Spring Flowers

A few pictures of "SPRING" blooming in and around our yard.

Pretty girl by the pool smelling the purple creeping phlox.

A basket full of purple, white and yellow violas.

The strawberry plants are blooming.

The peach tree is blooming.

This is not a spring flower, but it is colorful.
This is Doug's souvenir from Costa Maya, Mexico.

Miniature purple flowers ~ Cineraria

Another variety of creeping phlox ~ these are in light purple & dark purple.

I updated the grapevine wreath on the front door with new sunflowers.

The hybiscus plant even has buds.
A few more warm days and it will be blooming too!

Another Medical Update

Well I talked to mom today and again tonight. Her voice is sounding much better. She went to the primary care physician today. Her WBC was repeated and is now in normal range. Her urinalysis though showed bacteria in her urine. She has had problems with frequent urinary infections and had been on a constant dosage of Bactrim until she ran out in Texas and didn't get it refilled. Oh Mother!!! She will need to take the Bactrim instead of Amoxicillin to treat this type of infection.

She states she is still very sore "everywhere" .... the back of the neck, all her veins feel sore and the pain behind the knee is still excruciating.

She will have the CT of her neck tomorrow morning in Pocahontas and then get her Bactrim picked up at Walmart in Fort Dodge.

Stay tuned for the results of the CT Scan.

Pulmonologist Update

My mom went to see the pulmonologist in Fort Dodge this afternoon. Her tests were reviewed and they were all ok. The pulmonologist recommended an inhaler for instances of shortness of breath. But she got to Walmart and found out the inhaler was $180, so she did not purchase it. She is supposed to follow-up with the doctor in 6 months; sooner if there is a problem.

Overall she sounded "a little bit" better on the phone. She states her neck is some better, only sore in the back of the neck. She will call her primary care doctor in Pocahontas today/tomorrow to follow-up for the CT Scan of the mass in her neck. She also needs a urinalysis and get some of her labs, that were abnormal last week, repeated. Previously the blood gases showed metabolic/respiratory aklalosis; the EKG showed left atrial abnormality; her WBC elevated; RBC low; BUN/Creatinine & GFR all show moderate (Stage 3)kidney damage.

Her leg is what is still giving her the most pain. Lymphadenopathy in the inguinal lymph nodes.
I think if she had a stronger antibiotic to treat the infection, she would feel a whole lot better.

My team is in the Final Four

April 3 - National Semifinals
Michigan State vs. Butler

&

West Virginia vs. Duke

April 5th - National Championship Game
Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana

Go Duke!!!!!!!!

TV Stand shopping

Friday afternoon, I met my friend Linda at Stonebriar Mall in Frisco. We went shopping for a new TV stand for the flat screen television purchased online last week. We shopped at Ethan Allen, Dilliards, JC Penneys, Macy's, Haverty's Furniture, Ashley Furniture & Rooms To Go.

There were 5 possibilities at Ashley Furniture and 2 at Rooms To Go. I took pictures with my phone and sent them to Doug to review.

Linda and I finished our evening at TGIFridays with an ultimate margarita + dinner.

Saturday morning, I went out to do more shopping for the TV stand.
I headed to Weirs furniture in Plano, then down to the furniture district in North Dallas.
I went to Bassett Furniture Outlet, CK Holiday Furniture, Freedom Furniture, A&B Furniture, Bella Furniture, Cancun Market, Freeds Home Furnishings, Furniture for Less, Furniture Warehouse, Legacy Furniture, Luxor Furniture, Prestige Furniture, and Rooms for Less.
I again sent Doug the photos of them, with the dimensions and price.

Below is the one we chose.
This is my photo via my phone.

This a photo of the tv cabinet I found online when I searched name brand
Cambridge 60" Console (Brown Cherry)

This attractive media cart features four beautifully turned legs, two glass doors, and two shelves with baskets. The attractive baskets are perfect for storing video games, DVDs, or CDs; place your favorite media devices behind the glass doors for a complete look.

