Christmas Tree is Up

The Christmas Tree

Hair Color

The gray was really starting to show through the blonde, so Jackie helped me color my hair.

NO MORE GRAY!


Hair Color - Before photo













Hair Color - After photo

Bottling Beer

Beer Bottling

Doug has been needing to bottle his beer but has not had the energy to do it by himself. Since Karl was home to do most of the work the most recent batch of beer was bottled.

They are both shown here sterilizing and rinsing the bottles.

Doug is shown filling the bottles, Karl is capping the bottles and Jackie is loading the bottles in cases.

It was quite an assembly line they had going. I know Doug is glad to have the bottling done. He will bottle his next batch when Karl is home from Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving

There were five of us for Thanksgiving. Karl, Audrey, Jackie, Doug and myself.

Doug smoked two turkey breasts (one injected with seasonings, the other with cajun rubs) Other fixings: mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce, mandarin orange jello salad, homemade bread, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, eggnog and wine.

Thanks to Audrey for bringing the cornbread dressing and pecan pie. The pie was a big hit with Doug. He's asked for another for Christmas!!


Dee is shown mixing the gravy and showing off the food in the oven.
YUMMY!!!!

Jackie decorated the table...didn't she do a nice job. Jackie and Audrey are shown in the background working on a 1,000 piece puzzle. We would end up and put together a couple of puzzles this weekend.

We ate about 2pm so that we could get everything cleaned up to watch the Cowboys defeat the Seattle Seahawks later in the day.

Leftovers will be enjoyed over the next few days!!

Cookies!!

Family Fun "Baking Cookies"

Photo 1: Audrey is mixing up one batch of cookies.
There would be three types of cookies made
Sugar Cookie Cutouts, Gingerbread, Karen's Cream Cheese CutOut cookies

Photo 2: Jackie with a freshly baked batch of gingerbread men and women.

Photo 3: Decorating the cutout cookies

Photo 4: Decorating cookies....in progress

Photo 5: A Thanksgiving Turkey cut out cookie decorated beautifully!

Karl at Work

Karl and Audrey came home for Thanksgiving.
Doug has not been physically able to do to much around the house,
....so I put Karl to work on my "Honey Do" list.

Karl trimmed the tree out front of the house.
The tree bangs on the bathroom window, when it gets windy.

I forgot to take an after picture of the tree,
but it is half the size!

Thanks Karl!

Eighty Three

Speedy Gonzalez...the fastest mouse in all Mexico...is related to our youngest daughter Jacklyn.

Tuesday afternoon, Jacklyn was driving home from college for the Thanksgiving weekend. She was pulled over doing 83 mph in a 70 zone.

One ticket later and some "I TOLD YOU SOs" from both Mom and Dad...plus a weekend full of fun at her expense. Hopefully she will slow down now!!!!!

We told her we rather have a late Jackie than a dead Jackie!

Jackie Tonsillectomy 12/29/08

Today, I took Jackie to the local ENT doctor for a surgical consult. She had a surgical consult down at college, but I would rather she got her tonsils removed here in town.

Jackie will have her pre-op appt on Monday, December 22nd and follow that with her tonsillectomy on Monday, December 29th at 10:30am.

All you can eat...Ice Cream, Sonic Fruit Slushes and mashed potatoes for Jackie!

Hopefully the tonsillectomy will help reduce doctor appts for chronic tonsillits. It should also help her sleep and breathe better, stop the snoring problem and even help her sing better!

Prayers for a safe surgery, quick healing and recovery.

Doug's Hearing

I took Doug to his ENT appointment at UTSW on Monday.
He had a repeat audiogram. This test showed his hearing is better in his left ear - about 15 db. His left ear is the one we are trying to get back to normal. Not all good news however, the test also showed the hearing in the right ear (the one that has always been bad) has decreased about 10db.

He will follow-up with with another audiogram in 3 months (Feb 2009).

