Party room- a place for fun, pity, commiserating, or any other thing you come up with

[Mark N]

Jo, first to answer your question about Kat, I haven't heard anything for quite a while either. With the site crashing and people leaving I haven't been able to keep up with quite a few of our friends on this site. Sorry to hear about Phyllis and like you I hope she had someone with her at the time. Now to the granddaughters, yes they are cute but I am more connected to the older one right now as I don't do much until they start becoming active. I will do more with Audyn once she starts becoming more in tune with the world and know what is going on. She is just now starting to fix on people's faces and she recognizes mine along with others in the family. She is a quiet and easy baby to care for so our daughter is lucky. Emery is a doll for everyone and she loves to play with grandma and grandpa. I love to see and hear Penny playing hide and seek with her as Emery gets such a kick out of trying to find her. When I am able Emery loves to play tag and if I am stuck in my chair she comes down to play with her toys for a while until time to go back up and be with the others for a while but will come back down to play again.
Jo it is good to hear from you and I hope despite the sad news that things are going well with you and Mr Jo as you get ready for Christmas.

Karen, I hope you are still improving and getting more adjusted to being on your own again.

Not much going on with me as I have been in a streak of just getting in naps all day and not having much energy. Once I get back to getting some deep sleep in I will be able to have a day now and then with energy to do some projects.

[jimac]

Hello everyone

Hi Mark,

Figured I would drop in the Party room and see whats shaking.
You probably won't remember me. It has been about two years since I last posted in the forum. Hello I hope that you are well and I plan to catch up with the forum.

I hope that everyone had the best Thanksgiving possible!

Take care,
Jim

[Mark N]

Jim, it is good to see you posting here again. My memory isn't as good as it used to be but I remember you posting here. We had a wonderful day here with blue skies and mild temps. It is supposed to be a bit warmer today and I think I will use the grill as it may be the last time this year. I was able to get out a bit today and feel like I had some energy for the first time since the weekend. I had a great Thanksgiving with my mom down and our daughter, SIL, and grandgirls over for dinner and the afternoon.

[jimac]

Mark,

Good to hear that you are doing Ok and that you had a good Thanksgiving. So you have two grandgirls now. That is wonderful!

I will try to stop by more often.

Jim

[csunshine]

I have wondered about Kat often too. I wish we knew but not knowing peoples real info is one of the draw backs of this type of friendship.
I'm glad your Thanksgiving went ok. It was odd here but was fine. I am not looking forward to Christmas this year at all...just not in the mood. I may try to go down to the coast and hang with one of my friend rather than do the family thing.

I am still happy about the divorce but still trying to figure out where I want to go from here. Part of me just wants to find a job any job but the level headed part of me knows I need to work within my disability and find something I will be able to handle on bad days. Going for my masters is just not going to happen so now I 'am looking at other jobs I might be able to do. It is not a long list. The sad thing is with all the medical stuff I have learned to do in the last 12 years I would be good at that but can't do the physcial part.

I have let a few friends fix me up and that has been interesting. I have been alone so long though that I don't know maybe my standards are too high now. LOL

I have a few bad days with my back which has been a needed reality check I think with me trying to figure stuff out. I really did not know what a toll I was putting on my back with the caregiver stuff though.

Hope your all having a nice day wtih lmitied pain.

[jimac]

Do we still have the hot tub in the party room?

[Mark N]

Jim the nice thing about this room is we have whatever you want in it. The running party fizzled out as people left during the down time with the site but all it takes is one of us to start it up. I know it was nice to come here and think about being in a beach bar and going out on the beach to listen to the surf and talk to people in the room. Guido is still here so we can get him to get the hot tub cleaned up and warming up. I miss the hot tub we had at our old house as it really helped get my body to relax when the pain was so bad.

I now have two granddaughters and a son in the Army boot camp. He is getting to come home for the Christmas shut down and will be here for about two weeks so it will really be good to see him. I wish we had our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan before he finishes his training which could last for a year or so as he is trying to qualify for the special forces after finishing up the airborne training.

[jimac]

Mark,

I am going to try to visit the forum more. I am sure that your are a proud grandfather. Your son sounds like he a has grown into a fine young man. I hope that he achieves his goals in the Army and does not have to see combat.

[Mark N]

Jim, just like me when I went into the Marines, he expects to see combat and is ready for it but like you I hope that he avoids it as I didn't see any combat. It is good coming to the room and seeing others posting here again. I went to the vet to get the kitten back home and he was happy to get out of there and get back in the house. He slept/laid in my lap all day long getting comfortable again. It was one of those days that sleep took away so I can't say much happened. It was nice to get the kitten back home and have him in the house being with my wife and I. She took him when she got home and he started purring once again that she noticed and I told her he just was happy to be back together with his family instead of all the animals at the vet. We had a wonderful weather day today so I did miss out on not getting out today.

