OK, So first things first; a very brief recap of our Christmas trip to New York. Brief, mostly because I did practically nothing but sit in a recliner and pop pain pills! Let's just say that 18 hours on the car ride up didn't sit well with my recovery from surgery the week before!

We got plenty of snow and I watched a bunch of movies, but other than that, I really didn't (or should I say couldn't) do much.

I did get to talk to a few friends on the phone, but was not able to connect with anyone - including my Aunt's Louise and Dianne - which was kind of a bummer. I don't get to NY all the time, so being there and not feeling like getting out of bed was kind of a drag!

I only got to see my folks a few times as well - and then it was mostly me just sitting there - I felt bad, but it was all I could do.

Plus, the second day we were there, Reagan came to our room in the middle of the night and said he felt sick - he and several other family members spent a few days with a nice little stomach bug that had things coming out of one end or the other, if not both!

Then the weather started to look ugly again, so we wound up leaving a little early. Which was a good call - we missed the snow and ice, although we did hit some really heavy fog in Virginia, about 60 miles north of the Tennessee line. So, we pulled into a rest stop and waited for sun-up to burn off the fog before we continued. Yes, this made the trip a bit safer, but we wound up 23 hours in the car - and that's with six people, two dogs and all the Christmas stuff.

We were invited out to Zach and Erika's for New Years, which was cool - although we are far from party people and not to big on staying out late. We were glad to actually see some people we haven't seen in what feels like ages, but in accordance with out plan only stayed until about 8:30PM.

We headed for home. Patti and Reagan went to bed and I stayed up with the older kids, watched a movie and saw the ball drop. And because I missed it last year, I was absolutely horrified to see Dick Clark... it was painful to watch!

Having all this "down time" I also managed to do something I just never ever do, which is read. Partly, because I hate reading books - at least I very rarely find ones that interest me. But Patti got me a copy of "The Heroin Diaries" for Christmas and I just finished reading that yesterday. Good read - not exactly a "how to" book for living your life, but I have always been fascinated with the life and times of one Mr. Nikki Sixx.

In the days since, I have gotten to feeling much better and am now getting around pretty well - I'd say 95% recovery at this point. I've also gotten back to work, but haven't really gotten too much done - at least it doesn't feel that way to me. I know 2009 is gonna be gang-busters for me on the job!

The boys also both decided that they wanted to get their ears pierced. So we took them out yesterday and both Ray and Reagan got both ears pierced. Ray didn't finch and when Reagan got his first ear done, he looked at us and proclaimed, "that was really painful". Then he smiled and asked when the attendant was gonna do the other one. What a funny little personality he has!

Well, that's the quick "catch-up". I also took some time this morning and read through all my 2008 postings. It was definately a year of lows for me, but there were some high points too... Here's a few of the more notable points;

Jan
Trip to NY

Feb
Super Tuesday Tornadoes
2/24 Life-Long friend Jim Acosta's brother Joey dies

March
My Trip to Colorado / Vincennie Family Reunion of sorts

April
4/22 Papa Joe (my biological grandfather, who I met in CO for the first time) dies of a heart attack

May
Pitbull puppy Phydeux joins our family
Patti's parents visit
Fence gets completed (and issues with my low-life neighbor diminish!!!)

June
6/4 Patti and I mark 20 years since we started dating in high school
My parents visit

July
Raina learns to skateboard
Ray plays guitar at his first concert (and steals the show!)
My Biological Mother, Sunny, enters hospice
Lauren gets her drivers permit

August
8/4 My mother, Sunny, Dies
8/10 Reagan is baptized in the bathroom

September
Doctor tells me I have elevated kidney & liver enzymes

October
10/13 Patti and I celebrate 18 years of marriage!

