Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Back To The House and A Plan For This Summer

DeBary, FL.
Highbanks Marina and CG.

75 deg. clear, S. wind @ 8 mph.
Forecast = Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. High 93F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.

It's been great, staying here in the travel trailer at Highbanks. Kind of like a mini-vacation, but today we'll be heading back to the house. You see, Thursday, Linda has her Chemo treatment and also, Joe will be flying in from Virginia Beach. We could manage staying here in the trailer but Joe will have luggage and he'll probably need to be doing some "work" on his computer, so it will be better to stay at the house.

For those of you that are new to this blog or others who have a memory like mine, Joe is Linda and Jim's son who lives in Virginia Beach with his wife, Nancy and their 2 girls, Sami and Amber. Joe flew down here right after Linda's surgery, but we haven't seen him since.

So this morning, Jim and Linda will be packing up a bunch of stuff and we'll head to the house. On the way, we'll stop by Walgreen's to pick up a couple of Linda's prescriptions that they took over there yesterday. Once we get home, I'm sure there'll be things to do before Joe gets here and I'll just bet they'll need to buy some groceries.

So far, the travel trailer has preformed very well. There are a few things that could have been done differently, but that's to be expected. If there's one thing that we've learned throughout the years is that there "ain't no 10's" where RVs are concerned. Every one of them has their little quirks and design problems. So far, this trailer doesn't seem to have any large problems and it should work very nicely for it's intended purpose.

Oh!! Just one more thing.

Yesterday, Jim and Linda were talking about the rest of this summer and I think that they've pretty much decided that they want to leave the trailer here at the campground so that we can come here for more "mini vacations" while Linda has the rest of her treatments. It'll cost more than putting the trailer in the storage lot, but not any more than if we were traveling with it, like we normally would during the summer months.

I think it's a good plan. I get bored just sitting in the house all the time.

Did you know that Buzz Aldrin’s mother’s maiden name was Moon?

Woof!!!








Saturday, April 26, 2014

Dr. Appointments, Joe's Coming To Visit and Other Stuff

DeBary, FL.
Highbanks Marina and Camp Resort

65 deg. clear, W. wind @ 6 mph.
Forecast = Areas of fog early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. High 88F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.

Everything went well at the Chemo doctor's visit Thursday. As expected, Linda will start Chemo treatments this coming Thursday, (The 1st of May), and will then have 2 more treatments at 21 day intervals.

This means that this next week is going to get really busy. On Wednesday, Linda has a follow-up appointment with the radiation Dr. (Dr. Graham), Thursday, she'll have the Chemo Treatment, plus Joe is flying in from Virginia Beach to visit. Then on Friday, Linda will have to go back to the Chemo doctor's office for that injection that helps her bone marrow make more blood cells. If you remember, that's the injection that makes her bones ache for 2 or 3 days. :-(

I don't know exactly how long Joe will be staying, but I think it will be between 5 to 7 days. He has some kind of airline discount thing that he must use by the 7th of May, so he'll have to be back in Virginia by then.

We've been having a good time camping here at Highbanks. Jim and Linda have been getting things organized in the trailer and yesterday, Jim went to Home Depot and purchased a towel bar, a TP holder, a toothbrush holder and some clothes hooks for the bathroom. I'm not sure why these items aren't already included with the trailer, but I suppose it's another way the manufacturer can cut the cost of production.

Speaking of the trailer, so far everything seems to be working well and no major defects have been found. Jim has tightened up a few screws and there is a piece of trim in the bedroom that he will be tacking down with a small nail, but nothing that would warrant taking the trailer back to the dealer.

Last night, Jim and Linda went to Gram's Kitchen for their "Fish Fry". Again, the food was good and so was the service. Gram's has become a very "comfortable" place for them to go out to eat.

It's been getting quite warm down here in Florida the last few days. We've been having highs near 90 degrees and the forecast is for temps over 90 Monday through Thursday. The humidity hasn't been too high yet, but I'm sure that will be rising soon. Neither Jim, Linda or I are looking forward to spending the summer here in Florida, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Did you know that the average high temperatures for June, July and August in DeBary, FL. is above 90 degrees?

