About Me

The mountains are calling and I must go...Got the t shirt in Georgia one year and this is our calling! We'll see y'all down the road!

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Dr. visit, Genoa Candy Dance Festival..Sacramento tomorrow.

Friday morning we were off and running, heading to Carson City once again.  This time we had an appointment at Gastroenterology Consultants.  We had plenty of time before the appointment so we ran over to the Cardiologists office to see if they had received a request for a release for Ken for his lung surgery. Sure enough they had sent the approval on Thursday.  We should be hearing soon so we can get that surgery done.
Grandson Aaron and two beauties.  Homecoming 2019
Fall is in the air!


We had some cool clouds!


Gave way to a nice sunset!

We met with Alyssa, one of the physician assistants.  Very nice and knowledgeable (and she looked like she's about 15..lol).  Tuesday morning they will be sending a camera down Ken's throat into his esophagus and take a look around.  He's been having some issues with a heartburn feeling very high up in the middle of his chest.  This procedure is done as an outpatient in their offices.  Nice this can be done so quickly. We'll see what we find out.  

After that we did some running around and eventually headed home. 

Saturday morning we wanted to head for the little town of Genoa and their Candy Dance crafts festival.  We left the house a little after 0600 as we wanted to get there before it got too crowded.  It's about an hour and a half from here.  I made Ken a couple of egg burritos and I had my version.  We ate on the drive, almost gives us the feeling of being on vacation LOL.  
This is sad..Truck and police vehicles blocked each of the 3
entrances..proactive instead of reactive..first year they've
done this..







More people and cars coming!


Found ourselves a parking spot and walked through the town looking at the different craft vendors.  Lots of people were already there.  We got there before 0800, supposedly doesn't open until 0900, but people were already leaving with their treasures!  

Found a couple of things that jumped at me and were very reasonable. We also made a point of supporting the Genoa Volunteer Fire Department by buying a couple of mason jar mugs that were filled with a delicious Bloody Mary for him and a Screwdriver for me. :) Not that we usually start the day this way, but it's tradition at the Candy Dance.  After a few hours and money gone it was time to head out.  
YUM!

When we got to the car a young lady complimented me on my shirt so we got to talking.  She is a  Marine (out in 2011) and just so sweet.  Her name was Angel and it sure fit her :0  She was walking to the timeshare she was visiting, so we gave her a ride.  Wishing her all the best.  
Loved this bear! On the pricey side though
Ken's project the other day..now we need 1 more spot!

It was close to lunch time so we headed for Carson Valley Inn and ended up having linner.  We know when we eat there, no dinner needed ;) 

Got home and just hung out inside as it was too chilly to be outside for long. 

This morning (Sunday) we didn't have a reason to set the alarm so we just enjoyed the morning and our coffees.  Ken wanted enchiladas and coleslaw for dinner, so I eventually got myself going and got that made.  I much prefer making dinner early so all I have to do is throw it in the oven to heat and dinner is served! His were ground beef and what I made for me is chicken. Should be yummy!  

Folded laundry in the bedroom and got started watching a Hallmark Mystery so once the clothes were put away, I laid on the bed and watched the rest of the show.  Not something I do often but what the heck.  

Ken busied himself with unloading stuff out of the back of the Tundra.  Our new pipe rack is in so we'll make a quick (well, not really) drive there tomorrow to get it.  Since we don't know when Ken's lung surgery will be and how long the recovery is we figured tomorrow was the best day.  

Happy Anniversary to my sister Wendy and hubby Shawn.  35 years. Congrats Sis! 
Aaron 3rd from the left :)   Homecoming Freshman year! 


Aaron on the left ;) 

Have a great evening! Happy Hour time here! 



Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Surgeon appointment went well! Letter #3 from Seth :)

Hardman House Inn and Suites in Carson City advertises a deluxe continental breakfast.  We headed to it about 0800 or so.  Really nice, hard boiled eggs, all kinds of toast, cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, oranges, bananas and varieties of juices, coffee, etc.  More than anyone needed for sure!  We got our breakfast and sat by the window watching the world go by. 
Sunset from a few days ago..the clouds were really cool!