Tuesday, Doug saw Dr Cohen (the rhuematologist who treats the Autoimmune Inner Ear Disorder).

Questions -Answers:

1) Prednisone - 60 mg (30 mg in am and 30mg in pm)
Question: When can we start the taper off prednisone due to the side effects
(fatigue, weakness, extreme acne, hunger, insomnia, mouth ulcers etc)
Answer: A taper schedule has been established. Yes, I will give you a prescription for 100 so that you will have enough for a month.

2) Side Effects (fatigue, weakness, extreme acne, hunger, insomnia, mouth ulcers etc...)
Question: I can barely function most days due to the fatigue, weakness and inability to sleep.
Answer: Yes , I will give you a prescription for Ambien to help you sleep...make sure you can sleep 8 hours. Yes, I will give you a prescription for Nystantin Oral Suspension for the mouth ulcers...due to oral thrush (yeast infection for those non-medical people) Yes, you should take Citrical with Vit D due to potential of bone loss of being on both Prednisone and Methotrexate.

3) Methotrexate - 10pills taken all at once, once a week, typically on Monday.
Question: Can the methotrexate be taken sooner than the recommended 7 days as when this medication is taken, the hearing improves. Doug had taken the medication at 6days, then 5 days, and again in another 5 days.
Answer: Dr Cohen would rather Doug did not take methotrexate more often but take 12 days at one time instead. Yes, I'll give you a prescription for the increase.

4) Folic Acid - taken daily except for the day he takes Methotrexate. Folic acid is necessary for the production and maintenance of new cells, while Methotrexate inhibits the metabolism of folic acid.
Question: Do I need more folic acid if increasing methotrexate.
Answer: Yes, I'll give you a prescription.

5) Travel - Amsterdam trip 11/30-12/12
Question: Can I travel?
What if I get sick due to being exposed to so many people on a plane/hotel...traveling overseas.
Answer: No you cannot travel. If you get sick (runny nose, fever, flu like symptoms) Doug is supposed to call Dr Cohen immediately. This is an immune deficiency disorder, which has been extremely made even more deficient due to the Methotrexate. Yes, he was given a doctor's note for DeLaRue saying that he needs to avoid travel.

6) Follow-up / Closing Remarks.
The ear injection did not help.
Prednisone is causing too many side effects, Doug is happy to taper this medication.
Medications for the side effects were prescribed by Dr Cohen.
Methotrexate seems to be working, Dr Cohen increase the dose and has add more folic acid.
Dr Cohen and Doug are both pleased with the hearing increase in left ear.
See Dr Cohen again in 3 weeks.
STAY HOME & DON'T GET SICK!

Weekend in Huntsville

Doug and I went to Huntsville for the weekend.
We stayed with Jill and Jackie.

Friday evening, we attended the Sam Houston - Fall Festival of Choirs.

Jackie cooked manwich and mac & cheese for supper, Jill cleaned up.
This was a nice treat, maybe we will have to visit more often.

Jackie and the SHSU Concert Choir sang the following selection:
1) Sanctus from Missa brevis St. Joannis de Deo by Joseph Haydn
2) Sanctus from Mass in C - Ludwig van Beethoven
3) Zum Sanctus from Deutsche Messe by Frantz Schubert
4) Ching-A-Ring Chaw by Aaron Copland
5) I Love My Love by Gustav Holst

Most of the day Saturday was spent cleaning the apartment as Jill and Jackie will move out in mid-December.
Doug had lost a lot of hearing Saturday morning ~ the worst hearing he's had to date.
He wanted to be kept busy, since he couldn't watch TV or participate in conversation.

Photo1: The kitchen tile was cleaned, caulked and regrouted.

Photo 2: The carpet was touched up
Photo 3: The stove and oven were cleaned
Photo 4: Jill and Josh cuddled and smooched on the couch.

Photo 5: More cuddling by Jonathan and Jackie.

