Dec 20-23 Blurry Eye,,Taylor Christmas, Neck Good

My left eye is taking longer to heal and clear up. It is getting better every day but I expected much quicker heal times..Now I understand why they wait between eyes.Anyway it has been a busy few days. On Saturday we had the Taylor Christmas. We had a good time visiting and our two new additions (Tillley and Nate) did very well.They were both happy baby's.That evening we went to a baby shower/graduation party for one our friends daughter. She is due in January and graduated from University of Houston this month.Sunday morning we went to Tilly's confirmation. As soon as that was over we headed to Bryan to have Christmas with Peyton. They were not able to make the Taylor Christmas. Peyton has grown so much since we have seen him in Sept. He had a fun time pulling all the paper out of the bags. He has lots of new toys to play with now. We stayed a couple of hrs and headed home. A very long day. Monday morning I went to my spine dr. They took xrays and said I was healed and no more restrictions. That was good news.Now I can finish getting the trailer ready to roll.

Dec 6-19 Recuperating

I felt pretty good the first week after surgery. I took things very easy and didn't do much at all. It sure was nice to get that horse collar off.  It made it much easier to sleep. By the 10th I felt like I could do anything but I didn't as my Dr said wait until we get xrays and see if the fusion is healing properly.I do that on the 22. Since I couldn't use the ranger yet and hunt in my tree climbers I decided to go get the trailer and bring it home. That way I could start cleaning and repacking at a slow pace. I had previously before surgery loaded and packed the trailer so I could just hook up and go. That was a good move. On the 11th I mowed the yard, I had to go very slow to keep from jarring my neck but it worked well. I managed to wash the trailer and get all my compartments repacked and ready for our travels.On the 14th my great niece Tilley flew in from Switzerland to visit for Christmas. She is 12 weeks old now, oh she also brought her parents Kelly and Jan with her. My other great nephew Nate( 6 weeks old) also brought his Mom( Abby) to visit. They are all staying at the new grandparents Greg and Pam. We went and visited for awhile Both baby's were good and glad to see us. I am really feeling good now and its hard to just sit around not doing much.On the 15th I started my eye drop regimen for my left cataract surgery. 2 types of eye drops 3 times a day and 1 other type once a day. I do this until the 18 when my surgery is. Susan has been sewing for the last couple of weeks getting things done for Christmas. Now she has to start wrapping gifts. On the 16th Kevin and Jen came over and Jen helped Susan wrap Christmas gifts. That night we went to watch Ashley's Christmas school program.  On the 18th I had cataract surgery on my left eye. It went well. When I got up Friday morning my left eye was pretty blurry. They said it could be blurry for a couple o f days. I didn't have this issue with my right eye. The  eye doctor  said and  my eye was normal and doing good. He said my right eye experience was awesome and doesn't happen very often. I liked the first time much better. It was a nasty day to be on the road.  We ended up with 5 inches of rain. I will be so glad when all this recuperating is done. Getting cabin fever and ready to do something.

It was ugly

Getting it clean

Ashleys Program

My little ragdoll   Ashley

Sammis program  (top row waving)

Susan and Nate

Granny and Tilly

Abby Nate Tilly Pam

NOV 24- DEC 5 NECK SURGERY AND HOME

I spent a few days at the deer lease trying  out my new eye and it worked well. I took out the right lens on some old  glasses so my eyes could be a closer match. The right one is still much better on long distance. For the first time in years I could   use open sights on a rifle. I actually saw a few deer but didn't shoot anything. When I left last Sunday  I pretty much packed up and have the trailer ready to pull out. I figured my restriction's after surgery may keep me from hunting for awhile. We got to the hospital  at 6:00 am on Wednesday morning. I was first up for surgery.Everything went well and I was in my room by 11:00.  As soon as they rolled me into my room I went for a walk. My pain level was so minimal, just a sore throat  where they cut my throat and moved some things around to do the graft,plates and screws on C5-C6.I never had to use my pain pump at all. My biggest problem was blood sugar and  blood pressure. They didn't let me take any  of my meds before surgery. I ate lots of ice cream and Popsicles for my throat. For supper I had shrimp fettuccine and then pecan pie.  Yep lots of carbs, but I didn't know that during the night they were going to put me on a steroid drip. Boy did my sugar go high then and so did my blood pressure.. I got no sleep at the hospital due to the horse collar I had to wear and all iv and drain lines hooked up to me. It was a pain getting up and walking around. Anyway they let me out Thursday and I am back home. I have to wear the horse collar for 48 hrs and then throw it away. I got a good nights sleep last night. I am just going to take it easy for awhile and then do my left eye cataract surgery on Dec 18. Probably will not do another blog till then.

