We have trips and things coming up

We have a very busy end of the month of March and most of April.  At the end of March, on the 28th, we will have some of our furniture and things packed up and then on Tuesday, the 29th, we will have everything loaded to be sent to Bluffton and our house.  On Thursday night, we will be flying to Ft. Lauderdale, FL for my 40th High School Reunion.  It will only be a quick trip; we will get there on April 1, early in the morning after doing the red eye from LAX.  Friday night we have an ice breaker get- together and then Saturday night, we have the reunion.  We will fly out on Sunday morning, April 3, to get back to LAX and then home.

Dad has a bid  on Thursday, April 7.  We have the MS Walk on Saturday, April 9.  We will then fly again to South Carolina to see our house and spend time there on April 10 and will be there until the 24th, which we will fly back home.

On Monday, April 25, I will be meeting my foot doctor to go over what will be happening on May 2 when I have bunion surgery on my left foot.  I won't be able to put any weight on that foot for a couple of weeks but the healing will take about 6-8 weeks.  I am hoping for the lesser side.

Our anniversary is June 12.  We wanted to plan something but I am not sure what I will be or won't be able to do.  We may have to wait and celebrate in the fall.  This will be our 40th anniversary - WOW!  I have known Dad for most of my life.  I meet him when I was a freshman in High School at the age of 14 and we dated all 4 years.  After graduating and three weeks later, we were married.  I still can't believe it has been that long.  I had only dated one guy and it was Dad.  I guess you can say he was my soul mate.

What we will do the rest of the summer is still up in the air.  A family reunion has been talked about but that has not been finalized.  It will be just nice to stop and catch our breath.

The Tsunami

We are fine here in Southern California. We are close to the beach but we are on high ground. All the beaches are closed. Two schools close to the beach are closed. Not expecting really high waves but the current and waves will be bad so people are being kept from the water. The tsunami is just now coming into shore. The water is being sucked out to sea and then comes back after a couple of minutes. This tusmani will be lasting for a few more hours before it is all done. Large boats have moved out of the harbor into deeper water. Harbors and walk paths have been closed for safety. Everyone along the beaches are keeping updated. No major evacuations are being given but if one is requested they are urging people to head the request.  Fascinating by what is happening but glad to be on high ground.  Boats in the harbor of Santa Cruz, which is north of us, has had damage of their boats in their harbor.  No injuries to anyone.


Just think, the earthquake happened in Japan and we are feeling the effects of it now.  Wow!  This is a first for us being here in California.  They said the earthquake in Japan was 3,000 times as powerful as the earthquake in Riverside CA which was a major earthquake that did a lot of damage.  

What I am worrying about...

I am to have another colonoscopy next Monday, Jan 17.  That unto itself is no big deal.  People have them all the time.  It is not much fun, especially preparing for it but once you reach the age of 50 and beyond you will need to start having them.  Usually after you have one, it is not required to have another for at least 10 years if everything is OK.  If you have a polyp that they have to remove and everything is still OK after looking at it, you will be asked to come back in 5 years for another.

Now if they find a polyp that looks suspicious but is not a definite diagnosis of colon cancer, they will ask you to return in three years.  This is where I am at.  I have been asked to have the procedure because apparently I had one removed three years ago that was suspicious of colon cancer but it wasn't definite.

This came as a big surprise to me when I went in for that appointment.  I was told that my results were normal and now I find out they weren't.  So I have to worry (and really try not too but that is hard to do) and wait for Monday.  My procedure is scheduled for 12:20 PM and I will be going home by 2:15 PM.  I really do hope that I get some results before I leave and not have to wait for any biopsies if they have to do anything like that.

I am now on a restricted diet for three days before I start the prep work on Sunday for Monday.  The prep work consists of drinking a gallon of this preparation that is awful to drink.  It just cleans you out.  I know TMI (too much information).  I guess you can look at it as a very quick way to lose weight but not in a very pleasant way.