Saturday afternoon, we did a few errands and found a wonderful little meat market in town.
Doug bought two IBP Choice briskets and will smoke them in the upcoming weeks.
Stay tuned for more on that story!

Sunday, we all attended First Presbyterian Church in Huntsville.
It was Sam Sunday, so the majority of the service was conducted by the "College Connection".
Jill was liturgist
Jackie sang a few songs.
They both participated in ushering and a very the memorable skit.

We are pleased that they are both very involved in their local church.
The service was followed by a luncheon for the college connection students and their parents.

After lunch, we went to the apartment and packed up and left for Dallas.
The evening was topped off by a Dallas Cowboy victory over the Washington Redskins!

Wow...what a weekend!

An Example of Creativity

$$$$$ The minister was preoccupied with thoughts of how he was going to ask the congregation to come up with more money thatn they were expecting for repairs to the church building. Therefore, he was annoyed to find that the regular organist was sick and a substitute had been brought in at the last minute. The substitute organist wanted to know what to play. "Here's a copy of the service," he said impatiently. "But you'll have to think of something to play after I make the announcement about the church finances."

$$$$$ During the service, the minister paused and said, "Brothers and Sisters, we are in great difficulty; the roof repairs cost twice as much as we expected, and we need $4,000 more. Any of you who can pledge $100 or more, please stand up." At that moment, the substitute organist played The Star Spangled Banner. And that is how the substitute organist became the regular organist.

Doug's Hearing

Three weeks ago, Doug woke up with little to no hearing in one ear and diminished hearing in the other ear.

He had been diagnosed with AIED (Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease) about 11yrs ago and had been treated by UTSW Otolaryngology and UTSW Rhuematology departments for this disease. He had been released from their care about 14 months ago as he had been stable for several years.

The Rheumatologist (Stanley Cohen MD) has him on 60 mg of Prednisone a day along with Methotrexate once a week. His hearing has not improved with this course of treatment to date.

Today (Tuesday, Nov 11th) I took him to his ENT appointment at UTSW. He had an ear wax removal done followed by an audiogram. This audiogram was compared to the last one done in 2006. His Right ear is about the same, maybe some better (this is probably due to the prednisone treatment). His Right ear, has always had diminished hearing that never came back with any of the treatment options. The Right ear still is not good, just slightly better than the last test.

He has always relied mostly on his Left ear for hearing. Doug's fear is that the hearing loss now being noted in his Left ear will be gone....and not come back. The audiogram showed the hearing in the Left ear is much worse that it was last time. Especially in the decibels related to voice/speech. They had him try on a voice amplifier but he states that only made him hear himself better, not other people.

His treatment today in the office included a steroid injection into the Left ear. Transtympanic administration of steroids has been shown to improve hearing and balance symptoms in AIED in some small studies if given within 30 days of the sudden onset of hearing loss.

Doug will go back on Monday (November 17th) for a follow-up audiogram and appt with the Otolaryngologist to see if this treatment improved his hearing. If so....GREAT! If not, then we are back to square one...possibly another steroid injection in the ear, discussion about cochlear implants, IV prednisone...just some of the options being thrown around.

Doug is due to go to Amsterdam (Nov 30 - Dec 12) and had hoped to have some improvement by then. So we will wait and see how this treatment affects his hearing this week.

Add him to your prayer list please!!

For more info about AIED: http://www.american-hearing.org/disorders/autoimmune/autoimmune.html

Jill's New Apartment

Jill and Josh went apartment shopping this weekend in Conroe,TX.

She has just leased her own 1 Bedroom/1 Bath apartment.
The Heritage of Hooper Hill.
http://www.hooperhill.com/
This is a multiple building complex with each building being 3 stories.

She has chosen the BELL floor plan.
Click here for the floorplan layout. http://hooperhill.com/floorplans.asp?FPID=32915






Rent: $735.00
Unit Type: 1 Bed/1 Bath
Square Feet: 683 sq.ft.
Details: The living room is 12’6
Description: The Bell floorplan has a large built-in computer desk and a nice garden tub in the bathroom. With beautiful wood cabinets and an island in your kitchen you will find it rather easy to cook a delightful meal!

