Doctors, Rehab and Kevin's Surgery

So far we are off to a busy week.  Monday I went to the orthopedic doctor.  I actually met with his PA, and I really like him.  They are starting with my left hip.  I have some arthritis in both hips, but not enough for surgery.  It seems that my problem is my bursa.  It is so bad he said it will probably take several months of treatments.  That’s because I left it go for so long.  Anyway, he gave me a cortisone shot, prescribed an ointment (which I am having trouble with my insurance company authorizing) and rehab.  My back had been hurting also because of the way I was walking.  The shot helped with that pain also.  However, my knees are another story.  But….because of Medicare they can only check on thing at a time.  So the knees have to wait.

After going to the doctor Jana and I had lunch at Dairy Queen.  We then went shopping at Walmart for a few odds and ends.  Then it was home for the day.

Started my rehab today (Wednesday).  All went well.  I learned a lot about this bursa thing on Monday and today.  Of course, by the time I finished my rehab my hip was hurting again.  The shot helped a lot.  In fact, last night was the best night’s sleep I have had in a long time.  I have been given three sets of exercises to do twice a day.  I also go to rehab twice a week until my next doctor appointment which is January 9^th.  After we left the rehab facility we stopped at IHop for breakfast.  Then it was home to do laundry and other necessary housework.

Tuesday, Jana did her laundry.  I finished wrapping my Christmas presents.  Then I spent the afternoon with Renea in the She Shed helping her with a couple of projects.  It felt good to get back to the house and off my feet. 

Kevin set up my Alexa that I received for my birthday.  I actually received one for the She Shed and one for the house.  So far, only the one in the house is working.  I am gradually adding music, etc. to it.  I still have a lot of setup work to do in the She Shed.  Probably won’t got too much done out there until after Christmas.  However, Kevin has been a busy bee in his Shed.  His business if booming.  Yea for Kevin.

It is now Thursday and Kevin had his surgery today.  Everything went fine.  The doctor was able to smooth out the burrs on his neck which was almost touching his spine.  He removed the damaged discs and replaced them.  He removed the old hardware from the surgery he had almost twenty years ago.  Doing all this actually straightened his neck/spine.  Hopefully, this will eliminate the pain and numbness that he has been feeling.  He spent the night in the hospital because of his problem of coming out of anesthesia.  All the Aker guys have this problem. 

He came home on Friday.  Just an FYI for those who don’t know this, when this surgery is done, the doctor actually makes the cut in the front of his neck.  He them moves everything over so he can work on the back of his neck.  VERY SCARY!  One of the problems is making sure there is no damage to his vocal chords.  He is wearing a soft neck collar.  He has to keep this on until he sees the doctor next Thursday.  He is eating soft food,  His speech is a little raspy.  He has limitations on what he can do.  However, he is doing great!

December

So far it has been a very busy month.  Jana and I have put up our Christmas trees and decorated them.  In fact, Jana bought a bigger tree this year because she couldn’t get all of her ornaments on the small one she had.  She also put up a small tree and some decorations in her camper.  I have three small trees which are decorated around the dining room.  Also put out a small nativity set, two precious moment angels, some snowmen, and a few other decorations.

Jana's New Tree

My Tree

I also quilted two wall hangings for the holidays.

This one is hanging on my living room wall.

This one is hanging on a kitchen wall.

Tuesday I went to the eye doctor for my annual checkup.  I have been having a lot of trouble with my eyes so I was glad this was scheduled.  It is time for me to cataract surgery.  In fact, they are so bad that I am not supposed to drive at night and limit my daytime driving.  Surgery on my right eye will be the beginning of January, and surgery on my left eye will be the beginning of February.  Jana will be staying with me until I can drive again.  Meanwhile she is my driver.

