Good News! Nooooo, GREAT NEWS!

I met with both surgeons and they concur with no surgery at this point. The main problem is arthritis of the spine and surgery is not the answer. Now the bad news, there is no answer. I am to keep taking Advil Liquid Gels and if the pain returns and cannot be controlled by prescription medication then the possibility of surgery will be revisited. Hopefully, no more Dr's visits for awhile. Enough of that topic..done, finished, move on. Yea!
SC Motor Coach Association is meeting in Myrtle Beach this week and we hosted them for lunch today. We fed all 200 of them and it was nice to see some old friends. Trade shows are just not my thing anymore. I used to do them all the time but all the setting up, tearing down and standing on concrete for hours has lost it's thrill. Plus you have to be flippin' charming for HOURS! Fortunately I very seldom have to do them any more except for an occasional local show and I whine the entire time just in case anyone thinks I MIGHT be having fun.
The vet's office called this afternoon to remind me that Morty has an appointment tomorrow morning. Polly hopes the vet removes about 90% of his attitude when they remove his hoohaws. We all think Morty has short man syndrome and if he was a person he would have a mustache, lots of gold chains, shirt open to the waist and drive a red corvette. Poor Morty, his previous visits to the vet's office involved being passed around like a play thing while everybody tells him how cute he is and gives him treats. Ummm, tomorrows visit will be a little different and I am pretty sure he will not be a happy kitty when I pick him up tomorrow evening. We love you Morty and if it makes you feel better we will ask Dr. Doti to save your hoohaws and you can hang them from the rearview mirror in the corvette.

SUNDAY...SUNDAY

I know the Mama's and Papa's sang about Monday Monday but this is my blog and I SAY that for today the song will be called....Sunday Sunday. So there, hrumph. Want to argue?? Didn't think so. Who's grumpy??? NOT ME!
I am so ready to get the word on what's going to happen with my neck/back. It appears 99% certain that I will be having surgery. A good friend of mine who is a retired physician reviewed my MRI report and strongly recommended (insisted?) that I go with a neurosurgeon. My Dr. had given me the choice of ortho or neuro and I said I didn't have a preference but would go with his recommendation. WRONG! Loren says I am going neuro so neuro it will be. I left a message with my local Dr.'s nurse so I assume she will cancel my ortho appointment tomorrow and get me in with the neurosurgeon.I am still holding onto that thin ray of hope that I can avoid surgery. HEY...I can DREAM!!! The pain has not returned but I do still have numbness and tingling from fingertip to shoulder on my L arm. When I mentioned that to Loren he didn't come right out and call me a dumb ass but it was implied in his tone. He said something along the lines of, "Well, yes the pain is gone BECAUSE THE MASS IS PRESSING ON THE NERVES AND KILLING THEM!" Said it kinda snotty too. OK my friend...I got the message and thank you again for looking out for your old KHS pal.

Fried Chicken and Time Shares...recipe for disaster

Morgan and Jamie have headed to Wilmington but before they left they put clean sheets on their bed, washed their towels and now after a quick run of the vacuum Casa Janny is ready for the next guests. I insisted they take the remainder of the butter rum cake with them but right about now I would walk barefoot over broken glass for a piece of that cake. Yep, I am a cake whore.
Tom, Morgan, Jamie and I went to Goldburg's Deli for bagels this morning. They have great bagels and I also love their chicken salad. After breakfast we said our goodbyes and I headed off to work. Work...man oh man. Tonight was a doozie. We had a very small (40p) family reunion scheduled and the organizer has been a bit of a fruitcake during the entire planning session. Well honey, wait until you hear what she did and I am surprised we didn't have a riot before it was over. The banquet was scheduled to begin at 7pm and around 4:30pm two very pleasant, nicely dressed gentlemen came to the banquet room to setup a power point presentation and told me they had been asked by the chairman of the reunion to do a short program for the group. Hmmm....OK, odd she hadn't mentioned it to me but sometimes these things happen. Well, come to find out these guys were there to give a time share sales presentation! The chairman of the reunion had set this presentation up so she would receive a free hotel room for the week. Here is where it gets really interesting. The powerpoint presentation began and one elderly gentleman stood up and said, "Now wait a damned minute..I didn't come all the way here from Michigan to hear no damn time share sales pitch." Then the rest of the family got involved and by the time it was all said and done several men (and a few women) backed the two salesmen against a wall. Well, the two salesmen decided it was time to go and they packed up their equipment, put their tails between their legs and headed for the exit. So while you are at your family reunion this summer listening to Uncle Herb talk about his hemorroids just remember it could be worse. At least you aren't listening to a time share presentation! Wow...just when I think I have the weirdest family in the whole world somebody always comes along and proves me wrong.