Nov
Ray gets his foot runover by a car during a football game
GnR finally release "Chineese Democracy"
I am promoted to Data Quality Analyst at work

Dec
I undergo a hydracelectamy (Left's Weight Loss) operation
12/19 school mate Mike Bell dies

So... 2009. What will it hold? Hopefully less trauma and tradgedy than 2008 and more of the good things in life. I have a lot to do and to be honest, I don't really feel like I gave it 100% in 2008. I don't really have any regrets though - I never really do - but I am really hoping that I can pull it together and make 2009 the year it has the potential to be!

Well, the house looks like a bomb went off in it... we are rearranging the downstairs a bit and just bought some crappy retro furniture at the Salvation Army store in Nashville. Gotta go and help out before I get into deeper trouble than I already am for sitting here and typing away... some things never change I guess!

Later-
Ray

Man... so much going on. We left Nashville on Thursday at 11AM and pulled into Hopewell Junction NY at about 6 this morning. I am tired and sore and am popping stiches... I think they are supposed to come out?! Did I mention sore?

I got a message from an old friend, Bruce Jackman about the passing of another old friend, Mike "Mad Dog" Bell who died this week. I am not into wrestling and hadn't heard until I got Bruce's email. I'm not going to pretend to have been real close with Mike, but I can remember when the Bell family moved to town and was around him all the way through high school. I rememenber him and some of the other jocks picking up the back end of small cars (VWs, Hondas, etc.) in the parking lot at Arlington High School's North Campus and such - not my crowd, but Mike was an all around good guy and he was funny! One memory I have of Mike was from Titusville Middle School. We were taking a math test and all eyes were on test papers - you could hear the pencils leaving their marks. Then, all of a sudden - a ferocious sneeze. We all glanced toward the door (alphabetical seating) and saw Mike with his hands still covering is face. He blurts out a very muffled, "does anybody have a tissue?!". There was sneeze juice everywhere! My hear goes out to Chris and the rest of the Bell family.

Well, I am sitting here enjoying my pain medication and watching the 1" per hour snowfall.

Thanks again to all those who have sent well wishes and shared a laugh at my expense - if anyone sends me a christmas tree photoshopped with bloody balls on it I will refuse to post it, so don't waste your time!

Happy Holidays!

Later-
Ray

Well, on the upside when the doctor removed my dain this morning, my reaction was, "that's it"? which was pleasantly answered with a yes.

I was very glad that Patti had found a wheelchair though, because I am still not getting around very well... My good friend Josh aptly called it "balls the the wall" which is true, because I have largely been leaning agaist the wall for support!

So, I don't have a drain taking up already cramped quaters in my pants, so I seem to feel a tad more comfortable, although no where near 100% yet. This is shaping up to be a long week.

Later-
Ray

Well, yesterday was no fun at all! I came home from surgery and pretty much wobbled (and I mean wobbled!) off to bed where I stayed until nearly 6PM. I think the pain medication and sheer trauma of having surgery were blocking much of the pain, because I was sitting in bed watching movies, surfing the web and thinking, "This isn't really all that bad at all!"... Famous last words, right?

Well, I hadn't gone to the bathroom all day and because I wasn't noticing any pain, I hadn't even opened my pain medication. I think you can see where this is going! My first "act"  of any kind for the day, then was to get up, wobble to the bathroom and attempt not only to use the restroom, but to change out my dressing. All I can say is thank God for my wife!

I'll spare you the gorey details (because they were quite gorey) and just say that between the stress, the pain and the glimpse of what I didn't want to see led to my getting a little spacey and ultimately passing out. Fortunately, I felt it coming on and was able to sit on the toilet and instruct Patti to hold me upright. Not good...

I strarted the pain medication immediately after that!

I actually didn't sleep too bad, although I am incapable of tossing or turning, so it is flat on my back in one and only one position to sleep for now. By 4:00AM that was all I could take of that and I had to get up because my back was as bad as the rest of me!

I spent a few hours down stairs - ate, took my pain killer and antibiotics. Because we are driving to NY next week (which to me hardly seems feasible at the moment), we had to bring the van into the shop. Patti drove the van down and Lauren drove my truck, but because she only has her permit, yours truly had to bounce along for the ride - to and from the garage!

