Buyer cancels Escrow...

Well our first prospective buyer has cancelled escrow on our three Canyon Rim condos located on the hills, in Anaheim Hills. After hiring a private inspector, costing the buyer over $500.00, the inspection came back fairly positive with only minor items found that needed attention. However, settling cracks found around the property, pointed out to the buyer the inspector advising the buyer to consider getting a geological inspection on the hillside on which the condos are build. Even though the condos have been there over 30 years...without incident and the condominum association sharing their findings about the geological inspection they had done, the buyer was still paranoid and concerned and was worried that the condos might slip down the hill and backed out of the purchase. So it wasn't meant to be and we start over again in the new year.

December 25, 2007 Christmas Day ...4th Stop

Denise; "Pumpkin" and Erin

We stayed at Randy, Stef and Bunny's until it was time to head for our next destination, which was Deb's sister Denise and husband Pat's in Cypress, CA for hor d'overs and Christmas dinner.

Between Randy and Stefs we did receive a call from my sister Kathy who was visiting her Daughter and Grandchildren in King George, VA. We talked to Katrina, Justice (7) and Harmony (5). They sounded pretty excited about Santa coming and all the presents they had received for Christmas.

Arrived around 4:30pm. Blanch, Deb and Stig; Yvette and Jake; Scott and Stacy; Pat, Denise and Erin (their daughter); Jackie and Walter (Pat's mom and dad). Oh and Deb's mom Blanch. It was more snacks before dinner. Dinner was great and finally the last gift exchange. So as you can see we had a very busy day.

December 25, 2007 Christmas Day ...3rd Stop

After our visit with Mike, Dawn, Jake and Zack we were onto our next Santa stop...

Our good friends and also former next door neighbors, Randy and Stef. We have stayed close friends with Randy and Stef after they moved out of the neighborhood. They have moved 3-times since they lived next door to us and now are residing in Orange, CA.

... more snacks and more gift exchange.

We really enjoyed our visit with Randy and Stef since we hadn't seen them since they returned from their annual trip back to New York, earlier this month. We stayed at Randy and Stefs until it was time to head for our next destination.

We also enjoyed seeing and playing with their lovable jack Russell terrier, Bunny. After there jack Russell terrier, Spanky pasted away earlier this year. They acquired Bunny from our local animal shelter.

December 25, 2007 Christmas Day ...1st & 2nd Stop

Jerry and I hope all of you had a bless and wonderful Merry Christmas... Jerry and I had a very busy day... we started out with Church at 10:00am. By 11:30am we were home, changed clothes and walked 2-doors down to see Jake and Zack. Mike and Dawn fed us orange juice and pumpkin bread. Mike (Jake's dad) knows how much Jerry loves his pumpkin bread. Jake and Zack were very excited about Santa coming. They couldn't wait to show Jerry the Power Ranger DVD game Santa had brought. Shortly after we arrived the kid's were excited to open presents from us. I had two bags one for each of the boys. Picture's I had taken of the boys (1) with Santa hats holding a pretend present and (2) with Santa hats sitting in the snow. Jake and I framed the pictures, wrapped them up and put tags that the boys each signed for mom, dad, grandma (Dawn's mom) and nana (Mike's mom). I also had a special poem framed and gave to Dawn and Mike for Christmas. For Jake and Zack I had wrapped up some Thomas & Friends trains. I had a McDonald's gift card in their stockings, along with some Christmas Candy. The biggest box was beautifully wrapped and Zack was so anxious to open the package, he stood there with his little hand under one of the corners waiting to tear the paper off. I told both boys that that package was for mom and dad... it was pots and pans. When they started opening the box they were so excited to see the Thomas and Friends " "Gold Mine Mountain" train set. From Mike and Dawn Jerry and I received a beautifully framed picture of Jake and Zack, as well as, a Gift Card for Souplantation. Mike says we will all go together to the souplantation. BTW... Mike and Dawn bought their house 2-doors down from our friends Deb and Stig.

December 24, 2007 Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we spend with our dear friends (and former neighbors) Deb and Stig. We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve at Deb and Stigs, along with Deb's mother, Blanch; daughter Yvette; her son Jake; Deb's son Scott and his fiancee Stacy. Deb prepared ham and swedish meatballs (Stig is from Sweden) along with potatoes, asparagus lots of hordovers and too many deserts. Dinner as wonderful. This is a picture of Debbi, Yvette and Jake.

December 24, 2007 Christmas Eve afternoon

Christmas Eve afternoon was spent at our condo rentals with the buyer, buyer's realtor and a privately hired inspector. The inspector was there inspecting all three condo's from around noon until 2:00pm. During this time the termite inspector was also doing his inspection. He came back and said everything looks good, just a few minor items. Our homeowner's association should be taking care of those items.

SANTA'S LITTLE HELPERS...

