Don and Missy

Don (Missy's new "friend") and Missy brought pizza and wings over for dinner tonight. It was our first meeting and we had a very nice visit. Missy had been hoping that Mike would go out with them tonight but, alas, Mike can't "hang" like a young lad anymore! He had spent Friday evening in Phoenix partying with friends late so he was still recuperating!!!

Valentine's Day = Phil's and My 34th Wedding Anniversary!

Yesterday was Phil's and my 34th Wedding Anniversary! He slipped out sometime during my naps and picked up a vase of flowers and a wonderfully worded card! His cards are always keepers! I slept off and on yesterday on the pain meds. I'm not needing the pain meds so much for pain of the surgery site but to dull the sense of the swelling in that area. It's a very anxious feeling to have that pressure on your throat. The thyroid was enlarged and giving me that same pressure, but at least now I know that the swelling is temporary. When I video cam with Mom she says that my pictures don't show the bruising that it does on the video cam. The nurse at my hospital discharge said that the site would eventually show all the colors of the rainbow!

Last night, Mike and Missy came over and had dinner with us. Mike picked up Barro's pizza and wings and we watched a movie together. It's always nice to have the kids come over!

My brother-in-law Herb is going back in for surgery this Thursday. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 brain cancer last year. Please send your prayers his way and also keep his family in your thoughts and prayers as well!

Total Thyroidectomy!

Thursday morning I had a Total Thyroidectomy. My surgeon has told me that thyroid problems are hereditary. Mainly in women and generally after 50 yrs of age. There are always exceptions, and my brother is. He had his removed a number of years ago. My paternal grandmother had problems and her sister had hers removed as well. My Dad's sister has been told to see an endocrinologist as well, so the jury is out on her. I dodged the bullet on hernia surgery, which my Dad and all my siblings have had. So, I guess now is my turn to shine!

My Dad mentioned on his visit out here, that my great aunt Myrtle was cut from ear to ear to have hers removed! Thank God it's the 21st Century! We're talking "minimal is better"! I was a little nervous, but my surgeon had assured me that he does a couple hundred of these a year.

The surgery went well. It lasted about 1hr and 20min, and I was in recovery for almost 2 hours. I was in the hospital for what they call a 23hr Extended Recovery. They kept monitoring my calcium level. One of the possible complications of this surgery is possibly nicking the parathyroid gland. This would cause a drop in calcium in the body which could be fatal. My throat is very sore and it is very difficult to swallow and cough. Other than that, I feel pretty good. I am being told that it is about a 2 week recovery, no picking up of over 5-10# and to watch for low calcium symptoms. Right now, I am scheduled to go back to work ahead of that 2 weeks though. I said that I would be back next Wed. That's what I am planning for, so we'll see what next week brings.

I was released this morning at 9:30am. I was first on the Dr.s round this morning, so Yea for me. Missy picked me up before going into work this morning. Phil was ready to pick me up but we were expecting it to be closer to noon, so I decided to call Missy to see if she could. The Dr. sent me home with a prescription for Synthroid (which is the thyroid hormone replacement that you need to take for the rest of your life when you have your thyroid removed). I am to wait until the pathology report comes back on the thyroid before I start taking it though. If the thyroid nodules were not cancerous, I can start taking Synthroid. If the nodules are cancerous, then it will be a different drug. I should get my results back by Mon or Tues.

Lunch with the Girlfriends Today!

Today, Sharon and I met Sadie and Nancy for lunch at Casa Reynosa. Sadie retired around 8 years ago, and Nancy retired around 4 or 5 years ago. Both are very busy with the care of their grandchildren. Their daughter's are very lucky that they are able to do that for them! The picture below, also includes Lana and Ann. Lana moved to California quite a few years ago with her mother and Ann is retired living in Texas with her husband. This picture was taken around 1998, right after we moved into our new building at work.

This picture was taken this afternoon at lunch! Some slight changes! Ann called me yesterday out of the clear blue from Texas. Sharon and I were just talking about her an hour before she called. I hadn't heard from her for at least 1 1/2 years. That was "bizarre"! So strange how some things happen like that. Ann is doing great, and had some news to share. Her youngest daughter is expecting a baby in August. This will be Ann's first grandchild and she is so excited! Ann mentioned coming to AZ in May for a visit, so it will be great to see her then.

Super Bowl Sunday-Means Ladies Night Out!

