Girl Scouts Anniversary

Today is the Girl Scouts Anniversary. I was a Girl Scout, almost until I was married. I left scouting at 17 and was married at 19. I'm very grateful for scouting for a number of reasons; probably the top reason is because of Scouting, I met Bob.

Ya got to be flexible

Anyone in a relationship knows flexibility is key to lasting. Bob and I will be married 45 years in May, and we're nothing if not flexible. This year I was so looking forward to a cross-country road trip in May. We haven't been on one for a while, because Bob was in pain from his back. He got his back fixed in September, so I started planning. This is what it looked like:

We were going to hit the Gulf Coast in May, before hurricane season, because we never have, visit San Antonio and New Orleans, swing up to Raleigh, leave the car, fly to NYC for Book Expo America, go back to Raleigh to visit with Carrie, Ole, Erin and Brett, and come home on Rt. 40. It was going to be about 3 1/2 to 4 weeks.

Then, Bob said he wanted really to ride his bicycle along the West Coast in 2010, and across America in 2011. Since those two trips involve a significant financial investment, I put the road trip on hold and planned to start really saving. Bob was upset about not going on the road trip, but since I'm the CFO of this partnership, I held firm and told him you just can't do everything.

Recently, Bob had eye surgery, right now, he still isn't seeing very well, and told me to just proceed with the road trip, because the way things were going he didn't want to plan too far in advance. So I went back to the road trip drawing board making a few refinements.

Last night, I casually mentioned that Bermuda was celebrating its' 400th anniversary, and cruise prices weren't too bad. Bob said, Why don't we go there after NYC? So along the lines of you just can't do everything, the road trip is back on hold; we're flying to NYC in May, cruising to Bermuda, flying to Raleigh, and flying home in June.

It'll be fun, and next time I want to go on a road trip, it's mostly planned.

Pirate Bob

Aarrrr

Last week, when I returned from Jury Duty, on Thursday, Bob said when he woke up in the morning there was blood in the back of his eye. It got worse during the day, and he called and made an appointment with his Dr., who takes care of the back of his eyes. We went for that appt. on Friday, and he's scheduled for surgery this week on Thursday. The strange thing is all the blood is in the back of his eye, not visible at all in the front. The same thing happened 7 years ago to the other eye, so we knew what to expect. In the mean time, he can't see out of his left eye and without an eye patch the eye strains to function. So, we went to Walgreen's and got an eye patch for him to wear for one week.

Speaking of Jury Duty, I was selected to be on the jury. This is a first; usually a cops' wife gets an automatic pass from any defense attorney. Aarrrr.

This is a complex trial with three defendants and three juries. The actual trial starts in 6 weeks on 4/1. That's all I can and will say, except Aarrrr.

Egret

Bob had something funny happen, yesterday.  He was riding his bicycle around Colony Drive, (he's just getting back to biking).  On his second loop around an Egret, like this one, hopped into his path.  They were both startled, and the egret flew off to a nearby roof.

On his next loop, the egret was standing in the street, again.  When it saw Bob coming it flew off to the roof, again.  On Bob's 4th time around, the same thing happened.  I bet that egret was really glad that Bob was only riding 12 miles yesterday.  Bob said he sure wishes he'd had my camera.  Me, too.

Poor Bob

Some times I dabble in things not related to books, photography or making jewelry. I've designed two different t-shirts for Bob. The first one related to both our daugthers blaming everything on him. "Dad, it's all your fault!" My theory is better him than me. They say it with love, but they love to blame things on him. That t-shirt said, "I'm Bob, It's all my fault". When our friend, the other Bob, saw it, he wanted one to.

Below is my 2nd t-shirt for Bob, he's always saying "Poor Bob". I just went ahead and ordered one for the other Bob. The other Bob and his wife Darleen came over the other night to play cards and they both wore their new t-shirts. The other members of our card playing group got a good chuckle.

The other Bob is a very interesting man. He's a L.A. native; he enlisted in the Navy during WWII. He served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. He's a really nice, quiet man. After he retired, he went to work for J.C. Penney's, in their distribution division; and that's where he met Darleen. They've been married 35 years.

We're looking forward to the New Year

2008 has been a great year for Bob and I.

I think the most important thing for Bob was getting his back fixed and the hope for a more athletic 2009. He's always been an athlete and being side-lined with pain has been the pits. Now he's seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and should be able to resume his "normal" activities by February. He's also suffering from severe anemia, due to diabetes complications; and it appears that's being taken care of, as well. I still have my fingers crossed on that one. His life is full of Dr. appointments, now, as many as 5-6 a week. The good part of that is he has a life! Two years ago, he had 5 stints put in his heart, probably avoiding a major heart attack or stroke. Yeah, for modern medicine.

Other good news for us, we both got older. Having birthdays and getting older is a great thing.

