Recovery from my back surgery is going MUCH better this time compared to my last back surgery but I still have a ways to go before I am completely recovered. Currently, I am scheduled to go back to work on Nov 9th.
I had a Lateral Interbody Fusion of my L3/4 and L4/5. My previous surgery was a fusion of my L5/S1. So now, the bottom three discs in my back are removed and replaced with nuts, bolts and bone.
The Lateral Interbody procedure is new. It is a lot less invasive than normal back surgery but still requires three incisions: two on the side and one in the center of the back. Here are a couple of videos on the surgery.
This is a short video explaining the surgery
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOpfUBrIA7c
This is a video of an ACTUAL surgery. The video is long but it is kind of cool watch. They have cameras inside of the body.
http://www.orlive.com/tgh/videos/xlif-procedure?cmpid=active_redirect
I had my surgery on September 21 and it is now October 14, so it has been about three and half weeks since surgery. The first week and half after surgery I was talking two Norco (super strength Vicodine) every four hours. At hour three I would be counting the minutes until I could take the next set of pills. It would then take about an hour for the pills to kick in. So was really only getting me about an hour of relief. A relief was really just making the pain manageable as opposed to making it go away.
The next week or so I was taking the same amount of pain pills but the pain was manageable for about 3 of the 4 hours between pills rather than just one. Now I am only taking one pill about 4 hours or so, except in the evening when I still take two. And while before I was lucky to get four straight hours of sleep, I now can sleep for about 6 – 7 hours before I am awaken by pain.
In the operation the cut me on my side and insert a small metal tube through some muscles all the way to the back bone. They then spread the muscles a part so they can get at the discs. This muscle runs down the side of your back bone and down your leg. Because of this, I had a very difficult time moving my right leg after surgery. It was extremely painful to straighten it out so I had to keep some pillows under the knee to keep it bent. This also made it difficult to walk and it is hard to walk without straightening out your leg. Right now, I think the leg pain is worse than the back pain which my doctor says is a good sign. He said that the larger the muscle, the more painful it is. But the fact that my leg is bothering more than my back shows that my back has improved.
Before surgery, I used to get a lot of nerve pain down my left leg. This pain is completely gone now – very good sign.
So right now, my doctor wants me to try to get up and walk around a lot. My back is growing bone where the disc used to be and I need to make sure my back is straight or the bone will grow in wrong. Tania is taking me on “field trips” everyday so I can get some good walking time in. Although after 30 minutes or so my leg gets very sore and start limping. I went to the grocery store with Tania on Monday, yesterday we went to the mall and today I get to go to Target. Boy, my life is just full of adventure.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
25 Wonderful Years
Facebook really kills the motivation to blog. I am way behind on the blog updates. So much has happened since my last post I am not sure where to start. Should I just leave out all the things I meant to blog about but never got around to, or do I just jump into what I did yesterday (which was Tania and my 25 year anniversary).
I completely procrastinated on blogging about moving Crystal into her dorm. It was 98 degrees the day we moved her in. 95 degrees in San Fransisco only occurs on days when you are moving. Lucky for my back a helpful college student carried the majority of boxes up the stairs for us. I guess it helps to have a cute daughter. Crystal's roommate is VERY quite and I think more shy than Crystal. She is from Georgia and flew in by herself. While Crystal had four suite cases of clothes, her roommate only had one suite case and a back pack. That included clothes, bedding, towles and four three ring binders. I'm not sure how that poor girl will avoid freezing over the winter.
All-in-all my back held up extremely well on the trip - the car ride up, moving in, walking ALL over the city, sleeping on a cheap bed in a crummy motel in Santa Cruz, and the ride home. Matter of fact, my back has been in "low-pain" mode ever since I booked my surgery (which is two weeks away). That's the way it usually goes, right? Now what do I do?
While in Santa Cruz I was sitting at a stop light at a major intersection when a guy walking across the street got hit by a truck going about 30 - 40 miles an hour. I was the third car in line and wasn't paying attention so I didn't see it happen. The thud sound (not a thump, nor a bang, but a thud) made me look up in time to see someone rolling over the top of the hood of a red truck. His tennis shoe when flying. He ended up in the center devider, while his shoe was three lanes away on the sidewalk. Yep, I saw someone get knocked right out of his shoes. Well, at least one of them any ways.
The first thing I did was try to call 911. I say try because I got a message that the curcuits were busy. Our great 911 system at work. I am CPR certified so I got out of the car to see if he needed my help. I am not sure if he was knocked out at first or not but he started moving a little once I got to him. A couple of other people were already standing around him but they, like me weren't really sure what to do. His hands and face were bloody and he had a three inch chunk of skin missing from his hip. While their was a pretty good size puddle of blood, he wasn't bleeding profusely from any where. He tried to get up a few times but we kept him still until the ambulance arrived. Unfortunately, he didn't speak English so it took a little effort to get him to understand us. Being that I really didn't see how it happen, I left once the police and emergancy crews arrived. I was suppose to be picking up some breakfast for Tania who was waiting at the motel.
Since we spent the prevoius weekend up North, our Labor Day was pretty quite. Oh, also the fact that Drew stood us up in terms of coming down for the weekend also helped keep the weekend quite. I cooked some beef and pork ribs up on Sunday. They were slightly over done (I think I was the only one who noticed) but they were the most tender, meat-falling-off-the-bone ribs I have ever made. Drew missed out.
Tuesday was our anniversary. While we were trying to figure out what to do on the big day we noticed that August: Osage County was opening in LA on that day. Best of all, second row seats were still available. We were so close, smoke got in my eyes when the main character lite a cigerette. Tania wasn't sure about the play because she prefers musicals but I must say it was one of the best plays I have ever seen. I would list it somewhere between four and six in the play ranking. And yes, Tania agreed.
To beat the traffic into the city we decided to get there early and get pedicures and have dinner. My first pedicure ever, but I figured if Aaron could do it my masculinity would stay intack.
The only bad part of the night was the speeding ticket on the way. Oh well, nothing traffic school won't remove off the record.
Well, there is the summary of what should have been three or four seperate posts. Tommorrow I leave for Detriot on a business trip. Hopefully, my back will continue on low-pain mode.
I completely procrastinated on blogging about moving Crystal into her dorm. It was 98 degrees the day we moved her in. 95 degrees in San Fransisco only occurs on days when you are moving. Lucky for my back a helpful college student carried the majority of boxes up the stairs for us. I guess it helps to have a cute daughter. Crystal's roommate is VERY quite and I think more shy than Crystal. She is from Georgia and flew in by herself. While Crystal had four suite cases of clothes, her roommate only had one suite case and a back pack. That included clothes, bedding, towles and four three ring binders. I'm not sure how that poor girl will avoid freezing over the winter.
All-in-all my back held up extremely well on the trip - the car ride up, moving in, walking ALL over the city, sleeping on a cheap bed in a crummy motel in Santa Cruz, and the ride home. Matter of fact, my back has been in "low-pain" mode ever since I booked my surgery (which is two weeks away). That's the way it usually goes, right? Now what do I do?
While in Santa Cruz I was sitting at a stop light at a major intersection when a guy walking across the street got hit by a truck going about 30 - 40 miles an hour. I was the third car in line and wasn't paying attention so I didn't see it happen. The thud sound (not a thump, nor a bang, but a thud) made me look up in time to see someone rolling over the top of the hood of a red truck. His tennis shoe when flying. He ended up in the center devider, while his shoe was three lanes away on the sidewalk. Yep, I saw someone get knocked right out of his shoes. Well, at least one of them any ways.
The first thing I did was try to call 911. I say try because I got a message that the curcuits were busy. Our great 911 system at work. I am CPR certified so I got out of the car to see if he needed my help. I am not sure if he was knocked out at first or not but he started moving a little once I got to him. A couple of other people were already standing around him but they, like me weren't really sure what to do. His hands and face were bloody and he had a three inch chunk of skin missing from his hip. While their was a pretty good size puddle of blood, he wasn't bleeding profusely from any where. He tried to get up a few times but we kept him still until the ambulance arrived. Unfortunately, he didn't speak English so it took a little effort to get him to understand us. Being that I really didn't see how it happen, I left once the police and emergancy crews arrived. I was suppose to be picking up some breakfast for Tania who was waiting at the motel.
Since we spent the prevoius weekend up North, our Labor Day was pretty quite. Oh, also the fact that Drew stood us up in terms of coming down for the weekend also helped keep the weekend quite. I cooked some beef and pork ribs up on Sunday. They were slightly over done (I think I was the only one who noticed) but they were the most tender, meat-falling-off-the-bone ribs I have ever made. Drew missed out.
Tuesday was our anniversary. While we were trying to figure out what to do on the big day we noticed that August: Osage County was opening in LA on that day. Best of all, second row seats were still available. We were so close, smoke got in my eyes when the main character lite a cigerette. Tania wasn't sure about the play because she prefers musicals but I must say it was one of the best plays I have ever seen. I would list it somewhere between four and six in the play ranking. And yes, Tania agreed.
To beat the traffic into the city we decided to get there early and get pedicures and have dinner. My first pedicure ever, but I figured if Aaron could do it my masculinity would stay intack.
The only bad part of the night was the speeding ticket on the way. Oh well, nothing traffic school won't remove off the record.
Well, there is the summary of what should have been three or four seperate posts. Tommorrow I leave for Detriot on a business trip. Hopefully, my back will continue on low-pain mode.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Life is Challenging Right Now
Damn, Damn, Damn. Sorry about the cussing but sometimes it is the only way to truly display your emotional state.
The back has been slowly getting better. Very slow, but improvement keeps hope alive that a pain-free life is a possibility. I have to different types of pain:
1) Nerve pain that starts at the lower back and goes down the back of the left leg all the way down to the foot. It is not a shoot pain, just an intense pain coming from a small area (about the size of a string) going all the way down the leg. I also get bad calf cramps and weakness in the leg when this nerve gets aggravated.
2) Intense lower back pain from the L3 - L5. It is the typical muscle pain you get with a sore back, but there is also an intense pain that feels like a bruise right on the back bone. This makes it very painful to walk up and down stairs (remember, I live in a four story house).
For the past several months, my back pain has really been under control. My main issue is that every time I step up my exercises I left leg starts acting up. However, this was soon to change.