Next Monday I will go to the orthopedic doctor for my hip.  I was told that because I have Medicare they can only do one “joint” at a time.  They want to start with my hip in case it is causing my knee problems.  I realize that I will always have pain because of the fibromyalgia and arthritis, but any relief I can get with my legs will be much appreciated.  My hands and fingers are getting so bad that I have trouble writing.  I keep my fingers moving so I don’t lose all function.

Now for some good news.  I splurged and bought an embroidery/sewing/quilting machine.  I am so excited about this.  I have taken one class.  Tomorrow I will be taking a one-on-one class to learn more about my machine.  I am so looking forward to using the embroidery part of the machine.  I have many plans.  I also bought some software that will help me with quilting.  I won’t be able to do large quilts, but I can do smaller ones. 

Last night Jana and I treated Kevin and Renea to supper at the new T-Bone Restaurant on Hwy. 80.  It is done up in a cowboy theme.  We had so much fun, and the food was delicious.  Price wise, it was about the same as most steakhouses.  They also have a lunch menu that Jana and I plan to try. 

Kevin is at the doctor today for his pre-op to surgery on the 13^th of this month.  He is having neck/back surgery.  Hopefully, this will relieve the pain he has been having not only in his back and neck but also his arm.  While writing this he returned from his pre-op.  Surgery is definitely on for the 13^th.  We just don’t know the time.  They will tell him the day before.

Okay, I think I am caught up for now.  Hopefully, I can stay that way!

November

November has been normal busy.  I had a couple of doctor appointments.  At that point everything seems to be going okay.  The pain in my hip and knees has been getting worse, and when I tried to talk to the doctor about it he was very rude and said maybe I needed to go to pain management classes.  I told him I had a few other things to talk to him about, but he told me to hurry up and say what I had to say while he was checking my lab results on the computer.  He said we were on a time schedule.  I am going to change doctors.  In fact, I have made an appointment with an orthopedic doctor regarding my hip and knees.  The appointment is the beginning of December.

Jana and I have been busy Christmas shopping.  We are both finished.  Now it’s on to wrapping.  Jana has some of her gifts already wrapped.  I just have my bedroom so full of stuff I can hardly get to my bed.

Speaking of my bed, I put my new Christmas quilt on that I made.  I had it quilted at my favorite quilt shop.  They did an awesome job.  It’s a lot bigger than I thought, but that’s okay.

Brian and Tracy came down to visit the weekend before Thanksgiving.  We waited until then to celebrate my birthday.  They gave me an Alexa for the house and for the She Shed.  I have the one in the house set up.  It’s been fun.  It was a fun weekend.  Ryan, Stephanie, Ray and the Derdowski’s joined us.  I received several gift cards to buy more quilting stuff. 

Thanksgiving was celebrated at Kevin and Renea’s.  I was given the task of bringing dressing, and Jana was giving the task to bring broccoli with cheese.  We did good.  K and R had turkey, ham and all the fixins.  Ryan, Stephanie and Ray were there.  Renea also got her mom from the nursing home so she could have dinner with us.  It was also Janet’s birthday so we celebrated that.  Janet had a really good day and she enjoyed being with us.  We enjoyed having her,

Thanksgiving evening we watched the movie CHRISTMAS VACATION.  Love that movie.  Jana had not seen it and she thoroughly enjoyed it.  We all laughed a lot.

We have had some pretty cold weather.  We have had several nights of below freezing.  We all “drip” our water so it doesn’t freeze.  So far, so good.  This morning my thermometer said 20 degrees.  Now it is supposed to warm up a little.  I guess winter is here to stay.  I even bought a new winter coat.  So did Jana.

I haven’t done any quilting or sewing since moving everything to the she shed.  I have been too busy doing other things.  I didn’t even get Jana’s tree skirt embroidered.  So, she will get it next year.  Hopefully, I will get it finished by then.  😊

I think that pretty much takes care of November.  My next blog should have me current.

Leland, NC

Jana and I decided to take a road trip.  We went to Leland, NC, to stay with and visit my niece, Rita, and her husband, Bob.  We had a great time.

