Long Time Since Last Post

DeBary, FL.

52 deg. mostly cloudy, no wind.

Forecast = Saturday, Sun and clouds mixed. High 76F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.


It's been a long time since I've up-dated this blog, so I thought I'd better try and do it this morning. There's really nothing earthshaking to report, all of us are doing well.  Big RED is bored out of his mind!! :-(  He's really getting tired of just sitting under the carport and plugged into the battery tender that Jim bought to keep his batteries charged up. He says that he'd rather be out on the road charging his batteries himself!!!

Nora seems to be doing fine out at the CG. Last I heard, she was also getting pretty tired of just sitting there, although she says that she's enjoying watching the people walk by.

Linda and I continue to just do daily things. 5 or 6 days ago, Linda took Lila and headed over to Winn Dixie and bought a bunch of groceries.  (About wore herself out), and then a few days ago, made a run to Walgreen's to buy some much needed items. I continue to guard the house while Jim and Linda are gone to Jim's medical treatments and watch the people walk by on the street.

Jim continues to do pretty well, but some of the side-effects of his treatments continue to take their toll.  Fatigue continues to be a big side-effect. Both the chemo and radiation contribute to fatigue and the accumulative effect keeps getting worse. He only has 5 more radiation treatments though, so maybe that will help a little.

This last Monday, Jim was scheduled for his normal Chemo treatment, but his bowels were giving him all sorts of problems, (another side-effect of Chemo), so he called and told them he couldn't make it. That was fine, but the next available time when he could receive a treatment was yesterday. That wasn't a problem but now all the appointments for the rest of the treatments that he'll be getting are switched to Thursday or Friday, as they like to keep the treatments as close as possible to 7 days apart.  

I guess it really won't matter, but you do get used to doing a certain thing on a certain day.

For awhile, Jim's appetite wasn't too good and he wasn't eating well. (Yet another side effect of chemo)  He was starting to lose weight which didn't sit well with either of his doctors. That's one of the reasons that Linda went to the grocery store as she and Jim sat down and talked about what he thought sounded good to him. They came up with a list of foods and now since Linda has been preparing those items, he has started to put a little weight back on. ;-)

So, life goes on. Like I said, Jim only has 5 more radiation treatments left, so by next Friday, he should be finished with them. He actually only has 3 more chemo treatments left, but the last 2 will be stronger and will be spaced out at 21 day intervals, so it will be sometime around the 22nd of April before he's finished with the treatments, follow-up blood tests and doctor's appointments.

Oh, and of course, there will be another PET Scan sometime before then to make sure the treatments have  been successful.

A Quote to Ponder : “Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”
Joshua J. Marine

Woof!!!

Mike And Terri Head North and It Gives Me The Heebee Geebee's!!!

Rantoul, IL.

69 deg. Partly cloudy, no wind.
Forecast = Partly cloudy with scattered storms. Highs around 82°F. Northeast wind to 5 MPH. Chance of precipitation 40 percent.

Monday morning, Mike and Terri packed everything up and after h and h,  (hugs and handshakes), left to visit family for a few days, up near Freeport, IL. They should be returning here to Prairie Pines tomorrow. :-)

Then, around 1:00 Monday afternoon, Big RED took Jim and Linda over to Fisher, IL for Linda's follow up  appointment with her primary care doctor. Linda's vitals were with-in normal range and everything went well at the doctor's office. After the doctor's appointment, Big RED took them over to Thomasboro to pick up their mail before bringing them back here to the CG.

I know that Linda's been worrying about her up-coming appointment with Dr. Gandhi since she went to see him last Friday and received the news that there was a problem with her right eye. By Monday afternoon and yesterday morning, she was pretty upset. :-(  I can't say I blame her. The procedure he said was necessary was not pleasant to even think about!!! The treatment is to actually inject some medicine right into the eye!!!!!

Brrrrrr!!!!!! I get chills and the heebee geebee's just thinking about it!!!!! :-O

Well, yesterday about 1:00 Big RED took Linda and Jim to Dr. Gandhi's office, (down on the South side of Champaign), and Linda had the procedure.

I'll tell you what!!! Linda was much braver than I would have been!!!! The procedure went well and soon Big RED was pulling back into his parking space here at the CG.

Linda's right eye felt scratchy and her vision was blurred in that eye but the Dr. gave here some drops to use in the eye. By the time she and Jim headed to bed, she was saying that it felt a little better. :-)

Today both Linda and Jim have appointments at Dr. Anderson's office. Linda for a pre-op for cataract surgery and Jim for a field of vision test.

There shouldn't be anything "creepy" happening today!!!!

