Catch Up Time!

Hi Everyone, sorry I have not posted in awhile....not much has been going on. A few Red Hat events and Thanksgiving. Our good friends and neighbors, the Hodaks, invited us over for a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. The past few years I have not been cooking for Thanksgiving, we go out to eat, so it was nice to sit down and have a good meal with friends. With conflicting schedules we don't get to see each other often, so this was a chance for us to play catch-up as well.

The past few weeks I have been slowly making Christmas cards to send to Jacob for him to hand out to his platoon for them to send home. I finally got them all made. I made 100 cards and then after converting some card fronts I had into full cards and a few that a friend had given me to send, I ended up with 121 cards in all to send him. That package went out today, so it should get to him in time for them to send them out.

Saturday I went to a Red Hat Christmas Luncheon with my Scarlet Sophisticates group that was hosted by another group in Richmond at the beautiful Jefferson Hotel. It was so neat to look out and see nothing but a sea of red hats. Well, mostly red, mine and a few others were purple since December is our birth month. Some of the hats are absolutely exquisite. Someday I will get myself one of those fancy ones, but it will be awhile. Anyway, here are a few pictures from the luncheon.

Red Hats as far as the eye can see!

The Scarlet Sophisticates

Our Queen Mum Jeri B.

JoAnn B. and her beautiful hat!

I was even able to get a picture taken of me!

Queen Marianne R. and her group (Hostesses of the Luncheon)

We also got snow on Saturday. We haven't had snow this early in the season for a looong time. It was mixed with some rain, so it was a very wet snow. It was only raining hard when we drove down, but about halfway back it started mixing with snow and then was just snow by the time we reached Fredericksburg. After dropping off my riders and heading home, I stopped by the Golf Course about a mile from the house and took these pictures...it was sooo beautiful. Most of it is gone now.

Look close and you can see the snow falling.

Those specks are the snow falling and the flash reflecting off them.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!! I love this time of year- the beautiful fall colors, the crispness in the air and all the little ghouls and goblins that come out for the night. Well, my goblins are grown and away from home, so I have to enjoy everyone elses. Mostly my neighbor's cute grandkids. Here are pictures of them. I will post pictures of my nephews (in TX, CO and IN) and my new step-grandaughter, Carma (in KS) when I get them. This year it was drizzly, but the temp was just right. At least the hard rain held off until all the tricker-treaters where back home for the night.

Douglas, Diane's grandson

Slade, Alice's grandson

Not sure what he was as he came back over after he finished trick or treating so that I could take his picture. He was tired of wearing the rest of his costume (mask and gloves with blades on the top) and I am not familiar with this comic/cartoon character.

I didn't dress up again this year, but I did at least wear a little headpiece I bought at the $ Store.

Also, today I received this card in the mail from my good friend, Margarethe. Even though she rarely ever signs her cards, I know it is from her. This card was done using the bleaching technique. I love the way it came out.

Just checked my e-mails and I have some of our nephews in CO - Cole & Patrick. My poor little nephew, Jay-Jay in TX is sick (so is mommy and daddy). They will be celebrating Halloween next week with a few special neighbors. Here is a picture of Cole (Mickey Mouse) and Patrick (Swiper costume ??)

Mike, Cole & PatrickPatrick

A BLAST FROM THE PAST!

While I was home I was also able to attend our 35th High School Reunion. Harold and I graduated together, so he flew in and joined me on the 8th and the reunion was on Oct. 10th. It was a combined reunion for all the classes of the 70s. We had a blast! It was so much fun to see so many old friends and acquaintances. Here are a few pics! Harold and I are the "Class of '74".

Phil & Carol Hampton, the Reunion Organizers

(Even though Carol did not graduate from Crowley, she was the primary organizer of our '70s Reunion and we all thank her for a wonderful time. Okay, we thank you too, Phil, we know you did help a little ;-) )

The Three Stooges

Beverly Martin Greene '74, Phil Hampton '73, Cindy Prather Ferenz '74

Harold Ferenz '74 & Ann Ellis May '74

Front: (?), Debbie Billman '76

Back: (?), David Ferenz '76

Class of '74

Class of '75

We even had a few teachers that came - It was even great to see them - LOL!