On Monday morning we took Penny and Mattie to be boarded.  Penny also needed her annual checkup and shots, so they took care of that while she was there.  We board them at the vet where I take Penny.

It took us about nine and a half hours to drive there.  We found a way to get on I-20 without going through or near Atlanta.  It was great.  Some of the roads were two lane and the scenery was beautiful.  Our only problem was when we arrived in Leland.  It was dark.  There were no street lights and we had no idea where we were.  So, between the directions on my phone and the ones Bob sent us before we left, we made it.  Jana was driving at this point, and I was giving directions.  I would tell her how many feet it was to the next intersection where we were going to turn, and when I said turn she did.  If the street wouldn’t have been there we would have been in big trouble.  When we arrived on the street where they live, which is a cul-de-sac, we could not find any house numbers, all the porch lights were on, and we had no idea which house they lived in.  Bob saw the car lights and came out and rescued us.  Thank you, Bob!

Rita had supper ready for us.  We had pork chops and stuffing, along with vegetables and rolls.  It was delicious.  We visited for a while, had a tour of their new house (which is beautiful), then went to bed.  We were exhausted.  We each had our own room with bath.  We were treated like royalty.

 Monday morning after breakfast and showers Rita took Jana and me to her friend’s, Carolyn, house.  Carolyn does art quilting.  Now, I have heard of this but never seen it.  She does beautiful work.  Her specialty seems to be birds.  She had other items there, but the majority was birds.  This is something that definitely takes a lot of patience and skill.  So far, she does not sell her items.  They would probably be very expensive.

After leaving her house we went to a fabric shop that she recommended.  Of course, I did not leave there empty handed.  Before going to the fabric shop we went back to the house and picked up Bob.  After the fabric shop we went to the Frisky Fishy for lunch.  It was awesome.  We ate on the patio out by the water.  From there we took the car ferry boat to Fort Fisher.  This was really interesting.  We also drove around the island, then took the bridge back to Wilmington and headed for home.  Rita had put supper in the crockpot and she figured it should be ready – it was and it was delicious.

Wednesday Rita, Jana and I drove around Wilmington and did some sightseeing.  We drove over to the battleship but didn’t get out of the car.  There was still quite a bit of flooding.  Next stop was a t-shirt store where Jana bought a couple of t-shirts.  After shopping we took a carriage ride around the historic district of Wilmington.  That was a lot of fun.  We were the only three on the ride and our guide was very informative.  The destruction from the hurricane wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be.  Their damage was mostly from flooding.  From there it was back to Rita and Bob’s.  That evening we watched a movie.

Thursday was more adventure.  The four of us went to the Railroad Museum.  We had a great time.  When you enter you get a list for a scavenger hunt.  The four of us participated, and I won.  It was a lot of fun.  If we ever go back to Wilmington I would like to go through the museum again just to look at the train setup.  They had one large room with trains running.  The details of the cities, country, cars, etc. was amazing.  After we left there we went to the Christmas Store.  Again, we did not leave empty handed.  The Christmas Store was part of a larger store, but we didn’t do much shopping other than for Christmas.

That evening we went to dinner with their friends Pat and Kat.  We ate at Christopher’s.  Very good food.  Very good company.  After eating we went to Pat and Kat’s house and had a campfire.  Enjoyed the visit. 

Jana and I left early Friday morning.  It took us about an hour longer to get home because of the rain – lots of rain!  Jana did most of the driving.  

We had a great visit, and hope to go back.  We learned a lot about the area where Rita and Bob live and about Wilmington.

Early Saturday morning we went to Companion and picked up the girls.  Penny had to go back the next week to have some dental work done.  It seems she has a problem with tarter and it is affecting her gums.  She had to have one tooth pulled and her teeth cleaned.  They will be keeping a watch on her teeth and gums.

Hello Y'All!

