tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70621252024-03-23T14:12:20.594-04:00Days of DeerledgeWhat if the Hokey Pokey REALLY is what it's all about? Explore this and other pertinent information with me.Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.comBlogger522125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-16550216017469064712016-07-14T16:03:00.000-04:002016-07-14T16:03:10.503-04:00Not for NothingSo much time has gone by and I don't even know what to do with this blog. I can't delete it because for years before Facebook, I poured my heart and soul into it. I guess it will end up just one of those things on the Internet gathering dust. I will try and update once in a while just to keep it active.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEito8_2MbaDVkaexXhTIJT8vpsPkQGsA26hFe5H_PPbXp0oXDOhCtf_d5hkEralEKNQfzuLqMpnA7uZhvXu8JQVQwBaaZW2oculiTPpyse7dLECRq_kn8SKkQsqz4pmCGZZgB33QA/s1600/Downloads1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEito8_2MbaDVkaexXhTIJT8vpsPkQGsA26hFe5H_PPbXp0oXDOhCtf_d5hkEralEKNQfzuLqMpnA7uZhvXu8JQVQwBaaZW2oculiTPpyse7dLECRq_kn8SKkQsqz4pmCGZZgB33QA/s320/Downloads1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh72dHM8KQmpQDDxdWqMV2FKQEljznt3XkuJsu89_Wlrc09Ct9g2hAe94BUuAjprwddt9m2MgmnYIlgrAbKGTf-mOXLO_Fhdyg_0MstukyilG7khEk4s_bGYjE1dNUWvN9-5PB96Q/s1600/IMG_2400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh72dHM8KQmpQDDxdWqMV2FKQEljznt3XkuJsu89_Wlrc09Ct9g2hAe94BUuAjprwddt9m2MgmnYIlgrAbKGTf-mOXLO_Fhdyg_0MstukyilG7khEk4s_bGYjE1dNUWvN9-5PB96Q/s320/IMG_2400.JPG" width="240" /></a>Hannah graduated from homeschool high school last month. The picture shows her on the first day of kindergarten and the day she graduated high school. She's such a good girl - a hard worker who loves horses so much. She bought herself a horse last month too. Here she is in May going to prom with her friend, Jake. We don't get to spend much time with her lately as she works most days and when she's not working, she's with her friends. <br />
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Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-83450006452859841342014-09-11T11:33:00.002-04:002014-09-11T16:23:56.155-04:00Thought I would take a moment and update my blog. I can't believe my last post was shortly after my brother, Scott died, almost 2 years ago. I'm such a slacker<br />
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Gary has totally healed up from his heart surgery and is doing fine. I'll take a picture of his scar and post it sometime so you all can see how good it looks. He still has Atrial Fibrillation most days. He has had a test that they run to make sure no blood is pooling in his heart during the A-fib and it is not. <br />
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We are still homeschooling Hannah and are in our 4th year and she's a junior. She rides at the barn every week and leases a horse. She also take s STEM Science class in Wells, cooking in Scarborough and a theater class in Portland. She's a busy girl!<br />
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My mother was diagnosed with dementia and now lives in a facility in Cape Elizabeth. Dementia and Alzheimers are the cruelest diseases ever. They steal your loved one right away in front of you, leaving a shell of a person that looks like your loved one but is not them. I've done so much reading on both diseases. The new normal is to never argue with my mother anymore. Whatever she says we just agree with. It causes her too much stress to do otherwise.<br />
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<br />Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-7633777340872057972012-12-10T16:15:00.002-05:002012-12-10T16:51:14.588-05:00My brother, Scott Higgins
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My amazing brother, Scott. 11/24/1956 - 11/8/2012</div>
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WATERBORO -- Scott A. Higgins, 55, a resident of Pearl Street, Waterboro, and longtime residential painter in the Kennebunk area, died on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012, at Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford after a period of failing health.
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Scott was born on Nov. 24, 1956, in Biddeford, the son of William E. Higgins and Carolyn F. Dargis Higgins. Scott is a 1975 graduate of Kennebunk High School, and attended The University of Maine at Orono. Growing up, he spent many years in the care of his uncle, Dan Higgins, who was a great support throughout Scott's life.
In high school, Scott started painting local homes, and he grew his business for 37 years, painting many historic homes in the area.<br />
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Scott, a devoted father of four, was well loved by all.
Scott is remembered for his reputation as an exceptional athlete, particularly with regard to his skill and accolades in basketball. More recently, Scott enjoyed camping, canoeing, playing horseshoes and darts. <br />
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Survivors include two sons, Dan Higgins of Syracuse, N.Y., and Jack Higgins of Waterboro, two daughters, Kelly Higgins Flagler of Rochester, N.Y., and Jennifer Higgins of Limerick; a granddaughter, Audrianna Higgins of Syracuse, N.Y.; his former wife, Denise Foglio Higgins of Waterboro; his father, William Higgins of Greenville, mother, Carolyn Higgins of Kennebunk; paternal grandmother, Marguerite Higgins of Waterboro; brother, Shawn Higgins of Kennebunkport, sisters, Susan Richardson of Greenville, Sheri LeRoy of Kennebunkport, Stacy Babb of Gorham; and many nieces and nephews.
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KENNEBUNK — Two weeks ago Scott Higgins passed away at the much-too-young age of 55.
His obituary that appeared in last week's Coast Star stated "Scott is remembered for his reputation as an exceptional athlete, particularly with regard to his skill and accolades in basketball."
Those who saw him play know that those modest words don't fully explain what Higgins accomplished on the basketball court.
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"As far as pure basketball talent, he was the best player I ever coached," said former Kennebunk High boys basketball coach Bill Obermeyer who guided the Rams' hoops program for 27 years (1967-94). "He was the consummate player. He could go inside or shoot outside. We had four great years with him."
Higgins' four-year run wearing a Rams uniform began with the 1971-72 season. He made the varsity team as a 6-foot-2 freshman and finished the season with 135 points and 127 rebounds.
"We had watched him (in middle school) and there was no doubt he was going to be a top talent," said Obermeyer. "Right from the start he had the skills. He was just built like a basketball player — tall, lean and wiry strong."
The team won their last five games and finished with a 9-9 record, not quite good enough for a tournament spot, but the future looked bright.
"He started some games as a freshman," Obermeyer noted. "We weren't a veteran team so Scott played a lot."<br />
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His sophomore season marked the beginning of a three-year run that saw the Rams win three consecutive Southern York Secondary School Association titles. Kennebunk went 16-2 during the regular season with Higgins getting selected to the league all-star squad along with teammates Jon Huff, Peter Crowell and Scott Campbell.
Medomak Valley knocked the Rams from the regional tourney in the opening round in a 4-5 match-up.
The 1973-74 produced similar results with Kennebunk again finishing 16-2.
Along the way, Higgins hit key baskets and grabbed important rebounds to help the Rams win another SYSSA crown.
He knocked down a 35-foot jumper at the buzzer to send a game against Traip Academy into overtime. The Rams eventually earned the win in the extra session, a game in which Higgins scored 29 points and grabbed 35 rebounds.
Higgins also scored 26 points in a record-breaking 112-57 win over Massabesic.
Despite another impressive regular season record, the Rams were once again dumped in the regional
quarterfinals. This time it was a 68-61 lost to Lisbon despite 35 points from Higgins.<br />
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Post-season honors came in and Higgins was named to the PREP All-American basketball team for his efforts during his junior season.
His senior year on the hardwood was another highlight reel for Higgins. The 6-4 forward/center scored the 1,000th point of his career midway through the season in a win against Sanford. The Rams went 15-3 and again qualified for the post-season where a strong Lake Region team knocked the Rams from the West B playoffs, 85-68.
Higgins' final four-year totals at Kennebunk are an impressive 1,183 career points and an equally impressive 1,098 rebounds.
"He was extremely coachable and he was an excellent teammate. Everybody looked up to him," said Obermeyer. "I don't know if he realized how good a player he was."
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Higgins graduated from Kennebunk in June of 1975 and made his way to the University of Maine at Orono.
