Downtown Green Bay is calling.

Green Bay - more than the Packers!

Zapped again ....

I knew my arm and elbow wouldn't be 100% better after the surgery in October 2006. I knew it wouldn't be back to completely normal. It was actually amazingly good after just 60 days actually!

However, shortly after I started playing cello again in September, I started getting numbness in the top of my right hand. It would happen whilst doing just about anything, including not doing a single thing. It would start up my right thumb area, sometimes include the index and middle fingers, and radiate up my arm. It felt different than the compression in the elbow of the ulna nerve. It hurt too.

So, I showed up at the orthopedic surgeon's last week and told him what I've been experiencing as of late. I didn't want to be there. I was done with the Year of the Elbow. But I did the only thing I could do, other than ignore it. Dr. S*** sent me to the nerve doctor, again....

Being zapped again by the very kind Dr. W*** was worse than the first time. I knew it would hurt again. I knew what to anticipate.

Yet again, Dr. W*** was as wonderful as he could possibly be, treating me as a person and taking the time to talk me through the painful zapping process. He explained exactly what he was doing, and what he was looking for. I told him I was going to blog this, so this is my giant THANK YOU! to Dr. W***! (Wait for the applause!)

Diagnosis (to be confirmed by Dr. S***) is that I have yet another compressed nerve - a branch of the radial nerve - the posterior interosseus nerve.

Fig. 1. —Drawing shows course of radial nerve (thick arrows) deep in relation to brachioradialis muscle (arrowheads) at elbow where radial nerve divides into posterior interosseous nerve (thin arrows) and superficial radial nerve. S = supinator.


To be continued.....(sigh)

Free Rice

Congratulations!

Congratulations, Stacey and Dean. Happy Birthday, baby Joey. What a darling boy.

Presidential candidates ... who really represents your beliefs the best?

Very impressive. I was a bit shocked about who matched my beliefs. Check it out!



"Glassbooth connects you to the presidential candidate that represents your beliefs the best."

Glassbooth is a nonprofit organization that is creating innovative ways to access political information. An informed and interested democracy is a powerful thing. As an organization acting in the public’s interest, we are very serious about our core principles:

• Integrity

• Nonbias

• Nonpartisan

• Transparency

• Insight

Wishlist...

Someone tell my husband I want one of these! :)

I'd love to learn how to knit, especially this shawl!

This guy is cute!

So is this one!

Straight No Chaser - 12 Days

Mystery solved...

There have been odd scratching sounds coming from a corner of the front bedroom's ceiling. A little odd, but they've come and gone so infrequently, we haven't investigated thoroughly.

Mystery has been solved whilst Joe was up in the attic retrieving the holiday bins. 2 bats have been hibernating in the attic. Joe took pictures. I played with my new computer's Movie Maker feature. Enjoy!







And now the film....

Updates

• I'm tired. Busy - crazy busy. Happy
• I'm playing my cello tonight for the first time since The Year of the Elbow. Looking forward to it!
  
• Again, I'm feeling Brett's pain from last night's game. It was horrible that they lost, to that team, but it's not the end of the world, and it was fantastic to see that Aaron Rodgers could actually step it up!
  
• It was Joe's birthday last night - fun night had by all!
  
• It's going to snow a lot tomorrow night. Actually looking forward to it! We're under a winter storm watch with up to 7 inches expected. Let the Holidays begin!
  
• Joe gave me an early Christmas present: an HP laptop with Vista and Office 2007 installed. So far, I love it!
• Maddy is doing great and her 4th b'day will be on the 23rd. Oh my stars! How did she get so old?!
  

And for your goofy pleasure:

A test in spontaneity

Because D'Argo wasn't well, we decided it would not be in his best health or interest to go to Madison, for only one evening. We called my Mom and let her know on Wednesday. They called on Friday to let us know we were to expect them for Friday!

