12/09/06 Geeks.... Lost, but not forgotten

[brack]

John we'll be praying for your dad.

I'm glad Jason is not badly hurt. It sounds really painful.

We came home from WDW early because JoJo had to go to the "Doggie Hospital" on Saturday. We got him out Monday night with a bag of drugs. Hey it only cost us two cruises!

 

[lbgraves]

What a day....Jason smashed his face at work today. He was straightening out a sign and a brace broke off of the back. With all of the force from him pulling it came up and he smashed it into his nose. It had a bolt on the end. He broke his nose in 2 places and had to get 14 stitches....what a day! To top it off it is my B.Day....one of my friends at work brought donuts. Another made a cake for lunch time. They called me at home at lunch and told me I was missing a great party.....oh the timing!

Sorry Jason got hurt. Thank goodness it didn't hit him in the eye.

It is good to see new posts. THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!!!

 

[brack]

From the latest Dodd Family September WDW Trip

DS trying help his Mom/

 

[lbgraves]

Great pics Brack!!!

I was outside pulling 5 weeks worth of weeds from all of our flowerbeds and had lots of time to reflect on the cruise. I realized that I did not tell you one of the most amazing things from the cruise. I was up on deck 9 talking to Caroline as we were cruising out of LA and I heard a familiar voice. I looked over but did not see anyon I knew then wait a second! It was Kristina! Her hair was shorter and was a different color but that was her voice. I just had to let you guys know how fantastic she looks. She has been working her butt off since the surgery and you can really tell. K do you have a picture from the cruise to post? Since I lost half of mine I am not sure who I have a picture of and who I don't yet. I worked on the last part of our 12/06 cruise scrapbook yesterday.

 

[brack]

Great pics Brack!!!

I looked over but did not see anyon I knew then wait a second! It was Kristina! Her hair was shorter and was a different color but that was her voice. I just had to let you guys know how fantastic she looks. She has been working her butt off since the surgery and you can really tell. K do you have a picture from the cruise to post?

We met up with her, Andy and Devon on the Monday after the cruise at Ragland Road. She looks great! The next morning we were on the way to the park and saw her again. I took this shot. It is hazy because of the Horrid HUMIDITY!

 

[lbgraves]

I am finally able to say that I will not iron!!! The new dryer is fantastic!!! Today I was able to just fold and hang DH's dress pants. To think that the reason I had to iron so much was because of an dino dryer. LOL! It is now in the dump.

 

[klineyqueen]

I am finally able to say that I will not iron!!! The new dryer is fantastic!!! Today I was able to just fold and hang DH's dress pants. To think that the reason I had to iron so much was because of an dino dryer. LOL! It is now in the dump.

That is exciting!!!! My dryer is great too....although, I sometimes don't get to it right away...
congrats on the new one!

 

[lbgraves]

That is exciting!!!! My dryer is great too....although, I sometimes don't get to it right away...
congrats on the new one!

Which is why I love the air fluff no wrinkle cycle on this on. WHOO HOOO!!! Ahh...it's the little things.

 

[Jhalkias]

Hi guys, PJ and Lisa sent me an email wondering what was going on up here, so I am repeating it in a post. Sorry if I am repeating myself on anything.

I took my personal email off the computer at work, and because our evenings have been pretty hectic, I have not had time to check personal email or post much. We were on vacation several ago, and that was my last day off too! It was about the same time you the EB would have been leaving port in LA - we found out that Kim and Steve were going to be in DC for a meeting that Kim had for business, and we decided to do a last minute vacation and met up with them for 3 days. Since then it has been work, work, work, and dealing with Dad.

First dad . . . he fell at home the day after Labor day. Nothing broken, but he was very weak. They took him to the hospital for about a week, and then sent him to rehab where my brother was. Here is where it ties in to work. On last Sunday, I decided to get away for a bit, and Amy stayed home while I went to the Brown's game (Sunday Night Football). If any of you watched that game on TV, you have an inkling of what it was like. We basically hunkered down in ponchos as the temperature dropped 20 degrees, and the wind swirled and gusted. Game was over about 11:15, and I got home about 12:30. Laid down to go to sleep about 1:00. Our neighborhood was spared (underground utilities - although that is never a guarantee from where the power comes in) and we had power.

It was hard to see all the damage driving home because it was dark almost everywhere. I did see telephone polls and trees and wires down that I had to avoid once I got off the highway. I was just falling asleep when the phone rang. One of our stores was out of power, and perishable mdse. was going to spoil. We all needed to pitch in right away. This is our inner-city store. I had to hop in the car, drive downtown in pitch black, and start helping - just when I was falling asleep! I never did get to bed Sunday night.

At 8:00, I went home, showered, ate breakfast, and went back to the office. At 11:30, the store regained power, and we had to turn it all back around and restock the store. What a mess! If it had been more than one store, we would have been SOL. I told Amy be ready for me to come home and crash!

I got home, and Sophia wanted to go on a bike ride. I figured it would poop me out even more, so we rode 5 miles and got ice cream. We got home, and I was ready to crash at 8:00. Shortly after we arrived, the phone rang. Dad took a turn for the worst, and they were transporting him back to the hospital. I got in the car, and drove to the hospital - spending the next almost 4 hours in the ER with him until he was admitted. I got home about 12:30, and therefore got about 5 hours sleep after two days without any. By today I am almost back to normal.

