Christmas Day

Christmas Day 2013

Christmas Day is my day to cook dinner.  My sister and her husband make Polish ham and all the fixings for Christmas Eve dinner and I always make a turkey dinner.  But that is never as important as the excitement created by having granddaughters.  They make the holiday so very fun.

The girls got to open presents they received from my sister and mother yesterday and today it was all about presents from their mother and grandparents. They sure are spoiled.  The funny thing is that at the last minute I found this silly 31-inch tall Power Ranger. Lately that is Chloe's favorite thing to watch on tv. It was on sale for cheap so I couldn't resist. Both the girls loved it so much I could have skipped Christmas shopping altogether and just got that!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is celebrated at my sister, Kelly's house. Kelly and her husband Greg are both very good cooks so the food is always excellent.  After a nice dinner, the kids get to open their presents. This year Chloe was pretty into it. Terms like Christmas tree and Santa Claus are words she can not repeat as well as the word presents. That made it exciting for all of us adults.  Chloe's little sister Avery seemed excited just because Chloe was. Avery always wants to mimic her sister.

Christmas Eve with Avery

Christmas Eve with Chloe

Happy Festivus!

Funny how some things in pop culture stick around for a long time.  Like the concept of Festivus. The whole absurd idea of a festivus pole and the airing of grievances that the fake holiday is known for, is really a fun concept. So I think it's time to continue that tradition with a list of my own.

For 2013, here is my list of grievances:

• People who comment on Facebook posts without actually reading said posts. They make themselves look like fools making me have to fight the urge to correct their idiotic statements.
• Speaking of Facebook, people who share tons of junky pages of crap that they like. Doesn't anybody have personal status updates any more? I like knowing what you are up to today.(I gotta stop doing this too!)
• The new on-off ramp from I-94 that was completed recently and is practically in my back yard which makes it impossible to get in and out of my neighborhood now.
• Grocery shoppers who don't know the difference between the express self-service lanes and the full self-service lanes. The store had to actually put up signs that say '20+ items' in the full self-service lanes for those who do not have a full grasp of the English language.
• People who do not have a full grasp of the English language.
• Doctors' offices where the staff is proud of themselves for the doctor "ONLY being 45 minutes behind today". Isn't that something they should be ashamed of?
• Pinterest. It makes me feel inadequate because I know I am never going to use all those ideas I pinned.

Thank you Jerry Seinfeld, however I never really thought you were all that funny. I think this might become a new tradition for me. I feel so much better now that I've aired my grievances.

Happy Festivus!

Christmas with Lauren

Lauren flew in from L.A. on Wednesday and we had planned on doing a little Christmas celebration by going out to lunch with the girls on Thursday. Unfortunately, the climate change between California and Wisconsin was a bit much for her and she ended up in urgent care on Thursday for a breathing treatment so we had to reschedule for Friday.  The issue with Friday was that Jeff was having hand surgery Friday morning and I wasn't sure when we could be back home.  So we played it by ear when it came to a lunch date.

I informed the kids when we got home from the surgical center and Lauren got to the house before the rest of the girls.  So we had a nice little visit and I gave her a box full of photographs of B.J. so they both had some memories of him growing up.  Once Bailee and the girls got to the house the quiet dynamics ended and the Christmas excitement began. Lauren brought the girls Christmas gifts and Chloe was excited to open them.  I think Avery couldn't have cared less she is always a happy girl.  She even let me take some nice photos of her without trying to grab the camera.  She is just adorable.

Chloe pretty much opened all the presents whether they were hers or her sister's. And Bailee loved the cool California designer looks that the girls were now sporting.  After we hung out at the house for a while we drove over to Burgey's Pub & Prime for some late lunch and some good Wisconsin craft beer - something Lauren misses in California. The bar very recently opened so it was pretty quiet which was great for letting the girls run around.

It was a wonderful Christmas visit.  During the week that Lauren was in town, it snowed and the weather went from the high 20s to a frigid below zero.  She got a good reminder of how nice it is to live in a warmer climate.

