A December to Remember

The month of December arrived as I continued to recuperate from my sinus infection. The previously scheduled surgery on my foot was postponed until I finished taking the full course of antibiotics. The new date for surgery was the 10th. I convinced myself that I was well enough to proceed with the surgery (I really wasn't) while George told me to reschedule it again.

I had a method to that madness of proceeding with the surgery, because one year ago I had booked a week in Key West at Blue Water Key Resort and I needed a 15-week recuperation window. The week delay was now cutting into my timeline.

The surgery went well. I left the hospital the same day with a plate, two brackets and six screws in my foot, as well a a pin in my second toe that had needed to be broken and reset. I was placed on the same, strong antibiotic that I had taken for the sinus infection, and was given a powerful drug for pain. Now, all I had to do was sit back and let my bones mend. It was one of my more painful surgeries.

Good friends had lent me a wheelchair, but entering the RV was a tremendous challenge. One that caused me to almost re-break the broken toe! Neighbors far and wide heard my scream. Weeks later, a woman came up to me while I was sitting outside and she said, "Oh, you're the poor woman who screamed." I guess stuff like that gets around fast in a small community.

Life was spent in the RV being cared for - expertly - by George. There was very little I could do without his assistance, and he was always patient and caring. I counted my blessings (along with the days we would be swimming in Key West). 

About ten days later, I visited my surgeon who sent me to the ER with a note, indicating I was exhibiting signs of a DVT - deep vein thrombosis, including chest pain and difficulty breathing. The night before, I actually considered calling for an ambulance due to how badly I felt.

My original diagnosis in the ER was a lot of fluid in and around my lungs. I heard doctors saying, "congestive heart failure," "possible heart attack" and "thrombosis." I remember not feeling panic at this point, just a feeling that I wanted to go to sleep and wake up from a bad dream. I was weak, tired and in pain. 

On Christmas Eve, after about a week at Celebration Hospital, I was discharge after having a total cardiac work up. Gratefully, all my tests came back negative. The only explanation for all that fluid was that it probably developed from the original congestion of the sinus infection and made worse by the anesthesia from the surgery. 

Okay, this issue is behind us now and it's time to go home...but, getting released posed a huge problem. Part of my cardiac workup included an angiogram that was performed through my wrist. This prevented me from being able to hoist myself up the stairs into the RV.

Prior to being discharged, my mind raced with options and fortunately, I remembered that our friends owned a house nearby and had a spare room. After a quick call, we found out there was "room at the inn" on Christmas Eve for all of us, including Lucy. As it turned out, we had their whole home to ourselves since they were out of town. To make things even easier, we had a key to their home. 

Throughout the entire medical issue, I hadn't cried once, however, as George wheeled me into their home, tears of gratitude slid down my cheeks. I was overwhelmed by the situation and the bag full of new medications we had just picked up from the pharmacy, but also feeling so blessed to have friends who moved a huge obstacle out of our way.

Someone thought this was a
special chair just for her.

Christmas Day was going to be a relaxing and quiet day.

It wasn't.

I'll skip the unpleasant details, but I ended up heading back to Celebration Hospital by ambulance. This visit was a six day stint consisting of a battery of tests for gastric issues. The cause of this new problem was due to all the antibiotics and additional pain medications that I had been ingesting since the end of November.  It wreaked a bit of havoc on my insides.

We ended 2019 with hope and prayers that 2020 was going to be a terrific year. After all we had been through, how could it get any worse?

Meanwhile, as we were hoping and praying, Wuhan, China was to become a place that would go down in history as the epicenter of "COVID-19." Not until March 11th was it officially labeled "a pandemic" and people started to pay attention. Unfortunately, it would take thousands of deaths before most people started to take  it seriously.

My next blog entry will document, at least for my future reference, what it is like living in 2020 with a compromised immune system during a pandemic.

Deep thought for the day: "Good morning, good morning! It's time to celebrate! Good morning, good morning to you!"

This song's music was composed by Nacio Herb Brown and lyrics written by Arthur Freed, for the 1939 film, Babes in Arms. It was performed by Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney.

