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Tag Archive for family

We’ve been Resting, Recuperating, and Recharging

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Renee Spindle

Last Monday afternoon Travel Man and I were enjoying a glorious day at a local beach here in Southern California. The temperature at the beach was a balmy 82°, and the water temperature was even better 69°. Beautiful, picture perfect day. We took our lunch with us, and had planned to stay until close to dinner time. However, our day had a different plan for us.

The waves were cresting at about 6-7 feet that day, which is unusual for Corona del Mar. It’s a beach that’s a little inlet next to the Newport Beach jetty. I swam a couple of times, and Travel Man brought the boogie board with him so he could “catch some waves”. Around 3pm Travel Man went out with the boogie board, and was having fun riding the waves. I was on the beach reading, and could see him bopping around in the water.

Then about 15 minutes later my Travel Man comes staggering out of the water, and he’s using the boogie board to hold himself up. I could tell something wasn’t right with him, so I went right down to the shore to see if he was ok. He definitely was not ok. He had some blood running down his face, and had a nasty scrape on top of his head, and he was hurting. I got him back to our chairs in the sand, and was looking at the cut on his head to see how serious it was. A swimmer who had seen Travel Man stagger out of the water came over to see how he was doing and offered to get the lifeguard for us.

The lifeguard checked him out, and cleaned out the cut on his head. He was having a tremendous amount of pain in his neck. The lifeguard told Travel Man he should have his neck and back checked out. The kind of crash he had taken to the ocean floor is characterized as “going over the falls”. Meaning he was at the very top of the crest of the wave, and the momentum slammed him to the ocean floor. The choices for getting medical attention were; call for an ambulance, or go the doctor on our own. We opted for no ambulance, and got the Injured Man in the car first. Before this a very kind woman sitting near us came over to see if we needed help loading up the car. Of course, being the fathead that I am I said, “No, we’re fine. I think we can manage.” Of course I was not fine, I was racked with fear that my husband had seriously injured himself. In hindsight, I should have insisted that Travel Man be transported by ambulance. We had no idea how seriously he was injured.

We actually started to drive towards home to go to our family doctor, and Travel Man was in so much pain we opted for the emergency room two miles from the hospital. Travel Man called my parents, as they had been in the area earlier in the day. We got checked in to the ER, and I called my brother and asked him to come and sit with me. And he did. He was at the hospital within half an hour, and my parents arrived about an hour later. My family is awesome like that. If there’s an emergency or you need their help, they are ALWAYS there for you. I just love my family.

Travel Man went through some painful moments waiting to be checked out by the doctors; getting a CT scan, and getting an x-ray. Then he got some pain meds and he was able to relax a little. Once we got the results that there was nothing fractured, he got released to go home. This was about 4½ hours after we had initially arrived in the ER.

And my brother, he stayed with us the whole time, until we got Travel Man back in the car to go home. He’s just awesome like that. We sent my parents home earlier in the evening, as they had a long drive home. I was ever so thankful for their presence while Tom was getting checked out. Otherwise my worry gene kicks in, my mind wanders, and I imagine the worst.

Since last Monday, Travel Man has been resting and recuperating. He’s not too happy about this arrangement, but he knows it is necessary. And I am happy to report that he is feeling much better. The abrasion on his scalp has already healed, and his black eye is nearly gone. He was quite a sight. We’re both looking forward to our batteries getting recharged from the resting and recuperating, and moving on to the next adventure. But you all should know, there will be no more boogie boarding in Travel Man’s world.

One other reminder from this story is that there are kind and warm-hearted people everywhere you go. The generosity of the people on the beach was amazing. Travel Man and I always tell each other if we see a chance to be helpful to someone we always will, because you never know when you might need the next “Pay It Forward”.

4 comments Posted in Family

My Favorite Post

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Renee Spindle

In honor of my one year Blog-iversary (thanks Creative Noshing!), I wanted to share my favorite post with all of you from this past year. It was called “For the Un-Love of Mayo”. I thought it would be fun to share this with all of you since this is a never-ending story for me. I always get asked by various family members if I want any mayo yet. Sometimes when we’re out to eat Travel Man tries to sneak me a packet of mayo. But this girl is set in her ways. My un-love of mayo will remain. Enjoy the read, and leave me a comment with your yay or nay vote for mayo.

