Babysitting little KC

Tomorrow night we get to babysit the Bubs all night again.  Dave and Kris need a break.  It will be interesting, but we have done it before and will have a better set-up this time.  I hope Dana knows that he gets to get up with him all night.  Hopefully there won't be too many times.  We were lucky in that all 3 of our kids were sleeping through the night by about 3-4 mos.  At least most of the time they did.  But it's fun to take care of the Bubs.  He's so cute.  TTFN

More on my condition

I remember that the hospital people told me that I would feel 20 yrs. older for a few days.  I can imagine feeling like this at 74, but I don't like it at 54.  I called the Pharmacy at AVH and Erica the pharmacist told me that the dilantin I am on for a few more nights will make me feel "dumb".  I hope by the time I am finished taking it, my brain will be healed and I won't feel so slow anymore.  Sometimes I have to search for the right word and I get a little dizzy for a few seconds, and my short term memory is not great.  That HAS  to get better.  I went over to see Cloud with Dana today and had a nice time brushing her.  She is totally calm and I never feel threatened by her.  Accidents happen and it was my fault for putting a bucket upside down on my mounting block.  I had planned on riding her bareback for a few minutes, to practice leg commands, etc.  When you are bareback and start to fall, there is nothing to hang on to.  Plus, I think the bucket bouncing around underneath her caused her to move away, so I really had no chance of staying on.  It's just too bad I couldn't get my feet down before I fell.  Then I would have landed on my feet and maybe scrubbed up my knees and hands.  I was asked by hospital personnel if I was wearing a helmet.  I hate how they look, but I think I am going helmet shopping before I ride her again.  I have worked with her so that she doesn't move if I bounce a big red ball under her, but I didn't think about working with her with a bouncing bucket.  I will do that when I am feeling better.  I am considering trying to find her a new owner and home, but I really love her and love being with her and I am really torn.  I guess if someone perfect walks up and says they would like to own her, I might do it.  I just am really ambivalent about it.  But I don't think there is a big hurry, because I won't be riding her for a little while.  I am not even driving yet.  TTFN

Head injury

I fell off my horse while trying to mount bareback on Friday, 4/24/09, and sustained a concussion.  I spent 24 hours in Shock/Trauma ICU at IMC in Murrry, UT and then another day on the post trauma floor.  I am home now, but can really feel the effects of the head injury.  It's hard to concentrate and sometimes I have a little problem finding the right word when I talk.  It will get better, but I am in the "dumb" stage right now.   I will post more later as I feel better.  TTFN  

blogspot vs. facebook

I am getting more and more invitations to be friends on facebook. I DO have a facebook account, but I hardly ever check it. I think this blog site is my favorite, mostly because I have figured out how to use it.
I was thinking awhile ago that this time next week, my trip to Chicago will be almost 1/2 over. I am so excited to go with the Brighton Band to Chicago. I have never been there before, so I am hoping the weather will be okay and we will have fun. I am the mother hen over 4 girls and 4 boys. I am trying to figure out how to be a "fun" mother hen. I think I will bring some sort of treats or something like that. I haven't done anything like this since I was one of the parents on Mike's school field trip to Marine World-Africa USA in California, before we moved to Utah. Or was it Dave's field trip? I can't remember for certain whose it was. It was fun, but boy, was I tired when we got back to the school.
My back has really been bugging me lately, so I finally went in to see Dr. Anderson, my chiropractor. He said I was "really out of whack!" So, now, 2 sessions later, it is still sore, but feels improved. I rode my bike last night for about 10 min, when my heart started skipping. It usually doesn't take too many rides on the bike to stop the skipping, so I will try it again tonight.
Easter is in 2 days. I can't believe how quickly the holidays creep up on me. I used to decorate and make such a big deal of each holiday, when the kids were little, but now not so much. Easter is fun because it doesn't require a big deal if I don't have the time. It was sure a fun holiday when the kids were little, though. Dana would hide eggs around the backyard or the house if the weather was bad. The kids would get really excited to go egg-hunting.
I am almost finished with Tori's knitted camisole. So, I am going to work on that for awhile. TTFN