My new glass design

 My last hunt in a tree climber this year

My neckwear

Nov 14-23 More Deer Lease and a New Eye

The deer lease got a little less crowded as some folks had to head back to work. We still ate pretty good as Lavonna was still there and she cooked every night. No way to lose  weight at Mack Creek. It finally got some cold weather and I decided that I like cool weather better. Lots of wind and rain for a couple of days.I went to Kristi's one day to babysit Sammi. Kristi had volunteered to help at Kenna"s school for "Patriots Day".  What she didn't realize was it was all day and in to the evening. One nice thing about having a deer lease close to home is that I can run and do a few things from time to time.I went home on the 19 th and we went the next day to do my cataract surgery. It was an interesting experience, didn't take long and we headed back to Kristi's to spend the night. The next day I could see pretty good as we went for my post op. My vision was already 20/30. They said I was doing great except for a little high pressure.As the swelling in my  eye goes down everything will become clearer. I still will need cheaters for reading but probably nothing for distance .3 days out and my right eye is the dominant  eye. My next surgery will be Dec 3 for my neck. I hope to go back to the deer lease after Thanksgiving and try my new eye out on some deer.

Look what Eddie found in his trap

Mackenna

Ashley

Kenna, Kristi

Sammi

John kills again, Hope I am still cleaning deer at 86

Cold wet day on a deer stand

en

The last of Lavonnas dumplings

after surgery

My cool sunshades

NOV 12, 2014 DEER SEASON

Its been awhile since my last post. I dont update much when we are not traveling. We have been at the deer lease most of the time.  My neck upper back issues never got better so I now have surgery scheduled for Dec 3. In the meantime I found out that I have cataracts in both eyes.  Now I have to do cataract surgery around   my neck surgery. I am going to get my right eye done on Nov 20 and the right eye on Dec 18. Trying to get all this done since we will begin to hit the road after Christmas. We have had a good time at the lease and even managed to kill a few deer.

Judy , John Lovett, Lavonna

Kenneth Taylor,John Callahan

Just chilling

chowing down

John Callahans trophy spike 

Holly Grace

Barbra,Kenneth,Rick

Lavonna, Jennifer, Baby John

Adams deer

picking and grinning

Kenneths Deer

Susan doing a little sewing

pork chops and ribs

Davids deer

Oct 10-13 Long Weekend at Riverside

• We spent the night at Kristi's Thursday night. She had  a boutique/oils party that Susan wanted to go to. The next morning we headed up to the lake. Mike,Sammi, and Ashley were coming up after school bringing the new boat. Kristi and Kenna were coming Saturday after the soccer game. It rained on us most of the day Friday. I took a nap and Susan went to the Quilt store in Trinity. Saturday morning Mike Z and i put the boat in the water.We all took a boat ride but it was pretty chilly. It started raining so we headed back. We just chilled and watched football the rest of the day. Sunday was a repeat. We took a couple of boat rides and watched football all day. Just a restful day. We got up Monday morning with a cold front blowing in. It dropped the temp from 75 to 61 degrees. We headed home in the rain after a relaxing weekend.

  

  A quiet day at the lake

  
  

  

  Sammi 

  
  

  

  Maggie standing guard

  
  

  

  Maiden voyage on the boat

  
  

  

  Nana and Ashley

  
  

  

  Kenna  making muffins