Ann Tyler (Spanish teacher)

Mrs. Peggy Duvall (VOE/Bookkeeping teacher), Susan Martin, (?)

Of course there was even some dancin' to the oldies. Believe it or not I even got out and did "The Twist". I can even prove it as someone took a picture - See bottom pic - small as I got it off FB.

Billy Baylor dancin' a jig!

"Everybody Doin' the Locomotion"

Proof - I danced!

Dad's 77th Birthday

Well, 2 days after George and Mandy got married I was on my way to Texas to check on dad and mom. Dad had been in the hospital since Aug. 19th. They moved him to a phys. therapy facility, and then to a rehab./nursing home. While I was there we were able to go and celebrate his 77th birthday with him. I made him his favorite cake, German Chocolate (tried to give him a tiny lick of icing since he can't eat, but he refused it)

In the hospital they finally discovered that he had a fractured 1st lumbar vertebrae, thus all the extreme pain he has been in. They also diagnosed him with leucocytosis. After several weeks they moved him to a phys. rehab. facility, but since he was unable to do up to 3hrs. of therapy, he was moved to the rehab./nursing home. Upon his arrival there, he advised he could not swallow anything without it going into his lungs and decided to have a feeding tube put in and since he had been barely eating for some time and had lost a considerable amount of weight, they did so. He had returned to the nursing home from having that done the day before I arrived on Sept. 19th. Dad was still in constant pain and unable to do more than a few minutes of therapy, before it was too much for him. Before I left, it was decided that the therapy would be temp. stopped and the pain treated more intensely to try to give him some constant relief from it and hopefully stop him from anticipating pain and thus causing it to be worse by tensing up.

Dad and Mom with the kids.

(Me, Melanie, Gary)

Dad with Melanie and her DH, Jimmy.

Dad with Grandkids

Jennifer, Tiffany, Brandon and Christopher

Now more of the story. It was finally discovered when he went into the hospital for the 3rd time that he had a fractured 1st lumbar vertebrae and that was the cause of his intense pain. He stayed in the hospital for several weeks as he also had other problems and was then moved to a phys. rehab. facility, but since after a week he could not do up to 3 hrs of phys. therapy (could only manage a few minutes, before the pain was too much) they moved him to the rehab./nursing home. Upon his arrrival there, he advised them again that when he swallowed (even though he was eating/drinking very little) that it went into his lungs when he did so. He was diagnosed with Dysphasia and went back to the hospital to have a feeding tube put directly into his stomach. He returned to the nursing home on Sept. 18th and I arrived on the 19th. He was extremely thin due to the lack of nourishment and had lost a lot of weight from when I had last seen him in July. He seemed to fill out in the face for a few days and then seemed to thin out again. Over the 3 wks. he only gained 3 lbs. back. He was unable to do more than a few min. therapy still and was in constant pain, unless completely drugged. They decided just before I left to temporarily stop the therapy and concentrate on the pain and reevaluate him every 10 days or so for therapy. He would anticipate the pain so much when they came in to work on him for any reason that he would tense up, only making it worse. So they are hoping that if they can eliminate it for awhile that will stop and he won't be so sensitive. But this also means he will be out of it more of the time and sleep more than he already was. All we can do at this time is wait to see what happens. The dr. is going to talk to some ortho. surgeons to see if he can get anyone to consider surgery on his back as it is still not healed and we have a feeling it happen many, many months ago when he fell and refused to go to the dr. and then aggravated it golfing and then sequestered himself to his bed for months until the pain got so unbearable he finally agreed to go to the hospital. Anyway, the chances of them agreeing to do surgery on his back is unlikely due to his overal condition, but I don't think he will be free of the pain until it is done, so we are in that vicious circle mode - no surgery because of poor health, no chance of relief from the pain if no surgery. Ugh! Well, all we can do at this time is pray and keep the faith that things will work out one way or the other to free him from his pain. Please keep him and the family in your prayers.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR!

