more musings

Monday evening found us using one of our gift certificates from Matthew for Tassone's. Oh, I do love the all you can eat crab legs. Uncle Roy went with us. If you remember, he had certificates too. They were not as crowded as they usually are on crabby Monday; but for some reason the service was slow. Wm. and Uncle Roy waited patiently while I got my fill. We did not see the guy who brings his own butter warmer there this time. (he also said that he eats 45 knuckles) Yikes, who can do that and why would they let him??????

Yesterday afternoon Matt and I had a tea party on the veranda. The beautiful plastic "china" was something left in the toy box from the girls. He was delighted when he discovered it. While he napped, I made some mini loaves of banana bread; after I rescued my mini pans from the basket on Matt's bike. :-)

miscellaneous musings (edited)

Wm. was just saying that we lead a very boring life..... a very predictable one. Well, seeing our days and weeks have begun to run into each other, I guess he may be right. Not today! After church, we stopped at Super WalMart to get groceries and a few other things. (OK, that part was very predictable and boring) When we got home I decided to go out to the garage and paint an armoire I want to use in the office. Wm. was going to see his mother. Then he decided to call her and invite her for dinner. She asked if Matty was coming too so he called Susan and invited them for dinner as well. He had to go past Uncle Roy's house on the way to get his mother so he brought him for dinner too.
Very unpredictable and very spontaneous. We had a great dinner (pork roast) Susan brought a cake and we all laughed and laughed. My mother in law told me something that my husband never did........she made him take accordion lessons! Then she told us he hated them but it was not until she heard him play "Lady in Spain" that she let him quit. This all started when I told her that Wm. said one thing he always regretted was never learning to play the piano. She said she knew that but she wanted him to play the accordion!

Matthew, in his new shirt with his new blankie that Betsy made him, watching Dora. His cousin Tyler brought him the shirt back from his vacation to the Jersey shore. I remember "the girls" watching Dora (in fact I still have the Dora tapes they loved and now Matt is loving them too) I love it when Dora asks if you see something and he jumps up and down and points at the screen, saying "I see it Dora, I see it.....right here"

weekend update

We had a very productive weekend; well sort of. I got a lot accomplished just not what I had planned to do. The rain on Saturday kept me from painting. (not raining at BJ's or the mall though)
Sunday after church we went to Cracker Barrel to have lunch with our north country friends, the Ashleys. They were on the way to Rochester to see their new little granddaughter Norah Rose. It was so good to see them.....I do miss the north country family and friends we left we came to Syracuse. I don't miss driving a lot to go shopping, even for groceries. I really miss Josh, Jackie and my three little princesses! From there we went to the Christmas Tree Shop and low and behold, ran into Betsy and Kenny.
Betsy made Matt a small afghan like the one she made him when he was born so he could carry it around without tripping over it. Oh, I didn't mention he likes to walk around with it over his head (and it still drags on the floor) Not sure why he suddenly needs to take the "blankie" with him every where he goes not to mention the "paci". We tried to keep it just for naps but he will try scaling the dresser to get it. Anyway, the "new little blankie" was a big hit. He left his other afghan in his bed and the paci on the dresser.
Did I mention that Matt gave us a gift certificate to Tassone's for Grandparent's day? I thought it was one until I took it out of the envelope and it was two. Susan said she did that because she had given Uncle Roy 2 gift certificates for Tassone's for his birthday and he would not want to go alone!
She is a good daughter don't you think?

another update

Wm. started his new job on Monday. I think he will quickly adjust and end up liking it much better. He was never one to just sit around or pretend he was busy when he wasn't. That pretty much sums up what they did in injet a lot of the time. It was either feast or famine; either they had no work at all or tons that all needed to be mailed the same day. The warehouse manager position requires his full time attention. Things are coming in and out all day long and there is no time for sitting around. (thank you Lord).
My knee is much better. My question now is why didn't we just go with the shots last time rather than the surgery which didn't seem to help anyway?
I feel like a lot of other bloggers in that I am very happy to see summer leave. The heat and humidity just seem to zap all my energy. I absolutely love autumn. I love the cooler temperatures, the gorgeous colors and I actually feel like I want to cook, bake and find new projects to work on.

update

For the first time in 15 yr; I got a haircut by someone other than Betsy. Let me start at the beginning; even after we left Canton, Betsy still cut my hair. Either she would stop on her way to or from Rochester to visit her grandchildren or she would cut it when I came to Canton. She had no idea when she would be coming down and I don't know when we will make it up again until Alyssa's birthday. So yesterday, I went to Super Cuts and got my hair cut. Considering how apprehensive I was going in, it really looks pretty good. Who knew?

