Paul's Update - 09/09/07

Dear Friends:

We are finally home from our vacation. It seems I stay about three days behind on my updates lately ... I hope you will forgive me! Paul continues to do amazing things each day. They are small but none the less amazing. Friday after we had breakfast we headed out to Murrells Inlet South Carolina. We planned to take Paul along with Dad, Aunt Ann & me to do a Salt Water Marsh Exploration trip. This is done on a flat bottom touring boat. They have a two step stool and a ramp that you have to navigate to get into the boat (of course that is after the steep ramp to the dock!!) and Paul managed both very well. We had NO trouble getting him on the boat. The tour is about two hours long. We were able to see much marine life including Conk & Whelks, Crabs, Oyster Shells and various fish. Some of the marine life was live and some was just demonstration shells. It was an interesting tour. Paul was able to do a little fishing from the boat. Dad helped him put the line in the water and he held the pole. He wasn't able to catch any fish (several other people did) but he seemed to enjoy it. Dad & Aunt Ann walked on the beach for a while. Paul & I stayed on the boat ... why push our luck!! I did a little more fishing but we still didn't catch anything and Paul had lost interest in fishing by then. After we returned to shore we headed to a BBQ restaurant for lunch. It was actually a BBQ/Fish house ... what else would you find at the beach??? It was delicious ... another MUST DO whenever we go back!! Nana had stayed home since she wasn't feeling 100% so she was able to walk Ann's dogs while we were out. When we got home we brought a movie with us. It was recommended to us by Ann's friend Carol. It was a really good and inspirational movie that we all were able to enjoy. After the movie I went to Nana's house to see if we could get her internet set up. She has had lots of problems with her internet since she moved there but I think we finally got it fixed ... time will tell!! Paul seems to be suffering from stuffiness due to his cold and Ann put a vaporizer in his room. That seems to help and he sleeps well.

Saturday morning we got up and didn't really have any plans for the day. We had a great breakfast of Scrambled Eggs & Grits with English Muffins (muffins provided by Nana!!). Much of the morning was spent visiting on the back porch. It was a beautiful morning but it gradually got pretty hot out there! Ann & I were able to do some laundry though the day. It was otherwise a pretty quiet day. Since Paul & I have both not felt very well the last couple of days it was kind of nice to have a relaxing day. Naps are definitely in order on quiet days!! Nana came over and visited with us. Since she only lives two houses up the road it is nice to be able to spend the time with her! We decided to go out for dinner to a little Italian restaurant in Conway that Mom & Ann really enjoy. Ann, Dad & Paul had Pizza while Nana & I had subs. It was delicious and Paul ate about four pieces (2x2 inch squares) of pizza. He seemed to really enjoy it. His walking has been very good the last couple of days. He is wearing a temporary brace that we bought at the drug store to keep him from turning his right ankle. It seems to help and he can really get some speed up with his walker!! After dinner we headed down to the River where there is a park and Paul walked about half way around the marina there. It was a beautiful night and the river was beautiful as well. We headed home and watched another movie ... My Cousin Vinny. For some of my family this will bring back many happy memories!! LOL It is a great movie if you've never seen it ... the language is a bit tough but it is very funny.

Sunday morning we got up and Paul got a shower. We were able to hurry and get ready to go to church with Ann. We decided to pack the van to be ready to leave right after service. It is so wonderful to be able to go to church and feel like family!! We headed out right after church (about 11am) to get home. We had no trouble although I heard that the hurricane hit North Carolina sometime during the day ... we didn't see anything more than a sprinkle of rain! The traffic was light and it was a hot but beautiful day. Paul sat in the front seat the whole trip. We stopped and got coffee & doughnuts as we started out. We also made a stop for some peaches to take home. It is the end of the season but hopefully they will be good. We made several stops for bathroom breaks but made fairly good time. It took about 9 hours to get home (with minimum stops it takes 7.5 hours). Paul did great! It is a relief that he travels so well since we will be traveling again in December for a cruise that will go out of Charleston SC!! This was a good test run for Paul (and us!).

Monday will be busy ... and we don't have a nurse for the day. This vacation was also the first time we've taken Paul away without a nurse for any length more than a day! It is a lot of work but Dad is really the best nurse Paul has anyway!!

Have a great day! Lynne & Carl