Did you know that out of all the muscles in your body, the muscles that control your eyes are the most active?

Woof!!!!

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!!!

 

 

I Was Wondering, A Trip To Camping World and Just Hanging Around

Myrtle Beach, SC.

55 deg. clear, NW wind @ 9 mph.
Forecast = Today: Mostly sunny. Highs around 73°F. North northeast wind 2 to 9 MPH, gusting to 14 MPH.
Tonight: Clear. Lows around 52°F. Light wind.

I was wondering how long it would last.

What are you talking about, you ask??  Well, since Jim and Linda purchased Bobbie T, Jim has been sitting at the dinette. In the previous RVs that they've had, there's always been a sofa for him to sit on, but Bobbie T only has the dinette, and now since they've changed the original chair, Linda's recliner chair.

Now, for the record, Jim has never complained about sitting at the dinette, but Linda has been concerned for some time now, as it seems that Jim has been having more problems with his back.

If it wasn't for the much needed storage space under the seats of the dinette, I think Jim would have already ripped the dinette out and installed at least one and maybe 2 comfortable chairs in it's space. So, what to do??

Well Thursday, they headed over to one of the two Camping World stores here in Myrtle beach and looked for some kind of a folding chair that could be used inside and would be more comfortable for Jim. What they found was a folding recliner chair that has a slide-out footrest. It's called a "Pepper Leaf Recliner".

It was kind of hard for Jim to take these photos because of the limited room inside of Bobbie T. but I think you'll be able to see how it's possible to use this chair inside. In these first photos the chair is set up along side of the dinette. This is how it will be when Jim is watching TV or just relaxing. (Of course the chair can be used outside too).

In this photo you can see how the chair is folded up and can be positioned against the wall when Jim is not using it or the dinette is needed for eating or working on the computer.

This is not an ideal situation and Jim doesn't much like the upholstery on the chair, but for now it'll work. In the future, that dinette just may come out of there and replaced with a nice comfy chair, but Jim and Linda don't have to make that decision today. ; )

While they were at CW, they also bought some other things that they needed. One of them was what they call a "knife Safe". It mounts on the inside of  a cabinet door and you can store your cutlery in it, thus getting those sharp knives out of a drawer. They also bought a new water pressure regulator for the city water hook-up, and a padded topper cover to go on their mattress. And, Jim picked up 3 of those small American Flags, that he likes because the ones he has now are starting to show their age.

Yesterday morning, we had some real heavy rain here in Myrtle Beach. In fact, on the TV they were saying that we got more than an inch and a half!! The rest of the day, went from cloudy with sprinkles to sun to back to cloudy again, with yet another fairly heavy shower in the evening.

During one of the breaks in the weather, Jim and Linda went to a nearby Kroger's store and picked up a few groceries, but other than that, just hung around inside.

Today, the weather is supposed to be much better. In fact, I was just looking outside and it looks like we may have a neat sunrise. There are some clouds out over the ocean and that usually makes the sunrise even better.

I'd better go and see if I can get Jim to go out there with his camera and get a few pictures. ; )

Did you know that an estimated 14 million people visit the Myrtle Beach area every year during the Spring/Summer/Fall seasons? 

A Spot For Bobbie T, Laura And Lindsey and A Reply To A Comment

DeBary, FL.

63 deg, clear, SW wind @ 7 mph.
Forecast = Today: Partly cloudy with scattered showers. Highs around 72°F. Northwest wind 10 to 15 MPH, gusting to 21 MPH. Chance of precipitation near 45%.
Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows around 57°F. North wind 6 to 14 MPH, gusting to 19 MPH.

I had a hard time deciding if I wanted to post an entry to this blog this morning or not. Not much happened yesterday so I was having trouble thinking of something to write about.

Jim and Linda did go over to Highland Estates about 10:30 though, and and made it official that they'd have a place to park Bobbie T in the storage lot when we come back in the fall. They now have an agreement saying that spot #2 is reserved for him and will be available as of November 1. : ) Jim also has a key to the storage area so that he can get in there anytime he wants. And, because they have someone who wants to store something on that spot this summer, Jim and Linda won't have to start paying storage until Bobbie T actually starts using the spot.

After that, they'll have to pay $25 per month, year round to reserve the site. That's still a whole lot cheaper than any storage lot in this area, and of course any other storage area wouldn't be near as convenient as a place right by the house.

Laura and Lindsey came over to visit for a couple hours after dinner last night. Linda and Laura sat inside and talked and Jim and Lindsey sat outside since the weather was nice.

