Happy Thursday everyone....what's new today?

Good morning everyone......

I am over the top excited that Butch finally got his Chemo last night....Praise the Lord!!!! I am sure Vickie is very exhausted after such a crazy day yesterday!! Much love Vickie and Butch!! More prayers on the way!! 

As for me .....nothing much for me today. I did my four loads of laundry yesterday and Tony took me grocery shopping. There was no bus to take us shopping this week. Both gals are on vacation. I relaxed the rest of the day!! I had a really good night's sleep. The sun is shining brightly again today. We need rain so bad. We do have a sprinkler system here but that only does so much. 

I will check back a little later to see who else has posted.

Wishing you all a sunny day!!

Prayers for our amazing OFF Family. We are so blessed to have found each other!!

Lots of love and oodles of hugs....connie d

Good Morning Connie, and OFF Family,

I am thrilled for Vickie and Butch, that his chemo started last night.  God is good, all the time.

It is a gorgeous day here.  I spent the morning doing my favorite thing, watching two of the three Munchkins.  Lincoln had his school physical.  So, I helped Izzy with some Math work she has to do each day.  She must read, and do math every morning, so she doesn't lag behind.  Research says kids can lose up to two or three months of skills over summer break.  Colleen is just like I was.  My kids had to read each day.  I had my own way of practicing math with them.  Lincoln has stuff to do to prepare for Kindergarten.

This afternoon, I have an appointment with the nurse at the pain doc's.  While there, I'll get some labwork done.  The office building where all the doctor's offices are also has a lab, imaging, and coffee shop.  At least most of my doctors are there.

Between tidying, and crocheting, I'll stay out of trouble.

Hugs,

Trish

Hello Trish.....as always you have so much planned for today. I hope you have time to relax later and do something you enjoy doing by yourself.

I wish my Grace was near....you are blessed to live so close to your grandchildren. I agree with the reading and math all summer. It really does work. It worked for my daughters and it is working for my grandchildren too!! 

Love you....HUGS.....connie d

Hi Connie,

Yes, I do relax.  I did some tidying before my appointment.  Ended up not getting the labs done, coz I found out I was supposed to fast, after I got there.  No biggie.  I got to the pain docs' early, and ended up being seen early as a result.  I get a shot in a couple of weeks.  

Colleen called me around 4:00, or so.  She needed me to come over for a few minutes so she could leave for work while Trent was on his way home from bringing home a pop-up camper they bought last night.  She is thrilled.  She absolutely hated tent camping, and has been hoping to get a pop-up for ages.  They got a bargain for this one.  It's old, almost 20 years old, but in practically new condition.  The couple they bought it from only used it around ten times.  Colleen and Trent checked it out last night.  She says it even smells brand new inside, and never got mice in it during the off seasons.  Also, the couple gave them some barely used pots, another cook stove, and the owners manual.  All they asked for it was $550.  Before, she always complained about tent camping, and borrowed my air mattress for herself.  Now, that's no longer necessary.  I'm so happy for her.  Maybe if we had owned a pop-up, her Dad would have liked camping.  He swore off camping after his basic training, and a week in the woods during military training.  The only time he gave in, it rained all weekend, and he took us to a hotel.  

I had fun watching the kids again.  Colleen is hoping to buy a house about a half hour or so away, so the kids can go to better schools.  Not sure when that's going to happen.  I believe that even though the schools here are lacking, with Colleen, me, two aunts and one uncle that are all teachers, the kids should be fine.  Plus, Izzy takes piano, and Lincoln probably will too.  She takes them to swimming lessons, and Lincoln plays soccer in the Spring and Fall.  Izzy did too, but she didn't like it as much as Lincoln does.  Izzy's a Girl Scout, and Colleen helps the troop leader.  They also attend Sunday School, and a children's program at church during the week.  Plus, unlike the kids from this area, they go to New York City, and Philadelphia, to go sight seeing, every summer.  This year, they went on a tour boat ride halfway around Manhattan, and in Philly they have been to the zoo, Betsy Ross and Ben Franklin''s houses, the Liberty Bell, and Independence Hall.  The Philadelphia Zoo is one of the bigger zoos I've been to, and is the oldest zoo in the country, started way back in the 1800's.  They'll eventually go to Valley Forge and Washington's Crossing, both parks with lots of stuff to see, as well as William Penn's house, coz he founded PA, and brought the idea of having people of all faiths living together peacefully, to the colonies.  Lots of history within 30 minutes of my home town.  

