Klinger Musings: December 24 - 31, 2018 Christmas, Birthday and New Year's Eve!

Monday we got around and prepared ourselves for Christmas Eve at my sister's in Enid. I made chili for lunch so everyone could eat. Steve & I left about 4 PM to drive to Enid for Christmas Eve at Pam's house. She put out a big spread of sandwich and snack items! Paige, Dave, Landon & Parker got there about 5:30. As soon as Parker arrived, he wanted to open presents (he is just a young thing of 18! LOL). The boys are always excited about Christmas even though they are adults! After we had supper then we opened presents! Exciting! We hung out for awhile and tried to help clean up then we returned home. At home we ate a few cookies and watch The Christmas Story - one of Steve's favorite movies.

Tuesday - Merry Christmas! When Steve & I got up and walked into the living room both kids (Austyn & Logan) had on pink bunny suits like Ralph in the Christmas Story! They looked so cute! We opened presents and enjoyed our Christmas morning. Breakfast was cinnamon rolls and then we had Turkey, Dressing, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, Green Bean Casserole, Pink Party Salad and Pumpkin Pie for our Dinner - about 2:30. After eating, we watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - another favorite. Then everyone just slept and snacked. Later we watched Bird Box on Netflix! We really enjoyed the movie and would highly recommend it.

Wednesday - 26th- Steve woke up at 5:30 and I got up at 8:30! Go figure! When he hurts, he can't sleep very good. After breakfast we watched TV as usual and had showers. Kristi and Austyn got their stuff around and left for shopping and home in El Reno. Austyn is working at McDonald's and had to work Thursday. Logan stayed with us. It rained a lot of the day off and on. It was kind of funny because about 9 PM we had a Thunderstorm with big winds and heavy rain. I don't remember ever having experienced a thunderstorm in December before.
Thursday - The days have started to run together and I have had a hard time keeping track of what day of the week it is. We took down our Christmas Decorations today. The back yard had water pooled in the path to the shed. But we did get everything put away. We also vacuumed and mopped the kitchen and had a light supper of Turkey bacon and eggs.
Friday 28th - Today we were at home just relaxing. Again Steve woke up at 4:30 in the morning with pain. I have put his TENS unit on many evenings and some afternoons also. I went to the Dollar Store here in town to pick up birthday cards and a present for Steve. He has no idea what he wants for his birthday - so I got him a Lowe's card -which he will use at some point. Then I went to Braum's and got an ice cream pie.
Saturday - 29th - Today is Steve's birthday! He turned 58 - he's just a young thing. At lunch, he could not wait any longer and he opened his cards and present from Logan & I. Then we had some of that Strawberry Ice Cream Pie and boy was that good. Later Pam & JC stopped by and brought him a present (sweatshirt), which he really liked. Pam picked up the wallet I had ordered for her. The dogs went insane while they were here. I had one outside and the other was held by Logan. After they left we loaded up Logan and his stuff and headed to OKC to meet up with Kristi & Austyn for the birthday supper at Texas Roadhouse. Wow, we had a 45 minute wait for a table, even though we arrived at like 5:20 PM - I was about ready to walk out, but didn't. I did go back up to the front and ask if my pager was broken. Finally we got seated and had our favorite foods. Their prices have increased and the service could have been better. Steve got a rolling stool from Kristi & the grandkids. We unloaded Logan's stuff and said our See Ya Laters! We got home about 8:30 and watched the remainder of the OU vs Alabama football game. Poor OU - they got beat.

Steam Engine we saw on I-35

Steve & I -Birthday picture

Sunday was pretty uneventful. We did do laundry today because we have to go to OKC to the VA for Steve's annual appointment tomorrow. We watched Dallas play the NY Giants and win by 2 points. Then we putzed around.
Monday - 31st of 2018 - Last Day of the Year! We wondered about Steve's annual appointment (for his MS) - it was at 12:30 PM. I had not received a letter and didn't know the details like we usually do. So I wrote them a secure message on myhealthevet.gov and received a one sentence reply. Then I called and left a message on the nurse line and they called back. They said he did not have to be fasting today - so he could have breakfast and his usual routine. We left about 10:45 and arrived at 11:30 or 11:45. We checked in at the Spinal Cord Injury Clinic (SCI) and the nurse did her intake, then we went to the lab for bloodwork. We returned to the 2nd floor (SCI Clinic) and the Occupational Therapist visited him, then his Physician Assistant did her exam. His functional ability is good. His back and hip are bad - she really listened and ordered some X-rays - then he may need an MRI. We spoke to the Social Worker for a short time, then went to Xray. According to Steve, they turned him every which way but loose for the back and hip X-rays. After that we sent to the travel department to inquire why he has not received his travel pay. They said they are about 20,000 claims behind! Can you believe that? We made his 6 month appointment for June - But if we work in Montana this summer - we will need to change the date of that appointment.
We got home and watched the Oklahoma State (my alma mater) & Missouri game - The Liberty Bowl. OK State won by a few points and it was an exciting game to watch. We also heard from Marsha after the game. Supper was leftover chicken vegetable soup from the day before and then we welcomed in the New Year and went to bed!