We Are Home from MAYO!

Dad called this morning and delivered the good news to us. He can go home! We were shocked and happy to leave earlier than expected. We left around 12:30pm and got home just a little while ago at 7:30pm. Dad was drugged up pretty good for the ride and mom took care of him from the back seat.

Here is a picture of dad just out of recovery after the surgery. I am pretty sure he doesn't even remember taking this picture.

The next day he was in better condition. He wanted to have this picture for the guys at work.

This is the scar that he will have on his back. They took out an arachnoid cyst that was almost 6 inches long! Wonder why he was having pain and numbness in the lower part of his body? He has already said the feeling is coming back in his legs and chest!!

While I was in Rochester I was abloe to hook up with Rich McIntosh. I met him and his ex-coworkers for some beer at Mickey's. He is starting his retirement and will be taking care of baby Floyd when he arrives. Good Luck Rich! They had a meat raffle, yes a meat raffle, at Mickey's and Rich won 3 ribeye steaks. Retirement is starting off on a good note. And thanks for showing me the sights and sounds of Rochester.

This is for those of you that haven't seen of these gas stations. The good ole Pump'N Munch. It would also me a great name for an adult store!

Our of ICU, Into Not So ICU

Ralphie Boy made it out of ICU and has landed a spot on the "regular" floor. He is still pretty drugged up, but is sitting up and ate a lunch. He was asking for the supper menu, which is a good sign that he getting back to normal. Mom is doing good too. She is glad that the procedure is over and dad is recovering. We still haven't been told on a departure day because it depends on how well dad recovers. He is still in pain, but the he makes sure to keep bugging for his "happy juice."

Moving Out of ICU

Dad is getting ready to get out of ICU shortly. They are planning on taking him to the next unit at quarter to, 15 minutes. He was sitting up, but very dizzy and I had to leave. I wasn't liking seeing the old man struggling.

Out of Surgery

The old man has moved on out of surgery and is in recovery while waking up. Dr. Krause performed a laminectomy and drain and removed an arachnoid cyst off of his spine. He said all went well and it was the better of the two possible situations he was prepared to perform. Mikey had surgery start at 9:39am and the were sewing him up at 2:08 when we met with the surgeon. It has been a long day, but now it is just waiting for him to heal and we can go home in a couple of days!

Surgery Going Well

We are here at St. Mary's in Rochester and my dad has been in surgery for about 2 hours. So far everything is going well and he has about 3 more hours of surgery. It has been a long day, we arrived here at 5:30am, and still have till about 5 or 6pm before he will be able to be seen. I snuck out and went back to the hotel for a little nap!

Heading To St. Mary's in Rochester

My parent's and I will be leaving tomorrow for Rochester, Minnesota. My dad has surgery on Thursday morning at St. Mary's and all is expected to be fine. If all goes well, we should be home on Sunday or Monday. My mom and I will be staying at the Quality Inn. The Ole Man will be off of work for about 2 months. The last couple of years he has had almost as much time off as a teacher!

Rod Stewart on Marriage

I think this comes from a man who never should've gotten married to begin.

Sue Happy?

You know when our society has become a little too sue happy when you fight yourself in court!

Mayo Clinic Day Number 2

My parents were at Mayo Clinic for a second day of test on my dad. He has something on his spine. The doctors have narrowed it down to some kind of cyst or a herniated spinal cord. The are sure he will have a full recovery after his surgery next Thursday.

Mom is waiting patiently during the second day of tests on the old man. She is dreaming of having the grandgirls climbing all over her!

Dad is checking out the view of Rochester from the Mayo Clinic. I wonder if he sees McIntosh riding around in his Porsche with an empty baby seat!?

Swim Park at Ramada

We stayed at the Ramada Inn in Green Bay and it had it's own indoor water park. The rooms were average and the service wasn't all that great in the Lounge, but it was still enjoyable. It isn't nearly as big as the Tundra Lodge, but it was more relaxing. Lots of kids yelling and screaming, but still quieter than TL.

This is the small water slide at the Ramada. It was good size for Olivia and Carrie took Payton down.

