What a Night

This is what I feel like today. I'm brave to even post the picture. Last night I was so exhausted I fell asleep while watching one of our favorite shows, so I went to bed early only to wake up off and on for a few hours. I took note that Frank was snoring ,it is more like a breeze type snore as he can't physically snore like he used to because of the surgery that was supposed to fix it. He has sleep apnea. Any way I finally went to sleep only to wake up again to Frank letting out a painful loud sigh. His back was killing him. I can't help but worry about him as he is still taking prescription pain meds twice a day for the pain. I can't help but wonder what is going on with the surgery and if it is still healing or is there something wrong? The poor guy has had way more than his share of pain and surgeries this past year. If he hasn't improved by December, his doctor here in the valley is going to have him get another X-Ray to see what is going on. We went to church today, and I could tell that Frank was hurting more than usual. So the episode last night had a lasting effect on him. I am going to get some of Dr. Bret's good calcium for Frank to take and maybe that will help the bone to heal faster and better. It is worth a try.

I am so exhausted all the time so I am thinking about getting something to help me sleep. I don't think my diabetes can be the whole problem. I need to get back to eating better, choices that are better for diabetics. I have to force myself to do the the house hold chores and anything extra. I didn't do any scrap booking yesterday as I just felt too tired. So we watched a DVD that we had bought a while back and it was really good. We laughed our heads off. It was called "The Proposal." It has been the best DVD that we have seen this year.

I have been thinking about Cami our Umbrella Cockatoo that passed away last November and it makes me feel sad. I just want to feel her on my shoulder or hand and pet her feathers and hear her talk to me. Frank & I both miss her. I see dogs, cats, birds, etc. and just want to pet them and have them cuddle up with me. I have thought about another pet, until I think about traveling, leaving them alone on days we go to Sherry's etc. and then I change my mind about it.


Pets are a lot of work, and I have a tendency to spoil them rotten. I am allergic to dogs, and would have to get one that is better for people with pet allergies. So that is out of the question for now. We are hoping that Frank will improve enough by next Summer so we can travel in our 5th wheel trailer back to Bastendorf by the ocean(Coos Bay OR). Traveling with Cami was restricting as she had a small cage we used in the trailer and we felt guilty leaving her for any length of time in that cage. We want to be free to go and see the sights and not worry about a pet.

Halloween Decorations

This is the first year in a long time that I did a little decorating for Halloween. I saw the scary bat at Costco and just had to buy him. His eyes light up but don't show up very good at night as he is so black all you can see his two red eyes and not his body. I told Frank he will probably scare the little ones. I sure hope not. I thought he was so ugly and cute at the same time.

We used to take off on Halloween night and go to dinner and a movie as I got so tried of getting up and down giving treats to the kids. Now the kids go to a Trunk or Treat party and we don't really have many trick or treaters, only a few in our neighborhood. So we will be staying home and giving out treats.

I make up some special treats for my neighbor's kids as they are so good to us. They helped us out during the past year with dinners, helping Frank out of the car and into the house after his surgeries, loaning us a recliner for his recovery and just being there if we need them.

Getting the Scrap Book Done

I have been trying to do some scrap booking every day that I am home. Since this is my first adventure with scrap booking, I am slow getting it done. I know there is so much more that I could do to make it better, but really don't have the experience nor any one to show me how.

I just want to leave my daughter something that I made for her and I know she will treasure it after I am on the other side. She already has seen it and thinks it is pretty cool.

I hope to get it done soon, as I want to clean out the room I have the scrap booking stuff set up in so we can put our exercise equipment in that room.

I have a Cricut and haven't really used it for this project as I just don't want to take the time to experiment with it. I have tried to find a project book for the Cricut, but so far haven't found any. I have some DVD's with instructions and some projects, but I would rather have a book that I can leave open and follow the directions, instead of trying to remember what I saw on a DVD. My old brain just doesn't handle trying to remember and would have to go back over and over the DVD and that isn't going to work. I am the type that just wants to get it done, and not mess around with trying to figure things out. If I lived in a bigger town, I would go to a Micheal's or Roberts and take some classes on it if they are offered.

The past few days at the Merritt's

Frank on his new exercise bike playing a game. He didn't even see me sneak up and take this picture. He can play games on the bike as long as he is peddling.

My friend who had a knee replacement told me that the exercise bike is the best for the knee. Frank says that he can tell that it is really helping his mobility. He walks a mile and a half and also does the exercise bike. Sometimes both and sometimes just one or the other. He is still having more pain than I would like to see at this point, but it does seem to be improving.

Donna & Kids

This is one of my favorite pictures of me and my kids. Front left---Sherry, Me, back left, Bret, Garen. Taken at a Staley family reunion quite a few years ago. There are not too many opportunities to take pictures like this. I doubt there will be any more with Garen in them. I miss the days when we talked, joked, and most of all laughed together. We used to laugh about who had the best Luker nose. Actually the Staley's had some unique noses too. LOL

I would go to the fridge to get something to eat and along came Garen and he would over power me and take the food out of my hands and eat it. We had some good laughs over that one.

We used to sit in the back of Bud's pickup truck while riding in the hills. We would sing Primary songs at the top of our lungs. Those were the good ole days. Miss the fun times with my kids. You notice I said miss the times with my kids. I don't miss the marriage I had with Bud. That was a long time ago, and I am glad that marriage is over and that I am married to Frank the love of my life. Thirty one years now, but who's counting. Where does the time go? Way too fast that is for sure.