I finished the shelf I was making for Jen and Eleora's shower. I was very happy with the way it came out..... My DH is doing an excellent job of showing it off so I could take the picture, don't you agree? What you can't see are the fish on the top of the shelf so it goes with the theme in her room. (very creative, eh?)

PTL.....Great News..... PTL

I have great news, I have been praying for this for a while now. Wm. has a new job. Well, technically, he is still at IMS (Immediate Mail Service) but he will no longer be working in Inkjet. He will be the Warehouse mgr. He will be working alone, something he is pleased about. It should also have a considerable raise. Not exactly sure what "considerable" is in their eyes, but we are grateful for anything we get. He should be starting in a week or two, depending on how long it takes for them to find a replacement for him in Inkjet (will that be possible)?
We are very pleased about this new opportunity and thank the Lord for his continued blessings!

Matt has reminded me of 4 more signs he knows.....WOW 27!

Family time.....

Josh, Jackie, and the girls stopped on Friday and had lunch with Matt and me on their way to Rochester. I love when the kids are together!

Saturday we celebrated Susan's birthday with cake and ice cream. Uncle Roy came too......If there is cake, he doesn't want to be left out :-)

Sunday turned out to be a horrid day for me. I woke up with a terrible headache in the middle of the night and things went down hill from there. I spent the entire day in bed with the exception of frequent trips to the bathroom.

Today, Josh, Jackie and the girls stopped on the way back home. We went to the mall in Auburn (Jackie's favorite) but left empty handed. We did stop at Payless on the other side of Auburn so the girls could get shoes.....I had promised them on Friday that they could have new shoes when the came on Monday. Susan, Tom and Matt came at 3:30 and we had some cake and ice cream to celebrate Uncle Roy's birthday. Obviously, he came too. The plan was to have a cook out but time was very limited and we decided on ice cream and cake.....OK and chips and juice, cookies and Italian ice!

This is Susan's birthday......Matt thought the cake on Uncle Roy's plate looked better. Actually, he took the frosting off of most of our cakes!

Baby Lauren with Aunt Susan. She is sporting Lael's newest treasure we got at the mall...I guess we did get something after all.

Alyssa and Matt in the "big hole" in our back yard where they removed a tree. This spot is a favorite of Matt's. He runs around the back yard and then yells to me "Matt's in the big hole".

These next two are 4 of my 6 adorable, intelligent grandchildren. Did I mention I love being a grandmother? Did I tell you Lauren is rolling over and saying Mama?

Now honestly, have a ever seen a cuter bunch?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN

Today my sweet Susan is 37 years old......I am certain she won't mind that I told you how old she is......on the other hand, I feel ancient saying it. Nonetheless, this is not about me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN MICHELE

Update *edited

Lunch for the workers at church on Saturday went well. Susan not only drove me there but stayed and helped me set up, serve and clean up afterwards. They all thanked us for a great meal so I guess I did OK. We decided on making one of the favorites from the pastors luncheons at CFC ; grilled chicken Caesar salad.

I stopped at the Thrift store on Fri. night when we went to Wegman's for the fixings for Saturday's lunch. I was very excited.....I found a Fisher Price Kitchen for Matt for less than $5 and a workbench. The kitchen has been a real hit.....he has played with it the entire morning, stopping only for breakfast.

This was so worth the time and elbow grease it took to scrub it down with Clorox spray. The workbench is out on the porch (yes with all the other toys, Susan) so we will go out after lunch and see how we like that.

I had been thinking about how many signs Matt knows now. 21 come to mind right away: Mommy, Daddy, baby, eat, drink, sleep, bath, ball, stop, go, water, milk, please, thank you, your welcome, all gone, more, friends, story, help and potty. He can count by signing but sometimes gets confused as it is different than counting on your fingers. I am so glad we worked on learning some of the signs because although he can say all the words now, it definitely saved us a lot of frustration when he couldn't. Even now, if I can not understand him I ask if he knows the sign. If he does, he shows me.

