plans for the New Year

The Ashley's are coming for the weekend. This is good for two reasons; first I miss Betsy terribly and secondly, I get my hair cut. No, I still have not found a hairdresser down here (nor am I trying) This is no doubt inconvenient, but old people do not handle change well :-)

Susan and Matty took me to Red Lobster for lunch (this has become my Christmas bonus tradition) I love it. Which is especially good as I got two gift cards to Red Lobster for Christmas. :-) It really does not get any better than that. We had the ultimate bread dip appetizer. Crusty bread bowl filled with shrimp, lobster and crab in a warm cheese sauce.......I got the leftovers. Matty loves cheese and decided he could dip his french fries into the cheese sauce; after which he declared "cheese"!

I had PT today. I am improving despite what I may think. (I am frustrated thinking I am not making progress as quickly as I think I should be) Anyway, today I rode the bike for over a mile, ROM is now 119 degrees, (125 is normal ROM) I also opted to increase the weights another # from what I did on Wed. They are very pleased with my progress so who am I to argue.

I guess we will be sharing our New Year's dinner with the Ashley's, Susan, Tom and Matthew, and Uncle Roy. Josh and Jackie are taking the girls to her parents. I was blessed to have them for our Christmas celebration. Looking forward to our New Year's dinner with family and friends to share it with us.

family Christmas

I was very blessed to share our Christmas celebration with Susan, Tom and Matthew, Josh, Jackie, Lael and Alyssa. Uncle Roy and Wm. mother joined us also.

As is our tradition, there was an abundance of food, Christmas cookies, Italian Christmas cookies and cannoli.

I loved watching the girls with their little cousin and all three of them tearing into their gifts. My sweet little Alyssa exclaimed as she opened each gift "This is just what I always wanted". Most of the family walked down the street to see the way over decorated house in the next block. (Matty loves it and screams "go, go, go" when we go out on our porch) We did have one mishap as my adorable Lael slipped off the edge and into the mud filled ditch. Mommy brought extra clothes so a real catastrophe was averted.

Can't tell you how much I enjoyed my day. Now here are the pictures I promised to share.

Ramblings.........

After 2 nights with no sleep and my leg jumping (RLS) most of the night, I finally got some sleep last night. Not a lot mind you, but anything is better than nothing. I am much too old to try to run after a 16 mo. old baby on no sleep and sore leg. Yes, my leg is still giving me problems. It is still infected despite the change in antibiotics. (It can't stay bad forever can it???)

All the gifts are wrapped, got the last done when Matty was napping this morning. Cookies are baked and the tins for neighbors are distributed.
Last of my cards are in the mail. Sounds like I am all set, eh? Not quite. I need to shop for cold cuts for the meat tray, make up the bread dip (especially for my pregnant daughter in law) All that has to be done between tomorrow night and Sat. morning.

The church is having a living nativity again this year on Christmas eve. There will also be worship and refreshments.

Eager for Saturday! A special time when 3 of my 4 grandchildren and 2 of my 3 children will share a family Christmas. Jon and Donna usually come at Christmas but since they were here in June and because she is nearing the end of her pregnancy, they chose to spend Christmas at home. While I am sad I will not see my little southern princess (the other girls are the northern princesses) I am so anxious to be spending celebrating with family and grandchildren.
Stay tuned for my Christmas pics on Sunday!

Update

OK, just returned from the doctor appt. and PT. I have a Rx for a different antibiotic that she thinks will take care of the infection in my knee. She seems more pleased with my progress than I am. ROM has gone from 12% after the surgery to 95%, so if you look at it like that, yes, I am making progress. Not as much or as quickly as I would like......I know, I know, God's timing is perfect.

Snowing here, I actually do not mind it at all. It is enough to say it is snowing but it is melting when it hits the ground. Ya gotta love it.

Presents are all purchased and wrapped, with the exception of the ones still at Susan's house (remember all those she got for me on Black Friday) There is one thing to say about not continually shopping.......you stick to the list you made and don't over buy. Something I have always been guilty of. I see something special for one grandchild and then have to find 3 more special things for the others.

So looking forward to Saturday. Menu is planned and what we could buy already we have. The rest we will get closer to Sat. Will take advantage of not having the baby this afternoon and work on my baking.

Saturday night post

Found the perfect dryer sheets at Wegmans......they have no scent. I use Tide free so it never made sense to me to use some perfumey dryer sheet. Strange as this sounds, I am actually excited about a dryer sheet.

And speaking of excited, just one more week until Josh, Jackie and the girls come for our family Christmas. Matty is old enough to interact with the girls this year, which will really make it fun.