She will be on the second floor at the end of the building, at the front of the apartment complex. This will be nice so she will not have neighbors on top of her and this will allow her to have a vaulted ceiling which will hopefully make the apartment feel larger. She will have a washer/dryer in her apartment...which is a plus, She will not have to leave her apartment and haul laundry to the building located elsewhere on the property that houses the washers/drayers.

She will move to her new apartment in mid-December.

Her new address will be:
901 Wilson Rd
Apartment #928
Conroe, TX 77301

BrewMeister

Doug is shown here after transferring beer from one fermenter car boy to a smaller one.
The beer will need to ferment for several more weeks before it is ready to bottle.

Election Day

Tuesday, Nov 4th I volunteered as a Denton County Election Official, Precinct 202.

It was a long day of standing but it was worth it for the opportunity to be a part of this "long" election year.

Our precinct offered electronic and paper ballots.

My job was to stand next to the machine where the paper ballots were taken. I was to make sure paper jams did not occur, check for errors on the forms when they were spit back out of the machine, mark spoiled ballots in that instance and offer the "I VOTED" stickers. In the Dallas / Fort Worth area, if you voted you were able to get some FREE items when wearing your sticker. Among them were:
Starbucks - a free cup of coffee

Krispy Kreme - a dozen red/white/blue sprinkle donuts
Some tattoo parlor was even offering free tattoo removal. (Too bad I was working)

Other Noteworthy Items:

1) The opportunity to help those who were voting for the first time this year and had lots of questions about the process.

2) The smile on everyone's face when I said "Thanks for taking the time today to vote!" Many of the their responses included: "It's my honor and right!", "Isn't this country great!", "I'm going home to make sure my neighbors vote!"

3) The volume of write in candidates was very surprising.
Most were for Hillary Clinton, one I saw had Mickey Mouse and another had Dr. Seuss.
I guess these people did not want to vote for either candidate.

4) The convervation I had with a gentleman about how the voting machines are rigged to provide a predetermined outcome. He cast a secrecy ballot which is folded and put in an envelope and not scanned by the machine.

Lots more stories.....Hope you all exercised your right to vote in this election!

Master Bath Remodel - Shower Doors

Shower Doors Installed

Doug is shown here applying silicone caulk.
The shower doors are now re-installed!

Next is the test run to check for leaks!

Dallas Earthquakes

2 Minor Earthquakes hit Dallas-Fort Worth area

DALLAS (AP) — Several minor earthquakes gave some Texas residents an early Halloween scare, shaking their beds and knocking pictures off walls but causing no damage or injuries, authorities said. A 2.5-magnitude quake at 11:25 p.m. Thursday near Grand Prairie was followed by a series of other small earthquakes in the Dallas suburb, then a 3.0-magnitude quake at 12:01 a.m. Friday in nearby Irving, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Most people in the Dallas area had no idea because the tremors were minor and centered in southwestern Irving. But those who did seemed unnerved by the rare Texas quakes that shook apartment buildings and set off car alarms.

"It's pretty scary. ... The whole bed shakes," one woman told an Irving 911 operator early Friday morning, according to one of several audiotapes released by the Irving Police Department.

Another caller said he felt jolts about every 10 to 15 minutes and had seen "pictures falling off the wall and all that." Irving police received about 25 calls but no reports of injuries or damage, Officer David Tull said.

A 3.1-magnitude earthquake occurred Thursday about 11:30 a.m. near McLoud, Okla., a 5,000-resident town some 180 miles north of Dallas, with no reports of injuries or damage, according to the USGS.

But the quakes in the two states are considered separate events because they occurred so far apart in distance and time, although researchers are not sure if a fault line runs between both cities, said USGS geophysicist Jessica Sigala.