Heat index of 126...need I say more???

Oh of course I do! You didn't really think you would get off that easy did you? It is so hot the birds are using pot holders to pull earthworms out of the ground. Baaa da boom! OK, now I'm done.
Morgan and Jamie met me at the aquarium this morning just in time to meet the breakfast crew. We have a group of 6 or 7 of us who meet for coffee and breakfast biscuits everyday after the morning meeting. I have such a demanding job. Morgan and Jamie stayed and visited with my friends and then did some shopping followed by oysters at Bimmini's. Last I heard they have dinner reservations at Cagney's and show tickets for Alabama Theatre this evening. I plan an exciting evening of mac and cheese followed by a frantic online bill paying session. Waaaahoooooo! How much excitement can one person stand!

Company!

Morgan and Jamie arrived safely and I'm sure they think I live approximately four blocks from hell as it is HOT! I heard on the radio this afternoon that the heat index was 118, definitely hot.
I took them to dinner at Umi Pacific last night and we had a wonderful meal. I love the atmosphere there with the chiffon hangings, the candles and the weighted gold beads from ceiling to floor. It really is a pretty place and it's quiet enough that you can actually carry on a conversation. Tom was also with us and the four of us had a great time from hors d' oeuvres to creme brule. I had the duck breast and it was wonderful...crispy and not over cooked. Duck isn't something I want very often but it is good once in awhile.
Morgan and Jamie went to the beach today and spent some time at Ocean Annie's listening to the music and consuming adult beverages. I arrived home before they did and baked a butter rum cake and man oh man, does it ever smell gooood! They went to dinner at Capt. George's and then plan to go over to Celebrity Square and check out Crocodile Rocks and Blarney Stones. This is their first visit to Myrtle Beach and I hope they are having a good time. They are both such nice people and I love having them here. I think Morgan and I are going to work together tomorrow morning and Jamie will be joining him later and do some shopping at Broadway and the outlet stores.
We have only have one event this weekend and I actually have Sunday off so I plan to spend the day doing absolutely nuttin'.
I learned two things today. It is possible to receive a second degree burn while opening your car door and in a pinch a seat belt buckle can be used as a branding iron. Wow, who knew??

It's official...I REALLY am the laziest person on earth

My last company left a few days ago and the next group is arriving tomorrow. I worked all weekend (hmm, maybe I'm not THE laziest person on earth) and took today off to wash sheets, towels, vacuum and prepare Casa Janny for the next round of guests. It is now almost 11 AM and so far I have managed to wash sheets...can't seem to find the gumption to put them in the dryer but they are washed, visited my favorite web sites and eaten breakfast...twice. I had cereal about 9 and then moved up to the hard core stuff (bacon & egg sandwich) about 10:30 AM. I have a good friend who shall remain nameless (Anny) that I sometimes just want to smack. She is one of those people who always has a MAJOR project going. I am not making this up....one summer she scraped, primed and painted her Dad's three story barn AND re-roofed her own house. She was also working full time, married and the mother of two boys who were playing summer league baseball. Geesh....if we hadn't been friends for over 50 yrs I would seriously consider dumping her from "my circle". Even now my much older nameless (Anny) friend and her nameless (Larry) husband always have a home project they are planning, completing or scanning Menard's for ideas of what to do next. I bet they make Bob Villa feel like a big ole slug.

No strikes, no balls....

BUT I got fouled! I met with Dr. Jordan today and I still don't have a plan. He decided the muscle receptor test was not necessary (oh DARN) but he did another range of motion series and is referring me to a surgeon. My MRI (in his words) is a train wreck but since I currently have no loss of motion or any pain, Dr. Jordan is not sure what the surgeon will recommend. I am HOPING that surgery will be postponed until the pain returns. Oh heck, let's be truthful....I would be THRILLED to avoid surgery all together. So basically I spent an hour in a paper dress (open down the back), standing in the hall, staring at x'rays and nodding my head while pretending I saw what Dr. Jordan saw. I suppose the next step will be one of those HELP I FELL DOWN AND CAN'T GET UP necklaces.