Sunday, April 26, 2009

A Day At The Beach

We got up on Sunday and had breakfast with Mark and Brenda downtown at the City Diner. We dropped Bruce off at the house and changed into our swimsuits to go get some rays!

On our way out to the beach, we called my brother Mark. We detoured over to his house and picked him and his fiance, Laura up.
The wind was crazy out at the beach. We took one step out of the car and decided that the Holiday Inn poolside would be a better choice.
We wiled away the afternoon talking about the wedding and stuff. The wind was blowing sand into our faces even up on the pool deck, but it was a nice afternoon. We stayed until about 2:30. A band was starting to play... it would have been a perfect afternoon if only a round of drinks didn't cost $30!!!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Our First BYC Potluck

I spent the day on Saturday doing errands and shopping with Melissa. We had a very fine Mother/Daughter Day! We had a pot-luck dinner to attend at BYC... our first one! We made some chicken spaghetti and a dessert I'm calling Hawaiian Snowballs. It's a recipe for the wedding shower I'm having for Mark in July. I had to try it out to see if it worked... it was a bit rough but people ate it. Anyway... we took Melissa as our guest and had a great time. The crowd was smaller than usual as there are a couple of boats in an offshore race from Florida to Mexico.

The chicken spaghetti was a big hit. I don't know if it was really so good or if it was because it was the only main dish that was home made. I was scandalized that people would bring store bought food to a pot luck dinner!
We sat around the clubhouse and chatted until nearly 11:00 pm. It's always a good time when the crowd thins and the cool people are the only ones left.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Some People Will Do Anything to get out of Work

Melissa came down for the weekend to take me to my second endoscopy. It was called an EUS... endoscopic ultrasound. It was done at Spohn Hospital South. The previous exam found a cyst but they did not have the equipment to do an ultrasound. I was sent to Dr. Armstrong, a very handsome young Dr. with a charming European accent. But first, I had to get through the scary creepy Indian nun bearing needles.

She wanted to start an IV without deadening the insertion site. No! This was not going to happen! I explained to her that I was a needle phoebe and that I had previously born 2 children with no IV because I was afraid of them. So, she went off chuckling to get an order for the injection to deaden the site. Chuckle chuckle, girl wants 2 needle sticks instead of just one... chuckle chuckle... I don't know how she had 2 children.. chuckle chuckle... She came back in a minute with the injection and did the IV. Oh and there was also an injection of phenegren to keep me from throwing up. The nun didn't even try to lie to me and say that it wouldn't hurt... she said it was a very nasty stinging injection and that it would hurt for days afterwards! This was the worst part... scary creepy Indian nun!

OK, maybe it wasn't the worst part... that would be when they took me off to the procedure room. I sat there with a very nice nurse named Evangelina who told me stories and talked to me to keep me from wigging out. My blood pressure was up. She finally suggested to the Dr. that we give me something to make me go night night as I was very "anxious". Well why shouldn't I be anxious getting glimpses of the sinister looking instruments the other nurse, Sylvia was preparing over my right shoulder almost out of my range of vision. Out I went.


Here is a picture of the ultrasound. It shows this cyst being close to my heart. I have reasoned in my mind that maybe this is why when I get stressed out and clench up, I have what feel like chest pains... maybe this cyst is crowding my heart.

I have very vague memories again, not of gagging but of the thing in my throat. I remember someone pushing my right arm back down to my side as I tried to bring it up to my face. Not bad memories, just memories...

I don't think the Dr. told us much other than that I would get my results from Dr. Kim... my appoint- ment with him is on the 4th of May. I'm just very glad it's over.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Sunday Sunday...

Bruce was going stir crazy after being inside all week with sciatica pain. He actually went to the grocery store with me on Saturday and stayed in the car just to get out of the house for a while. I wanted to get outside and get some sun so he agreed to come along with me and sit on the seawall while I sunbathed.
I finally received my 2 missing issues of Lats & Atts and was pouring over one of them. I love to save them for weekends out at the boat or the beach. They always get me going about cruising though so I have to limit my exposure.
We brought a couple of beverages so we sat on the seawall and enjoyed the sunshine and watching the people come and go. What!... were these guys thinking???