Today, Jim and Linda will meet Laura, (and maybe Lindsey), over at the house so that she can see Linda's new "4 poster bed". Then, later, they may all go out to dinner together because after today, Laura has to work every day and we won't get a chance to see her again before we leave Sunday. : (

Tomorrow will be a busy day for Jim and Linda. There's still quite a lot of things that have to be done over at the house, and of course, there's still a lot to here. Hopefully Jim and Linda will be able to get some of it done today, so they won't have too much to do tomorrow.

Retired Rod left a comment on yesterday's post. He was inquiring about the legalities of Jim and Linda having the house down here in Florida and still keeping South Dakota as their residence.

Well, I don't know all about the laws, but as of now, we'll be in Florida less that 6 months out of the year, and the house will be treated like a winter home, just like thousands of other people do from all over the U.S. For the near future, we'll continue to head up North for the summers to spend time with family and friends and continue to go places that Jim and Linda still want to visit, such as New England and parts of the upper  Mid-West and North-West.

Their Drivers License's are good for 3 more years so at that time, they may decide to make Florida their residence because there really won't be a reason not to. And, (let's face it), in years to come, they'll probably be traveling less than they do now.

Did you know that Frogs are found everywhere in the world except in Antarctica?

Woof!!!

It's Falling Together and Waiting And Waiting And Waiting

DeBary, FL.

43 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Today: Mostly sunny. Highs around 79°F. South wind 0 to 10 MPH, gusting to 10 MPH.
Tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows around 57°F. Southeast wind 5 to 10 MPH.

It was about 10:00 yesterday morning when CLT took Jim and Linda over to the house. On the way over there, they stopped at a garage sale and found a few small items that they'll need at the house. CLT says that he thinks it was about 10:45 by the time they arrived at the house.

Now, of course the reason to go over to the house this early was to be there during the 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM time frame that "Rooms To Go" had told them that the delivery of the bed would be made. Like I said, this was fine with Jim and Linda because there were things that needed to be done over there anyway.

Also, Nancy, (the Community Manager), upon Jim's request, had set up a meeting with a man named "Bob" who she said would be willing to take care of the lawn during the summer and possibly do some other work around the house that will be needed while we're up North for the summer. She also said that he was very knowledgeable as to what needed to be done to the house to ready it for the summer.

Bob lives at Highland Country Estates, so about 12:45, he pulled into the driveway in his golf cart. After introductions, he, Jim and Linda sat down and talked about what needed to be done before we leave and about the normal yard work that needs to be done along with some other things that Jim and Linda would like to have Bob do during the summer.

CLT says that Bob was there for over an hour. He and Jim went all the way around the house and discussed  different items that he and Jim thought needed attention.

Well, to make a long story short, Jim and Linda liked Bob and hired him to do the work. He seems very responsible and conscientious  and his prices are, (Jim and Linda feel), more than fair. Jim and Linda have his phone number and e-mail address and he has theirs, so there will be some communication while we're gone.

All this is very new to Jim and Linda so they're going to have to rely on recommendations and advice of some other people.  This first year will be a test and there will probably be some things that they'll change in the future. Only time will tell. ; )

OK, back to the delivery of the bed from Rooms To Go.

A little before 3:00, Jim and Linda received a phone call from Rooms To Go, saying that the delivery truck was running a little behind and it wouldn't be arriving until a little after 3:00. By 4:00 there was still no sign of the truck and Jim was just about ready to tell them to,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , well, you can imagine what Jim was thinking!!

Anyway, Linda called the phone number they had for Rooms To Go and finally talked to the dispatcher who told her that "the truck was on it's way and should be there in just a few minutes."

OK, they continued to wait!!! And wait!!! And wait!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, about 5:30, the truck pulled up in front of the house!!!!! By this time, Jim and Linda had been waiting for the delivery for about 6 1/2 hours and both of them were not happy campers!! But, it didn't pay to tick the delivery people off, so they tried to be pleasant as the men unloaded the bed, brought it into the  house and assembled it.

Anyway, they now have it and Linda really likes her "4 Poster Bed"!!!!! ; ) And in the end, I guess that's what's important. : )

By this time, both Jim and Linda were hungry so they headed over to Steak N Shake for a sandwich. Then came back here to Highbanks and watched TV until bedtime.

Oh, one last thing. Jim needs to find out for sure, but he and Linda heard last night the the couple in the MH parked next to us had an accident with their motorcycle yesterday. They heard that he has a lot of "road rash", and she is in the hospital over by Titusville with some broken bones, but nothing life threatening.

I'm sure Jim will find out more today and I'll be sure to let you know how they're doing. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they seem like a very nice couple.

Did you know that the Earth is 80 times the size of the moon?