Once again, he saw playing time as a freshman, in a reserve role, but for a team with a number of older and more experienced players. A University of Maine sports digest bio of Higgins described him as a 6-5 and 202-pound forward. It went on to say he "was a great raw talent, excellent jumper and good shooter."
The highlight of his freshman season was a game against UConn when he played very well. The sports digest noted, "His aggressive play was a key factor in Maine big upset win at UConn."
Despite a collegiate career that looked very bright, Higgins chose to leave UMaine and head back home. He got his residential painting business cranked up and began his working career. He started a family. And he continued to play basketball.
In the 1970s and 1980s there were a number of competitive men's leagues that were flourishing in the immediate area. Higgins played for teams that participated in Portland as well as Portsmouth, N.H.
Michael Bennett, who played at Kennebunk a few years after Higgins, got a chance to team up with him during some of those years.
"I had the pleasure of playing with Scott after college in men's league competition," said Bennett. "Without question, in my mind, he was the best player to come out of Kennebunk High.
"Scott could do it all. Shoot, pass, dribble, play tough defense and most of all rebound. He was head and shoulders better than anyone else. He was such a skilled player. He was intense on the court where the other team was his enemy, off the court, the nicest guy you would ever know."
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His family, friends and former teammates said their good-byes and paid their respects at a celebration of life service last week in Kennebunk.
He was honored as a hard-working businessman, a proud father, a good family man and a friend.
And he'll be remembered by many as the best boys basketball player ever at Kennebunk High School
Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-3094348455881575472012-03-30T14:13:00.003-04:002012-03-30T14:18:24.537-04:00Getting Ready for Camping<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ujClcg97xF3CakvJPmNTdx3qi1bmSBSmM60doLNyCIvYNmlf5bpHIqi4seO-qXx7NhANyXiBAXbKbqKl0rbvldgWHRQH_dIQs8kOnc3Agu4NJXHxLf3uqUZTdLW8nrfm5RoAlA/s1600/camper.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ujClcg97xF3CakvJPmNTdx3qi1bmSBSmM60doLNyCIvYNmlf5bpHIqi4seO-qXx7NhANyXiBAXbKbqKl0rbvldgWHRQH_dIQs8kOnc3Agu4NJXHxLf3uqUZTdLW8nrfm5RoAlA/s320/camper.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5725756074803323586" /></a><br />Well it's that time of year again - time to open up the ol' camper, air it out and get ready for summer. We are looking forward to this summer but of course, not the gas prices to get back and forth to camp. ugh. I wish I had a flying machine or Gary could work from camp all summer instead of just sporadically.<br /><br />We are in the process of figuring out Hannah's 9th grade home school curriculum as well. It's a scary place, this homeschooling but I have the faith we can get through it. All I keep telling myself is to look at how far she has progressed* with her father and I guiding her.<br /><br />*patting myself on the back.Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-86787658632970975442012-03-06T22:24:00.004-05:002012-03-30T14:09:29.227-04:00Happy Birthday to Me?Today I am 48. That's not old is it? I reminisce about my dad bringing me home in his shirt pocket. I think about that all morning and at 1pm he calls me. I am so happy to hear from him but at the same time feel guilty because - what if he didn't call my baby sister a week ago? That would be like him - to remember one child and forget he other. I know my sibling suffered cruelty at my father's hand when I had left home and I wish I could take it back. But I can't. I can only move forward and support them. I cant control what my father does - but I can control how it makes me feels. He can not MAKE me feel anything - I allow it to happen. 6 years of therapy taught me that. I learned to never, ever, never, ever, start a sentence with the words "you make me feel......" because no one can MAKE you feel anything. Can you imagine the power you would have in the world if you could actually MAKE someone feel something?<br /><br />Hannah will be starting a blog soon. She and I have talked about it and we both feel it would be a good way for her to put her thoughts and feelings down and at the same time, it would be schooling.Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-65722057858701287962012-01-15T13:00:00.003-05:002012-01-15T17:49:24.307-05:00Happy 2012I checked my blog today and this is pathetic! I can not believe I would let 6 months go by without putting a post up. Okay - I have chastized myself and vow to do better.<br /><br />2012 is starting off just pleasant. Homeschooling is going super and Hannah does a great job and loves it. I enjoy it too and we spend a lot of time together. She starts a session of homeschool cooking classes this week. They run every other week until the middle of May. The groupd of kids she cooks with are fun and she seems to enjoy it. On Wednesdays, she rides at the stable for a couple hours.Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-11492958723183082412011-06-20T14:36:00.002-04:002011-06-20T14:45:20.968-04:00Summer 2011As sporadically as I post, I'll just title this one Summer 2011 and add to it over the days and keep updating it. Here's Gary and Josh as they kicked ass and took names at the 2011 Father's Day Classic on Androscoggin Lake. Josh even did it with bleeding eyes after attending a wedding and staying up until all hours of the morning doing God-knows-what....after all - he isn't 30 yet. He can still party all night and go fishing all day the next day. We party all night and have to take 3 days off to recover. Who am I kidding? We don't party all night. If we stay up past 10:00pm we announce the next day to anyone who will listen how we "stayed up waaaay late!"<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkZfuCYaQ0ohPFCsIWdepi34DlbuwwOfE-Im5o-r0E9XaLkGxPbz-Elrql4NoukhyxB7HNpB-kNELAHlRSbRWvQ-GoK1A0vG1IGrEJiXzOub2UJPdIJt2clyD9KPYAL5y1SqTufw/s1600/joshandgary.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 250px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620372913221463826" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkZfuCYaQ0ohPFCsIWdepi34DlbuwwOfE-Im5o-r0E9XaLkGxPbz-Elrql4NoukhyxB7HNpB-kNELAHlRSbRWvQ-GoK1A0vG1IGrEJiXzOub2UJPdIJt2clyD9KPYAL5y1SqTufw/s320/joshandgary.jpg" /></a><br /><br />My brother is doing pretty good. He had aweek of not doing so good but we've moved paast that and continue to take his sobriety one day at a time and today is good.Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-64203564460735367812011-03-27T20:24:00.002-04:002011-03-27T20:36:06.957-04:00Brotherly LoveMy brother moved into our extra space in our home for a short while. He is needing to get his life back on track. He has hit rock bottom concerning his health, wealth, and pride. Things in his life are at an ultimatum right now.....you drink....you die. It's that simple. It's not a shade of gray but a stark black & white. Either, or, neither, nor....there's no exception. He spent a week in the hospital, clinging to life the first couple days and starting to heal the rest. I will do all I can to help him. He's my brother. I love him and hope he stays strong. So far, he has. It's like watching a person come alive again, though. A shell of a man moved in here....broken, sad, alone. Almost 2 weeks later, he continues to get stronger, a smile crosses his face a few times a day and a sparkle can be seen in his eye once in a while. He will never be in the health he once was.....his liver is barely able to support his existence. I say a prayer that he finds peace within himself and finds his worth. Life is good and he can be part of it again. Some of the people he called friends before are not true friends. They were enablers and didn't care about him. He could have died for all they care. I will not enable him and I do care. This is tough love to live.Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-67348278683287192502011-01-17T12:20:00.007-05:002011-01-26T12:00:42.452-05:00Giani Kitchen ProjectI haven't posted in FOREVER but I started a new project in my kitchen today and wanted to makes sure I blogged about it. I like to do things like this so I can look back and say "oh yeah, that's when we did that!".<br /><br />Before I get to the project, I do want to say that everything is going fine. Gary's health is good. He's all healed up from his surgery last February and feels wonderful. I still want to write about his surgery and have tons of pictures to post about that. It was the most amazing thing and his recovery....well....it took a lot of patience to handle. Wore my ass out! We are homeschooling Hannah this year (7th grade) and that is going well too. We bought a house in Tennessee last December,after we sold our company. We are trying to sell our house here in Maine so we can move down there permanently. The housing market in our area tanked last year as it did it most parts of the country. Thank heavens, we don't have a mortgage on our new house and Gary has work here for now. Jeez, maybe I do have some stuff I could write about!<br /><br />We have been wanting to change our counter tops for quite a while now and have been pricing out different options. The prices we were coming up with were giving us (more!) gray hair....upwards of $1500 just to do the counter tops. I've been checking <a href="http://www.gianigranite.com/%20and">this Giani product</a> have been liking what I see and read. Of course they don't sell it anywhere in Maine yet, so Gary and I scooted over the border to NH and picked some up. We purchased both the Sicilian Sand and Chocolate Brown kits.<br /><br /><br />Today, I started the primer coat and here are the before and after pictures of that. Please note that I am only doing half of the counter tops at a time so we can still use our kitchen during the dry and curing times. Its a couple days before you can place anything on the counter after it's complete and two weeks for the top coats to fully cure.<br /><br />Island before:<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563209695825712866" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUj4Y_fzjCNPkwCmWj6G4eNBJ5ZXeWT-kQ1LipUSW7maJfXSDBg6CrXm1fGtdy3oX2pVEKntoiyhAr6f4OZ3Zzx7weloXjB4V7ky_MYmN7Sp8aRMF9JAWE-pIbE4y65V4vXXk6PQ/s320/P1050243.JPG" /><br />Island after black prime coat:<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563209700864537666" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqo4XE5JjhTNh35oW0q0NsIvRdmErEGZtmEcD_luh3E1fZAWmpRAgDrd_f9Id5f2r-MjyHdUFyirxfhVH4RxwdviC4RLoD4CY3bUwbZaMipymZBRjOzwPnr6Ew7pG3fDQwvLfuwQ/s320/P1050248.JPG" /> Applying the paints to the island:<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566537859375651874" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipthg7w5VxNG5GTy9QMCyUT6rJXIAj-8a5l38kyx6WwTnGi66806j0D_Y4v2ZrNROCkAPFuqwQGjvY-e9SbAD7AKxpqOPxGvuT_zabGG7r-eh9Wbn-WkJyBnBOM7U7w_HgPt6srw/s320/P1050269.JPG" />Island completed: <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566537862468180690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjffFUFEVCeEknlmf8caNPyZNcPyDQR6WHEVWfZf5OYGTTtJZosjsGqf4JNTGRMhchfQ_UkqyhKljahowtDjUAkKFADYWP-hO0oDQG9CLPLWQkvXTYi_mrnnGkJiSqplgX5tPWUrA/s320/P1050284.JPG" />Part 2 of the kitchen tapes off and primed:<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566537867660023234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZXW9xERw7C8MsQ0im2TcLN80VaUd6EMaTGSLfu5Wk1MI1vv5MHrzF6WMdADP0VrK5HATYQARjL-Misb293j1VxQY9L5wjpKFH_vpCY8gy3pKn_eNYu0EpmUCWxcRZtFL-zT2qw/s320/P1050289.JPG" />Applying the mineral paints to part2 of the kitchen:<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566537872018027330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqP0eBxGpts0xSm4F6g8VqjpI2U-9fxJVA-NpkMbmMlu3nX7DISO24Oi4bOPdyE72ZH6bYAepP4Egmrmy64duPN5znVK8uDtZyC7HhSkLn7xOR2D2DBz7R5h5oixb8WrcE9U36g/s320/P1050293.JPG" />Finally! Completed! It looks wonderful.<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566537876935970754" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRKrs-8qkF38f2MW1dIW1TC12MEw-GIr6jIT62SlVjH064MINzqdg3Xy57L-8l9Zg1d4_R8_ZQ_YPS0DERLkdh-Wg3y4Lr8mZ2DQER2i-gZdQuGYEc_ML4SqEEJoVZXaLBlO5wqw/s320/P1050313.JPG" /> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ji2kxR0E13I9lMzFVMAHhoFeC0YSUa_VHxea_yr6QyAWYlUv070DjVxw_JZtd19hOat8IQh7D_Gn1Ttk1j_o-RuXc0zdy41kiD9GFvOYU7WyFS_xMVYzVeJVoEI9ja1pBaDvow/s1600/GianiSample.jpg"></a></p>Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-47504077666837299402011-01-16T19:14:00.000-05:002011-01-27T16:14:42.728-05:00Quadruple Bypass SurgeyI wanted to share some pictures and information in the hopes that someone else might find it helpful. I know when Gary and I were looking online for pictures and first hand knowledge of the procedure any bit of personal experience with the surgery was most helpful! As the wife of the patient, I wanted to know what the recovery was going to be like but I really had a hard time finding real information. Please be aware that some pictures might be a little graphic in nature and I apologize for that but they are necessary to tell the story.<br /><br /><br />The first picture is intake day. We had to be there bright and early as Gary was the first operation of the day for the cardiac team. First a few nurses came in to take vitals and make sure that Gary was who is said he was and not some person off the street there to get open heart surgery for kicks. lol - like that would happen!<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440113394274948258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP1uWnjyARJb7LDLYGBtZxgDf1CLpyRk8Qkt_gjd57M_EsnvpPir2LOqzXz1D5JJcU_rNUPPPopd0u-pxqZoye60zoUBAxkl3hzD3c69sZVOODrHxgH2KVV3uD1c_P9JOWUwjz2Q/s400/P1030183.JPG" /><br />Then the blood people come in to get samples and put an IV in.<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440113402178179586" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlhlf6zknOPKEb_5URFpI2ea0JvA5Jar2Fk3iBDBVAWuilYD_ZVE-esd4-5kWVNCmInsECxc4I4MrfIHU_YWg5grGfJyS1qMMyn15MiJl8R_Y2RgEKSa1rMPdw735n0dSM2wl6sA/s400/P1030185.JPG" /><br />A nice male nurse comes in to announce that Gary has to be shaved. Any hair from the neck down on the torso and legs is coming off. Gary said it wasn't so bad - more ticklish than anything but very humbling. That whole process took about half hour and used 4 cordless razors!<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 366px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 255px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440113402495619250" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik8rUmZ9edR92TBA7Oe1GHtSfjqW81xT_4hFK-cgEAvahCuUEmjZ3zKMtXxZyP8lT_Kvkah-bQgeZkhfxNiokvREC7BDnEu4lxrDfVGRJG_L2erl48ALTIgkyrY5GUEtAZGAtokg/s400/P1030188.JPG" /><br /><br />After getting him all ready they give him a shot of something to relax him. Word of advice: be sure to say your serious goodbyes prior to them getting this shot. After the shot takes effect, you might as well be a clown floating in a snowglobe....that's how much aware of you they will be. I'm glad Gary and I said our good-byes, love you's and all that prior to this. Pretty soon after "The Shot", he is wheeled away to the operating theater and I stand there and cry and pray.