I have been remiss about posting pictures lately, so here goes starting with Father’s Day!

Hawiian shirt from me.

Not sure if I posted Annalee’s pictures from her birthday, but here they are. Ten years old already, hard to believe!!

I think that’s about it for now.

Okay, time for a little bragging. This may not seem like much but to me it means that I am that much closer to meeting my goal weight (for knee surgery) of 210. Only 29 more pounds to go!! That means that I have lost 36 pounds so far!! Woohoo!! Of course, I want to get to 135, which is my ideal weight, but look at how much progress I have made so far! So excited!

Okay, as of now, June 14, 2022, I am now down at 236 pounds. That is 40 pounds gone for good and 26 pounds to go to meet 210.

July 29, 2022, I am now down to 232 pounds. I am now down 44 pounds! Woohoo!!

Saw my PCP this morning and he wants me to check my blood pressure once a day for 3 weeks as it is a little on the high side. I think it was high as I have not been sleeping well and have had a lot of pain for the past week, but he still wants me to check it manually at the same time every day. I will do it but under protest! We both think that Sjogren’s Syndrome may have something to do with it and I will be starting tomorrow.

I am actually fitting into smaller sized clothes and have been on a shopping spree lately, buying new capris, tops and even some summer dresses! I feel like a new person and feel better mentally! I am very happy! Tomorrow I will go back to the gym after a week off as I had pulled a muscle in my leg last weekend and needed to rest it.

Another update! August 24, 2022. I am now down at 225 pounds. The new clothes that I bought are hanging off of me, just too small for my britches! Very happy!! That is a grand total, so far, of 51 pounds! Only 90 more pounds to go! I CAN do this and I will DO this!

MONDAY MORNING

PRAISE GOD!!

I’m going in for a simple procedure on Monday morning at 7:15 am.  I’m having the Coolief procedure where they will numb the nerves by ablation (burning) which will give me some relief from my left knee pain.

Anyhoo!  I’m so excited I want to shout out loud!! My covid test is negative and I can go ahead with the procedure.  I made it through this whole pandemic, from the start, without catching it or transmitting it to anyone!  Hallelujah!!  So happy as I have really been isolating for the past 2 weeks, haven’t been outside except for labs, and only visited close friends and family who were vaccinated.  And yes, I am fully vaccinated and boosted.

Now my only problem is making sure that I am awake and ready to go by 4 a.m. Monday morning!  WOOHOO!!!!

As for today, I am full of energy and am going to finish quilting Dinosaur Sudoku before I get on the Top 40 Queen’s list.  Yes, I stalled on it. 

Catch up more later!! 

I had my surgery this morning and am home. Dr. Huang says that it went well and I should be back up and around by tomorrow or Wednesday. My knee is sore right now and swollen and it will be a couple of weeks for the soreness to go away, so no dancing tonight! dang. They gave me a light sedative and I was awake during most of it. My left knee is bruised and swollen but that is to be expected, so I am going to lie down for a bit as I am tired.

I just want to say that the staff, doctors, and nurses at Kaiser are wonderful and they treat each patient with respect and as if they were the only one there and make you feel special and cared for.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and support, and even though I am a little sore, I am glad that I had it done. Will post more later.

Hello Dear Family!

Doug and our family can use some prayers and good thoughts please. Doug is in the ICU at Kaiser Permanente Hospital here in Fresno with complete kidney failure. He has 2 stones, one in each kidney. One is a small one and should pass easily. The other one is the size of a large boulder in comparison and is harder to pass.

Kathy took him to the ER on Saturday as I felt she was stronger and calmer to take care of him. He was panting for breath and in a lot of pain. We almost lost him as his panting was keeping him going because of his acid levels in his lungs. He has been on emergency dialysis to help make the stones pass but that was not working.

Today he is scheduled to have surgery, don’t know the time yet, to place stents in his back so they can catch the stones. He is/was still in shock and his blood pressure was very low and they needed to lower his pressors (med) so they can proceed. He will then come home later and return for another surgery to remove the stones and stents. He is very tired, and able to talk but not really sure what is going on at times.

I am waiting to hear from the doctor about the time and all the other details but will keep everyone up to date. My apologies for not posting earlier, it has been a very rough few days.

Doug is in surgery now. It should last 1-1.5 hours and then recovery room for 2-3 hours. They will call when he comes out of surgery and then when he is transferred back to his room. The small stone should pass on it’s own as it has gone down in size but the other one is large and it will have to be removed. He has very little output from that kidney and there is a VERY SMALL percentage of risk 3-5% of complications. That may include bleeding and at the very worst, not being able to use that kidney and having to be on dialysis 3 times a week. Let’s pray very hard that it doesn’t happen. They will keep me posted.