Phil, Mike and Mike B. headed out for a super bowl party about 1pm today. I went over to Missy's to try to download Office Home and Student 2007 onto Missy's new laptop. It came downloaded with a 60 day trial so we got the full version to convert hers and ours. It is supposed to be a 3 license user but for some reason it won't take the product key code. It went on ours fine but can't seem to get it on Missy's. Her trial version isn't up until the end of April so I won't worry about it yet! You know we're in trouble when I'm the techno geek for her's and our computers. So much pressure!!!!!!!

I went back home after awhile and then Missy called later and suggested that we go out for dinner. Sounded good to me! We went to Mi Amigo's. Missy used to hostess there when she was in high school.

I have got to work on my camera and it's functions. Mom's camera takes such nice sharp, clear pictures!


I made a slight adjustment for this picture, so it is a bit sharper. When I got home from the restaurant, I started on a baby shower card. I had been invited to a friend's daughters' baby shower on Saturday but had declined because of Dad and Mom leaving. I'll be bringing the shower gift to work tomorrow so needed to get the card done ASAP.

Some Final Pics From Dad's and Mom's Visit

Dad and Mom left yesterday. They left shortly before 2:30pm and arrived about 1/2 hour ahead of schedule. We had a great time during their visit, although I may have "kicked their ass"! The days that I took off we hit the road and didn't look back! Of course some days were probably less exciting for Dad than others- visits to quilting shops. But he was right there with us for trips to the coffee houses, Ross's, lunches, etc. Dad and Mom were able to visit a number of times with Aunt Gail as well. We all went to Gail and Dick's house last Saturday for lunch, Gail came for lunch to our house the first week and then this past Thursday, Cousin Cindi met Gail over at our house for lunch as well.

Friday, we made a stop to the post office where Mom mailed herself a large flat rate box with some miscellaneous heavy items. Dad's suitcase, the bigger of the two, weighed in @ 50# on the nose at the airport. Mom was ready, if need be, to pull a bag out of it and bring as a carry-on. But thankfully that wasn't necessary. Friday we also met Mike for lunch. Last week we met Missy at the Olive Garden and Friday we met Mike at TGIF's. We had a very nice lunch and visit with "Mikey".

Saturday, we stopped at Starbucks across from the airport for our final coffee together.

Dad and Mom heading back for their "visit" with the TSA! Check out Mom's blog to see if she writes about Dad's experience. It was tougher for Dad to get through that tiny little airport's security than it probably would have been at Sky Harbor. Luckily, it didn't happen on the front end of their trip. And hopefully, Dad will have forgotten about the experience before their next trip and still fly into Phoenix/Mesa Gateway Airport!

A "Day" Trip to the Queen Creek Olive Mill

Today we went to Queen Creek to do our bi-annual trip to the Olive Mill there. They have grown so much over the past years and are evolving into a very quaint place to visit and try some of their wonderful olive oils. I noticed that this year they have added some balsamic vinegars. We tried the strawberry balsamic, wow! Fantastic! Wish that I could have bought some but at $18.99/small bottle, I thought that was a bit steep for my uses. I have a tendency to always think that more is better. That bottle would have lasted me for 2 meals only! I did get Phil a bottle of his favorite Chile infused olive oil though. He loves his eggs fried in it.

Monday's Activities w/Dad and Mom

Today after breakfast, we headed out to try a new coffee roaster in Gilbert. Bergie's Coffee Roast House opened last year. My coffee vendor at work is putting in a new coffee machine. Nobody at work liked the first coffee, so they switched us to Dunken Donut's. Dunken Donut's turned out to be a "bust" as well, so now they are putting in a machine that will grind the coffee as it is ordered and then dispenses it thru a "french like press". I thought that we would try it this morning, so Mom and I had iced mochas and Dad had black coffee. I also bought 1# of Espresso beans.

After coffee, we headed to Scrapbooks, Etc. What a fun store that is! That store has everything imagineable for scrapbooking and card making. They have even added some fabric as well. Of course, we didn't leave empty handed! Dad sat very patiently in the car reading the Sports Illustrated while we were browsing. I think that we browsed for an hour. Anyway, the next stop was all about Dad. I got him to the mall for Lagerfeld cologne. It can't be found at department stores anymore, so he has bought for the past couple of years at Perfumania.

By this time, it was 1pm so we went and had lunch at Serrano's, our hometown "authentic" Mexican restaurant. Very good as usual!



After lunch, we headed to Tempe for Quilter's Ranch and Zoe's Trunk. Mom found some more fabric and I bought some magnetic clasps for some purses that I plan to make "some day"! I promised Dad a Caramel Frappacino at Starbuck's if he behaved while we were in the fabric shops so that was our last stop before heading home. Tomorrow is another day!