Monday, December 24, 2007CHRISTMAS EVE

We were both up early this morning.  I am still having trouble sleeping and then of course, I wake up Sharon with my stumbling and bumbling around.

We were actually invited to two parties today.  One was at the Pickleball Court where friends were inviting friends for just a Holiday get-together.  It would be the first chance to see Jack and Roseann Derlein since we got here.  By the time we arrived, about 15 minutes after the starting time, there were about 30 people attending.  We knew about 6 people there but the group was very friendly and melded well with everybody else.  We stayed until after 4 when the sun decided to fall out of the sky and the temps went down.  It actually starts getting cold about an hour before the sun sets.  So it's still light out but getting colder already.  It's a desert thing.

The second party was with Henry and Arlene LeDuc who were gathering with another couple from Canada.  We stopped over to Henry and Arlene's to invite them over because of the falling temperature.  He had his portable campfire going when we went by.  They stopped over about 15 minutes after we got home, and stayed talking and imbibing until about 9.

We had a real good time at both gatherings and I was hoping that I would sleep a little better tonight as a result.

My leg felt pretty good all day today and I'm hoping I've reached a turning point so that it will start feeling measurably better each and every day.  I might be hoping for a little much, but I am hoping.

Sharon fell into bed tonight about 9:30 and I stayed up til close to 11, thinking if I was more tired tonight I would sleep longer.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007    MERRY CHRISTMAS

It seems I was a little correct in my reasoning.  I actually slept until 2 AM.  It was not much later since I stayed up later but I seemed to be more rested.  In any event I still had the rest of the night to kill time.  I did take some cat naps during the night when I got a little sleepy.

After Breakfast this morning Sharon was off to church having excused me from attending last night.  If only on Christmas, I usually attend mass with her on this reverent day.  Today I didn't feel much like going so I was glad to stay home.

By the time she got home she started working on the Rosemary Game Hens that we were having for our main meal today.  They would be ready about 1:30 so we just sat here and enjoyed the smell of them cooking until then.  Henry and Arlene LeDuc had invited us to go out with them for Dinner today, but we opted to stay home and eat Game Hens instead.  And our decision paid dividends to say the least.  The meal, along with roasted potatoes and peppers and Garlic Bread and a salad was absolutely fabulous.

In the afternoon we decided to sit outside for a while and just enjoy the day, but it turned out to be a ride over to Corky and Deb Zimmermann's park (Quail Valley) and visit for awhile.  Corky's steps were a daunting task of which I successfully maneuvered.  I was worried when I saw them.  But Corky and Sharon helped up them.  We stayed for about an hour and a half before it started getting dark and I didn't want to negotiate those steps after we started to lose the daylight.

Shortly after we got home Henry and Arlene stopped over and we visited for a couple of hours.  Visitor's have a tendency to cut down on the number of hours we have to kill just to get through the day.

I caved for the night around 9.  Sharon hung in there for a while longer before she folded her tent.  I got a couple of good hours of sleep before I was up for good tonight. About midnight I got up and got dressed.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

I had a completely rotten night last night.  I hardly slept a wink last night and to top it off I woke up with a sore back.  Man, I gotta catch a break from somewhere.

Sharon took off with the laundry early today to try to get it done.  She had thought about it yesterday but nobody does laundry on Christmas.  She was done by lunchtime.

After lunch I told her I wanted to drive over to Palm Springs to try to find my doctor where I made an appointment for tomorrow afternoon.  By the time we got there it took us almost 30 minutes to drive over.  His office is in Desert Regional Medical Center and we found out where it was  in only a few minutes after we arrived

When we lft, Sharon had decided to stop somewhere and pick up some Tylenol PM for tonight.  It was suggested when I ran out of Ambien before we left Lubbock.  Dr. Hansel's P.A. (Geoff James) had recommended it.  I knew where Wal-Mart was at from where we were so I directed Sharon to there.  As it turned out, the drug store in Desert Hot Springs would have been closer, but then she wouldn't have been able to pick up the other things she picked up.

It was almost Suppertime by the time we got home.  Sharon made hamburgers for tonight.  I wasn't very hungry so anything would have been fine, although after we ate the hamburgers, they did hit the spot.

Henry and Arlene stopped over for awhile tonight.  I think they stayed for a couple of hours which helped pass the time until bedtime.  I had been laying down when they came but I got up quickly.

By 9 I had had it and headed for the bedroom.  I didn't take the Tylenol until about 11:30 when I woke up the first time.  After that I woke up a couple of times but went right back to sleep.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

  I woke up for good about 7AM.  What a relief from the last 3 weeks.  We may have found the combination for me to sleep at night.