Doug came home from the hospital today.  We weren’t sure if it was going to be today or tomorrow and all of a sudden, his doctor said he looks better and will be discharged.  He is looking better but very tired.  He has several appts (phone) coming up in the next week and labs to be drawn.  Since the larger stone won’t budge they will have to do lithotripsy to remove it later on.  I am relieved to have him home.  DD went back to Michigan last night with her hubby and it was so nice to be able and visit with her.
Again thank you everyone for loving support, prayers and good thoughts, they are truly treasured and mean the world to us.  
Maybe tomorrow after I do my errands I can get into my sewing room and actually do some sewing!  

HAPPY EASTER!

What a beautiful glorious day to celebrate our Lord and Savior, Jesus!  Praise God!  He has risen, He is alive and we serve Him!

I have a passage from my daily devotional that I want to share with you. This is from Jesus Calling.

This is from March 30.

I am taking care of you! Trust Me at all times! Trust Me in all circumstances! Trust Me with all your heart! When you are weary and everything seems to be going wrong, you can still utter these four words: “I trust you, Jesus!” By doing so, you release matters into in My control, and you fall back into the security of My everlasting arms.

Before you arise from your bed in the morning, I have already arranged the events of your day. Every DAY provides many opportunities for you to learn My ways and grow closer to Me. Signs of My presence brighten even the dullest day when you have eyes that really see. Search for Me as for hidden treasure. I will be found by you.

Proverbs 3:5, Deuteronomy 33:27, and Jeremiah 29:13-14.

Today is Easter! Let’s make this day special by praying as nations, and the whole world united that we will turn back to Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit. Let us lift up our voices, hearts, songs and psalms to him, so that He will pour His Mercy on us.

AMEN!!

Yesterday was a wonderful day with our grandkids.  We celebrated Easter early as the Pok Pack are going to celebrate at An’s cousin’s home today.  Instead of a traditional heavy meal, we went with corn dogs, hot dogs, sausage and macaroni and cheese for lunch.  It was very yummy comfort food.  I had planned to take pictures of the Easter baskets that we prepared but forgot, but we do have a few pictures to share.  After lunch, we went outside and did the annual egg hunt and had a good time.  Also, a few pics of coloring the eggs, an annual Coppin tradition.

In the midst of all this, Kathy, An and Doug were busily building a Super Duper hen house in the back part of the yard, behind our clothes line.  The old was getting a little tired and so we decided to move it under the mulberry tree where there is a lot of tall grass.  It really looks nice and is better for the hen and her chicks to live in as it has a lot of lizards, bugs and grubs for them to peck at.  Also, there is a little hose with a sprinkler (still to be attached) where they can keep cool.  Here are some pictures.

I also have a couple of videos to share and they are on FB on my page. 

Happy Easter from the Coppin Clan!

March was a fairly eventful month for us.  Doug and I both got our first Moderna covid-19 vaccination and our final one is April 8^th.  Health wise, we are doing okay aside from seasonal allergies and Doug’s A1C has improved considerably and I’m so proud of him for sticking to his diet, well at least most of the time.  I am doing okay but having issues with Sjogren still, but that is a given.  We did buy a new recumbent bicycle with all the bells and whistles and I am doing 10-15 minutes a day on it and do feel better. 

I also turned yet another year older and am almost eligible for Medicare.  What happened to the years in between, such a blur at times.  Doug and I also celebrated 40  years of wedded bliss by going out with our good friends for a nice lunch at Red Robin.  Can’t go in still because of covid, but we had a great time under a big umbrella with a bright blue, sunny sky and a yummy lunch.  We chatted with family and friends and it was very special!  

Can you believe this was Doug and I 40 years ago? 

As a combination anniversary-birthday gift, I now have a new addition to my sewing machine family.  It is a Bernette b70 Deco embroidery only machine!  I love it!  I am still learning how to use it but now, if I wish, I can do edge-to-edge quilting with it.  I even bought a few of the expansion packs to go with it.  It was such a good price, $900. for a machine that had been barely used and then turned in after 2 months for a newer model.  It originally sold for $2000. and was on sale for 70% off; Vac and Sew was having a machine clearance sale to make room for new models.  How could I resist such a savings?  Especially after seeing the prices online for 2-3 times more than that.  Of course, I promised not to buy any more sewing machines ever again.  I think I can live with that promise.  Here is a picture of the machine, which is huge and then a close up of the hoop and samples. 

