Dinner With a Friend

Okay, you've seen Chris share Twizzlers with Chee in the car, but sharing steak with Terry? Yep!

Band and Guard Gear Up

The Houston High School band program does a lot of teambuilding stuff along with rehearsals throughout the summer so the kids area ready to hit it hard when band camp starts at the end of July. June's fun event was a costume party. The guard had Disney as a theme, so Sam dressed as a modern-day Belle (one of the Disney princesses). Of course the humidity undid her hair as fast as she could fix it, but she had a blast anyway.

The trombone section members were supposed to go as Mr. Smith, their director. CJ started to stuff himself with pillows, then thought better of it (laughs).

Both had a good time eating pizza, dancing, and hanging with friends, though I think Sam was a bit mortified to see her brother dance with...GIRLS...!!!!!

I Need a Nap

Sam took this picture of Chee'burger on the way to Baltimore. I decided he looks a lot like I feel--tired out (laughs). He also looks a bit like Yoda from "Star Wars", except he's not green and wrinkly.

Are We Jinxed or What?

I had been feeling yucky for the past couple of weeks, but simply chalked it up to a bad allergy season. Well when an assortment of prescription cough meds failed to make a difference and the wheezing and tight chest came on, I knew I needed to go back to the doctor.

A pair of chest xrays and some bloodwork later, we learned I have a pretty nasty case of bronchitis, and there was sufficient gunk in my lungs to warrant antibiotics, narcotic cough syrup, cough pills, nasal spray, and an inhaler. Looks like it could have easily crossed the line to pneumonia had we not gone to the doctor when we did.

With all the crap that's hit us this year alone, I have to wonder what I did to make The Man Upstairs so dang mad at me? I keep telling myself we're supposed to make a change in direction of our lives, but how and where? Evidently I'm too slow--or stoned on my bronchitis meds--to figure out what that move is supposed to be (laughs)!

Time with Grandma

When we moved away from Maryland, the kids were too young to play Monopoly. In time, it became a top-pick for our family game night. It was then that Chris and Sam learned of Grandma 'Rie's Monopoly games with friends and family on the front porch of her home as a young girl. From that moment on, all they could think of was challenging grandma to a game of Monopoly.

The ended up playing the second day we were there. The game of choice was UPS Monopoly since their Aunt Linda works there. Chris ended up winning after building and developing the dark blues. (Why does that kid ALWAYS end up with Park Place and Boardwalk?!?)

I've also posted a couple of group pictures here. Thank goodness for digital film. I literally took HUNDREDS of pictures in Baltimore! It also helped on the long drive, as we found ourselves "shooting" Chee whenever he did something cute in the car.

Eat It!

Any Weird Al fans out there? Remember Michael Jackson's song "Beat It"? Well Weird Al did a parody of it entitled "Eat It". (He also did a parody of "Bad" called "Fat", but we won't go there.)

Anyway, when life deals you punches, sometimes a little comfort food helps. For the first time in years, Wayne got Ledo's Pizza. The crust is like a flaky pie crust, and oh is it ever good! I keep thinking a franchise here would do amazingly well, but I don't have an extra half a million+ lying around (laughs).

The other Baltimore-specific comfort food is baby back ribs from the Corner Stable. While Memphis has good ribs, I have to say the Corner Stable's are ALWAYS more tender than the ribs we get here. They also have a spicy Texas BBQ sauce we don't have here.

Yum. Almost makes me want to move back there. But then I looked at the real estate prices. Blech!

Seeing Grandma 'Rie

Seeing Grandma 'Rie again was good for all of us. Her hugs were a soothing force and we had the opportunity to catch up, share pictures and videos,and take some new group pictures.

Below the picture of Marie is one of Wayne, his older-younger (how DO you phrase that anyway?) sister Linda, his youngest sister Bonnie, and their mom.

What a Difference a Month Makes

You know how hard it is to see change in someone when you're around them all the time? Well Sam's recovery was a prime example. It's hard to believe a month ago her memory was still horrible as was the pain, and now...now things are so much better.

At the followup she met with her occupational therapist, Ryan, who assessed her exercise routine. He was thrilled to see her improved posture and to hear she had survived one four-hour guard practice already. They decided to leave her routine alone in light of all the improvement. Hilary, her physical therapist, was out sick so we didn't get to see her. We did, however, have the opportunity to see her psychologist who was also pleased with her progress.

But the most telling part was the pain scale/assessment they gave Sam to fill out. As she marked down how her illness affects--or doesn't affect--her life now, she was STUNNED to see just how much she had gotten better. It was incredible how improved her functioning was!

The trip was well worth it. Sure there's the job layoff, but Sam being better is a HUGE plus.

On the Road Again

Pardon the backdated posts, but I wanted to get a number of entries on here without them all having the same date.

Sam was due for a followup appointment at Cleveland Clinic which is only 360 miles away from Wayne's mom in Northern Maryland. Since our job search had just begun, we decided to move the followup appointment up while we still had health insurance and could get away. It also proved to be an ideal time for the kids to go see Grandma 'Rie since they start band and guard next week. If Wayne started a new job, we knew it might be hard to get away for a while. The timing just seemed to work, and a quick visit with Wayne's mom was a priority. It had been almost four years since Sam and I had seen her. Wayne and Chris saw her three years ago when they picked up some of Papaw's tools and drove them home in a big ol' UHaul.

Anyway, we stocked up the cats with food and water, packed, tossed Chee in the car, and headed off for Cleveland.

Chee loves to drive. He also loves to steal Twizzlers from peoples' mouthes...

Chi'burger

Just had to post an updated picture of the Chi'burger. That's how Wayne spells his name at least. I originally referred to him as Chee, mostly so people wouldn't think we were lame by calling the poor dog by his breed rather than something a bit more original.

Of course like all our other furry friends, Chee already has about fifty nicknames: Babycakes. Cheebucket. Cheedles. Cheekins. Chi'baby. Monster.

You get the idea this little guy is SPOILED ROTTEN?!? But he's sooooooo cute.....