I am so far behind with my blogs I am not sure where to begin.  So, I have decided to write several blogs about different things that have happened since my last one.  If I repeat myself, I am apologizing now.  😊

Today I am going to tell you about the building that Kevin and friends built.  It is about 90% finished.  The actual building is completed.  The windows are in but need to be framed both inside and outside.  Also, the outside needs to be painted.

Both mine and Kevin’s rooms have been painted.  When Brian brought Jana down to stay with me for the holidays, he ran and connected all the electric.  So, we have electric.  All lights and outlets and switches are installed.  We bought the covers for the outlets and switches.  Kevin will be installing them.  We also purchased a heater/air conditioner unit for both of our rooms and they have been connected.  They work great!  At least the heater does.  Haven’t used the air conditioner yet.

We have a concrete floor which still needs to be painted.  Kevin and Renea are going to apply some kind of special paint, but that cannot be done until spring when it get warm.

Kevin is also going to install a ladder and finish the upstairs of the building for storage.  There is a lot of space, and we thought we might as well use it.

I think a garage door is going to be installed on the side where Rick’s boat is parked.

Some day the “shack/shed” may be finished.

However, Kevin and I have both moved into our respective rooms.  He has actually started working in his.  His business is doing great.  I have moved in, but haven’t done any quilting yet.  Just haven’t had time because of everything else I have been doing.  Might not get back to quilting until after Christmas. 

I will be taking some pictures and posting them.  I still have a few things to make my room look nice.  Kevin’s room is ready for pictures.  I will also get some of them for you.  I will also get some pictures of the finished building.

You might want to check out Kevin’s website:  opelikarods.com  Ryan had created the website, but we decided it needed some tweaking.  So, I have been working on that.  Ryan has been so busy with school he hasn’t had time.  Still have some work to do, but it is looking good.

That’s about it for Kevin’s Fishing Shack and my She Shack. 

A Quiet Week

Wow!  I didn’t realize it had been so long since I posted a blog.  I guess that means nothing exciting has been happening.  It has been a slow time around here.

Nothing has been happening with the shed/shack.  Kevin decided to take some time off and get some of his fishing rods finished.  He has been a busy bee working on them and they look really good.  On his website he mentions that he is a third generation making fishing rods, and this is correct.  My grandfather Myers, his great grandfather, my mother’s father, made fishing rods for many years.  He also made fishing flies (types of lures to catch trout).  Grandpa supported his family doing this during the depression.  Grandma Myers had passed away and he had four children to support.

Kevin has asked me to work with Ryan on the Opelika Rods website.  I said sure.  I am hoping to get with Ryan on Sunday to go over a few ideas that I have.  It just seems like everyone is so busy that we are all behind.  Ryan has done a great job so far, even though he has never created a website before.  He is using a program that I am not familiar with, but I am sure I can learn.

No other outside work has been done either.  It is still summer here. It has not been out of the nineties during the day since forever (at least it seems that way).  They are predicting that MAYBE next week it will be in the mid-eighties.  We will be having a cold wave.  YEA! 

I have been busy quilting.  I had taken my t-shirt quilt to Sunday Best Quiltworks to be quilted.  I picked it up this past week and it turned out very nice.  I am very happy with it.  Now I have to decide what to do with it 😊 

I also made a fall wall hanging that I quilted myself.  It turned out  nice, except it isn’t as wide as it should be, and it doesn’t look right hanging where I planned to hang it.  So…..I have it hanging on a kitchen wall next to my pantry.  It looks nice there.  The colors are much brighter and prettier than it looks on this picture.  I will try again later.

I am still working on what I am embroidering for Jana for Christmas.  I ended up telling her what I was doing because I will probably still be working on it when she arrives.  But, that’s okay because I had planned to give it to her early when we started decorating for Christmas.  I have a smaller wall hanging that I have started for me for Thanksgiving.  I also have two tote bags to make.  One will be used when I go to SBQ.  When I do that I will get a surprise gift.  I just had to buy my material from them and put their logo on the tote.  I also have two Christmas wall hangings that I plan to make.  BUSY! BUSY! BUSY!

