ESI is a Done Deal!

OK, I had the ESI this morning. Got home about 11:30, and everything is fine so far. It will probably be a day or two before I know if it makes a difference in the hip pain. I figure I've done all I can do, and now I just have to deal with whatever! I'm not worried about it, especially since I am only in pain when I walk for a distance. I'll just have to take lots of gellato, cappucino, and wine breaks, if necessary!!

I tried the Skype out last night, and it worked perfectly! The sound was clear as a bell. Of course, I was calling a local cell phone, but I hope it will be the same from Europe. I also purchased an Online # with area code 985, so the kids can call us for free from their landline or mobile phone.. The whole package, Unlimited World and Online # with free voice mail and instant messaging, cost $48.90 for a 3 month subscription. One month would have been cheaper, but I wanted a few days to use it before we leave. That's about as cheap as you'll find unless you have some type phone that I'm not familiar with. I do have to be online to get calls from home, but they can leave me a VM and I can call them back. I figure I'll be doing most of the calling since they won't know when I'm online, and because of the 7 hour time difference. We will be 7 hours later than LA.

7 MORE DAYS!!!!

ESI In The Morning!

I am able to walk a little farther since my 2nd hip injection, but I will be having the epidural steroid injection tomorrow morning at 10 am, so keep me in your prayers. (Both that the procedure goes well and that I get relief from the hip pain.)

We have more new followers! Our niece, Amy Branch; our nephew, Ellis & Tracy Lee; and our neighbor, Connie McDaniel. That makes 18!! So glad that all of you will be with us on our trip!

I ended up ordering Skype instead of Yahoo Voice. Pretty much everyone says the call quality is much better with Skype. Haven't tried it out, yet, but plan to do that before we leave. That will have to be soon with only 8 MORE DAYS left!

Update!!

Well, the MRI was, essentially, normal. Brett gave me 2 choices...inject the hip again or go ahead and have the epidural steroid injection. Of course, you know how women operate :0)...I asked him if I could have the hip injection soon, and if the pain is no better in a week or so, have the epidural. He agreed, so I was off to Hammond at 10 AM this morning, and he injected the hip. I, tentatively, have an appointment for the epidural on Wednesday of next week, if necessary. Brett wanted me to have that at least a week before leaving on our vacation. So whatever will be will be...we're off to Europe in 13 days!!!

Maybe the thermal baths that Hungary is noted for will help the old hip! Guess I better throw the bathing suits in if they'll fit in the suitcase. I've reconfirmed all of our hotel reservations. I've finished the itinerary, unless there are last minute changes to the train schedules. I think the last major thing I have to do is decide on (and order) either Skype or Yahoo Voice so that we can call home via the notebook computer. I'll probably go with the Yahoo Voice since I'm kinda familiar with that. Maybe I'll get that done later tonight. Everything else has to wait until closer to departure.

A Real Pain in the Butt!!! :o)

I haven't mentioned it in my posts, but about 2 weeks ago I went to see Brett Chiasson, an orthopaedic surgeon and Mitch's friend, in Hammond. I've been having some hip pain for the past 2-3 years, but only when I walk for a distance. Actually, I don't remember having the problem when we went to Disney 2 summers ago, but now that I'm thinking about it, I did have an episode while in Epcot. My left foot and leg became numb. It really scared me, at the time, because I thought I was having a CVA (stroke). I quickly sat down, and Scott began massaging my leg, and after a while everything was back to normal. Anyway, the pain in my left hip has been worse so x-rays were done, Brett injected the hip with cortisone and started me on a non-steroidal anti- inflammatory, Mobic. He thought, after hearing my description of the pain, that possibly we were dealing with bursitis. After 1 week, the hip was no better, so he started me on a medrol dose-pack. I completed that...still with no change, so he has scheduled me to have an MRI of the lumbar spine on Monday, thinking more along the lines of a "back problem". If the MRI reveals something, like a bulging disc or a spur causing pressure on a nerve, etc., hopefully, I will be able to have an epidural injection to relieve the pain and not be bothered with it on vacation. Of course, we would have to look at some type of long-term treatment after vacation is over. So, at this point, I don't know whether to hope that they find something or not!!

We'll know more around Wednesday. Until then, please add me to your prayer list. With prayers, my faith, and God's faithfulness, I know everything will be ok. I'll update when I know more.

Budapest Tour

Budapest Half-Day Tour:
View to Buda from Pest, River Danube, Chain Bridge,
Parliament, Kossuth Square, Andrassy Avenue, Heroes'
Square, View to Pest from the Citadel on Gellert Hill, Castle
District (Fishermen's Bastion and Matthias Church).