It was fun - a long day for Maddy true, but it was fun: I took Haddy and William and Maddy out bike-riding to the park, we had Joe's parents, his brothers, Kris and Erin, my folks and the 3 kids over for a few hours for pizza and left-overs. Everyone left around 8pm and we just crashed. It may have been the many yummy foods, or just stress. Happy Thanksgiving all away around.

:)

D'Argo

Got home safely from Lake Elmo, MN. My team is fantastic! I'm so thrilled to have had the guts to go for this job. LOTS of work, but it's good work.

D'Argo is ill and at the kitty hospital tonight (Tuesday night). He's only 5 years old yet has the kidneys of a cat 3 times his age. He was leaving us presents in not-so-nice places (like tables, counters). Obviously, he was trying to tell us something. (He's the tortoise-shell one - Deci is the one who is mostly white.)

Update...
D'Argo is home after being at the vet hospital 3 nights. He's fine, but we have to give him subcutaneous fluids daily, an antibiotic pill, and special (ie. $$$) food. He had a good night last night and cuddled with me.

It's going to be a rough few weeks. We don't want him to be in any pain, but we don't want to do anything too hastily.

"I'm leaving ... on a jet plane!..."

Yep - first time in about 7 years. I think our honeymoon to Jamaica was the last time I was on a plane! I'm going nowhere special - "just" Minneapolis for a library meeting. I leave tomorrow evening, coming home Friday night.

Holy Mackarel!

How'd they do that?!

It is NOT a fluke! They are 8-1! Wow. I'm thrilled to say I AM a Packers fan, even without their winning streak. WOW!

Go Pack Go!

why?! oh why?!

Warning ... bodily fluids discussed ... not for the weak-stomached...

I should be feeling a bit relieved. I don't have to work today. It's one of the holidays the college observes. I should be feeling like today is a day I could play catch-up.

Unfortunately, my dear daughter and one of my dear cats have decided that's not to be. I'm worried about Maddy's health - she's probably having the same fall-allergen reaction that I have - throwing up mucous, etc. She doesn't have a fever, just the cough that won't quit.

Not only that, but she's had two separate blow-outs with her pull-ups at night. Unsure what's up with that, but she's woken up in the middle of the night with her bed sopping. It's getting a bit old - changing the sheets in the middle of the night with a groggy crabby child and little light

And then it comes to the dear cat. Unsure which one it is, but suspect it is darling D'Argo, the younger of the two. We found a spot on an area rug in the "office" where he's been peeing. Then another. He's had issues in the past few weeks with peeing in other places than in one of the 3 litter boxes, like on Maddy's books, papers, nearly anything left on the floor. The plus side of this is that we are MUCH more careful about cleaning up after ourselves and we keep nothing on the floors anymore.

Unfortunately, he's now climbed up on tables to pee on things now! Like her "homework" from school! GRRRRR

So, before Joe goes out and takes him up to the woods (sort of kidding there), the vet will be coming to the house to check out both of the cats next week. Yep - a house-call. Did I mention that Deci gets violently car-sick?

Ok...Enough of this ... I WILL get some good work done today. I WILL get some shopping done. I WILL get dishes washed, and even have time to take a NAP! :)

Halloween 2007

As I mentioned, Maddy decided to be a witch for Halloween last week. She was quite adorable! (Pics below).

Joe was freaky with his Jason mask on, scaring the kids with a carrot (yes, with a carrot). It was a delightful Halloween season!



The street is now FINISHED, so in the fresh dirt, we placed the tombstones!


We carved 5 pumpkins and baked the seeds. Many trick-or-treaters complimented us on them. Then they were smashed during the evening. :(






The cutie-pie cookey witch.



Before her change of mind, presenting: Maddy Vader




Joe's makeup when we scared people at the haunted house was SPOOKY!


And don't forget Pirate Gavin! He and Maddy had a blast at the ZooBoo!