Interchangeable wood or speaker grills in the doors accommodate any unique combination.
Available in Eggshell, Brown Cherry, or Black.

Dimensions:
Width (side to side): 61"
Depth (front to back): 18"
Height (top to bottom): 24"

Texas Choral Directors Association Convention

Jackie has been nominated to attend the Texas Choral Directors Association Convention
(July 28-July 31) San Antonio, Texas

Jackie was one of the 18 college students nominated in the state of Texas.
Way to go Jackie!

Jackie will get a selection of music and will work one on one with one of the guest choral directors. Jackie will then get to direct the music selection in front of the entire convention.

I'm a very proud mama ~ and may have to sneak down to San Antonio and witness her in action.

For more info about the convention

Update on Grandma Dot

My Mom and Dad left Texas and drove home to Iowa last week. They had planned on taking a couple of weeks to go home, but my mom had been complaining of neck and leg pain. So they got right home to take her to the doctor. She saw her primary care doctor in Pocahontas(Tuesday, March 23rd). Mom said the doctor ordered some blood work and found her white blood cell count to be low and her thyroid level to be high. The doctor increased her thyroid medication, put her on an antiobiotic and a muscle relaxant. I questioned why she was put on an antibiotic if her wbc was low, it would turn out that mom was wrong about that - she would find out in a few days that her wbc was actually high.

The next day (Wednesday, March 24), mom called the doctor as she was not any better and could not get the antiobiotic medication filled by Walmart until Monday. Walmart Pharmacy said she was getting the antiobiotic too soon because she had recently had one filled. She told them she had been out of state and not on any antibiotic. THEY MADE A MISTAKE! She got her medicine that day. Later that night, Dad took Mom to the E.R. at Trinity Regional Hospital, Fort Dodge. They worked her up pretty good. It turns out her white blood cell count was very high, not low like Mom originally thought. They did blood gases on her ~ those are no fun ~ very painful!!! They did say her kidneys are failing and are only working about 3/4 capacity.
They could not, however, find the source of her infection but did diagnose her with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). Probably due all those years of smoking. Mom had already quit smoking "cold turkey" January 1st, 2010 and has not had one cigarette since then. Way to Go MOM! The doctor told her to follow-up with a pulmonologist and her family practioner.

Yesterday (Thursday, March 25), Mom went for the pulmonary testing required before seeing the doctor on Monday. The photo above was taken by my sister, Jenny who was able to go and stay with Mom. I have the best sister in the world!! Thanks for being there Jen, making sure Mom doesn't do too much and gets all the care she needs!

Today (Friday, March 26), Mom visited her primary care physician. She is concerned about the lump (moveable mass) at the base of her throat/neck. She wants her to have a CT scan to have it checked further. She will wait to order it until Monday to see what types of testing the pulmonologist may order.

Monday, March 29th, Mom will have her pulmonologist appt.

More updates to come!

Spring Hoax

Yesterday was the first day of spring "the vernal equinox" - The idea is that on the first day of spring there are exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness, but it rarely works out that way. This is what happened in Dallas yesterday.

SNOW!!!!

Seriously...SNOW!!!

Yesterday the high temperature was in the 30s!
You've got to be kidding me!!

The normal average high temperature for Dallas in March is 60...
we just had beautiful 70 degree days last week.

What is happening with this weather?

The front yard and yes the pear tree out front is blooming.

The photo of the back yard.
The pool water is never going to warm up at this rate.
We've been able to swim in it around Jill's birthday (first week of March)
Yes we would have to heat the pool for her pool birthday party.
But we could generally use the pool after that on warm days.

Measurable Snow - In March - In Dallas,TX

TV Shopping

Saturday, Doug and I spent the day TV shopping.
We are updating our old CRT (cathode ray tube) heavy monstrosity to a sleek flat panel television.

After pouring over Consumer Reports, online reviews and visiting several big box stores.

