Just thought I'd take a little more time and review a little bit for you about my day yesterday (Friday) and today (Maya's birthday) as both days were really filled with good times for me, for Mandy, and especially, of course for Maya as well as Kurtis.
First off, Mandy and I got down to Pittsburgh and to my Doctor's office on time, no problems, found a parking spot in the basement garage right away and up to Dr. Hughes office then to see the good doctor. The appointment went fine -I do have to return to see him in six months but this is really just standard operating procedure because he wants to keep tabs on the hernia, etc. Although he feels that if it hasn't given me any issues to do, in all likelihood, he thinks it probably won't be problematic down the road then too. However, he was concerned if I am still seeing an oncologist to keep up-to-date and make sure the little cancer cells haven't returned to some other region and since I do see the oncologist at Clearfield Hospital usually every six months, plus my family doctor on a regular basis too, he was pleased with that.
He also commented to Mandy and me yesterday about the difference he sees in me now as compared to the patient he first met two years ago this past September -that I seem to be a completely different person today and I have to agree with his assessment on that. No, the surgery didn't eliminate every problem, every little ache and pain, but it did take care of enough that it has made it so I am much more able to get around, to enjoy getting out whenever I can now too.
After we left his office though, somehow or other, we got a little confused -what with all the vast expanse that UPMC is -Presbyterian Hospital, UPMC Hospital, Montifiore Hospital -all linked together and a bridge here, another there, all the halls looking kind of alike and before you know it, Mandy and I found realitzed we had walked from Presbyterian Hospital -where Dr. Hughes office is located and had ended up entering Montefiore Hospital, which was not where we needed to be to access the parking garage where my lovely little jeep was parked.
So, back tracking -or so we thought -wandering around the parking garage, up one ramp, down another, over and over, it all reminded me of that song from back in the 60's I think it was, of the guy who got on the Mass Transit in the morning for his commute to work and before he reached his stop, the Transit system had increased the fare but he didn't have enough money to pay for his ride so couldn't get off, ya know. The gist of the song was that his wife would come by daily as the train passed the station and hand him a lunch and away he went again, riding "'neath the streets of Boston. The man who never returned!" That's about how I felt about us walking all through the darned parking garage then so I started singing the refrain from that song to Mandy which really did absolutely nothing to improve her mood over our being "lost" there since she said it was my fault because I insisted that we had parked on Level A -when in fact, it turned out we were actually parked on Level D.
Oh well, good exercise for my old limbs and a little bit of practice with the extra walking to start getting prepared for the next Autism walk we will participate in come April!
So anyway, finally found the car and fortunately, didn't get lost driving away from Pittsburgh this trip like we did the last visit there when we had a lovely "tour" of the south side of the city before finding Route 79 -a highway we are familiar with -and made our way back home that trip. This time though, we went south out of Pittsburgh but for a reason -to head to Washington, PA to the new Outlet Mall -Tanger Mall.
There, we met up with a friend of Mandy's, her Mom and her little boy, who is two months older than Kurtis along with meeting my cousin Becky there too! Mandy and her friend had never met in person before -having become acquainted through an online autism group via CafePress Moms -so they had a great time getting to know each other better then.
And Becky and I enjoyed sitting in the Food Court at the Mall, talking for a good two hours too! Her younger son, Tim, as well as his girlfriend showed up too which was an added surprise for me and always good to see Tim. He was home from college for the weekend -attends West Virginia University -and I had to tease him a bit about how he happened to choose WVU instead of Penn State for college. As you know, I am a Penn Stater and one of Becky's daughters as well as a niece of hers too are Penn State Alumni too! (But Beck and her husband both attended WVU so guess Tim is following in their footsteps, huh?)
After Beck and I said our goodbyes, I wandered off and found the Carter's store in the Mall -one of my favorite places at any outlet mall since I have small grandchildren now. I found some things for Kurtis and Maya too that will be put back for two months and will find their way under the tree here come Christmas.
The trip home was nice -uneventful -no vehicle problems thankfully! And we got home a little after midnight.
This morning, up by 9:30, kids had breakfast and away we went towards Philipsburg with a stop in between at the Methodist Church in Morrisdale to check out the Fall Bazaar there sponsored by the women of the church. Our initial goal was to arrive there early enough to get some homemade ham and bean soup made by my cousin, Margaret Anne's husband, Jack. Last year, we were too late to get any because it was sold out by noon. Today, we got there shortly before 11 a.m. only to learn from Margaret Anne that it was all sold out before 9:45 this morning! RATS! And I really love ham and bean soup -so does Mandy too -and we'd really been looking forward to that as a treat for our lunch today. But we ended up having lunch at the bazaar anyway -kids split a serving of lasagne and dinner rolls and Mandy and I had hot dogs, cream of broccoli and cheese soup and delicious homemade pie for dessert then too! Maya was thrilled that Margaret Anne wished her a Happy Birthday by singing to her so she felt very special with that, the lunch was great, had a chance to visit with my cousin a little while from my Dad's side of the family too then!
After that, we headed on down the road to Philipsburg so Mandy could pick up the cake she had ordered for Maya. She dropped Maya and I off at the Peebles store because I wanted to look around there a little bit and I took Maya with me. Now there's an adventure and a half -trying to look at clothes with Maya in tow!
Just trying to get her to stay with me the whole time I was looking at Kids things was an ordeal and a half because she kept disappearing on me around this display, over to another, getting into things -like the display of ear muffs with matching gloves, trying the ear muffs on and insisting that she "needs" them ya know. Then it was the backpacks and she "needed" one of them too -or so she thought but when she gets her mind on something like that, you really play Hell trying to redirect her!
I did finally manage to find a shirt and a nice little thermal type sweater to go with it for Kurtis as well as a really sharp dress for Maya for Christmas and a really cute little tee shirt type knit shirt too for Maya. With the sale today, a coupon I had from the store and extra discount I got for shopping today, I got all four items for under $30 -which was a really good deal in my mind and also to Mandy!
Home by about 2:30 and I was bushed then so I took a nice nap and got up to fix supper. My son came down and had supper with us and then, topped every thing off with the end of Maya's birthday celebration with the cake and ice cream. The "food fight" episode though which took place when Kurtis had finished his piece of cake and helping of ice cream and then, pulled Maya's piece of cake over to dig in and eat most of that too! Once Kurtis feels he is finished eating -regardless of what the food stuff might be -he starts to mess then -crumbling the food on to the table, dropping pieces of food on the floor and ends up then by tossing bits and pieces of his food across the table. And tonight, he did that with what cake of Maya's slice he hadn't finished eating! What a mess! Chocolate cake crumbs all over him, all over the table, on the floor and then, tossing it across the table, using me as his target I think. I know I ended up with many crumbs landing about on my shoulder and the front of my sweater as well as sprinkled generously throughout my hair too!
For your viewing pleasure though, I am including here the video of Kurtis and the chocolate cake. Yes, the boy really does love chocolate anything, but chocolate cake especially, or so it seems!
Listen carefully though, if you can hear it, to the background events and conversation too between Mandy and my son while Kurtis was busy throwing cake all over the place!
And, just in case you're wondering about the flatulence issue -my son dearly loves to "Share" this stuff, so freely, when he is here!
1 comment:
So glad that there has been so much improvement in your health and quality of life.
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