In celebraton of Steve

Stephen Andrew Pontzer
Pontzer, Stephen Andrew age 59, of Plymouth, died on Thursday, October 11, 2007. He is survived by his first and second wife, Rachel Taft Pontzer; children, Zachary (Aimee) and Abigail; sisters, Betsy (Russell) Amalong, Judy (Cecil) Johnson and Nancy (George) Direnberger; brother, Dick (Carol); sister-in-law, Sheila Taft Fitzgerald; brother-in-law, Steve (Johanna) Taft; many nieces, nephews and countless devoted friends. Preceded in death by his parents, Richard and Mildred Pontzer.

Steve was born in St. Mary's, Pennsylvania, graduated from Alfred University with a B.S. in ceramic engineering and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin. For many years Steve worked as an executive in marketing and sales for Ohmeda, Novametix, PPG BioMedical, Aequitron Medical and also as a consultant to other medical device companies. Steve invented and held a patent on a blood gas probe.

He felt his greatest accomplishment was his relationship with his wife, children and the wide circle of friends with whom he had deep and enduring friendships. The family would like to express their deep gratitude to Dr. David King and the staff at the Hubert Humphrey Cancer Center.

Published in the Star Tribune from 10/12/2007 - 10/16/2007.

Poor Maddy...

We have this rule about Halloween that I attribute to my evil parents. My sisters and I weren't allowed anything "cutsy" for Halloween - Halloween is for SCARY things. Thusly, I made my daughter choose something scary for the holiday. She chose Darth Vader. She's adorable!



The girls were able to dress up in the costumes last night in dance class. I didn't see her, so as I tucked her in last night, I asked innocently enough about what the other girls were wearing. She named them: Princess, Barbie, Glinda the Good Witch, Evil Witch, Darth Vader...then she stopped and said, "I wanted to be as beautiful as they were!" and she started to cry. Oh.My.Stars. My daughter, not yet four, has become clued in as to the "girly girl" stuff. I knew she liked the princess dresses, and loves dancing or playing the part of yon "girly girl". She was inconsolable. Poor kid. I felt like a horrible mom, making her "different" than the other girls!



I am adamant that she doesn't follow in everyone else's footsteps. I want her to be happy in her own skin. I want her to feel beautiful even in Darth Vader's costume. The cape is wonderful!



*sigh* So, this morning came around and I cautiously asked her whether she wanted to take her costume to Nana's. "I have an idea, Mom," she says, "Why don't I wear the witch costume like I did last night?" We might have a witch again on our hands. And that's ok.

Hello, everyone!

I am alive. It's been a month now since I started my new job. It's mucho fun, mucho work, and a great position for me. However, I know the stress is starting to get to me. Zits again, bleary eyes, dreaming about teaching, need massage, need new clothes, no time. It's good, just a bit to get used to. I'm finally feeling a part of something important, and that's huge. :)

Tomorrow night....

And then I get to go to Plymouth to see Rachel. Steve died today after a battle with that nasty "C" disease. He was my dad's best friend. He and my sister dealt with the same nasty "A" disease a the same time. He was a good man and a good friend to my father. Saturday will be the party for his son and his new wife. He held on long enough to see Zac married a few weeks back. Steve will be missed greatly, but he's no longer in pain and he was ready to go. I am so glad that Dad will be home from England for the memorial service late next week.

You will be missed, Steve. Be free....

Go west!

Well, as far as Lake Elmo, MN anyway. My new library boss is based here and this is the first chance I've had to meet her. Did I mention it's REALLY far west. By car, it's 4 hours. 4 hours, in the car, looking at the trees that have less and less leaves, and lots of farm land. ugh. Wake me up. I think I'm going to try to fly out next month.

Anyway, I'm out in Lake Elmo, meeting the library boss and learning everything I should learn about how to run my new library. Damn. There's a lot to learn. 4 hours of training tomorrow - 4 hours tomorrow and then a tour of other libraries in the system.

You know that silly thing you say to a young child who is on their way out to play in way of teasing them? "Don't you go have any fun!" Well, on her way out of the door with her dad this morning, she teased me and said "Don't you have any fun with Cookie Monster or Oscar the Grouch at Lake Elmo!" My dear Maddy.