After that headed back to the room and got ready to go.  We had an appointment with the surgeon at 1030, but needed to be early for paperwork.  

Our first time meeting Dr. Halow and we were impressed.  First off, we both liked the examining room we were in, there were pictures of him and family. :)  Also lots of pics of them on vacations like undersea diving, hikes, flying an airplane, just all kinds of activities.  That made the room seem super friendly. Also displayed were his certificates from the different schools he had attended along with certificates from his time in the Air Force.  

He came into the room and said, "So what's going on?"  Ken gave it in a nutshell. He went and looked at the PET Scan and came back in and said ok so this is what I'm going to do and explained very simply.  

Ken will be admitted to the hospital for a few days.  He will put him under, put a camera down through his throat and do some looking around. Then he'll deflate the right lung, basically glue it to the chest wall (this will keep the fluid from returning as the pleural wall will be sealed up) and then re inflate the lung.  While he's in there he'll drain the accumulated fluid.  Ken will have one to two drainage ports on the side. He did say after the surgery it will be painful, very painful but they've got drugs they'll give him. Then, "any questions?" We did ask a couple just to clarify.  He called in one of his staff and told her we need to get the clearance from the cardiologist or get Ken's appointment with him moved up! Obviously he wants to get this done sooner rather than later.  We said our goodbyes and off we went.  He's very impressive gotta say!  

Ken has one more small problem we need to deal with soon.  When we in with Dr. Foster, Ken mentioned that he had been having what felt like heart burn (way up high in the middle of his chest) He says it's like you have to burp but can't.  It's been going on for awhile now.  Dr. Foster has referred him to a gastroenertologist. Dr. Foster said since we really don't know what's wrong with Ken this was the best move.  Ok. 
 We had some time to kill so we headed over to Ross in Reno so I could do a little shopping :)  Before we even got to Reno Gastroenterology Consultants of Carson City had called to make an appointment.  We've got one on Friday at 1000, I think. Hopefully that'll be an easy fix :)

I did a little shopping 3 tops and 2 pairs of jeans.  Gotta say Ken is very patient and honest when it comes to me trying on clothes and looking for clothes.  I think the dressing room lady was impressed!  
Fell in love with these tops as soon as I saw them..
These sayings are on the back of each one :) 

Yep..that's me!

Very very true!

I left there a happy camper and then to Betsy's for a late lunch/dinner.  Once we got home after a bit we went over to Karen's to see her, Amber and baby Amelia. I got her for a few minutes and then Ken took her, I never got her back! LOL..she's growing into such a pretty baby. Didn't have my phone or I'd have had pics!  

This morning (Wednesday) we slept in until 0600.  Had our coffees, visiting with our blogging friends and then I wrote Seth his morning letter. I don't write him anything about Ken as his focus needs to be on Boot Camp rather than worrying about his Papa.  To top off the morning, letter number 3 came from our Marine in the Making!  Love it when that happens!  Of course I couldn't wait until tomorrow morning to write him again, so got on the Sandboxx app and got another one out! 
This is Swim Week and Confidence Course week so it's a busy week for them. Seth is a good swimmer so not worried about that and they've done the Confidence Course earlier in training.  I'm sure he's got it down! :) 
Letter #3! Just makes our day when we get one!
Can't wait for family day and graduation
November 21st and 22nd!

Spent the day doing a little deep cleaning. Ken filled in the hole out back and then went out to the open shed we have so he could make a shelf for kayak #1.  I asked him about kayak #2 he said a container.  We've talked about this before so sure that will be happening before long. A 20 foot shipping container. 

Well, time to get this posted as it'll be Happy Hour soon!  Have a wonderful evening!  Again thanks for all the support and prayers..means the world to us! 




Tuesday, September 24, 2019

No answers..or are there?!

Well, sometimes there are no answers...or.. our prayers have been answered! 

