Movie Date - Unknown

Yesterday Frank asked me to go on a date with him to the movie.  We had talked about going to see Unknown when it came out.  We went to Mesquite to see the 3:pm movie.  It was a two hour movie, and I didn't even realize it was that long.  Like the advertisement says, "you will be guessing right up to the end." and that is exactly what Frank and I were doing. We really enjoyed it and I would buy it for my collection. I liked it because it didn't have foul language in it and had only a couple of sexual scenes.

After the movie we went to Los Lupies for Mexican food and then headed home so we could watch one of our favorite TV shows "Fringe"  All in all we had a nice day yesterday.  It was nice to be doing something fun instead of seeing doctors. 

It rained all night long as I woke up to rain early this morning around 2:30 am.  I was glad to see a nice slow rain that soaks into the ground.  I won't have to water this week, and we always need the rain here in the desert.  I am thinking that we will have some beautiful desert flowers this spring.  The only bad thing about this weather is that it makes my whole body ache, and I have been having a painful hand situation going on.  I had Bret work on it Thursday and I will have him work on it again to see if we can't get it back to functioning without pain.  Once again I have to say this old age stuff sucks!!!!!  I am so lucky to have a son who can help me with all the painful joints.  Thanks Bret.

Pain Management for Frank

It seems like all we do any more is go to doctors, and once again we hit the road to Vegas to go to a Pain Management Clinic.  Frank is still in constant pain with his back and has to take prescription drugs to control it.  It has been close to a year since he had his back surgery, and we were hoping it would be better by now. We decided to try a pain clinic and see if there was any procedure that may help with the pain.

We arrived at 1PM and Frank filled out the necessary paper work, and then it was wait, wait, and wait some more.  Finally after watching patients come and go, a nurse called Frank back into the exam room around 2:30PM.  We sat in the exam room and waited some more.  Finally Dr. Fishell came in.  We were impressed with him as he took his time going over all the options and I could see why there is such a long wait.  It is nice to have a doctor take time with you and not feel rushed. 

After he told us all the horrible side effects of  NSAID's one being death, kidney shutdown.  It made me realize how dangerous they are.  He gave a huge number of deaths every year of people who die from NSAID side effects.  I really try and only take them once in a while when I am in a lot of pain.  I was telling my daughter about it and she said one of her friends had a close friend in Vegas who died of this very thing just recently.  She was only 40 years old and had 3 children.  How sad.

After all the talking, it was decided that Frank would have a temporary nerve stimulator put into his back, and if it helps him, he will have a permanent one put in.  The doctor told us they have had good results with this procedure and that a big percentage of his patients do well with it.  Frank has been having weakness in his legs and after walking a while, he feels like they are going to give out under him.  The doctor explained how the nerves from his back were causing this and that the stimulator would definitely correct it.  He said they use them in Diabetic patients who have Diabetic Neuropathy.  In fact they have had miracle healings of Diabetic ulcers using the nerve stimulator.  Frank and I both have Diabetes and I told the doctor I would have to remember this in case I ever have a problem with my feet.  Dr. Fishell also told us that the stimulator should give Frank as much pain relief that he now gets from his pain medicine. It is by no means going to stop his pain, but hopefully make it more bearable.

So now we will wait for our insurance to give the approval for the procedure and then the staff will set up a date for the surgery.  The first thing I thought was Oh No!!! I will have to drive Frank home in Vegas traffic.  I keep telling myself that I did it before and I can do it again.  I will just use surface roads like I did before to get me to the race track where I can get onto I-15 and head for home.  See I am already sweating bullets.  I was a born worrier.  I can feel my shoulders raising to my neck just thinking about it.

My Birthday

My birthday was on February 12.  It was my big 70th birthday and I still can't believe that I am that old.  My how time flies.  My day started out with my son calling and singing happy birthday to me and then coming to my house to give me a birthday card and when he found out we weren't going to Vegas until later in the day, he offered to take us to The Scoop for birthday lunch.  I gladly accepted and we met him, Laura, and Sierra.  We had a nice lunch, and visited for a while.  Thanks Bret it is always great to have lunch with the family.

Sherry had invited us to dinner at the Bellagio for my birthday so we headed to Vegas to meet her, Jason, Renee, and Rozlynn at the Bellagio.  We always have a wonderful dinner there, a fancy dinner I might add.  Sherry had a comp for four so the waiter gave her a plate and we all shared with her.  We had appetizers, main course, and desert.  I had steak and lobster.....yummmmm.  The steak was so tender it melted in my mouth.  The lobster was a little tough so I am thinking they over cooked it.  The dinner was close to $300.  Wow! what a treat.  Rozlynn as usual kept us entertained, and Renee had to clean up a mess of food Rozlynn had dropped on the floor.  Most of it on purpose. 

Afterwards we walked out into the Bellagio Chinese New Year display.  I should have taken pictures of it, but I was getting a little tired.  Jason let Rozlynn get down and run and I mean run.  She is so friendly with people and everyone couldn't believe how cute she is.  Jason was chasing her all around the area. She was never out of sight of any of us, as she is so much fun to watch.

