Bumps In The Road With Great Moments

Great Moments:

Barbie writing time……

First off, we did start Saturday with a lovely plan to eat breakfast out at the Valley Cafe and then head to Cashiers, NC area for a craft show. Those two activities were great! As we were out at Bill’s Flea Market, we got a wonderful call from our neighbors Dwayne and Bev letting us know that Dwayne’s medical tests came out great! We are happy for you Dwayne! It was so nice hearing from you. We hope that you two can keep cool in the hot Valrico environment. Second off,my BFF Linda and Bill arrived Sunday afternoon to the Dillard area. We were all supposed to go out for eats and then off to Black Rock Mountain State Park followed by a visit to the Creamery ( a local ice cream and dairy product store). Well…. our two motorcycle friends went to Black Rock on their own and I joined them at Cupboard Cafe for lunch while Jeff stayed in the rig nursing his back. I admire Linda and Bill for driving their Gold Wing from Auburndale, FL to Maine on their three week vacation. They looked great in their leather outfits and helmets!!! We did manage to get ice cream at the Creamery and it was good! Next time we go I will get peach ice cream which has the real fruit in it. Linda got that and it was great! I was sad to leave Linda and Bill but I was very worried about Jeff being alone and not being able to walk. I sure do miss Linda but we are keeping touch most everyday through our e-mails.

Taking The Curves At A Low Speed:

I was not meant to be a nurse. I am similar to Niles on the Frasier show who faints when he sees blood. So, when I took Jeff to the ER I was so nervous that I couldn’t think straight. I despise hospitals. They used to make me have anxiety attacks. But after visiting relatives in the hospitals the past 15 years or so, I have learned to cope with that phobia. “Playing nursemaid” for the one I love the most in the whole wide world has not been easy. It is a new job that I have tried to learn how to do in two days. I have made many mistakes. One in particular was helping Jeff sit up from the bed. I held onto his wrist but pulled too abruptly and his back became more painful for a few minutes.

Sleeping has become a big problem. Jeff has been sleeping sitting on the edge of the bed with homemade contraptions to rest his head upon. We have a memory foam bed that is super soft and lovely to sleep on. But it is not conducive to correcting back problems. So as soon as Jeff lays down, I have to help him get back up again because his back goes into spasms. I was sleeping in the living room area of the rig on Saturday night and Sunday night in Jeff’s leather recliner chair which is very comfortable. But Monday night I slept in the bed with Jeff while he sat up most of the time on the bed. I got rested up but he didn’t get much sleep. So today we took a lawn chair from the shed and “made” it into a walker so that Jeff could try to get to the recliner chair to get his legs elevated and hopefully get some much needed sleep. It worked!!! He didn’t fall. But we are still worried about his right leg not moving properly due to the sciatica problem. As soon as he feels like he can move around better, he will go to a doctor. We are hoping that will be this week. I went out and bought him a real walker today which will work so much better.

The little bumps in the road will not stop us from living our dream of travelling. We are grateful that it occurred in our retirement and not in our working lives.

So, keep us in your thoughts and remember to ENJOY THE MOMENT!