BILL and RITA NEWSLETTER

Nov 2010

Our big news this month is that Rita had her next surgery, a little earlier than expected. It was planned for November, which Rita did not really like because of the holidays. But about the middle of October they called up, and said she could do it on Friday, October 15^th. We had to be there at 7 am, and had to get up at 5:30 for Rita to get ready. Well, I set the alarm, but messed it up somehow so it never went off. I woke up at 6:30, we had to leave in 15 minutes to be in the hospital on time. Rita had a really quick shower, and we got there on time. The surgery was scheduled for 9, but at 8 o'clock they came in and told us the implants had not been delivered. We waited around for another half hour, but they were not in the 8:30 shipment, so they sent Rita back home, and told her to call them that afternoon for another appointment for Monday.

So, Friday afternoon she called up, and they said to come in at 6:15 for a 7:30 surgery. But then that evening she got a call from the hospital computer, and they had a recorded message that she should come in at noon for a 2:00 surgery! She called them up to make sure, and they said to come in at 10:00 for a 12:00 surgery! Well by that time she did not believe any of it, and we got up early Monday (this time I set the alarm ok). She called the surgery clinic again, and they said the first time was correct, come in at 6:15.

They took her out for the surgery at 7:00, and I went downstairs for some hospital breakfast (really good, lots of scrambled eggs, bacon and potatoes for only $2).

The surgery went well, and they were done in two hours. I got in to see her about 10:30, and we were back home by 1 pm. She was still feeling sick for a couple days after – she carried her little throw-up bag around like a teddy bear, but never used it.

She had a followup exam a week after, and another one at two weeks, they said she is doing great. She is driving again, and this last Friday went back to work at the thrift shop. She still has at least one more surgery before it is done.

It's still very dry here. We started getting a little rain the last week of September, and had some more through October, but not enough. Some of the grass turned green again, but a lot of it still looks bad. We may have lost a couple of small bushes and garden plants, will have to wait and see if they come up again next spring.

We started doing our walks again. We cut back some during the hot part of the summer, but from late September up until Rita's operation we went out almost every night. We usually go to a park that has a nice paved walking path along the edge of the woods. Two times around is almost 3 miles. Sometimes we just walk around our block, which is exactly 1 mile, or downtown and back, also 1 mile. Now it is getting dark too early to go to the park after supper. Since Rita's operation we have been out a few times, just around the block.

We had a good year for little animals in the yard. Our cardinal family, that lives all year around in a bush outside the kitchen window, had one baby. Starting maybe September they would bring him to the backyard where we feed them. He started out about half the size of the adults, but is now grown up as big as them. He has been turning red over the past 3 or 4 weeks. We also have five chipmunks running around the yard, that is the most we ever had. They are solitary, and they each have their own little area where they live, but they all come to the feeding area without too much fighting. And this year there is another groundhog moved in. We had one living in our yard a few years ago, but none since then. This year a small one made a home under the deck next door. He comes to our place to eat apples from our crabapple tree right outside the window, lots of fun to watch.

We are still working on Henry's room, it's taking a lot longer than I planned – mostly because he is still living in it, and we have to move things around all the time. The ceiling and walls are painted – Rita picked out a dark green. I bought some ready-made trim to go around the doors and windows, but we didn't really like it so I made my own. The hardest part was making a new windowsill for the double window. I got the window casing done, and the two doors. We took the carpet out. When we moved in, they had some old tiles on the floor, all cracked and broken, that's why we just put carpet over it. I was looking at the floor, and saw they had put the tiles on sheets of quarter-inch particle board. I ripped all of that out, and underneath everything I found a nice hardwood floor! It has a couple places that I have to fill holes where they drilled for wiring, one sticky place has to be sanded, and lots of nail holes to be filled, but we think we can use that for the floor.

Work is still the same, they are still cutting back on contractors so each year there is a chance I will be out of a job – we have lost over a third of our people already. But, they are saying that I am included in the next contract, so I should be ok for one more year – will have to wait until the contract is final and signed before we celebrate.