Friday night, while playing poker, the pain in my back slowly starting escalating to the point that I put all my money in on a 12% chance of winning just so I could loose and go home. However, Saturday was fine. I actually did some new PT exercises and did some honey-do’s around the house. I felt good most of the day but Sunday night the back escalated higher than normal.
Monday was the same way; my back was sorer than normal but not so bad too keep me away from work. Unfortunately, throughout the day it slowly hurt more and more. By 4 PM I was in level 9 pain (at level 10 I can’t even move my body because it hurts so badly). Friday night I was pushing the limits on the number of pain pills and muscle relaxing I was taking.
Here is it Tuesday and I am spending the entire day in bed with my pay just one step away from incapacitating me. Hopefully, the pain will drop down to a manageable level by tomorrow. You never know, sometimes it heals quickly, sometimes you stay sore for a week.
It is definitely time to start shopping for a new surgeon (my old surgeon no longer accepts my insurance). Lucky for me I have a VERY good physical therapist. Over the years, he has diagnosed me better than some of the doctors I was seeing. I have printed out all the Orthopedic Surgeon within a 30 mile radius that accepts my insurance and physical therapist is going to let me know which ones he feels are the best.
I think it is time to get the L3/L4 and L4/L5 fused also.
The back has been slowly getting better. Very slow, but improvement keeps hope alive that a pain-free life is a possibility. I have to different types of pain:
1) Nerve pain that starts at the lower back and goes down the back of the left leg all the way down to the foot. It is not a shoot pain, just an intense pain coming from a small area (about the size of a string) going all the way down the leg. I also get bad calf cramps and weakness in the leg when this nerve gets aggravated.
2) Intense lower back pain from the L3 - L5. It is the typical muscle pain you get with a sore back, but there is also an intense pain that feels like a bruise right on the back bone. This makes it very painful to walk up and down stairs (remember, I live in a four story house).
For the past several months, my back pain has really been under control. My main issue is that every time I step up my exercises I left leg starts acting up. However, this was soon to change.
Friday night, while playing poker, the pain in my back slowly starting escalating to the point that I put all my money in on a 12% chance of winning just so I could loose and go home. However, Saturday was fine. I actually did some new PT exercises and did some honey-do’s around the house. I felt good most of the day but Sunday night the back escalated higher than normal.
Monday was the same way; my back was sorer than normal but not so bad too keep me away from work. Unfortunately, throughout the day it slowly hurt more and more. By 4 PM I was in level 9 pain (at level 10 I can’t even move my body because it hurts so badly). Friday night I was pushing the limits on the number of pain pills and muscle relaxing I was taking.
Here is it Tuesday and I am spending the entire day in bed with my pay just one step away from incapacitating me. Hopefully, the pain will drop down to a manageable level by tomorrow. You never know, sometimes it heals quickly, sometimes you stay sore for a week.
It is definitely time to start shopping for a new surgeon (my old surgeon no longer accepts my insurance). Lucky for me I have a VERY good physical therapist. Over the years, he has diagnosed me better than some of the doctors I was seeing. I have printed out all the Orthopedic Surgeon within a 30 mile radius that accepts my insurance and physical therapist is going to let me know which ones he feels are the best.
I think it is time to get the L3/L4 and L4/L5 fused also.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Too Old for Children
Tania and I were the last stop on my nieces California tour of their aunts. My youngest brother, Adam, has three girls: Eden, Celesta, and Daniel. Eden, who will turn 5 in a few months, is the youngest of the three. She is a ball of energy and was a constant reminder of how old I’m getting. I’m sure glad we had our kids while we were young. I don’t know how I would have done trying to raise young kids in my late forties.
Eden kept killing me over and over again by shooting me with her finger. When she was shooting me or calling me fart-face she was hitting me with a pillow. One night I was lying on the couch watching TV with Celesta when Eden began plummeting my head with a pillow. I was trying to ignore her hoping a lack of response would make her bored of her antics. Of course that didn’t work. So after about 20 blows, I grabbed the pillow from her hands. After laying still for so long my quick move scared her and she went running to her sister.
As Celesta was comforting her I tossed the pillow in an arch and it landing right in lap. This verified in her mind that I was indeed an evil person and she began crying. Lucky for me Sponge Bob was on next because nothing shuts up a crying child faster than a funny sponge.
After Sponge Bob ended the girls went down stairs to play with dolls with Tania. This gave me a chance to watch some real TV. About a half hour later I heard Tania yell from down stairs but I couldn’t quite make out what she wanted. A few moments later Eden stuck her head out from behind the stairwell then went running back down stairs. Well, pay backs are a bitch – a couple of seconds later Tania comes up stairs yelling at me, asking why I would throw a pillow at Eden when she came up stairs after Tania asked me to get her snack. Before I could explain Tania went stomping off to the kitchen. And some says kids bring couples closer together.
During the drive bringing the kids to their home in Pahrump the girls told Tania that she is their favorite aunt. I think it has more to do with the American Girl dolls and Polly Pockets that we have in the extra bedroom than with anything particular about Tania. But again, if that was true they would have me at the bottom of their uncle list.
Eden kept killing me over and over again by shooting me with her finger. When she was shooting me or calling me fart-face she was hitting me with a pillow. One night I was lying on the couch watching TV with Celesta when Eden began plummeting my head with a pillow. I was trying to ignore her hoping a lack of response would make her bored of her antics. Of course that didn’t work. So after about 20 blows, I grabbed the pillow from her hands. After laying still for so long my quick move scared her and she went running to her sister.
As Celesta was comforting her I tossed the pillow in an arch and it landing right in lap. This verified in her mind that I was indeed an evil person and she began crying. Lucky for me Sponge Bob was on next because nothing shuts up a crying child faster than a funny sponge.
After Sponge Bob ended the girls went down stairs to play with dolls with Tania. This gave me a chance to watch some real TV. About a half hour later I heard Tania yell from down stairs but I couldn’t quite make out what she wanted. A few moments later Eden stuck her head out from behind the stairwell then went running back down stairs. Well, pay backs are a bitch – a couple of seconds later Tania comes up stairs yelling at me, asking why I would throw a pillow at Eden when she came up stairs after Tania asked me to get her snack. Before I could explain Tania went stomping off to the kitchen. And some says kids bring couples closer together.
During the drive bringing the kids to their home in Pahrump the girls told Tania that she is their favorite aunt. I think it has more to do with the American Girl dolls and Polly Pockets that we have in the extra bedroom than with anything particular about Tania. But again, if that was true they would have me at the bottom of their uncle list.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
I Hate Chase Bank
I had a Chase credit that I stopped using about year ago. I travel to Detriot and New York City frequently for business - at minium, four or five trips a year to NYC and about twice that many to Detriot. I also visit Chicago and one or two other cities. I have been traveling like this for the past five years or more. However, every time I used my personal Chase credit card out side the LA area they would turn my card off because of their fraud alert system. I would understand if it only occurred when I went to odd location, but purchases in NYC or Detriot are not a unique thing for me.
Now I appreciate their deligance preventing fraud, but after more than five years of using my card in NY and Detriot you would think they would get used to the idea that I travel on business. One weekend after a Detriot trip, I went on an erran run. First stop; Home Depot. I can't remember what I was buying but I didn't bring my wallet, just my money clip so I only had the one credit card with me and sure enough - no can use becuase of the fraud allert. I had to get out of line and spend 10 minutes on the phone verifying my two purhases in Detriot and then get back in line again to try to buy them a second time.
Okay, I can deal with that - they do this every time so I am used to it. Next stop, the drug store. Well sure enough, the card doesn't work again. I have to get back on the phone to verify the same purchases one more time. This time, I am a little upset so I let them know that I just verified these purchases and my next stop is at the grocery store and I don't want to have to go through this process for a third in a half hour. "Of course not, sir. Your card will definately work." I don't think I have to tell you what happens at Von's: card no worky again! :( Now I am seriously pissed. I have never used the card again.
Okay, I told you that old story so I can tell you this new one.
My bank, Washington Mutual was purchased by Chase. They haven't closed any location in Conajo Valley, just swichted them over to Chase so it didn't seem like any big deal and it wasn't, until...
I typically only use my ATM card for cash. While I can use my ATM at most stores, I use my credit cards instead to rack up the points. Well, the credit cards have been creeping up so I decided to use my ATM card more to prevent the credit cards from getting out of hand. I just used it one weekend at a couple of stores. A few weekend laters when I needed some cash I went to use my card and got an "unable to access your account" message. What the !?!?!?
I had go inside the bank to talk to a teller. She can't help me, I have to call the fraud allert hotline. That's when it dawned on me - this is the same Chase Bank that owns my credit card that has been hiding unused at the back of my wallet. After a short phone call, I verifed the purchases I made and was able to then get some cash out the of the ATM machine.
That was over three months ago. Yesterday, I needed cash again and low and behold... same message - no cash for you fool. The fraud allert was on agian! For the same purchases I made in May! Even the lady on the phone was surprised it was on hold for purchases made so long ago. I guess this is Chase's way of making sure you don't actually use their card for any useful purpose.
Damn, I hate those guys. Does anyone have a bank they would recommend?
Now I appreciate their deligance preventing fraud, but after more than five years of using my card in NY and Detriot you would think they would get used to the idea that I travel on business. One weekend after a Detriot trip, I went on an erran run. First stop; Home Depot. I can't remember what I was buying but I didn't bring my wallet, just my money clip so I only had the one credit card with me and sure enough - no can use becuase of the fraud allert. I had to get out of line and spend 10 minutes on the phone verifying my two purhases in Detriot and then get back in line again to try to buy them a second time.
Okay, I can deal with that - they do this every time so I am used to it. Next stop, the drug store. Well sure enough, the card doesn't work again. I have to get back on the phone to verify the same purchases one more time. This time, I am a little upset so I let them know that I just verified these purchases and my next stop is at the grocery store and I don't want to have to go through this process for a third in a half hour. "Of course not, sir. Your card will definately work." I don't think I have to tell you what happens at Von's: card no worky again! :( Now I am seriously pissed. I have never used the card again.
Okay, I told you that old story so I can tell you this new one.
