until I started feeling sorry for this individual. The story was making less and less sense with each question I broached. An elephant in the room and we must concentrate on ignoring it.

By the end of the conversation with this person, I had to wonder why would anyone go to all that trouble to lie when the truth would have been so much easier and less stressful on them. What was the point of the lie? I fear they were coached to lie and the coach didn't give them the answers to give when questioned. No cheat sheets to study or carry along with you in the event a question arose and you were supposed to have handy untruths to tell which left you stumbling for answers.

How sad that someone would even put you in this position and not supply the ammunition needed to make the lie stick; to make the lie believable. A bit of the responsibilty must be shouldered by you though. When you agreed to this bit of acting or this farce, you accepted the fact that you might look the part of a fool. Why would you agree to this?

Less often then not, thankfully, I slide into these little situations; I wander, wonder and then quickly box it up and set it aside; sometimes to ponder at a later date and sometimes just to rid myself of useless, unneeded, silly interactions that slither in and out of my life.

A Rainy Sunday and I WON'T be making tamales!

Geeze OH Pete! I was up at 4AM again and I was wide awake as soon as I opened my eyes this morning so there was no chance that I would go back to sleep.

Shortly after waking, it sounded like the house was being attacked. I peered out the window looking for that escaped convict before I opened the door and stepped out onto the carport to watch the deluge of rain coming down. It looks as though a tropical storm is attacking. Sheets of wind driven rain are beating against the windows and  roof and even with an attic I can hear the wind and rain.

The convict? He is a convicted felon that walked away from the big prison. I have this horror film rolling in my head; I open the door and find him nose to nose staring me in the face. The head movie stops there; I die of fright so I never see any more of this movie. I think I watch too much crime TV.

I packaged up the tamales from yesterday and froze most of them. One dozen has been refrigerated for whoever wants to have them. This was a trial run and I'll be making them again in December for the Christmas feast. I hadn't made them for years so I had a flicker of doubt as to how the masa would taste. I'll just repeat the process from yesterday and they will be fine.

I have a doctor's appointment this week. Hopefully some relief is forthcoming on the foot/ankle pain I have been experiencing. The pain has lessened a bit but I'm going to keep that doctor's appointment. Sometimes the pain slacks off for a while then returns full force so I will have it  checked out this week.

I'm going to take my coffee and sit on the patio to watch the rain which is continuing to pour.

A Rainy Tamale Type of Day

It's overcast and it occasionally rains. Stops and starts and enough to keep me from mowing the lawn.

The first thing I did this morning was to get everything ready to make tamales. I had to make a late night run to the store to get the corn husks last night and I thought I was ready to start early this morning. Not so. The masa I had here was old and it developed an odor after I added liquids to it so I pitched it out and got dressed to go to the store. Even before I was ready to go, my friend Peg called to tell me her daughter had crashed. Crashed as in "passed out" while in the hospital. This is the second time she has done this post surgery so I told Peg I would go to the hospital to check on her.

I spend a couple of hours there with her then stopped at the store on the way home and picked up a bag of masa and for the past hour I have been smearing masa on corn husks, slopping the meat mixture on that and wrapping and putting them in the steamer to cook for a hour. I have the steamer full right now so I get to take a break. Have I mentioned how I feel about making tamales? I really don't like to do it. I put it off as long as possible but the price of a pork roast inspired this tamale adventure. The pork was on sale. What a perfect  time to make them so I bought and cooked the pork and shredded it. There I stalled out for a few days; yesterday I decided that today would be the day that I finished what I started before I let the meat spoil. A few more hours and I will be done with this task and I promise not to do it again till Christmas if then. Christmas is the usual time for tamale making but usuallly you have a group of people helping make them. I'm alone here and there won't be anyone showing up to help. Magically as soon as they are done everyone shows up. Funny how it works that way huh?

