Month: October 2016

10/31/2016 This rain is getting tiring, I feel bad for the dogs being cooped up inside because of the torrential downpours. Actually I’m feeling bad being cooped up myself but the weather has nothing to do with my interment.

I woke this morning to a tropical monsoon outside and 5 dogs anxiously waiting for the Momma to get up. Maybe they thought my mystical powers would make the outside more to their liking but alas, it was not to be. The rain has been non-stop the majority of the month, raining almost daily, at night or late afternoon, which is cool. Recently, however it just flipping rains and rains and hard rain too, not any little Seattle like drizzle that people still mow their lawns in. Oh no, this is stay in and stay dry. The roads become like black ice during the rainy season due to all the malfunctioning, poorly maintained vehicles. They leak oil all over the road and as we all know, oil and water don’t mix. Not one bit. I normally drive rather swiftly but when it’s raining, not so much.

That being said, I have not driven since October 6th. I have been out of the house 2 times since then, only to see the doctor. My new physical therapist came to the house on Friday, super nice guy. He was trained in the US and he and his girlfriend will soon be moving down this way on the rock. Mario talked to me about my injury and pointed out the ugly bruises on the bottom of my foot (I didn’t even know it was still bruised). He suggested I wear sneakers because, as we all know and hate to admit, flip flops do $hit for your feet. I have new sneakers, I have worn them once in 5 years and I hated every step I took down and back up the driveway with the dogs when I wore them the one time. I have been trying to wear them around the house if I’m cleaning up the kitchen or on my feet for longer than 15 seconds, but they hurt. They hurt too much to even wear for a short period of time and I’m thinking if they hurt that is not good. I’ve also been doing the exercises Mario gave me and can do one pain free but after I do the other one I’m hurting for certain. I posted a photo of the bottom of my foot on FB just because I didn’t want people to think I’m a sissy and a whiner and my sister-in-law who was a radiology tech for a long time thinks they missed something and that there is a break. I guess I’ll be going back for another x-ray this week.

I realized I had another alien growing out of my ankle hole so I decided to extricate the thing the other day. After yanking and pulling, something that appeared to be rubber band like was holding the alien in my ankle. With enough pulling and twisting I was able to get it off. Now my ankle is painful to the touch, can’t let it lay on that side on the sheets or anything. Damn, this leg has to go.

I can’t let the alien alone because it hurts like hell if I bump it or the dogs run into it. It feels like it sticks out of my ankle a good foot and is just waiting for contact with something to remind me it is there. So much for any sense of normalcy on this blog. Sorry.

We went to the docs on Tuesday to see what he had to say about my ankle and it was no walking for 10 more days without a crutch and to start Physical Therapy. This is the mess we came home to, Barrio had managed to find my calendars and chew them up plus he got on the table where I set the trash can to keep it out of his way and he emptied  it all over the floor, shredded.

He got smacked with the calendar and yelled at and he ran and hid alongside the refrigerator for an hour at least. I had to baby and kiss and love him to get him to come out of hiding. First time he ever got in trouble and it didn’t go over well with him at all.

Sitting here in the house looking at things has my mind going a million miles a minute. I see all the things that need done but that I can’t do, at least right now. I had Bill take all 4 of the orange ceiling lights down and I scrubbed them and he sanded the metal poles holding them together, repainted them and rehung them, big difference. Now I want  to clean out the closet and re-do the shelving, I want a bi-fold door on it, pronto. I’ll have Carla come and clean it, I heard she makes it look like a store. We have had so much rain that the closet/laundry room floor was soaked the other night. We assumed the rain came in the (closed?) window. Bill mopped the floor then turned the ceiling fan on to dry it out in there and water flew out of the fan as the blades circulated. OOPS. Not supposed to happen like that. It had rained so hard water got in the conduits on the roof and down into the fan. That was fixed yesterday. I also let the bomb drop that I want to repaint the upstairs, the blue is really getting on my nerves. I already know what color I want, it’s finding the time to prep the walls and do it, and we have company coming in 3 weeks.

