I Can't Believe We ate All That

25 Nov (Brad B-day)  The visiting Nurse was here about 9:30, check blood pressure, blood clot counts, temp and what ever else she needed to due....will return on Friday.  The Physical therapist showed up about 10:30 and went through the list of 10 exercises I had to do, takes me in and out the door (making sure I can do the steps), then headed out after about an hour.  I'm finally getting out of bed by myself, no more help needed to move the leg, yea.  My knee and leg are swollen quiet a bit, looks nasty and hurts.  

26 Nov The Occupation therapist shows up at 9:00 AM making sure that I can get in and out of shower, dress myself, including socks and shoes and we worked on getting me into bed so no more sleeping on the sofa.  My incision has cleared up and is no longer oozing anywhere, so Diane gets to shower in 48 hours hooray.  

Wed 27 Nov.  The Physical therapist shows up and worked on getting  Diane up and down the steps and in and out of car (can't miss Thanksgiving Dinner).  We did about 1/2 of my exercises, and I am happy to say I am doing them correctly (ha ha), then off he goes and here we sit.  We did some things around here, including laundry, then Brad headed out to the store, for B-Day cards and a few other things we needed.  Left over veggie soup and grilled cheese sandwich.  Not a bad day.  

Ready for Thanksgiving!!

Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. We got up, had breakfast and by 9:00 Diane was in the shower, ahhhhh, what a feeling.  It took a while to get me ready, between the shower and getting to blow dry my hair, I felt like a new person.  We finally headed out about 11:30, my first car ride since surgery, heading over to Deb's (jokingly called the convalescent home), this year for dinner.  The food was great and somehow, Brad and I got to sit at the table for the first feeding round.  The food was delicious and Deb made 2 Turkeys so people would have some left overs (thanks Deb).  Brad and I hung out until about 3:30, and were the last ones to leave, heading home, slowly, as I wasn't ready to get back in the house and be stuck there.  I did see two large buck on the way home, and they were so close to the CG that Brad ended up going around the block trying to get another view, but alas, they were gone.  When we got home, the temp. had started to drop, so inside with me, off on a walk for Brad and Rudy.  We just hung out, having Pumpkin Pie for dinner and enjoying the last of the Turkey Day dinner.  

Diane and Brad

Another operation

We are back to Wednesday, November 13.  So this is just going to be more of a summary of all the stuff that has happened. 

Wednesday I was taking dad to the Dr. and then borrowing his car, but while I was getting ready in the AM, our electric in the RV quit working.  Oh well, Brad took me over to Dads, then back to the RV to work on the electric, for the next 5 hours (glad I was gone).  It really ended up being nothing, but the process of elimination took forever.

Brad ended up going hunting, leaving Thursday morning and getting home Sunday afternoon.  I visited with Dad and Aunt Dot while he was gone, made a few meals for them, shopped with Lynne, stopped at Mel's and just enjoyed my alone time, but was really glad when they(Brad & Rudy) got home. 

Monday I took Dad and Aunt Dot over to see Mike in the hospital, Friday 11/15 he had a triple by-pass and this was the first they were able to get over.  He had lots of visitors, so we didn't stay long, just enough to say 'Hi' and move on.  We did manage to have lunch at Friendly's and I made sure they still had leftovers for dinner. 



Then comes Tuesday 11/19, the first picture is me in the pm after my hip replacement, but the second picture is Rudy and I, enjoying our sofa time together, taken on Saturday, when I was a much happier person, being at home finally.  The visiting nurse showed up on Saturday and  tomorrow( Monday),  the Physical Therapy  starts up.....this might be interesting. All in all I'm doing good and can't wait to be taking care of myself again.  Brad has been doing just a great job of looking after me. 

 Thanks for the visit,
Diane and Brad

More time in Dillsburg

Tuesday, November 5, Brad was going to help Shane move some of his things into storage, while I headed to the Dr.  My appointment was at 9:30, and I didn't get in until 11:00, I was a little upset, but then I was really impressed by the attention he gave, so all was good.  After that I met Brad and Shane at the storage unit and was sent right out to get pizza, so much for helping.  They got that unloaded, got his stuff out of our unit and were headed back to his house for another load.  I gave up and headed over to see dad for a while, with a cup of coffee in hand.  I stayed until about 5:00 when Karen and crew showed up, then headed out, in the dark...ugh.  We headed into the Legion for dinner so we could sign the book, talked with Lance for a little while, then headed home just in time to watch NCIS.