Hospital Visit and the Horror of 9/11 Revisited on Anniversary Date Today

Whew..now that is a title huh? I'm sitting here watching films from 9/11/2001. It's mid evening and I spent most of the day at the hospital with my friend's daughter. I'll get to that later. Right now as I sit here watching the TV and the documentaries dedicated to the tragedy of the Twin Towers, I think back to that day and me sitting in my living room after hearing about the first tower being hit. I raced to the living room and turned on the TV and soon I saw the live broadcast of the second plane when it hit the towers. I remember clearly how horrified I was when I realized we were being attacked. Then the Pentagon reports started coming in and I felt panic and fear. Who would be next? Was this an all out raid on the U.S.? I sat quietly and waited. Waited to hear the bombs start dropping. I flashed back to my years in elementary school when we were trained to cower beneath our desks during the air raid siren warnings of an airstrike. After all these years, I thought we had finally arrived at the time of the strikes. I called my daughter who of course was unaware of what was going on. I don't think I left the news coverage on this for hours and hours. For weeks afterwards I was one of those people that was too stunned and depressed to leave my house. I had no desire to go anywhere. I had no desire to shop, to work or get involved in anything. When the planes were allowed to fly once again, all I could do was gaze at them and imagine what it must have been like for all those passengers on the flights that crashed on 9/11. I thought I would never get on another plane. I was wrong. I have been a passenger on long flights since then; it's never was comfortable for me to fly even before the 9/11 tragedies and it was certainly more difficult after. I've spent this evening watching and remembering that day. I also remember the crazieness afterwards. The distrust of anyone of Arab descent. The treatment of these people from the fear and the ignorance of the American citizens which was as horrible as the attack on the towers. I also remember all the propanganda generated by our government and when Iraq was attacked. I remember the fear of all the politicians to protest. The American citizen did not verbalize their feelings against this invasion for fear of retaliation by our government. During this time, I came to realize how Hitler had subdued a whole nation through fear. To this I say "and they said it would never happen again" but I saw it happen on 9/11. Yes we endured a tragedy. We have a lot to be ashamed of following that attack. The persecutions that were visited on any one that was a Muslim or an Arab was despicable. I saw people lose their businesses if they were Muslims. I witnessed people being arrested and jailed as the Chinese were arrested during WWII. We had knee jerk reactions to the Tower Attacks and for that I am embarrassed. Then our ignorant President got to play John Wayne and things just escalated and got worse. Today we are still losing our young men and women because of his decision to invade a country that had nothing to do with the Tower Attacks. Let me climb down off this soap box. I'm getting dizzy up here. I'm also going to comment later on my hospital visit so just ignore that part in the title of this blog, ok? Later ya'll. I'm back to the TV to watch more of the documentaries.

Adversities

I had to run to Walmart yesterday to pick up a 'script and a few things I found missing in the pantry. I use the word "run" figuretively as I don't "run" anywhere these days. I don't even do a fast walk; it's more like a slow shuffle. I suppose I should say I shuffled off to Walmart yesterday. OMG, I'm wandering around here on this post. 7 lines down and I haven't even started on what I intended as my subject for this blog. Maybe it's appropriate for what I encountered yesterday.

I was standing in an aisle at Walmart  making a monumentous decision between Skippy brand and Peter Pan when a man in one of Walmarts' motorized chairs attempted to get by me. We engaged in polite greetings and somewhere after those polite greetings we started chatting. Apparently the reason for him using the Walmart chair was a horrific auto accident that crushed his skull, broke his neck,  punctured his lungs and shattered his knee. He was in a rehab facility for the past year and now was living in an assisted living facility until he was fully recovered to return to work and unassisted living. He was there with his counselor and 3 other men in the same condition. I ended up talking to the other men; their injuries were as varied as the gentlemen I had been talking too and with some of these men, their mental faculties were lacking from their injuries. It was much like talking to an innocent trusting child. They were excited to have someone talking to them and eager to explain and discuss their current lives and accomplishments. One man has just finished up a degree in graphics at a technical school; the other man already had two degrees from LSU when he was injured.

As I left these 3 men, I counted myself lucky to have managed to have this encounter with them. What an inspiring day for me. Three men fighting their way back from disasters that changed their lives for the past 2 or 3 years while they recovered from their head injuries and each one of them did have injuries to their skulls and brains and were in a specialty hospital that deals with brain injuries and rehabbing them.