For me, personally, this year has been great. Nothing major went wrong, I chose to work less, re-discovered my love of photography, and read 148 books. I also, if you're reading this you'll agree, blogged a lot. In addition to the Book Review blog, Loves Books and Tea, (my first) and the recipe blog, I started a photo blog. The two I update regularly are this one and Murrieta365; where I post at least one photo every day; most taken right here in Murrieta.

2008 was a stay at home year for us; because of Bob's health problems we didn't travel, but we're already talking about doing some traveling in 2009. I sure hope so. Most likely we'll stay in the US, maybe Canada. I know I'm going to NYC, in May for the BEA, and Bob thinks he wants to come with me, instead of staying at home, like he did in 2008, when it was in L.A.; and we want to go to North Carolina to see Carrie, Ole, Erin and Brett. We usually travel a lot, so in '09, I hope to make up for lost time.


That's my little re-cap. Hope everyone has a wonderful New Year.

To all my blog friends

May The Peace and Beauty of
The Season Remain with You
Throughout The Coming Year.

Jan and Bob

This is the card we sent out this year. We have a division of labor, Bob does the watercolor and I come up with the verse. When he retired 10 years ago, once we were settled in our new house, Bob took up watercolor painting. He'd never painted anything, except walls in the house, before. For the past 9 years we've sent out our own cards with one of his watercolors on the front. The orignals, as well as most of his other paintings, are at our daughters' homes. They're proud of their Dad.

Music to my ears - Friday

This one's for Bob. No, he hasn't gone to the other side, but yesterday, while he was in the ER, he was treated with cocaine! Amazing. It's not just for the streets, any more.



Bob's on multiple blood thinners, and Wednesday night his nose started bleeding, not gushing, just bleeding; but it wouldn't stop. Twelve hours later, we went to the ER. They took wonderful care of him, including using cocaine to stop his nose from bleeding.

Bob

I mention Bob, a lot, you know; because we've been married so long, he's important to me! The past two years haven't been great for him health-wise, but we had really good health news this week.

More than two years ago he decided to have back surgery; two of his lower back discs were causing him a lot of pain. The pain radiated down through his legs and feet. He's been a athlete his entire life and the pain curtailed his athleticism. The decision was a good idea, in many ways. In order to have the laminectomy on his spine, he had to have clearance from his cardiologist; that took almost two years to obtain. We had no idea that his arteries were in trouble, the hidden blessing is, he didn't have to have a major stroke or heart attack to find the problem and get it fixed.

He had his back surgery on 9/25, and this week he started Physical Therapy! The neurosurgeon thinks Bob's on track and should be able to resume his normal activities in February. He doesn't have any leg or foot pain, now. For me, this is outstanding news.

He had more good news, from an oncologist, of all people. Bob is a type 2 diabetic, and has diabetic-related early renal failure. Sometimes renal failure leads to anemia. He had been on a program of every other week getting a Procrit injection; this went on for 8 months with no effect. Last year our regular doctor sent him to an oncologist; who did a bone marrow test and told Bob, yes, you're severely anemic, but it's not your bone marrow that's causing it. Basically, good-by, don't let the door hit you in the ass.

This year Bob saw a nephrologist; he's the doctor that tried the Procrit. When it didn't work he sent his to a different oncologist, Dr. M, who did another bone marrow test, and said, yes, you're anemic, it's not your bone marrow that's causing it, and this is what we're going to do. Bob's going to receive mega (4x) doses of Procrit, weekly for 4-6 weeks, until he's no longer anemic. I have every faith that if this doesn't work she will try something else.

Believe me, this has been a great week. Bob-wise, we've been in a dark tunnel; now, I can see the light at the end. We even had to miss our annual trip to North Carolina, this year, because travel is exhausting and Bob just wasn't up to it.

I snapped these photos Thursday morning, while Bob was trying to eat breakfast. He doesn't like to have his picture taken, but he's a good sport about it.

Bob-isms

I've worn hearing aids for 8 years and I love them. It's amazing that Bob would forget.

Two funny things

These both happened to me in the past 24 hours.

We were at our Halloween Party, last night.  A woman I didn't know came up to me, (I was dressed as a devil), and asked me if I was "an angel in disguise".  I said, "No".  One of my friends at our table said she was glad I hadn't lied to the woman.

Then today, we were at a Craft Fair - Bake Sale, at our clubhouse.  One of my Tai Chi student's husband asked me if I'd killed Bob, yet.  It seems his wife, Ruth, truly one of the sweetest women in the world, had threatened to shoot him if he didn't make a needed Dr's appointment.  He was shocked, of course, but made his appointment.  Ruth told him she'd learned that from me.

Here's the back story on that one:

Years ago, before Bob was diagnosed with diabetes, he scraped his lower leg while coming out of a lake during a triathlon.  Later we couldn't get his leg to heal, no matter what we tried.  I told him he needed to go to the Dr.; he just wouldn't do it.  So, one Sunday after breakfast, I told him, these were his choices:

• He could go to Urgent Care, right now, 
  
• I would shoot him.
  