Last week-end Jerry and I watched Jake and Zack on Saturday while Mommy and Daddy prepared for their annual Christmas Party Saturday night. During the day we took the boys to the local park where they had dumped some snow on the grown. The boys had fun playing in the snow. They especially had fun with the snow ball fight until little Zack was hit in the face by brother Jake with a snow ball. While the boys were at our house we took some pictures with Santa hat's for mom and dad.

SOLD

Even with the Real Estate economy in a slump, Jerry and I have sold our 3 condos located in Anaheim Hills, CA. We put them on the market back in September. We did have to drop our price by $75K dollars, but it was more important to get the condos sold. We will have a 60 day escrow and escrow should start today. We will be meeting with our realtor tonight and tomorrow night we will have a walk-thru with the buyer along with his realtor and ours. We broke the news to our tenants yesterday which was hard to do. It was really difficult to share the news with one particular tenant since they will be required to move-out in the next 60 days. The new owner will be residing in one of the condos. We are praying for an easy transition. Once we have these condos behind us, we will be putting another rental house on the market. We are moving along hoping to be in Coeur D'Alene, ID in the next 2 1/2 years.

A Christmas Wish

May all the days of all the years
that God may have in store
be filled with joy and peace
to bless you more and more.

May the happiness of Christmas
be in your heart to stay,
and to brighten all your moments
long after Christmas Day.

Oncology Appointment - December 3rd follow-up

After Jerry's appointment on Tuesday, Jerry hasn't been feeling well since. The day of his treatment, Jerry, takes drugs to help keep him from getting constipated with all the drugs that are administered in the IV which cause constipation. It started during the afternoon while he was still at work. Once Jerry came home until Jerry went to bed Wednesday... Jerry had constant diarrhea. About 2:30am Thursday morning Jerry was tossing and turning in bed, which woke me up. I asked Jerry what was wrong and he said his lower back was hurting and he was cold. Even though it was not cold in the house, Jerry had his electric blanket turned up to high. I gave Jerry a heating pad for his back, which was also up high. Jerry continued to shiver because he was so cold. I wanted to take Jerry to the ER, but Jerry did not want to go. He said he was too cold to lay in the ER. I told him they could give him warm blankets, but he said no. I knew Jerry probably had a fever, but with all the blankets and heat I couldn't tell. I continued to give Jerry gator aid because I was sure he was dehydrated. Jerry and I finally got to sleep around 4:00am. Later, Jerry's alarm went off for him to get ready to go to work. I told Jerry that he needed to stay in bed and rest. He said he'd stay for another hour. When I woke up to get ready for work, Jerry was still sleeping. When I said good-bye and left for work, Jerry told me he was going to sleep awhile longer and then would probably go into work. I was getting ready to leave for lunch, I decided to call Jerry, at work, to see how he was doing. They told me that Jerry did not come into work. I called home and he told me he still was not feeling well and that he had slept until 11:30am. For all who know Jerry... you know that NEVER happens. Married to Jerry for over 28 yrs. I have never seen him sleep past 9:00am. I decided that Jerry may still need to go to the hospital so I left work to try and encourage him to go in. I went home, the palms of Jerry's hands were "white". I tried to get him to go to the ER, but he still insisted that he did not want to go. We sat around watching TV for the afternoon and about 8:00pm Jerry finally fell asleep on the couch. Later on, when I went to bed I left Jerry sleeping. Sometime during the night, he came to bed. Today (Friday 12/7th) Jerry is better, but he says he's dragging.

Upcoming Doctor Appointments

Pending Doctor Appointment:

OTOLARYNGOLOGY
An otolaryngologist provides both medical and surgical care for disorders of the head and neck. Collectively, otolaryngologists are referred to as ear, nose, and throat (ENT) physicians.

TBD (to be determined) - Sinus Blockage

12/14/07 - Gastroenterology for possible Hernia Surgery

12/18/07 - Cardiology - Stress test (follow-up on possible heart attack).

CT OF THE PARANASAL SINUSES

Jerry constantly has a runny nose and was having headaches everyday. Therefore, they performed another CT Scan and these were the findings:

There is near complete opacification of the right maxillary sinus with complete obstruction of the osteometal unit. There is very minimal narrowing of the left osteomeatal unit with minimal mucosal thickening of the left maxillary sinus. There is mild to moderate mucasal thickening of the frontal sinuses bilaterally.

Jerry will need to follow up with an appointment with the ENT and they will need to probe up through his nose to unblock the sinus.

Oncology Appointment - December 3rd

Yesterday was Jerry's Oncologist appointment (every 4 weeks). The appointment was routine but over the past several weeks he's been complaining about headaches everyday and last week he had belly aches everyday. For the past couple days he has been feeling better though. Of course now that he's been to his appointment we know he'll have another couple days of not feeling well. Because of Jerry's constant headaches everyday the doctor ordered another CT Scan of his head. The scan indicated that Jerry does have sinusitis, as well as, a blocked sinus. Jerry will need to make an appointment with an ENT (ear, nose, throat) doctor to have them drain his sinus cavity. Poor guy... just another complication!!!

