Ouch, Ouch, and OUCH!

Hello, Everybody! Sharon is trying to write this, but she is going to let Ellen finish because ----OUCH!!! This is what the wound looks like as of today. Ellen counted twenty-two stitches. The doctor said, "Do not use your hand for two weeks"! Sharon is slowly understanding why. But really, the incision and the sutures look good. The piece of skin that was used for the graft also looks healthy. (Ellen LOVES being the nurse!) It is quite difficult to do things one-handed. Sharon needs to continue keeping her right arm elevated so that her fingers do not swell too much. She is trying to be a good patient, honest!! So we will give you another update tomorrow. The stitches don't come out until Dec. 10th. Her dressing changes will continue daily.


Until next time. . . . .

Thank God For Friends!

Hello, Everybody! This has been a very different week for us! Ellen has been sick, Sharon had surgery on her right hand, and we had to say,"Good-bye" to a long time friend.

Last weekend, we decorated Ellen's Christmas tree at her home. She put up her tree, and then Sharon unwrapped the ornaments, and handed them to Ellen to put on her tree. In the meantime, Sharon unpacked her tree, and fluffed the branches on Monday. Tuesday, Sharon had an appointment with the hand surgeon. Neither of us realized that he would do the surgery right away, but he did. The second picture shows the swollen hand that says, "Ouch." Tuesday evening, we went to Sharon's house where we did the same thing with the Christmas tree all over again. This first picture shows Ellen working away at putting the Lenox Christmas ornaments on Sharon's tree. What would we do without dear friends?

Ellen took the day off to take Sharon to the doctor. The picture below shows the poor right hand all swollen. This surgeon's office was top of the line; he had state of the art equipment, and the finest staff you can imagine. We knew that he would remove the squamous cell carcinoma that had been left behind from the dermatologist's initial removal for biopsy. We didn't know how extensive the surgery would be. The first "excavation" left a hole about the size of a nickel between the first and second knuckle. He took that tissue across the hall for testing and warned us that he might have to return if he didn't get it all. Well, he had to make a second pass to get all of the cancer. The most exciting part of the whole operation was that we both got to see the ligament! Sharon felt like she was part of the "Bodies Human" exhibit, except that she was alive! Ellen was happy to be there so she could hear the doctor say, "Don't use this hand for two weeks!". Sharon may have forgotten to share that bit of information! (Of course, I would.)

Finally, this last picture was taken by Ellen at the going away breakfast for Alicia Loya, our substitute Assistant Principal. She is a retired administrator, and she and Sharon go way back with the EPISD. She stepped right in and did a fantastic job at Polk. There were many tears as she left the building today. She has to have knee surgery soon, and was unable to get around much since she fell at her home. She is a delightful lady--a first class lady. We will truly miss her. The kids will miss her enormously. She just had this way of getting them to be courteous, and to get along with each other. (You should have seen the big old fifth grade boys holding hands until they could shake hands, and tell each other that they were sorry.) Good luck, Alicia! Good luck and Godspeed to you.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Hello, Everybody! Can you believe it???? Snow!!!! Snow right here in our own back and front yards! We couldn't believe our eyes. This first picture shows Ellen's street. The snow is very wet, and didn't stick to the street. The temperature keeps hovering around the freezing mark.

This picture shows Ellen's backyard. I know this isn't very exciting for those of you who see snow all of the time, but this is exciting stuff for us.

This next picture shows Sharon's backyard early this morning. The snow was just beginning.

This last view is in Sharon's backyard. It shows the beginning of the accumulation. As of this writing, there is lots more, but it is too cold for us to go out and take a picture.

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful." Let it snow, let it snow until next time. . . . . . . . . . . .

Two Posts In One Day!! Aren't You Proud?

Hello, again, Everybody! When the spirit gets us to moving, we are ready for the task. We didn't take very many pictures on Thanksgiving Day around here, so we just posted them all.

It finally feels like fall/winter around here. The weather has cooled down and jackets are a must if you go outside. Our Thanksgiving Day was relaxing even though we had cooking to do. We cooked at Ellen's and watched football in the afternoon. We even got in a nap before we had to get everything ready for dinner. Joe came over to watch the Cowboys with us. Isn't it great when they win on Thanksgiving Day? We all know that God "loves them Cowboys"!! Here's a picture of Joe who was warming his little tootsies by the fireplace before dinner. We served buffet style from the kitchen table and then ate in the dining room. Thanksgiving is just a wonderful meal to share with family and friends. Since both of our families are small, it is more relaxing than it is chaotic.

Here's Joe just hoping that his food isn't getting cold while we are taking pictures. By the way, he carved the turkey with a little help from Sharon. When we realized it was the first one he had ever carved, we were sorry we didn't get a picture of him!!

Sharon and Joe toasting to the day.

Ellen and Paul (Sharon's husband) just waiting to dig in.

We hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving, too. We don't plan to do too much shopping on Black Friday. Ellen has been sick. All the germs that visit her office finally got to her. But not to fear, we will make it to a store or two....or three! :o) (Actually, it was four.) Good luck to everyone on their Christmas shopping! Don't you just love this time of year?? We love it.

Nichole, last year do you remember that you and your mom decorated Sharon's Christmas tree while she and Michael went computer shopping? We needed you again this year. Until next time . .....

Finally--The Last of the Nevada Notes!

Hello, Everybody! As we write this, we have just returned from a little Black Friday shopping. It was a little because Ellen has had a terrible viral infection for the last few days. (Thank you, little kids at school!)

The following several photos are just of the area. We thought you might like to view the scenery. This one is from their back yard. It had snowed on top of their mountain. It was lovely, just lovely.This was our view as we drove up into the mountains on our way to Lake Tahoe. It was stunning. By the way, Ellen's new knee allowed her to get out of the car and RUN (yes, RUN) across the road with Jason to take this picture.

