Homecoming 10-28-2010

October 28th Thursday PM

As you can see from the above photo, Lou is home and this is a picture of two happy folks.

Dr. Nespola released Lou at 7:00 pm. His timing was wonderful as Lou and

I had a very relaxing afternoon and both of us were served a wonderful turkey dinner with all of the trimmings and for dessert we had blueberry cobbler that had been warmed to perfection. We had just finished the evening news, once again good timing.

When Dr. Nespola talked to both of this evening he explained all of the situation out to us and he has three days of antibiotics to be taken, resume all of his current medications, no restriction on activities, work until he is tired and rest, leave for Florida or parts south on January 1st and see him next spring. He does need to visit Dr. Nespola in two weeks and of course, Dr. N knows I will report any irregularities.

Once again thank you for all of your prayers, cards, visits and phone calls. Hopefully, things, will get back to normal soon.

Update -2-

October 29th - Wednesday - BEAUTIFUL FALL DAY

It was much too nice of a day to spend in the hospital; however, I was glad to do so to be with Lou. I went to the hospital very early this am. When I arrived I found that he had lost most of his tubes and such. He still has the IV for additional antibiotics.

He was able to get himself washed this morning and to change his pajamas by himself, but by the time he was finished he was ready for a rest. He had a delightful student nurse today and they took a liking to each other and she couldn't do enough for Lou and me. After Lou got ready for the day, she made each of us a cup of coffee, so we were able to have coffee together.

Dr. Nespola came in around noon and told us that he wasn't impressed by the lab work. The numbers are not coming back to normal as quickly as he had hoped. He is awaiting the sensitivity for the urine culture to find if he is using the correct antibiotic. We should have the results of that tomorrow. He ordered physical therapy to start tomorrow, to help Lou regain his strength. Everyone that I have told that to today, questioned why he would need physical therapy. There is a formula used in the medical field and it is for every day a healthy person is in bed, it will take three days to recover. Hence, the reason for the physical therapy. I know Lou was disappointed, as he felt he would come home today. I honestly don't think Lou realizes how sick he was. So he may or may not come home tomorrow night. Dr. N won't see him until after office hours tomorrow, so that will be late.

Now tomorrow there will be more blood work to check his numbers and if they are beginning to raise and if the antibiotic treatment is the drug of choice, he will be able to come home on oral antibiotics, if not he will need to stay longer.

One of the nurses came in today while the dietitian was there and asked her to order a guest tray for me for each of Lou's meals, she told her I was the one doing the nursing and that was something they could do for me. So tonight Lou and I were able to eat our dinner together. He is in a semi-private room; however, they have avoided filling that bed to give us the room and privacy and we have both enjoyed it being a little quieter.

This is the first time I have had a family member in our local hospital since my mother died ten years and I am very impressed with all of the folks. Perhaps, it helps that I know most of them, I know we have many notes to write when Lou returns home.

Thank you again for all of the phone calls, prayers, cards and Kris the homemade cookies were wonderful with a cup of tea this evening. It was hard to save some for Lou tomorrow.

Update

October 26th - Tuesday - Sunny then heavy rain

When I arrived at the hospital this morning before 10:00, I found Lou still connected to all of the IV's and monitors; however, he was sitting in the chair. He looked tired and said he was tired. I told him patients don't usually sleep well the first night but would probably sleep better tonight.

He did have a lot of company this morning and again this afternoon. His nephew came from Harrisburg and stayed with him, while I took a respite and had lunch with my attorney friend that had flown in from Louisiana. Lou and I had planned on spending the afternoon and evening with her on Sunday, but God had other plans. Lou and his nephew have a lot in common and they both enjoyed their chat. It worked out well, as Preston and Susie had driven up from Tyrone this morning, and they had lunch with John at Preston's favorite restaurant in Wellsboro.

