Friday, September 11, 2009

Dad and other stuff

Dad is back in the hospital. Retaining fluid from the congestive heart failure. He seems to always bounce back from these things. I am hoping he does this time too.
His 79th birthday is next month, October 4th.
Other than Dad's relapse, life has been good.

Work is busy.

Bob is great, coaching 4 girls now in softball. He is hosting a golf tournament for the United Way thru Citigroup, next Friday. It's his third year organizing it and hosting it.

Des is in his second year of college and likes his new roomies. Gets his cast off the 7th of October. (hopefully)

Maddie has some sort of allergy that is driving me nuts. Itching, scratching. Tried benedryl. Short of allergy tests and shots....there is nothing else I can do.
Otherwise....life is good.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Life is good....but why?

I know I haven't posted in a while. Just not in the mood. I have been thinking about my life....It's good. I don't have a million dollars or a maid...or a cook...but overall, life is good. I have been thinking about why my life is good. There are others out there less fortunate than I am. I am thankful for all I have but think sometimes I am not thankful enough or don't deserve it. I wonder why I was chosen to have a good life. My life hasn't been perfect. There were rough times. But overall it's been good. I think I think too much.....

Friday, August 14, 2009

The week ahead and update on Des....

Desmond had his surgery. Anyone who sees me on facebook should already know. I was so bored at the hospital, I was updating facebook every 5 minutes it seems. Hope I didn't bore anyone.

I have to be at the MOSI tomorrow for a Back To School Thingy. Representing the pedatric dental office where I work.......I volunteered.....must have had a bad day that day or someone drugged my coffee. It's like waking up after you have slept with someone and realizing "OMG this was a mistake". Kids get on my nerves and I hate crowds. There's supposed to be thousands of visitors there tomorrow.
So if anyone happens to be at the MOSI, stop by booth #7. Third floor of the Main Building. I will bore you to death with "don't put your baby to bed with a bottle, Start flossing at age 3 blah blah blah. It's like reciting the abc's to me. I just say it and not think about it.

I leave Thursday for N.J. Spending a few days with friends from my high school graduating class of 1982. Looking forward to getting away with Bob, and spending time with people I havn't seen since June of 1982. I got married and moved to Spain. Most of my friends went on to College or working. I lost contact with quite a few.

I will post some pictures of the event. We are meeting for drinks with a few classmates at DiPaolo's Italian Restaurant the night before the big bash, in Penns Grove, New Jersey.

http://dipaolos.wordpress.com

http://www.dipaolosrestaurant.com

It was a little Italian Deli where they made the pizza's right in front of you. You could get pizza, cheesestakes and subs. For dessert, Pizzelles, Italian cookies, Cannoli. My dad worked with the owner when he was working at Dupont. It was family owned and run. I have bought sandwiches there so many times, I can't even begin to count. It was the only place we got our pizza and cheesestakes. Most of the time we bought our subs there, sometimes Pheffers in Carneys Point, New Jersey. They both used Prioli's rolls.

Prioli's was a small Italian bakery in Penns Grove, NJ that sold round rolls, long italian loaves and smaller sandwich rolls. You could also get sub sandwich rolls. I tried and tried to get my dad to buy the place when it was for sale but he said he didn't like the business part of running a business. He would just go in and bake or cook and be happy. So I suggested he just buy the recipe and open a place in Virginia when they moved there in 1983. He could have someone to manage the business end and he could bake. He said no.....years later I heard him say, "I should have bought that recipe for Prioli's. We can't get a decent sandwich roll down here." I reminded him of what had said.

We went to our favorite little Italian place for dinner tonight. Pizza Mania in Wesley Chapel, FL. It has the best pizza, subs, steak sandwichs. The owner is from NJ. I was thinking about how much I missed my dad's cooking. He was a great cook and would spend hours in the kitchen stirring, mixing, baking. He would make his own sauce for Spaghetti every Sunday. He would start it at 8:00 a.m. and let it simmer all day. He would fry or bake some pork chops and put in the sauce. By the time the sauce finished the pork chops were so soft and soaked in the sauce. His Spaghetti and Meatballs was the best.

Dad is doing much better. Eating better, walking better. Just so much better. We moved him from Kentucky to Virginia the last weekend in July. We hired an ambulance service to transport him so they could moniter him. He did well during the trip. My sister was there when he got there to get him settled in. She's been there almost every day since. I wish I lived closer. I am planning on driving up for Thanksgiving so I can spend it with my dad. I havn't spent one with him in years. I think the last one was 1982. They were still living in New Jersey.

I love reminising about my life in Penns Grove. There are some great memories there.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Just another day in my life....

My son has been complaining of wrist pain...so I took him to an orthopaedist. Diagnosis: Fractured wrist. Three years ago...we had no idea. He just thought it was sprained. Surgery is August 12th. A Bone graft is necessary. And they have to remove scar tissue.
The fun in my life continues.......
I have a bacteria in my stomach that requires me to take 8 pills a day for the next 2 weeks. The pills make a nasty metalic taste in my mouth....
I am up to 17 pills a day including my vitamins and other RX's.
Work is crazy with all the parents wanting to get their kids in before school starts.Its really stressful right now.
When is it going to end?

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Now what?


I started not feeling well last week Wednesday. Gnawing knot in my stomach, nauseous. Left work early.....Thursday: Returned to work, gnawing still in stomach, nauseous. Came home, ate and had severe stomach pain all night. Friday: Worked half day, no patients. Was tired but felt ok. Still nauseous though. Saturday 3 p.m.: Severe stomach pains, so severe I ended up at the Drs. Walk In Clinic and then the emergency room. Diagnosis: Ulcer. Taking some meds for it.

Followed up with my Doc today and I have to have some testing done for some bacteria. She thinks I could have picked it up in the Dominican Republic.....yeah, that place from hell I vacationed at back in October. Great...
So, I have to do some tests and if it is positive, I have to take massive doses of antibiotics and then take massive doses of ulcer meds.
I am taking it in stride as I am so relieved to be out of pain.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Long time no post

Sorry, I went out of town to see my dad. I had posted earlier that he had fallen and was injured.

He is frail and can not feed himself very well. He falls asleep very easily and needs the help of two people to walk. He fell asleep while my sister cut his hair.
His head injury is healing nicely on the outside. The injury to his brain, well....hopefully..... that will get better.

He has trouble swallowing and is on a diet of thickened liquids to prevent him from getting choked. He is also on a soft diet. The speech therapist that helps him with the swallowing said she is upgrading his diet this week to nectar thick liquids and a more solid food diet.
I hope he starts eating more. He only takes tablespoons of food. Not very much.

Not much in the mood to post but wanted to update.