We have to have ghosts ...

Alright we have to have ghosts. We replaced the old circuit breaker with a new one and we no longer have any issues with that section. Now we don't have lights to the foyer, front porch, or the hall way. They didn't come back on as the other lights had done but we checked all the circuit breakers and none have been thrown. The lights had been working just a few hours before the new breaker was installed and now it doesn't. We can't figure out which breaker is controlling those lights as everything else seems to be working. What do we do now?

We are checking everything again today but I am getting a little tired of this whole process. I can't wait to get that electrician back to have him check all the wiring to see if he can detect a problem. We haven't had any problem with the electric up to this point since we moved in to this house. We can only joke about it because we are just clueless. Any ideas?

Circuit Breaker Replaced!

The breaker was replaced this morning by Dad. I was away getting my hair done and he had the whole house to himself. It took him awhile to find the right breaker for our box as they are old and you can't just find the same one. That would be too easy! He found one that he thought would work but it was too wide for the box. He had to go back and look around again. He found another one at the hardware store he found the original one at but he wanted to check Home Depot. He found the same one there but again he needed to check Lowe's. Lowe's did not even have breakers or very few so that was crossed off the list.

He just went back to the hardware store and bought the one he found originally. It looked different but it fit. It is working but he is still not sure if it is going to continue to do so. You see we think the house may be haunted as when we had the old breaker in, all things did not work - the TV, the bathroom lights, the paddle fan, my bedroom lamp. Then a few hours later when you were not expecting it, the bathroom lights came on, the fan started working, and my lamp came on. No one touched anything after it was decided that everything was dead from the dead breaker. This did not happen just one time but each night we had to mess with it. Maybe it was a short in the wiring but why would some things work and not all? Now that we have replaced the breaker, why is the TV working, as well as, everything else if it was a short? Hmmm ... We may never know----

A circuit breaker died :-(

Now you may think that this isn't a big deal, just get a new one and replace it. Well, it isn't that easy. We just had someone out to take a look at our circuit breaker box and all he said was that everything needed to be tightened up. So he made sure everything was screwed down tight and said that should take care of it. He didn't want anything for his time but Dad insisted on giving him something as he cleaned up the box, and checked all the circuits. Now you have to understand, everything was working OK at this point before anything was messed with.

He left, we were eating dinner and listening to speeches from the Democratic Conference. I happened to go into the room and saw that our TV was not on, the circuit breaker for the TV was off. The circuit breaker also works the outside porch light, the master bathroom light, and one of the bedroom lights. We could not get it back on.

Now we are without power to those areas until next Tuesday as it is Labor Day Weekend. Dad is more upset than I am about this. I tried to tell him that the circuit breaker handled more than the TV and the outside light. He did not listen to me until much later. I guess I did know a little more than he did this time.

I am not upset. Things happen. We have another TV to use. We have flashlights to use in the bathroom at night. Everything is good.

SURGERY

Well, surgery has been decided and the date has been set. I had my doctor's appointment today and it was decided to go ahead with the surgery as I have tried everything he has asked me to do. This problem has gone on for about 4 months now. He said it should have cleared up in 4-6 weeks. This will be the next step.

He will make a small cut along the tendon near the heel of my right foot. He will be cleaning out any scar tissue and checking out the tendon. If there are any tears, he will sew them up. He doesn't think I will have a big problem. He even feels I will be able to walk on the foot right away with using a special boot. This boot I will have for about 3 weeks. After this then I will be going back to physical therapy and slowly work myself back into things.

Now, if the doctor finds more than what he expects than I could have a longer recovery time. I then might have to go about 4-6 weeks, non-weight bearing, and then start physical therapy. He really doesn't see that happening though. The non-weight bearing will be a problem for me as I will either need to use crutches or a wheelchair to get around. I have tried using crutches and I am not very good. I guess I need Jon or Tony to show me how to use them :-)

My surgery is scheduled for September 8 at 9:25 am. The whole thing should take about 3-3 1/2 hours. This includes the surgery and recovery time. Dad has already told me that a "best and final bid" might be happening around this date and he hopes that it doesn't interrupt my surgery. I am sure he is just joking...

Dad is home and then gone again

Dad made it home yesterday. His plane even arrived earlier than expected. I had just arrived at the airport, parked the car and was walking to the terminal when I received a call. Dad told me he had arrived and was looking for me. I just thought he was still on the plane, as you can call once the plane lands. No, he was actually in the terminal. It was only 4:15. His plane wasn't supposed to be arriving until 4:30. So now we had to figure out where we were and walk towards each other.

It felt like a game of Mark-o Polo. It didn't take us long to find each other and I think he was just glad to be back. Another good reason about the early arrival was we didn't have to pay for any parking expense. I wasn't in the parking lot but a few minutes.

The temperature was 73 degrees compared to 103 degrees when he left Las Vegas. BIG difference. Dad said he could actually breath and his eyes weren't drying out from the heat. We stopped for dinner and then went home. It was so nice to have him home again.

He had to leave this morning to go down to Carlsbad, which is about an hour's drive from us for a Business Planning meeting with the company. I thought about trying to go for the dinner tonight. I tried to wear regular shoes yesterday when we went to dinner. It really didn't work. My toes were still sore and my achilles heel also started to hurt. I had to pass. Dad will be back tomorrow afternoon so it won't be too long. I am just tired of being by myself.

Dad is almost home

Dad should be coming home from his long trip tomorrow afternoon. It has been a long time since we have seen one another. He has been in Las Vegas since Monday of last week working on a large bid. The bid will take place this Monday, the 18th. He will fly home and then leave again on Tuesday for a Business Planning Meeting down in Carlsbad. This trip will be a short one as he will be back Wednesday afternoon.

