Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Tuesday after getting home

Sunday afternoon we traveled 7 1/2 hours to Harrisonburg, VA, continuing on toward home Monday with a 3 1/2 hour ride. We stopped by the Health Campus in Lancaster for Adele's monthly blood draw and the continued home. After unpacking the car and dropping to sleep for awhile, we woke to go to the doctors appointment. The oncologist pronounced Adele fit and well. Blood numbers continue their way toward normalcy and she is getting stronger all the time.

We stopped at Oregon Dairy for burgers afterwards, as neither of us had enough energy to make supper. After supper we got home and turned on the TV and I immediately fell asleep. 6 pm and there I am asleep, so around 7:30 I went up to bed and sacked out. Slept until 7 am and now feel much better. Adele promised she would get up at 8 am.

Oh, I would be remiss if I did not mention that our neighbor called Monday (as we were getting into the Carlisle area) and said not to rush, as the cat and yard were both fine. He has been feeding Bathory and he had just mowed our 10 day growth (some call it hay at that point). Thank you for everything you did Daryl, we can not express how much we appreciated it!

So, after 10 days of sun, cloudless skys, and 95 - 105 degree days, we are finally back in PA. We knew we were home, since almost as soon as we hit PA on 81 North, the skys clouded up and we were seeing dark clouds again.

See you all later - Rick

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Last few days in Augusta


We spent Friday and Saturday having fun and swimming and shopping. Basically, doing nothing but having fun. Julie and Eric prepared a steak dinner for us - after a burger dinner by Mike - and we had a great Father's Day weekend. Eric's first Father's Day, and he had a great time. I opened my 2 cards and got all choked up on both of them.

As you can see, I am always the "Kid &/Or Nut" in the water. I will do almost anything to get a smile from my grandchildren, and they know it.

The ride home was done Sunday and Monday, with a stop planned Monday at the Health Campus for a blood draw.

More later - Rick

Friday, June 19, 2009

Friday AM - Augusta, GA

We are still in Augusta, with almost perfect weather. Of course a thunderstorm or two have been here in the past week, but only one last evening interrupting our outside fun. We were just thinking of grilling burgers, blue cheese steak really, when Adele & I noticed a dark sky. Well, that changed to a breeze, and then quickly changed to "Wow, look at those trees bend in the wind!" Picked up everything and got in the house - oh well, swimming was fun for an hour - and watched the warnings on TV.

Everything passed us within an hour, and Eric went back out to grill. Haha - he ran out of propane, and had to finish in the stove. Oh well, we were all HUNGRY by the time the burgers were done.

Adele is getting somewhat more comfortable without her wig, I think she is so cute with her short hair. Ruby looked at her like, "Who are you?" when she did wear it. The weather is staying around 95 - 102 or so and sunny, and it is way more comfortable without it.

Adele & I are both getting a work out keeping up with Ruby's demands and playtime. Just getting her up and off the sofa or floor is a challenge sometimes. Adele is finding more strength everyday, while I am hurting a bit in the back. But, we are both having such great fun with Ruby, we don't think about the physical part of it much, just when we get to bed later. Loving having Ruby to ourselves every day for the week! She is such a smiling doll. She even wakes up smiling, just so happy to see your face when she wakes.

Tonight the girls (Adele & Julie) go to a movie (chick flick) and dinner, while Eric, Ruby & I have decided to go out for dinner only. Barbecue anyone??

We leave for home Sunday after lunch, so we want to get everything in before then. Stopping in VA for the night, allows us to leave later Sunday afternoon and get home refreshed, not beat up.

See everyone soon.
Rick - from sunny Augusta, Georgia

Oh - I also started on facebook, as a way to stay in contact with family and all their friends. So far, much better than myspace. Looking for my new iPhone next week, if I get any breaks from work.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Wed AM - while everyone sleeps


Yesterday was Ruby's 9 month birthday - so we got her a cake and let her have her first finger food ever. She was having so much fun eating the cake, took many pics - see them at picasaweb.google.com/rstauffer43. They are at the end.

Today will be cooler - high looks like 86, not in the high 90's like it has been. This will be our second day to keep Ruby. Tons of play, reading and other things yesterday.

Hear her stirring, gotta go

Rick

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Day 144 - In Georgia

Adele & I came down to Eric & Julie's Friday (arriving Saturday around noon). We stayed overnight in Jonesville, NC and finished the last 4 hours of the trip on Saturday. Making it a 2 day trip really allows us to enjoy the time we spend here immediately, with no "driving time lag" from driving 12 hours or more.

Julie, Eric & Ruby had a picnic planned for us. Mike, Erica, Eva and Gwen were here along with Scott and Jordan (who stopped by on his way to work. Eric used the Orion cooker to do 4 racks of ribs, and then gave one to Jordan for work. Wonderful - glorious - smoked in cherry, and rubbed with a great rub. Spicy and almost too hot, but Sweet Baby Ray's calmed it down a bit and finished off the taste. We had a great time with all and got to catch up with everyone. Even found out Sid & Jordan (Florida for the past few years) are moving back soon - now that they are engaged. Two more of the crew to get together for picnics.