My bank, Washington Mutual was purchased by Chase. They haven't closed any location in Conajo Valley, just swichted them over to Chase so it didn't seem like any big deal and it wasn't, until...
I typically only use my ATM card for cash. While I can use my ATM at most stores, I use my credit cards instead to rack up the points. Well, the credit cards have been creeping up so I decided to use my ATM card more to prevent the credit cards from getting out of hand. I just used it one weekend at a couple of stores. A few weekend laters when I needed some cash I went to use my card and got an "unable to access your account" message. What the !?!?!?
I had go inside the bank to talk to a teller. She can't help me, I have to call the fraud allert hotline. That's when it dawned on me - this is the same Chase Bank that owns my credit card that has been hiding unused at the back of my wallet. After a short phone call, I verifed the purchases I made and was able to then get some cash out the of the ATM machine.
That was over three months ago. Yesterday, I needed cash again and low and behold... same message - no cash for you fool. The fraud allert was on agian! For the same purchases I made in May! Even the lady on the phone was surprised it was on hold for purchases made so long ago. I guess this is Chase's way of making sure you don't actually use their card for any useful purpose.
Damn, I hate those guys. Does anyone have a bank they would recommend?
4th of July Vacation
I was slow to post this story because the whole family was there which make up the majority of my readers, but I decided to post now to give you all an update.
Every year my family tries to get everyone together to go camping somewhere. This year we camped near Slide Rock just North of Sedona, AZ. It is a day trip away from the Grand Canyon and is up in the Mountain near Flagstaff so you don't have the desert heat. Unfortunately, we couldn't get into the main camp ground so we didn't have flush toilets nor showers.
Both of my girls are taking summer classes this year so they couldn't come along. Lucky for me Beth and Nathon were able to drive up with us so I didn't have to put my back to the test with a long drive. I made Beth drive while I watched movies with Nathon in the back.
The first day of vaction was spent driving - all day. The second day was spent shopping for food and supplies for the rest of the week and searching around for a Honda dealer to replace a lost gas cap. So the vacation really didn't start until day three. While one group went to the Grand Canyon, Tania and I decided to check out the town of Sedona.
I forgot to mention that the camp ground was located in a canyon so there was not phone survice available. Well, after a few hours of shopping in Sedona I pulled out the phone to call Sherri only to notice that I had five messages waiting for me. Dan (Tania's dad) had a heart attack that morning and was recovering in the hospital.
Well needless to say, that was the end ot the vaction. Tania and I quickly packed up and drove back home. Dan is doing fine now. We woke up with moderate pain in his chest. By bed time it was still there and bothersome enough so he couldn't get to sleep so they went to the hosiptal. His EKG didn't show anything but lucky for him the doctor decided to keep him overnight for observation. Everyone would later learn that the decision to keep him over night ended up being a life saving decision. Dan had a major heart attack at 5 AM. The vein they call the widow maker (I don't know the offical name) was 99% blocked. The doctor said that if he wasn't in the hospital it is unlikely he would have survived.
Modern medicine is a wonderous thing. They blow up the vien with a baloon, support it with a shunt and sent him home the next day. It's been nearly two weeks and he is already back to work (and likely working too much and too hard) and is exercising agian. Dan has always been good about excerising but he has to slowing work up to good long walks on the treadmill. He is 72 years young and this is the first issue he has had with his heart so we are all hoping he will have a good, long lasting recovery.
Every year my family tries to get everyone together to go camping somewhere. This year we camped near Slide Rock just North of Sedona, AZ. It is a day trip away from the Grand Canyon and is up in the Mountain near Flagstaff so you don't have the desert heat. Unfortunately, we couldn't get into the main camp ground so we didn't have flush toilets nor showers.
Both of my girls are taking summer classes this year so they couldn't come along. Lucky for me Beth and Nathon were able to drive up with us so I didn't have to put my back to the test with a long drive. I made Beth drive while I watched movies with Nathon in the back.
The first day of vaction was spent driving - all day. The second day was spent shopping for food and supplies for the rest of the week and searching around for a Honda dealer to replace a lost gas cap. So the vacation really didn't start until day three. While one group went to the Grand Canyon, Tania and I decided to check out the town of Sedona.
I forgot to mention that the camp ground was located in a canyon so there was not phone survice available. Well, after a few hours of shopping in Sedona I pulled out the phone to call Sherri only to notice that I had five messages waiting for me. Dan (Tania's dad) had a heart attack that morning and was recovering in the hospital.
Well needless to say, that was the end ot the vaction. Tania and I quickly packed up and drove back home. Dan is doing fine now. We woke up with moderate pain in his chest. By bed time it was still there and bothersome enough so he couldn't get to sleep so they went to the hosiptal. His EKG didn't show anything but lucky for him the doctor decided to keep him overnight for observation. Everyone would later learn that the decision to keep him over night ended up being a life saving decision. Dan had a major heart attack at 5 AM. The vein they call the widow maker (I don't know the offical name) was 99% blocked. The doctor said that if he wasn't in the hospital it is unlikely he would have survived.
Modern medicine is a wonderous thing. They blow up the vien with a baloon, support it with a shunt and sent him home the next day. It's been nearly two weeks and he is already back to work (and likely working too much and too hard) and is exercising agian. Dan has always been good about excerising but he has to slowing work up to good long walks on the treadmill. He is 72 years young and this is the first issue he has had with his heart so we are all hoping he will have a good, long lasting recovery.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Father's Day
No pictures for this post. We didn't do a lot for fathers day this year. Amber had to work and summer school started on Monday so she couldn't come down. This year Crystal proved that the best presents don't require a lot of money, just thoughtfulness. She burned me a music CD. That doesn't sound like much does it? Especially if you consider that I already have most of the songs she burned on the disk. However, I think you will change your mind after you read the letter that came with the CD.
To Dad
From Crystal
This is a mix CD of songs that remind me of you. Many of them are songs that you would sing to in the car. Take Me to the River, Money for Nothing, Lullaby, Jewel, etc. Then, of course, there is Diamond on the Soles of Her Shoes.
Some of them are songs that have men with deep voices singing, which makes me think of you for some reason. What a Wonderful World is one of those. Also, I remember it played on the radio one day and after the song was over you said very seriously that you thought that that song is one of the best songs of all time. I always think of you saying that when I hear the song.
Some just have lyrics that remind me of you. Dancing on Daddies Shoes is one of those because of how you’ll often just randomly dance with me. The Killers songs Daddy’s Eyes wouldn’t make me think of you if it weren’t for the line “You know you got your daddy’s eyes.” I have blue eyes like you. The Pink Floyd song Nobody Home makes me think of you because of a memory I have of you pointing out the lyric “I’ve got a strong urge to fly, but I got nowhere to fly to” and saying what a great line that is. I remember I didn’t notice the line when listening to the song, but thinking it was a beautiful lyric after you pointed it out. Now I can’t hear that part of the song without noticing it. The Paul Simon song Father and Daughter makes me think of you because for one, pretty much all Paul Simon songs do, and secondly because of the content of the song. It’s a song about how much a father loves his daughter and how he’ll do anything to protect her. I’m so lucky to have the sort of dad that I can think of when I listen to that song. I don’t even have the words to say how much I appreciate and love you for that.
I should have just handed the letter to Tania so she could read it herself. I tried to read it out loud but could only get about half way throught it.
To Dad
From Crystal
This is a mix CD of songs that remind me of you. Many of them are songs that you would sing to in the car. Take Me to the River, Money for Nothing, Lullaby, Jewel, etc. Then, of course, there is Diamond on the Soles of Her Shoes.
Some of them are songs that have men with deep voices singing, which makes me think of you for some reason. What a Wonderful World is one of those. Also, I remember it played on the radio one day and after the song was over you said very seriously that you thought that that song is one of the best songs of all time. I always think of you saying that when I hear the song.
Some just have lyrics that remind me of you. Dancing on Daddies Shoes is one of those because of how you’ll often just randomly dance with me. The Killers songs Daddy’s Eyes wouldn’t make me think of you if it weren’t for the line “You know you got your daddy’s eyes.” I have blue eyes like you. The Pink Floyd song Nobody Home makes me think of you because of a memory I have of you pointing out the lyric “I’ve got a strong urge to fly, but I got nowhere to fly to” and saying what a great line that is. I remember I didn’t notice the line when listening to the song, but thinking it was a beautiful lyric after you pointed it out. Now I can’t hear that part of the song without noticing it. The Paul Simon song Father and Daughter makes me think of you because for one, pretty much all Paul Simon songs do, and secondly because of the content of the song. It’s a song about how much a father loves his daughter and how he’ll do anything to protect her. I’m so lucky to have the sort of dad that I can think of when I listen to that song. I don’t even have the words to say how much I appreciate and love you for that.
I should have just handed the letter to Tania so she could read it herself. I tried to read it out loud but could only get about half way throught it.
Dan's Birthday Present
As usual, it took me a few weeks to getting around to writing this post. For Dan’s birthday Jenna decided that Alex and their boys would take Dan to an Angel game. They asked if I wanted to tag along, so how could I say no?
I’m not sure why she thought baseball would be fun. Neither Dan, Alex, nor either of her boys likes baseball. Of all the professional sports to choose from, I think baseball is the most boring. I would even pick soccer over a baseball game, but it is always fun to hang out with the boys so why not? It won't be long before they are too old to want to hang out with their uncle. The Angeles were playing the San Diego Padres which are always good games to attend becuase a lot of Padres fans come up to watch the game. Having a lot of fans from the opposing team at the staduim makes the home team fans cheer even more.
The seats were great. I’ve sat in many different locations at a ball game; high, low and in between. But every time I have been close to the grass I have always been near the in-field. We sat in row K just inside the foul pole in left field. A lot of balls are hit out in left field, so while you are not close in to the pitches and base running it was fun to watch the balls flying in the air towards us and see the left fielder run them down.
It also didn’t hurt that the Angeles rocked them 9 to 2. A lot of action and lot of home runs... I just got a new phone and played around with the vedio camera. I was kind of tricky to figure it out so the this video isn't very good but I thought I would add it any way. I want to try to have more videos on the blog in the future.