Dr. Nespola came in late this evening and sat down with Lou and I again. He saves us for last and that way we get to have a chat also. The ultrasound did not show any reason for the infection, which is a good thing. The reason for the UTI has not been determined. Dr. N did have some good news for us, Lou's heart is alright, no damage there from the Sepsis; therefore, they are going to remove the telemetry and he is voiding lots of urine and his potassium and calcium levels have increased, so they are going to pull the IV's.

When Lou asked Dr. N when he could go home, Dr. N gave him his favorite grin and stated a couple more days and Lou seemed to accept that answer.

I am planning on going to the hospital early tomorrow, as Dr.N is off on Wednesdays and he will make his rounds early and I will again stay until 10:00 or so.

Please continue to keep him in your prayers and thanks to all of you for your notes of encouragement and the outpouring of love.

Hospitalization

October 25th - Monday - Rainy

After a long night 8:00 am finally arrived and I was able to call Dr. Nespola and reported to him the happenings for Lou of the weekend. He asked Lou to go to the hospital to be admitted for Sepsis. My husband, being who he is didn't want to do that; however, when Dr. Nespola called back, he stated he would like Lou to go to the lab at the hospital for lab work and an UA and C&S, and go to his office. After some coaxing Lou agreed to that.

We arrived at the hospital lab and found Amanda, being the efficient MA that she is had indeed called the order down and they were waiting for Lou, they processed him through quickly, drew his blood and did the UA and we walked to Dr. N's office, we were quickly put into a room, so Lou could lay down and await the results of the lab work. Dr. Nespola soon came in and looked at Lou and said "you are a very sick gentleman", which I know took Lou by surprise, as he kept thinking it was a reaction to the flu injection that he had on Friday. "not". Dr. N gave me the lab results and I quickly looked them over as he explained to Lou what was indeed happening. He indeed does have Sepsis, which to you that are not familiar with the term, is life threatening and a very serious condition. Many death certificates has Sepsis as the cause of death and Lou dealing with death certificates on a regular basis is aware of this. Sepsis is a toxic condition resulting from the spread of bacteria or the products of bacteria from an infection someplace in the body.

Lou was indeed admitted to the hospital and immediately started on an IV antibiotic, after blood cultures were taken. He is also being given IV potassium , when I left at 10:30, he had completed one bag and the second one was hung. He is on telemetry, where they are monitoring his heart, and that has shown sinus rhythm w/ p.n.c.'s and later on showed numeral p.v.c.'s. Sepsis can affect all organs of the body. It is believed this is stemming from an UTI and he is scheduled for a kidney and bladder ultrasound in the morning and if a problem is found there a Urologist will be called in.

He has been coughing and has had an elevated temp, therefore, a chest x-ray was done and that did not show any thing to be concerned about, ie, no pneumonia. His blood pressure on admission was very low and also his pulse; however, both of those are returning to normal with additional fluid.

Dr. Nespola was in twice this evening, and again late this evening, he sat down with Lou and I and told us he expected him to make a full recovery, although it was going to take some time and he needed to be patient and not expect over night results. He does plan to do additional studies tomorrow.

Lou is in good spirits and knows that God will see us through this "bump in the road".

A special thanks to all of family members and friends and our pastor that were there to do whatever was needed. Krista even went to our house and gave Estee her medication and played with her, she was what Lou was concerned about. Just a note to let you know how much she loves Lou, when I came home this evening, she met me on the deck and as I closed the gate to the deck, she sat down at the gate and cried, looked for Lou, came to me and went back on the deck. I finally went out and picked her up and gave her his undershirt that I had brought home with me to launder and you guess it, she is in her bed, with Lou's shirt. Not dumb animals, are they? I know there will be pets in heaven. If our pets love us this much, imagine how much God loves us.

I will try to keep every one updated on the Blog but I do intend to spend the majority of my time at the hospital with Lou. That is my second home.

The Week in Review

October 24th Sunday - Cloudy 45 degrees

Another week of October has passed in a flurry of activities. We always know when we return from a SMART Muster it will be a busy week and Monday came with a bang. I was able to get the ironing and the rest of the laundry finished and made a huge pot of home made potato and ham soup for dinner along with a new recipe of Date and Walnut muffins.