CT OF THE BRAIN WITHOUT CONTRAST

The brain scan could not be done with intravenous contrast injection, which is what the doctor ordered, because of Jerry's current kidney functions being elevated. However, the scan was performed because Jerry was having constant headaches everyday. Here are the findings:

Minimal periventricular white matter decreased density areas which may indicate small vessel disease. There is a small area of encephalomalacia in the inferior medial Right frontal lobe which may indicate an old contusion/trauma.

There is diffuse para nasal sinus disease which will be reported separately on the CT of the sinuses. There is a small area of decreased density in the posterior cortex of the right and left occipital lobes, presumably indicating small old cortical infractions.

Follow-up on possible Heart Attack

On Sunday, November 18th Jerry was having symptoms that to me indicated he might possibly be having a heart attach. The symptoms came on suddenly and he was having pain in his shoulders, pain in his jaw, and nausea. Jerry was scaring me during church and I asked him if we needed to leave and he said no. After church we went home and he said he was feeling better, but the rest of the day he was very lethargic. I told him I thought we needed to go to the hospital to make sure he wasn't having a heart attack and he said he didn't think so. On Monday, I looked up the symptoms and showed him... then he thought maybe his symptoms indicated he possibly did have a heart attack. Jerry's oncologist ordered an EKG and the physician told Jerry it did not look like it was. Jerry told his oncologist that, if he every has similar symptoms he would take them more seriously and go to the hospital immediately.

Harmony turns 5 years old.

Miss Harmony turned 5 years old on Friday November 16th. Happy Birthday little miss Harmony. Jerry called her on his way to work on Friday. However, evidently, when they were finished talking Harmony neglected to hang up the telephone. I was trying all day and into the evening... without success. I even called Jerry's (Harmony's) dad's cell phone. Finally, I was able to get through to wish Harmony a happy birthday. Harmony was too busy playing Hungry-Hungry hippo's to talk much and I was late for my Bunco party... so I told Harmony I would call her over the week-end. Happy Birthday Harmony. Sounds like you had a nice day!

Love You, Jerry and Karen

Ventral Hernia - November 16th

On Friday, 11-16-07 Jerry and I had an appointment with a physician for a consultation regarding Jerry's ventral hernia. Since this physician does not do surgeries he referred us to a surgeon for further consultation. Our appointment with the surgeon is scheduled for December 14, 2007. Will follow-up with you when I know more about the situation.

Zack Turns Four Years Old

Happy 4th Birthday, Zack!!!

November 24th is Zack's 4th birthday. Yesterday we started celebrated Zack and Joe's birthday (is also in November) together. Joe is Zack's grandpa (Zack's mom, Dawn's, father). Joe and Sharon (Dawn's step mother) are visiting here, for a few days, from Northern California. Mike and Dawn had family and friends over for lunch, presents and birthday cake! Zack had a great time celebrating. Here are some of the pictures from yesterday.

OUCH !!! - Zack and Jerry's accident

Here's what happened...

Little Zack was riding his big wheel, Jerry was riding his bicycle. Zack likes to ride really, really fast and is constantly looking back to see where Jerry's at. Jerry likes to get up on the back of Zack's big wheel and bump him a little... Well this time, Zack made a very sharp U-turn. Jerry tried to stop... but not in time. As a result Zack got hit by Jerry's front tire. Ouch!!! Zack seemed okay, at first and Jerry and Zack were discussing the accident. But, once Zack saw his arm it was all over. He started crying. Mike (Zack's dad), Mary (our neighbor), and myself went over to see what happened. Mike took Zack inside to clean up his wound. Later on, Jerry called the patient to see how he was doing. Zack tried to talk on the phone with Jerry but was weepy. Zack said something about apologizing and we weren't quite sure what he was trying to say. The next day, Jerry went over to Zack's house to see how the patient was. Mike told Jerry that Zack didn't want to wear a long sleeve shirt to pre-school today because he wanted to show his teacher and friends what happened. When the teacher asked Zack what happened, evidently, the story went... "The old man down the street ran over me and he didn't even apologize". Well Jerry apologized and Zack accepted his apology, but Zack grounded Jerry from riding his bike for a day! Jerry and Zack are back to being buddies and are riding their big wheels and bikes together again. Zack just tells Jerry to be more careful and Jerry tells Zack not to make any quick turns! Boys will be boys... won't they.

Oncology Appointment - November 8, 2007

Jerry's prostate cancer is now considered systemic.
Definitions:
Systemic means "affecting the entire body". At this time, it is not hormone refractory and has not metastasis.

Jerry's treatment will remain the same until such time as his PSA reaches a certain point and then Dr. Bob will put him back on Triple Hormone Blockade. Triple Hormone Blockade is given for 13 months. The longer window of time between treatments helps to keep it from becoming hormone refractory. Jerry started his treatment in 1999 with the 1st treatment of Triple Hormone Blockade and chemotherapy, and has not had it since. Of course, he has continued taking injections and drugs that are considered chemo drugs and drugs that fight prostate cancer, but not the actual Triple Hormone Blockade or chemotherapy treatments.

