Catching up on 2 months

Yes! Actually just over 2 months since the last post. While I had written a long post during that time frame, it sat as a draft never getting finished.
Getting sick, the holidays, work, I just didn't get it finished.

So for this post and update, here's some of what I'll be typing about from newest to oldest-
A broken toe, baby it's cold outside, trips to Boise and travel before Christmas, sick on the holiday (again), a wet fall, Thanksgiving.

A broken toe,
Just last Monday, January 9th, Stacy and I had been watching Sunday's show of "Madam Secretary", yeah, we like it, on our DirecTv DVR. I had paused the show and Stacy had gone to put her fathers clothes in the clothes dryer from the washer. Video still paused I hear her walking back up to the room and then a bang kind of sound. I thought maybe she had knocked something in the kitchen and I hear, "I think I just broke my toe!"
Stacy limps back to the room, and in obvious pain, shows me her right foot. Her little toe on her foot is pointing about 45 degrees from her foot and all alone away from her other toes. She asks me if I think it is broken or dislocated? I say "I'm pretty sure it is broken, maybe dislocated too, but broken for sure".
Then she asks me "can you please call the hospital and ask someone there about what we can do that doesn't involve going to the hospital?"
So she gets the number and I call. I talk to an E.R. nurse and after a brief story of what's happened and he says "I can't tell you what you need to do but if it is dislocated the longer you wait the more likely it can't be set correctly".  I tell Stacy, "we're going to the hospital"
At this point the pain is so intense she can't even get a sock on. Her little toe is already, less than 20 minutes later, bright red and purple.
I go start the truck and get it close to the house so she doesn't have to walk too far, it's in the teens and snow all over the ground after all and she has one bare foot. We make the 6 mile drive to the hospital and they're waiting and she gets admitted for a doctor visit in just a few minutes.
We go in and she gets examined, an X-ray done, and yes, it is broken.

While waiting in the exam room for the X-ray tech. Stacy in a LOT of pain!

Injury, to the hospital for the X-ray and exam and then back home in a little over an hour. Yes, there are advantages to living in a small town!

Toe injuries, especially the little toe, which is one of the most common ones broken, can only be taped to the next toe to help brace the injured toe with Ibuprofen taken for swelling and pain. It happened to me back when we lived in Phelan, California. It is gonna hurt for several days to several weeks!!  Her foot has been spreading purple from her toe to her arch. 

Baby it's COLD outside!

We are into our 3rd week, not an all at once third week in a row kinda thing, one week then two in a row, but since just before Christmas, with such cold, "below normal" temps for the area. Usually it is one or two weeks spread over an entire winter, often  occurring from the end of December and early January, where the temps can be down to at or below 0-F (-17 C). 

Last week it got down on the coldest morning to -10 F (-23 C) with several days being in the - 3 F to -5 F range. Really chilly!

At those morning temps it actually hurts to breathe that so cold air. And the "high" temps? Running around +8 to +11 ( -13 to -11 C). Cold, cold, cold!

Stacy doesn't 'love' winter in this area anymore. I still like them, thinking of the Christmas song just changing up the words, "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I never knew", the winters of growing up and living in Southern California where you had to brave the hordes of people going to the local San Bernardino mountains to even see, let alone, play, in any snow. 

Plus, you have to go to over 5 and 6,000 feet in altitude to find the white stuff. 

Here, we're about 2,500 feet but we live so far North, 30 miles from Canada, that we usually get snow and cold. True 4 seasons here, not the 2 seasons of our old California home. I like the look of winter, bundling up in warm jackets and especially when as now, there is a nice blanket of snow covering much of the world here. 

Yes, living in the Northwest does have some challenges and we are very glad we had gotten 4 wheel drive trucks before we'd moved up here and we have studded (spiky) winter tires for the Prius. In California we never felt a 4X4 was a 'necessity', many CA trucks seemed to be those ladder high show trucks with a lot of money into them but then the owners seldom, if ever, see any off road use. Just a gas hogging, show offin' truck, like so many of them in California. 

When we knew we'd be living in North Idaho at some point in our future we bought the 2004, Diesel Chevy 3/4 ton, Silverado, and then just before we made the last move trip in March 2006, we'd traded in my Mitsubishi 3000GT on a used 2004 GMC 1/2 ton also 4X4 truck. The first winter of 2006 we were so happy to have gotten those trucks!