Woof!!!

Thursday, April 24, 2014

We're Camping!!!!!

DeBary, FL.
Highbanks Marina and Camp Resort

66 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast = Sunny skies this morning. Scattered showers and thunderstorms developing during the afternoon. High 86F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.

Tuesday morning, Jim and Linda started gathering more things to take over to the trailer at Highbanks. I figured that they were serious about staying for awhile in the trailer when Linda gathered up all her medicine, Jim took the pillows off of the bed, they packed up changes of clothes and they started packing up food, like bread and lunch meat that they need every day.

By early afternoon, they were locking up the house and we were all packed up and on our way. ;-)

Once they had everything put away, Jim opened the awning, got out the lawn chairs and grabbed his camera.

From the vacant site next to us.

He took this photo from the rear. I don't know if you can tell or not, but the slide-out room is quite deep on this RV. it extends about 32". The slides on Bobbie T were only 18" deep and on Emrys 24"


We must be staying awhile, Jim put out his flags. :-)


While he had the camera out, he snapped this photo of Big RED too.


Yesterday, was spent just relaxing and re-organizing some of the "stuff" that they brought to the trailer. Laura stopped by for awhile in the morning to visit. Jim took a nap in the afternoon and then cooked burgers on the grill while Linda put salads together inside.

Today, Linda has an appointment at 1:00 to see to see the chemo doctor, (Dr. Saferali ). At that time she'll find out when she'll start treatments again. :-(  After the doctor's visit, they want to stop by the house to pick up the mail and a few items, and then stop by the store to buy milk and a few other things.

I don't know how long we'll be staying here at Highbanks. The site rent is paid until the 14th of May, so the trailer can stay here until then, but we won't be staying out here in it the whole time.

Oh Wow!!!! I just looked outside and it's getting very foggy here by the river. I wonder of it's foggy all over this area?

Haven't heard anything on TV about fog.

Did you know that the "Hamburger hall of fame" is located in Seymour, Wisconsin?

Woof!!!


Tuesday, April 22, 2014

A Great Dinner and Moving Things Into The Trailer

DeBary, FL.

57 deg. clear, NW wind @ 5 mph
Forecast = Sun and clouds mixed. High 83F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.

Jim and Linda had a great time and a great meal at Marv and Inez's house Easter Sunday. Anna drove down from Jacksonville, Ashley and her friend Chris were there and so was Lindsey, 2 of his brothers and their families.

Jim and Linda got there around 11:30, had a great ham dinner and enjoyed talking to everyone after the meal, but by about 3:00 or so, Linda started getting quite tired, so they headed back here to the house. Again, Jim and Linda want to thank Marv and Inez for including them in their family's dinner. :-)

Yesterday, Jim and Linda started moving things over to the Travel Trailer. They took a whole cooler of food to put into the refrigerator and some caned goods and cooking utensils. Jim also took his grill over there along with some charcoal.

They took me along, so I was finally able to see the new trailer. Here I am, in the truck, waiting for them to take me inside.

Once inside, I tried to get a good vantage point where I could see everything so I hopped up on the dinette table. I know that some of these photos didn't turn out very well, but I'm sure Jim will be taking more in the near future.

Then I jumped over to the counter, by the sink.

And then into the bedroom to have a look.

After taking the photos of me, Jim took this photo of Linda sitting in her recliner relaxing. (This is the same recliner that they bought to put in Bobbie T.)


Today, the plan is to take some clothes and personal items over there along with some more food and then, if they get that all done, spend at least a week over there.

Kind of a mini vacation!!!!  ;-)

Did you know that on this date in 1889 - At noon, the Oklahoma land rush officially started as thousands of Americans raced for new, unclaimed land?

Woof!!!

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Happy Easter and Catching Up

DeBary, FL.

61 deg. overcast, N. wind @ 15 mph.
Forecast = A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 76F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.

