Monday, January 21, 2013

What a Busy Week

It has been eleven days since I posted last.  That is lots better than the last time I posted, so hopefully I'll be doing better in the future.  I have so much to post about this time, I hardly know where to start.  I knew it would be a busy time, so when I went to the doctor I asked him if a prednisone blast would help and he gave it to me and it really did help.  I would have been absolutely miserable if I hadn't had anything.  The only thing is, I wish I hadn't taken it quite so early because it did wear off and now I am in constant pain again. 

On Sunday the 13th we had to skip church to go to our granddaughter Charlottes second birthday.  That was quite an event for us because she is the one that we don't get to see very often.  We drove to Redlands to her maternal Grandmother's for the party.  The drive is about an hour and fifteen minutes from here.  It was from 12:00 noon until 3:00 in the afternoon.  It was very enjoyable and they had so much to eat I was almost too full.  We had to leave fifteen minutes early so that Dick could get back to the church so that he could be there promptly at 4:00. when our last session ends, so that he could do the deposit.  He no longer has a finance clerk so he has to do it all himself.  It was sorta funny, because everyone was there in their jeans and Dick and I were all dressed up.  I, because I figured I'd have to go in and find me a ride home.  That way, we could go directly to the church, but as luck would have it, we made very good time, so Dick was able to drop me off at home before he went to the church.  I was glad because I was ever so tired.  My prednisone blast was working great though, so I was in no pain. 

Wednesday the sixteenth my niece Nancy flew in from Dallas  to go to the Four Freshmen Concert and to  their big day in Palm Springs where they had their star placed on the Palm Springs Walk of Fame.  Nancy joined the Four Freshmen Society so she too is a big fan of the Freshmen and she flew in to Reno to join us last year at the Convention there.  We really have had a great, but super busy time, since she has been here.  She just left for home today so she was here for five fun filled days.  I can tell you right now, I am one tired cookie and I only have tonight to relax because tomorrow morning I have to get an MRI, so that I can go to the pain clinic in three days.  I surely do hope they give me a shot and not just a consultation on that day.  At any rate, I will try to recapture our five days. 

Thursday:    Nephew Freddie and his wife, Chris, drove over from Fallbrook. which is almost a two hour drive from here to visit with Nancy for the day.  Those two cousins are very close and were raised together so it was nice for them to get together.  We had a nice luncheon that Dick fixed for us and after visiting for awhile, we all drove (in separate cars) to Riverside so that we could meet our daughter, Nancy, who was named after neice Nancy Lee.  Those two are pretty close too, because Nancy Lee lived with us for such a long time.  My sis, Mildred, used to be very generous with Nancy and her sister, Carol, by letting them stay with us every summer.  I don't know how she could stand to be away from them that long, but she did.  Nancy Lee used to take care of Nancy Anne(our Nancy)  When I named Nancy Anne after Nancy Lee I never knew there could be such confusion.   We had a very good dinner, and visited there for awhile and then drove back.  Freddie and Chris took off for home directly from the restuarant.  We did have a great time all together.  That was indeed a very full day for all of us.

Friday:      We had a visit from a guy named Ron, who was the husband of Nancy's best friend, Irene.  She and Nancy had an apartment together when she left living with me.  Unfortunately, Irene died a year or so ago, not long after Nancy's husband died.  Ron has been very lonely since Irene died, and he drove down from Reno to see Nancy for just a few hours Friday.  He would like Nancy to marry him, but Nancy just isn't interested.  I think Ron talked most of the time he was here,  just on and on.  Nancy keeps telling him she is not at all lonely, and has no intention of ever marrying again, but he just keeps on trying.  Of course, Nancy has all of her family living close around her so I'm sure that makes a difference, to say nothing of her many many friends from church, where she is a very popular and busy lady.  He kept going to the bathroom every few minutes and finally admitted that he had a bladder infection so as soon as he was finished eating, we took him to the walk-in clinic where he got a prescription for Cipro and we took him to the drug store to get it filled.  When we got home, I was quite surprised when he went directly back to his large trailer home that he drove down from Reno.  I'm sure he expected to be able to see a lot more of Nancy than he did.