Dad is not doing real well. He has good days, and bad days. He is in the coranary care unit at the hospital, suffering from congestive heart failure. It has caused lots of swelling, discomfort, and some confusion (more than normal). This afternoon at lunch he was almost normal. Tonight he was not so good, and very confused. I find my moods swinging with his condition.

Amy's mom STILL has no electricity, and Sophia just got back to school. Her school just got power back today.

It is really a mess up here, almost like half of civilization came to a halt.

Thanks for thinking of us!

 

[klineyqueen]

John - this is for you.... and one of these for good measure.....

 

[brack]

Thanks for thinking of us!

Blessings to you John.

 

[brack]

Annette and I along with some friends from work are coming to your neck of the woods tomorrow. We're visiting the amusement park for the day. JoJo may come if he's up to it.

 

[MrsMork]

That is exciting!!!! My dryer is great too....although, I sometimes don't get to it right away...
congrats on the new one!

I get a new washer and dryer delivered tomorrow!! We are in our new house, the kitchen is now set up and usable, the livingroom looks like a livingroom, but the garage is still full of boxes we have to unpack. We have been working HARD!! I took 100 lbs of cardboard boxes to the recycle yesterday......got a buck for it. At that rate we may be able to actually afford retirement!

Annette and I along with some friends from work are coming to your neck of the woods tomorrow. We're visiting the amusement park for the day. JoJo may come if he's up to it.

Whose neck of the woods?

 

[MrsMork]

John, our prayers are with you and your family.

 

[klineyqueen]

Keep saving your cardboard....that is funny!!! a buck!!!! sheesh

 

[brack]

Whose neck of the woods?

Brandi's

We had a good time. I'll post some photos with me in them soon.

 

[pjpoohbear]

I went to the Disney Celebration Vacation Tour stop here in Toronto this morning

Here are some photos from the first stop,

Jasmine from Camp Rock

Just like the magic kingdom,

The Prize drawing

Some special guests

It was fun, my first time at something like this.

Pj

 

[brack]

Cool post PJ! Thanks.

 

[klineyqueen]

Brack - I didn't know you meant my neck of the woods...cool!!!!

PJ - awesome!!!! That must have been so cool!!!!!!!

 

[pyramid2000]

Hello all!!

John - so sorry to hear of all the happenings around you. I hope you and the family hold up and you are in my thought and prayers.

Brandi - I hope DH is doing better. All I can say is OUCH!! As far as Kindergarten, Dina is loving it also. Since I had been in very tight quarters with her for over 15 days, I was pretty glad to see her go off for the day... As Lisa said, it was hard to get off the ship, but I was definately ready. Dina missed having Jacob with her, but it was really nice for the kids to have friends from the time they boarded.

Angie and Dennis - So much news! Hugs for Aaron and his parents.
Sounds like you found just what you needed. So when is the first trip to the East Coast??

Brack and Annette - I wanted to come and see you after the cruise, but I really had to leave as soon as I dropped the mob off at the airport. Sorry guys, but you will not be hearing about me getting on another plane EVER!! I drove straight through that day, stopping here and there for catnaps. DDs really wanted me home to get them off to school. I got home just in time to take Sarah to her first day of HIGH SCHOOL!!!

Carla - Don't worry, you will find tickets!!

I really missed having you guys with us on the Magic. Even DH commented on it. We pretty much stayed with who we knew, although we did make some new friends also. We had a GREAT time as a family. It was really nice that Sarah had Devon to pal around with in the stack and they had some new friends from the meet thread. Dina and Amanda had a ball with Kaitlyn and William. Although Dina made friends with some of the kids in her club, I still wonder how she did when she only went in 3 times! She would see them around the ship and they would play, but she didn't like when her club was in the lab and that was mostly when she would have been in there. SO I spent a lot of time at the Mickey pool. That turned out fine since it was much less crowded than the adult pool! I have never seen so many people there and it was every day!

The funny thing was, it didn't seem overrun with kids, just teens and pre-teens. I really never had a problem with any, though I heard some stories such as the one who got stuck ON TOP OF THE ELEVAtOR!! 15 days was enough as I believe one more day would have pushed us overboard. There were 5 of us in a CAT 6 as Ibrahim decided he could go with us about 10 days before departure. He slept on a cot on the balcony all but 1 night. He was actually in heaven. I really don't have any complaints except things seemed very worn around the ship. There were broken windows on deck 9 that they never fixed, deck 10 outside of Palo had spots that were really sagging (when you walked on them), there was a loose board that kept popping out near Pinoccio's Pizza, the pools were looking a bit rusty in spots, and there were many broken or nearly broken seats in the theater. Our balcony really needed varnish and paint as it had quite a lot of rust. Itr eally didn't bug me, I was just surprised at things not being fixed, ya know? It was definately a TOAL!! The funny thing is, I feel like we just got back. Usually it feels so long ago as soon as I leave, But I could swear it was just last week. Hopefully this feeling can last as I doubt we will be going again before 2010 or so.

Sorry for rambling, it's late, Ibrahim left for Egypt Sunday, and my mind is filled with everything we need to get done around here along with all the everyday things going on with the kids. Miss everyone!!