Cataract Surgery in Process and more of the same old same old....

Well,  round one of Cataract Surgery went well.  The left eye was done last Wednesday, but the actual prep began on the Sunday before. Anti-Inflammatory eye drops 3 times a day for three days and then 3 times a day for one more week after the surgery.  The Steroid Eye Drops began the day of surgery, 1 drop every 2 hours until bedtime, and then 6 times a day for a week, 4 times a day the next week, 3, then 2, then 1 drop one time a day for the 5th week!!!  And the Antibiotic drops began the day of surgery, followed by 1 drop 3 times a day for a week after surgery.   Round 2, for the right eye will be this coming Wednesday, Oct. 2nd.......... and I started using the Anti-Inflammatory drops today.  Thankfully they give you a paper where you can keep track to make sure you get them done.  One sheet for each eye.

The doctors at Newsome Eye are great.  Dr. Sravistiva, MD is my regular eye doctor, and the one who does the surgery.  And surgery was a piece of cake!  At the same time she does the cataract, she also does the Lazar surgery to take care of the glaucoma.  So once this is done, I will no longer need the medication for glaucoma!    Post OP has been Dr. Ockx, OD....who is also excellent!

A bit of a break working in the kitchen.  Easy stuff like, hot dogs, Chinese take-out, and ravioli and sausage.  And we did try a new Stromboli recipe that was absolutely excellent! Take a look...

We've done a lot of traveling, and we always try to stay at a Choice Hotel to collect points.  Between the hotel points, and those that we get on our credit card, we turned them in for 2 $50 Gift Cards for Lowe's, 1 $50 Card for Outback Steakhouse, and 2 $50 Cards for Red Lobster.   Now we just need to take the right card with us when we head out. Last week headed out to Lowe's with plans to stop for breakfast first.  About half way there we realized that we didn't bring the Gift Card..... so we just stopped at I-HOP for breakfast.

Saturday we tried again.  Got to Lowe's and got everything we needed. Rich had only brought ONE of gift cards....so we still ended up paying the remaining balance out of pocket!  From Lowe's we went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. And when Rich went to pay the tab...... he had brought with him the Red Lobster card!  Well the good thing is we still have and Outback and a Lowe's card left for the next trip to Sebring!  Dinner was excellent.  Bloomin Onion to start.... Rich had the Steakhouse Quesadilla's, and I had the Steakhouse Philly!  Delicious!

Been looking on-line, and checked some things out at Lowe's and Home Depot, as we are planning on the remodel of our guest bathroom.  Checking out colors, the cost etc...... and our next call/stop will be at the Decor Store here in Lake Placid, who did a lot of the work in the kitchen........ Hoping to get it done before Dennis and Krystal's visit in December.

And the Tampa Bay Rays  Clinch Wild Card berth!!!  They will playoff with Oakland on Wednesday!!!  Go Rays!!!

Not a lot going on......cooking, baking, cleaning.......

Update on the pulled/torn calf muscle:  It was about three full weeks before I was able to begin walking near normal again. As of today it's been four weeks.... a little bit of an ache once in a while, but pretty much back to normal.....However the back of the leg, just above the ankle is still very very black and blue!

It was about a week ago, back around the 6th of Sept, when I finally got back in the kitchen...or I should say WE got back in the kitchen! Chili is usually a meal that we tend to have when the weather is much cooler, but it just sounded good.  So Rich got out his Mom's recipe and made big dish of Johnny Cake, while I threw together the Chili!  Excellent!!!

Lately we have had these strange flying bugs (?) insects (?).  There a lots of them flying around in the back yard, and will frequently perch on the aloe plant.  Not sure what they are. Thy have four wings...and the wings are clear, with like spider lines in them...

And of course we can never forget 9.11.2001. 

A day embedded in each and every American.....and a day when every person can remember exactly where they were or what they we doing when they heard the news.

Today we pray for the families and remember all of the victims of 9-11




But we also celebrate....my baby brother's birthday on September 11th.  This year brother Dave and his best canine buddy, Jake celebrated the birthday for a few days in the Adirondeck Mountains, where they took in the beauty of Mother Nature......

And then it back to cookin' and grillin'......A few of our favorites this past week...
 Chicken K-Bobs w/ potato salad..........Country Fried Steak and mashed potatoes.. and some homemade Banana Nut Muffins!

We had a few days when the humidity was not too bad, especially over the weekend..so we got some outside cleaning and yard work done.  Rich trimmed some more of the elephant leaves out back.  We got the hose out and sprayed down and cleaned the front porch and the back lanai, and the front entry area.  We trimmed the topiary in the front yard, and got that long long row of bushes along the west side of the house trimmed and bagged!  ( And those sidewalks will be first on the list to power wash - once this rainy season comes to an end... ugh

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Today was errands and doctor visit day for me.  I left the house at 10:30 this morning and finally made it back home just after 3:00 this afternoon.  Headed for Sebring..... Stopped at Wells Insurance to pay the Homeowner Insurance.  Filled the gas tank.  Went to Encore to get fitted for a new CPAP mask.  Changing from the full face mask to a smaller one that just covers the nose.  Last stop was a Newsome Eye Clinic for my Pre-op visit.  Lots of paperwork, measuring, and picture taking for better picture of any astigmatisms..etc.  They've sent prescriptions for three different eye drops... that I will need to take several times a day prior to op and for about 5 weeks after the op.  I'm scheduled for next Wednesday for Cataract Surgery on the left eye .... and two weeks later will have the right eye done. 

Plans change with Dorian looking on....

Better than a week ago, everyone's eye was on the path of Hurricane Dorian, at least those of us who live here in Florida.   We watched closely as more and more it appeared that Florida was the primary target. 

Last Friday the path looked pretty certain that we would be hit - if not full force at least some pretty heavy winds, which, here in this little town, spells NO POWER.  And because of our location, we are the last to have power turned back on!  So we just decided to hit the road. We knew it was early, no evacuations yet, even along the coast........so we knew there should be no traffic jams, or inability to find gasoline.  So we were surprised that this early there were a LOT of gas stations with NO GAS!   We ran into a lot of rain, poor visibility, and a pretty good traffic jam on I 75N when a tractor/trailer went off the road.

So we followed the path, and moved accordingly.  First stop was in Chiefland, Fl, just south of Tallahassee.   The storm still indicated that we should move a bit further north.........so we booked a couple of nights in Bainbridge, GA.  We headed back south as the storm moved to the NE.....But our county was still calling for Tropical Storm winds.......so we booked a room over in Bradenton, FL

We had put some of our food in a cooler, so we had lunch food for most every day..... But we did have some pretty good meals eating out. Pizza at ABC Pizza is excellent.   First night in GA we fixed Turkey pot pie in microwave,  and for me a Chicken Hot Pocket.  And then it was Chinese Buffett, Cracker Barrell, and some awesome Stromboli's from D'Americos in Bradenton!   I had made a couple dozen chocolate chip cookies that we took out of the freezer.... and that was our dessert each night!

Our prayers were answered....no damage, no power outage.... and we are back home.....  Watching all the new hurricanes trying to make there way west!  Our thoughts and prayers to those in North and South Carolina.  Family in NC have prepared well..... and we hope they stay safe.