Martha Stewart, I mean Marilyn and Carmen came over last Thursday and brought a lunch feast and a sewing machine. Martha made a cover for my dog torn futon so Robby and Julie will have a decent couch to sit on while here (when they’re not upstairs hanging out with us). After that was done we came upstairs and had lunch and just hung out for awhile, so nice of them to stop by and visit. Miss hanging out with everyone.

We were going to a get together at Carmen and Brett’s Sunday but I felt pretty crappy all day Saturday and didn’t eat much. Bill made spiralized french fries for dinner (I know, not your normal meal) and they were so good and I ate so many I was dutifully ill on Sunday. We stayed home and between naps I prepped some food and Bill made 2 loaves of zucchini bread and a big pot of carrot soup. It tasted so good.

I just got off the phone with my folks. They finally seem to be adjusting to life in the new place, at least I think they are. They have stopped complaining all the time to me about it so that’s a positive sign. My sister sent me these pics of them a few weeks ago. It looks like the grocery store Olympics, note Dad has beer and plenty of it on his cart. I’m a chip off the old block.

I am still fighting the never ending skin battle with Gringo, and I am not winning this at all. I have removed all grains, all vegetables that are hi- glycemic, no peanut butter, no bananas no pumpkin oatmeal balls. Instead he is getting scrambled eggs, yogurt, spinach and tuna for breakfast and Kirkland dry food, no grains but brown rice with zucchini, spinach and lentils in it for dinner. He is on medication for what I have diagnosed him with: Malassezia Pachydermatitis. I am not a vet and there is not a vet on the island that can check him for an auto immune disease which I believe he has. When Pro Vets come I am having his thyroid checked (they nor the other vets on the mainland do auto immune issues) but that’s not until Thanksgiving, and on Wed. he is going to Doc for an erlichia test. He is bathed every other day (weather permitting) with 2 different shampoos and a friend just brought me some Lime Sulfur dip for him. That has to be done outside because it stains and we have glass tiles in our shower. The rain hasn’t let up enough to use it. He’s not sick, eating well, playing, happy, loving, he just scratches and digs and claws at himself constantly. With 5 dogs, it is always something.

As I sit here the sky is rumbling with thunder and the winds have picked up a little bit, think we have more storms coming. For the first time today I can actually see both shores so something is changing quickly. I’m ready for some sunshine and pool time.

Happy Halloween everyone, we’ll be home today and tonight I am watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show and maybe I’ll even do a little Time Warp too.

10/26/2016 WARNING: Only a couple of photos in this blog.

Three years ago today we stepped off the Delta flight at the Roatan airport. It was a Saturday and we had two dogs and a cat in crates, five suitcases and four carry-ons.

A little timeline to put things in perspective.

March 4, 2013 I moved home from my 4 months in Roatan. I had moved there Nov 3rd 2012 with my cat Emmy and rescued Highway while I was there. Bill had to come get me to help with the animals.

March 30, 2013 I was walking Highway who was 4 months old and Dooce, our 90# Malamute Shepherd mix dog on the runway. I was screwing with my camera, not paying attention and they were running and playing. Dooce leveled me. I think I flew in the air because the wind was knocked out of me and the camera that was on a strap around my neck flew off. Bill was in the house and happened to look out the kitchen window. He had no idea why I was laying on the ground so he came out to see. He got the car and drove it over to where I was, we had already confirmed I couldn’t walk. Bill and Trace got me in the car to go to the hospital. They did x-rays and then the Doc came in. Yep, broken fibula, tibia and dislocated ankle. No surgery until tomorrow because I had eaten a big meal. Surgery happened at 3:30 PM the next day and I went home the next morning. I was packing to move out of the country and I COULDN’T WALK FOR TWO MONTHS. After I could walk I had therapy until my knee surgery.

April 18, 2013 Bill’s friend drove him down to Seattle to have his knee replacement replaced. He was down there for 3 days, I was in a wheelchair with 2 dogs to take care of.

Once he semi recovered he began packing the hangar/shop and building crates for our stuff to go in. I was still packing from a wheelchair.