That made a nice dinner before heading out to Jim and Pat's house to meet up with other square dance friends, Jerry and Joanne and we were all off in Jim's van for Troy, PA. We ended up with nine couples from our club in addition to the folks that always dance in Troy. Our dance floor was full most of the evening. It amazes me how whenever, we visit another club, I always find someone I knew from years ago and Monday night was not an exception. Lou and I were dancing in a square of our folks plus a couple from the Troy group, when all of a sudden I realized I knew the man I was dancing with. He turned out to be Wayne Strange, a gentleman that we purchased a garage kit from over thirty years ago. He and his wife remembered me, so we were able to catch up on thirty years during our breaks. This made the evening even more enjoyable.

When we returned to Jim and Pat's house they were gracious to give us a guided tour of their beautiful, spacious home. We were very impressed with their lot and their home. Pat collects dolls and has them displayed in many different places throughout their home. Jim loves wood working and despite losing his fingers to a saw, he had made some beautiful items for their home, from dressers, shelves, chairs, cupboards and cabinets. Pat quilts and sews, so with both of their talents, you can imagine their home. Jim also grows orchids, and some of them are displayed on their window sills.

Tuesday brought a decent day weather wise, so Lou was off to winterize the motor home and get the awnings dried out for storage. I was off to the grocery store and washed the car. When we pull it behind the RV it gets filthy, so it didn't get it's weekly bath prior to going, so thought this was a good time to get it cleaned up inside and out. I wanted to get it waxed, but ran out of time. Tuesday nights we try to eat on time, so we can be all finished up in the kitchen and be able to sit down in the living room and enjoy NCIS. Our very favorite television show. After that was over we enjoyed a Netflex movie. Neither of us are huge television fans, the news in the morning for Lou and again in the early evening and then it is just movies.

Wednesday and Thursday Lou and I spent the days at Broad Acres as they hosted the 55 Alive class. It had been three years since Lou had taken the class and many years for me. When we arrived, we found that our friends Lou and Joanne had also signed up and were their also. Broad Acres served us a snack in the morning with coffee and or tea and at lunch time a lovely lunch with dessert. When we finished the class on Wednesday, Lou and I made a quick trip to his house to get the RV taken to the barn for the winter, so that is taken care of. We had asked Allyn to reinforce the barn floor to ensure the new RV would be safely secured and we found that he had already accomplished that. What a pleasure to ask someone to do something for you and find it done with no reminders.

I had put a chuck roast in the crock pot before leaving for class and what a good idea, when we returned home from the cold and wind at the barn, the house smelled so good, and Lou quickly turned on the potatoes while I changed my clothes and we had dinner ready in no time. We even took time to enjoy a movie together in the evening.

Thursday I awoke with a migraine again, something that seems to be almost a daily occurrance. I took my medication and laid back down while Lou tried to think of something to help me. We did go on to our class and we finished a little early, so thought I would use that extra time to get the car waxed. That is one fall job off of our list. Lou packed up the Buick with things that needed to go back to his house and took Estee with him to accomplish a few things there. We met back here for dinner and a movie with Robert Duvall, Tender Mercies. It was wonderful, highly recommend it to any of you that haven't seen it. We had to research Mr. Duvall after the movie to see more about him. I had only seen him once before in Lonesome Dove.

Friday morning we were off to get our flu injections, something we both do faithfully each fall. We needed to pick up a couple items from the grocery and get gas for the car. Gasoline here is 289.9, seems to keep going up!!

After we got home, Lou tackled the garden pulling up the beans and picking the shell beans. He worked at that until it was time to go to his house to meet Preston. While Lou was gone I set about dinner, I baked a chicken, squash, stuffing and made an apple pie,fixed cauliflower and brussel sprouts. I knew Preston would be here for dinner and he is a diabetic and loves his veggies.

