Still here!!!!!

Well the kids have been gone home for a few days and life around here is slowly getting back to normal.....I have been able to play pool several times here in the park and also over at Magnolia a couple of times a week at night....I have been kind of disappointed that we don't have much if any pool action here at Siesta at night....I am use to playing in the evening from Magnolia and just can't get use to not playing every night for a couple of hours......Oh well I guess we can't always have every thing we want all the time, but I just can't figure out why not.....HA HA

Well I know that this cool weather isn't the best thing for my new knees as they are sure stiff unless I keep them moving.....I guess that's the secret to the whole process but I am not use to that any more....I am kind of proud of myself as when I take Marilyn to Wal-Mart I don't use the electric carts and do all the walking around the store without any cane or walker.....I do push one of the shopping carts as I do pick up some stuff once in a while so I'm doing very well....It's only been less than 4 months since the first knee surgery and 7 weeks since the last one....Things are getting better all the time and they told me it would take quite some time before things would seem to be normal for me....I am just looking forward to seeing all the old friends coming back from up NORTH and spending some time talking to all them about just what they have been doing....Most of them already know just what I have been doing and most of that is quite boring...HA HA....Till next time....

Late again

I know I said that I would post more often but I have been trying to catch up on some things that I haven't been able to do because of the surgeries.....Also we have had company for a while and we have been trying to entertain them...(our youngest son and his girlfriend)...They came to help drive Marilyn around while I was layed up with the last surgery......They have been a big help around the house...This last week I got to play pool several times  here in the park and even over at Magnolia a coupe of times...It was sure nice to get around a table again, but I sure need lots of practice to come close to being able to compete again.....Oh well now I will have time to do lots of things and my knees won't hurt at least....They are still stiff and I have to limber them up quite often, but they say in time that will change....Well at least I have written something so you know that I am OK, just lazy about writing....Next time......

Finally

Well here it is quite some time since I have written on this blog and I know that at least one of my readers has been itching to poke me about it...(DS).....I said that it would be a while and true to  my word it surely has been...I am just now being able to set for very long at the computer or for that matter on any chair or seat....The nerves in my leg have been dealing me a fit when any pressure is put on them by setting down....I knew ii was going to happen as I had the same thing with the other leg from the first surgery....At least this time I haven't had any complications with this leg and knee like I did with the other one....Thank GOD for that ....I have been getting along very well and am walking even without a cane so it's looking up for me...I am just trying to build up my strength and that just takes time....I am still having physical therapy and that isn't the greatest joy of the day.....I lost some of the flexibility in the first knee when I couldn't exercise it for about 2 weeks before the second surgery and about a week after surgery....It's now harder to get the range of motion in it than in the latest surgery....It's doing great, no pain in either knee, but there is a great deal of stiffness to overcome....This cool weather is really getting to me now, but that will pass in time....Well at least I have written and you know that I'm still alive....I look forward to being able to write again ....Until next time........

Some Thoughts

Well here it is a couple of days before I have surgery on my left knee and even though I dread to have it done it will be great latter on when I have healed up....Yesterday the hospital called and reminded me what time to check in and some final instructions....I have sure suffered this week as I have had to stop taking some of the meds that I used to stop the pain in my knee....I couldn't take them before surgery cause they were blood thinners.....Well it won't be long now is all I can say....I won't be able to write on the blog for some time so don't be angry with me....I know that I will be in rehab for a week or so after I get out of the hospital and even then I won't be able to get around too well when I get home for the therapy sessions...Please say a little prayer for me as I am not very pain tolerant....Later....

Update for the Old Fat Boy

Well I bet you thought I wasn't ever going to write on here again, but I am going to fool you.....HA HA  I just got done with the Magnolia Blog and thought I better put something on here also....It's been 6 weeks since I had surgery on my right knee and am doing well....I can't kick too high but then I never could any way....I have been walking without a cane for a couple of weeks now and my therapy is over for the most part, just some exercises that I can do myself for the next several weeks or so....A week from tomorrow or Monday the 26th I am set to go back and have the left knee done..With the first knee I was gone from home for 2 weeks with the hospital and rehab all together...I am hoping that this time it won't be as long as I know a lot of the stuff I already learned in rehab...I just have to be able to do the stuff....I know that in the long run it's all going to be worth it, and this is just  a little bump in the road so to speak.....

