Today was the beginning of getting Kathy started on a full medical evaluation and all the health related issues that have needed attention for some time. She and I met with Dr. Ferrick this morning at 10:30. Kathy had done 12 hour fasting so she could get blood work done while she is still here. The very first thing the doctor did was a finger prick check for diabetes - blood glucose levels did not indicate diabetes (thank heavens!), but the final over-all health analysis is yet to come from all the other tests that were done. For those who want more information about Kathy's state of health, they should speak directly with her. (I believe that medical information is very private and should be shared only if one chooses. Kathy has trusted me with her information, but it is up to her to share if if she chooses).
We have a follow up appointment on August 3 and from there will know if any medications or treatments are necessary. Our next two appointments are to be made with a dentist and an optometrist.
I'm pleased that we have begun a process that has needed doing for a long time, and even more pleased that Kathy seems cooperative and enthusiastic. Hopefully, the family will be encouraging and helpful, particularly with the weight loss. Anyone who has dieted knows how hard it is, and it's made harder by well meaning folks who offer up wonderful non-diet meals and special treats. I'm hoping the family will help keep Kathy on the straight and narrow...if she strays it will not be because we set her up.
Since getting the medical care she has been needing in San Jose hasn't worked out, it appeared necessary to set the process in motion here in Rio Vista - at least we can make the appointments and monitor the progress. However, it means that either we have to pick her up or someone has to bring her here. Or, better yet, her car gets repaired and she can drive herself - any volunteers to take charge of getting that car fixed????
In order for Kathy to begin working (which is one of the objectives of this process), she needs to be healthy and needs to have the dental work done. The dental insurance will pay for part of it. We're hoping to find a low cost dental clinic in Solano County because if Kathy needs dental surgery, she will need someone to keep an eye on her until the extractions have healed and the dentist has released her. We may need some financial assistance from the family to pay for what the insurance will not. If we can get her qualified for MedicAid, then that may not be necessary - hopefully we will be able to accomplish that. We had hoped that she would get qualified in San Jose, but that hasn't happened and there doesn't seem to be anyone available to drive making it happen. That said, we'll work from here.
Let's all rally around Kathy and encourage her to keep going - even if there are a few bumps in the road.
Love to all,
Corrie and Jim
mzcorrie@frontiernet.net
jmcrhoads@frontiernet.net
Friday, July 21, 2006
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
A Good Visit
Jim picked up Kathy on Monday and they were back to Rio Vista by mid afternoon. It was good to learn that all Kathy's medical cards, coverages, etc were current and we were able to get a doctor's appointment for her for Friday morning. In addition to getting a complete physical workup for Kathy, we're hoping to get a referral to a good dental clinic.
Not everything has been business - Yesterday we went to the Jelly Belly Factory. The tour itself takes about 40 minutes, but we were there for about 2 1/2 hours! It seems that all the day camps, youth groups, summer camps etc. take a Jelly Belly factory tour as part of their summer program. The line to get in was out the door and down the block when we arrived. We had to stand in line for over an hour to get in. I'm pretty much saturated with yelling kids for the rest of the summer. Once we were actually on the tour, it was pretty interesting and I think Kathy enjoyed it. We were given Jelly Belly samples and made a trip to the gift shop after the tour (doesn't everyone!) In the belly flops section they had a jelly bean that somehow had a strawberry center and watermellon coating. We didn't try that, but they were selling them cheap!
After the tour, we discovered Wal-Mart was just around the corner from the Jelly Belly Factory so we had to stop there before heading home. It made a long day and we were both exhausted. Thankfully, Jim had made his wonderful Pasta Toscana for dinner while we were gone. Had dinner been left up to me, it could have ended up being peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Kathy had mentioned that she wanted to see Locke and Isleton since she had heard us talking about them. We headed out there today and had lunch at the Locke Chinese Garden. Most of these little towns pretty much shut down during the week, so there wasn't much to see except old buildings. Tomorrow we're doing the tour of Rio Vista and Trilogy and will probably have lunch at the point.
All in all, Jim and I are enjoying our visit with Kathy. Even Bustopher has warmed up to her and he doesn't generally speak to any of our visitors. We hope she's having a good time, too.