Susie called while I was fixing dinner, so had a chance to really get caught up on the family news with her, both of us have busy lives and to find a time when we can just chat is rare, so really enjoyed talking with her. They have just completed the task of putting a new roof on their house and getting ready to rebuilt their sun porch. It is great to have members of the family that are eager to share their talents when needed.

Sue and Tim are looking forward to a weekend of baby sitting with Wyatt in Philadelphia. His mommy and daddy are going to be attending the Marine Ball, which is a special night for Travis and Noell. Travis is working long hours as a recruiting officer and thankfully Noell has just started up a new Blog to keep us informed on their life. Lou and I had missed the daily or weekly contacts with them. I am in hopes I can have their Christmas presents all ready so Sue and Tim can take them with them.

Lou told me when he came home from his house, he was cold, so fixed him a hot cup of tea and turned up the heat in the house, wondering if he was having a reaction to the flu injection. After dinner, he started with chills and ended up vomiting with shaking chills. Gave him some Tylenol and he sat with Preston and I watching a new show that Preston and us like with Tom Selleck. After the show was over, Preston went back to the house and Lou continued being sick, so got him ready for bed and into bed. He complained of being sore all over, took his temp and it was also elevated, he did sleep well, and awoke in the AM thinking he was going to "set the world on fire". He knew Preston was up to tackle some jobs at the homestead and also that Sandra was coming to help, so he felt like he had to be there, I was able to talk him into waiting until afternoon when it was warmer, he was able to eat a little soup and some crackers and left for his place. He returned about 4:00 pm and looked like something the dog had hauled home. His temp was 100.2, chills, it was hard to talk him into a nap, he slept until 6:30 and had a hot shower, a little dinner, a hallmark movie on television he wanted to see, then bed. He still has a temp this morning, and he thought he would go to church and I said "no", he is back in bed and if he still has the temp tomorrow, he will see Dr. N. Thankfully, the vomiting and diarrhea have ceased, so think we are making progress.

A special thank you to Preston and Sandra for their work at the homestead. They were able to get the shrubbery trimmed and some leaves rakes up. The weather was not very cooperative for them. Preston was able to help his dad in the cemetery, as Lou was very concerned about two new graves that needed attention prior to bad weather. Thankfully, this will be the last year that this responsibility is going to be Lou's. We are trying to make several changes in our lives to allow time with this new motor home. With the expense of the new RV we want to be able to use it as much as possible, so we need to make some drastic changes and we are praying for the correct changes.

You will note the squash that we collected from the garden, we had purchased both kinds of squash from the PX in North Carolina last year and saved the seeds and planted them. They are wonderful to eat and so easy to prepare. I just do not know what their names are.

We also had good news from Camping World about our new RV, it will be shipped on the 22nd of November and should arrive in Syracuse 10 to 14 days thereafter. When speaking with Bob at Camping World, I asked him if we had to have the RV completely cleaned out, and he said "no", that will save a huge amount of work. He stated they would pull the new one right up next to the old one and we can transfer the items. Even though it will probably be cold that day, it will be much easier. Lou and Preston said it will be right during hunting season, "oh well, thems the breaks".

My girl friend from Louisiana is in town this weekend and we were supposed to take her to dinner today; however, due to Lou's condition, we opted for perhaps a luncheon and a day of looking at property, when he is feeling better.

Hopefully, this week we can finish up our fall jobs, although rain is forecasted. I do have some sewing I want to get accomplished, I purchased some square dancing dresses and they need to be shortened and it is a long way around one of those skirts.

Home Again

October 17th - Sunday - Sweetest Day Beautiful fall day

Once again we were up early and ready to fix breakfast for everyone and someone forgot to unlock the clubhouse for us, so we were very late getting around, so by the time we fixed, served, and cleaned up and got ready to leave for home it was noon.

Can you tell from the picture that Estee is ready to travel? She loved to ride on the top of the sofa and that way she can look out the window as we drive.

