Philip & Abby's Property in Progress-Part I

Here are Philip, Kirk & Fred (Abby's dad) in the 2 bedroom apt. above the 4-car garage. It was built in the 80's and is very nice.

Turn your head to the left to see the bathroom in the studio apt. P&A are turning 2 rooms above & below each other into a studio apt. They will be putting in a spiral staircase to go between.

Here's the 3-bedroom "front house" that faces Comstock. It is on the block below Beverly Blvd.

This is a playhouse that Luke jokingly said he was willing to rent! They will turn this into a wash house for their washer & dryer.

This is the Franklin stove in the master bedroom of the front house. This room addition was build in 1976.

Our Pacific North West Cruise

We were invited on this cruise by Debbie & Steve Opfer to help celebrate their parents' 60th Wedding Anniversary. (Steve is on the left, with Dan (Debbie's twin) & wife in the center) There were 3 older couples and 9 of us "young ones!" Don Converse (at right), had liver cancer, so the family knew that this would probably be his last big vacation.
Our ship left the Port of Long Beach on Sunday afternoon, June 14 at 5:30 p.m.

Here are Kirk & I at the first "dress-up" night dinner. The food was delicious and our server, a Christian man from the Philippines, was excellent!

Betty Kimes & I worked out a few times in the on-board gym.

Here's Kirk as we got closer to the Astoria Bridge in Astoria, OR. I can't imagine trying to dock a ship that size! It would be like trying to park a city! We pulled in to Astoria at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday and were met my Vicki & Michael Sullivan.

Vicki was selling here handmade porcelain beads, necklaces, silver jewelry & other lovely pieces there on the dock. They moved to Astoria last year after living in Whittier for all of their lives. Michael graciously took us in his car and showed us around the town. First he took us to Fort Clatsop where Lewis & Clark wintered on their famous trek west from 1802-1804.
(If you live in the Portland area, Micahel IS a Santa Claus. I can connect you with him, if you want him to come to a party, etc.)

Here, Michael & Kirk are reading the scoop about the berries, fish & fresh water that L&C found in this area.

Here is the re-creation of Ft. Clatsop. Because L&C kept such detailed notes about their findings & surroundings, historians were easily able to rebuild this fort to their specifications.

Here is the outdoor cooking area.

Michael then drove us up to "The Column," a 125 foot tower at the top of the hill. Here is part of the expansive view from that hill. I believe this shot is looking toward the Columbia River.

Here is a sample canoe from L&C's time there.

Our room had a lovely balcony! We propped the door open everyday to get fresh air and to hear the sound of the ship swishing through the water. Here we are pulling into Victoria, BC.

Betty, Lynn Weber & I spent most of the day touring Victoria on the Big Bus. It has the roof off, so you can see easily the sites. Since we had all been there before, we didn't really want to walk all over. Kirk & others rented mo-peds and spent the day zooming around the city.

Here were are leaving Victoria, BC. We also did the Big Bus in Vancouver, BC. It's a great way to quickly see a city. Then you can go back to specific places, if you want.

We had a beautiful sunset as we left Vancouver. That night, Don was taken to the infirmary, as he was getting weaker each day. The doctor confirmed that his liver & kidneys had quit working and that it was a matter of time before he passed away. He boldly told the doctor that he was a Christian and was not afraid to die. He had no regrets and he knew he would go to heaven. The doctor was quite amazed at Don's attitude. Don went back to their room, where he died peacefully at 6:30 the next morning, Friday.
Friday was supposed to be the night we celebrated their anniversary, but of course we didn't. It was bittersweet. We were all glad to be there to support the family, yet it was sad for all of us. The ship employees took care of so many details and the Converse family are/were impressed with their care and respect for privacy.
We sailed for 2 more days, and arrived back to Long Beach on Sunday morning, June 21. Don's memorial service was on Kirk's birthday, June 25th. It was a happy occasion as we all remembered him as a man who loved to share Christ with others, who loved his Lord & his family.

Astoria on Dwellable

Cochlear Implant-Part III

Here's a picture of my surgeon, Eric P. Wilkinson M.D. Lynn Weber took me to my post-op appointment yesterday in Orange, CA. (Then we went our for a lovely lunch) The doctor said that my wound is healing well. The internal & external stitches dissolve on their own. He said there is blood behind my eardrum, which is normal. It will eventually work it's way out through my Eustachian tube. Kirk or Heather have to put salve on my scar twice a day for awhile. :-(
Yahoo, I got to take a shower & wash my hair today!!! Wow, that felt good. That is definitely a privilege that I take for granted!
I will now wait for 2 weeks to completely heal and to let the swelling go down. Then I will be fitted with the Sound Processor. Here is a link to the Mayo Clinic site that clearly explains how the CI works.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/cochlear-implants/procedure.html

Cochlear Implant-Part II

Here's an update about my cochlear implant. Kirk & I went to St. Vincent's Hospital on 3rd & Alvarado in LA on Monday 6/29. He fasted with me, prayed and read in the waiting room. My surgery finally began at 3:30pm. My surgeon was assisting a brain surgeon, and so was late starting mine. He said my surgery was a "textbook" surgery. He made a tiny incision into the cochlea, in the inner ear, and threaded the electrode wire into it. Then he placed the battery, magnet, & computer chip (about the size of a credit card) under my skin, and sewed me back up. He even fired up the implant and says it's working.