Knee update

Well tomorrow is the big day or at least the start of the BIG days....I have to show up at the hospital at 5;30 in the morning (WHAT ?????)....That's too early for the old fat boy but I guess I will have to go along with what ever they say to get the job done....The plan is to stay in the rehab center long enough to gain strength in the leg that they put the new knee in before they send me back to have the other one done....I guess they have a plan for me and I just have to let them guide me in the right direction , their the doctors not me....I don't know just how long I will have to be in the rehab center and no one can tell me for sure either as every case is different they tell me....I know that I am not too crazy about being gone from home too long, but will do what ever is necessary...Well there will be a spell when I won't be able to write on the blog so bear with me as I will update when I can... Life's still good anyway.....

News

Well today I finally went to the knee Dr. and did all the preregistering and signing lots of papers....Then took a packet of papers over to the hospital and did all the registering over there....I also was poked and prodded, x-rayed, and the vampire took several samples of blood for testing and also to be able to give me blood transfusions if needed during surgery (which I hope doesn't happen), but I guess they need to be prepared for everything possible that might happen.....Next Thursday morning all I have to do is just show up and sign in that I am there and wait for them to start....You might say that I am on the way now..HA HA

I did get an e-mail today from a  good friend kind of poking me about the blog and any news, so I knew I better put something down for those that might want to know....I was asked if I would keep up the blog from rehab, but I haven't even thought of that, but one of my friends that just had the same surgery from the same Dr. and rehab center said I wouldn't have too much time as they would keep me pretty busy...Also I don't know if they would have Internet available or not anyway....So when I do go I won't blog any thing until I get home....I know that by that time I will have computer withdrawal for sure...HA HA.....Well will write more before I go to hospital and try to give the latest update....I could use a prayer once in a while if you think of me...I would sure appreciate it...

At least I have some idea

Well I went to see the knee Dr. and they gave me a date to have my first knee done ....August 4 on a Thursday....It would have been sooner but he is going on vacation for a couple of weeks....I didn't want him to do the surgery and then be gone out of town in case something went wrong..I don't think that will happen but with me any thing is possible...Oh well at least I have something to look for....He said that after a few days in the hospital I would be sent to rehab for a few days and if things were going well , then back to the hospital for the second knee...A few more days in the hospital and back to rehab for several days to heal up....It was all up to just how well and how fast I am able to bounce back to some what normal getting around.....well at least Marilyn won't have to put up with me doing the exercises and listening to me complain about the hurting.....I just as well admit that I don't like pain very will, but I just keep thinking of how much it hurts now and I realize that it probably won't be too much worse, especially when I can have pain meds to help me stand it....Oh well as long as I recover before the pool season starts and I can get some practice in , I will be happy....I may miss some of the dove season but I guess a person can't have all he wants all the time....Life's still good.....

Finally some news

Well I finally got some good news from the sleep Dr.....After two weeks of using the cpap machine with successful results his nurse called me on Wednesday and said that he had cleared me for surgery...She was going to fax all the results to my other Dr.s so everyone would be on board....I can't believe all the test that I went through to get to this point, but maybe we can get on with the show....I just have to wait for the knee Dr. to set the time....I am going to call him tomorrow to prod him just a little for info.....

In the mean time we are in a little mess here at the house as we are having the ceiling redone in the living room....We had a couple of bad places and you can't just get new panels for mobiles any more , so we're just tearing out the old and replacing with new dry wall....It's kind of slow going  for the guys I hired as we have beamed ceiling and they have to work around them....All the furniture is kind of stacked up in the Texas room at this point...We still have room for the computer and able to watch TV so it's not too bad....I know that the Texas room sure saved us....I am sure glad we had it....Well they will be done in a couple of days....The final mudding and the next day the paint and move stuff back in...Hopefully then back to normal.....Life's still good.....

