I am SO GLAD to hear this, TMS!
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I am SO GLAD to hear this, TMS!
That really is great news, TMS! Hoping for more good news from you in August!
That’s funny and great news.Quote:
Originally Posted by ToomuchStuff
That's great news, TMS!
Three more days to sit around and twiddle my thumbs before I leave for St. Louis and the big surgery. I am happy to say that I have pretty much everything all organized and the logistics under control.
I get to work for 5 hours tomorrow at the bead store so that'll take up some of the time. I have already cleaned the house to the best of my abilities at this time. I will do the final laundry and packing on Saturday. I would love to be out in the yard pulling up goatheads but cannot afford to aggravate my shoulder and arm anymore. Plus the mosquitoes out here in the high desert are insane this year and for some reason I have become very allergic to insect bites lately. I look like a small pox or chicken pox victim. Even when I cover up from head-to-toe and use 100% Deet, they are still finding ways to bite me in unmentionable places. I have started dreading summer because of the bites I'm getting all the time.
I guess I would have to say I am excited, but nervous and apprehensive about the surgery. I'm SO GLAD that after all this time it is finally happening! My anxiety is showing up in fractured sleep and weird dreams. I am so very grateful that I get this opportunity to have a top-rated, nationally recognized surgeon. I am also very grateful to the people along the way that have helped in any way, shape or form, especially IL who continues to graciously offer the use of her little condo when I have to travel back and forth for followup appointments.
My condo is looking forward to hosting you this weekend!
DH is there now, having fought the recent airline snafus returning from Switzerland. He got into St. Louis at 1 a.m. yesterday. He has a dental procedure today and then will come home.
I have a “use” goal for that condo. I would like to see it used 40 nights per year. We aren’t meeting the goal and are probably at about 30-35.
Hey, I bet plenty of people would like to help you with that goal, IL! :D I'm going to be at a family reunion in Alton in 2026 - Not sure how close that is to you but I don't think it's too far, if we make it to Hermann, maybe we could meet up at the candy store, lol. Best of luck, SiouzQ! Will be thinking about you. TMS- that sounds really good, thanks for sharing the news! hope the rest of the crap you're dealing with improves also.
SQ, good luck!
Alton is just across the river from St. Louis. Sure, when the time comes let me know. My condo is small and has only one twin size bed plus a sofa so it’s not exactly a luxury hotel.Quote:
Originally Posted by early morning
Wow, that's a sweet offer! But I was mostly tongue-in-cheek there, :~) - we stay in the conference hotel as we have a fair number of meetings and meet-ups, and as I'm now on the board (this is a SERIOUS reunion organization lol) I'm pretty locked in for the actual reunion days. We generally add some before and after for fun local stuff. I have Cahokia on my must-visit list, it's been ages and mounds fascinate me. We've been to Hannibal, and a fair number of caves, so will be looking for other options this time. We'll probably visit the arch, and maybe do a riverboat tour. Anything else on the MUST see list, IL? We don't mind going a couple hours out for some stuff. I've just started my research, I only have until next July to get all this together, lol.
wishes for you that all goes as planned!
Best of luck with it all, SQ!!!
You could always come to Hermann.Quote:
Originally Posted by early morning
But if you are in Alton you should drive to Springfield, Illinois to see all the Lincoln related museums. The Lincoln home is great because it’s not just a house, is an entire block. That block is so peaceful and beautiful. And then there is the Lincoln museum which is extraordinary. And then, Springfield has a huge Frank Lloyd Wright house open for touring. It is astonishing.
and while you’re in Alton, be sure to drive through the historic Victorian District because it’s pretty nice and see the old city park with the wonderful Victorian play house (photo.) Also there is the Fairmont subdivision, an old private subdivision started in the 1920s – 1930s for Riverview up on the Bluff. It’s pretty interesting. Oh, and then you should drive down the Great River Road alongside the Mississippi to Elsah, a charming village of Stone cottages. And then drive through the campus of Principia College where 1930’s era buildings designed by Bernard Maybeck form the main campus.
if DH hadn’t put his foot down about living in Illinois we might’ve ended up in Alton.
Attachment 5994
Thanks, that's EXACTLY the sort of stuff we look for! We've done the Springfield Lincoln sites - which truly are wonderful!- and the FLW house. We visit those whenever we can - there's a fair nice one, abet on the small side- here in Springfield Ohio - just down the road apiece from us (as in, less than 50 miles away, lol). We drove through Hermann when our reunion was in Hannibal, after you bought your place, but before you moved in. Such a pretty little burg! So a year to decide what we need to do around Boston -waayyy to many choices there! for 2025, then Alton for 2026 - many lists to make, and dollars to save! >8)
Appreciate the info, very much!
The weather has cleared up, low humidity and decent temperatures. I could weed, but both husband and I caught covid- first time! So these lovely days won't be filled with yard labor!
Got back in the water today after 314 days dry. Just a shallow 45 min dive with a friend looking at the fish. She got some fun photos.
Did you have a good time? Are you going to do more dives soon?Quote:
Originally Posted by Tradd
I have my d & c on the 22nd. Can’t dive or take a bath (showers OK) for two weeks after. So nothing until Sept
Yes, I had a fab time. Lots of fishies always around me like they were welcoming me back. :D
Tradd, I'm sure they've missed you.
Attachment 6024Quote:
Originally Posted by nswef
Attachment 6025
My first thought was "Pied Piper of underwater". LOL. Glad you were able to get a dive in and have fun.
