NOT JUST FOR GRANDMA

Depends are not just for Grandma anymore. They work great for post-surgical dogs too! She's much happier than wearing that cone-head around and Daddy's undies restricted her knees so YIPPEE for Depends!!!

POST-SURGERY

Here is Button post-surgery, wearing the latest in post-surgical fashion. She was actually sent home as a cone head and we figured that was just a left-over Halloween accessory and she hated it so we have made her more comfortable in some men's jockey's.



According to the pre-surgical consent form she had "soft-tissue surgery", but in plain English, she had a tummy tuck for her vaginal lips. Unlike human tummy tucks, it was not elective surgery for Button who needed her female parts to be reconstructed a little bit. This should do the trick!

IT'S BEEN A YEAR

It has been a year since I was admitted to UW at 6 am on Halloween. I was on two anti-seizure medications and still having seizures in my left foot every 30-45 minutes, 24 hours a day. Then in about two hours time, I had the top of my skull drilled, a little tumor removed and my skull glued back on and here I am 50 pounds lighter, no more seizures, feeling great and so-o-o-o-o-o happy to be able to celebrate this anniversary.

I wanted to be able to photograph my scar, but it is hidden in my hair and it is really a better touching experience anyway. So here is to many more celebrations of this anniversary...here, here!!!!!

SPARE TIME

This is what I'm doing with my spare time,
creating baby sweaters to sell at the hospital gift shop.

BIRTHDAY DAY AFTER

I had such a wonderful birthday from start to finish. The highlight was taking the Locks Cruise which begins in the waters of Puget Sound and they tell you about the history of the buildings on the waterfront and what can be seen from the boat. The weather for the cruise turned out to be PERFECT! When we took the ferry over, we were delayed because of the fog and we couldn't even see any buildings in Seattle until we got off the ferry, but by the time the cruise left about an hour later, it was clear and beautiful.

This is the bridge as the boat is approaching the Ballard Locks.

The captain steering the boat into the lock. We at still on the salt water side. Once we are raised up and the gate opens, we will be on the fresh water side.

This is lake water being allowed in as part of the way the locks are engineered. This is the same way the Panama Canal works.






Once through the locks, we were in the fresh water of Lake Union. This is Gasworks Park on Lake Union. We also saw the houseboat where they filmed "Sleepless in Seattle".

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLOG

Tomorrow my blog will be a year old. WOW! I don't know that I can say the blog has grown so much as I have learned about the blog.

It has been quite a year, blog, it has been quite a year.

SHOUT OUT

Let's give a big shout out for HOT WATER! You never know how much you love it until you don't have it. Our 15 year old hot water tank stopped suddenly on Saturday morning. Old age was what the final diagnosis read (I am taking Medical Vocabulary I). The plumber gave us an estimate and promise of delivery and installation of a new one for Monday the 8th. We could all hardly wait. We hadn't showered. The laundry was piled and the dishwasher needed to be run.

Monday morning the company calls and says, "Oh he gave you the wrong price. It's $600 more than what he told you and we have to order the tank. It will take 10 days."
Thank you anyway.

To make a long story short the plumber's who were able to install the heater same day were the one's who don't advertise on TV and who drive the beat up van. They answer their own phone and actually return your phone calls. We ended up putting in an electric hot water heater which was half the price and available for same day installation. By late in the afternoon we really didn't care, just put it in already so I can wash my hair!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAFNA

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAFNA

I don't have a picture to post so I can only send our wishes from the Pacific Northwest all the way across the many time zones for you to have health and happiness in the coming year. Enjoy the celebration and all the best from all of us.

A BIRTHDAY WEEKEND

These two didn't want to stop eating their crab long enough to even smile for a photo. I could barely get them to look up. They enjoyed every last bit of it.

The Pumpkin Cheesecake looked better than it tasted. I'll have to keep looking for a recipe on that one.

