Third Time's a Charm PTR - May 2012 - I should give up on planning trips.

[franandaj]

These are great pictures of you and Fran. You both were having so much fun! Love the birthday crown Alison! I know you all will have a wonderful time at WDW even if you spend a little more than your normal time enjoying the resorts. After all you are staying at some frantastic resorts with extra space to spread out and relax. I see you Alison sitting in that big jet tub with a nice glass of wine or some adult beverage while the rest are taking an afternoon nap.

Regarding Frans leg after the debridement last Friday. Ouch! The area that is so indented from the tube and wrapping. Has that decreased at all? It looked pretty bad in that picture, is she having any pain from it? How is her blood sugars doing with all the stress and everything going on? You said Fran is diabetic, how is she doing with keeping her sugars level? That will so help her heal.

You Alison are doing a great job of taking care of her and keeping life going forward for you both. I know from personal experience how difficult that can be when someone you love is having health problems or is ill. I have always said that the caregiver has a much more difficult job than the patient. They give all THE GOOD DRUGS to the patient. Hang in there we are all here with you.

Going to close this post on a super high note: Victoria and Alberts! I love to dine there! Looking at the pictures you posted brought back so many wonderful memories....as well as made me very hungry (at this hour.... ) The Grand Mariner Souffle is so fantastic there.! You must promise to think for just a second of all of us....your dear DIS buddies sitting back here eating a Weight Watchers raspberry chocolate 100 calorie ice cream bar and dreaming of your souffle.

Ann

You made me smile with this post. No the indentation went away within 30 minutes, but unfortunately she has some scarring that is open wounds.

We always spend time enjoying the resorts because Fran has issues with fatigue due to the RA. I usually get to enjoy the tub twice a day. Something I would feel totally guilty about doing in CA due to our water shortage, but I think FL is OK. However, I wait until I'm out of the tub for the adult beverage. I suck down the water like there is no tomorrow. We have a Britta pitcher in our OL so I can do that.

I can't wait for V&A's but I wonder about my companions. Neither one will be able to eat much due to various illnesses and things so I hope that we aren't setting ourselves up for failure. Me? I'll starve myself to be ready, I can't wait :hpyer:

 

[Pinkocto]

They should have put the tube on the outside of the dressing. was the home care nurse upset when she saw that?

Maybe the $40 at Crystal Palace is for dinner.

 

[Leshaface]

FAINT Goodnight, that looks painful. So you originally weren't planning on going to visit an Outpatient place before right? Will this make a huge dent in your plans?

Now on a completely different matter, that Grand Marnier Souffle..good heavens. Do meals usually take about 3 1/2 - 4 hours there? That sounds about the time we were at Remy for on the Dream.

 

[bangzoom6877]

Hello! I hope that Fran is doing OK...sending prayers your way.

I'm pretty sure that $40 is the price for the Crystal Palace dinner buffet, as well as other character dinners. We're going to the breakfast there in July...LOVE those chocolate Mickey waffles and puffed french toast! If they got rid of the rest of the food on the buffet and had only those, I would still be happy! OK, and maybe bacon to go with it!

 

[franandaj]

So this little trip is not for jollies, otherwise we would not have gone such a far distance with Fran in such condition. We have various investment properties that were inherited from her father. All these investments were made back in 2005 when the real estate market was a different place. Essentially this meeting is to determine how we can best salvage one our investments. The property management who is putting us up at a nice hotel, wining and dining us and offering us this package has supposedly researched the issues and is offering us the “best package available”, which essentially gives us something like $.18 on the dollar that we invested. You can see why Fran is cranky.

Most of the drive was uneventful, but slow. There were lots of wrecks on the road, nothing that we were involved in, but that clogged up the roads. We encountered a few showers, and saw this as we were passing Baker.

Fran drove the whole way even though she should have crawled in the back of the car and taken a rest. We arrived at our first stop by 8PM, the Gold Strike Inn at Jean. Sorry I have no pictures of the sign, it was a long day and we were both tired. This is just a basic hotel, unfortunately with the recession there has been a lot of downsizing. They used to have a Burger King in the hotel, a coffee shop, a quick service type snack shop in addition to the Buffet and Steakhouse. Now the only choices were the Buffet or the Steakhouse. We chose the Buffet. You can see that even this sole remaining restaurant is hurting.