<br /><br />I'm told it will be a six hour operation and they give me a beeper that works in the hospital. When Gary is almost finished, they will beep me and I am to come to the waiting area and the surgeon will come out to see me. My friend, Regina, comes and waits with me but I am not very good company. My mind is totally focused on Gary and praying that everything goes well.<br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 362px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 225px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440113416889453698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlGhLk8ChM7QRvpb8D9G-utZih8AWCPEGUxTMOa6sUnKJpCGKdTwxktN-YBlG_iL4eX26Yv1PgIIO75aqcR7aTlwigWiwVxmo9CWJqI_O00WW9EH7XnsjG80z6J-OZNMMOq0XVDA/s400/P1030190.JPG" />5 and a half hours later. My beeper goes off and I am already in the waiting area. About 30 mins later, the surgeon comes in and smiles at me. Instantly, I feel better and relieved. He told me that Gary did wonderful. He came off the heart/lung machine without needing further help. I don't really know what that means except that when Gary's fixed heart was supposed to start beating it took off like a champ. The surgeon told me that he was being finished getting closed up and would go to cardiac ICU. Once they got him settled, they would beep me again and I should go there.<br /><br />Another 30 mins later, the beeper went off again and I hurried to the ICU to see him. I was told that cardiac patients are allowed to wake on their own and not be brought out of anesthesia as they are with other operations. So the first time I saw Gary - this is what I saw. He was all swaddled up tightly in warm blankets with a breathing tube still in. I put my hand on his shoulder and it was cold. His body felt so cold... it was freaky. They assured me this was normal. Still, I did not like to see him like that.<br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440113423194580162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp0K7e5b7Y1tYDNDmYBFFSMYNuz1cYoYzwVWS7SUK_KZtvkosyfjH4XUD4RiHT6pn8NvYq196capOEgEWqG9mKtLYSel5lQFC1C_w0fIO86YFwmVloUZ2tOX8hNXinsP6Fj531DA/s400/P1030192.JPG" /><br /><br />When he started to wake up they called me back in again. He was awake but very drowsy and mumbling incoherently. Again, they assured me this was normal. His skin still felt cool. He kept asking me if I was okay and where was Hannah. He wanted to see Hannah so I brought her in for a moment but she didn't' like seeing him like that. He was not allowed food or drink yet.<br /><br />This is how his sternum area looked in the ICU. It was bandaged up and very clean looking. He had a catheter and three big tubes coming out of his upper stomach area that were draining fluid. The fluid was draining at a good volume. He mostly slept for the first 12-18 hours after surgery.<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566562378889250754" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgokdLbUdiyAaY6iyBjdllhY8X0fFcvHpDxx_lC9Bx77KUer9KdwXKsXvWmrnd7Sgy84bX2rzjivQxhpouVVuuInFQdeqGv-b_jiqMk8aZ29Z61IShKPdyACRPXJwWViWVv6Aoonw/s320/P1030205.JPG" />This is his left leg right after surgery. It looks very orange/yellow from the wash they use. They harvested vein from his ankle to over his knee on the left leg in order to get the appropriate amount of good vein they needed.<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 316px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 281px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566543205137474114" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4lukooll9DuzKZ3bXZy5GLH0YBAPYLzClw-23-iYUBEVqIXeamnr_rEbFWP2m2PRGoXPTpGNgAgJ9hIRKWxgnVrqANe-jA6MDAmVUJt6ZcPX2firsI5hAgDWrQdrRppOxfuHwqw/s320/P1030198.JPG" /><br /><br />Here is the right leg. Vein was harvested from the ankle to mid calf. Very good vein here.<br /><div><br /><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566543209085801666" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqxYpXsdH-vjglKWYaA_sSM1apPDNnXumelwFPsVaMzQs_7dRkO66oh3mMZvl0zIN_Op1qWWDEzYcy7JB6PpsZEgEiVdFcpp28o57XSILKXJJUC4xnmTIFTVVRSw5L9fbBRl0BUg/s320/P1030197.JPG" /><br /><br />Here is what his neck area looked like. There was a pic line going into the top of his heart and into his neck. He said this was uncomfortable in a more annoying way than anything.<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566543213185168306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwJDWAWKwgT-U_z4Rnw6AzTmMZQT4MUTnEJKY7HStmcUlUMEHZxjWA8a0I-eZ145YdNytoYJiCVnadQU4OfsG50WCl7R37KTv19OHCxNNfSoWrK1OKUVDgObo9SZN4m4j6iuNaaw/s320/P1030203.JPG" />Here is a picture of the 3 tubes he had for draining. On the morning after his surgery, the drain tubes need to come out. The volume had decreased to an acceptable point and rather than further risk infection, out they must go! The nurse readies the area by removing the tape securing the tubes.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566543214850346786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-5hojkVfPhzANjpam0woelkTce8_6evCXA9el0gfuGzwKK8ywULxmUAygn-OJTm-qCunoDi49Bu3w7ZJcv0DaRr_4RJ9xYuvzkmzZQcC71_PoMnOG81nnkgbQYtrcdqOHQq4g_g/s320/P1030206.JPG" />She then got the cinch strings ready. It appeared that at each spot a tube entered the belly, there was a basting line of medical string. She told us that after she pulled the tubes, she would cinch up these draw strings, sealing the holes. She told Gary that when she pulled the tubes out it would feel like he was being kicked in the chest. They practiced a couple times...one, two, three, deep breath and hold it, pull, cinch....one,two, three, deep breath and hold it, pull, cinch. "Are you ready?" she asked him. "As ready as I'll ever be" he said. She was a tiny nurse, so she put in right knee up on the bed to get leverage, twisted the three tubes all together around her arm and gripped near his belly. One, two, three, DEEP BREATH AND HOLD IT, pull hard (very loud moan from Gary), and she quickly started cinching. This was the only part that make me queasy at all. I think it was because I could tell it really hurt to have it done and the tubes were up in the a good 12-15" </div><br /><div><br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566543216487696114" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiMwfh0fSQqfd5TpYZyhncS7kPpxH57GmlmHsXfDAmWXN-J_rjvtooP2GxhooxYTfZe_yrc5GoileEj8V4ubf-g402-gbgyFa_XiSETWIR9mn5gE7YtohvPvzGbpav8DM_24zhrQ/s320/P1030212.JPG" /></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>All cinched up!<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566562380600317682" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjASVmhgT0IdKMO4tdnKdeHRZq-Ue3qCjBmViZcELcJW8107FeTQ7rfmEtcCsexyB0jIadmjIL93iSkL-TAriQdSWDLwaez7PD_JfQ2C6s1ZcVzpulHnHMiLMR19eN2cnzS0zFOWQ/s320/P1030214.JPG" /></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>When his bandage came off that morning, this is what the incision area of his sternum looked like.<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 236px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 233px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566544685889466450" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii9x9fBQ1nFNzoNKRT3MbzgHf1ZdIEiPep6OEHVdRshs9ZNiJBB_wvkDIpcpqQ-ybs8MmGIF5rT6j2TgsPBc2iwWPN9Q75G7zS4LPiBmVaFtzc0dZjC9s_QYTTApWnTR-R_hhA-g/s320/P1030224.JPG" />This was the day after his surgery. He was sitting up and able to take a couple steps from the bed to the chair. When the physical therapist came in, it was always a flurry of activity. He had breathing exercises to do and flexing of his legs. He was so happy to get the catheter out. <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566562391974144866" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiVwLx8JOhnbcOVFl9wqndTi3r3lPZPoYZO5CsLiPHLZTPfvhFld1Cs7SHEPFWhZut_e8igvDPIwAwcuZ1NBZh2W_vaCPkwfTbXzH71z_xrcpdu3tJFp29YY8W4IxkAjpj29A5Rw/s320/P1030221.JPG" />The day after his surgery he was going to walk about 25 feet. I know that doesn't sound like alot but believe me, it is. It will wipe them out. A walker is needed, oxygen tank wheeled along and a wheelchair following close behind in case its needed.