Now, almost 11 years later, even with the winters getting less "wintry" (until this winter!), we still use the trucks in all wheel drive mode many times in the winters! And the winter, spiky tires on the Prius? Unless the snow is deep or it's slushy, we can drive the Prius during much of the winter as well. Even though with the winter tires the Prius MPG's go down to the low forties and upper thirties, that's still almost double either of our trucks!

Above and following below, taken this morning (01/11/2017) shows the view of our thick freezing fog when we got to work from a second floor window. The fog forms from the Kootenai River that runs next to the town, very slippery! It was +3 (-16 C) this morning. Later in the morning, around 10 am, the slight breeze had blown the fog out and it left these scenes of fog-ice build up on the trees. 

Below: taken from Stacy's second floor office window, you can see the bright blue sky, the piles of snow from clearing the parking lot at the market and the frosty trees and steam from the County Courthouse building towards the left side of the photo. 

Boise and a trip to California

Every December for the last few years, Stacy's state level obligations get her traveling to Boise twice in two weeks. As this was approaching again we agreed to make one of the Boise trips a launching point for a quick trip to California to visit daughter Sandy's family and a visit with the grand daughters. 

So, Stacy went on her first trip and came back then for her next trip the following week I would take her to the airport on that Sunday and the following Tuesday I would fly down to Boise, go to her Wednesday meetings with her and then we'd both fly from Boise to Oakland and spend almost a week with Sandy then fly back to Spokane. A very nice Christmas present for ourselves! 

It had also been arranged that Stacy's father would spend 10 days at Stacy's brother's place while we were gone as he can no longer care for himself. 

We had a great time! As the grand kids were still recovering from a round of cold or flu, which I immediately caught on arrival, we spent most of the time there staying close to her home. 

We did go to the Jelly Belly factory and took the self guided tour there, I went with Sandy and her husband to see "Rouge One" and grandma got to baby sit the grand daughters, and we helped Sandy get some home projects completed while there like replacing her kitchen faucet, installing a new Kitchen blind and repairing some of her kitchen drawers that we showing their age with roller separation in spots. 

It was a cold snap while we were in Northern California and it was something to see people all dressed like it was Russia in only 50 degree weather. I often was wearing shorts as it was well warmer than our area was. 

Arriving at the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield, California

Above: in the lobby flying jelly beans abound!

Below: Natalie next to the Jelly Bean portrait of  President Ronald Reagan with Benjamin Franklin looking on, in jelly beans of course.

Above: thousands, millions?, of ready to shine jelly bean flavors in their boxes waiting to go through the finishing processes. 

Below: last stop in the self tour is an area with all things artwork of the jelly bean such as more bean artwork like this one Mickey and Mini Mouse

We have often really enjoyed factory tours like the Jelly Belly tour. I liked seeing in person, what I have seen on TV shows like "How It's Made" or similar shows on the Food Network  channel. As amazing as it is to see everything in action, what impresses me the most are the design of the machines involved in making so much automated. 

More photos from the visit: above, Stacy and Justine, on a rocket to Mars and below, Justine helping Grandma make some cookies. 

On a Saturday morning, Sandy, Natalie, me and Stacy went out to Buchanan Airport in Concord as there is a playground area at the airport and you can watch the planes come and go.  In the photo above, Natalie was going to be our pilot to fly us to "North America", bring LOTS of tickets though!

Sunday morning, after the girls had their "Tu Tu" dance classes, we all went to the area farmers Market. While there Stacy bought Sandy some flowers. Back at the kitchen and the girls help Sandy trim and arrange them into vases. 

Sick over the holiday

So, as mentioned above, I wasn't feeling too good by the time we came back to Idaho and Stacy was a couple of days behind me on the illness train. 

When we got back we found out that Stacy's father had been having balance issues while at her brother's place. He had fallen two or three times, the exact number wasn't determined, but one fall had been somewhat serious and they should have called an ambulance and he should have been taken to the hospital. 

When he was brought back over he was more out of it then usual, very, very confused and unable to understand or comprehend much of anything. 

Thursday the 22nd of December, while not feeling well I wasn't that sick yet, give it a day! We'd gone to work and it was a busy day as we still were catching up with almost a week off for me and over a week off for Stacy. 

We have numerous security cameras around our property, mainly because Stacy's father is no longer a good "watch dog" as much of the time he's asleep and doesn't hear much of anything anymore either. I finally was also able to put a camera in the living room to keep an eye on Stacy's father specifically. So I periodically check the motion detected camera photos I get by the hundreds each day from our property. 

As it had been busy I hadn't been checking that often and around 3:00 pm, I'm checking and see what looks like Stacy's father doing, I don't know what, in his chair in the photo. 