VA Hospital Visit with the Legion Riders

Today is our annual visit to the VA Hospital (the Clement Zablocki Medical Center to be exact). My church's quilt group, Sweet Sundays made a bunch of lap quilts for me to take along. Since we visit the spinal cord unit, most who are there are wheelchair bound so it is a nice useful gift for these veterans.  Every year I make little treat bags in Christmas colors. I fill them with Hershey's Hugs and Kisses. That way, if these patients really aren't supposed to have sweets, this tiny little amount shouldn't really hurt. It's not much but they do look pretty.

This year was a special treat. We had some enlisted men with us who brought books and cans of hard candy. Our coordinator, Pat Moore also brought some t-shirts along that he got as donations from local businesses. We even had Santa Claus join us while we prepped our carts full of goodies to hand out. 

The staff at the hospital are always thrilled when we visit.  Some of their patients are far from home so they don't get many visitors.  So we are glad to help. We broke up into groups and went from room to room wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and thanked them for their service. Many wanted to chat. We stayed as long as we could and listened to their stories.  

These patients have spinal cord injuries, some severe, most unable to ever walk again. Funny thing, they never want to talk about why they are there. No conversations about surgeries, medical procedures or pain and suffering.  They only want to talk about where they are from, what branch of the service they were in and their military experiences.  I find that amazing. And inspiring. 

My Back Pain Continues

I had a second MRI on my spine and following my doctor's instructions, I called his office to make a follow up appointment so we could discuss the results.  When I called the office, I had a little disagreement with the scheduler.  She insisted that I make the appointment with the physician's assistant and assured me that he can give me the results with as much confidence as the doctor.  I argued that I wanted to see Dr. Perlewitz but she was not going to budge so I took the appointment with the PA.

Funny thing, that same evening the doctor's office called me back. They got the radiology report back from the MRI and very gently insisted that I come in to see the doctor directly and offered me an appointment much sooner than the one I originally made.  The person who called was soft spoken and was trying to break it to me gently that the results were pretty serious.  I reassured her that I suspected the same and not to worry, I understood and it's OK.

In the doctor's office, I took one look at the image and I could very easily see that two of my discs, L4 and L5 are grey and the rest are white.  The doctor went on to explain that's because the discs are worn down and there is no cushion between the vertebrae. Plus there is a natural curve in the spine and those vertebrae are pushed in where the discs are worn down. On another view, the MRI showed that the vertebrae are wearing away as well. Diagnosis: Congenital Degenerative Disc Disease. So my first question was does that mean my original diagnosis of Osteoarthritis is incorrect?  The answer was no, it was correct, so I have that too.  It also means that there are drastic changes between my first MRI and this new one. My spine is wearing away and without a fusion and laminectomy, I am putting the surrounding vertebrae at risk because of the increased pressure on them. In fact a third vertebrae is also wearing away now as well. There was to be no 3 options, only 1; surgery. Then the doctor says, by the way, we found a cyst on your ovary during the MRI so you might want to contact your primary care physician about that. Geez.

Once that discussion was completed I mentioned to the surgeon that since October, I've been waking up in the middle of the night and my arms are numb, like they've fallen asleep. I made an assumption that it was stress related. I also mentioned that when I turn quickly I have a sharp pain in the center of my back that takes my breath away. I made another assumption that it had something to do with my disc issues. He suggested we x-ray my neck while I am still in his office because there's no way pain that high in my back would be related to L4 and L5 in my lower spine. So we got a quick x-ray and the doctor could instantly see that the vertebrae at C7 was also pushed in.  He ordered an MRI to see if the degeneration was also happening at that level.

Once the surgery stuff sunk in, without hesitation, my husband and I looked at each other and practically in harmony said set it up! The doctor suggested we take some time to think about it because it is very serious surgery.  We convinced him there was nothing to think about, we have to fix this. So he sent us to the office of his surgical scheduler where we had a long talk about the process. We left the office with the surgery date selected and the plan was that I had to make an appointment with my primary care physician for a pre-op physical, make an appointment with Dr. Perlewitz's general surgeon who participates in the surgery for a pre-op visit and then I would come back to Dr. Perlewitz's office where we would discuss the surgery in great detail and go over the neck MRI results.