So that is the news I am worrying about.  It has caused me to have a headache everyday just from tension and not to sleep real well.  I am able to get a sleeping pill to help me on that.  I am scared but I try not to say too much.  Dad will be with me on Monday.  If it is what it is, we will deal with it, what else can we do.  We just have to think positive that I will be OK.

Hampton Lake

We had our design meeting last week. We flew into Charleston South Carolina to go to David Weekley's Design Center. This place had everything you needed to design your home from the outside to the inside. We had to pick colors for the siding and the brick. From the shingles to the front door. We had different styles of garage door to choose from and the outside lights for the front and side. Then we moved inside...

We started with the kitchen. What kind of cabinet do you want? What color? Light or dark? Detail or none? What type of cabinets do you need? Do you need a trash cabinet by the sink? How about a drop open tray to store your sponges, etc.? What about a separate cabinet for your cookie sheets and cutting boards? Do you want drawers for your pots and pans or just a cabinet? Would you like pull out shelves?

What do you want for the top of the cabinets? Granite? What color? Do you want a back splash? Do you want a design? How do you want the tiles to look and the color?

Now lets move onto the floor. What type of floor do you want? Wood, tile, stone? How far do you want to use this type of flooring? What about light fixtures over the kitchen island?

Do you want to upgrade anything?

So are we are using the same color cabinets and granite that are in the kitchen for all the bathrooms? Are we using carpet for the bedrooms? What color? What style? What thickness? How does it feel? How will it wear?

Oh, and what about the shower? Are we changing to tile or keeping the standard? If changing, what will it be and what color? Will both bathrooms be changed?

This process lasted all day! We started at 9:00 AM and finished around 5:00 PM. We did stop for lunch but the rest of the time we were choosing everything. We had to do it this way as making trips back and forth are difficult.  This should give you a little idea of what the colors should be...

The bottom color is the wood floor, which will be through the main part of the house.  The tile at the top that is plain tan and a design tile on top will be for the kitchen back splash.  The 2x2 squares are for the bottom of the master shower.  The cabinet color and design goes well with everything and the granite really stands out.

This picture gives you a better look at the granite, cabinet color, and tile.  The dark color you see is the counter we were working on and is not part of the design.

This pictures shows you all the different things that were chosen.  The carpet is on the bottom left and it is a light chocolate.  It matches up really nice against the wood floor.  The wood floor is stressed so it looks already marked up.  We won't have to worry about Frankie and his nails.

This last picture is trying to show you the paint colors.  It will be a soft green for the main part of the house with a soft yellow in the bedrooms.

Here are some pictures of our lot and of the back.

This is the beginning of our driveway or the front of the lot.

This is the small opening we have to the rest of the lake.  Our house will be one of 4 facing the lake. We are the only ones that will have a dock.

This is the side view of the lot.  No one will be building to the left of us.  This is all green preserve that you see and will not be touched.

I hope this gives you an idea of what things might be looking like.  We are looking forward to seeing it all together.  We are still waiting on four more things to be priced before a final contract is signed.  The contractor wants to build and close on this home by Christmas.  So Very quick!

Our first conference call on our new home

We had our first conference call about the new house in Bluffton South Carolina this morning. Because of the time difference we had to have the call at 8:00 am our time to 11:00 eastern time. We went over all the questions we had and it went very well. It just makes the process of getting this house more of a reality.

It is scary to think we will have a second home for a couple of years before actually moving into it. We wonder if we are doing the right thing in moving to Bluffton. We won't have to deal with snow and too much cold, which is what we are looking for, so I guess this is the right place.

We are getting a house right on water. We will have a boat dock to have a Duffy boat. A Duffy boat is one that is battery charged. The lake they have is a no wake zone so this boat is the best one to have unless you use a canoe or kayak. They do have those to rent.

