I've Been Everywhere.....Except On My Blog

I took this title from a Johnny Cash song and I'll admit I haven't been as everywhere as he was in the song but I've definitely been around.  Just not around here.

I'm going to document where I've been because years from now (actually probably hours from now) I'll have trouble remembering the sequence of events.  Thank goodness I take lots of pictures to help me keep things sorted out.

I have to start out by talking a little bit about Sarah.  She has had such a struggle lately.  She was diagnosed and treated for rheumatoid arthritis many years ago.  She eventually went into remission but back in about December some symptoms started to flare up again.  Sarah being Sarah, tried to keep on keeping on.  But, finally she went to her mostly absent rheumatologist (in six years she only saw him 3 times - the rest of the visits were with his PA).  Since she was running a fever, they didn't want to start her back on biologics (like Embrel and Humira) so they prescribed steroids.

To keep it short, she has battled joint, muscle, and bone pain, fever, sore throat, and a myriad of odd symptoms for the last six months.  And she has seen an equal number of specialists who were unable to make a diagnosis.  Finally one of these doctors suggested Cleveland Clinic.  And that's where I came in.

I had been pushing Mayo Clinic (and Cleveland Clinic is very similar) for several months and promising every bit of help possible if she would only go.  The day she called and asked if I was serious, was a happy day for me.   If I could take her to her appointment, Mike could take care of the home, the kids, and his job.

That's how it happened that on May 19th, I left for Cleveland.  I stayed in a motel that night and picked Sarah up at the airport on the 20th in time for her appointment.  She met with a wonderful doctor there who was dismayed at the steroids that had been prescribed for her.  Unfortunately, they masked some symptoms and created others so he sent her home with a schedule to wean from them and to come back and be admitted a few weeks later.

That night we drove to Louisville and I stayed until the 22nd, spent one night at home, and Harry and I left for Colorado Springs the next day.

Although we love visiting Dan and Teresa and the kids, this was one of those visits with a melancholy overtone.  The reason we desperately wanted to get out there was that Dan was leaving for Afghanistan soon and we knew it would be some time before we'd see him again.

We arrived in Colorado Springs on the 24th and stayed through Memorial Day.  What a wonderful visit it was.  The only downsides were his pending deployment and a problem I was having with my eyes.  Although I was happy to finally go to a driving range and putting green in anticipation of actually hitting the golf course some day, by the second day outdoors, my eye was killing me.  Since I'm almost a doctor (in my mind) I treated it with some old eye antibiotics and it seemed to improve.  More about that in another post.

We left Colorado Springs on the 28th, spent some time in Omaha with Lori and the kids, and arrived home on the 29th.

On the 31st we left again for Louisville.  Although it was only a stop on our way to our new destination of Virginia, we just had to look in on Sarah who was still struggling with all her undiagnosed symptoms.

The reason we were going to Virginia was to stay with Dave and Patty's kids while they attended Battalion Commander and Battalion Commander's Wife schools in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.  We did the same thing for Dan and Teresa last year while they attended their respective schools and we always felt happy and honored to be able to help out for such an awesome cause.

We arrived at Dave and Patty's on the 1st of June and after a wonderful week with the kids, headed home on the 8th.

We were home that evening which was good because Amber and Chris and their little ones visited but early on the 9th, I was on my way again to Cleveland.  I picked Sarah up at the airport and we checked into the Cleveland Clinic Guesthouse hotel.

On the 10th, she was admitted to the hospital for a barrage of tests and most importantly a diagnosis and treatment plan.  On the 13th, she was released from the hospital with no definite diagnosis but with a plan for treatment of her inflammatory arthritis symptoms.  I stayed until the 15th and was home until early on the 23rd when I picked up Sarah in Louisville and we drove back to Cleveland for her follow-up appointment on the 24th.

After the appointment we drove back to Louisville and I stayed until the 30th.  I didn't need to stay that long but I just couldn't leave without lending a hand to a couple of wonderful kids (Sarah and Mike) who'd had a pretty rough time of it for quite a while.

So you see, I've been around.  Each of these trips deserves a post of its own and that's what I'll do; but for now I just wanted to sort out the dates and the miles.

The most important thing about this post, though, is that Sarah is feeling a little better.  She has begun a new treatment plan and there are some good signs.  The fever seems to be gone and lots of the little symptoms are better or gone.  Some of the big symptoms seem a little better too so some of my prayers are answered.

The rest of my prayers are for Dan's safety and the safety of his entire battalion during their work in Afghanistan; and, a complete recovery for Sarah. 

April In Colorado Springs

Last April we went to Dan and Teresa's house to stay for a few day's while Dan and Teresa went to Battalion Commander classes for wives and commanders.  And the Sunday before her return, Teresa also rocked out a 10K in Kansas City.  Wow!

Anyway, we were lucky to be there in April because the weather was SO much sweeter than April weather in Northern Indiana.

On April 13th, we picked Tessa up from school and then took pictures of her standing under one their many blooming trees.  You'll note she was wearing a sweater but that afternoon she really didn't need it.
 
On Saturday, she went out side with Grandpa and pretty soon decided to showcase her performing and running skills.  Of course I had to take pictures.




And Saturday night when Harry stepped out side for a few minutes he shot these pictures.

It might have been alarming to have snow falling so fast in Northern Indiana but in the foothills of Colorado Springs there was just a 'peaceful, easy feeling'.

The next morning we woke up to a winter wonderland.


And as we drove out of Colorado Springs later that morning, you'd have thought winter was back for good.

But we found out later that by evening every trace of snow was gone.

