Late-July Update

Just got back (Sunday) from a week visiting dad. He went into the hospital on July 9; tests showed that he had had another heart attack. They did a catheterization on Wednesday or Thursday, and found two blockages, which they fixed with two stents. After monitoring his blood pressure (he had dipped down to 70-something while he was in the hospital), he was sent home on Friday afternoon, July 15. (Well, actually when he was released, he went home with Ann, his girlfriend.)

I flew in on the 16th, my dear friend Chris picked me up at the airport and took us right to Ann's house. Dad was still tired and a little wobbly on his feet, but had a good pink color to his face. We chatted for a while, then Chris and I went out to dinner; afterwards, I checked into a nearby motel. (I was staying at a motel instead of at his place because I had work to do on Monday and he has no internet connection at his home!)

I picked him up at Ann's on Tuesday morning and then spent the week with him at his place. He was gradually making progress, and we'd take slightly longer and longer walks (and by "slightly longer" I mean going up and down three aisles at Publix instead of just one or two). His tummy is unsettled, probably from changing around all his meds again, but the good news is that the doctor cut his blood pressure medication in half, as well as his cholesterol medication. Maybe lowering the BP med will help with some of his tiredness.

It was hard to leave him on Sunday. Especially with his most recent heart incidents (four of them since the end of April), it's easy for me to wonder if each time I see him will be the last. But, his spirits are good, he's talking about where he and Ann will go on their next cruise, so I take my cue from him - keep moving on.

(As for the other things that happened while I was in Florida: His tires needed replacing, his car needed a coil replaced, his dishwasher doesn't clean the dishes very well anymore [it's from 1987!], his living room rug has gotten to the embarrassing point and needs to be replaced, and as we were walking out the door to go to the airport the washing machine was flooding the laundry room. "Don't worry about it, there's nothing we can do now anyway. Let's go," he said, so we did.)

(By the way, if you live anywhere near New Port Richey in Florida, take your car to the Goodyear shop on highway 19 across from Publix. Talk to Mary Ostrowski and tell her I sent you. These people are the BEST. They took care of Kelly and me when we brought in Aunt Irene's Corolla and they took care of me this past week when I had the car in and out (for the tires) and in and out again (for the coil). They even threw in an oil change, gratis.)

Today (Tuesday), I'm leaving to take a train to Portland (Oregon) to attend Sock Summit 2011. I attended Sock Summit 2009 and it was like Woodstock for sock knitters; we had a blast. This year's event promises to be just as much fun, maybe more, and now I need to go pack. The clothes are already laid out, the real question is what knitting to bring. That always stymies me on a trip. I better get to it!

Model Railroaders, Bad Golf, and Bad Hearts

Well, we had a lovely time at the model railroaders' convention last week. Kelly and I both sat in on some interesting classes, plus he took a few extra hands-on workshops, while I knitted my way around the convention center. We checked out of the Sacramento hotel Thursday morning and headed to the Jelly Belly factory, but it was crazy crowded, so we skipped that and checked in to the hotel at Travis Air Force Base.

We golfed at their course, Cypress Lakes, and had our butts totally whipped. Neither of us could hit a tee shot that cleared the girls' tees and we spent more time looking for our wayward balls than making decent shots (we each lost about 5 balls, too). My new clubs were like foreign objects in my hands; Kelly's tried-and-true clubs were acting like his enemies.

We checked out of Travis Friday morning and went back to the Jelly Belly factory. A little less crowded, so we did the tour and then came home. I came back with a sore throat but thought it was just from bouncing from 100-degree heat into the A/C. Turns out it's a lovely summer cold and now I feel like crap. Been chewing down Musinex since yesterday. It's the only thing that's keeping me from hacking up a lung.

Around midnight Friday, Ray calls to let me know dad's back in the hospital. (Luckily, Ray was there visiting.) So between the time he called and Saturday afternoon, they moved dad from the ER to the intensive care unit to the cardiac care unit. Turns out he had had another congestive heart failure episode. I had been planning to go see him in August, but will now be leaving next Saturday and stay for a week. We've cancelled the Las Vegas trip. We'll go another time; I'm sure it will be there for a little while longer. Then when I come back, I'm only home for a couple of days before heading up to Portland for Sock Summit.

Don't know what's going on with dad; this has been the 4th time since the end of April that he's wound up in the hospital. I'm pretty stressed out right now.

They're Heeeeere!

Pretty!

I'm Such A Very Bad Girl

*sigh* Not one week after finding a great deal ($50!!) at Big5 on a club set (Tour Craft Aeros, driver, 3-wood, 6-hybrid, and couple of irons and a new bag), I found a *real* nice set at Golfsmith. Full set of 14 clubs (Adams A70S), including a putter, and a cart bag. No, this set wasn't $50, but I did find a $100-off coupon and they were on sale besides. I had admired them last week and though I walked away from them then, they stayed on my mind. I went online and found the coupon, then put them in - took them out - put them in - took them out - of my shopping cart.

As we were playing the Seabee golf course over the weekend (at Port Hueneme in southern California), I was finally getting the hang of the oversized driver and the hybrid and was hitting them fairly well. When we got back home yesterday afternoon, though, the other set was again on my mind, so we trekked back up to San Jose so I could try out the Adams.