There are lots and lots of cows in this part of Nevada!

This is a little church in their little town.

Isn't he pretty? This duck thought we might feed him, so he swam over to us. This was in South Lake Tahoe, California.

Just a sightseeing boat at the dock-we think it was the location of a party the night before because they were removing tables and chairs when we arrived.This ski run ends up in town!! This must be a dream for anyone who skis or snowboards!! (Joe, we hope you and your friends can get there sometime soon.) We went by the Marriott. They had a ski lift that picked up the skiers right in their lobby! It was the coolest thing to see.
This pier was right outside the restaurant where we had lunch on Sunday.

Can you imagine standing on the sandy beach of Lake Tahoe and seeing snow- capped mountains in the distance? This was our view from the table in the restaurant.

More pictures of the Lake and the mountains. . . .

This is called Emerald Bay. The Hearst Castle is tucked away amid the trees.

Finally, a picture of Paula AND Jason!

We can only imagine the beauty! This one we may see again on a Christmas card! Paula and Jason were gracious hosts for these two old ladies. We had a great time, and we thank them for showing us around their area. It is truly a little bit of Heaven. By the way, their anniversary is on the 27th. They have been married for fourteen years. Happy Anniversary, Paula and Jason.

We are sorry it has taken us so long to get all of this posted. No excuses....we are old, we work, and we get tired!! :o)

Until next time. . . . . . .....

And Now--Part Three !

Hello, Everybody! It is Thanksgiving Day as we write this. We are sorry that it has seemed to take forever to post pictures from our trip. At any rate, we hope that you have many blessings for which to be thankful. We do.


This first picture is a picture of Paula's den/living room. The two towels on the end of the sofa are there because we were expecting the delivery of their new refrigerator. We wanted to put the towels down over the threshold as they came into the house.

We wanted to show you a picture of the two granddogs as they lay sleeping. They are brother and sister, and sometimes that is just how they act. At other times they look like "angel dogs."

This next two pictures were taken soon after we arrived at Paula's home. She had taken the afternoon off to be there when we got there.

More people think that Paula is Ellen's daughter rather than Sharon's. Oh, well, Sharon doesn't care since she knows who laid on the couch for many months when she was pregnant.

After relaxing just a bit at Paula's, she took us to school so she could catch up on a few things. Here she is in her office.

After visiting her school we went back home where Paula began making our dinner. She made some delicious chicken enchilada's.

As you can tell from this next picture, Ellen's culinary skills were called for as she peeled and chopped fresh garlic. Sharon got the task of peeling the onions. (Oh, joy!) Of course, we had to have a little glass of wine during the preparations!

The next day Jason and Paula took us next door to their subdivision to a golf resort located on several lakes. It has a beautiful place called Antochi's which is a supper club.

As you can tell from the next couple of pictures, this place was beautifully decorated. The food was just as delicious as the surroundings were gorgeous.

We just had to get a picture of this bar and lounge area.

Did we get a picture of the food, you ask? Why, NO, NO, we didn't. We always take pictures of the food, but didn't even think of it here until it was too late. This next picture shows another lounge area.

Ellen took this shot of Paula and her mom outside the restaurant in a hallway. It was lovely.

Here we have Ellen and Sharon in what has become a familiar pose to Ellen watchers.

What you see next is a cute little carved momma bear with her cub. This is located outside a restaurant that we went to for lunch.The restaurant is called The Beacon. It is located right on Lake Tahoe, in South Lake Tahoe, CA. It was beautiful. More pictures of the scenery will follow in another blog entry.

After a hard afternoon of shopping at the mall in Reno, we ended up at this little winery/tasting bar. It is tucked away in the corner of the mall. Isn't that convenient? We rested a bit and then headed home.

If you made it to the end of this entry, God Bless You! Until next time . . . . ........

Are You Ready for Part Two?

Hello, Everybody! Just in case you were wondering how we got to Paula's house after we landed at the Reno/Lake Tahoe Airport, this is what we had waiting for us. It was a really nice ride, and Sharon had no trouble getting into it. In fact, she just turned around and sat down in it just like a car. It was very nice. Paula drives a Volvo CR3 SUV, and she didn't have any trouble getting into it, but the Toyota 4Runner that Jase drives is a little bit more difficult to pull up into; however, Sharon managed just fine. By the way, Ellen's new knee worked just great the whole trip.

Below is a picture of the fall display, that Paula had outside her home. (Note the Red Raider Rock!)

This is a picture of the home in which they live .

Here is a picture of Sharon and Paula in the backyard of their home. Did you ever have a principal that looked like this? We didn't! (Ellen's were always nuns, and Sharon's were always old men!)

This next picture shows one of the places we went for lunch. It is a great little bistro tucked away on a very unassuming little street. It was just the perfect place to rest our legs after visiting a few boutiques in the town. . .and to give us the energy to go for the rest of the afternoon!

Now we have Ellen and Sharon doing our favorite thing. We really didn't drink all that much wine. It just seems like every time we went out, someone took a picture.

Ellen and Paula were having a good time, also. Paula really appreciates the fact that Ellen takes such good care of her mom. Sharon appreciates that, and tries to show that. (She does!!)

You knew that we would take a picture of lunch, didn't you? (Hee, hee!)

Ellen has many talents, and among those, you see below. She used to own a flower shop. People at school even bring flowers to her and request her expertise in arranging them.

A short time later, we left for another wonderful restaurant called Adele's. Oh my! But that and our Thursday evening dinner will be another entry!

Until next time. . . . . . ........