 

Wednesday was another long day.  I left the house at 9:30, stopped at Lynne's and swapped cars, then headed over for Aunt Lida and hit the road to pick up Aunt Dot.  It was a nice ride, but we stopped to visit Aunt Loretta, Uncle Kenny and crew when we got there, a nice visit and all seemed to be doing well.  Aunt Dot called up there to let us know she was back home, so we said our good-byes and headed out.  I managed to find Aunt Dot, got her loaded into the car then off to the 901 Bar and Grill for lunch.  None of us were disappointed with our meal and if we were hungry afterwards, it was our own faults.  Back on the road, arriving at Dad's about 3:00, Karen brought him home today and Aunt Dot is going to stay with him, since he is required to have somebody there for about 2 weeks.  I stayed about 20 min. to let Aunt Lida visit then took her home, swapped cars at Lynne's, met Brad at Mel's to drop off Monique's car then finally made it home.  Baked beans and hot dogs for dinner, a little chat with Lynne, then off to bed by 10:00, it has been an exhausting couple of days. 

Thursday was a stay at home and get caught up on Laundry and cleaning.  We ended up having to go to the Laundromat with 3 loads and I did 2 here at the house.  That took most of the morning, then we meet Shane and Alysha for lunch at Bakers.  Back home, try out the part for the refrigerator, not what we needed, so get that ready to return.  After that we got ready and headed into the Legion for drawing night.  No Lorin and Terri, so we had dinner, stayed for the numbers, then headed home.  For some reason we are both still really tired, so off to bed about 10:30.

Friday I got up and made 2 meat loaves, one for dad and Aunt Dot and the other for us.  We hung out here at home for a while then headed over to dads about 1:00.  We got there, visited for a while, then headed out to the grocery store to pick up some supplies for them.  Back to dad's, put the stuff away, got the meatloaf in the oven, when cousin Frankie showed up (Aunt Dot's son) and then Karen came in.  We visited with every one for a little while, then headed home.....to much commotion.  It was almost 7:00 until we got home, so we just ran into the VFW for dinner.  It was nice to visit everyone and I hope they all enjoyed the meal. 

Saturday Brad headed out in the morning to get propane in the small tank, while Lynne picked me up and we headed out.  First stop, lunch for Rick and Brad and a trip to the new house.  We ended up being there longer that planned and it was almost 1:30 until we got moving again.  First stop was JC Penny's where Lynne was looking for window treatments for the house, but the only purchase made was by me, 2 new shirts.  After that we stopped at Starbucks then off to Bed, Bath and Beyond where I managed to find what I was looking for.  We then called 'Your Place' to order Stromboli, stopped at one or two more places, got the Stromboli, stopped for beer then headed to Lynne's.  Brad was already back at our place showering and taking care of Rudy, Rick was showered, Lynne walked Bailey and I put the Stromboli in the oven when Brad called and said he was headed back to the Shirks.  We had a nice dinner and then Lynne and I kicked butt playing cards.  The guys got tired, so Brad and I headed home (me with a smile on my face). 

Sunday Brad dropped me off at Bakers to have breakfast with Shane and Lynne.  Shane is leaving today for Morgantown WV and a new job.  Brad is helping  Rick spread top soil getting ready for the landscaper, at least 2 days they've been at it now.  After breakfast we stopped at Giant, bought some soup for Dad and Aunt Dot, then took lunch over to the guys.  We then headed out to dads, where Lynne heated up the soup for them for lunch.  We hung out until about 4:00 then her and I went to the grocery store (after a Starbucks stop), the guys quit about 4:30, but Lynne took me home and then headed off herself.  I had put our meatloaf in the crock pot before I left, so we had a nice meal, food is in the house and we had a nice weekend to boot. 

Monday was another round of Dr. appointments.  Mine was a 9:40 and as the last time, he didn't come in until about 11:00, but that was ok.  We then stopped for lunch, back home, a quick shower for Brad and he is off to his appointment.  He stopped on the way home and returned the refrigerator parts in the mail, then he made it home.  We had another crock pot meal, cleaned up, watched Bones, then Brad was off to bed by 10:00 and me about 11:00.  These appointments, just too darned many of them. 