This is the song I sang to my boys as they grew up and now, I sing it to my husband. All three hate/hated it, or perhaps just my rendition. I'm not sure which, but I do know that I loved and still love singing it, because it's always a "good morning" when we wake up, have a place to live, clothes to wear, food to eat and love to give and receive... So, good morning, good morning to you! ~ vc

Ketchup post. Lots of catch up.

I decided, after the long absence from our New England Adventure, that I needed to document how life has unfolded since then. After a brief check of the photos on my phone, it seems like I neglected to keep the chronicle of my life up to date, which is the only way I can guarantee I don't forget the special "days of our lives."

Savannah with 2 sets of grandparents!

 In mid-September we headed south and made a stop in North Carolina to celebrate Savannah's 11th birthday. We had a great time visiting and got to have a spectacular birthday dinner together. This lucky girl got to spend it, not only with her immediate family, but with both of her grandparents!

Even a rainbow to celebrate a special girl!
Good grief, Charlie Brown, she will be taller
than me before next birthday!

Dessert caused a bit of havoc on my insulin reserves, but it was well worth the sacrifice. I was unable to upload a video of her breaking the pinata, but believe me, it was a sight not worth missing. 

We don't often get to spend birthdays, watch plays or musical or dance performances with them, so anytime we visit is special and was worth the risk of extra insulin and running "high."

My fire cracker getting ready to break
her chocolate pinata!

We only arrived in Florida a couple of weeks before getting on the road again to spend Thanksgiving in St. Pete's Beach, FL. There, we would spend the holiday with three of my grandchildren and their mom, Meily, who would be flying into the area from snowy Colorado to spend the holiday with my ex's family. As usual, we were invited and welcomed with open arms to stay and celebrate the holiday together. As Meily worked in the Tampa office of the company she works for, I was able to take the girls to the pool or beach and spent some quality time as we enjoyed perfect weather. We went out for dinners as a group, got sand in our suits as a group and shared germs as a group!

Love this one with sisters holding hands.

Lola looking happy and beautiful.

Nina enjoying watching the boys stare at her.

Me with three of my five precious girls
on Cousins Aaron's and Karen's boat.

Confident and a cutie, Emma with Uncle Gregg.

A sunset from the balcony of the condo at St. Pete Beach, FL

Boston Market Turkey Dinner

The night before Thanksgiving found me with the start of a sinus infection that required a trip to an urgent care facility and a script to knock it out of my system. George ended up picking up my prescriptions along with two turkey dinners from a Boston Market. We were thankful for many things despite missing celebrating with family.

The next day we headed back to our Florida "home base" where I could recuperate and not infect anyone else. I missed out on "apartment hunting" with Meily, who is seriously considering relocating to the Tampa area to be closer to family!

I ended the month of November sneezing, coughing and miserable, but I had already finished my Christmas shopping on-line, had it all wrapped, boxed up and ready to ship out by December 1st. I tend to always be a step ahead, just in case!

Valentine Card Boxes for Lola and...

Emma. Early, but promised last April.

The extravagant Valentine Card Boxes were part of their Christmas gifts. I made them after seeing the ones they had used the year before. I promised I'd make them real pretty ones for next Valentine's day.

Almost forgot to include my new car!

Decided to buy after leasing two prior to this one.

Geo

As soon as we had arrived in Florida in November, I needed to trade in my Nissan, Sentra. That Sentra had been my second lease and I liked the car so much I decided to go ahead any buy this one.

George and I decided that December would be better. Bunion surgery, that was originally scheduled for the 3rd needed to be rescheduled to the 10th so I could recuperate from the sinus infection. After that I'd be spending the rest of the the year just resting and healing. Poor George would have the honor of being my caretaker. Life (as we knew it) was good.

Lucy, feeling bummed out after realizing
we didn't have apple pie for dessert on Turkey Day!

Deep thought for the day:  "Go ahead an make all your plans you like, but never forget that we are just pawns on the chess board of life." ~ vc

While this was written after the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic, I had too much information to document leading up to this devastating time in history. Once we hit my "surgery" date, the story gets even more complicated before we reach the point of "LIFE AS WE KNEW IT."