Getting a little rain at last

Well we are getting a little rain at last in the area....It has rained hard several times in the  last few days so we are finally starting to have the grass green up some.....The trouble is when it has rained it has pored and a lot of it has run off and not soaked in...Oh well at least we are getting some...

I have been getting along very well with the cpap machine at night....I can't be any more surprised at just how well I have been able to get use to it....Marilyn says now I don't snore when I sleep now....That's something that I have done for years( or so they tell me)...I still haven't heard any thing from the Dr.s about my surgery on my knees but I don't expect to until I check in again with the sleep Dr. and he makes his report....I know that my knees aren't getting any better and are getting worse each day....Oh well we just have to do what we can and do out best no matter what....Life is still good and most people don't realize just how blessed we are....Later.....

Update

Well I have been kind of busy for the last week or so since I wrote with Dr.s and such....Kind of frustrated with every thing to do with them....As I said last time the next appointment was with a sleep Dr.....They wanted to run some breathing test and sleep test to see if I have sleep apnea.....So last week was spent running back and forth taking test an such....I had to spend two nights at the sleep center with a couple of dozen wires and a breathing mask on....Try sleeping in a strange bed and all that junk on you...Not too good of a deal I must say.....Well it turns out that they say I do have sleep apnea and today they brought out the machine for me to see how I do at home....Now I have to try it and my next appointment with  Dr. is in two weeks....So no surgery at least for two or three weeks at a minimum..I guess all things have a reason so will just have to bare with the program.....

Well at least I can say that we had rain today and it was sure welcomed...We have been so dry the mosquitoes even left the country...I  suppose they will come back now looking to make up for lost time...Till next time....

Kind of Upset

Well I haven't written any thing on the blog for a few days cause I am kind of upset with Dr.s in general....After all the tests that they have given me and I passed OK, they want a couple more before they  will give me the go ahead on the surgery for my knees....Some times I think that they must have a car payment to make and I am handy for the charge...I guess I just have to laugh about it and go along.....It's just that my knees are telling me to get this done NOW....I don't want to have it last all summer and healing into the fall before I am 100 percent.....Come to think of it at my age I will never be at 100 percent again....Oh well...I just don't want it to drag out....The next appointment is next Monday afternoon so we'll see what happens then.....

The Dr. told me that he wants to do one knee at a time....He will do the second one a couple of weeks after the first if every thing goes well with the first....I know that I am looking forward to it but am dreading it also....I know that every thing will be better after the healing has been done....I am still able to play a little pool a couple of times a week but it's getting harder to be on my feet for any length of time so have to watch it...The knees tell me just how long, what a bummer....I am kind of enjoying riding the carts around in Wal-mart thou cause my knees aren't hurting and I can go see any thing I want to like I use too...Life is still good if we just don't give up....Later....

Quite a week

This has been quite a week for the old fat boy as I have had Dr.s appointments almost every day running all kinds of test trying to find something wrong with me...Well today when I had the last test and saw the Dr. for the results of all the test he told me that every thing was normal....The heart was strong and no blockages in the veins that they could find....He then told me that he would OK any surgery to my familly Dr. and also to the Dr. that is going to do my knees....I was sure releived to hear the good news...I didn't think anything was wrong but you always are wondering as we get older....Now I am going to see my family Dr. and see what else he has to say and go from there....So far so good.....I am kind of upset as on Tuesday I had to give up pool for the day as the time warner cable guy came and tuned up the signal for our High Definition cables.....Now it comes in great again so the world is still going around....Now you can see it doesn't take much to keep the old fat boy happy....Later....