I’m not sure why she thought baseball would be fun. Neither Dan, Alex, nor either of her boys likes baseball. Of all the professional sports to choose from, I think baseball is the most boring. I would even pick soccer over a baseball game, but it is always fun to hang out with the boys so why not? It won't be long before they are too old to want to hang out with their uncle. The Angeles were playing the San Diego Padres which are always good games to attend becuase a lot of Padres fans come up to watch the game. Having a lot of fans from the opposing team at the staduim makes the home team fans cheer even more. The seats were great. I’ve sat in many different locations at a ball game; high, low and in between. But every time I have been close to the grass I have always been near the in-field. We sat in row K just inside the foul pole in left field. A lot of balls are hit out in left field, so while you are not close in to the pitches and base running it was fun to watch the balls flying in the air towards us and see the left fielder run them down.It also didn’t hurt that the Angeles rocked them 9 to 2. A lot of action and lot of home runs... I just got a new phone and played around with the vedio camera. I was kind of tricky to figure it out so the this video isn't very good but I thought I would add it any way. I want to try to have more videos on the blog in the future.
What do you know, baseball isn’t always a bore. Here's Alex explaining the in's and out's of the game to Bren.
So what did the girls do while the boys where at the ball game? What else? They took Barbara out for a pedicure for her birthday.
Look at those relaxed, beautiful feet.
A fun day for all.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Weekend Up Date
Tania and I went to the Dance Camera West Dance Film Festival on Saturday night in downtown LA. They have events occurring all month. Friday was the opening night and Saturday night they had a viewing of short movies (4 – 10 minutes). People submitted shorts that were suppose to be outstanding examples of dance on screen. There were two showings, one at 6:00 PM and one at 8:00 PM. It was only $10 so we went to both.
It took place at the REDCAT which is connected the Disney Theater in downtown LA. We decided to get there a little early and walk around, enjoy the architecture and get something to eat before the show.
The Disney Theatre is one of the coolest buildings in LA.
They are trying to revive down town LA. I don’t how you revive a place that was never vived in the first place, but down town LA sucks compared to New York, Chicago or San Francisco. It was early Saturday night and the place was completely dead. Half of the restaurants and most of the shops were closed. The first restaurant we found had appetizers starting at $22. I didn’t even bother looking at the rest of the menu. The second place featured an 8 course meal for $185 – we kept right on walking. We eventually found a California Pizza Kitchen a few blocks away. There were only about four or five other parties there besides us when we showed up, but it started filling up a little by the time we left.
These types of things (Dance Film Festival) always attract the cool, hip crowd – guys with hats, most of which matched their jackets which didn’t match their pants and were always jeans with holes in them. I think I was the only guy there wearing socks. Everyone was overly excited to see one another – greetings were done with a lot of screams and hugs. (omygod! Look who’s here! EECKKKK!)
The fun part of the event was that you got to vote for your favorite film. The bad part was that half of them were completely lame. Someone needed to inform the committee that chose the films that just because a film is weird, and has quirky shots put to music does not make it a dance film. A lot of the films had no dancing at all but the ones I hated the most were the ones with no absolutely no plot or purpose -- trying too hard to be artsy usually ends up being just stupid. However, with film festivals you gotta expect a certain amount of junk, that’s what you signed up for. For that matter, half of the “real” movies I go to these days are junk so why would this any different? At least they were only a few minutes long and not 2 ½ hours of junk.
A handful of films were very enjoyable. But the best part of going to this event is that after wanting to go for years and years (but able to because she worked weekends) Tania finally got to go this film festival and now realizes that this was not something that should have been on her list in the first place… I won’t have to go again.
Then just to keep theme going, on Sunday we went to the Thousand Oaks Art Walk. I happened to notice this was happening on my way to the gym in the morning. (yep I am able to do some short swim sessions). Artist from all around bring in their wares for view and sale. Paintings of all type, ceramics, glass blown art, jewelry and a few music booths for entertainment. The weather was perfect; cloudy with a slight breeze, not too hot, not too cold.
Tania’s primary goal was to find someone who offered classes on glass blowing. She wants to learn how to make glass beads. Her latest hobby is jewelry making and she also wants to learn how to make glass beads because they are expensive. She found a few people who provided lessons and was able to find someone who had just the type of class she was looking for.
Art shows like this are always fun because the artists are usually there and after sitting all day long dealing with looky-lou’s they are bored out of their minds and don’t mind talking to you about their work. Tania’s favorite question to the jewelry artist was “How did you do this?” Some were reluctant to divulge their secrets but most were very nice.
All-in-all, a pretty nice weekend.
They are trying to revive down town LA. I don’t how you revive a place that was never vived in the first place, but down town LA sucks compared to New York, Chicago or San Francisco. It was early Saturday night and the place was completely dead. Half of the restaurants and most of the shops were closed. The first restaurant we found had appetizers starting at $22. I didn’t even bother looking at the rest of the menu. The second place featured an 8 course meal for $185 – we kept right on walking. We eventually found a California Pizza Kitchen a few blocks away. There were only about four or five other parties there besides us when we showed up, but it started filling up a little by the time we left.
These types of things (Dance Film Festival) always attract the cool, hip crowd – guys with hats, most of which matched their jackets which didn’t match their pants and were always jeans with holes in them. I think I was the only guy there wearing socks. Everyone was overly excited to see one another – greetings were done with a lot of screams and hugs. (omygod! Look who’s here! EECKKKK!)
The fun part of the event was that you got to vote for your favorite film. The bad part was that half of them were completely lame. Someone needed to inform the committee that chose the films that just because a film is weird, and has quirky shots put to music does not make it a dance film. A lot of the films had no dancing at all but the ones I hated the most were the ones with no absolutely no plot or purpose -- trying too hard to be artsy usually ends up being just stupid. However, with film festivals you gotta expect a certain amount of junk, that’s what you signed up for. For that matter, half of the “real” movies I go to these days are junk so why would this any different? At least they were only a few minutes long and not 2 ½ hours of junk.
A handful of films were very enjoyable. But the best part of going to this event is that after wanting to go for years and years (but able to because she worked weekends) Tania finally got to go this film festival and now realizes that this was not something that should have been on her list in the first place… I won’t have to go again.
Then just to keep theme going, on Sunday we went to the Thousand Oaks Art Walk. I happened to notice this was happening on my way to the gym in the morning. (yep I am able to do some short swim sessions). Artist from all around bring in their wares for view and sale. Paintings of all type, ceramics, glass blown art, jewelry and a few music booths for entertainment. The weather was perfect; cloudy with a slight breeze, not too hot, not too cold.
Tania’s primary goal was to find someone who offered classes on glass blowing. She wants to learn how to make glass beads. Her latest hobby is jewelry making and she also wants to learn how to make glass beads because they are expensive. She found a few people who provided lessons and was able to find someone who had just the type of class she was looking for.
Art shows like this are always fun because the artists are usually there and after sitting all day long dealing with looky-lou’s they are bored out of their minds and don’t mind talking to you about their work. Tania’s favorite question to the jewelry artist was “How did you do this?” Some were reluctant to divulge their secrets but most were very nice.All-in-all, a pretty nice weekend.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Beach Day
It’s been a while since I’ve put up a post, but hey, it’s play off season. It’s hard to watch hockey, basketball and type all at the same time. This is the second post of the day so make sure to keep reading after this one.
Last weekend was Memorial Day so in what is starting to become a Witten tradition we spend the Monday at Huntington Beach. , Drew & family, Adam & kids, Beth & Ruth’s kids?, and Aaron & Rachel showed up along with Tania and I. Some friends of Drew and Sherri also tagged along.
It’s was a long two hour drive there and another two hour drive home just to spend three hours hanging out with everyone, but I gotta say, it was worth it. Its fun hanging with the family and besides, what better thing did have to do? Nothing. Unfortunately it was windy which made it quite chilly. And of course I left by hoodie sitting on the couch at home right next to my ipod. I spent most of the day wrapped in the blanket and towel I brought.
Ruth and Scott were down under (you'll have to visit Ruth's blog to get the details) while Charles was visiting the old country to see the results of mission (you'll have to visit Beth's blog on this one)
I knew it was going to be a fun day as soon at we got on the sand – there were about 200 or so Hawaiians having get together – the men were playing drums and guitars while 30 or women were dancing. The best part of the day? Feeding string cheese to Harper and having me return the favor and feed me. (My food had the added favor of sand)
Begging for more...
Beth picked up a shovel on the way to the beach, which of course the day for the kids. After looking at the high prices of the “play shovels” Beth went the tool section and noticed that small real shovels were only $2 more than the plastic ones.
Harper was the the keeper of the hole, while the girls made sure the keep it full of fresh water.
It was a good thing for me that the weather was cold and the waves were weak - I wasn’t temped to go in the water despite that fact that I brought my boogie board, wet suite and fins (just in case someone needed to borrow them). But everyone else had fun in the water. I noticed that Daniel did really good riding the waves. Adam’s a good dad. He spent a lot a time with her in and out of the water.
Sunday I smoked some ribs – nice and slow, four hours at 230 degrees. Ralph’s had back ribs on sale. These are not as good as baby back ribs or St. Louis style ribs but they were on sale. Word of advice, no matter how well you cook them, the cheaper cut of ribs will never come out as good as the premium cuts. The ribs were good, but a learned again one more time that the best BBQ always starts with the best meat. Next time I’ll avoid the cheap cuts even if they are on sale. Next weekend I am going to slow smoke a pork shoulder roast for 15 hours to make some pulled pork. I’ve never tried this before. It will be a fun experiment.
Last weekend was Memorial Day so in what is starting to become a Witten tradition we spend the Monday at Huntington Beach. , Drew & family, Adam & kids, Beth & Ruth’s kids?, and Aaron & Rachel showed up along with Tania and I. Some friends of Drew and Sherri also tagged along.
It’s was a long two hour drive there and another two hour drive home just to spend three hours hanging out with everyone, but I gotta say, it was worth it. Its fun hanging with the family and besides, what better thing did have to do? Nothing. Unfortunately it was windy which made it quite chilly. And of course I left by hoodie sitting on the couch at home right next to my ipod. I spent most of the day wrapped in the blanket and towel I brought.
