“Truckin’ Around In McGuyver’s Limo”…

  Today I decided I was feeling well enough to go to my physical therapy appointment for my torn foot tendon.  I may not have mentioned that my MRI showed a partial tear in the Plantar Fascia on my right foot.  I got signed up for some physical therapy this week, but I’m not buying the whole $575.00 orthodics the foot Doc wants to sell me….I’ll give Dr. Scholls a decent chance first….he’s lots cheaper.

  Dennis needed to use the GMC to go get some siding for our garage….so that left me with….

….the dreaded Blue Beast……This poor truck was a real beauty in it’s newness of 1989…As for now, it’s a real piece of work..And the inside looks like a vehicle for Chester the Molester to ride around in…

 

Notice the lovely pink upholstery (a quilt from our daughter’s bed 20 years ago..) And you can see exactly WHY the quilt is there! Yes, that IS springs sticking up through the foam seat.  I sure hope I don’t get dirty driving this thing!

But, HEY!! Would ya just look at that fancy ‘4 on the floor” stick shifter??? Man, that was fun to drive ..WAS is the key word.  Now, I have trouble keeping my old leg on the clutch at the stop lights, and have to throw it into neutral while I wait for the light to change…But in the day….ZOOOOOOOOOM!!!!  LAYIN’ SOME RUBBER!!!!!!

 

Atlas Therapy and Sports Medicine…ah, yes…Where I pay a 20 -something year old young man to rub by foot for 1/2 hour….I feel like Cleopatra….And I’m sure he is really loving the idea of massaging a 62 (almost 63) year old lady’s wrinkled, dried up , bunion ridden, arthritic foot…Yep!…., bet he can hardly wait for me to walk through the door.

 

My medical appointments for the day didn’t end here.  Because of my constant battle with my colon problems, I was scheduled to see my gastro guy next.  I hope people didn’t recognize me in the Blue Beast…how embarrassing.

 

Let me just sat that I LOVE this Doc!  He is so soft spoken….kind, gentle , careful, with an easy touch…all the major qualities you want your colonoscopy guy to have.  He listened to my story of intermittent “Montezuma’s Revenge”….and I prayed secretly that he didn’t want to do ANOTHER  colonoscopy…

The good news is…I don’t need a colon check…YET.  The bad news is he thinks I may have developed a milk intolerance…WHAT??? I love milk…I love butter, I love ice cream, I love cheese, I love all of that stuff!  PLUS…he would like to see me cut out my diet pop…What, exactly, am I suppose to drink my Rum with?…hmmmm?..Giving up my Diet Dr. Thunder is NOT gonna be easy…But….WIT…”whatever it takes”.  All this giving stuff up and he wants me to add a small dose of Metamucil to my daily schedule….a VERY SMALL dose.  I know, I know…I asked why the laxative. He gave me some answer about it acting like a sponge in my intestine, which is just what I need right now! Wouldn’t it be better to just swallow one?…At any rate, I will do as the good Doc says for 2 weeks and see if it keeps me OFF the throne for more hours of the day. Enough already about Dementia Donna’s digestive disorders….

  McGuyver came back from his Menard’s trip with a what appears to be our summer’s job….

….THIS HAS “ME HOLDING ONE SIDE WHILE DEN NAILS THE OTHER” WRITTEN ALL OVER IT!

OH WELL, AT LEAST I CAN GET A GOOD SUNTAN.

  This weekend is suppose to be warmer FINALLY….and I’m starting to get nervous…I looked across our backyard and our neighbor has his rototiller out and is putting in his garden…NO, REALLY??

 

This appears to be the beginning of a battle of the planters…We cannot have our neighbor, Jerry, getting one up on us by planting his potatoes before we do…Looks like he’s drawing “first blood” on this competition, so I gotta kick McGuyver in gear and get ours tilled up..like YESTERDAY!!