A guy showed up with a big red dog and a tennis ball. We watched them play for quite a while. That dog was the best dog I've ever seen. He didn't run off with other dogs when they came by... nooo ... he was all about his guy and that ball. The dog would run joyfully after the ball each time the guy threw it.
Finally the dog got tired and decided that fetching the ball back to the guy could wait for a bit. He went out and sat in the water to cool off. It was so much fun watching them play

My EGD - Not for the squeamish

Don't look at the picture if you're squeamish.

I have been having some strange symptoms since the holidays. It's kind of a chest pain and kind of like there's something in my throat or lower chest area. It's more of a discomfort that, by the end of the day, is sometimes exhausting. I finally went to a new Primary Care Dr. that I really like. Dr. Mark Ibanez of Ibanez Internal Medicine http://ibanezinternalmedicine.com/ . I would highly recommend him to anyone.

He sent me to Dr. Jae Kim for an endoscopy thinking I have a case of GERD http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastroesophageal_reflux_disease from some of my symptoms. The endoscopy showed no signs of GERD or Reflux.

They did it at Corpus Christi Endoscopy Center. It wasn't so bad after the IV was started. I ended up with my Mother taking me on short notice as Bruce is down with back problems. It was very nice having her there to help with the health history and we got some planning done on the upcoming Wedding Shower. It really took my mind off of my problems.

It was a little intimidating going in to the surgical suite by myself and watching them bring over all of the equipment and strapping things onto my head. The worst was the little mouthpiece. It kept my mouth open and was very invasive to me. Luckily, it went on right before I went out. I have a very vague memory that's more like a dream of gagging and struggling for a bit. But it's so distant, I'm not sure it wasn't manufactured in my mind. I guess conscious sedation could allow me to have a memory of what happened.

Anyway, I'm really not sure about the result as I was quite out of it when Dr. Kim explained it all. All I know is that I will be contacted by another Dr. to have the same (to me) procedure done at Spohn Shoreline where they are equipped to do an ultrasound and a needle biopsy of the thing they found in my stomach. I can't really make sense of how this thing is making the sensations I feel, other that it might be pushing on other things in my throat causing me to feel it. I thought it would be OK to put a picture of the thing here on my blog. I think the black thing is either one of the tools or the opening into my esophagus from the stomach.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Dave Behave and the New Ms Behave

Melissa came to town for the weekend. She had some Easter days off. We had hopes of basking in the sun and working on that base tan in preparation for the BVI trip this June. It was not to be. We were at the boat for Desiree and Dave's wedding, which was scheduled for the 2:00 hour. I asked Bruce if he thought she was stressing out and bemoaning the cold, windy, cloudy day. He thought not.

We went over to the pavillion, where the festivities were being set up. We chatted and people-watched as guests gathered. The kids were having a great time running around as I remember doing with cousins when I was young. This is one of the regrets I have about my own kids' childhood... no cousins to run around with.

Bruce and Melissa went back to the boat to get some drinks and Karl and Jan showed up. That's when the ceremony began. I couldn't believe it! Bruce and I had missed Dave's first wedding because we were bringing the keg. We got there just as people were walking out. It looks like he's going to miss ALL of Dave's weddings!!!

I watched alone as the kids filed onto the stage. Then the groom, and of course the Bride. Nathan was the ring bearer in his bare feet. You've just gotta love the simple weddings. He was so sheepish standing up there. Desiree told me that he had a note in his pocket with a list of all of the weddings he is in this year... Des', Laura's sister Anna's and Mark&Laura's. Popular boy!

The ceremony was very short. When it was over, people milled around again and when Bruce and Melissa showed up, it looked very much like it had when he left. He couldn't believe it when I told him! He wanted to see the pictures to prove that I wasn't kidding.