Catch Up Post

I have found myself writing too many posts that begin, "It's been a long time since I've posted here....." and here I am once more in the same situation.  I don't know what prevents me from keeping up to date, but being retired seems to keep me very busy - not doing much. I'll attempt a recap from my last entry, which will be difficult to top, since it was the Wonderful Walt Disney World extravaganza.

Most of what followed, while not Disney created magic, was magical with shiny and sparkly adventures with family and friends. Celebrating Christmas in North Carolina with son, Glenn, and family topped the list. We traveled two days, each way, and spent 3 fun and food-filled days with our NC Crew. It was great to be able to  enjoy the holiday with these grandkids who are growing up way too quickly.  My daughter in-law’s parents, who conveniently live right next door, are lively, terrific hosts and so much fun to be around. Ronnie outdid herself with presenting a wonderfully festive and healthy Christmas Eve dinner and Joan pulled off Christmas Day expertly. Kudos to both. 

This year, once again, I planned some "Minute-to-Win-It" games and fun was had by all, including great-grandma, GiGi.  I can't remember who won, but I do recall all of us laughing a lot during those games. The prizes were varied, but the most coveted of all, for the second time, was the package of dog treats! Next time, I'll need to get extra bags of Beggin’ Strips and hope I don't win that prize. 

Although a short visit, we did get to share time with the legendary 53-year-old Rubber Baby Jesus, a tradition that began with a gift to me the Christmas of 1966. I think I managed to snap a shot of everyone posing with Him. I was extra vigilant to keep Tucker and Buddy an arm’s distance away, even though I caught Glenn trying to taunt him in front of Tucker.  Years ago, the same situation with a different dog left Rubber Baby Jesus with one less pinkie finger.  

Before we headed north for Christmas, we finally got to (sort of) attend  the Christmas Spectacular in Epcot with friends, Kathy, Ray, Tricia and Craig. We began with a dinner in France and got to see Père Noël before heading over to the outdoor amphitheater.  As we got closer to our destination, the sky opened up and we were caught in a deluge. We tried to be troopers, but even with rain jackets and umbrellas, we gave up.  We were able to watch and listen from a distance under an overhang.

On January 1st, we hosted our Third Annual "Laid Back" NYE Bash. New neighbors, Carole and Serge were included in the mix this year. We ate, drank and were merry.

Speaking of my new neighbors, we feel pleased and lucky to have had them purchase the lot directly across the street from us. Carole is a very talented sewer, artist and calligrapher and she sparked an old passion of mine for sketching and calligraphy. We watched You Tube videos and sat together on warm Florida winter evenings inspiring each other. There will be a future Blog entry that will include our new friends as we booked a couple of campgrounds together in Connecticut and Maine this month.

A huge accomplishment, that deserves noting, was achieved by "daughter," Meily on January 9th when she earned her US Citizenship. The timing was perfect since her mom was visiting from Brazil and was able to witness the event. "Uncle Gregg" was there to help save the day and even FaceTimed the whole ceremonny with me. Anyone who has obtained their citizenship, understands that accomplishing this with a full-time job and three kids is worthy of respect and pride.

Valentine's Day arrived in a flash, and it found us celebrating it with good friend, Charlie. He had driven down in his new Winnebago View - aka "Winnie II," which replaced his former RV. Just the year prior, "Winnie I" went up in flames on his way home from our campground and was totalled. This year, he chose to stay at Thousand Trails, just a mile down the road.  We did get to enjoy a few meals together in he towns of Celebration and Clermont, which naturally included at least one where Sesame Chicken was served,  (Private joke - every time we go out for sushi, George orders Sesame Chicken.)

Last item of note, while not an RV journey, I flew out to Colorado to provide three of my grandchildren with a few fun-filled summer-break days (and nights). We went to see the movie, "The Lion King," and it reminded me that grandson, Cooper, acted in a production where he played the character, Timon (pronounced Tim-own). We spent a day at a water park, thanks to Aunt Patty, who drove us to "Pirate's Cove, where we met her daughter-in-law, Marie, and her two little girls, Sienna and Lena. It was a perfect day to get wet and wild. At the end of the day, Lola developed a bad allergic reaction, which made her very uncomfortable. Some Benadryl and cortisone cream did the trick (and a bit of special Meema love) and she was soon feeling better.

