In Rememberance of My Dear Husband George 6-9-42 to 10-8-12

Papa at Seaworld with his three
grandchildren and me

It has been one week today since the love of my life was called home to be with our lord Jesus.  I still can't believe that I don't have him around in the physical sense anymore but I am so glad that he is with God and not suffering anymore with all the illnesses that he has had to put up with for the last ten years.  He was such a wonderful man and he taught me how to accept unconditional love as well as give it to those around me.  My life has been enriched by his presence and I will miss him and his love very much.  My dear Papa I will always hold you forever in my heart.

Jeanette's first movie.wmv Family Memories

Another Day Another Month

Well here it is the end of another Monday and here I am doing what I do best (playing on computer).  I don't know what I would do without the internet. It seems to be my only link to the outside world.  I have many friends on FB and have a lot of fun playing Farkle and other games with them.  I have also discovered skype and find it a wonderful way to visit grandkids and stay in touch with friends and reletives.  Papa and I watch a lot of telelvision because he is either in bed or in his wheelchair.  One of our favorite channels is the Food channel and we know all the stars and programs and have learned a lot about cooking and food (even though we don't cook too much).  We have many wonderful friends who come and visit so I must say that we look forward to all our friends when they come to see us. I'm trying to decide if I should invest in a used van with a wheelchair ramp so that Papa and I can go more places like we used to.  I went to the Ability Center because they handle both new and used wheelchair vans and I found a 1999 model with real low milege but it still was 17,500 and they wanted at least 8,000 down because I have had a chapter 13 filed in recent years.  Now that I am fully retired and living on a small pension and social socurity my salary per year is about 20,000 less than when I was working fultime, it is hard to get credit.  We do have the MTS wheelchair bus available but they only stay in the metropoltan area so some of the places that we want to go are not always in their zone.  Still we are very thankful to have the service available.  I had a nice spa day with one of my friends (one of the few times that I got to get out for the afternoon.  We both had an hour message and then we both had pedicures with reflexology on our feet.  I love having my feet rubbed so I was in seventh heaven.  After we were done at the spa we stopped into a tattoo parlar that was next store.  I had another tattoo done around where I had a butterfly done two years ago.  I now have two little flowers on a vine with little green leaves.  I love tattoos but this is all for me now.

You can see that it is still a little red but
when it heals I think it is going to look
real good.

 

Checked in on our new MaMa today and she is doing well and will be going home with number three on Wed.  Our oldest son and his wife just bought their first home in a very nice area and are finally settleing in.  Haven't heard to much from them lately because they are so busy setting up housekeeping.  Well I could probably ramble on all day but I don't want to bore everyone to death.  Will keep updating when I have more news.

Welcome Little Daniel!!!

Today we welcomed a new grandson into our family.  His name is Daniel (after his father).  Congrats to Mom and Dad.

My How Birthdays Fly

Malia with her birthday apple pie

Just as the title says my how birthdays fly.  Mine has come and gone for another year and on Sunday we had my little granddaughter Malia's birthday celebration to (she just turned 3).  Seems like yesterday she was just a small little baby I could hold in my arms.  It was very nice to be with her and her family for a Sunday brunch last weekend.  All the grand kids were there and running all over the place.  I can't believe that between George and I that we have 11 grand kids.  I think that we are a grandparents "Brady Bunch.

It's official I'm A Senior!

Can't believe I'm 62 years young today.  When I made it to 50 I thought I was old.  I didn't even see my sixties in the future yet.  But here I am and now I look back at 50 and remember how young I was and how different life was.  I still had some major energy and was working two jobs (yes two jobs) I don't know how I did it but somehow managed.  I couldn't even handle one full time job today.  But as life would say I have gained some more wisdom and little things just don't seem to bother me as much.  Lets say I have learned to roll with the punches.  Happy Birthday to all of us out their today celebrating our 62nd year.

The End of Summer

I can't believe the end of summer is here already and many kids have started back to school (my granddaughters included).  One is starting preschool and the other one is going into the third grade.  My how time flies.  Papa seems to get a little better at some things but still struggles with others.  In my last post I did a video post instead typing everything down.  In the video I am holding the new leg and foot brace that Papa wears when he goes anywhere.  We hope that this will give him some stability for standing and then leading into walking.

We have had quite a seige of hot weather here in California so the beautiful long hair that I spent two years growing is now gone (gone with the wind). I finally after many weeks of thinking about it decided it had to go. I'm sure glad I did it's so much cooler now.

This is the before haircut with my hair all pulled off my face.





This is the after haircut (new A-line cut) it's a little longer in the front
but shorter in the back and of course a lot lighter and not as hot.

Here's a cute photo of Papa and I on one of the hotest days that we had.  We had four fans going (two large ones, one table top one and a window fan.  Even with all the fans going we were still hot as you can see by the look on our faces.

A very hot Mama and Papa





Video Update

I found a new way to update that is a little easier for me hope you enjoy.

Hello Everyone!

Life has been full of challenges lately so I find it hard to remember to keep you filled in on what is going on in our life.  Papa is still plugging along but it is a hard road.  He did get his new leg brace and he said that it does seem to help keep his leg in the position most natural for standing and I hope walking again.  Our new little grandson is due to be born the last few weeks of September so that gives the family something to look forward to.  I am still running two households so I still go back and forth to our condo in La Mesa because Papa still can't get up the stairs to the second level.  But things could be a lot worse.  I have learned to realize how special each day is.

Summer News

 A day at Seaworld with Papa Desi, Kandy, Jeanette and Ali  

 Some of  The Grand kids and cousins on a spring day in the park

Desi and Jeanette on Manta roller coaster Seaworld 

  

 Sorry I haven't been around for awhile but what's new I think I say that all the time.  Papa is doing really good these days even though he has his ups and downs.  We have been stretching muscles and trying to get his right arm and leg to straighten out more.  We have down well with the leg which is enabling us to have a brace made that I hope will help in standing and walking somewhat.