Hot Summer

Well this past week has been very warm but I managed to play pool a couple of days(imagine that) take Marilyn to Wal-mart a couple of times and have a couple of Dr.s appointments....So far every thing is going well...I have an appointment with a heart Dr. this coming Tuesday morning for the first time ever...My Dr. wants me checked for any heart problems before he will set up the surgery for my knees....I have never had any heart problems and didn't have a heart Dr., so he set me up with one....I guess as we get OLDER they want to make sure of every thing....I some times wonder if they just want to make a car payment and want some extra money...HA HA....Oh well I guess we just have to do what they want to get anything done....

Tomorrow is Memorial Day and we need to remember all those that have gone before us and honor them with memories of times that we had together that are precious to us now....We need to remember all those that fought and died for our freedom around the world....God bless them and their families for their sacrifice...

Summer Time

Well it looks like summer time is here....It's very warm (in the upper 90s ) every day now and dry, dry , dry.....The only thing moist about the weather is the humidity and folks sweating (if they are working outside).....At least we aren't having tornadoes tearing up the houses and country side like up north in the mid west....I fell sorry for the ones that the wind and the flooding has wiped out......I just turn up the air conditioner and watch some movies on netflix to pass the time away, unless I am playing pool or taking Marilyn to Wal-mart...HA HA...I did go to the Dr. and I am going to have my knees replaced in the near future...I need to get a complete physical for the Dr. to get blood work and so forth before scheduling the surgery, but it won't be too long coming....I am kind of glad to be doing it, but am kind of dreading it also....Oh well I know that it will be better for me in the long run as it hurts now anyway so let's get on with it...This afternoon we went up the hall in the fireside room for pot luck again... We have a nice group of folks that are here all summer and are glad to get together for some socializing and good food...You can't beat that can you?????

Late night??

It seems that I can't get any thing done on the computer or blog unless it's kind of late night, but that's ok....By that time I have quit watching TV and need some time to surf the web and check E-mail and catch up on the blog if I remember too....Last Sunday was a relax day with just having breakfast out and movies in the afternoon...Nice.....Monday afternoon was pot luck up at the hall in the fireside room again with a nice crowd...We had some great food and much laughter with some of the guys telling about when they were young and some of the devilment that they got in to once in a while...Tuesday was Wal-mart morning and pool in the afternoon for me up at the hall.....Today I finished up painting the stair railing in the morning with movie time in the afternoon....Raul came today and started on getting the side yard ready for concrete boundary and granite rock covering the side yard.....Marilyn is tired of mud coming in on the screen room when it rains( if it ever does rain again)....He will put the rock down in a few days when the concrete drys and he can take the forms off...Other than that not much has been happening that is exciting for sure.....Of course it's kind of nice to have an easy pace for a while and no time table to keep up with....Enjoy it if you can...I will....

Already Saturday????

I can't believe how fast the time goes by any more....It seems like I just posted on the blog yesterday and then I realize several days have come and gone....On last Wednesday we went up to the hall and listened to Diego sing and play....He comes every two weeks on Wednesday afternoon for a couple of hours for some great entertainment...There is always several people dancing....It seems that many love the line dancing as many jump for the chance to do it...

Thursday a group of us from the Village went to Golden Corral in the afternoon for a late lunch...Some one said that there was 24 in number...I guess we will be going there at least once a month from now on....Everyone had a good time and of course we all ate too much....

.Friday Wal-mart got a visit from Marilyn and I as they may have moved something with out telling us....And of course in the afternoon I played pool up at the pool hall here in the park....We even had one visitor for another park to come and visit us....I did get an invite to come over there and play some evening as he said that like every where else the players are getting scarce and few...I guess I will try to take him up on the offer some time next week or so...

Today I managed to do a couple of little odd jobs around the house here (scraping and painting the stair railing) and do some planing on some projects here at home...Oh well I guess time flies when you are having fun....Later...

Hot Days

Well I thought I better write something down and try to keep up with things....Yesterday I had to go to the hearing aid place and let them do a cleaning on my aids and replace the tubes....The last time I went for some replacements some how I got some longer tubes and I wasn't happy with the fit, but they did a new fitting and this time every thing was very good.....On the way back home Marilyn said that she needed a hair cut so we stopped and got it done....In the afternoon we went to pot luck up at the hall in the fireside room....I must say the ladies in the park sure know how to cook as I ate too much again....It was sure good to be able to laugh and eat with a nice bunch of people...It's always more fun that way...After wards we were asked to shuffle a game with some friends...We haven't done any yet this year and really don't know much about it but we tried and had a good time....We will sure do some more of it in the future...