 

 

OK…I feel like this blog has been as boring as a reading a pharmaceutical textbook…(thank GOD for spellcheck)…Thanks for hanging in with me and my many dilemmas…Rest assured …everything will come out OK….(Sorry, just couldn’t’ resist)..See ya in a couple

I’m Back Among The Living…SOMEWHAT….

 

Well, I have to admit that I got totally blindsided by the flu bug last week…and I haven’t spent so much “couch time” since I had my last kidney stone…Usually I can work my way through these things by trying to keep moving and just get through it…NOT this stuff.  I spent most all of  Friday, Saturday , Sunday..(and some of today) in the horizontal position, tucked  under the afghan shivering my way through a fever..This afternoon I am finally partially functional and ready to do a “blog lite”…In other words, I am using old stuff and trying to make it sound new again..Yes,, I AM a cheater.

These pictures were taken in June of 2005, which makes them 6 years old..This only proves what extremes I will go to when “blogging lite”..Our grandkids were 6 years younger…as were the ducks, but they don’t show their age like we do..

The campground here was at  Illini State Park in Marseilles, IL.   …This campground sits right on the Illinois River and the barges pass right by the campground..As you can see, the kids were excited to see them and waved as they passed…Man, were they surprised when the barged let off a big ‘ol HONK of his horn (do ships have horns,…is that what you call them?)…whatever…but the kids were thrilled!

 

 

We drove a couple miles up river to show them where they locked the big barges through, and it just so happened that a barge was locking through at that precise time. (McGuyver and I have been know to stand there for HOURS just waiting to see one lock through..we got lucky this day,  because I just KNOW those kids would NOT have been “happy campers” waiting hours to see a barge)..I’m still not sure who was having more fun….the kids or McGuyver…(He could also be called “Huckleberry Cave”)…

 

WHAT IS REALLY CREEPING ME OUT IS HOW MUCH THESE TWO RUGRATS HAVE GROWN SINCE THEN…PEYTON IS NOW PLAYING THE ELECTRIC GUITAR, AND TAYLOR WILL BE A TEENAGER NEXT SEPTEMBER…

THE REASON YOU DON’T SEE CAMPBELL, THE YOUNGEST, IS BECAUSE HE WAS ONLY A BABY THEN, AND CAMPING WAS NOT ON HIS LIST OF THINGS HE MUST DO BEFORE AGE TWO….

 

 

OK, I’ve just about stretched my sitting up time as long as I dare…I’m sorry I haven’t commented on blogs for the past few days…It’s because I didn’t even read any until today, (that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!)….I promise that tomorrow I will get back on the blogosphere as a totally competent blogger….As for today…I’m still a little “weak and puny”…..Thanks for all your good wishes….

BLAAAAAAHS……

NO BLOG TODAY..MAYBE TOMORROW…FLU BUGS FOUND ME AND I AM MOSTLY RELINING AND DOING OTC DRUGS…LATER…

Let’s visit Roma…and I DON’T mean Italy!

  First of all, we need to welcome a brave new follower, Mactrailer…I couldn’t find any links to a blog…So, jump in the truck, Mac..and don’t worry about getting it dirty..it’s a real pig inside and out..Ya just gotta love Illinois winters and all the salt they dump on the roads..!!  

In February of ‘08, on one of our trips to Falcon Lake State Park, we decided to spend some time sightseeing in the border town of Roma, TX.  I need to say that you have to really search to find the historical side of Roma….You know…look past the Church’s Chicken, Pizza Hut, Whataburger and the many Taquerias.    In 1993, a 9 square block area around the town plaza was designated an Historic Landmark District (and this area is off the main drag)… We had never actually walked around and really experienced the old history of Roma.

 

They also have a World Birding Center there..It is housed in one of the old buildings, and you can still see remnants of the Spanish painting on the cracked adobe in the rooms…

For anyone who is a birder..(HELLOOOOOOO  Judy), you will really enjoy the center..They operate solely on a volunteer basis, and there are a gazillion books on the birds of the Rio Grande.  McGuyver and I don’t actually consider ourselves birders…Ya gotta have the suspenders…or whatever those things are…Do you hang your binoculars from them, or what?  At any rate, Dennis and I  don’t have the correct hats and gear…but we do take lots of bird photos!