We sat around for most of the morning since I had a doctor's appointment at 2 and we would be gone this afternoon.

Phil and Joyce Bach called today and said they were in Thousand Trails today.  Apparently the campground that they stop at in Soledad was closed for renovations so they drove straight through.  They had planned to come over this afternoon after my appointment but I left a message on their home phone when we were done.  Needless to say they never got the message until after supper.  Go figure.

Henry and Arlene stopped over for awhile and had a couple of nectars with Sharon and conversation with me.  They left about 9 and we both hit the hay for the night.  The days go by and they seem so trying lately.

I decided to take the sleeping pills when I went to bed tonight instead of the first time I woke up.  Well that theory went Kaput at 2:30 when I was still awake.  I took one more pill and fell fast asleep until morning.  This is definitely not an exact science. 

Friday, December 28, 2007

We were off this morning by 8 to get to my doctor's appointment at 9.  It was over in Palm Springs and would take over 30 minutes get into his office.   We managed to flawlessly find our way again and we were there by 8:45.   He took me right in at 9 and gave me a clean bill of health, and recommended a sonogram on my legs in order to get off the Coumadin.(blood thinner) So at 11 we went across the street after getting a bite at Denny's and got the sonogram.  It was negative so I had taken my "last" Coumadin tablet yesterday., at least for now.

Sharon had to get her "broken leg" Christmas ring sized so we took off for Penney's in Palm Desert.  It was about 20 miles away from my doctor's and it took us a while to get there through some construction but we finally made it at 1 PM.  While Sharon went into the store, I called Phil and Joyce Bach to let them know that we would stop over there instead of the other way around.  By 2 we were at Thousand Trails Resort and visiting.

We saw their new motorhome and stayed for a couple of hours before heading home.  On the way we decided to go to the VFW for a fish fry tonight and we would check to see if Henry and Arlene wanted to go with us.  They did, so we told them we would pick them up at 5

We had a very nice Dinner at the VFW.  We all just got Fish and Chips.  When we got back Henry and Arlene went home, and we retired to watch the telly for awhile.  Before they left however, we had decided to go to the Dillon Roadhouse for Breakfast on Sunday morning.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

I was up this morning having my usual problems sleeping last night.  We decided to take in the Patio Sales at the Upper Clubhouse this morning.  We took the car as I wasn't ready to hobble all the way up the hill to see a few vendors.  There were only about five of them there and having nothing that piqued our interest we soon came back to the camper.

We drove up and down several roads before we came back looking for Jack and Roseann Derlein's motorhome.  We really had no luck but we did see Jack playing Pickleball at the courts in the upper campground.

When we got back Sharon was off to go shopping downtown Desert Hot Springs having a few groceries and other stuff to pick up.  While she was gone I called just about everyone I knew since it was Saturday.  I actually received a call from my Mother, from home, which was a very pleasant surprise.  That as the start of the myriad of calls I would make over the next hour or so.

When Sharon came back she brought McDonald's with her.  That was about 1:30 and our bones were rattling together by that time.  We just sat around for most of the rest of the afternoon just watching some television.

Later Sharon took off downtown for church and I just waited at home.  I knew we would be having BBQ Chicken Wings tonight.  As it turned out she stopped by Henry and Arlene's and invited them for Dinner.  They had already eaten but they agreed to stop over for a couple of wings anyway.  We sat around and talked after eating and they left about 9:30.

I hung in there with Sharon until 10 and then folded up my tent also.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

I had a mediocre night to say the least.  I got up at 7 and got myself cleaned up and ready to go at 9.  We'll be picking up Henry and Arlene and going to the Dillon Roadhouse for Breakfast.  By the time I got home the food that I ate apparently didn't agree with my stomach.  It wanted out and I spent the rest of the afternoon running to the bathroom.

We got back from the Roadhouse and were expecting the Packer game to be on the dish.  The channel it was supposed to be on even advertised it to be the Packers and Lions and it turned out to be the Bears and Saints.  Damn!!!  We sat around watching the Bear game hoping that they would eventually come to their senses and broadcast the correct game.  It never happened.  By suppertime we gave up hope that we'd ever see it.

Sharon had made Turkey Alfredo with Noodles for supper tonight that was very good.  My stomach still wasn't on the up and up though, so I really couldn't eat what I wanted to.  The leftovers will be good over the next couple of days, though. We'll probably have it again tomorrow night on New Year's Eve.  If not, I'm sure we'll finish it up sometime this week.

We sat around tonight watching TV even though there was nothing good on.