Okay…..lots of ground to cover and yet I don’t have much time before my next Vicodin kicks in…….well, actually it is already kicking in, so this will not be the post I had hoped it to be!

Thanksgiving was great!  I went to Edgar’s house and he, the kids, Anita and Luciano, and my Dad and Ellie celebrated together.  Here is a pic of Dad and Ellie, specifically taken for my Aunt Kay:

My shoulder is doing pretty good.  I did way too much yesterday and thought it’d be good to lay off the pain meds – the two are a bad combination.  I ended up being in the worst pain I have felt since the surgery and it took quite some time for it to be controlled.  It was not pleasant and I was, unfortunately, cranky!  Rita, David and I went into West Hollywood yesterday and had fun, but I ended the night early with my pain (well, I think it was after midnight).  Fortunately I made it thru the cranky stage and pain – as did Rita, who got the brunt of my crankiness!

Today I have done a bit better – have taken it easier, worked on school, and watched Rita get all my stuff organized in her place.  What?  Does that make sense?  Oh yeah, think I missed a big part of my weekend….

Let’s see – my best friend had one condition to our friendship.  Unfortunately, that one thing became an issue and we are now no longer friends.  It became more complicated by the fact that I was living in her home, which she opened up to me very generously last year when my own home was vacated (that is another long and dramatic story, but old news by now).  Anyway, so I had planned to move temporarily into Edgar’s place, but it’s pretty full there with the kids and his parents.  He was willing and offered to house me anyway, but Rita was nice enough to allow me to move into her place until I had time to get an apartment or whatever.  So on Friday, Rita, Kenny, Edgar and I (well, having just had surgery, didn’t do very much) moved the bulk of my stuff to storage and the rest (including my beloved bike) is here at Rita’s.  So today Rita moved a dresser into her office and cleaned out a closet there for my stuff.  I have to say, she’s been really amazing through this transition and I am very thankful for her!  And Edgar and Kenny were just as amazing organizing my storage and working their butts off with my stuff!

And how has my Gracie done with the transition?  Well, she loves it here!  Nike, Rita’s rotweiller, is the best big brother she could ever ask for!  But, truth be told, Gracie is the boss in the relationship!  Here they are relaxing together:

On Saturday, we took both dogs to the vet; Nike for a check up and Gracie to get her left eye checked out because it has been running.  Both also had “spa treatments”!  They came home healthy, clean, and happy!

And that, my friends, is all that I can write now because I am sleepy!  Working tomorrow will be interesting as I take multiple naps a day!  Plus, being out here in the valley, I am not looking forward to the commute!

I will write more later!

After many delays and false starts, Josh and I are finally having our special time together!  I am very thankful because, with my upcoming surgery, I didn’t want to delay it further and also did not want him to be tied down with a gimpy mom!

So, you’re probably why I am writing on this blog if we’re having our time together, right?  Well, I DO have a class that I need to meet with online at 11 am, and just finished some homework.  He is watching a moving and we are chilling until after my class.

But that doesn’t mean we haven’t had a blast so far!  Last night we went for Hibachi and had a yummy dinner, volcano and all, as well as some random drumming with our chopsticks.  We finished the night singing karaoke till I lost my voice.  Today, we did a bit of that, played with Gracie, and just were silly together.  In fact, while giving Gracie Milk-Bones, he asked if he could taste one.  He did and the kid can ACT!  He so convinced me it was the best thing ever, so much so that I took a bite!  He immediately ran to the trash to spit it out while I agonized over the horrible taste in my mouth!  Let me tell you, I am NOT that gullible, but he was very convincing!

Okay, thanks for letting me fill the gap before my class!  I will write more later with other things Josh has done to his poor old mom!  Remind me to tell you about the Sumo Wrestler!

Okay, today I went to my Orthopedic Surgeon……he is cool.  Kiarash “Kevin” Khajavi.  He is the one that had me have the tests that hurt so freakin bad but that showed what the deal is with my shoulder.  Last time we met, he said that I have two issues – strained ligament from my collar bone to my shoulder, and arthritis in the same place.  He suggested I wait a few weeks, take Ibuprofen in the am and pm, and hope the pain subsided.

Well, there wasn’t a marked change in the pain area and, quite frankly, this shoulder has really crimped my style!  So I was ready for a battle!  However, when I explained my position today, he gave me two options – cortisone shot or surgery.  I asked a few questions and pretty much said “I want this to be done” and he said surgery was the way to go.  He also mentioned I have bone spurs there or something, so that would be taken care of, too.  So I am having outpatient arthroscopic surgery on 11/25, where he will shave my bone a bit, clean up any other damage, and then I will be recovering.  I will only miss 2 or 3 days of work and the overall recovery time will be about 6 weeks.  I will need physical therapy to make sure it doesn’t lock up and HOPEFULLY I will be back to normal….well, as normal as I am!  I will let you know how it goes!  I thank God that my new employer was understanding about this whole thing and that it’s slow at work right now!

Here are some pics from the fishing trip we took this weekend!

Here is how the sky looked as we left the bay….