The birthday weekend was lots of fun with movies and lots of time on the Playstation 2 and we aren't done celebrating yet. We plan to take the Locks Cruise in the next few weeks and that should be great fun.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVEN

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
TO OUR LITTLE BOY
WHO IS ALL GROWN UP

A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP

It just looks like a normal bed in the picture, but to us it is so much more. It is waking up without our back's hurting. It is waking up feeling like we actually got a good night's sleep. It is delightful!!

Yes, we finally got our new bed delivered yesterday after many phone calls to 'customer service'. Abbie got our old bed and we had them take her old one away which was really Steven's old mattress and a cheap box spring that we bought when we moved here. So we are all sleeping better now :-)

NEW BED

I woke up this morning with the same old backache. That's strange. This new bed is supposed to be so wonderful....oh yeah, that's right, they didn't deliver it! Ha! Ha! The joke is on us right now. We have been dragging our feet, no, I have been dragging my feet to even shop for a new bed and finally last weekend I agreed to go look. It wasn't as bad as I had been dreading it to be. Of course I did refuse to step foot into Levitz so that eliminated BAD. We sealed the deal on Sunday and got a delivery date for Friday the 31st. We have been counting down the nights all week and could hardly wait. Thursday morning they called and said the bed would be delivered Friday afternoon. Yippee, all is going well. Then we got another call at 3 pm saying the delivery was canceled with no new projected date. Are we talking days, weeks, months? I called them on Friday morning and asked that question and it turns out that OUR mattress missed the truck and that they (customer service) are waiting for an e-mail from the vendor (the company that makes the mattress). So now we can't even entertain ourselves by counting down the nights. I have a beautiful new headboard waiting for its new bed and a back waiting not to ache. Stay tuned.........

BOOK: DOGS OF BABEL

I just finished this book given to me by my recent house guest. She didn't say much about it, just "Read it." O-k-a-a-a-y. It is written in the first person from the man's point of view which is interesting since the author is a woman and has a way out there experiment that he is trying to pull off. Most interesting is his perspective of the relationship he has with his wife.

ANNIVERSARY OF ANOTHER SORT

This is an anniversary that probably only I care about, but it was one year ago today that my life changed so dramatically. It was one year ago today that we thought we were living a normal life. Then at 6:30 in the morning, I had that first seizure in my foot. That was the beginning of it all. The first symptom that something was wrong. The first trip to the emergency room. The first stay in the hospital. The first tests to be done. The phone wires started lighting up but there was no news to report because no one knew what was wrong. Today is the anniversary of the beginning of it all.

One year later where are we now? So much has happened and it is all so positive. Most importantly from my perspective... I'm feeling great and we are all living on the west coast. The rest of the details are insignificant. I'm starting on a new career path and trying to live life to the fullest each day which is all any of us can do.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY PETER & DAFNA

Happy Anniversary to you both as you celebrate 32 years together! Hope you have a great celebration and a wonderful and productive trip.

NEW START

I am officially registered for the fall quarter of classes with 12 units and best of all.....IT IS ALL ONLINE!! I am so excited to be getting a new start. When all is said and done, I will have an Associate's degree as a Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) as well as a Coding Specialist Certificate. Who could ask for more? The program does take two years to complete, but I think it will be well worth it in the end as this appears to be a growing field. Why didn't I do this 20 years ago?

A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS

Just finished this second book by the author of 'The Kite Runner' and really enjoyed it too. It was difficult to get through certain parts as the author's descriptions make you feel like you are right there with Miriam and Laila as they walk the difficult journey of their lives.
Another great read.

PORT TOWNSEND

Spent a glorious day in Port Townsend with my friend Mary Jane, Abbie and Kol and shopped and shopped and shopped.

FUN VISITOR

We have had a great visit with Mary Jane here. We have explored most of Kitsap County and especially the shopping in Old Town Silverdale and Poulsbo. It's been fun just hanging out and catching up on all the gossip from Rohnert Park and of course, some things never change.

Mary Jane loved Button!!!!

BUTTON TURNS 3

Button is so happy to get a new toy
for her birthday. Such a GREAT dog!!