This morning, before it got too hot, I did go out and water all the trees in the containers.  I also weeded them.  It seems no matter what kind of dirt you buy to plant items in containers you still get weeds.  I also watered the “lovely” magnolia tree.  It is really sad looking.  You must agree with me right?  It almost has some leaves.  If it doesn't look better next year it will be gone!

I think we may have lost one of the forsythia bushes, but the other one looks good.  We shall see.  I definitely need to find time (when it cools down) to get some weeding done.  My yard looks terrible.

Now for the spider lilies.  I have them growing up all over my front yard.  This doesn’t happen every year, but for some reason I sure have a lot of them this year.  They are very pretty.  A couple of years ago I dug some up and planted them in containers.  For some reason, they did not grow at all, so I gave up on that project.  Sure is a shame because I do like them.

They didn't show up too good on this picture, but they are all over the yard.

A closeup of the plant,

I am going to take a break now and have lunch. Then I plan to do some embroidering before going to church.  I will, hopefully, finish this tomorrow.

Good Morning!  It is now Sunday.  Yesterday I did have lunch.  Then I did some embroidering. Next it was church.  After Mass I went to Kevin and Renea’s for supper.  Kevin had smoked a brisket and it sure was good. Renea had fixed macaroni salad and hash brown casserole.  She also baked banana bread and made an oreo cookie cheese cake.  Everything was delicious.

Came home after eating, talked to Jana, watched some television and went to bed.  Tired today.  Had a bad night.  I did a lot of dreaming and waking.  Oh well.  That happens.

Talked to Brian this morning.  He and Tracy are on their way home from visiting Samantha and Brandon.  They are doing fine. 

That’s about all the news I have for now.  Have a good week y’all.

Penny and Me

Now that the outside of the building is finished I guess it is time for me to get back to my blogs.  It has been so long since I did one that I am not sure where I left off, so if I repeat anything – sorry about that.  I am just going to try and remember things I have done in the past six weeks or so.

Our weather here has been extremely hot the past few weeks.  It has been in the upper 90’s with no rain.  Kevin, bless his heart, has kept the grass mowed even with working on the building.  However, the weeds have taken over my flowers again.  I started cleaning out the azaleas, but I just can’t take the heat.  Getting too old I guess.  I did get enough weeded, that with the watering I have been doing they are blooming.  Two just have a few flowers, but one is doing great!

The Franklin Trees are doing great since we put them in containers.  One of them even bloomed this year which was a big surprise.

 

A couple of years ago I (Kevin) planted a snowball bush that I had purchased.  I wanted one because I can remember one in my Grandma Althoefer’s back yard that was huge and beautiful.  Finally, this year it has grown and has several medium sized flowers.  Hopefully, this will continue to grow and be as beautiful as I remember my Grandma’s. 

This year I bought two new crepe myrtles.  They are called Black Diamond.  I bought them because they were different.  Renea transplanted them into larger pots for me.  We will not put them in the ground for a year or two.

 

Of course, the lantanas are huge. I took this picture because of the butterfly, but it gives you an idea of how big the lantanas are.

Another reason I couldn’t get outside and play in the dirt is because I had the toenail on my right big toe removed.  Not much pain, but I couldn’t wear a regular shoe on that foot.  Kevin and Renea bought me some kind of goofy shoe that I wore.  It made a difference. Once I got used to it, I could drive.  Still couldn’t play in the dirt.  It’s healed now.  The weather has cooled down about five degrees, so I should be able to get outside again.

My deck furniture has fallen apart and is going into the trash.  The only thing that has survived the sun, heat, wind, rain and a little bit of winter is my swing.  It seems I will be buying new deck furniture in the spring.  Actually, my deck is getting really bad so I may need to do something about that.  I have been discussing it with Kevin.  No final decision has been made.

