Tis the Season

Tis the Season as they say, and with the Season comes a lot of running around. I have been so busy with things that I didn’t get to post last week so this week I had doubled the work. So let me just jump right in and try to get you all up to date on Bob’s progress.

Bob had a visit from his old friend, Charlie, on Saturday, December 6. We met Charlie at Denny’s for brunch. We had a great time talking about the time Bob, Charlie, and Harold traveled down the river one summer. Charlie brought a lot of information for Bob to help him in his writing about that trip. Bob has been doing some writing. He has about two pages written. Some is legible and some isn’t. I read pieces here and there and encourage him to keep going.

Bob got an early Christmas present. We had bought the family a recumbent exercise bike. Bob was getting up in the morning around 9:30, drinking his coffee, and then returning to bed. We would catch him at 11 and 12:00 in bed snoring. That had to stop and so Rob and I decided we needed to get the bike out now instead of waiting for Christmas. It has worked. Bob can use it and it is set right in front of the TV. So we put a DVD in and tell him to watch two Jack Benny shows. That lasts about 40 minutes. At least he is out in the house with the rest of the family, moving his legs, and watching interacting with us. After the 40 minutes he is both mentally and physically worn out.

I have to limit where I can take Bob now. We return to the doctor on Jan. 16 and I am going to beg for a handicap parking permit. Bob is very unsteady on his feet and he is very hard headed. When he has to go up steps he only puts his foot half way on the step. He has almost fallen on me a number of times now. Last week I just had to put my foot down and after chewing him out at Wendy’s I decided it would be better to use the wheel chair then fight anymore. You know if you have a toddler, it is sometimes better to put them in the stroller and strap them in, then chase them all over the parking lot. So now if it is a place that is flat with not a lot of walking he can use his walker, but otherwise he goes in the chair.

This last week Bob got a big treat. We took him to the Gaylord Palms Resort so see the ICE show. This is the sixth year the Gaylord Palms in Orlando has put on the show. They bring artists over from China to hand carve wonderful ice sculptures. It is nine degrees in the room and Bob was not happy about that. Rob and I knew that he wasn’t going to be happy and were prepared. Rob teased his dad about having a sour face, and we ignored most of the comments. We bundled him up tight and pushed him through the show. If you ever are new a Gaylord Palms resort at Christmas I highly recommend seeing the show. It was so beautiful and well worth every penny we paid.

After the ICE show we then went on a horticulture tour that the resort provides. It was full of wonderful information about plants from all over the world and we even had some fish, alligators, and turtles to look at. Bob warmed up after the cold from the ice. We had a lovely lunch and Bob was worn out by the end of the day.

Give him a call this week and ask him about the hotel made of ice. He will tell you it was nine degrees below zero and how he froze to death. HA! Tell him to be good so Santa will come bring him presents. Maybe that will work…it’s worth a try.