Love to all,
Corrie and Jim
mzcorrie@frontiernet.net
jmcrhoads@frontiernet.net
Not everything has been business - Yesterday we went to the Jelly Belly Factory. The tour itself takes about 40 minutes, but we were there for about 2 1/2 hours! It seems that all the day camps, youth groups, summer camps etc. take a Jelly Belly factory tour as part of their summer program. The line to get in was out the door and down the block when we arrived. We had to stand in line for over an hour to get in. I'm pretty much saturated with yelling kids for the rest of the summer. Once we were actually on the tour, it was pretty interesting and I think Kathy enjoyed it. We were given Jelly Belly samples and made a trip to the gift shop after the tour (doesn't everyone!) In the belly flops section they had a jelly bean that somehow had a strawberry center and watermellon coating. We didn't try that, but they were selling them cheap!
After the tour, we discovered Wal-Mart was just around the corner from the Jelly Belly Factory so we had to stop there before heading home. It made a long day and we were both exhausted. Thankfully, Jim had made his wonderful Pasta Toscana for dinner while we were gone. Had dinner been left up to me, it could have ended up being peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Kathy had mentioned that she wanted to see Locke and Isleton since she had heard us talking about them. We headed out there today and had lunch at the Locke Chinese Garden. Most of these little towns pretty much shut down during the week, so there wasn't much to see except old buildings. Tomorrow we're doing the tour of Rio Vista and Trilogy and will probably have lunch at the point.
All in all, Jim and I are enjoying our visit with Kathy. Even Bustopher has warmed up to her and he doesn't generally speak to any of our visitors. We hope she's having a good time, too.
Love to all,
Corrie and Jim
mzcorrie@frontiernet.net
jmcrhoads@frontiernet.net
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Where is that Delta Breeze!!!!???
We're roasting out here. It was 96 at 1:00pm and it's getting warmer by the minute. Ordinarily there would be at least a whisper of a breeze (if not gale force winds!), but today, when we really need it - nada.
Jim's picking Kathy up tomorrow in San Jose and she will be with us for the week. In addition to having some fun and a good visit, we want to get moving on some health stuff - dental stuff for sure and possibly a physical if she hasn't had one in awhile. We want to make sure all here documents are current - health card, military id, etc so there won't be delays if she needs care.
We also want to show her around and do some fun things like maybe a tour of the Jelly Belly factory, a trip to Isleton and Locke, a tour of Rio Vista, etc. All in all, we're looking forward to her visit.
Living at Trilogy is like living at party central. Last night we went outside to have our evening cocktail and suddenly we had four of the neighbors join us - the cocktail hour kept going til about 10. Since no one has privacy fencing, it's open season if you're outside. This sounds invasive, but it really isn't. It does lend itself to getting to know the neighbors.
Today we went with Rose and Leroy to Sunday Brunch at The Pointe restaurant. The brunch there is ok - certainly not up to Mallards in Modesto - but it's inexpensive and adequate. We had a good time. Rose is recovering from a stroke, so she's a little fragile, but since we've been living here, she's had significant improvement. Rose and Leroy are good people and will become good friends. Since we've been living here I feel like we've made some good friends, the kind of friendships that are comfortable and that last. Only time and interaction will allow the new friendships to grow roots.
Later this evening we're going to a dessert party at another's neighbor's house. There've been some new people moving in and hopefully, we'll get to meet them.
Like I said - it's party central around here! :>) Wahoo!
Love to all,
Corrie and Jim
mzcorrie@frontiernet.net
jmcrhoads@frontiernet.net
Jim's picking Kathy up tomorrow in San Jose and she will be with us for the week. In addition to having some fun and a good visit, we want to get moving on some health stuff - dental stuff for sure and possibly a physical if she hasn't had one in awhile. We want to make sure all here documents are current - health card, military id, etc so there won't be delays if she needs care.
We also want to show her around and do some fun things like maybe a tour of the Jelly Belly factory, a trip to Isleton and Locke, a tour of Rio Vista, etc. All in all, we're looking forward to her visit.
Living at Trilogy is like living at party central. Last night we went outside to have our evening cocktail and suddenly we had four of the neighbors join us - the cocktail hour kept going til about 10. Since no one has privacy fencing, it's open season if you're outside. This sounds invasive, but it really isn't. It does lend itself to getting to know the neighbors.
Today we went with Rose and Leroy to Sunday Brunch at The Pointe restaurant. The brunch there is ok - certainly not up to Mallards in Modesto - but it's inexpensive and adequate. We had a good time. Rose is recovering from a stroke, so she's a little fragile, but since we've been living here, she's had significant improvement. Rose and Leroy are good people and will become good friends. Since we've been living here I feel like we've made some good friends, the kind of friendships that are comfortable and that last. Only time and interaction will allow the new friendships to grow roots.
Later this evening we're going to a dessert party at another's neighbor's house. There've been some new people moving in and hopefully, we'll get to meet them.