Ruth and Scott were down under (you'll have to visit Ruth's blog to get the details) while Charles was visiting the old country to see the results of mission (you'll have to visit Beth's blog on this one)
I knew it was going to be a fun day as soon at we got on the sand – there were about 200 or so Hawaiians having get together – the men were playing drums and guitars while 30 or women were dancing. The best part of the day? Feeding string cheese to Harper and having me return the favor and feed me. (My food had the added favor of sand)
Begging for more...
Beth picked up a shovel on the way to the beach, which of course the day for the kids. After looking at the high prices of the “play shovels” Beth went the tool section and noticed that small real shovels were only $2 more than the plastic ones.
Harper was the the keeper of the hole, while the girls made sure the keep it full of fresh water.
It was a good thing for me that the weather was cold and the waves were weak - I wasn’t temped to go in the water despite that fact that I brought my boogie board, wet suite and fins (just in case someone needed to borrow them). But everyone else had fun in the water. I noticed that Daniel did really good riding the waves. Adam’s a good dad. He spent a lot a time with her in and out of the water.
Sunday I smoked some ribs – nice and slow, four hours at 230 degrees. Ralph’s had back ribs on sale. These are not as good as baby back ribs or St. Louis style ribs but they were on sale. Word of advice, no matter how well you cook them, the cheaper cut of ribs will never come out as good as the premium cuts. The ribs were good, but a learned again one more time that the best BBQ always starts with the best meat. Next time I’ll avoid the cheap cuts even if they are on sale. Next weekend I am going to slow smoke a pork shoulder roast for 15 hours to make some pulled pork. I’ve never tried this before. It will be a fun experiment.
We'll need a better showing at the beach on Labor Day and if you all are willing to drive up to Zuma Beach I'll bring the hot pulled pork BBQ sandwhiches.
Amber's Dance Performance
Amber took a dance class this semester to help her stay in shape. Santa Cruz has a dance performance where the students not only perform but also do the chorography. Between college and her job, Amber doesn’t have a lot of free time for dance practice, so she was only able to participate in one dance. This was her first dance performance since moving to Santa Cruz so there was no way Tania and I were going to miss it.
Since I haven’t seen Terri’s and Jim’s new house yet we decided to stay there. Cathy, Terri and Dale also went to the dance performance with us. Actually, Jim also wanted to go, but we only bought five tickets a head of time we had to call the day of the event to see if there were any more tickets available but unfortunately they were sold out.
Jim and Terri have got themselves a nice place. Tania told me it had a huge back yard but when I look at the window the back fence was twenty or so feet from the house – what’s the big deal about that I thought to myself. But when you go out and take of look, the back yard space on the North side of the house is just as big as the part behind the house and the South side is about three or four times larger than that. They have nice garden started on the North side. They are growing a little bit of everything. They had a fresh crop of radishes in and boy where they hot – they must have been Mexican radishes.
We wanted to spend some time with Amber so we left Terri’s house around 11:00 AM to have lunch with Amber and hang out a little. It was one of those rare days in Santa Cruz with no breeze, no clouds or haze and temps in the 80’s. It sounds nice but the only problem is that when weekends like that come around the San Joser’s come to Santa Cruz in droves. We stayed away from the downtown area to avoid the crowds. Amber took us to Café Brazil which is close to house. Everyone enjoyed there food, but the star of the menu was a parfait made with Acai berry smoothie mix with granola and a mix of berries on top. We had two orders as appetizers for the table.
After lunch Amber took us on a tour of the campus and then we kicked back at Ambers. This a peice of art work on campus that is a fav hang-out/meeting place of the students.
One thing I have noticed about places where the weather is always cool – they are never prepared for the occasional heat wave. The theater that the dance performance was is was hot. Everyone was fanning themselves with the program. I felt sorry for the performers up on stage dancing. They must have really been hot.
Most of the dance numbers were very good, good dancing and fun to watch performances. Some were more like mini plays with dancing than a traditional dance performance. Amber was in the last number. When it was time for what I thought was the last number, I was looking all over the stage for Amber but couldn’t find here. Then all of sudden, Amber pops out of trash can. Yep, that’s right, a trash can (you gotta love modern dance). It was fun to watch up on stage again.
PS: As I am writing this the Lakers are finally making a run in the 4th (game 5) – it’s about time guys – this isn’t supposed to be another close game – read the memo
Since I haven’t seen Terri’s and Jim’s new house yet we decided to stay there. Cathy, Terri and Dale also went to the dance performance with us. Actually, Jim also wanted to go, but we only bought five tickets a head of time we had to call the day of the event to see if there were any more tickets available but unfortunately they were sold out.
Jim and Terri have got themselves a nice place. Tania told me it had a huge back yard but when I look at the window the back fence was twenty or so feet from the house – what’s the big deal about that I thought to myself. But when you go out and take of look, the back yard space on the North side of the house is just as big as the part behind the house and the South side is about three or four times larger than that. They have nice garden started on the North side. They are growing a little bit of everything. They had a fresh crop of radishes in and boy where they hot – they must have been Mexican radishes.We wanted to spend some time with Amber so we left Terri’s house around 11:00 AM to have lunch with Amber and hang out a little. It was one of those rare days in Santa Cruz with no breeze, no clouds or haze and temps in the 80’s. It sounds nice but the only problem is that when weekends like that come around the San Joser’s come to Santa Cruz in droves. We stayed away from the downtown area to avoid the crowds. Amber took us to Café Brazil which is close to house. Everyone enjoyed there food, but the star of the menu was a parfait made with Acai berry smoothie mix with granola and a mix of berries on top. We had two orders as appetizers for the table.
After lunch Amber took us on a tour of the campus and then we kicked back at Ambers. This a peice of art work on campus that is a fav hang-out/meeting place of the students.
One thing I have noticed about places where the weather is always cool – they are never prepared for the occasional heat wave. The theater that the dance performance was is was hot. Everyone was fanning themselves with the program. I felt sorry for the performers up on stage dancing. They must have really been hot.
Most of the dance numbers were very good, good dancing and fun to watch performances. Some were more like mini plays with dancing than a traditional dance performance. Amber was in the last number. When it was time for what I thought was the last number, I was looking all over the stage for Amber but couldn’t find here. Then all of sudden, Amber pops out of trash can. Yep, that’s right, a trash can (you gotta love modern dance). It was fun to watch up on stage again.
We had late night desert at the Saturn Café in Santa Cruz before heading back to Terri’s house. The next morning Tania and I drove back home. The back held up well for the long drive – good news for the vacation this summer – but Tania did do most of the driving.
PS: As I am writing this the Lakers are finally making a run in the 4th (game 5) – it’s about time guys – this isn’t supposed to be another close game – read the memo
Monday, May 11, 2009
Mother's Day
One of the nice things about living in Thousand Oaks is that Ventura is only a half hour drive North. Old-Town Ventura is a blast to visit. No offense Ruth, but it kicks butt all over Fullerton's and Brea's Old Town. It has all the antique shops and mom & pop restruarants that you would expect out of any Old Town, but it is also over looked by a bueatiful tree-lined hill and has fresh salty air from the beach that is only four blocks away.
On Mother's Day went out for breakfast with my sister inlaw's family (Jenna, Alex, Alec, and Brennen) at cool cafe called My Florist. The prices were very reasonalbe (around $8) and the food was outstanding.
I had eggs benedick with Salmon (instead of ham). I don't know why I ordered it, because it is not one of my favorites and more importantly, eggs benedick is a very dangerous item to order. You never know what you're going to get. A lot of places really destroy hollendaise sauce, making it either way to heavy or sweat. Their sauce had a slight spicy bite to it - very cool. It was also served on bruschetta to give it that fancy touch. Tania and Crystal both had the Belgium waffles with scrambled eggs. I don't know what they did to the eggs, but they were delicious.
To top the meal off, two gentlemen provided music playing guitar and violin. All in all, it was a very nice meal. I would recommend My Florist to any of you when you visit Ventura. It is on Oak, one block South of Main Street.
After breakfast we took a short stroll along Main Street browsing in the shops and art galleries. Tania found a jewerly making shop/bead store. Crystal and I kicked back at a small cafe for a glass of tea so Tania could take as long as she wanted.
Nice Mother's Day. We really don't go up to Ventura enough.
On Mother's Day went out for breakfast with my sister inlaw's family (Jenna, Alex, Alec, and Brennen) at cool cafe called My Florist. The prices were very reasonalbe (around $8) and the food was outstanding.
I had eggs benedick with Salmon (instead of ham). I don't know why I ordered it, because it is not one of my favorites and more importantly, eggs benedick is a very dangerous item to order. You never know what you're going to get. A lot of places really destroy hollendaise sauce, making it either way to heavy or sweat. Their sauce had a slight spicy bite to it - very cool. It was also served on bruschetta to give it that fancy touch. Tania and Crystal both had the Belgium waffles with scrambled eggs. I don't know what they did to the eggs, but they were delicious. To top the meal off, two gentlemen provided music playing guitar and violin. All in all, it was a very nice meal. I would recommend My Florist to any of you when you visit Ventura. It is on Oak, one block South of Main Street.
After breakfast we took a short stroll along Main Street browsing in the shops and art galleries. Tania found a jewerly making shop/bead store. Crystal and I kicked back at a small cafe for a glass of tea so Tania could take as long as she wanted.
Nice Mother's Day. We really don't go up to Ventura enough. Monday, May 4, 2009
Swine Flu
Look out, here comes the pigs!
Our local high school, Newbury Park High, closed today because a student caught the piggy flu. They closed two schools in Oxnard last week. I guess that's to be expected when you live next to a farming community.
While I don't have the swine flu, I do have an out break of posion oak. It started off as just one spot on my arm. Unfortunately, I thought it was a bug bite so I wasn't careful about spreading it. Now I have a large patch on my calf, two spots on my right arm and three on the left. Itchy, itchy.
I started physical therapy two weeks ago. Going into it I was very doubtful that it was going to help, but my pain has actually decreased since I started. However, while my days are going better on the pain scale, I am still having trouble sleeping through the night without tons of pain pills and sleeping pills.
Lastly, one word about out Lakers. Very, very sloppy play for a team that is suposed to be one of the favorites to win it all. Come on guys, try to play with pasion the WHOLE game.