I did manage to get some rest this afternoon, which was good, but I slept for more than three hours, so my pain meds are out of my system at the moment and I am really feeling it. I'm going to let this one go through my system, take another in three hours and then an hour after attempt dressing change 2. I just hope it goes better than last nights!

All in All, I won't be reccommending this procedure to my friends or my enemies!

Later-
Ray

Well the last 24 hours has been really stressful. I got a call around 4PM yesterday from Centennial Surgery Center telling me that of the two proceedures I was scheduled for, only one was covered by my insurance . So although this has been scheduled for weeks, they only get around to telling me this less than 24 hours before I am scheduled.

The long story short(er) is that my insruance company would pay, but the surgical center couldn't tell the difference between Blue Cross Blue Shield of TN and Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rochester NY which is my carrier. Apparently BCBS of TN has made payment difficult on one of the procedures, but I went so far as to conference Centennial on with my BCBS rep who said they will pay for the services, but the person from Centennial started in with this childish, "No you won't" thing...

Anyway, everything went off without a hitch this morning and ultimately my insurance company will be billed, so this all cost me zip!

I am supposed to remain in bed for 48 hours with no lifting or strain. I have to go back on Monday for a followup procedure to remove the drain.

So, I am sitting here surfing the web a little and plan to watch a movie or two on my laptop. I don't really feel like doing much of anything else.

To those who have called, emailed, txt'd and prayed - I say thank you!

Later-
Ray

Well, for anyone that missed it and is actually (sick enough to be) interested, you can click HERE for the post with this history on this thing...

So yeah, tomorrow's the day... I've never had surgery, never even had an IV. So I am a but apprehensive to say the least!

My condition has been bothering me more and more lately though and if I don't take care of if, the swelling will continue and mass will increase. There are just certain things in life that should not be massive!

Anyway, I just want to get this day (Thursday) done and get to bed when I get home so I don't have to deal with it...

OK, so no, this isn't back to 1980 or anything, I'm not talking about Ronald Reagan, I'm talking about MY REAGAN.

The little guy has been sick off and on for the last two months and has missed a bunch of his cub scout meetings, which he really seems to enjoy. So, it was a surprise to me when I found out the "space derby" race was taking place two weeks ago. He hadn't been there when they handed out the kit (similar to a pinewood derby, only it's a little "rocket" the has a rubberband powered propeller) to build his rocket. We managed to pick one up two days before the race. The little guy actually did a bunch of the work, with minimal guidance. When it came time to the "finishing touches" he, like Dad, thought that Rat-Rod flat black with flames was the way to go. So we sprayed it with flat black paint and then, having watched one too many episodes of "Biker Build-Off" and "Monster Garage" type shows, took to applying masking tape to the body of the rocket and then cutting out a flame pattern, which we sprayed hot-rod red. It wasn't the best flame job in the world (hey, I've never done this before!) but it was cool enough for a cub scout!

So, there wasn't exactly a "this is how you must install" the rubber bands section in the manual, so after tinkering with it a bit, I figured I would fold the rubber band in half, effectively doubling the power - which it did! Woo Hoo, I am a simple genious (emphasis on the simple part)... When we tested it the rocket gave us hope that it would be unbeatable!

Well, much like the Titanic, this thing was a catastrophe! I wound the rocket up for Reagan's first race and it broke. Mind you - most of the rockets that "broke" did so when the rubberbands snapped. An "official" came over to check on our downed craft, expecting to find some busted rubber bands, but instead, it seemed that we put such a load on the propeller, that the metal shaft the rubber bands were supposed to spin actually snapped! At which point I had some splainin' to do... Hey, there's nothing in the rules about how to setup your rubber band, just that you had to use one to two rubber bands that were provided.