It also came with all 3 sizes of the hoops, from 10 inch, 5 x 7, and a small 3 x 3 (?).  It is a lot of fun to work with  but is a bit of a learning curve for me as I haven’t done much embroidery for a while and I have to relearn it all over again, but I’m willing to do so! 

That’s all for today! Thank you for stopping by!

I am sharing this post from my sister Tracy and she worded it beautifully.

Our thanks to everyone who expressed sympathy or attended Dad’s service, and to Porterville Funeral Service and Porterville Church of the Nazarene. Jeff read tributes written by granddaughters Kat Pok and Jennifer Sandoval, and daughters, Donna Coppin, Candis Spallina and myself and people would have applauded him had it been a different venue, and Candis’s music/slide show was even better than before, so there were many moments of gentle humor; Donna was presented with the burial flag at the graveside service; Richard Frost’s singing was beautiful and heartfelt; our cousin Kirk Ingoldsby, a Mormon lay bishop, shared many fond and funny memories of his Uncle Dom and a prayer at the graveside service as well. Several old friends were able to attend the memorial service, and lots of family too, including his grandkids, and great grandkids. It couldn’t have gone any better, and Dad would surely have protested that it was too much, but been very pleased. 

Here are a few pictures from yesterday.  Thank you for dropping by and visiting a while.  

  

 

 

 

 

My father was a special man whom I am very proud to call Dad.  He lived a good long life and had many friends who love him still.  During my childhood he tried to teach me some important things and I didn’t always pay too close attention, but they did come back to me later on and dang if he wasn’t right all along.

Here are a few of the things that I learned.  Value.  Not just right from wrong, but the value of having something that you really wanted and the cost.  We had an allowance each week or so, not a lot but it was a small fortune to me.  If I wanted to go buy something special like a soda or candy, or something extra, you had to work for it.  I mean really special chores!  Pulling up nut grass in the yard was one that I really disliked but I did earn a little extra for doing it.  It seems that it was always in the heat of summer and you squatted on the ground with a small spade and pulled up that weed so it didn’t spread in the yard.  Another special chore was plucking those fat little horned tomato worms off the tomato plants!  That was worse than nut grass pulling parties!  From earning that little extra I learned to appreciate what I had, because I had to work for it, and that made it even more valuable.

Another thing that he taught us was faith.  He had faith not only in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but in us kids.  We went to Sunday School and Church regularly and I grew in my faith because he showed me what it really was by his actions.  He trusted that we would know right from wrong and that we would do the right thing.   And sometimes, I admit, I didn’t always do the right thing and I had faith that I would pay for that later on.  Dad taught us faith and trust by his actions, he inspired me to become a Sunday School teacher, and then to become an elder in my own church later on.  I wanted to become like him because of his faith and trust, and I hope that I passed it on to my children.

Dad had a great sense of humor, and was able to laugh at himself, and with others, but not at them.  He knew almost everyone around Porterville and then later on, in Placerville, and everyone enjoyed his good sense of humor.  He could make you smile with a silly joke, and he knew the right thing to say to make me feel better when I was down.  He would also sit listen to our cornball jokes over and over again as kids and was very patient with us.  His good natured teasing was well known not only in our family but with everyone he met.  He touched the hearts of many people with his humor and we learned to laugh at ourselves rather than to take ourselves too seriously.

The most important lesson he taught was to love ourselves and others. We have a large family and we got together as much as possible to visit and have a lot of fond memories of growing up and playing with our cousins and lots of friends.  He showed his love for others by always being the first to volunteer to help someone in need.  We never felt deprived or wanting for anything.  In fact, through his helping others, I learned to love others and wanting to help out by doing for them too because of the example that he set for us.  This brings me back to Value.  I value the time that he spent with us, I value his love for us and for making me smile when I think of him.

I’m proud to call him my father.

Dominic Geroux Spallina
March 8, 1926 – June 15, 2018

Dominic Geroux Spallina was born March 8, 1926, in Lindsay, California, to
Vincent and Leona Spallina, and passed away peacefully in the company of
his daughters in Placerville on the evening of June 15, 2018.
Dom grew up on a citrus ranch with his folks, older brother Ross and
younger sister Vincelle. He enjoyed the freedoms and responsibilities of
country life, loved to work with his hands, and grew to be adept at all
things mechanical and horticultural. Dom was always planning new projects
that were not only very beneficial for his family, but for their many
friends.