Our local high school, Newbury Park High, closed today because a student caught the piggy flu. They closed two schools in Oxnard last week. I guess that's to be expected when you live next to a farming community. While I don't have the swine flu, I do have an out break of posion oak. It started off as just one spot on my arm. Unfortunately, I thought it was a bug bite so I wasn't careful about spreading it. Now I have a large patch on my calf, two spots on my right arm and three on the left. Itchy, itchy.
I started physical therapy two weeks ago. Going into it I was very doubtful that it was going to help, but my pain has actually decreased since I started. However, while my days are going better on the pain scale, I am still having trouble sleeping through the night without tons of pain pills and sleeping pills.
Lastly, one word about out Lakers. Very, very sloppy play for a team that is suposed to be one of the favorites to win it all. Come on guys, try to play with pasion the WHOLE game.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Academy of the Arts, San Francisco Tour
Last weekend we drove up to San Francisco to tour the San Francisco Academy of the Arts. We did a tour a over a year ago but we didn't tour or look at any of the dorms. Crystal is gong to there this Fall and she has to choose her top three picks for dorms so we thought another tour would be good now that we know for sure that she is going there.
Crystal was so excited!
After the last tour Crystal was not sure if she wanted to major in Graphic Design or Animation. However, what really got her interest this year was a major called New Media. Now she is leaning towards majoring in this but she is going to take a few 3D Animation classes to make sure. Graphic Design is pretty much off the table. New Media is kind of a combination of Graphic Design and Animation. While Graphic Design includes designing the packaging of product (cereal boxes, CD covers, etc) and company logo's and things like that, New Media is more of the animated graphics you see on TV and Web Sites.
Crystal was so excited!
I checked my Marriott points and I had enough to get us two free nights at a brand new Marriott one block from Union Square which was perfect because it was right between the campus building where the tour was and the dorm that we were going to tour. We got an awesome room - nice size and a great view.
Here we are waiting for the tour of the school.
After the last tour Crystal was not sure if she wanted to major in Graphic Design or Animation. However, what really got her interest this year was a major called New Media. Now she is leaning towards majoring in this but she is going to take a few 3D Animation classes to make sure. Graphic Design is pretty much off the table. New Media is kind of a combination of Graphic Design and Animation. While Graphic Design includes designing the packaging of product (cereal boxes, CD covers, etc) and company logo's and things like that, New Media is more of the animated graphics you see on TV and Web Sites.After touring the school we had lunch then went on the dorm tour. Crystal has to choose three dorms and her preferred room set up as soon as possible because it is prioritize by when they receive your request. We won't know which dorm she gets until about month before school starts - likely in August.
This is the dorm that is Crystal's first choice. The only bad part is that is right across the street from the Ambulance entrance to the SF Hospital.
This is the old lobby. You have to use your student ID card to get the doors open, but they also have a security guard in the lobby 24/7.
Here is Crystal in the hall way on one of the floors where the rooms are.
The day after the Campus tour we stopped by Santa Cruz on the way home to visit Amber. He had lunch with her, her boyfriend Josh and Josh's brother. This was the first time we met Josh's brother. He's a real nice guy - takes after Josh.
This is the dorm that is Crystal's first choice. The only bad part is that is right across the street from the Ambulance entrance to the SF Hospital.
This is the dorm that we got to tour. It used to be a hotel but was donated to the school.
This is the old lobby. You have to use your student ID card to get the doors open, but they also have a security guard in the lobby 24/7.
Here is Crystal in the hall way on one of the floors where the rooms are.
All of the rooms have bunk beds. Most hold two students, a few four and some, for those who can afford it (not us) are single rooms. The bathroom set ups are also different so you have to request your choice. Some rooms have a full bath, some have only a half bath and showers shared for each floor and some rooms have no bathroom at all, just one shared for the whole floor. Crystal is going to request them in that order.
This is a shot of the rec room. There were two students playing a video game when we got there, so of course every started watching them play rather than listening to the tour guide.
When we were walking between buildings of the campus tour and old Asian guy walked by with a huge cat on his shoulder. The cat was just kicking back on this shoulder like a bird. I thought he had an owl on his shoulder at first. I can't believe he trained a cat to stay up there like that. He was just walking down the streets of San Francisco. It reminded me of Harry Potter for some reason. I tried to get a good shot but this is the only one that turned out. This is from the back so you can't really tell it is a cat.
The day after the Campus tour we stopped by Santa Cruz on the way home to visit Amber. He had lunch with her, her boyfriend Josh and Josh's brother. This was the first time we met Josh's brother. He's a real nice guy - takes after Josh.
I was worried about going on this trip because of my back. Tania drove most of the way. Crystal even drove for a while once we got out in the middle of no where. It was the first time she drove the van but she did a good job.
When we got about an hour or so from the city it started raining so I took control and drove from there. Neither of the girls wanted to drive into the city any ways. On the way back I drove the first 2 1/2 hours and then Tania drove the rest of the way. My back held up great. No bad pain the next day, but most importantly, no hospital trip needed.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Another Amber Visit
The best part about having your children away for college is having come back home for a visit. Amber called on Tuesday and said she didn’t have to work this weekend so she was going to drive home for a visit. She left Thursday afternoon and was able to stay until Sunday morning.
It was nice to spend some time with her. She was having trouble with a couple of papers she needed to write for sociology so I proofed them for her and gave her a little advice on her writing style. A big part of my job is writing reports and over the years I have gotten better and better at it. I still suck at spelling and grammar. And I frequently change tense (past & presence) when I shouldn’t but I have people proof for those types of things. What I am pretty good at is figuring out how to organize the topic and lead to point. I’m not saying I’m great, but we’ll see how well Amber’s professor thinks I am. It felt nice to be helpful.
An extra bonus for this weekend was that Amber and Crystal really got along well. They never really fight much, but over the past few years they have kind of drifted apart in terms of being friends. This weekend they seemed like friends again. They spent a lot more time talking one-on-one than they usually do.
Dan and Barbara drove up from Orange County on Saturday and Alex, Jenna and kids came over also. I cooked up a turkey and we had a nice dinner enjoyed each others company.
Brennen performed in a play in Pasadena a few weeks ago (on the same day Max was baptized). It was a competition where the kids had to write the play themselves and make all the costumes and sets themselves also. I think it is called odyssey of the mind. They get judged on a lot of different attributes of the play. They ran into a few problems with some of their props and one of the kids skipped a whole section of the play. They were very disappointed with themselves but they still managed to win second place. Now they get to go to the state finals in Sacramento next month. If they were able to win second place with all the mess ups, who knows how well they will do next time if they can get through it error free.
It was nice to spend some time with her. She was having trouble with a couple of papers she needed to write for sociology so I proofed them for her and gave her a little advice on her writing style. A big part of my job is writing reports and over the years I have gotten better and better at it. I still suck at spelling and grammar. And I frequently change tense (past & presence) when I shouldn’t but I have people proof for those types of things. What I am pretty good at is figuring out how to organize the topic and lead to point. I’m not saying I’m great, but we’ll see how well Amber’s professor thinks I am. It felt nice to be helpful.
An extra bonus for this weekend was that Amber and Crystal really got along well. They never really fight much, but over the past few years they have kind of drifted apart in terms of being friends. This weekend they seemed like friends again. They spent a lot more time talking one-on-one than they usually do.
Dan and Barbara drove up from Orange County on Saturday and Alex, Jenna and kids came over also. I cooked up a turkey and we had a nice dinner enjoyed each others company.
Brennen performed in a play in Pasadena a few weeks ago (on the same day Max was baptized). It was a competition where the kids had to write the play themselves and make all the costumes and sets themselves also. I think it is called odyssey of the mind. They get judged on a lot of different attributes of the play. They ran into a few problems with some of their props and one of the kids skipped a whole section of the play. They were very disappointed with themselves but they still managed to win second place. Now they get to go to the state finals in Sacramento next month. If they were able to win second place with all the mess ups, who knows how well they will do next time if they can get through it error free.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Wonderland
My brother in-law is a middle school librarian. He also creates comic books - both writes and illistrates. Unfortunately, the comic books don't go far in terms of paying the bills, thus the middle shcool he must go five days a week. A few years back he was comissioned to write a follow up story to Alice in Wonderland. Tommy agreed to do it because they hired someone to do the graphics so all he had to concentrate on was the story writing. (yep, that's right. I have creative people on both sides of my family)If you remember the orginal Alice in Wonderland, when the Rabbit meets Alice he first mistakes her for his maid, Mary Ann. Tommy's story follows Mary Ann as she returns Wonderland from vacation after Alice turned everything upside down. Many people begin mistaking Mary Ann for Alice and havoc ensue. It is very fun story.
While the orginal series came out in several soft bound comic books, this month, the Wonderland series was released in hard cover book form. It is very nicely done.
And while fat, ugly, over weight cats hate it; I really enjoyed reading the story. It is much nicer in book form because it will last longer and for some reason the story just seems funnier with hard covers. For kids of all ages who are discovering comic books, this would be a book to own. There are not any guns, monsters or violence that boys typically seek for in comic books, so it will probably be enjoyed more by girls than boys, I think readers of both genders will like it.
Two other comic series that Tommy writes are called Stitch and Skelebunnies. I like these better than Wonderland. They are full of the strang and weird and are written for an older audience than Wonderland. But not to worry, they are only GP13.
If you want more, you can visit Tommy's web site at:
http://www.tommykovac.com/
Or you can go Amazon.com and order a copy of Wonderland for $13.59. Some of his other stories are also available on Amazon.
Sorry for the advertisement, but hey! This is family. And it really is cool stuff.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Week End at Ruthies
Well, I’ll start off this post with a Mona Vie acii berry juice update. Tania’s doctor wants her to take three shots of the juice a day so we decided to become Mona Vie distributors because it will save us a few bucks. I am usually suspicious about these things but since Tania’s Lyme disease doctor suggested she drink it I thought I might well also try it. I take two shots a day and, surprisingly, the rate of my recovery has definitely improved since I started drinking Mona Vie. I can now walk up and down stairs without being “ginger” about it. Than doesn’t sound like much but it’s a give improvement from how I was six weeks ago. My “bad-pain” days have been reduced to about 2/3’s. Being a researcher, I Know this proves absolutely nothing but it is quite a coincidence. I originally planned to try the juice for only a month or so; I think I going to keep it up. If you want to try it, let me know and I can have a bottle shipped to you.