We sold our house to Koreans who were putting in buildings to grow Shitake and Oyster Mushrooms. They said we could stay there for awhile. Define awhile please. Soon deliveries of their materials started coming. At one point there were at least 10 tractor trailers in our yard.

August 13th, 2013 I had my knee replaced. I was in the hospital 2 days, came home the third. I was still packing belongings to move.

September 1, 2013 We were told the guys building the greenhouses were moving in to our house the end of the month. We could stay, they would live there with us, we had 3 other bedrooms. OH NO, this was not happening.

September 30, 2013 We moved to half a double about 3 miles from our house. It was nice and clean but we had sold all of our furniture so we had a blow up air bed and 2 zero gravity chairs.

October 7, 2013 We started looking for flights to Roatan on United in a few months. What we realized was: 1) If we wanted to fly United we could not take our animals, they no longer flew animals to Roatan unless they were in the cabin. The dogs were too big for that. 2) if we wanted to fly Delta or American we had to do it before Nov 1 due to the embargo on flying animals in cargo until the end of March.

We bought tickets leaving Seattle Oct. 25th, arriving RTB Oct 26, 2013

October 7, 2013 While booking flights we realized Bill’s passport was going to expire and not be valid for the required six month period to enter Honduras so he had to rush order another passport.

October 16th, 2013 I began the paperwork to take the 3 animals to their new home. It’s the pet paperwork game. It requires you to do all of your paperwork in the 10 day time frame before you land on the island. Not 9 days or 11 days, TEN. I was familiar with the hoops I had to jump through to accomplish this so that was my job. I had to go to the vets, make sure the animals were up date on everything(they were) then I had to Fed Ex the paperwork to Olympia WA to the USDA so they could verify that my vet was an accredited vet with the state of WA. ( Doesn’t a copy of the vets current license show that?) Then they had to sign each document at an outrageous cost to us and send it all back to me in the prepaid self addressed Fed Ex envelope I sent to them with the paperwork. At that time in history Obama had shut down all federal offices (National Parks issue) but luckily there was a skeleton crew at the USDA. Meaning things moved slower than the extremely slow pace things move in government offices.

October 23, 2013 We had the paperwork in hand for the animals. Now we had to rent a vehicle that would hold all of us and the 2 huge crates for the drive to Seattle.

Time was drawing closer to our anticipated departure of October 25th on a red eye to Atlanta. Honduras was on the horizon.

I was so excited and so nervous, scared, stressed about the move. Leaving the comforts of home for a life on a 36 x4 mile island was indeed crazy. We knew a few people, but not a lot by any means. It was going to be different. Not having an 8-5 everyday is a huge change in a person’s life, all of the routine stuff for so many years and then it stops. It’s like going cold turkey from coffee. (I don’t drink coffee, never have, never tasted it)

October 25th, 2013 We took our youngest son to dinner that night and hung out with him to say good bye. We all cried when we finally got in the car for the drive to Seattle.

October 26, 2013 WELCOME TO FREAKING ROATAN, where nothing is what it seems but it’s all good and you’ll love it here.

We were met at the airport by Liz, Bill K and Miguel. Miguel had kept my car, the POS I bought in Nov of 2012 from him so I would have wheels while I was here alone for 4 months. We got the dogs loaded, {Emmy shit in the baggage area of the airport when I pulled her out of her cage, just a few turds, got them with a Kleenex and tossed them in the trash}, the luggage in the car and went to get my wheels. Highway peed for 5 minutes straight. Neither he nor Dooce went in their crates. Once that was done we moved into a house just a hill and a driveway away from our property. I was having a hard time in the house with all the steps and my knee.

Nov 2, 2013 We moved to a single level rental at the foot of our driveway. It made it so much easier for Bill to be up at the house watching the construction and it had a fenced yard for the dogs. This was the 3rd move in 6 weeks.

March 14, 2014 We moved into the lower level of our house! YAY!! We still had stuff we were bringing up from the other place but we had the necessities and if I couldn’t find what I needed I went down to the other place and looked for it. Pain in the butt, not a real big deal in the grand scheme of things.