We selected the 52" Sony BRAVIA KDL52XBR9

This television is now considered old technology with the new onset of 3D televisions. But this television technology is really only about one year old.

Here is a link for the specifications for all you techies out there.
The television was clearanced at all the stores we went to and most times we would have had to take the floor "DEMO" model. We came home and checked online and were able to find it at a greater discount through a reputable online retailer. This could be an expensive experiment!

Thanks Jill

So, I owe it all to Jill.....I mean she is my sister and such and we share just about everything (shoes, clothes, bags, common interests, etc), but I'd prefer not to share one thing.....germs!

Yesterday afternoon, around 5 PM-ish, yours truly took on what Jill had! yes, yes, yes....the poop and the puke and the tummy ache....I had it all.

I spent my night confined to the upstairs because Dad didn't want me infesting the downstairs.

With this we can conclude that Jill was not food poisoned, but just catching the bug and passing it down to me. It must be a 24 hr bug because Jill and I are both feeling better. YAY!

So, all this to say, I love my sister but I don't love her germs.
So, my advice is to stay away from sick people and wash your hands, because you never know what creepy critter you're gonna get....and who from! LOVE YOU JILL!! :-)

Sick Jill

Josh & Jill are on vacation from school and work this week. They are spending a few days in Dallas before visiting Josh's mom in Grapeland. They will finish up the week in Houston with a birthday party for all the March family birthdays.

Josh & Jill took Doug and I out for dinner last night. We visited Maggiano's.

They took us out to thank us for the lovely wedding.

But...we think Jill ended up with some "bug" or "food poisoning".
She was not feeling well during dinner, after dinner, during the night and all day today.
Diarrhea & Vomiting.

She is shown here at 5:00pm ~ still not feeling very good.

Get well soon Jill!!

Palm Tree Trimming

This winter the palm trees took a beating with the cold weather, snow & ice.
They have never looked this bad before.

The palm trees are now too tall for us to trim ourselves - safely.

I contacted several tree services for estimates.
PickUpSticks here in The Colony was able to trim them and haul away all the debris for $70.
They were able to do it in under 1 hour.

It usually took us half of a day to do it on our own.

Below is the final result.

Later in the day, we went to Home Depot and got 20 bags of cypress mulch.
Now the back yard looks good and smells good too!

Gingerbread Baby Vacation

Gingerbread Baby visited with Josh, Jill and Karl in The Woodlands, Texas.

We all celebrated Jill's 24th birthday with ice cream.

Gingerbread Baby would leave with Josh & Jill for an adventure in Houston, TX.

Josh took Gingerbread Baby to school * Texas Chiropractic College *
where she received a full work-up (xrays and adjustment)

Photos will be forth coming on Josh & Jill's blog.

Karl's LOST of Wisdom

Friday, March 5th - Karl had his 4 "wisdom" teeth removed.

This is the BEFORE photo

He is wearing his lucky shirt.
He had been told there could be possible nerve involvement with the removal of his impacted wisdom teeth. He did not want to have nerve damage so he figured a "lucky" shirt couldn't hurt.

This is the AFTER photo.
This is a smile in case you are wondering, his bottom lip was still anesthetized.

Karl was very nervous when he started.
He was feeling fine here and did NOT remember anything at all.

Karl is feeling good!!!!!!

On the way home from the dentist office,
I picked up Karl's pain medication (Vicodin),antibiotic (Amoxicillin)

and prescription mouth rinse.

Karl has been enjoying pudding, mac & cheese and his favorite Grape Slush from Sonic.

Karl is shown here, resting with Gingerbread Baby.

Get Well soon Karl!!!

Banking Dispute resolved

I received a letter from Bank of America that states:
"We have concluded our investigation and the temporary credit is now a permanent credit, thus closing this dispute."

I guess we will not find out HOW our credit card was compromised.
Checked our credit history...all is fine. Credit score is over 900!

Case closed!