“Life is short start with Dessert!” This is often Fran’s motto and that’s exactly what she did. (Good thing I only got part of our credit card in the picture, otherwise, we might have some unexpected charges )

It was your basic dinner buffet…salad stuff

Corn on the Cob, rice, mashed potatoes, chicken and beef gravy and seafood pasta

Baked Potatoes and BBQ Meatballs

They were carving Ham and Prime Rib (we made it just in time as they stopped the Prime Rib at 9PM)

Fried Chicken and Baked Fish

Salisbury Steak, some sort of Mexican pork, Spanish Rice and Meat Lasagne

I started off with some salad

Fran continued with a Fried Chicken Plate, with all the trimmings

I went for the Prime Rib next. I got both Fran and I slices, she gave me her red/pink parts and I gave her the cap/more well done stuff, perfect trade!

They had various desserts, but I was too full

After this I sort of wanted to play a little Blackjack but Fran was too tired so we went to sleep. A decision that we found we would regret later in the trip (not playing Blackjack was the regret, sleeping was a good thing). The rooms here are pretty basic, but clean enough and you can get a good night’s sleep.

No bathtub, however…

Day 2 to come

 

[franandaj]

Enjoy the souffle. That looks really awesome.

I can't wait to have it again!

They should have put the tube on the outside of the dressing. was the home care nurse upset when she saw that?

Maybe the $40 at Crystal Palace is for dinner.

Yeah, the tube she has now is on the outside of the dressing, much more comfortable. All our home care nurses are men, but yes he was upset. I think you're right about the price for dinner.

FAINT Goodnight, that looks painful. So you originally weren't planning on going to visit an Outpatient place before right? Will this make a huge dent in your plans?

Now on a completely different matter, that Grand Marnier Souffle..good heavens. Do meals usually take about 3 1/2 - 4 hours there? That sounds about the time we were at Remy for on the Dream.

We really weren't planning on having to do medical treatment on this trip, but I guess we have no choice if we want to keep her healthy. We were planning a lot of relaxing, so it will either take out of sitting around the room time or park time. She'll need the sitting around the room time, so maybe it will take out of park time.

I would allow three hours for dinner there. When we sat at the Chef's table, we were on course 8-10 when they started to turn over for the second seating and I was so stuffed full that the smells of the steaks and seafood cooking at that time in my meal was making me sick.

Hello! I hope that Fran is doing OK...sending prayers your way.

I'm pretty sure that $40 is the price for the Crystal Palace dinner buffet, as well as other character dinners. We're going to the breakfast there in July...LOVE those chocolate Mickey waffles and puffed french toast! If they got rid of the rest of the food on the buffet and had only those, I would still be happy! OK, and maybe bacon to go with it!

Thanks! I can't wait to try the chocolate Mickey Waffles. We've only been there for lunch before so it should be fun!

 

[franandaj]

We woke up fairly early in the morning (at least for us). I DISed on my phone for a while because I was deprived on the drive up due to crankiness. We went down to breakfast around 9:30AM I got everything all packed up and ready to go as Fran didn’t want to have to come back up to the room after breakfast.

So we were off to the buffet again….

There was plenty of fruit

There was some pretty standard breakfast fare, sausage and peppers, corned beef hash, sausage, bacon, potato pancakes.

Rice, refried beans, chorizo, tamales

Me, I headed directly for the “create your own omelet” station

Here is the beginnings of my omelet cooking

And my first plate

I returned for a “made to order” waffle

Which I split with Fran

I tried inconspicuously to get pictures of the casino, this is the only one that came out almost decent.

Up next - the Ritz Carlton????

 

[Hawleys]

Popping in to say "hi"! Please give Fran a big hug. I hope your upcoming trip goes smoothly and that you both get a chance to relax and recover from all the stress of Fran's injury.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks for sharing. Hope that Fran is less cranky and that things are going well.

 

[Pinkocto]

Love the rainbow shot, that is so beautiful!

It makes me sad to see places not doing that well, I hope it's not always that slow. I really liked the chandeliers.

That is really pitzy the investment lost so much. At least it didn't all get lost. Do you think she was grumpy about losing the potential it could have made or that something her dad did wasn't the best? I'm sure it could be something else too, maybe her leg was bothering her. At least it wasn't your money you put into it.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Wow I hope Fran's leg looks alot better now. Oh the food, now I am hungry. You can see the hotel is not doing so well. That soufle really , really , looks good. I hope the rest of the trip gets better.

