keepsmiling7

ML........safe travels home!

WenLuvsJB

Hi Everyone!

I am soooo Sorry for being soooo MIA! I just read a little of what you gals have been up to, and it sounds like you've all been pretty Busy!

Wishing MyrnaLynne, Safe Travels home, good weather along the way, and comfortable beds as she travels home.

Keepsmiling, How wonderful that you got to see practically all of your family! Not too many missing, that's for sure! I'm so glad you had such a wonderful time with them!

And Poddy, How Exciting that You took that Fantastic Trip with Your Family!!! I'm sooo Happy that you got to do that!!! You sooo deserved it!

As for me, I've been having some complications from my last spinal procedure. I guess when my Spinal Surgeon was working on the nerves in my spine, and since the nerves are all so close together, he accidentally aggravated some nerves in my hips which caused some inflammation in the nerves in my hips, which is causing severe pain in my hips, legs, and lower spine. So walking is very hard to do now.

I'm on every pain med known to man, but they are really not helping much. My Dr's have upped the dosage several times without much help, and they don't want to raise the dosage any higher because if I, say down the road, happen to have a bad accident or something bad happen where I would need pain meds, then they would have something to give me for pain. But if they max out my pain meds now, then they wouldn't have anything to give me in the future! So I understand all of this, and I completely agree with them.

So now my PCP is trying Prednisone on me, and I was Really hoping it would work, but so far, I've only had one day of some relief, but not since, and I finish them on Tuesday. (sigh) So that's the story about me.

Next, my poor Great-Grandson Brayden, broke his foot, and has been in this Giant cast from the tip of his toes to about 4 inches above his knee! And the little guy is Not suppose to be able to walk on it with the way it's positioned with a slight bend in the knee, and a bend in the ankle, but he's been walking on it and has been playing with the new puppy they just got. (Oh Yes, I have a New Granddoggie too! He's a Boxer about 8 weeks old and his name is Jax.) My Granddaughter Melissa, called his Ortho Dr and told him that she can't keep Brayden from walking on that foot, but he assured her that it was alright and that the way he positioned the cast, that his foot is well protected, but for her to do her best to try to limit him from being on that foot.

Good News is, our family is awaiting the arrival of my Nephew and his wife's baby, (my Brother Duane's son). Ashley is due on March 17th, and Duane and his son Evan are very excited because they want the baby born on St Patrick's Day because our family is part Irish. LOL! They are too funny. LOL! Evan and Ashley told the Dr that they didn't want to know ahead of time the sex of the baby, so we're all going to be surprised together! They, (Evan and Ashley), won't even tell us the names they've picked out for the baby!
Anyway, it will be sooo nice to have a baby in the family again! Our Brayden is no more baby, as he's going to be 4 in August! Wow, time sure flies! It seems like yesterday that Brayden was just a baby, and now he'll be turning 4 soon!

I Hope I haven't bored you all. Sorry if I did.

Biggest Hugs to all of you lovely ladies!!!
Wen

MyrnaLynne

Wen so good to see you here! Poor little Brayden and the broken foot. Wow, 4, he'll be in kindergarten soon (and junior high before we know it - lol)

And Evan and Ashley's baby! I remember when you went to their wedding (with the shingles covered up).

We're on the way home (yay!) In Georgia tonight, SC for lunch, NC for supper. We were going to stay with Bossy Betty - first she wasn't home and offered us her place, now she's coming home today, but has a rotten cold (hope it's not the flu), so I just made a motel reservation in Wilmington, NC instead. It's on the Cape Fear River. Wilmington NC is where Jason Behr filmed 'Dawson's Creek' and discovered Krispie Cream donuts.

keepsmiling7

WEN........what a wonderful surprise to hear from you, but your news wasn't good. I am so sorry you had complications with the spinal procedure. And your pain situation sounds so bad. For those of fortunate not to have chronic pain, we can't even image what you are going through.
I've missed the news about little Brayden, you're right, he isn't a baby anymore. Our little Piper, the same age is a real pistol. Her ballet recital is coming up in May. She has already told her mother she is finished with ballet. But my granddaughter is standing firm because she has already paid for the costume and tickets for family members. I think it is going to be an interesting standoff between those two.
Poor Brayden with a broken foot. I'd hate to have to keep a four old down or off of his feet. Good luck to all of you!

podmom

Wen You could never bore us!! You just perked us up no end by stopping by The only down side is to know you still are suffering severely from this nerve damage done by the procedure I know only too well how awful and debilitating severe chronic pain is I so pray that there is something that will help you I so hope it is from swelling and that it goes down quickly!! I know it does seem like Brayden and Piper were just born time is flying faster and faster I can't imagine trying to keep a 4 yr old still. I'm glad the Dr said it would be ok anyway! I hope you stop back again and be sure to let us know about your health. We care and it is good for you to off load hard stuff.