Today not much in the morning but I did go up and play pool this afternoon as it was the regular day for the park play...We always have a good time and laugh a lot at each other...That's whats nice about having friends and not getting too serious about things....Keep smiling....

Update

Well yesterday was brisket smoking day....It took all day but I didn't have to do much work with it just kind of keep an eye on just what was happening....I managed to start late in the morning as most of you know that I am not a morning person to get started on things....But I did start about 10 o'clock with the smoke rolling from the smoker in just 10 minutes with 220 degrees for heat....I used hickory wood for this time,but sometime in the future I am going to try some different woods for flavor....I finished up the meat in the roaster after 6 hours in the smoker....I had some later in the evening when I sliced the meat up....I must say that it turned out very well.....I caught Gene making a couple of sandwiches today and I asked him how it tasted and he said great....I don't think I will have be able to keep this around very long with him making sandwiches....Oh well I guess that's what I made it for-----to eat and enjoy....HA HA

It sure was different today not having church over at Magnolia...It just didn't seem like Sunday....It just means I will have to be more willing to study the bible on my own...It's always more work when you don't have a Pastor to help you keep focused....Till next time......

Summer Time

Well we have had a couple of nice cool days, but the weather man says that it's going to bet hot and continue to be dry with no rain in sight....We could sure use some of that water that's flooding the river up north.....Of course we wouldn't want to be flooded like they are, but some of it would be good....Last year we had plenty of water with the flood canals being full for quite a few days....Not this year as yet anyway....I am just afraid that when it starts it will go wild again....It's either feast or famine so they say...

Well for the last couple of days we have just done our usual trips to Wal-mart and we did go to the county dump to make a deposit so to speak....This afternoon I played pool with the few remaining players up at the pool hall....One more will be going home up NORTH in the morning so we are getting thin but will make out OK...

At Wal-mart today I did pick up a brisket and am planning on smoking it tomorrow...That will be an all day job, but at least it will not have too much WORK involved....It doesn't seem like any meat that I smoke last very long around here for some reason....This will be the first time that I will smoke a full brisket so it will be an experience for me....Kind of fun seeing how it all turns out...Will let you know one way or the other....Later...

Update

I am trying not to get too far behind in keeping up with the blog, but sometimes I get off the Internet and then I remember that I should have put something down....Well not much has happened in the last couple of days exciting but here goes....Yesterday the big highlight was the pot luck here in the village up at the fireside room in the big hall...We had 20 people in attendance and the food was great and lots of it.....Marilyn took baked beans and came home with an empty bowl....Every one loved them and down here in the deep south Texas most people know food and what's good....Oh we do love to eat and I guess it shows on this old fat boy.....HA HA....

Today the most exciting thing was I went up to the pool room and played pool in the afternoon...Not too many but we had fun....One guy came down from Snow to Sun to play with us as they are kind of short on players also....On a different note the weather today was cool for this time of year only about 70 degrees for a high with a little breeze...It suppose to be about the same tomorrow so it's a good time for any thing outdoors or just be able to set out in the screen room.....I't still dry but it'll rain one of these days ( I hope )....I guess we are never satisfied it seems....We just need to count our Blessings every once in a while....That's something to think on for us all......

Sunday Again???

Well here it is Sunday again...I have been kind of dreading today as it will be the last Church Service at Magnolia until next September and I am going to miss it...I know that everyone will be traveling at some time this summer and there isn't too many folks left to attend services, so I understand why....Oh Well...Just need to study the Word ourselves as the Lord wants us to anyway...