Wednesday morning, Jim and Linda loaded some things into the back of Big RED and headed first to Walgreen's to drop off a couple prescriptions and then over to the travel trailer at Highbanks. Jim helped Linda with figuring out where would be the best place to put some of the items inside of the TT and then worked on getting things organized in the limited basement storage area.

They're both having trouble readjusting to the idea that we'll no longer be living in an RV for long periods of time and only need to equip the trailer for "extended vacations".

Oh, don't worry, the plan is still to head North for anywhere from 4 to 6 months during the summers, but they really won't need to take as much along, now that we have a house.

Thursday, Jim went back and picked up the prescriptions as well as some other necessities from Walgreen's and then went across the street to Winn Dixie and bought a whole bunch of groceries. It had been awhile since the last real grocery shopping trip and they also had quite a few items that Jim and Linda regularly use on sale. Then, in the afternoon, he and Linda went back over to the trailer with a few if the items that were bought earlier and did some more organizing.

Friday, Jim wasn't feeling very well so about the only thing that he and Linda did was to wash a couple loads of laundry. Then in the evening, Laura stopped by to chat for awhile. :-) Oh, sometime during the afternoon, Louise called and asked if it would be OK if she and Roland came for a visit on Saturday. Of course both Jim and Linda said that they'd love to see them, but it was not to be. :-(

Saturday morning Louise called back and told Jim that she wasn't feeling well at all that they would have to cancel their visit. She said that they'll try to visit sometime soon as they'll be heading up to their home in North Carolina pretty soon.

Being that Roland and Louise couldn't make it, Jim called Lindsey and asked him if he and Laura would like to go over to Highbanks and see the trailer. He said that they would so about 10:30, Jim and Linda met them over there and gave them the "tour".

After they left, Jim and Linda made the bed and did a little more organizing before coming back here to the house.

Today, Jim and Linda are invited to an Easter Dinner over at Marv and Inez/s, (Lindsey's parents), so Linda baked a cake to take along. Laura won't be able to go because she has to work today, but Lindsey will be there along with some of his brothers and their families.

Did you know that the name Easter owes its origin from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess who symbolizes hare and egg?

Woof!!!

 

 

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

A Certificate For Linda

DeBary, FL.

51 deg. Partly cloudy, N. wind @ 12 mph.
Forecast = Mostly cloudy skies. High 71F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.

Everything went well yesterday and by about 9:45 Linda was finished with her last Radiation treatment. As she was leaving the treatment room, she was surprised when one of the technicians gave her a Certificate of completion!!! Jim took a photo of it and I'm hoping that by clicking on the photo to enlarge it, you'll be able to read what it says.


After leaving the Hospital, Jim and Linda decided to go out for Breakfast, so they headed over to the 4 B's Restaurant. :-)

After eating, they came back here to the house so that Linda could take her medications and to relax for awhile. A little later, Jim asked her if she wanted to go over to Highbanks to put more "stuff" away in the travel trailer, but she was too tired, so Jim went over there and worked on it some.
Just before he came back here, Jim snapped this photo of the trailer sitting on its site.

Because of the forecast, he had been watching the weather so when the skies started to look threatening he headed for home. Soon after he returned here to the house, (about 12:15), a cold front came through and it started raining really hard. There was also some wind with the front, but nothing too serious in this area.

If Linda is feeling OK today, I'm sure they'll be back over to the CG to continue organizing the travel trailer. If not, they have quite a bit of time to finish the job.

Here's what's happening medically for the rest of the month.  Linda has a Chemo doctor's meeting on the 24th and and probably have a Chemo treatment about a week after that. She also has an appointment to go back to Dr. Graham's, (the radiation doctor), for a follow-up visit on the 30th of April.

A Point to Ponder : Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.

Woof!!!

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

We Have A Travel Trailer and Linda's Last Radiation Treatment

DeBary, FL.

67 deg. clear, S. wind @ 8 mph.
Forecast = Partly cloudy early. Thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 87F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80%.

Sunday morning, Jim took Bobbie T over to the RV dealer, (LaMesa RV). Then, Jeff, (the salesman that Jim and Linda have been dealing with), brought Jim back here to the park. The reason being that last Thursday, Shane, (the service adviser) had called and told Jim that the new Travel Trailer would be ready on Monday.