Tuesday, Brad has another appointment, this time for the scope down the throat.  No food, water, coffee, nothing for him this morning....that means I need to get my own coffee.  We headed out about 8:30 getting there a little early, but they took him right on time.  I have about 1.5 hours to wait, so needless to say, I ran out and grabbed something to eat and a cup of coffee, I know, not fair.  I was back in the waiting room when they called and about 10 min. later I was called back to meet with Brad and the Dr.  We got the cursory report and then headed out to feed Brad and load him up with some caffeine.  We then headed home, took care of Rudy, got some things ready to mail and headed back out.  The post office, rental place, a nose around the Shirks house, Sheetz, Lowe's, Home Depot and then we headed home.  I almost forgot, we did stop at Bakers for Beef Pot Pie which we deemed good enough to get some for Dad and Aunt Dot.  We then headed home, took Rudy for a walk then tried to watch NCIS, no luck the antenna was not cooperating, so I am working on the blog, Brad walked Rudy and now at 9:30 is off to bed, I am right behind him another busy, early rise day tomorrow. 

 

A Week in Dillsburg

Tuesday Brad was heading back to the Shirks, while I stayed home doing laundry, cleaning and making a spaghetti for dinner.   He was gone most of the day and got home about 5:00.  Shane was coming over for dinner, he needed to talk and ended letting us know he took a new job and was moving to the Pittsburgh area.  All I can do is hope that it all goes well for him.

 

Wednesday Dad was scheduled for open heart surgery.  He needed to be there a 9:00, so Lynne and I headed over about 10:00.  We went in and talked with him and Karen (she took him to the hospital) and then the waiting started.  His surgery was schedule for noon, but at 1:00 he was still there.  Chris came over and then about 1:30 I called Mel to come meet us for lunch.  Lynne, Mel and I headed up to the 11th floor, while Chris and Karen waited with Dad.  About 2:30 the Doctor finally came in, only to let us know that they didn't have the heart valve they needed.  Glad I wasn't there, I think Karen and Chris got a little explosive on the Doctor and then the DR. Assistant...what a day.  Lynne, Mel and I headed out, while Chris and Karen waited on Dad, home we all go.  While we all did the hospital wait, Brad was back at the Shirk house hold helping Rick finish the patio.

Thursday I am off again.  Poor Kaydence had a blood transfusion last night due to her sickle cell disease, it has been a rough kind of day for the poor child.  So I borrowed Monique's car (thanks Monique) and headed over to Hershey Hospital to visit Kaydence.  Lucky for me she was doing much better and we actually had some great play time together, coloring, and playing with the toys.  Poor Keisha was in and out all day, going home to shower and then off again to register for classes.  Great-great Pappy Angeli came over for a visit, so while Keisha was there, Mel, Pappy Angeli and I headed down to eat, then back up to the room so Keisha could go register.  About 3:30 Pere came over after work and it was about time for me to leave, 4-5 hours was long enough to visit.  She was doing well, took a good nap, but when the Dr. and nurses came in to do their tests, poking and prodding the poor child just cried, broke my little heart.  Back home for dinner at the Legion  (drawing night) where we ended up seeing Lorin and Terry and then Shane came back and had dinner with us.  One of these days I do need to get to the grocery store.

Friday is here and it's surgery day.  Today dad had to be at the hospital at 5:15, so Karen took him, again, and Brad ran me over to the hospital about 6:00.  I got there and Chris was there (should have bummed a ride), I got to see dad for just a few minutes, then he headed to the operating room, and the waiting begins.  We headed up to the 11th floor café and as the sun came up we watched all the city traffic arrive for the day.  Chris and Karen walked to the car, back up to the waiting room.  About 10:00 Karen and I were headed down stairs for a cup of coffee when we ran into Willie (one of the hospital workers) and he told us to make sure we were back by 10:30.  Sure enough, the word was put out at 10:30, surgery was over and they were moving him to a room on the 5th floor.  We all ended up being there rather late that night, dad was awake, a little rough looking, but awake and responsive.  Back home to wait to see how tomorrow goes.

Saturday morning Lynne and I headed over to the hospital about 9:30 and stayed 'til about 1 or 2, left so he could rest before more visitors showed up.  Lynne, Rick, Brad and I finally managed to have dinner together at the Pizza Grille, but the rest of the day was a blur. 

Sunday Brad headed over to help Rick, so Lynne and I went out to breakfast without them.  After that we both managed to get our grocery shopping done and I even managed to make a crock pot full of chili.  About 2:00 we headed back to the hospital, visited until about 6:00 then headed home, both of us exhausted and ready for a relaxing (ha ha) evening. 