We hadn't planned to stay long, but we were having such a great time talking with Karl and Jan, the time passed quickly. The Bride and Groom were making their rounds and guests began to drift away. Before long, we were part of the last hangers on. Bruce told Des that her new husband, Dave is credited for Bruce and I being together. When Bruce first came to town, Dave was so nice to him. He took Bruce down to the bayfront on a Wednesday night and put him on Karl's boat where we met... and the rest is history. It was a very good day. We were happy to see the joy on their faces and remember the joy we felt on our own wedding day.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Wednesday Night Blow Out!

This week it was Cute Shoes as race committee. I had invited our old friend Clay to come help when we spoke on the phone earlier in the week and... low and behold... he showed up. I love my Clay!

The winds were blowing harder than last week.... somewhere in the 30s I think I heard it said. Steve was hoping that no one would be, shall we say, "dedicated" enough to show up for this! But we were all there and so Steve assigned duties.

Oh crud! Someone did show up! It's that Doug Weakly. Why has he gotta always mess things up? We waited around a bit for other intrepid souls but to no avail. So, Steve hailed the sole boat and told them no race. They were OK with it and headed out for a bash just for kicks.

I guess they were already all suited up for it, no use in wasting all that effort. Here they are just before they turned out towards the gap. What a bunch of die hards.

Well, that was it for our committee duty. Steve and Jacquie went off to do their thing while Bruce, Clay and I sat around and caught up on things for a while.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Nathan Turns Six Years Old

Our little family met over at Mark and Laura's house on Sunday to celebrate Nathan's 6th birthday and Laura's ?th birthday, which is 3 days after Nathan's. The gifts were all stacked on the table when Des dropped Nate off at home. He sped right over and began taking gifts out of the bags, beginning with the one on which his favorite cartoon character appeared. Unfortunately for Nate, the attractive bag held only a couple of pair of blue jeans, with which he was unimpressed... and the adults caught him before he had a chance to rip into another gift. Ahhh foiled again...!


He was so excited! We chose to put him out of his misery a short time later by opting for the gift opening segment of the party first. All of the gifts were brought over to the living room where Laura took a moment to get Nate to breath and calm down a bit.


The gift that almost stopped the party was the WII... Mark had already been playing with it and so it was all set up. Nate had to just plug it in and play. The apple never falls far from the tree, it seems. We all remember our Dad played with our "good" gifts for days before giving them to us on Christmas. All of this was in order to assure our ease in setting them up of course.


Nate finally got on with it and opened the rest of his gifts. Bruce and I had bought him a little tool set with a belt and hat so that he could work alongside his daddy on the next building project. I thought it was very cute... even if he didn't.

Once the last of Nate's gifts were seen and found lacking in favor of the WII... Nate turned his attention back to it. I suggested that maybe it would be nice if Nate waited until Laura had opened her gifts before playing with the WII. This precipitated the fit, caught here, which did him no good. Mark saw the wisdom of this suggestion (after seeing the look on Laura's face) and we got on with the gift opening.

Laura opened hers quickly so as not to cause Nate to split a gut waiting to play his games. Carla got the prize for most useful and thoughtful gift when she gave Laura a beautiful bead lanyard to wear her medical ID badge on. Carla always comes up with the best gift.

We all ate pizza while Nathan played WII boxing. It was kind of cool. He must have had some experience with it somewhere because he was really good at it. I guess there was some discussion about the pros and cons of having the WII. But, it does look like it will give Nate some exercise and hand-eye coordination skills at least.



Everyone had a turn making up their own character. Most likely they won't be used by the person they represent, but at least they will populate the games with "real" people when Mark, Nate and Laura play. We did have a good time picking out face shapes, hair and eye colors, etc... it was good for a lot of laughs.

This is our little WII family in it's entirety. Top row are Laura and Bruce... then bottom row left to right are myself, Carla, Mother, Mark and Nate.

Nate had a chance to play with some of his other gifts while the adults were monopo- lising the WII. He put on all of the stuff from his tool set. He was really cute in his little hat, gloves safety goggles and suspenders.