We said a lot of prayers during hurricane Florence.  Rita and Bob live outside of Wilmington in a town called Leland.  They were very fortunate that that didn’t have much damage.  Mostly just lost shrubs and bushes.  Then Samantha lives in Norfolk, and for a while it looked like she would get part of Florence, but she only got a little rain.  Brandon was out on the ship during Florence because they sent all the ships that were in dock out into the Atlantic.  He is back and is fine.

I’ve been busy doing some fall house cleaning.  I don’t do quite as much as I used to.  Getting too old.  I finished my t-shirt quilt top and it is at the quilters.  I picked up my Christmas quilt (this is for my bed) and the Christmas wall hanging. I had both of them quilted at Sunday Best Quiltworks.  The turned out really nice.  I also quilted several Christmas presents which I can’t mention because the recipients read my blog.  I have several more I am getting ready to start.  In between I am working on an embroidery project which is a Christmas present.  However, at the rate I am going it may be next year’s present 😊. 

Penny is doing fine.  She loves my first quilt.  I have it on the back of my couch, and that is where she lays.  I don’t know if it is the quilt or the fact that she can see out the window.  

Stephanie and her friend, Ray, got a German Shepherd puppy.  Her name is Bandit and she is adorable.  She is only three months old and she is going to be a big girl.  This picture is when they brought her here to meet all of us.  She is six weeks old in this picture.  Ray also has a dog named Kodiak.  He is an Australian Shepherd and is so sweet.  I am not sure how old he is, but I think he is about two or three.

I guess that’s about it for now.  Have a good week.

WE PASSED INSPECTION!

Yes, the building has passed inspection.  The inspector was here on Friday and said everything is okay.  The boat can now go inside and the inside can be completed.

The first two pictures are of Kevin, Jay, Ray and Stephanie finishing the roof this past Monday.  Of course, all the dogs were supervising.

Wednesday Kevin and Jay added the roof caps.  I didn't get a picture of that.  Sorry.

The south side of the finished building.

The north side of the finished building

The boat is inside with no room to spare.  Kevin actually backed the boat into the building with no help.  Renea wasn't home and I didn't know he was doing it.  He does a great job backing.

Kevin has declared this next week "break" time.  I don't blame him.  Most of the work was done in above 95 degrees every day.  He is hoping to go camping for a few days.  Then after that begins the inside work which will not be as labor intensive as the outside.  I will just be glad to get all of the "stuff" out of my house.

Working on the Roof

One day last week, I think it was Wednesday, Jay came over and Kevin and he finished the top ends of the shed.  They enclosed them with siding and included a vent in each end.  Great job guys!

Can you say hot, tired and exhausted.  It was in the upper nineties all last week.  It has continued to be there this week also, with no end in sight.

This weekend the whole gang came over to help with the roof.  We had Kevin, Bruce, Nick, Jay, Stephanie and Ray.  Again, as I said earlier it was in the upper nineties.

The girls, Renea and Jay's wife, came out to check on the gang.  Everyone was making sure they were taking breaks and staying hydrated.  It was a rough, hot, long day.

The north side of the building is finished!

The south side was started, but after two days everyone was done!.  Not sure when the next work day will be.

I had purchased several trays of sandwiches for everyone's lunch both Saturday and Sunday.  On Saturday, Kevin grilled hamburgers and hotdogs for supper.  Renea made baked beans, macaroni salad, deviled eggs, and several deserts.  Sunday supper was leftovers.  They had plenty of water, Gatorade and Powerade to drink.

Sunday Before Last

The work that Sunday was all roof work.  They had finished the support beams and now they started adding the plywood and felt.  They were hoping to get it finished.  However, they ran out of time, and a small portion was not completed.  The workers helping Kevin that day were Jay, Ryan, Steve, Stephanie and Ray.  Steve and Ray worked on the roof.  Jay did finish work from the ladder.  Ryan helped Kevin move and pass the plywood up to Steve and Ray.