So, yesterday, at 10:00, Jim and Linda took Big RED over to LaMesa RV and they fitted him with a load equalizing anti sway hitch and an electric brake controller while Jim and Linda were given a "walk through" and signed some papers to finalize the deal.  While they were there, they had a free lunch, (Shepard's Pie), at the dealer's cafeteria.

About 12:30, just as they were finishing up lunch, Jeff told them that the hitch and controller had been installed, a few minor problems with the trailer corrected, and everything was ready. From LaMesa, they took the new trailer over to the Highbanks Marina & Camp Resort  where Jim paid for 1 month's stay.

The trailer is now parked in Site #198, which is the same site that we have had for the last few years when we've stayed there for the winter. After getting the trailer set up and hooked to the electric to run the AC, Jim unloaded a bunch of boxes from the back of Big RED and carried them inside of the trailer so that he and Linda could start packing "stuff" into the cabinets.

They didn't get a whole lot done as both of them were pretty tired by this time, so they'll go back today, after Linda's last radiation treatment, and do some more organizing. They have a lot more stuff to move over there but once they get the necessities moved, they'll start staying overnight. :-)

As I mentioned, today Linda has her last radiation therapy treatment. Next Thursday, (the 24th), she has an appointment with Dr. Saferali (the chemo doctor), and they'll discuss when Linda will start her second series of Chemo treatments. As before, the treatments will be at 21 day intervals and there will be 3 of them.

 Did you know that on this date in 1817 - The first American school for the deaf was opened in Hartford, CT?

Woof!!!


Saturday, April 12, 2014

One More

DeBary, FL.

63 deg clear, NE wind @ 4 mph.
Forecast = Partly cloudy. High 82F. Winds ENE at 10 to 20 mph.

Wednesday evening, Jim and Linda took Big RED and headed over to Gram's Kitchen for dinner. They arrived there around 5:00 and the place was almost empty. I guess many of the "Snow Birds" have flown back North for the summer. ;-)

Anyway, the food was good as usual and it was kind of nice not having to wait at all, because the restaurant was busy.

Yesterday, Linda had another Radiation Therapy treatment and that means that she only has 1 more treatment to go. The last treatment will be next Tuesday and then sometime in the next week or so, she'll be starting with Chemo treatments again.

But, ,  ,  ,  ,  , before she has that last radiation treatment on Tuesday, they'll be heading over to LaMesa RV to pick up the new Heartland travel trailer on Monday. :-) They're supposed to be at the dealer's at 10:00 and then, the weight distributing sway control hitch will be fitted to the truck and trailer, Jim and Linda will inspect the trailer, they'll get the walk-through, and hopefully everything will be OK and they'll take delivery.

If all goes according to plan, by mid afternoon, they'll be taking the trailer over to the Highbanks Marina and CG where it'll be parked and used for a month before being brought here and put into the storage lot. Of course if any problems show up during the month at the CG, the trailer will be taken back to the dealer for repair.

A Point to Ponder : Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

Woof!!!

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

2 More To Go and Rescheduled

DeBary, FL.

58 deg. Mostly cloudy, NW wind @ 10 mph.
Forecast = Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. High 76F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.

Linda had her Radiation treatment yesterday morning. Being that they were saying that the whole procedure could take as long as 3 hours, Laura went along to keep Linda and Jim company while waiting.

This procedure is more complicated because Linda has to get a scan each time, Dr. Graham, (Linda's radiation doctor), then decides exactly where the treatment should be applied, and then she is taken in and the treatment is preformed. This treatment is very concentrated and takes about 10 or 15 minutes, once everything is set up.

She will have 2 more of these treatments, one on Friday and the final one next Tuesday. After the 3rd one, she will be done with all the radiation treatments.

Then in a week or so will resume Chemo treatments.:-(

Linda said that the treatment wasn't too bad, but last night she did have an uncomfortable sensation in her lower abdomen.