Yesterday morning we woke and I made breakfast near 0600.  Ken's appointment for the PET Scan was for 1310 and he couldn't eat 6 hours before hand.  After that we got ourselves ready and headed out.  It was early, but otherwise you're just at home waiting to leave.  

We stopped at Walmart to pick up some waters and a few things.  We took our time and then took a little drive and then eventually headed over to the hospital.  He actually got called back early :)  Before I knew it, I had finished my book and here he came.  

We had time before the appointment with Dr. Foster so we went ahead to the hotel and checked in.  Got our stuff unloaded and then headed over after a cheese stick, as we both were starving! 

After waiting a few minutes, Dr. Foster came in and his first words were "Your PET Scan came back clear" with a smile on his face and ours!  He had conferred with the radiologist and those were the findings.  Ok, what's next.  

Keep the consultation appointment with the surgeon tomorrow.  Dr. Foster explained that Dr. Halow will go in with a camera, look around (and not find anything) and be able to drain the fluid then "seal" the pleural lining.  He will go in, rough up the lining and then seal it with a talcum.  That should take care of the problem. 

Ken equated it to putting an undercoating on a car.  Dr. Foster laughed. :)

So what's the problem?  We still don't know and may never know what's caused this.  Dr. Foster is perplexed, but happy for us! What we do know, it appears it can be fixed and that with every scan, test etc. that he's had they are able to rule out the serious stuff, Cancer, lymphoma, COPD, heart disease, you name it, it's been ruled out. 

After we left Dr. Foster's we decided to head over to Cactus Jack's for a celebration drink.  Gotta admit I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that we don't know what caused this.  Ken got me to look at it differently.  With every test coming back clear, that's a good thing! If we never know what it was, that's ok as we have a good outcome! Hopefully after the surgery he'll be totally healthy again.  So instead of the cup being half empty (not knowing) the cup is definitely half (or more) full as he will be healthy again! 

 Bottom line, we are thinking that what could have been a serious health condition, has been eliminated.  We are so grateful for all the prayers! Yes, between all the doctors, tests and all the many prayers we have received, we are so THANKFUL! 

We have to believe in the power of prayer and we know there was a lot of that happening :) 

We love you all! :) 




Sunday, September 22, 2019

A letter from Seth! Baking, Getting ready for the PET Scan tomorrow!

Eric and Christina have a new flagpole
and flags :) 

Saturday morning we got ourselves up and going.  A stay at home day! I had some baking to do, so got started on that after breakfast. I also wanted to roast a chicken in the oven and that's something I haven't done in years. I guess because we bar b q so much, just never thought anymore about a whole chicken. 

I got started on that first, I didn't have any stuffing but I had rice so stuffed the chicken with that and some veggies.  Turned out well, hubby said later.  
Roast chicken and veggies going in

Nicely finished..veggies perfectly roasted

Banana bread and flourless peanut butter muffins..

I'm always amazed how it cooks to look like cake..peanut butter
egg beater and baking powder..That's a sugarless chocolate
chip in there :) 

I made some flourless peanut butter muffins and banana bread for Ken.  

Ken had his own project going out back.  We had some monster winds the other day, they actually lifted one of the piers for the porch off its block and made horrible banging noises. We didn't want the porch cover to blow away or worse! While we were in Carson City he bought what he needed and was able to replace the concrete pier with a metal strap that's poured in concrete.  It shouldn't go anywhere again!  
Letting the newly poured concrete dry..


The best news of the day was we received our second letter from our Marine in the making, (Recruit) Seth!  It was written on the 13th. He said he had received letters 1,2,3 and a Sandboxx letter.  He said it was the only time he smiled all day! :)  He said he's been pushing hard and can do 20 more sit Ups than when he left home (thinking it's more than that now). He also said he can't wait to try out the new Kayak. He doesn't know about the 2nd one, but I ordered another just like this one.  He and Holly can go out together! :)  Made this grandma (and papa too) so happy to get his letter.  I know they don't get much time, so when we get one it's even more special!! :) 
Handwritten letter from Seth!