We will have room for visitors and things for people to do. The pool area will be great for the kids and there is a separate pool for adults only. If anyone wants to go camping, they have that too. We aren't into it but someone might.

The people that we have talked with have all been very nice. I think it will be a good place for us. The only issue I have is that we aren't closer to family but with us being on retirement, we can drive to see everyone. We will have the time.

After this house is built, the "fun" time will be to furnish it. We will have most of our things here but we will need things there for when we visit or anyone else. i have to figure that one out.

We were asked if we could close by the end of this year. We said yes. This just means we won't be getting each other Christmas presents for each other but things for the new house. We will need everything. This will make it easy when you ask what can you get us - ha ha.

Dad has already had some hints that Clark is getting ready for him to retire. It has caught him by surprise as it makes it a little more real for him. The job will be ending for him. He hopes he can continue to work for a least another two years but Clark is positioning itself to bring in another Chief Estimator for him to start working with. Again that was a shocker for him to hear about that at a planning for the future meeting yesterday. Changes will be happening in the next few years.

It's August Already

Where has the summer gone? We are already into the second week of August. The month is just flying by. The coast of California really has not had a summer this year. Around here it has stayed in the upper 60's to low 70's every day. Some days were better than others, meaning we had gray, foggy days. No rain, just gloomy. We finally are seeing sun. I know that some of you have had enough of the heat and want it to go away. I hope it will for you and soon.

We did buy a house in Bluffton, South Carolina, in Hampton Lakes. It will be one that will be built. We aren't in a big hurry for the construction to be finished as the longer it takes, the longer it will be before we have to start making mortgage payments. The builder, David Weekly Homes, has given us a lot of extras for the first year. They are paying for the first year of POA. This is Property Owner Association. Every one has their own take on things - ha,ha. They are also paying for the first year of lawn maintenance which will be helpful to us. Anything to cut our expenses. We haven't been given a date for completion but we are guessing January 2011.

We are still in limbo about the job in Denver for the VA Hospital. The VA still has not made up their minds. So we wait and wait some more. One of these days we will be surprised with an announcement. Will we still be going to Denver? Depends on whether Clark wants us too. We are supposed too. We will have to wait and see. See, more waiting. Talk about having patience...

I am doing well so far on the new drug for walking. I should be starting on taking 2 tablets in about a week and a half. It does feel scary to me but I am hoping everything will be fine. I haven't had any problems now. I have my next infusion of the steroid on August 21. This will leave me one more month of it and then I see the doctor again. Thank goodness for insurance!

Medical Update

I just had my MS neurologist check up today and on the whole everything if fine. I have to have some blood work done to check on things like my liver. I am continuing on the steroid for another 3 months. The Solu-medrol will be administered as before, at the hospital by IV. It usually only takes about an hour or so. Not too long. I just don't like the after effects. I get very red, like I have a very bad sun burn, for a day and I can't sleep for 34 hours. I can a lot done if I have things to do.

I will be starting on a new medicine. It is called Ampyra, (pronounced amPEERah). It is the new drug that was developed for MS patients to help with their walking. I should start it in a couple of weeks. I hope that I won't have any problem with this drug but there are side effects. The biggest one is that it can cause seizures. I am not prone to seizures so I should be OK. Just the same, the doctor is being cautious. He is telling me that when I start, to only take one pill for a month and then if I do fine with it, then I can take the full dose of 2 pills a day, 12 hours apart. The things I have read online does sound pretty promising. Some people have improved walking along with some of their other symptoms. I am to have more endurance and more speed in my walking. Anything will be helpful.

So I stay on everything else. I had an increase in one of my other drugs for depression. I think that was caused for two reasons. One, because I had a flare-up, and Two, because of the flare-up, I started to fear that the MS was starting to take a turn for the worse again after being quiet for awhile. I still have that thought but I am trying to stay positive. I am just not happy about having to be on the steroids again. It did stop things the last time so maybe it will do it again.