Jerry does have a umbilical; ventral; and hiatal hernia's. He will be scheduling a consultation with a surgeon to see what we need to do (if anything, at this time) to repair.

Happy Halloween

Trick or Treat... We had about 90 cute little trick or treater's come to our door on Halloween. But, of course our favorite trick or treater's were the Blue Power Ranger (Jake) and the cutest little dalmation puppy (Zack) Both Jake and Zack had a great time trick or treating and got lots of yummy candy!

OUCH !!! - Second Degree Burn

Ouch ! Is to say it mildly... On Saturday I was making smore's from a box mix. The directions said to spray a 9" x 13" baking pan with pam. Empty the package of graham crackers and chocolate chips into the baking dish. Place the marshmallow package into a glass cup and cut-off a corner to let the steam out. Cook in the microwave for 45-60 seconds. After 45 seconds, I opened the microwave door and decided it needed a few more seconds. When it was finished I grabbed the handle of the glass measuring cup and removed it from the microwave. Once the marshmallow sauce was outside the microwave it began spilling over the bowl like a volcano. My immediate reaction was to place my hand under the marshmallow sauce to capture it from spilling on the kitchen floor. BAD IDEA!!! I placed my hand under running water to try and ease the pain, but the marshmallow sauce had stuck to my hand. The pain was excruciating. Jerry was outside, so it took me a minute to be composed enough to go out and ask him to come in to help me. He came in put some ice cubes in my bowl of water, but that made the pain worse so he removed the ice. The pain was so bad I couldn't stop crying or move. Jerry asked me if I wanted him to take me to emergency, but I wasn't ready to go. He gave me some hydrocodone to ease the pain. The rest of the day I continued to hold onto an ice pack and throughout the night keep my hand wrapped with an ace bandage to keep the ice pack in place. By the next morning the palm of my hand had a huge blister on it.

Adventure City Amusment Park - cont...

After the boys finished riding all the rides and playing with Thomas the Train... We walked over to the petting zoo and then the reptile farm. The boys enjoyed feeding the goats and sheep and then looking at all the animals in the reptile farm. But, they mostly enjoyed touching frogs and the opportunity to feel a snake, for the first time. Of course I had to entice them by touching the frogs and snakes, myself. The frogs were sticky!

After a day of fun...

Jake and Zack were pooped out and fell asleep on the way home.

Adventure City Amusment Park - Anaheim CA

Yesterday, Dawn (Jake and Zacks mom), and I took Jake and Zack to Adventure City Amusement Park for a day of rides and fun. This amusement park is for the younger children only and doesn't have any older kid or adult rides. It is a great place to take the toddlers and younger children. As you can see, from the attached pictures, Jake and Zack had a great day.

Happy Halloween

Jerry and I arrived home on Friday 10/26/07 to find a note on our front door. Jake had stopped by and taped (and taped and taped) this note on our front door. What a heart warming feeling it was to come home and see the note from Jake, and to know he had stopped by and was thinking of us during the day. We are so blessed to have Jake (7) and Zack (3) (will be 4 on November 24th) in our life and living so close to us. Jerry and I walked down to their house and thank Jake for the note. We spent about an hour playing with the boys. They were a little rambuntious because they have been cooped up in the house because of all the Orange County fires in the area and the smoke in the air.

Doppler Ultrasound - Update

During our consultation with Dr. Duke Bahn after the results of the Doppler Color Ultrasound, Dr. Bahn recommended will consider participating in the Cryo Immutherpy clinical trail. Unfortunately, this clinical trial is not available at this time and is several months out. Therefore, at this time, Jerry's treatment will continue on the same path with the Hormone Therapy. Since, Jerry platelets are very low the doctor has prescribed Procrit once a week. We have still not heard what the results are from his bone scan and today Jerry completed his CT Scan on his abdomen, pelvic etc. It will probably be a few days before the results are available. Jerry's regularly schedule appointment with the oncologist will be on November 8th (my late father's birthday).

Bone Scan - Full Body

Today, Jerry is having a full body bone scan. Which will indicate if any of the cancer has attached the bone. Will give an update when we get the results.

Dopper Ultrasound of the Prostate

Jerry and I had the appointment for the Dopper Ultrasound on Wednesday in Ventura. It was certainly a long drive, leaving our house around 7:45am and arriving on time for our appointment at 10:30am. The actual ultrasound took approximately 2o minutes. Once the procedure was completed I was called in along with Jerry for the consultation. Dr. Bahn had the ultrasound pictures, of the prostate and surrounding areas, and explained what the finding were. He also sketched out some pictures to help us understand where the cancer is and where it has invaded outside of the prostate. Since I am a novice, at this, I will try to explain it as best as I can. The cancer in the prostrate is approximately 3/4 on the right side and about 1/2 on the left side. Therefore, most of the activity is on the right side. The cancer has gone beyond the prostate from the right hand side. The tumor has invaded the seminal vesicles which are attached to the prostate. It is common for prostate cancer to spread from the prostate into the seminal vesicles. Spread of prostate cancer from the confines of the prostate into the seminal vesicles is a second form of locally advanced prostate cancer. When the disease has spread into the seminal vesicles, it is classified as stage T3.

