The Rest of the year.

The Rest of the year. Once I got home from all these travels. I finally decided it was time to go the hospital. I found out that I had a ruptured disk, between my L5 and L4 vertebrae. What were my options: surgery or lay on my right side until it heals…. I choose to lay on my side. So many people discouraged surgery, including the surgeon. He said he would have his own wife wait it out and only do it if after 6 months it wasn’t better. I spent the next few months laying on the couch. I was doing very little. The garden had died in the heat wave. Thankfully other than an occasional tomato or cucumber we harvested. I didn’t have to worry about it. By October I could feel my leg again. I was able to stop taking the nerve pills and the pain pills. It came time for Ariana to leave for Basic.

I felt as though I was losing Donnie all over again. She was this awesome connection between him and I. I also was going to officially be an empty nester once she left. Having her live with us had given me a bit of a break from that. We had our annual Halloween party, it was good.

I missed Donnie and Ariana though. November came with a pain and a bonus. My poor Rachel had to have surgery which wound up being much more invasive and painful than anyone expected! She really had a rough time. I helped as much as I could. Donnie was coming home for Thanksgiving!

It was so nice to have him here for the 72hr leave! Knowing in December both Donnie and Ariana would be home was great! I loved seeing them see each other at the airport! Now we have almost 2 weeks together!

December was all the normal holidays.

Watching my grandchildren open presents was so sweet. I love seeing Beth and Rachel as the wonderful mothers they are!

Donnie and Ariana were here to share them with us. That was an awesome way to end the year! I got to meet Ariana’s biological sister Katie.

That was a very special moment. So December was a massive whirlwind. The year of 2013 began with having to take them back to the Airport and say goodbye.

I took a few days and literally crashed, I was so sad. Looking back on 2012 I had some of the best most memorable days and some very difficult ones. I watched my children grow up, I hiked the North South trail, I took an amazing trip with all the ladies then with Ariana and my husband. So I can’t look back on 2012 with any regrets. I will not start this year that way either. I am looking at a new church, working out at the gym. I only have one major goal for this year. Get my health back!

Fort Gordon, end of trip

Fort Gordon I was finally on really strong pain medicine so, I actually do not remember much. I slept a lot! But there were a few fun stories. We went to the largest Wal-mart I have ever been to! I walked in and had them get me a wheelchair, when I looked down the front isle I could not see the other side. It was redneckville for sure. As they were checking out I went on out to the car. These people were fighting in the parking lot. It was very scary.

We had a Waffle house in the parking lot of the Hotel.

So we ate there everyday! Since this was kind of last minute part of the trip we had not arranged a hotel so we were in a cheap hotel. It had a tub with jets. I thought that would feel really nice on my back but I was so nervous about it being gross I made them go buy a bottle of bleach. I filled the tub and poured almost the whole bottle into it and ran it for about five minutes. I then had to wait for more hot water to get a bath. After all that work, it did not feel good on my back….. I know we went and saw a movie, Batman.

We went to the PX ( post exchange…Walmart, Target type store on the base. I was so happy just to see Donnie’s face! I loved seeing him with his father and with his wife. It felt as though I was watching the trip from the outside. Finally the day came we had to give him back. I just wanted to get it done and go home. My emotions were such a mess. I had been so happy and had such fun. And now was so sad to give him back and in such pain. So this whole trip was the best and worse trip! Once we had dropped Donnie off, we all decided lets just go.

We loaded up the car and Don drove the entire 9 hours straight home. I felt so bad. This trip we had always planned on sharing the driving. That did not happen. He had to drive the whole time. The end to a wonderful, fun, exciting, tremendous, terrible, sad painful trip!

Graduation day Aug 2 2012

Day 6 August 2 Graduation day We are all so anxious to get back to the National Infantry Museum, this is where Donnie’s graduation is at. I worked hard to get ready. I hurt so much and could barely think on the meds. We arrive and thankfully we see that the tram is running. I had started to walk back to the parade field but oh it hurt so much. Ariana stopped the tram for me, my pride didn’t want to ride but I did. We sat in anxious seats waiting to see the guys. We could see them lining up across the huge field. Knowing he was there was so crazy I wanted to run across and see him so much. The Leaders came out and did the initial announcements. We watched the band come across the field Then you hear some guns going off and see some smoke bomb/flares go off. Out of the smoke came 8 guys with their weapons in hand.