You Capture - Sky

Beth's You Capture subject this week is sky and I should have been VERY prepared because we got to observe the sky from Indiana to Colorado and then back again.  But I wasn't.  There are far too many distractions when we're visiting the kids or even driving in the car.   (I definitely should have left my Nook at home.)

I did however get a couple of what I thought were interesting captures - sky anomalies that I thought were just too good to be ignored.

The first one is not just about the beautiful Colorado sky a few scattered clouds but the interesting shadows those sky-high clouds cast one the mountain below.  It was interesting watching how the cloud shadows completely changed the look of the moutain.

The second one I took on the way home.  I wanted to wait until there were no wires to distract but the formation was changing so quickly and there were so many billboards ahead that I had to take it while I could.

I should have more but I don't.  To see more, though, you'll want to visit Beth's I Should Be Folding Laundry for some unbelievably beautiful Sky pictures.

Foxes

Here we are in the wilds of Colorado - or maybe just the foothills of Colorado Springs. Whichever it is, it feels rugged and wild and beautiful. We're staying in Dan and Teresa's house while they go to school in Kansas to prepare for Dan's stint as a Battalion Commander. This role also involves the wives of the commanders and that's where Teresa's classes came in.

So we're here with three of our wonderful grandchildren - getting to spend some quality time with kids that we just don't see enough of.

And here's what we discovered in the lot adjoining Dan and Teresa's property and what's been entertaining Mr. Right and I while the kids are in school.

And although it looks like these kits are out here on their own, they're not. Their watchful mother was never far away.

She was patient though and let them work out their differences on their own.

This little guy seemed to be checking out something in the sky. Soon we'd see why they periodically peruse the sky.

In the meantime, the play continued.

And so did the watching.

Suddenly all their attention was drawn upward.

A large bird approached and they all watched it's flight path.

It landed in a nearby tree, and Mama watched it's every movement.

After it flew off, her attention was drawn to this large dog in an adjoining yard.

She wasn't impressed though. Evidently she knew there was no way he could get to her.

Next she trotted right up to where I was photographing so that I had to get my shots between the deck railing.

She disappeared, the babies went into their burrow, and I went downstairs to see how my pictures turned out.

Meanwhile Mr. Right went upstairs and got the money shot. Mama was back but not for long. Soon she went running for the opposite side of the vacant lot.

Now I don't think foxes are known for being great jumpers but I never would have expected to see her jump to the top of the fence and perch there momentarily.

Before she landed on the other side and proceeded on her way.

And the kits? They fooled around outside for a couple of minutes more before heading deep into the safety of their burrow.

Wow, up until now, the only place I'd seen a live fox was in a zoo. We felt quite privileged to have witnessed this saga. And to think that people who live out here enjoy sights like this all the time.

Colorado Springs!

We left for Colorado Springs last Sunday and that afternoon in Iowa we encountered the same weather system that devastated Joplin MO. We saw an extremely ominous looking sky ahead and as we drove into it, we were suddenly pelted by golf ball size hail. Mr. Right pulled over under an overpass to try to protect the car a little bit while we were rocked by winds that scared the daylights out of all of us. (Lori was with us and took some pictures just to show that she wasn't as scared as I was.) We came out of that storm with some new nicks in the windshield but as we heard the reports from Joplin coming in, we realized how lucky we were.

Colorado Springs had their share of bad weather too. We got up Tuesday morning to what looked like snow all over the place but on closer inspection, we saw that it was hail.

It would be hard to describe how excited we were to get here. It had been a long, long time since we'd seen this son. We'd last seen him about fifteen months ago about a month before he was deployed to Iraq. Although we were lucky to be able to communicate with him while he was there, nothing compares to having him on his home turf and actually spending time with him and his wonderful family in person.

We've been so busy. Every night has included a gourmet meal prepared by our son who is a barbeque master extraordinaire. The first night we had brats that were cooked in an apple and cabbage kraut. They were so perfect that even Mr. Right loved them and he detests sauerkraut. But it would be impossible not to love brats that are thoroughly cooked yet so juicy and flavorful that you couldn't get enough.

Tuesday night was delicious grilled salmon. Wow! I had no idea salmon could be so fabulous and the grilled asparagus was to die for.

Wednesday night we had porterhouse steaks and I have NEVER had a more perfectly grilled steak in my life.

Last night the grilled ribs were incredible.

Here's what I take from all this. Dan spent a lot of time in Iraq looking forward to being home and able to grill again AND I need to learn to cook as well as my son.

My other thought: How could I have neglected taking pictures of these amazing meals so that I could post them with this story.

There's lots more going on here besides cooking and eating too.

On Tuesday we visited the Pioneer Museum in Colorado Springs where we were able to take some really fun pictures.

Wednesday morning I got to attend Tessa's dance class which was beautiful and heartwarming and sometimes made tears in my eyes. During the free style especially, she seemed so filled with joy just to be performing.

And Wednesday afternoon, I was a ride-along on Dan and Mr. Right's golf outing. Now you might think that would be boring, but I got to take some great pictures in some amazing settings and, while we were out there, the Air Force entertained us with an airshow celebrating the graduation of their cadets to Air Force officers.

Yesterday we attended and celebrated Evan's 8th Grade Graduation where we started to realize just how quickly our Evan is growing up.

There will be lots more news from out here because Dan and Teresa seemed to have almost every moment planned with awesome activities. But before I close I have to mention two things.

One: Chewy. He's so cute and foolish.

And two: The big, surprise activity for Tuesday is that we get to attend Dan's promotion ceremony to Lieutenant Colonel - something we didn't expect to happen until August. So we're thrilled to announce that as of June 1st, both our sons will be Lieutenant Colonels. (The only thing that could be better is if Dave's ceremony could be stateside too.)

So that's it from Colorado for now. But there's more coming - I promise!