I get busy and also keep checking the photos now. A new batch come up around 4:10 pm and Stacy's father is now on the floor and in the views rolling around on the floor but he's taken all his clothes off except his under pants. I tell Stacy and we go home as quickly as we can. 

We get home, he is now by the couch, still on the floor and has no idea why he's there or why he took off all his clothes. 

I call 9-11 and get an ambulance to come get him up and get him to the hospital due to his incoherent mental state. Stacy and I both were more concerned we would hurt him more than help him get off the floor as he was unable to do so himself. It took 3 guys to get him up and on the gurney. 

Fire and ambulance respond and in less than 30 minutes he's on his way to the hospital. We follow and Stacy's brother and wife meet us there too. 

Ultimately he is admitted for observation which turns out to be him at the hospital until Christmas morning. His balance and mental issues are attributed to a urinary tract infection which may stem from his almost totally sedentary lifestyle and hours upon hours awake or asleep sitting in his chair, even though his chair will not only recline but rise and lift him out he seldom uses it for anything more than just sitting, or sleeping in the sitting position. 

December 23rd and 24th I was really sick! The 24th and 25th Stacy was the sickest and she was having to go daily to the hospital. When I was there the first night I waited in the lobby since I was at that point the sickest and then Christmas morning when he's released, Stacy's is the sickest but we had to get him home since the doctor felt he was "fine".  

Fine he was not and still isn't. Just Tuesday we took him to an appointment with his VA doctor to Libby, Montana an hour and a half away. He already had another bladder infection going on. At least he is the one talking a move to an assisted living location. So Stacy is working on checking into the possibility of that happening at the local community organisation.  Better for him, great for us, since we are still working for the next almost 4 years and he needs full time care. 

Photos for the Christmas display in town at the Georgia Mae plaza. 

These photos are from the Georgia Mae plaza in the old downtown area taken just before the new year while all the Christmas decorations were still up and it still looked like the "winter wonderland". Santa was here to meet area kids right after Thanksgiving and many area people and travelers stop by this plaza every year. 

A really wet fall but not so much snow for winter (yet)

Yes, fall in this area of the Northwest was way wetter than usual, a lot of rain that had precipitation totals up for most areas. 

Now into winter almost a month and while it has been more 'winter' than the last few years have been, snowfall is still well down to less than 70% of normal. 

About 2 feet on the ground at our house in areas that haven't been altered by me snow throwing, almost 4 feet deep in some of those areas where snow has piled up with the snow machine. Winter normally starts to end near the end of February and I've read that like last year there are already concerns of a rapid melt off if, like last year, it suddenly gets warm real quick. 

But that's in the future!

And finally, or firstly since I went from most recent to past post. From the thing that was the US Presidential Election on November 8th to Thanksgiving to now. 

Many are getting all riled up again with actual the Trump takeover next week as it was for the first few weeks after the election. 

Well, we are all still here and while I am in no way a Trumpster, if he is as bad as it is looking like he might be, at least the "checks and balances" make it where he could be impeached. Only time will tell with all of that. 

At our place, Thanksgiving was a nice quiet subdued affair last year (2016). No giant feast anymore, Stacy made some great dishes and we had a nice small excellent dinner. 

What's in store for our 2017?

Well, we do have some plans in the works! 

Our biggest preplanning is for "Dinosaur Trip, Part -2". 

It will probably be in June this year instead of July as last years was as Sandy and the grand kids come up and we all complete the Montana, Dinosaur Trail of museums with early planning options being either finish those, they run the top of the state on Highway 2, east then down the eastern edge of Montana right along the North Dakota border and then go to Mount Rushmore in S. Dakota then over to Devils Tower in Wyoming

Should we go that route those will be areas that Stacy and I haven't been since the mid 1990's. Sandy too, as it was the motorcycle trip of 1992 that was the last time she was there with us and I din't think she's been there since either. 

A plan "B" for this trip Sandy had discovered are some various Dinosaur centric Canadian museums topping off with a Dinosaur museum way up in Alberta, Canada, up past Edmonton on the way to the Great Slave Lake called the "Jurassic Forest" in Gibbon, Alberta. 

In YouTube videos it looks pretty interesting, with many life sized animatronic dinosaurs in a natural forest setting. 

Worth the trip? Maybe. 

But probably worth it more now since we live so close to Canada instead of driving it all the way from California like we used to do on any trip. 

We also are planning to stop wasting time and start some house projects we've been putting off year after year so we wouldn't upset Stacy's father. 

It should be a good year and I hope it will be for those who read this!

Tad