So...About a Week and 3 Days Ago...

I had an appointment at the VA in Richmond, and I had seen this restaurant on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives (a show I normally don't watch because I think Guy Fieri is annoying as heck, but I stopped to watch that episode because it had Richmond in it), after seeing where it was in Richmond and that it was pretty close, we decided to try it out after my appointment.

This is their "glass" of water:

I had the rockfish sandwich:

I love rockfish and this was pretty good. The French fries were really crunchy too. Oh, and I had a strawberry cheesecake milkshake with it, I just didn't get a picture of it.

We also ordered their onion rings:

They were really good, but I didn't really think it was worth the price.

All in all, it was okay. I really don't see how it was tv worthy, but to each their own I suppose.  I just wanted to be able to say I tried one of the places on tv.  Now I just need to hit all the ones on Unique Sweets. Yum!

So at my appointment with the neurosurgeon, while the PA went out to get the NS, she had left these up on the computer screen, and I decided might as well get a picture of my spine. Apparently I have a tumor in the spinal canal between T11 and L1: 

This one is looking down at it I think, and it shows how wide it is:

And the question is, surgery or no surgery? Right now I'm going with not at the moment.

Random Thoughts

...I know I have been remiss in blogging...I just don't know why.

...I'm a month into 60 and I am no where near where I would like to be.  I kinda feel like I am just marching in place, so to speak. I just really want to get on with my life.

...It's been a year and a half since my mom died and I really miss her. It kind of hits me in waves; one minute I'm okay and then something will come up and I feel like crying.

...I have a mass in my spine and it will probably need to come out. I'm supposed to have another MRI in three months to see if it has grown, and then go from there.  They really can't say it isn't cancer without going in to get it, and that doesn't thrill me because they have to remove a piece of bone to get to the spinal canal. Um, no?

...I wish I didn't have to decide dinner all the time.

...CaliGirl watching "The Kitchen" on the Food Network. She seemed to be really into those pork chops.

...Blogs are always better when they have a picture or two.



California

(Boy I have been so bad about keeping this up...not sure why except I just haven't bee much in the mood to write.)

Anyway. My California trip pretty much sucked really. My birthday really sucked big time; none of my friends came over or anything, I actually spent most of the day with a friend of my mom's and our former neighbor on Tyler, Mirna, who had invited me over for lunch and I ended up staying until the evening. It was very nice of her to invite me and otherwise I would have been all by myself, something I hadn't invisioned for my 60th birthday. Huh.

Then I ended up with leaks in the bathroom and underneath the house, and had to leave them like that, though of course I turned off all the water before I left.

My last night there I was up all night, sick as all get-out, puking, and running a fever, and went home like that.  The good thing is I did sleep all the way home on both planes, so at least I wasn't awake and feeling miserable for 8 hours. Once I got home I slept until 11:30 the next morning, only to get up and go sit in my chair and sleep until 4.  I pretty much slept the next few days until Sunday, where I finally started to feel somewhat like myself.  Coming back from Cali takes longer for me to recuperate each time from the jetlag as I get older it seems.

The high point of my trip was my last weekend there, when Janie and Teresa came in  and then we all went to see Baby Boss on Friday night and then on Saturday night we went to Roger Rocka's to see a play and have dinner, and then we all went to church the next morning. So it was a nice weekend anyway. 

And I do have to say I love my mom's church; I went there both Sundays and the first one they were all so welcoming and even the pastor said he had just been thinking about me. After the service they had their Lunch Bunch lunch and invited me to stay for it and it was a nice way to spend part of the afternoon. I am really looking forward to going to the church when I finally get to move out there.

So a couple of pictures:


While I was there, I decided to try a new drink at Starbucks, the Pink Drink:

It was pretty darn tasty too. (I also have to say I love that Starbucks; even after months of not being around they always remember my name and even asked about CaliGirl. It's like being "Norm" of Cheers. lol)

This was at Roger Rocka's:

Teresa and Janie. I was trying to post a picture of the four of us (Vanessa was there too) but for some reason it keeps showing up as an "x", so I don't know why it won't let me. Grrr.

So that was my trip. Definitely not one of my better ones, and I won't be going back for quite some time.

Two Years