I thought often about them through the afternoon; then I got a phone call. My friends' daughter was being emergency transported to a hospital here from one of the small outlying hospitals for emergency surgery.
I dressed Carrie and told my friend I would meet her at the hospital. I spent the next 3 hours with them and waiting for a surgery suite to open up so that daughter could go to surgery.


I had to bring Carrie home as it was getting later and later and still my freind's daughter hadn't made it to surgery. Carrie needed desperately to go to bed and I didn't make it back to the hospital last night.

Soon Carrie will be going home to be with her mother. I will be dressed and going back to the hospital to visit my friends' daughter. I don't know what the outcome was post surgery. It's something I will find out about when I get back to the hospital.

I'm outta here to get dressed. I may even have to forego my nap today.

Up at 4AM, Nap to follow at Noon

That's why I take a nap. I get up way too damn early! A pot of coffee brewing and I'm checking out my email and reading some blogs. The usual morning routine but this morning it's getting done a little earlier then usual. Usual is around 5AM instead of 4AM.

Yesterday I  actually called my ortho doctor and made an appointment to see him about the pain in my ankle/foot. I've had enough and all the exercising hasn't vanquished the pain. It might be time for an injection of steroids.

Today Carrie returns and I'm ready for the little muffin to get back here. She is just such a load of entertainment. If she gets back early enough, we may go run and jump around in the downtown fountain. I love doing this but I look a little silly, all grown up and all, unless I take Carrie with me. Taking Carrie just makes me look like someone taking a child to the fountain instead of some homeless mentally incompetent looking woman frolicking in the fountain. Impressions are all important plus the nice police officers won't come around asking you all kinds of silly questions like "what is your name" and "what is today's date" and "who is the President"?

Then the sillest of all questions that nice police officer asks is "why are you in the fountain with all your clothes on?"

To this I reply with a look of astonishment "What? you expect me to put this body in a bathing suit in public???"

It's now time for me to turn on the TV and catch up on the news and to see who was arrested for illegal frolicking.

Reunions

Christmas? I've talked to a few people this week that have already started their Christmas shopping. It's amazing what having the temperatures dip down into the mid 80's will inspire people to do. I suppose when you quit sweating here you immediately think winter has arrived. By the time Christmas arrives here we shall be coloring eggs and stuffing baskets with pastel colored straw.

I refuse to recognize a lot of the designated days that are named as holidays. I don't do "grandparents day" though I am one. You don't have to buy me a card nor a gift on this day. I do recognize birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. That's enough for holidays. Oh, wait. I do also recognize Mom and Dad's day. That should be plenty of commercialism for one year. I really don't care much for Valentine's day either. I don't require a box of candy or a flower. I'm fine without it.

I remember not too many years ago when my siblings thought it was necessary to buy for each other plus their children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Stress levels were high and nobody was happy. Our solution? We now only buy for our immediate familes. This suits everyone's budgets much better, cuts down on the shopping and the amount of money spent to enjoy this holiday.

What inspired me to get off on this path? I suppose it was the little shopping trip I went on this morning where I met people doing some early holiday shopping. 

I don't have a lot of holiday shopping to do so I don't get started early. I like to save it to do when everyone is out among the Christmas music and dressed in winter wear. It helps shove me into the mood. Sometimes I need that shove.

Carrie called me this morning. She usually calls when she is out of town on her little holidays. She will be back in town today and I know her first stop will be here. I've missed her, though she has only been gone 3 days. It seems much longer. No giggles, no hugs and kisses and no watching her learn to do something new. I miss that. I miss that tilt of her head when you can almost see the cogs and wheels in her brain aligning to remember what she is seeing and learning. I miss the questions she asks; her attempts to do something you know she is not old enough to accomplish but standing back while she gives it a try and only helping when she admits that she needs and wants help. We shall have a reunion, Carrie and me.

Speaking of reunions, the family reunion was yesterday. I didn't attend this year. It's held in WV and it's quite the drive for me to be there. Last year all my siblings were there and we took group  pictures of all seven of us together. That doesn't happen often that we can all gather together at the same time at the same place. Awesome!

I'm out of there to get a picture of my knee and post it here later. It's UKP time once again.