Today the guys are going to soccer games. Mike is playing, and I will do my best to keep Eric next to me without playing - yeah his knee is hurting again - and of course the half cast ion his arm should (but doesn't) stop him from playing.

Not sure where the girls are going, maybe to soccer also, but wherever they go I am sure Adele will be holding or playing with Ruby. We both got a good measure of her yesterday, while I am really making sure I do not hog her when Adele is there. Ruby & Julie were home in April? but I want to make sure Adele gets more than her share of Ruby this week.

This morning I am working on Eric's PC and making it as complete and fast as I can. Tons of work, but mostly waiting for the computer to finish tasks I give it. The disk defrag has already taken an hour and is only 65% done, so I wait to install more until that is done. Eric & Julie had it mostly done from hints I gave earlier, and yes I found the CD I kept telling her she should have, so she did not need to get anything from me - Oh well, that's the way she is sometimes. She was just a bit stressed and wanting to get the PC going again after a lousy cable ($1.50) knocked out her first hard drive. She is glad to see her private PC support team here.

That's it until later - I already have rambled too much - too much caffeine this AM while everyone else sleeps.

Thanks - Rick

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Day 136 - Kids are here

OK - Saturday morning and Kaelyn & Mason are here with us today. Yes, just in case anyone wonders, my back is hurting more. Not sure if it is from picking up Mason for his nightly chores or sitting too long yesterday. Whichever it is, both were wonderful experiences, and to be enjoyed while doing so, and therefore no more complaint than - "Yes my back hurts".

We were with Tom's family yesterday at his graduation luncheon and had such great fun. Wonderful speeches (or talks) by everyone involved. Especially liked the Colonel's portion - he had an interesting perspective and I enjoyed it. Brought the kids back for a day with the Nanny & Pop Pop.

Almost forgot, but Adele had minor foot surgery (very minor) for an ingrown nail yesterday and she has a bandage on it since then. She cleaned and soaked last evening - while the kids and I watched "Bolt - The Super Dog!". I think she is OK with the toe now, especially since she got it checked out before we head south next week.

Adele has been growing stronger every week. She has been cleaning again, cooking and doing much more around the house. I can stop doing my bi-monthly cleaning finally (or when it gets too dirty and I can't ignore it anymore cleaning). She is amazing in what she has been doing for the past week and more. She is finally feeling more "normal" but there is always the mental image of cancer coming back. Not sure if she will ever lose that - probably not. I try to be as UP as possible and need to keep reminding myself to be aware of her and what she is saying. All husbands know what I mean, we get too immunized in what our spouse is saying, we miss a lot of what they really are saying, and suffer from it. I remind myself about every week, I need to hear her and what she is saying...

Next Friday we head off to Augusta, Georgia and our baby Julie. Eric, Julie and Ruby are all looking forward to our visit, and I think Julie got a day or so off to be with us more. We will stay over 2 weekends, so Eric has a chance to show off his barbecue prowess (and his Orion grill). I know I already said something about buying some slabs of ribs and beer for the first one. I looked at the weather today for that area, and there is a 30% - 40% chance of rain - until the day we arrive, then it goes to 0% and 92 degrees. Hope our luck holds out for most of the trip - as I do want to enjoy their pool and deck as much as possible.

OK - gotta go, the kids are awake, and I will be expected to make the pancakes and bacon.

See you all later - Rick

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Day 132 - a good week

The last week, since our last oncologist appointment, has been good. Adele and I have enjoyed being able to laugh a bit and most of that was at me - as I struggled to get up while ignoring (muttering, hissing, and groaning at the same time) all the pain in my back. Never really ignored it, just took vicodin and muscle relaxers when at the worst. Yes, even tried morphine, and vicodin does just fine usually.

Oh well, the pain has subsided to a dull roar, which is the usual level, so I am back to carrying computers around again.

Adele has gotten back into cooking and cleaning up while I was disabled, and enjoying the normalcy again. We went to Kitty's funeral last Friday, and are on the way to Cyril's this morning. Both were brought down by cancer in the past years, Kitty being a 20 plus year survivor of breast cancer. Cy had a brain tumor that brought him down for the past 2 1/2 years. They were both fighters, doing everything to stop and reverse the cancer, God love them both for their courage in the fight.

Not too much else to talk about - except in less than 10 days we will be on our way to GA and our extended family down south. The Ruby slide show runs on our home page, and I have been working at getting new pics there constantly. Yes the sock monkey is about the same size as her! Hope you enjoy the slides. Some of her first pool time are there now.

Thanks to all - Rick