New Years 2014

Its been a few weeks since I last entered here.   I hope you all had a great Christmas.  We had a quiet one.  Nothing really special.  It was the same during New Years as well.  It was watching movies during the day and then switched on LiveStream because they were broadcasting the New York celebration.

No resolutions for us because it could be broken, so I am setting goals and its to continue to workout.

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all 

a Merry Christmas

Stay warm and safe.

Its been very chilly and cold, 

so we are going to stay in.

Christmas Greeting

DEAR FAMILY AND FRIENDS,

We hope this finds you all well and enjoying the holiday seasonal.  This year, was a VERY stressful and a busy year for Craig and me .  As some of you already know he had problems with kidney failure back in February and another kidney failure in mid-August.  His foot also has been trying to heal since April, so it would be hard to travel down to see the family for Christmas.

We thought it would be best that we stay home and allow him to recover 100% since he has been through a lot this year and I have been basically been taking care of him almost full time. 

So since we are not going down to the family, its just going to be just the two of us and our three cats Bella, Augustina, and Buster. 

But looking on the bright side of things, we are certainly trying to stay cheery and happy and making the most of the holiday.

We are hoping that the year of 2014 will be a better year, not for just us but for everybody else as well.

With that said, the holidays wouldn't mean nearly as much to us without all the special people who touch our lives in big ways as well as small.  We appreciate all of you, and even when times are tough in our lives we hope you know that we’re thinking of you at this wonderful time of year, and we hope to see you soon.

                                            Best Wishes,

                                                 Brian & Craig

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas

and a Happy New Year !

Kidney Failure....not again

Well I had a bit of a scare last weekend.  I had to call ambulance that Thursday because there was something wrong with Robert.  We stayed at Mercy Hospital for about 8 hours and they sent him home.  The next morning he had to go to his doctor and he wasn't himself as he kept passing out.  They gave him some water and he felt a little better, by 1pm his doctor called about the results of his blood work which was taken earlier that day and told him to go straight to the hospital.  We ended up going to the Maine Hospital rather than Mercy Hospital.  His kidneys were definitely failing.  He didn't remember all that Friday and I ended up spending the time at the hospital.

He was calling out my name Saturday morning, of course, I slept over but I slept out in the waiting area.  They had a cot set up for me.  I got up that morning and went into the room and he was kind of up and he started crying wanted to know what happened and why is it happening to him.

I had to explain to him that his kidneys were failing again like they did back in February.  I felt that I had to be with him all that time because he didn't really have anybody.  No family but me and my family.  I did had to go home because it was costing me a fortune staying there with food and such.

It turns out that he was dehydrated and the antibiotics he has been taking was being drawn to his kidneys causing his kidneys to fail.   We ended up staying in the hospital for 5 days.

I have been watching him how much water he takes because he needs the water fluids in his body.  Also making sure that he eats as well.  His foot is still trying to heal slowly.  I am hoping it will heal really soon.  Only time will tell.

August Update

I haven't blogged on here for a month and I figure I would write about what's been going on with us.  Remember we were discussing to relocate?  Well we can't do anything until year so we are going to let that rest for a while until the New Years and get things sorted out then and see if anything changed after the New Years.

I had been taking Aleve pills and this is to hopefully help me with my lower back pain.  I take them in the morning.  Past couple of days its been okay when I work out but I still feel the lower back pain but I am able to do my deadlifts.

Robert has been having problems with his feet.  One foot has a rash which just recently appeared and the other foot has been having problems for the past several months healing, since he is a diabetic.  Doctor gave him a shoe to slip on and he is thinking of giving him another shoe for the other foot.  His doctor even thought about giving him a walker, for some reason the doc thinks it would do him more help than the HurryCane.  But we'll have to see how it goes, maybe the doc will change his mind.

Well the summer is almost over, and we were planning on going to see my sister in Connecticut but every time we pay our credit card, it goes back up to the limit again, so we wait until September and that's not going to happen either because right now its been up to the max.  I am trying to bring the credit card down to zero balance.

Decision making / preparing to relocate

Robert and I have been talking and we decided that we were going to prepare ourselves to leave the United States for good.  Its a big step of course I've done it before and I could do it again.  Robert has traveled frequently as well so I would say he could do it as well.  We have 3 cats and this could be a big challenge for us for sure.

I have been doing some researching so I could prepare ourselves for this big move.  I hear lots of prices about having your pet flying overseas.  But I haven't looked into it deeply.

We have been thinking about what we should do before leaving, and I didn't realize that we do have to do a few things before we leave, such as getting our passports, and also get married so that it would be easier for us over there in Ireland.  I want to make sure that we will do everything that we need to do before leaving.

I'm surprised that the Social Security does allow people who are collecting Social Security Disability to take their allowance overseas.  I did read that some parts Social Security will deny it due to certain reasons.

I haven't told my mother our plans on relocating back to Ireland because I know she will be filled with 50 questions.  How are you going to get there?  Where are you going to get the money for it?  Where are you going to live?  Its like totally endless and I don't want to deal with that right now.

New friend from home (Derry)

I met a friend online and happened to live in Derry Northern Ireland where I used to live.  It was a coincidence that we met online and not when I lived in Derry.  I was just thinking that we could had several times during the 8 1/2 years that I was there that we could had passed our paths one time or another.

I gotten really excited and getting along with him via emails and skyping one another that its making me wish I was back home again.  Its nice that Robert likes him too.  Robert actually knows that I want to return to Derry.  And now that I talked to Colm for a while, and hearing him all the good stuff that is happening for the better makes me want to leave now. Everything has changed in Derry.  I am already dying to return to Ireland and that's what I have been thinking these days.  I really want to return to Derry.

Colm wanted us to make a plan to relocate back to Derry which I have been discussing with Colm that I do want to return.  He was telling me that I would need to break everything down in steps what I needed to do before leaving Derry.

I so much miss my family and friends in Derry that its reminding me of the times I lived in Derry and how much fun I had even with the troubles back then in the 1990s.  So when Colm told me that everything has changed, its making me more want to go there.  I can't even wait.  I'm getting psyched up already. I really think Robert would like it there too.