SoCal

Last week Nathan and I had the pleasure of traveling to sunny Southern California. Nathan has done so well here in his clinic...Pfizer treated him to a conference to make him an official Convenia representative....which was even better news for me...cause I got to tag along while he was in class all day :) 

I hightailed it to the beach the second we got to the resort....I was lucky to spot two whale spouts (they look like puffs of smoke coming off the water...the couple that pointed them out to me said they were Gray whales)....and I saw multiple dolphins. 

My attempt at being creative....

We stayed at the beautiful St. Regis Resort in Dana Point....

The view off the main deck of hotel...

While Nathan was in training, I occupied myself at the spa and took a couple of yoga classes....and tried to stuff myself with as much seafood as possible....

We have a classmate who practices in the area and she joined me for breakfast one morning. 

The weather was a bit chilly...not exactly what I was expecting for SoCal. 

Our second night there Pfizer shuttled us up to Laguna Beach. It was the cutest little resort community with tons of great restaurants and shops...and the views were amazing!!

Once Nathan was out of class, he was counting on a few days to lay on the beach and soak up the rays...however, the weather had other plans. The marine layer was pretty thick Friday and Saturday and never burned off....we were none too pleased. But we still tried to enjoyed ourselves...we went down to the beach and watched the surfers....

And explored the resort grounds....The tram driver told me that the annual membership fee for the beach and golf club is $13,000...and the annual membership fee for the hotel/beach/golf privileges is $19,000. 

Nathan didn't let his triathlon training lapse....watching him swim laps at the fitness center....

Heading down to the restaurant on the beach for dinner on our last night....can't wait until next year! 

The Bee's Knees

Last Wednesday Mom had knee replacement surgery on her right knee. Typical...she wasn't really looking forward to it, but walking had become so painful she really didn't have any other choice. She's had both knees scoped and her meniscus (cartilage) removed from each side. She was pretty much walking with bone on bone contact. Theoretically, both of her knees need to be replaced but her surgeon will only do one at a time. She was pretty upbeat before surgery and listening to Meatloaf on her ipod Touch pre-op. 

Showing off which knee they are supposed to be cutting. 

The surgeon's initials indicating which knee is to be operated on. 

Dad in the waiting room...reading Goin' Rogue by Sarah Palin. The surgery took about 1.5 hours. Dr. Lash said she had a lot of pathology in the knee and he said it's always amazing to see what people are actually able to walk on once he gets into the joint. She's allergic to Penicillin and Cephalosporins so she was given antibiotic impregnated cement to hold the implant in place. 

I spent the first night in the hospital with her. Overall she was in the hospital for four days. She did not handle the narcotic medications well at all and spent a lot of the first night vomiting. She's since been weaned off and is only taking Tylenol. She had a crush on one of her nurses who supposedly was the spitting image of Tim Tebow. Both the doctor and the physical therapist said not being on the high powered pain meds is in her favor and she will most likely heal much faster than people that stay on the pain medications longer. She said she feels pretty good and spends most of the day icing her incision to help keep the swelling down and it also helps to control the pain. Overall healing time is approximately 3 months...and then we may talk about replacing the left side....although she's already said she's not going to do it :). 

She Googled 'knee replacement' yesterday and watched the surgery on her laptop. 

Here she is one week post op...in pretty good spirits!! Happy to be home! 

We hope she'll be running marathons in no time! :)

San Antonio

I was fortunate to visit my dear friend Tracy last week in San Antonio. Tracy and I first met in Houston when I took my first job. In all honesty, I signed up for my first job because of her! She seemed really friendly, was my age, and I was hoping to make a friend...which I did....and a life long friend at that! She has a new baby boy (who I failed to get a pic of...) but her daughter, Ryan, was a ham for the camera! 

My visit was short, but fun filled...we spent the first day at Sea World. 

Both kids were really well behaved and Ryan was certainly amazed at the jumping whales!

I'm always so conflicted when visiting animal parks...I hate the fact they have these beautiful animals in little pools....but I absolutely LOVE seeing them up close. I hate paying the money and supporting the parks but the whales are truly amazing. 

The dolphin pool was probably my favorite area. They feel like wet leather...and they all seem to just be having a blast. 

My second day we shopped most of the day and ran errands. We had fun catching up and I enjoyed sitting in the sun. 

Mike and Tracy have a elderly pet population and in just the last few years have lost their two beloved labs. Unfortunately, right before my visit she got test results back that showed Indigo had developed lymphoma. Tracy first met Indigo in college...he was a test cat in the lab she worked in. After his study was over she adopted him...and he's the sweetest little guy. He loves to sit on your lap and kneads his front paws on your stomach. His favorite spot is on a chair in front of the window and was a good little 'poser' for the camera. 

The youngest member of their 'zoo'..Gris Gris....she's also quite the ham...she's a bit skittish when you arrive but soon warms up. She was quite taken with the clicking noises of my camera. 

I had a fabulous time with the Gati's....I hope to visit again soon!