A friend posted an old statistics sheet from when my baby brother played Little League, and my Dad helped coach way back when.  I miss both of them terribly.  Daddy died when my baby brother was only 11 years old.  

Sorry to go on.  I'm feeling very nostalgic now.

Love,

Trish

Hi Connie and my OFF family:

I had a rough night at work last night; busy night trying to squeeze lots of news into little space. And then trying to get the guys to do the work. The page designer doesn't hear well and when I told him to do something, he didn't hear me and didn't do it. So we ended up going down late. He's a nice guy, but you have to be very specific with him and then speak loudly. Plus, I had a headache all night on and off. And I don't think today will be much better, because I still have a headache. 

I stopped off at Richard's on the way home and brought him some valerian I bought at CVS. I hope that helps ... he wanted me to come in, but I was just too pooped to do anything but go home. I know he's lonely but I felt miserable. I haven't seen him on FB, so hopefully he got some sleep. 

Connie, hope you can rest up today. Trish, sounds like you had a nice day with your grandkids. 

Well, that's all from me. Have a good day.

Hi Eileen....sorry you had such a bad night at work last night. It is too bad you still have a headache. I hope you can manage to get rid of it soon!

Hope the Valerian helps Richard.

I want you to try and have a nice day too. Not easy to do with how you are feeling. Maybe you got some good sleep after work last night. I hope you job goes much better tonight.

I have an appointment so I need to go for now. 

Love you....HUGS.....connie d

Eileen,

I'm so sorry you had a rough night last night, on top of a headache no less.  I had plenty of rough days during my teaching career, but they didn't wear me out, unless I had a headache, which only got worse with some classes.  Some classes I could just tell the kids I had a headache, and to take it easy on me, and they did.  That was extremely rare though.  

I have no idea what Valelrian is, but I'll look it up to see.  Hope it helps Richard.  Hopefully this dark period in his life is shorter than some can be for folks.  I am glad he has you in his life.  As much as it can be discouraging to help folks like Richard, you are definitely making a difference in his life, though he won't be able to see it till he's through this valley.  My Mom would isolate herself for months, when she'd sink into her pits, till she finally gave in to the doctors and got hospitalized.  We had one neighbor who would come over to our house, and drag her out for a ride.  She told Mom she didn't have to talk, just look out the window.  They would ride for a long time, before Bunny would bring Mom home.  She did that for Mom so much, Mom still talks about her, and what a good friend she was to her.  She was the only one of our family friends who understood Mom, and reached out to her in any way to help.  

Don't give up hope on Richard.  Just gently, occassionally help when you are able to.  

Hugs,

Trish

hello sistas!  We are going home today!   Butch did great with his chemo last night. My gosh, they didn't even start it until 9:30 pm. Finished up around 1:30 am. I stayed until it was finished just to make sure he was okay. Got to the hotel and to sleep around 2:00 am. Poor butch woke up disoriented and confused this morning. He did have his phone and called me. He was so distressed. He couldn't figure out where he was or where I was. I guess I should have spent the night. 

Anyway he's feeling better and his pain is being controlled well so we get to go home today! 

I'm pretty exhausted right now. I had to go back to the hotel and get us checked out by noon so we didn't have to pay for another night. My god, y'all wouldn't believe how much my hotel bill was!  We could have taken another vacation. 

Anyway we are happy and grateful and oh so hopeful again. It was worth every penny just to feel hope again. 

We have about a 4 hour drive ahead of us this evening but it should be easier on butch this time. I will catch up with y'all tomorrow. Love you all!

Hi Vickie....I am so glad you are going HOME!!!! Sorry you and Butch had such a rough night's sleep last night. No wonder you are so exhausted!! Then on top of that you had to load up and check out of the Hotel. I can't even imagine the cost of that!!

I am praying you have a safe drive home. I hope Butch has much less pain then he did on the ride there!! More prayers on the way.

If you have trouble driving and think you may dose off call me....I have unlimited talking and texting to and from anywhere.

I love you much....HUGS....connie d

Vickie, I'm so glad you and Butch have found some help. I know the chemo can be tough so I hope they have sent him home with drugs to help with the effects and especially painkillers. 

A high school friend of mine is at the Phoenix MD Anderson Center (didn't know there was one, but I guess so) for a recurrence of her lymphoma. She posted a photo that I posted for you on FB. 

Drive safely and I hope all goes well when you get home.