I was supposed to go on this trip but with bruised toes, it is hard to put dress shoes on just yet. It is getting better and I just about can but to stay in the shoe for a few hours may prove to be a little daring right now. So I will pass on this trip. I will be glad to have him home for awhile after Wednesday.

We want to plan a trip to North Carolina in the fall to take a look at a new development around Chimney Rock. It will be up in the mountains. It isn't next door to anyone but it is within driving distance. Our thought right now is to buy land and build later. Now if we can just pick the spot and the state....

NO FRACTURE

The doctor finally called me back. I had only placed two calls yesterday asking for him to call. He calls me this morning and I am not here because I had an early morning appointment. Figures! The doctor just told me that the x-rays did not show any fracture. I could take Advil or something if needed for pain if I wanted, ice, and if I had any questions, I could call his office.

Well, it is a relief that I don't have to have any surgery or be laid up for any length of time for this. I just have a bruised little toe and foot. I didn't think it was broken. You just have a feeling for those things.

Now I wait for my next appointment with my doctor in a couple of weeks, to discuss the achilles tendon and whether to proceed with surgery on this or not. Stay tuned!

Oops I did it again!

I haven't even finished my physical therapy for achilles tendon problem, yet I have managed to get another problem. Saturday night we were getting ready to go out to dinner. This was our last night before we would be heading home on Sunday, August 10. Showers were taken and I had just finished in the bathroom. When I opened the door, I rammed it into my right foot, more precisely the two small toes. BOY DID IT HURT!!

After the initial shock wore off, I finished getting ready. It was then that I discovered I could not wear any shoes except my tennis shoes. My little toe was on its way to swelling up big time. My cane was really needed now.

I had physical therapy on Monday and the therapist took a look. She suggested I go to a doctor to have the foot looked at as it the toe looked broken. Great... something else I needed!

I had the appointment today and he has said the same thing, it looks like the little toe is broken BUT he also said he was concerned about the 4th metatarsal bone being broken too. If this was true, he would have to surgically go in and fix it. I had x-rays but I am waiting to hear what the decision will be. What a time for Dad to be out of town!

Our Cabo Trip

I caught my marlin! I started to have my doubts when we lost two sail fish that almost were hooked. Each time I was the one that had the rod and yet success slipped through our fingers. I started feeling like a jinks, even though it was just fishing and it happens.

We started the day at 6:30 am. The sun was barely up, yet all the boats were getting ready to head out for the day. Our captain and deck hand would be taking care of everything for us. The rods would be baited and set out. Once a fish struck, the deck hand would hand over the rod to one of us to finish. The problem arose when multiple fish were striking at the same time, as there were several lines out. The two we lost, during this time, were beautiful. They jumped out of the water and it was a sight to see. One fish bit the bait off the hook without getting caught and the second fish was able to knock off the bait from the line. The final problem happened because two lines tangled together. Then all was quiet. No bites. We just road the boat around and around. Hour after hour.

We were not the only ones not having success. The radio had chatter of other boat captains calling out to the fish - "Here fishy, fishy"... as the fish were not biting. We looked for marlin, tuna, and mahi-mahi. Nothing was being found.

Finally, I said that we would catch something at high noon. I caught my marlin about 12:30. It took about 30-45 minutes to land it. The time may not be accurate as we did not look at a watch. Dad took the rod first when the marlin was hooked, just to make sure the fish would stay on the line. I did not want to loose it. After a few minutes, the rod was given to me. Between Dad and the deck hand, I had a lot of help. It was tough. The crew did not know what type of marlin it was as it was not jumping to show itself. It was either a blue or striped marling. The fish was tired so much of the time, it was dead weight. It was very hard to reel in something without help from the other end. I finally succeeded and I was so proud and happy.

Mexico has a catch and release policy or you can decide to keep what you catch. I wanted to release the marlin. Pictures were taken first and even though the pictures don't show it clearly, the marline was a beautiful blue.

Humming Birds

We have a neighbor that has placed a hummingbird feeder off their deck and it has attracted so many hummingbirds. I finally took some pictures as it has been a sight to see so many.

Marlin Fishing Part 2

It is actually going to happen!!! We will be leaving next week. Not only that but we will going by private jet. The gentleman who is setting this up was excited that I wanted to go Marlin fishing as it is usually just the guys that want to do it. He travels a lot so to be able to have his wife take part was a win for him. So he is doing this up big time. It is a shame that we are not able to do everything that he is offering.

Dad has a business meeting on Wednesday and that was the first day of the special things to have happened. The gentleman was having a limo come by our home to pick us up, as well as two other couples, and take us to Balboa Bay Club & Resort on Newport Beach. We would have had dinner at Mastro's Restaurant, also on Newport, and then return to the Resort to spend the night. We then would have been picked up in the morning on Thursday, by limo, to take us to John Wayne Airport to board our private jet to fly us to Cabo San Lucas. We will drive ourselves to the airport to meet everyone.

We will leave between 9-9:30 am and arrive in Cabo about 11:30 am. We have deluxe ocean front rooms at the Sheraton Hacienda del Mar Resort & Spa. We have two fishing boats scheduled for our use on Friday and Saturday. We need to be at the docks by 6:30 am.

We then leave Cabo on Sunday by 2:30 pm by the private jet and arrive back at John Wayne airport by about 4:30. Then the limo will take everyone home or to their destinations. We will drive ourselves home on Sunday. What a fabulous weekend that is planned though! I can't wait!!!!