Like I said - it's party central around here! :>) Wahoo!
Love to all,
Corrie and Jim
mzcorrie@frontiernet.net
jmcrhoads@frontiernet.net
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Trip to Modesto and Lunch with Mandy
We got a fairly early start so we had more than enough time in Modesto to accomplish all we set out to do, even if it was hot as blazes down there. It's real easy to forget just how hot Modesto gets. We even had time to go to Starbucks.
The house was in decent shape. The dining room chandelier had been hung, but we need to shorten the chain. The cabbages that we had been nurturing for months had been taken over by moths that were laying tons of eggs all over the plants so we decided to donate the cabbages to ecology.
We had time to go to Save-Mart and get some Barefoot zinfandel for me and some $2 Foxbrook for Jim. - The markets here in Rio Vista don't carry Foxbrook or Barefoot zinfandel, although I suppose they would if we asked them to. After that we went to meet Mandy for lunch. We arrived about 20 minutes early so we thought it would be fun to check out O'Brien's market. Jim is now on my "I'll get you for this" list. O'brien's is upscale, a VERY nice market complete with gorgeous bakery, delicatessen, really fresh fish counter, meat counter, gorgeous produce department - almost a miniature Andronico's right there in Modesto. Apparently Jim knew about this, and neglected to tell me about it because it was a 'little pricey.' I had asked him about O'brien's and was told, "oh, it's a nice little market," like it was nothing special. All the time we lived there, and I trusted him to inform me about things in Modesto, he kept this to himself and I used that crusty old Save-Mart, and when I wanted something special, I went looking for a Raley's. Like I said, I'll get him for that. ;>)
Lunch with Mandy was enjoyable. It's been a long time since we've seen her and she looked great. We had a nice visit and then had a tour of her office. Best of all, I think some of the issues that have been concerning both Mandy and us have been identified, and hopefully, a solution is now put into action. The Mexican restaurant we went to was nice - the Bay shrimp tostado was delicious.
After lunch we went to Costco - not a good plan for a Friday afternoon. In addition to being hot, it was crowded. Fortunately, we didn't need a lot of stuff - most of our time was spent standing in line. After that we headed for home. Seems everyone was going north. We decided the state is just too heavily populated and some people should go somewhere else.
At the end of the day we were both weary , but we were satisfied that we had accomplished what we had set out to do, and are now ready for the weekend. It was good to get back to the cool Delta Breeze.
Love to all,
Corrie and Jim
mzcorrie@frontiernet.net
jmcrhoads@frontiernet.net
The house was in decent shape. The dining room chandelier had been hung, but we need to shorten the chain. The cabbages that we had been nurturing for months had been taken over by moths that were laying tons of eggs all over the plants so we decided to donate the cabbages to ecology.
We had time to go to Save-Mart and get some Barefoot zinfandel for me and some $2 Foxbrook for Jim. - The markets here in Rio Vista don't carry Foxbrook or Barefoot zinfandel, although I suppose they would if we asked them to. After that we went to meet Mandy for lunch. We arrived about 20 minutes early so we thought it would be fun to check out O'Brien's market. Jim is now on my "I'll get you for this" list. O'brien's is upscale, a VERY nice market complete with gorgeous bakery, delicatessen, really fresh fish counter, meat counter, gorgeous produce department - almost a miniature Andronico's right there in Modesto. Apparently Jim knew about this, and neglected to tell me about it because it was a 'little pricey.' I had asked him about O'brien's and was told, "oh, it's a nice little market," like it was nothing special. All the time we lived there, and I trusted him to inform me about things in Modesto, he kept this to himself and I used that crusty old Save-Mart, and when I wanted something special, I went looking for a Raley's. Like I said, I'll get him for that. ;>)
Lunch with Mandy was enjoyable. It's been a long time since we've seen her and she looked great. We had a nice visit and then had a tour of her office. Best of all, I think some of the issues that have been concerning both Mandy and us have been identified, and hopefully, a solution is now put into action. The Mexican restaurant we went to was nice - the Bay shrimp tostado was delicious.
After lunch we went to Costco - not a good plan for a Friday afternoon. In addition to being hot, it was crowded. Fortunately, we didn't need a lot of stuff - most of our time was spent standing in line. After that we headed for home. Seems everyone was going north. We decided the state is just too heavily populated and some people should go somewhere else.
At the end of the day we were both weary , but we were satisfied that we had accomplished what we had set out to do, and are now ready for the weekend. It was good to get back to the cool Delta Breeze.