Sherry and Mom

Watching Rozlynn beating on Daddy's head.  The necklace around my neck is an open heart, the angel one from Kay's Jewelry.  Frank bought it for my birthday and Valentines Day




Frank and Donna

 

Later at Sherry's condo I crashed with Ozzie



My day started out with a delivery from the flower shop.  Jamie had sent me some beautiful flowers.  What a nice surprise.  Then she dropped by later on and brought a homemade desert that had just come out of the oven.  She is on a strick diet, but the aroma of the warm desert had gotten to her on the way down to my house.  So we each had a piece of it and it was delicious.  It is kind of a cheese cake thing, but has a pastry crust on the top and bottom.  She also wrote on my face book the following statement and that made my day.

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!! You are beautiful, thoughtful, kind, interesting, loving, and sincere. And you have great hair! I hope you have a wonderful day--You deserve it..Love you

Jamie also called me and her family sang happy birthday to me and then each one took the phone and told me happy birthday and  a love you.  It was so much fun to hear them and they are so dang cute.  Love all of you too!!!!!

Yesterday, Sherry treated me to a side by side pedicure, and I also got a manicure.  It is always fun to be pampered.


Thanks everyone for making my 70th birthday bearable.  I hate being this old, and as I look at my pictures, I am thinking I am really showing my age, but we can't stay young forever so guess I had better get used to all my new wrinkles. 

Another fun Day with the Girls

Last Monday Sherry and I met Robyn and Jami at The Scoop for lunch.  Jamie talked Renee into driving out from Vegas so she came to my house to meet us all there.  Jamie bought Renee her favorite veggie sandwich, so she could eat it at my house.  We had so much fun laughing and talking about the old days.  We had a lot of people's ears burning.   Of course Robyn brought Braxton and we couldn't believe how much he has grown and changed.  He really looks a lot like Robyn when she was a baby. Robyn has lost all her baby fat and looks like a model.  She is beautiful and so is Braxton.  Guess it is okay to call him beautiful even if he is a boy.

Robyn & Braxton

Won't be long and he will be crawling

Sherry, Robyn, and Braxton

Robyn, Braxton, Jamie, and Renee

Everyone had fun playing with Braxton, and we had so much fun visiting, laughing, and just being with each other.  It was an all day party.  Frank came home from Vegas around 5:00 PM and he was able to see everyone.  We are hoping to do it again and even talked about once a month.  Laughing is so good for the spirit, and is good therapy for all.

Catching up Again

The first thing you will notice is that I put the original picture of Frank and I back.  I did it just for you Bret as you made the comment that you liked that picture and so did Sherry.  Sierra took the picture on Easter 2009.

I don't know where the time goes, but before I know it weeks have gone by and I haven't posted anything new.  For one thing, not too much has been happening in our lives, and then our calendar filled up with appointments, mostly for Frank.  We were finally able to go to St. George and visit with my cousins. I made arrangements to see Lisa's new baby girl, Cienna.  She is a little doll.  Lisa calls Frank Papa Frank as he was married to her Mom, Penny, a long time ago when Lisa was a little girl.  Any way it was fun to hold the baby.  Lisa was getting ready to go to work, and her Mom baby sits for her.  We could see how hard it was for Lisa to leave the baby as she kept fussing over her. Cienna is 2 1/2 months old and I can just imagine how hard it is to leave a baby that young. I forgot my camera so I didn't get any pictures, but I took the one below off from Lisa's facebook.  Lisa is 43 and has grown children and was divorced and remarried and had this little surprise from heaven.

Chris, Cienna, and Lisa

We went to St. George so Frank could finally get his Sleep Apnea Appliance.  They have had nothing but problems with it.  This was the third time and finally everything was good with the appliance and Frank was able to bring it home.

I tried to take several pictures of Rozlynn, but she runs instead of walks, and it is really hard for me to get a good picture.  I think I have a good one and get ready to snap the picture and then she is off running.


Last weekend was Frank's birthday.  Renee, Jason, and Rozlynn came out to Logandale and spent the night with us.  Renee's new baby brother was blessed and it was done at Renee's Dad's home.  The next day was Frank's birthday and that evening we met at The Scoop for dinner.  It was Merritt's birthday too, and he came out from Vegas to celebrate his and Frank's birthday together.  Renee, Jason, and Roz dropped in just as we were finishing dinner and they had ice cream.  Frank and I will be the same age for two weeks as my birthday is next Saturday.

It was really warm out on my patio so we took Rozlynn outside and she was running everywhere exploring my back yard.  She loves to be outside.

She went into the rock area of the yard and was playing with the rocks, and then she was off running again to explore something else.  It was so much fun having her around to watch and play with, and it was nice to have Renee and Jason here too.  Renee cooked breakfast for all of us and it is always nice to have someone else cook for me.  I don't like to cook any more, so it was a real treat. We had pancakes, bacon, and eggs.