Monday everybody heads back to work, so about noon, Brad and I headed over for a little visit.  We had a nice visit for about 2 hours, even getting dad a cup of good decaf from the coffee shop.  We left and then I find out, he really had a flurry of company after that, not sure how much rest he got, but I guess it was all good.  Brad and I made a few stops on the way home, left over chili and a lazy night, Bones on TV and an early to bed night. 


 

Tioga County to Dillsburg, PA

We are back in Dillsburg, for at least a month.  My dad is having surgery on Wednesday so we'll see how it goes. 

 

We survived our cold week in Tioga County.  Wednesday I had my blood work and some other appointments and we are finally done with doctor appointments.  We had borrowed a grill sized propane tank from Tony and that actually lasted until Thursday night, so Friday Brad returned that, running into Annette while he was there.  We did hit the VFW Wednesday for subs, Thursday for wings and again on Friday for the Fish fry....talk about not cooking. 

 

We did have an interesting story.  While I headed to my appointments, Brad started the defrosting of the refrigerator.  I got home just in time to wash all the shelves, drawers, racks, etc.  Not bad, but Brad was filling the water tank so he could disconnect the hoses, due to the cold weather, so I needed to use the pump, which is slow to start...when I noticed the water getting not quiet clear.  Oh well, back on regular water, ok now, must have been my imagination.  I'm not sure what happened next, whether I was on the pump water or well water, but it came out black, and not just black, but like sludge.  Brad started eliminating things, first the well water was clear, then he ran water out of the holding tank, that was clear, back inside for some more black water, then last but not least he checked the under the counter water filter....that was it.  It really was quite the scare for such a little fix.  The worst part was no one in Tioga County here had the filters so we had to run to Camping World in Hanover on Monday for the part. 

Sunday I headed out with Lynne for lunch with dad, then some running around before we headed back to her place about 4:00.  Brad stayed back to help Rick with the patio he is putting in. 

Monday we went to Hanover to pick up the water filter and then Brad headed back to the Shirk's to help with the patio while I stayed behind doing laundry, making a bunch of phone calls, and taking care of the Rudy.  Off to the Legion for dinner and then a restful evening at home.

I'll get better at this now that we have Internet service,
Diane and Brad

Tioga County, PA

Saturday 10-19, they are calling for rain beginning early afternoon, so Brad’s 11:00 meeting at the tree field got changed to 9:30, so he was up and out of here by 8:30.  I hung out here at the house, making a pot of ham and green beans, doing dishes,  cleaning up and tending to a vey ‘needy’ Rudy.  Brad got home about noon,  we got packed up and headed over to the Ochenriders camp.  They came up last night so Brad and Tony are going hunting while Kate and I head out to the Moose.   Us girls got back about 6:30-7:00 and the guys were waiting  for us.  Time for dinner, ham and green beans  done in the crock pot made a great meal.  After that some TV then about 9:30 we started playing Euchre, and of course us girls kicked butt. J The guys headed to bed about midnight and Kate and I ended up talking until 1:00, I just couldn't keep my eyes open so off to bed with us.

Eerie Sky,
Storm or Sun?

Sunday we all got up moving a little slow, not used the mid-night/1:00 AM bed times anymore. Tony made a delicious breakfast so Brad, Tony and I ate while waiting for Kate to get out of bed.  After she got up we sat around and talked some more, then about 11:00 Brad and I headed home, they still needed to pack up for their drive home.  I managed to get a load of laundry done, shower and then a trip to the grocery store.  Just as I was ready to start dinner, Lynne texted back, it was ok to call, so I did the 2 mile drive to the bridge where we get service and talked for about 30/40 min.  Back back home for a light dinner and lazy night, then Brad was off to bed about 9:30 and I followed about 10:00, we both are trying to catch up on some of the rest we missed the night before. 

Fighting the coming of Winter

Monday Brad had his doctor appointment, left about 9:00 and was home before 10:30.  We then packed up what we could from the outside of the Moho.  It is a beautiful 65 degree day and from here on out, our high temps are in the 40's.....not looking forward to that.  I did 2 loads of heavy clothes, so Brad put up a line so I could hang them out to dry.  We put most of the outside stuff away, rolled up the awnings, put some things back together that Brad had torn apart and just enjoyed the day being outside.  About 1:00 we headed into town for a quick sandwich and a place to make a phone call, back to the RV, tend to Rudy, then Brad headed back to the Ochenrider's camp to do some hunting while Rudy and I hung out at home.  I finally took the time to mount our US map and attached the states we have been to in the last 2-3 years, worked on the blog (in MS Word), finished all the laundry and did a lot of walking with Rudy.  Brad got back about 7:30, we had dinner (crock pot stew) then it was off to bed with all of us about 10:30. 