[Gimpy]

Today i was thinking of the time, years ago, we had such fun visiting with each other here. I remember Mark, HI MARK!, Big Joe and MarMar. I'm still dealing with my back issues and have been able to turn it around by focusing on making art. When I can't do it, I don't for months, when I can I dive in. I know the future isn't going to be good, but I'm trying to live while I can and at least enjoy a few more years before I'm totally shut down. I've had 2 cervical fusions and lumber laminectomy. I sitting at a stop sign a few years ago and a lady doing everything but controlling her van rear ended me without hitting the breaks and pushed me into the car in front of me, herniating again, above the fusion and C2 causing lots of problems. I'm slowly losing the use of my left arm due to all the stenosis and my legs are pretty wobbly from the stenosis at T8-S1. But I'm going to give it hell until I can't anymore and it's forced me to enjoy my life more than I ever did before by finding out what truly makes me happy. Maybe it's a mixed blessing if I can stretch it that far ;) I hope everyone is doing well and their backs have not gotten worse. Linda

[csunshine]

It is so great to see people posting here!

Linda I feel like you in a way when I think of my future I want to enjoy it now becasue I don't think the future is going to be good. It is sad in a way esp with my friends wanting to fix me up even if I meet someone great I can't let anyone share this life because I know it will not be going any place fun.
What type of aret are you making.


Mark I'm so glad your song is going to get to be home for Christmas and getting in the troops home is in my daily prayers.

I'm all ready for the hot tub, love those things it is like better than any muscle relaxer.
Karen

[Mark N]

Linda, I like your approach and can say from personal experience it is the only way to go. I never have let this spinal condition stop me for fear I might get worse but it has stopped me as it gets worse over the years. I think back to 5 years ago and how disappointed I was to be limited in what I could do but now I look at those years as the good old days as my limitations have gotten worse. It is a shame so many people don't treat driving like the awesome responsibility it is. There are too many victims like you that suffer do to someone else's negligence. In some ways I would want them to suffer as much as you are [financially by paying for your surgeries and loss of income] but then I think about how much it would destroy another life and I can't come to that conclusion. I agree with you that our condition does make us find out what really makes us happy so we do gain something for all that we lose in the process.

Karen, it is going to take me time to recognize your new user name. I click on the message expecting a new poster and get pleasantly surprised you are back again. Get out all you can and let relationships happen [friends or more] as you never know who you will meet. There are rare people out there that are compassionate and wouldn't be turned off about our degenerative condition. If you choose to sit out you remove every chance there is while if you get out you give yourself a chance, however small, that you will find among your friends someone that wants to share more of your life with you.

Not much going on this week as my wife was fighting an illness so the grandkids couldn't come around. I had a week of not having much energy to do much of anything. I do need to get busy today getting the electricity hooked up for the exhaust fan we are putting in the kitchen. I missed talking to Tyrel yesterday as it was a sleep day and Penny couldn't get me awake for anything even though she tried. Tyrel knows what these days are like so he understood how I was doing.

[Mark N]

Thought I would stop in and see who was visiting the room. We had a warm and sunny day today but it looks like it is coming to an end as they are calling for snow by Wednesday. I got out and visited my daughter and the girls this afternoon. I am glad I am a grandparent and not a parent to the little ones as it takes more energy than I have any more. The dog was excited when I came to the door, Emery was excited keeping the dog wound up and Audyn was waking up. I gpt the dog to calm down and Emery kept trying to get her going. I got Emery more focused by playing hide and seek as she loves being surprised about where you are. I did get to see Audyn sitting up on the couch by herself with just a bit of help from the cushions. She is really good holding her head up but looks around so much it is hard to keep her body balanced. I was busy doing small jobs today and reading my book.

[Mark N]

There hasn't been much activity this week in the room. I hope that means everyone is doing relatively well and have peace in their lives. I was checking out the calendar and was surprised how soon Tyrel will be home from boot camp as the base has Christmas shut down. I have to go pick him up at the airport so that will be a challenge but I will make it. Otherwise it has been the same thing different day around our house. Not much happening just getting through the days as well as we can. Penny and I are doing some things over the weekend and I hope to see the granddaughters as last week Penny was sick so I just got to see them on a short visit to their house. It looks like our warm weather is coming to an end in a few days if the weather forecast is correct.

[jimac]

Hi Mark,

I hope that your trip to the airport goes Ok. Have a great time with your son and the rest of the family. Our warm weather here in the south is also coming to an end on Tuesday. Well, it is almost Christmas and we cannot have these 70 degree days, it is not natural.

Later,
Jim