Late in the afternoon we headed outside for Happy Hour and Ken bar b qued some chicken thighs and a breast for me.  Monday we are heading for Carson City for Ken's Pet Scan and lung doctor appointment at 1545.  Tuesday we meet with the surgeon so we're staying again in Carson City. Hoping for some answers this go round.  

Sunday morning I woke up about 0530 and started the coffee.  We visited with our blogging friends and took our time and enjoyed the morning.  

The PET Scan requires a low carb diet for 24 hours before. No problem here as that's pretty much how we eat anyway.  No alcohol for the same time, so looks like happy hour will be a little different today. LOL.  

The PET Scan also requires a no repetitive day.  So no reading, no work, just taking it easy..and if you know Ken that's not easy for him!  We did watch a movie together (No closed caption allowed either)..on the Hallmark Mysteries but you can only take so much haha.  

We're really hoping for an answer of some kind tomorrow.  I'll update late tomorrow. 

Christina sent a few pics of Mason and his baseball game he had yesterday! 
The Baseball Team did this for Seth and
his friend Dylan who left 2 weeks later!

Mason up to bat!

He's so tall and thin! All legs!


Russell posted this evening.  Grandson Aaron and team were in LA for a tournament and won the tournament! Way to go boys! 


Grandson Aaron, upper left..who would know these kids are winners! LOL

Have a good evening everyone! 


Friday, September 20, 2019

Carson City running around..Betsy's Big Kitchen..

Thursday was a stay at home day with the exception of both of us going to town to hit the post office and then the bank.  Ken dropped me at Raley's and he ran to True Value.  He was in the parking lot when I finished.  Home for the rest of the day.  

We had lunch and then watched the 4th installment of a PBS special we recorded (thanks Don).  It's called Country Music, really good show! It shows the evolution of Country Music from the 20's to now (I believe) even though now a days we don't listen to so called "country music".  We're just watching it as we have time :)  the things we learn about people and music watching this show :)   
Deer Run Ranch and Bed and Breakfast..
We're thinking they must grow these fields just to keep these
beautiful deer here. 

Washoe Lake State Park..there were only two sites available :(
Not that we had the trailer. Wanted to check out for kayaking :) 

We each did our own thing and then met back at the end of the afternoon.  We tried sitting outside but with the temps and the wind we ended up back inside to finish our Happy Hour.  It was a fairly early night when we decided to turn in. 

I set the alarm for 0400 as we wanted to leave here by 0600.  We had an appointment time at Discount Tire to get two new tires on the Tundra at 0900.  We decided to have breakfast out at Betsy's Big Kitchen in Carson City.  We got there about 0720.  I really like the place as they don't appear to add salt to any of their foods.  Of course because it's a casino, they seem to cater to the older folks :) Their coffee is delicious along with everything we've eaten there.  
Mt. Rose, which will have a lot of snow later this year.
Highway 395..

More deer at the ranch :) 


After breakfast we went by Custom Truck and Accessories.  We wanted to get a price on a lumber/pipe rack for the Tundra.  It would benefit Ken but also will carry the kayaks..yes we're going to get another.  We got a price from Sacramento, CA of $625.00.  It's a rack Ken really likes.  Custom Truck, for the exact same rack was $850.00 ok, no! We called another place in Reno and got an even higher price!  We then confirmed the price with Sacramento and paid a deposit.  In the next few weeks we'll take a trip there to get a new rack. :) Yep, we'll drive to Sacramento to save a couple of hundred bucks! 

Discount Tire was next, then on to Reno to pick up my online order of wine! A quick stop at Winco and then we took the long way back to Carson City.  Harbor Freight was a quick stop.  By then we're nearing 1300 and our tummies were hungry. We stopped back by Betsy's and had a delicious lunch.  Not too filling but enough we both won't want dinner. 
Washoe Lake 

Along the road to the lake

We did get a call that after Ken's PET Scan on Monday we'll see the pulmonary doctor at 1545.  Hopefully we'll get some answers then.  We see the camera surgeon on Tuesday at 1000 so we're staying Monday night in Carson City again. 