 

[Angel16]

I too love your rainbow shot. Great picture expecially considered you were moving while you took it.

Hope you have enjoyed a really great dinner with your soufle to top if off. Looking forward to good news from your last meeting.

 

[Leshaface]

Mmm, I love Prime Rib! Wanted to make it for some occasion a few months ago, and priced it out...never realized how expensive it was to buy! It was only going to be for the two of us, so didn't get it. But my, that looks delicious.

How come inconspicuously? are you not allowed to take pictures in the casino?

 

[franandaj]

Popping in to say "hi"! Please give Fran a big hug. I hope your upcoming trip goes smoothly and that you both get a chance to relax and recover from all the stress of Fran's injury.

Thanks! She did fine on this mini trip, all we need to do is find a wound care clinic.

Thanks for sharing. Hope that Fran is less cranky and that things are going well.

Now it's OK, but we still have some more cranky to report...

Love the rainbow shot, that is so beautiful!

It makes me sad to see places not doing that well, I hope it's not always that slow. I really liked the chandeliers.

That is really pitzy the investment lost so much. At least it didn't all get lost. Do you think she was grumpy about losing the potential it could have made or that something her dad did wasn't the best? I'm sure it could be something else too, maybe her leg was bothering her. At least it wasn't your money you put into it.

That place was never really busy, but that morning was the worst I'd ever seen it. What was bothering her was that her time was being wasted by something over which she had no control. Unfortunately it IS my money. I stopped taking a paycheck in about 2001. My job forced me to make a decision. Shortly after that my job became keeping sanity in the dysfunction of her family of her family and their medical issues.

Wow I hope Fran's leg looks alot better now. Oh the food, now I am hungry. You can see the hotel is not doing so well. That soufle really , really , looks good. I hope the rest of the trip gets better.

If nothing else we at least end up eating well!

I too love your rainbow shot. Great picture expecially considered you were moving while you took it.

Hope you have enjoyed a really great dinner with your soufle to top if off. Looking forward to good news from your last meeting.

I took quite a few pictures, that was the only one that came out decent. The next part of the TR is mostly meetings.

Mmm, I love Prime Rib! Wanted to make it for some occasion a few months ago, and priced it out...never realized how expensive it was to buy! It was only going to be for the two of us, so didn't get it. But my, that looks delicious.

How come inconspicuously? are you not allowed to take pictures in the casino?

Now you might understand why we have freezer full of big chunks of meat! I buy them in bulk at Christmas when the prices are good. It's taken me a few tears to get good at cooking them, and in fact it was the incident in October which helped me to figure out the best cooking method.

I've found that the best for the two of us is a one bone roast. I purchased several "two bone roasts" and cut them in half. They could be cooked as giant Ribe eye steaks as well. I've found that they are a perfect Prime Rib dinner one night and then French Dip sandwiches the next day.

 

[Pinkocto]

That place was never really busy, but that morning was the worst I'd ever seen it. What was bothering her was that her time was being wasted by something over which she had no control. Unfortunately it IS my money. I stopped taking a paycheck in about 2001. My job forced me to make a decision. Shortly after that my job became keeping sanity in the dysfunction of her family of her family and their medical issues.

I'm sorry, I was trying to find a silver lining in what sounds like a very bleak situation. I hope there was something positive about this whole thing.

 

[franandaj]

I'm sorry, I was trying to find a silver lining in what sounds like a very bleak situation. I hope there was something positive about this whole thing.

Don't worry about it, if this were REALLY going to affect our bottom line, I probably wouldn't be posting about it. It's a lot of money, but at this point, it's just mind boggling and I can't even really wrap my head around it.

I'll give an economics lesson for those who are interested, but not now.

 

[franandaj]

How come inconspicuously? are you not allowed to take pictures in the casino?

I forgot to comment on this post, you can't take pictures in a casino. There are TONS of things you can't do in a casino, you'd be surprised!

 

[franandaj]

OK, so I messed up, I meant to do this TR on my "other" PTR! I'm getting confused! All the future updates will be on the other PTR!

 

[usnuzuloose]

Wanna borrow my tag?

 

[franandaj]

Wanna borrow my tag?

Yeah! I thought of you with this post! I was definitely confused! Not only where I was posting but with the investment. This was a risky trip to take (with respect to her health and the wound vac) but it really did help ME understand what was going on. Fran was ready to drink the Kool-Aid regardless, this meeting made me understand why the Kool-Aid was the juice of life.