Well, it is time to get you caught up on the family happenings. First off, some good news. George got married. He called us the week of Sept. 7th to advise us he was engaged to a girl named Mandy he met in Kansas and that they would be getting married soon. Well, the "soon" came sooner than we anticipated and the following week, on Sept. 17th, they had a small ceremony at the Justice of the Peace and got married. I just finally got some pictures of the happy couple. An added bonus was that Mandy has a little 4-yr.-old daughter named Carma, so we became in-laws and grandparents all at once. I can hardly wait to meet them, but it will be awhile. At least I now have some pictures and I wanted to share them with my friends and family.

George & Mandy Ferenz (What a cute couple!)

George & Carma

Carma ( Isn't she adorable - Love those BIG eyes!)

I'm Baaack!

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for your patience while I have been away visiting my parents. My dad was moved to a phys. rehab./nursing home facility on approx. Sept. 18th and had a feeding tube put in as he was not eating and when he swallowed it went into his lungs. He is in constant pain and not doing any better. He has Dysphasia, Chronic Pain Syndrome, Leucocytosis, along with many other problems. I arrived there on the 19th and just returned home today. My mother also has some health issues (heart, and in her legs - arthritis, bursitis and fibromyalgia). She can barely get around due to her leg/knee problems. My sister and I spent the past few weeks rearranging my dad's bedroom - removed the huge CA King-size bed and put the full-size bed with the elec. controls for head and feet in his room and cleared out some of the papers and things he has collected/stashed away over time. We also took some excess furniture out of my mothers room as she has fallen several times and it is very hard to get her up as she can't help you much once she is down. We ordered a portable lift for her and now have room to use it in her room, when she goes down in the hallway or bathroom, we will have to figure that out when it happens as no room for the lift. We also got rid of some un-needed things in the living room and entryway to make things easier for her to get around. I am not in great shape, so my sister did most of the phys. labor, but I was there to back her up with my parents to say - this IS happening. With mom we met less resistance, it was usually dad that resisted us. We got a lot done, still a lot to do, but she can now get it accomplished overtime as we have the ball rolling on it now. Dad is not doing any better than he was when I got there, but not much worse, but based on the meeting we finally got with the director of nurses yesterday, before I left today and my sister met with the doctor today and got the same story, it is not looking good as he (my dad) is not cooperating with phys. therapy, because of the extreme pain he is in, so the therapy will stop and they are going to concentrate on pain control and then reevaluate him again in about 10days and keep doing that for awhile to see if they get any improvement. We did get to celebrate my dad's 77th birthday and all the local family were able to come to the nursing home at the same time and sing Happy Birthday, I even made a cake (which he unfortunately he couldn't eat). We each had some for him and gave the rest to the staff.

On the bright side, while I was home I was able to attend my HS reunion. It was for all of the 70's classes. DH came just a few days before hand to join me as we graduated together at the same school - Yep - HS sweeties. We had a great time and gave me a chance to relax. It was wonderful to see all my old friends and acquaintances from HS. We had a approx. 210 people attend and had a good turnout for each year (although I don't remember seeing anyone for 1970). We had a "Blast from the Past". I will have pics posted later on my personal blog, http://dragonsndragonflies.blogspot.com/

I will be posting pictures later of dad's birthday, the HS Reunion and other things I can come up with and more news. Taking a few days to rest and get a few things done here that didn't get done before I left. Thanks for reading my long post. This is my therapy - LOL!

Jacob and Tammy

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to share a picture of Jacob and Tammy (his new girlfriend). I know all of you have been wanting to see a picture of them. She went with us to see him one last time before he deployed to Iraq over the Aug. 21st weekend. We had a great time seeing him. It was hard to say goodbye. He wanted to go to a Japanese Steakhouse before he left, so that is where we went for our last meal with him on Sun. and headed back home. These pictures were taken there. He left early, early Monday morning.

