Busy, Busy, Busy and Packing Up

DeBary, FL.

78 deg. clear, NE wind @ 8 mph.

Forecast = Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 88F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.


Jim and Linda have been really busy since I've last posted. They've been gathering things up, packing them and then seeing if there''s enough room in Lily to get them into her trunk. They've just about got it figured out though and as of yesterday afternoon, have decided that they'll be able to get everything in. :-) 



In fact, about 2/3 of Lily's trunk is already packed!! 

We will be leaving here tomorrow, (Sunday), and will take 6 days to get up to Champaign, IL. We'll probably spend a couple of nights somewhere in Alabama, but like always, it's written in pencil and Jim was sure to pack that big eraser of his. ;-) Actually, I don't think that Jim is going to have problems as far as stamina is concerned, he's been doing a lot the last few days and seems to have quite a bit of energy. 

I'm getting really excited about going on a "'Road Trip". I've never been on one in a car, and don't really know what to expect. I suppose I'll have to ride in the back seat, but i'd really like to be able to see out of the windows. Also, I've never been in a Motel, so that'll be another new experience for me. I guess it's going to kind of a re-learning experience for Jim and Linda too. Jim says that he thinks the last time he and Linda stayed in a Motel was way back in 2001, just before we moved into Maraiah, their 35' Winnebago MH!!

So,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  a new adventure begins. I don't know how this will go, but I'm sure we'll work it out somehow. At least it's not as scary as when Jim and Linda sold almost everything they had and went Full-Timing. Living out of suitcases for an extended period of time, (probably about 3 months), will have it's challenges, but we've always been able to overcome them in the past. I don't see why this should be any different. 

As for me, I'm READY!!!!!

A Quote to Ponder, "One man with courage makes a majority."  Andrew Jackson

Woof!!!

Bringing You Up-To-Date

DeBary, FL.

85 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast =  High around 85F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 20%. Wednesday Night,  partly cloudy skies. Low 66F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.


Still don't have a lot of answers about Jim 's health problem, but I thought I'd better bring you up-to-date on what we do know and what's been happening.

Jim had another appointment with his primary care doctor, (Dr. Mathura), Monday. He went over the results of the blood tests, x-rays and the CT scans previously taken.

Nothing really surprising there. Jim had suspected that he had the beginnings of Emphysema, (which he has), and the "mass" that was detected. was as the doctor had told Jim and Linda on the phone.  The doctor gave Jim a sample inhaler to see if that would help him with his coughing and shortness of breath, and so far, it has seemed to help.

Jim and Linda have decided to use the same Oncologist that Linda used for her cancer treatment, (Dr. Saferali), since they both really like her and trust her treatment procedures.  The Pulmonary doctor's appointment won't be until January 5th though, so we'll have to see what happens there.

Also on Monday, (in the afternoon), Linda had an appointment with her surgeon's PA over in Daytona. Again everything went well and the PA doesn't expect any unusual reports from the test that she preformed. :-)

So,  ,  ,  ,  that brings us up-to-date. Maybe after meeting with Dr. Saferali on Friday, I'll have some more news, but who knows. Right now it seems like it's just a "hurry up and wait game"!!!!    :-(

OH, just one more thing. both Linda and Jim have really been enjoying driving Lila around town instead of Big RED.  Big RED is good at towing, but not so good and negotiating parking lots that are now designed for small cars. Also, Lila seems to be getting great gas mileage, so that helps on the financial end. :-)

A Point to Ponder:  “If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today.”
E. Joseph Cossman

Woof!!!

I Forgot and Waiting

DeBary, FL.

72 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast = Partly cloudy with a chance of rain, then thunderstorms and rain showers in the afternoon. High of 90F. Winds from the ESE at 5 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.


Really hasn't been much to post about. In the last post, I forgot to tell you that this next Tuesday, Linda has to go over to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach to have some x-rays and some blood drawn.

Right now, it's wait, wait, wait, so nothing much has gotten done around here. Linda did a couple loads of laundry. As she was doing the first one, the washer quit. It went through the wash cycle but then wouldn't drain. Jim called an appliance repair service and they came the next day and found that it was only the lid switch that had broken, so it was a quick, fairly inexpensive fix.

The freezer door gasket on the new refrigerator has been leaking air into the freezer compartment, so Jim called GE. They sent a repairman out Friday and he worked on it, but by Saturday morning, the frost was reforming again. He tried to call GE but of course they don't make appointments on the weekend, so he'll have to call again Monday.

The freezer is keeping everything frozen, but there is a frost build-up along the bottom of the door.

Thursday evening, Jim and Linda went to Gram's Kitchen for dinner. Linda had breakfast and Jim had their chicken pot pie. Then Friday evening, Jim cooked some burgers on the grill.

Well, I guess that all I have to report. The "unknown" is wearing on both Linda and Jim. Hopefully in a couple weeks, they'll know more.

Did you know that George Washington is the only man whose birthday is a legal holiday in every state of the U.S?

Woof!!!

Dishes, Clouds and Butterflies

DeBary, FL.

74 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast = Partly cloudy with thunderstorms and rain showers. High of 97F. Winds less than 5 mph. Chance of rain 30%.

Long time readers will remember when Jim and Linda went up to Naperville, IL. to see Linda's sister, Nancy, and to pick up some dishes that Linda had left with her for safe keeping. Nancy e-mailed the other day and wondered if they had survived the trip down here in one piece?  Well, in the photo below, you can see that they all made it without even a chip, and that's something, taking in consideration that they had to have bounced around some in the back of CLT on some of those really rough roads that we traveled on the way down here.

Linda's dishes on display, on the shelves and in the cabinets. (metal tray in the middle is not part of the set).

Yesterday morning, as Jim was having his coffee out in the Florida Room, the sun was coming up and he noticed how it was illuminating some storm clouds up to the North of here, so he got out his camera and took this photo.

Morning sun illuminating storm clouds

The last few days, there has been a lot of activity around one of the bushes out in front of our house. It seems like every time I look out of the window, I see these butterflies flitting around the bush. Jim saw them too, so again, he grabbed the camera and took a few photos.

There's one in the photo below, (you can click on the photos to enlarge them) can you spot it?

Here's a close-up of the butterfly on one of the flowers.

Linda did some laundry yesterday, and both she and Jim have been working on getting more things put away and organized. 

Oh, and Jim called "The Antenna Guys" who put up one of the neighbor's TV antenna, across the street, when we were here in the spring. He's going to be here early Thursday morning, (before Linda has to go to the doctor), and talk to Jim, and then, if Jim agrees, he'll probably put up the antenna that same day, even though Jim and Linda won't be here. 

Then, he'll come back another day, and finish the installation. (Any inside stuff that needs to be done). 

Speaking of the doctor, Linda is getting very nervous about going on Thursday. Again, it's the fear of the unknown. Not knowing what the diagnosis will be and what will actually have to be done to fix her problem. :-(  I know that she wants to get all of this taken care of as soon as possible, but at the same time she's worrying about getting the house ready before she has any procedures. 

Hopefully, soon, questions will be answered and everything will get taken care of.

Did you know that there are about 24,000 species of butterflies?

Woof!!!