Being that the next radiation treatment will be on Friday, (the day they were supposed to pick up the new travel trailer from LaMesa RV), Jim called the service adviser yesterday afternoon and rescheduled. Now, they'll be picking the trailer up next Monday instead.

It was sure nice of Laura to take one of her days off to go along yesterday. It made the time pass so much quicker.

Thanks Laura!!!! ;-)

No big plans for today or tomorrow. A lot will depend on how Linda is feeling.

Did you know that April is "National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Month?"

Woof!!!


Monday, April 7, 2014

What's Really Important?

DeBary, FL.

70 deg. clear, S. wind @ 10 mph.
Forecast = A mix of clouds and sun early followed by cloudy skies this afternoon. High 91F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.

Before beginning, I would like to say that because of the wide range of viewers of this blog, neither religion or politics will be discussed. I'll let you decide where those beliefs belong on your list.

So,  ,  ,  ,  let us begin!

Because of all the things that have happened in my and Jim and Linda's lives lately, I've been doing some thinking. This is one of the things that I've been  pondering upon for awhile.

Have you ever though about what's really important?

I mean, really, really important????

Is it really important where you live? How much money you have? If you will be able to travel? Where you are right now? How about what kind of vehicles you have? Is that big fancy house or RV really important? Are those 232 "friends" that you have on the Internet important?

If you are very honest with yourself, I think that you'll find that there are only a very few things that are really important! After living with Jim and Linda for the last 12+ years, I think I have a pretty good idea of what is and what isn't.

 1st, I think that probably the most important thing is to know that someone really loves you. I don't mean the kind of love you have for a good friend, I mean truly unconditional love. People, (and pets), need love. Without love, there'll always be something inside of you missing. (Been there, done that!)

Second, you need someone to unconditionally love. (It goes both ways here). Most likely, that will be the person who truly loves you, but I'm sure you can love more than one person, such as family.

Third, good health is important. Oh, you can be happy without good health, (especially if you have the 2 things above), but to be content, you need to be fairly healthy.

Finally, I think you need just enough money to put a roof over your head, put food in your mouth and pay the bills. You don't need all the latest "gadgets" or that fancy house or RV and in fact I've learned, (from past experiences in a "former life"), most material things are very unimportant.

These are the things that I think are the most important. Your list may be different, and that's OK. But, (and here's that "but" again), take a little time to think about it. Decide what's truly important in your life, you may be surprised.

Is that latest "widget" you bought really important?

A Point to Ponder: Life sometimes gives you a second chance.

Woof!!!

Friday, April 4, 2014

No Treatments This Week and Planning Some More

DeBary, FL.

64 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High 87F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph.

Linda didn't have any radiation treatments this week because during the next 2 weeks, they'll be doing a different kind of radiation and the doctor wanted to wait a week in between. So,  ,  ,  ,  ,  this next Tuesday, she'll be going in at 7:30 AM for a treatment, that with prep time, that will take approximately 3 hours!!!! :-(   There will be a total of 3 of these treatments administered over the next 2 weeks and then she will go back to having Chemo treatments.

Linda went to see the Chemo doctor, (Dr. Saferali) yesterday afternoon, and she indicated that there would again be 3 treatments at 21 day intervals. Linda has an appointment to see Dr. Saferali in 3 weeks, (the 24th of March). and the treatments should begin the following week.

Now, if you plan it out on a calendar, her last treatment should be on or about the 12th of  June. Then there will be 2 or 3 weeks after that when she'll have to go in for blood test to make sure her blood count is OK. Then, we're guessing that there will be another month for follow-up visits.

IF, (and this is a big IF), everything goes smoothly, we may be able to start heading North somewhere between the middle to the end of July!!!! Jim and Linda both realize that many thing could change this, but we're all hoping that we'll be able to go, near that time frame.

Speaking of travel!!! The service adviser from LaMesa called the other day and they expect to have the trailer ready for pick-up towards the end of next week. They had to order some parts, thus causing the delay.

A Point to Ponder : I've learned that just one person saying to me, "You've made my day!" makes my day.

Woof!!!