It was a beautiful drive home. We did not come back the same way, we or I should say Lou chose route 61 to travel home on. It was a beautiful drive, but very hilly and full of sharp curves. The trees in southern PA are beautiful, and as we got closer to home we noted that our pretty colors have left and are replaced with the dark shades from the oak.

We stopped in Williamsport for gas at 2.859 and after filling our gas tank thought we should fill our tummies. We went to Red Lobster and celebrated Sweetest Day in fashion. Today if the anniversary our first date, so this day every year has special meaning.

We arrived at Lou's house about 6:30 and we got unhooked and everything transferred from the RV to the car and by 7:30, I had everything put away and had laundry started.

I tried something different this time and I do believe this system is going to work better for us, as it is really a task to transfer everything from the RV to our car and bring to our house. I knew there had to be an easier way and think finally we have found it. It makes going away and coming back much easier on me.

Now to tackle the fall list here at home and get that accomplished while it is a bit warmer, then need to winterize the RV and take everything out to await the arrival of the new home.

A busy week ahead.

Afternoon of Crafts and Pot Luck Dinner

Saturday Afternoon Crafting

We had a nice afternoon of painting Halloween ceramics. Each of the girls picked out a couple items that they would like to do. All of them had done ceramics at different bases that they had been stationed at, so all were familiar with the task at hand.

We laughed as we tried to make the tiny details complete, as our hands are not as steady as they were many years ago when we all enjoyed this craft, and decided starting again on Halloween items was a good choice. We blended colors and came up with some interesting items that we thought our grandchildren would get a kick out of.

One of the girls does hand made cards and she shared her talents with us. All in all it was a very interesting afternoon, and we broke up that session and all hurried home to fix our dish for our pot luck dinner.

That is always a great success and we had a nice variety of foods and the conversation was lively, as these dinners are. What stories these guys tell about each other and Lou got on his story of the money names Pisquielly. I had heard the story before, but the guys all remembered it with much more detail. That gathering didn't break up until about 8:30 and then we came home quickly and gave Estee her medication and a potty break and we went to our friends, Doug and Connie and spent some time with them visiting. Lou and I are very fond of them, they are some of the first people Lou introduced me to after I met him, so they have been very special to both of us. They have been leading a caravan of RV's and had been gone for three months. What stories they have to share.

Now we just have one more breakfast to prepare and then pack up and take everything back home and then start the big pack up to get ready for the new RV.

Second day - Adamstown, PA

October 16th - Saturday, beautiful sunny day - 54 degrees

Our day started before the sun came up this morning. In fact this Blog Post will be in sections,as our day is divided into sections today.

Lou and I quickly readied ourselves for the day and took our supplies for breakfast to the clubhouse. Steve arrived earlier than us and had the coffee started; however, we blew a circuit breaker and had to work that problem out before we could finish breakfast. All worked out and breakfast was served as each member sleepily appeared at the clubhouse. Everyone seemed to enjoy the hot breakfast. We all chatted until 9:00 when we held our business meeting, electing new officers for the upcoming year and signing up as sponsors for the monthly Musters starting in April. We are all in agreement we would like to visit other places in Pennsylvania and perhaps, neighboring states, so should be an interesting upcoming year. We also decided that we are going to meet for a Holiday Luncheon in December before we all set out for the sunny south. Our National Muster will be in Oklahoma and we have several couples that will be traveling to this and that will be held in September. Thankfully, our group doesn't have to work this year, we get to enjoy.

After breakfast, I brought the leftovers and dirty pots back to the RV and scrubbed them all up for the next outing. I also needed to prepare my dish for the potluck tonight. I am making a spinach quiche. While I was doing all of this Lou and Steve made a quick trip to an appliance shop to seek equipment to repair Steve's RV radio and Lou needed to pick me up some acrylic clear spray, as are going to paint ceramics this afternoon for a special craft. Krista poured us some Halloween and Thanksgiving items that I thought the ladies would enjoy painting and taking home with them. So that is the next thing to do. You can see from the pictures it is a beautiful day here and I am in hopes I can get out and walk a bit, and take Estee out.