Thanks everyone for being happy for me and the trip It was wonderful and yes keepsmiling Tommy for one is taking pictures of his antics with the dolphins for show and tell The kids had a ball.

ML I can imagine how tired you are!!! you will be glad to get home and rest. I hope you get to do that!!! I pray you have safe and comfortable travels and rest stops. We will be glad too when you are back to your computer. That HP train experience sounded way cool!! Speaking of cool I'm sorry that ML and John didn't get the warm weather but it sounds like yu guys had fun and saw cool things....even if it really wore you out!

I am pretty beat myself with no rest in site the next few days. Emily came home so we could go to the beach house for her to see the color choices in person and finalize some selections. She is SO tired what with her boss who doesn't work enough on her own business and burdens Emily way too much plus being pregnant and doing our house. This is the first time I've seen her look really pregnant plus we all got to feel the baby move it is hard now hardly seeing her it will get worse after the baby is born. I will need real grace from the Lord to deal with coveting living near her I know I am fortunate to be able to drive there but most of the ppl I know personally live very close to their kids. Anyway I was busy with her and going to NJ and then staying at Liz's Saturday night and Sunday. She came to our house to sleep last night and we stayed up too late. She had to get up early and drive to DC to work. My niece in law and her daughter ( Linda's granddaughter) are coming back here to have another visit to UD. Jessica will stay here Tuesday night while Arden stays with a student at the university and shadows her Wednesday. I have to lead bible study Wednesday morning ( Jess will go with me to that) I made her a hair appointment which she asked me to do which worked out with my stylist. The big thing is I have to host Bunco Wednesday night. Which means today I am cleaning after mostly prepping my study. Tons more cleaning ahead ( it is a mess here....we rarely entertain or even have anyone over these days so it goes to pot I have to supply a lot of food and a signature drink plus wine and so on and get 3 tables set up with snacks etc..... bad timing

I better get back to it.

Enjoy Wilmington NC ML

s all around

MyrnaLynne

We are in Wilmington NC tonight but it's bitter cold and windy and rainy and raw and my well meaning niece had us stay right by the river boardwalk, which would be nice in summer but it is even colder and this hotel has outdoor walkways! And coming from 80s to 40s/30s, we are popsicles. Had to dig out the sweaters and jackets etc that we haven't looked at since we came down here and didn't wear once. It was 40s and 50s and warmer when we drove down in January, much better weather.

On the bright side, we just drove (~400 miles) through rain today, where further north were terrible blizzards, even in other parts of NC I heard. Supposed to be a foot of snow at home tonight and tomorrow - third big storm in a row there! We don't get home until Thursday; hoping the snow will be over (and cleaned up or melted) before we get home, but that might be too much to ask for. We've put 4000+ miles on our brand new car. Poor car. It was very smart to get it for the trip with the GPS, back up camera, and all the safety features (for Mr ML who is not always so safety conscious - ahem) He has done ALL the driving though, he's been a trooper.

Bossy Betty took a cruise, caught an awful cold, and is too sick to have us visit her () - she just got home to NC the day before we did, too. Well, sorry that she's sick but we didn't want to catch it from her so glad we didn't have to visit her after all and her grumpy Don Rickles husband Wayne.

Really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and being home, even if it will be chilly and barely spring there. The daffodils are up in NC and some trees flowering already. Encouraging!

keepsmiling7

ML.........thinking of you as I note the terrible weather in the north east. But, it will be nice to be in your own bed.