<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566544670709705362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeirIMNgqLhxyAu-ytH1nBpxgxYpmoXk_wdG-1yepMgsK-lx26sJDkitpgUXSl6zHvN0I_O8IM7ZfiP7tjnkk6bjLl19T8Vr6nF-GqKejOSMnIHdGyjcg5nn1f1_G-expsTL25eQ/s320/P1030218.JPG" />And there he goes. Baby steps....baby steps....but he did make it the 25 feet. I think he slept for a few hours after that.<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566544685008421730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6is7E51shwFbV_X3G51YJh0IwGL9773M438sP97zvE1E6mJTDuLfjJlKYLI5OtClFOyRnNfK6YOPaCIfUUiGpCkLq0VwVDTqvI7r2nMfanGUXSN5EQDfKcuCnvyXKHMCQ9y2mWQ/s320/P1030220.JPG" /> Here is his left leg on day 3:<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566544697473556050" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC7oPT5tgVZgh6R7Y9pZdbjR6qJ7AHdmQd1rYC1AERHHy3y4YbSdUOI4GZH-VWVn12ajTD6qPnDt-XcpsjkxF3XWSDCLv00OCqFEFzz-k6wbsbBNieUG8xr0nOUmkRR8VbbOSNoA/s320/P1030230.JPG" /></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>And right leg on day 3<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 233px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 149px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566544689751013426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhilqNkseLJfJq_YhdtRUBJRjd2YD1vRGJdffppBmzS-ycZAU25whd0e8cfqOBUNXNx6UDb9693UHe5Qs79Akty9hjbmj4idh0pylivGaUoO3jfeTsPoh3ocam8a8l42WfQsRQG2w/s320/P1030229.JPG" /></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Here is what everything looked like on discharge day.<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 234px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 189px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566546326804193458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAQkhMukBW8uxtQIe0Sfbr1cF3I0YROONwJC_I6AVUNE6ZWdmgevPiEqskBG4aAcBJTuuRMRDlMebM0mFutqn53NCv9_Alk0FKISWIeVPyOjlLfeflfhdHidGG3Fau7rq5y3WzDA/s320/P1030228.JPG" /> Overall, everything went pretty smooth in the hospital. Some things to be aware of:<br /><ul><br /><li><em><strong>Appetite is almost non-existent</strong></em>. Gary has always been a big eater so to see him take 2-3 bites of food and say he couldn't eat anymore was scary to me. His appetite took a good month to come back.</li><br /><li><strong><em>Going to the bathroom.</em></strong> Of all the indignities he had to endure with this procedure, the worst for him was not being able to wipe his own butt. I assured him that I wouldn't enjoy it either but lets get through it with humor and know I was helping him out of love for him and Huggies baby wipes. Please make sure you have lots of baby wipes. The hospitals have this bodywash, no rinse stuff that is wonderful as well. We used <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Convatec-Aloe-Vesta-Cleansing-325208/dp/B0013OQKGA">Convatec Aloe Vesta</a> and it was a butt saver.</li><br /><li><strong><em>Take it Easy</em></strong> - Gary spent the first month home in flannel pants and white t-shirts. He puttered around as much as he could but also rested in the morning and the afternoon. As soon as he felt like it, he was on the treadmill walking a few minutes a day at a very slow pace.</li><br /><li><strong><em>No driving</em></strong> was hard on all of us because he was cooped up inside. He had a couple friends come pick him up and take him places like Cabelas but he really couldn't walk around a lot without having to sit down frequently.</li></ul></div><br />Here is Gary's incision taken 1/26/2011. Almost one year later.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWUb09gUZll3INk_jgCevJZnG9VhMRmPvDEGToYS8A2AkqVuw3VOy5gkIeqveqWhtD4UPCvuiwIqAB1xfJIomBA6jbGrOqShG2650pMy_6fKGhR39D2ZScKGwFgeJNl2ql9O6Vjg/s1600/P1050335.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566976645188107250" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWUb09gUZll3INk_jgCevJZnG9VhMRmPvDEGToYS8A2AkqVuw3VOy5gkIeqveqWhtD4UPCvuiwIqAB1xfJIomBA6jbGrOqShG2650pMy_6fKGhR39D2ZScKGwFgeJNl2ql9O6Vjg/s320/P1050335.JPG" /></a>Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-34301023275326036192010-08-09T09:17:00.002-04:002010-08-09T09:21:26.396-04:00Hello Again!I've had a few people ask me what is going on? Why are you not updating Deerledge anymore? Truth be told, I suck so bad at writing! In my head I come up with things to write about and then life goes on and I don't get around to putting it down. My last post was about Gary and his bypass surgery. I still am going to put that down in writing... I think it would be important, especially if it helps another person. Gary is doing fine though, by the way.<br /><br />More later!Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-86363313829497756472010-02-17T08:25:00.005-05:002010-02-17T09:13:20.584-05:00Quadruple Bypass..... What to Expect.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3jJVU0aDkm4_SzebZ2TLpohqpUyjsu6eXJiQICtgDV_du5mTRBWvAFofj6XcjSt-blnTYmivGlGD3C0FA0QjQBbu-NAJ-NBZkbUieBaRYFO9qifPeWN6tvBBht-9bGJYyAgpNtA/s1600-h/coronaryarteriesnew.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 348px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439214378782742690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3jJVU0aDkm4_SzebZ2TLpohqpUyjsu6eXJiQICtgDV_du5mTRBWvAFofj6XcjSt-blnTYmivGlGD3C0FA0QjQBbu-NAJ-NBZkbUieBaRYFO9qifPeWN6tvBBht-9bGJYyAgpNtA/s400/coronaryarteriesnew.jpg" /></a><br /><div>I've been searching the Internet looking for information about quadruple bypass and what it <em>really</em> is like.... for the patient and spouse. I know there are tons of articles written by doctor sites and the American Heart Association but I was looking for real stories from people who have had it done. I have so many questions that I couldn't find the answers for. Gary has agreed to let me document and write about his procedure so someone else might find an answer they are looking for. I'll take pictures of his incisions and the subsequent healing. I'll take pictures of him as soon as I am able to see him. We'll talk about the pain, the healing and the feelings.<br /><br />Tomorrow is surgery day. Tonight, Gary has to shower with a special soap and then again tomorrow morning. No eating or fluids after 6pm. We have to be at the hospital at 6am and surgery is scheduled for 8:15am. Gary has four blockages that are going to be bypassed. The <a href="http://www.maineheartsurgical.com/quinn.html">surgeon</a> will be using his <a href="http://www.hsforum.com/stories/storyReader$1491">Internal Mammary Artery(IMA)</a> to bypass his Left Coronary Artery and Gary's <a href="http://www.laparoscopy.com/pictures/vaso.html">saphenous vein </a>from his leg to graft and bypass the other 3 areas. I'm told the operation will last between 4-6 hours and Gary will be in a cardiac ICU for most of tomorrow until he comes out of anesthesia and the breathing tube comes out. </div><div> </div><div>Stay tuned for postings of his progress.</div>Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-9789349584333227072010-01-10T23:16:00.003-05:002010-01-10T23:32:50.124-05:00Happy 2010A few clicks and I am in touch with my sister (Sue!), <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">friends</span> in Maine (Regina! Melody!) a friend in Hawaii (Hi Lauren!!!), an awesome friend down south (Hi Jean!!), a cool column writer (Hey Mike Todd!) and others around the world. That is what <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Facebook</span> has done. It has made my life so much easier than Blogger, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">especially</span> because I am not a writer anyway. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Facebook</span> doesn't require me to think up giant posts to write to let people know how I am doing... just a short status update and I am on my way.<br /><br />Things are going well. Here are a few <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">pix</span> of the new Tennessee house. <div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425333018268652690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxkC230H6Q2mYTC-j7xRJ5S8ei3bA92rFbi2P_AozzlbvLZFbtYxg9JFsS48mOmdLkLwMpRIzFcOVP7vaVH0lt9se9jWBnitsjt90BC-7odVDovRQ-xdwnP5azS5YiZCRm-o6XeQ/s400/P1030103.JPG" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4f0gVV-o9Zty05jE6ryjICX_FcHoXIla9-kB25m5CNe-uNF8iW5Orx2yAfDmydJouykTJjtjaPuarM1VkTe9betkOzSrpmo7lw1TERYYluohD2H2SKPASvSjgook0rCpnfDik1Q/s1600-h/P1030100.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425333014659694418" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4f0gVV-o9Zty05jE6ryjICX_FcHoXIla9-kB25m5CNe-uNF8iW5Orx2yAfDmydJouykTJjtjaPuarM1VkTe9betkOzSrpmo7lw1TERYYluohD2H2SKPASvSjgook0rCpnfDik1Q/s400/P1030100.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii7Kwx4Wem2NkWHL0cC2zuY86u7M13TkixWOG-z-3MtbJZGMDb_R_qHVIiY0Y6CqmRnXCS6ctOV_G6xJfh9ModylVxfHY1kPsVoAN8dIHYXS0NRmXrHEorCWTgwxoDBK6EQSj2gA/s1600-h/back.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 221px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 166px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425333004850207602" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii7Kwx4Wem2NkWHL0cC2zuY86u7M13TkixWOG-z-3MtbJZGMDb_R_qHVIiY0Y6CqmRnXCS6ctOV_G6xJfh9ModylVxfHY1kPsVoAN8dIHYXS0NRmXrHEorCWTgwxoDBK6EQSj2gA/s400/back.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Business Sold: check<br />House in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Tennessee</span> bought: check<br /><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Quadruple</span> bypass: check<br />Freaking the F out: check<br /><br /><br /></div></div>Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-35357577908356787642009-10-19T14:31:00.005-04:002009-10-19T14:45:06.726-04:00More Shelly<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSNZqdPhB9kfVLiOiJZVuMI2Cbd75ZxMaift3H4QPPH73hEHHvLzVaMotNP-h7zRE4A6eJu-KBbWBYip1Jj8xP-cvIGxqV2jGyRXAZAoUgC75D3Q3aw0ZiUCOLn7DQ1xwEgH8low/s1600-h/P1020896.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394382504666320466" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSNZqdPhB9kfVLiOiJZVuMI2Cbd75ZxMaift3H4QPPH73hEHHvLzVaMotNP-h7zRE4A6eJu-KBbWBYip1Jj8xP-cvIGxqV2jGyRXAZAoUgC75D3Q3aw0ZiUCOLn7DQ1xwEgH8low/s400/P1020896.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3pOX-kXy2wHTPRRFwsMRhsFiUMpDdczBHorlpj0AFOsq8CAC64e-egnIalBoO7HhBJg26UR5l73r_40JBBv7CvieflWoZJrVfZOsrQJHEHXkaRYiJzddmcpPfrB3B6DOztpyuRw/s1600-h/P1020895.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394382494342914130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3pOX-kXy2wHTPRRFwsMRhsFiUMpDdczBHorlpj0AFOsq8CAC64e-egnIalBoO7HhBJg26UR5l73r_40JBBv7CvieflWoZJrVfZOsrQJHEHXkaRYiJzddmcpPfrB3B6DOztpyuRw/s400/P1020895.JPG" border="0" /></a> I know it has been forever since I last did a blog post so I thought I'd do a quick update.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394382484919696386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgimEQv3vn-rzr05kYb-ZKL8grxlHkH-0K-wLASIPXH5JE-q0l_2GzNf6JvLLO8q9_3LaXRqpzN_f72EMdt3Ev2-4Rls5wM3eUHhC57-Ij-zCAYdt9nnK6YPzzi-CKvhOI1DTUW7Q/s400/P1020903.JPG" border="0" /> Shelly is adjusting wonderfully into the family. She's really sinking her teeth into anything she can get them on. I've titled the picture below, "Good Morning - I've been patiently Waiting for you to come downstairs and feed me."<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394382478304263042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp4Nb9OCVX2fey5cIAAChjjCZ0MyG73YyPo5HR721elhBg6e2_4ccx8dl0vsEv_B-dzC2-9haQfS4495XvLZJcWlKHwsSHOA2rE8-kmVUaBEhonwzTlztxoe-2G7W1u6clIBoDRg/s400/P1020910.JPG" border="0" /> Chloe and Shelly get along very well. Thank God we have a king sized bed because by the end of the night, both dogs are in bed with Gary & I and are exercising their full right to stretch out and get comfy.<br /><br />Camp has closed for the season and everything is put away until next May (or April if Mother Nature co-operates).<br /><br />Our house is on the market but we've only had 2 showings. Things are really slow around here.Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-35869508169140909312009-08-30T09:40:00.002-04:002009-08-30T10:21:57.281-04:00Fall in the AirIt's a start. The summer had flown by. We didn't have much of a summer here in Maine. What we did have was a ton of rain. I think the entire month of July and most of June were rain. August has been hot and muggy but it's starting to improve. The days are a little cooler and the nights a little colder. It is also dark at 7:30pm now. Some trees are starting to have a little color in them.... especially the ones growing around swamps.<br /><br />School starts next week.Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-4603927635203611542009-07-11T09:18:00.002-04:002009-07-11T09:22:39.185-04:00The summer that wasn't77 days after the rains started, it stopped and the sun came out. My lawn sprung into action, the moss on the roof cried in pain and mosquitoes the size of small pickups came out of the woods to feast on any human they could find. The past couple of days have proven to me that we actually might have a summer after all. There really is a sun in the sky.<br /><br />Going to Greenville next week for a wedding and some family time. I promise I will try to blog more. I am on Facebook if anyone is interested. I'm there alot.Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-60872159042793910292009-06-02T11:10:00.001-04:002009-06-02T11:13:06.226-04:00It's ShellyWell... we couldn't stand it... we had to get another dog. Here's Shelly. She and Chloe have the same dad just like Chloe and Cinco did. Shelly even has that funky left ear thing going on.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Z-mr_6YFPAeEIdxoRvPWu0aASCAqSR5Lm-ypaQL7aZeMYngj2fV3F1Hc5qLQ5qhZU3hkkYndktF_tiHCtaqcaz6Hxajq1PYNVFEdy26BXx_YV6q9wXC_qXO3jgpF5jlKjIUs_w/s1600-h/P1020504.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342748139908403074" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Z-mr_6YFPAeEIdxoRvPWu0aASCAqSR5Lm-ypaQL7aZeMYngj2fV3F1Hc5qLQ5qhZU3hkkYndktF_tiHCtaqcaz6Hxajq1PYNVFEdy26BXx_YV6q9wXC_qXO3jgpF5jlKjIUs_w/s400/P1020504.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><br />Welcome Home! Hannah is on cloud 9!Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-44052513866873361842009-05-26T13:31:00.004-04:002009-05-27T16:52:21.692-04:00Back in the SaddleYou know I can't stay away for long.<br /><br />The skies are blue, the grass is green...oh so green and lush with a million dandelions. We used to pick those fuzzy ones and tell Hannah to blow them to the wind. Now we are paying for that foolishness. I offer her 25¢ for every dandelion scalp she brings me for my coup belt but instead we spray Roundup™ all over the yard.<br /><br />We miss Cinco so much. Grief is such a strange thing. At first, it was if all I could do was think about him and be so very sad. Yesterday, I realized that the entire day had almost gone by before I thought about him and I felt disloyal. Hannah and Gary have been talking about Shelly and how they can't wait for her to join the family. Shelly is the name they have picked out for our next member. I am not ready yet. The brunt of the training and taking care of a new puppy falls to me and I am just not ready to take that on.