Reagan was really bummed, we couldn't get it fixed in time and he never got to even get his rocket on the wire .

We were told that we could bring it to the next pack meeting though were the final races would be as there was also an award to best design and his rocket was "pretty cool".

Well, I guess it was more than "pretty cool" as I heard one of the judges remaring about how much he liked the "Rat Rocket"!

Reagan never so much as got his rocket to move, but that rocket managed to move the judges to award him with "Best Design" of all the rockets that were built for the year!

He walked out of there with a nice trophy too! On the way home he said, "Dad, can we get a trophy case for this? 'Cause I'm gonna win a lot of trophies!". That little kid makes me smile. I was so proud of him!

Well, I've gotta get off to bed. I actually started doing some of the work for my new position and less (although I am still doing some of the) work from my old post.

Also on the horizon is putting "Lefty" on a diet this Friday... There's just something about surgical instruments and my testicles that don't give me that warm and happy feeling! I am told that I will be pretty much outta commission for "a few days" and that the will remove the drain (oh joy) on Monday.

We are also planning on driving to NY for the holidays. That sounds like a good test for the new to be found room in my pants huh?! 12+ hours of driving - Yay!

Anyway, we will be there for the week, likely heading back late Friday or very early Saturday. I'm not sure what our plans are - I am actually trying to keep things open as I love the spur of the momnet (OK, I suck at planning things, but spontenaity has it's place!).

Anyway, that's a few things in a nutshell (oooh, poor choice of words). As always there's a lot more going on, but that's all I have time for right now - eyelids are getting heavy. Pillow is calling my name...

Later-
stRay

First off, try not to read too much into the title of this blog... The meaning is there, but it might not be what you think... Man, this is a wicked spiral already, huh?

Right now, I am working ..ting over many of my daily routines so I can actually move into my new role at work. This has been a trying couple of weeks - a lot of development and re-development. I can't wait to get it all behind me!

While I am working, I am streaming the new "Guns 'N Roses" album, "Chineese Democracy". It's got some amazing guitar work on it and Axl's usual vocal stylings... I just find it funny that this is a GNR record. I think the GNR mystique has tarnished a little over the 13 year period we've waited for this record. ANd of the seven (yes that's 7) band members listed on the record, of course the only origional member is Axl... Talk about delusional! That would be like if David Lee Roth, after splitting from Van Halen in 1985 decided to call his new band "Van Halen". It's just stoopid and underscores the fact that if you are more delusional than David Lee Roth, you have problems! I would have been happy with "Axl's Roses" or something... it's a cool record, but it's not GNR!

Anyway... I am waiting to get on the surgery list for my balls... YAY!

I have also found out that I have another health problem on the horizon. I guess I have a "fatty liver". Three years of vegitarianism down the drain... One little steak and then an accident that keeps you out of the gym. Nexy thing you know I'll be pushin 40. Oh crap... that's actually not too far off.

I did get a nice little check for my accrued time with my promotion, which was cool. But the taxes killed it. I was hoping to take my Rider's Edge course and get my motorcycle license, but effin bills and real life keep getting in my way. Don't you hate it when you have plans that get dashed on the rocks?!

Well... back to the grind.

Later-
Ray

Well... Reagan came home late last night. He and I are both still sick, but his breathing is now under control. Looks like I'll be home for the rest of the week with him to help with breathing treatments every 4 hours - plus, like I said, still sick. I coughed so hard yesterday when I was getting ready to go to the hospital that I puked in the shower... gee that's lot's of fun, but at least it makes for easy clean up!

There's always a bright side... you just have to look for it.

Later-
Ray

Well.. it looks like Reagan is gonna be at the hospital all day today. He is not breathing normally on his own yet... It's not like he's dying or anything, so don't panic. It's just that his breathing is not "normal".

I am still sick too... trying to work from home with lots of stress and little sleep - great combination by the way - and tons to do.

That's it for now. I may post an update later if the doctors tell Patti anything different.