Now on another note:
It was great being able to see everyone at Max’s baptism. The baptism was a baptism (ho-hum), but the get-together afterwards at Ruth’s in-laws was something else. They are caterers, so the food was awesome. They served some spicy green beans with candied pecans that were incredible. A little heat with the pecans helping to bring out the sweetness of the green beans made it a perfect combination of flavors.
Unfortunately for Mom and Dad the real fun started after they left. Mom was sick as a dog and needed to get to bed early before the talent show started. We now all know where Scott got his creative talent. There was guitar playing, singing, skits and all the while the little ones were playing dress up and dancing around. I never knew Ryan could sing so well. Ryan and his friends did a few barbershop style songs that were performed to perfection. I think we saw a little of the Ryan that help Heather fall in love with him. But they weren’t going to be out done by Scott’s dad who sang a song about the woes of loving a fat woman.
Two different topics in one post, nope:
So why did I combine the Mon Vie update with this story. Well we hit traffic on the way home as typically happens. The 75 minute drive turned into a 150 minute drive. When I got home my back was fine, but the next day I would pay. I am not supposed to go on long drives, but I have been feeling so good lately that I didn’t think it would be a problem. I should have made Tania drive, but I like listening to my satellite radio and Tania hates driving so we took my car. I thought how bad it can be.
I learned exactly how bad it can be on Sunday. Sunday morning my back was a little more sore than normal. It was a little stiff and tight so I took a muscle relaxer. After lunch the pain was increasing so I laid down on the couch with my computer on my lap and did some home work for a few hours. When I finished I could hardly get up and once I did, I couldn’t straighten out. My back was super stiff. I decided a soak in the jacuzzi tub would be just the ticket to loosen me up.
Well, the hot bath did little to relive the pain, in fact it was hurting more now than before getting in the tub. I had to take a deep breath and hold it to fight off the pain enough so I could lean forward to get out of the tub. When I stood up I started getting tunnel vision so I sat on the edge of the tub till it went away. This frequently happens when standing too quickly after a long soak in a hot tub. After it went away I stood up and walked into the bedroom while drying myself off. The tunnel vision returned but this time I also felt numbness starting to invade my arms and legs. I knew this feeling. I have felt it before. I was passing out, fainting. I tried to make a few quick steps to the bed.
When I woke up, I body was laying on the bed with my legs hanging over the edge. My back pain was now excruciating and getting worse. I was able to get into the bed but after that I was in so much pain that I could not move. It took about 15 minutes for Tania to hear my cries for help. She gave me a Norco (super strength vicoden) and then dried me off (I was still soaking wet from the bath). It takes about an hour for Norco to kick in so an hour later when the pain was even worse, I took another. This whole time I was also freezing. Tania put two blankets on me and had to turn up the heat three times before I stopped shivering.
Two hours after the first Narco (and one hour after the second), the pain still hadn’t gotten any better. I tried with all my might to get up. I thought that maybe if I could get on my feet I would be able to shuffle up the stairs and to the van so Tania could take me to the hospital. It took me about 15 minutes just to roll on my side. Trying to sit up was impossible. We even tried wrapping a rope around the top of the bedpost so I could use it as leverage to pull myself up. Nope, bad idea.
We finally gave up and called an ambulance to take me to the hospital. When the paramedics arrived, Tania quickly took the rope down from the bedpost. Who knows what ideas that would have given them? Any ways, a paramedic can normally give up 10 ml of morphine to help a patient in pain. However, because I took the Norco earlier he had to call in to get approval for the morphine. They gave me 4 ml at the house… no relief. They gave me 2 ml more on the way to the hospital… still not relief. Once at the hospital they gave me more morphine… still no relief. Then they gave me a cocktail of dilaudid, toradol and zofran . Dilaudid is in the same family as morphine but a little stronger. Well THAT DID THE TRICK. The pain finally started going down.
Several hours and who knows how much dilaudid later they let me go home (it was about 2 AM). I was still in great pain but I could get up and walk. Today (Monday) my pain is manageable with Norco, muscle relaxer and laying down all day. Hopefully, I will be back to my normal pain level in a few days. I don’t know who I thought I was – someone who can drive a car for 2 hours? Well, time to wrap this post up. Who knows about the Mona Vie. It may have helped me decrease pain level but it is definitely no wonder drug. But still, I don’t think I will stop drinking it just yet. …who knows?
Now on another note:
It was great being able to see everyone at Max’s baptism. The baptism was a baptism (ho-hum), but the get-together afterwards at Ruth’s in-laws was something else. They are caterers, so the food was awesome. They served some spicy green beans with candied pecans that were incredible. A little heat with the pecans helping to bring out the sweetness of the green beans made it a perfect combination of flavors.
Unfortunately for Mom and Dad the real fun started after they left. Mom was sick as a dog and needed to get to bed early before the talent show started. We now all know where Scott got his creative talent. There was guitar playing, singing, skits and all the while the little ones were playing dress up and dancing around. I never knew Ryan could sing so well. Ryan and his friends did a few barbershop style songs that were performed to perfection. I think we saw a little of the Ryan that help Heather fall in love with him. But they weren’t going to be out done by Scott’s dad who sang a song about the woes of loving a fat woman.
Two different topics in one post, nope:
So why did I combine the Mon Vie update with this story. Well we hit traffic on the way home as typically happens. The 75 minute drive turned into a 150 minute drive. When I got home my back was fine, but the next day I would pay. I am not supposed to go on long drives, but I have been feeling so good lately that I didn’t think it would be a problem. I should have made Tania drive, but I like listening to my satellite radio and Tania hates driving so we took my car. I thought how bad it can be.
I learned exactly how bad it can be on Sunday. Sunday morning my back was a little more sore than normal. It was a little stiff and tight so I took a muscle relaxer. After lunch the pain was increasing so I laid down on the couch with my computer on my lap and did some home work for a few hours. When I finished I could hardly get up and once I did, I couldn’t straighten out. My back was super stiff. I decided a soak in the jacuzzi tub would be just the ticket to loosen me up.
Well, the hot bath did little to relive the pain, in fact it was hurting more now than before getting in the tub. I had to take a deep breath and hold it to fight off the pain enough so I could lean forward to get out of the tub. When I stood up I started getting tunnel vision so I sat on the edge of the tub till it went away. This frequently happens when standing too quickly after a long soak in a hot tub. After it went away I stood up and walked into the bedroom while drying myself off. The tunnel vision returned but this time I also felt numbness starting to invade my arms and legs. I knew this feeling. I have felt it before. I was passing out, fainting. I tried to make a few quick steps to the bed.
When I woke up, I body was laying on the bed with my legs hanging over the edge. My back pain was now excruciating and getting worse. I was able to get into the bed but after that I was in so much pain that I could not move. It took about 15 minutes for Tania to hear my cries for help. She gave me a Norco (super strength vicoden) and then dried me off (I was still soaking wet from the bath). It takes about an hour for Norco to kick in so an hour later when the pain was even worse, I took another. This whole time I was also freezing. Tania put two blankets on me and had to turn up the heat three times before I stopped shivering.
Two hours after the first Narco (and one hour after the second), the pain still hadn’t gotten any better. I tried with all my might to get up. I thought that maybe if I could get on my feet I would be able to shuffle up the stairs and to the van so Tania could take me to the hospital. It took me about 15 minutes just to roll on my side. Trying to sit up was impossible. We even tried wrapping a rope around the top of the bedpost so I could use it as leverage to pull myself up. Nope, bad idea.
We finally gave up and called an ambulance to take me to the hospital. When the paramedics arrived, Tania quickly took the rope down from the bedpost. Who knows what ideas that would have given them? Any ways, a paramedic can normally give up 10 ml of morphine to help a patient in pain. However, because I took the Norco earlier he had to call in to get approval for the morphine. They gave me 4 ml at the house… no relief. They gave me 2 ml more on the way to the hospital… still not relief. Once at the hospital they gave me more morphine… still no relief. Then they gave me a cocktail of dilaudid, toradol and zofran . Dilaudid is in the same family as morphine but a little stronger. Well THAT DID THE TRICK. The pain finally started going down.
Several hours and who knows how much dilaudid later they let me go home (it was about 2 AM). I was still in great pain but I could get up and walk. Today (Monday) my pain is manageable with Norco, muscle relaxer and laying down all day. Hopefully, I will be back to my normal pain level in a few days. I don’t know who I thought I was – someone who can drive a car for 2 hours? Well, time to wrap this post up. Who knows about the Mona Vie. It may have helped me decrease pain level but it is definitely no wonder drug. But still, I don’t think I will stop drinking it just yet. …who knows?
Monday, March 2, 2009
Back Update
Things keep moving along with the back. I am still taking 2-4 Norco pain pills a day (24 day), but I am able to do more without paying the price for the next few days. On Saturday I hanged a few curtain holders so now Tania has no excuse for not getting the curtains done. I was a more sore than normal that night but Sunday back to the usual pain level so I decided "what the heck" I might as well push my luck and see what else I could get away with so I did some gardening. Moved some plants around and did some weeding. Again, my back was sore afterwards so I didn't do anything but lay on the couch and watched the Laker game the second half of the day. Come Morning morning - I woke up at 4:30 in pain and couldn't get back to sleep. I took a muscle relaxer and went upstairs on the couch so I wouldn't wake Tania. This may sound bad, but it is actually what happens most mornings. By the time it was time to go to work... hurray!! The pain level was no worse than normal. What is life coming to? I am actually happy that I can do more chores around the house.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Amber Comes for a Visit
Presidents Day is a great holiday. Well, at least was this year. Amber called on Saturday morning and told me she got called off work for the day and she decided she was going to jump in her car and drive home for the long weekend. Santa Cruz is an excellent place for college. It's just far enough away so Amber feels like she went away for college, but it's close enough for an easy one day drive. It may be a long drive, but is still close enough for a weekend trip.
Amber called her boyfriend to see if he would go with her to help drive and he was up for the trip. Josh is a great guy. His sister lives in Santa Monica so they stayed there the first night (after first dropping by our house to say hi) and spent the night with us the second night.