 

Roma was settled by the Spanish in1760, and it sits right ON the Rio Grande, as you can see by these photos..

We took the above photos of these people across the river, in Mexico, swimming in the Rio Grande…You can see how narrow it is here.

 

I just love these old buildings .  In the photo on the right, I am channeling beer history…Actually, the movie Viva Zapata was filmed here in 1952, using lots of these old buildings as a backdrop…Remember that movie? It had Anthony Quinn and Marlon Brando in it….Oh yeah, I forget that McGuyver and I are pretty old…

You can see how the grass has overgrown this unique building…Look at that ironwork! …And would ya look at that Iron man!! …

  There isn’t really much to do in Roma….There used to be an old suspension bridge that you crossed into the Mexican town of Miguel Ale’man.  They built a new one right next to the old one, so now the old one is not used (but I’m sure some people from across the border try to sneak in after dark).

 

 

The old bridge is on the left and the newer one is on the right. We crossed into Mexico.. only once…walked across.  For those of you who have crossed at Progresso, TX….this is NOTHING like it. The little town here across the Rio Grande has very few people on the streets…and we were the only “Gringos” over there.   You wouldn’t have known we were tourists..no, not at all..me with my Kodak hanging around my neck and Dennis in his baseball cap with an American flag embroidered on it…NOT TO MENTION OUR WHITE SNEAKERS!! Now keep in mind, this was in 2008, and it was  still considered fairly safe to cross at most of the border towns… McGuyver and I did a quick..(and I DO mean QUICK) walk up one street and down the other….and WE WERE OUTA THERE!! DIDN’T EVEN BUY ANY KAHLUA!

…..there was evidence of the past at almost every corner….

 

 

This was a neat old Catholic church that had this painting on it’s wall…It is the Calvary of Christ on the Rio Grande…The calvary were circuit riding priests who traveled through Texas spreading Christ’s word.  They established a headquarters in Brownsville in 1849, and a second headquarters in Roma in 1854…If you want to read more use this link.

 

 

Our campground was about 15 miles North of Roma, and we passed through Roma on our way to Rio Grande City every week to get groceries…Other than a random run to Church’s Chicken, we had never stopped to see what great history was there until that trip….As you probably know, I LOVE  history and was very happy we took the time to find the Spanish roots of this little town of Roma…

VIVA ROMA!!!!AND THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!!!

A Choral Concert….Talented kids..

  Last night Dennis and I drove to Kaneland High School to see our one and only granddaughter’s  6th grade Spring Choral Concert.  I love to hear kids sing…A little known fact about myself is that I possess a State 1st Place Medal for being part of a high school singing group. I was part of a group of 9 girls..we were called Triple Trio.  We had 3 sopranos, 3 second sopranos, and 3 altos…took our act on the road (down to the  Illinois State Vocal Contest 1966) and won a first place….I think no one was more shocked than we girls!!!

At any rate, Taylor and another young lady had small lead - in solos for the song True Colors, originally done by Cindi Lauper.  It was a very short (waaaay to short for Grandma and Papa), but beautiful part performed by both girls….made me and her mom cry…That girl does have a fine voice for 11 years old….But we have been privy to it before.

Taylor is in the gray sweater on the end….

 

 

GRANDMA AND PAPA WEREN’T PROUD AT ALL…(turn up your sound…)

Taylor Heiser..6th Grade Chorus Concert..

Her Daddy brought her flowers after the concert was over…..Her Mom and I were a wet slobbering mess…..

…The microphone was set almost too tall for her…She is a little skinny mutt with a lovely voice….I can’t wait until their school performance The Wizard of Oz..Taylor is one of the lead Munchkins…type cast again…

Thanks for tolerating my braggadocio blog today.  It’s a Grandma’s privilege, right???  help myself….See ya in a couple..