Saturday:  What a day this was.  We went to a Four Freshmen Concert which we loved.  We met a group of friends beforehand to have lunch.  It was fun and the concert was terrific as usual.  We then came back to our house where Dick fixed a lovely dinner for all of us.  We didn't have too much time after before we had to go to another concert at the McCallum Theater where we saw and heard The Manhattan Transfer.  All I can say is that it was very loud and no one could understand how I could sleep through half of it.  I was so darned tired and to tell you the truth, I didn't care for it very much.  I was glad to get home and to have a good nights sleep.  Imagine, two concerts in one day!
 


Sunday:      It was Stake Conference but we missed it.  We always go, but the big day for the Four Freshmen in Palm Springs was here.  We went over to Pikes and they drove us to  Palm Springs where the Freshmen were to get their star on the Walk of Fame.  We had a special invitation, so we were able to sit down for the event.  It was all roped in, but people had just a single walk through and there was traffic as usual in the street.  They had a pretty good P.A. system and it turned out to be a very nice program along with it.  They introduced some special people, Jim Pike among them, and they spoke about how much influence the original Four Freshmen had on them and their groups.  They had Jim from the Lettermen, someone from The Four Lads, one of the guys from Manhattan Transfer, and they introduced a few more people.  All in all, it was a very nice affair, and Jim was glad they went.  I'm hoping they will go with us to the Four Freshmen Reunion in Fort Wayne, Indiana  next year.  They rejoined the Society and are planning to go unless they are touring.  Nancy is meeting us there too.  She is also coming back February 22 for the Reunion Concert with Jim Pike, Gary Pike and Ric de Azavido.  The Reunion is Jim's new group and they are really terrific.  They sing all the Lettermen songs.  Of course Jim and Gary sang with the original Lettermen during their Capital Record years.  Nancy used to work for Capital Records and they knew some of the same people there.  After the Star Ceremony we went to the Hyatt Regency Hotel where we were invited to a private party for the Freshmen and we had a great time there.........lots of food and drinks (diet coke for all of us)  After the party we drove home with Jim and Sue and we stayed there for a couple of hours visiting and stuff.  Nancy taught Sue some things she didn't know on her I-Pad.  She  and Sue really hit it off.  She also took a picture of Jim's wall where he has nine gold albums and two single gold records.  It was a very full day and I was plenty eager to get to bed.

Monday:      We took Nancy to the airport today where she caught her flight to Dallas and she phoned me from the airport when she arrived at 5:30 p.m. our time.  We are quite ready to go to bed but first Dick has to try to post some of the pictures Nancy took.  

So sorry, we had such neat pictures but neither Dick nor I can figure it out.....









8 comments:

  1. Wow Darlene, you did have a super busy week. I'm glad that you got some relief even though it was only temporary. Being in pain is so exhausting.
    I wonder is acupuncture would help you.

    You all had lots of fun with visiting, but two concerts in the same day is a lot. I'm glad that your Letterman group is still of interest to you. It keeps you young at heart.

    A lot of bloggers are having problems with posting photos on their blogs and they upgraded to Google Chrome and it solved their problems. I wonder if it would help you with uploading your photos.

    I hope that you have a restful week after all that super active week.
    Sending you some healing thoughts and prayers.
    Hugs,
    JB

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good thing you don't work, you'd never get any sleep! I think being that busy keeps you young. I'm sorry you''re having all that pain. Oh, we're going to Portland,Ore in March for our grandson's baptism. I'm not sure what that has to do with pain, but it just entered my mind! Hope you get some rest and your MRI comes out OK. Take care Darlene. Love, ya!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds like you guys had a great time. I hope the pain doctor will give you a shot!

    =)

    ReplyDelete
  4. This was so fun to read, but then I always enjoy reading about your life. We've had the twins since Sunday so I've been waiting for some time. That's good you got that blast and could then enjoy some of your outings, but so sorry you are in pain again now! You must feel a bit like Cinderella after the Ball.

    So glad you got to enjoy the Four Freshman concert! What an event that must have been.
    I can only imagine what that wall looks like with Jim Pike's gold albums and records on it. How exciting that must be to look at that.

    I'm impressed with all the cooking Dick does. That must be so nice so you can enjoy your guests! Hope you can get some relief to your pain....