Amber has decided she wants a dog. She is a huge animal lover and enjoys all the stuff most people don’t like about having a dog – walking, brushing, training, etc. (However, I think she is on board with the rest of us about not liking the poop patrol.) The animal shelters in the Santa Cruz and San Jose area are expensive; dogs cost $175. The shelters in Ventura and LA counties sell there dogs for $90 and they were having a half off special over the weekend – any dog for $45.
So we spent Sunday driving around to al the different shelters on Sunday. Dog shelters are noisy, smelly and kind of sad, but any day with the daughter you only get to see a few times a year is a fun day. Unfortunately for Amber, the half-off sell was a huge success. Most of the shelters sold a good portion of their dogs on Saturday so unless you were interested in a pit bull there weren’t very many dogs to choose from.
At the last shelter we visited there was a little dog that Amber fell in love with. On the front of each dog cage there is a little card with basic information about the dog. In the right, bottom corner there is a color code: blue for sick dog and yellow indicating behavioral problems. The dog Amber liked was marked yellow. We asked one of the people working at the shelter about it and she told us the dog was super scared of people. We took the dog out of the cage so we could see how it would get along with Amber.
It took a while, but it really started to warm up to Amber. Eventually, it even leaned over on Amber’s lap. The dog was found as a stray. Another family purchased the dog from the shelter even though they told the family that the dog was super shy, would be tons of work, needed extra TLC, and could bite in fear. After about a month they gave up and returned the dog. Amber was falling in love with the dog but hearing that someone else had already tried and failed to “fix” it was discouraging.
This dog would be a major project and while Amber would definitely be up the job, she also had to think about her roommates. Would they be up for it? Also, with both work and school, Amber is a very busy girl and this dog would require a lot of her time. So while it took Amber a long time to make her decision, she finally decided not to take the dog home.
The next morning as Amber was getting ready to leave for the drive back home I could tell she was still thinking about the dog. I think she made the right decision, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she comes back down for a visit soon and returns home with an extra passenger.
Amber called her boyfriend to see if he would go with her to help drive and he was up for the trip. Josh is a great guy. His sister lives in Santa Monica so they stayed there the first night (after first dropping by our house to say hi) and spent the night with us the second night.
Amber has decided she wants a dog. She is a huge animal lover and enjoys all the stuff most people don’t like about having a dog – walking, brushing, training, etc. (However, I think she is on board with the rest of us about not liking the poop patrol.) The animal shelters in the Santa Cruz and San Jose area are expensive; dogs cost $175. The shelters in Ventura and LA counties sell there dogs for $90 and they were having a half off special over the weekend – any dog for $45.
So we spent Sunday driving around to al the different shelters on Sunday. Dog shelters are noisy, smelly and kind of sad, but any day with the daughter you only get to see a few times a year is a fun day. Unfortunately for Amber, the half-off sell was a huge success. Most of the shelters sold a good portion of their dogs on Saturday so unless you were interested in a pit bull there weren’t very many dogs to choose from.
At the last shelter we visited there was a little dog that Amber fell in love with. On the front of each dog cage there is a little card with basic information about the dog. In the right, bottom corner there is a color code: blue for sick dog and yellow indicating behavioral problems. The dog Amber liked was marked yellow. We asked one of the people working at the shelter about it and she told us the dog was super scared of people. We took the dog out of the cage so we could see how it would get along with Amber. It took a while, but it really started to warm up to Amber. Eventually, it even leaned over on Amber’s lap. The dog was found as a stray. Another family purchased the dog from the shelter even though they told the family that the dog was super shy, would be tons of work, needed extra TLC, and could bite in fear. After about a month they gave up and returned the dog. Amber was falling in love with the dog but hearing that someone else had already tried and failed to “fix” it was discouraging.
This dog would be a major project and while Amber would definitely be up the job, she also had to think about her roommates. Would they be up for it? Also, with both work and school, Amber is a very busy girl and this dog would require a lot of her time. So while it took Amber a long time to make her decision, she finally decided not to take the dog home. The next morning as Amber was getting ready to leave for the drive back home I could tell she was still thinking about the dog. I think she made the right decision, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she comes back down for a visit soon and returns home with an extra passenger.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Valentines Dinner
Tania and I went out for valentine’s dinner on Thursday. We beat the crowds and had a nice enjoyable dinner. If you watch America’s Top Chef on Bravo then you should know the Chef from Italy named Fabio. The restaurant he owns and cooks at is in Moorpark called Café Firenze. We have been their before and know the food is exceptional. Through my work I am able to buy a $25 gift certificate $7 so it was also a good deal.
We tape the show and are a little behind so we were not up to date on Fabio’s standing in the show. When sat down, we saw him coming out of the kitchen to talk to a few guests. I was surprised he wasn’t still on the show because he seems to be one of the better chefs. I asked our waiter about it and he said Fabio made it to the finals and he would be going back to film the last episode in a week or.
Tania had the Butternut squash ravioli and I have the solver dole wrapped up with spinach. The presentation of the food wonderful. My fish looked like little fish cinnamon roles. For dessert we a trio of chocolate cake, bread pudding and cheese cake. The cheese cake was served warm and was incredible. I love exceptional good. It’s too bad great restaurants cost so much, but we got out of there for $50 (including the $25 off).
Not bad for a nice romantic dinner with my wife with food from a soon to be world famous chef. Let’s see the other husbands’ out there top that.
We tape the show and are a little behind so we were not up to date on Fabio’s standing in the show. When sat down, we saw him coming out of the kitchen to talk to a few guests. I was surprised he wasn’t still on the show because he seems to be one of the better chefs. I asked our waiter about it and he said Fabio made it to the finals and he would be going back to film the last episode in a week or.
Tania had the Butternut squash ravioli and I have the solver dole wrapped up with spinach. The presentation of the food wonderful. My fish looked like little fish cinnamon roles. For dessert we a trio of chocolate cake, bread pudding and cheese cake. The cheese cake was served warm and was incredible. I love exceptional good. It’s too bad great restaurants cost so much, but we got out of there for $50 (including the $25 off).
Not bad for a nice romantic dinner with my wife with food from a soon to be world famous chef. Let’s see the other husbands’ out there top that.Thursday, February 12, 2009
Back Surgery Recovery Update
Due to special request, another update on the progress of back surgery. It seems kind of hard to believe, but it is very difficult to monitor or explain the degree to which I am healing.
Before surgery, I was having constant pain and cramping in my left leg. Most alarming was that the muscles in calf were beginning to atrophy due to pinch nerves in my back. These symptoms are about 90% better. However, after shorts walks my left leg is much more sore than it should be and this is very worry some.
While my leg pain has improved since surgery, my back pain is actually worse now than it was before surgery. It has been three months since the surgery so it is not unusual to still be in more pain than before surgery. Back surgery can take a long time to heal. For some, it takes a full year.
Since surgery my pain has slowly (very slowly) improved. The improvement comes weekly rather than daily. The first two months after surgery my improvement was measured by how much less pain pills I needed each day. I started by taking 2 Norco (super strength vicodin) very four hours, both night and day. Today I am taking about four over a 24 hour period (two during the day, one late at night and at about 4 am). I also take a muscle relaxer at bedtime.
I have been at this frequency for about the past month. My general pain level has also been about the same for the past month. But this doesn’t mean I haven’t been improving. Improvement is now measured by increase in activity. So a month ago, I my pain level was about the same as it is today, but I was spending most of my day lying on the couch watching television. I am now back to work and getting out of the house much more. I never know what type of activity will set my back off and get the pain going.
I still haven’t started physical therapy yet. My doctor wants the bone between my two vertebrae to be better grown before starting. I am going to the gym a few days a week to talk on the treadmill and light swimming.
Before surgery, I was having constant pain and cramping in my left leg. Most alarming was that the muscles in calf were beginning to atrophy due to pinch nerves in my back. These symptoms are about 90% better. However, after shorts walks my left leg is much more sore than it should be and this is very worry some.
While my leg pain has improved since surgery, my back pain is actually worse now than it was before surgery. It has been three months since the surgery so it is not unusual to still be in more pain than before surgery. Back surgery can take a long time to heal. For some, it takes a full year.
Since surgery my pain has slowly (very slowly) improved. The improvement comes weekly rather than daily. The first two months after surgery my improvement was measured by how much less pain pills I needed each day. I started by taking 2 Norco (super strength vicodin) very four hours, both night and day. Today I am taking about four over a 24 hour period (two during the day, one late at night and at about 4 am). I also take a muscle relaxer at bedtime.
I have been at this frequency for about the past month. My general pain level has also been about the same for the past month. But this doesn’t mean I haven’t been improving. Improvement is now measured by increase in activity. So a month ago, I my pain level was about the same as it is today, but I was spending most of my day lying on the couch watching television. I am now back to work and getting out of the house much more. I never know what type of activity will set my back off and get the pain going.
I still haven’t started physical therapy yet. My doctor wants the bone between my two vertebrae to be better grown before starting. I am going to the gym a few days a week to talk on the treadmill and light swimming.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
A Dog's Life
Clover is by far the best dog we have ever owned. If it wasn't for his constant shedding he would be perfect. The street our new house is on is pretty step, especially when you recently had back surgery. Because of this, I haven't been taking Clover for walks like I used to. The poor dog is getting fat and lazy.
However, when Amber came down to visit us over the Christmas holiday, she took clover the to dog park several times. It is only about a seven minute drive from the house - very convenient.
That's one of the great things about having kids. While they are young you spend a lot effort trying to enspire them. Then when they get older, they get to return the favor. Amber really inspired us to to be more diligent in taking clover out. Crystal, Tania and I have all taken to the dog park since Amber left. He totally LOVES it. Clover never spends much time around other dogs so when he was around them he didn't know how to act. He is become much more doggy-socialized now. It's funny though, he likes to run and chase other dogs but quickly becomes bored and comes back to us. That is until the next dog runs by then he runs off and chase them. However, he still really doesn't know how to play. When the other dogs start jumping up and stuff Clover just looks confused.
Unfortunately, all the recent rains have prevented us to keep up this good habit. We will just have to try to make sure to start up again when the weather improves.Hey Amber - Clover thanks you!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