We turned our attention to the cake next. Mark brought out some kind of little blow torch to light the candles. Whatever happened to plain matches? Oh well, if you've got these things, you've gotta use them. Nathan looked mesmerized. I can just hear his thoughts... "just wait until Dad turns his back and I get my hands on that thing!" Oooh Nooooo!

Next of course, Nathan blew out the candles. That's all six of them with one breath! Woo Woo! Here he is jubilant at his accomplishment.


Laura officiated at the cutting and serving of the cake as a proper Mom should. She cut giant pieces... just like I like em! We all stuffed our faces with cake and icecream and the party wound down. Tomorrow was a work day, after all. And so... another birthday milestone has come and gone.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

BYC Race - Third Place

Saturday dawned beautiful and balmy. I dressed in a swimsuit with shorts over and was prepared for a great race day. The winds were not too bad but they built as the morning progressed. Bruce and I met Mark and Brenda at their boat, Sea Flight and we all went out to breakfast. Afterwards, Brenda and I cleaned the dust from the recent west winds off of the boat and got things ready while the guys attended the skipper's meeting. The race began at noon.

It was a "persuit" start which means that we are using our handycap at the start so that when we finish, we all know how we did. The winners are first, second, and third over the line. I really think that way is the best way. Our crew was rounded out by a 5th, Johnny. I've never sailed with him before but he was very pleasant.

Our old friend Karl was aboard Brigadoon. It was good to see him back out on the bay. Jan wasn't racing.. word has it that her back is still giving her a bit of trouble. Sorry to hear it. It was a funny thing seeing them here. On our way to the boat in the morning, we passed a woman walking along Mcardle that I would have sworn was Jan. It turned out that it was her, on her way back to her mom's place at our neighboring townhomes, Rock Creek. See! I wasn't crazy!

Anyway... we had a great start. The winds were up over 20 kts. We had a smaller gib... the "giblet"... as Mark calls it, but a full main. This we kept slacked off for the majority of the race to depower it.

As we were creeping up on the boats in front of us at the first mark, we saw Still Dreaming round it and then stall and begin to drift back onto the mark. Yikes! From our vantage point, it seemed like there was no way that they would make it. Somehow they slipped right by it and had to fall way off to regroup.

It looks like there were lots of differing opinions about how to round this mark today. The rest of the race was nice and uneventful. We rounded the other marks and maintained third place. Our crew worked well together. Mark's boat is very easy to sail and always a pleasure. It was a great day!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Wednesday Night AGAIN!!!

OK, so it's April 1st... the wind is STILL blowing! What happened to "out like a lamb"? I was really counting on it! As Bruce and I are driving along the bay front towards the marina he's telling me that it's blowing like stink and we will probably end up with a margarita at the Surf Club. I'm thinking... this is great! Watch the start and have a nice dinner...

We get there and Steve is saying it's been really blowing. He gets his little wind gauge thingy out and we take to the bleachers to get a better reading.

It's come down a bit but it's still really blowing. Steve takes a beating at the help on Cute Shoes when the winds are much over 20 kts. So he's thinking maybe not... But then, he starts saying things like "I really need a sailing fix" and "whaddaya think?"....


Whaddaya think I think??? I've been promised a grilled chicken salad and a margarita!


But poor Steve really needs this and long story short... Jacquie shows up with Sandy and no intention of going out, these two guys are hanging around looking for a ride, so I quickly offer up my place on Cute Shoes to them and they accept.


They're happy... I'm happy... Bruce and Steve are happy! Win Win! It's almost race time at this point so the guys get going. Jacquie, Sandy and I chat while watching the race start.

I took some pictures for the MORF website. Steve has taken over as web master and needs all the photos I can come up with to keep it fresh.
We had one more wave at our guys as they set out on the course, then Jacquie and I went our separate ways. I went home and got into my jammies for an early night. Bruce and Steve stayed for the monthly social and snuck home to bed.