June 10, 2014 We were moving upstairs. Finally. We didn’t have everything hooked up but we moved anyhow.

We have been working on the house ever since.

Jan 5, 2016 We started the fence out front and the shop.

May 20, 2016 We started the pool

June 10, 2016 Pool is completed

October 26, 2016  Shop is almost done, fence is complete except for paint.

This is just an FYI in case you wondered what we’ve been doing for the last 3 years. I volunteer as much as I can (when I can walk) and I’m also the partier in this family. I’ll never turn down a beach day or a dive day with anyone.

Foot update and then I am outta here:

I was told I “should” be able to walk this past Sunday. Well, I could but with pain so I didn’t push it. Monday I laid low and hung in the pool and on the porch with Carmen who came to visit me. Any day spent with Carmen is a great day. On Tuesday I decided to call the doctor for a check up. I was walking with crutches but putting some weight on my foot, not a lot but some. Let me say: I am not a pain woosie or a whiner and I hate not being able to do things myself so this has been grueling for me. I know, there are a lot of people who have it much worse than I do, and I feel for them. However, it’s me and my mental state I am dealing with. The hospital said to come in at 4 to see Dr Izaguirre. At 5:20, still no Doc, he wasn’t there so we told her we were leaving. As we got off the elevator, there was the Doctor. He had driven all the way from Woods Clinic in Coxen Hole just for my appointment. He left Woods and then was called back due to a situation with a patient. We went up to his office, he examined me, gave me 2 scrips and his cell #. He wants to see me in 2 weeks and wants me to call him in 1 week. He also wants me to start Physical Therapy with someone 2x’s a week. Luckily there is a guy who was trained in the US and he comes to your house. We went to pay for the Dr. visit and they said no fee. WTH? Bill went and got the one scrip, it was for a shot and they were giving it to me in the ER. He brought the med back and the nurse got the needle ready. I said, arm, she smiled and said no. Oh, OK BUTT! Great. The shot was a cortisone/anti-inflammatory shot. He said if I wasn’t better in 2 weeks when I came back to bring that medicine with me again (scrips are good forever here, the pharmacy doesn’t take them once they fill them) and he would give me shots in my foot in the tendons. He said it’s very painful, sounds interesting. Pain intrigues me. I got my shot and came home and by later that evening my foot felt better. I had wine and Oreos for dinner.

My foot feels a lot better today and I am walking on it a little even though he said not to. I know, I throw my cast away on day 3, walk when I’m not supposed to and suck taking meds. I’m just a lousy patient. I also found out I can not dive until I’m 100% better because nitrogen accumulates in damaged tissue and makes you more likely to get the bends, which is something no diver ever wants to experience. I just got DAN insurance. If I had it when I hurt my foot it would have paid for everything. Stupid of me to not have it.

Three years down, many more to come. It’s been raining like crazy, last night I had the window over our bed open and woke at 2:40 ish because I was getting wet. Bill slept right through it, well I woke him worrying about the dogs on the porch but they were nice and dry. I did not go back to sleep and quite honestly, I think it’s o-nap-thirty. Bill is at the dentist with Alexi and the dogs are all crashed out in various spots of the house. Quiet afternoon with more rain to come. Perfect siesta weather.

10/20/2016 It’s 2 weeks today that the crutches and I became acquainted. It’s a friendship I could do without. Two freaking weeks, I’ve been out of the house ONCE to go to the doctor a week ago. The doctor is an orthopedic specialist who is here full time, working out of the new hospital and Anthony’s Key resort. He’s a real nice guy and was very thorough but said it’s going to take some time for it to heal. He said I could possibly, maybe put some weight on it ten days from the 13th, which would be this Sunday. HAH! There is no way I can walk on this if it doesn’t drastically improve in the next few days. Waiting for a miracle.

Many thanks to all of you who have constantly been checking in on me, I appreciate it. Yvonne, I soaked my foot tonight, thanks.

