What's Up

Well time just get's away sometimes.  Been busy with work, a mini vacation to Vegas and a brief layoff due to injury.  So where do I begin?

The month of February was filled with music.  We had auditions for all those incoming students.  Good turnout with a little twist.  The Department Chair wanted to add all musicians interested in Fresno State, not just the band type people.  So we had vocalist, string and piano players plus our usual group also auditioned for the department if they were planning to be a music major.  It went fairly well and we'll just improve on what we did this year for next year.

John and I took a great trip to Las Vegas in mid March.  We were planning on meeting up with his cousin John and his wife Fran from New York.  It was great we spent time with them, John and John got a chance to really catch up.  John and his cousin were very familiar when they were growing up as John's mom was from New York and McCaffery was her family name, so the Mullers and the McCaffery's and McGuire's were all pretty close.

The second part of this vacation was to meet up with my son, Bryan.  He had gone to Vegas early so he could play with our band at the WAC Tournament.  It was great, we won the Woman's division and he was there for then entire experience.  He said he had a great time and all my band students really enjoyed getting a chance to talk with this amazing young man.  Bryan shared his experience as a Fresno State graduate, his life now as a soon to be Warrant Officer in the US Army.  But it was great having so much time with him was nice for me.  We talked, we ate and we gambled together.  I'm looking forward to going to his graduation in early June to see him become a Warrant Officer.

At work my computer was changed out.  I now have a really up to date Mac.  Well it does take some getting used to.  Anyway I over worked my right arm, so I called to have my work station evaluated and there were all kinds of thing wrong.  My desk was to tall, my monitor should be straight on, not to the side.  Need a better chair, an ergonomic friendly work station is what I needed.  Well, by the end of late week my arm was killing me so I reported it.  Went to the workers comp doctor and now I'm on limited use of my right arm with a follow-up appointment next week.  They took x-rays and blood test.  He did 't seem to think it is work related, but I feel work does aggravate it.

Now back to the my main work, our family genealogy.  It's a lot of work and I haven't even requested the back up documents.  I've been putting in a lot of time into Hannah's family lines.  I've also joined Find A Grave and am beginning to locate where people are buried.  That has become very interesting working with all these Grave hunters.  Check out the site before you judge.  Time to run.

Super Bowl Packers and Steelers 2011

We had a great time with family and friends this past Sunday, Feb. 5, 2011 for our annual Super Bowl Sunday Family Reunion.  Smaller than usual group, but still we had a good time.  Pete, Anita, Gary, Princess and yours truely were there for the orignial siblings.  Marlene Uribe Reis was also there and we count her now as part of the original Uribe's.  She is our first cousin, one of Frank Uribe's 10 kids.  She now comes to our family camping reunion in July.  It's great and it's good to reconnect with more of our family.  Having worked on the family genealogy it is important to me that we get to know more about one another.  Marelene and her Uribe clan are all estranged.  She tells me that none of them talk to each other.  I told her it's to bad that they can't accept each in their differences and move forward as family members.  Sad, very sad, but I just don't have the energy to try and help them work this out.  They have to do it.  Aunt Sally is the last living member of my parents generation and when she is gone I hope they can find some common ground to work from.

As we gathered together I noticed some things about our ever growing older siblings.  Pete was pretty much the same as he usually is.  Friendly, big brother like, in great shape and he was having some good luck and won 2 of the pots.  Gary I heard him say that he no longer has the same strength in his hands than he once did.  "I can't open anything anymore, jars, potato chip bags".  It was funny cause John and I have been talking about that same subject.  My fingers are stiff and don't bend and opening anything is a real struggle.  Princess is doing okay for being the baby.  She was showing me her finger and I just notice a bump on my right hand, 4th finger that wasn't there before.  She actually has gone to see the doctor and they want to do some minor surgery and remove it.  I call it a calcium build up on the joint, but she called it something else.  Anita was the most concern regarding my health because she had been having health scares of her own.  She really want me to call the doctor for my foot, and my diabetes.  She even told Pete so he could scold me.  Then he went on to tell me about a friends that had a cough for 8 or 9 months and come to find out she died.  She was one of those people that says she would go to the doctor and just would take care of it.  Unfortunately, that part of the story I could relate to.  So my sister has some other thing running through her head and fear is certainly a part of that.