However, because this is the first dopper ultrasound performed, we do not know how long this tumor has been invading the seminal vesicles. Jerry will probably have a biopsy of this area in the near future which will help determine how much cancer has invaded. The biopsy will consist of approximately 7 samples.

Dr. Bahn has indicated that he is a candidate and is recommending that Jerry participate in a clinical trial "Cryo and Immuntherapy". Since Jerry works for a cryo company he will discuss this clinical trial with people he knows at work to see if he thinks this is something that he would be interested in participating in. He will also discuss this with his oncologist, as well.

Oncology Appointment - October 11th

Today we were suppose to first have an appointment in Ventura for the Doppler ultrasound and then proceed to his oncologist appointment. The doctor scheduled to do the Doppler ultrasound was called away to perform cryosurgery (BTW Jerry works for EndoCare, Inc. which provides the cryosurgery equipment. Also, Jerry's company is very familiar with the physician Dr. Duke Bain who will be doing the Doppler ultrasound) and our appointment had to be rescheduled for next Wednesday 10/17/07. Jerry went to his oncologist appointment... and it was a very long day. Jerry's not sure what the trouble was there but his appointment was at 2:00pm and after sitting in the room for over 2 hours waiting... he started roaming around the office and asked what the trouble was. The nurse said she was waiting for the orders. Jerry finally arrived home around 10:00pm. Thursday night into Friday Jerry's side effects were pretty normal in comparison to his other appointment. However, Friday evening Jerry started to take a turn for the worse. Jerry's tummy was gurgling and before too long, Jerry was finding himself farting pretty consistently. On Saturday morning Jerry woke me up and told me that he got very little sleep because his stomach was upset and he was farting all night long. Saturday Jerry's stomach was continuing to bother him and he was extremely fatigued. We did join Randy and Stef for dinner Saturday night, but didn't make it a late night. Sunday morning Jerry woke up still feeling poorly. He again did not get a very good nights sleep. He was miserable trying to get himself ready for church. He drug himself to church and immediately after church he said he was hungry and wanted to stop and get something to eat. Jerry acted like he hadn't eaten for weeks... he gobbled his food down before we even got home. Jerry has been telling me that he's filling hungry all the time now. Sunday afternoon, we joined Debbie and Stig to visit with Stig's daughter Malin from Sweden. We had a nice afternoon visiting with them along with other family members, but since Jerry wasn't feeling well we made it a short afternoon and left early. About the time we arrived home, Jerry was feeling very constipated and was miserable. Finally, around 10:00pm Jerry was finally able to have a bowel movement and felt somewhat better. Jerry's oncologist has ordered him to have a full body bone scan along with a CT scan of his abdomen, pelvis etc. Jerry will be scheduling these tests this week.

Aunt Doris Allentown, PA

Elderly Woman Killed in Allentown Accident

The Lehigh County Coroner's office says an elderly woman involved in an accident in Allentown has died. The crash happened just before 4pm yesterday in the area of South 12th and Lehigh Streets.

The Lehigh County Coroner says 86-year-old Doris Lobach of Northampton was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital where she later died from her injuries. Two other people were also hurt in the crash.

This is my Aunt Doris, my dad's sister. Because of the distance between California and Pennsylvania, I didn't see her very often. But, have very fond memories of her. I particularly remember when I was young (maybe 9 or 10) we were visiting the family in Allentown, PA in April and my birthday (04-18) fell on Easter, that year. She had bought me a yellow bunny on a lollipop stick... and it was yummy! We spent hours playing Tripoly, with our Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. I also remember walking across the street and swimming in the community pool. It has been year's since I last saw Aunt Doris, I remember stopped over in Allentown, PA during a business trip. Aunt Doris asked me how she would recognize me because I had grown up. I deliberately, wore a bright hot pink jump suit so she would know who I was. I was one of the last passengers off of the plane and ironically there was another passenger who also wore a hot pink outfit. But, Aunt Doris didn't think it was me because she was very tall with blond hair. My last visit with Aunt Doris will always be in my heart and memory. We had a great reunion.

My thoughts and Prayers go out to Doris' children (my cousins) Cheryl and Darrell, as well as her grandchildren and all the extended family.

May Aunt Doris rest in God's Peace.

Dopper Ultrasound of the Prostate

On Thursday, Oct 11th Jerry and I will be driving into Ventura to see Dr. Duke Bahn. Jerry will be having the dopper ultrasound of the prostate. Dr. Bob (oncologist) has recommended this procedure. Once we have finished with this appointment we will be heading over to Dr. Bob's for Jerry's routine appointment with his oncologist. Dr. Bob wanted this dopper ultrasound to be in conjuction with his regular appointment.