Bill is ready for me to be walking again I’m sure. It’s getting old really fast, he has to cater to Emmy’s morning ritual, which is; feed me immediately once your feet hit the floor or else. He’s not a real “immediate” kind of guy. Then he has to give the dogs their morning breakfast which is time consuming, especially if they run out of eggs and he has to scramble 18 more for them. It’s time consuming and not something that bothers me to do for them, I enjoy spoiling them. He thinks I spoil them too much, food wise. I do.

We have been battling a skin condition with Gringo for over a month. My friend Susan and I determined it was a fungal/yeast infection and after speaking to a vet friend in the Bahamas we tried an all inclusive medicine dosing. After 21 days he was no better. Then Susan sent me a link about yeast infections and it fit him to a T. We got shampoo and Bill started bathing him every other day with 2 shampoos and he was a different dog, for a few days. Then he was back to the digging and itching constantly. His elbows look like raw meat. Bill took him to Doc on Wednesday and Doc agrees, it’s a yeast/fungal infection. Gringo is on different meds and still getting every other day baths. We are hoping he will recover and get over this skin affliction, he is the sweetest most easy going big guy ever, I adore him. I put a cone on him because of his chewing but I couldn’t stand his sad face so I took it off. I had to, really, he guilt tripped me into it. Those big puppy dog eyes and him sitting right in front of me staring a hole through my forehead didn’t help.

Last Saturday afternoon Caroline and Sully came over around 3. They are friends I was diving with when I fell. Caroline brought booze, food to make dinner and dessert. She made chicken satay skewers and spicy zoodles. I’ve never had zoodles before and am not a huge zucchini fan unless it’s in bread or muffins but these were delicious. I immediately wanted a spiralizer. Caroline was sweet enough to get one for me. We used it the other night and made garlic and oil zoodles with parmesan cheese, so darn good. I want to get some beets and do them with red onions and a butter sauce. This is similar to my spiralizer.

Oh yeah, Jessica. She is Alexi’s 14 year old sister. I thought maybe she could help me out around here, get me drinks, carry things from here to there for me (and earn a few bucks too) so she came over on Tuesday. I had her vac the floors and then she and I went swimming. She loves the pool and is a fish in the water. We have decided Jessica will go to English school with Alexi. She speaks some English but is very difficult to understand, although it’s not for lack of trying. School for all kids ends the second week of Nov. through February. Summer vacation is during the rainy busy season.

I’ve noticed today that Jessica is saying things I say. The first day she was terrified of the dogs but I promised her that even though they were barking at her they would not hurt her. She got in the pool and 2 of them jumped in, she was cool with it. Now she doesn’t seem to mind them. I heard her say to Gringo today, “you are so handsome” and she calls Max Maxie or Maxiedoodle like I do. Funny that she is picking up things like that so quickly. Every morning when she gets here, she asks immediately if she can come tomorrow.

She has been here the past 3 days, she came again today with Alexi and did windows for me, well, at least the ones she can reach. Some can’t be reached easily, Bill has to use a long bamboo pole with a squeegee attached to clean them. Needless to say, I do not have clean windows. Such is rock life.

We have friends coming and staying here the Saturday before Thanksgiving for 2 weeks, it will be a blast to make turkey dinner with Robby and Julie, actually, Robby’s cooking the whole meal but he doesn’t know that yet. And yes, he reads this. Hopefully I can cram my foot in a dive fin and dive with them. I’m determined to get back underwater.

Today Bill set me up outside with my computer, pillows, water and stuff to do my toenails. It was a nice day, I just wish I had a fan out there too because it was hot.

After Jessica did the windows she asked if she could swim. I said sure. She didn’t want to get her hair wet (she had just gelled her hair) so she asked for a bag.

I have yet to decide if it’s my love hate relationship with crutches that make them such a difficult part of my everyday existence or if there is a skill to using them that I am lacking. They have suction cups on the bottom and I’m sure it’s for a reason but when I am moving along at speed and the one crutch fails to come unstuck from the floor and I am catapulted forward, only to land on my sore foot, I’m pissed. This has happened more times than I care to admit. Why would they invent something with pointy ends to aid people with mobility issues? I think it’s cruel and stupid and just plain wrong.

I am the ultimate queen of impatience.