At last

Hello everyone! Yes..at last.. and I'm not talkin Etta James..after nearly five years of constant pain I recently had my third back surgery. This one was no fun at all. Three and a half hours of surgery has relieved some of the pain , yet the disabling nerve damage has been made worse due to the surgery activity around the nerve. I'm back on the 2-3 years recovery, hoping some of the nerve damage will repair. I'm still really sore inside. It hursts. Can't sit.. well I can, but not without causing numbness. Walking up stairs and hills is still a no no. Walking daily on a flat surface has been recommended for my recovery. Being real careful in my body mechanics to avoid setbacks. I have to thank Rick and Jennifer for their help and kindness. Ricks handling of the pre-opt mri intrepretations led directly to the right decision. Jennifer's minding my post-opt recovery helped althrough my recovery. I stayed until they were demolishing their kitchen and family area. A timely exit. ( I was sleeping on the family area floor for the first week) I've been home a week now...and I...really miss Jennifer's dinners. Can't find food prepared that good at a restaurant! I found I can't even duplicate her oatmeal. I'm still trying. Can't forget my little buddy..my shadow..Marley ,I'll miss her too.I been talking with Melanie trying to get her and Steve home for Christmas. Tickets are so darn expensive at this time of year. By the time she new her Christmas schedule..tickets prices soared. Gouging! It sucks. If not Christmas...maybe early January. When she and Steve do get home I would like to have a family get together. To be announced. Got to spend a little time with Sam and Megan. Couldn't participate in most activities. I can always eat...yikes.. have to watch my calorie intake or I will gain weight. Darn! O.K. I'm attaching some pictures of my trip., before and after. Enjoy! Craig.

Halloween 2010

Just a few pictures of our Halloween get-ups. Campbell took great pride in his Rodeo Clown outfit that we managed to throw together from his closet and the Goodwill for less then $10.00. On the other hand, Emerson's Jessie from Toy Story (you know Woody's friend.. she would not like to be called Woody's girlfriend:) was a totally different financial venture. We usually don't make it a practice of "breaking the bank" when it comes to Halloween, but when she finally decided what she wanted to be, I soon realized that homemade Jessie was not going to be easy. On a trip to Portland we found her costume at a Disney Store and I decided to bite the bullet and buy it, simply because I knew my homemade Jessie costume would never of been to Emerson's liking. Needless to say, she was very cute and now is wearing her costume daily when when she plays, so I guess we are going to recoup some of our money as long as it continues to be a dress up costume, too.

Emerson is infatuated with Toy Story right now. We had to break out Toy Story 1 and Toy Story 2 for her (and yes, they are on VHS, I must say) so she could get caught up on the Toy Story saga before watching Toy Story 3. She wasn't even born when the first 2 came out. We now own Toy Story 3, but it is on DVD, thank goodness. She had great plans of redecorating her bedroom in the whole Toy Story motif, but we had to get a handle on that one, especially since the room was redecorated just about 4 months ago, plus the Toy Story fad will pass and it will be something new soon.

Hope to see everyone soon!

NYC Marathon in Greenpoint

Every year the New York City Marathon comes through our neighborhood and it's kind of become a tradition that Steve and I go out and watch the runners. The wheelchairs and guides come first, then the top women's group, then the top men's group. It's always amazing to see how incredibly fast and lean the top runners are! We got a new video camera recently, so here's a little clip of the top men's group coming through Greenpoint...blink and you'll miss them!

Sept events

Hello everyone. I'm going to post some pictures of the month of Sept. Enjoy.

more

Hello again. Found pictures I thought I had lost. Congratulations to Greg and Chanda.