As you know, Jerry's PSA has been steadily rising over the last several months. Also, Jerry's CBC (complete blood count) has been poor, causing enemia and his ammune system being comprimised.

Once we have more information regarding the results of the dopper ultrasound, I will update the blog. Until then, this is the link to Prostate Institute of America where the procedure will be done.
http://www.pioa.org/bahn.html

UPDATE ON IDAHO PROPERTY

Wanted to update on the Davenport property in Idaho that we were hoping to purchase. After we extended on offer on the property the owner (Mike) left on vacation to Alaska for a month. The 1st prospective buyer of the property had a contingency on the house and had 72 hours to lift the contingency or back out of the offer. Well they lifted the contingency and went into escrow. Even though our offer fell through, we haven't completely lost the house, at this time. Our realtor explained to us that the original buyer (Jill) has until March to purchase the house. If she can's come up with the purchase price (because he house hasn't sold... or any other reason) the house falls out of escrow. If that happens Mike (owner) will let us know and we can go back to the negotiating table.

San Antonio Catholic Church Annual Garage Sale

Our annual church garage sale was held on September 7th and 8th and as usual was a big success. Every year about 12 years I have participated with this event. This year was no exception. Our parishioners started donating their goods the 1st week of August. Immediately, we need volunteers to sort, clean, price and box up the donations. We don't get too many volunteers, mostly it's the same people year after year. This year, as in the past, the donations were very generious. Each day after work, I would arrive to volunteer at either 3:30pm or 6:30pm and work sometimes until after 9:00pm. We would also put in a full day on Saturday trying to keep ahead of the donations. The items filled up 2-large storage bins (each bin about the size of a single wide mobile home. Larger items such as furniture would fill up one of the classrooms at church and the classroom where we did most of our work was also full. Even the walkway outside the classrooms was full of boxes of shoes, baskets, purses, luggage, books and so many other misc. items. Our garage sale was such a success again this year. The first day of the garage sale we made $20,000 dollars. By the end of Saturday we were selling plastic grocery bags for $1.00 where customers could fill-up the bags for only $1.00. By the end of our garage sale we had earned approximately $27,000 dollars. It's a lot of work but so rewarding. Every year I enjoy the fellowship with some of the other volunteers and the rewards of earning so much money for the church that is used for the poor and homeless families. If you would like to see amazing picture of this event, please visit my picture site and click on the Church Garage Sale link. Here is the link to the picture site:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/SelectPhotos.jsp?collid=688221143503&fromBUM=true&UAUTOLOGIN_ID=14835830603&UAUTOLOGIN_ID=14835830603

Grandparents Day Riverdale Elementary School

What an honor it was for Jake, our little neighbor, to invite Jerry and I to his school for Grandparent's Day. Jake says "you're like my grandma and grandpa, my mom and dad, you are like family". So he wanted us to come. Of course Jerry and I did not hesitate to join Jake at his school on Friday from 11:15 - 12:45 for Grandparents Day. We met Jake and MaryAnn (his local grandma) at the school. Student's were handing out fresh carnations to all the grandmother's. Jake took us over to meet his teacher. His teacher said she had heard a lot about Jerry and Karen. Then Jake showed us where we needed to go to get our lunch. So we all stood in line to pick up our lunch. They served us barbecued hamburgers, corn-on-the-cob, cookies, milk, apple juice and an fruit juice ice treat. They also served cake for the celebration. Jake say's they only serve hamburger's for special occasions. Once we finished our lunch we went over to Jake's classroom to have our picture taken. Jake was so proud to have us there and we were so proud to be there in honor of grandparents day. Jake showed us around his school, introduced us to several of his friends... (mostly girls!). When the celebration was over Jake had to return to his class for the rest of the day. Jake stood in his class line waiting to walk back to his classroom. He kept waving good-bye to us. Oh BTW... Jake had a spelling test this morning and got 100%. Great Job Jake.

Oncology Appointment - September 12th

Jerry's appointment today was fairly routine. Unfortunately, Jerry's PSA is continuing to raise. Today the PSA is 6.06. The oncologist will be administering an additional shot (in the rear) to help (see link below).

http://www.sandostatin.com/index.html

MLS - Ranch View Properties

http:\\socallistings.marketlinx.com/SearchDetail/Scripts/PrtAgtFulEmail/PrtAgtFulEmail.asp?emailGUID=2c7ed26c-47ce-4dd8-b8bd-054080beca14&AgentId=EMCKASTE

