Look's Who's Back to Work!

I have one week of my new job under my belt.  I am liking it a lot and my co-workers are very nice, helpful and welcoming.  It was a very busy week and I was very tired at the end of each day and had some back ache too. But I felt much better in the mornings, ready for another day.  All in all it was a good week.  I wonder how busy it will be this week.  It is so nice that my department is closed on holidays and weekends.  Taking call for a few times each year isn't bad at all.

I ended up staying with Mary in Ann Arbor for three nights last weekend.  The Leukemia Lymphoma Conference was excellent. I am so glad we went and will receive continuing education credits too!  Sarah met us for dinner at Olive Garden in Ann Arbor and then all three of us had a little down time before Mary had to work.  Sarah and I kept busy working on some projects/homework that we brought along and watching TV together. Both of us were planning on leaving Sunday afternoon, but bad weather rolled across Michigan and Ohio and we decided to stay put and be safe, especially after dark when the possibility of "invisible" downed tree limbs and such was real and a high wind advisory was put in effect until Monday morning.

Jeff arrived home safe and sound Tuesday late afternoon and it has been interesting having to share a single vehicle with me being back to work. So far it has worked out fine, however we are looking for a new set of used wheels to trade with Mary, who has been driving my cute little Prius since May.  Once we find one, Jeff will drive it for a few months to make sure it is safe and reliable before making the switch.  With my work hours ending in the evenings, we have been enjoying eating out together.  Jeff enjoyed tasting four different beers at our local microbrewery.   Tomorrow I am off from work, so I can actually cook!  I think enchiladas sound good.

Well, I have been working on crossing things off my to do list, but the list keeps growing.  Slowly but surely, I am making progress.  Everything takes time. Lots to do tomorrow:

• Last Physical Therapy!
• Water Aerobics.
• Wrap Presents (that's right I have started my shopping!)
• Call Social Security
• Bake and Cook
• Car shopping??
• Laundry

Wow I had better get to bed.  Aren't my slippers pretty??  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I have so much to be thankful for this year.  Just being here is one of them!

Gracie

Happenings

Can you believe  we are half way through November?  Hard to believe 2013 is coming to a close.  Time keeps flying by and so does the activities of our lives.  Here are some highlights of the last week and the week to come!                  

                  

• We met Sarah in Ann Arbor last weekend for Mary's Glee Club Concert. We all enjoyed dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings before the concert began at 8 pm.  I can't believe that three years have passed since I first moved Mary to Ann Arbor in 2010. Now she is the president of the Women's Glee Club and has the honor to direct the beloved "Yellow and Blue". As you can see, she did a beautiful job: Click here to watch!

• Jeff is in Florida this week to help out with  his mom and dad while she is recovering from knee-replacement surgery.  It is pretty strange to be in my big house all alone. I am getting some things done that I normally wouldn't do.

• I have a new nursing position at Metro hospital in  Surgical Prep and Recovery. Orientation begins on Tuesday.  I am a little nervous but very excited to be a nurse again!  I went through my nursing stuff and have everything organized for my first day.

• This weekend I will be heading back to Ann Arbor.  Mary and I will be attending a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society conference in Troy, MI.  It starts early, so I will stay with Mary on Friday night and drive to Troy together first thing Saturday morning. It should be a good day.

• Monday is my Myeloma Support Group.  Instead of going alone, I think I will invite a friend to go along.  Then it's Tuesday, my first day of work and pick Jeff up at the airport on the way home!

That does it from chilly Michigan. The temps are going to rise the rest of the week, might get up in the 60's on Sunday with rain. I prefer a sunny 45 or 50. Right now it is 33 degrees.  Think I will sleep in my sweatpants tonight.

Oklahoma! It was the best!

First of all let me say that we had a WONDERFUL time in Oklahoma!  The alumni events were fun and our time with Matthew priceless.  I smile just thinking about it.  I would have loved writing each night about all the fun times we had, but I think a brief summary with bullet points will have to do.

      

• THURSDAY started early with a 0630 flight.  We had a 3 hour layover in Chicago and got to OKC around lunch time.  Ate barbeque at Billy Sims' restaurant.  It was very good!  We spent time at the Softball Hall of Fame and the Cowboy Museum with a personal tour from our long time friend Don, who is the curator.  The highlight of course was meeting up with Matthew at his apartment.  It is very nice and well maintained.  Thursday is softball double header.  It was a little chilly, but we enjoyed watching both games.  There is one hour between games, so Matthew took us to Diamond Dawgs for a light meal.  He had fries, I had the Wonderboy, a hot dog on a stick coated with Cap'n Crunch and deep fried. It was delicious.  Jeff had the Bambino, a dog with pulled pork on it.  We both loved it.  Of course after the second game we went for a late dinner.  Where? Buffalo Wilds Wings.  I tried some wings, but boy they were spicy.  So I got some plain ones.  It was a very fun and hap hap happy day!