Lou and I took Estee to the vet on Wednesday prior to leaving for here. She has had a raspy sound and drinking excessively and I was concerned about congestive heart failure. When I called the Vet we have always seen, she did not have an opening in the Wellsboro office and suggested I see one of the new doctors in Mansfield, and we agreed. I was very impressed with this new physician, Dr. Suresh. He went all over Estee, which will be eleven years old this month. As he listened to her lungs he was shaking his head telling us "not good". At the end of his examination, he explained it could be a number of things. Our last visit to the Vet had ended with Estee being placed on Prednisone (a steriod) for an allergic reaction? This being done, our new physician could not do any lab work, as there might be false positive results, so we agreed to give her an antibiotic for two weeks along with Benedryl and then call him with her progress and if she isn't improving we will do lab work and chest x-rays to confirm the CHF. I knew I would feel badly, but I was not ready for Lou's reaction, he has become very attached to Estee and told us he couldn't bare the thoughts of not having her, so............. Thus far we haven't seen any improvement, she still loves to play ball with Lou and sit on his lap whenever his bottom hits a chair. Estee even has to go to the bathroom with him. It is surprising that the majority of our SMART people travel with dogs and most of them are large dogs, but Lou and I prefer these small no shedding dogs.

Adamstown, PA SMART Muster

October 15th Friday Cool and Sunny

We left Wellsboro yesterday as it was beginning to rain and it continued to rain all of the way here and continued during the night last evening. This morning we awoke to sunshine, however, we have lots of wind.

Our SMART group met in the clubhouse for a welcome supper of homemade bean soup and a variety of homemade breads and for dessert we enjoyed a birthday cake to celebrate all of the birthdays in October.

We enjoyed chatting with everyone last evening and catching up with all of what had happened since our last meeting at Centre Hall in September.

We were up early this morning and got breakfast ready for our group. We are fortunate to have a club house to meet in, as it is a bit chilly outside to use the pavilion. After we cleaned up from breakfast, Lou and I got ready and drove into Reading to Vanity Fair Outlet, both of us enjoy shopping there and neither of us have been there in years. Lou was anxious to get some new jeans, he has been wearing four pair that I had gotten from Penneys and he was in need of fresh ones. Once I got him going he got right into it and I think he ended up with six pair of jeans and four pair of shorts along with new shirts, under clothes, belts, wallet and a couple of odds and ends. We really had a good time and took a little extra time and had Chinese for lunch and arrived back to the RV in time to walk Estee and meet the rest of our group and out for dinner.

We all drove to Ephrata for dinner, we ate at Bright's and found it to be a wonderful place to eat with great homemade food. Lou and I enjoyed a shrimp dinner with pepper slaw and for dessert we split blueberry crumb pie. We ended up having 24 people in attendance. After we returned back at the RV, I started preparing the sausage gravy for breakfast. I have two crock pots full of gravy sitting on the kitchen counter keeping warm for an early breakfast.

We had a friend drop by this evening, Fred Winner. He is a wood carver and he wanted to show us his latest project. He is carving a Puffin and you can see from the picture, he has done a wonderfully good job. Lou had a private showing of a black capped chickadee that he did some time ago, and Lou surprised me with it for a special gift. Fred had entered in a talent show and had won with it, so this is very special treasure for me. Not only that Fred is such a loving, gentle man, Lou and I have so much respect for him. I will have to take a picture of the bird and show all of you what a special gift this is.

Well tomorrow will be a busy day also and we will have to be up very early.

Changeable Weather

October 12th Beautiful early and then..............

Lou and I have been using the great weather as a time to get some of our odd jobs done for the winter months, not knowing that winter was approaching so quickly.... See above pictures.

Lou spent the day at his house cutting the grass and doing a few things that had long been neglected.