FOR SALE-Ranch View Circle Units 30, 31 & 32

After over 30years of owning, managing, and maintaining rental units we are finally in the process of RETIRING!!! Jerry and I started in the landlord business with our first property on Vermont street in Anaheim, CA. We traded (1031 exchange) our one little house on Vermont into two houses on Alberta street in Anaheim, CA. The Smith's lived on Alberta in the main house and a renter in the smaller house. The Smith's had lived in the home since they were first married and had decided to move into a brand new Mobile home. The Smith's knew Carl Karcher owner of the Carls Jr. Hamburger chain in Southern California. We eventually traded our Alberta property in for our 6 unit Apartment building on Park Lane in Anaheim, CA. After owning the Park Lane apartments for 18 years we traded those 6 units for our 3 condo's in Anaheim Hills. It was such a relief to get rid of the apartment building because the last 8 years owning them was shear torcher. We had a 50% vacancy and the neighborhood had turned into a gang infested community. But, now after owning the condos for over 10 year it's time for Jerry and I to retire! Once we get these condo's sold, we will put our Redwood house on the market. Once all the rentals are sold we will continue our journey re-locating up to Northern Idaho. We are not sure when or if we will sale our primary residence on Bluewater Circle... But, we still have plenty of time to decide on that.

Labor Day 2007

7320 Davenport Dalton Gardens, Idaho 83815

Tomorrow, Jerry and I have an appointment with our realtor, Bill Graves of Coldwell Banker, here in Coeur D'Alene, Id. We will be making an offer on this property. Jerry and I were here over the 4th of July and fell in love with this property. Unfortunately, the offer will be a back-up offer. Someone else already has an offer on the house but with a contingency to sell their house. We will not be putting a contingency on our offer. So they have 72 hours (from our offer) in which they need to either re-submit their offer without a contingency or back out of the deal.

If you would like to see some additional pictures of this home, double click on the link below for a sneak peak at what we hope will eventually be our new home in Northwest, ID.

http://www.coldwellbanker-idaho.com/property/property.asp?PRM_MLSNumber=079618&PRM_MlsName=coeurdalene&VAR_SearchType=#

Addendum to Oncology appointment 08/14; 08/15

This month Jerry has a terrible time with constipation... his constipation and the pain associated with it was so bad this month that I was concerned Jerry might cause himself a heart attack. Jerry's doctor is changing Jerry's regiment from taking stool softener's (1-3 day) to a laxative (1 every day). I won't go into any disgusting details but Jerry overdosed on the stool softener's and now he's paying for it several days later. I am sure going (not a pun) from one extreme (being constipated) to another (diarrhea) is not good for his body every month. So hopefully, making this switch will help to avoid this situation in the future. Over the past several months to the last year, this situation was also progressively getting worse.

Oncology Appointment - August 13, 2007

Today's appointment was pretty routine, with the exception of his commute up to Century City the Monday traffic was horrible for him getting up to his appointment. The medications that Jerry received were the typicals IV's. Jerry's PSA has risen to 5.7 which is getting high. Jerry's PSA has been creeping up there every month for the last six months, or so. The doctor wanted to add an additional shot (injection) however, the insurance company denied payment of this shot because Jerry is not currently on Chemo Therpy. Jerry will be repeating the CBC (complete blood count) next week and the doctor may consider chemo therpy as the next step. We will see...

MRI of the Left shoulder - Follow-up

Just wanted to let everyone know that the oncologist doctor has called us to basically let us know that the MRI shows no tears in the left shoulder. However, the oncologist says the MRI does show tendinitis and arthritis and perhaps a follow-up with an orthopedic physician is the recommended course of action for further investigation this is outside of his expertise.

My mom has moved and re-located to Arkansas

Today my mom is on her way to start her new life in Arkansas. Ever since my mom's landlord hired a property management company to take over and manage her rental home (of 12 years in Sun City, CA) my mom has been unhappy living there. The person from the property management company responsible for this property has been a "real jerk" (to say the least). Every opportunity he has he tries to intimidate my mom. As my mom is approaching 80 yrs she wanted to get away from the fast pace of the California lifestyle. She has decided to re-locate to Arkansas where the life style and pace are a lot simpler. Also, since my younger sister, Vicki and her husband, Don have decided to settle and are building a house near Vicki's daughter Kimberleigh, Kim's daughter Ashleigh and her husband Tim, in Arkansas. My mom decided that living in Arkansas near Vicki would be the best decision. Vicki is on disability and does not work. Therefore, she'll have more time and opportunity to spend time with my mom and help my mom with doctor's appointments etc. My sister Kathy and I are also planning to leave California when we retire, but we are both working and have a few years before we make the move. Even though I will miss having my mother only 45 minutes away, I know my mom will feel more relaxed and be more comfortable getting out of California. Of course my mom's happiness and health are what's important to me.

MRI of the Left shoulder - results 07/30/07

Findings:

1. No rotator cuff tendon tear is sean However, some mile tendinopathy (weakness)/tendinitis (inflamation) with minimal tendinosis near the insertion site are noted
2. Some moderate hypertrophic (enlarged; increased in size) DJD (Degenerative joint decease) of the A-C joint (clavicle part of scropala), which appears to be compressing the myotendinous junction of the supraspinatus tendons, rule out some degree of impingement syndrome clinically.
3. Small subcortical change in the greater tuberosity (lumps elevated inflamed) area compatible with some degree of chronic internal impingement (over time nerve restricted).
4. Mild tenasynovitis (inflamation) of the biceps tendon in the bicipital groove.
5. No fracture, dislocation, avn, or difenite labral/Ligamentous tear is identified. We suggest arthrosocopy or MR Arthrogram.