THE BEAUTY OF JAPAN..AND…MCGUYVER DOES KARAOKE!

  Well, first of all, we never got to see John and Bridget yesterday.  The stars weren’t aligned I guess.  As it turned out, their RV park in Marseilles was slightly less than desirable, so they decided to stay only overnight and leave at noon on Friday.  We still intended on going down earlier Fridaday..However, when I got up Friday morning, I felt like crap .  My head hurt and I felt like I was running a fever…and  I certainly didn’t want to take them a present of germs, so we said we would just see them on the other side when they passed through again…OR …when we are “back on the road”.  There have  been lots of nasty germs around here lately.  Our daughter Terrie and her whole family has been down with this virus.  It’s nothing to keep me in bed, but I have a case of the blahs….

And since I have absolutely NO motivation, I decided to resort to some of McGuyver’s  photos, and give you an idea of the beauty of Japan, if you haven’t been there.  When McGuyver was still “gainfully employed” by Caterpillar Tractor Company, he was lucky enough to travel to Japan in the fall of 1988 “on business”…whatever… (Some of you were still in your teens at that point in time, I’m sure).  At any rate, he brought back some great photos of Kyoto and Himeji Castle…

Left is McGuyver (the tall guy) and his traveling friend…a pond of Koi fish, center,  and right is the Silver Pavilion of Ginkakuji Temple , in Kyoto, Japan.  Dennis said he was taller than almost everyone and stuck out like a sore thumb.

                                       

As you may notice, McGuyver can wear a sport coat quite nicely…Haven’t seen him in one since!

The Japanese Gardens were very beautiful, and Dennis took lots of photos of them. The leaves were turning and made for some stunningly colorful photo ops!

Left is his ticket to tour Himeji Castle..and right is the actual castle itself…

DID I MENTION THAT MCGUYVER SANG KARAOKE WHILE HE WAS THERE?

THE SONG HE SANG WAS “HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN”…HEY!!! I CAN’T GET HIM LIQUORED UP ENOUGH TO SING KARAOKE OVER HERE!!!  (BUT I SURE DON’T LOOK LIKE THIS YOUNG LADY, EITHER.)

 

My mother was very fond of Oriental décor , and I have always wanted to have one room in our house dedicated to that particular theme…So, I made my upstairs bathroom my “ Japanese Room”…using some of McGuyver’s souvenirs.  There is truly something very soothing about Oriental culture… I love the idea of Feng Shui ..and the harmony of life.

Hey, at least while you sit on the “throne” you can study all the cool stuff hanging and sitting around!!

So, Den’s trip to Japan lasted 9 days.  At that time, our son, Kelly, was at Great Lakes Naval Station for Navy boot camp.  Sooo, myself and our two daughters, then age 16 and 15, stayed home  without a male person in the house.  I was very happy to have our Black Lab, Gypsy, living there for some protection…(although she wouldn’t have hurt a fly!)  And let me just say that having two “hot blonde” teenage girls to ride herd on all by myself  for 9 days was no easy feat.  I had to be VERY conscious of WHO, WHERE…AND WHY???? at ALL TIMES!!!

Somehow, I don’t think McGuyver was very worried about “us girls”..He was kept pretty busy…

 

YEP…WORK, WORK, WORK….THAT’S ALL HE DID!

I do have to add something here..Dennis DID bring me a wonderful present from Japan….

HE BOUGHT ME SOME A FABULOUS JAPANESE CORAL NECKLACE…

SCORE!!!

  So, Dennis has some great memories of Japan.  He really loved the beauty and the honorable people he met.   McGuyver talked wanting to take me there someday….and I doubt that will happen, especially now! ..But.. I am so glad he got to experience the serene beauty,  history and people of Japan…and we pray for them in their time of tragedy…What a lovely country it is….