This blurr is Olivia coming down on her first trip on the smaller slide. She also went on the big one, but pictures weren't as easy to get.

Carrie and Payton also spent some time in the pool. I just walked around for a bit. My parents were in town 0n their way to the Mayo Clinic for my dad. They stopped by and my dad played with Payton and went to dinner with us.

This is the big slide. Olivia found a friend from home at the park. She got her to go up the big slide and once she went down the big slide, we couldn't get her to stop. They had a fun weekend and didn't want to come home today. We went there for Olivia's birthday (March 21st) and she said this was the bestest birthday ever!

The girls fell asleep about 10 minutes out of Green Bay. They only slept for about an hour and woke up crabby. We ate at the A & W in Menominee on the way home. We made in home in time for be to watch the start of the Daytona 500 and Red Wings.

Chuck E. Cheese! what a thrill

We took the day to go to Chuck E. Cheese and stay at the Ramada. It was a nice trip and not much fighting or crying.

Olivia is playing a game that throws a coin at a random number and that is how many tickets you get. Pretty simple and she won a bunch of tickets.

Liv takes a ride on the Wheel of Death! Well, that is not what it is named, but that is what I named it.

The girls have their tickets eaten by the counter machine. They had a total of 440 tickets, not to bad.

Carrie just had to play the Deal or No Deal game. She ended up staying the whole game through with her case and she won the top prize, 40 tickets!

Happy VD!

Happy Valentine's Day! Look at how happy these two are! Treats from the Dollar store= $6.00. Smiles and excitement of getting a balloon, VD puppy, and a box of bubble gum = Priceless. Payton really was excited, she is just chopping on her gum and when she smiled it kept falling out of her mouth.

Just Go Away! PLEASE!!

Nice to Know!!

Just think of all the money that was spent to gather this research! I don't think it would be a organization that would be making through our "stimulus plan."

Take Picture of Me!

Well, Payton is taking after her sissy. She wants pictures taken of her all the time. She loves see PayPay on my phone. I got a new phone and she likes looking at my pictures of herself and Olivian in my phone, but I didn't have any on it yet. She said, "Take picture of me dada!" So now I have this gem on my screen saver of my phone.

Eastwood's Done it Again!!

If you are looking to see a great movie, head to see Gran Torino! We went last night and I thought it was an awesome movie. It was full of hysterical one liners from Eastwoods character and had a touching and caring plot intertwined into it. As much as I hate spending the money for a movie that will be out on DVD or HBO in a year, it was well worth it! I would rank it 10 out of 10 fingers!! (10 being the best)

The Day The Music Died-50 years ago

On February 3, 1959, a small-plane crashed near Clear Lake, Iowakilling: The Big Bopper ( J.P. Richardson )Buddy Holly ( Charles H. Holley )Ritchie Valens ( Richard Steven Valenzuela ) and.. The Pilot: Roger Peterson, who was not rated for night flying and the conditionswere terrible. Poor Conditions and Pilot error are the given reasons for thecrash that killed the three musicans. In 1971 Don Mclean wrote a song "American Pie" as tribute to the three andthe lyrics, "The Day the Music Died" is what we now know this day to be. 50years ago today, The Day the Music Died.

Steeler Nation Celebrates 6th Super Bowl!!

Well, the Steelers defeated the Cards in a real interesting final 2 and half minutes. If you missed it, shame on you! I made no cash in any pool this year and the interception return at the end of the first half cost my dad $2400!! Avid Steeler fan Mark Wyman was quoted as saying, "I really repect the Cardinals after this game. They are a good team, but we have Big Ben. What a Stud!"

Bowling at The Bowl-A-Rama

We took the kids bowling yesterday. We met Mark and Emma at the alley, Katie was gone to her swim meet. It was the first time for both the girls bowling without bumpers. All in all, they did pretty good.

Olivia in action throwing a ball down the lane. Not even in the gutter yet!

Emma became a natural at throwing it down the middle.

Olivia is showing her little sis how to roll the ball down the lane. Payton is ready to try on her own, except the ball still weighs too close to her own body weight.