Here are a few photos.

(Unfortunately I do not have Photo Shop on my computer, so I can't turn these pictures. You'll have to turn your head, instead. )

Here I am in my paper gown. It was actually quite warm with the booties for my feet, too.

Kirk snapped this as I was recovering from surgery, cute, huh?
My left ear was the one I had surgery on, but the doctor wrapped a turban around my head to hold the bandages on. It was SO tight; it felt like my head was in a vise! Kirk clipped it in a few places the next morning to relieve some of the pressure.

Here I am getting ready to leave the hospital at 9:30 pm Monday.

Here is the banner that Heather made to welcome me home from the hospital.

My Mom came & babysat me all day Tuesday. She administered meds, made lunch & dinner and gave me lots of TLC. She was the "hands & feet of Jesus" for me. :-)

Here I am with my Mohawk. All I need is a few piercings, I'll fit right in with the Punk crowd.

Today (Wed) Mary Henn, my friend & neighbor, came over & helped Heather wash my hair.

I can't get the stitches wet at all. So they had to be careful.
I'm mostly sleeping and reading a little. Kirk brought the teak lounge chair in from the yard so I can be in an upright position that's comfortable. I go back to my doctor for a follow-up appt. on July 7. Then I have to wait unitl July 20 & 21 for my 4-hour back-to-back sound processor hook-up appts. Then the work begins! I will need to work hard at reprogramming my brain to get used to the new "digital"sounds.
I have received many phone calls, emails & even cards! I feel loved & cared for. It is a blessing to be at the receiving end of the body of Christ!

A Busy Month of June!

June has been so busy; I feel badly that I haven't kept up on my blog. The day after school got out, we went on our Pacific NW cruise. We stopped in Astoria, OR, Victoria, and Vancouver, BC then back to Long Beach, CA. (I'll put the pictures up soon.) The day we came home we had a Father's Day dessert at our house. This week I've been doing my homework and going to doctor appts.
I wanted to finish my classwork for my Education Content class so I won't have that hanging over my head after my cochlear implant. Kirk's birthday was also this week, and we had 3 parties/dinners to go to. :-) This week, I also started going to Adventure Boot Camp for women. It is an hour of strenuous and fun exercise in a park nearby. I went 4 days this week, and am so sore! Unfortunately I have to take 2 weeks off after my surgery. But, I'm planning on jumping right back in ASAP. Tomorrow my surgery on my left ear begins at 1 pm. The (skull base) surgeon :-( said that I should be ready to go home at about 7 in the evening if I don't have any complications.
Today we went over and saw Philip & Abby's 3-on-a-lot place at 6037 Comstock. It is 5-6 houses south of Beverly (a few doors from Lu & Ed's old house on Comstock). The front house has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. The upstairs apt. is 2 bed. 2 bath and was built in the 1980's. The studio apt. where P&A will live for awhile has 1 room upstairs with 1 room below. They will be moving into the 2 bedroom place for a few weeks while they do the work on the studio.
That's all for now. I'll keep you posted about the surgery. Then, hopefully, I'll get pictures up from our cruise and P&A's house.

Mother's Day 2009

On the Saturday before Mother's Day, Philip, Abby, Heather & I went to downtown Pasadena for the afternoon! We walked among the shops on Colorado Blvd (We followed the line for the Rose Parade floats for a few miles looking for the best place to park).

We stopped and had delicious Gelato in an alley plaza. Then we went to Bird Pick, which is a tea store. There are huge glass jars of many types of tea. You can get a sample to taste. The teas range in price from $5.00 for 4 oz. to $11.00 for 4 oz! I got a yummy Hibiscus iced tea.
Thank you kids for the lovely afternoon. :-)

Heather bought me this cute flower arrangement at a shop where Christian college age students were selling handmade gifts to fund a mission trip this summer in Thailand.

On Mother's Day we all brought items for a hamburger BBQ at Mom & Dad's
Kirk got Mom these flowers.

We visited until the sun went down.

We ate, read our cards, laughed and had a wonderful time!

Granada's Garden Tour

We all met at GHFC and listened to the expert talk about planting succulents. His cute assistant kept the photo slides going on the screen. Phillip answered questions, was funny and remembered people's names. :-)

Then Abby and Philip put together 3 pots of succulents to give away as door prizes.

My friends, Mary & Pati, whom I teach with, went together with me from house to house visiting gardens and being inspired. Look at the cool baskets in this yard! The homeowner has a garden business called "The Blessed Gardener." She sells these and puts flowers in for people with black thumbs. We also dropped in on Mary Taylor. She graciously showed us around her lovely home and beautiful backyard. After visiting yards, we had a delicious lunch at The California Grill.

Here are P & A in their little oasis they've created in the backyard next door to Robin & David's house. It's full of potted succulents, bamboo, ferns & other lush plants.

This is the wall next to the bathroom wall. The large pot is a fountain to help drown out the traffic noises. Haven't they done a wonderful job?