I took advantage of the good weather and got our grass cut and the weed eater run, and then feeling bad to think I hadn't even purchased any mums to plant for fall, went for a walk around our yard and found many items that would look good in our plant boxes for fall, surprising the beauty that is just awaiting some attention.

After the great feeling of knowing the house was all fall cleaned, I worked on the outside. Got all of the windows outside washed and scrubbed both decks and the sidewalks. Worked on the windows in and outside of the garage and ran the sweeper in the garage and mopped the floor, so things were really looking up. I got the leaf blower out and blew all of the leaves away from the back area. Estee and I were watching some black clouds approaching so I quickly grabbed the clothes from the clothes line, as big drops started to fall, followed by the hail stones that were about the size of a pea and they just kept coming, then the rain fell, I believe Lou told me that we received over an inch in the hour.

I had fixed a baked ham dinner with fresh winter squash and homemade apple dumplings for dessert. We both enjoyed our dinner after all of the hard work and cooler temperatures.

The next day, while Lou went to a friends house to help him with some paper work, I went to work in the kitchen. This weekend Lou and I along with our friends June and Steve are in charge of the SMART Muster in Adamstown, PA. I made two crock pots of homemade bean and ham soup along with 12 dozen home made baking powder biscuits to have with the sausage gravy I made for our breakfast. I also stirred up a batch of peanut butter cookies for Lou. He loves his cookies after each meal, so try to keep fresh ones at all times. Good thing I enjoy cooking and baking, and I have missed having the time to do it in the summer.

We had our great-granddaughters come after school to pick out their pumpkins to carve. This seems to be a tradition that was started when their parents were little, and it has just carried on. Lou and I had purchased a special winter squash in North Carolina last year and it was so good that we saved the seeds and we planted this year and they grew to be numerous, so Lou harvested them this week also, so now we just have to clean up the vines and await spring to start over again.

Now we are off to Adamstown in the morning.

New York City

October 9th - Saturday Beautiful Day - Pretty Drive

Lou and I were up at 4:30 AM to be at Benedict's Bus Service at 5:30 so we could board the bus to travel to New York City. This was Lou's first trip to NYC in years and he throughly enjoyed it. Up until this year, I traveled to the City at least twice a year, for many reasons, one trip two years ago was just to have lunch in Central Park and get a hair cut.

This year we went for the express purpose of visiting The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. If you folks can believe it, this is one Air Museum that Lou had never visited.

Lou and I were dropped off near the Gershwin Theatre close to Eighth Avenue and we walked the distance to the Museum which was located at Pier 86, 12th Avenue and 46th Street. Lou and I both enjoying walking and it was the perfect day for walking in the City, as it is always windy and sometimes can be very cold; however, yesterday was a perfect day in all aspects.

The Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum spans four city blocks, the new Intrepid is an attraction with spectacular interactive exhibits and the latest in virtual, multi-sensory and video-display technology. It is located at the new park-like Pier 86 that is lined with lush trees and comfortable benches.

From the moment you walk through the entrance you are captivated by a 10 foot by 30 foot video wall, views through opened hatches and a inspirational introductory film.

We were able to see areas of the shop that the normal person would never see, such as the massive anchor chains to the newly opened berthing area where the crew slept to a 1960 recreated mess deck.

There were many hands on activities in the new interactive halls. The guests could land a plane in the flight simulator, climb into a life boat, pick up objects with astronaut gloves.

Lou and I were fortunate enough to be among a special tour group and had a marvelous tour guide (Mark) that just bubbled with stories and history of the Intrepid. Among our group was a gentleman that was stationed on the ship while he was in the Navy and he also shared his stories. It was a day neither of us will ever forget.

Lou and I rode up on the huge elevator that brought the fighter planes from the lower deck to the flight deck, listened to the planes take off and return to the ship and the precautions that were taken to make sure the plane and the pilot and his crew were safely returned to the ship.