Love to all,
Corrie and Jim
mzcorrie@frontiernet.net
jmcrhoads@frontiernet.net
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Just Truckin' Along
Life here at Trilogy is just one adventure after another. Yesterday we went for a walk to check out the patio covers and yard treatments. We're not quite in the market, but we want to get our plans firmed up so when we know we can afford it, we can move ahead. Since we have to have 5 foot setbacks from the property line, and our house covers most of our lot, we have to go with a small cover. Our back yard is only 12 feet from the house to the property line. We saw one exactly like what we want. Since the salesperson for the company that makes these lives here in Trilogy, we were able to talk to him yesterday. It's amazing - so many of the tradespeople live right here in Trilogy. Over 40% of the residents are still working. When we get the Modesto house dealt with, we'll be in a financial position to make some improvements here - until then, we enjoy what we have.
Exercise class was good. The instructor added a few new moves and today I'm aware of new muscles. They must have grown in over night since I wasn't aware of them yesterday. After class we attended a talk about Trilogy's new residence website. Apparently we'll be able soon to register for classes and sign up for events on line. Now we have to go to the clubhouse and sometimes we forget and it's too late to sign up. With the new website we can check the calendar every day for activities and sign up right then.
I made pico de gallo yesterday from our garden. It's always satisfying to pick something fresh and eat it right away. Jim made his famous catfish for dinner. Pico de gallo actually goes well with catfish. We had pico de gallo on ahi tuna when we were on our Alaskan cruise. It was delicious, so we decided to try it on other kinds of fish. It works... I like to plop a cup or so on the fish at the tail end of the cooking cycle just to warm up the pico de gallo. (If you're deep frying, I don't recommend it!).
Well - time to hit the showers ... there's shopping to do!
Love to all,
Corrie and Jim
mzcorrie@frontiernet.net
jmcrhoads@frontiernet.net
Exercise class was good. The instructor added a few new moves and today I'm aware of new muscles. They must have grown in over night since I wasn't aware of them yesterday. After class we attended a talk about Trilogy's new residence website. Apparently we'll be able soon to register for classes and sign up for events on line. Now we have to go to the clubhouse and sometimes we forget and it's too late to sign up. With the new website we can check the calendar every day for activities and sign up right then.
I made pico de gallo yesterday from our garden. It's always satisfying to pick something fresh and eat it right away. Jim made his famous catfish for dinner. Pico de gallo actually goes well with catfish. We had pico de gallo on ahi tuna when we were on our Alaskan cruise. It was delicious, so we decided to try it on other kinds of fish. It works... I like to plop a cup or so on the fish at the tail end of the cooking cycle just to warm up the pico de gallo. (If you're deep frying, I don't recommend it!).
Today we're off to Vacaville to the Outlets. There are so many stores there that we have to decide which ones we want to browse. Jim needs some new tennies, so we'll probably go to Reebok, and there's always the chocolate outlet that has to be visited. :>) He also wants a hat for golf. We found one the other day that he liked, but it was so large we had to tuck his ears in and he looked a little odd.
Well - time to hit the showers ... there's shopping to do!
Love to all,
Corrie and Jim
mzcorrie@frontiernet.net
jmcrhoads@frontiernet.net
Sunday, July 09, 2006
A Really Fun Day
I can't believe it's been five days since I last posted here. Time does fly, especially around here! The kids all went home on the fourth. We really enjoyed them, but on Wednesday, we needed a little rest, so I didn't do much and Jim played golf. Thursday is 'senior discount day' at the local supermarket, so I got the grocery shopping done. Hey - they give 5% and while that's not a lot, it's at least something. Friday we cleaned house in preparation for Terry and Maryann's arrival. Our house never gets really dirty, but we still need to vacuum and dust and do bathrooms.
Yesterday Terry and Maryann arrived around 1:00. We had planned to go to Nines for lunch, but it was closed for a private function. We ended up at Lucy's Italian Cafe in downtown Rio Vista. Yes, Lucy is an Italian name :>)
After lunch we gave them a tour of Rio Vista and then Trilogy. We went through most of the models and spent a little time in the one where they were serving wine. It was hot and no Delta breeze, so we decided it was time to come home and start the martini hour. That went well :>)
It was very enjoyable to have time to visit person to person. Phone calls and emails are nice, but there's nothing like time to talk one on one.
This morning we're going for Sunday brunch at the Point. We've not been there before, but I understand it's quite nice. Am looking forward to another pleasant day.