Dr. Staley back at Work

Frank & I went to Bret Thursday for a treatment. He looked so good, in fact the best he has looked since his surgery. It is so good to see him back at work, and it felt so good to get my back worked on. Frank can only have his neck adjusted. He is working so hard on his genealogy and sitting at his computer off and on all day makes his neck hurt. We did finally get him some computer glasses and that has definitely helped with the neck pain. He is still dealing with back pain from the surgery, but it is slowly getting better. He is walking every day and using his exercise bike. It is neat as he can play games on the bike, but only when he is peddling.

Today I finally got back to my scrap booking and made three pages. It is so time consuming and I want it to go faster. I am so slow at it. I want to get it done so I can clean up my mess and get our exercise equipment set up in the room. I need to get back on the treadmill, doctor's orders. I wish the room was much larger so it could be a multi task room, as it is nice to keep my scrap booking stuff all set up too.

We had to feed Sherry's horses today, and I can't believe how big Bella is now. She is Sherry's baby and she sure is a beautiful horse. Her color is changing from a dark brown to a grey. We were hoping that she would stay dark brown. Sherry is able to ride her now and Bella does really well. She is a pure bred Arabian from one of Wayne Newton's lines. I took my camera and forgot to take a picture of her. We have to feed tomorrow and then maybe I will remember to take a picture of her.

I have been going through all my family pictures, mostly those of Sherry, (the scrap book is for her) It sure brings back memories of days gone by. When the kids were born, and all the years in between. I discovered I didn't have many of Garen. I must have put his in the memory book I made for him years ago. It makes me feel so sad that we live so close and yet are so far apart. He and his family have nothing to do with us, and I have lost contact with my five grand kids. I don't think there is a day go by that I don't think about them and it breaks my heart. Wish things could be different. I have two great grandsons that I have never seen, except in pictures, and another one is on the way. Life can be so cruel and heart breaking at times.

Because of Larry's death (first husband) my kids and I were really close in their younger years, and I miss that closeness with Garen. My other two kids, Sherry and Bret are really close to me and I am so grateful that I have them. Especially for helping me get through the trails of this past year.

Renee's Phone Call

Renee called me yesterday and we chatted while she was getting ready for work and was cooking a Mexican dish for dinner. She is having the Bracton Hicks pre-labor contractions, and while we were talking she was having one, except she is experiencing pain with them, both in the front and back. I told her she had better be aware of how her long they were and if she could count how long in-between them. I was worried that she may be going into labor and I think it is too early. I guess it was all okay as I didn't hear from her later that she was in the hospital.

All of the family thinks she will have the baby early, but hopefully not too early. She is still working and maybe it is time for her to quit as she is a beautician and is on her feet a lot. She is planning to quit working on the 30th of this month. Maybe at the next doctor's visit, he will make that decision for her. One thing for sure it won't be long until little Rozlynn will make her appearance in this world. Her due date is the 20th of October, but we all think she will have the baby the first part of November.

I forgot to take my camera on October 1st to Frank's & Mine hair day with Renee, and she is a lot bigger than the last above picture taken at her baby shower.

Blog Slacker

I have been a blog slacker but we have been on the dead go for the past few weeks. We have been to St. George twice to have our car and truck serviced and in to Vegas twice. We are trying to catch up on things that we have let go due to being stuck at home this past year with Frank's surgeries and recovery time.

We went to Vegas last Thursday and stayed with my daughter Sherry so I could go to my doctor for the results of blood work that had been done a few weeks ago. Darn, I still had high cholesterol so now I am on Lipitor. I hate taking drugs, but sometimes I guess you just have to if you want to live longer. So the doctor tells me. My BP was high also, 140/90 but I have white coat syndrome and then the nurse who takes it does it so fast that I can't see how it can be correct, as Dr. Bret says that is not the correct way to take BP. So I will have to have him monitor me for a while. I have taken BP meds before and they make me crazy with exhaustion, and I feel like I am walking on the moon.

We went to Bellagio and met Sherry for dinner as a friend had given her some comps for the coffee shop. Wow! dinner was over $200 which we would never spend if it were out of our pocket. The food is fabulous there and really fancy. Frank really doesn't care for it, but found that he likes crab cakes, and their fruit plate. Then of course, we have to have desert even though we are stuffed from dinner.

We were able to wander through the Fall Exhibit and it was so fascinating to see a tree talk, and a huge mill with a water wheel. We were wondering how they put the displays all together, and where they store them? My favorite was the mill with the water wheel. It was life size, and yes wouldn't you know I didn't have my camera. One of my fellow bloggers has pictures of it on her blog, and she did a good job of capturing the different areas.

Well, that was one of the reasons that I didn't want to post anything as I have been forgetting to take my camera with me and last night I didn't even think to capture a special evening with my son and his family. They came over and spent most of the afternoon and evening with us. We had dinner on my patio and the weather was perfect as it cooled down once the sun set. It was so nice to see Bret looking and feeling better. He is back to work and YES! I finally got a treatment and felt so much better afterwards. He went back last week, to test his strength and we were surprised to see him working full days. His patients are so happy to have him back.

Frank & I went on a shopping spree in Vegas last Thursday and Friday. We bought him a recumbent bike and me a treadmill. Now I will have to get my scrap booking done so I can make room for the exercise equipment. My friend Paula, told me that an exercise bike is the best thing for knee replacement therapy, and my doctor got on me about not exercising. I loved my old treadmill until it started hurting my hips and back. It was an old one and I put a lot of miles on it. I am hoping this new one will let me stand straight and it is more cushioned than my old one. We will see. In the mean time I guess I will have to start walking around our sub-division until I get the room ready to set up my treadmill.