An update to my quick note

Neal will be having surgery tomorrow to remove his gall bladder. This morning he had a sonogram (ultra sound?) and the doctor said this gall bladder had to come out. He got to eat a bland meal today and it did not sit very well on his stomach so the surgeon went ahead and put Neal on the schedule for tomorrow. Hopefully he will get to come home afterwards.
My Grandmother is also in the hospital. She has not been feeling well for about a month and had a bad fall weekend before last. She was in the hospital this past weekend to check out her heart and was released this morning. My Mom and my Aunt ended up taking her to the local ER tonight and she was admitted for pneumonia.
Please keep both Neal and Grannie in your thoughts and prayers.

Just a quick note

to say Neal is in the hospital. He woke up early Saturday morning having a lot of pain and needing to throw up. He drove himself to the ER that morning and was put in the hospital in the afternoon. The ER doctor suspected his gall bladder. His regular doctor and surgeon (from his recent hernia surgery) both came by today to confirm it. He is having an ultra sound in the morning and we will know more after that. He has had to stay in the hospital due to the immense pain he has been in and to get IV fluids, antibiotics, and pain meds.
Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers!

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REO Concert update

What a great night! After going out to dinner at Cattle Baron with our friends Jana and Colin, we headed to the concert at The Inn of the Mountain Gods. The parking garage was a total zoo. Thank goodness Neal knows the Inn well enough to know that there is a bottom level that most people don't know about. We found easy parking near the elevators.

The last concert we went to only had one bar and the guys waited for over an hour to get beer. This time we walked right in (hardly any line at the door) and walked right up to the bar. I think they finally got smart and now have 4 bars in the concert area. We got our drinks and found our seats....great seats! We were in the 2nd section which put us on the 7th row. There was about 5 foot between our section and the section in front of us so that made it easy to get up and cheer or leave to go to the bathroom. No shuffling over other people's feet.

The music was great! They played about 4 songs from their new disc that is set to come out April 4th. Should be a great disc.

One interesting thing that happened is a woman that was probably in her mid-30's rushed the stage towards the beginning of the concert. She grabbed hold of Kevin Cronin's (lead singer, top pic) hand and tried to pull him off the stage. Security grabbed her and escorted her back to her seat. On one of the last songs, she tried again! This time she was lead off with her hands behind her back (I'm assuming handcuffs?). After the concert, Jana and I waited forever in line for the bathroom and were just leaving when the same woman waltzed past all the women in line at the bathroom and went into a stall. You should have seen the faces of all the women waiting in line! I don't know if anything came of it because we left.

Last, here is a picture of me all dressed up to go out. My hair is cut short again after about 7 or 8 years of longer hair. I love my hair this short or even a bit shorter. It's so easy to fix.

Remember when I used to post everyday?

Yeah, me too. I miss those days. I keep thinking I'm going to blog something but I don't. I wish I could get over this cold/sinus/??? thing that is just hanging on. I have a snotty nose and hacking cough that won't go away. I feel ok but am not getting enough sleep so I feel like a slug. We've also had copious amounts of snow. This is the first winter in the 5 1/2 years we've lived up here that we've had a "true winter". I'm so sick of the snow and mud. Last week was pretty nice but then it started snowing again this week. I'm hoping that since the groundhog saw his shadow that winter is going to end soon!

I should update that Neal is back to work and feeling pretty good. He went to the doctor Monday and got clearance to go back to work on light duty. We pulled the last of the steri-strips off his wound last weekend. Neal kept saying they were making his stomach tight so he wanted them off. He would ask me to do it then back off. Finally I told him I was just going to look at them.....hehehe...I grabbed them and pulled them off. He was a little surprised but said it felt much better. Almost forgot to add that his doctor also offered to write a letter to the first surgeon we saw in November. He said it is ridiculous that the first guy missed this.

We are having our Valentine's Day on Friday. Neal got us tickets for REO Speedwagon so we are going to dinner with friends then to the concert. It doesn't start until 9pm....why does that seem late? I remember being in high school and nothing really got started until 10pm. Now Neal is in bed by 10pm and I'm not to far behind. I think we're getting old. Kinsey is going to stay and my friend's house so she's pretty excited too.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Guess what we did this weekend?

We taught Kinsey how to ride her bike without training wheels. We promised her a new bike for her birthday if she would learn to ride her little bike. Saturday we went to the school and let her ride on the sidewalks and play area. That afternoon we went to Wal-Mart to look at new bikes for inspiration. Today she has spent the whole day outside trying to ride. Here is a short video to show her success!

What a beautiful day!

It was so nice today! We had a high of about 65. It got so hot my digital temperature gauge decided not to work...lol! I came home at lunch and opened all the windows to air out the house then I changed in to shorts! The house smells so much nicer after having been closed up so long.
Neal grilled brats for dinner. That's the first time we've grilled in months. I checked the weather for the rest of the week and it's going to be nice so I went ahead and bought meat to grill all week. Might as well keep Neal busy doing something ;-)

All the great bands come to New Mexico

We are going to see REO Speedwagon on February 16th! I'm so excited. Last year we got to see Foreigner and I went to see Cowboy Troy and the Music Mafia. Yesterday we got the newsletter for The Inn of the Mountain Gods and it said that The Beach Boys and Styxx are coming soon. I see more concerts in our future!

Remember when the doctor told Neal he didn't have a hernia??

He did! On Monday, January 22, after having a horrible weekend, he went back to his primary doctor and told her he was miserable. He had been in so much pain and couldn't stand it any more. She was able to get him an immediate appointment with a different surgeon who took one look at Neal's stomach and said "You have a hernia". OMG!! I thought my head might explode when Neal told me this. Dr Lindsey scheduled surgery for Tuesday the 30th. Neal was so nervous before hand and wanted to back out but I made him do it. This was out-patient surgery so he was able to leave around noon. We got a prescription filled and headed home. He is sore and a bit grouchy but feeling a lot better. Today was the first day he left the house since his surgery. We went to eat lunch and then I dropped him of at the shop so he could get his truck. He got to visit with some of the guys and get out of the house. I got to go shopping at Wal-Mart...yippeee!
While Neal is recovering, he is attempting to also stop smoking. I'm hoping this is the time he does...for all of our sakes. Neal thought he would go back to work Monday but his boss told him to stay home a bit longer and get better. So at this time I don't know when he will go back to work. He is getting paid so we don't have that to worry about.
I can't tell you the emotions I have gone through thinking about the original surgeon. Dr. Lindsey said Neal's hernia was so obvious and he can't understand why the original doctor missed it. I have composed a letter in my head so many times and honestly would like to go talk to him in person. Neal has had to suffer needlessly for 2 months because this guy had his head up his ass. We are still deciding what to do about it.
In other news, Kinsey is doing great in school. She loves reading and is doing so good. It's hard for me to imagine that she's only been in school for less than 6 moths and can read so well. I now have to be careful what I'm typing or writing because she can read it now...lol!
Just wanted to update on what's going on. Thanks so much for every one's thoughts and prayers. They are much appreciated!

Apparently it's Santa's fault that Kinsey's room is a mess

She informed me tonight that Santa brought her to much stuff so she couldn't keep her room clean. I told her I would talk to Santa and we wouldn't have that problem next year. I'm thinking I will be talking to the "birthday fairy" so she won't get to many birthday presents either.