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It is crisp and cold out. I am waiting for DS so we can go to breakfast. Have been wanting to visit Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge for a long time. It will be neat to have breakfast and see animals roaming the savanna.

I reread MLK's most famous speech in honor of the holiday. And, checking out some of the information on the internet. Many women do not realize the debt we owe MLK -- women were covered by the legislation against discrimination in the workplace.

Linann, I think that "cold" is the word of the day, the month, and the year, so far Chilly here this morning, too...but the temp is to go a little higher today to around 60F....

Good morning, all...sun is shining and the coffee is hot....blueberry muffins on the table....help yourselves...

Have a great day!!!

Good morning all, It is not too bad here, in the low thirties but....ACK the next few days we are back really cold (for us) weather, twenties during the day and low teens at night. I think we are all tired of this winter weather as we seldom have cold like this year.
It has been a rather stressful time for our family, my nephew who had open heart surgery last Monday to repair two valves is home and finally getting some much needed sleep. My brother had surgery on Friday that was supposed to be same day, well that didn't go well and he ended up in the hospital for two days. The doctor who did the surgery has a good reputation but is affiliated with a not so good hospital and believe me that was an eye opener!! My brother was in from Friday until late yesterday afternoon and they never changed the gown that he had on during the two surgeries he ended up needing. There was seldom any staff in sight and the so called 'food' was quite awful. The dietitians, if they even have any, must not have got the word yet on food like products. I know much of the medical information online isn't accurate but it can alert you to questions to ask your surgeon before and after surgery. The surgery he had was done with a fairly new green light laser technology, but I read that it should not be used in certain cases and my brothers situation was one that should have alerted the surgeon that a different procedure was indicated. I am really worried about his recovery and I'm going to try and get him to go for an evaluation with another doctor associated with a better facility. I didn't know the details of his situation in time to try and convince him to get a second opinion before his surgery. I am becoming more convinced that one should consider how good and how close quality health care is if you are looking at relocating!

I am happy that my favorite yoga instructor returns from her maternity leave today!!! I took leave with her as I did not like the substitute instructor. I hope she starts us off easy!!

Keeping my fingers crossed for you Sarah that your niece continues to improve and that you will soon be on the road!!! You deserve a break!!!

No work today and I even slept in until 7:30….only because Radar decided that she needed to make a trip outside in the middle of the night. For a three day weekend I really haven’t accomplished much but just haven’t felt the best either. I know that I’ve said this before but I certainly wish the MLK, Washington and Lincoln would have been born during camping season in the Midwest! I would really appreciate long weekends then!

Today Missy and I are going to go to Yankton to check out the children’s consignment store. Everyone keeps telling us what nice merchandise they have at very reasonable prices. I imagine that I’ll need a high chair, a gate for the steps to the basement, and a car seat. If I can find a nice foldable portable crib I’d probably buy that too. I have a wooden one from the boys but it doesn’t fold up easily and it needs a mattress. Think I might like to get an intercom too. Been a long time since I’ve paid any attention to baby things. We know that we’re going to be on call quite a bit because of Ryan and Ashley’s work schedules don’t always coincide with day care hours.

Sarah, I hope you can fire up Magic and go to the GTG. You deserve some R&R.

Have a great day.

Liz and I will be headed back to beaches without internet again today. Ah, it's such a tough life, but someone has to do it.

BJ, scary about that hospital. I can't imagine what kind of excuses they could have for the gown never getting changed. As to the doctor not getting the info to know to do the right procedure - unfortunately, I believe if we don't do our homework, too often even the good doctors don't either - hmmm, so why are they good? I wish the best for him.

Sarah, good news on your niece, and I agree you deserve some time - so get yourself on down to FL for a spell.

Good Morning,

Sarah, I certainly hope you get to FL - I think you deserve a break! BJ, your family is having quite a time - hope recovery goes well for your family members. Pat, baby shopping - Fun! Way behind on reading Baja Babes blogs! Linann, enjoy Animal Kingdom!

Tie downs for camper have been installed on the truck. Next is the electrical. Thinking I should have the camper on by the end of the week. Really nice to have it off for going places, but really want it on if rain or wind comes up. Someone put their camper in storage at the place next door and didn't put anything under the jacks. After a rain, the jacks sunk into the dirt on one side so the back corner of the camper was sitting on the ground.

I'm excited that the Seattle Seahawks are going to the Superbowl! Hopefully, officiating will be better than the last time they went!

I'll take off for the Q after while. Have a good day all!

Sarah, great news on your niece's improvement and POC for the future. Now get in gear and get south, even if you don't make it the first day, any time there will rejuvenate you. BJ, really scary about that situation with your brother.

I'm going to venture out today and get my monthly pedicure, I'm about 2 weeks late. It's something I started doing for myself and I'm determined even if nobody sees my toes, the relaxing is definitely something I need. We have a chance of wintery mix/snow on Friday!