American Legion Post 434 Christmas Party

Today the post held the Children's Christmas Party. It was a breakfast event, and the girls really dug into some scrambled eggs.  We enjoyed our bloody marys at the bar while we waited for the event to start. We weren't sure what to expect, not sure how the girls were going to react to Santa Claus. I tried to prepare Chloe by talking about how Santa was going to hand her a present and she could tell him what she wanted for Christmas if she wanted to.  She seemed OK with it, but we were still not sure what would happen when he actually got there.

Luckily, the kids were called up to get a stocking full of candy one table at a time, and we were going to be second last.  Chloe studied each kid sitting on Santa's lap and watched while they walked away with a stocking loaded with goodies. Avery didn't really care but we were still not sure how she would react.  After getting the stockings, and sitting on Santa's lap for a photo op, the kids were instructed to come sit on the floor around Santa and he would had out gifts. Chloe went right up to get on his lap again. Wow! What a surprise, she was really into it.  Avery not so much.  Each child's name was called to come up and get a gift. Chloe was thrilled.  She was even thrilled for her sister to get one. They immediately opened them up with tons of excitement in the air.  The girls were both happy to be here and happy with their gifts.

After everyone got their gifts the kids all ran around a bit, which was great since they needed to wear off all that sugar from the candy in the stockings. We said goodbye to Santa as he left and not long after that we headed home.  It was a wonderful event and we will certainly be back again next year.

St. Nick's Day Present

I was so surprised today. My husband left me a St. Nick's Day gift before he left for work this morning. What a pleasant way to wake up. This Green Bay Packers charm is just about the only jewelry I could ever want and here it is.

My Back Pain Continues

In May I decided to schedule another epidural injection in my spine. The last one I had worked for about 18 months and it's been quite a while since it wore off. Walking around with a numb foot gets increasingly difficult. Between that and my osteoarthritis in my spine, I can rarely sleep. The pain in my hips and the numbness in my foot are a combination that have become unbearable.

Unfortunately, like the last time, the first injection did not work. So I went for a second one in July. That one only worked for a few months. The doctors say sometimes it takes 3 in order for it to work but for some reason I can't bring myself to do it again.  It's not a painful procedure, but I don't exactly look forward to it. It has some risk which makes it stressful.  It's not cheap either so I'm not sure I am getting the return on the investment that I had hoped for.

After some serious thought and many sleepless pain filled nights I decided to get a second opinion.  I started to research spinal surgeons. Why not get a consult? It couldn't hurt. I have a hard time doing the research.  I look through the lists of in network surgeons in my health plan and Google them.  Looking at reviews from patients seems so arbitrary.  If they give good reviews, I wonder about their standards for what qualifies as good.

My husband mentioned that a coworker's wife had a major back surgery with a doctor that she gave rave reviews.  So I asked him to find out who it was.  His name is Dr. Perlewitz and his reading his bio was pretty incredible.  He was a Medical College of WI grad with an orthopedic fellowship at Harvard. I think that was good enough for me so I made an appointment.

I made the appointment and my husband and I went together. Dr. Perlewitz did a comprehensive exam of my spine and we had a long discussion of my symptoms.  He was thorough and easy to talk to. He suggested that since my last MRI was from 3 years ago, I get another one.  After that I would make another appointment and we would discuss options based on the results of the MRI.  He stated that normally he would have 2 or 3 suggestions (physical therapy, more injections, surgery)  and we would sit down and choose a plan of action based on how I would like to proceed.  Wish me luck!

4 Generations

As the holidays approach, I always get this melancholy feeling and I think about my dad. I think about him a lot. I think about how proud he would be of his grandchildren. I think about how much he would love his great-grandchildren. But he's not with us anymore and hasn't been for a very long time. He died from a brain tumor at the age of 52. It was called an astrocytoma. He died on a Friday, the 13th, not that I am superstitious but that was the day. This photo was taken during his chemo days. In the photo is me, my daughter Jen, my dad and his mother. 4 generations. I think it is an incredible photo although I doubt that we gave it any thought of how important it would become at the time. In fact, it was taken with a Polaroid camera with instant results. It's a photo that brings me great comfort on days like this.

