I feel like a Willie Nelson song this week....
"On the Road Again, Just can't wait to get on the road again....." Seems like all I've done this week is go to appointments and drive.  Monday I had an appointment (with that fine office that I reported was more interested in my insurance than what I was doing there). Tuesday was an eye appointment (you can't have your eyes dilated often enough)Then Wednesday, bright and early, Brad and I drove to University Hospital to be there by 7:15, and after having an MRI, getting blood work and seeing two neurologists,  dropping him off at a job in Littleton (45 minutes away) I was back to work (2:00) to get things put away at the new office for the opening on Monday, the 30th.( By the way, his test results were good, showing no change on his MRI, although he has a few more cognitive deficits than before) Thursday was more unpacking at the office, finally wrapping it up Friday morning.  Friday afternoon was a trip to Eaton to pick Gabi up from school, with a quick peek at the progress on the Frost home.  They ended up having dinner with us and afterwards, Gabi entertained us with her agility, including her ability to "hold her nose with her toes".  I know, you're thinking, Simmons and agility are synonymous!

We had planned to go watch Spencer's football game in Kersey, but it was cold and rainy, so we bailed.  The drizzle continued all day Friday and Saturday, with frost on Saturday.  Couldn't believe we had to turn on our furnace  this weekend.

Saturday morning, we drove to Mom's in south Denver (Littleton) to attend the "Beer and Brats Oktoberfest" sponsored by the place she now resides.  You can imagine how lively that event was!  We enjoyed seeing her new apartment (at last she has the place she really wanted from the beginning) and visiting with Don and Vickie.

 

Then, it was back into the car and on the road to Manitou.  We arrived in time to walk around town a little, look at Pam's art show, and have a glass of wine on an outdoor patio.

 

newest work in progress

 

 Later, we went out to dinner with Pam and Kevin.  Brad ordered an interesting entrée, which when it was served, I asked what he had ordered.  He didn't know....turned out it was a tofu dish....Nothing like trying something new (accidentally)!

 News from Nebraska....Emma sent some pictures!  I was excited!  Meredith
says they are both doing well in school.  Her job remains a challenge, but it sounds like she's going to stick with it for awhile as they looked at houses this weekend.  Crazy how inexpensive homes are there!  They looked at one yesterday for $44,000!  Today they found another one, listed at $86,000 that they were somewhat interested in.  She also told me that they would be coming our way for a weekend visit over Gabi's birthday.  We sure are looking forward to that!
By the way, Rory is going to Homecoming next weekend.  He asked a classmate who said "yes" and will be mingling with the high school students this year.  Those middle school years sure flew by!

Sunday dinner was provided by the Frosts, who brought over some BBQ with all the fixing's.  Delicious!

Another crazy busy week ahead!

 

 

 

Water, water everywhere....literally

As all of us know, our state was hit with it's worst disaster in 500 years last week. It seems that anything I would've

written for my weekly blog would be nothing short of insignificant. (Besides, I had an episode with my laptop which resulted in probably ruining it.  My call to the GeekSquad yesterday confirmed those suspicions.)  So, now it's another Monday, and wah-lah, out of the blue, I fired up my laptop and it's mostly ok...I will try to catch up on the Simmons happenings.
Good to know that my face is almost back to normal with the exception of  what looks like dark circles under my eyes.  And, my rib isn't quite so painful- at least I'm off the narcotics and using very little of the muscle relaxants.
Last week was really a test to see just how much one with a broken rib can handle, as we packed all of the stuff at our old office in preparation to be moved on Friday (last).  Two moving vans full! The technicians will work today and tomorrow to install the equipment, then we will spend Wednesday and Thursday unpacking and putting all of the supplies away.  I'm excited to see how everything looks when we are all settled.  The plan is to begin seeing patients again on Monday, the 30th.

And, speaking of moving, the Frost home is pretty close to being completed.  I picked Gabi up from school last Friday, and we were able to get in to view the progress.  Gabi told the mason workers that she was "allowed in because it was her house".  It is going to be beautiful!  Gramma was with us and had to check out the cupboards in the kitchen!

Spencer started a new job at the hospital and seems to be getting quite a workout delivering supplies all over the hospital. I think he's enjoying being at work again!  Just for fun, they took this picture of him on his first day of work as the kids had one taken on their first day of school!

 

Amie and Curt are busy with their family and jobs.  We were all thrilled last week when Matt and Heather announced that they are having a girl.  Very exciting.  Rory got his braces on last week- hope he's doing ok- that can be pretty painful.  Today was his first day of school to show his new smile. 