The journeys of visiting multiple grandchildren are always filled with a lot of noise, chaos, laughter and love. A few photos depicting some significant growth since the Disney trip in October.

Lola and Meema Remmy and Meema with Lola Remmy

Nina with her Meema Lobster and Nina Lobster

Heading into Church

Three bathing beauties!

Emma with her Meema Bear and Emma Bear

Aunt Patty with Lena and Sienna

Deep thought for the day: Friends and family make up a "quilt" that depicts our lives. Most quilts usually need some ironing, but I hope your quilt is a masterpiece like mine.  ~vc

Happy Valentine's Day 2018 - Florida Style

"Howwwww-dy" to all the dedicated followers of my blog. Yes, all seven of you.  As you know, it's been FOREVER since my last entry, which was from way back in the spring of 2017. I'll eventually finish up my draft of our "Summer Sojourn," but for now, I'm feeling creative so I'll try to generate something worth reading now.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day and George and I hosted our first official, big bash, dinner party on our pretty little piece of heaven here in Florida. We started with a small list of tried-and-true friends and little by little my list grew to allow us to fill our lot with old, new, newer and newest friends who melded together ever-so-smoothly.

I'm my own worst critic, but even I have to admit the night was totally enjoyable, made possible by the food, the friends and fun. Can't beat that combo.

Thanks to Charlie, one of the "old" (Webster Dictionary Definition: adjective - long-time) friends, a photo documentary of the evening follows. Today, I had a less-busy day than he, therefore the publishing of my blog entry will beat out his, however, it's his photos that will tell the actual story in the end. A huge thank you, Charlie, the longest-known friend of the bunch.

This first group of photos consists of the appetizers. I came to find out that, in the future, I need to instruct my friends to NOT make spectacular "main course" appetizers.

Veggie "Pizza"

Spinach Dip

Dungeness Crab Dip

Uh, just a little Italian Antipasti....

Picured left, Amanda.  Not pictured: Amanda's delicious appetizer - just simple rounds of  Polenta topped with caramelized onions, cranberry jam and goat cheese.  OMG - simple, yeah. The caramelized onions alone took 8 hours in a crock pot and the homemade cranberry jam...yummmmm  Remember folks, we're living out of RVs. There were leftovers of this app, but I ate those before composing this entry.

George, Tricia, Me, Connie, Randy and back of  Rob's head.

Randy and Alonzo

Kristin, Connie, Ray and Leona

Bob, Rob, and Randy-not a musical trio, but entertaining, nonetheless

Tricia and Leona

Dinner followed just as the sun set.  I failed to realize that it would be difficult to see the food on the black tablecloth.  A handy-dandy flashlight saved us from having to feel our way down the table of food.

Meat sizzling on the monster grill

Surf....

and turf.

Healthy sides: Green and yellow squash, mushrooms and onions.

Craig, The "Great Grill Master."  I heard a comment that he resembled Mark Wahlbergh and that he smelled good.

Kristin and Connie

Leona, Bob, Kristin, Alonzo and the back of Amanda's head.

"Fair Weather" friends. Me, Tricia and Charlie.

Last, but not least, Kathy!

Tricia's Crumb Cake

Tricia's back-up cake, just in case the crumb cake was a flop - it wasn't

Recreation of the bride cutting the cake. PS:  Husband waiting for a piece - of cake!!!

Kathy's Healthy and Tasty Fruit Salad

Connie's "Cupcake Lover's Heaven."

Lucy, the only one happy to see the night come to an end.

At the end of our official "first big bash," we got the site cleaned up with "a little help from our friends." Miss Priss (AKA Lucy) was the only one happy to see the night come to a close. She was hankering pretty badly for her daddy's lap. 

Now to start planning the next.....

Deep thought for the day:  It's the friends we meet along the way that helps us appreciate the journey. ~ Unknown source.