Four Generations

Ed's Confirmation

Today was my nephew, Ed's confirmation. There were only two kids who completed the final test and so the ceremony was quite intimate although it does occur during the regular church service.  Ed's brother, Stan was excited to be the acolyte during the service. It made him feel like a big part of the day too.  After the church service, we took some photos with Pastor Mortenson (P.J.). It was a very nice ceremony.

Greg, Ed, Kelly and P.J.

Selling Clinique

All of a sudden I am really digging eBay.  In the past I have sold things like Christmas ornaments, fabric, clothing and lots of shoes and boots. Another item I've had lots of success with is cosmetics. I don't really use that many cosmetics but I do love Clinique lipstick and lip liner and also their face soap. Since both Boston Store and Macy's will have Clinique days sales, I only buy what I need during those sales.  That means I get lots of make up bags and many samples. Most of which I will never even try yet use.  So I sell them on eBay and they are surprisingly popular. Sadly I have been hoarding 18 of those things. If I do the math (2 stores with 2 sales per year = 4 divided by 18 = 4.5), I've had some of these cosmetic bags for 4 and a half years! It is definitely time to let them go so I listed 12 of them on eBay. Amazingly, all of them are going to sell. The bidding is going well and I am happy that I will be making some extra cash off of them and I am happy that someone will use these nice products.

Considering all that will sell, I still have quite a few items left.  In fact, I put together a makeup kit for my granddaughter. Kind of crazy and a little decadent that a little girl's play will include some Clinique.  Even after that I still have some great stuff left. And I only kept the stuff I think I would definitely use, even if I can't justify how to use 6 new makeup bags.

It's a little bit of work but worth it, it's like getting some of my money back to pay for the ones I like. Since I have bids on all the items listed on eBay, I better start digging up some shipping boxes!

Selling Baby Stuff

As a family we try hard to help our daughter who is a single mother.  Our adorable granddaughters are one of the best part of our lives. However, they need and go through a lot of things.  So in order to help our daughter, we have rummage sales in both spring and fall. This year our spring sale was extremely successful, but fall was not so great. I'm pretty sure it would have been better if we would have had our sale in September instead of waiting until October.  But weekends get booked up and things fall where they can whether we like it our not.  So on an overcast October day, we tried but didn't make as much cash as hoped. More importantly, we didn't get rid of as much baby stuff as we would like. I did take the leftover baby things to New To You Kids and they bought a lot more than I expected which was a pleasant surprise.

We were left with some big ticket items; a stroller, car seat, babycook, and a breast pump. So I used a Facebook local sale page to try to sell things. It worked for the stroller and the car seat will probably never sell, but I was not ready to let go of the babycook (retail $149) or the breast pump (retail $269) for cheap so I thought I would try eBay.

I used to sell lots of stuff on eBay but I haven't given them much thought in the last few years. Craigslist was working pretty well for me for things that were too large to ship; these items were small enough to ship and I thought I could get a good price with a wider audience on eBay.  So I listed the items and wouldn't you know it, within two minutes of hitting post...the breast pump was sold.  Incredible. Love the Buy It Now option.

The babycook is still on the auction block but I am pretty sure I will get top dollar for that like I did for the breast pump. So hopefully by Sunday, it will sell high. Wish me luck!

Custom Privacy Fence Panel

I've been following Pinterest for quite a while and I seem to constantly return to the same photo.  It is a picture of a pergola and a privacy wall covering a nice patio.  That privacy wall is built out of two-by-fours forming a grid and there are random glass blocks in some of the grid openings.  I wanted very badly to use that idea.

We recently installed some fence panels on our lot line to give us some privacy.  In the process of doing that project, we had our fence post hole guy dig two extra holes next to our hot tub.  So here was my chance to use that Pinterest inspired idea.