Good news on your niece's improvement, Sarah! And yes, I believe the choice of hospital and even emergency room is very important. My mother was once taken to a small community hospital where they diagnosed her with a stroke and were ready to admit her. I insisted she be transferred to a larger, teaching hospital, and they discovered she had actually had a heart attack!! (In some types of heart attack the symptoms mock a stroke.)

I am relaxing after a stressful two days of crowded campgrounds and battery problems. I am in Big Bend of the Colorado State Park in Nevada and am very impressed. For $30 you get double-lane paved roads, full hookups, and the absolute biggest campsite I have ever been in. It is a gravel pull-through, but I could easily fit a large motorhome behind me, and there is room on the side to park at least 7 or 8 cars! Spots are maybe 150 feet apart, so good privacy, but might not be a good place in the summer as this is just north of Needles, CA, one of the hottest places in the country. No kids and families, either, and not even any road noise or barking dogs, etc. Just us quiet old folks!

So relaxing today, getting some work done, and then walking down to the Colorado River to see the day use area and beach. Supposed to be 77 today and sunny--can't beat that.

It's more like dinner time now, but ~~~

Sarah - sooooo glad to hear about your niece. Hope you can make the gtg. You need some "you" time to recharge your own batteries. Hope you can make it.

Redetotry - Sorry to hear about your brother. Definitely do the follow-up with another doctor.

Pat - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE check any recalls before buying any car seats, high chairs, etc. from any consignment, charity stores (Good Will, etc) second-hand store or even off the internet. Some places take in & sell anything. Buyer beware with the precious cargo. Will PM also, just in case you don't see this.

Actually, now that I think of it, I could not give away to either the Salvation Army or Goodwill a high chair and almost new portable crib that I had for my grandkids. That was two years ago. They will not take any used baby furniture because of those recalls and safety liability concerns. I ended up having to put an almost new high chair and crib in the trash. I know there were people who could use them, so that made me sad. I even tried giving them away at work but no one needed either one right then.

You might try the resale shops or just buy new as I had to do when my first grandchild was born. At least that assures you that the product is safe.

That also reminds me that one of my children got his toe stuck in the mesh of a portable crib my parents had. They had to cut the mesh to get him out before the circulation was cut off. They were about ready to call the fire department--way before 911. My other son also got his fingers pinched in a high chair. My dad was so mad, he pulled off the tray and bent it in half so it could never be used again!

Didn't make it to the Animal Kingdom Lodge until afternoon. It is a very large resort with a beautiful lobby and pool area. We saw giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, an ostrich and pelicans on the savanna, which is all along the back side of the property. Not sure how pelicans fit in with the other animals, but they were there. We then drove over to the Wilderness Lodge, which was designed in the same style as the grand lodge at Yellowstone National Park. It definitely reminded us of our visit to Yellowstone. We checked out the stream and waterfall, and rocked in front of the fireplace. Unfortunately, the restaurant closed 30 minutes before we got there. We were going to check out the lobby of the Grand Floridian Resort, but were too hungry. Instead, we left the Disney area and drove over to Sweet Tomatoes, a restaurant specializing in salads and soup.

Overall, the day was fun, but tiring. It didn't cost anything to visit the hotel lobbies, and there was lots of free self-parking available. I'll eventually get to the Grand Floridian and a few of the others I want to see. For now, I am happy to be home and will soon be in bed watching DVDs. Gosh, I am feeling old. Temperature is dropping again tonight, but nothing as cold as most of you are enduring. Stay warm everyone!

Judy, Please save a review of your campground to the Campground thread. If I ever get out that way again, I would love to stay there.

It was 40 degrees and sunny here yesterday! But...now it is down to 2 above and dropping like a rock bottoming out at -17 later tonight! Windchill is already at -14 below and heading to -25 overnight! This arctic crap better get over with pretty soon! Really hating this winter!

Sarah, I hope you can make the GTG. I would love to meet you! You deserve to have a little "me" time for yourself!

As for hospitals, my mom was at a very reputable Minneapolis hospital years ago with abdominal pains. Two cancer "specialists" told us (the week before Christmas ) that she had pancreatic cancer (tumor the size of a grapefruit they said!) and that she only had a couple months to live. We were all devastated! I decided to get more testing done for her at another hospital right after Christmas. The surgeon there went in with a camera and checked things out. She came out of surgery and told us she saw no tumor and that my mom's pancreas was slightly enlarged because she had pancreatitis. She put my mom on an antibiotic and sent her home. She was fine a few days later. I wrote to the first hospital about what had happened. I was very angry! (when I had asked one of the cancer "specialists" about getting the additional testing done, he told me "well if you really, really need to know for sure, then go ahead..." Well, yeah, I really really needed to know!!) I definitely believe in second, and possibly third opinions!

Been checking the weather forecast for Florida for the next week or so. I guess I can forget packing shorts and swimsuit! Highs around 60 every day. Oh well, much better than here anyways!