We have made arrangements with Judit Novoba'czky, a private tour guide in Budapest, to take her half-day tour. We will be in Budapest such a short time, we decided this would be the best way to see the highlights of this beautiful city. Judit will meet us at our hotel at 9 AM on Sunday, May 17th. We will tour, then have lunch at a local Hungarian restaurant. She will take us to Keleti Station in time for us to board our train to Gyor at 3 PM. We will spend one night in Gyor, and our family will pick us up at our hotel in Gyor at noon on May 18th!!

This weekend I will be doing some serious packing!! We've got to see if everything is going to fit. If not, it's on to "Plan B". After re-reading the Transportation Security Administration (www.tsa.gov) "What To Know Before You Go" update, I discovered that "...greater than 3 oz. of the following liquids, gels and aerosols are permitted...for the duration of your itinerary... separated from your allowed quart size bag...and presented to a Security Officer and at the x-ray inspection.: All prescription and over-the-counter medications (liquids, gels and aerosols) including petroleum jelly, eye drops and saline solution for medical purposes." So, I have a little breathing room with the quart size bag! AND I'm not so worried about the distilled water for our C-Paps. I'd really like to take enough for our first night so we don't have to immediately search for distilled water when we get to Milan. But, if we can't, oh well, good old bottled water will have to do for one night!!

Someone sent me an email the other night, "45 Lessons Life Taught Me", and they were all worth reading. But one really sums up my year of planning for this vacation! "Over prepare, then go with the flow." And that's exactly what I plan to do!! Just 19 more days, and the planning is over!!!

Easter E-Mail From Erszi

Wayne's Daddy, Milton Fleming

The "older" kids hiding eggs!

Nephew, Al Branch, wearing hat Allie made for her Easter Parade at school!!

(Use your imagination...Allie had eaten half the "peeps" off the hat!)

I wanted to let you know that I received an email from Erszi, and she did get my package! It is safe at her house, and there was NO customs fee!!! WooHoo!!

I've posted a few pics taken Easter Sunday at Wayne's Mom & Dad's...trying out something that our great-nephew, Taylor Branch, taught me. Thanks, Taylor!

We now have 14 "followers" on our blog!! Rebekah Bankston is our newest follower. Jeanne Kaye and Kenzie Burris are also following. Thanks, to all of you!

Happy Birthday to our April birthdays...Mitch, Al, Amy and Sean!!

Nagy Family Dinner

Just had to try to post this picture of Erszi and Kitty! I'm not sure who the lady on the right is. Could that be FRIED CHICKEN in the center of the table?? Looks Jo' !!! Wayne may survive after all!

My Hungarian Family

Erszi's younger son, Zoltan, & Girlfriend; Erszi's older son, Tibor

Erszi's Home, where we will stay

Erszi, Kitty, Mrs. Nagy

I can hardly believe how the time has passed since I started this blog! I started at 66 days and counting, and here I am at 25 days!!

I am still reading on the internet about the places we will be visiting, the customs of each country,etc. Grandaughter, Allie, and I are learning some Hungarian words. I am totally amazed that a 5 year old can absorb a new language like she does. I wish she could go with us! I wish Brody could go, also, because he has always been interested in history, and I know he would be amazed at the sights of Europe. Allie has asked, on 3 occasions, when I was going to give her the "map" of her family so she and her Mom and Dad could fill in the names (Family Tree Chart). So, I finally printed her a copy yesterday. I filled in some of it, with her help, to get her started. Of course, her Dad will have to help her with his side of the "tree". He's probably going to just LOVE his mother-in-law for that one!!

I've been going back and reading the emails I've received from my Hungarian family, over the past year, and I decided to add some of the pictures they've sent me, to our blog. Now you can put a face with the names I've been mentioning in my posts! Well, some faces, anyway... some of my emailed pics were not clear enough after I posted them, so I had to delete them from the blog. (Sorry Sanyi and Krisztina!). Also, each time I add a picture I never know where it's going to appear! :0) Sometimes I can move them around, and sometimes, not. Obviously, I still need to learn some things about posting pics to my blog. So if my blog pics are EVERYWHERE on my posts from Europe, don't be surprised!

I'm not sure, but I think my package has arrived at Erszi's home. Sometimes it is hard for me to understand the emails from Hungary because their sentence structure is different than ours, and we use words, in translation, that end up meaning different things than we intended. In Erszi's email, she says, "We have got your package on Monday, 6th of April 2009. We have not paid for it. We see you in our home gladly without gifts too." I hope she means they received the package, there was no customs fee, and we would have been welcome without sending gifts. I have emailed her back and asked specifically where the package is located, but haven't heard from her yet. Keep your fingers crossed!!

