Avery and Sophia:
Greg and Nicole:
Arlete, Alma, Justin, Thais:
Arlete and Dick:
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Merry Christmas from ...
Lenin, Sophia, Thais and Avery:
Avery and Sophia:
Arlete, Alma, Justin, Thais:
Arlete and Dick:
Avery and Sophia:
Arlete, Alma, Justin, Thais:
Arlete and Dick:
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Breakfast with Ade
Great food, beautiful Christmas-y house, and a good visit with Ade and husband Mike. Another look at the doll bed now reinforced by Mike to be used with vigor by Kylie, their 3-year-old granddaughter.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
At Justin's
It was too late and I was too tired to drive back to Palo Alto, so I drove to E Nicolaus to spend the night only to discover the owls had flown into a miniature pine tree.
It took twice as long as it should have to drive back to the Bay Area due to lots of rain. It's darn cold too, but that's compared to the Hawaiian weather I was recently enjoying. It's darn warm when compared to Regina Saskatchewan where it's 16°F but feels like 3°F with scattered snow flurries.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Watching grandchildren
Tonight Thais and Lenin went to Thais' company's Christmas party and ... drum roll, please ... I got to watch Avery and Sophia. What fun! Avery loves to rock on the elephant. When it was time to read a book on the couch, he came running over, crawled onto my lap and got ready to listen. By the last page, he was sound asleep.
Sophia's bedtime routine includes two books to be read. She thought maybe she'd like to do math flashcards instead of a book, but finally chose Olivia and Dora the Explorer. She gets to sit up for the first book, but must lay down for the second. And then, "Grandma, my mom said you could hold my hand while I fall asleep." OK, I can do that. "Grandma, after I fall asleep my mom said you should check on me a lot."
Sophia's bedtime routine includes two books to be read. She thought maybe she'd like to do math flashcards instead of a book, but finally chose Olivia and Dora the Explorer. She gets to sit up for the first book, but must lay down for the second. And then, "Grandma, my mom said you could hold my hand while I fall asleep." OK, I can do that. "Grandma, after I fall asleep my mom said you should check on me a lot."
Update on Dick's health
Loved the coat rack on back of examination room at Dick's most recent appointment with a California cardiologist.
The doctor carefully read the post-surgery report with a few oohs and ahhs at what actually happened. Finally he looked up and said to Dick, "You were really trying to die." After Dick explained his recent symptoms, the doctor ordered a series of tests which amazingly all began happening immediately. The EKG and cardio echogram in the same exam room. Upstairs for a carotid scan, to the next building for blood work, and another building a short walk away to ophthalmology.
A follow-up appointment to discuss all the results and make adjustments to his recovery plan happens in a couple of weeks. He did say a normal heart pumps about 50% of its capacity each beat, but Dick's appears to be working at 40%.
The ophthalmologist said that when Dick's circulatory system failed at the beginning of the surgery and just before he was hooked up to the heart-lung machine, his blood pressure dropped so low that blood vessels in left retina became occluded (blocked). He could see that new vessels have sprouted and are spreading into damaged area. The occlusion means fluid has gotten between retina and eyeball and can cause symptoms like shooting stars, double vision which feels like dizziness, “bar code” lines in field of vision. Dick has been experiencing all the these symptoms, but hopefully they will disappear with continued self-healing.
The doctor carefully read the post-surgery report with a few oohs and ahhs at what actually happened. Finally he looked up and said to Dick, "You were really trying to die." After Dick explained his recent symptoms, the doctor ordered a series of tests which amazingly all began happening immediately. The EKG and cardio echogram in the same exam room. Upstairs for a carotid scan, to the next building for blood work, and another building a short walk away to ophthalmology.
A follow-up appointment to discuss all the results and make adjustments to his recovery plan happens in a couple of weeks. He did say a normal heart pumps about 50% of its capacity each beat, but Dick's appears to be working at 40%.
The ophthalmologist said that when Dick's circulatory system failed at the beginning of the surgery and just before he was hooked up to the heart-lung machine, his blood pressure dropped so low that blood vessels in left retina became occluded (blocked). He could see that new vessels have sprouted and are spreading into damaged area. The occlusion means fluid has gotten between retina and eyeball and can cause symptoms like shooting stars, double vision which feels like dizziness, “bar code” lines in field of vision. Dick has been experiencing all the these symptoms, but hopefully they will disappear with continued self-healing.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Last day in Kauai
Coffee at Bill's while we waited for delivery of a new refrigerator. Sylvia flew to Austin TX last night.
Hularobics at KAC!! It was Hua's first day back also after being with her daughter in Kodiak AK for a health event. Darn! - I thought I took a video of the hula White Sandy Beach, but alas the camera was dead.
With every ounce of courage I could summon, I rowed to the boat in a strong wind and wasn't sure I was making any progress, although I was drifting sideways. At one point, I had to pray for strength not to end up on the rocks of the inner breakwall. My arms ached by the time I got there. I caulked my first-ever window, sopped water, emptied and moved water jugs to a better place, put cockpit cushions in a somewhat drier place, packed some clothes for Dick, and generally secured as much as I could. Rowing back was easier with the wind, but wetter. The first part was sideways to the waves and I had to maintain an angle to avoid the rocks of the breakwall again and keeping the oars in the water or not too deep was hard because of the sideways rocking. I was a wreck by the time I tied the dinghy to the dock. But there was Pat with a smiling face, dry land, and we were off to relax and set aside my anxiety.
We met Bill at Duke's for Taco Tuesday. This is a 'hood weekly tradition and sometimes as many as 20 people meet at Duke's, but today there was just the three of us. Two beers and two tacos later, I was back to normal. No more boat work, no more wind and waves, tomorrow I would fly home. Whew!
A BIG thank-you to Pat for her hospitality and making me feel so welcome in her home.
Hularobics at KAC!! It was Hua's first day back also after being with her daughter in Kodiak AK for a health event. Darn! - I thought I took a video of the hula White Sandy Beach, but alas the camera was dead.
With every ounce of courage I could summon, I rowed to the boat in a strong wind and wasn't sure I was making any progress, although I was drifting sideways. At one point, I had to pray for strength not to end up on the rocks of the inner breakwall. My arms ached by the time I got there. I caulked my first-ever window, sopped water, emptied and moved water jugs to a better place, put cockpit cushions in a somewhat drier place, packed some clothes for Dick, and generally secured as much as I could. Rowing back was easier with the wind, but wetter. The first part was sideways to the waves and I had to maintain an angle to avoid the rocks of the breakwall again and keeping the oars in the water or not too deep was hard because of the sideways rocking. I was a wreck by the time I tied the dinghy to the dock. But there was Pat with a smiling face, dry land, and we were off to relax and set aside my anxiety.
We met Bill at Duke's for Taco Tuesday. This is a 'hood weekly tradition and sometimes as many as 20 people meet at Duke's, but today there was just the three of us. Two beers and two tacos later, I was back to normal. No more boat work, no more wind and waves, tomorrow I would fly home. Whew!
A BIG thank-you to Pat for her hospitality and making me feel so welcome in her home.
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