Yesterday was Saturday and we took it easy around here, just did some tv watching, playing on the computer and I did set up and update the WII on the tv in the Texas room to watch netflix movies...I had previously set up the one in the living room for the same thing so if Marilyn is watching something on tv that I don't want to watch I can watch a movie in the Texas room or vise versa...

After Church services this morning we went to breakfast at Sivila's cafe as usual and then on to WAL-MART to pick up a few things...This afternoon was relax time as the wind was almost strong enough to blow you away if you got out side, so guess what ....Don't go out....HA HA...More when I have another thought.....

Life's good

Well this morning I got the privilege of taking Marilyn to one of her favorite places (Wal-Mart) for some shopping and get out time....On the way we stopped at Whataburger and had breakfast....Also one of her favorite places to eat breakfast I might add...Of course today was the regular afternoon for the guys to play pool here in the park....At this time of the year there isn't too many left, but we did have enough to play partners....We would play four games and then we would change partners so you got to play with every one at some time during the afternoon... That sure makes it more fun for all as it's never one sided for very long....This evening we were invited to some friends home here in the village for a fish supper....Talk about eating too much....Oh My...All I can say is the food and fellowship was super good.....I don't think you can beat that for having a super day...OH well... Life's so good...

New Loring in the World

Well Marilyn and I are great-grand parents AGAIN!!!!We are so happy for our grand son that we can't stop smiling and running to the computer to see if there is any more pictures posted....This is Gene's son that lives up in Temple, Texas that we go and see every so often....We have been waiting all winter since we found out that Pebbles was having a baby that we couldn't think of too much else and now she is here....Thank God she is really healthy and a blessing for the Loring family....

On another note for those that are reading and trying to figure out if any thing else happened today....I did go over to Magnolia Park and pick up my girl friend (Eva Foote) and take her to Harlingen air port to pick up her daughter (Ella) so she will be here to drive Eva and Floyd home for the summer when they get ready....Floyd celebrated his 98th birthday about a week ago and I think he can still run circles around me...It is good to see both of them in good spirits and active...Before I left Eva said to me "I have something for you" and gave me a custard pie (my favorite) to take home....What more can you ask for....More later....time for pie...

Lucy Loring

Donny,Pebbles, and Baby Lucy

Ok I've just had a thought

Well I know that I haven't written any thing for quite a while on the blog but I didn't think any one was looking anyway so what the hay....Well tonight when I checked my E-mail one of my good friends poked me and was wondering what was going on.....I don't have any good excuses so won't try to give any other that just kind of being busy during pool league season.....But now that it is over and things are settling down for the HOT summer I know that I must at least try to put something down....That way at least you will know that we are still having a thought or two....HA HA...

I know that now with Church services being over for the summer next Sunday I won't have too much to put in the Magnolia blog so will have more time for this one...I will say that I have been having problems with my knees more and more lately and know that I am going to have to have them replaced in the near future (not looking forward to that) but the Dr. said the pain wouldn't be any worse recovering than it hurts now and at least when that's over it will be worth it....

Well at least this is a start again....I know that I have more time now so on with the show....Later...

The New Year

Welcome to the New Year....The old year is gone and just a memory, some good and some bad....I guess that is how it is in life...Every body has their ups and downs, but as long as there are more ups than downs, it's all good....HA HA I don't mean to sound negative as we should always look to the future for new adventures in life...

I haven't wrote any thing in quite a while just to see if any one notices that nothing seemed to be going on...I have been getting some questions from some readers about just where I have gone, so will start again....The holidays were kind of a blur, they just flew by...I hope Santa Claus stopped by your house and left more than a lump of coal in your stocking....Also I hope you didn't make any new year's resolutions that you will break or have broken by now...HA HA..

Well the pool leagues have started and it seems to be busy for the old fat boy...I hardly have time to take Marilyn to Wal-mart it seems...And you know that must be done somewhat regularly...I guess we need to take advantage of the time to be busy for with the coming of the new year the season is almost half over and summer will be here again....I guess we are never completely satisfied no matter what happens....I am just glad to be as healthy as I am to enjoy the blessings that I have...More later...