Here are a few more lines from Erszi's email, just to give you an idea of what I mean:

I hope that you will have a perpetual experience.

I hope that we can spend the time with you meaty and rich of programs.

I hope also that you will find our dishes fine because I think the Hungarian kitchen is very good.

From the looks of one of the pictures I wasn't able to post, we won't be losing any weight while we are in Rabapatona!! Evidently, the family was having a dinner, and the table was beautiful and full! Tablecloth, real plates (not paper like our house!), real wine and water glasses (not styrofoam like our house!), and platters full of all kinds of food!! Wayne and I are definitely going to have to watch our manners!! Allie and I have learned the word for "good"...Jo' (pronounced Yo), but I can't find a word for "yummy"!! Guess we can just rub our tummies and smile.

Happy Easter to everyone! We will be at Wayne's Mom & Dad's for Easter dinner and egg hunt. I'm sure we will have a very full and delicious table there, also, but it will be paper plates and styrofoam cups!! We are such "lazy Americans" in some ways!! But certainly not in all ways!

"The Package"

I finally got "the package" mailed today! Hooray!! That was a necessary "chore" that I am glad is done. In case you've never had to do it, it is very expensive to mail something to Europe! I researched every way I could find to send the package, but ended up mailing it through the postal service. UPS wanted $350.00, Fed-Ex about the same. I found another company called International Shipping, but I could never reach them by phone, and in a week they had not answered my email, so thought I better leave that one alone! Their internet quote was $175. I wanted to go with a company because they let you "reverse" the customs duty, and I didn't want my family to have to pay that. But the post office told me, today, that there should not be any customs charges because I was shipping gifts. We'll see!! USPS was $92. The package was 12 x 12 x 6 inches and weighed 12 lbs.!! I did send it Express Mail which is a little more expensive. USPS says 5-6 business days, but that's just to get it to the 1st point in Europe. I'm saying a little prayer and keeping my fingers crossed that it arrives at Erzsi's before we do, on May 17th!! I've read some cases where packages took several months to arrive from U.S. to Europe.
Again, we'll see.

The package contained copies of family genealogy records; photos of my ancestors, our children/grandchildren, our house, Divernon, Illinois, New Orleans sites, and Franklinton ...the Courthouse, City Hall, Mile Branch, the Fair Grounds, Churches, etc.; a few of my family's favorite recipes; U.S. Flags and Flag Pins; Mardi Gras beads; decks of cards-some with LSU logo and some with LA facts; Tabasco; Beignet mix; BBQ sauce (I read that Europeans love it and it's not readily available to them?); 1 lb. of Community New Orleans Blend Coffee (which they will have to share with us!); a map of Franklinton; and the individual gifts for each of my family members. Yes, I had to sit on the box to get it taped closed!! Hope the BBQ sauce & Tabasco survived!

I had a big smile on my face when I crossed "Mail package to Hungary" off my "To Do List"!! Only 9 things left on the list, if I can manage not to add anything else :-)!

Exciting E-Mail Received!

I received an e-mail from another family member last night! His (I think?) name is Dezso Szabo. He is 58 years old, lives in Rabapatona, and has invited us to spend a day with his family while we are in Rabapatona. His father (Jozsef Szabo)'s mother, Erzsebet Nagy, was my grandmother Julianna's sister. He goes on to say that I have a lot of relatives on this branch of the family tree. It seems that he is also a "genealogist" as he has many names and dates, some back to the 1700's! The earliest record he has is a birth certificate from 1715. Another expense item to add to our vacation budget...money to copy documents!! :0)

The Hungarian names get pretty confusing because they seem to use the same first names over and over from each generation to the next generation. Many times, mother and daughter will have the same first name!

Wayne and I went to Michigan in 1984. My mother's family moved to Detroit, from Divernon, Illinois, in 1925. My grandparents, and now, both of my aunts are buried there, in Woodmere Cemetary. In 1984, 2 years after my mother passed away, we went to visit my only living aunt, Olga, and my only cousin, Debbie. They took us to the "old neighborhood" of Delray, which was mostly a Hungarian community. We visited Szabo's Meat Market. It was a corner grocery where all the Hungarians shopped. I remember eating delicious Hungarian sausage that my aunt bought from Szabo's. There was an article in their local newspaper about Szabo's, and, of course, being the "pack-rat" that I am, I bought a copy. I will be taking a copy of that to Hungary for my new Szabo family members!

So...interesting things continue to develop for our vacation!! And the days are really ticking away!! Also, our list of "followers" on our blog has grown, and I'm so excited!!