We got to see all the weapons that the guys got to use in basic and what they will use if they are deployed. It was really cool to watch these young men come out of the smoke to us. Then here come our guys! The came across the field and we searched the crowd for Donnie. We could barley make him out. Finally the haze of graduation ended but we had to get back to the front of the Museum to see him! We came around the corner and I saw him see me! Araina didn’t quite see him yet.

I looked back and saw that precious moment when she did, Her face lit up and they got their first hug in months. I was so proud of Donnie we all got pretty misty eyed! No, I cried like a baby, with a big smile on my face! Donnie’s first wish, Wendy’s not sure why it was so important but we found the first one we could! Had lunch just smiling away!

Once we got back to the hotel…oh yeah got to go there. Don went to the store to window shop and I left to go swimming! After a while in the pool I had to text Beth. Should I text them? Should I call them? Should I just go back to the room. We were all sharing a room…… It was so hard being on the amount of medicine I was on.

We took him back got to see many of the parents and said good bye again…. Back at the hotel, we made reservations for the next stop. Fort Gordon, Ga. Now here is the issue. We had no idea if we would be allowed to see Donnie once he got there. Rumors abounded as to whether they would get leave that weekend or not. So we drove another 4 hrs to hopefully get a little more time with our son and Ariana with her husband……

Week of Donnie’s Basic Graduation Trip

Week of Donnie’s Basic Graduation Trip Day 1 July 28 It is time to leave. I let Don and Ariana pack the car. The pain shooting down my leg is unbearable. I try hard not to complain. I am so frustrated though knowing deep down something is really wrong. As we are heading to the car Don notices a black cat run in front of him….then another runs in front of us in the car. We head off towards Chattanooga TN. We are enjoying the drive. I love looking at the rock walls. At our first rest stop we are barely ready for a break but need to give our legs a stretch. As Don is getting out of the car he starts to put his phone into his pocket…..He missed. It falls to the pavement; it has an otterbox on it. It doesn’t matter the inner screen shatters! We are now with out GPS, thank goodness I insisted on printing all the mapquest maps out. A very upset Don starts driving again on to Raccoon Mountain. We arrive to Raccoon Mountain.

It has a cave and a nice little campground. Oddly positioned right beside some million dollar looking homes. I have a feeling the campground was there first! The caves are called crystal caves. The whole place just glitters! The pavement in most of Georgia glitters also! We got the tents set up, no, I can’t say that Ariana set up both the tents for us. We hadn’t even gotten to really set things up yet when we hear thunder above us. All of a sudden we are running for the tents to get out of the rain. We realized after a few minutes the big church group of tents did not have the rain tarps on their tents. It was really sad to watch later as they pulled all of their things out to hang up wring out and throw away…. Boredom kinda of set in so we decided to go and check out the cave. Pretty much it was a neat cave. The best part was how much it glittered. I was hurting so much I was fine as long as we were walking. Anytime I had to stand still I felt as though I was going to pass out. We sat at camp I tried to get comfortable. We sat watching other campers. It was funny watching a couple set up their tent. The wind sent it flying into the woods they tried to set it back up. It was torn beyond repair. I don’t know where they got another one but they pulled out another one and tried again. It also was blown over, use stakes would be our recommendation. Rain soaked through all of the stuff inside, they zipped up the tent and got in the car again and left. They didn’t return that night! We were so anxious to get to Atlanta that we cooked a quick dinner and as soon as it got dark we went to bed! Day 2 July 29 We woke up a little defeated but ready to hit the road. Off to Stone Mountain. We arrived at Stone mountain only to be greeted with a $10 entrance fee plus camping fees. I was kinda of surprised it was the most expensive campground to begin with. So we decided to see how far the Aquarium was and see if we could find anything else. I have only passed through Atlanta before so we were a little nervous as we drove in and saw all of the bars on simple places windows, like a waffle house with barred windows. We still ate at the Waffle house though!

Oh dear where are we driving! Arriving at the Atlanta Aquarium I was excited. I have a piece of advice though. Buy your tickets with a debit card at a kiosk or pre-buy online.. If you are paying with cash you stand in a horrendous line. I have mentioned standing in one place is what hurts the most right. So we stand and stand in line. Finally to be told oh yeah now stand in this line that was just the pre line… REALLY yes, so finally we have our tickets. Only to be told they stand here for just a second so we can take your official Aquarium picture.