The most impressive part of the day for me was to sit in the Mulitmedia room and watch The Day of Darkness and Day of Light. We were able to be transformed into the actual part of the ship on November 25th 1944, when the Intrepid was struck by two kamikaze suicide planes. It was as if we were actually taking part in the attack, right down to the sound and smoke from the massive fires that broke out when the ship was hit. At that point the ship was out of commission for three months and once again returned to the Pacific Ocean near the Philippines where it remained until the end of the war.

After we left the Intrepid, we walked on to the British Airways Concorde, if you remember this plane flew 1,350 MPH. The fastest Atlantic crossing by any Concorde occurred on February 7, 1996 and it took only two fours and 52 minutes. We were able to explore this wonderful plane.

After touring the Concorde we walked up to the USS Growler Submarine. The Growler is the only strategic missile submarine open to the public in the United States. A guided cruise missile, the 32 foot long Regulus. The Regulus missile served as an important nuclear deterrent during the Cold War 1950s and 1960s.

The sub was 317 foot long and could carry up to 15 torpedoes which were intended for self-defense. We toured the Missile guidance center, a truly unique room, 35 years ago this space was classified top secret.

The Control room/attack center houses the Growler's periscopes. This is where the captain commanded the Growler and the crew members steered her through the water.

The Growler was commissioned on August 30th 1958 and decommissioned on May 25th 1964.

All in all the hours that we spent at the Museum were very enjoyable and the time passed so quickly. We had to be back to board the bus for home at 7:00, so we quickly walked back to the area close to the bus area and found a place to eat. We had a delicious dinner and stopped at the Hershey Store at Times Square for dessert and a snack for the ride back home.

It was a wonderful day and one that Lou and I throughly enjoyed. It was a day of bitter sweet memories also, as my late husband has been gone for three years today, and I am so thankful first to the Lord for guiding my steps and for placing Lou in my path and for the support from my family for accepting Lou as my husband. I can not imagine what these last two years would have been without Lou in my life. Praise God for all of his blessings each and every day.

We arrived home safely around 12:30 am, tired and happy.

This will be a busy week coming up, as Lou and I are sponsoring a weekend of SMART camping in Adamstown, PA, along with our friends Steve and June Bahr and we will be leaving early Thursday morning. So much to get done prior to departing.

Autumn jobs and joys

October 8th Friday

My after all of the rain, it certainly makes us think that we are glad it was rain and not snow. I told Lou that the Lord knew I needed to get my fall housecleaning done and he sent the rain. I spent the entire week, cleaning drawers, closets and washing curtains, and finally cleaning the carpets. I can thankfully say now that our home has been fully fall housecleaned and I am rejoicing in the feeling I have knowing that everything is back in its place and clean.

Lou was able to get some scheduled work done on both of the cars and finished up the work on the RV during the rainy weather, and he went through his magazines and books along with getting caught up on some paper work, so both of us feel like we had about two weeks of getting our lives back on track.

During the good days, the State was able to work on our road and they have completed the job of repaving Catlin Hollow, filling in along the new pavement and painting stripes in the center and sides of the road. It will be like a super highway for folks that travel this road, and we do have a lot of traffic.

Lou picked up his new glasses last week and you will note a picture of him with the new frames. It took a multitude of professionals to convince him that he needed to convert to the 20th century. He got rid of the pea green tint and now has photo-gray lenses and the lenses are plastic. He looks like a new man and I can see his beautiful blue eyes, so I will enjoy the new glasses more than he will.

We got our grass cut on Friday, although it was too wet to cut the area by the barn, we still haven't had a killing frost, so haven't picked the pumpkins, we usually save that job for the grandkids to pick the ones that they want first and Lou and I use what is left over. Krista always likes to have some that she will can for pie filling.

Friday night we went to the viewing of Lou's cousin, Grace Kemp. She was married to David Kemp and she passed away last week so we had an opportunity to visit with that part of his family Friday evening, then we went out for dinner at Lamb's Creek. It was nearly 8:30 when we arrived and the place was full; however, we have a little pull and a table was found for us and we had a very enjoyable meal.

Tomorrow will be a different day, as we are off to New York City.