<br /><br />Getting ready for my first garage sale this weekend. I had no idea we had so much crap in this house.Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-2702899036692606422009-05-15T12:46:00.001-04:002009-05-15T12:55:49.674-04:00HiatusWill blog again soon. Taking a hiatus right now.<br /><br />I hope everyone is doing good! Let me know how you are.Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-86355183367445528572009-04-23T07:19:00.005-04:002009-04-23T17:45:02.327-04:00Cinco De Mayo De ManAll I heard was Chloe barking and barking and barking. This isn't unusual.... she barks at things sometimes. Suddenly her barking sounded frantic and and I jumped up and ran to the office door to call to her. She came in and had a bleeding spot on her hind quarters and was trembling. I went outside and called to Cinco. I called and called and whistled and called some more. He didn't come.<br /><br />We found him in the woods, laying by a stream. A coyote had attacked them and Chloe was able to get away. We are all devastated over the loss of our little tough guy. He had such attitude and determination and was such a joy in every way.<br /><br />R.I.P little buddy. We will miss you so much.<br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnyX_JdON4iuwuXnjWGB0T8lA1ecDJ4wlni7kUZhSWCvaXAgPhN7Br2gD9Och-95l-ei-uXoE9gA88OkSc6W4bj3UF6b12zCLztDIUwl5Y6Ags7P0ny6vwzSjU7VMtEUKrcyjCnw/s1600-h/P1010698.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327849562606643922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 303px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnyX_JdON4iuwuXnjWGB0T8lA1ecDJ4wlni7kUZhSWCvaXAgPhN7Br2gD9Och-95l-ei-uXoE9gA88OkSc6W4bj3UF6b12zCLztDIUwl5Y6Ags7P0ny6vwzSjU7VMtEUKrcyjCnw/s400/P1010698.JPG" border="0" /></a>Cinco De Mayo de Man May 5, 2008 - April 22, 2009<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr_1UFpMudwNWsrK7zQfmnQh0cezjczxu8IfcjRpNsQrGn_x8ElusMa6chnH32TimDj7b0QvvPKsqPfo_3c2ZOeZ0htmUuqOEBTbIyMlOSKYyWm2UQaALC-qI-OA8Z0900OP172Q/s1600-h/P1010976.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327849551595466994" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 310px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr_1UFpMudwNWsrK7zQfmnQh0cezjczxu8IfcjRpNsQrGn_x8ElusMa6chnH32TimDj7b0QvvPKsqPfo_3c2ZOeZ0htmUuqOEBTbIyMlOSKYyWm2UQaALC-qI-OA8Z0900OP172Q/s400/P1010976.JPG" border="0" /></a>Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-47205601851623522952009-04-21T13:59:00.005-04:002009-04-21T14:24:37.537-04:00TieDye Cake for LimeIf you like tie-dye things you'll appreciate this cake...... (<a href="http://houseoflime.blogspot.com/">House of Lime</a>, this is in your honor!) Hannah and I had a blast making it and it was pretty tasty too!<br /><br />Start out with a totally messy and clutter filled counter top. I mean seriously, the more crap you can have all over the top of it.... the better. It helps make trying to do anything on the counter...super fun! Take it from me... someone who knows. Good times! <br /><br />Mix up the batter and color it. The colors we use came out nice except for the purple. I don't know what school you went to but when I learned Kindergarten Color 101, blue and red always made purple. However, in cake batter world blue and red make Putrid. I know, I know, it defies all logic to me too.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOKKBBpIVAaDu_joO8V1KX7lSit9IZH8GTm9UecREK3gh14u4CfhQNQY1P-fE6gl6yqwzMhVBxSC5KrQED-Vff6r0I23ogkc_EGT2encI2Pi3FpBTT-BJxzhtxVxYBF12WokuE9g/s1600-h/P1020319.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOKKBBpIVAaDu_joO8V1KX7lSit9IZH8GTm9UecREK3gh14u4CfhQNQY1P-fE6gl6yqwzMhVBxSC5KrQED-Vff6r0I23ogkc_EGT2encI2Pi3FpBTT-BJxzhtxVxYBF12WokuE9g/s400/P1020319.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327207569832730834" border="0" /></a>Layer the colors in the pans and bake them. I've only done 3 of the 6 colors so far in this pan.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOtCRwKVXS5-z352WDff27Y8PXoNzK7iLbjMMZacA3repG2x98HRvVMa_ifmLtWNp4CVqK-RVT2wHThC7lDCfN2A1E2VDq1kef0I1kjBq3Rz2Z5jujWs7861PjjERRV1gIqGS_NQ/s1600-h/P1020318.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOtCRwKVXS5-z352WDff27Y8PXoNzK7iLbjMMZacA3repG2x98HRvVMa_ifmLtWNp4CVqK-RVT2wHThC7lDCfN2A1E2VDq1kef0I1kjBq3Rz2Z5jujWs7861PjjERRV1gIqGS_NQ/s400/P1020318.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327209097265761154" border="0" /></a>The colors are done in reverse order in each pan. I guess this is so the amount of batter works out correctly or the earth doesn't tip off the axis.... whichever comes first. Whatever.... it works.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY8kOjf3uHpXHTVq_4_58hfBmjOXDcnPSm1rYORX4JQCkJpIg32PBg_cTl84QSRoIa6AqQCRMgTx8zjmpla2SE_PZBZsdRmmC48LJTBB45Md-vLpfQHdklc42YqvsaWXrI9l7suw/s1600-h/P1020321.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY8kOjf3uHpXHTVq_4_58hfBmjOXDcnPSm1rYORX4JQCkJpIg32PBg_cTl84QSRoIa6AqQCRMgTx8zjmpla2SE_PZBZsdRmmC48LJTBB45Md-vLpfQHdklc42YqvsaWXrI9l7suw/s400/P1020321.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327207565584467634" border="0" /></a>After it cools, slam the cakes together with some frosting and put some sprinkles you find in the cupboard that you didn't know you had and are dated 2004 but they tasted okay.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHrHnqIT5s_OBuamwGdI90M3zKTR3duNkTMNlbhliRpuzmu15ANyhEvS66U7f-LDXQUIQ-CmzkVndHLCUg73113ZKs7KPt3Wb5uaktYeGekqN9GEaung1hokKeQKSMOzMhMjXcQ/s1600-h/P1020330.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 344px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHrHnqIT5s_OBuamwGdI90M3zKTR3duNkTMNlbhliRpuzmu15ANyhEvS66U7f-LDXQUIQ-CmzkVndHLCUg73113ZKs7KPt3Wb5uaktYeGekqN9GEaung1hokKeQKSMOzMhMjXcQ/s400/P1020330.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327207547317738642" border="0" /></a>Ain't that purty?<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKXxYrEiJ-_RI7vFCiBgx9qnxbEJidhyKK9sd3CGApXK5fJp4aP04AsvfKj2B11e8a3O9K4PboV7Mjj2jeBPzvuOdx5Y0CQVfkPxRdI8LjMpIH9_JP7oHsAL2ZP1sSBNkOBcN7sg/s1600-h/P1020331.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKXxYrEiJ-_RI7vFCiBgx9qnxbEJidhyKK9sd3CGApXK5fJp4aP04AsvfKj2B11e8a3O9K4PboV7Mjj2jeBPzvuOdx5Y0CQVfkPxRdI8LjMpIH9_JP7oHsAL2ZP1sSBNkOBcN7sg/s400/P1020331.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327207538430530274" border="0" /></a>Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-7163669773198522002009-04-18T09:20:00.004-04:002009-04-18T09:32:46.254-04:00CincoHannah loves to play with Cinco. She holds him like a baby and he hates it. He squirms, he growls, he announces his displeasure. He sounds like a Tasmanian Devil snarling and growling. If you didn't know they were playing, you'd expect that he was being tortured from sounds he makes.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLK7NM3etouVhp7fhrLP4oBcuNiOhpFngvZyY6tp_odK9AAZo7LrRVLB6OOzjquYu8qzV1J_QXG9LInwp90713_dhYRKIWGekf_4_aTGfddpVDsA6z364Fs5Lyn1UwUcTamr81Hg/s1600-h/102_5923.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLK7NM3etouVhp7fhrLP4oBcuNiOhpFngvZyY6tp_odK9AAZo7LrRVLB6OOzjquYu8qzV1J_QXG9LInwp90713_dhYRKIWGekf_4_aTGfddpVDsA6z364Fs5Lyn1UwUcTamr81Hg/s320/102_5923.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326022175088287282" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJihw8c_5gELuCyRGTzj1Myg29wKu1Q2TJawsm3Tv-JsnlklXM4c5_GfDdYhD7jDIvjyjI5um3XUR3CuzM8U-OyqF4Eas8NpRtfSBoV4RG5ANzyjWZ90QFqiUXTTmfboYtFKv26Q/s1600-h/P1020295.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJihw8c_5gELuCyRGTzj1Myg29wKu1Q2TJawsm3Tv-JsnlklXM4c5_GfDdYhD7jDIvjyjI5um3XUR3CuzM8U-OyqF4Eas8NpRtfSBoV4RG5ANzyjWZ90QFqiUXTTmfboYtFKv26Q/s320/P1020295.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326022193901448914" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKT9-GcYbs7Ca1WuZyN9eWA4U3A_BLtf6BGIb6O5NjK7RHv3OwLKPt16FBEgjVFPkH-w8RQDfYZZiziaMLFFs3XDI4lwpR1WWulz1g24xkVzF24TPWeAeWWU56XEh8Otu0QJDMbQ/s1600-h/102_5926.