My husband and I installed the 4x4x10-feet long posts into the ground next to the tub. After a few days to ensure the cement footings were firm, we filled the dirt back in and cleaned up the rest of the piles of dirt left over from the dig.  From there I got out my graph paper and measured and re-measured the opening.  I drew out the plan down to every little detail. On Friday morning I went shopping for glass block.  

On Saturday morning, he went shopping for the lumber and we started to build the grid that would hold the glass block.  Between the shopping and laying out the grid and the frame, we used up most of the day. On Sunday morning, we installed the grid-frame structure to the fence posts.  It went up quickly and easily, thank goodness. Then we spent the day cutting the boards to fill in the bottom half of the fence.  On Monday I installed the glass block permanently by using silicone caulk to hold them in place.

I am so excited to see this project completed. We discovered together that we can do our own thing without worrying too much about having an expert draw up a plan - we can do it all ourselves! This was one of the most rewarding projects I have ever completed!

Thank you, Jeff for your fantastic woodworking skills, we make a great team.

At the Racine Zoo

Today was Chloe's first day of school.  So I rode along with her mother to pick her up. We didn't do all the hoopla most moms do on the first day, after all, it's preschool. Besides, the photos of graduation day in about 14 years will be much more important.  She was waiting on a bench with the other kids and didn't even notice when I walked up. I think she was looking for her mother. She was excited when she noticed me.

Chloe's First Day

We drove from school over to the zoo.  The Racine Zoo is rated as one of the top 10 small zoos in the country.  I can see why.  Everyone there is very personable and it feels cozy enough that it seems like we are closer to the animals than we really are. There aren't many moats or boundaries and the amount of walking distance between exhibits isn't terribly far.  Obviously there aren't as many animals there as the Milwaukee County Zoo, but this quaint little place is truly wonderful. 

While we were there we fed the giraffes.  That was a fabulous experience and I am glad I got the opportunity to do it. Chloe loved the tigers as well as the giraffes.  Funny thing though, her very favorite thing is the play area.  There are slides and a huge jungle gym for play. She loves it there and she's there often enough that she has a favorite tiger that she sits on. I had to take Avery down the slide a few times.  She's too little to figure out how to do it herself so I rode with her.  Her sister wasn't crazy about hogging grandma so we all had to go down the slide together.  What a great time!

After that we went to Dairy Queen for some ice milk treats.  It was a perfect day at the zoo.

Harley's 110th Anniversary Begins

110th Celebration Begins

We go to bike nights often. Bike nights are always on Thursdays and both the Iron Horse Hotel and the Harley-Davidson Museum host them. A real convenience is that they are basically next door to each other. Each brings a different clientele but both are fun and enjoyable experiences.  However, the food is a bit better (although pricier) at the Iron Horse. So as usual, we made our typical rounds starting at Conejito's (on the other side of the Iron Horse) for some cheap tacos then we went to the Iron Horse to park the bike for the night.  We usually ride over to the museum then back to the Iron Horse but tonight was very different. We usually run into many people we know, the familiar faces are all around us. But not tonight, I think most of them are down at the Summerfest grounds where the big Harley part is. As for where we are (6th & Canal), the road was closed to motorcycles only for the Harley 110th Anniversary Opening Night at the museum. And there were bikes parked everywhere - including the middle of the road.  So we walked over to the museum from the Iron Horse since we probably wouldn't get much closer anyway. These celebrations are amazing events and they bring the most interesting people from all over the world.  I find it incredible that people want to come here for this event, a sign of how I take things around here for granted. It sure is fun to see and talk to all our visitors/tourists.  I hope they enjoy all these things I am surrounded by every day.

New Fence

This is our neighbor's deck. It's a little tough to tell from the photo but the two section on the far right are crooked.  They slope towards each other.  It drives my husband crazy.  My husband is a perfectionist. He loves working on home improvement projects however it takes him a long time to finish things because they have to be perfect.  Whenever I suggest that things are fine if they are a little off he just laughs at me.  So whenever he walks outside he cringes and snickers when the deck next door comes into view. 