*I just thought of 2 more signs he knows.....yes and no!

Tomorrow will be my last shot of Euflexxa. While the pain is so much less than it was before I started them, my knee "went out" on me last night. That was one of the reasons they opted for surgery the first time. Please continue to pray that the shots will be all I need. Thanks.

more ramblings from this old fat Grandmother

First, my knee is beginning to feel better ....I was very surprised how the pain had returned following the second shot.
I was really enjoying the cooler weather and now it hazy, hot and humid once again. Nice for Matt to be able to use the pool but not so good for me. The air has been on for days now and I have not been able to do any laundry. I really enjoy doing laundry.....yeah, it is somewhat therapeutic and I like feeling like I have accomplished something.....I love smelling fresh clean clothes. Anyway, the air has been on and Wm. asked me not to run the dryer when the air is on. I really have no idea why other than it may blow a fuse, or trip a breaker or whatever it does. You can see I am really up on the mechanics of the house. This was not a problem with the washer/dryer when it was downstairs.....technically it still is. (the washer/dryer we put upstairs is one unit so it would fit in the old linen closet)
I mentioned before that the church was putting on an addition and that on Sat. the home groups were preparing meals for the workers. Well, yesterday someone called to tell us they were going to ask families to make the Sat. meal. Wm. volunteered us for tomorrow. I am glad to do it would just rather have had a little time to prepare. Wm. said I should do what I did for the pastor lunches I made for CFC when we worked there. That should work! I always enjoyed doing that but then again I always a month to think about what I would serve. Now the only problem I see is that we have one car and Wm. will already be at church working when I need to bring the food. OK, Susan to the rescue????? If she can't take me, she will surely let her father use one of the vehicles they have to drive to church so I can get lunch over there.
State Fair opened down here yesterday. Wm. wants to go.......I think we were just there when Josh was Matthew's age.......does it really change?

Two of three

I had shot #2 this morning. I did not have the surgeon and it was not quite a painless as the first. I am pleased to say that I have a lot less pain since I got the first one. They told me that for a small percentage of people the shot works right away, for most however, it takes up to a month after the 3rd and final injection. I went shopping with Susan on Saturday and walked all over the store. On Sunday I walked from the car to Wegman's and then around the store. Before this Wm. had been letting me out at the door and then I would do what I could but he went and got most of the groceries and brought them back to the cart.
Matt was thrilled he was going in the "big blue car with Papa" this morning. In fact, he was so excited, Papa had to take him to McDonald's for breakfast while I finished getting ready for the doctor appointment. Papa said that when they pulled in, Matt began singing "old McDonald had a farm". All the way to and from the doctor's, which is only short ride from the house, he kept telling us "red light......stop!" Green light......go! (he signed it too) He is getting so good with his signing.
I took Darlene's advice to Danica about getting a treasure box for Jamison and found a note card box with a hinged top and it works perfectly. So far, we have collected some rocks, tiny stones and 2 feathers. He loves finding things and then saying "Hurry, treasure box" I love it. Thanks Darlene, I would have never thought such a small thing could bring so much joy to one little boy.

Friends

I had a very good day yesterday. My friend from Canton came down to pick up her hubby at Hancock. She came in the afternoon and we went to the Christmas Tree Shop......don't you just LOVE a bargain????? I got 2 new Blue's Clues videos for you know who . I am very tired of the same old ones. I think he is busy playing with his toys and try to shut it off and he screams NO, blues clues on! Anyway, we had a good time....it is definitely not like when I go with Wm. who sits down on the first piece of furniture they have on display and then waits. (Hey, I am not complaining, at least I can go there) He kids how he is sure that every worker in China as laughing at all the stuff they make for the Christmas Tree Store and we all flock there to get a bargain.
When Wm. got back from working on the church, we went to Kirby's for the best ribs in town. I am not the only one who thinks so, they print it on the menu :-) .
We had a chance to catch up on some of the people and things at CFC and both our families. I talked a lot......probably too much. Hey, we have not talked like this since we all worked at CFC. It was so good to see her and talk to her. I had a great day. (my knee was not even bothering me too much).
She left to pick up her husband at the airport after 3 weeks in China. I am sure she is glad to have him home. Now I hope we don't have wait another 2 years for a visit from her!