All of us together.

Jacob called us early (2:50 am) on 8/27. It was so good to hear his voice. As you know, I am usually still up at that time and I was just about to head for bed when he called. He is doing well and getting settled in. He will be sharing a room with few other guys and was glad to be having his own bunk to sleep in. The first thing on his wish list is sheets and a comforter - LOL! He will be writing soon and as soon as I have an address for him, I will let family and close friends know.

Technical Difficulties

Well, I have been trying to post pictures from our Texas vacation, but for some reason, once I load them onto the post, I can't move them around, and to get them the way I want them, I have to load them backwards and in the order I want them to fall and that is very difficult for me, after numerous attempts I have given up. I will try again in a day or two. Jacob was home this weekend and we are spending as much time with him as possible as next weekend will be the last time we get to see him before he deploys. This weekend we were invited to his girlfriend, Tammy's grandmother's house for a BBQ. We had a great time meeting her grandmother, Judy and her mother, well actually - her Aunt Shirley who raised her and she calls her mom. We also met Shirley's fiancee, Frank and Tammy's cousin and her boyfriend (their names escape me at the moment). We had some good food and great time. Frank made us some great margaritas....sooo glad Harold was driving, so I could enjoy them.

More Flowers

My poor Purple Cone flowers (Echinacea) have been taking a beating with all the rain we've been having around here (that hail we had awhile back didn't help), but the red canna lillies behind them are blooming very nicely now. My garden in back is doing good, despite all the weeds. The purple flowers (below) are in full bloom and the hostas are blooming as well. I just really need to weed out the garden, but I just can't find the time or energy or desire to do so. The only reason the front gets done is because I pull out a few each time I go outside, I just don't go to the backyard very often - I mostly just look thru the back window upstairs at the backyard, maybe if I ever get a deck I will go out back more since I would then have direct access. May have to go borrow Margarethe's Mantis tiller again and do it that way and then get what it doesn't manually.

This is my Althea bush (Rose of Sharon). I love the blossoms on it (below)- so pretty.

July 4th Weekend in Ocean City, MD

The Princess Royal

(Our room is inside the shorter all glass center area where the inside pool is and looks out on the pool and we can see the beach as well thru the glass front from our room)

Of course, the first thing we did upon arriving, was to go out and check out the beach....The beach dropped close to the water and we got to watch the waves come in, at one point when I had my back to the water, a wave came in har enough that the water came up the embankment and I got wet - that cold water was an unexpected shock.

Seems everytime we go to the beach there is a wedding where we are staying. While at lunch at the little outdoor cafe, this bride came out to take some pics with bridesmaids and such prior to the wedding. The wedding was in a little Greek chapel across from the hotel and we got to see them coming back over for the reception after the wedding in a little parade led by some musicians playing greek music (of course). Was really neat to see...didn't get my camera out fast enough to get some pics of them approaching. Wish I had.

Harold relaxed and took in some sun. The water was cold, but I did adventure in once. Felt good once you got wet, just took awhile to muster the courage to get completely wet once that cold water hit your feet. (No I did take the camera in with me - I took it back to Harold and then took the plunge.

I was actually going for the shot of the seagull and just happened to catch this floating advertisement as it went to this!

Happy 10th Birthday, Charlotte - whoever you are!

Flags lined The Boardwalk (taken at about 15th St. toward Amusement Park)

We ate dinner at Da Vinci's right across from where we sat and finished just in time to go out

and watch the fireworks. It was beautiful!

The fireworks begin

The Finale!

Isn't this a beautiful sight!

We had a great time! Glad Jacob decided he wanted to go there this year for the 4th.

Will have to do this again sometime. Wish that George could have been with us, but he did drive down to Texas to see family and had a good time there.

It was partially cloudy going home, so this didn't come out very good, but since Jacob likes lighthouses, I was able to take some shots of the one off the Bay Bridge as we went over. Not too bad considering the lighting and I was in a moving car.