Here is Edgar and Kenny and Kenny relaxing:

Here is my Joshster:

Me and my friend Rita (ignore the beer in my hand……):

Here are some of our poor fish and the Newport Bay:

The sunset:

It was fun even though there was drama with the fires……..

This past weekend was a BLAST!  It included a fun Friday with friends, a decadent massage on Saturday, a birthday celebration for Edgar’s birthday on Saturday, and skateboarding on Sunday.  Let me describe this all in more detail for you!

Friday my friend Rita as well as Rona hung out and we shared some delicious wine that Rita had recently gotten on her trip through Napa Valley.  Those of you who know me know that I LOVE wine, so this was a very special treat for all of us!

Saturday I had the most amazing massage – the best I have had in the last 2 or 3 times!  It was SO GOOD!  What is funny is that when the woman massage chick called me, she was TINY and very shy…..my first reaction was, “This is gonna suck!”  but she turned out to be VERY good!  Yeah for Gina!

Then it was rushing back to Edgar’s house, where we celebrated his upcoming 47th Birthday.  My Dad and Ellie were there, so it was a great time.  Here are some pics!

Then Kenny told me we “all were going to the Van Skate Park” on Sunday!

Sunday Kenny became a member of the Van Skate Park near our house, along with his friend Ashley.  Edgar took them there and I was going to meet them – I took my bike as it had been in the shop for the past week and I missed it!  The first problem occurred when I realized the offramp I was used to no longer existed!  So I totally got lost, driving around for about 15 minutes looking for the dang mall.  Then I remembered – my phone has GPS!  So I pulled over, got the directions, and got there post haste.

When I finally parked, I tossed my keys into the back cart and immediately said to myself, “That’s probably not a good idea, Gina!  You could lock your keys in there!”  At which point I silently thought back to myself, “Seriously, do you think I would be so stupid?”  So I take off my gloves, my helmet, grab my keys, close the cab, and start walking.  Then I realize I forgot to take off my Adidas jacket and turned around to go back.  That’s when I looked at my keys and realized I had grabbed my CAR keys……the MOTORCYCLE keys were locked inside!

WHAT TO DO?!?!!?!!?

I will not share the thoughts that went through my mind at that point!

Don’t worry, I pride open the cab just enough to get the keys out without causing too much damage.  It IS a big looser and I realized how not secure it is, but I am relieved that I got out of this pickle!

Kenny did an AWESOME job at the skate park and totally rocked the house!

There was more here and there, but these were the exciting happenings for the weekend!  Hope y’all are doing well!

Oh, and I LOVE my new job!

Quick post – I decided to let the boys ditch school and we are taking advantage of my last day off from work and going to SEA WORLD!  Yeah!

We are at a hotel right now about to take off.  It will be great fun will write more later!

Let’s see…….

Kirstie is now 18! I can’t believe it really. Who would have thought that she could be 18 so quickly? That CAN’T mean I am getting old or anything, right? LOL

Whether you agree with it or not, I got her a tattoo for her birthday. She has wanted it for two years and it is a memorial to her friend Lucia who passed away in 10th grade. Here are some pics:

She had a great birthday with her friends and we had a nice dinner Saturday that her Grandma Anita prepared. Here are some pics of that:

It was a wonderful birthday for all!

The boys are doing well also. School is in full swing and both seem to enjoy their friends and classes. Kenny started Junior High and is finally on track, lol! He is much more responsible this year and that is awesome! He walks or rides his skateboard to school each day so he likes that as well.

For me, the shoulder is still bothersome!  I was able to see the Orthopedic Surgeon this past week who believes my Rotator Cuff is okay, but that I injured the tendon coming off my clavicle (color bone) to my shoulder.  To find out for sure and see how extensive the damage is, he ordered an MRI, which is scheduled for the 17th.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is said doctor is getting married and will be gone so I can’t be treated until 10/6!  I am trying to see what I can do, but so far because this is a referral situation it is a little complicated.  In the mean time, I am finally laying low (no boogie boarding, indoor kart racing, etc.) and taking my Vicodin at night so I can sleep.  It IS very painful and I am getting tired of it……..

Oh, and the Ortho doctor mentioned I have some arthritis in my shoulder!  He said that it is not the cause for my pain, not to worry, and that “it’s normal for someone my age”!  What is THAT about?!?!!?!!?!  LOL

Okay, must go now…..Kenny is itching to go to the skate park and I need to get ready.  Yes, he is a skater boy now……and is getting kind of good.  Here is an action shot of both boys taken at Kirstie’s party last night:

Have a great day, Gina OUT!

So school starts for the boys on Tuesday.  Can’t say they are overly excited about the summer ending, especially since I’ve been home and at their disposal much of the time!  But we went out with a bang…..and there are still a few days left!

Here is Kenny with his new board (sorry no surfing shots – Mom was tired this morning!)

Here am I after body surfing FREEZING and with my shoulder screaming

Afterward, we got food to eat and then decided to do a race and K1 Sport in Anaheim.  Here we go!

I won’t talk too much about my shoulder as my friend Teddi might want to yell at me again!  She A-SCARES me!  LOL

It was a great day!