For the Un-Love of Mayo-

Raise your hand if you are not a mayo lover! I have my hand-held high as I have not yet acquired any sort of taste for mayo. This is an homage to my Dad and my Grandpa, bless their loving hearts.

Growing up my Dad would say to me on occasion, “Oh, you’ll learn to like mayonnaise. Just keep trying.” And, I just remembered this also applied to ANY sort of salad dressing. Well over the years I did keep trying the mayo and to this day I have yet to acquire even a smidgen of love for the stuff. The salad dressing (only the vinegar and oil varieties) is another story. I did learn to like those in my mid-twenties, and have had occasion to make some yummy homemade dressings.

There is a running joke with my dear Grandpa, who I don’t get to see that often, that he always has a jar of mayo waiting in his fridge for me. Ready at any moment for my sandwich of the day. And once again to this day mayo and I just don’t get along.

So you may be asking yourselves how can I get along in this world without mayo. Well, once I learned to like vinegar and oil salad dressings it was easy for me to have a “non-dry” sandwich. Otherwise I would just eat a sandwich dry, and with or without veggies.

As for dishes like potato salad, or a macaroni salad, I steer clear of anything at the buffet bar that even remotely looks or smells like it has any mayo in it. Over the years I have learned to make a killer sour cream, potato salad (this is the no mayo allowed variety). For many years my kids were not even aware that there was any other form of potato salad. And now my potato salad is such a hit at family parties that my kids pass the recipe along to their friends!

So to my Dad and Grandpa- thanks for all your mayo loving ways. But I will forever remain in the Non-Mayo world.

2 comments Posted in Around the House, Blogging, Family, Food

Angels Baseball with the Boys

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Renee Spindle

Travel Man and I squeezed in some time on Tuesday night to see and Angels game. Yay!! With his crazy travel schedule we have had to learn not to plan our outings too far ahead, as his travel plans can change in a moments notice. So we are learning to be more spontaneous than we normally would. But it’s working. We took our oldest son, Bryan to the game, and grandson, Evan.

The Angels were playing an interleague game with the San Francisco Giants, with CJ Wilson pitching. We love baseball, so it’s always a treat to get to see a game live. And Evan is getting into baseball more and more each year. First inning, Albert Pujols hits a three-run homer. A great at bat, and Evan is on cloud nine because he got to see Pujols hit a homer while he was at the game. He knows who most of the position players are, and gets lots of questions about the game answered by his Uncle Bryan. He’s like a sponge this year soaking in all of the baseball details.

Before the game Evan got a mini bat for a souvenir. He told the employee at the counter that he could only spend $10, because that was Grandma’s budget. When Evan gets back to his seat he tells me, “Grandma, we only spent $5, so we’re in your budget!” Just too funny for me. I was laughing for 5 minutes along with some “Grandma’s” sitting a few rows behind us.

Evan got lots of treats; churros, red vines ( I tried to call these red licorice, but got corrected), peanuts, a soda, a soft pretzel. Not the usual Grandma meals, but hey we were at the ballpark. Funny thing is he told his mother last night that we never fed him dinner!

The first inning was so exciting, 4 runs scored, and 4 runs scored in the 4th inning, more excitement! Right after the seventh inning stretch we get on the jumbotron!! Evan had the funniest delayed reaction. Bryan and I are pointing to the jumbotron telling Evan to look, and he was just in awe. Then he got excited and started jumping up and down. Just too funny because Evan had been dancing all night when they had the “dance cams” going in the stadium trying to get on the jumbotron, and then he did. The 8th inning we score 3 more runs. The Angels won this game 12-5. Lots of offense, and fun times with Evan too.

Evan’s getting lots of lessons in reading the baseball stats from all of us. Bryan is teaching him to read the stats in the newspaper. Great way to teach a little reading, and the numbers and percentages. If you have a sponge like Evan who likes sports this is a wonderful way to soak up some knowledge.

It’s always a treat when we get to spend time with any of the kids and with Evan along too. Bryan is a baseball aficionado, and so knowledgeable about the game it’s always a treat to get to watch a game with him and learn something new.