Dom graduated from Lindsay High School where he met the love of his life,
Lou Mildred Owen, in Home Ec class during her sophomore year. Dom was always
very enterprising, and after graduation in 1943, ran his own trucking
business hauling produce, citrus and gypsum for local farmers. When he
turned 18, he entered the Army Air Force. Fortunately, he was still in the
middle of pilot training when the war ended, and upon his return home, Dom
and Lou married on New Year’s Eve 1946.
The newlyweds began their family in 1948 with the birth of their son Fred
and moved to Porterville where daughters Candis, Tracy and Donna were
born. Dom worked as a salesman and supervisor for Sunbeam Bakery for many
years, driving a delivery route around the Porterville area which allowed
him to keep an eye out for his kids, who were inclined to occasionally
skip afternoon classes. Despite working twelve-hour days, he could often
be found in his workshop or the garage, building a cabinet or fixing one
of his kids’ cars. A great salesman who seemed to know and be able to
shoot the breeze with everyone in town, Dom retired from the bread business
in 1986. Dom and Lou joined the Porterville Church of the Nazarene
in the 1960s and enjoyed many years of friendship, fellowship, love and a
generous dose of good humor with other members of the Lamplighter Sunday
School class. Every New Year’s Eve, they hosted a large Anniversary party
with this wonderful group of lifelong friends. Dom was also a member of
the Ambassadors, a group of volunteers who helped people in need with home
projects like replacing roofs, installing wheelchair ramps, and new
doors.

Dom and Lou were close with their families, and the aunts and uncles and
cousins on both sides enjoyed many memorable family gatherings. Uncle Dom
was the favorite of most, due to his Policy of Equal Opportunity, Diverse
and All-Inclusive Teasing. They made sure that the family vacations were a
variety of excursions from camping to the beach to Disneyland and to visiting
relatives all over the state. Prior to moving to Placerville in
2004, Dom and Lou traveled to 47 of the 50 states, cruised to exotic locales
and traveled in Europe. Their favorite vacations, though, were
spending time with their granddaughters, Jenny & Kathy, especially at Pismo
Beach.

Dom is survived by his much-loved older brother Ross of Reedley, with whom
he spoke every day on the phone, daughters Candis Spallina of Camino, Tracy
Spallina (Jeff Hoyt) of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Donna Coppin (Doug)
of Fresno, grandchildren Kat Pok (An) of Fresno, Jennifer Sandoval (Ariel)
of Norton Shores, Michigan, Ryan Spallina and Loren Spallina of Berkeley,
and great grandchildren Matthew, Samnang, Annalee and Emma. He was preceded
in death by his beloved wife Lou in 2012, his sister Vincelle in 2014,
his son Fred in 2002 and many, many cherished family members and friends.
Dom spent his last three months in the expert and compassionate care of
the very special nurses and CNAs at Gold Country Health Center in Placerville,
among people who knew him well from the time he spent there caring
for Lou, his beloved wife of 65 years. In the five years prior to
Lou’s passing, Dom could be found at Gold Country every day and for every
meal. When Dom moved into the center earlier this year, he was among many
friends. Dom’s daughters thank the staff for their Dad’s excellent care.
Dad was also an esteemed member of The Gold Country Lunch Group, a closeknit
group of friends with shared experiences. Dad truly cherished their
friendship, love and support in his later years.

Dom was known among his admirers as a true gentleman, and he was a loving
and devoted father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He was a common
sense kind of guy who was happy to pass along to his kids Three Rules to
Live By: Don’t Ride the Clutch; Lefty Loosey, Righty Tighty; and Any Damn
Fool Can Spend Money — It Takes Somebody Smart to Save It. All of us —
Dad’s kids, grandkids and great-grandkids — learned a great deal from him,
especially his values, his faith, how to love one another and how to laugh
at ourselves. We will miss him enormously.

There will be a private graveside service on Thursday, June 28, at the
Lindsay-Strathmore Cemetery, followed by a public memorial service at the
Porterville Church of the Nazarene at 11 a.m. A luncheon open to all family
and friends of Dom will be served. Porterville Funeral & Cremation Center
is handling the funeral arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the charity of one’s
choice.

Talking about deadlines….

Amazing how a few minutes in time can change your plans for the day. Just found out that my Dad is going to remain in skilled nursing for now and probably will not be going to assisted living, at least not for a while. I am not really surprised by this but at the same time, it’s a shock as he is 92 years old, was in good health and being on his own for so long in his own home. Just brings home the fact that he is getting older and I’m not ready to face that fact just yet. He has never seemed old to me, but always busy, full of life and doing as he pleased.