My first shot with the driver was a real klonk, but six or seven in a row after that I hit it really well and it felt good. The hybrid I grabbed, I hit dead center from the first shot. I also took a 7-iron, since the style was different than my current clubs, and again, I hit all the shots well.

They're due to ship Thursday... Who wants the old-new clubs? :-)

Random Bits

R.B. #1 - My dad's defibrillator went off last Monday. Literally knocked him on his ass; out cold for about 30 seconds or so. Got the doctor, they got a read-out from the gizmo, now he's fine. The unit is designed to defib when he has 10 'episodes' (of ventricular mis-firings) in a short period of time, and that's what the read-out said. ...8, 9, boom. He's slowly getting back to usual, but word on the street is that this can really drain you. He's on some new meds that aren't helping; they're making him even more tired, so he'll go see the doc about that. When I spoke to him yesterday, he was tired, but he's back home again (after staying at his girlfriend's for about a week). Ray is planning to go visit the week after the 4th of July; I'm not planning to go back until March (DRJ conference), but I'm keeping my options open.

R.B. #2 - Sweetie and I are trying to get back into the swing of golf again. (That was a pun. Get it?) We played in October of 2009 when we went to Pismo Beach and then didn't play again until a few weeks ago. Surprisingly, I didn't hurt myself and actually hit a few good shots. We've been heading to the driving range when we have some time and he's taking a few lessons from a local pro. Me, I'm just going to keep on keeping on and hope I don't hit someone with a mis-struck ball.

R.B. #3 - In association with R.U. #2, we went to a local course Tuesday that just kicked our damn asses up one fairway and down another. We thought it was a small, 9-hole course. How big could it be for $10? Holy guacamole. Long yardages, hills, 92 degrees, little or no shade (and we forgot water and sunscreen). What the hell were we thinking?? It may be a while before we return...

R.B. #4 - Heading down to Oxnard this weekend to visit the hubby's parentals. It happens to be Father's Day, but that's just coincidence. What do you get a 92-year-old man for Father's Day?

R.B. #5 - I gave my dad money for a house-cleaning service. That, and a card that said "put your finger here and pull it yourself." He's a great dad. Wonder what I'll be getting him when *he's* 92...

R.B. #6 - Bargain found! A set of clubs and a golf bag for $50! An odd set, to be sure: pitching wedge, 8 iron, 6 iron, 5 iron, hybrid (looks like a 2-ish wood), 3 wood and driver. Clubs have gotten huge; my old driver from nineteen-ninety-mumblemumble is smaller than the new 3 wood. The driver is enormous, around 5" at its widest. I will definitely need to practice hitting with it.

5 Years? Holy Cow...

Yes, indeed; yesterday was our 5th wedding anniversary. It's definitely one of those time-warping things, where we vacilate between "it feels like we've been together forever," and "the years have gone by in a flash." Although, we have known each other 'forever' (since 1994, but we didn't become a couple for many years), so that "we've been together" sentiment makes sense.

Regardless of what kind of time span it feels like, I do know one thing - I love this man, truly, madly, deeply.

In 2006, we had what we call an "ambush wedding." No, neither Kelly nor I was the one being ambushed; we ambushed our guests. We had gotten formally engaged on May 13, so we told friends we were having an engagement celebration dinner at Parcel 104, the restaurant at the Santa Clara Marriott. (It's a phenomenal restaurant; if you have the chance, go.) . After some appetizers and a few drinks, the minister showed up and, to the everlasting surprise of all the guests (all 10 of them), married us!

For our 5th anniversary, we decided to have a dinner party at "the scene of the crime." While Kelly's brother and sister-in-law couldn't join us this time, we were lucky enough to round up 5 of the original 10 guests, plus 2 who were supposed to have been there in 2006, plus 2 more wonderful people (who themselves had recently gotten engaged!). What Kelly didn't know is that I had gotten in touch with the minister who had married us, and had signed her up to perform a vow renewal ceremony.

Oh yes, he was very surprised, and we took about 5 minutes to laugh our way through the ceremony, which included references to "The Princess Bride" ("Mawwage... is wot bwings us togethew today...") and "Star Trek" (the Vulcan "live long and prosper" greeting). It was a hoot.

Unfortunately, the camera I gave MM to take photos with insisted that it didn't need a flash, so almost all the shots during the actual renewal part came out blurry and/or dark. The pictures here are some of the better shots before and after the funny bit.

We had a grand time. We are so blessed and lucky to have found each other.

I was tickled to find that the florist was able to make an arrangement that looks almost exactly like the flowers from 2006!

Smile, everyone!

Now you folks smile! (No, I don't know what Kelly was doing with Kerry's hand!)

Table set-up before the rowdy crowd arrived and made a mess of things.

The happy couple at the end of the night.

Gearing up for Sock Summit 2011

Yes, I'll be wearing it at Sock Summit, as well as on the train ride up and back. No, I don't care that it is the saddest looking Viking anyone has ever seen. Yes, those are socks for horns and socks at the ends of the 'braids.' No, I don't think it looks silly, I think it looks awesome. (Well, okay, it IS a little silly, but that's part of what makes it awesome, too.)