So that became one of many reasons to put up some privacy fence. Obviously there are many other better reasons but that one is on the list somewhere.  I really wanted the fence to add some privacy but most importantly is that I wanted to have a place to tack up a movie screen and project outdoor movies in the yard with my granddaughters. I also wanted the fence for a place to hang my quilts for photos.  Plus it makes a nice backdrop for some seriously cute landscaping.  Maybe some tall bushes between the panels or maybe some giant planters of flowers and plants.  Maybe some climbing flowers on the fence and probably some hanging planters attached somewhere. 

So we started installing the fence early in the day and of course after the first panel took a really long time. I was worried about doing this well into the evening but we learned how to be much more efficient after the first one and we were done by mid-afternoon. Yay! It was a 90-degree day and a crazy thing to do in the hot sun.  There are still some things that need to be finished like cutting off the tops of some of the posts and filling in the post holes but we are both very glad to get it done.

Milwaukee County Zoo Visit

We went to the zoo for the day however as soon as we got there it decided to rain.  And it rained from the time we got there until an hour after we got home.

We ran from building to building but since it is summer most of the animals are in their outdoor habitats so we didn't get to see much. 

One funny moment was when Chloe saw the hyenas, she called them big doggies.  She did like the tigers and the giraffes and the leopards.

Our Perfect Day

Every once in a while we have an absolutely perfect day. Today was one of them. The weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cool, the swimming pool water was just the right temperature, and the grandchildren were both in a wonderful, playful mood.  That really translates into we all wanted to do exactly the same thing at the same time.  So we had dinner on the deck, even Chloe ate.  We swam, we played on the slide, we even hid in the little fort under the slide.  We sat in the grass and giggled and played while the sun stayed behind the clouds so we didn't have to squint or worry about sunburn.  I love days like this.

Happy Birthday, Kelly

Today is my younger sister's 50th birthday.  Her family threw her a party at Wilson Park.  It was a great idea since many of her friends have small children, the pavilion at the park is right next to a large play area with slides and swings and a jungle gym so there was plenty of things to wear out all the little ones while we enjoyed the absolutely perfect day.  Kelly's husband, Greg is a great cook and he didn't disappoint with his pulled pork and grilled sausages today.  We all brought dishes to share so there was plenty of variety of things to eat.

Kelly's neighbors (she is very close to them) are Hispanic so we had piñatas and they were manned by the neighbor who knew just when to raise or lower them to tease whoever was hitting them.  Our granddaughter, Chloe was delighted when the candy fell from the piñata as she dove right in with all the other kids to grab up as much as she could carry.

Air Show 2013

Avery

We've taken Chloe to the air show every year since she was born. So this year was no different except for the addition of her baby sister, Avery who got to attend her first air show.  Grandpa gets free VIP family tickets to the GE Veterans' Network tent right on the lake.  They provide food and drink for everybody as well as nice tables and chairs, benches and sun umbrellas.  It's a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon with the girls.



Chloe

Chloe loves the planes so it's always fun to watch her reaction to the aircraft.  Avery is still too little to understand so for her, it's a sunny afternoon of playing with grandma, grandpa and mom. 

This year Chloe discovered the beach.

Avery and Grandma

Unfortunately, it means climbing over very large and somewhat treacherous rocks to get to it.  Once there, she was delighted with the waves coming in and the sand.  She made sand piles, rock piles, giggled and screeched every time the waves lapped up on little legs and feet. Because of the difficult climb to get to the beach, I did not take the camera. I sure wish I could have. 

As part of the GE Veterans' Network, Jeff does volunteer work to benefit veterans' groups.  He and his co-workers volunteer at Miller Park by working the concession stand during Brewers games and the proceeds go to the Fisher House, a sort of Ronald McDonald House for veterans.

Today the group brought some veteran guests to the GE VIP tent to see the air show. They were all current patients from the VA Hospital. Jeff stopped to chat with them and enjoyed spending time with them. In fact the VA Hospital staff that were along remembered our Legion group visit over the Christmas holiday. Jeff has a way with people so the veteran guests were very comfortable chatting with him and he enjoys their company. 

Grandpa and Chloe


We love this little family tradition and hopefully as long as there is an air show we will continue to attend with the girls. 


Guests from the VA Hospital

Air Show 2013