We have been getting out a lot more thanks to the MTS Access bus with a wheelchair lift (they will take us anywhere we want to go in the San Diego area).  I am so grateful to have that at our disposal it is a door to door service.  We have been going to Seaworld and our next visit will be to the zoo so needless to say Papa is feeling a lot better.

Our grand kids are starting to visit more and I know Papa enjoys that.  Last Saturday my son Andrew came over for a visit with his to little ones Isaac and Isla.  Both are growing like little weeds.  Isaac is such a happy little baby and Isla is so smart.  It was fun to visit with them.  Keep up the good work Mom and Dad.

Isla peek-a-boo

Our cute little Isaac

I love this picture of Isla because she looks so content and happy.  Her mom and dad do such a good job with her and her little brother.

Of course here is our little smiley face who giggles all the time.  I guess you would say he is a happy little soul.

Malia

 Of course there is always a serious moment.

Vivi with milk shake um um good

Wow what's that!

These two little ones will be getting a new little brother or sister in September mom are you ready?

Of course we can't forget our little bruiser Hunter.  He's going to be a heart breaker.

Hunter 2012

 

Here is a picture of one of the special stretching braces that Papa has to where to help stretch the muscles affected by the stroke.

Stretching Brace

Some trivia:  Can you guess who this is?

Young George Pearsol

.

 

 Right you guess it that's Papa when he was young.

Well folks that's all my news for now but I promise to update more often.  God bless...

Where Do I Begin

Papa enjoying a relaxing afternoon

Isla your two cute!!!

Grand-kids and cousins on a spring day.

Where do I begin.  So much has happened since I was last here filling you all in on the family details.  Papa is still coming along but it is a slow process.  He seems to get discouraged very easily so I have to always be sure and keep a real positive face on for him.  Standing and finding his balance have seemed to be the most challenging part.  Before he can really learn how to walk again he has to learn how to balance.  He still does have pain with all the tone and tightness in his right leg and arm and hand.  Through the insurance we were able to get three special braces made for him.  One for his leg and two for the arm and hand.  I will include so pictures of the three braces so you can see what they look like and how they are worn.  He doesn't have to wear them all the time but they would like to see him wear each brace up to about four hours each, each day.  We are still working up to that.  He says that they do help him.

On a lighter note the grand-kids are doing fine and Issac is all healed from his surgery and starting to eat solid foods.  His mom says he is doing quite well.  He is as cute as a bugs ear.  Barbara (my daughter-in-law) who is expecting her third little one in September just found out that she is having a boy!  Can you believe it after two girls.  Malia, Isla, Vivianna and, Hunter are all growing like weeds.  I can keep up with them anymore.  I'm so proud of my three sons and there wonderful family.  I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!

Sinus Infections Galore!!

Since I last spoke with you all we have had quite a week.  My girlfriend came down with the same virus that turned into a severe sinus infection and then the same night Papa was coughing up a lung so to speak.  He was also diagnosed with a severe sinus infection as well.  We have all been taking antibiotics (Z Pak) which is a five day course of treatment and everyone seems to be doing much better.  I have been working on exercising Papa's legs to help him get rid of some of the tone in the muscle of the right leg that was affected by the stroke.  His physical therapist will come tomorrow so I want to keep his leg loose so he will be able to do his therapy without so much pain.  I am still working on getting him to get up more so I think as he starts feeling better after his infection that he will feel stronger and want to get up a little more.  

What A Week!

What a way to start the week. The little cold that I had has turned into a full blown sinus infection. I think that I will try and go to the doctor and see if I can get some medicine to knock this thing out of me. Papa had physical therapy today and seemed to do very well he is now taking a little nap after some food and refreshment. His physical therapist has recommended that we take the larger of the two rooms that where offered because the orientation of the room is better for healing of his right side. It will be better in the long run because it is probably three to four sizes bigger that the room that we are in now.
On a lighter note it sounds like our little grandson who recently had surgery is doing very well and charming the life out of everyone he meets. He just had his six month birthday. I was able to go out on Sunday and have some time at the Moose Lodge with my karaoke friends and even got to sing a song before it was time to leave. It was so nice to see my friends again.

Lazy Sunday

Here we are sitting here being a little bit lazy but it feels so good. Had a late breakfast of french toast and Papa had an omelet. I am going to go and sing for a few hours tonight and am looking forward to it. Maybe next week Papa will feel well enough to go. We're working on getting him strong enough to do that. It's so good to see the sun out since the last to days were so cloudy and rainy.

Busy Times

Hi everyone! Sorry it has taken so long to visit with all my readers. Well where do I start? So much has happen since my last post. To start with I have had my second bad cold of the year for one. The best news yet is that my dear sweet husband is finally home with me after six long months in the hospital. He still has much recovering left to do but is coming along very well. He has three therapists that visit twice a week and a home health nurse that pops in and out as needed. Because he still cannot walk or stand to well on his own we have had to rent a room in a friends house because our condo is on the second level of the building and he still can't manage stairs and my friends house is all one level which at this time is much easier for us. We have quite a set up for him and he seems very comfortable.
Papa is not the only news in our family. Last month one of your little grandchildren had to have surgery to correct what they call a bowl malformation. I'm glad to say that our little four month old is doing very well and has bounced back remarkably well. His poor mother is still trying to recuperate after many nights sleeping with one eye opened while he was in the hospital.
Back in October I finally had my carpel tunnel surgery done on my right wrist I'm glad that my hand and wrist fully healed before Papa came home.
On a lighter note my middle son and his wife are expecting there third baby so we will be grandparents again. I will try and keep up better with my news.