Travel Man will be back on the road today to South America, so I’m thankful we got to have a trip to the baseball park while he was home. It’s always a treat.

What’s your favorite summertime adventure?

No comments Posted in Family, Sports, Travel Man

A Parent’s Admiration

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Renee Spindle

Over this past weekend, my sister and her husband were visiting from Montana. The Party House was completely a buzz because Dooney (my sister Laura) and Stevo (Laura’s husband, Steve) were in the house. Also, my nephew, Jim was here from San Luis Obispo. Saying the Party House was a little packed was an understatement. Although, we were without Travel Man, and our youngest son, Zach. They were both working for a living.

We had great times, great conversation, and great food from Wednesday at lunchtime until the last meal yesterday at lunchtime.

But there was a moment that not everyone would have seen or heard, that was filled with such love I could not help but share it with you all. My parents were sitting in our family room, kind of off to the side of the room, in these two comfy chairs I have there for reading. The girls (myself, my sister, and Elaine) and I were getting the enchiladas rolled and put together for baking. And I could hear my parents in the corner talking about all of their kids and grandkids, and now Evan, the great-grandchild all in the same place at the same time. I just caught bits and pieces of what they were saying, but their conversation was filled with such love and pride, it’s one of those “moments” for me that I will always be able to recall. It was one of those “moments” that is so filled with love and family that you feel as though “your cup runneth over”. Sometimes when we are fortunate to get everyone together like this my Mom will say to my Dad, “Yo Rocky (even though his name is Jim), I can’t believe we done dis!”

Saturday night we had a wonderful dinner together, filled with wonderful, loving toasts all around the table. We are so incredibly fortunate to have such a loving, soulful family. I am just feeling thankful today. Blessed and thankful. My hope will always be that everyone gets to have this kind of family experience, at least once in their lives.

No comments Posted in Around the House, Family, Food

My Domestic Goddess Status – Just an Update

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Renee Spindle

It is almost the end of April, and it has been just about a year since I quit my job in the Corporate arena! My how time flies!! I was crowned by my beloved Travel Man as the Domestic Goddess of our household shortly after I decided to stay at home for a while. Little did I know how much I would love this title. If you follow my stories you know I left my job a year ago to pursue other interests. Here’s a link to my post from last April about my life change-Our Girls Vision Luncheon.

In the past year I have had the opportunity to spend time with my grandson, do lots and lots of baking, do a little bit of sewing ( I want to get more of this done soon!), start and finish some little home improvement projects, take a few trips with Travel Man, try some new recipes, add to our list of family favorite recipes, read more books, and generally have the luxury to just come and go as I please. This has all been so personally rewarding for me. Getting to discover what I love to do again, and who knew that I had a passion for writing. I always felt that I had some stories to tell that people would relate to, but I did not realize how much I would enjoy sharing them.

My Domestic Goddess title was given to me by my loving husband. It is because of his encouragement and support that I am able to do what I want to do. Thanks Travel Man for all that you do.

One of my biggest perils in my new-found title is getting side tracked when I am working on things around the house. Does this happen to anyone else? I have had a few discussions with my sister, who works from home, about this, and she tells me the same thing I am already feeling. If you don’t stay focused on the task at hand you get sidetracked to some other task, and then you have to re-focus to get back to the task at hand. Was that statement too confusing, it made my head spin just typing it. That’s why I am really focusing on my lists everyday. To stay away from the “side tracks”.

Also, I have had the good fortune to just pack my bags and take a few short trips with Travel Man. We went to Reno to visit my parents, and last year I was able to take a long road trip with him from Franklin, Kentucky to home. Lots and lots of fun being on the road with someone who travels for a living.

For awhile Travel Man’s days off were falling during the week, so our “weekends” would be happening on a Tuesday/Wednesday timeframe. No worries for us, we are just able to do what we want to when he is home. Sometimes at Disneyland, maybe out to dinner, a visit to the parentals, some time with the grandson, and hopefully a dinner together with the twenty-somethings.

This has been a great year of re-discovery for me. A big hug and thank you to all of my family for your loving support and guidance. I’m looking forward to more and more new discoveries in this next year, and hope to share the stories with each and every one of you.