     

• FRIDAY was Alumni Day.  Breakfast, tours and a lunch at Lloyd Noble Center.  It was very good for banquet style food.  All the alumnus were recognized and had their picture taken with President Boren.  We took advanatage of the organ concert before lunch, which was outstanding and spent the afternoon at OU's Natural Science Museum.  The night finished with a meal at the Union with casino night. No money needed! They gave us chips and you won tickets to put in for drawings, a signed football, money for the bookstore or a paver at the stadium.  Neither one of us won anything, but came home with some nice free giveaways.  

                                       

       

• SATURDAY means football!  Took a shuttle ride to campus and stopped by the meteorology building, watched the parade and had lunch at the  Boomer Bash in the union.  it was there that I got a text from Matthew that the he was released from work to go to the game with us!  First we had to wait for an hour or so for the rain stop. It was quite a game, with moments where I worried that the Sooners would lose.  They came back with a stellar play and ended up winning the game!  Matthew returned to work but soon after called and said he could have dinner with us, so we went to Yamato's Japanese Steak House. It was delicious and as usual, fun to watch them cook and had way too much to eat.

                                                                             

                            

            

• SUNDAY ~ The Lord's Day.   Matthew was able to have an early breakfast with us before his call time for rehearsal.  He is the prop master for the musical "Carousel".  It kept him pretty busy while we were there, but he managed to get away and spend some time with us. We are thankful the director for letting him off early on Saturday so he could have fun with his parents.  Since Matthew was busy all day, we took time to use the hotels exercise room and walking/jogging path.  I walked over mile.  The weather was beautiful on Sunday.  Remember our friend from the Cowboy Museum?  We drove to to see and his wife, Val, at their church's trunk and treat.  It was a huge success. It was nice to visit with them afterward at their home.   No trip to Oklahoma is complete without some Braum's, so we stopped and had a bite to eat and some delicious Braum's Ice Cream.                                                    

                                                                                             

• On MONDAY we finally got to sleep in.  Jeff took me to the National Weather Center for a tour which was pretty cool.  I bought a few cute souvenirs too, with flying cows on it!  We met Matthew for early dinner at one of our campus corner favorites, O'Connels.  Their burgers are delicious!  I had a ranch burger. Oh sooo good!  Jeff was nice enough to share his onion rings with me.  Another trip to Diamond Dawgs was in order for unlimited soft serve ice cream. Oreo bits, chocolate sauce and sprinkles made my sundae perfect.  By then it was time to get Matthew back to rehearsal.  We stopped by our car to give him a basketball we bought for him to use at the courts of his apartment complex.  He needs something fun to do to help break up the business of school and work. He was happy to get the ball, but we were all sad for our time to end. I have hugged him a dozen times!  I miss him already.

                   

We traveled home Tuesday and I was able to stop and get some lab work drawn and a TB test done.  Wednesday was my day for therapy, shots and zometa. You can read about that on my caring bridge.

In other news:

• I had a good meeting at Metro Hospital about getting back to work.  Since I can't work in the childbirth center anymore, they are looking for a position that will be good for my re-entry.  
• Mary has been offered a position to teach HS English with Teach for America in Los Angeles.  She is very happy, I know Brandon is too.  He is doing well, but very busy with law school at UCLA. Next week is her first glee club concert as the president. I can't wait!
• Mount Calvary's Trunk and Treat was a huge success.  Lots of kids and families.  Jeff certainly didn't look like himself.

• Matthew has three shows of Carousel under his belt tonight as Prop Master.  Hope all went well. I am sure he did a great job.
• Sarah's final football season with Summerfield High School as Athletic Trainer. Now they are gearing up for basketball.  Hopefully there won't be as many injuries that there were with the football season.  She takes good care of those kids.

                                                                                         

• Our new appliances arrived Friday not without some problems.  Although Home Depot said installation was included, the delivery man said he is not allowed to work with the copper tubing connected to our fridge. He also said he couldn't, wouldn't disconnect our old dishwasher. What???  Evidently, it wasn't on our ticket so we didn't pay for it. After several phone calls, they did disconnect the dishwasher and moved it to the garage as he did with the fridge after Jeff disconnected the copper tubing from the ice maker.  As of now, the fridge is working and we do have working water/ice maker, but the dishwasher is sitting in the kitchen waiting for the plumber to come on Monday to install it.  We will have him check the fridge too.

That's all...I will try to keep you updated as needed. Have a great week! Be sure to check out the Family Photo Album!