Our Montreal Trip April 2010

Well we had a great time in Montreal!  Megan organized the trip, made reservations on line and got us 3 day subway passes which included museum entrances to several museums also.  We left bright and early Sunday morning.  Carol picked us up (Molly and I)  John stayed home to tend to the dog and the horse.  We arrived at Megan's about 9 am.  She had worked all night (at FAHC) Carol drove until we got right outside of Montreal then Meg took over.  She did an awesome job.  The city is a bit confusing, lots of one way streets and the tom tom kept getting confused due to all the high rise buildings.  We found a parking garage and walked to our hotel (the Holiday Inn Select)  It had a beautiful dining area with all these walkways through areas that had fish in them.  The room was nice, 2 double beds and we got a cot for Leanne.  We were right on the edge of Chinatown so we ended up having dinner at a Vietnamese place.  It was delicious.  We went to the Science Museum and walked in Old Montreal too.  The streets are beautiful, very clean and loaded with neat shops.  We grabbed lunch at a little bistro and Molly got to order her first drink!  She got a Pina Colada.  It was the only place that carded her.  If you didn't already know Canada has a drinking age of 18.

The next morning we had a great breakfast buffet at the hotel.  It had eggs, omelettes, bacon, sausage, crepes, fruit, cereals, juice coffee and more.  (the bill came to $90 for 5 of us though!)  It was yummy and after all it was a special trip!  We hopped on the subway and headed to the biodome and the Olympic Park.  Megan was awesome as our tour guide.  It was difficult at first as everything is broadcast in french...then it got easier as we went along.  The subways were very clean, much different then in NYC.

The Biodome ended up being closed as all the workers were on strike, but we did get to go up on the Olympic Park Tower.  The view was outstanding!

We hopped back on the subway and decided to go to St. Catherine Street.  (Lots of shopping)  They also have an underground mall that goes on forever and is 3 stories!  Got a couple of trinkets, a new purse, Molly found a really cute dress.  We then had lunch, actually ordered an appetizer of grilled smoked Octopus on fresh greens with balsamic dressing.  It was delicious!  Can't get that in Benson!!!

More exploring after lunch, back to Old Montreal for dinner at an Italian place.  Had Mussels and fries, Molly and Leanne got lasagna and Carol had a pizza with shrimp, mussels, scallops and some other fish that was delicious.

Back to the hotel, tired and mellow,  we crashed.  Megan and Leanne went out on the town.    We got up early and found a nice coffee shop on St. Catherine street that had pastries and delicious coffee.  We shopped some more then went to the museum of Contempory Art.  We had pizza for lunch then walked some more and decided it was time to head home.  Megan hit home on the Tom Tom but it rerouted us down 87 into NY state.  We survived and managed to take a wrong turn at the border crossing and had to go through where all the tractor trailers go.  The last picture is of Carol getting out of the jeep  in order to climb up to talk to the border patrol guy (where the tractor trailers go)

It was a great trip!  Thanks Megan, Carol and Leanne!  Next time John has to go!

Molly's 18th birthday!

I can't believe she's 18!  She recovered from the wisdom teeth extraction, but was very sore for a long time and swollen and black and blue.  We had a good day.  She had school but opened a few gifts in the morning and then after dinner.  She didn't want any fancy meal, her request was macaroni and cheese.  All soft foods.  (also had haddock and acorn squash)  Her big request from her dad was cash as we were going to Montreal later in the month.  Here are a few pictures:

She also had to speak at the DAR Awards banquet and go the the Nat'l Honor Society banquet to induct the new juniors.

I can't believe it's mid April already.  The daffodils are out...the leaves are budding.  It's cold and rainy today.

Wisdom teeth, ugh....poor Molly!!

Well Molly had an appointment with the dentist last week...she had been having quite a bit of jaw discomfort on her top teeth.  He took xrays and felt that it was probably related to her wisdom teeth.  She had no space really for them to come in.  We went in Friday morning at 7am, they gave her an iv (he missed the first time)  and conscious sedation.  She does remember some of the procedure though.  She's very uncomfortable, very swollen on the left side of her face and both edges of her lips are sore and cracked.  He gave her percocet so she spent yesterday just resting on our bed propped up on pillows.  Gingerale, flavored water and ice cream yesterday.  She did have scrambled eggs for breakfast this morning and some tuna and macaroni for lunch, a little soup for dinner with some more ice cream.  Still pretty darn sore and swollen.  Ice bags seem to help.  Poor kid!!  Another percocet after dinner and back to bed.

More acupuncture pictures...

This is Dr. Dunton.  She's so nice.  Austin doesn't mind the needles at all.  They stay in 20-30 minutes at a time.  Austin turned 13 on March 1st.  John gets him a piece of carrot cake every year.

March 10, 2010

What a beautiful week of weather we've had.  It's been sunny and 40-50 degrees for the past 3 days.  Most of the snow has melted...some mud, but the roads are actually not too bad.  We had a bit of a scare with Austin yesterday.  I got up and he was on the couch.  Didn't think much of it and headed out to the kitchen to make coffee.  I heard him scrambling try to get off the couch...when I went into the living room he was unable to get his back end off the sofa.  I helped him down and he sort of fell over.  (He had a similar episode about a year ago and seemed to come out of that after a few hours.  He managed to get up but his hind end didn't seem to be able to support him.  He went out, fell down a few times and then came back in.  I called Molly and we helped him to his dog bed.  He was very anxious, panting and seemed like maybe his back was hurting.  I gave him a Rimadyl and we both figured that his time  had come.  We waited for John to get home figuring that he could help us carry him to the car to take him to the vet's and have him put down.

