Grandkids!

Well, it;s been awhile...lol...I used to blog all the time and then I lost my "blogger voice" some time back. I need to join some blog groups like I used to belong to.  I loved Pink Saturday but she no longer hosts.  If anyone has any fun groups I can join let me know!

Carl and I have had a quiet summer.  We had Grace with us the last week of June...Jack was busy with his baseball.  He was in the championships.  Nice to have her...we didn't really do much as we have them both for a week every July and that is where the funds are dedicated to,,,I think she enjoyed just being away from home for a few days.  We did treat ourselves to pedicures and that was fun and much needed!

They both were with us towards the end of July. That was a busy week!  We did our 4th annual Mimi//Grace/Jack overnight at the Atlantis Resort here in Reno.  The last 3 years we have stayed at the Grand Sierra Resort but we switched it up this year and liked the Atlantis even better!  No trip to a resort is complete without a visit to the arcade and we treated ourselves to room service for dinner.  Kids thought that was so cool!  We will stay there next year too.   Before they headed home we went to Defy, the trampoline type jump place.  It was crowded and I think they might be outgrowing it.  But a fun week we had.

Grace turned 13 in May and Jack turned 12 in April..8th and 7th grade!  I swear they were just toddlers!

My brother Ray and his sweet wife Lynette came up from SoCal for a few days in early July and it was really nice to have them here and visit with us!

We are hopping on a cruise ship mid November with dear friends for a few days so we are looking so forward to that trip.  And before we know it the Holidays will be here....🌲

Well, that;s it for now.  Please recommend some blogging groups to follow I am going to make an attempt to blog more regularly!

Barb

CATCHING UP

Again I failed to keep up with my blog.  I don't know what my problem is...somehow my brain just doesn't have the gift of thinking up clever things to chat about.  Not that life has been boring, although it has.

We are smack in the middle of isolating at home from the Coronavirus Pandemic.  In my wildest imagination I could never have imagined this scenario.  Each day is like the next.  Good thing Carl and I like each other, haha.  We have been each other's best friends through all this.  We are terribly missing the grandchildren, we have not seen them since mid February and it seems forever.  We miss our Jack's 8th birthday last Tuesday, but we got to video chat and watch him open gifts and sing happy birthday to him at least.  Our Grace's 9th birthday is the end of May so we are HOPING to be able to spend her birthday with her.  Missing our kids.

I've made a few masks for family and friends, I have a lot of fabric so the problem I have is deciding what fabrics to use.  Here are a few I made..

Prince has been great company, so grateful to have him.

 

 

We took a 10 day cruise to Mexico in January before all this Pandemic broke loose.  Had a wonderful time with our friends Bill and Ruth, Steve and Beverly, Frank and Mary Ellen, and Billy and Myrna.  So glad we went.  We are booked on a 4 day Baja cruise end of July with the kids and grandkids to celebrate Carl's 75th birthday, not sure that cruising will commence again by then, and not sure we will be going with all this crud going on.  Will probably plan something else to celebrate.  Our cruise friends are planning a cruise for next January, will have to consider that one.  We love cruising and I can probably guarantee that a cruise ship will be cleaner and safer than ever after all this.
Some cruise pictures..

I've been trying to transfer pictures from my phone to my laptop, I have a USB device but it's wonky.  Any suggestions on a good device to buy?  I need to figure out something!

We have been staying home and staying safe.  No plans yet for Nevada to come out of this situation yet, we have not had nearly the number of cases and deaths that some states have had but things seem to not be decreasing yet.  So we will be staying in and staying safe until it's ok to go out again.  We both have underlying health issues so we have no choice.  And then we wonder, how will we feel safe again?  Things won't ever be the same.  But we must go on.

Hope this finds you all healthy and safe...love your comments!




 

MY VETERAN AND HOSPITAL STUFF

Well, life is full of ups and downs.  We are on a rollercoaster here of good days and bad days.  I haven't been sleeping well, too much going on inside my head, I guess, and then of course, I am not much good to anybody during the day because I am tired. 

Carl woke up on Tuesday, November 5th not doing well, similar to how he was acting on Halloween morning.  Confused, wobbly and this time he was slurring his words.  He didn't seem to have any of the signs of a stroke other than his voice, so I chalked it up to the Parkinson's and we just took it easy that day.  On Wednesday, November 6th he had an appointment with his primary care dr at the VA, which I had made to see about getting him referred to the gastroenterologist at the VA due to his having stomach pain and not being able to eat much.  Last year he was diagnosed with Stenosing Mesenteritis, a pretty rare condition.  At that time in September, 2018 he underwent a colonoscopy and endoscopy and his GI dr. said things looked stable and he would see him in a year, so when he started having stomach problems, we decided to get him in to see the VA gastro, so then all his care would be at the VA.  Anyway, at the primary care visit I mentioned to Dr. Law that he was slurring his words and she did a quick assessment and sent us to the Emergency department right away.

At the E.R. they took him back for a cat scan and lots of assessing going on.  By then he was a little droopy on the left side, and had some numbness, all the signs of a stroke.  They took him for a 2nd catscan, this time with contrast.  They didn't really see anything, no sign of a hemorrhage and no sign of a blood clot type stroke either, but they decided to admit him.  We arrived at the ER at3:30 in the afternoon and he finally got a bed in the telemetry unit at 11 pm.  I stayed until they got him something to eat and medications, then I headed for home.  Thank you again to our dear friends Bill and Ruth, Bill had gone to the house to check on Prince for me.

Next morning I arrived back at the hospital.  More assessments and a MRI was scheduled for that day.  Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy came in to see him, and he was still droopy and slurring his words.  About noon they took him back for a MRI.  His neurologist came to see him about 2 pm and nothing had shown up on the MRI to indicate a stroke, yet he still had the symptoms.  He was otherwise in pretty decent shape so they decided to repeat the MRI in 3 days, but discharged him to come home about 5 pm.  He was doing better and Dr. Steve knew I would call the medics if he had any more signs of trouble.

 

Sunday the 10th he went and had a repeat MRI, we heard back from his neuro that nothing had appeared on the scan.  So it's very puzzling!  He is doing about the same to be honest with you.  We are on a downhill trend lately, memory problems and still fuzzy speech.  He has an appt tomorrow Wednesday with his neuro so we will talk more then.  I've been making a list of questions I have.  Maybe this is just Parkinson's related.  Hoping to get some answers..

Monday, November 11th was Veteran's Day, he was feeling ok so we went to lunch with Bill and Ruth at Chili's.  Chili's is one of the restaurants that offers a free meal to Veterans on that day.  A couple pictures!

I'm afraid I am probably not handling all this very well.  I am not depressed, but sad and no energy.  No motivation, nothing.  Just trying to get through each day and waiting for the other shoe to drop I guess.  Our dear friend Eloda is flying up here to Reno from SoCal this Thursday to visit for a few days so I am really looking forward to her visit, both of us are.  I'm going to have her  help me with a couple of projects around here if we feel like it, and I see a couple pajama days coming up, too!

We appreciate all your good thoughts and prayers.  This is a journey you can never be prepared for.

P.S. I am aware of a weird symbol on my blog.  To be honest, I don't have the energy to try to fix it right now so try to ignore it!!