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKT9-GcYbs7Ca1WuZyN9eWA4U3A_BLtf6BGIb6O5NjK7RHv3OwLKPt16FBEgjVFPkH-w8RQDfYZZiziaMLFFs3XDI4lwpR1WWulz1g24xkVzF24TPWeAeWWU56XEh8Otu0QJDMbQ/s320/102_5926.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326022194378275634" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzxVY6iV4Vorq492rHC6AJPr90cRv2eLHYhj3Df2xGKsKwpuIt6_OsFJhSf49uPydPI5qegxc7Ys3RKp2Npe4K-hbJncRGOOtCj0Y5qk22H4f3l9Qv-qqELyDrhm0QoD81pD_r_g/s1600-h/102_5921.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzxVY6iV4Vorq492rHC6AJPr90cRv2eLHYhj3Df2xGKsKwpuIt6_OsFJhSf49uPydPI5qegxc7Ys3RKp2Npe4K-hbJncRGOOtCj0Y5qk22H4f3l9Qv-qqELyDrhm0QoD81pD_r_g/s320/102_5921.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326022187929630242" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVMof2zXqmbS5lPSlulauVRvpjoF6qSsVJL6q1fDNoiR6rL-r_dc1ZhpWUNQ6yekB2Z58Tx4myA07nWQRIuQl429BAgzc4Tx3sqMmfWl1POfZYtCIhGyBdCCCCyp7EeA-ofzdbmA/s1600-h/102_5890.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVMof2zXqmbS5lPSlulauVRvpjoF6qSsVJL6q1fDNoiR6rL-r_dc1ZhpWUNQ6yekB2Z58Tx4myA07nWQRIuQl429BAgzc4Tx3sqMmfWl1POfZYtCIhGyBdCCCCyp7EeA-ofzdbmA/s320/102_5890.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326022183799084642" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmN2plVTcSLXXF46SzZMeciGRC4gyTczgJlPHeE7AqECC5FIii8nWO3C4uAhcbjDUHD8t6SMKd0_tRKhcnLzUuwhfVNNcrD7hWJnCTbgs95B3cjxZoVruVT2TNnvnF0dvGGEzHPQ/s1600-h/P1020296.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmN2plVTcSLXXF46SzZMeciGRC4gyTczgJlPHeE7AqECC5FIii8nWO3C4uAhcbjDUHD8t6SMKd0_tRKhcnLzUuwhfVNNcrD7hWJnCTbgs95B3cjxZoVruVT2TNnvnF0dvGGEzHPQ/s400/P1020296.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326022784669701042" border="0" /></a>Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-9736991404787069042009-04-13T10:33:00.005-04:002009-04-13T10:48:28.562-04:00Easter After<div>Yesterday's Easter celebration was wonderful! We had an awesome dinner (HAM!) with some family and the weather was beautiful. Gary called in the middle of dinner to tell me he is on his way home and will be here before Hannah gets home from school today. </div><div> </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP5zQcOm0FELmyd5HZnUjLUvJic_dLlPVmRRRVxkQUjT8jrQ_W2aQznnwTtypWDVjVlQO8J54xqMehH_6gEK30nGftc53MnKYoSP3V2YqYfUjHIJJDU-wkKzHuYqJTG_3t22WDTQ/s1600-h/Princess2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324186948756140386" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 126px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 130px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP5zQcOm0FELmyd5HZnUjLUvJic_dLlPVmRRRVxkQUjT8jrQ_W2aQznnwTtypWDVjVlQO8J54xqMehH_6gEK30nGftc53MnKYoSP3V2YqYfUjHIJJDU-wkKzHuYqJTG_3t22WDTQ/s320/Princess2.jpg" border="0" /></a>I am so happy to finally put away the Easter tree that was on the dining room table for the past few weeks. It's a white wire tree with tiny egg and bunny ornaments hanging on it. One of our cats decided to make it her personal mission to destroy the tree every chance she had. Usually in the middle of the night. Here's a picture of the evil witch cat herself... Princess.</div><div> </div><div>Only 17 more days until the campground opens up for the season. It can't come soon enough. My sister is coming for a visit for my mom's birthday around the 23rd. Can't wait to see her!</div>Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-92189758786356198912009-04-11T19:20:00.003-04:002009-04-11T19:30:58.764-04:00Easter EggsOur day started out like this. I was never a big fan of dyeing eggs. Actually, when I think about it, I'm not a big fan of doing anything holiday related... especially decorating and all that. Hannah loves it so we do it and she has fun. Here is everything at the start:<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323579125047012098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZBkNWjQEMOss1l7TAVh4Es3EIfjmkFOHU_2hS6RFB7B2gK2iHrrLzOwUuZb0vrJQ5D1OBZ9cnDII3lhS3hS_ABNmtd_9_No-AJ7j3b1AK3COvhd6OGv8sXeLymcp0Sm8zZGMAeA/s320/P1020244.JPG" border="0" />Mom gave us her quilting tape... which is 1/4" masking tape to mark off the eggs. Hannah is peeling off the tape after dyeing her patriotic egg.<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiim37_t5EldzhhQ71Xnykzzwm9Pkcs-CX7DquXDWzIra4FHFlviN0H5EXNRhO6t2Zt9ThFEUxG2ABGCs_u6x2zzZZDIMfXPCNdNTpFqh0G4YgnWBpphqw7cmkAptEk5u58BhT-VA/s1600-h/P1020245.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323579121266498306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiim37_t5EldzhhQ71Xnykzzwm9Pkcs-CX7DquXDWzIra4FHFlviN0H5EXNRhO6t2Zt9ThFEUxG2ABGCs_u6x2zzZZDIMfXPCNdNTpFqh0G4YgnWBpphqw7cmkAptEk5u58BhT-VA/s320/P1020245.JPG" border="0" /></a> Most of the eggs completed.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhACafVVi1vnn1gShjusTzNpdpPH92mnmk98UzXP2ivlixyBpUG_JQUWMUYimBv_CkNl_pRdIOzH-emlWqqJjKfv_2PjTyGLEJqPcLURbiK1B0ivHIvL3pqY40zpRa3MIKlwLiyBA/s1600-h/P1020248.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323579119550808450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhACafVVi1vnn1gShjusTzNpdpPH92mnmk98UzXP2ivlixyBpUG_JQUWMUYimBv_CkNl_pRdIOzH-emlWqqJjKfv_2PjTyGLEJqPcLURbiK1B0ivHIvL3pqY40zpRa3MIKlwLiyBA/s320/P1020248.JPG" border="0" /></a> They didn't come out too bad.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQcHtg8UfmREiAp5M9m1aDx6B-fuKNf509moUbhNEN7ZiAzDkBD9PXGAYO8399hPeHzvvm5MdDvMAPgiXGBYvT3BltJ6VCSFwBwf1H8sBUCAyktGsZJM67V1pXWylH0XNWwPkZDw/s1600-h/P1020249.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323579113822355458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQcHtg8UfmREiAp5M9m1aDx6B-fuKNf509moUbhNEN7ZiAzDkBD9PXGAYO8399hPeHzvvm5MdDvMAPgiXGBYvT3BltJ6VCSFwBwf1H8sBUCAyktGsZJM67V1pXWylH0XNWwPkZDw/s320/P1020249.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div>Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7062125.post-14894264529342892392009-04-07T09:53:00.004-04:002009-04-07T10:20:57.028-04:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc3-jy2JwSJaOpiLVfpkJhyphenhyphenf99fpNrbeI3kfdqgrB6XK8mCATEtde2KQHT7ztw9tkYo-NOIDR_G427iuHSyaBpUKZwAC2_TU-pEh1EHVU_cFztzroUvj2-OYfGCl5t9yer6PZwGA/s1600-h/lobster.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321950941610480034" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 212px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc3-jy2JwSJaOpiLVfpkJhyphenhyphenf99fpNrbeI3kfdqgrB6XK8mCATEtde2KQHT7ztw9tkYo-NOIDR_G427iuHSyaBpUKZwAC2_TU-pEh1EHVU_cFztzroUvj2-OYfGCl5t9yer6PZwGA/s320/lobster.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div>Gary is leaving for Nashville or Memphis or Flippin, Arkansas or wherever his boat is right now. He and Josh leave Wednesday about 3pm and will drive through, pick up the boat if they can find it and fish for a couple days before heading back north. Gary is hoping that Ranger can get his boat to Memphis and then Dick might be able to scoot over and pick it up for him. Gosh - so many crucial details!! Secretly, I am glad I am not going on this road trip because he is on such a mission to get his boat there will be no time for anything else. <em>*note to Jean: Sorry Jean! You're on your own with the psychosis that is Gary and his boat. Bless you.</em></div><div><em></em> </div><div></div><div>Tomorrow I am picking up 10 lobsters, cooked and packed on ice, for them to bring to Dick & Jean. Jean is going to make a lobster stew for the guys. Maybe she'll have enough to make herself a lobster roll as well.</div><div> </div><div></div><div>Gary, Hannah and I have big changes coming in our lives within the next year or so. I can't say what they are yet because nothing is concrete but as details unfold... I will document them here.</div>Sherihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543916613150464407noreply@blogger.com1