By the time John came home he was stronger, he got up and was able to walk so we figured we'd wait and see.  He had an appt. for acupuncture at 1 p.m. anyway and by the time we went he was back to his old self. He actually jumped right into the back seat of my truck and was quite happy to be going for a ride.  Looks like he's going hang in a little longer!!  John actually went with me for the acupuncture.  Austin was somewhat nervous, but really seemed to like the vet and left the office clearly more comfortable than when he went in.  We walked about a 1/2 mile this morning and he's sleeping on one of his 3 dog beds.  We all know that it's going to happen one of these days, but as long as he's happy and doesn't seem to be uncomfortable we'll hang in there.

The new computer (desktop) is all set up in the den.  It's soooo fast and has an awesome screen.  It's just a rather cheap hp that I got in staples but it's so much better than the dell.  Window's 7 isn't bad either.  It's also wireless so I don't have a massive tangle of cords behind the desk.  I set it up all by myself, installed all the mail programs and extras.  I did have Megan help me with setting up the backup.  I thought I was going to have to hard wire it into the router but she checked and everything was wireless and worked well.  I got a neat little back up hard drive at Costco's that is about the size of a wallet.

Molly's kicking butt working on all her scholarship applications.  She was chosen for a DAR scholarship and has to attend an awards ceremony in Rutland next week.

February 24th 2010

Snow, Snow, Snow!  We've been so lucky all winter...we are getting hammered right now!  It started yesterday late in the afternoon and has been snowing ever since.  I was on call last night for SANE but had a problem with my 4 wheel drive on my truck so I cancelled my call.  The phone still rang at 10:20 pm (from the hospital).  They didn't leave a message, so not sure what it was about.  Anyway glad I didn't have to drive in this mess!  John got home this morning and immediately started to plow.  I'll post some pictures...at 8am we had 15 inches.  It's noon now and I bet there is another 3 inches and still coming down hard.  I guess it's supposed to warm up and rain tomorrow which will be a mess!

Austin has another lick granuloma on his opposite hind leg :( .  Now he has both legs wrapped and this one spot ended up getting infected.  It all stemmed from a weekend when it was too cold to walk and John left with his gun to go coyote hunting and Molly and I went to breakfast.  He was upset at being left behind.  Needless to say we've been to the vet's twice and the second time they recommended a new vet in rutland to try some acupuncture on him.  He's 13 and pretty stiff and lame in the back end.  At first I was skeptical and figured it was just another "money pit"  They also said it can help with anxiety and perhaps would help with the lick granulomas.  We had our first visit the other day.  (Mind you we are on 2 weeks of antibiotics for $107) but I found this vet fascinating.  She spent an hour with us.  Very relaxed and laid back.  (Austin usually is shaking so much that his teeth chatter)  She has an office in an old house so it wasn't like the other vets with dog's barking and people coming and going.  She did a thorough history of his behavior and then examined him very well.  She found that he has right sided neck pain and that his back is very sore.  She said his hips are amazing and strong for a dog of his age.  She had a small bag of liver treats that she fed him (usually he's so nervous that he won't take a treat at the vet's).  She then did a treatment of both lick granulomas in which she injects healthy blood (his) into both the areas and wraps each.  They look much better!  She put a dog bed on the floor and placed about 14 acupuncture needles along both sides of his back and neck.  She had me just sit with him and pat him for about 20 minutes.  He was very relaxed and actually seemed to enjoy it.  We are going back in a week for another treatment.  He definitely seems more comfortable and is walking, trotting and running around a lot more.  Here's some pictures.

How old is this man??

Sunday January 31, 2010

Well it's been a nice weekend off.  Very cold, down to -8 the other morning.  Carol and I went out to lunch yesterday...had a nice meal at Table 24 in Rutland.  It was a good day to just get caught up on everything.  We also helped my neighbor sue get her laptop up and running.  She is a bit addicted to the Home Shopping Network!  The ups man knows her well, but she says she is done ordering on line now!  She had quite a time getting her wireless router going but now it's up.  She has a new laptop.  We've shown her how to take pictures and upload to her computers and helped her set up a facebook page.  


Made a great new recipe of barbeque chicken breasts tonight with baby red potatoes baked in the oven.  The phone rang as we were sitting down and the neighbor mrs. Santamaria was having severe chest pain, nausea and vomiting so they called the ambulance and Sue, Darryl Burlett and myself went over.  She's got really bad COPD and only weighs about 85lbs.  Very pale, dusky hands and feet.  I worry about her.  The squad came and started an iv and headed to the hospital.  I'll check on her in the morning.  I can't imagine that they will be able to live out here very much longer.


We are still enjoying our Wii.  Nancy I hope you get one!  Danny was over yesterday to go coyote hunting with John.  No coyotes yet!


Had my truck oil and filter changed the other day...got some other stuff fixed too...$794.00 when they were done!  Still better than having a regular truck payment!  It's great in the winter!


Back to work tomorrow.  Hopefully won't be too crazy.  Definately need to address health care!  People are forced to come to the e.d. as they can't get into their doctor.  Still alot of abuse of the e.d. though...people with colds, sore throats etc. that should pay big time.  Medicaid lets them come and any prescriptions they get only cost $2!!  

Anyway life is too short to worry about the stupid stuff.  I learned today how petty and immature some people can be and all I can say is what goes around comes around!