Tradd, so glad you were able to dive after such a long hiatus! The pictures are great!
My rave for the day has to do with DH. I think I mentioned that he decided to start a boat charter business to defray the costs of boat ownership, plus hopefully some funds to add to the household budget.
Well, he had two "practice" tours with no pay a couple of weeks ago, and they went over super well. The guests gave him great reviews, which he is posting on the website that will be launched probably the end of this week. Plus he has had two paying tours from island referrals and they went so well the guests were hugging him at the end. More great reviews. I knew his personality would give him a competitive edge. So in just 3 weeks, he has made half of what I was hoping he would make by the end of the season (October 15) to give me confidence this was going to work.
Plus, he is in heaven. He comes off of the boat so high on adrenaline. He loves it. And here is the big thing--he has been sober for 4 years. Prior to that his drinking was a near-fatal problem. I don't think it's bad for me to mention that now after all these years because right now all that is in the past, but he was diagnosed in 2019 with Stage 4 cirrhosis. In November 2020 he stopped drinking, and I've now been calling him Benjamin Button, because he is aging backwards! All of the concomitant conditions he's had as a result of drinking have abated. He's energetic, healthy, he lost 100 lbs, he's so active in the community I tell him the people are going to vote him Mayor, and we don't even have mayors on the islands! He approaches life like a kid in a candy store.
When you see someone come so far from the brink of death and despair from self-inflicted causes, how can you not be so happy for them?
I'm super proud of him, so he's my Daily Rave.
What about the insurance costs for the boat charter? Glad it went well.
Catherine that is fabulous news!All of it! I’m glad the financials of the boat tour business seem to be working out.
we will have to call you Mrs. Mayor around here.
Thanks, IL!
Tradd, the insurance is definitely manageable. It wasn't easy to find, but frankly, it was better than we thought because it's structured on how many trips and how big your boat is. We are far from being a yacht in Florida where the business is full time year round.
Such wonderful news on all fronts, Catherine!! Way to go, you guys!
That is wonderful, catherine! Thanks so much for sharing and kudos to dh!!!!
That is a great comeback story! Congratulations to both of you!
What a wonderful heartwarming change in your lives! I’m very happy for you! I hope the boat charter business continues to go well for you and your hubby.
Wonderful news, Catherine!
That is wonderful, Catherine! I know how much you love your DH, so hopefully this will mean more healthy years together for you!
Catherine, I'm so happy for you and your husband!
Thank you all. We feel either lucky or blessed to be where we are right now, and no matter what happens in the future, I hope that when the time comes, we can gracefully accept that, too. Life is good.
Sixteen days since surgery that I finally slept better, woke up feeling much more refreshed and had about six hours in which I really felt like my old self! I got some stuff done that was lingering on my desk and made my PT appointments for September and October.
I have to go back to St. Louis in exactly two weeks for my one month follow-up appointment.
It's a little hard to see progress on a day-to-day basis but on the whole, things are looking up. I still have a bit of pain and weird numbness, which is to be expected for quite a long time but my range of motion in my left arm and shoulder is improving with the gentle stretching exercises I have to do 2 -3 times a day. And with being on the extremely low-fat diet I have so far maintained the 6 lb weight loss. After riding in the car with K. yesterday to go to Santa Fe to run errands, I realized that I'm not quite ready to be driving myself. I can't quite turn my head enough in either directon to feel safe while driving. I also still tire very easily.
How was your airplane/airport experience going back home? I hope it wasn’t too miserable.Quote:
Originally Posted by SiouzQ.
I find flying to be pretty miserable even under the best of circumstances.
It went better than I expected, but it wasn't great. I had a full-body patdown at the St. Louis airport because I told TSA I wouldn't be able to lift my left arm. The woman who did it was very professional but it was quite invasive. It is so silly to think that this 62 year old with greying hair would ever be considered a threat by TSA but that's the world we live in post-911.
I basically took as many painkillers as I needed to that day, so I was a bit zoned out - it was the only way to do it. By the 2nd flight from Minneapolis to Albuquerque I was just really, really dying to be home.
Of course since yesterday went so well, I am paying for it today. Recovery is going to exactly like that - two steps forward, one step back. I am mentally prepared.
Good to hear there is healing progress, SiouzQ, even if it is "two steps forward, one step back." Continued good luck and healing energies out to you.
You sound realistic about the two steps forward, one back, healing process.Quote:
Originally Posted by SiouzQ.
We have a hummingbird visiting us regularly each morning! For some reason, I've never been able to attract them to a feeder, but I'm trying to grow many of their favorite plants, and that is turning out to be more successful. She thoroughly works over the coral honeysuckle that's on an arbor right outside our back window. She also likes the cardinal flowers growing right beside it. Just outside our front door, we have salvias that she enjoys, 'Skyscraper' and 'Amistad.' I bought the 'Amistad' largely because there was a hummingbird enjoying it at the garden center - a great advertisement! We also have a lot of firecracker plants 'Vermillionaire,' and next year we will have scarlet beebalm (only little baby plants this year).
We have a lot of wildlife come for a visit. Deer, raccoons, possums, foxes, coyotes, feral cats/kittens, and even a groundhog once in a while. I am forever looking out a window if I happen to go past one just to see if anyone is out there. I think I have as many deer pictures on my phone as I do of my two indoor cats (which I take a lot of pictures of btw).