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, you are amazing. I can't believe you have been that busy. I got worn out reading about all of your adventures. You are so fun. I do hope that you will be pain free soon. You are always in my prayers. I loved your story about the two Nancy's. It is awesome that you are able to be so involved with The Letterman and have been able to attend the events associated with them. I had a lot of fun reading this one. You know this is truly a wonderful journal of your life events.
    Blessings, love and hugs to you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. My Dear Darlene
    I am truly in awe of you! Reading this post has me exhausted and I can't even imagine two concerts in one day. I not only would of slept through it but probably would of been on the floor with a pillow.
    Once again and I can not say it enough your an amazing woman.
    I loved reading every word of this post but sad to hear your still in so much pain. I always have you in my prayers.
    Please know honey that you made my day when I found you came by for a visit and left me the sweetest comment.
    Yes I am so happy to think I might see Chad and Christi Saturday but it may not happen now because Christi text me this morning that she is sick with something. So many bugs going around you just never know.
    Today it was 79 outside so I mowed and raked leaves. Now I am really tired but it had to be done the yard was looking so bad with these big oaks dropping so many leaves.
    Funny in Texas it can be hot one day and freezing the next.
    So glad I was able to come by tonight and read about your exciting adventures.
    Boy do I lead a boring life. Too bad Nancy is not interested in this friend but if it's not there is not there.
    I have a friend who mentioned fixing me up the other day and since I have not dated in five years I am not sure I can let her. Just would be so stressful. lol
    Take care Darlene and I will continue to lift you in prayer. I want you to live pain free. I wish and pray that for both of us. After today I am beginning to think I may not be able to work out here another summer mowing.
    I will leave it in God's hands and let him decide what and where I should be.
    I think of you so much
    Love ya
    Maggie

    ReplyDelete
  7. You DO seem to live a busy life! No wonder there is not much time for blogging :-) I remember Redlands and Palm Springs from twenty years ago as mild and beautiful places. You must really enjoy it now. Just don't get to much Predisone (I have to take its "cousin" Predisolone every day) and it has lots of side-effects, but then I take it per os. Take care!

    PS Thank you for the nice comment! I feel all flushed up with your praise :-) . I'm just an ordinary amateur photographer who takes shots of whatever takes my fancy. And, of course, if you want to show my efforts to your family and friends, I would consider it an honour.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am amaxed at all you got done. WE love the Manhattan Transfer and would love to have seen their concert. We have only seen them live once, and that was several years ago. I hae neglected my blog. I was out of energy all the time since we came home from Washington almost a year ago. WE went out there to our Grandson Brett's Missionary farewell. (He is in the Ukraine)
    About Thanksgiving, I discovered that I had some kind of urinary infection. When I went to our doctor, he gave me Cipro, but when a went back after two weeks, they took a culture, and Cipro was having no effect, so he gave me a prescription for some kind of mixture of two antibiotics that was so powerful I had to take acidophiles because the antibiotic was so powerful it would kill all the organisms in my gut. As that began to have effect, I realized that I must have had some kind of low grade infection for almost a year. I felt better every day, and all the back pain I have been having (It was so bad I was going to pain management and they we giving me cortisone shots directly into the spinal cord) .My shoulders (where I have no rotator cuffs) we less painful and I felt amazingly better. I was disappointed when I went back to the doc for another culture, and they said that it still hadn't cleared up, so they decided that I probably have a fistula that is sending bacteria from the bowel the the bladder (it is an e-coli infection) so I went to the hospital for tests, began taking cipro again and got a referral to a urologist and they took all kinds of inner pictures, then I went down to Savannah where they stuck a tube with a camera up in my bladder and decided that I don't have a fistula, and they gave me augmentin (which is a mixture of amoxicillin and something else. They now have a new culture and I have a new antibiotic, but I can't remember its name, I had never heard of it before. In spite of the tests, I still feel better than I have in ages.
    Of course, I went out last week and was sweeping off the pool deck when I tripped or los my balance an took a header into the concrete floor and did wonders for my face. (bad enough that Jan says that when we go out in public she is going to wear a sign that says 'I DIDN'T DO IT") Stuart posted my picture on facebook, but I am too dippy to do it here).. Any way, getting old isn't for sissies is it?.

    ReplyDelete