Looking ahead

The past few days I have been looking forward to the weekend, no not just so I can sleep in.....although I do like that part! My friend is coming to Syracuse to pick her husband up at the airport. So she is coming early and we are going to the Christmas Tree Shop....did I mention I love that store.....OK, maybe a time or two :-)
Because his plane does not get into Hancock until 10pm, Wm. and I are planning to take her to Kirby's for some dinner. I like Kirby's, nothing fancy but excellent food and service and it is only about 10 min. from our house. They have an excellent BBQ from now till Labor Day.
Could my sweet little Matthew already being showing signs of the terrible two's (after all he has only been 2 for 2 weeks)???? Yesterday I saw a side of him I have never seen. He was playing with the blocks when the tower he made kept falling over. He became very frustrated and instead of asking for help or signing help like he usually does; he stood up and threw the box of blocks, then he threw the box of Lego's and then the box with miscellaneous toys; but that was not enough, he went out on the porch and got his little chair and brought it back inside just to throw that also. That backfired though as it hit the floor and bounced back and hit him in the legs making a big scratch. This brought tears and after he was finished crying and we picked up the mess, he was his old self again.
I realized that I need to stop speaking in the third person to him. He takes everything I say literally and when I say "Let's go get our swimmers on and go into the pool; he brings me 2 two swimmers, one for himself and one for me". Yesterday when I was making his breakfast, he was opening and closing the silverware drawer. I told him there was nothing we needed in there and to stop opening the drawer. When I opened the drawer to get out a fork to scramble his egg, he slapped my hand and said "No, no".
update: my knee is doing so much better since the shot. I still have 2 more shots to go and the doctor said it should continue to improve for a couple of months. PTL


OK Gramma, you have taken too long and I am not waiting any longer. I'm outta here!

Aside from the pool, and cooking, this is my favorite place to be......unless Papa is home!

So far......so good

Well, I had the first shot of Euflexxa in my knee this morning. I did not have Matthew today because the doctor from the practice I saw last time had told me there could be a lot of pain and swelling with the shot. So far.....so good. I do not have a lot of pain or swelling. My neighbor Rose had told me that the shots were worse than the surgery for the meniscus repair, so I was expecting the worse. This morning with my devotions and prayer, I rebuked any bad side effects......I would appreciate it if you would stand with me in this.
This morning I had the surgeon give me the shot. He said he was very concerned with the amount of arthritis I had......it has gotten much worse since the surgery I had in Nov. He also said the PT was not showing any results other than the movement kept it from becoming too stiff. He also said I can do the same exercises at home. He wanted me to especially discontinue the therapy until I had all the shots and after that if I felt I wanted to go back I could. (I don't think so)
They are pouring the footers for the church addition this week so William is going there right after work and will be working until 9pm.
While I am enjoying getting caught up on a lot of things I have wanted to get finished this summer, I miss my little helper. I am no doubt getting more done than I ever could if he were here.....actually, I do not do anything other than care for him when he is here.
I am happy to say that I not only survived the nursery duty on Sunday but I actually enjoyed it. I was very surprised at how the nursery is run compared to CFC.......a difference in policy. Like we had a baby who cried the entire time he was in there. I asked how long we tried to quiet him before we got his parents......the answer was until service was over and they came to get him. The nursery worker changes the diapers, too!

blue plate special???? (edited)

Papa came home from work early today so Matt wanted to cook him some lunch. He wanted his chef hat and apron on but put the carrots from Papa's lunch pail right on his stove (cooling rack) and not in his shiny new pans. Thanks Steph, the pans and chef hat and apron have been a real hit.

Susan took him to get his hair cut last night. He really needed a haircut and he sat much stiller than he had for Betsy. He was content blowing on the whistle from his goody bag from his party and then sucking on the lollipop that the hairdresser gave him.

Finally finished my latest creation :-) It is a nursing blanket for Eleora. In case you can't see, it is pink and white checked on one side, white on the other.

Party time

It was a good day for the party.....no rain, lots of sunshine and a a little breeze. The kids had a great time. Susan set up 2 pools and they had them and the huge (10'x 10') sandbox which seemed to draw all the kids like a magnet. There was a cook out with all anyone could ever want to eat and drink. A Blue's Clues cake from the bakery and another one made especially for Alyssa with no eggs or milk, that was 4 cupcakes and a single layer cake which made the paw print (a clue). Susan had a Blue's Clues pinata that she filled with tons of Alyssa safe candy. Each child got a Blue's Clues notebook to write down the clues when the found them......yep, even a game of Blue's Clues. Hey, what would a Blue's Clues party be without a game of Blue's Clues.