I saw on informed delivery that we're getting a letter from Seth (YAY).  I thought it was coming today, but upon further checking "coming soon"..so hopefully tomorrow.  Time is moving quickly and before you know it, we'll be at his graduation! ;) 

Grandson Adam called this morning just to check in.  He was headed to the Sierra for an overnight camping trip (by himself) and a hike somewhere. Glad he called and we had a nice chat :) 

Happy Hour time! Have a great weekend! 


Wednesday, September 18, 2019

They found a code that works! PET scan next Monday! Celebrating our anniversary!

Yesterday morning we awoke feeling kind of bummed about the news of the PET Scan being cancelled.  We still had an appointment with Dr. Foster, the pulmonary specialist on Tuesday afternoon.  As we're leaving the driveway Tuesday morning to head for Carson City the doctor's office called.  They found a code that worked! YAY! Next Monday, at 1300 it'll happen! They cancelled the afternoon appointment and will reschedule it for after the PET Scan. Consult with the surgeon on Tuesday. 
Our first fire of the year on our Anniversary! ;) 


The next on another was needed as it was 34 degrees..brrr

WE already had a hotel booked because we had an early morning stress test for Ken on Wednesday.  So, off to Carson City we went! Stopped at Betsy's Big Kitchen for a brunch as it was close to 1100.  YUM!  Then we headed for Smith's grocery store to see about something for dinner.  We enjoy lunch out, but very rarely to do we go out to dinner. Guess what was for dinner?!  Bologna sandwiches a day late, along with some bar b q potato chips! 
A little snow on those mountains 

The makings of a great dinner!


Stopped at Walmart for some water and a few things. Ok, let's head back to town and maybe stop at one of the casinos and have a drink. On the way, Ken makes a u turn.  Where ya going? To Verizon I want to see about a smart phone! This woman almost had a heart attack!! He loves his old flip phone!  Says he feels bad about taking my phone to make calls etc..Long story short, he walked out with a Samsung 10.  Just floored that he did it! :) 
Ken's new phone!!

Ok, off to the casino to celebrate before we check into the hotel.  Had a couple of glasses of wine for me, beer for him and then to the hotel basically across the street.  We checked in and guess what was in the lobby?! Free wine!  So I had to take a glass to our room! haha. 
Cactus Jack's Casino Carson City...we don't gamble..just drink LOL!

We enjoyed the evening and then it was time for bologna sandwiches in honor of our wedding night. :) I haven't had a piece of bread since last September 16th. This sandwich was ohhhh sooo good! I did have one hot dog bun when we were at the desert races a few weeks ago.  Thinking i'll have to have one more sandwich before giving up the bread for the next year.  :) 
Our awesome dinner! Cheers to 47!

This morning (Wednesday) I had the alarm set for 0500 because we wanted to leave at 0640 to get to the Cardiology office and Ken's stress test.  All went off without a hitch. They got him in right away and I went to a waiting area with him. Started the blog, but with other people coming in there was a lot of chit chat going on..I shut it down and participated in the chit chat lol..A little over 2 hours later we were out of there.   
The sky was so pretty this am!



We headed over to  Gardnerville and I picked up a life jacket I had ordered and then we headed home to Yerington.  About 1200 and we were starving so stopped at Dini's and had a nice lunch! Now we're home until Friday when we have to be at Discount Tire at 0900 to have 2 new tires put on the Tundra, for our winter travels....(HOPEFULLY).  

Daughter in law Christina is in the hospital with tummy issues.  Her esophagus is too narrow to let food pass to the stomach.  They will be going in with tube that has a balloon attached then they inflate the balloon to stretch out the area that is too narrow. We're praying it all goes well for her :) 
Great nephew Owen looking cool for
picture day at pre school!

Next on the agenda is to get Seth's letter written as I didn't have time this am!  Have a great evening everyone! 

My sweet sister, Linda (ninny as she is known to all the grandkids) sent me these two pictures in the mail today!  :) 
Grandson Aaron! 

Seth (our Marine in the making) and Owen :) 
Friday I'll be shopping for some frames :)