Oh that is the fakest smile on that picture! I really just wanted to scream or cry. I love it though the Aquarium is really great. Worth every second of torture to get inside. We were allowed to touch a sea anemone. It felt so cool. We watched otters play, beluga whales, sea turtles. I had a whale swim over my head. I didn’t get to see the albino alligator. It was so crowded. It was time for lunch. They have a café so we got in line to get food. More standing and crowds I have never been bothered by. Until today. Standing there people on all sides, me barely able to think past the pain. I handed Don my tray and bolted out of there. I was so hungry but I couldn’t stand in another line at that moment. People are wall to wall there. I wish I would have had a young one in a stroller to create a buffer haha. I settled on a pretzel from a kiosk. Don and Ariana found me and we settled in for a tiny lunch before the dolphin show.

The dolphin show, you first stand in this line at the bottom of some escalators. They told us we should plan on being there 30 minutes early to get good seats. We are, I leaned against a pillar and waited. We are finally able to go only to stand in another line right outside the auditorium doors. Oh the standing….The floor was wet or I would have sat down. We get in and lets just say if you need to lose 50 lbs before you go. The tiny seats we squeezed ourselves into. I was ready to see some really cool tricks by some dolphins. Let me just say Georgia glitters everywhere. This was no ordinary dolphin show. It was a musical with singing glittery costumes and just wow! I thought Don was going to die. HE says if you love show tunes you just may love it! It says it was fabulous with quite a flair in his voice! I was just laughing it was the cheesiest thing I have ever seen in my life!! I have seen a lot of cheese. The dolphins were good so I did enjoy it. It was also sitting still for about 40 minutes. We just conituned to look at all the sea life, turles, jelly fish, stingrays that are bigger then me. Windows into the tanks that are 2 or 3 stories high. It is a must see place for sure. We decide to head out to try to find a place to sleep. The Atlanta area doesn’t have many campgrounds. With no smart phone to find one we were a little lost. We started heading back to Stone Mountain the back way hoping to find another place. We did see one odd campground sign. We pulled into the drive after just a few feet we realized we should have taken a slight left at the beginning. We were inside a southern cemetery. Driving through it we were feeling quite off kilter. We realized that the campground was just on the other side of the cemetery fence. It pretty much overlooked the cemetery. The place looked like something out of a horror movie. We decided that Stone Mountain was looking really Good no matter what the cost.

We finally figured out where we were and got back to SM. It was really nice after all. I would like to go back again with more time. We found a nice spot near the shower house. Ariana went and checked out the lake and gathered some pine cones for me. They have really good facilities. We had a great dinner and a little fire, I felt relaxed and was able to sleep. Day 3 July 30 Today was the day I was excited for, other then seeing Donnie of course. We were headed to Zoo Atlanta. I was going to see Ivan the gorilla.

He is a gorilla that our family first met in the State of Washington in the early 90’s. He had been kept at a local shopping/game center. He was in a tiny cage. We helped sign a petition to get him relocated to Atlanta. I was so looking forward to seeing him out in the open. I was in pain right from the beginning. Pretty much pain was constant, with occasional worsening. So my focus was look quickly at animals heading to Ivan’s exhibit. We were not disappointed by getting there quickly. Ivan was laying in the grass when we got to him. I just got misty eyed watching him. He slowly began waking up, stretching his arms into the air. Sitting up and looking around just saying good morning to the world. He then sat in his traditional position with his fist under his chin in a thoughtful pose. We stood around watching him for a while. Don even told people walking up Ivan’s story. We found out that August 20 Ivan passed away at the age of 50. I am so blessed that I got to go and say hello and goodbye to him. I know the rest of the zoo was nice and I would like to go back again. I just was mainly there for him. Ariana got to rock climb.

She really enjoyed that. I was so proud of her. She wasn’t sure whether she could do it or not, which made her nervous for basic training. She completed it like a boss! She is so much stronger than she knows. She was such a help on this whole trip. We were done with the zoo by lunch time. It really is not a huge zoo. So we decided to head on down to Fort Benning. We headed out on I-185, advice time, eat, pee and get some food before you hit this highway. It is long and BORING!!!!!!I had to stay awake to keep Don awake. We arrived at Fort Benning. It was so exciting driving through post just knowing Donnie was there somewhere. We keep seeing platoons and wondering is that him. It really never was his unit was in a part we never drove to! So on the other side of base was our next campground. Uchee creek we got our campsite paid for and headed out to set it up. We arrive at a small parking lot with a bathhouse. We see a sign saying no cars on campsite. So we decide to check it out. We follow a small trail into the woods. The campsites were raised from the ground by 2 feet. They were very small incredibly dirty. No water no electricity. There was a chain link fence between campsites and river to keep alligators out. We would have to carry everything from the car to campsite about 100 yards. Not happening with the way I felt, my pain level was so high. I started counting money and we headed back to find out if they had any cabins open.