Love to all
Corrie and Jim
mzcorrie@frontiernet.net
jmcrhoads@frontiernet.net
Yesterday Terry and Maryann arrived around 1:00. We had planned to go to Nines for lunch, but it was closed for a private function. We ended up at Lucy's Italian Cafe in downtown Rio Vista. Yes, Lucy is an Italian name :>)
After lunch we gave them a tour of Rio Vista and then Trilogy. We went through most of the models and spent a little time in the one where they were serving wine. It was hot and no Delta breeze, so we decided it was time to come home and start the martini hour. That went well :>)
It was very enjoyable to have time to visit person to person. Phone calls and emails are nice, but there's nothing like time to talk one on one.
This morning we're going for Sunday brunch at the Point. We've not been there before, but I understand it's quite nice. Am looking forward to another pleasant day.
The week is shaping up to be busy - Jim is playing golf on Tuesday and we have our exercise class in the evening. We had planned to have Kathy visit, but I believe she's pet sitting. We still need to work out those details.
If Kathy doesn't visit, we probably should make a visit to Modesto house just to check it out and do any clean up/gardening chores that need doing. The one offer we had was quasi - and they got buyer's remorse, so the house is still there. Dang!
Love to all
Corrie and Jim
mzcorrie@frontiernet.net
jmcrhoads@frontiernet.net
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Happy Fourth of July
It's been a fun and full 4th of July weekend. Saturday night we went to Karoake Night, which was loads of fun. We almost didn't get in because we had not signed up for this and the room was full. Neither Jim nor I sang ( for which everyone was greatful) but some of the others did and surprisingly, some were pretty good. It was BYOB, but everyone brought some snack stuff so there was tons of food.
Sunday was a good day - we had shopping to do and a little cleaning to get ready for grandkids on Monday.
Nick, Nicole, Samantha and Justin arrived about 1:15. Almost immediately we took off for the pool and swam until 3:00. Family swim is 11-3, so at 3 we had to come home. After snack we watched The Chronicles of Narnia, which was about 2 hours long. Jim made burgers for all and after that, we had frozen yogurt sundaes....yum. Bingo kept us going until bedtime. Sleep was not a problem - after such a busy day, everyone just fell into bed.
This morning we were up early and had strawberry waffles, then off to see the golf cart parade, which was a kick. We'll definitely participate in that next year! Among the highlights of the parade were an old, old police car, a cart made up to look like aTrilogy fire engine ( complete with hand pump and bucket on the back), lots of flags, one that looked like The Little Engine That Could, and another with a life size Uncle Sam. Most of the participants threw candy and treats to the kids, so the kids went home on a sugar high.
We came back to the house and got everyone's stuff ready to go home and then went to the clubhouse for hotdogs right off the grill. From there it was take the kids back to Oakley, come home and rest a little.
Tonight there's an party at the clubhouse, and I believe there is supposed to be a dj, and some fireworks. It's too bad we couldn't keep the kids for this, but it's an all adult function. Since this is an adult community, kids are excluded from a lot of the activities.
So far this has been one of my better 4ths. I hope everyone else is having a great time as well.
Love to all,
Corrie and Jim
mzcorrie@frontiernet.net
jmcrhoas@frontiernet.net
Sunday was a good day - we had shopping to do and a little cleaning to get ready for grandkids on Monday.
Nick, Nicole, Samantha and Justin arrived about 1:15. Almost immediately we took off for the pool and swam until 3:00. Family swim is 11-3, so at 3 we had to come home. After snack we watched The Chronicles of Narnia, which was about 2 hours long. Jim made burgers for all and after that, we had frozen yogurt sundaes....yum. Bingo kept us going until bedtime. Sleep was not a problem - after such a busy day, everyone just fell into bed.
This morning we were up early and had strawberry waffles, then off to see the golf cart parade, which was a kick. We'll definitely participate in that next year! Among the highlights of the parade were an old, old police car, a cart made up to look like aTrilogy fire engine ( complete with hand pump and bucket on the back), lots of flags, one that looked like The Little Engine That Could, and another with a life size Uncle Sam. Most of the participants threw candy and treats to the kids, so the kids went home on a sugar high.
We came back to the house and got everyone's stuff ready to go home and then went to the clubhouse for hotdogs right off the grill. From there it was take the kids back to Oakley, come home and rest a little.
Tonight there's an party at the clubhouse, and I believe there is supposed to be a dj, and some fireworks. It's too bad we couldn't keep the kids for this, but it's an all adult function. Since this is an adult community, kids are excluded from a lot of the activities.
So far this has been one of my better 4ths. I hope everyone else is having a great time as well.
Love to all,
Corrie and Jim
mzcorrie@frontiernet.net
jmcrhoas@frontiernet.net
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