 

 

 

 

 

Sophie and Gabi have been busy with birthday parties and recently attended a slumber party held by their friend, Emi.

That's Sophie in the light pink top, dark pink skirt and Gabi in burgundy.  Bet they got tons of rest. (as did the hosting parents).

 

My sister, Pam, is having an art show in Manitou which began last weekend and will continue for the next couple of weeks. Brad and I are planning to possibly get there this weekend.

Last weekend, Brad had to be the "electrician on site" for the annual Cattle Baron's Ball, a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.  It's a really big bash where the party goers spend months finding just the right outfit for the $800 a couple dinner.  Brad was told to bring me and come back when the band (Travis Tritt) began playing, which was about 10:00 pm.  We went and until we had a couple of drinks, I felt like an under dressed party crasher!  The band was good and the venue was fabulous...well worth seeing! (Especially without the huge entry fee).

We also went to Cheyenne and played bridge yesterday.  Kind of a long day, but just impressed that we can still go and play.  Got home about 12 hours after leaving to find that Gramma had left the refrigerator door open all day (apparently she didn't hear the beeping noise that it makes if the door isn't shut) so we had some water to clean up.  Oh boy.....

Thursday we go back to Denver to see Dr. Ney where Brad will have another MRI.  I'm anxious for this appointment as he has had some pretty significant memory losses in the past month.  I fantasize that Dr. Ney will share some reason for why this is happening (tumor returning?), but doubt that their will be anything definitive.  I felt bad today as I was feeling really down and it was HE who tried to cheer ME up. Oh brother, how does that make me feel?  He looks forward to watching the Bronco game tonight, although he claims not to be a fan after their last season!

Corbin spent his birthday money at Target this weekend and was transformed into a Ninja Turtle....

 

He is still enjoying his new Kindle....watching movies and playing games.

 

We thought Meredith and the kids were coming next weekend, but were disappointed that their visit is just going to have to wait.  I miss them!

Fifty Shades of Purple

Oh brother, what a week....after my fall last Sunday, my face has progressed to several shades of purple, and is now at the putrid green and gaggy burgundy stages.  Yesterday, I asked Sarah  (who flew in Saturday night) if she could throw a few highlights in my hair to match!

 

 Yes, I'm thinking of being a professional eye model...Today my hope is that I feel good enough to work all day!  (And, P.S., I did it!)
Yesterday was our sweet Corbin's 5th birthday and although I wasn't exactly looking forward to going to Chucky Cheese, it was really a fun time.  I was reflecting back to the years where Rory, Emma and Elijah had their parties there, and that place has come a long ways to improve upon their parties.  It was organized (pretty impressive with the number of kids attending), the food was good (!) and the kids had a fabulous time and were able to trade their winning tickets in for some pretty swell (?) prizes at the end.

 The biggest hit at the party was the ticket explosion booth where the birthday boy had a minute to gather all of the tickets he could.

 

He exited with over 1000 in winning tickets which he traded for some nice (?) prizes.

Afterwards, we had part 2 of the birthday back at our house with our Sunday dinner.  We asked Corbin what he wanted for his birthday dinner and after a few moments, replied, "Hmmm, for the adults, I want spaghetti and for the kids, mac-n-cheese", so that's what we had.  Brad made his delicious spaghetti and meatballs and them some gooey cheesy macaroni for the kids. All the while, Sarah was coloring and cutting between courses!

Next generation red hatter?

 

It was so much fun having her here, as well as Emi.  Gosh, she's a doll and reminds us so much of Gabi at that age! And she and Grayson had fun together (and BTW, hadn't bathed together for

awhile!) Gabi and Sophie played salon after Sophie got her hair cut and while Rory got his done.

After dinner, we had some more cake and ice cream and it was about then that I knew I had done WAY too much for that day and was hurting a ton....Ok, lesson learned....

  Brad and I did enjoy another anniversary on Friday (our 44th) and celebrated Saturday night after playing bridge with our Ft. Collins friends.  We went to dinner at The Main Line Bistro in oldtown, which was such a gorgeous place.  The food was pretty good, but the company was AWESOME.  We have missed seeing the FabFtCollinsFour, Beth & Rhonda and their husbands Fred and Fred.  We didn't do all that well at bridge, but plan to get back into it now that Fall is right around the corner.  We have plans to play in Cheyenne at the end of the month.  It sure feels like Fall is in the air and after a kazillion record breaking hot days, I'm ready!