We had hotel reservations in 2 days. So we got a cabin. The campsites at Uchee creek aren’t much but the cabins are really nice. A set of bunk beds, a full size bed. Kitchenette and a shower that we didn’t have to walk to! Although Don walked outside right after everything was settled to a little black cat staring at him!

I kinda lost it. I started laughing so hard. I was just so happy to have a bed and an ice pack. I loved seeing the moss flowing off the trees and a little armadillo running through the grass.

We cooked a good dinner, and I took a very painful shower and headed to bed. I was in such pain I felt like things were crawling on me. I tossed and turned most of the night. Day 4 July 31 We woke up feeling good after sleeping in a bed. I got up and realized it was not just my pain that caused the crawling feeling. I had bites of some kind all over my legs! Great still no sure what did it. There were a lot of spiders though. We didn’t do a lot that day. We did go over to the lake and Ariana got to see an alligator. We did go to the PX so Araina could get a visit in with her sister Andrea. I think I slept a lot that day. I believe Ariana and Don went and saw a movie. I really don’t know what happened that day. Breakfast lunch then dinner and sleep! It is moving day, we get to go to the hotel now. Day 5 August1 We got to the hotel, it was a nice little place. The people were very friendly. They let me know where places we needed to go were! We are in the hotel and I have had it. I broke down called the insurance and headed for the closet medical center. It was really a cool mec center. They were very up to date which made me feel good. They confirmed something was probably really wrong with my back. They gave me good meds to get me through until we got home. I also got a steroid shot. I was now at least in a bliss of medication. We decided to go to the National Infantry Museum.

I was nearing the end of my tolerance. I let Don and Ariana push me in a wheelchair. I felt so tired and so discouraged at this point. I knew I had to do something.This was really a spectacular stop. It leads you through all the wars and battles that our soldiers have fought in. There is a room that takes you back like you were in Vietnam, they even have a warning on the outside door that it may cause flashbacks enter at your own risk…That part made my tummy hurt. With the meds in my system, some of the displays that were realistic made me very dizzy! We had to check out the local Wal-Mart. Got us some snack food and I bought a new comfy dress. There was no way I could wear the fitted dress I had originally brought and heels haha! It was also very hot! After that we went to relax at the hotel only one more night until we get to see Donnie! We got a text from him that was nice. Also got the first picture from him! He looked so good! Movies on tv and medicine I was OUT! The best sleep this whole trip! Next Up Graduation Day!

Frustrated

I have 3 days until I get to go and finish this hike. I say finish with my fingers crossed. Don was talking about his foot hurting today. I really just wanted to scream. I am telling you I will be finishing with or with out them. They can meet me at the end each day! I just felt like he was making excuses not to finish before we have even left. I feel really annoyed about this today. I have this idea and I know it is mine and not theirs but I really would feel better with lots of support! Also, On my mind is the fact that there is 35 days until my son leaves for basic training.I am keeping busy so I do not dwell on this fact. I am incredibly excited for him. But I am also terrified for him and know i will miss him terribly. He is just like his Father, he has this way of making me so mad I can't see straight then make me laugh and smile so much it hurts! I love that boy! His sisters and I are really going to miss him more than he knows! Okay, I am done whining, sorry just needed a minute!

Preparing for the Hike

Well here we go again. My family and I attempted to hike the North South trail at Land Between the Lakes a couple a years ago. It did not turn out well. Temperatures were in the 100's and I have only seen mosquitoes like the ones that were attacking us in cartoons! We were spraying ourselves with poison and still slapping them off with blood on our hands. Now we know go earlier in the season. So Donnie and I are going. Saturday the 31 we are going to do this. In fact we are really not giving ourselves much of an out. Don is going to drop us off and then there we go! I am now packing weighing and measuring what Donnie and I need to take and figuring out what is unnecessary.

We will begin at the North Welcome center. Then Finish out at the south welcome center. Camping in the woods along the way. You can view maps better at this web site. You will have to copy and paste it.

http://lbl.org/VCMaps.html

We are incredibly nervous and excited to begin this journey. I will be updating my Facebook with pics along the way then will add more when we are done to this blog and to FB. Please pray for our safety and that we just have a wonderful time!

One of the other reasons we are doing this now is that my son is moving out. A month after this my Son Donnie will be leaving to embark on a new life and career of his own. He will be heading to Fort Benning GA to begin Basic Training in the Army. I am very proud of him.