Still going to PT twice a week. I have infection in one of the incision sites though. Strange as the other 2 have nearly healed over. I go back to the doctor on Tues. morning.

We ventured out to Great Northern Mall at 4 pm; I was naive enough to think a lot of the crowds would be gone by then......Surprise! We went to Sears and Old Navy and the food court and were back home by 6:30. Just 2 more gifts to get. I am planning on doing that on the way home from church tomorrow.

new trials

I had Matty again this morning. Was not sure how that would work. There really was not a lot of choice. His other grandmother had been watching him but when she went to the doctor on Fri; her BP was 220 over something. They immediately hospitalized and kept her for 2 days until they got it down to 150.
We managed pretty well. I laid down when he napped. I was grateful to see Wm come home early as I needed to go to PT was not ready.

Part of my PT is electric stimulation. There were 2 of us hooked to same machine today. I was already hooked up when she tried to set the level for the other patient. He said he could not feel anything at all.......I however got the full jolt when she set mine up by mistake......oops.......that was one big oops let me tell you.

Needless to say, we are all missing our sweet Zoe. Matty looked all around for her today. We found some pictures of her when came to Syr. nine years ago to pick her up (0f course they would turn up now).

We are now looking forward to Dec. 23 when Josh and Jackie and the girls are coming down for our family Christmas. This is the first time we have not gone to them but with all the problems I had with my knee healing, they decided to come down this year. PTL

updates and ramblings

This will be a hard update for me to write. We had to have Zoe put down yesterday. She had been at the vets for 3 days and her condition only seemed to deteriorate even with the IV antibiotics and steroids. A red blood count level of at least 15 is needed to sustain life......Zoe's had dropped to 12 yesterday. They had run out of options and we could not bear to see her suffer anymore. We had nine years with her and she brought us much joy......it will definitely be a loss. My DH faithfully walked her at least twice a day so that in and of itself will be an adjustment for him. Besides her walks, she loved a scoop of ice cream every night. At about 9 pm every night she would come to the kitchen and Wm. would ask her what she wanted. He would say show me what you want and she would touch her nose to the fridge. He would say, ice cream and her tail would start wagging. Yes, she will be sorely missed.

I am still hobbling around, going to PT twice a week, but have not been up to having Matty here all day yet. He is coming tonight so Susan and Tom can go to the funeral home.

Today my baby turns 30. I know he is not happy about the end of an era but he will no doubt be even less happy when he sees that I have called him my baby. But it is the truth, he will always be my baby.......nothing can change that!
Happy Birthday sweetheart.

update on Zoe

Zoe is still in guarded condition today. She will remain at the vets where they can monitor her for another 24 hr; at which time they will do more blood work to see if the antibiotics and steroids they are giving her are helping her.
They have decided that she has autoimmune disease. This means that the immune system begins to attack and reject the body's own tissue as foreign; red blood cells in particular are affected.
I feel so bad for my baby. (she will be 9 this month, so I guess she is not a baby) I will keep you updated on her progress.

ramblings.......

Well, now we are well into December. The gorgeous weather of last week has given way to snow and cold. (like I should be surprised for Upstate NY). My Christmas shopping has so far been limited to what Susan graciously got for me on Black Fri. and what I ordered online. On Sat. we did venture out to the Great Northern Mall to pick up pajamas for all the grandchildren (a long standing family tradition that everyone gets new PJs on Christmas Eve) at Old Navy and a Lands End dress for Morrigan at Sears. I have Josh's birthday gifts here, but I should get them in the mail. I had hoped they would venture down this weekend but with the concert being postponed, I guess that is out :-(

Just in case you are wondering, I am still hobbling around here. Not happy with the progress I am making,(or not making). I am going to PT 2xs a week.
Since I only began this last week, I do not see a lot of progress here either. I am doing exercises here at home on my own the rest of the time. Matty's other grandmother has been watching Matty and I am very blessed by that.

Zoe went to the vets last week. They ran some tests and said they thought it was some kind of infection; other than the ear infection they diagnosed. They called back a few days later to say her bilirubin was high and her red count low. They thought it may be a tumor in her liver. She has gone down hill over the weekend and will go back to the vet tomorrow morning.

Lights and garland decorate the porch and our little tree we had inside last year (which got knocked over twice) is on the porch. The little tree in the garden is lit. (I do love little white lights!)

edit: Zoe went back to the vet this morning. They now think it is her immune system. They are keeping her over night and giving her IV antibiotics, etc. We should know more tomorrow morning.