MyrnaLynne

Thanks keepsmiling' at least the rain has stopped and it's a nice day today, although still very cold. Our travel schedule seems pretty lucky, that the storm is moving north ahead of us and I hope we'll miss most of it (except what is still on the ground).

podmom

Safe rest of your trip ML I think I missed there was yet another storm ugh sorry. Hope it is gone and not to much snow when you get home!!!!!

Party went great and I even had fun( I had a Hawaii theme so I enjoyed that and I made my first batch of cocktails ever...: mai tai’s and they were good... big relief there too.

Hi keep smiling and Wen

keepsmiling7

PODMOM........glad the Hawaiian party went well. I'm not surprised, you are the hostess with the "mostess".

ML......hope you are now safely home.

My youngest son and family just left. Had a wonderful visit with them, and they had a great time yesterday out on the lake canoeing and hiking. Lots and lots of people are here in town for SxSW, Spring Break, and the Rodeo. People everywhere, but hubby and I just stayed out of the way.

MyrnaLynne

Hostess with the mostest, both PodMom and Keepsmiling!

I'm HOME! We got in yesterday afternoon (and I've been paying bills, going through mail, etc) ever since. I'm SO happy to be home. I sort of teared up when we passed the border into Massachusetts - so tired of travelling and relieved to come home.

We timed the trip well, the storm was ahead of us and over and starting to melt by the time we got home (sunny, 40s). Mr ML still had to shovel the driveway open, and I shoveled a foot of snow off our top porch (which was melting and dripping down). So good to sleep in our own bed again. And I forgot how much we'd tidied the house for Dad's funeral before we left, so the place looked pretty good!


And there's an offer on Dad's condo and it's only been on the market for one week! Pretty good!

podmom

ML!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bet you are so glad to sleep in your own bed and I kinda shed a tear too when you said you did crossing the Mass border. was so Happy for you and MR Ml ( great driver he) that you made it home safe and sound after such a long ordeal. Your brother I hope appreciates you both a little. Your dad was a man to admire and you are too

Great to have you home here at FF too

keepsmiling Thank you so much for appreciating my party effort ...like ML in a way said...any entertaining compliment from you is huge!!!

MyrnaLynne

Sold Dad's condo (that has to be some kind of record - or the realtor made us ask way too little for it.. hmm). Anyway, shed a few tears over that too, so stressful, hoping I made the right decision, but the longer we own it, the more it will cost to keep it, and they're meeting in May to raise the condo fees (again).. Anyway, the deed is done.

And I got a letter from Dad's IRA folks saying if we don't send the claim form for the $, in 15 days, they'll assume it's 'unclaimed property'! I was waiting for the tax ID number, which just came YESTERDAY, plus I wrote to them, and I called them from FL to say I was working on it, and that was the holdup. Grr. Anyway, it's packed up and all ready to go now (had to send them a ton of documents along with their form), mailing it first thing Monday (some quick and sure way, with confirmation receipt etc) but that stressed me out too.

Thanks for the warm welcome home! My tenant kept the place shoveled - he came out and said "So, are you moving to Florida?'(and selling the house, and putting him out) and I said no we're not, and he was relieved. We still have to sell this place and downsize, but I can only deal with selling one house at a time!


My brother has been very grateful and expressed his gratitude frequently for all the work we did, and for handling all this stuff (so he doesn't have to). Just found out his older dog (one of two dachshunds) is sick and had surgery so they are dealing with stuff too out there. And my sister in law has been sick, got lung crap from the smoky wildfires out there... sigh. The $ from selling the condo will definitely help them out (and isn't too shabby as we go into retirement either). I am truly blessed my Dad was so clever and looked out for both of us, even from beyond the grave. sigh.

podmom

ML I forgot about your tenant... great that he shoveled! Yes your dad was independent and never a burden. I am glad for you and your brother to have some relief financially from your dad. May we all begin to do as well as he did. I think it is great you sold the condo! A blessing. mortgage rates are rising which limits the buyer pool plus it is a big stress off your plate! Good for your brother that he is letting you know he is grateful for all you and MrML did. Goodness about the IRA ppl I hope after Monday and mailing that in you can relax for a while!!!

keepsmiling

keepsmiling7

ML.......glad you made it home safe. And congratulations.......the condo is sold! You must have fixed it up just right for resale. That's a quick turn around, but then you worked hard to get it in shape.