Time flies

It's been exactly a week since I was sitting down to breakfast with Syd, Brian and Dana at the Flamingo Vallarta for the last time. After breakfast, I walked around the Marina to do one last bit of shopping and saw Oscar, the guy who booked Dana's zipline adventure. We talked for a minute and then I went on my way. When I got back to the hotel, I realized that we didn't have to check out until 1:00 p.m., so I put on my swimming suit and went to the pool. I sat out in the sun after cooling off and got a little sunburn, so that I would look like I had been on vacation. I read Pres. Obama's book until I thought it was time to go and get ready to leave. It's a good book, The Audacity of Hope, but a slow read. I still haven't finished it. I remember being so impatient to leave and go home. I had a lot of fun in Mexico, but was sooooooo ready to go home. I missed my life, my kids and my pets. In Mexico, I was Dana's wife and he was the photographer. At home, I have my own identity and I was really ready to be myself again.
I can hardly believe it has been a week since then. The days go more slowly in Mexico, but go fast here, especially when I am working. My kitty missed me. He hardly lets me out of his sight. Even when I am taking a bath, he sits on the edge of the tub. The dog follows Dana around the house all the time now. I think she really missed him. Tori actually admitted that it was pretty boring while we were out of town, so I think she missed us, too.
It snowed here on Monday and I was almost ready to go back to sunny Mexico. But it has been sunny since and the snow has mostly melted and the bulbs are pushing their way up. The crocuses have already bloomed. I need to get out into the yard and get going on gardening. I am really going to do it this year. I always have big plans and then don't do it because it gets too hot and it's easier to sit in the cool house. But this year, no!
I also found out that I have to audition again for Susanne and the auditions are in 12 days!. I still have a hoarse voice from that huge cold/ear infection that I had about a month ago. My right ear is still fuzzy. So I have been practicing and immersing myself in opera music to get ready for the audition. I am going to sing "Voi che sapete" from Il Nozze di Figaro. It helps that the Opera company is doing that one right now, so I will be able to see it before I have to do it. This past year has been such a miserable one physically and I am raring to get back into the thick of things. My knee is good, the worst of my vein work is over and I am healing from that and my plantar fascitis is better, so now I just need to get back into shape physically. I can't run, so I am biking to do that. So far, only in the living room, but I will try outside soon. I rode Cloud a couple of days ago for 15 min. She did well and I didn't notice any pain in my leg from the vein surgery. I mentioned that to Dr. Hadjbian yesterday and he cautioned me to not ride for about 2 wks. longer. He said that I could knock loose some scar tissue and get it into my circulation and form clots, so I will follow his instructions. I feel like the "winter of my despair" is over and only good things are in the future. Even Wallstreet is going better this week. What more can one ask for? Maybe I will get to retire someday afterall. TTFN

last day

Today is our last full day here in Puerto Vallarta.  I will be glad to get home.  It's beautiful here, but so muggy.  I hate to be sweaty, especially when no one else seems to be dripping.  My mascara constantly runs under my eyes, so I look like a raccoon much of the time.  Dana's seminar is over, so we have time on our hands.  Dana and some friends from the seminar went "zip lining" this morning and they should be back soon.  Later, Dana and I are going down town to the mercado to shop one last time.  Dana got lots of pictures related to his seminar.  I will go through them and post the most interesting.  The models were cute girls and quite sexy.  Lots of skin!!! The pictures will be interesting.  We have not had any trouble with sickness, so hopefully we won't when we get home.  We drink bottled water and soda, but the water system here at the marina is filtered, like in the U.S.  They say we could drink out of the tap, but we don't.  But we do put the ice cubes in our drinks, so who knows.  Everyone had been very friendly, in fact we didn't know how many friends we had.  Every Mexican person who is trying to sell us something calls out, "Amigo, come here!"  I can only get internet in the main lobby of the hotel, so I am getting sleepy and am going to go up to the room.  I may post again from here or just post from home with the pictures.  TTFN

Hola

I am sitting in the lobby of the Flamingo Vallarta, where it is warm and muggy.  We have been here in Puerto Vallarta since Friday and will be going home next Friday.  If I had a camera battery, I would be taking tons of photos and we are still hoping to find a camera store today that will have batteries for my camera.  It is a long story as to why my camera doesn't have a battery and I am pretty mad at Pictureline for not giving me my battery after they sent out my camera for repairs, but the bottom line is that I am in Mexico with a camera but no battery. Enough of that.  The prices here are pretty amazing.  Last night, we went to a restaurant where they specialized in shrimp.  Dana had a mixed platter, which was huge and came with soup and fried banana for dessert and I had a huge platter of coconut breaded shrimp with soup and fried banana.  It also came with Kahlua and Tequila shots, but we didn't partake of those.  Anyway, together the bill came to $199 pesos, which sounds like a lot, but at $14.2o pesos to the dollar, it was quite reasonable.  $13.94 USD or something like that.  And it was more shrimp than I could eat.  The bus is the best transportation around here and it is 5.50 pesos per person each way.  So for 11 pesos, Dana and I can ride as far as we want to, less than a dollar.  We are going to go downtown later today, after it cools off a little, and check out the Marcado and the Cathedral.  And look for a cameral shop.  I really hope people are checking out my blog because I would feel pretty lonely if no one was looking.  No one posts comments, so I don't know if I am talking to cyberspace or if anyone is listening.  Sue