Everything in (parentisis) are definitions found on the www.

Oncology Appointment - July 18, 2007

Routine appointment, doctor has ordered an MRI for Jerry's shoulder to try and diagnose his pain during our vacation... which he doesn't seem to have but a minimal amount of pain now.

07/07/07 Wedding and Vacation in Coeur D'Alene

Arrived in CDA, ID on 07/03. Our brand new Seadoo jetski anxiously waiting for us to hop on and take off. However, the place was buzzing with wedding plans. Jerry took the opportunity to put a coat or two of wax on his new jetski. Later on that night Jerry had severe pain under his arm and around into the back and shoulder area. Jerry could not get comfortable that night at bedtime to lay in bed so we propped him up in the recliner chair downstairs and by the next early morning Jerry could hardly move. He tried to get himself out of the recliner and landed on the floor unable to move and get up. Jerry's sister Joni came upstairs and woke me up by saying "Jerry's worse, I think we need to take him to the emergency". The ER doctor took x-rays and did not see anything on the x-ray. Evaluated Jerry and determined that Jerry required musle relaxer and pain medication. The doctor also placed Jerry's arm in a sling and secured it with a wrap around his body to stabilize the arm and shoulder. Unfortunately, after several days... Jerry was still in quite a bit of pain. Jerry's sister took him to a local chiropractor, Jerry had a massage and still with only minimal relief. With all the additional medications Jerry was taking he was sleeping a lot and while he was awake, was just not his happy, funny self.

... more hummingbirds

We have some more hummingbirds, this time outside our kitchen window. These silly hummingbirds build their tiny little nest on top of one of my wind chimes.

Memory Loss

Recently, Jerry and I are noticing that Jerry is having trouble with his "short term" memory. It's very frustrating for both of us, because Jerry has a hard time remembering simple things. For example: Last weekend we received a telephone call and Jerry asked me who was on the telephone and I told him. Then the phone range again, and the call was a friend of Jerry's from Kansas calling. Jerry talked with him awhile. After Jerry hung the phone up a short time later, Jerry asked me who was on the phone. Once I reminded him than he remembered. Now I know as we age we do begin to notice our memories failing as we get older. But, recently Jerry and I have noticed his difficulty with his "short term" memory. We are contributing it partly to the various medications that he is taking on top of ... getting older.

Oncology Appointment - three (3) days after

... well I spoke too soon. Usually, Jerry starts feeling poorly the next day or the day after. Unfortunately, Jerry thought he would slide by with minimal discomfort. However, it caught up with yesterday and felt really poorly late afternoon into early this morning (Tuesday morning). I haven't talked to him about how he's feeling right now, but he did have a rough day. Hopefully, the worst is over and he'll start feeling better... until his next appointment.

Oncology Appointment - June 8th

Routine appointment last Friday. Jerry did pretty good with minimal discomfort over the week-end. Jerry's PSA continues to rise and he will need to get some additional magnesium in his system. Will be ordering a "special" prescription for this magnesium. Jerry will have another CBC (complete blood count) in another week. Jerry's next appointment is scheduled for the day after we return from our vacation in Coeur d'Alene, ID.

Derrick Family From Hawaii to CA to VA

Jerry and I had such a great time enjoying the Derrick family during their stay in California on their way from Honolulu, HI (8 years) to King George, Virginia. Jerry and I took every opportunity to spend time with our great nephew Justice and great neice Harmony. What a joy it was to have the opportunity to enjoy these wonderful children. We also enjoyed introducing Justice and Harmony to our neighbor kids, Jake and Zack. The kids seemed to have alot of fun with each other.

more pictures of Harmony while in California

Hawaii to California -final destination Virginia

It's been awhile since I posted on my blog... we have been so busy enjoying the little ones from Hawaii who stopped over in California until their new home in Virginia closed escrow. Jerry and I had such a wonderful time with Jerry, Katrina, Justice and Harmony (aka "the muggers"). Jerry and I enjoyed every minute we were able to spend with them. My sister, Kathy (Grandma), Vicki and I drove 2 cars to LAX to pickAfter picking them up at LAX on April 30th, Jerry On the first Saturday of April Jerry and I

more pictures of Justice while in California

California here they came...

The Derrick family... 2 adults (Jerry and Katrina) 2 children (Justice and Harmony); 3 cats (Hope, Charity and Christina) and 1 dog (Spirit). Are on the move. They left Honolulu, HI (where they have lived for 8 years) heading for Virginia. Their house in Virginia will hopefully close escrow the end of May. Until then they will be visiting us in California.