 

Later,

Diane and Brad

Dillsburg to Tioga County

Saturday 10-12, by the time we left the CG the creek water was back in its bank, we were both amazed at how fast it came up and then receded again.  We finally get out of the CG about 10:30, Brad stopped for fuel while I took the bikes and rack to Mel’s.  We then met at Tractor Supply and got Rudy a new leash, a stop at the storage unit, then lunch with dad at the Summerdale Diner, on the road again about 2:15.  With all the rain and stuff on Friday, we were flooded in the CG and couldn’t get out to do our last day running.  We finally get to Tioga County and settled in about 6:30…..what a long day.  The CG is small and we are the only one’s here, no Internet or cell service but we can get texts, now that we hooked up the booster. 

Sunday we headed over to see the Ochenriders before they were packed up to head home.  It was a nice visit and I think we kept them from getting ready to leave.  They did decide they were coming up and next weekend since we’ll be here to visit.  We borrowed a propane tank then headed back home, walked the dog a lot, a little hike through the woods, hot dogs for dinner, a lazy kind of day for us.

Can you say 'Yard Art?'

Monday we headed into the Knoxville post office (closed), so into Ackley’s for propane and we were both surprised to see the lack of inventory they had.  We decided that if they aren’t going out of business they are doing a mighty good imitation.  We then headed home to get things ready for the rain they are calling for on Tuesday.  Brad hooked up the propane tank, and the water hose for the black tank, we put out the awning and anchored that down. Brad washed the bug guts off the windshield and the front of the Moho.  I then filled my bird feeder, hung that up and just spent the better part of the afternoon puttering around the campsite. We then headed to the VFW for wings, oops, not on Monday so we had a couple of beers then headed home to see what we could scrounge up here. 

Tuesday I put dinner in the crock pot then we headed out for a day of running.  First stop, lunch as the courthouse was closed.  After that Brad stopped at the insurance company, no luck, I’m not sure they are really an authorized insurance company.  Then off to the Court House to get his doe license (his never showed up in the mail), off to the liquor store and we did some window shopping while in town.  We head home about 3:00 and did all the back roads, just enjoying the color and fall weather.  Back home walk the dog then had ham and green beans for dinner, yum.    We never did get much rain, but at least all our outdoor chores had gotten done. 

Wednesday we packed up all the laundry (lots from the rainy Friday we had) and headed into the Laundromat to do all the rags, rugs and heavy clothes.  We walked down to the coffee shop and while in there we ran into Ken May, so we chit-chatted with him until he left, then we headed back to check on the clothes.  After they are in the dryer, Brad headed over to the hunting store to get his archery license and ask about getting the bow sited in, (we put a new scope on it last year and need to find a place that can make sure it’s mounted correctly).  After that gathered up the laundry, back home put all that away then head off to see Don and Bonnie Gilman.  We ended up visiting with them about 2 hours, lots to talk about and stories to share.  We headed home about 4:00, tended to Rudy then off to the VFW for hoagies. 

Camp site with Pavilion

Thursday morning I get ready for my 10:20 Dr. Appointment for my regular yearly checkup (1 year late), x-ray of my hip and orders for blood work and a mammogram.  I get back home about noon to find Brad putting the bathroom fan back together.  He had taken it apart to clean it and when he had it back together, found a part on the table he forgot to put back, so he tore it apart again to replace the missing pin.  I have the computer outside under our “private” pavilion working on the blog and enjoying the wonder weather.  There is rain and colder weather in the forecast, so I’m going to enjoy what I can.  About 2:00 we headed out to do some running, over to Elkland, and a cruise around the back roads, getting lost and ending up in NY.  Back home, tend to Rudy, then off to the VFW for wings.  We have missed the food from there and it is nice to be so close.  Back home tend to Rudy and off to bed about 10:00.

Lovin' the leaves

Today, Friday we got up and headed out about 11:00.  Over to Mansfield for lunch, Lowes, Tractor Supply and back to the coffee shop so I can publish the blog.  It is now about 3:30, we didn't get anything we actually came over here for, but got lots of things we didn't need or were shopping for.  Will try to post again, before it's catch up for the week. 

 

Diane and Brad