It was good to see Cary and his new wife Michelle.  They have been together for a couple of years now, but they got married over this past summer in Reno.  Carrie Ann, Joe and Annabelle Bravo, Natalie, Bryan and Josh and baby Madison Higgins were all there.  Tom made if, but Joan was home with her parents that are quite old with health problems.  Cousin Marlene, Mark and their foster daughter Angelina Reis were all there.  Anita & Jim Gran, Princess without Jane as she had pink eye and not feeling well, Gary & Sylvia Uribe, Pete Uribe, me and Big John McGuire and various other family members from Michelle side and some personal friends of the Boles clan too.

Good time had by all and I hope next year we have some of our missing members there.  Oh yea the final score was Greenbay Packers 31, Pittsburgh Steelers 25.  Lots of winners this years, but the biggest winners were the Boles family.  Final score pot was won by Marlene and Mark.  Funny thing about that was I saved them some boxes because they were late getting to the house and they WON!  Next year you have to be here on time or I'm selling all boxes by kick off. Just kidding, they totally deserved the win.

Till next time...have a great day.

Laid Up

A little under the weather the last couple of weeks, well I finally got in to see my nurse practitioner.  I have Kaiser and I just never hooked up with a doctor, but she consults when it's really bad or I need a referral.  So I went to see Joan Clark regarding my left foot.  It all started with my left knee really stiff and my foot itched and I scratched it.  Well by the next day after wearing sandals to work I noticed my foot was red and inflamed.  That was at least a week and 1/2 ago.  Then it increased in size and the soreness  increased.  My foot is so swollen that I couldn't even wear shoes.  Come to find out I have Cellutitus, a skin infection. 

Visit with Joan Clark

It was a bit of a strange appointment with her today.  I didn't feel that she was really all that concerned with my health.  Yes, she went through the motions, looked at my foot, but she never asked how I've been feeling overall.  I was due for a Pneumonia shot so I went ahead and arranged to get one.  No cost but I had to go see the assistant so she could add it to my record, then go out and see the front nurse just like when I came in originally, then had to wait to get the shot.  She doesn't do that work.  Just felt it was a very impersonal visit.  I felt rushed like she had other places to go.  Guess my 5 minutes was up.  Move along.  Kaiser is about ordering you a pill not a lab test.  Guess I felt it was more serious than she did, though she did tell me that if it didn't get better to go to Urgent Care or call next week.

I rarely am off because of my health, but I must admit walking is getting more and more challenging.  My knees hurt and don't bend like they used to, and with a sore foot, yikes the last two weeks I've dreaded going to work.  Initially I couldn't even get out of my chair at work, but it has gotten better and today I going to follow directions, take my meds, elevate my foot and get back to just feeling better.  We'll see.

 Tomorrow I have a eye appointment, they want to check my vision for my diabetes.  I'm also getting eye exam so I can order my glasses.  I know my vision has changed and I need a new prescription.  Just don't want my eyes to have deteriorated because of my illness.  It's been a couple of years and I hope it doesn't cost to much.

On another subject

John has reconnected with his family from New York.  They want to meet up with us in Las Vegas and John wants to stay at the Lexor in March.  He really likes it there, I don't like the distance from the elevators to the rooms.  The way the place is built as a pyramid shape all the rooms are on the outside of the pyramid and if your elevator is low your room is a long walk.  It's good to meet up with Johns family but I've noticed I've started withdrawing because it's physically challenging to get around, get to where I'd like to go.  In my heart I'd like to see more, but my body hurts, I walk slow and it's just not that fun for me.  John would just as soon go off on his own, we're not really a couple when it come to travel as I recall from out last visit to Las Vegas. 

When it come to this type of trip, John leaves me alone alot more than what I'm used to when I've been with other people.  For him he doesn't think anything of going off and walking around by himself.  He enjoys it and I just feel that I hold him back so when he tells me to go gamble or stay at the room I feel a little hurt.  I guess I would like him to stay with me most of the time, be it the room or down on the casino floor.  It's not that I want to gamble, I guess I would like a little more romance  I can't fully express what I'd like from our relationship, I just know I don't feel that included.  Maybe someday I'll figure out what I want and I won't have to try and explain myself to John so he understands me.  Sad isn't it.

Next time I'd like to cover more on my life at school, my friends and boys.