Wisely, he chose to go to Urgent Care, where they not only took excellent care of him, they had him return daily, until his wound was healed, and they diagnosed him with diabetes.

Viva la difference

This is what always happens when I ask Bob for a favor:


With his recent surgery and recovery, I've been my normal self, and even at tad more helpful than usual.

Then yesterday, I had something than needed simple assembly.  Looks like there's no reciprocity in the The Prytz household any time soon; I was so hopeful!

Thank you

I want to thank everyone for their good wishes and prayers. They worked.


I was able to bring Bob home, yesterday. His surgery went well, and he had excellent care while he was in the hospital. Now, he has be behave, so his recovery goes well. I think he will.


This week, he can only sit up for 20 minutes at a time; he has to walk for 15 minutes 3 times a day. Right now, he's still in pain, but that will get better. Next week will be a little better, he'll be able to do more, and he'll gradually be able to resume his normal activities, Tai Chi, tennis, biking, swimming, and perhaps running.


So, thanks again. This week I'll try to visit around to everyone.

My fave view

This is Bob, of course, and I chose him for my favorite view.

This was snapped when he was being a smart alec, while we were waiting for our dinner to be served. Nothing new about the smart alec part; with any luck I'll be bringing him home from the hospital today.

View is the subject of Saturday's Photo Scavenger Hunt.

Bob and Dolphins

Today, Bob is having his spine surgery. We did a lot of research and preperation for this, but still welcome your thoughts and prayers.

This video is so peaceful, I thought it'd be perfect for today. Enjoy!





This video was dedicated to the best employee at Sea World, Orlando.

Heading out

Bob at a ballgame, this summer

Well, today's the day we head off to La Jolla, not for vacation, but for the pre-op for Bob's surgery. We've been waiting two years for this. It took that long to get clearance for Bob to under go surgery on his spine. Really, the wait has been a positive thing, over all. We discovered that Bob had some serious heart problems. That discovery most likely saved him from having a heart attack or major stroke. Last December he did have a minor stroke, a TIA, in spite of everything that was being done for him.

So today is pre-op, about 3 hour’s worth, they're very thorough at The Green Hospital. Tomorrow is the surgery, and then he'll stay in the hospital two nights. If all goes as planned I'll be able to bring him home on Saturday. All this is risky, in spite of all the planning and approval from his medical team, so any thoughts and/or prayers will be appreciated.

While Bob is hospitalized, I'll be staying at the La Jolla Hilton, about 1/2 mile from the hospital, so I can walk back and forth. I know, it's so tough, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

I don't have a laptop, in spite of Bob's encouragement to get one. I've scheduled posts for my blog, but won't be visiting anyone else's blog or logging on to any Mr Linkys.

Bob-ism

Laundry

Colleen at MommyAlwaysWins, (don't you just love the name of her blog?), commented about how her hubs is the worse when it comes to doing laundry.

Doing laundry isn’t my fave thing either. This is how I solved this, in case you're interested. As soon as my girls, were old enough to reach the controls on the washer and dryer, I taught them to do their own laundry. Then, I thought, “Wow, this is great, but I’m still doing tons of laundry!”

I kicked my brain in gear and figured out why. Bob had 4-5 times as much laundry as I did and he was very happy to have me do it for him. Well, I rebelled and informed him that if he wanted clean clothes, he could do his own laundry. I even bought him his own hamper. The poor guy wasn’t all that happy, but oh, well.

The reason he had so much more laundry that me, and still does, are two fold. My laundry consist of mainly under clothes, panties, bras and socks. I’m not very messy, and don’t perspire or have oily skin, so my outer clothes can be worn more than once. Now, Bob not only is messy, he perspires, has oily skin, and he’s an athlete. He’ll will change his clothes from the skin out, one, two, or three times a day, and each time, everything, except maybe Levi’s have to be washed, before being worn again. Before we retired, his work clothes were always sent to the dry cleaners; first, because he was in uniform, then when he made detective, he wore a suit every day with a shirt and tie; so we’re just talking leisure clothing and underwear, here.

To this day, Bob still does his own laundry. It’s been over 35 years, since I started this program, and he’s gotten used to the idea, and he's never had to hang it on a clothes line. That may have been the deal-breaker.

Another how to do it....

I stole this. I did, I stole this idea from my daughter, Carrie. Today she posted her avatar, so of course I had to give it a try. I tried this on another program, once, and I ended up feeling stupid; but this one I could do! Yipee! I even did one for Bob, of course. Create your own here.

Bob-ism

Following Daryl's lead, she has Husbandisms, here is my first installment. It's from today. BTW Bob and Daryl's husband, are much alike.