I was hot......no stifling but a very happy old fat gramma. I got to see 4 of my 6 grandchildren and I got a chance to hold them and love on each of them. Yep, it was a great day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATTHEW

Happy Birthday Matt .........2 years old today

One down, one to go

One session of PT down this week and one more to go. I have a myriad of exercises to do at home, all of which seem to exacerbate the pain rather than relieve it. I don't mind elec. stim. when it is with heat as it was last week, but I do not like it with the ice, or that they keep turning up the levels.
After the session, however, my DH took me Tassone's for crab legs. Did I mention I love crab legs? Yeah, I know, only a million times. The best part was that we only used one of the two gift certificates we had. You know what that means, another trip for crab legs. Oh, I do enjoy crabby Mondays. The poor waitresses, not so much. There were people there we got there that were still there when we left.....almost everyone was having the crab special. OK, not Wm. but I bet 8 out of 10 people were there for the all you can eat crab legs.
Matt has been surprising me with how much he really knows this morning. He can count to 10, knows a lot of the alphabet and the sounds the letters make, he knows his colors, 2 that he showed me were magenta and teal.....(how did he know that?) Besides the signs he knows, he knows when to say please and thank you and really shocked me this morning when he said "hurry, potty". We have been working on it for what seems like forever but he never really manages to go......maybe things are beginning to look up.
He has been telling me about his birthday party coming up on Sat. He tells me who is coming and then that it is a blues clues party and his is having a blues clues cake. He is excited but no more than gramma......I get to see the girls.
If you are not Matthewed out by now, here is a funny story from yesterday. Early in the morning the neighbor's cat was back for a drink from the pool. When we went out to the pool in the afternoon, Matt got on his hands and knees outside the pool and put his face in and licked the water. I said "oh, no, Matt, that was is not for drinking, just swimming". He replied with "meow, meow".

matthew.com

Now I know that I am with Matthew from 7:30-5:30 every day so nothing he does should amaze me, but still he does. He loves to "cook". Now this consists of taking all my pans out of the cupboard and mixing, stirring, anything he can find in them. When we were in Canton for Lael's birthday, he spent all the time he was inside, playing with Alyssa's kitchen. I bought him a toy fry pan and some plastic food thinking he would leave my pans in the cupboard. No, he just has one more pan to "cook" with. Yesterday, he took my expandable cooling rack out of the cupboard, all the pans including his and put the rack on the window seat. He expanded it all the way out and put his pans on it and proceeded to tell me it was his "stove". This morning his stove was the first thing he got out. He asked me for some toast and some snacks which he then used to cook in the pans. I think that is really using your imagination when you still have not even turned 2. (one more week)

musings

The neighbor's cat came over to get a drink from Matt's pool. It must have drank for more than 10 minutes!

I wonder why it always seem to hurt worse after you start PT than before you went. The reason for going is to stop the pain and get more use and better ROM from your appendage, right?
I know I complain more than I want to. I remember my mother always complaining about her head aching and how the family always thought she was just whining or a hypochondriac. Well, when she died of a brain aneurysm, it was a different story. She actually had a reason for her complaining. No, I don't think that a torn meniscus, even on both sides of my knee or a torn ligament will be my demise. I don't want to whine but it is a nagging pain that gets worse with even walking. Now when your "job" is to look after a 2 year old, sitting down all day is not an option. The more I walk, the more it hurts. I have exercises which seem to exacerbate the pain more than relieve it. I heard twice yesterday from 2 different people that surgery for a torn meniscus does not "work" for 50% of the people who have it. Sue and Terry seem to be the only ones I can think of that are actually better off since the surgery. I also do not remember the orthopedic surgeons every telling me that before the surgery. Now what? Will the Euflexxa gel they are planning to inject in my knee relieve the pain? Well, I do not have the answer. I think that it may alleviate some of the rubbing of bone against bone caused by the loss of cartilage due to the arthritis. This is not a sure fix either, but I feel better about trying it first, before the knee replacement. Who knows, it may be just what I need.